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NDDC to facilitate financing for women empowerment

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• The NDDC Managing Director, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, (middle) welcoming the Regional Business Executive, South, for Union Bank Nigeria, Mr. Chidi Ileka, during a courtesy call at the NDDC headquarters in Port Harcourt. First left is Union Bank’s Head SME/Retail Business, Mrs. Vivian Imo-ltah.
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The Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, says it will partner with financial institutions to assist women to access finance to enhance their livelihood.

Speaking during a courtesy visit by a delegation from the Union Bank Nigeria at the NDDC headquarters in Port Harcourt, the Commission’s Managing Director, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, pledged to partner on Women Empowerment in the Niger Delta Region.

He said: “We are looking at providing single digit loans to support the women. That is why we are supporting the Niger Delta Chamber of Commerce to build entrepreneurs. The Chamber of Commerce will help us to share the risks and build a database which will guide the NDDC in setting up empowerment schemes. We are also setting up structures to monitor the performance of the entrepreneurs.”

Ogbuku stated that the registration of the Niger Delta Chamber of Commerce being championed by the NDDC was meant to extend the reach of the Commission’s programme of empowering the people of the Niger Delta region through entrepreneurial schemes.

To be able to support entrepreneurial growth and fast track development, the NDDC boss said that the Commission decided to adopt the Public Private Partnership, PPP, model to provide alternative sources of funding for its key development projects and programmes.

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Ogbuku noted: “The Niger Delta is the bedrock of the Nigerian economy and we need peace for development to thrive in the region. We need to get people engaged to ensure peace. Women in the region are very industrious but we need to strengthen them.”

The Regional Business Executive, South, for Union Bank Nigeria, Mr. Chidi Ileka, stressed the need to support women with training to enable them succeed in businesses. He said the bank was eager to partner with the NDDC to further empower women in the Niger Delta region and collaborate to address gender inequality and provide women in the region with enhanced opportunities for success.

Ileka said that the partnership would help women to access finance, development programmes, and affordable healthcare, noting that the initiative, founded on principles of gender equality and the desire to champion female empowerment, would equip women in the Niger Delta with the necessary tools and resources to achieve financial independence.

He explained: “We recognise the pivotal role that access to finance plays in entrepreneurial success and economic growth. By working with the NDDC, we hope to provide women with improved financial resources that will empower them to start or expand their businesses and achieve financial stability.

Making a presentation, the Head, Alpher and Women Lead Business in Union Bank, Mrs. Chioma Nwokike, said that the bank would like to strengthen women’s long-term financial security through savings and investment opportunities by facilitating women’s ability to save and invest.

She explained that the joint initiative would encompass comprehensive business and personal development programmes, stating: “Through training, capacity building programmes and leadership development, women in the Niger Delta will acquire the skills and knowledge needed for entrepreneurship and personal growth.”

Nwokike said that the partnership would prioritise the importance of affordable healthcare for women in the Niger Delta, assuring that efforts would be made to improve healthcare access for women to ensure their well-being and enable them to focus on their personal and professional growth.

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Two Suspected Bandits Killed in Kano Ransom Collection Ambush, ₦10m Recovered

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Two suspected bandits have been killed and ₦10 million recovered after local hunters intercepted a gang allegedly involved in a kidnapping operation in Falgore Forest, Doguwa Local Government Area of Kano State.

The incident occurred in the early hours of Saturday, shortly after three suspected bandits collected the ransom demanded for the release of a 45-year-old man, Kabiru Aliyu.

Aliyu, a resident of Falgore Village, was abducted on September 11, 2026.

According to the Kano State Police Command, the suspects were intercepted by local hunters, popularly known as Yan Bula, while returning to their hideout after collecting the ransom.

Two of the suspects reportedly died during the confrontation, while the third escaped with injuries. The hunters recovered the entire ₦10 million ransom.

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The police spokesperson, Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, said preliminary investigations identified one of the deceased suspects as Dogo Isah, a commercial motorcycle operator from Maigwanda Village in Kubau Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

The operation was carried out under Operation Kukan Kura, a security initiative aimed at tackling kidnapping, banditry and other violent crimes in Kano State.

The Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Adamu Bakori, commended the hunters for their intervention and directed security operatives to intensify efforts to apprehend the fleeing suspect and recover any weapons used by the gang.

The rescued victim was subsequently debriefed, medically examined and reunited with his family.

The incident highlights the role of local hunters in intelligence gathering and rural security, particularly in areas where difficult terrain poses challenges to conventional security operations.

However, the escape of one of the suspects leaves security operatives with the task of tracking him down and determining whether the gang was involved in other kidnapping incidents in the region.

The police urged residents to provide credible information that could assist ongoing efforts to apprehend fleeing suspects and prevent further criminal activities.

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2027: Atiku’s Son Pledges 10 Buses for Tinubu’s Re-election Campaign

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Abba Atiku Abubakar speaks during a visit to the APC National Secretariat in Abuja, where he pledged 10 buses for President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election campaign. Photo: Hon Yusi Buba/Facebook
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Abba Atiku Abubakar, son of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, has pledged 10 buses to support mobilisation for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election campaign ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Abba made the pledge during a visit to the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Secretariat in Abuja on Friday, according to a statement issued by Yusi Buba, Senior Special Assistant on Youth Mobilisation to the party’s Deputy National Chairman.

He was received by the APC Deputy National Chairman (North), Bukar Dalori.

Buba said Abba commended the party’s leadership and Tinubu’s administration, expressing support for the President’s continued stay in office.

“In a demonstration of his commitment to the political engagement ahead of the 2027 general elections, Hon. Abba Atiku Abubakar announced the donation of ten buses to support activities aimed at mobilising support for the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima in 2027,” the statement said.

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The APC aide said Dalori welcomed Abba and acknowledged his pledge, describing it as support for the party’s mobilisation efforts ahead of the elections.

The development followed Abba’s announcement of a nationwide mobilisation campaign for Tinubu’s re-election and the unveiling of the Haske Bola Tinubu Organisation, a political support group established to advance the President’s second-term ambition.

Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Friday, Abba said the organisation would commence activities in the Federal Capital Territory before expanding to other parts of the country.

He also announced plans for a two-million-man mobilisation march across the six geopolitical zones, with the exercise scheduled to begin in Abuja.

Abba defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC in January, declaring his support for Tinubu’s re-election bid.

His father, Atiku Abubakar, is the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the 2027 general election.

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NCDC Identifies Two Suspected Ebola Cases In North-East

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Two suspected cases of Ebola disease have been identified in the North-East region of the country.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) disclosed this in a post via its official X handle on Saturday, adding that both individuals had been isolated.
It also said contact identification and listing are ongoing, and laboratory testing is underway.

According to the agency, confirmation is subject to laboratory results.
Two suspected cases of Ebola disease have been identified in Nigeria’s North-East region. Both individuals have been isolated, contact identification and listing is ongoing, and laboratory testing is being conducted,” the NCDC said.

“Being classified as suspected cases does not mean they are confirmed Ebola cases; confirmation is subject to laboratory results.

“The public is advised to maintain good hand hygiene, practise enhanced sanitation and follow guidance from public health authorities. Further updates will be provided as verified information becomes available.”

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The latest update by the NCDC came days after it said it identified another contact, an e-hailing driver, linked to the confirmed case of the recent Ebola outbreak in Nigeria, increasing the number of primary contacts to 54.

The NCDC Director-General, Dr. Jide Idris, told Channels Television on October 26 that efforts were ongoing to identify the secondary contacts.

“So we are not out of the woods yet until we are sure that we have all the contacts, and they have been followed up. So we are still not out of the woods; because the index case is out doesn’t mean that we don’t have that,” he said.

The Federal Government had announced Nigeria’s first confirmed case of the Bundibugyo strain in Abuja on October 20, 2026, identifying the patient as a woman with a recent travel history to Uganda, who returned to Nigeria with symptoms on October 7, but the Ugandan authorities denied reports of an Ebola outbreak in the East African country.

The index patient was later flown to Switzerland along with her husband.

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