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THE Rivers State Judiciary complex, which houses the Rivers State High Court, has been closed down after gunmen invaded the court premises, killing two private security personnel attached the institution. At the moment, the cause of the killing has not been ascertained, but security operatives have been deployed in the court premises. It was learnt that the gunmen had invaded the judiciary complex late last night and attacked their victims leaving two dead and another hospitalised. An employee of the judiciary told  The PUNCH they had been asked go home for the moment following the incident.

Ibrahim Uwais, son of a former Chief Justice of the Federation, Mohammed Uwais, who joined the Islamic terror group, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria was reportedly killed near Aleppo, in Syria. He died after an airstrike was carried out by the United States targeting known ISIS camps, according to a report by Sahara Reporters. “A source told our correspondent that the late Ibrahim Uwais, who secretly travelled to Syria in February 2015 to join ISIS, was one of numerous Islamist terrorists who perished as US military aircraft bombarded known ISIS camps near the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo,” the report has said. Ibrahim Uwais had allegedly departed Nigeria and joined ISIS early in 2015, causing security agencies to begin investigations to uncover the identities of Nigerians, who might have joined the terrorist group. At the time, a top security source, who confided in one of our correspondents in Abuja, had said, “Besides Uwais’ son, we are trailing more Nig...

The successful conclusion of ongoing military operations against the Boko Haram sect will top the agenda as President Muhammadu Buhari is scheduled to host some world leaders who will be attending the second Regional Security Summit in Abuja on Saturday. President Francois Hollande of France who hosted the first Regional Security Summit in Paris on May 17, 2014 is one of the world leaders expected at the summit. According to a statement on Tuesday by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, the summit was organised in furtherance of ongoing efforts by the present administration to enhance the security of lives, properties and investments in Nigeria and neighbouring countries. Adesina said Buhari and the French President who is scheduled to arrive Abuja on Friday on an official visit to Nigeria would be joined at the summit by the Presidents of Cameroon, Niger Republic, Chad and Benin Republic. He said the United States, Britain, Equatorial Guin...

The Police have arrested  Mr. Lekan Shondi for allegedly killing his wife Ronke . The police spokesperson, Dolapo Badmos, said the police tracked him down, adding that he will be transferred to the State Department of Criminal Investigation. But  Lekan , who has been speaking with our correspondent since 7am till 2.37pm, said he surrendered himself.

African football’s governing body on Monday fined Nigeria $5,000 for overcrowding and lack of security during their 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Egypt. CAF imposed the fine at a disciplinary meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, threatening “sanctions will be applied” if there was any repeat. The fine worsens Nigeria’s football woes and comes after the Super Eagles failed to qualify for AFCON for the second consecutive time. Specifically, the fine itself was imposed for the first leg of the Super Eagles  clash against the Pharoahs at the 15,000-capity Ahmadu Bello Stadum in Kaduna on March 25. The Super Eagles needed to win the game to boost their chance of qualifying for the tournament and fans desperate to support the team had crowded the stadium with hundreds climbing flood lights and other structures at the stadium to get a view. It is believed that more than 40,000 spectators crammed into the stadium with the decision of the Kaduna...

The member representing Uhunmwode constituency in the Edo State House of Assembly, Mrs. Elizabeth Ativie,  has been sworn in as the new Speaker of the House. The House also lifted the suspension of the former Speaker, Mr. Victor Edoror, who was impeached last Tuesday. It, however, terminated the appointment of political appointees under the former Speaker. Ativie was sworn in on Monday by the Clerk of the House, Mr. Lawson Ugiagbe, in the presence of other members of the sixth Assembly, including Edoror. She becomes the first female Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly. ‎Prior to the resumption of sitting, the premises of the assembly complex was cordoned off by combined team of security operatives from the Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Security and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps to forestall a possible break down of law and order. No fewer than 10 Hilux patrol vehicles and an armoured personnel carrier were strategically positioned arou...

Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare came second in the 100 metres race at the IAAF Championship in Japan, narrowly losing in the last 30 metres to Tianna Bartoletta after having a great start off the blocks. She finished the race in 11.30 seconds, seven seconds behind United States representative Bartoletta, who finished with a winning time of 11.23 seconds. Bartoletta, long jump champion at the 2015 IAAF World Championship in Beijing, said after the race that she was disappointed with her slow start off the blocks. She was quoted as saying, “Slow, you can say it was slow, you know what they say, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish; and my start has been more powerful, so it looks slower, but my velocity is higher, so I think that’s what carries me through”. “A lot of people panic when they’re behind like that, and I really did a good job of remaining patient, and staying in my lane. What I could have done better was not lean so early,...

A drop in the volume of imports in the country has led to a decline in revenue generated in the first quarter of the year at seaports by the Nigeria Customs Service and put its N1tn revenue target for the year at risk. At the Lagos seaports, which are the busiest in the country and in West Africa in terms of vessel traffic and cargo throughput, a 21 per cent drop in revenue was recorded in the first quarter, the Customs Area Controller, Willy Egbudin, said last week. The command had generated N61.7bn in the first quarter of this year as against N74.71bn generated in 2015. Egbudin blamed the drop in revenue to the general economy down turn, which had in turn affected the number of vessels calling at the sea ports. He said they were fewer bulk cargoes because importers had been denied access to foreign exchange. Stakeholders on their part attribute the drop in imports to the Central Bank’s monetary policies, including the restriction of access to the dollar. At the Tin-Can Isla...

Tiwa Savage and Tee Billz (File Photo) Tiwa Savage earlier in the day took to her instagram page to thank her fans for their support and continued prayers for her and her family. “From the bottom of my heart I want to thank each and everyone of you for your support and your kind words during this trying time. Without it, I do not know how I would have made it through. “Most importantly thank you for your continued prayers for Tunji, Myself and Jamil. May God meet each and everyone of you in your time of need,” she wrote on Instagram. This comes days after her controversial and bitter split from her husband and former manager, Tunji Balogun a.k.a Tee Billz. On April 28, Tee Billz had accused her of infidelity and contemplated suicide. Thereafter she hit back at the accusations in an exclusive interview detailing a lot of secrets about her estranged husband, before coming to a conclusion that their marriage is finally over. Fans from all over the world have been p...

The umbrella body of Ijaw youths, the Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide, has condemned the nefarious activities of a new militant group in the Niger Delta, the Niger Delta Avengers. The IYC spokesman, Mr. Eric Omare, said in an interview on Monday that the group did not see the justification in the Niger Delta Avengers embarking on destruction of oil facilities and wreaking havoc on the region’s environment. However, Omare appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to go after the real culprits and not the innocent communities and people in the region in his government’s efforts to unmask the characters behind the new militancy group. The new militant group in the oil-rich region, the Niger Delta Avengers, has claimed responsibility for the recent attacks on the SPDC platform at Forcados, the Chevron Okan platform at Abiteye in Escravos, and the pipelines transporting crude oil to the Warri and the Kaduna refineries. President Buhari has set machinery in motion to uncover those b...

Alan Holmes has been jailed for 12 years after making a manual showing paedophiles how to groom a child (Picture: SWNS) Jonathan Zovoe A peadophile, Alan Holmes, 36, has been jailed for 12 years after writing a manual showing how to groom a child using the sex ordeal of one of his victims. The manual included a number of graphic instructions and also urged readers to ‘have fun and be creative’, according to  Metro.co.uk.  Added to the young girl’s humiliation, the court heard that Holmes added a four minute video recording of her performing a sex act. Police also found tens of thousands of images and film clips of child porn, including dozens of the girl abused by Holmes, on his computer. Apart from the images found, PowerPoint-style movie that was a ‘step-by-step guide on how to groom and abuse a girl’ was also discovered. The prosecutor said, “It is clear that the intention of this item is not only the abuse of children, b...

A security source said on condition of anonymity that the suspect named Yacouba Toure, was pretending to be a cattle buyer to evade intelligence officers. He said Toure, 40, was born in Mali’s central region of Mopti and in 2010 joined terrorist groups in Kidal region where he received adequate military training. The source said he was later introduced to Souleymane Keita, the head of Ansar Dine terror group in the south and Boubacar Sawadogo, the group’s head of the Burkina Faso wing. According to the source, Toure was one of the initiators of a program to create terrorist units in southern Mali and was in charge of logistics as well as carrying weapons.

UNKNOWN gunmen in the early hours of Monday killed five policemen, including a Deputy Superintendent of Police, Mr. Nasiru Halidu. The policemen were ambushed by their assailants in Okobe, Ahoada West LGA of Rivers State, along the East-West road at about 3am. The victims were coming from Yobe State where they went on a special duty and were on their way back to Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital when they were attacked. State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ahmad Muhammad, who was almost in tears while confirming the incident, described the development as a sad one.

The Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal has affirmed the September 30, 2015 judgment of a Federal High Court in Lagos which convicted three men of participating in acts of terrorism and belonging to the outlawed Boko Haram sect. The lower court judge, Justice Ibrahim Buba, who pronounced the convicts guilty, had sentenced the three convicts to 25 years imprisonment each. The convicts are Ali Mohammed, Adamu Karumi and Ibrahim Usman. They had been arraigned in November 2013 along with 14 others before Justice Buba, who found them guilty in September 2014 and sentenced them to a prison term of 25 years each.  But being displeased with their conviction and imprisonment, the convicts subsequently approached the Court of Appeal seeking to overturn the judgment. But the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, which charged them to court and secured their convictions, said in a statement by its Public Relations Officers, Mrs. Bola Akingbade, that their appeal was dismissed by the Court of...

With less than two months to the retirement of the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, clergymen of Igbo extraction have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint one of their kinsmen as his successor. They also called on Buhari to reach out in person to Fulani herdsmen in the country so as to end attacks against farmers and other innocent people. The clergymen under the aegis of Rehemi Foundation and Association of United Igbo Gospel Ministers, at a press briefing held on Saturday in Abuja, stated that the President should appoint the next police boss from the East. Spokesperson for the group and President of Rehemi Foundation, Air Vice Marshal Robert Konye Ekezie (retd.), said it was time for Buhari to “right the wrongs, as the tenure of the present indefatigable Inspector-General of Police comes to an end in June. It is about time the Igbo man enjoyed his inalienable right as a Nigerian, without the constant harassment and vilification from other tribes....

Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman The Nigerian Army says it has cleared seven more villages taken by suspected Boko Haram insurgents in Borno in its bid to end terrorism in the North East. The Acting Director Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman,  stated this in a statement issued in Maiduguri on Sunday. Usman said, “As the ongoing clearance and rescue operations gained momentum, troops of 28 Task Force Brigade have successfully cleared enclaves of Boko Haram terrorists along Galtha Baba, Galtha Musa, Bulakurma, Shatimari, Chukruk, Bulangaje, and Disa villages. “During the operation, one Boko Haram terrorist was captured alive.” According to him, three motorcycles, bags of grains, terrorists’ flags and uniforms have also been recovered. He listed other items recovered to include; suicide bomber’s hijab, a cell phone and one Dane gun, as well as foodstuffs and cooking utensils.” “The troops also rescued 15 pers...

The Osun State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps has apprehended a senior civil servant with the Osun State Ministry of Works, Mr. Julius Adetokunbo, for allegedly stealing some components of a transformer. The Commandant of the NSCDC in Osun State, Mr. Olusola Ayodele, said this on Friday during the parade of Adetokunbo and an accomplice, Muideen Agunbiade, at the command in Osogbo. The transformer, from where the duo allegedly stole 12 coils, was installed inside the Osun State Civil Service Secretariat in Abere. Adetokunbo, 55, is the Higher Electrical Officer in charge of the power house that supplies electricity to the secretariat. Ayodele said, “The NSCDC officers attached to the secretariat, who were on stop-and-search operation, discovered the transformer’s components inside a Nissan Sunny car where the suspects hid them while transporting them to where they would be sold.” The NSCDC boss said the command would not tolerate vandalism ...

The Federal Government has set machinery in motion to uncover those behind the recent bombings of oil installations in the Niger Delta apart from the express directive to the military to halt the return of militancy in the region. As part of the efforts in security and government circles to identify the masterminds of the attacks on the oil facilities, the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Brig.-Gen. Paul Boroh (retd.), has dispatched a team of investigators to the Niger Delta. A new militant group in the oil-rich region, the Niger Delta Avengers, has claimed responsibility for the recent attacks on the SPDC platform at Forcados, the Chevron Okan platform at Abiteye in Escravos, and the pipelines transporting crude oil to the Warri and the Kaduna refineries. The Chief Security Officer to the Amnesty Office, Lt. Col. Olusegun Okungbure, told our correspondent on the telephone on Sunday that the office was working with security agencies in the area of sharing informatio...

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, has given the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation and the police a two-week ultimatum  to prefer charges against suspects, who allegedly forged the Senate Standing Orders used for the proclamation of the current 8th Senate,  The PUNCH  has learnt. The Senate Standing Orders 2015, alleged to be a forged version of the 2011 version, was used for the leadership election of the Senate, which produced Dr. Bukola Saraki as the Senate President and Ike Ekweremadu as his deputy, shortly after the 8th Senate was proclaimed on June 9, 2015. Top sources in the Federal Ministry of Justice and the police headquarters confirmed that Malami had given the police and the DPP of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Diri, two weeks to file charges against the suspected forgers. It was learnt that Malami called for the file on the case last week and found out that the ministry had since July 29, 201...

Manchester City can expect more from Kelechi Iheanacho next season as 19-year-old seeks to build on an impressive debut campaign. The Nigeria striker has vindicated Manuel Pellegrini’s decision not to buy another striker this season with his dynamic performances – often from the substitutes’ bench – scoring 13 goals. A tally of seven in the Premier League has helped keep City on track for a top-four finish and eased the pressure on leading marksman Sergio Aguero. Iheanacho has vowed to have even more of an impact going forward, though, and hopes to establish himself as a first-team regular in 2016-17. “My record isn’t bad. This season has been great for me and for the team as well,” he told Sky Sports News . “I’ve been getting goals in the team and helping them. “It’s not bad this season, but I’ve got to keep working hard. This is not going to be the best season ever, I’m just starting and there will (be)...

A former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani -Kayode, has arrived at the headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. The former Minister who served as the spokesman for the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation in 2015, arrived the EFCC in a police convoy. He arrived the Commission in a blue native attire around 9.45am. He was invited by the anti-graft agency over an alleged N840m he received during the campaign. The money was said to have emanated from the account of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The Police on Monday cordoned off the premises of Edo House of Assembly to avert possible breakdown of law and order. The  News Agency of Nigeria  reports that more than 10 Hilux patrol vans and an Armoured Personnel Carrier were strategically positioned within and around the state assembly complex. There were also regular and mobile police operatives positioned at the three entrances to the assembly to prevent access into the complex. Already, workers of the house of assembly have been prevented by the police from getting to their offices. The Police Public Relation Officer in the state, Mr Abiodun Osifo told  NAN  that the action was taken to avoid repetition of what happened last Wednesday at the complex. The crisis erupted on Wednesday after 16 members of the assembly removed the erstwhile Speaker of the House, Mr Victor Edoro. Edoro was replaced with Mrs Elizabeth Ativie. Suspected thugs, loyal to both sides, had after the speaker’s removal, ta...

Platini (File photo: AFP) Michel Platini said on Monday he would resign as UEFA president after his appeal against a six-year ban from football activities failed. The Frenchman said he would resign to pursue the case over a suspect $2m payment in Swiss courts in a bid to clear his name. The Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected the appeal saying it was not convinced about the “legitimacy” of the payment ordered by ex-FIFA president Sepp Blatter. It did cut the ban to four years and reduced a fine from 80,000 Swiss francs ($80,000) to 60,000 Swiss francs. “I note today’s decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport but I consider it a profound injustice,” Platini said in a statement. “This decision inflicts a suspension for which the length stops me, de facto, and by luck, from being a candidate in the next FIFA presidential election,” he added. “As agreed with the national associations, I resign as president of UEFA to pursue my...

At least three people have been killed in Aba, Abia State, in clashes that started at the popular Ariaria Market, several witnesses have told PREMIUM TIMES. The clashes began in the afternoon mostly between Igbo traders and their Hausa counterparts, they said. One witness said the crisis started after a member of the Hausa community stabbed and killed an Igbo trader who reprimanded him for urinating near his store. Other Igbo traders rounded the assailant and lynched him, the witness said. His account could not be independently verified by PREMIUM TIMES. But other witnesses and residents said news of the incident spread to other parts of the town and a mob gathered and attacked the Hausa community around the abattoir located at Ogbor Hill area of Aba. “From that point matters degenerated. Soldiers in nearby barrack are shooting and at least one Igbo trader was hit and killed by a bullet,” the witness recounted. A spokesperson for the Abia State Police, Onyeka Ezekiel, to...