Crime Facts

No Proof I Get Share Of Lagos Revenue, Says Tinubu

  The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, says his detractors have no proof he gets a share of the revenue of Lagos State. The former Lagos governor stated this in an interview with BBC News on Monday shortly after his appearance at the Chatham House in London, the United Kingdom. The APC candidate also said those criticising his source of wealth were driven by envy, adding that he hasn’t gotten any government contract or appointment since he left office in 2007. Tinubu was in office from 1999 to 2007 and has since influenced who becomes governor in the nation’s economic nerve centre.   According to him, his wealth came from investments in real estate. “I am not denying my wealth. I was the most investigated, the most accused governor in the opposition for eight years and since I left the office, I have not taken any government appointment, no government contract,” he said. Asked whether he gets a share of Lagos revenue, Tinubu said, “Hey, excuse me, share, what? Have they proven it? The World Bank, (and) the International Monetary Fund have investigated the records in Lagos. What’s wrong with them? It’s envy.” He also said he won’t vote for any of his counterparts if he weren’t contesting the 2023 general elections. Tinubu specifically said he won’t vote for Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) if he weren’t on the ballot. Asked if he would vote any of Atiku or Obi if he weren’t contesting, Tinubu said, “None, because they are not as competent as any other person out there. They have no track record, none of them is qualified except me.”

NAFDAC declares war on illegal bleaching cream dealers

  The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) yesterday said it will rid the markets and stores of manufacturers and sellers of unapproved bleaching creams. The agency said it will begin its enforcement with cosmetic stores and makers of bleaching creams, who use unapproved and excessive actives. The agency said it will begin its enforcement with cosmetic stores and makers of bleaching creams, who use unapproved and excessive actives. Noting that more men than women patronise and use bleaching creams, NAFDAC warned Nigerians against use of unapproved products. It listed the damaging effects of such deadly products: aging, kidney and nervous system, cancers, skin infections, increase dependence on the creams, and unwanted and untreatable discolouration. The agency spoke at a workshop organised by NAFDAC, in collaboration with Association of Nigeria Health Journalists (ANHEJ) Acting Director-General, Dr. Monica Eimunjeze, said: “We will be moving to full enforcement. We have Nigerians on notice. We have had some operations in the past, but there have been a few. Enforcement will commence in cosmetic stores because you walk into a cosmetic store and see prescription medicines offered up for sale as cosmetics. “However, there are lightening, whitening and glowing products that have regulatory approval. But what we are talking about are those products that do not have any regulatory approval. This is because we cannot speak to what is in the product. ‘’There are those that sit and mix, and it is usually a cocktail of products, and usually they are not ready to disclose what is inside – that is the problem. Most times, it is a mixture of a steroid or two, a chemical or two which you do not know. There is also a base lotion which is usually innocuous.”

APC Has Failed Northerners, Muslim-Muslim Ticket Won’t Work – Shagari

  A former Deputy Governor of Sokoto State, Mukhtar Shagari, has said that the All Progressives Congress (APC) has failed Nigerians and its Muslim-Muslim ticket strategy for the 2023 general election won’t get its desired voter turnout in the northern region of the country. “The Christians in this country, especially in the North felt slighted, they felt insulted when APC decided to go with Muslim-Muslim ticket,” he said during a live appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Tuesday. Shagari, a former Minister of Water Resources and member of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said if APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu has a Christian wife, Oluremi, it is only okay for to choose a Christian running mate and not a fellow Muslim in the person of former governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima. Mukhtar Shagari made an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on December 6, 2022 He described as an insult, the same-faith ticket of the APC, adding that Nigerians and Christians will reject the ruling party in the forthcoming presidential election. “The APC has failed Nigerians in every aspect you can think of. In every aspect you can think of, APC has failed Nigerians, particularly in the North where people are now kidnapped and ransoms have to be paid and people are now being killed. Lack of employment all over the country and so on. “They simply think that both the Christians and the Muslims in this country are stupid. So, they decided to come out with the Muslim-Muslim ticket, thinking if they do that, everybody in the North-West, in the North-East and the rest of Nigeria will jump at it but Nigerian people are wiser, they know what they want: they want a government that will change their lives for the better,” Shagari said. The PDP BoT member further described as disappointing, Tinubu’s outing on Monday at the Chatham House in London, the United Kingdom, saying that Nigerians want a leader who can relate with them, answer their questions and clear their doubts and not one who delegates his allies to respond to questions directed at him.

Troops Kill Several Bandits During Clearance Operations In Kaduna

  Troops of the Nigerian Army have killed several bandits during clearance operations in enclaves of non-state actors around Idasu, Fatika and Makera forests in the Giwa Local Government Area of Kaduna State. This was disclosed in operational feedback to the state government on Tuesday. According to the Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, many bandits were neutralised during the operation, while others still fled with gunshot injuries. Meanwhile, Governor Nasir El-Rufai has commended the troops for their success, while urging them to work harder. El-Rufai appealed to citizens in the areas to report suspicious individuals seeking medical attention for gunshot injuries to the security operations room.

Obi Holds Mega Rally In Imo, Vows To End ASUU, Doctors’ Strikes

  The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi; and his running mate, Yusuf Baba-Ahmed on Tuesday vowed to end strikes by medical doctors and members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) if elected in 2023. Addressing a crowd of supporters at a mega rally in Owerri, the Imo State capital, Obi said Baba-Ahmed as his running mate, they will ensure that power is given back to the people especially youths and women. He also said job creation, investment in agriculture and prioritisation of exports will be top in their agenda. For the LP presidential candidate issues of ASUU strike, decay in the health sector and corruption will be a thing of the past. Peter Obi is one of the leading presidential candidates for the 2023 general elections., This is the first major campaign rally of Obi in Imo, and as the 2023 elections draw closer, the party in the state said more programmes will be initiated to woo the electorate ahead of the elections.

CONUA to sue FG over withheld salaries

  The Congress of University Academics has expressed its disappointment with the Federal Government, especially the Ministry of Labour and Employment, over the non-payment of its members’ withheld salaries “even when the government knew that the union did not call for strike action and its members were not involved in the strike action that lasted for eight months and which shut down the university system nationwide.” CONUA, in a statement on Tuesday, signed by its National President, Secretary and Publicity Secretary, Dr Niyi Sunmonu, Dr Henry Oripeloye and Dr Ernest Nwoke, respectively, said it was wrong for the FG to lump CONUA with members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities who went on eight months strike between February and October, 2022. The new union of lecturers thereby viewed to sue FG for withholding its members’ salaries. The statement partly read, “CONUA formally made its non-involvement in the strike known to the Federal Government in a letter addressed to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, in April 2022. “In the letter, we made it clear that because CONUA constituted a separate and independent union in the university system, our members did not call for any strike. This was followed by a Press Conference in Abuja on August 19, 2022 at which it was categorically stated that CONUA was not part of any ongoing strike, and that the “No Work No Pay” principle ought not to apply to members of the union. “CONUA’s expectation is that, due to the express and categorical declaration, the government would seamlessly release our members’ outstanding salaries when it resumed the payment of salaries to all university staff in October 2022. But to our dismay, CONUA members were also paid pro-rata salaries in complete disregard to the fact that we were indeed shut out of duties by the strike. “Subsequently, we wrote to the Accountant-General of the Federatıon and the Ministry of Labour and Employment reminding them that it was an error to lump our members with those that declared and embarked on strike action. It was yet another shock for the outstanding backlog of salaries not to have been paid to our members along with the November 2022 salary.” CONUA said the non-payment of “our withheld salaries” contravenes Section 43 (1b) of the Trade Disputes Act CAP. T8, which stated that “where any employer locks out his workers, the workers shall be entitled to wages and any other applicable remunerations for the period of the lock-out and the period of the lock-out shall not prejudicially affect any rights of the workers being rights dependent on the continuity of period of employment.” “This provision is consistent with global best practices,” it added. “From the foregoing and as a law-abiding union that pledged to do things differently, we have resolved to seek legal redress of the illegal withholding of our legitimate salaries by taking the matter to court in consonance with the rights enshrined in our laws,” the union said. In October, the FG registered CONUA, who had opted to be different from ASUU by bringing new methods as against strike to press home the demands of lecturers for better welfare and university funding.

2023 elections: Nigerians in diaspora sue Buhari, INEC

Nigerians in diaspora have dragged President Muhammadu Buhari and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, before a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, insisting they must be allowed to participate in the 2023 general elections. The plaintiffs, who told the court that they are resident in the United Kingdom and various parts of the world, are seeking an order to compel INEC to allow them to vote. They maintained that continued refusal by the electoral body to create room for them to participate in general elections, amounts to a gross violation of their fundamental rights. The plaintiffs, in suit FHC/ ABJ/ CS/2119/2022, are praying the court to stop President Buhari and INEC from further proceeding with the 2023 electioneering process until INEC’s voter register and bio-database, are updated to accommodate them as registered voters. Those that filed the suit on behalf of other Nigerians in diaspora, are Chikwe Nkemnacho and Kenneth Nkemnacho, both of whom are resident in the UK. They are praying the court to declare that they are entitled to participate in the electoral process by being registered to vote in 2023 and in all elections, wherever, they are domiciled worldwide, in line with sections 13, 14, 42 and 17 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended. They want the court to declare that there is still sufficient time for INEC to comply with provisions of sections 13, 14 and 15 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended. They argued that unless they are allowed to vote in the 2023 elections and subsequent ones, their fundermental rights as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution would be grossly breached. Meanwhile, Justice Inyang Ekwo has adjourned the matter till January 19, 2023, for its mention, and ordered service of all the court processes on the defendants. Defendants in the suit are the INEC and its Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, President Buhari and the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Gunmen abduct corps member, seven others in Abuja

  Gunmen on Tuesday night abducted a corps member, Adenike, and seven others in Extension 2 Relocation, along Arab Road, Kubwa area of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Adenike, currently observing the mandatory National Youth Service, was kidnapped in her father’s home. The PUNCH reports. A source confirmed to our correspondent that Adenike is the only daughter of her parents, adding that several others went missing after the attack. The source added that two others escaped while they were being whisked away through the hills by the kidnappers. The source said, “Adenike, the landlord’s only daughter who’s currently doing her NYSC has been kidnapped. We’re confused now because several others are also missing. “Seven others were kidnapped alongside Adenike. But two others, among the ten earlier, kidnapped, escaped and are safe now.” BREAKING: One killed, others missing as gunmen attack Abuja community Two die in Ebonyi police, gunmen clash Gunmen shoot three Ogun residents, three suspects nabbed Our correspondent gathered that the gunmen attacked a residence in the Extension 2 Relocation, along Arab Road, in Kubwa, and shot two males, with one of the gunshot victims dying on the spot, as the other was rushed to the hospital. During the attack, an eyewitness who reached out to our correspondent through a distress call noted that the gunmen shot sporadically at Amilomania Street and later moved to Toyin Street. He said, “We heard gunshots twice when they first stormed a house at Amilonania Street. They’re now at Toyin Street, at the last house by the hill. “They shot a tailor, Abel, popularly known as Oshodi, and he’s lying down dead. They also shot another male, but we have taken him to the Kubwa General Hospital at Phase 4, but he was unconscious. “The gunmen escaped through the hill.” When contacted, the FCT Police spokesperson, Josephine Adeh didn’t take calls not responded to text messages from our correspondent Tuesday night.

Imo Assembly Labour Party candidate dies

  The Labour Party candidate for Okigwe Local Government Area of Imo State House of Assembly, Chukwunonye Irouno, is dead. Irouno, a popular master of ceremony in Owerri and the Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs and Entertainment to a former governor of the state, Rochas Okorocha, died on Monday night in his house in Owerri. The candidate, who was supposed to be the official MC for Peter Obi’s rally in Owerri on Tuesday died after he and other Labour chieftains had finished inspecting Kanu Nwankwo sports stadium in Owerri, the venue for Obi’s campaign rally in the state on Tuesday. A friend of the deceased told our correspondent that the politician died few minutes after arriving his Owerri residence. He said, “Irouno has died. He just returned to his house and asked his wife to prepare dinner for him. He went inside his bedroom to freshen up. On getting to his bed, he started behaving funny. “His children couldn’t understand his action. They went to the kitchen to call their mother. Before his wife could rush to the bedroom, he was dead. “This is unbelievable. This was a man who was supposed to take charge of the proceedings during the Labour Party presidential rally in Owerri. He died few minutes after asking his wife to prepare food for him.” The news of Irouno’s death nearly disrupted the LP campaign rally in Owerri on Tuesday. Immediately the chairman of the local Organizing committee for the rally, Kingsley Onunuju, announced his death and called for a minute silence in his honour, the crowd erupted in shouts.

Terrorists’ Wives, Commanders Killed In B/Haram, ISWAP Clashes

  No fewer than 55 people including wives of the fighters of Boko Haram and their rival group, Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP), have been killed in a week-long multiple clashes in Borno State, sources said. Our correspondent gathered that clashes started last week in one of the camps at Mutakinti general area in Bama Local Government Area of the state, where about 11 fighters loyal to (JAS) Boko Haram lost their lives in the encounter. An impeccable source, who has the knowledge of the incident, told Daily Trust that an in-fighting at Dollar land in Sambisa forests last Saturday also claimed dozens including fighters and women. The source added that ISWAP fighters outnumbered and overpowered JAS and 11 fighters died in a gun battle at Mantari general area. Our correspondent learnt that the clashes took place in Dollar Land, Mantari, Mutakinti general areas all in Bama LGA and Bayan Dushai in Gwoza council respectively. While corroborating the accounts, Zagazola Makama, a Counter Insurgency Expert and Security Analyst in the Lake Chad, claimed fighters in Sambisa wanted to avenge the killing of their Commander, Malam Aboubakar (Munzir) and 15 other fighters who were neutralized in a deadly infighting. Makama added that since December 3, a top Boko Haram leader in charge of Mandara Moutain, Ali Ngulde, had led hundreds of fighters armed with weapons from Mandara Mountain to wage war against the ISWAP in Sambisa Forest. The attack began with a failed negotiation initiated by the Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād (Boko Haram) terrorist group, inviting its rival group the Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP), that they are ready to surrender themselves (mubayi’a) to ISWAP leadership. Makama added that unknown to ISWAP group, Ngulde and his team had staged an ambush against them in which at least 12 of the ISWAP members were killed in Yuwe while others escaped with bullets wounds. In the aftermath of the encounters, Boko Haram members seized four Hilux trucks mounted with weapons belonging to their rivals and burnt another. A source said that shortly after the victory, the Boko Haram fighters mobilised more fighters from Abu Ikilima’s camp at Gaizuwa, Gabchari, Mantari and Mallum Masari to attack more ISWAP positions in Ukuba, Arra and Sabil Huda and Farisu, killing about 23 more fighters. The ISWAP group later retreated and took position at the camp of Izzah. Thereafter, they moved to Garin Abbah, located about 2 kilometers where they pinned down to wait for the Boko Haram. But instead of going to meet the ISWAP rivals to continue the fight, the Boko-Haram elements did a detour and headed to where ISWAP wives are located and killed 33 of them. It will be seen in the coming days how ISWAP fighters will react to the brutal killing of their wives by the Boko Haram elements.