Evritinnaija

                There was tension at Ugboha in Esan South East Local Government Area of Edo State after suspected Fulani herdsmen murdered three persons, including a first year student of the Ambrose Alli University Ekpoma, Collins Ojierakhi. The incident occurred penultimate Friday at about 7:30pm when Collins and his friends were on their way back to Ugboha from Uromi. The killings forced Governor Godwin Obaseki and the state Commissioner of Police, Babatunde Kokumo to visit the village last Sunday when Obaseki gave security agents seven days to arrest the perpetrators.                 Apart from Collins, other killed include a toddler and a secondary school student, Victor Momodu. Collins’ father, Mr Festus Ojierakhi, narrated, “I was in the house eating at about 8pm when I asked about where my son had gone to. I was told he went to Uromi with his friends. Later, around 9pm, the mother of my son´s friend came to the house, crying that herdsmen had killed her son. I rushed out of

               The Dapchi schoolgirl who Boko Haram refused to release alongside her 104 kidnapped colleagues for not renouncing her Christianity is being hailed as a hero by the Nigerian Christian community. Prayers have been called for today by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) for Leah Sharibu’s release. CAN National President, Rev. Samson Olasupo Ayokunle, while announcing the prayers, lamented what he described as feeble attempts made by the Federal Government to secure the release of the 15-year-old girl, saying the development confirmed the fear in some quarters that Christians in Nigeria were endangered. Leah Sharibu and her mother, Rebecca Sharibu A faction of Boko Haram terror group had, in February, kidnapped Leah and 109 other girls as well as one boy from Government Secondary Girls, Daphi, Yobe State. Last Wednesday, when the group returned 104 of the girls to Dapchi after about one month in captivity, six others were not among them. Whereas five of the gir

                The Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led reconciliation efforts in the ruling All Progressives Congress APC may have lost its steam following the decision of the party leadership to scale up crisis mediation efforts ahead of the 2019 General Elections, Saturday Vanguard has learned. President Muhammadu Buhari had weeks ago appointed Tinubu to embark on troubleshooting and confidence building efforts in the ruling party, but the party now seems ready to resolve its crisis its own way in spite of the Tinubu ‘committee’. The former Lagos State governor had on February 14 visited the Chief John Odigie-Oyegun led National Working Committee NWC of the party at its secretariat in Abuja to intimate them about the commencement of his work as well as solicit their support in delivering on the presidential mandate given to him. At the meeting, Tinubu was alleged to have listed several terms including asking the party leadership to stand down all ongoing reconciliation efforts in or

Theophilus Danjuma, a former minister of defence, has urged Nigerians to defend themselves against killer  herdsmen.                Danjuma said this on Saturday while speaking at the maiden convocation of Taraba State University. He said the army and other security agencies were biased, colluding with the killers to expose Nigerians to attack. The retired general accused the army of failing in its responsibility of securing the country from attacks. “The armed forces are not neutral. They collude with the armed bandits. They kill people, kill Nigerians. They facilitate their movements, they cover them,” Danjuma said. “If you depend on the armed forces to stop the killings you will all die one by one.” “The ethnic cleansing must stop in Taraba state, must stop in all the states of Nigeria. “I ask everyone one of you to be alert and defend your territory, your state. You have nowhere else to go.” The former minister said the killings in the country must stop, or else “Somalia

If anyone thought the chasm between the North and the South was narrowing, the war of words between the Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE) and Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) a few days ago should disabuse their minds. On Tuesday, while responding to leaders of the northern women socio-cultural organisation, Jam’iyya Matan Arewa (JMA), in Kaduna, the ACF chairman Ibrahim Coomassie made a terse remark that Nigeria could not survive without the North. He offered neither proof nor expatiation, prompting the suspicion that the statement was not only at variance with the substance of the visit, but that it was the product of his residual and disgruntled irredentism. According to Mr Coomassie, a former Inspector General of Police, “We all know that without the North, Nigeria can never survive. We still stand by it. But now is the time to walk the talk in the interest of our people.” He then adds, in the same breath: “Chibok girls are still missing. Now it has gone to Dapchi in Yobe State. What h

Tension Heightens Over Roasting Of Several People In Enugu Tension heightened in Enugu yesterday, following the alleged death of a commercial bus driver and yet to specified number of passengers. Sources said the ugly event took place at the deadly valley of the Miliking Hill, Ngwo Old Road while operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), were pursuing the driver for a yet to be identified offence. It was further gathered that the NSCDC operatives, who were chasing the driver, allegedly shot at the vehicle, forcing it to fall into the valley. In the process, the commercial bus caught fire burning most occupants. Confirmed report said only a female passenger, who was thrown off the vehicle, survived the accident. She is currently recuperating in an unknown hospital. But for the swift intervention of the police, the incident would have led to breakdown of law and order as residents and commercial bus drivers mobilised in protest of the deaths. Their move to

             Pastor Enoch Adeboye, General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, has reacted to the refusal of Boko Haram terrorists to release Leah Sharibu, the only Christian girl among schoolgirls abducted from Government Science Technical College in Dapchi, Yobi State, who is refusing to abandon her faith. Adeboye called on Jesus Christ to set every kidnapper across the country on “fire now”. In a tweet via his verified Twitter handle, Adeboye also prayed for the safe return of Sharibu. Adeboye wrote, “Lord, we ask that you visit the camp of the captors and in a way that You alone can, see to the safe release and return of the missing girl Leah Sharibu in Jesus name. “But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children. “Every kidnapper in this country by whatever name they are called, please se

The former governor of Jigawa State and current presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sule Lamido, has said his Party was voted out of power in 2015 based on blackmail.                 He, however, added that three years down the line, Nigeria had become a war zone because of the present government’s alleged incompetence. Lamido stated this on Thursday in Lagos when he met with PDP chieftains in the state to inform them about his ambition to run for the presidency in 2019. “In 2019, the coast is clear. There is no way APC will win. Look at the country, are we united? Are we stable? Are we prosperous? Are we secure? We’ve become a world embarrassment; we are becoming an ancient nation. So PDP will come back in 2019. “There is no way, Buhari will ever come back no matter what he does, because he knows he is a contraption who rode on the notions of the Nigerian people based on blackmail, sentiment and hate speech,” he alleged. He pleaded wi

Again, my attention has been drawn to rehashed lies in the media by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, against the person of former President Jonathan.                 Speaking at the 7th Presidential Quarterly Business Forum for private sector stakeholders at the State House conference centre, the Vice President said as follows; "We saw from the presentation of the Minister of Finance that N14 billion was spent on agriculture in 2014, transportation got N15 billion, while infrastructure in three years got N153 billion, and yet in two weeks before the elections, N150 billion was shared. "So if your total infrastructure spending is N153 billion and you can share N150 billion, that is completely incredible. That sort of thing doesn't happen anywhere else in the world. So, when we are talking about the economy, we must simply understand that, that is the problem.". It is sad that the Vice President has again surrendered his lips to satan to be used to

ANGELA NKWO-AKPOLU, in Owerri, writes that the insistence of Governor Rochas Okorocha, to foist his son-in-law on the people as his successor, may affect the electoral fortunes of APC in the next general elections. Imo State Governor, Ro¬chas Okorocha, remains unbending over his endorsement of his Chief of Staff, who is also his son-in¬law, as his successor. Okorocha is billed to leave office on May 29, 2019, after serving as governor for eight years. He first came to office in 2011 on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), and later decamped to the All Progressives Congress (APC), where he contested election in 2015, and won. He has since then assumed the position of APC supreme leader not only in Imo state, but also in the South-East geo-political zone. It is against this backdrop that he single-handedly chose his soninlaw to succeed him; brushing aside the aspiration of his deputy, Eze Madumere, to fly the APC gubernatorial flag in 2019. Governor Okorocha

Fast-Rising music artiste who goes by the name “Alo Innas” has come out to accuse Naija’s favorite music artiste, Wizkid Ayo, who is now a global music act to reckon with. However, it seems there’s more to his success than meets the eye. According to the fast-rising star, Wizkid has a shrine in his house where he carries out fetish activities in order to be successful in his music career. He even said Wizkid took him to the shrine to inquire of his god before signing him. If you still remember, Wizkid made an announcement on Snapchat last year hinting at a possible addition to his starboy crew after posting a video of the accuser filling something like a recording contract form. But later this year, he made another announcement about another artiste Terry Ryn on social media, and fans worried about Alo Innas. Asked why he isn’t on Starboy label, he said Wizkid has a shrine in his house that he consults before he signs a new act. He claimed Wizkid was happy to sign him after his ora

Olufemi Atoyebi , Friday Olokor , Adelani Adepegba, Theophilus Onojeghen and Godwin Isenyo The leadership of the Arewa Consultative Forum , Afenifere, the Middle Belt Forum and other groups have told President Muhammadu Buhari to end attacks by herdsmen , killings , kidnappings and other vices in the country . The groups, which decried the level of insecurity in the country , told the President to act promptly to save the country . The ACF told Buhari to “do everything to stop all these killings , kidnappings and other vices .” The group spoke through its chairman, who is also a former Inspector- General of Police , Ibrahim Coomasie , in Kaduna on Tuesday . Coomasie said the killings , as well as kidnappings , particularly of the 110 pupils of the Government Girls Technical College , Dapchi, Yobe State , and other vices had portrayed the North and the country in a bad light . The former IG spoke when the ACF played host to a northern women socio-cultural group , Jam ’iyya Matan

Minister of Communication, Adebayo Shittu, has tasked the Federal Government to trace innovators of the defunct Biafra who are still alive for them to deploy their technological know-how towards the nation’s drive for industrialisation. The Minister regretted that the nation failed to take advantage of the great innovations propelled by the three-year war, which ended in 1970, by making use of those he described as great minds that sustained the then Biafra army. Shittu, who spoke at the commissioning of Technology Orientation Centre, built by the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), at Idu, Abuja, yesterday, urged the agency to go beyond the elite environment and trace these innovators, most of whom did not even have university education. He also lamented Nigeria’s over dependence on import even for its daily needs, and tasked the agency to do something urgently to close the gap. “I recall that during the civil war, we had so many innovators from N