The control tower of the Kaduna Airport was yesterday ravaged by fire, severely damaging it. According to witnesses, fire started briefly after 3pm on Easter Sunday and was not put out until the control tower was razed down. “As I am talking to you now, fired has razed down the control tower,” a witness at the scene told PM News. The airport was subsequently closed following the damage done to the control tower. Yakubu Dati, spokesperson of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) however said the fire was “minor” and had been brought under control. All personnel on duty…
Author: Wale Adebayo
24 Suspects have been arrested by the Taraba State POlice Command in connection with a clash which occurred in Wukari on 15 April leading to some deaths. Police spokesperson in the state, ASP Joseph Kwaji said on Sunday that the suspects would be charged to court soon. “The command has so far arrested 24 persons in connection with the current Wukari crisis, I can assure you that the suspects would soon be prosecuted,” he said. Violence had on April 15 broken out in Wukari, Taraba state when youths in the town protested the alleged killings in some villages by suspected…
One hundred and ten suspects have been arrested by the Ogun State Police Command after multiple raids of black spots across the State. The raids were carried out in Sagamu,Ijebu Ode,Ilaro, Otta and Abeokuta and the operations were supervised by the Deputy Commissioner in charge of Department of Operations DCP Akpoebi Agberebi. The State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) DSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi revealed that the Command worked on the intelligence gathered from the State Intelligence Bureau of the Command on black spots in Ogun, which propelled the raids and eventually led to the arrest of the suspects. “The Command had…
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has debunked rumours of feud between the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison Madueke and its Group Managing Director, GMD, Engr. Andrew Yakubu. The Group General Manager, GGM, Public Affairs Division of the NNPC, Mr. Ohi Alegbe, in a statement, yesterday, said that the two were “in harmonious working relationship.” According to him, the Minister of Petroleum Resources and the NNPC, in the last few months, have heeded countless number of summons from the National Assembly, wondering why the media would go to town with the reports that the Petroleum Minister was doing…
The management of National Hospital, Abuja, where some victims and corpses of last Monday bomb blast were taken to, said it had only released three of the 15 corpses that were deposited at the hospital’s morgue because of the medical processes involved in case government decides to compensate the relations of the deceased. Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee of the hospital, Dr. Tony Okam, told Vanguard shortly after the Deputy Senate President visited the hospital to sympathize with the injured, weekend, that the hospital decided to follow all necessary due processes and documentation before releasing the corpses. Okam, who explained that…
While Nigerians celebrated Easter Sunday, it was a bloody day in Taraba State yesterday as no fewer than 15 persons were killed in an attack on Gidin-Doruwa village, Wukari Local Government Area. Twenty residents were injured. Residents of the village said over 52 houses were burnt down in the attack, which came barely 24 hours after Acting Governor Garba Umar visited Wukari to plead for peace. Eye-witnesses said the gunmen opened fire on the town in the wee hours of Sunday when Christians were still celebrating the Night of Light to mark the resurrection of Jesus Christ. When the residents,…
Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) has lamented the terror being unleashed on innocent Nigerians by Islamist sect Boko Haram. In a statement by its General Secretary, Peters Adeyemi, NASU recalled the April 14, 2014 bombing at Nyanya Motor Park, Abuja, which claimed over 100 lives with over 250 others injured, and the abduction of several female students from a Government Girls Secondary School, GGSS, in Chibok, Borno State, 24 hours after the Nyanya bombing. NASU argued that it was unbelievable that one week after, the whereabouts and safety of some of the abducted students had remained…
Governor of Borno State, Alhaji Kashim Shettima lamented that the last seven days have been the worst in his life since becoming governor in 2011, following the abduction of 129 girls from a secondary school in the state. The statement came as seven more girls escaped from captivity, bringing the total number of those who have escaped to 52 leaving 77 still in captivity. Shettima made this known in the Easter message released by his spokesman, Isa Gusau following the abduction of 129 school girls at Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State last week. The Governor said although…
General Yakubu Gowon, yesterday, lamented that the country had fallen into a full scale civil war, with the spate of crises in the northeast. Gowon made the assertion while speaking to Vanguard on the sideline of events marking the 75th birthday of former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Ufot Ekaette, stressing that it was imperative for the government to firmly deal with the rising wave of terrorism in the country so as to keep the country one. The former head of state who was at the helm of affairs during a 30-month-old civil war pointed out that…
Governor of Rivers State and Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, has called on Nigerians to pray for the release of all the abducted schoolgirls in Borno State by suspected members of Boko Haram sect. He made the call on the backdrop of the abduction of about 129 students of Government Girls’ Secondary School, Chibok, by unknown gunmen, even as 44 students had reportedly regained their freedom. The governor, who made this call in his Easter message on Saturday, also called for prayers for the unity of the country. In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Amaechi…
The current fuel scarcity across the country may not come to an end soon, following the Federal Government’s N151 billion indebtedness to oil marketers, indications have emerged. The Independent Petroleum Marketers’ Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, said that the Federal Government still owes oil marketers N151 billion outstanding fuel subsidy claims. IPMAN said that sequel to the last fuel scarcity experienced nationwide, government made frantic efforts and released N41 billion for part-payment of what it owed marketers to enable them continue product supply, but before then government had not paid marketers since September 2013. The executive secretary of the Petroleum Products…
A cult of teenage homos*xuals patronised by gay men exists in Warri, Delta State Government yesterday revealed. Making the disclosure in his Easter message to Deltans at the First Baptist Church, Warri, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan said teenagers from ages 15 to 18 belong to the sect named Yansh, and live in rented apartments close to Enerhen Junction, Warri, where men come to sleep with them. “These are our sons and men come to sleep with them. It is through the Edu Marshals Programme that we discovered them. We used to know about female harlots, now we have male harlots. Unfortunately…
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, gubernatorial candidate in the June 21 governorship elections in Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, has described as a failure, the education policy of the president administration of Governor Kayode Fayemi. Fayose, who stated this while addressing a mammoth crowd of supporters at Imesi Ekiti, in Ekiti West Local Government Area of the state, said that despite the media hype surrounding Fayemi’s achievements in the education sector, the state came 34th in the last WAEC examinations. In a press statement issued on Saturday by his media aide, Idowu Adelusi, Fayose recalled that when he became governor in…
A group under the aegis of Association for Better Kogi State has commended the decision of the state governor, Capt. Idris Wada to sack his entire state Executive Council. The group chairman, Henry Musa, who gave the commendation while speaking with journalists in Lokoja, said the sack was long overdue. He noted that the governor did the right thing by sacking the commissioners because most of them were just there to collect their salaries and allowances without doing their job. According to him, if the sacked commissioners were to be judged by performance, only few of them could be adjudged…
Gunmen in northern Nigeria set fire to a staff residential building at a girls’ secondary school on Sunday but the 195 students sleeping in their nearby dormitories were unharmed, police and a teacher said. The attack in Bauchi state came less than a week after Boko Haram Islamists kidnapped 129 teenage schoolgirls from the Chibok area of Borno state in the northeast. Forty-four of those girls have since escaped. “At about 2:30 am (0130 GMT), unknown gunmen carried out coordinated attacks in Yana town,” Bauchi’s police spokesman Haruna Mohammed said. They burnt “several buildings including a staff quarters of a…
Weekend drone strikes in Yemen killed more than 40 suspected Al-Qaeda militants, including 30 on Sunday, days after the jihadist network’s Arabian Peninsula offshoot vowed to fight against Western “crusaders”. The United States is the only country that operates drones in Yemen, and President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi has defended their use, despite criticism from rights groups who deplore civilian casualties. On Sunday US drones fired “several missiles” into a training camp run by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in the rugged Wadi Ghadina region in the southern province of Abyan, a tribal chief said. “More than 30 members of…
President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday reiterated that Nigeria would overcome its current tribulations and that no criminal group, including Boko Haram, could make it to disintegrate. The President stated this when FCT Minister, Sen. Bala Mohammed and Sen. Philip Aduda (PDP-FCT), led some residents to pay him Easter homage at the Presidential Villa. The President said the hope brought by the resurrection of Jesus Christ gives him assurance that insurgency in the country was ephemeral. “To me, Easter is the most important in Christian faith because our hope would have been in vain without the resurrection of Christ. “The resurrection…
The Presidency has again maintained its stand that opposition politicians are behind Boko Haram killings in the country. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe, who was a guest on Channels Television Sunrise Programme yesterday, was responding to a question on whether he believed that Nigerians loathed President Goodluck Jonathan. The presidential aide argued that Jonathan was the most maligned president the nation had ever produced. “What is the volume of blood of Nigerians those who want power require to unseat Jonathan?” Okupe asked. Okupe, who likened the Boko Haran insurgency to a war…
The Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro has said that Nigeria needs prayers to overcome her current security challenges. Moro, who stated this in his Easter message signed by his spokesperson, George Udoh, therefore, charged Christians to pray fervently for the country. He specifically called for prayers for the release of about 100 students of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, who were abducted by suspected Boko Haram gunmen last Monday. He also urged all Nigerians, especially the Christian faithful, to imbibe the spirit of sacrifice and forgiveness as they celebrate Easter. Mr. Moro reminded them of the importance…
Police in Bauchi State said suspected gunmen set ablaze some houses in the staff quarters of Government Girls Secondary School, Yana, killing a five-year old girl on Sunday. The police spokesperson in the state, DSP Haruna Mohammed, told the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday in Bauchi that the gunmen also burnt a telecommunication mast in the town. He said they stole a private car belonging to the principal of the school, assuring the public that other students in the school were safe. “Unknown gunmen attacked the staff quarters of GGSS Yana, Shira Local Government Area of the state, around…