Kaduna Issues Flood Alert To Residents: Relocate From Danger Zones

August 3, 2019

Kaduna State Commissioner for Environment, Ibrahim Husseini has issued a flood alert to residents who live in danger zones to quickly relocate to safer areas temporarily before it is too late.

The commissioner, today, August 3, said that such danger zones, include river Kaduna and other flood-prone areas, saying that Nigerian Meteorological Agency and National Emergency Management Agency had predicted that Kaduna and other states of the federation might experience flooding as water levels in River Niger and Benue continued to rise since July.

“Flood gauges have been installed in Unguwar Rimi, Bashama Road in Tudun Wada and Ungwar Rimi to aid local knowledge, monitoring/forecasting dissemination of information and immediate action in respective communities.,” he said.

He advised residents to desist from dumping refuse and waste in waterways and drainages to avert flooding, even as he also called on residents to imbibe the habit of clearing gutters and drainages in their communities to guard against floods.

He advised communities to cooperate with all relevant government agencies in case of any flooding incident.

Source: NAN.

We Have No Hand In Murder Of Enugu Catholic Priest – Leaders Of Fulani Herdsmen

Editorial staff

August 3, 2019

The leaders of Fulani herdsmen in Miyetti-Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), have said that Fulani herdsmen have no hand in the Thursday’s murder of the Catholic priest of St. James the Greater Parish, Ugbawka, Enugu state.

The Herdsmen umbrella body said that it has been inundated with barrage of accusations following the killing which it described as unfortunate. It added that as part of security and peace committee in Enugu state, the herdsmen couldn’t have been part of the such criminal act.

Chairman of MACBAN in South East, Alhaji Giddado Siddiki, in a statement today, August 3 said: “again our hearts bleed over the most bastardly murder of a Catholic priest, Reverend Father Paul Offu, of the Catholic Diocese of Enugu.

“This is one murder too many! It is most condemnable and heartily regretted.

“Again our society aches as a result of the activities of criminals who care less about the value of human life. It is painful that the security apparatuses of the government have not been able to contain the excesses of these men of the underworld who have continued to diminish the value of life in our society.

“We hereby most heartily condole the members of the Catholic Diocese of Enugu, and all the Christian faithful on this very painful and irreparable loss.

“We once more call on the government to rise to the occasion and provide adequate security for the citizens of Nigeria across the length and breadth of the country.

“We maintain that crime, in whatever form of its perpetration, is anti-society. Criminals of any guise cause pains to society and should therefore be properly identified and made to face the full wrath of the law.

“While we mourn the sudden departure of Father Offu, we are very hopeful that this occasion will agitate the government sufficiently to respond to the challenge of criminality amongst us.

“Please let all of us be duly consoled. May God receive the soul of His dutiful servant in Paradise.”

Nigerian Air Force Comb Sambisa Forest For Remnant Of Boko Haram

Editorial staff

August 3, 2019

Fighter jets of the Nigeria Air Force have bombed a Boko Haram hideout in Alafa area of Sambisa Forest, Borno State, killing scores of terrorists and destroying their structures.

A statement from the Nigeria Air Force said that the air strike was conducted on Thursday following intelligence reports that revealed the presence of the terrorists within the Alafa settlement.

The NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, said that the Air Task Force of Operation Lafiya Dole dispatched the Alpha Jets to attack the location in Sambisa Forest.

He said that the air force, operating in concert with surface forces, would sustain its operations against the terrorists in the North-East.

Daramola said: “In continuation of its sustained efforts to wipe out remnants of Boko Haram Terrorists (BHTs) in the Northeast of Nigeria, the Air Task Force (ATF) of Operation Lafiya Dole has destroyed a BHT hideout and killed some fighters at Alafa on the fringes of the Sambisa Forest in Borno State.

“The air strike was conducted following intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions that revealed the presence of the terrorists, along with their logistics supplies and equipment, in a group of structures within the settlement.”

The statement said that the ATF dispatched two Alpha Jets to attack the location, scoring accurate hits in the target area, which led to the destruction of some of the structures and equipment as well as the killing of several terrorists.

NNPC Laments Barrage Of Fraudulent Contraptions By Social Media Criminals

Editorial staff

August 3, 2019

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has lamented the continued fraudulent contraptions by those it described as social media criminals with a view to defraud members of the public, especially foreign stakeholders.

The Corporation said that the latest is the a fake Linkedin profile of its Chief Operating Officer, Upstream, Mr. Roland Ewubare, presenting him as the Group Managing Director of the Corporation, emphasizing that the main purpose of the fake news is to defraud unsuspecting members of the public.

In a terse statement today, August 3, the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Ndu Ughamadu, said that the bogey was apparently contrived by unscrupulous conmen using the well-known professional networking platform to entrap would-be preys.

“For the avoidance of doubts, Mr. Roland Ewubare is the Chief Operating Officer, Upstream of the NNPC. The position ascribed to him in the phantom Linkedin profile does not exist and totally a product of the fraudulent imagination of the authors.”

The Corporation spokesman stressed that the fake Linkedin account is reminiscence of the barrage of bogus NNPC recruitment platforms which it repeatedly clarified.

He called on members of the public and stakeholders across board to be wary of such fraudulent contraptions designed to fleece people of their hard earned resources.

No Difference Between El-Zakazaki’s Shiites And Boko Haram – El-Zakazaki’s Elder Brother

Editorial staff

August 3, 2019

The elder brother of the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), otherwise known as Shiites, has said that there is no difference between the Zakzaky’s Shiite and the dreaded Boko Haram.

Sheikh Muhammad Yakubu, the brother of Sheikh Ibraheem Yakubu El-Zakzaky, said that the recent proscription by the Federal Government was long overdue.

Sheikh Muhammad, who is the Zaria branch Chairman of Izalatul Bid’ia wa Ikamatus sunna, said that the Federal Government should not stop at proscribing IMN but go further to disband the Shiite sect in its entirety.

The Sheikh told The Nation newspaper in an interview that both the leader of the deadly Boko Haram sect, Abubakar Shekau, and his younger brother, El-Zakzaky, were terrorists.

He said that the decision taken by the federal government to proscribe the IMN was not only right but overdue because the government can be overthrown through the violent protests of the group.

Sheikh Muhammad said that the IMN leader is responsible for whatever calamity that has befallen him, adding that he was warned when he started propagating “his dangerous Shiite doctrine.

“As you may be aware, El-Zakzaky is my blood brother. We were given birth to by the same father. While growing up, before he started this journey into Shi’ism, I didn’t have any close friend apart from him. We did everything together. We studied together in Islamic school.

“We warned him seriously to desist when he started this Shi’ism ideology. I personally warned him several times, and when he refused, I had to abandon him. So, whatever the authorities might have done to him, he caused it for himself.

“There is nothing good about Shi’ism. These people are supposed to have been proscribed a long time ago, but the government waited until they are now causing havoc.

“In the entire world, where has the Chief of Army Staff ever been blocked on the way and denied right of passage? Since the time Shi’ites people did that to the Nigerian Chief of Army Staff, they were supposed to have been stopped. But now, the authorities seem to have understood their mission.

“Anywhere the Shiites are, they are always a problem. They are the ones that ruined Iraq. They are the ones that ruined Syria, Yemen and Lebanon. All the crises you see in the Middle-East, Shi’ites are responsible for them.

“You see, with their protests, they çan take over government. The enemies of the country and enemies of the sitting government can take advantage of the Shi’ites protest and overthrow the government.

“I believe the government now understands this secret. What the government has done is very right.”

On Tuesday’s declaration by another Shi’ites group that IMN members are fake Shi’ites, El-Zakzaky’s brother described the declaration as hypocritical.

According to him, all Shiites groups have the same doctrine and ideology.

“They are liars. All Shiites are one.

“What they are doing is hypocrisy. All of them have the same doctrine and ideology. They are only in Shi’ites leadership tussle with Zakzaky. That is why they are denouncing him publicly.

“Therefore, it is not only Zakzaky’s group that is supposed to be proscribed. The government should outlaw the entire Shi’ites sect. This is because both Boko Haram and Shi’ites share the same ideology.

“They can continue to fool other people that they are not armed, but we know they carry arms. Didn’t you see them shown with their arms?

“They lied that they were not the ones that killed the police officer in Abuja. The Deputy Commissioner of Police that was killed in Abuja was not the first police officer to be killed by the Shiites.”

Police Declare Call For Revolution In Nigeria As Treason

Editorial staff

August 3, 2019

The Nigeria Police Force have declared the call for a revolution march across the country against the government by a group known as ‘Global Coalition for Security and Democracy in Nigeria and others, scheduled for August 5 as a treasonable offense.

A statement today, August 3, by the Force spokesman, Frank Mba stressed that the planned revolution march apart from inciting Nigerians against the government, has the sole aim of forcing a regime change in the country.

“The Force wishes to state unequivocally that the call amounts to treasonable felony and acts of terrorism and will therefore not stand idly-by and watch any individual or group in the society cause anarchy in the land.

“While acknowledging the rights of Nigerians to embark on protest, the Force wishes to note that such rights should not translate to a violent and forceful change of government which clearly is the meaning of ‘revolution’. “Needless to state that Nigeria is a democratic republic and has well-defined processes for change of government, exercised periodically during various cycle of elections.

“The Force therefore warns the organizers, sponsors, allies, supporters, associates and sympathizers of the group ‘Global Coalition for Security and Democracy in Nigeria’ to, in their own interest, steer clear of any such planned protest, demonstration, acts of incitement and proposed “revolution”, as the full wrath of the law will be brought to bear on any individual or group engaged or found participating in the above planned criminal act.

“Parents and Guardians are therefore enjoined to impress on their children and wards not to allow themselves to be used in whatever form by any person or group of persons to cause breach of law and order in the country.

“The Police will work with other Law Enforcement Agencies and positive minded Nigerians to protect, defend and secure our public peace and space.”

Nigeria Doesn’t Need Diplomacy Now To Get Things Going – Adams Oshiomhole

Editorial staff

August 2, 2019

“If this country (Nigeria) is going to change and deliver to the poor, deliver decent jobs, we need not diplomacy, but aggressive engagement to force those who are benefiting from the status quo to change and in such a way that will make the country to work for the people who live on their wages.”

These were the words of the national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole when he spoke today, July 2 at a reception organized by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) for the Director General of the International Labour Organization (ILO), Guy Ryder.

Oshiomhole, who said that he did not join politics to be changed by the way things are done by politicians, adding that his long stay in Labour had taught him to be combative, even as he said that he did not commit class suicide but to impose his own ways of doing things.

“Whatever I am doing today, my style and choice of what I do and what I abstain from doing, I owe to Labour. If you study the Nigerian media, there is this saying that as national chairman of a governing party, I am not supposed to be combative. I am even more convinced now about the need for combat.

“Some people said to me that I am too combative and I said to them that I was not coming to copy their method, but coming to impose my method to change the system and not for the system to change me.

“I refuse to be changed by the system. My hope is that with more comrades coming into politics, we will work together to change the system for a better future.

“I am very proud of my background, as a factory hand, as a factory organizer, as a General Secretary of Textile Workers and as President of NLC. Some people said I have I cross over and I ask, to where? I just continue with the struggle.

“I move from conveying my grievances with placards and organizing strikes with protest and pressure, to trying my hands on the driver’s wheel, to try to do those things that I try to communicate with placards and then use executive pen to get them done.”

New Ministers To Undergo Induction Retreat August 15, 16 Before Swearing-In

Editorial staff

August 2, 2019

The 43 Presidential ministerial nominees, who have been confirmed by the Senate, have been scheduled to undergo a two-day induction retreat between August 15 and 16 before they are sworn in at a date yet to be announced.

A statement today, July 2 by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, said that the induction retreat will be held at the State House Banquet Hall.

Boss Mustapha asked the new ministers to take their time to study such documents as Status Report on Policies, Programmes and Projects; the 2019-2023 Road Map, FEC Handbook, etc, before the inauguration.

“All Ministers Designate are by this notice informed that relevant documents for their study and guidance, preparatory to the inauguration of the Cabinet shall be available for collection at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) (Cabinet Affairs Office) from 10.00am on Tuesday August 6, 2019.

“Ministers Designate are also requested to please bring along and submit to the OSGF, their updated CV in soft and hard copies as well as any valid identification document.

“For further clarification, please contact the Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Affairs Office, OSGF on 08023229481.”

Airport Official Allegedly Stole $600 From Pilgrim; Authority Suspends Her

Editorial staff

August 2, 2019

A female official of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Jennifer Luka, has been alleged to have stolen $600 belonging to a pilgrim at the Yola airport, Adamawa State.

Police in the State had on Thursday arrested Luka for “removing” the money from the pilgrim’s bag and was said to have hidden the money inside her hair and used her barrette cap to cover it.

FAAN spokesperson, Henrietta Yakubu, in a statement today, July2, said that Luka has been suspended indefinitely pending the completion of investigation into the matter.

“Following a report of theft involving an aviation security officer, Jennifer Luka at the Yola International Airport, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has suspended indefinitely the officer involved, pending the completion of investigation into the case.”

The statement said that the official had been handed to the appropriate security agency for further questioning and prosecution.

“FAAN deeply regrets this unfortunate incident and the conduct of Jennifer, which does not reflect the values of the Authority and its staff.

“The Authority wishes to re-assure the general public that our airports remain safe and secure for travellers and other airport users.”

Hajj 2019: Ambassador Adnan Hosts Saudi King’s Guests From Nigeria

Greenbarge Reporters

August 2, 2019

The Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Nigeria, Adnan bin Mahmood Bostaji has hosted some Nigerians who have been invited by King Salman and Crown Prince as special guests for this year’s pilgrimage.

In a farewell address to the Kingdom’s guests, in his office in Abuja, the Nigeria’s Federal Capital, Ambassador Adnan Bostaji, said that the idea of inviting Muslims from Nigeria as guests of the King is one of the efforts of the leadership of the Kingdom aimed at strengthening and consolidating the brotherly relationship among the Muslims in the world.

He said that the programme is also meant at enhancing the Islamic unity, brotherhood as well as to enable the guests to witness first hand, the efforts being made by the Government of the Kingdom to serve the Two Holy Mosques and facilitating Hajj performance for all the pilgrims. Responding, the director of the Nigerian Center for Arabic Research, Professor Khidir Abdulbagi Mohammad, expressed appreciation and gratitude to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for the gesture.

He prayed to Allah to protect King Salman and the Crown Prince for the invitation and their efforts to safeguard the Holy Sites and make hajj easy for all the guests of ar-Rahman.

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