CLON LESLEY

A life-sized replica of Noah’s Ark may soon be hitting the Atlantic Ocean. The Dutch ship’s creator has announced plans to move the massive vessel, with the help of a barge, from its port in the Netherlands to Brazil this summer as part of a multi-country tour. Carpenter Johan Huibers, who completed the biblical boat in 2012 as a religious attraction, said he hopes its 6,000-mile journey to South, Central and North America will help spread the message of the Bible. The massive vessel is larger than a football stadium and is said to be able to carry more than 5,000 people.  “We want to allow thousands of people who are living in Brazil, underprivileged and orphan children, to experience the hope that comes from this Bible story from the Bible that’s brought to life,” Huibers says in a video posted to the Ark of Noah’s website. ArkofNoah.org According to the foundation’s page, Huibers decided to build the mega ship after dreaming that his homeland was flooded by a s...

  A chilling video has emerged online, the video shows the Fulani militia warning Nigerians that more blood will flow despite their current attack on Uzo-Uwani Community in Enugu State, the terrorist vowed to kill more innocent citizens.     The Video which was obtained by Thetrent and translated by its editor, revealed that those terrorist quoted that they have friends on the higher places, both in the President Buhari's -led Government.    Investigations on the video shows that it was sent to the governor of Zamfara State, Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari as a warning for him to call the Hausa farmers who rear cattle “to order”. Read the translation below: “We are Fulani herdsmen declaring war against any tribe, be it Hausa or any tribe that has being subduing us. We are everywhere in Nigeria… Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Niger, Kano, Kwara, Oyo, Anambra, Kebbi. Our mission is to destroy souls and claim their properties, especially those of the Hausas an...

The Federal government will on June 2 launch the kick-off of Ogoni clean-up programme as contained in the United Nations Environment Programme Report, UNEP.   The Minister of Environment, Mrs Amina Muhammed, said this yesterday in Port Harcourt during a visit to Governor Nyeson Wike of Rivers State. Represented by Minister of State for Environment, Ibrahim Usman, she said the visit was to seek the collaboration of all stakeholders in the exercise.  She said: “The programme is expected to be launched on June 2. It has been designed to be driven by all stakeholders in the region. The essence of this is to ensure that the people of Ogoni and the region at large benefitted from the process.” Vanguard

  The Enugu State Police Command has debunked the rumour making rounds on social media that herdsmen allegedly invaded Umuchigbo, Abakpa Nike, Enugu State and killed several people. They are blaming the killing on hoodlums. After the cut is the statement issued yesterday by the Command. The statement read. "The attention of Enugu State Police Command has been drawn to various publications in some sections of the media regarding the incident at Nimbo Community in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State and hereby present the facts as follows for the guidance of members of the public and to avoid being misinformed,”  “On the 25th of April 2016, at about 0630 hours (6.30am), some hoodlums invaded the fringes of Nimbo community in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State, killing six persons and injuring 11, and one person subsequently died.  That the police and army team in the area, noticing what was going on, responded whereby the hoodlums fled a...

The people of Ukpabi Nimbo, a community in the Uzo-Uwani area of Enugu State, which was attacked by Fulani herdsmen on Monday, have blamed security agencies for failing to act on “credible” information they provided before the attack. Gov. Ugwuanyi weeps at scene of Fulani terror attacks. The villagers, who said this when the Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, visited the community on Tuesday, stated that they were abandoned even after they alerted security agencies to the plan to attack them. The General Officer Commanding, 82 Division, Enugu, Major General Attahiru Ibrahim, and the Commissioner of Police, Enugu State, Nwodibo Ekechukwu, were also in the village on Tuesday. Security was beefed up in the community during the visit, with heavily armed military and police personnel positioned at strategic locations. A community leader, Dr. George Ajogu, who spoke on behalf of the people of Ukpabi Nimbo at the village square, said the villagers were not taken unawares by the...

Reports have it that the police and the Nigerian Army have contradicted their claims on the whereabouts of 56 Fulani herdsmen, who were arrested with arms at a military checkpoint, along the Airport Road, Abuja, last week. Thirty six armed herdsmen were also arrested on the same day. The Nasarawa State Police Public Relations Officer, Ismaila Numan, confirmed on Monday that 36 suspects were handed over to the command, pointing out that they had  been charged to court for illegal possession of firearms and criminal conspiracy.   But the Federal Capital Territory Police Command said it had not received the second set of 56 suspects which the Army claimed to have handed over to the Kuje Divisional Police Station. A source at the FCT Police Command said the  information from the DPO, Kuje, indicated that “no herdsmen were handed over to the police, as claimed by the Army.”

Governor of Rivers State Ezebunwo Nyesom Wike has declared that he will support any policy of the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration which will enhance the well-being of the people of the state even if he’s from the opposition party. Gov. Nyeso Wike of Rivers state The governor said this yesterday as he swore-in Justice Christy Gabriel-Nwankwo as the substantive President of the State Customary Court of Appeal. Wike, who spoke yesterday when the Local Study Group from the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) Kuru, near Jos, paid him a courtesy visit at Government House, Port Harcourt, said that his primary  focus is to work for the  good of the people of the state. The governor said, “I will support  any policy of the federal government that will enhance the living standard of the people of Rivers State. It doesn’t matter who initiated such policy as long as it favours our people.” Wike urged the federal government to find ways to imp...

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday met behind closed door with former Senate President, Ken Nnamani and former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Bello Masari, as part of efforts to resolve the 2016 Budget crisis.   Many grey areas in the 2016 Budget had prevented Buhari from signing the appropriation bill into law. Speaking with State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, Senator Ken Nnamani said what he suggested to President Buhari is to find a good way out of the Budget impasse. The former Senate president said that he believed that what he suggested is being studied by the President. He said: "The issue on budget, well budget is an area where we practice what we call co-management between the National Assembly and the executive branch of government. Both of them co-manage the economy through the budget. Both of them will have to cooperate and collaborate for a proper budget to be passed and once it is passed, it becomes law. “So as it stands t...

  The Chairman, Senate Committee on the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Senator Dino Melaye, has summoned the contractor handling the construction of the official residence of the Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo. This is over a failure to complete the project despite the release of over 80% of the total funds allocated. Melaye expressed indignation at some of the figures which seemed grossly inflated. One of such figures is the Security Gate, which was awarded at N55m and later increased to N275m. Another was a church building costing N88m while a mosque of the same size and capacity cost over N90m. “It is outrageously too much,” Melaye said during an inspection of the uncompleted edifice along with Ben Bruce and other members of the committee. The FCT Senate Committee Chairman queried how over N6.2bn had been released out of the total N7bn allocated, which he said amounted to 88.7%, and the building was still yet to be completed. He said he found it upsetting that the bui...

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has accused Governor Ayodele Fayose of alleged complicity in the fuel supply crisis in the state. In a statement by Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, the party said it was in possession of “incontrovertible evidence” that the governor is allegedly contributing to the scarcity of fuel in the state to sabotage the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. Ayo Fayose Governor Ekiti state. Accusing Fayose and his aides of mischievously disparaging the President for not doing enough to make fuel available to Nigerians while they were the actual culprits, Olatunbosun said available information confirmed that daily allocations of fuel to the state were allegedly being diverted to other states with the alleged connivance of some NUPENG officials and the governor to allegedly sabotage the Federal Government in order to set the people against the President. “Records have revealed that 10 trailers of fuel for Ekiti State on Fayose...

President Muhammadu Buhari last night appealed to Nigerians to bear with him over the difficulties in the land, saying Nigerians were seeing the darkest days before dawn. While appealing to Nigerians who he said were known for their inner strength to soldier on, he said the change which they voted for was at the corner and about to rock every nook and cranny of the country. In a strategic move to counter the difficult times, the President ordered the release of 10,000 tons of grains from the national strategic grains reserves. The move, according to Presidential spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu also debunked insinuations that the change mantra of the new administration was concomitant with hard times. The Presidency said a total of N9 trillion was lost by the Federal Government to the Boko Haram insurgency, lamenting that the loss worsened the economy. Noting the crippling fuel situation, the administration also observed that it inherited a N600 billion debt owed fuel importers a...

  The national chairman of Democratic People’s Congress (DPC), Rev Olusegun Peters, has called on the federal government to re-introduce the War Against Indiscipline to curb corruption in the civil service. Peters who stated this in Abuja yesterday at a roundtable discussion on, ‘Corruption in Governance and Society’, organized by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) also advocated enhanced salary structure for workers below Grade Level 8 and prosecution of pension thieves. According to him, “There should be transparency, accountability and zero tolerance for corruption in the civil service but unfortunately, unqualified civil servants collude with public office holders and contractors to siphon trillions of naira from the national treasury. He said the inability of various governments to protect lives and property of the citizens and ensure good governance was the remote cause of political instability, economic stagnation, under-development and corruption. “To deepen ...

Senate President of Nigeria, Dr. Bukola Saraki has responded to a letter addressed to him by Dele Momodu. The letter titled 'PENDULUM: A candid response from the Senate President', was published on his website. www.abubakarbukolasaraki.com The letter read: My dear brother Dele, let me thank you most sincerely for your article last weekend, “My Candid Letter to Saraki.” I take everything you said in that article to heart and I must commend you for your candidness indeed and the sincerity of your intentions.  As you said in your article, you are someone I have known more by reputation than by any personal relationship, until recently when we struck up some personal acquaintance based on our shared political interests, especially during the last presidential election. However, I understand why you had to sound so defensive for knowing me at all and had to publicly map the boundaries of our relationship. We have got to that point in our country when we no longer believe tha...

Following the letter made public by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission absolving te chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, Danladi Umar of the charges of corruption against him, the Come Clean Nigeria group has demanded for an explanation. Danladi Umar’s charges were announced to have been previously dropped by the anti-graft agency – after he was asked to disqualify himself from the ongoing trial of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki at the CCT for false declaration of assets. In a statement released by the Come Clean Nigeria spokesperson, Nurudeen Agoro, the group stated that, the EFCC in pardoning Danladi, has succeeded in painting the ongoing war against corruption by the Muhammadu Buhari administration as a political tool for fighting perceived opposition. “We have been following events in the ongoing trial of the Senate President with keen interest. We are delighted to see that the Senate President is finally standing trial for alleged breaches of the Code...

"The truth is like a lion. You don’t have to defendOr lose and it will defend itself” – St. Augustine. For the last few weeks I have been the subject of absurd and outlandish headline stories in various newspapers that have accused me of being a fraudster and that have claimed that funds were transferred into my bank account by the former National Security Advisor, Col. Sambo Dasuki and by the Governor of the Central Bank Bank of Nigeria. They have also claimed that I used public funds for the Presidential campaign of President Goodluck Jonathan. The attempt to tarnish my name, paint me as a common criminal and convict me of wrongdoing in the court of public opinion without even hearing my side of the story is petty, shameful and nauseating. It is also a reflection of the desperation of those who seek to pull me down and destroy me simply because my opposition to this government has been unrelenting. In January 2015, I was appointed as the Director of Media and Publicity...

The Supreme Court has affirmed the death sentence passed on a farmer and father of five, James Afolabi, who was found guilty by the Kogi State High Court and the Court of Appeal for the murder of a Fulani man identified as Abubakar Mohammed. A five-man panel of the apex court, in a unanimous judgment delivered on Friday, held that there was no basis to disturb the concurrent finding of the trial and judgment of the lower courts in their previous judgments. Kogi-born Afolabi was convicted and sentenced to death by the Kogi State High Court in Lokoja in 2012 relying on Afolabi’s confessional statement to the police, where he claimed to have shot Mohammed on the chest for straying into his (Afolabi’s) yam and cassava farm on February 27, 2009. On March 22, 2012, the Court of Appeal in Abuja dismissed his appeal against the judgment and upheld the decision of the trial court, after which he took the matter to the Supreme Court. Delivering the lead judgment in the appeal marked:...

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has frozen an account operated by former Minister of Aviation and Peoples Democratic Party chieftain, Femi Fani-Kayode. The account was frozen by the anti-graft agency, which is presently investigating the alleged N4 billion campaign cash allegedly speny by ex-President Goodluck Jonathan in the build-up to the 2015 general elections.  The funds were allegedly withdrawn from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and shared to 10 other directors, directorates, zonal directors and state directors of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organization. Details of the distribution of funds are as follows: Fani-Kayode (N840million);  Goodluck Support Group (N320million); Achike Udenwa and Viola Onwuliri (N350million);  Nenadi Usman (N140million); Okey Ezenwa (N100million).  Fani-Kayode, who was in charge of the PDPPCO media directorate, declared yesterday that he knew nothing about the withdrawal of the cash...

U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, on Thursday promised that the U.S Embassy in Nigeria would offer technical assistance to help Nigeria solve its lingering challenge of fuel scarcity. Ms. Power made the promise on Thursday in Abuja while fielding questions from journalists during her visit to the minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama. “Just last night when I was coming from the airport, I saw long lines at petrol stations here in Nigeria. “And I really feel for the people of this country, who are going through this difficult economic time. “And I think this is something the embassy has promised to offer whatever technical advice, counsel and technical assistance that we can offer. “But we know that some of the best minds in Nigeria are thinking about that, including the ministers in this government,” she said. Ms. Power said the U.S would discuss with Nigeria on diversification of its economy. She said the drop in oil prices had caused hardship for coun...

A Rivers State Magistrate Court sitting in Port Harcourt on Wednesday remanded a former Local Government Chairman of Asari-Toru Local Government Area of the state, Mr. Ojukaye Flag Amachree, in prison over alleged murder. Ojukaye, who is also a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, was charged with felony and the killing of one Mr. Smart Soberekon, in his LGA. When the matter was brought before the Chief Magistrate, I. O. Agbesor, he (Agbesor) remanded the accused person in prison until Thursday, for ruling on the issue of jurisdiction. The State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Musa Kimo, had dragged the APC chieftain to court on two counts bordering on violence in the area. The charges, which were captured in a suit with number, PMC/750c/2016, read in parts, “That you, Ojukaye Flag Amachree ‘m’ with others now at large on the 11th day of April, 2016 at Buguma, in the Port Harcourt Magisterial District did conspire amongst yourselves to commit a felony to wit: murder and the...

The Federal High Court, Abuja will on May 3, 2016 begin hearing in a suit filed by 10 plaintiffs against the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele. The suit was filed on behalf of Achilike Anderson and nine others by their counsel, Ezenwa Ibegbunam. In the suit Number FHC/ABJ/CS/218/16, the plaintiffs are seeking 10 reliefs, including an order directing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to arrest and prosecute the CBN governor for “offences of money laundering, unlawful, illegal and fraudulent direct cash payment to the Office of the National Security Adviser via a letter dated November 26, 2014 referenced: NSA/366/S.” Besides the CBN governor, other defendants are the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (second defendant); the EFCC (third defendant); and the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (fourth defendant). The plaintiffs are seeking “an order directing the second defendant (the President) pursuant of Section 11 (2) (c) an...

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has today conveyed a letter to the Chairman Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Hon Danladi Yakubu Umar, exonerating him on the alleged ten million naira (N10 million) bribed by one AbdulRashid Owolabi, in his petition to the Commission.   The letter was addressed to the Secretary to Government of the Federation, captioned “RE: Investigation Report RE: N10 million  Bribery Allegation against the Chairman Code of Conduct Tribunal, Abuja” with reference NO: EFCC/P/NHRU/688/V.30/99, dated 20th April, 2016. The letter which was signed by Emmanuel Adegboyega Aremo, Secretary to the Commission reads:, ‘‘Kindly recall our correspondence of 5th March, 2015, (reference EFCC/EC/SGF/03/56) with the above subject, please.” It added: ‘‘We would like to reiterate the Commission’s position in regard to this matter as earlier communicated to you and stated that the allegations leveled against Justice Umar were mere suspicious and con...

  Boko Haram is luring young people by giving them loans as a bait for membership, the Nigerian military warned. As part of the "clandestine dispensation," the terror group is offering loans to young entrepreneurs in the country's troubled northeast as part of recruitment, the military said in a statement Wednesday. Butchers, traders, tailors, beauticians and other vocational entrepreneurs are major targets of the "unholy business engagement," it said. "After such loans, the beneficiaries are given the option of either joining the group or risk being killed if they fail to pay the loan as at when due," the military said. "The payment has been surreptitiously programmed to fail by the benefactor, the Boko Haram."

The father of an eight-month-old rape victim allegedly chopped off both hands of the 17-year-old accused in Punjab’s Bathinda district, India on Tuesday, April 19. Parminder Singh had allegedly raped the man’s 7-month-old daughter in April 2014 and was arrested and arraigned in court. The victim’s father and the accused, who were neighbours, met in court for the hearing yesterday and after that, the victim’s father reportedly asked Parminder to reach a compromise and accompany him on his motorcycle to the village. When they reached near Jhumba village, he allegedly tied the teenager to a tree and attacked him with a sharp-edged weapon. Besides inflicting injuries on his head and other parts of his body, the man chopped off both his hands, said police. Some villagers rushed Parminder to the Bathinda civil hospital, where his condition was stated to be critical. Dr Ajay Gupta, who treated the victim, said both his hands were chopped off and cops brought the limbs later. “He (t...

  A letter written by President Muhammadu Buhari to apply for application to write an examination into the Nigerian army has surfaced online. The letter obtained by Premium Times showed that the army was referred to as the Royal army at the time and the president, in his handwriting, stated his age and what academic qualification he had. The letter President Buhari wrote to join the Nigerian army at the age of 18.  Some Nigerians think, however, that little has changed about the president about 55 years after applying to join the military. Some others have expressed scepticism over the authenticity of the letter. See letter HERE . Photo credit: Premium Times  

In what was suspected to be a reprisal attack, a Fulani herdsman identified as Dan Bako was Wednesday killed in Ilara-Mokin in Ifedore Local Government Area of Ondo State. This is coming barely a week after an Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) member, Mr Ayodele Ige was killed in the farm of Chief Olu Falae in Ilado in Akure Local Government Area of the state. The head of the Fulani herdsmen in the state, Alhaji Alli Dongo and Babangida Sodiq Kusada, the Chairman of Hausa community in Akure kingdom and the head of Arewa community in the state, said Dongo was declared missing after all efforts to trace him prove abortive. Briefing reporters in the Officers’ Mess of the Nigerian Police Force in Akure, the state capital, Dongo and Kusada said their kinsman had been living in Ilara-Mokin for the past seven years and was preparing to relocate to his state when the incident happened.