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More than 40 people, including a family of seven, were feared killed in clashes between militia gangs in the Gbagir community in Ukum Local Government Area of Benue on Tuesday. On Wednesday, a reliable military source said in Makurdi that security operatives had been deployed to restore normalcy. However, he said locals in the area would need to furnish the operatives with credible information to succeed in the operation. It was militiamen that were killing themselves. One or two people might have been caught in the crossfire, but the majority of the people that were killed were members of militia gangs in the area. “The villagers know those carrying out this dastardly act but are shielding them. We saw several corpses. The attack was not carried out by suspected armed herdsme...

Members of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, on Wednesday began a three-day warning strike after a patient’s relative assaulted a physician. In a statement, the president and vice-president of ARD-UCH Ibadan, John Oladapo and Sunday Adegbite, respectively, said they were demanding a public apology in two widely read national dailies. They also said there must be, in addition, an admission of wrongdoing by the assailants. The association’s members also demanded that the security architecture of the hospital be improved. On Sunday, one of our members was the target of a deliberate, premeditated, planned rage and furious assault by a patient’s relation. The doctor was seeing a known sickle cell patient in a painful crisis at the em...

By Collins Yakubu-Hammer The Director-General of Voice of Nigeria (VON) Malam Jibrin Baba Ndace has solicited for partnership with Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC) to project positive narrative of Nigeria, Africa and the good works of the Commission. Ndace during a courtesy visit with his management team to the new Executive Secretary of NCPC, Bishop Stephen Adegbite said President Bola Tinubu has a mindset of appointing the best hands to run affairs of his government. He commended Adegbite for all his prayers for the country and expressed confidence in his capacity to bring positive changes to NCPC. "I am here to, first, let you know about VON. It is the only public broadcast established by the Federal Government to tell the stories about Nigeria, Nigerians, Afric...

Lucky Aiyedatiwa Campaign Organisation Foot Soldiers (LACO-FS) on Monday took a governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ondo State, Mr. Olugbenga Edema, to the cleaners, describing him "a clueless roadside critic, who is always not having facts to back up his claims". Edema had in a statement over the weekend queried the authenticity of the secondary school-leaving certificate of Governor Aiyedatiwa, who is also vying for the governorship ticket of the party. Responding, the LACO-FS in a statement by its State Director of Information, Mr. Kayode Fasua, said photocopies of the school-leaving and other certificates obtained by the governor were duly submitted to theIndependent National Electoral Commission (INEC). "Not even a drunk of the Ogogoro-dringing pe...

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted a 40-year-old businessman, Ejike Chibuke, with 1.45 kilogrammes of cocaine at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja. This is contained in a statement by the NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday in Abuja. Mr Babafemi said the drugs were concealed in the suspect’s luggage while he attempted to board an Ethiopia Airlines flight number 950 to Vietnam via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from the NAIA. He said the suspect was arrested at the Abuja airport on Saturday, March 2, after NDLEA officers subjected him to a thorough search. Mr Babafemi also said that it was in the process the illicit substance was discovered concealed, factory-fitted, in his bag. “In his statement, the suspect cla...

The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) says it will ensure justice for the 10 year-old victim of assault by an Anambra based lawyer, Mrs Adachukwu Okafor. Okafor, presented herself at the Police station after she was declared wanted and a N2 million bounty was placed on her for allegedly using knife, electric pressing iron and other weapons to brutalise the underage househelp. ACP Olumiyiwa Adejobi, Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), while addressing the media at the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), on Friday in Abuja, said it was a case of attempted murder and child abuse. Adejobi, represented by CSP Olabisi Okuwobi, National Coordinator, Police Campaign against Cultism and other Vices, explained that the househelp worked for two weeks in the house of the suspect befo...

Emeka Anyaoku, former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, has said that the current Nigerian constitution would not adequately address the nation’s economic predicaments and other challenges. Mr Anyaoku spoke with journalists on Saturday in his country home, Obosi village of Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra. He said the current challenges being faced in the nation like poverty, insecurity, and delapidated infrastructure among oethers were serious challenges bedevelling the country. “I am on record for saying that these challenges can not be effectively addressed under the constitution and governance system we have at the moment. “We can not effectively address these challenges that have assumed nationwide dimension especially insecurity which has parveded the ...

The House of Representatives says it is not at war with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society organisations (CSOs) over a bill to regulate their activities in the country. Victor Obuzor (PDP-Rivers), chairman, House committee on CSOs and development matters, said this on the sidelines of a meeting with CSOs and development partners in Abuja. According to him, the bill to regulate the activities of NGOs just came up for the first reading and will go for the second reading, adding that it was even stepped down by the speaker for further consultation. We are not at war with CSOs. What they do for nation-building cannot be overlooked; we are their friends and we have the same objectives. “Our aim is to build up the nation and make Nigeria great, and we should wor...

By NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA The National Association Of Persons With Physical Disabilities (NAPWPD), FCT Chapter, has called for full domestication of disability laws and accessibility standard code. The Chairman of the NAPWPD, Mr Chris Agbo, made the call at a media conference to commemorate the day in Abuja. Agbo explained that the International Wheelchair Day was a reminder of the importance of wheelchairs to the millions of individuals around the world. He added that Wheelchairs constituted a massive difference in a person’s ability to function in the world. “Unfortunately, not everyone who needs a wheelchair is able to get one. In fact, there are tens of thousands of people around us who need wheelchairs. “The primary focus of the day is on promoting accessibility and...

By Jessica Dogo AThe Uniccon Group of Companies has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) to promote local content. This is contained in a statement in Abuja on Friday and signed by the Chairman of Uniccon, Dr Chuks Ekwueme, Elwueme said this when he paid a visit to the Nation’s defence industries office in Kaduna. He said the purpose of the visit was to consolidate on previous meetings to explore further areas of collaboration and robust engagements in meeting material needs for the Nation’s defence industries complex. According to him, the company and its subsidiaries are interested in driving local content in the area of defense technologies. He noted that one of the group’s areas of specialty was bespoke tec...

The Senate has confirmed the appointment of four persons, Robert Agbede, Ado Wanka, Murtala Sagagi and Muslimat Olanike, as members of the board of directors of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). This followed the adoption of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions report at the Committee of the Whole on Thursday. Presenting the report, the committee chairman, Abiru Adetounboi, said four of the five nominees appeared for screening, while the fifth, Urum Eke, failed to appear. He said their nomination was in accordance with the provisions of sections 6 1 and 2 (d) and 10 of the Central Bank of Nigerian Act, 2007. He said that the committee’s findings indicated that the appointment was in accordance with the provisions of section six of the CB...

The House of Representatives has urged the education ministry to collaborate with the health ministry to develop a mandatory drug test for secondary school students in Nigeria. This followed the adoption of a motion, ‘On Need to Introduce Mandatory Drug Test for Secondary School Students in Nigeria’, by Moshood Oshun (APC-Lagos) at plenary in Abuja on Thursday. Presenting the motion, Mr Oshun said adolescence remained a critical period in human development. He said individuals at this age were usually influenced by factors such as experimental curiosity, peer pressure, poor socio-economic conditions at home and the need for extra energy for daily activities. He said youth were critical stakeholders in fostering socio-economic development in the country, adding that their vulne...

Barr Tagbo Agbazue, Director, Influence Africa; Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, emeritus AUC Chairperson and incumbent South African Minister in the Presidency for Women Affairs, Youth and People with Disabilities; Mr. Symerre Grey-Johnson, Director, AUDA-NEPAD: and Ms. Unami Dube, Program Manager WorldSkills Africa at AUDA-NEPAD among other delegates The African Union Commission and the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), with the support of the German government, has commemorated the successfull launch of the African Union Year of Education Transformation, by hosting a digital Knowledge Marketplace Exhibition. This was contained in a statement issued to newsmen in Abuja on Sunday by the Director for Human Capital & Institutional Development at AUDA-NEPAD, Mr. Symerre Gr...