Connect with us

Uncategorized

Bandits abduct community head, 14 residents in Kaduna midnight attack

Published

on

Kidnappers kill Hotel Owner, Manager, Guest after collecting N25m ransom
Spread the love

The village head of Ungwan Babangida, and 14 others have been reportedly kidnapped by gunmen suspected by bandits in Kauru Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

It was learnt that the incident happened on Thursday night.

The youth leader of Dokan Karji, Aminu Khalid, who confirmed the incident to newsmen on Friday, said the attackers invaded Ungwan Babangida village at midnight with sophisticated weapons shooting sporadically at vantage positions before whisking their victims away.

This incident came barely 48 hours after bandits had kidnapped four farmers in Libere community on Wednesday in the same Local Government Area.

“Amongst the victims kidnapped in Ungwan Babangida were three women, and nine men including the village head of the community, identified as Babangida Sojiji,” Khalid told The PUNCH.

Babangida asserted that some of the victims were two labourers who came for farming activities from Jigawa State and Ikara Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

“Kauru communities need serious military actions against these bandits who have occupied many villages and many breadwinners were gruesomely killed.

“Federal Government and security operatives must intensify effort to cripple the activities of these criminals who have made life difficult for villagers.”

Advertisement

Meanwhile, he commended the vigilante groups for their constant approach to the banditry activities, saying they foiled so many kidnapping attempts in some villages.

Advertisements
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Uncategorized

Buhari removed ex-CJN Onnoghen to perpetrate electoral mischief – Clark

Published

on

Chief Edwin Clark
Spread the love

Elder statesman and leader of the Ijaw nation, Chief Edwin Clark, has alleged that former President Muhammadu Buhari, and former Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), oppressed and humiliated former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen.

According to Clark, Buhari removed Onnoghen at all costs in order to get away with “the mess and mischievous things they wanted to carry out” during the 2019 presidential election.

Clark stated this in a letter addressed to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, on Sunday, where he commended the judgment of the Court of Appeal acquitting Justice Onnoghen of all charges of false declaration of assets, following a settlement agreement with the Federal Government.

He faulted the suspension of the former CJN by President Buhari, noting the constitutional provision that placed the power to appoint and suspend a CJN in the hands of the President, the National Judicial Council, and the National Assembly.

The Ijaw leader also urged President Tinubu not to allow sacred cows to exist in his government, noting that the constitution did not provide immunity for life for a former President.

Clark said, “As for the former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, in his own case, ‘a Daniel has come to judgment’. I knew he was not fairly treated; he was oppressed and humiliated by President Muhammadu Buhari and his Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN).

“At this juncture, let me say this: President Tinubu’s government must not allow sacred cows to exist in Nigeria, no matter whose ox is gored. There is no one who is above the law in his own country. A president of a country is just one of the ordinary members in the country, but once elected, enjoys immunity. There is nowhere therefore in the constitution or any legal document where it is stated that immunity is for life.

“Today in Nigeria, we have corrupt Presidents and some of them today are accusing their successors of corruption without looking back at what they themselves stole while in office but no one dares to touch them. Perhaps, it is an irony of fate for the former CJN, Justice Walter Onnoghen, who was one of the Supreme Court Justices whose judgment favored President Muhammadu Buhari in his presidential election case in the Supreme Court in 2011.”

Advertisement

Clark also alleged that the former President removed Onnoghen from his position as CJN prior to the 2019 general elections because of “the mess and mischievous things they wanted to carry out,” during the elections, again describing Buhari’s actions as “disgraceful, callous, unjust and so barbaric”.

“He (Buhari) allowed him to rise to the post of CJN but he saw that, that was not good enough for him because if Justice Onnoghen was to remain the CJN, the mess and mischievous things they wanted to carry out during the presidential election in 2019, Justice Onnoghen would not accept it and the best thing was to remove him, and this was the secret plan between President Buhari and his Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.

“The show of shame that took place at the time was so disgraceful, callous, unjust and so barbaric that instead the President of Nigeria, who swore to an oath of office that he would maintain security and welfare of Nigerians, chose to stoop so low in order to humiliate a fellow Nigerian because he wanted to be President of Nigeria at all costs for a second term. It is a shame which Nigeria has just recovered from,” he stated.

The former federal Commissioner for Information faulted the silence of the Nigerian Bar Association and the National Judicial Council during the ousting of the former CJN from office, while commending Justice Kekere-Ekun and the Court of Appeal’s judgment acquitting Justice Onnoghen.

“I am, therefore, very happy to have read that both the judiciary, particularly the Court of Appeal and the former CJN, Justice Walter Onnoghen, have come to an amicable settlement, and I wholeheartedly congratulate him for passing out the ordeal he was subjected to by the former President, and I pray God will protect him and for him to always have the courage to fight for his right because Nigeria belongs to all of us and we are all equal citizens,” Clark said.

The Senior Special Assistant to former President Buhari, Garba Shehu, did not comment on the issue.

However, an official in the previous administration, who pleaded anonymity for lack of authorisation to speak on the issue, told one of our correspondents that the decision of the Buhari government to suspend Onoghen from office was justified under extant laws.

The official said, “The case before the Code of Conduct Tribunal against Onoghen was the non-declaration of assets, an offence against the laws of the land, the Constitution. The records are there at the Code of Conduct Bureau that Onoghen had never declared his assets, but only twice: when he was appointed as acting CJN and when he was appointed as CJN.

Advertisement

“That was the only time he declared his assets. Never, as a high court judge, appeal or Supreme Court Justice. And he admitted that he didn’t declare his assets. And all these bank assets that they said should be released to him, the truth is, even when he declared as CJN, he did not declare those assets. But the man, by his admission, said that he did not declare. Is that not enough to fire him?

“So, if the government of the day decides that he has not committed any offence and that they have waived it off, then they can let him off the hook. That is a political decision.” (PUNCH)

Advertisements
Continue Reading

Uncategorized

Ebonyi Gov orders arrest of six health workers for alleged theft

Published

on

Supreme Court upholds Francis Nwifuru's election as Ebonyi Governor
Ebonyi Governor, Francis Nwifuru
Spread the love

No fewer than six workers of the Ebonyi State Ministry of Health have been arrested for the alleged theft of government property.

It was learnt that they were intercepted and arrested at the ministry’s premises on Saturday afternoon while trying to move the said items to points of sale.

The arrest was revealed in a statement in Abakaliki, on Sunday, by Governor Francis Nwifuru’s Chief Press Secretary, Monday Uzor.

The statement read, “The Ebonyi State Governor, Chief Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru, has ordered the arrest and prosecution of one Mr Ndukwe Ayansi and five others for allegedly diverting materials meant for the state’s Ministry of Health.

“The governor, on his way to a project inspection, sighted a Toyota Dyana truck loading registers, books and other materials from the warehouse in the Ministry of Health.

“The governor drove in and made inquiries but not satisfied with the answers given, probed further and discovered that patients’ data registers, cards and a host of other documents were moved into the vehicle.

“It was also discovered that all the documents had been sold without government approval.”

He said the governor described the action as a “sabotage to government’s efforts to reposition the health sector.”

Advertisement

The statement further quoted Nwifuru as saying, “You are selling government documents without approval on a Saturday afternoon.

“Our hospitals in the rural areas are requesting registers and data entry forms and hospital cards.

“Sadly, the ones the government has produced are being sold by you.

“This is pure sabotage to our efforts in the health sector. It will not be tolerated.”

Meanwhile, the suspects have been handed over to the police for further investigation and prosecution.

Advertisements
Continue Reading

Uncategorized

Prof. Gambari, Eyong, El Ayanoui, Bala Usman, Tijjani inducted into Realnews Hall of Fame

Published

on

Prof. Gambari, Eyong, El Ayanoui, Bola Usman, Tijani inducted into Realnews Hall of Fame
Spread the love
FIVE distinguished guests were on Tuesday inducted into the prestigious Realnews Hall of Fame during the 12th anniversary lecture of Realnews in Lagos.
The Hall of Fame is exclusively reserved for Realnews guest lecturers and discussants for their services to the organisation.
The five new inductees, included three Nigerians, one Cameroonian and a Moroccan, who have made immerse contributions in their fields of endeavor and they joined 46 others who had been inducted since 2015.
The new inductees were Prof. Ibrahim Agboola Gambari, Ms. Beatrice Eyong, Dr. Karim El Ayanoui, Mrs. Hadiza Bala Usman, and Engr. Shehu Tijjani
Prof. Gambari, who was the Guest lecturer at the event, is a Nigerian academic and diplomat. He had served as Cchief of Staff to former President of Nigeria from 2020 to 2023. Before the appointment, Prof, Gambari was the longest serving Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations from 1990 to 1999, under five Heads of State and Presidents, and he was also a Minister of External Affairs from 1984 to 1985. While at the UN, Gambari was the President of UNICEF in 1999 and became Under-Secretary-General and the first Special Adviser on Africa to Secretary- General, Kofi Annan from 1999 to 2005. He was the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations for Political Affairs from 2005 to 2007 Under Secretary-Generals to Kofi Annan and Ban Ki-moon. His last appointment in the UN was from January 2010 to July 2012, when he was appointed by Ban Ki-moon as the Chairperson of the African Union Commission and the Joint African Union-United Nations Special Representative for Darfur.
Ms. Beatrice Eyong, Chairperson of the Lecture, is a Country Representative of the UN WOMEN, Nigeria, a Cameroonian national and an experienced gender specialist with over 39 years of professional working experience in promoting gender equality and women empowerment in different countries in Africa.
She has a Master of Science degree in Agricultural Extension from the University of Reading, UK specializing in Gender analysis and planning, Production of media for extension and training, Microfinance for rural development and the management of extension staff.
She is the UN Women’s Resident Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS. Before coming to Nigeria, she was the Resident Representative of UN Women, Mali, and has also worked in countries like Niger and Democratic Republic of Congo. She has over 15 years of experience as an agronomist, microfinance officer, and gender specialist for the Cameroonian government in different development programmes.
Dr. Karim El Ayanoui, who was the Keynote speaker at the event, is the Executive President, Policy Center for the New South, Rabat, Morocco. He is also the Executive Vice-President of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University and Dean of its Humanities, Economics and Social Sciences Cluster. El Ayanoui is an economist. From 2005 to 2012, he worked at the Central Bank of Morocco where he held the position of Director of Economics, Statistics, and International Relations. At the Central Bank of Morocco, he was in charge of the Research Department and equally a member of the Governor’s Cabinet. Previously, he worked for eight years at the World Bank as an Economist for its regional units in the Middle East, North Africa, and Africa.
El Ayanoui has published books and journal articles on macroeconomic issues in developing countries. His recent research has been focused on growth and the labour market in Morocco, as well as on reforming the international development economy. He holds scientific and advisory positions at various institutions. He is currently a member of the Malabo Montpellier Panel, the Scientific Committee of the Italian Institute for International Political Studies, the Scientific Council of the Moroccan Capital Market.
Engr. Tijjani, who was a discussant at the event, is a technologist, innovator, visionary entrepreneur, dedicated to transforming Nigeria’s technological landscape.
He is a First-Class graduate in Information Technology and Business Information Systems from Middlesex University. With a background in embedded engineering (hardware & firmware), he founded Amal Technologies Nigeria Ltd an end-to-end electronics manufacturing company in 2018. He is deeply passionate about the semiconductor industry and its transformative potential for Nigeria. He recognizes that semiconductors are the foundation of modern technology and has made it a core focus of Amal Technologies. Under his leadership, Amal Technologies has become a leader in innovation, driving research and development in Nigeria.
Beyond entrepreneurship, Tijjani has completed numerous professional courses that enhance his expertise. He is passionate about empowering Nigeria’s next generation, leading training programmes that equip Nigerians with skills in hardware, firmware, material science, and fabrication. His efforts contribute to Nigeria’s growth, ensuring the country becomes a key player in the global technology industry. Through his leadership, Amal Technologies is driving Nigeria toward a more self-reliant and prosperous future.
Mrs. Bala Usman, a special guest and a discussant, who joined the event virtually, is the Former managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, (2016-2021) was appointed special adviser on policy coordination to President Bola Tinubu in June 2023.  She previously served as the chief of staff to the governor of Kaduna State from 2015 to 2016. She is one of the co-founders of The Bring Back Our Girls campaign in 2014, and she is also a founding member of the ruling All Progressives Congress.
Bala Usman grew up on the campus of Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, where she had her education at the university staff school and went ahead to complete secondary education. In 1996, she rolled at the university and bagged a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration in 2000. She later got a Master’s Degree in Development Studies
Advertisements
Continue Reading

Trending