The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Iyorchia Ayu, on Saturday led four former governors and members of the party’s National Working Committee to meet with ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo at his residence in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
It was gathered that members of the main opposition party arrived at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Oke Mosan, Abeokuta, at about 12:25 pm.
Those in attendance include former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, former Governors, Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo), Liyel Imoke (Cross River) and Donald Duke (Cross River).
The Deputy National Chairman of PDP (South), Taofeek Arapaja, and other party officials are in attendance.
Obasanjo was not at his residence, as of the time of the PDP member’s arrival, as he is attending the interdenominational service for the burial of the late Olowu of Owu, Oba Adegboyega Dosunmu.
The former President later joined his guests and they went into a closed-door session.
Seriki Fulani in Ibarapaland, Alhaji Saliu Abdulkadir, who was evicted from his Igangan residence this day last year says the daring nature of Sunday Adeyemo, a Yoruba youth leader better known as Sunday Igboho, is why he is opposed to his release.
The evicted Sarkin Fulani who has relocated to Ilorin, Kwara State since the incident while speaking on the earlier quit notice issued by Igboho prior to his eviction, explained that he did not handle the eviction notice with levity. According to him, he got assurance from the Oyo state government after the quit notice but he was surprised that Igboho carried out his threat without anybody challenging him.
He told Daily Trust in a report published on Saturday: “For those seven days, the state government sent 14 police officers to us and they were guiding us but the police officers were overpowered by Sunday Igboho’s men. This is why I don’t support the call for the release of Igboho.
“I am sure he must be regretting his actions now. Any Nigerian can live in any part of the country and I have always said that there are criminals everywhere. There are criminals among Yoruba just like we have among the Fulani people. This is where we expected the government to come in and fish out those who are criminally minded.”
Abdulkadir said one year later, he still hoped that justice would be served and he would be compensated for the properties lost during the crisis.
Igboho is currently being detained in a prison facility in the Republic of Benin, after he was arrested with Ropo, his wife, at Cardinal Bernardin International Airport, Cotonou, while on his way to Germany in July 2021. He had been declared wanted by Nigerian authorities for his separatist activities.
Fighting raged for a third day Saturday between the Islamic State group and Kurdish forces in Syria after IS attacked a prison housing jihadists, in violence that has claimed over 70 lives, a monitor said.
The assault on the Ghwayran prison in the northern city of Hasakeh is one of IS’s most significant since its “caliphate” was declared defeated in Syria nearly three years ago.
“At least 28 members of the Kurdish security forces, five civilians and 45 members of IS have been killed” in the violence, said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
IS launched the attack on Thursday night against the prison housing some 3,500 suspected members of the jihadist group, including some of its leaders, said the Observatory.
Hundreds of jihadist inmates had since been detained and around 10 were believed to have escaped, said the Observatory, a Britain-based monitor that relies on sources inside war-torn Syria for its information.
“The exceptional situation continues in and around the prison,” said Farhad Shami, spokesman for the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The fighting on Saturday morning was taking place north of the prison, he added.
The jihadist group said in a statement released by its Amaq news agency that its attack on the jail aimed to “free the prisoners”.
IS has carried out regular attacks against Kurdish and government targets in Syria since the rump of its once-sprawling proto-state was overrun on the banks of the Euphrates in March 2019.
Most of their guerrilla attacks have been against military targets and oil installations in remote areas, but the Hasakeh prison break could mark a new phase in the group’s resurgence.
The Kurdish authorities have long warned they do not have the capacity to hold, let alone put on trial, the thousands of IS fighters captured in years of operations.
According to Kurdish authorities, more than 50 nationalities are represented in a number of Kurdish-run prisons, where more than 12,000 IS suspects are now held.
The war in Syria broke out in 2011 and has since killed close to half a million people and spurred the largest conflict-induced displacement since World War II.
Players from the women’s football team in the Minawao refugee camp attend an Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) game.Players from the women’s football team in the Minawao refugee camp attend an Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) game.
Young Nigerian refugees, who received tickets for the Nigeria-Sudan match, took a bus to Garoua in northern Cameroon to support the Super Eagles at the African Cup of Nations.
It has been years since they fled Nigeria and the abuses of the jihadists of Boko Haram, for years they have lived in a refugee camp in Minawao, in the far north of Cameroon. Nigeria beat Sudan 3 goals to 1, it is with a smile that Lucy recounts this adventure.
“Since the time that they informed us that we were going to support our team, Nigeria, we were very happy, Lucy recalls. As soon as we entered the car and started moving, we were smiling. And then they (Nigeria) won, and we were very happy with them. We are wishing they bring the cup to Nigeria.”
In their camp in Minawao, these young girls play football. They have set up a team and train when they can, with the means at hand. Opened in July 2013, the camp has 70,000 refugees, and the soccer field occupies part of this camp. Recently, a donation from German cooperation enabled the boys to obtain a few jerseys and balls, but nothing for the women’s team. To pursue their passion, these young people are waiting for equipment.
“Sometimes when we are playing, we don’t have shoes for playing. That is a problem. Sometimes we have pain in our legs, sometimes we don’t have jerseys, we just go and play with our clothes like that, so if it is possible, we need shoes and jerseys.” explains Christine David, a player from the Minawao camp.
Over time, situations like that of the Nigerians begin to be forgotten by the big donors. Camp officials are pleading for more resources because needs are changing and the conditions for development must now be created.
More than a dozen girls have been abducted by Boko Haram terrorists in their latest attack in a community in Chibok Local Government Area of Borno State.
The insurgents broke into the town on Thursday night after shooting in different directions.
Civilians fled into the bush and surrounding villages when the gunmen struck at Pemi village, near Chibok. The insurgents were said to have torched not less than 20 houses, including a branch of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN) Church.
According to a resident, the leader of vigilantes in the community was the main target as the local guards have waged war against the insurgents in the axis.
The terrorists captured the vigilante group’s commander and slit his throat.
Eight of those abducted escaped, but 17 girls are in captivity.
Chibok came to prominence in April 2014 when Islamist fighters stormed a boarding school and kidnapped 276 girls, causing global outrage.
Fifty-seven girls managed to escape in the immediate aftermath but some are still being held and have not been seen since they appeared in a Boko Haram video in May that year.
A Senior Secondary School 2 student, identified as Umar Goni has been arrested by operatives of the Borno state Police Command for allegedly attempting to murder one of his junior colleagues.
It was learnt that the incident happened behind the hostel of a popular private school, El-Kanmi College of Islamic Theology in Maiduguri, Borno State capital, on Wednesday night.
Goni was said to have used a razor blade to slit the throat of Jibrin Sadi Ramadan, his younger colleague, after a minor disagreement.
A source said that the victim, who is of about 12 years, was sent on an errand by his senior, but Ramadan didn’t go, and later on, the senior boy called him to a quiet place where he used razor blade to severely cut his neck.
The source added that the victim was found lying unconsciously in a pool of blood at the backyard of their hostel.
He was subsequently rushed to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, and admitted to the Intensive Care Unit.
DAILYTRUST reports that the victim, who is currently at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the hospital, is still in critical condition.
A staff member of the school, who described the incident as unfortunate, lamented the attitude of some teachers towards the pupils because most of the boarding students are from rich and influential backgrounds.
He alleged that indiscipline is rife in the school due to “material things that staff get from parents of students”.
The suspect is said to be currently at the Homicide Section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department.
Also speaking Nasiru Mato, an uncle of the victim, said, “From our own findings, one SS2 student known as Fairoz dragged our child behind their dormitory and used razor blade to cut his throat from different angles.
“Our son eventually fainted and the culprit ran away, thinking that the child was already dead… We received a distress call from the school management on Wednesday morning on the development and we rushed to Maiduguri Teaching hospital and found our child in a sorry state. At the moment, he is surviving on tracheostomy even as the doctors said it is difficult for him regain his voice after having some of his veins cut.
“We demand proper medical attention for the child, the school and law enforcement must also take necessary measures to investigate and prosecute the perpetrator.”
Mato also said the family is not satisfied with the way the school management is handling the matter.
He added that the school only told them that the culprit is under police custody but refused to speak much about his identity.
Another family member doesn’t want to be named said the school management has convinced the child’s step father who his their close ally not to take the matter up.
Nigerians have called for justice and gross punishment of the alleged killer of Hanifa, a five-year-old pupil who was reportedly abducted by her teacher, Abdulmalik Tanko, and eventually killed after 47 days in captivity in Kano State.
The child was returning home from school earlier in December when she was waylaid by her teacher and other suspects who promised to take her home in a tricycle but fled with her, the pupil’s uncle, Suraj Zubair, told Humangle.
Eventually, Hanifa was allegedly poisoned to death and her body cut into pieces and put in a polythene bag.
According to the Kano State Police command, the suspects had demanded N6 million ransom for her release.
Following an investigation by the police command, the girl’s decomposed body was discovered and the prime suspect’s arrest made public on Thursday.
Nigerians who reacted on social media called for death penalty for the suspect as contained in Kano Anti-Kidnapping Law.
As of Friday morning, #JusticeForHanifa was trending at number two spot on Twitter with over 14,000 reactions on the microblogging app. Below are some of their reactions:
@Yazeed_Zeezah said, “May Allah (SWT) grant the family of this beautiful girl the fortitude to bear the loss. The culprit should be dealt with severely or even executed, what is this world turning into? This is just not right, my heart is so broken. #JusticeForHanifa #JusticeForHanifa”.
@Iam_bayyah said, “Wondering how he poisoned her, how he watched her struggling to die and how he cut her into pieces. Is he really human?”.
@HilarySeiyefa said, “Hearing how this beautiful child was killed in a gruesome manner brought chills down my spine. Some Humans are really heartless and shouldn’t be considered as living things. Such evil & demonic act the perpetrators should be killed #JusticeForHanifa”.
@the_scholar1 said, “Noble Kids school should be demolished to the ground, the school authorities should bear part of the consequences”.
@cbngov_akin1 said, “SAD NEWS Kano Anti-Kidnapping Law should be apply here. This animal should face CAPITA PUNISHMENT for killing this little Girl, HANIFA, death penalty should be the gain for all the barbarians that kidnapped & killed this little angel We should ALL voice out”.
@MFaarees_ said, “Whoever says these terrorist bandits and kidnappers do not deserve death penalty is a f**king hypocrite. Every killer of an innocent soul deserves to be k!lled. That’s the only punishment they deserve”.
The police had however said that the case will be charged to court upon completion of the investigation.
Two factions of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa State reportedly engaged in a bloody fight on Thursday, January 20.
It was gathered that the party members engaged in a brawl in Yenagoa, the state capital over the choice of candidate to contest the position of member of the Federal House of Representatives come 2023.
Naija News learnt that a car belonging to one Ada Morris, an aide to the State Governor, was wrecked and set ablaze during the process.
The political hoodlums reportedly attacked each other with matchet and deadly weapons and as well set many cars of the opponent group ablaze.
2023: Cars Burnt, Scores Injured As PDP Factions Clash In Bayelsa
PDP Rivalry Clash in Bayelsa 2
The development is understood to have thrown residents of the Kpansia community into panic. According to Daily Post, the supporters involved in the bloody clash belong to two rival camps, one for the State Commissioner of Health, Newton Aguele and a member of the State House of Assembly representing the constituency, Oforji Oboku.
Campaign music and dance performance around the Kpansia area by supporters of the State Health Commissioner, Newton Aguele is said to have triggered the chaos as the angry rivals launched an attack.
Naija News, however, learnt that some of the burnt vehicles have been towed to the State Police headquarters following the arrival of the force to calm the situation.
Reports also had it that the key actors in the clash have been summoned by the State Commissioner of Police for an emergency meeting.
On his part when contacted, the spokesman of the Bayelsa Police Command, SP Asinim Butswat said the force has responded to the clash and that there is an ongoing investigation to understand the motive behind such violence.
The Nigerian Governors’ Forum on Thursday commended the Nigerian Senate for re-amending the Electoral Act Amendment Bill and providing room for direct, indirect, and consensus options for nominating candidates for the various political parties in the country.
In a communique issued after the meeting and signed by the Chairman of the forum, Mr Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, they commended the Senate for amending clause 84 regarding the mode of candidate selection in the Electoral Act Amendment Bill and urged the House of Representatives to do the same by adding the consensus clause.
According to the communique, the governors also discussed issues regarding the nation’s security challenges, health, food security, among others.
Concerning fuel subsidy removal, the Forum “concluded to engage the leadership of the Nigerian Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress on how best to address this issue without causing any disaffection or with the view to savaging the Nigerian economy for the Nigerian people at the end of the day.
“So, we shall be engaging the Nigerian Labour Congress as sub-national leaders with the view to ensuring that the outcome of our engagement will also be fed into the national discuss,” the statement said.
The governors “Also discussed the health update particularly in relation to COVID-19 infections and expressed happiness that the current Omicron variant has been declining progressively. However, we also noted that there is the need for States led by us to ramp up the COVID-19 vaccination exercise.
“On Nutrition which remains a priority of the Government, Governors concluded that there is need to increase our support in terms of budgetary provisions for nutrition.”
Governors at the meeting include the NGF Chairman and Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi; Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje; Nasarawa Governor Abdullahi Sule; Anambra Governor Willie Obiano; Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde and Osun State Governor Gboyeba Oyetola.
Also at the meeting are Deputy Governors of Gombe; Yobe; Enugu; Bauchi; Lagos; Ondo; Benue; Katsina; Rivers; and Kogi.
It is the first meeting of the forum in the year 2022.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday in Kaduna said he narrowly escaped being bombed near the Kawo bridge, while travelling to Katsina State in July 2014.
Buhari is on a state visit to Kaduna State.
Speaking at the newly constructed Kawo bridge executed by the Governor Nasir El-Rufai administration, Buhari recalled, “There was an attempt to bomb me here…there was a market nearby….” adding that his security escorts were vigilant.
As part of the visit to Kaduna, President Muhammadu Buhari commissioned the ultra-modern sports and shopping complex at Murtala Square Kaduna.
The president reiterated the likelihood of making Kaduna his home after leaving office.
The president’s entourage was led by El-Rufai, and he would commission other projects in Zaria, the northern part of the state.
Buhari has, however, always used Kaduna as his home state before winning election in 2015. This is the first official visit to the state to commission public projects since his election.
