Hunger As Bandits Demands Cooked Food As Ransom For Kidnapped Victims
Bandits in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State are now demanding cooked food as ransom for kidnapped victims.
The bandits were said to have retrieved from attacking communities since the state Government banned weekly markets as part of measures to tackle insecurity in the state.
A youth leader in one of the villages of Birnin Gwari, Babangida Yaro, told Daily Trust that since the ban, bandits operating along Damari, Kutemashi and Kuyello villages only asked for cooked food each time they abduct people.
According to him, the ban on sale of fuel in filling stations located in rural communities had also helped to restrict their movement.
“There is relative peace around Damari, kuyello, Kutemashi because the bandits have stopped attacking our communities. They usually stay in the forest and seiz food items mostly cooked ones from vendors,” he said.
He added that when they abducted two or three persons in farms, one is allowed to go and get them food from their relatives as ransom since there is no communication network to make contact.
The youth leader added that Dogon Dawa area is still not completely safe because villagers are still scared of accessing their farmlands.
Babangida also lamented that the ban on use of private Motorcycles in the villages had increased hardship on the bandits as well as residents.
Hours after backing Tinubu, court orders EFCC to remove Dokpesi from watchlist
This new development comes after Mr Dokpesi threw his weight behind the presidential aspirations of Bola Tinubu.
The Federal High Court has ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to remove Raymond Dokpesi from its watch list.
The ruling, made by Chief Justice John Tsoho of the court’s Abuja Division on Monday held that there are no criminal charges or allegations currently raised against Mr Dokpesi.
Mr Tsoho ruled on an application filed and argued by Kanu Agabi on behalf of Mr Dokpesi.
The court held that a refusal of the EFCC to expunge Mr Dokpesi’s name from the watch list would amount to a disobedience of the Court of Appeal’s judgment quashing the N2.1 billion money laundering charges against him.
In April, the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja had dismissed the seven count money laundering charges filed against Mr Dokpesi by the EFCC.
This new development comes after Mr Dokpesi threw his weight behind former Lagos state governor Bola Tinubu’s presidential aspirations.
El-rufai announces cabinet reshuffle, Make new appointments
Nasir El-Rufai, the Governor of Kaduna State, has assigned new portfolios to some commissioners and senior officials of the state.
Muyiwa Adeleke, the Special Adviser to Governor El Rufai on Media and Communication, made this known in a statement on Monday.
“Muhammad Sani Abdullahi, the Chief of Staff, returns to the Planning and Budget Commission, the responsibility he held with distinction during Malam El-Rufai’s first term.
“It is the second time that a chief of staff to the governor is being reassigned as commissioner. In 2019, Muhammad Bashir Saidu, then chief of staff, was redeployed to the Ministry of Finance,” the statement read in part.
The commissioners and their new portfolios are Jaafaru Sani, Environment; Thomas Gyang, Public Works and Infrastructure; Halima Lawal, Education, Ibrahim Hussaini, Agriculture; Shehu Usman Muhammad; Local Government; Muhammad Sani Abdullahi, Planning and Budget Commission; Kabir Mato, Business, Innovation and Technology; Idris Nyam, Sports Development.
PandoraPapers: I have $15 million in Offshore accounts – Peter Obi
Former Governor of Anambra state, Peter Obi has revealed why he opened offshore accounts for himself and his family abroad.
Obi got into hot water after the release of the Pandora Papers, a project carried out by a global International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
The project saw 600 journalists from 150 news organisations around the world poring through a trove of 11.9 million confidential files.
The leaked files were retrieved from some offshore services firms around the world that set up shell companies and other offshore entities for clients. Obi was exposed in the report as one of the personalities who clandestinely set up and operated businesses overseas, including in notorious tax and secrecy havens in ways that breached Nigerian laws.
Appearing on Arise TV on Monday, monitored by POLITICS NIGERIA, he addressed the issue stating that the he breached no law and committed no crime. In his words;
“Trust company is a legitimate vehicle used everywhere globally for investment, savings and estate planning purposes. In my Particular case and that of my family, it was done on very valuable advice of our then bankers, Loyce TSB. This is what they did for all their international clients who operated at the time i lived in the UK. They will help you to see that the formulated trust company offshore and that is what we did.”
“This company was never used to launder money before, during and after till date. It wasn’t used for anything during my time in office. It was strictly a trust company for savings and family planning that was used to support our borrowings which we even invested in this country”.
When asked by one of the Programme anchors if he had $500 million in offshore accounts. Obi replied;
“If you see more than 3% of that, in there, confiscate all my properties here and abroad”.
He continued: “As a father, I save for my children, i save for my family and they Know”.
“If you go there and find more than 3%, about 3% which is about $15 million, if i bequeath my children $500 million, i have cursed them. There is money you bequeath People, you curse them. You bequeath them what is manageable so that they can start their life. If you see anything more than $15 million there, confiscate what i have overseas and here”.
(VIDEO) See What Davido Did To This Airport Staff Who Got Pushed Away By His Bodyguard
Popular Nigerian musician David Adeleke also known as Davido has shown how kind-hearted he is by behaving in a remarkable way towards one of his fans.
In a video posted on Instagram, Davido is seen walking towards an airplane in an airport located in Benin. An airport staff who happens to be a fan of the popular musician was trying to get a picture of himself and the musician together, but in a bid to protect his employer, Davido’s bodyguard pushed him away.
To apologize for his bodyguard actions, Davido later called for the hotel staff and grants him his wish of having a picture with him.
Those condemning brutal flogging of madrasa students encourage their children to go for BBNaija — MURIC
The Director and Founder of the Muslim Rights Concern, Professor Ishaq Akintola, on Monday urged Nigerians not to jump to conclusions over the viral video of some madrasa students being brutally flogged in Kwara State.
Although he noted that the punishment meted out to the students was ‘too harsh’, Akinsola said that those condemning the brutal flogging encourage their children to participate in the Big Brother Naija show.
Akintola aired his views in a statement released on MURIC‘s website where he urged the public to allow the state government to investigate the matter.
The statement read in part, “While we regard the punishment meted out to the students as too harsh, we maintain that the action of the school authorities should not be judged in isolation. The fact that the parents requested the school to discipline their children must not be ignored.
“MURIC is also in possession of another video in which the students confessed that they engaged in shameful and unIslamic actions, namely; visiting a club, drinking alcohol, bathing themselves with alcohol, etc. These are horrible acts in which ordinary Muslims must not be involved.
“Arabic schools are the repository of morality and the vault of uprightness. They are the conscience of the Ummah. The offence committed by those students becomes more unacceptable when the actors are students of an Arabic school who are expected to be the epitome of morality and religiosity.”
He continued “The abyss of moral decadence into which the Nigerian society has fallen is responsible for most of the woes facing us in this country today. Nigerians now indulge their children. Family values and norms have been thrown to the winds. Parents allow their children to dictate to them. Instead of parents condemning waywardness in their children and punishing them for it, they now condone and collaborate.”
Akintola further commended the parents of the flogged students for instructing the school authorities to punish them.
The Islamic cleric further stated that people condemning the act allow their children to participate in ‘BBNaija’s shameful sex in public’.
He said, “This is not London where a five-year-old child can call the police to arrest his mum for spanking him and all London police units will come racing to the house, blaring siren. This is not New York where a mother must seek permission from her three-year-old baby before the latter’s nappy can be changed. This is Nigeria, the heartbeat of Africa.
“We commend the parents of those children who instructed the school authorities to punish their children. Posterity will count them among Nigeria’s puritans and disciplinarians. Those who are condemning the parents and the teachers today are those who will gladly encourage their own children and wards to participate in BBNaija’s shameful sex in public.”
Akintola further urged the state government to investigate the matter.
“In the light of the above, we urge Muslims in Kwara State and the general public to allow the Kwara State Government to investigate the incident. The government itself must adopt a middle road. We invite parents and guardians to discipline their children and wards promptly and proportionately,” he said.
BREAKING: PDP BOT Member, Dokpesi Drums support for Tinubu’s 2023 Presidential Ambition
Chairman of Daar Communications Plc and Member, Board of Trustees for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Raymond Dokpesi has expressed support for the National leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu should he contest in the 2023 Presidential elections.
Dokpesi, in a recent interview with journalists in Abuja, canvassed support for Tinubu even though he also expressed support for the emergence of Northern Candidate as President in 2023.
He disclosed that Tinubu was a childhood friend.
“Let me tell you that Bola Ahmed Tinubu, before he became governor, when he was still in Mobil, you know the Headquarters of Mobil is just directly in front of my house in Lagos. As young men, we ate and drank together; we were close friends before he became governor.”
“He is a philanthropist; he is kind-hearted. He is supportive of the ordinary person available, and he has brought about bringing hope to people. For 2023, I wish him the very best in whatever he puts his hands on. So, it has nothing to do with politics; it is a matter of the good relationship we have always had and I cherish it and I want to keep it.”
POLITICS NIGERIA earlier reported that the media mogul had earlier criticised plans to field a candidate from the South-East for the 2023 elections.
Sunday Igboho is Seriously injured, Needs Urgent Medical Care – Lawyer opens up
Ibrahim Salami, one of the Cotonou, Benin Republic-based lawyers of Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, aka Sunday Igboho, has disclosed that his client wanted to travel to Germany in July to seek medical attention..
He disclosed that the activist sustained an injury during a face-off with operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) at his house in Soka, Ibadan, Oyo State.
Salami said this in a video interview published on BBC News Yoruba on Monday morning.
“He was injured – his right side – when the DSS stormed his home. And it is causing a lot of pain to him. It is because he is a warrior, that is why he is still alive,” Salami said in Yoruba language.
“He needs a competent doctor to take care of him. That is why he wanted to go to Germany.
“What he wants is that the Benin judges should grant him freedom, so that he would be able to go to Germany.”
Igboho clocked 49 years old in a detention facility in Cotonou, Benin Republic on Sunday. He is now reported to be seeking asylum in Benin Republic.
According to Politics Nigeria, There were reports that the Nigerian government pushed for an extradition of the activist but the news medium cannot independently verify this claim.
Kwara Islamic Cleric Justifies Brutalization Of Arabic Students (Video)
An Islamic cleric in Musbaudeen Al Islamy Arabic School, Ganmo, in Kwara State has justified the brutalization of some students of the Arabic school.
Five male and female students of the Islamic school were flogged by their senior colleagues in viral videos on the internet.
The development has stirred reaction online, as some people have called for legal actions to be taken in respect to the issue.
A cleric of the school while reacting to the incident said flogging of the students is in accordance with Islamic teachings.
He further stated that the parents of the affected students approved the severe flogging.
The cleric said, “Some parents called us, blaming us that we were not looking after their children who are kept under our care. They said we should check social media.
“We saw them in a club pouring Trophy beer on one of them to celebrate his birthday. In fact, a lady was with them and they were hugging her.
“This saddened us, especially with what their parents said against us. That’s why we gave them that kind of punishment.
“Those who are drinkers may not see anything bad what these children did. But to us, it’s very bad. We punished some four days ago and others three days ago. We don’t usually flog them. But their parents called us and some have assured us that they would stand with us to any length.”
Real Reason Why Atiku, Saraki Still Oppose David Mark as PDP national chairman
DESPITE widespread support for former Senate President, David Mark, for the position of National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, are still opposed to his emergence, The PUNCH has learnt.
It was gathered in Abuja, on Sunday, that although most stakeholders including the PDP-Governors Forum and the Board of Trustees, have endorsed Mark for the position, the two-party chieftains are said to prefer a candidate from the North West.
A new twist was also added to the chairmanship race with news that the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, is soliciting support for another Benue son, former Senate President, Iyorchia Ayu.
A usually reliable party source who spoke to our correspondent, on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, said “Politics is about interests either personal or collective.
“It is public knowledge that both Atiku and Saraki, have Presidential ambitions. A David Mark emerging as National Chairman is likely to alter their calculations.
“For Atiku, Mark is seen as too strong willed and will be uncompromising. For Saraki, a Mark coming from the same north central zone may not work in his favour because it will mean the remaining two zones, the North East and the North West will be the only ones in contention for the Presidential ticket.
“They had both worked hard to make the Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuayi-led zoning committee to throw open the chairmanship position in their recommendations; but it didn’t quite work out.
“What Mark has going for him is apart from his personal attributes have led the Senate without any major rancour for eight straight years, he has remained with the party since inception.”
When contacted, Atiku’s Media Adviser, Mazi Paul Ibe, said, “Everybody knows the Waziri Adamawa is a committed democrat and will, as always, respect the sanctity of the ballot.
“The position was zoned to the north and no individual can determine who becomes chairman, it will require a consensus among party members from the zone.
“The former Vice President as an experienced democrat remains committed ensuring that the party gets the best person to lead the party to victory.”
Also, the Chief Press Secretary to the Benue State Governor Nathaniel Ikyur, said, “His Excellency, the Governor of Benue State, is a team player, he is working with his colleague governors and other party stakeholders to ensure that the best man for the job gets it.
“He, like all loyal party members wants a national chairman who can lead the party to victory. If Benue State gets the privilege to provide this leadership, our party and Nigeria will be the better for it.”
Attempts to get a response from Saraki were futile. Calls to his Media Adviser, Yusuf Olaniyonu were neither picked nor returned. A response to a text message sent to him on the subject was still being awaited as at the time of filing this report.
