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The Kaduna State Government and the presidency have remained silent for almost a week following the brutal murder of Mrs. Victoria Chintex, the leader of the Labour Party for Kaura Area Council in Kaduna State.

Recall that on Monday night, unidentified gunmen shot and killed Chimtex in her home in Kaura. They allegedly broke into her flat at around 8 o’clock.

Concerned Nigerians have accused party thugs of being responsible for the ugly incident that caused chaos in the area a few days ago.

According to reports, Governor Nasir El-Rufai and President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration have yet to make a statement denouncing the terrible incident, despite protests from party members and several other stakeholders across the nation.

Many Nigerians believe that the gunmen, who are believed to be assassins, may have been hired by an opposition party to silence her voice and prevent her from voicing support for Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate.

In response to the terrible event, LP Presidential Campaign Council spokesperson Kenneth Okonkwo attacked the State governor, saying El-Rufai should be held accountable if the perpetrators are not found quickly.

Kenneth wrote via his Twitter handle, “The Labour Party Women Leader in Kaura, Kaduna State, Victoria Chintex, was on Monday, 28th Nov, shot dead by suspected assassins.

“The APC Governor of Kaduna State, El-Rufai, should be held responsiblefor her death as the CSO, if the killers are not apprehended immediately”.

On Saturday, it was learned that despite intense efforts to apprehend the criminal elements, no arrests had been made.

When our correspondent called ASP Mohammed Jalige, the Kaduna State Police Command’s public relations officer, for an update on the situation, he said that he would look into it and get back to them.

Alhaji Ali Tafoqi, the chairman of the Kaduna State chapter of the Labour Party, claimed that the assassination of the women’s leader was motivated by politics in an interview.

In addition to saying that the victim will be buried within the next 30 days, Tafoqi also said that El-administration Rufai’s has not yet released a statement on the killing.

He said, “to the best of my knowledge, the governor has not reacted to the killing. There has never been a crisis in the area where she was killed. We were all surprised that such a thing occurred.

“It was an issue of assassination because they shot the husband twice outside before they gained entrance into the house and killed her. It was a direct assassination”.

The party chairman responded “yes,” when asked if the murder had a political motivation. “Because she has been very active in bringing people to the Labour Party, right now you can feel the presence of the party in the area, unlike before when there was none,” he continued.

Niger East APC’s senator Sani Musa , on Saturday, survived an assassination attempt.

It was reported that the assassins numbering nine stormed Senator Musa’s home in Abuja around 11 pm.

APC member Femi Fani-Kayode, a former minister of aviation, confirmed the attack in a tweet. Some of the attackers, according to Fani-Kayode, have been detained.

“The horrendous attempt to kill Sen. Sani Musa, a dear friend & brother of mine, a leading member of the APC and one of the Directors in the Tinubu/Shettima PCC in his home this evening by 9 well-armed, bloodthirsty and violent assassins is despicable. I wholeheartedly condemn it.

“Thankfully some of the perpetrators have been apprehended by the security agencies and those that were behind this dastardly attempt to kill the Senator and his family shall be exposed and brought to justice. May God protect us all from evil and bloodthirsty men,” Fani-Kayode wrote.

The prolonged absence of Liberian President George Weah has drawn attention to himself and drawn criticism, prompting one opposition member to wonder if the West African country is operating on “autopilot.”

At the end of October, Weah traveled abroad for a series of political events in several nations, as well as to watch his footballer son play for the United States in the World Cup in Qatar.

The president, a former football player himself, hasn’t been spotted in his country since, where residents are coping with rising costs and shortages of essential items.

Even those who comprehend the requirements of top-tier diplomacy or who have a steadfast passion for the beautiful game are starting to have doubts.

Weah tweeted images and video of himself with his son in Qatar, calling himself a “proud dad” after the US team advanced to the knockout rounds.

But images of Weah enjoying himself in the stands in Qatar — where he is a “guest of honour” — while Liberians struggle have not gone down well with many compatriots venting their anger on social media.

“This one here has passed the limit now… who (has) he left us with?” 23-year-old Abraham Kaneh told AFP in the capital Monrovia.

“He’s not going to do the work of the Liberian people. He went to do the work of his own son. He did not go on our plea, he’s gone to see other friends,” said fellow Monrovian Momo Fully.

Famous media figure Henry Costa jokingly said online that if his son Timothy scored against England last month, the president would prolong his absence until January.

The Spiritual Director, Adoration Ministry Enugu Nigeria Catholic Chaplaincy, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, is currently in a monastery in Los Angeles, US for a retreat.

In a video and photos that surfaced on Twitter on Tuesday, Mbaka is seen standing by the signpost of the monastery.
In the video, Mbaka said, “Officially I have entered into St Andrew’s Abbey Monastery in Los Angeles, Valyermo.”

In October 2022, the Catholic Bishop of Enugu Diocese, Most Rev. Callistus Onaga, transferred Mbaka from chaplaincy to the monastery.

Consequently, Rev. Fr. Anthony Amadi was named to replace him (Mbaka) as the new chaplain of the Adoration Ministry Chaplaincy.

It had been reported that the Church was closed down earlier in the year and on June 3, 2022, the Catholic Diocese of Enugu banned Mbaka from commenting on political issues after activities in the ministry were suspended.

Upon reopening, the Church turned the ministry into Chaplaincy to monitor the excesses in the ministry.

However, Mbaka violated all the conditions and rules set out for the Chaplaincy and went into a verbal attack on the person of the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, calling him names from the pulpit.

Sequel to the violation, Bishop Onaga issued a pastoral injunction directing all Catholic faithful, priests, and sisters, to stop visiting the ministry until further notice.

As part of showing love to humanity, health personnel at the Giwa Barracks detention Centre in Borno State have been helping pregnant wives of detained Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists to deliver their children successfully, PRNigeria has gathered.

The detention facility has also been providing the children of their detainees with the necessary care for their physical growth.

A PRNigeria reporter who visited the Borno barracks recently observed that the detention centre prioritizes giving necessary ante-natal support to pregnant Boko Haram fighters’ wives brought to the facility.

The health facility at the barracks has successfully handled the childbirth of two women, and thereafter provided their babies with necessary feeding and clothing provisions, in recent times.

One of the wives of a Boko Haram suspect who is still at large, Aisha Ibrahim, gave birth to her seven-month-old son, Moammadu in May. But it was not at the detention facility she conceived the tot.

Moammadu’s pregnancy was about six-month-old when his mother was captured, and brought to the Joint Investigation Centre, JIC, at the Giwa barracks.

The 31-year-old noted that she was scared about her pregnancy and the fate of her unborn baby when she joined the women already in the military centre, late last year.

“But to my surprise, the military officers who are guarding us took care of me and another woman who was also pregnant, at that time.

“They gave us routine drugs and consistently monitored our situations, prior to our delivery. They were also there for us when we were ready to put to bed.

“It was the females among the soldiers here (at the JIC detention centre) that handled our childbirth, together with some private healthcare officials at the clinic in this our barracks.

Corroborating what little Moammadu’s mother initially asserted, Yanna Madu Kawu, another female who has been held at the barrack since 2017 with her husband (a repentant terrorist) said the staff at their detention home always provides necessary support and care for the pregnant wives of arrested terrorists.

Since her arrival five years ago, Kawu, who hails from Konduga Local Government Area of the State, told PRNigeria that the military health officials at the barracks have assisted three pregnant women brought to their centre, to deliver successfully.

The 20-year-old, who already has a daughter, said: “They don’t show stigma to wives and daughters of the terrorists arrested and brought here. They even support the pregnant ones among us, not showing concern about the fact that some fathers of the unborn children are Boko Haram fighters.

“Immediately any pregnant woman affiliated to Boko Haram is arrested and brought here, they will enrol her for ante-natal. To the best of my knowledge, they have never advised any expectant woman to terminate her pregnancy, regardless of how their pregnancy was gotten”.

In separate chats with PRNigeria, the Commander 7 Division Medical Services and Hospital, Lt. Col. Adeniyi Ogunsakin, and Sergeant Caesar Ojoko, Representative of 7 Division Medical Hospital at the Giwa barracks health clinic for inmates, said as military health workers, they are always concerned about the condition of terrorists’ wives and their daughters arrested by troops, with pregnancies.

“Hence, our major concern is not how to help them or coax them to terminate their pregnancies. We don’t do that. It is not a global best practice. As such, there is no way the military will support such an act to be carried out by medical officers in any of its health facilities.

“Thank God we have never witnessed a situation where someone will approach us for that, even as we have never compelled anyone to perform it in our medical facilities, or otherwise,” they said.

Muhammed Malik, a top commander of the Islamic State of the West African Province (ISWAP), has been killed by troops of the air task force in the Lake Chad region.

According to Zagazola Makama, a publication focused on the Lake Chad region, Malik died on November 29 from the injuries he sustained during the attack.

Nigerian troops were said to have launched a coordinated intelligence-led aerial and ground operation and targeted the jihadist group’s location in the Sabon Tumbun area of Lake Chad on November 24.

This attack was also said to have led to the killing of scores of fighters.

Malik is said to have been a member of the Shura Council in Marte before he went for a course in computer engineering and improvised explosive device (IED) making, sponsored by ISIS in Somalia.

On his return, he reportedly established IED training units where fighters were trained in deploying explosives during attacks.

In the last few months, the Nigerian military has been recording a series of successes in the fight against insurgency in the Lake Chad region and other northern states.

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, on Wednesday, said mother tongue will henceforth be used for teaching in primary schools.

Adamu disclosed this while speaking with journalists after a meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

The Minister said the Federal Government understands that implementation will be challenging, adding that the mother tongue will be combined with the English language from the junior secondary school level.

He said, “A memo on national policy was approved by the council. So, Nigeria now has a national language policy and the details will be given later by the ministry.

“One of the highlights is that the government has agreed now that henceforth, instruction in primary schools — the first six years of learning — will be in the mother tongue.

“Theoretically, this policy starts from today, but the use of mother tongue is exclusive. We need time to develop the material, get the teachers, and so on.

“Since the first six years of school should be in the mother tongue, the language of the host community is what will be used because we have 625 languages at the last count and the objective of this policy is to promote and enhance the cultivation and use of all Nigerian languages.”

Adamu said the policy is informed by the extinction of some local languages and the government’s determination to preserve cultures.

He added that all Nigerian languages will be prioritised.

A Federal High Court in Akwa Ibom has sentenced Senator Bassey Albert (YPP, Akwa Ibom North-East) to 42 years in prison for fraud.

Albert is the governorship candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) for the 2023 election.

The politician was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but he defected to the YPP in July.

In 2019, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned Albert on a six-count charge of allegedly taking possession of six vehicles worth N204 million when he was finance commissioner in the state.

He was said to have collected one of the vehicles from Jide Omokore, an associate of a former minister of petroleum Diezani Alison Madueke.

Omokore reportedly had dealings with the state when he offered Bassey the vehicle.

Delivering judgment on Thursday, Justice Agatha Okeke found the senator guilty of the offenses and sentenced him to Ikot Ekpene prison.

The Naira depreciated 0.12% from its Wednesday exchange rate of 445.30 to Thursday’s rate of 445.83 to the dollar at the Investors and Exporters window.

On Thursday, the open indicative rate reached a high of N444.60 to the dollar.

Before it closed at N445.83, the highest exchange rate ever seen during the day’s trade was N447 to the dollar.

In the course of the day’s trading, the naira fell as low as 422 to the dollar.

The naira sold for as low as 422 to the dollar within the day’s trading.

On Thursday, transactions in the official Investors and Exporters window totaled N99.50 million.

Governor Abdullahi Sule on Friday refuted claims made without evidence by the former minister of communication and director general of the PDP’s Nasarawa state branch, Labaran Maku, that Sule received N14.4 billion in security votes during his three years in office in response to insecurity in the state.

In Wamba Local Government Area of the state during the zonal campaign rally, Maku emphasized that due to the state’s almost complete lack of peace, insecurity can no longer let farmers to go to their farms.

“Since APC took over the mantle of leadership in Nasarawa, nothing to show for the enormous funds that accrued to the state 3 years after,” the former minister of information claimed.

They’ve squandered our time and money. They prevented us from experiencing tranquility as unemployment and the effects of hunger spread throughout the population”.

At a campaign event in Akwanga, in response to Labaran Maku’s assertion, Sule denied utilizing public monies to support his reelection campaigns.

Governor Sule said that his friends and associates contributed the money used for his campaign.

He claimed that the opposition’s accusations were unfounded because they were using the issue to mobilize the public against the APC and his administration.

Sule asserted that he arranged a fundraiser with the help of his friends to raise money for his reelection, and the event brought in over one billion naira. Sule also claimed that the money came from people outside the government.

“My friends and associates I met while working with the two conglomerates came together to fund my campaign. My administration has introduced several reforms tailored at bringing about sustainable development and transformation in various sectors in Nasarawa state which is manifesting in the state”, Sule declared.

He continued by asserting that the opposition had no original ideas and had resorted to extortion in order to garner cheap publicity in order to steal the gains of his administration.

“I’m a businessman who has come to manage and strengthen the resources of the state so that the government can pay workers salaries. Today, Nasarawa state can boast of paying salaries of both the state and local government workers even if the allocation from the federal government is delayed,”  Sule added.