FRESH 4RM GIM

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has expressed concerned over the continued threats of disintegration resulting from the activities of armed groups in the different regions of the country. Obasanjo said Nigeria has never been as divided in history, except for the country’s civil war period between 1967 and 1970. Obasanjowho spoke yesterday at the maiden edition of the Nigeria Union of Journalists’ national summit held at Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, said the media should not fan the embers of disunity but rather take the lead in the marching towards greater national integration and development. The former president, who was represented by Peter Okebukola, a professor lambasted those calling for the breakup of Nigeria, arguing that the activities of the Niger-Delta Avengers, Boko Haram and Fulani herdsmen had fractured the country. “At no time in our history, except probably during the civil war, has Nigeria been so fractured in the feeling of oneness and belongi...

Today, former Military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, turns 75. To mark his birthday, he granted press interview where he talked about his experiences, family and military career, among others. He, however, refused to talk about contemporary politics. You have been a military officer and a military president. Which one was more challenging? Being a military officer was more challenging than being a military president. Being a military officer, you are leading men into danger; your life and their lives very much depend on you as the Commander. I see it as more challenging than being the president. As a military president, you still have to seek people’s advice; you interact; you discuss based on the prevailing situation you find yourself, but being the military officer, you are the only one with the troops; you are commanding. Their hopes are on you and if you read a situation wrongly, you will put everyone in danger. You experienced the civil war? What experience at t...

The rift between the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Niger Delta (MEND) continued yesterday with IPOB blasting MEND. IPOB insisted that Nnamdi Kanu has no plan to renounce the Biafra whether in secret or otherwise. IPOB in a statement yesterday described the statement by MEND as frivolous, misleading, malicious and baseless. MEND had expressed displeasure with alleged attempt by Kanu and IPOB to distance themselves from the concessions secured by it from the Federal Government, saying that Kanu wanted to renounce Biafra in secret but Federal authorities insisted that he must do it in public. In a statement signed by Jomo Gbomo, the group advised Kanu to come out clean and renounce in public what he had allegedly accepted to do in secret. But the spokespersons of IPOB Mr. Emma Mmezu and Dr. Clifford Iroanya in a statement said MEND has been coveted to a willing ally of the government to frustrate IPOB. Part of the statement from I...

Nigerian soldiers on clearance operations in the North-East have rescued 88 people in Bama Local Government Area of Borno and killed three during an encounter. A statement signed by Sani Usman, acting director, Army Public Relations, in Abuja yesterday, said 28 of those rescued claimed they escaped from Bula Musa village. Mr. Usman said the people comprised two men, nine women and 17 children, adding that the troops killed three terrorists during separate encounter. “They have been taken to Bama town for screening, profiling and possible handover to emergency management and humanitarian agencies,” Usman said. He said another 23, comprising a man, five women and 17 children were intercepted by troops deployed at Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Bama. Usman said this was after they escaped from terrorists in Bula Musa general area on Sunday. “In Dikwa, the troops also recorded influx of 37 IDPs, comprising two men, 12 women, 12 boys and 11 girls from Gulumba Gana vi...

Indigenes of Awka-Etiti in Anambra State under the aegis of Awka Etiti Improvement Union, through their counsel, Ebele Obi and Associates, have written a petition to the Federal Government to ensure that those behind the gruesome murder of their son, Mr. Emmanuel Chukwuma Uchenna Udeh, in Lome, Republic of Togo, in June were brought to justice. Sunday Sun of July 17, 2016, with headline, “Untold story of Nigerian bizman killed in Togo,” had reported how Mr. Udeh was callously killed by family members of his estranged Togolese girlfriend. According to the story, Mr. Udeh was allegedly beaten to stupor and set ablaze by family members of his live-in Togolese lover. The town union, through its counsel is accusing the Togolese Police of hiding the culprits because the victim is a Nigerian. They therefore, urged the Foreign Affairs Ministry to explore all available diplomatic channels to ensure that the assailants are brought to book, The petition reads: “Sir, it is our brief that on June ...

The Adamawa State Police Command has arrested a medical doctor, Hassan Yakubu, for his alleged role in the removal of the kidney of a 24-year-old male patient in his clinic. The arrest of the medical doctor, the police said, was to help with their investigations into the alleged theft of the kidney of the 24-year-old male patient levelled against the doctor. The command’s Public Relations Officer, Othman Abubakar, confirmed the arrest of the doctor on Tuesday in Yola. Othman said the doctor was interrogated by officers of the criminal investigations department of the command. The incident, which The PUNCH gathered had now left the 24-year-old victim, Isa Hamma, in a life – threatening condition, followed alleged medical lapses on the part of the medical doctor who treated him for stomach complications. Isa, whose kidney, according to his relative, Umaru Hammanseyo, was allegedly removed, owing to medical errors on the part of the doctor, had been placed on a weekly dialysis at the Fed...

The protesting farmers FARMERS in Rivers State have taken to the streets in protest of the invasion of their farm lands by suspected herdsmen. The aggrieved farmers in Omoku town in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of the state staged the protest on Saturday over the alleged destruction of their farm crops by herdsmen in the area. The farmers, who were mainly women numbering over 200, matched to the ONELGA Council Secretariat to register their grievance. It was learnt that there had been cases of conflict between farmers in the area and cattle rearers. Southern City News also gathered that crops of the farmers had been destroyed by cattle. It was also gathered that the relationship between the herdsmen and farmers went sour as there was no more trust between both parties. In the protest, the farmers demanded that the herdsmen should be banished from their communities, noting that they were attacked in their farms on a daily basis. A leader of the protesters, Mrs. Precious Nze...

Justice Abdulazeez Anka of a Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday ordered the prison remand of a former Manager of the Oyingbo, Ebute Meta, Lagos branch of Diamond Bank Plc, Chinedu Oguike, over an alleged fraud of N24m. The judge ordered Oguike’s prison remand shortly after he was arraigned on Tuesday by the police Special Fraud Unit. The three counts pressed against the defendant bordered on conspiracy, obtaining money under false pretences and advanced fee fraud. The police, in the charge tendered in court by their prosecutor, CSP Effiong Asuquo, accused Oguike of obtaining N24m from one Ufomba Nnabugwu by falsely representing that he would deliver a property in the Ijegun Egba area of Lagos to the victim. Oguike was also accused of making false loan facility documents in favour of himself, using the name of one Edwin Obele Ezeakachukwu and a property in the Ijegun Egba area of Lagos as collateral to the detriment of the victim. The police alleged that he committed the offences s...

President Muhammadu Buhari President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday said although Nigeria recognised her problems early enough, the country remained a potential for too long. This, he said, made the country not to achieve much results. A statement by President Buhari’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, quoted him (the President) as speaking while receiving the executive members of the Association of Africa Automotive Manufacturers led by the chairman, Mr. Jeff Nemeth, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Buhari said in order to reverse the trend, the Federal Government must avoid the mistakes of the past. “We must avoid the mistakes made in the past by both government and manufacturers, and we are ready to get investment from all quarters, so that we can improve the lives of our people,” he said. The President lamented that Nigeria failed to develop on automobile initiatives started in Bauchi, Kaduna and Ibadan, and depended too much on oil as the mainstay of her eco...

INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu The leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission on Tuesday was confused on whether to monitor or stay away from Wednesday’s (today) national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Justice Okon Abang of a Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday had insisted that the PDP must stop its planned national convention. The judge gave a stern warning to the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahood Yakubu, not to monitor the convention. The judge also ordered the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to enforce the court’s order. Justice Abang’s order is contrary to another order by Justice Ibrahim Watila of the Port Harcourt Division of the Federal High Court, directing the IGP to monitor the convention. Warning that the disobedience of court orders could cause anarchy, Justice Watila pointed out that the National Caretaker Committee of the PDP remained the executive authority in all matters concerning the party...

President Muhammadu Buhari For the second time in three weeks, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has received an express order from President Muhammadu Buhari to explore for oil in the North. This time, the President directed the national oil firm to commence exploration activities in the Benue Trough. The Benue Trough is a major geological formation underlying a large part of Nigeria, extending about 1,000km North-East from the Bight of Benin to Lake Chad. The Group Managing Director, NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, disclosed the President’s directive on the oil expolration in the North while receiving a delegation from the Benue State Government at the corporation’s headquarters in Abuja. About three weeks ago, the President had directed the corporation to speed up its prospect for oil in the region, specifically in the Chad Basin and Kolmani River, following the reported discovery of hydrocarbons by Shell in the area. The 19 northern state governors are also fired up about the...

Oil barrels The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), has enters into strategic partnership with NIMEX Petroleum Group to import 100,000 metric tonnes of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also called to complement the laudable efforts of the Federal Government in driving the deregulation policy. This is contained in a statement issued and signed by its National President, Obasi Lawson in Abuja after the signing of Memorandum of Understand (MoU) with NIMEX Petroleum Group and made available to newsmen. Obasi said that the product which will be imported by NIMEX Petroleum Group will be distributed to its teeming members across the country to argument supply received from Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and other sources. “IPMAN and Nimex Petroleum Group has partnered together to import over 100,000 metric tonnes of petroleum product into the country to quash market forces and compliment government effort. The IPMAN president said that product would go ...

Former Military President, Ibrahim Babangida, on Tuesday said he regretted his inability to scrap the National Assembly or make its membership optional. Babangida, who spoke to journalists at his Uphill residence in Minna, Niger State, as part of activities marking his 75th birthday, said he would make amends if given another chance to act on the matter. The ex- President said making the National Assembly membership optional would reduce the cost of governance. He said, “During my public life, there were several decisions we took as military officers or as political officers (when I was a dictator) that if given another chance, I would do differently. For example, in 1989, we proposed that the National Assembly should be optional, that is part-time. “I still believe that if I had the opportunity, I would make the National Assembly part time. I believe in that very strongly and is parts of efforts to cut down the cost of governance in Nigeria.” Babangida said several people in Nig...

surprisingly one of the political contestant currently contesting for state office in Germany happens to be a Nigerian. Charles Njoku is a Nigerian of South Eastern Origin who is running for a Public Office in Germany. We wish him all the best of luck with that, but wouldn’t it be much better to use all that expertise here in Nigeria?

Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai The Kaduna State Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Muhammed Abdullahi, said on Tuesday that the government had begun preparations for the 2017 budget which would be presented to the Assembly at the end of September. Abdullahi said that the target was for the legislature to pass the budget early, so that its implementation would commence from January 1. He explained that it would be a multi-year budget that would run from 2017 to 2019. He said, “We have received budget proposals from Ministries Department and Agencies and we have held revenue defence about three weeks ago on the budget. “What this means is, we already have a revenue budget for the proposed budget. “All revenue generating agencies in the state have defended what they proposed as revenues. “For example, we already have a figure of what we think we will make as internally generated revenue for 2017. “What we are working on now is the federal components in terms of estimated all...

Armed robbers on Tuesday attacked a bullion van belonging to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), at Hawan Kibo hills, near Riyom in Plateau, killing two policemen attached to the van as escorts. The spokesman of Plateau Police Command, Mr Terna Tyopev, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos that the van was ambushed by the robbers. He said that three other policemen attached to the bullion van were injured. He said that the bullion van was carrying money from Jos to Lafia in Nasawara State. “It was a clear case of ambush; they were attacked unexpectedly. “Policemen escorting the bullion van repelled the attack; unfortunately we lost two of our men on the spot, while three other were badly injured,” Tyopev told NAN. The PPRO however stated that the robbers were not able to cart away money from the bullion van “because our men responded vigorously; they reacted firmly,” he said, adding that the police had commenced investigation to arrest the gun men.  (NAN)

Former Nigeria military President Ibrahim Babangida has said that his toughest encounter in the army was trekking from Enugu to Umuahia where he sustained injury during the Nigeria civil war. Babangida made this known at an interactive session with newsmen to mark his 75th birthday in Minna on Wednesday. “Movement from Enugu to Umuahia was very tough and challenging because you need to be physically fit to be able to undertake that kind of journey on foot. “We had to go through the jungles and the hills. I think it was my toughest encounter in the army because that was where I got wounded in April 1969,’’ he said. He said that he joined the army for the purpose of being in the force to protect the country. According to him, being in the military means that you must subject yourself to a constituted authority to execute all the tasks assigned to you by government. He said that the constitutional roll and international treaties made it possible for military personnel to serve anywhere i...

Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, Dr. Junaid Mohammed Broderick Bozimo ( An Ijaw leader and former Minister of Police Affairs) In line with the call for restructuring from different parts of the country, the most appropriate thing the current administration should do is to study the report of the 2014 National Conference. That should be done with a viewing to identifying the aspects of the document that could be implemented immediately. There is no doubt that the country needs to be restructured. Many eminent Nigerians, including a former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, have acknowledged this fact. In the interest of the survival of the entire country, the Federal Government should consider the conference report as an important document that must not be ignored. Some people have argued that the process that led to the composition of members of the conference was not democratic. We should know that nothing is perfect anywhere in the world. We cannot dismiss the report on the basis that the p...

The High Commissioner of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to Nigeria, Lieutenant General (Retd), Agha M. UmerFarooq, has stated that Pakistan’s relationship with Nigeria has been greatly strengthened and that he feels at home staying in Nigeria just like every other Pakistani in Nigeria. General Farooq who spoke during the Pakistan Independence celebration in Lagos, while reflecting on values that make Pakistan great, applauded the Nigerian government for getting up against Boko Haram insurgency in the country, saying that as a military expert, he understands the principle of it all. He equally said he was delighted with the Nigerian militarily because, Boko Haram’s back has been broken. However, General Farooq maintained that the ideology of success does not lie within the military power alone, but with the socio-economic plan, and Nigeria is in the next stage of war against terrorism in which she should be looking also at providing livelihood, economic growth so that people can h...

Some of the houses destroyed by suspected Fulani herdsmen Barely two weeks after 11 persons were killed in Kaduna by suspected herdsmen, another six were killed by suspected herdsmen in Godogodo, Jama’a Local Government Area in Kaduna State at the weekend. The victims, mainly youths, were said to have been attacked at their farms last Saturday. The herdsmen reportedly launched the attack on the farms, killing six persons while several others were said to have escaped with gunshot wounds. A community leader and a relation of one of the deceased, who craved for anonymity, gave the names of those killed as Monday Hamza, 24, Toma Masara, 35, Chaka Rubutu, 26, Julius Golkofa, 19, Boboo Okocha, 18, and Sambo James, 17. According to the community leader, “Last Saturday, these young men that were killed went out as a group to their farms with a few others. “We were told that armed Fulani men attacked them on their farms and some of them escaped with bullet wounds. A search party on Sunday fou...