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HATE SPEECH: GOV. ALIA READS RIOT ACT TO POLITICIANS, JOURNALISTS 23rd July, 2023       Benue State Governor, Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia has warned politicians and journalists alike that they would be held accountable for every hate speech and inciting statement they make agasnst his administration. The Governor who spoke at the stakeholders’ meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state held at the Government house, Makurdi last weekend reminded journalism that where their rights end, the right of others begin. According to the Governor, “Hate speech is against the law of the Federal Government; if you are found wanting the law shall be applied to you. The fact that the water is still does not mean that there are no crocodiles in that water. “Those who are fond of hate speeches and inciting statements are not permitted, irrespective of your political or social affiliation. “It’s not my fault, nor your fault for APC to be in government today. The people wante...

Four Injured As Gunmen Invade Ex-minister’s residence July 23, 2023 Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has condemned the gunmen’s attack on the residence of Labaran Maku, a former Minister of Information. This is contained in a statement signed by Peter Ahemba, senior special assistant to the governor on public affairs, on Sunday in Lafia. Gunmen had, on Saturday night, forced themselves into the residence of the former minister and, in the process, injured four security personnel. The criminals, however, escaped when the military promptly arrived at the scene shortly after they were informed. The governor, who described the incident as unfortunate, said he had directed the police and other security agencies to arrest the criminal elements and ensure they face the full wrath of the law. Mr Sule reassured residents of the state government’s readiness to secure the lives and property of the citizens, adding that the general well-being of the people remains a top priority of his ad...

  Secondary school students beat teacher in Ogun A gang of ten senior secondary school students in Ogun State have reportedly beaten a teacher, Kolawole Shonuga, for stopping one of them from cheating during an examination in the school. Magic FM learnt that the incident occurred on Tuesday at Isanbi Comprehensive High School, Ilisan-Remo, Ikenne Local Government Area of the state. It was further gathered that Shonuga, while invigilating the unified examination for the SS 1 Art class students, caught one 18-year-old Ashimi Adebanjo, cheating and seized his paper. Dissatisfied with the teacher’s action, the students after school hours, ganged up, waylaid the teacher, and beat him up at the school’s gate. An eye witness who pleaded anonymity said one of them, Kazeem Adelaja allegedly hit a stick on Shonuga’s head while others were beating him. Our correspondent gathered that Police from the Remo Division later pounced on the students and arrested about ten of them. When contacted, Po...

Suspend N100k School Fees for Unity schools, Ohaneze Tells Tinubu The Apex Igbo Social-Cultural Organization, Ohaneze Ndigbo, has called on the Federal Government led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to suspend the upward review of school fees for new students into its secondary schools, also known as Federal Unity Colleges, from N45,000 to N100,000. They noted that failure to suspend the increase, coupled with the current anger in the country, may lead to a revolution. The National Vice President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Chief Demian Okeke-Ogene, made this call during a telephone interview with the Nigerian Tribune in Awka on Sunday while discussing the state of the nation. Okeke-Ogene stated that such a move would lead to a mass school drop-out and subsequently increase crime among youths, especially those from less privileged homes. He expressed concern about the current situation in Nigeria, including the increase in fuel prices, unemployment, insecurity, and the high cost of food ...

RE: MASS BURIAL OF ENDSARS VICTIMS (MISCHIEF MAKERS AT WORK) The attention of the Lagos State Government has been drawn to some social media publications about a purported mass burial plan for casualties of the 2020 #EndSARS incident.  Peddlers of the news are deliberately misinterpreting and sensationalizing a letter from the Lagos State Government Public Procurement Agency titled: Letter of No Objection – Mass Burial for the 103, the Year 2020 ENDSARS victims, to misinform the public, stir public sentiment and cause public disaffection against the Lagos State Government. While the Lagos State Government would not have dignified the mischievous elements peddling such news with a response, we consider it appropriate to set the records straight and draw the attention of well-meaning citizens to the antics of some unscrupulous elements who are hell bent on disrupting the peace and tranquility of Lagos with distorted news and half-truth about the PPA letter. It is public knowledge tha...

FG TO COLLABORATE WITH UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ON DIRECT FLIGHT TO HOUSTON TEXAS.     In a bid to further expand her horizon, the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace has assured the delegation from the United States of America that the Government of Nigeria will work on their requests for a direct flight from Nigeria to Houston, having a consulate office in Houston city and deepening the Bilateral Relations with the Government of America.     While receiving the Mayor of Houston Texas, United States of America, Mr. Sylvester Turner and his delegates at the Minister’s conference room today in Abuja, Dr. Meribole said he was glad the present administration is well disposed to investment, tourism and building on the existing bilateral relationship. He assured them that all modalities required for the Bilateral Air Services Agreement between the Nations as regards direct flight to Houston Texas will commence as soon as new Ministers are appointed and deployed appropriate...

AIRPORT PROJECT:  MINISTRY OF AVIATION GIVES MARCHING ORDER TO CONTRACTORS … AS KATSINA’S STATE GOVERNOR CONCLUDES PLAN TO COMPENSATE LANDOWNERS   In ensuring the timely completion of projects at Katsina airport, the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace has urged the contractors handling the projects to quickly mobilize to site as the Katsina state government has concluded plan to pay compensation to the land owners.   Permanent Secretary, Dr. Emmanuel Meribole while welcoming  the Governor  of Katsina state, Mallam  Dikko Umar Radda PhD. in his office today in Abuja, said there are eight projects at the airport, some of which include: the expansion of the existing airport APRON, Fire truck building, new terminal, Cargo terminal, and Fire truck maintenance and refurbishment. He directed that the contractors move to site immediately as issues concerning compensation and secession between the Military and civilian land space is being sorted out. He commended St...

Alleged EndSARS mass burial: Ezekwesili demands answer from Sanwo-Olu A former Minister of Education, Obiageli Ezekwesili has demanded an urgent response from the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu over a document circulating online concerning the controversial EndSARS protest. The document had alleged that Sanwo-Olu approved the mass burial of 103 protesters who were claimed to have been massacred by joint forces of the Nigerian Army and the police during the October 2020 mass protest against police brutality tagged #EndSARS. The document, which has gone viral online, surfaced almost three years after the government had denied there was brutal killing of unarmed protesters who were waving the Nigerian flag and chanting the national anthem when the military allegedly opened fire on them at the Lekki toll gate. In a series of tweets on Sunday via her verified Twitter handle, the former Minister questioned if the Governor actually knew the State had a record of 103 dead bodies from...

Davido Pledges $10k For Hotel Worker Who Returned $70k Award-winning Singer, David Adeleke popularly known as Davido has promised to donate $10k to a staff of Eko Hotel and Suites, Kekwaaru Ngozi Mary, who returned misplaced $70,000 to a customer in Lagos. David disclosed this in a Tweet posted on his Twitter account on Sunday.  Reacting to the news he said, "Find her for me … I donate $10k" Mary, upon discovery of the bag containing the huge sum of money, reported the incident to the hotel management. The hotel’s General Manager, in line with the establishment’s policy of integrity and transparency, promptly initiated the process of returning the money to its rightful owner. — Twitter | davido  One more photo below. 

Six friends die after taking alcohol in friend's house 23rd Jul 2023  Police in Ogun on Saturday confirmed the death of six friends after taking alcohol in their friends house in Ogbogbo, Ijebu North-East Local Government Area of the state. The incident occurred on Tuesday, at a drinking joint where the seven friends reportedly gathered to have a nice time. The source said that the deceased and the suspect had serious altercation at the joint but later resolved their matter. It was further learnt that the suspect offered to donate a bottle of drink to affirm their reconciliation. According to a source, all those that had the drink died, except the seventh person that allegedly served the drink from his home. He was said not to have partook of it. The source said that some hours after they had dispersed, news filtered into the town that two of them had died, while four others were hospitalised. It also said that the four died the following day. The suspect was reported to have fled ...

Petrol price may go up again in 45 days — Ex-PENGASSAN President Peter Esele 23rd Jul 2023  Peter Esele is a former President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN). With his vast knowledge of the oil industry, Esele speaks on the increases in the price of petrol occasioned by subsidy removal. From about N149 petrol at the time President Bola Tinubu assumed office on May 29, a day he declared that “subsidy is over”, the price of the product has moved to over N500, before jumping to around N617 last week. What can you tell us about the way the removal of fuel subsidy and petrol price increase is panning out in the country? What we have is that marketers are making a kill. They don’t buy fuel from the depot every day. So if they still have the old stock and they are selling at the new price, what we are experiencing is that they have decided to maximize profit. In the other states where they sell at the former price, in a deregulated market, ...

Gunmen abduct nine travellers in Edo 23rd Jul 2023  Suspected gunmen have reportedly kidnapped nine travellers in Oben, a border town between Edo and Delta states. It was learnt that the incident happened along Jesse-Oben Road on Friday night and had caused panic in the community. A hunter, Mr Obehe Adika, who claimed to have witnessed the incident, said he heard gunshots and tyre-screeching sounds from the bush where he was hunting around 9pm. He also claimed to have seen a Hilux van filled with gunmen, who attacked and kidnapped the passengers, who were in a Toyota Hiace bus heading to Delta State. “I saw them (gunmen) dragging the people. They (gunmen) were about five or six. They carried the nine passengers and drove off in their van. “Even the driver was not left out. Everyone was captured. I was the one who raised the alarm to the community head, who mobilised youths to begin a search, but they have not been found till now,” he added. A yet-to-be-identified 24-year-old daught...

Bandits threaten to marry off female captives 23rd Jul 2023  Four female captives including a student of the Zamfara State College of Arts and Science, abducted by bandits, have raised an alarm over their captors’ threat to marry them off if their parents fail to pay a N12 million ransom. The abductees, nabbed along the Birnin Magaji-Kaura Namoda Road six months ago while returning from a wedding, revealed this in a two minutes 19 seconds video obtained by Channels Television on Saturday. The victims, identified as Ummukhair, Aisha Yahaya, Jemila Yahaya, and Ummu Sani also said that their abductors gave their families one week to pay the ransom. ‘Secure our Freedom’ “We are begging you, parents, in the name of God. We are in trouble here with our abductors. Please, look for money to secure our freedom,” they pleaded. “The past government of Governor Bello Matawalle failed to secure our release. This is our sixth month and some days in captivity. We are begging the Governor Dauda La...

AG. IGP HOLDS THANKSGIVING SERVICE IN LAGOS As Governor Dapo Abiodun Extols his Exemplary Leadership The Acting Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, Ph.D., NPM, held a heartfelt thanksgiving service at the Redemption Pavilion, Victoria Island, Lagos, today Sunday 23rd July, 2023, expressing gratitude to God for his faithfulness and marvelous deeds in his life, and in the nation. The service was a solemn occasion for the IGP to offer prayers of thanksgiving for his appointment and the successes recorded in safeguarding lives and property across the nation so far.  Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, who was personally present at the church service, took the opportunity to shower encomium on the IGP, praising his dedication, professionalism, and commitment to transforming the Nigeria Police Force and ensuring the safety and security of all citizens. During the service, which was also attended by the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Research and Planning, DIG ...

Making Obi our presidential candidate regrettable – Apapa’s faction The Lamidi Apapa’s faction of the Labour Party, LP, has lamented over the choice of Peter Obi as its presidential candidate in the 2023 election. The faction said the party made a mistake by fielding Obi as its presidential candidate. The faction noted that Obi lied federally to the presidential election tribunal over some electoral documents from the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. This was contained in a statement signed by its suspended National Publicity Secretary, Abayomi Arabambi, to celebrate Obi’s 62nd birthday. According to Arabambi: “The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Labour Party (LP) felicitates with its popular presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Gregory Obi, on his 62nd anniversary. “In wishing him well, we want him to state that we regret fielding him on the platform of the party, in the light of recent development particularly actions that undermined the discipline the Labour par...

Subsidy removal: Slow down on harsh policies, CITN cautions Tinubu As the removal of petroleum subsidy and the increase in electricity tariffs bite harder on Nigerians, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN) has advised the Federal Government to slow down on the introduction of policies. Speaking on the sideline of the third Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN) and CITN retreat in Abuja, the president of CITN, Samuel Agbeluyi, reasoned that the impacts of the removal of subsidy and the current petroleum prices are enormous on the citizens. “If we add the sudden increase in electricity tariffs to what is on ground now it will cause some kind of dislocation to the system that may be difficult to handle,” he said. Agbeluyi, however, praised the president for his daunting policies while applauding the initiatives of the president. “He started very well and he needs the support of everybody and we have applauded the initiatives of government. But at this point, c...

Blessed Wisdom Model School, Onitsha Remains Closed -Chuma-Udeh. Anambra State Commissioner for Education, Prof. Ngozi Chuma-Udeh says Blessed Wisdom Model School, Onitsha remains closed inspite  of rumours flying around that the school has opened for school activities. Prof Chumah-Udeh revealed  this during an interview with ABS in her office in Awka. The Commissioner for Education explained that recently a two year old pupil of the school who left home hale and hearty got battered in school, her tongue severed, her hand broken with bones   shooting out and uptill the time of this report, the management of the school has not told the ministry of education what exactly happened. Prof. Chuma-Udeh noted that the parents of the child and their lawyer came to the ministry on three occasions and  invitations were extended to the proprietress of the school on these three occasions but she refused to honour the invitations hence the closure of the school by the state g...

 APC crisis: Al-Makura best to become Nat’l Chairman – Primate Ayodele The leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele has claimed that the best person to become the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, is the former governor of Nasarawa State, Senator Tanko Al-Makura. This is coming after rumours of President Tinubu endorsing former Kano governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has rented the internet. However, Primate Ayodele advised the APC to choose Al-Makura as the next chairman because he is the one whose chairmanship will not plunge the party into crisis.

IPOB sit-at-home: Resume your normal activities or face sanction – Enugu govt warns The Enugu State Government has urged residents to disregard the Monday sit-at-home order by the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, and go about their normal businesses. The government threatened to sanction civil servants, schools, and markets that observe the illegal order. The directive was issued by the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Chidiebere Onyia, and was contained in a statement he signed.  

Totally unacceptable – Ali Nuhu blasts Davido for endorsing his signee’s ‘offensive’ video Popular actor, Ali Nuhu, has berated Davido over the controversial video of the singer’s signee, Logos Olori’s new single ‘Jaye Lo.’ Reacting via his Instagram page, Nuhu said the act portrayed in the video was “totally unacceptable in Islam.” The actor urged Davido to pull down the video and apologise to Muslims for “hurting” them. He wrote, “I just came across the controversial video by @davido, as much we want to be creative in our various fields, we should learn to respect other people’s religion, culture and tradition. “This is totally unacceptable in Islam. You should pull down that video and apologise for hurting the entire Muslim ummah.”  

Chief Sunday Igboho Loses Mother Mother of Yoruba nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, also known as Sunday Igboho is dead. Mrs Adeyemo died Saturday evening. Igboho confirmed her demise in an Instagram post. May her gentle soul RIP  

Elon Musk announces Twitter logo change “Soon we will say goodbye to the Twitter brand and, gradually, to all the birds. If a good enough X logo is posted tonight, then tomorrow we will make it available to everyone,” he wrote in his account. The owner of the social network did not provide details. Previously, Musk introduced daily limits for reading posts on Twitter.  

Palliative: Cash transfer is a scam- Gov Uba Sani Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State has said that plans by the Federal government to transfer N8,000 cash to 12 million poor Nigerians as a form of palliative to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal is a ‘scam’. In an interview with Arise Television, Sani said there was no certainty of an accurate and updated database of the Nigerian people that will benefit from the scheme. “My position has always been that, at this critical time, cash transfer should not be something that we should bring up. I think that cash transfer for me, in my opinion, is a scam. Completely it’s a scam. I can be very certain about that, because who are you transferring the money to? Let me give an example, go and check the current statistics. Like I said, as the Chairman, Committee of Banking for four years in Nigeria, I oversight Central Bank, I oversight all the commercial sectors of our economy for the last four years and I looked at the statistics, I will...

Enyimba Football Club Sacks Finidi George  Enyimba, the Nigerian Premier League champions, have sacked the head coach, George Finidi shortly after he led the team to their ninth NPL title.  Finidi, a former Nigerian international, led Enyimba for two seasons, securing the league title in his first season and reaching the CAF Confederation Cup final in his second.  In a statement signed by the sporting director Ifeanyi Ekwueme, the club announced the dissolution of the technical crew on Monday.  Although, the reason for this is unknown, all coaches have been directed to re-apply for their positions within 48 hours.  Notably, Nwankwo Kanu, the newly appointed chairman of the club and Finidi were former teammates at Ajax Amsterdam. One more photo below. 

ANAMBRA POLICE ARREST GUNMAN AT POPULAR HOTEL IN AWKA Surveillance Operatives of Anambra State Police Command have arrested a lone gunman at a popular hotel (name withheld) in Awka. Surveillance Operatives  who observed the man prowling around the premises on 20th July. 2023 accosted him  and conducted a search on his person. One English-made pistol and three rounds of live ammunition were recovered from him. The suspect who gave his name as *Akuchieani Echezona,* a male resident  of Ifite Awka, was disarmed, arrested  and taken into custody. The Commissioner of Police, *CP Aderemi Adeoye,* has ordered State CID Awka to take over the case and investigate source of the weapon as well as the gunman's intention for going armed to the hotel. The suspect is to be arraigned in court at conclusion of investigation. *DSP TOCHUKWU IKENGA* POLICE PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER, ANAMBRA STATE COMMAND, AWKA 23RD JULY 2023.. More photos below.