Military arrests Boko Haram sponsors

•2 politicians, traditional ruler, Islamic clerics in custody

•Graduate, awaiting NYSC call-up, bomber killed in blast

From Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri

Government’s clampdown on Boko Haram symphatisers has paid off. The military has arrested two prominent politicians and a traditional ruler duying a raid in Borno State. Their identities were withheld.

The politicians, who are known in government circle,were arrested early this week by detectives and troops from Operation Lafiya Dole, the counter-insurgency military team. One of them who is also an as Islamic spriitualist, had fled the state when he learnt military men were on his trail. He was fleeing to one of the North Central states, but was arrested along Maiduguri-Jos Road, another source claimed.

The second politician was said to be a thug often called ECOMOG in Borno and an aide to some politicians in the state. “He is in military net now,” the source disclosed.

A traditional ruler from a Borno community and two popular Islamic clerics were among those arrested following intelligence about their alleged link with Boko Haram. “More revelations are coming and more people may be arrested in days to come,” a military personnel claimed.

Read More

Airlines rake in N719.4bn from tickets sales in 21 months

…As FG seals BASA with Bahamas, Seychelles 

Airlines operating in Nigeria raked in a whopping N719 billion from tickets sold to passengers in 21 months spanning the whole of 2015 and between January and September 2016, says the Director General/CEO of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Muhtar Usman.

According to data released by the NCAA boss, the industry had witnessed a drop in passenger patronage in 2016 on both international and domestic flights when compared to 2015.

Usman who was briefing aviation correspondents on the activities in the industry in 2016 linked the shrinking of airlines activities and passenger patronage to a number of factors, including the ongoing economic recession in the country, the scarcity of foreign exchange, the inability of foreign airlines to repatriate incomes out of the country, and aviation fuel scarcity.

Read More

UN releases $100m for Nigeria, others in humanitarian crises

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday, January 30, announced the release of 100 million U.S. dollars for Nigeria and eight others from the organisation’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).

Guterres said the release of the funds would help to sustain relief operations in what he termed the world’s most neglected crises, according to a statement issued by the secretary-general’s office.

The allocation will enable life-saving help for more than six million people in Cameroon, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Libya, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia and Uganda.

The UN chief said the measure was necessary in these countries where levels of vulnerability are alarmingly high but funding remained critically low.

“CERF is a lifeline for people caught up in crises that don’t make the headlines but where needs are just as urgent.

Read More

Iraq bans US citizens from their country

In a move that is considered a reciprocal one, Iraq has placed a ban on US citizens entering the country.

This follows an initial executive order signed by President Donald Trump placing a temporary ban on seven Muslim-dominant countries with Iraq being one of them.

According to Daily Mail, Iraqi politicians on Monday, January 30 banned US citizens from entering their country.

Kamil al-Ghrairi and Mohammed Saadoun who are Iraqi politicians said the decision which was made at the parliament was binding.

Read More

Donald Trump Signs Orders on Defeating IS, Reorganizing NSC, Lobbying

President Donald Trump signed three more executive orders Saturday, calling for a plan to defeat the Islamic State group, a reorganization of the National Security Council and a three-year expansion of the lobbying ban on administration officials.

The orders were the latest development in a flurry of activity since Trump took office just over a week ago.

Trump signed his latest executive actions in the Oval Office, surrounded by smiling staff members and an attentive group of reporters. Trump spoke briefly but carefully as he signed the documents, showing them to the cameras after applying his large, angular signature to each order.

Read More

Google creates $4 million crisis fund following Trump’s immigration ban

It’s reportedly Google’s largest crisis campaign to date

Google has created a $4 million crisis fund for those affected by President Donald Trump’s immigration ban, according to a report from USA Today. The $2 million fund can be matched by up to $2 million from employees, with all donations going toward four organizations: the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Immigrant Legal Resource Center, International Rescue Committee and UNHCR, the UN agency responsible for protecting refugees. According to USA Today, the humanitarian campaign is Google’s largest ever.

Read More

Nigeria takes over The Gambia military

Soldiers to search for Jammeh’s secret armoury Air Force and Naval troops return

For now, Nigerian Army personnel deployed in The Gambia two weeks ago, will remain there, even as President Adama Barrow fully takes charge.

But Nigerian Air Force (NAF) and the Nigerian Navy troops have since returned after completing their mission in the tiny West African state whose former leader, Yahya Jammeh, finally left after ECOWAS troops stormed the country.

Military sources say the decision to keep the Army there may not be unconnected to a claim that ousted Jammeh has a secret armoury.

Read More

Presidency releases photos of Buhari and wife in London

To douse speculation over the health condition of President Muhammadu Buhari, the Federal Government on Sunday released photographs of the president with his wife in United Kingdom while on vacation.

The photographs showing Buhari and his wife came after an earlier one released on Friday showing Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun and some persons with the President.

Read More

Why celebrities’ marriages crash

Actress, Yvonne Jegede is a role interpreter who is good at what she does. Popular for her cameo appearance in Tuface’s African Queen and Djinee’s Ego, Yvonne continues to thrill her fans with her versatility. In this chat with RITA OKOYE, the newly engaged TV star shares her love story and opens up on the rampant crisis rocking celebrities’ marriages.

How was the year 2016 for you generally?

Well, it wasn’t bad.We thank God and looking forward to a better 2017. Although, the recessiondidn’t make it easy for us at all but we are strong soldiers; we will alwaysovercome. The New Year has been good so far; it is only by God’s grace.

Any plans to have your own movie soon?

Well, not yet but I have been very busy working on other people’s projects. I have been on set shooting here and there. So, plans are ongoing for my own movies. You shall hear from me pretty soon.

What is the most challenging role you have played in recent time?

There is this epic I did in Asaba where the character I played lost her husband and she had to go through mourning for years. I had to cry literally for like half of the film. It was emotionally challenging for me. I had not cried that much in a long time. There were some scenes where even after we finished shooting, I was still crying. But I had to snap out of it in order to be able to act the next scene.

Read More

Nigeria’s economic woes will soon be over – Buhari

President Mohammudu Buhari has said that the present economic predicament of the country would soon be a thing of the past. President Buhari said this at the 46th convocation ceremony of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

President Buhari,  who was represented by the minister of state on education Anthony Anuka, explained that despite the economic problems facing the country, the assemblage of Nigerians to mark the convocation has in no small measure fueled the belief that the general public share the agony of the present state of affairs in the country.

He noted that theuniversity started on solid foundation and paid tribute to the founding fathersfor the wisdom and ingenuity in establishing the institution which adheres toglobal concept and objective in Nigerian content, adding that the efforts ofthe management staff of the university cannot be over emphasised, adhering tothe philosophy of restoring the dignity of man as the university has enlargedNigerian society and the public in general.

Read More

Police Are Making It Impossible To Use Drones To Document Protests

Last November, an aerial drone flown by a member of the resistance camp opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline captured dramatic footage of riot police blasting crowds with water cannons as temperatures dipped below freezing, sending 17 of the camp’s occupants to the hospital with injuries and hypothermia.

The video quickly spread on social media, spurring global news coverage of the fight against the oil pipeline, which saw activists clash with police and security forces in tense standoffs last year. A few weeks later, the Army Corps of Engineers halted construction of the pipeline, which had encroached on Native American sacred lands and threatened water supplies near North Dakota’s Standing Rock reservation.

Read More

$2.1bn Arms Deal: Court insist Dasuki is on bail

Justice Baba Yusuf of an Abuja High Court has again reaffirmed the bail earlier granted former National Security Adviser, NSA, Col Sambo Dasuki(rtd).

Recall that Justice Peter Affen of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, High Court had recently granted the former NSA bail but the Federal Government refused to obey the order.

However, the matter was transferred to the Justice Yusuf-led court who reaffirmed the bail of Dasuki and five others standing trial on a 22-count charge bordering on the misappropriation of $2.1bn arms deal.

At the resumed trial today, the trial judge said Dasuki was entitled to bail after he was admitted to same since 2015.

All defendants pleaded not guilty to the 22-count charge levelled against them.

Read More

TB Joshua a blessing to Nigeria – Fani Kayode

On his Twitter handle @realFFK, he wrote: “A truly great man of God whose good works will speak for him into eternity.

Read More

Country hit by fresh protests in wake of mutiny

Ivory Coast has been engulfed in a series of strikes in several of its cities, as schools remain closed.

Angry protests erupted in several Ivory Coast cities on Monday, including in the economic capital Abidjan where retired soldiers barricaded a major highway as a teachers' strike kept schools closed.

The veterans threw up roadblocks on the main northbound highway in the morning, snarling traffic, as angry firemen blocked traffic to the east of the city.

Most of the city's secondary schools remained closed as teachers remained at home as part of a two-week civil service strike to demand better pay and pensions.

In the country's second city of Bouake hundreds of schoolchildren took to the streets, blocking traffic, in solidarity with the strikes.

Read More

Trump claims media 'dishonest' over crowd photos

President Donald Trump has accused the media of dishonesty over the number of people attending his inauguration.

Mr Trump was speaking after photographs were published appearing to show more people attended the inauguration of his predecessor Barack Obama in 2009.

Mr Trump's press secretary said it had been "the largest audience to ever see an inauguration" even though figures he cited add up to under 750,000 people.

He said the new US administration would hold the media accountable.

Read More

El-Rufai, Shehu Sani are fighting in Kaduna

Hon. Ibrahim Bello Rigachikun, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC was the Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Cooperation and Integration in Africa/NEPAD in the 7th National Assembly and is presently a private legal practitioner. He is also the National Chairman of the Buhari Like-Minds Movement of Nigeria. In this interview, with Vanguard’s Dirisu Yakubu, he bares his mind on the lingering feud between Governor Nasir El-Rufai and Senator Shehu Sani, the Southern Kaduna killings among other issues. What is the problem between Governor Nasir El-Rufai and Senator Shehu Sani? 

A lot of people love our party in Kaduna State, and it is very unfortunate that this is happening today. We expect these two highly respected men to reconcile their differences especially since elections are over. But in my perspective, I often say that this is the first time in Nigeria political history that four or five political parties would merge forces into a single political platform that ultimately became what we call the APC today. Do not forget that Comrade Shehu Sani came from the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) while Nasir El-Rufai came from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. 

Read More