Category: Uncategorized

By Dauda Pam

Seven passengers, including the Driver names withheld were on Thursday morning killed in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) suspected to have been planted along Biu- Buratai- Buni Yadi- Damaturu road,YOBE state.

The incident said to have taken place between Kamuya and Buratai village, the home town to the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Yusuf Tukur Buratai,coming barely a week, when suspected insurgents on 19th September 2019, abducted five persons on the same route.

According to reliable sources, the passengers with their driver in a Golf saloon vokswagen vehicle were heading from Biu Local Government Area of Borno to Maiduguri, the state capital, unfortunately, upon reaching closer to the newly tarred road constructed by Yobe State Government stamped on the IED, which exploded and destroyed the vehicle with occupants into pieces.

The incident according to one of the lucky Driver and his passengers who were also heading to Maiduguri, and was trailing the affected Volkswagen Golf with a little distance back, happened at about 10am.

His words, ” We have to give God the Glory for sparing our lives and property today along Biu-Damaturu road. I was at the back of the exploded Golf car, but because of the little distance, the explosion of the IED could not reach us, but we have to immediately make a u-turn without reaching our destination.

“In fact, we thought it was a rainbow show, as the whole area became lightened with heavy sound that shook the area.” The escaped driver said.

Recalled that recently, the Cashier of Hawul Local Government Area of the Borno state was kidnapped along the same route, before he later released after payment of ransom. Also, an ambush by terrorists along the same road last two weeks claimed the life of a military personnel and carting away of foodstuff and millions of naira.

All efforts to get confirmation from the Police authorities proved abortive at press time.

By Dauda R Pam MAIDUGURI

Borno state Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum,on Friday (today)‎joined a panel of discussion on the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the midst of conflict, to participate in a high-level side event in the on-going 74th United Nations General Assembly,UNGA,taking place in New York, United States of America.

This was contained in a statement issued by the Special Adviser on Public Relations and Strategy, Malam Isa Gusau, indicated that Governor Zulum, arrived United States on Thursday, with a call for an action against the impacts of climate change in reference to,how lost of livelihoods, caused by receding of the Lake Chad has significantly contributed to the security challenges in Borno State and parts of the northeast.‎

According to the statement,Governor Zulum,was invited by the Chairman Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF),Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State to be joined by permanent missions of Nigeria and Spain to the United Nations,as co-hosting the high level side event with the theme, “The Role of Subnational Governments in Achieving the SDGs and the Paris Agreement”.

The side event is also supported by the UN Global impact and Local 2030, a multi-stakeholder platform that supports delivery of SDGs to communities of UN member countries.

Also in attendance are two Governors,Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto, the NGF’s vice chairman, Governor of Ebonyi state and Africa’s regional director of the UN Development Programme in the first panel of the side event, the statement said.

‎lsa Gusau, was said to have quoted media reports linked to the NGF,and noted that, Professor Tijjani Muhammad-Bande,President of the 74th UN General Assembly as well as the UN Deputy Secretary General, Amina Mohammed,are expected to speak during the side event at the UN headquarters.

Others to speak at the event are,Professor Jeffrey Sachs, an economist from Columbia University, Juan Pablo De LaigLasia, Secretary of State for International Cooperation and Kerry Adler, President and CEO of Skypower Global which is a ground-breaking solar power company that prides itself with building stronger economies and a cleaner environment by adding renewables to the energy mix.

Governor Zulum is expected to explore opportunities of attracting interventions to Borno State in order to maximize the benefits of his participation at the UN General Assembly.

By Jennifer Y Omiloli

The Anambra Government has reserved six billion naira for the development of the Anambra State International Cargo Airport at Umueri, close Awka.

Gov. Willie Obiano made the announcement at the introduction of the state’s 2020 spending plan to the state’s assembly on Thursday in Awka.

He declared that an aggregate of N22.2 billion was evaluated for the development of streets and extensions, while N6 .98 billion was saved for execution of key activities in the wellbeing area.

Obiano, who later facilitated partners at the Government Lodge in Amawbia, close to Awka, said his organization chose to put resources into the air terminal to actualise the guarantee he made during 2017 governorship battle.

The governor said that building a worldwide air terminal in the state would help monetary advancement and increment in the pay base of the state.

He said that pundits of his organization air terminal would be stunned at the pace of work at the air terminal’s site after the stormy season.

Obiano, who additionally talked widely on what his organization was doing in the wellbeing area, encouraged inhabitants of the state to grasp the state’s medical coverage scheme.

“A lot of testimonies are being given on the state health insurance scheme, due to the effective nature of the scheme.

“I am appealing to the people of Anambra State and to non-natives residing in our state, to register with the scheme because of the immense benefits of the scheme,’’ he said.

The crucial market indicators of the Nigerian Stock Exchange rebounded on Thursday after three consecutive days loss following Nestle and Seplat price rallies.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the market capitalisation inched N145 billion or 1.09 per cent to close at N13.426 trillion against N13.281 trillion recorded on Wednesday.

Similarly, the All-Share Index grew by 296.80 points or 1.90 per cent to close at 27,579.85 compared with 27,283.05 achieved on Wednesday.

The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Nestle Nigeria, Seplat, Total, Access Bank and Eterna.

Analysts at Afrinvest Limited stated that “In the absence of any major stimulus, we expect a bearish performance for the rest of the week.

“Nonetheless, we see opportunities for bargain hunting in stocks with sound fundamentals.”

The market breadth closed positively with 16 gainers and seven losers.

Nestle, Seplat and Total led the gainers’ table in percentage terms, appreciating by 10 per cent each, to close at N1,336.50, N506 and N110 per share, respectively.

Continental Reinsurance followed with a gain 9.88 per cent to close at N1.89, while Cornerstone Insurance and NEM Insurance appreciated by 9.52 per cent each, to close at 46k and N2.30 per share, respectively.

Conversely, Forte Oil led the losers’ chart with a loss of 6.78 per cent to close at N15.80 per share.

Honeywell came second with a decline of 5.94 per cent to close at 95k, while Custodian and Allied lost 4.76 per cent to close at N6 per share.

Chams declined by 4.17 per cent to close at 23k, while Fidelity Bank shed 1.19 per cent to close at N1.66 per share.

In spite of the growth in market indices, the volume of shares closed lower as investors bought and sold 183.47 million shares worth N2.93 billion traded in 2,576 deals.

This was in contrast with an exchange of 462.31 million shares valued at N7.92 billion achieved in 2,895 deals on Wednesday.

Transactions in the shares of Access Bank topped the activity chart with a total of 67.32 million shares valued at N509.83 million.

Guaranty Trust Bank trailed with 23.16 million shares worth N651.7 million, while Transcorp traded 14.08 million shares valued at N14.29 million.

Lafarge Africa sold 10.43 million shares worth N156.63 million, while FBN Holdings transacted 8.73 million shares valued at N47.94 million.(NAN)

The leaderships of the Tiv and Junkun waring factions in the Southern part of Taraba on Thursday, agreed to a ceasefire to allow the return of normalcy to the area.

This was contained in a communique issued at the end of a two-day peace meeting held in Jalingo, Taraba, with representatives of both tribes, government officials and state security chiefs.

Government officials and security agencies in the state also attended the meeting.

According to the communique, speakers at the meeting condemned the crisis and stressed the need for cessation of all forms of hostilities between the two communities to have way for the peace building effort being spearheaded by the state government.

“The meeting noted that the crisis had been hijacked by criminal elements from both the Jukun and Tiv communities and therefore, the two communities should expose the criminal elements amongst them.

“We also resolved to stop reprisal attacks or revenge from both parties but report all from of security breaches to the security agencies for appropriate action.

“There is every need for government to take deliberate steps to encourage the Internally Displaced Persons to return to their homes since adequate security operatives have been deployed to the affected communities to protect lives and property,’’ the leaders said.

The leaders urged journalists to be more positive in their reportage while the parties also charged the communities to be wary of rumours that are capable of inciting the people and destabilising the entire peace process.

The communique was signed by the state Deputy Governor, Haruna Manu as representative of the state government , Mr Danjuma Adamu and John Mamman signed for the Jukun community while Mr Jime Yongo and Mr Isaac Waakaa signed on behalf of the Tiv community.

NAN reports that the communual crisis between Tiv and Jukun of Taraba has claimed many lives and property worth billions of Naira in Takum, Wukari and Donga local government areas of the state. (NAN)

By Jennifer Y Omiloli

The blocking of Nigeria’s borders by Federal Government was attempted to reinforce the country’s security and ensure its financial advantages, the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), retired Col. Hameed Ali, has said.

Talking during a meeting with outskirt partners, containing cargo forwarders and security organizations on Thursday at Seme, Ali said that the closure was not expected to hurt anybody but to ensure the countries interests.

“Our interest is to make sure that our country is secure, the well-being of our people is ensured and our economy is secure.

“The step we have taken is in the interest of Nigeria, the step is not to hurt anybody but to protect our own interests as a nation,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ali was accompanied at the meeting by Nigeria’s Ambassador to Benin Republic, Kayode Oguntuase, Comptroller General Immigration, Mohammed Babandede and Brig. Gen. E.A Ndagi, Coordinator of Joint Border Security Exercise, among others.

The NCS boss said that lots of things had gone wrong regarding compliance with transit of goods, adding that the border closure was to ensure that things were streamlined so that all stakeholders could be back to doing the right things.

“The idea is to ensure that the protocol that is involved in transit of goods and trade facilitation is adhered to so that we will all live and complement each other.

“The operation is undertaken to ensure that we get things back in perspective; we know the right thing, it is well written, we are all aware of it, we used to practise it, so we must go back to that.

Ali said that the freight forwarders were critical stakeholders at the borders and urged them to ensure compliance with the rules regarding transit of goods.

“We cannot do business without you but compliance is lacking between you and our officers. Most of the things we do, we don’t comply with rules and that’s why we end up with weapons, Tramadol that killed our children.

“We end up with ammunition that bandits use to kill our people; we don’t manufacture ammunition in this country, if we do it is only from one source and that source is well protected and documented.

“But today, we have seen many of this ammunition in Nigeria, where are they coming from.

“They have compromised with some of us and some of you and I say to our officers; that weapons, that bullets you facilitate in transiting into Nigeria, you don’t know who will take it.

“The bandits, the armed robbers had no choice, your mother, my children, your sisters might be shot by that weapon,” the customs boss said.

He called for support and cooperation of the stakeholders to ensure the nation is protected.

“We need your support, we need your cooperation and understanding, our national interest is over and above any issue,” he said.

Daybreak.ng reports that the joint-outskirt security work out, code-named ‘Ex-Swift Response’, which was requested by the Federal Government, started August to verify Nigeria’s territory and sea borders.