Statement
PDP zonal congress: We’re out to put our best forward – Oyo governor
Oyo State Governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, has declared that the South-West Zonal Congress of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) holding in Osogbo, Osun State, is an opportunity for the geo-political zone to put its best people forward. The governor, who was speaking at the venue of the zonal congress, said that the future will be brighter for the party if it gets things right at the congress. Addressing the Press just before the commencement of the congress, inside the WOCDIF Centre, Osogbo, Osun State, the governor said that the South-West Zonal Congress has implications for the PDP at the national level, stating that the congress will help put the best people in place, who would in turn help the party at the national level. A statement by the Special Assistant (Print Media) to Governor Makinde,...
Police: Ritualist kill food vendor, cut off her hands, head in Osun
The Police are on the trail of a a suspected ritualist who killed and cut off the head and hands of a female food vendor in Ile-Ife, Osun State on Saturday. The Command Spokesperson, SP Yemisi Opalola, who said this in a statement on Sunday, said that the police were on the trail of the assailant. Opalola explained that the woman, known as Iya Elekuru, was lured into a building by her killer, under the pretence that he wanted to buy food from her. “The woman hawking food was lured inside a house and was brutally murdered . “The suspect chopped off her head and hand and the he fled the scene with the mutilated body parts. Our men have, however, evacuated the body of the woman. “The son of the victim has also claimed the corpse and buried her according to Islamic rites. “Irate youths have, h...
Imo attacks: I’ve left Governor Uzodinma in the court of public opinion – Senator Okorocha
Former Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, has said he has chosen to remain silent over the allegations leveled against him that he sponsored the recent attacks on some federal government establishment in the state. Okorocha, who is the senator representing Imo West in the National Assembly, said he would rather allow the public and posterity to judge him. The former governor, in a statement signed by his media aide, Sam Onwuemeodo, said at the right time, the people will know those behind the attacks. The statement said, “We wish to inform the general public that, we decided to leave the Imo governor and his government in the court of public opinions, over their allegations against Okorocha concerning the unfortunate and worrisome Owerri attacks. “Nigerians of good spirits have been a...
Kaduna governor appoints as new Emir for Kauru
Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State has approved the appointment of Alhaji Ya’u Shehu Usman, former Sarkin Fadan Kauru, as the new Emir of Kauru. This is contained in a statement signed by Mr Muyiwa Adekeye, Special Adviser on Media and Communication to el-Rufai, and made available to newsmen on Saturday in Kaduna. The statement said that Usman, who hails from the Wadai ruling house, succeeds the late emir, Alhaji Ja’afaru Abubakar, who died in January 2021. Usman, Chairman of the Kaduna State Fiscal Responsibility Commission, was born on 15 May, 1955 in Kauru and joined the Kaduna State Civil Service in 1977. The new traditional ruler retired in 2012 as Director, Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MoFI), Office of the Accountant General, Kaduna State. An accountant, Usman was a former ...
Senate president condemns attacks on correctional facilities
President of the Senate Ahmad Lawan has decried recent attacks on Police formations and Correctional facilities in Imo. A statement by Mr Ola Awoniyi, the senate presidents Special Assistant on Media, said Lawan described those responsible for the attacks as enemies of the people and country. Lawan stated this in Owerri on Friday while inaugurating a road project completed by Gov. Hope Uzodinma of Imo. He said that the aim of the attackers was probably to cause a distraction for the Imo government or even the Federal Government. The road which was named after a former Senate President, Late Chief Evan Enwerem, was one of the infrastructural projects inaugurated to mark Uzodinma’s one year in office. Lawan advised the people to take ownership of the projects, utilise them well and protect t...
Saudi Arabia executes three soldiers for ‘cooperating with enemy’
Saudi Arabia has executed three soldiers convicted of “high treason” and “cooperating with the enemy”, with a statement from the kingdom’s defence ministry saying the trio was sentenced to death by a specialist court after a fair trial. The state-run Saudi Press Agency identified the men as soldiers working in the defence ministry. It did not elaborate on how the men aided the kingdom’s enemies. The ministry did not name the “enemy” either but the executions on Saturday were carried out in the southern province bordering Yemen where Saudi Arabia has been at war for more than six years against the Iran-backed Houthi fighters. Saudi Arabia has come under increasing global scrutiny over its human rights record since the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 at the kingdom’s Istanbul co...
South-West PDP congress: Seyi Makinde, Ayo Fayose’s groups fight over 756 delegates
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and a former governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, are to test their popularity with 756 delegates that will elect officials of the Peoples Democratic Party in the South-West on Monday. While Makinde is backing a former Deputy Governor of Oyo State, Taofeek Arapaja, for the position of chairman, Fayose is mobilising for Dr Eddy Olafeso. Olafeso, who is from Ondo State, is a former occupant of the office. He resigned to contest the party’s governorship ticket in the last Ondo State election, which he lost to Eyitayo Jegede (SAN). Makinde had wanted the congress to hold in Ibadan, but the Fayose faction wanted it in another venue, saying the Oyo State capital was not safe for it and its supporters. However, two days ago, the National Working Committee of...
Imo attacks: IGP tasks CPs, AIGs to evolve new policing strategies
The Inspector-General of Police, Ag. IGP Usman Alkali Baba, on Friday, met with Police Strategic Commanders, Zonal Assistant Inspectors General of Police, Commissioners of Police, and Deputy Commissioners of Police (Operations), in the South-South and the South-Eastern States of the country and tasked them on checkmating security challenges. A statement by CP Frank Mba, Force Public Relations Officer, said the meeting, which held at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, is part of efforts by the new Police leadership to critically diagnose the security threats in the region and evolve new policing strategies and responses towards tackling the threats. The IGP, while noting that the South-East and South-South geo-political zones of the country are very critical in the socio-economic stability and ...
PAP sets JAMB as criteria for ex-agitators to get scholarship
The Presidential Amnesty Programme, PAP, has explained that its new policy mandated all ex-agitators desiring to benefit from its scholarship scheme to first take the examination organised by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, JAMB. Amnesty office said the new policy was designed to eliminate mediocrity in the programme, adding that the scheme was aimed at transforming ex-agitators into well-educated entrepreneurs and employable citizens. PAP’s Interim Administrator, Col. Milland Dixon Dikio, disclosed in a statement in Port Harcourt signed by his Special Assistant on Media, Nneotaobase Egbe, that the policy was vital for the personal, intellectual and mental growth and development of the delegates. Dikio explained that PAP was targeted at ensuring that beneficiaries of PAP schol...
Police nab ‘cultists’ in Anambra
The police in Anambra say it has arrested two suspects involved in a rival cult fight in which four people were killed in Awka on Wednesday. DSP Toochukwu Ikenga, the police spokesman in Anambra, disclosed this in a statement made available to reporters on Thursday in Awka. Ikenga gave the identity of the arrested suspects as Victor Ikechukwu, 30; and Ifeanyi Uyanne, 35. He said that a Toyota Corolla car and a military camouflage were recovered from the suspects. According to the spokesman, the suspects were arrested following Wednesday’s shoot-out at Tempsite, Okpuno, Awka. Mr Ikenga said the Commissioner of Police Monday Kuryas had advised parents/guardians to watch over their children/wards and prevent them from engaging in cultism and associated vices. Get more stories like this on Twi...
Missing Nigerian student found dead in UK pond
A Nigerian student at Oxford Brookes University, Richard Okorogheye, has been found dead after two weeks of searching. According to his mum, Evidence Joel, the 19-year-old left home on March 22 and was reported missing two days after. Mrs Joel had repeatedly pleaded for information on her son’s whereabouts. “All he said to me was ‘mummy, I’m going to see my friend’. I trusted him, I had no doubt or no reason to ask him further questions. “It’s my baby, it’s my treasure. He’s my oxygen, he’s my crown. He’s everything to me, he’s the reason I live, the reason I exist. Right now I’m empty, there is nothing to look forward to. He’s taken my breath away from me,” she told Sky News. But on Wednesday, the Metropolitan police, in a statement, confirmed that a corpse found in a pond Monday has been...
Police nab ‘murderer’ of vigilante member in Delta
The Police Command in Delta says it has apprehended a middle-aged man over alleged murder of a member of a vigilante group in the state. The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the command, DSP Edafe Bright, disclosed this in a statement issued on Wednesday in Warri. Bright said that the suspect, a 25-year-old man, had admitted to the crime. The police spokesman identified the murder victim as Onajite Okolejo, a member of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria, Zone 12, Hausa Quarters, Warri. Bright said that Okolejo was attacked on April 4. “The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) ‘A’ Division Warri, CSP Tanko Mammud received a distress call and mobilised patrol team immediately to the scene and rescued the victim to the hospital. “The victim made a dying declaration at the hospital that one of...
