Some governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have embarked on fresh move to zone the presidential ticket of the party in the 2023 general election to the South, in line with the position of the 17 southern governors that power should shift to the South in 2023, THISDAY has learnt.
Also, in a first major endorsement for power shift by a member of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, has expressed support for the emergence of a president from the southern part of the country, insisting that the All Progressives Congress (APC) agreed after merger to rotate presidency between North and the South.
This development is coming as the National Chairman of the PDP, Senator Iyorchia Ayu has enjoined Nigerians not to be hopeful of any meaningful change from the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration in 2022, saying the ruling party is bent on bringing more hardship to Nigerians.
THISDAY gathered that as part of the strategic consultations to realise this aspiration, some PDP governors had met with one of their colleagues in the North-east to help mount pressure on former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to accept the position of the Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the party.
A source close to the governors and who is also privy to the new permutations in the main opposition party told THISDAY off-record that the incumbent chairman of the PDP BoT, Senator Walid Jubrin would be rounding off his tenure before the 2023 general election.
The PDP had zoned its national chairmanship ticket to the North, raising hopes that the presidential candidate would emerge from the southern part of the country.
But the body language of Atiku and some other chieftains of the party from the North has revealed that they are nursing the ambition to contest the position.
However, the source told THISDAY that the PDP governors were working to prevail on Atiku to drop his ambition and allow power to shift to the South for the sake of justice and fairness.
While acknowledging that Atiku is eminently qualified to contest the 2023 presidential election, the source added that the clamour for power shift and the issue of age could work against the former vice president.
“Atiku will be almost 77 years by 2023 as he is currently 75 years and that Nigerians may not accept such an old presidential candidate in view of the present circumstances of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“PDP gave Atiku the ticket in 2019 and may not be in a position to take the same gamble again.
“The governors are thinking of allowing the former vice president to settle for the office of the chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT),” he explained.
With the popular agitation for power shift, the source further explained that the two leading political parties – PDP and APC may ensure the repeat of what happened in 1999 where the PDP and the then All Peoples Party (APP) produced two presidential candidates -Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Chief Olu Falae from the South, to pacify the South-west over the annulment of the 1993 presidential election won by the late Chief MKO Abiola.
According to the source, a repeat of the 1999 configuration would promote equity and fairness as well as address the agitation against marginalisation.
He noted that if power shifts to the South, the odds would favour the South-east geopolitical zone.
He explained that the PDP stakeholders were buying into the sentiments of ensuring equity and fairness to push for the emergence of the party’s presidential candidate from the South.
According to him, it is feared that if the PDP goes ahead to produce a presidential candidate outside of the southern states and the APC eventually ensures that it picks its presidential candidate from the south, the main opposition party will lose sympathy as many Nigerians will support APC to ensure the emergence of a president of southern extraction by 2023.
“In whatever that we are doing, the continued unity of Nigeria should be taken into consideration. We are all aware of what happened in 1999 when the issue of June 12 threatened the nation.
“What is happening now is more than the June 12 agitation because of the nepotism of the present administration. There must be a Nigeria before we talk of the 2023 general election. There must be unity before everything and everybody must reason on how best to assuage the heightened tension in the country. It will not be business as usual. We must make compromises,” the source further explained.
A three-storey building has gone up in flames on New year’s day after suspected electrical appliances exploded shortly after power supply was restored to the building.
As of the time of filing this report, there were no casualties figures reported yet but property worth millions of naira have been lost to the sudden inferno.
The building is located at Onadeko street, off Anjorin Street, Lawanson in Surulere, Lagos State.
An eyewitness told our correspondent that, “The men of the Federal Fire Service and Lagos State Fire Service arrived about an hour at the scene after the fire incident started but they were unable to put out the fire owing to bad equipment that malfunctioned at the scene of the incident.”
According to the eyewitness, Mr Ladi Sarumi, “an explosion was heard at the last floor of the building shortly after power supply was restored to the building, while an alternative power supply source, a generator set was still on.”
He said, “The landlord is currently on holiday, in Ebonyi State, but the wife and domestic staff are at home when the fire broke out.”
As of the time of filing this report, No official of The Lagos State Emergency Management (LASEMA) official was on the ground and calls made to the agency were not taken nor any feedback yet but efforts to put out the fire by neighbours are ongoing at the scene.
Bandit Leaders, Kachalla, Auta, Others Killed as Military Raids Zamfara Forest, Village on New Year
Wanted bandit leaders, Alhaji Auta, and Kachalla Ruga, have been killed in a forest in Zamfara State, PRNigeria can authoritatively report.
The notorious bandit Commanders met their waterloo after a Nigerian Air Force (NAF) aircraft, under Operation Hadarin Daji, acted on credible intelligence, and bombarded their enclaves, at Gusami Forest and Tsamre Village in Birnin Magaji Local Government Area of the State, last night.
Multiple airstrikes by the NAF jet, which were carried out in the early hours of Saturday, also eliminated Auta, and Ruga’s cohorts, PRNigeria learnt.
Sources confirmed that dozens of bandits who had converged at late Auta’s residence, for his burial were also struck by missiles of the military jet, with an unconfirmed number killed in the process.
A military intelligence officer told PRNigeria that follow-up airstrikes conducted by the NAF fighter aircraft on fleeing bandits and those who took cover under trees within the area, resulted in heavy casualties on the side of the criminals.
“For now, the whereabouts of other notorious bandits like Alhaji Nashama, Shingi and Halilu who may either be incapacitated or on the run remain unknown,” the officer added.
PRNigeria, further gathered from the military source, that aggressive bombardments by NAF aircrafts, have in recent times been very precise and effective in hitting bandits’ enclaves,eliminating their leaderships and followers, in the process.
“These operations have reassured citizens of the commitment and dedication of the military and other security agencies, towards bringing the threats posed by banditry under check, in no distant time.
“The citizens, especially around the affected communities, are enjoined to continually provide security agencies with credible information that will go a long way towards tackling the threats to their lives and livelihood,” he said.
The year 2021 was beclouded with a lot of uncertainty, ailments, deaths and hardship for many people, also, some clerics passed on while some lost members of their families.
It has become a norm for prophets, pastors and other clerics to make bold assertions tagged prophecies at the end of a year or beginning of a new one regarding events that have yet to unfold.
Expectedly, the year 2021 was not short of such prophecies.
However, SaharaReporters observed that many of the pastors were more careful with their prophecies this year following the backlash they got in 2020, as none of them made a direct reference to COVID-19 and its effect, in their prophecies.
Nigerians are known to be very religious people. A report by Council on Foreign Relations noted that religion is central to the lives of most Nigerians, whether they self-identify as Christian or Muslim.
Particularly for the Christian citizens, many look forward to these prophecies which are customarily focused on politics, economy, natural disasters and general optimistic predictions about the future of religious adherents.
However, while some of the prophecies made are fulfilled, some others miss the mark while some prophets have been criticised by Nigerian netizens over their inability to foresee disasters awaiting them in the coming year.
The year 2021 was beclouded with a lot of uncertainty, ailments, deaths and hardship for many people, also, some clerics passed on while some lost members of their families.
Paul Okikijesu
In January 2021, Apostle Paul Okikijesu of the Christ Apostolic Miracle Ministry claimed in a series of prophecies that a sitting male governor, will die while a woman will take over after much crisis.
He had said, “A male governor will die and the Deputy Governor who is female will assume the position of the Governor of the state.
“Thus says the Lord: They will agree that the woman who is the Deputy Governor should be the Interim Governor. It will be like the case of (Goodluck) Jonathan and (Umaru) Yar'Adua.”
SaharaReporters observed that of the 36 states of the federation, only four state governors have women as their deputies: Enugu, Kaduna, Ogun, Rivers.
From January 2021 till date, there has been no official report of the death of any of the incumbent governors of the states nor a takeover by their female deputies.
Primate Ayodele Elijah
At the beginning of the year, Primate Elijah Ayodele, the leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church predicted that there will be cases of kidnap and fights in the Aso Rock as he called for cleansing. This prophecy was not fulfilled even though there were a series of kidnap incidents in Nigeria during the year.
He had also said, “The spirit of God says that “Nigeria must be prayerful not to lose any ambassador.”
Also, no Nigerian ambassador has been reported dead in 2021, as predicted.
The seer also asserted that the deadly COVID 19 'will kill' a Health Minister and a commissioner. This prophecy did not come to fulfilment.
On COVID-19, the prophet said Nigeria will produce her own COVID-19 Vaccine, stating that the Coronavirus will spread more at the latter part of the year but it will start subsiding from the month of August.
From available records, Nigeria currently depends on vaccines supplied from advanced countries of the world.
Just recently, the Nigerian government destroyed 1 million expired dosages of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The expired dosages are part of the 2,594,100 doses of Vaccines received on the 11th and 29th October of 2021.
According to government officials, one million, five hundred and twenty-seven thousand, eight hundred and eighty-six of the vaccines (1,527,886) were said to have been utilised.
Nigeria is yet to officially announce its production of vaccines for treating COVID-19. Vaccines administered include: The Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine, a viral vector vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca; The Moderna COVID‑19 vaccine developed by Moderna, the United States National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and the Johnson and Johnson developed by Janssen Pharmaceuticals headquartered in Beerse, Belgium.
Also, the country administers The BioNTech, Pfizer vaccine manufactured by BioNTech, Fosun Pharma, Pfizer in China and The Sputnik V vaccine developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute in Russia.
The cleric also stated that the Cherubim and Seraphim church will lose a very prominent Baba Aladura. This prophecy was not fulfilled.
Nigel Galsie
A Ghana-based pastor, Prophet Nigel Gaisie, who is the founder of the Prophetic Hill Chapel had said Nigeria’s Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo will become president in 2021.
“Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will become president,” he had said.
This prophecy missed the mark.
Theophilus Ebonyi
Also, Apostle Theophilus Ebonyi, the Senior Pastor of Faith on the Rock Ministry International said the nation would witness a shift in government without an election where the number two will assume the number one position without elections or coup.
He said, “2021 is the year of the Lord where God himself will be humbling some demonic powers, forces and satanic agenda bedevilling the Nation."
“God revealed to me in the place of prayer his blessings and intervention in the affairs of Nigeria that government will witness a shift that is going to give ground to the number two citizen to become number one so saith the Lord,” the cleric declared.
As of the time of filing this report, Nigeria's president officially remains President Muhammadu Buhari while Osinbanjo retains his position as the number two man.
Okwudili Eze
The mandated prophet of Zion Heritage And Miracle Ministries, Bishop Okwudili Eze in his 2021 prophecies said some church leaders will be arrowheads of target for arrest in 2021.
Taking a clue from the #EndSARS protest which rocked the country in 2020, the prophet predicted that there will be mass demonstrations in 2021 that will affect the economy and create confusion.
While there were mass demonstrations over the arrest and detention of Nnamdi Kanu, Sunday Igboho and the recent #NorthIsBleeding protest, none of these can be said to have affected the economy negatively as the protesters had simply registered their displeasure.
Eze also stated that there will be more stringent visa policies on Nigerian politicians which will affect the innocent among them. As of now, there is no such policy in place.
He also predicted that an attempt will be made to change the capital of a Nigerian state but such a move will be resisted amidst heavy criticism. This attempt was never made.
He had also said, [b)“There shall be some good news in the power sector. Electricity tariffs shall experience a review, though not without mass protest and insistence. So the new #EndSARS will be on Power.” [/b]
Meanwhile, just recently the People's Alternative Political Movement (TPAP-M), a coalition of individuals and organisations committed to the emergence and building of a Mass Workers Party, and the Socialist Transformation of Nigeria, announced plans to embark on protests against the recent hike in the price of gas and the impending hikes in the prices of fuel and electricity tariff.
Jeremiah Fufeyin
In his 2021 prophecies, the founder of Christ Mercyland Deliverance Ministry, Prophet Jeremiah Fufeyin said the secret behind the COVID-19 pandemic would be exposed in 2021.
He said: “There’s confusion about the COVID-19 vaccine that is coming. There’s a big commotion about the vaccine they are talking about.
“God wants to expose some people behind the COVID-19 pandemic. Some people will expose others over the vaccine.
“Everybody will know the secret behind COVID-19 this year; coronavirus is a useless thing, people will be exposed this year.
“There is confusion coming regarding COVID-19 and the confusion is in favour of the children of God”.
As of now, no one has been exposed regarding the secret behind COVID-19.
Sunday Eleojo Wada
A popular Prophet in Kogi State, Apostle Sunday Eleojo Wada, President and Founder of Power Must Change Hand Prophetic Ministry, Ejule in the Ofu Local Government Area of Kogi State predicted that there will be multiple deaths in Sierra Leone by 2021.
However, an analysis by macro trends showed that the death rate for 2021 was pegged at 11.268 compared to 11.483 of 2020 and 11.698 of 2019.
The prophet also said the National Assembly will be terribly shaken, adding that some of the senators will resign while others will go on a journey of no return. No member of the Senate or House of Representatives resigned in 2021.
Wada also said he foresaw Vice President Yemi Osinbajo having health issues in 2021.Rather than this, Osinbajo was named as the chairman of a committee saddled with the responsibility of developing and implementing a health sector reform programme.
He also said, “The naira will rise again and wax stronger in 2021 and 2022.” As of the time of filing this report, the naira is equivalent to 0.00243343 of the United States Dollar. It has seen its worst dip this year.
Apostle Johnson Suleman
Senior Pastor and General Overseer of Omega Fire Ministries, Apostle Johnson Suleman also gave several prophecies concerning the year 2021. While some of the prophecies were fulfilled, some were not.
For instance, he prophesied, “CBN be alert. I see fire outbreak.” Checks by SaharaReporters, however, showed that it was in 2018 a fire outbreak was reported at the headquarters of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in Abuja.
The cleric had also stated that America's Cable News Network will have a major crisis in 2021. This prophecy was not fulfilled.
Immediately after the abduction, Saidu took to his Facebook page to announce that five of his brothers were among the 20 residents abducted.
Sirajo Saidu, one of President Muhammadu Buhari’s staunch supporters on Facebook, has dumped the President. He has now declared support for a former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso.
Saidu, from Sokoto State, said his decision was influenced by the recent abduction of five of his brothers by bandits, PREMIUM TIMES reports.
Bandits had on December 12 abducted over 20 people in separate attacks on communities in the Wurno Local Government Area of Sokoto State.
Immediately after the abduction, Saidu took to his Facebook page to announce that five of his brothers were among the 20 residents abducted.
“All the five men taken in our house are my brothers. The bandits didn’t kill anyone in our community but they took many people in that operation alone. We are waiting for them (bandits) to call for the ransom. Please include my brothers and other victims in your prayers,” he wrote in Hausa, the language he uses to communicate with his over 4,000 followers and about 5,000 friends on Facebook.
Speaking two days after the abduction, Saidu said the kidnappers had contacted the family and family members had started contributing money to pay the ransom. He, however, did not state the amount requested.
Saidu, who is popular on social media for attacking critics of the President and the All Progressives Congress (APC), said his reason for dumping Buhari was because no one helped him and his family members to raise the ransom.
“Today, being Wednesday, 29 of December 2021, I, Surajo Saidu Sokoto have dumped the Buhariyya (a Hausa coinage for Buhari supporters) team and have now joined the Kwankwasiya (a coinage for Me Kwankwaso) team. Because bandits abducted my five siblings and I posted it several times but we paid the ransom money and none of them helped me,” he wrote.
On his Facebook profile, where Buhari’s picture used to be, Saidu has now replaced it with that of Kwakwanso.
Kwankwaso, a former Kano State governor, is a member of the opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He sought the presidential ticket of the PDP in 2019 but lost to Atiku Abubakar who eventually lost in the presidential election to Buhari.
Saidu had, in the past, accused ‘enemies of Arewa’, Nigerian journalists and many others of trying to sabotage Mr Buhari’s administration.
He once wrote that he would lead the State Security Service (also known as DSS) to launch a house to house arrest of critics of Buhari in Sokoto for distracting the President.
His most recent post praising Mr Buhari was on Monday, December 27. He posted a picture of the President and wrote: “I feel happy whenever I see the picture of Baba Buhari smiling.
“Even if insecurity will lead to our death in the north, we’ll never leave Buhari. We’ll continue to follow him and be patient until when God bring and end to the issue. We know that a responsible person like Buhari can never cheat us his kinsmen."
“In history, I’m the most maligned Buhari’s supporter whose parents are carelessly insulted on social media by Buhari’s critics,” he said in another post, which had 175 comments and was shared four times.
The spate of abduction and murder of traditional rulers in Imo State has become a threat to the traditional institution itself. For example, gunmen on December 14 kidnapped the traditional ruler of Umuezeala-Ama ancient kingdom in the Ehime Mbano Local Government Area of the state, Aloy Igwe.
On December 13, two traditional rulers, Acho Ndukwe and Paul Ogbu from Ihube communities in Okigwe Local Government Area were kidnapped and their palaces razed. While Ndukwe was rescued 24 hours later, Eze Ogbu was later found dead when security operatives raided a criminal den in Orlu Local Government Area.
On December 9, the traditional ruler of Mbutu ancient kingdom in Aboh Mbaise LGA, Damian Nwaigwe and his counterpart from Atta ancient kingdom in Njaba LGA, Edwin Azike, were kidnapped separately. While Azike was kidnapped and his corpse dumped at the market square in his community, Nwaigwe was freed two days later.
On November 19, the traditional ruler of Achi Mbieri in Mbaitoli LGA, Henry Madumere, was kidnapped at Iho in Ikeduru LGA while on his way to a public function. The octogenarian, who is the father of a former deputy governor of the State, Eze Madumere, was released six days later.
Earlier on October 19, gunmen invaded Njaba LGA council headquarters located at Nnenasa and opened fire at traditional rulers. While two died on the spot, two others went into coma and were taken to hospital where they were resuscitated.
Traditional leaders play useful roles in mediating between the people and the state, enhancing national identity, resolving minor conflicts and providing an institutional safety-valve for often inadequate state bureaucracies.
And in a multi-stakeholders’ approach in the fight against insecurity, they play prominent roles in canvassing and mobilising grassroots’ support for peace efforts and their institutions are employed for conflict management, resolution and prevention of crisis.
Nigeria’s National Security Strategy 2019, a working document of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), stated that traditional rulers are critical to national cohesion and stability as they act to preserve our cultures, traditions, values, morals and beliefs. They serve as first-line vanguards in handling communal conflicts and crises thereby advancing peaceful coexistence amongst our diverse citizenry.
Unfortunately, especially in Imo State, they are now an endangered species.
These spate of abductions and killings and other spiralling violence erupted in South East with the launch in December 2020 by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) of its armed wing, Eastern Security Network (ESN). We condemn this taboo of harassing, kidnapping and murder of traditional rulers. They are not just custodians of tradition, they hold the symbolic ‘Ofo,’ which signifies authority and intermediary between man and God. To contemplate these reprehensible acts against them portends danger for the future.
This is the time for the police and Department of State Services (DSS) to rise up to their responsibilities in stopping this reckless and mindless desecration of our traditional institutions and values.
These killers reside in communities, interact with people and even communicate via phones or social media. Security operatives must up their ante and root out, through actionable intelligence, these hoodlums before they unleash their heinous activities further. The fact that this has not been done is a failure on their part.
It is also important for the governors in the region as well as the Igbo umbrella organization, Ohanaeze Nd’igbo to come out and speak against this dastardly act.
In the interim, additional security should be provided for the traditional rulers and all citizens with vital information on the perpetrators or potential gunmen should provide such information to reliable agents of the state.
As holders of traditional and spiritual authority of their different communities, the blood of the innocent must haunt the killers and abductors. And as Nigerians rise up in condemnation of these pathetic, brutish and inhuman acts, the police and DSS must ensure that their investigations are swiftly concluded and the perpetrators brought to justice. This is to serve as deterrent.
For the families and relatives of the abducted or slain traditional rulers, we sympathise and condole with them. It is the duty of all Nigerians to ensure that the traditional, spiritual and symbolic voices and authorities of any of our traditional rulers are not silenced again.
France has the right idea of not allowing the preaching of hate in mosques, but shutting down a mosque is not the right way. The right way is to arrest the Imam that preached hate. Muslims deprived of their place of worship will feel that they are being persecuted. Not necessary.
*Says FG, not Benin Republic govt keeping Igboho in prison
Chief Yomi Alliyu, SAN, lawyer to Yoruba Nation agitator, Chief Sunday Adeyemi, fondly called Sunday Igboho, on Wednesday, dismissed a social media report of an alleged plan to eliminate the activist.
He, however, warned those “flying the kite” to desist from spreading such speculations assuring that Igboho will regain freedom soon.
Mr Alliyu, in a chat with Vanguard, said: “I don’t have knowledge of a threat to his life. I speak with his wife regularly but I don’t have such knowledge of plans to eliminate him.
“We have persuaded his boys and Yoruba youths not to take laws into their hands. We told them not to behave like IPOB because we told them that if they start killing and burning, they will be killing their kiths and kins. We urged them to keep their cool, however, if anybody is flying such a kite to know the feelings of what will happen if Sunday Igboho is murdered in prison, I advise that such a person should have a rethink.
“I don’t think anyone is planning that except the enemies of this government. The only way this Government can wash its hands off this evil intention is to release Sunday Igboho now because they (FG) are the ones keeping him in prison and not the Benin Republic government.
“If anything should happen to Sunday Igboho, we will hold the Federal Government responsible.
“That is why we have been appealing to Yoruba youths not to take laws into their hands because we are optimistic that Sunday Igboho will be free and that the alleged plan to kill him is mere rumour. I don’t see any threat to his life.”
Sunday Igboho had alleged that there is a plot by the Federal government of Nigeria to eliminate him in the Benin Republic.
Olayomi Koiki, spokesman for Igboho, in a podcast on Tuesday evening, alleged that the Benin Republic President, Patrice Talon, was working with the Federal Government to extradite Igboho to Nigeria.
He said: “So many people have heard rumours in the past 24/48 hours. We know that God almighty is watching.
“If they are trying, they cannot be successful. If they are planning evil against Prof. Banji Akintoye and others, they are only trying but God’s power is superior.
“The enemies are trying to eliminate him (Igboho). Their plan is to eliminate him so that the Yoruba Nation agenda will be silenced, but God has shown that he is above them.”
Women displaced by a recent wave of attacks in Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State have recounted shocking ordeal of gang rapes by bandits, Caliphate Trust learnt.
In recent weeks, hundreds of women including children were displaced by the armed men following horrible attacks on several villages in the local government.
“They are gang raping us, and if any woman or lady dares to reject their sexual advances, she would be shot dead instantly. Several women were killed for not accepting their sexual demands”
“A woman was pulled out of her matrimonial home by the armed criminals. They had wanted to rape her but when she refused to go with them, they began to drag her until when one of them shot her dead despite her husband’s plea,” a displaced woman identified as Hajara told our correspondent.
Another resident identified as Mustapha also gave a harrowing story of how his granddaughter was shot dead for not submitting herself for a gang rape in a community called Bakin Manya.
“When they shot her dead, they lurked around the community and attacked those who went to the cemetery to bury her. The funeral rite wasn’t held there. Her remains were taken to Tsafe for burial,” Mustapha said.
Another woman identified as Amina told our reporter that her sister- in-law was hit with a gun butt after she refused to be raped by the armed criminals who struck their communities.
“She was having her bath when one armed man forced his way into the room. He tried to rape her but she refused to allow him. A fight between her and the armed criminal ensued; he hit her with a gun and she had to crawl out of the room.
“The way these criminals are humiliating people is highly traumatising and we have no option other than to abandon our communities for our own safety. We have lost a lot to armed banditry and kidnapping over the years,” she said.
Most of the attacks are being perpetrated by one notorious cattle rustling kingpin called Adamu Aleiro.
He is making the lives of residents in Tsafe and Faskari local government areas of Zamfara and Katsina state unbearable.
He asserts control on bandits traumatising communities in these states.
In 2018, he sacked many communities in eastern Tsafe after security operatives had seized about 500 cows he was suspected to have rustled from Kaduna and Niger states.
He is also the arrow head of attack in communities in Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State. He promised to stop attacks and cattle rustling after officials engaged him in a peace deal in 2019 but he has resumed his heinous activities.
The Katsina State Police Command has placed a bounty on him for masterminding attack and killing of dozens of people in Kadisau, a community in Faskari.
The Yobe government has alerted residents of a planned blasting of unexploded bombs by Sector 2 Operation HADIN KAI Headquarters of the Nigerian Army in Damaturu.
Brig.-Gen. Dahiru Abdulsalam, the Special Adviser to Gov. Mai-Mala Buni on Security Affairs said that the detonation of explosives would take place near the state university, Damaturu on Gujba Road and on Maiduguri Road.
“The public is hereby notified that they are controlled explosions and should not panic.
“People are further advised to go about their normal businesses as there is no cause for alarm.
“The press is by this announcement advised to take note that it is not an adversary explosion, please,” he said.
A 25-year-old man, Emmanuel Nwafor, has been arrested for alleged involvement in the attack on Ajali Police Station in Orumba North Local Government Area (LGA), on Sept. 30, 2021.
DSP Toochukwu Ikenga, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Anambra said Nwafor who hails from Umuevee Ajalli, Orumba North LGA, is suspected to have played an active role on the arson attack on the station.
Ikenga, in a statement made available to journalists in Awka on Sunday said a motorcycle, looted from the station during the attack, was also found in his possession and recovered.
The PPRO said the suspect is already making useful confessions as to whereabouts of other culprits.
Ikenga said the arrest followed the directive of Mr Echeng Echeng, the Commissioner of Police in Anambra, who ordered intelligence gathering strategy towards dealing the spate if insecurity in Anambra, since he assumed office.
Hunters in Udawa village in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State have arrested a bandit at a forest along Kaduna-Birnin Gwari.
The hunters also rescued 9 kidnapped villagers in the operation against bandits terrorising the area.
Daily Trust gathered that the hunters laid an ambush for the bandits days after they attacked a convoy of travellers along the highway.
A community leader, Muhammad Umaru, told Daily Trust that all the victims rescued were from Udawa village.
“It was a successful operation carried out by our hunters because they succeeded in rescuing 9 of our people from the bandits and also caught one bandit alive. They are interrogating him before handing him over to security agencies ,” he said.
It was gathered that the hunters engaged the bandits which forced the bandits to abandon the victims at the their camp.
He said the whole community was happy with the success recorded, adding that if the hunters are supported with vehicles, they would tackle banditry in the community and surrounding villages.
The community leader also commended security agencies for carrying out an operation in the forest after the two consecutive attacks last week.
Contacted the State Police Command Public Relations Officer, ASP Jalige Mohammed, said the Command is yet to receive any suspect from the hunters and has not bee contacted over the incident.
No woman should join the Nigerian military unless she's a masochist. Joining them means handing over your life and your body to men. In the military, men can order you to do anything (ANYTHING), and brutally punish you if you refuse. Don't do that to yourself. It's not worth it.
The member representing Ughelli South Constituency at the Delta State House of Assembly, Hon Reuben Izeze, was Thursday night, shot by unknown gunmen at Effurun, Uvwie Local Government Area, Delta State.
Though details of the attack were hazy at press time, it was learnt that the gunmen opened fire at Izeze’s vehicle at close range.
Vanguard gathered that the lawmaker survived the attack and is currently receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital.
Sources said the lawmaker’s driver that was abducted during the attack was later released by the gunmen.
Police Public Relations Officer of the state Command, Mr Bright Edafe, confirmed the attack.
The Nigerian Intelligence Agency (NIA) has been witnessing high level of corruption and tribalism under President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime, top spy chiefs have lamented in a corporate document seen by Peoples Gazette.
The spy chiefs who registered their disaffection in a December 16 secret memo directed at Mr Buhari, asked the president to respect seniority and hierarchy in appointment into key positions.
The disgruntled spy chiefs lamented that the dreams of reaching the top have been shattered by the president’s demonstration of tribalism and religious bias in appointing staff members into key positions in the NIA.
“But we here at the NIA, are seeing these hopes dashed every day due to high-handedness, maladministration, repressive governance, segregation, and extreme impunity. It looks like in the Dolphin House, there is no regulatory body like other MDAs. Apparently, it is winner takes all here,” the memo partly read.
The NIA, led by Ahmed Abubakar, is responsible for foreign intelligence and counterintelligence.
Since the assumption of office in 2015, critics say Mr Buhari has given preference to the Fulanis in the military and other security agencies over qualified persons from other ethnic groups across the country.
Over the years, top politicians, rights bodies, and socio-cultural organisations have condemned Mr Buhari’s disregard for the Federal Character policy in the recruitment into security agencies.
Critics of his administration had faulted him over the appointment of Mr Abubakar as the NIA boss on January 10, 2018, stating that the appointment was based on favouritism and not merit.
One of the critics, APC senator Isa Misau, accused Mr Buhari of appointing incompetent people into his cabinet, arguing that Mr Abubakar who was a former Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs/International Relations was unqualified for the spy agency position.
“So many incompetent people are holding so many positions. Fifty per cent of the ministers are not performing. Since the president assumed office he has not taken any decision to move this country. So many appointments in this government are not on merit,” the Bauchi senator had said.
The presidency had defended the appointment in a statement, arguing that “the President appointed the new DG because he had worked closely with him in the past two years, and sincerely believes that he would add value to the NIA.”
Also, Mr Buhari has been berated over the manner in which he handles issues of national interest, which is contrary to his oath of “belonging to everybody” and “belonging to nobody”.
Earlier this year, a document showing the hierarchy of officers and seen by The Gazette, indicated that Mr Buhari sidelined senior officers from the southern region in the appointment of Farouk Yahaya as Chief of Army Staff.
Although the defence minister, Bashir Magashi, defended the president, saying he looked beyond religion and ethnicity in appointing Mr Yahaya, a native of Sokoto, the document titled “Seniority Roll NA Officers 2021 (Revised) – Regular Combatant” indicated that over ten senior officers from the southern region were ignored, as Mr Buhari appointed the new army chief.
The spokesperson for the president, Femi Adesina, declined The Gazette’s request seeking comments on the allegations against the regime.
Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano State says he is ready to reconcile with his predecessor, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.
In an interview with Radio France, the governor described the feud between him and Kwankwaso as the handiwork of political miscreants who do not want a cordial relationship between them.
“You know there are people who are used to fuelling issues. So, we are working on them towards seeing that we beat their actions and reconcile.”
“This kind of issues are normal in politics and God willing it will come to pass. Everyone knows that reconciliation is always the best. We hope God will help those who pledge to reconcile us to succeed.
“From our part, we are ever ready to come forward and reconcile. It’s not like we are refusing. There are people from both parties who are driving this issue but like I said, everything that sense is applied into, I think we will get over it.”
On Tuesday, Ganduje paid a condolence visit to Kwankwaso, at his Bompai residence, Miller road, over the death of his brother, Inuwa Musa Kwankwaso.
A development that attracted within and outside the state.
At Bompai, Ganduje was received by the Senator and his political lieutenants.
In the governor’s entourage were his Chief of Staff, many Commissioners, party leaders and elders and many top government functionaries.
Kwankwaso invited the governor to the grave of his late father, Musa Saleh Kwankwaso, located within the residence of the Senator, where another special prayer was offered.
Scholars prayed for the reposed souls of the deceased and Kwankwaso saw the governor off, after spending over thirty minutes with him.
A Koo user, Buhari Abubakar, has endorsed Bola Ahmed Tinubu to run for President.
I hereby endorse H.E, senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to run for president on the platform of the APC come 2023. Tinubu is the only man who can consolidate President Buhari‘s achievements and take us to the promised land.
The Hausa Association of Nigeria, also known as Kungiyar Hausawan Nijeriya or KUNHAN) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to resign from office because of the obvious failures of his administration.
The association in an open letter to Buhari on Sunday, which was obtained by SaharaReporters, said the Buhari regime spared Fulani terrorists and bandits, but went after agitators such as Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra and Sunday Adeyemo, aka Sunday Igboho, Yoruba Nation agitator.
The association noted that the “Hausas regret supporting and voting" for Buhari massively.
"Therefore, we call for your resignation with immediate effect. As we suspect the worst ahead under your administration,” the letter reads.
The letter further reads, “As an Hausa Association (KUNHAN), we deem it necessary to write you this open letter to portray the true picture of Hausas' mood during this trying time. We thought we have chosen a messiah based on your saying, 'We are going to secure this country, we are going to manage it properly, we will continue to improve the security situation, economic and fighting corruption', but it turned out to be fictitious.
“Turji and Co. are high profile deadly Fulani terrorists but still nowhere to be found because they are just a threat to Hausas rather than your sovereignty while Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Igboho could be found even beyond our territory.
“The most basic obligation you were bestowed with as a President when you were sworn in, is to protect lives and property but under your watch, hundreds if not thousands of atrocities and genocide were carried out on Hausas.Our people are always incarcerated, killed while our mothers and daughters are being raped mercilessly without tangible measures to tackle the menace. On so many occasions, you have bragged to crush the bandits and proclaimed to take necessary action but all in vain.
“The bandits are now matured to dictate to our collective population because of your empty threat. It has been happening for over five years and these terrorists are known as we have been seeing them on so many occasions with Sheikh Abubakar Gumi, even with serving Governors yet they could not be apprehended and dealt with. The answer is one, because they are not a threat to this administration while those that seem to be a threat are already in jail; Nnamdi Kanu and Sunday Igboho.
“That's why a whole Minister of Information named them just an ordinary criminal but called Nnamdi Kanu a terrorist. We Hausas have regretted supporting and voting you massively, “Therefore, we call for your resignation with immediate effect, as we suspect the worst ahead under your administration.”
Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has said his senior brother was kidnapped by bandits and he had to pay a ransom to get him released
Gumi made the disclosure in an interview as he responded to critics who clamoured for his arrest for making case for bandits and for visiting them in their forest conclaves.
He called the critics clowns and said he had also been a victim of the bandits on several occasions.
“Also in our mosque, we have paid ransom. Even now, somebody is asking me to assist him to pay ransom. Our family driver who happens to be our relative, his son, a private soldier, was killed by bandits. So how I can support such people?,” Gumi told Premium Times.
The Islamic cleric who said his efforts with bandits have been sabotaged recently said he has quit meeting with bandits because it will be dangerous for him to continue to engage with them.
Gumi described those calling for his arrest as not different from bandits stressing that it is a constitutional right for someone to express his views.
The cleric said his efforts is to prevent banditry in his own way stating that he has also been a victim of banditry.
“They are clowns, they don’t know anything about the Nigerian society, they don’t know about the Nigerian constitution and liberty. It is a constitutional right for someone to express his views, so long you are not calling for violence or to harm anybody.
‘These people calling for my arrest, I don’t see them different from the bandits. To say that I am supporting or sponsoring bandits is malicious. I am just trying to cure them in my own way. I am trying to prevent it my own way and I have seen how my little efforts have helped.
‘I just have a different perspective in addressing the issue. But to encourage them? No. To help them? No. It is impossible. I am also a victim of banditry.
Seun Osewa has a brilliant idea - he wants the male to female ratio in every legislative body to be 50:50...
Coming from someone with no single female super moderator. I only know of Lalasticlala and Mynd44..
Hopefully, Seun would take his own advice and make the male to female ratio of his Super Moderators even..
His post and reactions..
I believe that the male to female ratio in every legislative body should be 50:50 i.e. one man and one woman from every constituency. Men deserve exactly 50% representation because we make up 50% of the population. This should be guaranteed by law.
This will be very beneficial for the north. Northern women value the welfare of their people and the education of the girl child more than religion and pride. If they have 50% representation, they'll vote for laws that will make the north more peaceful, prosperous, and humane.
The Leader Of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Ayodele, on Sunday issued a warning to the former Governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu, on Igbo presidency in 2023.
Primate Ayodele warned that Uzor Kalu is one of the politicians who can push for the Igbo presidency but his efforts will not be appreciated and recognized.
He made it known that he will not be able to put the All Progressives Congress, APC, together in Abia State, because he would face a lot of challenges.
In a statement signed by his media aide, Osho Oluwatosin, the clergyman urged him to be prayerful so that his challenges will not kill his political ambition.
'’The former Governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu, has missed it because he will not be able to put APC together in his state. He will face some challenges in the state,” the statement read.
‘’He is one of the Igbo politicians who can push for Igbo presidency but his efforts will not be appreciated.
‘’He needs to be very prayerful so that his challenges will not kill his ambition.’’
Primate Ayodele had recently released a prophecy concerning Igbo presidency.
He had disclosed that betrayal among the Igbo politicians will not make them get to the presidency.
When a Governor decamps from one party to another shouldn't his Deputy go with him? Is that not what loyalty is all about? Against his better judgement @Bellomatawalle1 picked you as his running mate & made you Deputy Governor & now you undermine & betray him?
Posters indicating a pairing of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Kano state Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, for the 2023 presidential elections have flooded the streets of Kano city.
The posters with pictures of both and inscription such as, ‘Osinbajo-Ganduje Alliance (OGA)’, ‘For Better Nigeria’, and ‘OGA Na Master’,were spotted in strategic locations across the state.
They were posted during the weekend when dignitaries came en masse to Kano state for the wedding of the son of President Muhammadu Buhari to the daughter of the Emir of Bichi as well as the coronation of the Emir.
The posters were around the popular Airport road roundabout, which connects to Katsina road and leads to Bichi town, venue of the wedding and coronation.
They were also seen at places like Ahamdu Bello, Murtala Muhammad way, Kano club roundabout, Independence way roundabout, among others.
Political observers in Kano have been muting the idea of Osinbajo and Ganduje presidency as an alternative if Bola Ahmed Tinubu, an ally of both, does not succeed, with his presidential ambition.
Leaders of the alliance support group, Oluleke Mose and Bello Adamu Mohammed told journalists that they endorsed the candidature of the duo for a united and better Nigeria.
“We believe that if power rotates to the South, Osinbajo is best placed to unite, heal and inspire our great nation.”
“We also firmly believe that Ganduje’s antecedents as Governor of Kano make him the perfect Northern vice presidential candidate to Osinbajo; one who will advance and protect the interests of a Northern Nigeria plagued by poverty and insecurity,” they said.
Daily Trust reports, however, that both the VP and Governor Ganduje have not formally indicated any interest in vying for the presidential election come 2023.
Popular Singer, Naira Markey has reacted to trending video of guests dancing to his song ‘Coming’ at Yusuf, the son of President Muhammadu Buhari’s wedding in Kano State.
DAILY POST reported that about one hundred private jets landed in Kano over the weekend as Buhari’s son wedded daughter of Emir of Bichi, Nasiru Bayero in Kano State.
It was a grand ceremony in Bichi, which was attended by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, former President Goodluck Jonathan, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, serving and former governors, Federal and states legislators, traditional rulers, as well as prominent personalities from within and outside the country.
The songs played at the wedding has attracted criticisms from Nigerians on social media and has drawn the attention of Naira Marley.
Sharing the video on his Instagram page, Naira Marley wished he was invited for the wedding, saying the North loves him.
His post read: “This was at Buhari’s son wedding yesterday in Kano. I’m a certified hit maker apparently, anytime you hear Naira Marley your home training must japa.
“I wish I was at this wedding sha looks too fun, I love them in the North and they love me too.”
In a statement dated August 21, 2021 and signed by Anthony Obasi and Chika Madu, National Coordinator and National Secretary of IPOB Finland respectively, the group disclosed that Ekpa is not a registered member of the group in Finland.
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has said Simon Ekpa, the self-acclaimed Finland-based disciple of Nnamdi Kanu, is not a member of the group.
In a statement dated August 21, 2021 and signed by Anthony Obasi and Chika Madu, National Coordinator and National Secretary of IPOB Finland respectively, the group disclosed that Ekpa is not a registered member of the group in Finland.
Ekpa has been in the news for seemingly opposing the modus operandi of the group since the recent arrest and detention of Kanu.
He was sacked as a broadcaster of Radio Biafra for allegedly flouting the rules and regulations guiding the operation of the station.
The Nigerian-Finnish had after his sacking declared that the “Biafra struggle has entered the AUTOPILOT phase, a very dangerous phase that we have no control of what happens. To your tent oh Israel.
“I am Simon Ekpa, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s disciple on Biafra restoration. Changing the narrative of yesterday.”
The group, however, countered his statement saying, “We also wish to clarify that in IPOB we have nothing or nobody known as autopilot. Anybody going by such a title is not IPOB, and is flouting our rules. Anybody claiming to be such should immediately disengage before he is embarrassed.”
In furtherance of the move by the secessionist group to dissociate from Ekpa, according to the statement issued by its spokesman, Emma Powerful, and obtained by SaharaReporters on Sunday, IPOB said those who deal with Ekpa as a member of IPOB do so to their detriment.
The statement reads, “This is to inform the IPOB family members worldwide over the raging issues as to whether Mazi Simon Ekpa is a registered member of IPOB Finland or not, where he is resident.
“We the IPOB Finland family under the command and leadership of Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu wish to make it categorically clear to whom it may concern, that Mazi Simon Ekpa is not a member of IPOB Finland. He has never been part of IPOB before now, and till date he is still not a registered IPOB member, according to our records.
“This Memo has been issued to set the records straight before all and sundry, that henceforth, anybody that is dealing with Mazi Ekpa on issues concerning IPOB worldwide will consequently, have him or herself to blame.”
Detectives of the Ogun State Police Command have arrested one Kehinde Salisu Jelili for allegedly killing a Point-of-Sale (POS) operator after robbing him of a cash sum of N4 million.
The man and three others were said to be a member of a syndicate, “which specialized in robbing and killing POS and UBER operators.”
When the suspect was wanted by detectives in Ogun State, police said he travelled to Benin Republic when the Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Igboho, was taken to court.
Other suspects, Abiodun Akinola, Johnson Fakeye and Jamiu Akinola were nabbed after a report lodged at Onipanu police station on the April 18 by one Aanu Salaudeen, who claimed to be an attendant to one Abiodun Odebunmi, a POS operator.
Odebunmi had told the police that her boss left his office at Aparadija the day before to meet one customer with a cash sum of N4 million, which was to be used for POS transactions.
She had stated further that the said Odebunmi was nowhere to be found since he left, as calls made to his phone did not push through.
According to her, the boss had earlier done a transaction of N1.5 million with the person who invited his boss the following day.
The man was said to have invited the POS business owner for a N4 million transaction at Ojuore, Ota.
As the policemen at Onipanu commenced investigation, the dead and burnt body of the victim was discovered in an uncompleted building at Arobieye area of Ota, without the trace of his assailants, Abimbola Oyeyemi, Ogun Public Relations Officer, said on Thursday.
As the case was transferred to the homicide section of the State CIID on the order of the Commissioner of Police, Edward Ajogun, the CSP Femi Olabode-led homicide team, was said to have embarked on investigation, leading them to Otun Ekiti in Ekiti State, where the suspect was said to be hiding, Oyeyemi disclosed.
Getting wind of the presence of the detectives in Ekiti, he was reported to have quickly escaped to Offa in Kwara State.
He was later trailed to Benin Republic, “where he had gone to attend the court session of Chief Sunday Adeyemo (aka Sunday Igboho)”, Oyeyemi confirmed to DAILY POST.
On the day the suspect was to return to Nigeria from Sunday Igboho’s court session in Benin Republic, the detectives were said to have laid ambush for him and apprehended him at a boundary between Ogun and Lagos.
“On interrogation, Kehinde Salihu Jelili, who claimed to be a native of Apomu in Osun State, confessed to killing the victim.
“He confessed further that he deliberately lured the victim to Ota, where he and his gang members were waiting for him with the money he was asked to bring, having transacted a N1.5 million business with him the previous day, and that they matcheted him to death after collecting the money from him.
“He stated further that they burnt the victim’s body in order to cover their tracks,” it was stated.
It was gathered that the man confessed that he and his accomplices usually targeted Uber and POS operators, saying few Uber drivers had been killed with their cars taken away.
Femi Fani-Kayode has shared a clip from an old movie with the caption "Rambo warned us (about Afghanistan) in the 90's but we would not listen!"��� "
Watch the video below..
Excerpt:
"This is Afghanistan. Alexander the Great tried to conquer this country. Then Ghenghis Khan, then the British, now Russia. But Afghan people fight hard, they never be defeated."
Politics › PDP Governors In Fresh Move To Zone Presidential Ticket To South by SATANICALLY(op): 7:53am On Jan 02, 2022
