South-South
PDP vice chairman: Electronic transfer of results, a must for free, fair polls
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South-south has called on the National Assembly to retain electronic transmission of results in the Electoral Act The National Vice Chairman, South-south of the party, Dan Orbih, made the call on Wednesday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin. He was reacting to the purported removal of the provision for the electronic transfer of result provision from the proposed amendment Act currently being debated by the National Assembly. “Nigerians should resist the removal of electronic transmission of election results during elections from the Electoral Act because it is an invitation to unending electoral fraud,” Mr Orbih said. The introduction of electronic transmission of election results from the polling units to collation cen...
APC group commends President Buhari, security agents for ‘decimating’ IPOB
The All Progressives Congress (APC) Legacy Awareness and Campaign has commended President Muhammadu Buhari and federal security agents for decimating separatist group Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). The group, in a statement issued by the quartet of Barr Ismail Ahmed, Lanre Issa-Onilu, Tolu Ogunlesi and Salihu Moh Lukman, claimed that the country will in the next few months witness even more progress on all fronts. ‘On security, the fear that has gripped the nation in recent times is receding while confidence is being renewed as the security agencies are chasing down the criminals, taking the battle to the bandits, unknown gunmen, kidnappers, and other criminal elements who have been holding the country by the jugular and turning Nigeria to a killing field,’ the group stated. ‘From the...
Pastor kills, buries wife in Akwa Ibom
A pastor in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria’s South-south, has been detained by the police for allegedly killing his wife. The incident happened at a village called Ikot Ataku, Okon, in Eket Local Government Area. The pastor has been identified as Chris Enoch, the founder of Omega Word Global Ministries. He is from Ebonyi State, Nigeria’s South-east. The youth president of Okon Clan, Effiong Johnson told newsmen, Wednesday night, that Mr Enoch killed the wife, Patient, seven days ago and buried her corpse in the shallow grave inside their gated compound where they have been living with their five children. The eldest child is 15 years old. Mr Enoch’s church has been operating inside the same compound which is rented. The community became suspicious when the pastor’s children complained to neighbo...
PANDEF: President Buhari lacks power to impose open grazing on states
The Pan-Niger Delta Forum has again warned the Federal Government and groups such as the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, against conduct and utterances capable of making the already bad security situation in Nigeria worse than it is. Elder statesman and leader of PANDEF, Chief Edwin Clark, gave the warning at a media briefing in Abuja, on Monday. He said President Muhammadu Buhari lacked the power to impose open grazing on state governments. He said the people of the Niger Delta have watched with restrained patience the reckless and irresponsible utterances of a group of jihadists who have over the years threatened other Nigerians over grazing routes and rights. Clark noted that the latest being the threat issued by a group of faceless anarchists who issued a warning to the Delt...
PANDEF: President Buhari lacks power to impose open grazing on states
The Pan-Niger Delta Forum has again warned the Federal Government and groups such as the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, against conduct and utterances capable of making the already bad security situation in Nigeria worse than it is. Elder statesman and leader of PANDEF, Chief Edwin Clark, gave the warning at a media briefing in Abuja, on Monday. He said President Muhammadu Buhari lacked the power to impose open grazing on state governments. He said the people of the Niger Delta have watched with restrained patience the reckless and irresponsible utterances of a group of jihadists who have over the years threatened other Nigerians over grazing routes and rights. Clark noted that the latest being the threat issued by a group of faceless anarchists who issued a warning to the Delt...
Unknown writers threaten Delta with mayhem for banning open grazing
A group of unidentified persons on Sunday threatened to attack Asaba and Agbor in Delta State should Governor Ifeanyi Okowa fail to withdraw his support for the ban on open grazing within 72 hours. An unsigned letter containing the threat was pasted at strategic locations in Asaba, including the fence of the Living Faith Church, aka Winners Chapel along Infant Jesus road. The letter, titled, ‘Fulani jihadist warning: An open message to Delta State,’ was dated June 13, 2021. It read, “This is to inform Delta State that the Fulani of Usman Dan Fodio leadership shall do everything it can to uphold the legacy of our heritage of open grazing; for we are nomadic people from origination and shall never negotiate the ownership of Nigeria, West Africa and Sub-Sahara. “We hereby demand the Governor ...
June 12 protest: Police arrest Agba Jalingo
A right activist and a newspaper publisher, Agba Jalingo, has been arrested by the police in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria’s South-south. Jalingo is the publisher of Cross River Watch, an online newspaper with focus on Cross River State. He was arrested at the police headquarters, Calabar, on Friday where he went to honour an invitation by the Commissioner of Police in the State, Kayode Sikiru, Cross River Watch said in a report. The newspaper said Sikiru invited Jalingo to the police headquarters to discuss the planned nationwide June 12 protest which the latter is said to be coordinating in the state. After discussions, Jalingo was reportedly referred to another officer who informed him that the police had received a petition which accused him of being an arms dealer, the newspaper...
Ex-soldiers: We trained 4,400 IPOB militias after Nnamdi Kanu promised us rank of General in Biafra Republic
Operatives of the Force Intelligence Response Team have arrested three dismissed soldiers, who allegedly partook in the training of 4,400 members of the Eastern Security Network for the Indigenous People of Biafra. The suspects have been identified as Linus Owalo, Godswill Steven and Chinasa Orji. They were arrested recently after operatives of the IRT, while following a tip-off from some members of IPOB, raided the group’s hideouts in Imo, Anambra and Delta States and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. ESN is the armed wing of the POB. IPOB and ESN have been accused by the police of being responsible for the attacks and killings of security operatives as well as burning of police stations and government infrastructure across the South East and South South regions of the country. IPOB a...
IGP set to launch new police operation in South-South
The Acting Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali, is expected to launch a new tactical unit of the Nigeria Police Force in the South-South, Wednesday. The new tactical unit christened Operation Restore Peace in the South-South region would tackle issues of insecurity in the oil-rich region. It would be recalled that the Federal Government had announced that it was coming up with a new security formation for the South-South and South-East in order to end the wave of attacks on security formations in the areas. National Publicity Secretary of Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, Hon Ken Robinson, had condemned the move and urged the FG not to be selective in its programs and policies However, the Acting IGP, Alkali, on Tuesday inaugurated the said outfit in the South-Eastern part of the countr...
Police: 21 officers killed by gunmen in Akwa Ibom
The police authorities in Akwa Ibom State said they have so far lost 21 officers due to gun attacks in the state. The commissioner of police in the state, Amiengheme Andrew, disclosed this on Monday while briefing Governor Udom Emmanuel who visited the police headquarters in the state to condole with the families of the slain officers and the police over the loss. Mr Andrew also informed the governor that the police in the state lost 11 vehicles and seven firearms in the various attacks. Mr Emmanuel, who visited the police headquarters immediately after the State Executive Council meeting, announced a donation of N60 million to the families of the slain officers. Besides meeting with the police commissioner in his office, Mr Emmanuel met with officers inside a hall where he thanked them fo...
Edo governor: Current NDDC structure incapable of developing South-South
Edo State’s Governor Godwin Obaseki has reiterated the call for the restructuring of the Niger Delta Development Commission, stressing that such would drive the development of the South-South region. Obaseki made the call during a meeting with the South-South Zone Working Committee of the People;s Democratic Party (PDP) at the Government House in Benin City. According to him, “In the South-South, we must stand up to defend ourselves economically, politically and security-wise. We have pretenders in the region who try to exploit the region and we must stop them.” Obaseki said the region is facing impeded growth because of the inability to make use of its resources for its development. He added, “The current structure of the NDDC has caused underdevelopment in the region, with the Federal Go...
APC chieftain asks President Buhari to declare state of emergency on security
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State, Otunba Olusegun Agbalajobi, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently declare a state of emergency on security in the country. This, he said has become a child of necessity following the rising waves of kidnappings, killings, banditry, insurgency and other manifestations of insecurity bedeviling the country. Agbalajobi, in a statement titled, ‘Nigeria and its preponderance of insecurity’ issued in Ado-Ekiti on Tuesday, said declaring emergency on security would help to stem the rising waves of security challenges that are fast pushing Nigeria to precipice. He stressed that the worsening security situation in the country requires desperate and decisive measure in the best interest of Nigerians, hence, the need to ...
