Bandits attack Dutsin Gari, Rayau communities in Zamfara, scores killed

 

No fewer than eight persons were butchered by bandits in Dutsin Gari and Rayau villages of Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State in a recent attack.

An eyewitness, Malam Ibrahim Mamman who spoke to our correspondent said the bandits came with unnumbered motorcycles to Dutsin Gari village last night to abduct some people but unfortunately were challenged by angry villagers.

Maman explained that the villagers confronted the bandits and a serious fight which lasted several hours ensued.

“When the bandits noticed that the tension on them was too much, they knew that they could not succeed in their dastard activity, they opened fire and killed six people, injured many and moved to a nearby village called Rayau”, he lamented.

Maman said the bandits also faced similar challenges from the villagers who were already waiting on receiving the report of what happened in Dutsin Gari village.

“The villagers came out in large numbers and engaged the bandits in a gun battle where two of the villagers lost their lives and the bandits left without abducting anybody”. Mamman added.

He further noted that the bandits returned to the two villages early this morning only to find out that many people had fled to Kanoma town for fear of reprisal attack.

He explained that the angry bandits set many houses on fire and carted away domestic animals.

Recall that bandits had kidnapped forty worshippers including the Imam in Dutsin Gari village during the Friday prayers a few months ago.

However, all efforts to speak to the Zamfara Police Public Relations Officer,(PPRO), SP Mohammed Shehu, proved unsuccessful as he didn’t pick up the phone calls.

- DAILY POST

Three dead, several vehicles burnt as tanker explodes in Ogun

 Three persons were confirmed dead on Tuesday, after a vehicle conveying petrol exploded along Kuto road in Abeokuta, Ogun state.

The incident reportedly occurred around 8:15am on Tuesday, as the driver tried to negotiate a bend at Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) junction, which connects to the newly constructed bridge in the area.

The driver was said to have lost control of the vehicle due to brake failure, and hit a motorcycle operator, after which the tanker rammed into other vehicles, spilling its content.

Ahmed Umar, sector commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Ogun, confirmed the casualties to NAN, adding that five vehicles and two motorcycles were also burnt.

“The cause of the accident is still under investigation. We have to conduct thorough investigation. It was an accident involving a tanker loaded with premium motor spirit. It fell and caught fire, affecting other vehicles. Our men are there with the fire service to contain the fire and prevent it from spreading further,’’ Umar was quoted to have said.

Meanwhile, Femi Ogunbanwo, Ogun commissioner for special duties, who was at the scene of the incident, said the state would foot the medical bill of injured persons.

According to the state government, the fire was later brought under control “with the combined efforts of men of the federal and Ogun state fire service, alongside sister agencies”.

- THECABLE

Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde reacts to allegations of extra marital affair with Oshiomhole

 

Nigerian movie icon, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde has cleared the air on her alleged extramarital affair with former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.

The veteran filmmaker also threatened to take legal actions against a media outlet over the allegation.

The gossip platform had via Instagram, vowed to spill details of the alleged secret affair between Omotola and the former Edo State Governor.

But reacting angrily to the allegation, the actress gave the gossip blog an ultimatum to take down the post or otherwise face the consequences of their action.

She further asked her followers to report the blog’s page on Instagram for possible suspension.

“I ordinarily don’t do this but after thinking about it thoroughly and seeking advice I have decided to! So this Blog ran this story and people started coming to my page.

“I’ve always known there are people who are sick and will tell you stories that have never happened but to publish that on a platform as big as Instagram? You must be held accountable,” she wrote on Instagram.

“Still waiting for the so-called blog to post the proof of their dirty insinuation. You don’t just wake up and randomly write nonsense! You will prove your story and be found,” she added.

Omotola is married to Captain Matthew Ekeinde and the couple is blessed with four children.

- DAILY POST

Lagos lawyer Yetunde Souza to know fate soon in N50.2m theft case

 

Lagos lawyer, Yetunde Souza, accused of stealing N50.2million from Domino Stores and Ozone Cinemas, will know her fate soon.

Justice Raliat Adebiyi of an Ikeja High Court on Tuesday, adjourned judgment in the case indefinitely.

The judgement was scheduled to be delivered today.

However, when the criminal suit was announced in court, Adebiyi told the counsel present that the judgment was not ready.

The judge said a new date would be communicated to all parties in the suit.

The Lagos State Government charged Souza with theft, in a case seen as a gross professional misconduct.

According to the charge sheet, the defendant allegedly committed the offence between May and December 2011 in the premises of Dominos Stores, Alagomeji, Lagos.

The lead state prosecutor, Mrs Rotimi Odutola, alleged that the N50.2million which belonged to the supermarket and cinema was given to her by Mr Micheal Murray-Bruce.

The prosecution said that the money was for the renewal of the lease of a property situated at 1 Habour Road, Apapa, Lagos which belonged to NFS Food and Cold Storage Ltd.

The offence, the prosecution said, contravened the provisions of Section 390(9) of the Criminal Code Laws Cap C17, Vol. 2 of Lagos State 2003.

- PM NEWS

Okorocha mulls new party, says APC was hurried arrangement to take power

 

Rochas Okorocha, senator representing Imo west, has described the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a “hurried arrangement”.

Speaking with reporters in Abuja on Monday, Okorocha said the ruling party could have been better but that some people hijacked it and became “lords”.

The former governor of Imo state said progressive-thinking citizens must come together to make Nigeria work.

“The movement for a new Nigeria has begun and we must come together, I mean progressive Nigerians, to make the country work,” he said.

“APC was a hurried arrangement formed to take power when the then government was drifting. APC would have been better until people who were not members of the party, people who came for a congratulatory message, hijacked the party and became lords.”

According to him, political parties in the country do not have ideologies and are only a vehicle to power.

“The issue is not about APC or PDP. It is beyond political parties. We are talking about the character of the politicians. Political parties in Nigeria don’t have any ideology – it is just a vehicle to come to power,” the lawmaker said.

“So, what we have is not the ideal thing. We have so many people who are not interested in working for the nation.”

The senator said President Muhammadu Buhari could have performed better if he had surrounded himself with good people.

“For instance, if President Muhamamadu Buhari had surrounded himself with good people, the story would not be the same today,” Okorocha said.

“We have bad people in APC, just as we have them in PDP and that was why I made the call in Rivers state that the good ones should come together to lead the people.”

The senator added that all zones must be allowed to produce a president.

- THECABLE

Why Nigeria needs to be restructured – Fmr Gov, Jonah Jang

 

A former presidential aspirant in the 2019 general elections under the platform of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),

The former governor of Plateau State Jonah Jang, on Tuesday, said Nigeria is not progressing, because power has not been given to the right areas where it should be exercised for the good of the citizenry.

The presidential aspirant also called for the restructuring of the country by amending the nation’s constitution, saying “even if it means starting from article one to the end, let it be done, so that we can have a truly federal constitution”.

He also advised the military authorities in the country to train units of the Nigeria Armed Forces on how to fight insurgency to win the war against “insurgency and banditry”.

The former lawmaker said he does not believe in rotational presidency, but if it is what Nigerians want, political parties must review their constitutions to accommodate it.

Jang disclosed this in Jos the Plateau State Capital during an interaction with journalists on national issues.

He said, “I have been in government in this country for eleven years, three in the military era, eight years as a democratically elected governor; even during the military, when we get to that office, you know that time we are under orders, you cannot talk much, but now with democratic setup; what is Federal Ministry of Agriculture? When Agriculture is in the States and Local Governments.

“Education should be for the state and the private sector, What is the Federal Ministry of Education?

“We should take the constitution and start looking at the powers that are given to the centre; vis-à-vis powers to the States and Local Governments.

According to him, “I don’t know of any nation that runs this kind of constitution, even in Africa, the way Nigeria is.

“All we are saying is that we are awakening Nigerians to look at the reasons why we are not progressing.

“We are not progressing, because power has not been given to the right areas where it should be an exercise for the good of the people at the grassroots.

He, however, said, “I’m beginning to hate using that word grassroots because it is becoming a very insulting word to Nigerians, everything, grassroots and they are being treated like the grass itself”, he decried.

Jang maintained that “I believe that Nigerians should be allowed to debate our coexistence so that we can become a nation, and not just remain a country, a collection of nationalities that cannot really decide properly.

The former lawmaker who served in the 8th Senate added that “For instance, what Plateau people want, is not what Kano people want; but when you ask our representatives to go and push a case for Plateau it is overruled.

“And let me tell you one area that I still feel angry that we were overruled; crisis started here on the Plateau before anybody ever knew there will be a crisis like we are having today in the North-East, North-West, and other places; but they brought a bill to create the North-East Development Commission, and we said the Middlebelt can also be given the same thing, they voted us out, we said okay, include us in the North-East Development Commission, they overruled us.

“Our people are here today, not in their homes, refugees within their own state; nobody is talking about them. What is our future? He asked.

“Because they have the numbers, they take what they want and overrule what they don’t want”, he decried.

“What kind of constitution is this that allows such injustice?

“We have set the tone for the debate and I hope the federal government of today will allow Nigerians to debate restructuring, the imbalance in the constitution has to be corrected so that whatever legal way we can get this constitution amended, even if it means starting from article one to the end, let it be done so that we can have a truly federal constitution”, he stressed.

Speaking on the issue of the rotational presidency, the former governor said that he does not believe in that.

According to him, “If the presidency is to be zoned, it should not just be between the north and south. It should be between north, the middle belt and south”.

Jang who spoke on many other issues said the counter-insurgency fight was different from a conventional war and there was an urgent need for special training.

“I read from newspapers and social media that the service chiefs have run out of ideas and that is why the problems of insurgency and general insecurity is persisting.

“I want to say that the problem of insurgency, to start with, the Nigeria Armed Forces are trained to fight wars, normal conventional wars, not insurgency.

“I believe that what has not been done in the training of personnel on how to fight counterinsurgency wars.

“Soldiers just come out of the training depot and they are sent to face the unconventional warriors and they have no idea of how to fight them,’’ he said.

The former governor said the appointment of service chiefs was the prerogative of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

He said when people who are due for retirement are not retired, it becomes difficult for the younger ones to move up.

“If the service chiefs move out vacancies are created, promotions are done and adjustments are made, “he said.

The former senator calls for a change in the terms and conditions of service of the Nigeria Armed Forces to end the untimely retirement of well-trained personnel.

“Unfortunately, our terms and conditions of service in the Nigeria Armed Forces are still such that people are trained and sometimes retired or sent out prematurely and they leave with the fantastic ideas that could be useful to the military.

“In the developed world, authorities consult such people and tap from their wealth of experience,’’ he added.

- DAILY POST

Deeper Life’s Anchor University Deputy VC, Fatokun kidnapped

 

Prof. Johnson Fatokun, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Anchor University, Lagos, has been abducted by gunmen.

Anchor University is a faith-based institution owned by the Deeper Christian Life Ministry, whose General Superintendent is Pastor William Kumuyi.

Fatokun was said to have been kidnapped on his way to Nasarawa State where he had gone to drop his children in Deeper Life High School.

Sources in Deeper Life told PM NEWS that prayers have gone to heaven for the soon release of the DVC.

A top source in Anchor University told PM NEWS that the DVC was kidnapped on Monday.

It was gathered the kidnappers have established contact with the family and the school, but have not made ransom demand yet.

Fatokun is a Professor of Computational Mathematics and Numerical Analysis. He was formerly the pioneer Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Federal University, Dutsin-Ma before joining the services of Anchor University in 2017 as the pioneer Dean, Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences which later became Faculty of Science and Science Education.

He likewise pioneers the Directorate of Academic Planning and Quality Assurance, until his appointment as the pioneer Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Anchor University, Lagos.

His areas of Research interest are in Numerical Methods for Solving Differential Equations and its applications to Modelling, Biology and Medicine, Novel Teaching and Learning Methodologies.

While his areas of teaching interest are Numerical Analysis, Quantitative Techniques, Differential Equations, Statistics, Functional Analysis and Computer Science.

- PM NEWS