News & Announcements

On Sunday night, heavily armed men suspected of kidnapping abducted HRH Jibril Mamman Waziri, King of Gurku village in Nasarawa State’s Karu Local Government Area, together with his wife, Hajiya Sa’adatu Waziri.

The gunmen abducted the First-Class Royal father and his wife in the palace, which is located surrounding mountains in the vicinity, and brought them to an unknown destination.

The incident occurred at 10 p.m., after many other residents had gone to bed in their respective dwellings, according to a resident of the community who requested anonymity.

He said, “It was around 10 pm when the sad incident occurred. The gunmen who came in their numbers, abducted the Chief and his wife. They did not get any help from the security agencies that was why the gunmen were able to take them away.

“We are calling on the Police and other security agencies to urgently intervene in the matter so that they can be released as soon as possible.”

Confirming the incident in Lafia on Monday, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Ramhan Nansel, said efforts were ongoing to rescue the chief and his wife unhurt.

He said, “I wish to confirm that around 10pm of August 6 2023, a distress call was received by the Nasarawa State Police command that the palace of the Chief of Gurku town located 10 kilometers away from Mararaba main town in a mountainous area, was invaded by men suspected to be kidnappers.

“Upon receipt of the information, the Commissioner of Police, Maiyaki Baba, deployed a combined team of police operatives in collaboration with vigilante groups to the scene.

“Upon arrival, it was discovered that the Chief and his wife were abducted to an unknown destination. The surrounding bushes and the mountains were combed but all efforts to get them proved abortive.

“The Commissioner of police has further deployed additional men of the tactical teams; the anti-kidnapping unit, and officers from the Karu area command to the scene in order to rescue the Chief and his wife unhurt.”

On Sunday, President Bola Tinubu hosted governors from states that share borders with Niger Republic.

According to reports, the meeting at the State House in Abuja was part of the President’s deliberations on the situation in Niger.

Ahmed Aliyu (Sokoto), Umar Namadi (Jigawa), Mai Malam Buni (Yobe), Idris Nasir (Kebbi), and Dr Dikko Radda (Katsina) were among the governors present.

The Northern Elites have spoken out against the impending assault on Niger’s military junta, stressing the inevitable consequences for Nigeria.

Tinubu, who also serves as Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States, has given the Niger Republic’s military junta seven days to restore democracy by handing over control to Mohammed Bazoum.

This resulted in a slew of sanctions, including the closing of borders with Niger and the indefinite suspension of airline operations.

The president has written to the National Assembly leadership to request approval for the deployment of military forces to volatile Niger.

The Senate, however, denied the plea while urging Tinubu and other regional leaders to exercise caution in dealing with the political crisis.

Bankole Oginni, 45, was detained by the Ondo State Police Command following the murder of a woman who was alleged to be his ex-lover.

According to the police, the 45-year-old woman (whose identity has not been published) was discovered dead in the suspect’s home, with pieces of her body removed.

According to the police, the deceased’s daughter reported the incident after witnessing her mother’s lifeless body tied down with a rope and some parts of her body taken in the suspect’s house in the Oke Aro district of Akure, the state capital, on Sunday.

Mrs Funmilayo Odunlami, the state Police Public Relations Officer who confirmed the event, added that the deceased’s remains had been deposited at a hospital morgue while the investigation was underway.

She said, “A lady reported at the station that her mother’s ex-lover Bankole Oginni called and invited her (deceased) over to his place in the Oke Aro area of Akure and after she left for his house, she did not return and her phone was switched off.

“She traced her mother to the house, only to find her lifeless body in the room of the ex-lover, her legs and hands tied and her body opened with intestines removed.

“Also, there were patches on her (the deceased) body that shows signs of hot water burns.

“Suspect who claimed to be a footballer is already in our custody while the body of the deceased has been deposited at the morgue.”

The General Abdourahmane Tchiani-led military junta in the Republic of Niger is planning on recalling the Nigerien Ambassador to Nigeria after failing to come to terms with the delegation of the Economic Community of West African States, on the return of democracy in Niger.

The junta is also planning to recall Nigerien Ambassadors to Togo, the United States, and France, as it pushes to evict French and US troops in the country while declaring an end to all Memorandum of Understanding between France and the Republic of Niger.

Defense sources privy to the ongoing meeting in Niamey, the Niger capital confirmed the development to our correspondent Friday morning.

“The ongoing negotiation has failed. The junta has declared that it’ll recall Niger’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Togo, France, and the US,” an impeccable defense source said in a terse message sent to our correspondent Friday morning.

“The junta has just announced that it’ll evict French and US troops in the Niger Republic, noting that all MoU agreements between France and Niger have ended,” another source privy to the development noted.

The military junta in Niger led by Tchiani, the former Head of the Presidential Guard to the hoisted President, Mohamed Bazoum, detained Bazoum in a palace coup on July 26, 2023, while Tchiani later declared himself Head of State.

In an attempt to resolve the political crisis in the Niger Republic, the ECOWAS on Thursday dispatched two missions abroad, with the mandate to achieve a resolution to end the crisis.
While the first delegation led by former Nigerian Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd.), led the engagement with the coupists and other parties in the Nigerien impasse in the country’s capital, Niamey; another delegation, led by Ambassador Babagana Kingibe led the engagement with the leaders of Libya and Algeria concerning the Niger crisis.

A statement on Thursday by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, Chairman of the ECOWAS’ Authority of Heads of State and Government, President Bola Tinubu, who dispatched both teams on the mission, charged the General Abubakar’s team with a mandate to expeditiously resolve the crisis in the troubled country.

The mission to Niger Republic which departed for Niamey immediately after President Tinubu’s briefing, was in line with the resolution reached at the end of the extraordinary summit of the ECOWAS held last weekend at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The former Nigerian Head of State is joined in the delegation by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, and the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Omar Alieu Touray.

Briefing the two delegations, President Tinubu charged them to engage all stakeholders robustly to do whatever it takes to ensure a conclusive and amicable resolution of the situation in Niger for African peace and development rather than a move to adopt the geopolitical positions of other nations.

“We don’t want to hold brief for anybody. Our concern is democracy and the peace of the region,” the President said.

Speaking after the meeting, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd.) said the delegation would meet the coup leaders in Niger to present the demands of the ECOWAS leadership.

Both leaders of the two missions expressed optimism about the outcome of the assignments.

Speaking to journalists before departing the Villa for Niamey, former Head of State, General Abubakar, revealed the task his team was charged with, which he said was to express the displeasure of the leaders of the subregion with the developments in Niger to those who hijacked power in the country.

“We have just been given our marching orders to go to Niger and convey the feelings of our heads of state in the region that they are not happy with what happened. And they gave them an ultimatum that the coupists should desist from what they are doing and give back power to an elected President and again, to make sure that this message is sent loud and clear to them.

“That’s what we are here for. So far, we are going there to convey this message to them and hear their response and report back what they have said”, Abubakar said.

Kingibe said talking with Libya and Algeria, two countries bordering Niger to the North, will stimulate the solidarity required for peaceful talks.

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio on Friday during the screening of a ministerial nominee, Tunji Alausa shared a heartbreaking story about his grandchild’s death.

Akpabio detailed the tragic event where his grandchild died as a result of a hemorrhage, which he attributes to alleged medical negligence at a government hospital.

The exact location of the hospital was not disclosed.

He said, “Just like every other person here, I have also been a victim of medical neglect. In 2019, my first grandchild died through bleeding at a Federal Medical Centre. He was receiving drip and it tussled in the night and there was no help.

“No doctor, no nurse. He bled until he lost 60 percent of his blood and almost going mental, he struggled and fell on the floor. He was looking for water to drink. He rolled on the floor outside and entered the early morning dew.”

He said his grandchild was later found in the dew the next morning.

Akpabio further stated, “By that time, he had gone into a coma. I was on my way to Port Harcourt for the 2019 rally when they called me. When I got to the medical centre, I struggled with my physician to revive the boy but to no avail. I struggled. They went and brought a defibrillator to attempt to revive the heart, but it did not work.

“When I inquired when the defibrillator was last used, I was told the machine stopped working years ago. I used my hand and struggled with my personal physician, I could not revive him. I had to close his eyes and put him in the mortuary.
Almost every family has suffered from what is going on in our hospitals. The doctor on duty that night had an emergency in his private clinic and he had to abandon the hospital to rush to go and attend to private patients in his private clinic.”

Tokunbo Talabi, the Secretary to the Government of Ogun State, has been summoned and probed by the Department of State Services in connection with recent charges of fraud leveled against him.

According to a DSS source who requested anonymity, the invitation and subsequent interrogation were the outcome of the allegations leveled against him.

According to our source, the grill took place on Friday, at 6:55 p.m., at the DSS Ogun State Command Headquarters in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.

Talabi was reportedly interrogated for five hours on Friday before being freed on self-recognition.

Talabi’s suspected association with Superflux Printing Limited, which is located on Acme Road in Ikeja, Lagos State, has recently come under fire.

Our correspondent learned that a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mike Ozekhome, had petitioned the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, the Code of Conduct Bureau, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for a thorough investigation into the alleged link between the Independent National Electoral Commission and a printing company owned by Talabi during the last elections.

However, according to the source, the agency questioned the SSG on a petition filed by Talabi himself over the charges.

The source further told that the DSS state command initiated the inquiry to ascertain the veracity of some allegations against Talabi on ballot papers printing among others.

According to the source, one of the topics covered during the interrogation was his alleged role in the Covid-19 palliative scandal with Superflux Printing Limited.

The DSS is also claimed to have questioned Talabi about the company’s ties to large quantities of money in Ogun State and its role in the 2023 elections.

According to reports, the charges have prompted doubts about the credibility of the next elections.

The source, on the other hand, promised the public that the command was committed to conducting a comprehensive and meticulous inquiry.

He stated that the agency is attempting to piece together the complicated web of allegations involving Talabi and his relationship with Superflux Printing Limited.

This investigation’s findings will undoubtedly have far-reaching consequences for Ogun State and its governance.

Several attempts to contact Talabi were futile because he has not returned calls to his mobile phone.

He had also failed to react to the DSS’s SMS message on his invitation.

Nigeria has closed its border with Niger Republic following the military coup that ousted the democratically-elected government of President Mohammed Bazoum.

Acting Comptroller General of Customs Bashir Adeniyi disclosed this on Friday at the Illela border, Sokoto state.

According to him, with the current situation in Niger, the borders have been closed, and there are restrictions of movement along the areas.

He, therefore, advised Nigerians who were planning to travel to Niger to stay safe at home, saying that only Nigerians that are returning home were allowed to cross the border.

He also said Nigeria Customs had deployed its personnel to block all the unorthodox roads through which some of the foreigners may likely infiltrate.

“You know Sokoto and the Niger Republic, we are a homogeneous society, with the same language, religion, and culture, but we have a colonial boundary which we must respect.”

The Customs boss noted that President Bola Tinubu gave the directive last week, saying he is at the border to ensure the enforcement of the order.

He further explained that as chairman of the Economic Community of West African States, President Tinubu restated his commitment to the restoration of democratic rule in Niger

Adeniyi stated that Tinubu was an apostle of regional trade hence he would not take any action that will jeopardize it.

“Our president as a regional leader is an apostle of regional trade but where there is no peace, you cannot talk of trade,” he stated.

He said the decision was a resolution of the regional body and is not to punish anybody.

Adeniyi further disclosed that the action was temporary pending the resolution of the political logjam in the Niger Republic.

On the opening of the border for the importation of cars and other goods, the Customs boss said the service was reviewing action and it would soon take a decision on that.

Responding on behalf of the community, the district head of Illela, Alhaji Buhari Tukur, represented by Abubakar Abdullahi, said the community would cooperate with the government and would obey all the decisions taken by the president.

Meanwhile, the association of truck drivers has called on President Tinubu to open the border for them to cross to Nigeria.

Speaking at the Illela border, the leader of the group Muhammad Abbas, said they were stuck at the border for over a week now saying that even having access to food and water was a problem for them.

In another development, there is public outcry in Sokoto as a result of a hike in the prices of food commodities due to border closure.

Niger’s junta has ended all connections including military agreements with France, its former colonial ruler, as international pressure mounts on it to restore democratic order in the country.

The military rulers also called back home its ambassadors and warned citizens to be wary of foreign armies and spies.

This was disclosed on the West African country’s television as the delegation dispatched by Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu met the coup leader, Gen Abdourahmane Tchiani on Thursday.

Recall that Tinubu as the Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government sent a delegation led by former military Head of State, Gen Abdulsalam Abubakar to Niger yesterday.

But, in the announcement, Niger’s junta also cut ties with the United States and Nigeria, as the deadline given by the West African regional bloc will expire in two days.

The international community is asking the Tchiani-led military to release and reinstate ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.

Bazoum in a plea published in a Washington Post opinion piece said, “I write this as a hostage and urged the U.S. and partners to help.”

But, Niger’s mutinous soldiers made an announcement terminating the military agreements and protocols signed with France and announced the end of functions for Niger’s ambassadors to France, the United States, Togo, and neighboring Nigeria, which is leading ECOWAS efforts on dialogue, according to RFI.

“All aggression or attempt at aggression against the state of Niger will see an immediate response and without warning,” said a spokesman for the coup leaders, Col. Maj. Amadou Abdramane.

European countries have started the evacuation of their nationals in Niger, Mali, 

Burkina Faso, and Guinea, expressed support for the coup.

France on Friday rejected the Niger junta’s move to scrap bilateral military pacts, saying the West African country’s “legitimate” leadership alone was entitled to do so.

“The legal framework of France’s defence agreement with Niger is based on accords that were signed with the legitimate Nigerien authorities,” the foreign ministry said after the junta in Niamey said it was cancelling military cooperation agreements with Paris.

Recall that the military junta in Niger Republic cut off ties with Nigeria, France, and other countries on Friday, after the peace talks delegates sent by the Economic Community of West Africa States failed.

According to a report on Friday by Radio France International, the “delegation from the ECOWAS arrived in Niamey, with the aim of establishing a dialogue with the junta in order to obtain the return to constitutional order. The first contacts on site were positive.

“But at the end of the evening, the CNSP spoke through the voice of Colonel-Major Amadou Abdramane, the same who spoke on July 26, when the soldiers announced that they had overthrown President Mohamed Bazoum.

Also, the Niger Coup leaders, on Thursday, revoked a raft of military cooperation agreements with France.

The country further suspended broadcasts of French state-funded international news outlets France 24 and RFI earlier on Thursday – drawing condemnation from the French foreign ministry.

A decision about the revocation of five military deals with France dating between 1977 and 2020 was read out on national television late on Thursday by junta representative, Amadou Abdramane, Reuters reports.

Abdramane added that a diplomatic notice will be sent to France to that effect. There was no immediate response from France.

Some locals have accused the former colonial ruler of interfering in their affairs.

It had been reported on Sunday that the Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States, Bola Tinubu, had met with some fellow ECOWAS leaders to discuss appropriate ways to restore democracy in Niger.

The leaders of the West African regional bloc met to discuss sanctions to be placed against the military personnel who toppled President-elect Mohamed Bazoum on July 26, 2023.

Ahmed Atolagbe, a 45-year-old furniture maker, wants justice for his two sons who died on July 22, 2023, when a part of a hotel fence fell on their home in the Ikorodu neighborhood of Lagos State.

The father, who was raised in Kwara State, said on Thursday to PUNCH Metro that disaster struck when a hotel’s fence fell on his three-room apartment on Alao Street, Olainukan Bus Stop, Isawo in Ikorodu during a downpour.

The father of six claimed that when his sitting room collapsed, his two sleeping boys, aged seven and nine, respectively, Roqeeb and Abdulwahab, both killed instantly.

He continued by saying that his wife, Omotola, lost consciousness as a result of the tragedy that befell the family. His first kid also suffered injuries.

He said, “I was already at my furniture workshop in Irawo when I received a distress call that I should return home to attend to a pressing issue.

“By the time I got home, I realised that the fence of a hotel beside my house had collapsed following the impact of the erosion coming from the hotel.

“The fence fell on my house, killing two of my sons. My eldest son was also injured. The incident was too much for my wife. She fainted and was rushed to the hospital.”

While the incident was initially reported to the Owutu Police Divisional Headquarters, the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba, now handles the case, according to Atolagbe.

“I am aware that there are moves to ensure that the case does not get to the court but I want justice for my children,” Atolagbe said.

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, in an interview with PUNCH Metro, asked the state government to investigate the matter and conduct an integrity test on the hotel building to forestall a recurrence.

Falana said, “The state government should take over the matter and investigate the circumstances surrounding the collapse.

“The government should ensure that justice is done to the innocent children who died while sleeping due to the collapse.

“The government should also conduct an integrity test on the hotel building and its fence so that they don’t collapse on other people.”

However, a source told PUNCH Metro that the hotel’s owner was now being held by the police and that a deal had been made to give the surviving family some money and help them rebuild their home when Atolagbe abruptly pulled out of the deal.

Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency, Lagos State, Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, confirmed the incident on July 22, 2023.

Farinloye said, “This is to confirm the recovery of two children that were trapped in a partial building collapse which occurred around 11.30am at 25, Ajao Street, CWC, Olainukan Bus Stop, Ishawo, Ikorodu.

“The children, Rokeeb Atolagbe, nine; and Mujeeb Atolagbe, seven; were trapped when a fence from the neighbouring house fell on their building during the downpour.

“It was very unfortunate that the distress calls were not properly channelled to those whose responsibility was to save the lives of the children at the right time.

“The Lagos State Building Control Agency is presently on the ground to assess the situation. May God forgive the deceased and console their parents.”