Sunday 15 October 2023 No warning before next strike, Labour tells FG No APC in S’East, LP boasts Kidnapping: CAC bars members from travelling in branded buses Seven Killed, Properties Destroyed In Plateau Electric Cable Fire Again, Bandits Abduct Two Zamfara Varsity Students Six Arrested Over Attempt To Steal Train Coaches — Police EFCC Secures Conviction Of Three Internet Fraudsters In Anambra IMF Agrees Funding Boost, Extra Board Seat For Africa Blinken Asks China To Use ‘Influence’ For Middle East Calm NSCDC CG Orders Deployment Of Undercover Agents To Schools Nationwide Hamas Elite Unit Commander Killed, Says Israel Army Jandor Files 34 Grounds Of Appeal Against Tribunal Judgment On Sanwo-Olu Gaza Death Toll Rises To 2,215, Over 1,300 Buildings Destroyed Over 5,000 Newly Recruited Teachers In Katsina Undergo Screening Exercise Israel Says Bodies Of Hostages Found In Gaza Akinwumi Adesina: Corruption Is Global, Not Peculiar To Africa Bayelsa, Imo, Kogi Guber Polls To Be Uploaded On IReV – INEC Thieves Raid Ogun Palace, Steal Crown, Staff Of Office No Ransom Paid To Secure Release Of Abducted Female Students – Gov Sule Group faults Olukayode’s appointment as EFCC Chairman Ondo Assembly vows to see Aiyedatiwa’s impeachment to logical end Visit a newspaper stand this morning, buy and read a copy for yourself…

  The leader of the Palestinian militant organisation, Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh on Saturday declared in a televised speech that Palestinians will not move to Egypt from Gaza or the West Bank. Haniyeh who spoke while addressing Egypt said, “Our decision is to remain in our land.” Egypt and Gaza are bordering each other, and Egypt is concerned that Israel’s embargo and bombardment of Gaza, which was carried out in retribution for a deadly incursion by Hamas terrorists, may force the enclave’s inhabitants to flee. Egypt, like other Arab nations, has stated that as the conflict intensifies, Palestinians should remain on their territory and that it is attempting to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches the Gaza Strip. Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant declared on Friday that Gazan residents “who want to save their lives” ought to follow Israel’s advice and leave the area.

  THE Presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Senator Rabi’u Kwankwaso, has advised the 1,800 couples who were just wedded to refrain from attempting to check their spouses’ phones in order to avoid any actions that could lead to the breakdown of their marriages. This advice came during a reception organised for the couples by the state government at the government house, as the Commander General of the Kano Hisbah Board, Sheikh Aminu Daurawa, disclosed that out of the 1,800 couples, the wedding of 264 had been suspended due to some ailments, and these couples are currently undergoing medical treatment. Senator Kwankwaso emphasised that checking one’s spouse’s phone is one of the major causes of marriage breakdown in the country. He advised the couples to avoid actions that could lead to crises between them, emphasising that they’ve already received ample advice from various sources, including religious leaders, parents, relatives, and others, on how to live peacefully with one another. According to him, “Checking spouses’ phones by married couples is one of the major causes of marriage breakup in the country, advising them to shun anything that could cause crises among them.” He said, “You have been advised by all and sundry. I believe you have been advised a thousand times. Ulamas, parents, relatives and even business people have advised you on how to live peacefully with one another. Report Ad He therefore added “But, I have one single piece of advice for you. That is checking spouses’ phones. Don’t peep your spouse’s phones as that is the major cause of marriage breakup. Kwankwaso further noted that the current Kano State governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, has continued with their legacies and delivered projects with a mass-oriented approach. He called on the people of Kano to support his administration. Governor Yusuf explained that the beneficiaries of the mass wedding were selected from all 44 Local Government areas and 484 wards of the state, with at least 30 couples chosen from each Local Government area. The government provided support for the marriages, including dowries, furniture, wedding foodstuffs, and a 20,000 Naira grant for the brides to start small-scale businesses at their matrimonial homes. He urged the couples to live peacefully in accordance with Islamic teachings. The Commander General of the Kano Hisbah Board, Sheikh Aminu Daurawa, announced that 1,800 couples tied the knot, with the weddings of 264 couples suspended due to some ailments, and they are currently receiving medical treatment. He commended the state government for the program’s transparent process and prayed for the couples to have lasting marital happiness while urging them to be God-fearing in their interactions.

  The Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, says that the results for the Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi governorship elections will be uploaded on its Result Viewing Portal (IReV). Yakubu stated this while speaking with newsmen at Ward 009, LEA School, Ganaja Village, Ajaokuta LGA, Kogi. on Saturday Yakubu was in the state to monitor the mock accreditation exercise, ahead of the Nov. 11 governorship election. He said that the commission would follow the laws for accreditation and results collation during the states’ elections. The method is as provided by law, electronic accreditation, electronic upload of results on the IREV portal and that is why we are doing this mock. “So, please disregard whatever was reported about what the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) was said to have said in Bayelsa. “That’s going to be the procedure and it’s for that reason that I will advise you also for those who are registered on the IREV portal. “That in the next two hours or so, go to the IREV portal and you will see the result of the mock accreditation from all three states. “We are uploading, as we have done in previous elections,” Yakubu said. On the issue of security concerns ahead of the elections in the three states, Yakubu said that the commission was already working with security agencies. “Next week Friday there is going to be a high-level meeting in Abuja co-chair by myself and the National Security Adviser in which all the security chiefs will be present, no representation to discuss the issue of security. For the three states elections, we are on top of the situation in terms of security arrangement and security deployment,” he said. On how INEC intend to control the crowd at PU 009 in Ganaja, Yakubu said that INEC was taking proactive measures to give voters a pleasant voting experience on Election Day. He said that INEC chose the PU 009, LEA School, Ganaja Village because it is the largest and most densely populated in Nigeria PU with 13,000 registered voters. He said that on election day, the Voter register would be broken down alphabetically by the voter surnames to speed up the voting process. “After the election, the Commission will redistribute the voters to other approximate locations. “But for now, we’ll have to conduct the elections with the number of registered voters in this polling unit. “For that reason, we are deploying a minimum of eight BVAS machines on election day, Saturday, Nov. 11 for easy accreditation of voters,” he said. Speaking earlier, the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Kogi, Dr Gabriel Longpet, said that all non-sensitive materials for the election had been received and sent to the LGAs. Longpet said that details of areas of possible flash points in the state had been identified, and would be the basis of security deployment. (NAN)

  Caroline Adepoju, the comptroller general of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), says she has ordered an investigation into the alleged non-compliance of personnel in some passport offices with the two-week processing timeline. On October 4, the federal government directed that passport processing should not exceed the period of two weeks. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, minister of interior, had said passports would be delivered to Nigerians at their homes and offices from February 2024. In a statement on Saturday, Adepoju expressed concern over the unprofessional conduct of the personnel in some passport offices across the country. “The comptroller general of Nigeria Immigration Service, Caroline Wura-Ola Adepoju has received with deep concern, some complaints of misconduct levelled against our personnel in some passport offices across the nation,” the statement reads. “The comptroller general has ordered an investigation into the matter, especially in regards to the noncompliance with ministerial directives on the timeline of passport administration. “Following the complete clearance of passport application backlogs nationwide in line with the directive of the honourable minister of interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, a new timeline of 2 weeks for processing and issuance of passport was announced by the minister on the 4th of October, 2023.” She added that the service has been monitoring the level of compliance with the two-week timeline by passport offices across the country. “The service has on a daily basis, monitored the compliance level at all passport offices nationwide and at our missions abroad,” she said. “We receive daily reports on the production and issuance of passports from all passport control officers. “As at today, Friday 13th October 2023, most of our passport offices are producing passports of applicants enrolled on Wednesday, 11th October 2023.” She urged applicants to stop patronising individuals or entities that request cash payment for services, adding that Nigerians should report the unprofessional conduct of its personnel to any of the NIS offices.

  The Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) has announced that Adeyemi Adepoju has been reinstated as the postmaster general of the agency. On Wednesday, President Bola Tinubu relieved Adepoju from his role and appointed Tola Odeyemi as the new chief executive officer (CEO) of NIPOST. The announcement made by Ajuri Ngelale, presidential spokesperson, was part of the leadership shuffle implemented for agencies and parastatals under the ministry of communications, innovations and digital economy. However, in a new statement published on NIPOST’s official X account on Saturday, the agency said the president had reinstated Adepoju. The statement said Adepoju was reinstated “due to his exceptional leadership and performance”. “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR) has reinstated Rt. Honorable Adeyemi Sunday Adepoju as the Postmaster General of the Federation & CEO of the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) due to his exceptional leadership and performance,” the statement reads. “Sunday Adepoju conveyed his appreciation to the President and other key supporters. He pledged to redouble his efforts to elevate NIPOST into a world-class digital postal service & align his vision with that of the Federal Ministry of Communication, Innovation & Digital Economy in contributing significantly to Nigeria’s socio-economic development. “This reinstatement is a testament to Adepoju’s leadership skills and unwavering commitment to service. Nigerians can anticipate enhanced value & quality services from NIPOST, an agency dedicated to providing efficient, reliable, and effective postal services across the nation through a network of over 3000 post offices, offering a wide range of services including mailing, logistics, courier, and financial services.” A video of Adepoju in a jubilatory mood over the purported reinstatement has since surfaced on social media. In the video, he is seen arriving in a sport utility vehicle (SUV) into what looks like a NIPOST premises where he was acknowledging cheers from a jubilating crowd. However, the presidency has yet to release an official statement confirming the reinstatement of Adepoju as the postmaster general of NIPOST. Ngalale was not immediately available when contacted by TheCable for clarification on the development as calls to his mobile phone did not go through while messages sent failed to deliver.

  Iran yesterday warned Israel to immediately halt its “war crimes” against Gaza or it could face “a huge earthquake” of resistance. More than 320 Palestinians have been killed in the past 24 hours, including many women and children in Israeli air raids on convoys fleeing Gaza City, according to health officials. The rising death toll comes as Israel continues bombing Gaza a day after telling 1.1million residents to head south ahead of a looming ground offensive following Hamas’s attack inside Israel last week. At least 2,215 Palestinians have been killed and 8,714 wounded in Israeli air attacks on Gaza. The number of people killed in Israel has reached 1,300, with more than 3,400 wounded. The Palestinian health ministry said Israeli airstrikes had killed 724 children by yesterday, of the over 2,000 Palestinian killed in the past week. In the occupied West Bank, the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire in the past week has topped 50. More than 1,000 have been wounded and hundreds arrested. The Israeli military said it was planning an attack by land, air and sea, according to a statement, but gave no timing or specifics. Daily Trust on Sunday reports that Israel has warned 1.1m Palestinians living in northern Gaza to evacuate to south; and thousands have been fleeing by vehicles or on foot. The United Nations has said it is “impossible” for 1.1m Palestinians, about half of the 2.3million people in Gaza to evacuate because there is no place to go. Meanwhile, BBC Verify has confirmed that women and children were killed when a strike hit their vehicles as they headed away from northern Gaza This is as thousands of Palestinians sought refuge yesterday after Israel warned them to evacuate the northern Gaza Strip ahead of an expected ground offensive against Hamas, one week after the deadliest attack in Israel’s history.

  Mr Oshodi, the father of the 11-year-old boy allegedly buried alive by his stepbrother at Apamsede, in Kogi, is said to be on the run, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports. NAN gathered that the shovel and the cutlass allegedly used to perpetrate the dastardly act by the stepbrother were also missing. Passers-by rescued the 11-year-old on Wednesday after he had been buried by his stepbrother in a bush at the Silo community in Zango Daji, the Adavi Local Government Area of the state. The 11-year-old boy was alleged to have stolen N1,000 belonging to his stepmother who instructed her son to punish him. In meting punishment to the 11-year-old, the 17-year-old took his stepbrother into the bush where he allegedly buried him alive. The Police Public Relation Officer, Kogi Command, SP Williams Ovye-Aya, had told NAN that Oshodi travelled and that the police were waiting for him to return for his own side of the story. When NAN visited Apamsede community on Saturday, it was revealed that the father of the victim had absconded and that when the incident happened the father of the victim was at home. The district head of Apamsede, Malam Garba Ahmed told NAN that on the day of the incident, the father of the 11-year-old boy, the stepmother and the stepson were summoned to the palace of the traditional ruler on what led to such act. “When they came to the chief’s palace, Mr Oshodi, the father of the 11-year-old boy was present at the palace when both the stepson and stepmother gave reasons for their action,” the district Ahmed explained. “The boy’s father probably ran away when we insisted on inviting the police to handle the matter. “The stepmother and her son, Goodness, had confessed to committing the dastardly act. “But the traditional council of our community has decided not to harbour such people in our land. “Once the stepmother and her son finished facing the wrath of the law, we shall banish them from this land. “But before we banish them, we will ensure that the family offer a sacrifice to cleanse the land,” he said. NAN reports that the police team who brought the boy’s stepmother to their house in Apamsede on Saturday morning discovered that the shovel and cutlass allegedly used in burying the teenager were missing. Although the house was under lock and key, the police team observed that there were some changes in the environment unlike what they saw on Friday during their visit. “Somebody must have entered this your house. Yesterday, when we came here the house was locked and the window curtain inside wasn’t down as we can see now. “Some of the things that we met outside here yesterday are no more here. Somebody must have come around here.” The police who had to break the lock and key to gain entrance into the house when the woman claimed that she had no key to the house, alleged that most of the things inside the house had been taken away. “Where’s the shovel and cutlass you said were in the house? This is because nothing is here. Somebody must have packed the valuables here,” one of the officers said.(NAN)(