The Harbingerngr News

*State govt cries out to FG for help Gunmen again invaded Sarkin Pawa, headquarters of Munyan Local Government Area of Niger State, Tuesday,  killing no fewer than thirty people. The incident happened in Kachiwe village and spread to other adjourning villages in the area. Vanguard gathered that the bandits are suspected to be part of those who were smoked out of their hideouts in Kaduna State. They were said to have arrived in the village on Motorcycles fully armed and started shooting sporadically to scare the villagers during which many people were killed. From Kachiwe Village, the bandits reportedly took their onslaught into the adjourning communities where many were also killed. Secretary to the Niger State Government, Alhaji Ahmed Ibrahim Matane, who confirmed the attack in a telephone conversation in Minna did not give the actual number of those who died from the attacks. He said the State Government is not leaving any stone unturned in its efforts at ridding the state of crime a

By Ikechukwu Amaechi ON Friday, October 1, Nigeria marks 61 years. Whether in the life of an individual or a nation, diamond jubilee is a milestone. Adding one more year is even more consequential and ideally, the drums should be rolled out. But that will be ill-advised. Why? Because there is nothing to celebrate right now. Agreed, there are some who will argue that the fact that Nigeria still remains united even after a brutal 30-month fratricidal war is enough reason to push the boat out. But when a country is held together by force of arms and not the consent of the federating units, the sense of unity becomes delusional. Others use the incredible accomplishments of Nigerians - men and women - in the arts, sciences, sports, technology and commerce - as a totem pole to hoist the country’s greatness. But while it is true that Nigerians, individually, are excelling globally, they are pulling off those extraordinary feats in spite of, not because of the opportunities provided by the cou

Former Nigerian President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. AS the debate and calls by  Nigerians over the importance of e-voting and transmission of results continue to be on the front burner, former President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, has insisted that electronic voting is the way out of polical quagmire.. Jonathan, who stated this while delivering an inaugural lecture of Course 30, National Defence College, titled: Human Security and National Development:  The Whole Society Approach’’, said: “if we as a nation, truly desire to secure the credibility and integrity of our elections, if we truly desire to deepen the roots of democracy in our land, we should not seek to reverse the progress already recorded by INEC in the application of modern tools in the conduct of elections but aim to improve the processes in the light of new technology. “It is difficult, therefore, to understand why the argument against the possibility of electronic transmission of election results continues to subsist,

  2021 Championship League Results

PRESIDENT of the Christ Apostolic Church, CAC, worldwide, Pastor Henry Ojo, said, yesterday, that the crisis rocking the church is the finger of God and nobody can state when it will end, except God. He stated this while addressing journalists at the grand finale of the 2021 National Pastors Conference and Convention of the church, tagged: ‘The feast of the Holy Spirit'. Ojo, who noted that the crisis in the church came as a finger of God because the founding fathers failed to heed God’s instruction, said the crisis is beyond human comprehension and only God can put an end to it. The crisis between the supreme council and the general executive council of the church has been on for 31 years. Ojo said: “Nobody can say the time the crisis will come to an end. If you listen to my message, you will know that I said it is the finger of God that brought the crisis to CAC. God had warned us but our fathers failed to heed the warning of the Lord. It led to what we found ourselves today.   “

  ....Wants Amotekun, Ebube Agu to become state police THE pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, yesterday, expressed worry over the worsening insecurity in the country, saying that bandits have declared war on Nigeria. The Yoruba body also urged the Federal Government to allow Amotekun and Ebube Agu outfit to become state police, as a way of tackling insecurity in the country. It stated this in a communiqué issued at the end of its meeting at the country home of its acting Leader, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, in Sanya-Ogbo, Ogun State. The meeting was attended by Ayo Adebanjo; Deputy Leader, Oba Oladipo Olaitan; Sola Ebiseni, Cornelius Adebayo, Supo Shonibare, Kole Omololu, Leke Mabinuori, Senator Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele, Senator Adegbenga Kaka, Dr. Gbola Adetunji, and Babatunde Oduyoye.  Others were Dr. Ebun Sonaiya, Jare Ajayi, Prof Akin Onigbinde, Dr. David Atteh, Femi Monimikan, Mr. Dauda Adam, Mr. Lanre Anjolaiya, Mrs. Toyin Falade and participants Kwara and Kogi states.   A

GOVERNOR Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, yesterday, vowed to punish culprits who attack law enforcement agents in the state, saying they will be brought to justice. The governor, who noted with deep concern the spate of attacks on security agents, described such 'senseless' attacks as attempts to trample on law and order by those who are desperate to turn the society upside down. “This will not be allowed to happen.” In the latest of such attacks, a Chief Superintendent of Police, CSP, Kazeem Abonde, was killed on September 23, 2021, in Ajao Estate by yet unknown hoodlums.  Sanwo-Olu said: “I have directed the Commissioner of Police to ensure that all those who participated in this savagery are brought to justice.   “This is to encourage our law enforcement agents that we will always stand by them as they carry out their duties and, at the same time, send a strong signal to criminals that any attack on our officers will not go unpunished. “Such display of savagery, like the

  Baba Ijesha (right) and Princess. AN Ikeja Sexual Offences Court was, yesterday, told of how Olanrewaju James (alias Baba Ijesha) allegedly engaged his victim, a minor (names withheld) in sexual activities.  The court was also told how the embattled Nollywood actor groomed his victim before defiling her.  A child forensic expert, Mrs. Anike Ajayi-Kayode, who is the Executive Director of the Cece Yara Foundation, informed the court that the case of Omiyinka was referred to her by the Special Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, of the Lagos State Command, Nigerian Police Force Forensic Investigation. Ajayi-Kayode, who was led in evidence by the Director of Public Prosecution, DPP, Mrs. Olayinka Adeyemi, said the outcome of her forensic investigation revealed that “the perpetrator engaged the child in sexual activities twice, when she was seven years old.” The witness, who is a certified child forensic personnel, told the court that she had participated in over 25 child forensic in

AT least eight people were feared killed, yesterday after unidentified men in military uniform opened fire on some members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, IMN, who staged the annual Arbaeen trek at Gwarinpa district of Abuja, the nation’s capital, but Police authorities said no life was lost. Some members of the sect were seen with placards including portraits of the sons of their leader, Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, who were killed during the ‘Zaria Massacre’ of December 2015. Viral videos making the rounds of the incident showed several motorists abandoning their vehicles and taking to their heels to escape either gunshots or attacks while banks and other businesses in the affected areas quickly closed shop to avoid looting. It was gathered that the gunmen attacked the sect members near the tricycle park at 3rd Avenue, Gwarinpa around 10:00 am. Eyewitnesses told our correspondent that the armed men, who came in security patrol vans stormed the area without prior notice to residents. Alth

...17 rescued, one dead — NEMA LOCAL divers, fishermen and boat operators in Lagos State, rescued a sailing boat with 18 occupants,  including the operators on board. However, one of the occupants was feared dead while 17 others were rescued. The fishermen were said to be on water at that time and they put a call across to their colleagues and local divers around the area before the arrival of government agencies.  Acting Coordinator, National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Lagos State, Ibrahim Farinloye, who confirmed the development said the local divers, fishermen and boat operators were the first responders at the scene of the incident. . According to him, emergency responders from state and federal also joined the operation and hastened the exercise which lasted for less than 30 minutes. Farinloye said the boat operators were trained on what to do before the arrival of government agencies.  The ill-fated boat was said to have left Lagos Island for Ikorodu area before the inci

THE Federal Operations Unit, FOU Zone A has intercepted three Mazda Saloon cars loaded with cartridges concealed in sacks of cassava flour. The cartridges were intercepted by a Special Assignment Team of the unit on patrol weekend along Igbo-Ora axis of Oyo State.   A statement signed by the Public Relations Officer of the Unit, Theophilus Duniya, disclosed that the drivers abandoned their vehicles on sighting the official vehicle. The items discovered during physical examination included 751 pieces of AAA, 70mm live Lion Cartridges, sacks of cassava flour and sacks of parboiled rice. However, the vehicles including their contents have been deposited at the Unit Headquarters for further investigation. The Acting Customs Comptroller in Charge of the Unit, Hussein Ejibunu, called on all patriotic citizens to provide useful and timely information that would help in combating smuggling. He said: “Smuggling is the mother of all crimes hence the need to team up and fight it to the barest mi

Thirteen persons travelling for a traditional wedding in Imo State reportedly lost their lives in a fatal accident that occurred around Akpoku-Udufor community of Etche Local Government Area, in Rivers State last weekend. It was gathered that the bus conveying the people from Afara community for a wedding in a neighbouring community in Imo State, had a collision with a truck. A source, who gave his name as Chibuike disclosed that the bus and the trailer involved in the accident collided head-on. Chibuike blamed the accident on overspeeding, adding that when both vehicles collided, the bus somersaulted severally. He added that the younger brother of the groom and his wife were among the casualties of the accident. The source also revealed that eleven people died on the spot, adding that about two others died on the road to the hospital. He feared that more of the victims may not survive in the hospital as they had life-threatening injuries. However, a source in the local government aut

THE Nigerian Guild of Editors, NGE, has expressed worry about the magnitude in which the Federal Government, agencies, ministries and other institutions tolerate the deep-rooted order of secrecy in accessing public information.  While accusing Federal Government, agencies and ministries of not living up to their obligations – imposed on them by the Freedom of Information Act, the NGE condemned the deliberate efforts of the FG, agencies and ministries to undermine the implementation of the legislation. The professional organisation called for sanctions for bad behaviours by government agencies in order to make public institutions and officials to act in accordance with their obligations under the FOI Act, particularly the proactive publication obligations and the responsibility to submit annual implementation reports. In a press statement issued to mark the international day for universal access to information, signed by NGE’s President, Mustapha Isah, and the General Secretary, Iyobos

*Say states enacting VAT laws’ll cause multiple taxation *Add: Power rotation unconstitutional GOVERNORS of 19 Northern states have rejected their Southern counterparts’ call  that the next president must come from the South. The call has drew the battle line for 2023 contest. They also kicked against collection of Value Added Tax, VAT, by states, saying it would not only lead to multiple taxation, but also scuttle interstate trade. However, their resolutions were noted by their Southern counter-parts, whose chairman, said the Northern governors should not be blamed for kicking against power shift. ‘Constitutionality of taxes in question’ According to the Northern governors, “the judgement of the Federal High Court (upholding collection of VAT by states) calls to question the constitutionality of VAT, Withholding tax, Education Tax, Niger Delta Development Commission, National Information Technology Development Agency, 13% derivation,” among others. They commended that the armed force

By Sola Ebiseni  RECENTLY , we argued that the precedent of rotational presidency enacted since 1999 has become an indisputable national consensus. We also cited the 2014 National Conference, part of which Resolutions endorsed the zoning of the office of the President on North and South basis. A resolution also recently endorsed by the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum and the Southern Governors Forum, among other such national platforms. In tandem with this national consensus, political parties have ensured that party and government positions are zoned or arranged in that realisation. Of all political parties in Nigeria, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is the most enduring. It was formed by consensus for national integration based on justice and equity among the people of Nigeria. Its understanding of the political sentiments and striving to give it positive expression was responsible for its clinging to power for 16 out of the 22 year’s of Nigeria’s return to democratic gover

• Feels ‘abandoned’ in Benin as wife heads to Germany * Case in Benin court may resume anytime from now YORUBA nation agitator, Chief Sunday Adeyemo, fondly called Sunday Igboho, may regain his freedom if a political solution is arrived at between the Benin Republic and the Nigerian government, Sunday Vanguard understands. This came on the heels of the hint last week that the Federal Government may file a fresh action against Igboho following the judgment of Oyo State High Court which awarded N20 billion in damages in his favour. The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, said government had the right to appeal the judgment or file a fresh charge. Justice Ladiran Akintola had awarded the money as “exemplary and aggravated damages” against the AGF and the Department of State Service (DSS) over the invasion of Igboho’s home in Ibadan on July 1. However, Malami said the position of government on the judgment was about “law and jurisdiction”. “A

A 29-year-old birthday celebrant has been reportedly shot dead by police operatives  at Obinomba community in Ukwuani Local Government Area of Delta State. It was gathered that the police officers attached to the Obiaruku Division had stormed the venue of the birthday celebration which took place on Friday in search of members of a cult group when the celebrant identified as Gift met his untimely death. The cult group, sources said, had shot an unidentified youth in Obiaruku. “The police were in search of the cultists when they ran into some youths who were marking Gift’s birthday in Obinomba community,” a source said. The source went on:  “The young boy was marking his birthday in a bar. It was like the police came to raid everybody at the bar where he is celebrating his birthday. “The boy came out to tell the police that he was celebrating   his birthday and that they were not fighting. One of the policemen ran back and cocked his gun, as he cocked his gun trying to harass the boy, t

The private part of an 18-year-old student of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba, Akoko in Ondo State, Sadiq Opeyemi, has been bitten by a dog. Opeyemi, a 100-level student of Animal Science in the institution, is a friend to the owner of the dog, a 400-level student of the same department, identified as Abass Olagunju. The victim reportedly visited his friend at his residence located around the institution when he was attacked by the dog. An eyewitness said the dog, identified as Charlie, attacked the victim and bit his private part before he was rescued  by other students. The spokesperson for the institution, Oluwafemi Adegbeyeni, confirmed the incident, noting that the student had been taken to hospital for treatment Adegbeyeni said: “The incident happened outside the school premises. However, from what I gathered, the student went to visit a friend at Vanilla Villa, around the Permanent Site. Maybe knowingly or unknowingly, he was bitten by the unguarded dog.  “The victim was qui