The Economic Community of West African States Parliament was divided over the actions that should be taken to address the Niger coup. While some parliamentarians of ECOWAS were in support of military action against the Niger junta, others were against it. Twenty-two parliamentarians took part in the virtual extraordinary meeting on Saturday to discuss the political crisis in Niger Republic. While some of the parliament spoke in support of dialogue and diplomacy, others called for actions that would actually stem the rise in military government within the region. Details later…..

  Miss Amaechina Chimbusonma Nwadiuto of Regina Pacis Girls’ Secondary School, Garki, Abuja, may be in contention for the National Merit Award as the overall best candidate in this year’s West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination, WASSCE, conducted by the West African Examinations Council, WAEC, as she got A1 in all the nine papers she sat for during the examination. Miss Amaechina, 16, from Anambra State, got distinctions in Data Processing, Christian Religious Studies, Civic Education, English Language, Further Mathematics, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics.   The girl, who scored 313 in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, applied to study Medicine at the University of Abuja. Speaking on the development, her mother, Mrs Ijeoma Amaechina, said the girl has consistently maintained top position in her class since her primary school days. “She is the fourth child of the family and she likes to sing and makes friends. Apart from her natural talents, I can describe her as a go-getter. “She puts her mind to whatever she wants to achieve. I give God the glory,” she said in a chat with Vanguard.

  Some protesters have taken to the streets in Kano State to kick against the imminent use of force to resolve the Niger coup crisis. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) had directed military forces of the member states to be on standby. The protesters on Saturday embarked on the demonstration to show their displeasure at the planned military invasion of Niger Republic. While moving in a procession, they were chanting “Nigeriens are our brothers, Nigeriens are also our family. “Niger is ours, we don’t want war, war against Niger is injustice, a plot by the western forces.” They displayed Nigeria and Niger’s flags alongside placards, chanting anti-war catchphrases. This followed an intense call from different quarters, especially Northerners who believe that Nigeriens are neighbours with whom they share things in common. Editor’s Note: This photo is for illustrative purpose 

  Two soldiers attached to the ongoing Ekaago-Ogboloma-Adada road project being executed by the Rivers State government have been shot dead by gunmen. The incident occurred in Abuja/Odual Local Government Area of the state and has caused panic in some communities in the area. Sources disclosed that the Army personnel were gunned down by hoodlums who tried to kidnap an expatriate handling the road project. Saturday Sun gathered that the gunmen carted away the rifles belonging to the slain soldiers, and abducted the foreman as well as other workers attached to the road project. According to anonymous sources, the hoodlums, after taking their captives hostage shot sporadically before escaping through Esalla, a river in Akani community in Odual, which links the Sombrero river. The community source disclosed that the Army, in a reprisal, have made arrests in Emelego and Ogboloma communities. According to the source, residents of Emelego, Ogboloma and Okolomade communities now live in panic as no one knows the next action of the Nigerian Army. The source said: “They also kidnapped the foreman, other four workers and one farmer from Ogboloma community, who was returning from the farm. The hoodlums also took away the rifles of the soldiers and escaped through Esala river after serious shooting. “With this, the army came to make some arrests in Emelego and Ogboloma communities but we are all living in fear. We all have been sleeping in the bush, there is panic everywhere because we don’t know the next move the Army will make.”

  The Military High Command says there are plots from different quarters to instigate members of Armed Forces of Nigeria to overthrow the present democratic administration being led by President Bola Tinubu. It, however, said the attempt will fail, insisting that the military is happy and better under democracy, and as such it will not get involved in any act to sabotage the hard-earned democracy of Nigeria. The Director, Defence Information, Tukur Gusau, a Brigadier-General, who stated this in an early message sent to Daily Trust on Saturday morning, described the development as “unpatriotic and wicked”. According to him, the military would continue to perform its constitutional duties rather than plotting any coup against the present democratic administration, saying the armed forces of Nigeria would not be distracted. Gusau’s reaction came on the heels of calls by some Nigerians that the military should step into the country’s leadership position owing to the perceived failure of democratic governments. But in his message, the senior military officer said the armed forces of Nigeria under the leadership of Gen. Christopher Musa, the Chief of Defence Staff, would not for any reason involve in any form of insubordination. “The reports calling on the military to interfere in our democracy is highly unpatriotic, wicked, and an attempt to distract the Armed Forces of Nigeria from performing its constitutional responsibilities,” the senior military said. He also dismissed insinuations in some quarters that the troops of the Nigerian military were not well taken care of, noting that it would not allow any individual or group of individuals to instigate military officers against the present government. Gusau added, “The Defence headquarters frowns at a report being circulated online about welfare issues in the Armed Forces of Nigeria. We wish to state unequivocally that the military is happy and better under democracy and will not get involved in any act to sabotage the hard-earned democracy in our country. “While the leadership of the AFN gives priority to welfare of its personnel however, we detest any attempt by any individual or group to instigate the law-abiding Armed Forces of Nigeria to embark on any unconstitutional change of government in our country. “The AFN under the leadership of the Chief of Defence Staff, General CG Musa is determined to ensure complete subordination of the Armed Forces to constitutional authority under His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and will not be distracted from its roles that are well defined in the 1999 constitution (as amended).”

  Saturday 12 August 2023 Nigerians in Niger beg FG for evacuation over impending attack How Tinubu, El-Rufai ministerial deal crumbled Over 4,000 stranded Nigerians repatriated in 2023 – IOM, NEMA Why we can’t slash transport fares – Lagos bus drivers Eight killed as 150-year-old mosque collapses in Zaria Resident Doctors Suspend Nationwide Strike Economy Must Recover For Good Of Nigerians, Says Tinubu Troops Rescue Former Gusau College Of Education Provost, Son In Zamfara Troops Raid IPOB/ESN Hideout In Enugu, Bust Gunrunner Syndicate In Obudu Niger Coup: ECOWAS Vows To Hold Russia Responsible If Wagner Violates Human Rights Prostate Cancer Treatment Reason I ‘Went Quiet’ After Elections – Utomi CBN releases financial statements of 7 years, says it doubled profit to N65.6bn in 2022 Nursing graduate killed, ‘womb removed’ after nightclub outing in Oyo ‘My deputy has become so desperate’ — Obaseki says Shaibu attempted coup against him Tell President Tinubu to tackle the petrol crisis and other woes El-Rufai Jets Out Of Nigeria After Dropping Ministerial Ambition Fresh Killing Of 5 Sparks Protest In Benue Visit a newspaper stand this morning, buy and read a copy for yourself…

  Nasir El-Rufai, former governor of Kaduna State, has jetted out of the country after withdrawing his interest in ministerial appointment, Daily Trust can confirm. A credible source told Daily Trust that El-Rufai was off to Europe, but will be in Egypt first. The senate had last week approved the appointment of 45 out of the 48 ministerial nominees submitted by President Bola Tinubu. El-Rufai, and two other nominees; Stella Okotete (Delta) and Danladi Abubakar (Taraba) were not confirmed as the senate said they were awaiting security clearance about them. Daily Trust had reported how Sunday Karimi, senator representing Kogi west, presented a petition against el-Rufai during his screening last week. The former governor met with Tinubu at the presidential villa in Abuja, on Tuesday, but the outcome of the meeting was not made public. But Premium Times quoted presidency sources as saying El-Rufai told President Tinubu that he was no longer interested in becoming a minister, but would continue to contribute his quota to the development of Nigeria as a private citizen. “He also told the president that he needed time to focus on his doctorate programme at a university in The Netherlands,” the online newspaper quoted another source to have said. Another source was quoted as saying the former governor suggested a new ministerial nominee — Jafaru Ibrahim Sani — for Kaduna. El-Rufai also reportedly told the President that since he would no longer be in the federal executive council, he would return the next day with his team to present the preliminary work done so far on the energy sector. The online platform said the team that accompanied the former governor to make presentations to the president on Wednesday includes Eyo Ekpo, a former commissioner at the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC); Hafiz Bayero, a former commissioner and administrator of the Kaduna Capital Territory Authority; Tolu Oyekan of the Boston Consulting Group and Ayodele Oni, a lawyer. When contacted, Muyiwa Adekeye, spokesman of El-Rufai, did not respond to comment.

  Ten persons have been feared dead while 9ber 30 are injured after Zaria Central Mosque in Kaduna Collapsed on worshippers on Friday. A source at the palace confirmed that ten people died, while thirty other worshippers have been taken to some hospitals in Zaria for treatment. In his reaction, Peter Obi expressed sadness over the incident and prayed for the repose of the soul of the dead while praying for the injured to recover quick. “With deep sadness, I read about the death of our compatriots in Zaria who were worshipping at the Zaria Central Mosque for Asr prayers on Friday when a wall collapsed on them. May Allah forgive the deceased all their sins and grant them Aljanna. “May the injured be healed quickly. Finally, I commiserate with the families of the deceased, and the good people of Zaria Emirate and Kaduna State over this tragic incident,” the Labour Party presidential candidate said in a tweet on Friday night.

  The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has suspended its nationwide strike, which began on July 25, 2023. The strike was called to press for the federal government to meet the association’s demands, which include the immediate 200 per cent increment in the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure, CONMESS, among others. NARD President Emeka Orji announced the suspension Friday evening. “Good evening. We just suspended the strike. Work to resume 8 am tomorrow,” he said. “We will review the progress made in two weeks.” “Our members are suffering. Nigerians are suffering too. When you don’t have the right number of doctors in the hospital, there is no way it is not going to affect the healthcare service delivery system. And nobody has come out to tell us that what we are saying is not true,” he added. “The government on its own set up a ministerial committee that came up with a guideline since February this year, why hasn’t that guideline been circularised?” he asked.