₦airaland Forum

A former Deputy Governor of Nasarawa State, Professor Onje Gye-Wado, has been kidnapped by gunmen who allegedly invaded his community, Gwagi, in the Wamba Local Government Area of the state in the early hours of Friday.

A family source who confirmed the incident said the kidnappers gained entrance through the fence, broke into the house through his wife’s window and whisked him away to an unknown destination.

“His wife came in for Easter celebration and they broke into the house through her widow and took him away to an unknown destination. We are hoping that the security agencies will make efforts towards rescuing him unhurt,” the source said.

Professor Onje Gye-Wado, who served as Deputy Governor of Nasarawa State between 1999 and 2003, had escaped being kidnapped on several occasions before the sad incident occurred today.




Confirming the kidnap of the former deputy governor in a statement made available to newsmen in Lafia on Friday, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Ramhan Nansel, said the police command was making efforts to rescue him unhurt.


He said, “Information received by the command indicated that on 7/4/2023 around 12:30 am, unknown gunmen invaded Gwagi village in Wamba LGA, broke into the residence of one Prof. Onje Gye-wado and abducted him to an unknown destination.

“Upon receipt of the information, Police operatives attached to Wamba Division swiftly moved to the scene, but the hoodlums had fled with the victim before their arrival.


“The Commissioner of Police, Maiyaki Baba, further mobilised and deployed reinforcement comprising Police tactical teams, military, vigilante, and local hunters to complement the ongoing search to rescue the hostage, hale and hearty and arrest the perpetrators of the act.”

The police spokesperson further appealed to members of the public to assist the command with useful information that could help in the quick rescue of the former deputy governor.

https://punchng.com/gunmen-kidnap-nasarawa-ex-deputy-governor-gye-wado/

Manchester City endured a horror night at Southampton's St Mary's Stadium back in January as Pep Guardiola's team were surprisingly knocked out of the Carabao Cup.

Manchester City's blips this season have been few and far between, thankfully for Pep Guardiola.

Come the end of the Premier League campaign, should City not catch Arsenal, Guardiola will likely look back to the start of 2023 as a deciding factor as to why they did not. The year started well enough for the Blues with back-to-back victories against Chelsea.

A 2-0 defeat at Southampton took many by surprise. Even for an arguably second-string XI, City's performance was noticeably flat.

Stefan Ortega's error for Moussa Djenepo's goal summed up a truly torrid evening and led to the Blues' stars feeling the wrath of Guardiola in the media. "The best team won," he declared post-match.

A popular traditionalist based in Imesi-Ile, Osun State, Oba Adetoyese Olakisan also known as Oba Ogboni Agbaye, alongside two other people, on Monday died in a road accident that occurred along the Ila/Edemonsi/Imesi-Ile Road.

It was learnt that Olakisan, the officer-in- charge of Imesi Ile police post, and one other passenger said to be a woman, were in the vehicle coming from Ila and heading to Imesi-Ile.




Family sources, who craved anonymity, told PUNCH Metro that some gunmen had attacked Olakisan’s residence in the early hours of Monday and abducted two of his wives.

It was learnt the search party that went after the abductors apprehended a suspect and based on information given by him, Olakisan, the said police officer and a woman, went after the abductors towards Ila, but got involved in the accident while returning to Imesi-Ile.

When contacted, the Osun Police Command Public Relations Officer, Yemisi Opalola, confirmed abduction of the women by gunmen, adding that search and rescue operations had already commenced.


She further said, “The Ogboni leader, the Police OC Imesi-Ile and a woman were inside his (Olakisan’s) car coming back to Imesi after reaching Ila, searching for his wives that were abducted when they had an accident. The vehicle ran into a tree. It was a lone accident.

“They were rushed to a hospital, but eventually they all died. Our men are inside the bush to continue search and rescue mission.”

https://punchng.com/osun-traditionalist-others-die-in-road-accident/

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Following the claim by the Department of State Service, DSS, that there is a plot to install an interim government in Nigeria, the agency has come under intense pressure to name those behind the alleged plan.

The call by eminent and politically exposed Nigerians was predicated on the belief that the agency should not just stop at raising the alarm, but also move against “enemies of the state.”

Last Wednesday, the DSS had raised the alarm over what it described as a plot by political actors to foist interim government on the nation.

Spokesperson for the agency, Dr. Peter Afunanya, in a statement, had claimed some key players in the plan had been identified.


The statement had read: “The DSS considers the plot, being pursued by these entrenched interests, as not only an aberration but a mischievous way to set aside the Constitution and undermine civil rule as well as plunge the country into an avoidable crisis.

“The planners, in their many meetings, have weighed various options, which include, among others, to sponsor endless violent mass protests in major cities to warrant a declaration of State of Emergency. Another is to obtain frivolous court injunctions to forestall the inauguration of new executive administrations and legislative houses at the Federal and State levels.”

Embarrassing

However, many want the DSS to move beyond what it had done, insisting the proper thing is to nip the said plot in the bud.
Speaking on the matter, National Chairman, Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC, Alhaji Yabagi Sani, said the statement of the DSS is capable of creating tension in the country.

His words: “It is embarrassing because I believe the DSS is a constitutional agency that is in charge of gathering intelligence and passing the intelligence to other agencies that should take action. I don’t think it serves the purpose of this country for the DSS to come and make this pronouncement in that manner.

“What would have made sense to us is saying this person is involved, this person has been arrested or is under interrogation or actions have been taken. What do we do as politicians or as citizens of the country? We can’t do anything.

“Whoever the person is, if they know that the person is doing something untoward to our democracy, which will scuttle this process, I think the lawful thing to do is to take that person into custody and ask questions. Then, they can come out and say this person has been found doing this, and we have asked questions, and has been released.

“To make these pronouncements to further create some kind of tensions and some kind of crisis has not really met the expectations.”

Arresting

Sani further explained: “I know that if they start arresting opposition politicians as you said, it will send a wrong signal. Some people will say it is witch-hunting. But, look at what happened in the United States, when Trump wanted to interfere with the process of the inauguration of Biden, something happened and they took action. So, I believe that as much as we commend the effort of the DSS, I think they should go beyond that. As a citizen, what can we do? We can only say we are in trouble. This democracy is too precious, and if there is anybody that should protect and advance the course of democracy, it is the agencies that are put in place to do just that.


“We have the police and DSS. The Presidency has a role to play because every agency that we are talking about is under the Presidency. So, maybe it is time for Mr. President to say something.’’

On his part, a lawyer and human rights activist, Bulama Bukarti, said the agency should waste no further time in arresting those identified as spearheading the plot.

Bukarti’s words, “This is a very serious matter. What the DSS is saying is that some people are planning to wage a war against Nigeria. The move is undemocratic, it is illegal and unconstitutional.

“Section one of our Constitution is very clear on that. It states that Nigeria or any of its parts can’t be ruled other than through constitutional means. The only means recognised by the Constitution is for people to win elections and to be duly inaugurated by the authorities stipulated by law.

“It is also criminal because what these individuals are planning is treason by our criminal laws and it is punishable by death. It carries the death penalty, which shows that it is one of the most heinous crimes in Nigeria.


Treason

“The fact that this statement is coming from the DSS gives me hope but also gives me concerns. The concern is that the statement coming from the DSS means that this is a very serious matter because we know that the DSS has never been reckless with statements. They are always serious. They are professional in what they are doing.

“Now that they are coming out with this statement, it shows that some individuals are trying to do something untoward, which will throw our country into chaos. Now, the positive side of the statement coming from the DSS is that since it came from them, other security agencies are on top of the matter.”

Sani and Bukarti spoke on Channels TV Politics Today programme.

Threat


Also, spokesperson for the Coalition of Northern Groups, CNG, Abdulaziz Sulaiman, said it is insane for anyone to contemplate having an interim government.

He said:” The DSS revelation is indeed disturbing, but then, the threat of the schemes for installation of an interim government as an emergency governmental authority to manage the May 29th transition, is as well real.

‘’It is insane for any person to even contemplate such a plot for an interim arrangement which most times takes the occasion of wars to bring about and wherever and whenever such a provisional government is put in place, the country’s constitution is done away with and civil rule becomes undermined. This has the potential to plunge the country into crisis.

In Nigeria, the last time Nigeria had an interim government in power was about 30 years ago and it lasted for 82 days.
Following the June 12, 1993, presidential election which was won by Moshood Abiola and annulled by General Ibrahim Babangida,retd, there was a crisis.

June 12


‘’Soon after the crisis seemed to have abated a bit, General Babangida handed power over to Ernest Shonekan as interim Head of State on August 27, 1993.

“Shonekan’s government was adjudged largely as “powerless” and was dissolved when General Sani Abacha seized power on November 17, 1993.

This time, since the declaration of Tinubu as the President-elect, some civil society groups have protested the outcome of the February 25 presidential election resulting in hate campaigns and propaganda being conducted by an unpatriotic section of the political elite.

We certainly would not join any efforts to scuttle the transition process following the emergence of a President-elect through an election process.

Any extra-democratic arrangements such as an interim government will be a major setback and we must all resist.”


https://www.vanguardngr.com/2023/04/tinubu-dss-under-pressure-to-name-interim-government-sponsors/

The National Assembly Service Commission has confirmed the appointment of Magaji Tambuwal as the Clerk to the National Assembly.

His appointment was confirmed in a letter dated Wednesday 29th March 2023.

Details later…


https://punchng.com/breaking-nasc-confirms-tambuwal-as-clerk/

The Peoples Democratic Party’s Presidential and Governorship Campaign Council has condemned alleged plans by the Independent National Electoral Commission to increase the number of the polling units for the Adamawa State Governorship re-run, whose date has yet to be fixed, from 69 to 77.



The outcome of the March 18 governorship elections for Adamawa State was declared inconclusive by the state collation and returning officer, Professor Mohammed Mele.






Mele said he could not declare Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of the PDP, winner, despite polling 421,524 of the votes cast to defeat his closest challenger Sen. Aishatu Binani, of the All Progressive Congress, who scored 390,275 votes, because the number of cancelled votes in the 69 polling units affected by election violence across 47 registration areas was higher than the margin of lead of 31,249 established between the two leading candidates.



He categorically stated that there were 69 polling units that were cancelled with a total number of 41,796 registered voters and 37,016 permanent voters card collected, adding that because the number of PVCs collected is higher than the votes the PDP candidate, was leading the APC candidate, the election is inconclusive while INEC will fix a date for a re-run election.




But the PDP, on Thursday, in Adamawa State, called on INEC to assert the independence of the commission which has been soiled by some actions so far taken by the Resident Electoral Commissioner for the state, Yunusa Ari, by relieving him of his duty as REC.



Addressing journalists at the government house Yola, Felix Tangwami, who spoke on behalf of the party’s Presidential and Governorship Campaign Council, said the party no longer has confidence in the neutrality of the REC.



He said Yunusa “conspired to influence the polls in favour of the APC and its candidate. It has further uncovered that he has submitted to INEC headquarters that 77 polling units were cancelled in Adamawa state instead of 66 cancelled for governorship which is at variance with what was declared by the returning officer Adamawa State Professor Mohammed Mele. This means there’s an additional 8 polling units from Yunusa Ari and the APC and this will not be accepted.”




The party said it is ready to make available all evidence at its disposal to prove the Adamawa REC betrayed his oath of office to be impartial and called on INEC to save the reputation of the electoral body by relieving Barrister Yunusa from the duty of conducting the Adamawa Governorship re-run polls which date has yet to be set.



“We call on INEC to investigate what is now termed as Hudu Yunusa election manipulation theory and quickly remove him from Adamawa State, as we have lost confidence in him as an impartial umpire because he’ no longer independent but dependent,” Tangwami further stated.



However, the Adamawa the Adamawa Resident Electoral Commissioner, Yunusa Ari, has dismissed the allegations coming from the PDP as frivolous. Ari who spoke with our reporter on the phone said the PDP has made several allegations against him, adding that he has performed his assignment without any bias and to the best of his conscience because he will stand before God to give account of his actions.

https://punchng.com/adamawa-gov-re-run-pdp-accuses-inec-of-creating-more-polling-units/