Two men, who were suspected to be armed robbers have been set ablaze by a mob along Okumagba Avenue, by Emebiren junction in Warri, Delta State, in the early hours of Tuesday.

It was gathered that the two men were pursued by the angry mob to the location where they were caught and severely beaten before they were set ablaze.

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According to reports, the suspected robbers had stormed the area around 5:30am in a commercial tricycle to operate, but failed when they were accosted by the mob.

The incident was confirmed by the Divisional Police Officer, “B” Division in Warri, CSP Benjamin Igometi. He said he received distress calls from the neighbourhood in the early hours of the day that some robbers were operating.

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”They just called me just now that some robbers came to attack in that area, and they caught them, and they were lynched. That’s what I heard.” he said.

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Mob sets suspected robbers ablaze in Delta

The Lagos-Ibadan rail line has officially kicked off commercial operations.

This development is coming three years after Vice President Yemi Osinbajo performed the groundbreaking ceremony for the project on March 7, 2017.

President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to formally commission the project in the first quarter of 2021.

According to Tolu Ogunlesi, a presidential aide, the National Railway Corporation has said that the rail line will conduct only one return trip daily for the meantime.

“Commercial operations started on the new #LagosIbadanRail line this morning, Monday, December 7, 2020. For now, according to the NRC, only one return trip daily, leaving Ibadan at 8am for Lagos and leaving Lagos for Ibadan at 4pm,” Ogunlesi tweeted.

“Speed and capacity will increase with time. Keep in mind there’s still some construction work ongoing (Station buildings etc).

“Also likely won’t hit maximum speeds until the line fencing is completed. (Sadly because of some Lagosians’ love for rail-line merchandising)

“The launch train for #LagosIbadanRail commercial operations left Ibadan at 0800hrs this morning, arrived Abeokuta 0858, and departed Abeokuta 0903. It has just arrived Ebute Metta, Lagos, at 1040hrs.

“For now, it’s doing 30-40km/hr in Lagos metropolis.”

Tickets on the rail line will cost N3,000 for economy and N6,000 for first class.

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Lagos-Ibadan Rail Line Begins Commercial Operations

Omoboyede Olusanya, former Managing Director of 9mobile, has been appointed as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc (FMN) effective January 1, 2021.

The news was disclosed through a statement issued by Joseph Umolu, FMN’s secretary and director for legal services. The statement also said that Olusanya will take over from Paul Gbededo, who is retiring after 38 years with  the company.

According to the statement, Olusanya joined the company in January 2020 as group chief operating officer and was admitted to the board of directors in July.

Prior to his appointment, Olusanya was the CEO of Emerging Markets Telecommunication Service Limited (EMTS), where he anchored and completed the sale process for 9mobile, as well as group operating partner at Helios Investment Partners.

Olusanya was also chief transformation officer at Dangote Industries Limited; partner at GA Capital Ltd, managing director (MD) of Dancom Technologies; and acting CEO, VEE Networks, formerly ECONET Wireless.

In his remarks, John Coumantaros, FMN board chairman, said: “l am happy to welcome Boye Olusanya as our new GMD/CEO. The board is confident that he is the right person for the job”.

“He is a seasoned professional and an exceptional business leader who will lead the group into the future as we continue to strengthen our brands and create value for investors and stakeholders.”

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On his part, Gbededo expressed confidence that his successor would help the company reach greater heights.

Commenting on his appointment, Olusanya said: “I am committed to carrying the legacy of our great company forward as we continue to deliver on our brand’s golden promise of excellence”.

“With the support of the board and my colleagues on the executive team, I can assure our customers, consumers and other stakeholders that we are poised for the next phase of growth and development.”

Flour Mills appoints former 9mobile MD, Boye Olusanya, CEO

A Professor of Chemistry, Olufemi Peters, has emerged the newly elected Vice-Chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria.

This was disclosed in a statement released by the Director of Media and Publicity NOUN, Ibrahim Sheme on Friday. In the statement, Sheme said that Peters emerged victorious on Thursday, after beating six other candidates in a keenly contested race at the nation’s Open and Distance Learning institution.

The 64-year-old is to take over from the outgoing Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Abdalla Adamu, whose five-year single tenure elapses on February 10, 2021.

Peters, who is a former Deputy Vice-Chancellor of NOUN, has a track record of academic excellence spanning three decades, including many competencies in the area of ODL.

The newly elected VC, who is an indigene of Ogun state, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from University of Ibadan (1979), a Masters’ degree in Polymer Science and Technology from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, (1982) and a PhD in Degradation and Stabilisation in Polymers from Victoria University of Manchester, UK (1988).

He is also a member of the Chemical Society of Nigeria and a Fellow of the same society.

Olufemi Peters Emerges New VC of Open University

Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture, has said citizens in the north-east are no longer paying tax to Boko Haram.

He said this while speaking at a meeting with the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigerian (NPAN) in Lagos on Thursday. The minister said that the occupation of territories in the country by insurgents is now “a thing of the past”.

This statement is in contrast to recent reports in which residents of the north-east and some parts of north-west pay tax to insurgents and bandits in order to have access to their farms.

There were also some reports that the farmers killed in Borno at the weekend reportedly refused to pay tax to the insurgents before their slaughter.

According to Mohammed, the insurgents are no longer having a field day because of the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“Now, let’s put things in context. Before Mr. President assumed office, Boko Haram could stroll into any city, especially in the north, to carry out deadly attacks. Abuja, the nation’s capital, Kano, Maiduguri, Jos, Damaturu, etc were regularly targeted,” he said.

“Motor parks, churches, mosques, shopping complexes were not spared. Today, that is a thing of the past. Suicide bombers used to have a field day detonating their bombs and killing innocent people.

“Today, that is no longer the case. Detonating improvised explosive devices (IEDs) used to be a deadly tactic of Boko Haram. Today, that has changed.

“Boko Haram used to occupy territory, deposing and installing Emirs and collecting taxes. That’s no longer the case. These changes are not mere happenstance. They are part of the successes recorded by the military, under this president.”

The minister said those asking the president to resign over insecurity are “playing dirty politics”.

“In the wake of the killing, there have been calls in some quarters for Mr. President to resign,” he said.

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“Well, let me say here that this call amounts to playing dirty politics with the issue of security, and it is cheap and irresponsible. Mr. President was elected in 2015 for a four-year term and re-elected in 2019 for another four-year term.

“No amount of hysterical calls for resignation will prevent him from serving out his term.”

Mohammed also said calling on the president to resign every time there is a setback in the war on terror “is a needless distraction and cheap politicking”.

Boko Haram no longer collecting tax from citizens- Lai Mohammed

Abdulrasheed Maina, former chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), who has been facing money laundering charges, has been extradited to Nigeria after his arrest in Niger Republic on Monday.

He was received by men of the Nigeria Police Force at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on Thursday.

Maina extradited to Nigeria after arrest in Niger Republic

The Northern Elders Forum, has said that life has lost its value under the regime of President Buhari.

In addition to that, the organisation also said that threat of farming in Northern Nigeria was real in the face of limited production of food in many of the communities.

These views were disclosed in a statement by the Director (Publicity and Advocacy) of the NEF, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, on the recent killings of 43 farmers in Borno.

He said, “Under this administration, life has lost its value, and more and more citizens are coming under the influence of criminals. We do not see any evidence of a willingness on the part of President Buhari to honour his oath to provide security for Nigerians. In civilized nations, leaders who fail so spectacularly to provide security will do the honourable thing and resign.

“The Northern Elders Forum joins Nigerians in expressing outrage at the killings of farmers in Borno State and many other people on a daily basis in many parts of the North. Our voices have been raised without pause for a long time against pervasive insecurity in our region.

“We have consistently drawn attention to lack of political will to fight the Boko Haram insurgency and other threats such as banditry, rustling, and kidnapping. We had offered suggestions on how the security infrastructure could be improved and leadership of the military could be made more effective. Obviously, along with advise and concerns from many other Nigerians, these have made no impression on President Muhammadu Buhari.

“These particular killings have been greeted by the most insensitive response by spokespersons of the President. The lame excuse that farmers had not sought permission from the military to harvest produce merely exposed the misleading claims that our military had secured vast territories from the insurgency.

“These killings and the reality they expose will make relocation of citizens and resumption of economic activities a lot more difficult to achieve even for a leadership that attaches priority them, and this administration does not.

“Elsewhere in many parts of the North, many farming communities have not been allowed by bandits and kidnappers to plant crops. Those who did are being prevented from harvesting by these same criminals. The prospects for famine are real in the face of limited production of food in many of our communities.”

Life has lost its value under Buhari – Northern Elders Forum

The governors of the 36 states, under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors' Forum, have scheduled a teleconference for Wednesday to discuss new national security order to ensure the safety of lives and property in the nation.

According to a statement by head of media and public affairs of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, the forum would receive zonal updates on the disbanded special anti-robbery squad (SARS) and internal security at its 22nd meeting which is scheduled to start at 2pm.

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The governors will also revisit the issue of the hoarded Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) palliatives, with updates on its current status in all the states, and three groups will also make presentations at the meeting.

Furthermore, there will also be a presentation on a collaboration between Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and Nasir el-Rufai, Kaduna state governor, on securing access to pension funds for infrastructure development, as well as matters arising from the just-concluded 26th Nigerian Economic Summit (NES).

The statement also said that there will be a presentation on the development agenda by the core working group (CWG) of the human capital development programme of Nigeria.

In addition, the issue of stamp duty collection and a response to the water resources bill would form part of the agenda.  

Bello-Barkindo also explained that updates would also be given on states fiscal transparency, accountability and sustainability (SFTAS ), as well as feedback from a meeting with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), and the Conference of Legislators of Nigeria (COSLAN).

Governors to meet on Wednesday over insecurity

The Secretary General of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, who also doubles as the chairman of the presidential task force on COVID-19 (PTF), has said that the second stream of the National Youth Service Corps(NYSC) will resume at the various orientation camps on Thursday, December 3, 2020.

This was disclosed by Mustapha while he was speaking at the PTF media briefing in Abuja on Monday.

It will be recalled that after months of shutting down camps as part of measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19, the 2020 batch B stream 1 corps members were directed to resume at orientation camp on November 10.

The PTF chairman said the date for the second stream of prospective corps members was chosen after the first batch ended their 3-week orientation training on Monday, November 30, 2020.

Furthermore, he stated that the third batch would resume camping in January 2021.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) had made it compulsory for all members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to undergo an antigen-based test before being allowed access into orientation camps across the country.

Chikwe Ihekweazu, director-general of the NCDC, had said: “We will test everyone to enable us to keep our camps safe with the understanding of what is going on in the country”.

The measure is to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.

NYSC Batch B Stream Two to Resume Camp Thursday

As head of a Federal Government delegation on a condolence visit to the government of Borno state, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, has arrived Maiduguri, the capital of Borno, over Saturday’s killing of over 40 rice farmers by terrorists.

This was disclosed on Monday by the media aide to the Senate President, Ola Awoniyi, in a statement titled, ‘Senate President leads FG delegation on condolence visit to Borno over killing of farmers’.

According to the statement, members of the delegation, the Chief of Staff to the President, Ibrahim Gambari; Ministers of Federal Capital Territory, Mohammed Bello, Communications and Digital Economy, Ali Pantami; and the Minister of State for Agriculture, Mustapha Shehuri.

Other members are the National Security Adviser, Major General Babagana Monguno(rtd.); and Senior Special Assistant(Media and Publicity) to the President, Garba Shehu.

The delegation was received on arrival at the Airport by the Borno State Deputy Governor, Usman Umar Gadafu.

Lawan leads FG delegation to Borno over farmers' murder

The Nigerian police command in Edo state has announced the re-arrest of four prisoners who escaped from the Oko Prison during the #EndSARS protests.

This was disclosed by the Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, on Monday during a parade of suspects at its tactical unit in Abuja. It will recalled how armed men, last month, stormed the correction facility in Oko, popularly known as the Oko prison.

It was reported that prison authorities first had a clue of the impending prison break as early as 9 a.m. on the day of the incident and called for reinforcement, but none came despite two other repeated attempts.

While parading the suspects, Frank Mba said they had been linked with cases of armed robbery, car theft, unlawful possession of weapons, illegal dealing and selling of weapons.

He gave the names of the escaped prisoners as Adebayo Opeyemi, Oloride Benjamin, Peter Osas, Hudu Musa and Frank Odion.

Mba stated that Mr Opeyemi is a dismissed soldier, while Mr Benjamin was convicted and sentenced to death and Mr Musa had nine months left to serve out his prison term. Mba also added that Mr Benjamin snatched a vehicle 30mins after he escaped because he needed to leave Benin City, and in total, the convicts have snatched a total of four vehicles since their escape.

Police re-arrests four Edo escaped prisoners

The Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar, has said the north is the “worst place” to be in Nigeria. This is largely owing to the region’s security challenges.

The Sultan said this while peaking at a meeting of the Nigerian Inter-Religious Council on Thursday. He said something urgent must be done to address the situation before “we would lose sleep because of insecurity”.

A number of states across the north-west and north-central have been experiencing increasing attacks by suspected bandits and kidnappers.

The attackers have gone as far as kidnapping young girls — once abducting 26 — and also killing some of their hostages, including traditional rulers and politicians.

At the religious council’s meeting in Abuja, the Sultan said many attacks in the region are not reported, citing one a few weeks ago where “76 persons were killed in a community in Sokoto in a day”.

“Unfortunately, you don’t hear these stories in the media because it’s in the north. We have accepted the fact that the North does not  have strong media to report the atrocities of these bandits,” he said.

“People think north is safe but that assumption is not true. In fact, it’s the worst place to be in this country because bandits go around in the villages, households and markets with their AK-47 and nobody is challenging them.

“They stop at the market, buy things, pay and collect change, with their weapons openly displayed. These are facts, I know because I am at the centre of it.

“I am not only a traditional ruler, I am also a religious leader. So, I am in a better place to tell the story. I can speak for the north in this regard because I am fully aware of the security challenges there.

“We have to sincerely and seriously find solutions to the problem, otherwise, we will find ourselves soon, in a situation where we would lose sleep because of insecurity.”

The North is The Worst Place to be in Nigeria- Sultan

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