Army recalls 3,032 soldiers to battle Boko Haram

  Chief of Army Staff, Maj. Gen. Tukur Buratai The Nigerian Army has recalled 3,032 soldiers who were summarily dismissed from the service last year for alleged offences in relation to the defunct Operation Zaman Lafiya. The Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, said during a briefing in Abuja on Thursday that the 3, 032 soldiers were among 5,000 dismissed soldiers...

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Cleaner caught with N53m at Lagos airport

  Murtala Muhammed International Airport An airport cleaner has been arrested with the sum of $271,135 (about N53m) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, it has been learnt. The suspect was arrested by the aviation security personnel of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria while trying to carry the huge sum of money through the screening point. The airport worker,...

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IG bans use of commercial vehicles for operations

  Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase | credits: http://www.thescoopng.com The Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, has directed that all police commands and formations should immediately stop the use of commercial vehicles and those painted in states’ commercial colours for police operations and patrol duties. The directive was contained in a circular issued to all...

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Tribunal dismisses Wike’s objection to new chairman

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike Hearing of the main petition filed by the All Progressives Congress and its governorship candidate in the April 11, 2015 election in Rivers State, Dakuku Peterside, challenging the election of Governor Nyesom Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party, began on Thursday. The APC and Peterside called their first set of witnesses to testify before the Rivers...

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Marwa hails Buhari on appointments

Buba Marwa A former military administrator of Lagos State, Maj. Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (retd.), has hailed the appointment of Babachir David Lawal as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. A statement issued on Thursday by his media aide, Bello Zubairu, said Lawal’s appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari “is not only a plus to his tribe or state or the North but the country...

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Asset declaration: SERAP hails Buhari, Osinbajo

A civil society organisation, the Secio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, said the public declaration of assets by President Muhammadu Buhari and the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has set the tone for a culture of transparency in governance. The group, in a statement on Thursday by its Executive Director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, lauded Buhari and Osinbajo for the gesture, saying they had demonstrated that transparency in governance is not a mirage. It expressed the hope that...

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Nobody can probe me —Amaechi

Former Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi ADVERTISEMENT The immediate past Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, says no anti-corruption agency in the country can probe him. The PUNCH had reported that Amaechi along with some other former governors: Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano); Sullivan Chime (Enugu); Babatunde Fashola (Lagos); Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom); ...

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Buhari declares 270 cattle, mud houses, N30m, others • Osinbajo worth $900,000, N94m and more

President Muhammadu Buhari ADVERTISEMENT President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday made public details of their assets, which had been declared to the Code of Conduct Bureau. According a statement by the President’s Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President has about N30m in his only bank account with...

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Probe donation for Jonathan’s re-election, group tells EFCC

The International Society for Social Justice and Human Rights has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to probe the sources of funds donated by governors and supporters of President Goodluck Jonathan for the presidential campaign. Governors in the Peoples Democratic Party, businessmen, multinational organisations and interest groups donated the sum of N21.27 billion to support the re-election bid of President Jonathan. But the Chancellor of the ISSJHR, Dr. Jackson Omenazu, described...

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Pastor Kumuyi urgess Deeper Life members to get voter cards

The General Overseer of Deeper Life Bible Church, Williams Kumuyi, has directed all members to get their voter cards to vote for a credible government in 2015 elections. He reiterated the need for people to shun religion and ethnic sentiment in choosing leaders in the elections. Kumuyi spoke on Wednesday in Ado-Ekiti while declaring open a three-day revival, in Ekiti State, in an event organised by Pastor Debo Taiwo. He said, “I declare that all members of deeper life should go and get their voter...

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Troops kill suicide bomber in Gombe, discover bomb factory

The defence authorities have said that a suicide bomber who rammed a Honda car primed with Improvised Explosive Devices into a military checkpoint in Bajoga, Gombe State, have been shot dead by soldiers. The Director of Defence Information, Major Gennral Chris Olukolade, said in an electronic mail on Wednesday that the suicide bomber successfully rammed the bomb-laden Honda car into the military...

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Lt. Col., 15 others jailed over Chibok girls’ abduction

The Nigerian Army has sentenced three officers and 13 other soldiers to two years’ imprisonment each over the April 14, 2014 abduction of over 200 schoolchildren from their hostel in Chibok, Borno State, by Boko Haram insurgents. The soldiers, including a Lieutenant Colonel, a Captain and a Second lieutenant, were arraigned before a General Military Court Martial at the Maxwell Khobe Military Cantonment, Rukuba in Jos, Plateau State, in October 2014. The officers are Col. A. O. Ojo, Capt. O. O. Ogunrinde,...

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Railway lines in Nigeria will commence operations soon says Tukur

Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, the Board Chairman of Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), on Monday said all the railway lines in the country would commence operations soon. Tukur disclosed this while briefing newsmen in Port Harcourt. He said the corporation had concluded plans to commence operation along Port Harcourt – Enugu railway lines to enhance rail transportation in the zone. The chairman said the...

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FG ready to pay workers’ salary arrears before Christmas

The Federal Government on Monday assured it workers that the three months salary arrears of civil servants of some Ministries, Departments and Agencies would be paid before Christmas. The Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who gave the assurance in a statement by her Special Adviser on Communication, Mr Paul Nwabuikwu, said already, the processing of their salaries had begun since last Friday. There are 14 MDAs whose salaries are currently being delayed owing to what the ministry of finance...

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Ex-minister urges EFCC to step up anti-graft war

A former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Kanu Agabi, (SAN), has urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to be steadfast in the prosecution of the campaign against corruption in the country. He said the operatives of the EFCC must carry out their responsibilities with the conviction that society had put them in a position to enforce the nation’s laws against corruption. The former AGF said he had the belief that the commission had credible personnel with the capacity...

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Transitional electricity market to begin Jan 1

The Federal Government has announced that the effective date for the beginning of all contractual obligations in the Nigerian electricity market has been fixed for January 1, 2015. It said January 1, 2015 is also the date for the declaration of the long awaited Transition Electricity Market. The Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, who disclosed this at a stakeholders forum on Monday in Abuja, said the main focus of TEM would be the consummation of all contractual obligations as stipulated in...

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Jonathan seeks royal fathers’ help for peaceful elections

President Goodluck Jonathan has appealed to traditional rulers to assist in sensitising their people towards peaceful elections in 2015. Jonathan made the appeal in Abuja on Monday in his address at the 7th General Assembly of the National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria. The President was represented by Vice- President Namadi Sambo at the 7th general assembly of the NCTRN with the theme ‘Sustaining the natural mandate of the traditional institutions in contemporary Nigeria’. Jonathan...

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Female suicide bomber kills 19 in Gombe motor park

At least 19 people were killed and more than 40 others wounded on Monday when a female suicide bomber detonated explosives at Dukku motor park in Gombe, Gombe State. The bomber was said to have disguised herself as a passenger with the lethal weapon hidden in a sack, which she used in deceiving other passengers at the park. Eyewitnesses said the incident happened at about 10.50am when the park was said to be filled with passengers, who were eager to travel out of the state capital to their respective...

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Explosion Kills Scores In Potiskum, Yobe State

A suicide bomber has detonated an explosive device killing scores of Muslim worshippers in Potiskum the Yobe State capital. Witnesses said that the Muslim brotherhood, the Shia, were on procession...

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“I Went Into Drug Trafficking To Pay For My Wedding” – Nigerian Man Tells NDLEA

The pressure to have a big, flamboyant wedding has landed a Nigerian man in big trouble. Chike Pauline, 40, was arrested at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos, after being caught with one kilogramme of substance suspected to be methamphetamine, Vanguard reports. He was apprehended during the outward screening of passengers on a Rwanda Air flight. During...

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