News

Nigeria: Abuja Bound Train Crushes 52 Cows in Kaduna
Agriculture, Economy, Fulani Herdsmen, News, Nigeria, Security

Nigeria: Abuja Bound Train Crushes 52 Cows in Kaduna

The Kaduna state commissioner of police sunday confirmed that 52 cows were crushed to death by an kaduna-Abuja bound train. Addressing a press conference in Kaduna, police Commissioner Ahmad Abdurahaman said the incidence happened in Kasarami in Kagarko local government of the state. According to him, the command received a distress call of the accident and he personally led principal staff of the Command to the spot. “When we got to the spot we found out that contrary to earlier calls of insurgents attack, what actually happened was an accident involving cows. The Fulani Herdsmen who passed the night at kasarami asked if they could cross over with their cattle and were misinformed that there was no rail services on Sunday. “It was when they were half way that a fast moving tra...
Nigeria: God Has Used Buhari and Some of Us to Make Nigeria Work – Ngige
Economy, News, Nigeria

Nigeria: God Has Used Buhari and Some of Us to Make Nigeria Work – Ngige

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige on Sunday said Nigeria would have been in ruins if President Muhammadu Buhari was not elected to pilot the affairs of the country in 2015. Ngige who spoke with journalists in Onitsha, Anambra State, said the All Progressives Congress met the country in tatters when it took over from the Peoples Democratic Party about three years ago. He expressed surprised that Nigerians were not “clapping” for Buhari for reviving the economy of the country from what he called a state of comatose. Reminded that the general feeling was that Buhari had failed in areas of security and economy, Ngige said “Don’t just talk about that. We are wonderful with the economy; nobody, I mean no person would have done better than this present government in t...
Boko Haram: Troops Raid Terrorist Camp, Kill 14 Terrorist, Free 21 Captives
Boko Haram, News, Nigeria, Security, Terrorism

Boko Haram: Troops Raid Terrorist Camp, Kill 14 Terrorist, Free 21 Captives

Following the hijack of a bus with about 20 passengers on Wednesday, the troops of 192 Battalion of 26 Task Force Brigade of Operation LAFIYA DOLE, working with the Civilian Joint Task Force on Thursday raided a Boko Haram camp suspected to be the base of the attackers. During the attack, about 14 terrorists were killed and about 21 captives rescued. The 21 persons rescued included 4 men, 6 women and 11 children. Confirming the raid, Brigadier General Texas Chukwu, Director Army Public Relations said "he troops attained the feat on Thursday 6th September 2018 during an early hours clearance operation to Amdaga Madachi village in Gwoza Local Governmnent Area in Borno State suspected to habour the terrorists. "The troops engaged and subdued the terrorists following a superior fire p...
Opinion: Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s Response to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo
Economy, News, Nigeria

Opinion: Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s Response to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo

My attention has been drawn to a letter written to Premium Times in response to an essay on restructuring authored by me. Faced with an avalanche of public condemnation for his 360-degree turn on the concept of restructuring, it is understandable that the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has written to Premium Times to douse the tension his comments created. However, in doing so, the Vice President should not attempt to revise history by saying that he spoke against ‘geographic restructuring’. I have been in the forefront of the discourse on restructuring since the 1995 Abacha Constitutional Conference and to the best of my knowledge, there has not been any term like ‘geographic restructuring’. It is a strange concept, not only because it is not what the restructuring debate is...
Nigeria: Police Dismisses 3 Officers for Illegal Raid on Chief Clark’s Residence
Corruption, Crime, Human Rights, News, Nigeria, Press Statement

Nigeria: Police Dismisses 3 Officers for Illegal Raid on Chief Clark’s Residence

PRESS RELEASE DISMISSAL FROM SERVICE OF THREE (3) OF THE POLICE PERSONNEL AND INTERDICTION OF THE ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE INVOLVED IN THE UNAUTHORIZED, ILLEGAL AND UNPROFESSIONAL MISCONDUCT IN THE SEARCH OF ELDER STATESMAN, CHIEF EDWIN CLARK’S RESIDENCE IN ASOKORO, ABUJA ON THE 4th OF SEPTEMBER, 2018. The Inspector General of Police has approved the dismissal from the service of the Nigeria Police Force, three (3) Inspectors namely: (i) AP/No. 18858 Inspr Godwin Musa (ii) AP/No. 225812 Inspr Sada Abubakar and (iii) AP/No. 225828 Inspr Yabo Paul, and the immediate interdiction of AP. No 158460 ASP David Dominic who were involved in the unauthorized, illegal and unprofessional misconduct in the search of the residence of Elder Statesman, Chief Edwin Clark in Asokoro, Abuja...
Nigeria: Nigeria’s former ICT Minister, Omobola Johnson Joins World Wide Web Foundation board
Africa, News, Nigeria

Nigeria: Nigeria’s former ICT Minister, Omobola Johnson Joins World Wide Web Foundation board

After a 3-year tenure as an Honorary Chairperson of the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) where she provided guidance and advocacy to help drive down internet costs, Dr. Omobola Johnson is joining the Web Wide Web Foundation as a board member. The Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) — a global coalition, led by the Web Foundation, working to make broadband affordable for all. While the World Wide Web Foundation was founded in 2009 by Sir Tim Berners-Lee to ‘advance the open web as a public good and a basic right.’ A part of an official statement by the A4AI reads: “As the second Honorary Chair of A4AI — a role she assumed on September 1, 2015 — Omobola has provided invaluable policy guidance and has led high-level advocacy efforts to drive down the cost of internet. In t...
Nigeria: Presidency Describes Punch Newspapers as “Disrespectful of the President and His Office”
Fulani Herdsmen, Human Rights, News, Nigeria, Security, Terrorism

Nigeria: Presidency Describes Punch Newspapers as “Disrespectful of the President and His Office”

The Presidency has described the Punch Newspapers as "disrespectful of the President and his office". This was in response to an editorial published by the Punch Newspapers on the 4th of September. In the editorial, the paper had accused President Buhari of being indifferent to the killings by the herdsmen. Responding to this editorial, Malam Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and publicity said "We reject the September 4th, 2018, editorial of the media house which alleged that President Buhari had sympathy for criminality perpetuated by a misguided group. "The editorial was not only disrespectful of the President and his office, but was also reckless, thoughtless, inflammatory and totally irresponsible. "It is steadily becoming clear from the views, n...
Nigeria: Boko Haram Strikes Again, Hijacks Bus with about 20 Passengers
Boko Haram, News, Nigeria, Security, Terrorism

Nigeria: Boko Haram Strikes Again, Hijacks Bus with about 20 Passengers

About 20 people have been abducted by Boko Haram terrorists when their bus was hijacked at Maiduguri, Borno State on Wednesday. According to reports, the hijacked bus had about 20 persons on board. There has been no official statement on the incident but local residents have confirmed it. One of the residents who confirmed the incident reported that his uncle was among those abducted. He said the abducted passengers were a mix of men and women. Source Punchng
Biafra: Security Operatives Call on Nigerians to Ignore IPOB’s Sept. 14th Sit-at-Home Protest
Biafra, Human Rights, Justice, News, Nigeria, Security

Biafra: Security Operatives Call on Nigerians to Ignore IPOB’s Sept. 14th Sit-at-Home Protest

Following a high-powered meeting of Nigerian security operatives, South-easterners have been directed to ignore the sit-at-home directive issued by IPOB. They are advised to go about their normal business, assuring them of their safety. IPOB had earlier issued a directive, calling for a sit-at-home on the 14th of September to protest the mass killings of innocent easterners during the Operation Python Dance 2. Issuing the directive, IPOB's publicity secretary, Emma Powerful said "at a time when we are still burying those Operation Python Dance 2 killed and dumped in mass graves across Biafraland in September 2017, here we are today with Nigeria military once again poised to invade the South East, to slaughter the weak and innocent in their annual genocidal ritual in the name of yet a...
Opinion: Chris Ngige Fights for Oppressive Multinational ExxonMobil Instead of Oppressed Nigerians Workers Femi Aribisala.
Economy, Justice, News, Nigeria

Opinion: Chris Ngige Fights for Oppressive Multinational ExxonMobil Instead of Oppressed Nigerians Workers Femi Aribisala.

The message Chris Ngige delivered to ExxonMobil loud and clear is that it does not have to be subject to Nigerian laws. It can operate here in Nigeria as a law unto itself. Last week, I complained that 860 Nigerian workers at ExxonMobil (Nigeria) are being treated like orphans in Nigeria; their home-country. They have fought this injustice with fortitude and resilience in the courts for 18 long years, during which 171 of them have died along the way (one more since last week). In court, ExxonMobil denied that the workers are its employees. It claimed instead that they are “SPY Police” in the attempt to circumvent its lawful commitments to them. The Nigerian workers, on the other hand, maintained they are directly employed by ExxonMobil and, therefore, should be treated as ExxonMobil ...