The Indigenous People of Biafra has said that it is now ready to negotiate and dialogue with the Federal Government on a peaceful exit of Biafra from Nigeria through a United Nations-supervised referendum. The outlawed pro-Biafran group said the peaceful agitation for Biafra Independence started in 2012 without any violence or criminality, adding that the Federal Government had continued to attack its members. IPOB stated this in a press statement issued by its spokesman, Emma Powerful, on Saturday. Powerful said IPOB had lost over 5,000 members and property worth over $1bn as a result of the extreme use of force from the Nigerian security forces. The statement read, “We, the global family and movement of IPOB wish to reiterate once again that IPOB remains peaceful and open to negotiation and dialogue on a peaceful exit of Biafra from Nigeria through a UN-supervised referendum. “IPOB’s peaceful agitation for Biafra independence started in 2012. Never has IPOB been associated with violence or criminality in all our years of rallies and protests. Nevertheless, the Federal Government, through its security forces, has declared war against IPOB. “Our members have been brutally attacked by the Nigeria security forces while on a peaceful protest at many locations in Biafra Land. As a result of these unwarranted attacks, many IPOB members have been murdered in cold blood, some have been permanently handicapped, some forcefully taken away by the security forces whereas some are still illegally detained in various detention facilities across Nigeria. “Many IPOB members and sympathisers have had their houses and business (stores) burnt by the Nigeria security forces. IPOB has lost over 5,000 members with property worth over $1bn as a result of the extreme use of force by the Nigeria Security Forces. “Irrespective of all the provocations, IPOB has never retaliated or taken up arms against the Nigerian State. “IPOB stands for peace. We stand for dialogue, and we stand for discussions. The cardinal rule under which IPOB was formed is to lead the way to a peaceful separation of Biafra from Nigeria. Biafra and Nigeria are two different nations. “The events from 1948 to 2023 have shown that it is practically impossible for Biafra and Nigeria to co-exist as one nation. IPOB has been calling on the Nigeria State for discussions on a peaceful referendum date, but the Nigeria State always returns the peaceful call with violent suppression. “We have always maintained that self-determination is our inalienable right according to the UN laws.”

  Sunday 08 October 2023 Insecurity claims over 531 lives in four months, farms deserted I’m shocked Atiku went this far on Tinubu – Jamiu, Abiola’s son Power generation drops by 2,324MW – FG Terrorists raid Kaduna community, kidnap 30 farmers Security operatives kill 5,000 IPOB members – Spokesman Alleged Forgery: Atiku Applies To File Fresh Evidence Against Tinubu At Supreme Court Over 200 Killed In Israel As Hamas ‘Massacred Civilians’ – Army Israel Army To ‘Use All Force To Destroy Hamas’ – Netanyahu Nine NRC Workers Suspended Over Ticket Racketeering INEC Denies Withdrawal From Kano Gov Appeal, Reprimands Officer Over ‘Unauthorised’ Letter Strong Quake In West Afghanistan Kills ‘About 120’ Israel And Gaza At War After Hamas Launches Surprise Attack Warring Osun Communities Sign Peace Accord As 24-Hour Curfew Continues Five Killed As Bandits Attack Kaduna Community Fuel Scarcity: Northern Group Accuses Marketers Of Sabotage, Demands NNPCL GMD’s Sack NEMA Raises Alarm Over Imminent Floods Minimum Wage: How we arrived at N200,000 — NLC President IPOB on Biafra Referendum: We’re ready for dialogue For resisting rape, killed Edo teenager for canonization Outrage Trails Governors’ Bloated Appointments Pressure mounts on Tinubu to fix dilapidated federal highways Visit a newspaper stand this morning, buy and read a copy for yourself…

  The proscribed Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) says it is ready to negotiate with the federal government over a peaceful separation of Biafra from Nigeria. IPOB is asking for a United Nations supervised referendum to extricate Biafra from Nigeria. Emma Powerful, IPOB spokesperson, announced the development in a statement on Saturday. Powerful said the agitation for a Biafra nation under IPOB began in 2012 without violence or criminality. He said IPOB has lost over 5,000 members and property worth over $1 billion as a result of the extreme use of force by Nigeria’s security agencies. “We the global family and movement of IPOB wish to reiterate once again that IPOB remains peaceful and open for negotiations and dialogue on peaceful exit of Biafra from Nigeria through a UN supervised Referendum,” the statement reads. “IPOB’s peaceful agitation for Biafra Independence started in 2012. Never has IPOB been associated with violence or criminality in all our years of rallies and protests. “Nevertheless, Federal Government, through its security forces, has levied war against IPOB. “Our members have been brutally attacked while on peaceful protest by the Nigeria security forces at many locations in Biafra Land. “As a result of these unwarranted attacks, many IPOB members have been murdered in cold blood, some have been permanently handicapped, some forcefully taken away by the security forces whereas some are still illegally detained in various detention facilities across Nigeria. “Many IPOB members and sympathisers have had their houses and businesses burnt by the Nigeria security forces. “IPOB has lost over 5,000 members with properties worth over $1bn as a result of the extreme use of force from the Nigeria Security Forces. “Irrespective of all the provocations, IPOB has never retaliated nor have we taken up arms against the Nigerian State.” Powerful added that IPOB has always advocated for a peaceful separation through dialogue. “IPOB stands for peace. We stand for dialogue, and we stand for discussions. The cardinal rule under which IPOB was formed is to lead the way to a peaceful separation of Biafra from Nigeria,” the statement reads. “Biafra and Nigeria are two different nations. “The events from 1948 to 2023 have shown that it is practically impossible for Biafra and Nigeria to coexist as one nation. “IPOB has been calling on the Nigeria State for discussions on a peaceful referendum date, but the Nigeria State always returns the peaceful call with violent suppression. “We have always maintained that self-determination is our inalienable right according to the UN laws.”

  Operatives of Ogun State Police command have arrested one Segun Gabriel over alleged fake alerts in Ajuwon, Ifo local government area of the State. The command spokesperson, Omolola Odutola, disclosed this in a statement she made available to newsmen in Abeokuta, the State capital. According to Odutola, Gabriel was arrested on Friday, 6th of October 2023. She said Gabriel transacted a sum of forty thousand Naira which resulted in a fake inter-bank transfer on the 5th of October, but the POS operator did not notice the loss until he came back on the following day to transact the sum of thirty-five thousand Naira which was also successful. However, the victim did not notice the fraud the second time until after he had disappeared into thin air. The statement read, “A Point of Sale operator who is also a victim of one Segun Gabriel “m” 20yrs a rogue and a vagabond who specializes in transferring money out of POS account using fake alert is now in the net of the Ajuwon Divisional Police. He was arrested on the 6th of October 2023. “Segun Gabriel transacted the sum of forty thousand Naira which resulted in a fake inter-bank transfer first on the 5th of October but the POS operator did not notice the loss until Segun came back on the 6th of October to transact the sum of thirty-five thousand Naira which was also successful. The victim did not notice the fraud the second time until after the criminal had disappeared into thin air. “While the victim was on her lawful activities on the same date, at about 1630hrs, she was lucky to have sighted the suspect under the bridge in Akute, she raised alarm attracting passersby who assisted her in arresting Segun Gabriel. “The Police was contacted and he is presently in police custody giving vital information to the Police on how to arrest his accomplices”, Odutola said.

  Israel ordered its state-run electricity company to halt supply to the Gaza Strip on Saturday after Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, the energy minister said. “I have signed an order instructing (Israel) Electric Company to stop the electricity supply to Gaza,” Energy Minister Israel Katz said in a statement. Hamas has released images of several Israelis taken captive, and Israel army spokesman Daniel Hagari confirmed that “there are kidnapped soldiers and civilians. I can’t give figures about them at the moment. It’s a war crime committed by Hamas and they will pay the price.” The Islamist group started the attack around 6:30 am (0330 GMT) with thousands of rockets aimed as far as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, some bypassing the Iron Dome defence system and hitting buildings. Hamas fighters — travelling in vehicles, boats and even using motorised paragliders — breached Gaza’s security barrier and attacked nearby Israeli towns and military posts, opening fire on residents and passersby. Israeli army Major General Ghasan Alyan warned Hamas had “opened the gates of hell”. The army said its forces were engaged in live gun battles in several locations near the Gaza Strip, in an operation labelled “Swords of Iron”. An AFP journalist in Gaza saw smoke billowing from the remains of a residential tower following Israeli strikes, which Gaza’s interior ministry said contained 100 apartments and was completely destroyed. Israel’s military said it had warned residents to evacuate before targeting two multistorey buildings used by Hamas. The aid group Doctors without Borders said one strike had hit the enclave’s Indonesian hospital and an ambulance outside Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, causing multiple deaths. AFP

  The death toll from a magnitude 6.3 earthquake in western Afghanistan on Saturday has risen to “about 120”, disaster relief authorities said, with more than 1,000 others being treated for injuries. The United States Geological Survey said the epicentre was 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of the region’s largest city Herat, and was followed by eight aftershocks with magnitudes between 4.3 and 6.3. “So far, more than 1,000 injured women, children, and old citizens have been included in our records, and about 120 people have lost their lives,” Herat province disaster management head Mosa Ashari told AFP. Crowds of residents fled buildings in Herat at around 11:00 am (0630 GMT) as the quakes began. “We were in our offices and suddenly the building started shaking,” 45-year-old resident Bashir Ahmad told AFP. Advertisement “Wall plasters started to fall down and the walls got cracks, some walls and parts of the building collapsed,” he said. “I am not able to contact my family, network connections are disconnected. I am too worried and scared, it was horrifying.” Men, women and children stood out in the wide streets, away from tall buildings, in the moments after the first quake and remained wary of returning to their homes as aftershocks rumbled for hours. “The situation was very horrible, I have never experienced such a thing,” said 21-year-old student Idrees Arsala, the last to safely evacuate his classroom as the quakes began. ‘Buried Under The Rubble’ Early on Saturday evening, disaster management authority spokesman Mullah Jan Sayeq told AFP that the number of fatalities was expected “to rise very high”. “There are some areas that are totally collapsed and all the houses are damaged,” he said. “People are still buried under the rubble. The aid agencies are trying to reach the area.” Hundreds of fatalities were possible, according to a USGS preliminary estimate. “Significant casualties are likely and the disaster is potentially widespread. Past events with this alert level have required a regional or national level response,” it said. The USGS had earlier reported the first quake’s magnitude as 6.2. It had a shallow depth of just 14 kilometres, it said. Herat — 120 kilometres east of the border with Iran — is considered the cultural capital of Afghanistan. It is the capital of Herat province, which is home to an estimated population of 1.9 million, according to 2019 World Bank data. Afghanistan is frequently hit by earthquakes, especially in the Hindu Kush mountain range, which lies near the junction of the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates. In June last year, more than 1,000 people were killed and tens of thousands left homeless after a 5.9-magnitude quake — the deadliest in Afghanistan in nearly a quarter of a century — struck the impoverished province of Paktika. In March of this year, 13 people were killed in Afghanistan and Pakistan by a magnitude 6.5 quake, which hit near Jurm in northeastern Afghanistan. Afghanistan is already in the grip of a grinding humanitarian crisis, following the widespread withdrawal of foreign aid since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. AFP

  Determined to remove President Bola Tinubu from office, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has applied for leave of the Supreme Court to file what he termed as fresh evidence. Atiku, in the motion he filed through his team of lawyers led by Chief Chris Uche, SAN, said the evidence he is seeking to tender before the apex court, would establish his allegation that President Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, submitted forged documents to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in aid of his qualification to participate in the presidential election that held on February 25. The former Vice President maintained that President Tinubu, by his action, committed a twin offence of forgery and perjury, and therefore deserved to be sacked from office by the Supreme Court. Specifically, Atiku, sought the leave of the court to tender Tinubu’s academic records which he said were handed over to him by the Chicago State University, CSU, on October 2, 2023. According to the motion, the 32 paged documents, were released by the CSU on the orders of Judge Nancy Maldonado of the District Court of Illinois, Eastern Division, Illinois, United States of America. Atiku predicated his motion for leave to file fresh evidence against Tinubu, on Order 2, Rule 12(1) of the Supreme Court Rules 1985, Section 137(1) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, as well as the inherent jurisdiction of the apex court as encapsulated in section 6(6)(a) of the 1999 Constitution. Though the application was dated October 5, however, Atiku’s legal team perfected the filing process on Friday night. The PDP flag-bearer basically prayed the court for an order, granting him leave, “to produce and for the court to receive fresh and additional evidence by way of deposition on oath from the Chicago State University for use in this appeal to wit: the certified discovery deposition made by Caleb Westberg on behalf of Chicago State University on October 3, 2023, disclaiming the certificate presented by the 2nd respondent, Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the Independent National Electoral Commission.” He equally prayed the apex court to “receive the said deposition in evidence as exhibit in the resolution of this appeal,” and to further make order or orders the apex court may deem fit to make in the circumstances of the case. The application was predicated on 20 grounds, among which included a claim that the deposition sought to be adduced along with its accompanying documents, “would have important effect in the resolution of this appeal.” “The deposition is relevant to this matter, having confirmed that the certificate presented by the 2nd Respondent to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did not emanate from Chicago State University, and that whoever issued the certificate presented by the 2nd Respondent, did not have the authority of the Chicago State University, and that the 2nd Respondent never applied for any replacement certificate nor was he issued any replacement certificate by the Chicago State University. “The deposition which is on oath and deposed to in the presence of the 2nd Respondent’s Attorney is credible and believable, and ought to be believed. “The deposition is clear and unambiguous, and no further evidence is needed to be adduced on it. “The evidence is such that could not have been obtained with reasonable diligence for use at the trial, as the deposition required the commencement of the suit in the United States of America before receiving same. It was not possible to obtain the said evidence before the trial at the Court below. “The deposition was made on October 03, 2023 after the conclusion of trial at the Court below, and was not available to be tendered at the trial,” Atiku averred. He contended that “the presentation of a forged certificate to the independent National Electoral Commission by a candidate for election to the office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a weighty constitutional matter, requiring consideration by the Courts as custodians of the Constitution.” Atiku’s lawyer, Uche, SAN, stated that the original certified deposition from the CSU, had since been forwarded to the Supreme Court by a letter that was addressed to the Chief Registrar of the court. More so, in a 20 paragraph affidavit that was attached in support of the appeal marked: SC/CV/935/2023 with petition number: CA/PEPC/05/2023, the deponent, one Uyi Giwa-Osagie, who is a legal practitioner, averred that the certificate President Tinubu presented to INEC in support of his qualification to contest the presidential election, was earlier tendered in evidence before the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, and was marked as Exhibit PBDlB. He attached a copy of the said certificate that was admitted in evidence by the PEPC in the appeal before the Supreme Court as Exhibit “E”. Giwa-Osagie added that the same document was tendered with the deposition in the USA and that at the trial, a certificate obtained from the Chicago State University was also tendered in evidence as exhibit PBE4. He also annexed the document as exhibit “G”. “That the deposition is a relevant piece of fresh evidence explaining the status of the certificate the 2nd Respondent presented to INEC in support of his qualification to contest the election,” Giwa-Osagie added. Atiku’s legal team said they would during the hearing at the Supreme Court, rely on the Record of Appeal already transmitted. “My Lords, we most humbly adopt the facts as presented in the supporting affidavit, and same will be referred to in the course of the argument,” Atiku’s lawyer added, insisting that the apex court has the power, jurisdiction and discretion to grant an application for fresh or additional evidence to be adduced on appeal. “Order 2 Rule 12 (7), (2) and (3) of the Supreme Court Rules provide as follows: (1) A party who wishes the Court to receive the evidence of witnesses (whether they were or were not called at the trial) or to order the production of any document, exhibit or other thing connected

  Dozens of Israelis — including soldiers and civilians — are believed to have been taken hostage by Hamas militants. BBC reports that at least 70 people in Israel have been confirmed killed, with hundreds of others undergoing treatment in hospitals. Other media reports put the Israeli death toll at 100. Nearly 200 people have been killed in retaliatory Israeli strikes in the Gaza strip. Early Saturday, members of the Hamas militant group launched an unprecedented attack on Israeli territory. Mohammed Deif, Hamas military commander, said Hamas had fired more than 5,000 rockets into Israel in what he called “Operation Al-Aqsa Storm”. He said the attacks were in retaliation for Israel’s “desecration” of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, adding that Israel has killed and wounded hundreds of Palestinians this year.   Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that his nation is at war. “The enemy will pay a price he has never known. In the meantime, I call on all citizens of Israel to strictly obey the instructions of the army and the instructions of the Home Command,” Netanyahu said.

  A paramilitary attack on Jabal Awliya south of Khartoum killed at least 10 people on Saturday, activists reported, as the death toll from Sudan’s six-month war hit more than 9,000. “Bombs fell inside civilian homes” in the small town some 50 kilometres (31 miles) south of the city, the local ‘resistance committee’ said. The volunteer group is one of many across Sudan that used to organise pro-democracy protests. Since the war broke out between the army and paramilitaries on April 15, these groups have helped people caught up in the conflict. The committee in Jabal Awliya reported the paramilitaries unleashing “heavy artillery” on the town, in their latest attack on areas that had previously been spared the fighting between Sudan’s rival generals. The war between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy, Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, has been mostly in Khartoum and the western region of Darfur. By October, “more than 9,000 fatalities” had been recorded by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project, ACLED reported late Friday, stressing that its estimates are conservative. The fighting has displaced almost 4.3 million people within Sudan, in addition to around 1.2 million more who have fled across borders. In recent weeks, the violence has also moved further south, threatening the fragile safety of more than 366,000 people who have sought shelter in Al Jazira state just south of the capital. Witnesses report the RSF setting up checkpoints along the road between Khartoum and Jazira state capital Wad Madani, which is 200 kilometres (125 miles) south of the capital. Khartoum itself — where millions of people remain trapped — has not had a single day of respite since the war began. Witnesses in the north of the city on Saturday again reported “artillery fire” and street battles.