Governor Ortom: Three children, two others die in IDP camps

Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom said five Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) including three children taking refuge at designated camps in Benue State have died. He said the IDPs fled their homes as a result of the sustained fulani killing are in various IDPs camps Governor Samuel Ortom made this known on Friday when the National Commission For Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCRMI) visited the state to distribute relief items for displaced people. Ortom said that two of the five deceased were crushed by a truck while crossing the…

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Marcel de Souza: Nigeria spent $105M on ECOWAS levy in two years

The federal government of Nigeria has expended $105 million as community levy on Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS) in the last two years. The outgoing president of ECOWAS Commission, Marcel Allen de Souza, disclosed this in a farewell speech at the hand-over ceremony at the main hall of ECOWAS Secretariat, Abuja. de Souza said, “I want to thank Nigeria and President Muhammadu Buhari for its commitment to ECOWAS cause. In 2016, Nigeria contributed 54 million dollars and, 2017, it contributed 51 million dollars, making a total of 105…

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Jay-Jay Okocha inducted as German Bundesliga legend

Former Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder Augustine Jay-Jay Okocha has been named as one of the German Bundesliga legends. The former Nigeria international joins Ghana legend and Caf deputy general secretary, Anthony Baffoe, in the 11-man legends network that will be flying the Bundesliga flag across the world. Okocha joined the Eagles from FC Saarbrucken in December 1991 and went on to provide 13 assists, 18 goals and several memorable moments in 90 Bundesliga matches before moving to Fenerbahce in 1996, due to Eintracht Frankfurt’s relegation to the second tier of the…

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Trump threatens Europe with tax on auto imports

U.S. President Donald Trump kept up pressure on trading partners on Saturday, threatening European automakers with a tax on imports if the European Union retaliates against his plan to slap tariffs on aluminium and steel. Trump’s tweet showed he is refusing to yield to U.S. business interests and foreign trading partners alarmed at the prospect of a trade war that rattled financial markets this week. “If the E.U. wants to further increase their already massive tariffs and barriers on U.S. companies doing business there, we will simply apply a Tax…

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`Okada’ man kills father, stabs step-mother

Mr. Ifenayi Oguejiofor, 27-year-old commercial motor-cycle operator (Okada), has been arrested for allegedly killing his father and stabbing his step-mother. He was alleged to have killed his father with a knife and nearly stabbed his mother to death in Abatete community in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State. The incident occurred on Saturday, barely one week after a man killed his four children, including his 18-year-old maid in Awada Obosi in the local government. According to his mother, Josephine, who survived the attack, the suspect-son has been demanding…

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Before the rest of Africa leaves us behind

“So in the Libyan fable it is told That once an eagle, stricken with a dart, Said, when he saw the fashion of the shaft, With our own feathers, not by others’ hands. Are we now smitten. – Aeschylus Fellow Nigerians, I’ve been on tour of Africa, as I mentioned recently on this page, and I’ve covered parts of East and West Africa in the past two weeks. My conclusion and verdict is that things are happening out there while we are free to delude ourselves that we are the giant…

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Thailand blames Buhari for collapse of its rice mills

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Audu Ogbeh says Thailand has accused President Muhammadu Buhari’s government of being responsible for the collapse of its seven rice mills as rice importation from  Nigeria fell drastically. The minister made this known at a meeting of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI) and leadership of the Fertiliser Producers and Suppliers of Nigeria (FEPSAN) held at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Friday. The meeting was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari. Ogbeh said Thailand’s Ambassador to Nigeria made the…

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Nigeria: Lassa fever death toll rises to 90

The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has officially confirmed the death of 90 persons from Lassa fever. The situation report from NCDC for week eight, released on Friday disclosed that from January 1 to February 25, 2018, 1081 suspected cases and 90 deaths have been reported from 18 states rising from the initial 54 recorded. These states are Edo, Ondo, Bauchi, Nasarawa, Ebonyi, Anambra, Benue, Kogi, Imo, Plateau, Lagos, Taraba, Delta, Osun, Rivers, FCT, Gombe and Ekiti. The new situation report showed that 36 people died within a week.…

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Court: Post-UTMEs are illegal, unlawful

A Federal High Court, Abuja, has declared the post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (post-UTME) conducted by universities, polytechnics and colleges of education in Nigeria as illegal. The court on Friday said there was no extant law authorising the exercise. According to a report, the court held that only the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) could conduct matriculation examinations and give admissions into tertiary institutions by virtue of section 5 (1) (2) of the JAMB Act. In the judgment, delivered in the suit filed by the Legal Defence and Assistance Project…

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2019 election: INEC to partner NURTW

INEC says it will enter into strategic partnership with the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) to ensure an effective distribution of  materials and personnel ahead of the 2019 elections. Prof Godswill Obioma, INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Ebonyi, said  this at a meeting attended by representatives of   the 29 branches of the NURTW and INEC  officials  on Saturday in Abakaliki. Obioma commended the union for the previous partnership with the commission in the area of transport arrangements. The REC said that transportation was a critical component…

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