About Nigeria

SaharaReporters has obtained an exclusive audio of a telephone conversation between Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and his counterpart in Ekiti State, Governor Ayodele Fayose, in which both men discussed Mr. Wike’s sharp maneuvers during the December 10, 2016 rerun of legislative elections in Rivers State. In the leaked telephone conversation, the two governors can be heard having an excited conversation about how Mr. Wike stormed a collation center during the election. The tone of the exchanges makes it clear that Mr. Wike’s aim was to manipulate the results of the elections in favor of his candidates. In a tone that shows how he outmanouvred the Nigerian Army, Wike declares in the conversation that, "Nigeria Army does not exist again." A previous telephone conversation obtained and released by SaharaReporters had exposed Mr. Wike discussing the bribe he gave to unscrupulous officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) who consented to help rig...

All the 21 policemen in the escort unit of Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State have been arrested and whisked away to the force headquarters, Abuja, allegedly on the orders of Abubakar Idris, Inspector General of Police (IGP). The affected officers were alleged to have shot sporadically into the air on December 11 at a collation centre for the Rivers East Senatorial District during the re-run legislative election. But a dependable police source revealed that the underlining reason behind the arrest was their refusal to immediately proceed on transfer shortly before the last re-run election in which the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won two out of the three senatorial districts. According to the source, the transfer of the 21-man team of the governor’s escort was planned to psychologically weaken and destabilise Wike during the re-run poll. “It was part of several other moves to prepare grounds for the rigging of the election by the APC”, the source noted. The escort commander...

2016 has been characterised by intrigues and dramas from different political gladiators scheming to consolidate power. They include: 1. Budget Scandal The 2016 budget proposal presented to the National Assembly on December 22, 2015 was described as full of errors by the time members of federal legislature returned from that year’s Christmas recess. This affected the February passage date . A twist was added when the Senate declared that the hard copy of the budget presented to the National Assembly by the Presidency was missing. Matters were made worst when the chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Hon. Jibrin Abdulmumin, alleged padding of the budget by some principal officers of its lower legislative chamber. 2. Fuel Price Increase After months of uncertainty during which Nigerians endured debilitating shortage of petrol, the Federal Government in May, ended the subsidy regime on the product and approved an increase in the pump price to N145. The pr...

An auxiliary nurse, identified only as Oyekanmi, has been arrested by the police for her role in the death of a baby she took delivery of in the Odogunyan, Ikorodu area of Lagos State. PUNCH Metro reports that the victim’s mother, Adeola, had been taken to Oyekanmi’s residence last Saturday when she went into labour. Oyekanmi, while attempting to force the delivery, pulled off the baby’s hand. And advised that the child be taken to the Ikorodu General Hospital, where the dead child was finally delivered. Doctors at the hospital were reported to have queried the baby’s parents on what truly transpired, and  they opened up. The hospital management then alerted the police to the incident. A source said Oyekanmi was picked up by the police. Punch reports the source said,  “What happened was that the auxiliary nurse tried to deliver the woman of the baby, during which there was a complication. But she continued and in the end, the hand of the baby was pulled off while she tried ...

A French man was reportedly arrested during the capture of Boko Haram's strongest enclave in Sambisa forest last week Friday. DailyTrust reports that the man worked for Boko Haram as a specialist in repairing and unlocking armored personnel vehicles and other fighting equipment. Although the Federal government and the military authorities are yet to comment on his arrest, a source within the military says the Frenchman was arrested along the Bama axis of the dreaded forest. “He was arrested along the Bama axis of the Sambisa forest and agreed to give vital information provided he would be spared. I learnt that he is from France but authorities do not want to make his real identity known for diplomatic reasons…They don’t want to jeopardise the success recorded,”the source said. The source added that the sect members might have moved to another location alongside the yet to be rescued Chibok girls. “It is likely they (Boko Haram) are somewhere because they moved away with the...

The Department of State Security Services has confirmed that the factional leader of the Boko Haram sect, AbuMusab al-Barnawi has been arrested. He was captured three months before the fall of Sambisa forest, the last major stronghold of the group. Abu Musab al-Barnawi, a top Boko Haram and ISIS leader, was rated by the United States as the world’s third most wanted terrorist and a major threat to world peace. He was responsible for major killings, kidnap of locals and foreigners between 2012 and 2015 and was declared Nigerian leader of Boko Haram last August.

A suspected member of a militant group allegedly planning to blow up the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos State, has been arrested by the police in Majidun, Ikorodu area of the state. The suspect, Abiodun Amos, aka Senti, was said to be a bomb expert, who had participated in several robbery attacks and kidnappings in Lagos and Ogun states. Among items recovered from them include: two Ak47 rifles, hidden in a ‘Ghana-Must-Go’ bag, as well as other dangerous weapons. It was gathered that Amos’ arrest followed an intelligence report received by the office of the National Security Adviser to the President. The report was said to have been passed onto the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, who directed the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team, led by ACP Abba Kyari, to go after the group. A police source disclosed to Punch correspondent that Amos was a top commander of a militant group, which had been terrorising communities in Lagos and Ogun states.

A 12,000-member megachurch in Britain lost the equivalence of $4.8 million in charitable funds after trustees carelessly invested money in what later turned out to be a ponzi scheme headed by a former Premier League soccer player. According to an inquiry report https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/577308/kingsway_international_christian_centre.pdf published last week by the Charity Commission for England and Wales, the Kent-based Kingsway International Christian Centre came away with a net loss of about $4.8 million (£3.9 million) after its trustees forked over a total of $6.1 million (£5 million) in four installments between June 2009 and June 2010 to a former trustee who guaranteed that the investments would earn a sizable return totaling about 55 percent in a year. Although the commission's report does not name names, The Telegraph reports that the person who the church trustees handed the money to was Richard Rufus, a former defender fo...

Africa’s richest man and President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has lost 32 percent of his wealth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires’ Index. Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that Dangote lost $4.9bn or one-third of his wealth as the combined effect of falling oil prices and the June devaluation of the naira pushed him to No. 112 on the billionaires’ list with $10.4bn. Dangote was the world’s 46th-richest person in June. Saudi Arabia’s Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Al Saud fell by $4.9bn, a 20 percent drop, the report added. Alwaleed had said in November that all of his stakes in public companies, including Citigroup Incorporated, were potentially for sale, reversing a longstanding policy that some of his most-prized shareholdings were “forever.” Wealth creation in China turned negative for the first time since the inception of the Bloomberg index five years ago, with the country’s richest losing $11bn in 2016 amid a slump in the Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 index and a sev...

Nigerian army during their recent raid in Sambisa forest recovered the Qu'ran and Boko Haram flag purportedly left behind by Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the terrorist group.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA),said it has so far distributed over 53,000 condoms through its Wise-up Cross River State campaign at Calabar Christmas Village. Mr. Olamide Onifade, Head, Monitoring and Evaluation Unit, UNFPA, Wise-up Cross River State, disclosed this in a release he issued and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Calabar on Sunday.

Twitter user @Princess_Jacki_ is an Olamide fan who was dissatisfied with the OLIC3 event that she attended and wrote a few words about it. We have reproduced the entire text below. Quote ‘Yesterday was OLIC, I never thought I’d say this, but it was zero. Security was zero; organization was zero as well. Firstly, porous security. Anyone, I mean anyone, could literally walk through the gates of Eko hotel. I swear, I didn’t sight one metal detector. People walked in and out as they liked. I’m sure every Nigerian right now is 150% aware of terrorist attacks and the need for security to be tops at all times especially at social gatherings. Some people said there were dogs. Excuse you, someone could walk in and just start shooting and these people won’t have cared if they died! Security is major key. Anything could’ve happened TBH. Then to the ‘disorganization’. A lot of people didn’t have tickets; it was no one’s fault. A lot of people ended up getting regular tickets for 15k or m...

Comic actor Mr Ibu travelled to village with his wife to watch a football match.Their photos at the venue have got people talking with many asking them if they are fighting. See photos below

United States President Barack Obama reportedly called President Muhammadu Buhari on phone after the Department of State Services (DSS) foiled a terrorist attack on the United States through its active intelligence alert. An unnamed source at the DSS confirmed how DSS intercepted a plot to carry out a deadly terrorist attack on the United States; THE NATION reports. The source said: “About six months ago, we burst a terrorist attack that was to happen in the United States. This earned the service a letter of commendation. In fact, President Barack Obama placed a call to President Muhammadu Buhari to acknowledge what we did. “We did not make it a media issue because before you know it, there will be editorials asking us whether we had addressed security challenges in Nigeria before helping the US. “But the speed with which things are changing and expanding around us, I can tell you that security challenge is becoming more globalised. “We have been taken into confidence as a nati...

A truck belonging to Dangote Group Plc, reportedly crushed Mr. Mukhtar Abdulkarim, a Second Republic Senator, to death; SAHARA REPORTERS. Abdulkarim, alongside his brother and driver were traveling between Kano and Zamfara states on Friday when the truck rammed into his car, killing him instantly. His brother, Mr. Buhari Abdulkarim, an architect, and his driver were injured in the accident. Both are are said to be receiving medical attention at Uthman Dan Fodio University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH), Sokoto.

NIGER Delta militants on Tuesday expressed their readiness to engage the Federal Government in dialogue to ensure that peace reigned in the oil-rich region. The militants said the decision to embrace dialogue was reached after a meeting held on Tuesday under the auspices of the Coalition of Niger Delta Groups. The militants, who made their position known in a statement via an electronic mail to The PUNCH, said they had no personal grudge against President Muhammadu Buhari and were ready to work together with his administration to make Nigeria better. President Buhari had on Sunday called on the militants to come forward for dialogue over the Niger Delta crisis. The leader of the Niger Delta Watchdogs, General John Duku; General Ekpo Ekpo of the Niger Delta Volunteers, Commander Henry Okon Etete of the Niger Delta Peoples Fighters and Commander Asukwo Henshaw, the spokesperson for the Bakassi Freedom Fighters who signed the statement, agreed to embrace peace. “We wish to assure ...

Kaduna State Governor Mallam Nasir el-Rufai has said his government has traced some violent, aggrieved Fulani to their countries and paid them to stop the killings of Southern Kaduna natives and the destruction of their communities saying that the renewed violence is carried out by bandits. El-Rufai made this known while fielding questions from some select Journalists in his office in Kaduna. Xby Counterflix Mallam El- Rufai He said: “For southern Kaduna, we didn’t understand what was going on and we decided to set up a committee under Gen. Martin Luther Agwai (rtd) to find out what was going on there. What was established was that the root of the problem has a history starting from the 2011 post election violence. “Fulani herdsmen from across Africa bring their cattle down towards Middle Belt and Southern Nigeria. The moment the rains starts around March, April, they start moving them up to go back to their various communities and countries. “Unfortunately, it was when they were m...

A 400L student of Osun State University, Adebisi Rofiat Damilola had earlier been reported missing since last week thursday, 22nd December 2016. The young lady who was a fourth-year chemistry Education student at the Osun State University was last seen on December 22. Confirming the development on Monday 26th December, Osun State Police discovered her corpes along iragbiji ikirun Road abandoned on the road side. The corpse was moved to the nearest police station. May Her soul rest in peace

He has taken to his Instagram page to share his happiness with his friends and fans. However, it remains unclear whether the luxurious car was self purchased or a Christmas gift from relatives or friends. The comedian wrote: "Congratulations @officialdenilsonigwe May God continue to shower his blessings upon you. Thanks to Jesus and all our fans."

The three tiers of government comprising federal, states and local government councils shared a grand total of N4.97 trillion as federation revenue approved by the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) in 2016 fiscal year. The N4.97 trillion represents 12 months of disbursements with effect from December 2015 to November 2016 as against last year’s grand total disbursements of N5.5 trillion for similar period. The 2016 allocati0on dipped by N523.2 billion. The December 2016 allocation will be shared in January 2017. The grand total disbursed in 2016 comprised allocation to Federal Government, states, local government councils and payout to oil producing states, representing 13 per cent share of derivation principle. The sum shared were aggregation of statutory, Value Added Tax (VAT), refund by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to government, among others. The allocation breakdown sourced by New Telegraph revealed that the Federal Government cornered the ...