Category: Happenings

The Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has on Sunday revealed how the leader of the gang involved in the abduction of medical students was k+lled by the police during an operation to rescue 20 medical students at the weekend.

The students who are from University of Maiduguri & the University of Jos were travelling to Enugu when they were kidnapped on August 15.

Egbetokun said: “This success was made possible through the support received from the office of the NSA, the activation of the security network, intelligence, synergy with other security agencies, community engagement & deployment of our highly skilled & tactical officers whose dedication, bravery, and precision in executing their duties are truly commendable.

During the operation, our officers engaged the kidnappers in a well-coordinated tactical offensive.

I am pleased to inform you that the kingpin of this notorious gang was neutralised during an exchange of fire with our operatives while two other members of the gang were arrested.

The founder of Telegram has been detained by French intelligence services at Le Bourget Airport in Paris while exiting a private jet.

He is expected to be presented to a judge later this evening, facing multiple charges, according to TF1.

Potential charges include terrorism, drug-related offenses, complicity, fraud, money laundering, concealment, and possession of child exploitation content.

The main concern of EU authorities regarding Telegram is its encrypted messaging, as reported by TF1.

After over six years in office, Ahmed Rufai Abubakar, the Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), has resigned.

Abubakar submitted his resignation to President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Saturday, August 24.

Speaking to State House correspondents, Abubakar said: “It’s a routine thing from time to time to brief Mr. President on situations, on issues, today is not an exception.

After the briefing, actually, I tendered my resignation and Mr. President graciously approved and accepted the resignation.”

Pressed to say why he resigned, the former NIA DG stated, “There are quite a number of reasons one will  do that, some personal family issues, but nothing very serious, actually, and the friendship will continue.

I discussed with Mr. President, he understood very well, and I promised to remain seized with issues and the security situations of the country.”

The Nasarawa State Police command has arrested one Mrs Hauwa Sani of Doro village, Katsina state, for allegedly being in possession of 124 rounds of anti-aircraft ammunition concealed in a gallon of palm oil.

The suspect was arrested alongside a two-year-old child at Rafin Sanyi village in Doma Local Government Area of Nasarawa State on Friday, August 23, 2024.

The command’s spokesperson, Ramhan Nansel, in a statement on Saturday, August 24, said preliminary investigation revealed the suspect received the amm¥nition from Doma LGA and was arrested on her way to Katsina.

Other items recovered from the suspect include a mobile telephone and a cash sum of N78,500.

President Bola Tinubu on Friday, August 23, swore in Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun as Chief Justice of the Federation to replace Justice Olukayode Ariwoola.

The swearing-in ceremony took place at the Council Chambers of the State House in Abuja, the nation’s capital. Justice Kekere-Ekun succeeds Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, who bowed out on Thursday after clocking the retirement age of 70 years.

Justice Kekere-Ekun is the second female CJN, the first being Aloma Mariam Mukhtar GCON, who served from July 2012 to November 2014.

Kenny Kehinde, a Nigerian influencer based in Dubai, UAE, has been called out by his girlfriend, one Precious Chisom, over alleged domestic abise

She said: “I recently ended our two-year relationship due to incessant physical and emotional abuse from him. Kenny responded by going after my younger sister that lives with me.

He had said he was going to help my sister secure an admission into a school in Canada. He promised to help with the visa and all, so I gave him my sister’s contact so that they can talk about it. However, it all turned out to be a lie.

They’re now currently dating and he has lodged her in a hotel and has told her bad things about her family to shut her out. She doesn’t take any one’s call not even my mum’s.”

There is widespread anger in Ethiopia over the 25-year jail term handed to a landlord who brutally raped and murdered his tenant’s seven-year-old daughter.

Heaven Awot was taking from her home, sexually assaulted, mutilated, and killed by her mother’s landlord, Getnet Baye, in the northwestern city of Bahir Dar in August 2023.

He was sentenced to only 25 years in prison. However, the case attracted widespread attention after he recently launched an appeal. The case is now adjourned until October, BBC reports.

The case has sparked widespread cond£mnation and demands for justice, and over 200,000 people have signed an online petition calling for a review of the sentencing to “reflect the gravity of the crime” and to offer support for Heaven’s mother, Abekyelesh Adeba.

The Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA) has also denounced the sentencing as “very light,” stating that “the murder by itself should have been enough to sentence him to life imprisonment or to death.

A yet-to-be-identified girl has been captured in a viral video brutally assaulting another girl, said to be her friend.

In the trending video, the girl could been seen using two canes to repeatedly flog her friend who she accused of sleeping with her boyfriend.

“So you went ahead and taste my D. Do you know what you just tasted?” She queried the victim as a third girl demanded for the victim’s phone password.

The attack was said to have occurred at a hotel in Calabar, Cross River State.

After the flogging the victim, the girl was said to had gone ahead to strip her naked and recorded her. She later distributed the video to guys on her WhatsApp. W

Watch video below…

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says the retail price per litre of Household Kerosene (HHK) paid by consumers in July 2024 was N1,769.86

The NBS in its July report said this showed an increase of 13.81% compared to N1,555.11 recorded in June 2024.

According to the bureau, “On a year on-year basis, the average retail price per litre of the product rose by 40.37% from N1,260.81 in July 2023.

On state profile analysis, the highest average price per litre in July 2024 was recorded in Akwa-Ibom with N2,383.33, followed by Oyo with N2,375.00 & Delta with N2,309.52. On the other hand, the lowest price was recorded in Adamawa with N1,171.11, followed by Taraba with N1,191.30 & Borno with N1,381.58.

The average retail price per gallon of Household Kerosene paid by consumers in July 2024 was N5,762.10 indicating an increase of 1.11% from N5,698.68 in June 2024. On a year-on-year basis, this increased by 33.81% from N4,306.07 in July 2023.

An Ikeja chief magistrate’s court on Thursday, August 22, discharged and acquitted six persons arrested during the 2020 protest.

The defendants are Daniel Joyinbo, 31, Adigun Sodiq, 28, Kehinde Shola, 32, Salaudeen Kamilu, 29, Sodiq Usseni, 33 and Azeez Isiaka, 34.

The defendants had in a plea bargain agreement, pleaded guilty to a count charge of breach of the public peace preferred against them by the Lagos State Government.

After listening to the plea bargain agreement, the magistrate, Bola Osunsanmi, found the defendants guilty and convicted them of the offence.

She, however, cautioned and freed them, adding that they had spent almost four years in custody.

A truck driver who killed five people in Arizona last year when he caused a six-vehicle crash while distracted by watching TikTok videos has been sentenced to two and the half years in prison.

Danny Tiner, a 38-year-old truck driver was on tiktok when he the crash occurred in January 12, 2023. The accident occurred on Interstate 10 in Chandler, Arizona.

While Tiner survived, five others were k+lled at the scene from the pileup, which sandwiched two cars between another semi-truck.

Tiner, who was arrested in June 2023, was slammed with five counts of negligent hom+cide. He pleaded guilty to all counts. On August 19, 2024, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office announced that Tiner was given a 22-and-a-half-year prison sentence.

However, he will receive a 415-day bereavement for the time he has already spent in jail. During the time of the accident, the truck driver was speeding upwards of 68MPH in a 55MPH construction zone. Officials said that Tiner admitted he had received a notification on his tablet.

The Sarkin Kudun Gatawa in Gatawa District of Sokoto State, Alhaji Muhammad Bawa, has reportedly been killed by bandits after weeks in captivity.

The Emir and his son were kidnapped in July at the Kwanar Maharba area while travelling from Sokoto to his home town, Sabon Birni, the headquarters of Sabon Birni local government of Sokoto State.

The abductors few days after the incident requested the sum of N1 billion as ransom for the release of the victims.

A video later surfaced online showing the Emir pleading for his life. Speaking in Hausa language, he appealed to the Sokoto State Government, Sokoto Sultanate Council, his relatives and friends to help pay ransom for his freedom before the deadline set by his captors.

Alhaji Bawa said that the bandits had issued a deadline for the payment of ransom and failure of which he would be will killed.

The United Nations Children Fund’s (UNICEF) says the nutrition supplements meant for malnourished children in some communities in Sokoto State are being st%len & sold in the market.

UNICEF’s Chief of Field Office in charge of Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara states, Mr Micheal Juma, disclosed this during the quarterly policymakers’ meeting on August 21st, in Sokoto.

Juma noted that the nutrition supplements were provided by donors and distributed to healthcare centers in different communities aimed at enhancing the lives of malnourished children.

According to PMNews, he lamented that some bad elements in the system connived with traders and engaged in selling the supplements to unintended persons.

He stressed that the supplement were openly sold in markets while on investigation at the designated stores, UNICEF discovered that personnel stocked cartons of supplements with stones and other objects to cover their nefarious acts.

The world’s oldest person, US-born Maria Branyas Morera, has di3d at the age of 117.

Her family announced the sad news in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, August 20. Also confirming her demise, Guinness World Records in a statement said Maria passed away on Monday, August 20.

Her d£ath was confirmed by the Gerontology Research Group, the statement said. Aged 117 years 168 days, she was the eighth-oldest person (with a verifiable age) in history.

Maria passed away peacefully at the nursing home in Catalonia, Spain, where she resided for the past two decades. She was confirmed to be the world’s oldest woman (and person overall) in January 2023, following the d£ath of Lucile Randon (France).

Two Nigerians have been arrested by Haitian police for possession of fake Haitian National Identification Cards.

The suspects, Madukanze Kenneth, 31, and Henry Peter, 29, were arrested on Sunday, August 18, in Jacmel, Haiti.

Born on August 3rd, 1993, in Nigeria, Madukanze Kenneth was arrested by law enforcement in possession of a Haitian National Identification Card in the name of Augustin Jerry. While Henry Peter, born on February 7, 1995 in Nigeria, also uses a fake national identification card in the name of Junior Jean Pierre, IciHaiti reports.

The South East Police Department in Haiti announced the arrests on social media, emphasising their commitment to continue working “tirelessly” to apprehend lawbreakers and maintain public order.

A Chinese investment group is set to list two residential structures it confiscated from Nigeria for sale on global online marketplace eBay.

Peoples Gazette reports that the group is racing to recover up to $70 million in arbitration awards from the West Africa country.

According to the report, Zhongshang Fucheng Industrial Investment Ltd took possession of two buildings linked to the Nigerian government in Liverpool, United Kingdom, in June 2024, years after Nigeria failed to settle an arbitration judgement handed down in 2021.

The properties, 15, Aigburth Hall Road, Liverpool and Beech Lodge, 49, Calderstones Road, Liverpool, were targeted after a December 2021 British court order gave Zhongshang executives the power to seize Nigerian assets in the UK to retrieve the $70 million payment, which remained outstanding as of August 20, 2024, with two per cent monthly interest accruals.

Three suspected kidnappers have been nabbed while trying to abduct a car dealer in Ikorodu area of Lagos State.

It was gathered that the suspects were apprehended at Ebute Igbogbo road on Wednesday morning, August 21.

In a video posted by an eyewitness, the suspects identified themselves simply as Tunde, Sodiq and Timothy. 

Watch video below…

NNPC Ltd has blamed the fuel scarcity that has led to long queues in filling stations nationwide due to recent rains, lightning & thunderstorms.

NNPCL’s vice-president (downstream), Dapo Segun, disclosed this at a press conference at the NNPC towers in Abuja on Tuesday, August 20.

“We’ll like to apologise to Nigerians for the queues we’ve been seeing springing up. A number of the causes are outside of our control but we’ll do our best to manage. We do not like to make excuses. For example, since the rains began, the Estragos channel has been difficult to navigate through.

We have vessel after vessel going around there because of siltation & that has really hindered our ability to bring petroleum products, particularly PMS, up country.

We also understand that with the rains also, situations where to discharge petroleum products where there is lightning, thunderstorms, you have to suspend, not just the discharge of petroleum products onshore but also the evacuation from the tankers.

An armed robber, who’s allegedly part of a gang t£rrorizing Nigeria-owned shops in Amsterdam, Netherlands has been nabbed.

The suspect was nabbed by Nigerians during a recent robbery attack and was later handed over to the police.

It was gathered that two of the robbers managed to escape during the failed robbery attack which is said to be the third in recent times. 

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Ogun State, Barrister Niyi Ijalaye, has reportedly passed away. Ijalaye sl¥mped and di£d on Monday evening August 19, in Abuja shortly after attending a meeting of RECs at the Commission’s headquarters, according to a source who spoke with TVC news.

The meeting, presided over by the INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu, centered on the upcoming off-cycle governorship elections in Edo and Ondo States, as well as discussions on seven vacant positions in the National and State Assemblies.

Niyi Ijalaye, an Indigene of Ondo State was said to have participated actively during the meeting and was in good spirit before the death later in the evening.

Abia State Government has announced one positive case of monkeypox.

Announcing the news on Monday, August 19, the Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu, said that there were 13 suspected cases, one of which was positive, nine negative cases and three uncertified with no d£ath recorded yet.

According to Kanu, the case of monkey pox was recorded in Isiala Ngwa local government area. He stated that Abia has opened centres, including Abia State University Teaching Hospital, Aba, adding that more centres would be announced soon.