Author: Chronicle Editor

A Nigerian militant group whose attacks on energy facilities in the Niger Delta last year helped push Africa’s biggest economy into recession said on Friday it had ended its ceasefire. The Niger Delta Avengers announced a halt to hostilities in August 2016, although they carried out attacks in October and November last year. The 2016 attacks cut oil production from a peak of 2.2 million barrels per day (mbpd) to near 1 mbpd, the lowest level in Africa’s top oil producer for at least 30 years. The attacks, combined with low oil prices, caused the OPEC member’s first recession in…

The Commissioner of Police (CP), Ebonyi Command, Titus Lamorde, has said on Friday that four kidnap suspects escaped from the command’s custody in Abakaliki. The suspected kidnappers are Ogonna Alioke, Friday Nwangbo, Emeka Nwangbo and Ekene Omenyi. Larmode said that they were detained for allegedly kidnapping and killing one Mrs Catherine Okorie, at her home in Egba-Amanye community, Ivo Local Government Area of the state. According to him, the suspects had demanded a N10 million ransom from her family. The commissioner said that the suspects escaped from the cell where they were kept on the night of October 22. READ:…

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro finally admitted his government can’t afford to pay all of its mounting bills. Maduro said in a televised speech Thursday that Venezuela and its state-run oil company, PDVSA, will seek to restructure their debt payments. The oil company made a $1.1 billion payment on Thursday, he said, a sizable amount for a country with only $10 billion left in the bank. “But after this payment, starting today, I decree a refinancing and a restructuring of the external debt,” Maduro told the country. Venezuela is already deep into a humanitarian crisis, with people suffering from food and…

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Nasarawa State says 15 corps members in the Batch B Stream 1 had been sanctioned for various misconducts. The state NYSC Coordinator, Mrs Zainab Isah, confirmed the action in an interview in Lafia on Friday. Isah said that the affected corps members had their service year extended by various periods. According to her, 2,224 Batch B Corp members successfully completed their service year. She added that the successful NYSC corps members were issued certificates of national service at a low key passing out ceremony held in Lafia, on Thursday. Isah explained that the…

A Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday declined request to delay the trial of ex-spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Olisa Metuh, to enable detained former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki to consult his records. Dasuki who was summoned to testify as Metuh’s witness, had on Wednesday said he needed time to consult his records to be able to recall his dealing with Metuh and his company, Destra Investment, while in office. Based on Dasuki’s position, lawysers to Metuh and his company – Emeka Etiaba and Tockukwu Nwugbufor (both Senior Advocates of Nigeria) sought adjournment in the…

Five policemen in Ebonyi have been arrested and placed on Orderly room trials for allegedly aiding the escape of a murder suspect, one Ogonna Alioka aka “Pilot” and three other suspects of various offences from the Police Cell in the state command. Commissioner of Police, CP Titus Lamorde told journalists in Abakaliki that the Ogonna was one of the fifteenth suspects arrested for their role in the abduction and murder of one Mrs Chukwu Okorie. Read Also Senate to probe alleged $1.35b power sector fraud He said the victim was kidnapped in her home on January 8, 2017 in her…

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III has declared that a front-runner in the National Chairmanship race of the Peoples Democratic Party, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, will succeed in his bid for the apex seat and that the entire Sultanate is praying for him. The Sultan made this remark on Thursday when Otunba Daniel and his campaign entourage paid him a visit in continuation of the nationwide consultation before the December 9 National Convention. In the words of the Sultan: “Gbenga Daniel has been my very good friend since the days he was governor of Ogun. I remember the…

…Gesture, Act of Selfless Service, Commitment To Humanity, Says Ambode Nigeria Football international, Obafemi Martins on Thursday donated health equipment worth several millions of naira to the Lagos State Government, saying it was part of his philanthropic gestures to give back to the society. Among the equipment donated by Martins, through his foundation, Obafemi Martins Foundation (OMF), include 200 Wheel Chairs, 3,240 Crutches, 100 Baby Courts, 60 Hospital Beds, 13 Electric Wheel Chairs and 3200 Blind Sticks. Presenting the equipment to the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode at a short ceremony held at Lagos House in Ikeja, Martins, who…

“My husband is a criminal, a serial pickpocket. I did not know I am married to a thief,” divorce-seeking woman tells an Ibadan Customary Court. Mary, who is married to an Ibadan-based businessman, Mr Ibrahim Gbadamosi, said he was deceived into marrying him for about 20 years unknown to her that the man is a criminal. “Neither Ibrahim nor his friends told me that he was a criminal until he was jailed at Ile-Oluji in Ondo State. “There was a time I sold some of my property to secure his bail until I got to know that he was a…

MTN Group in South Africa has reiterated its commitment to list its Nigerian subsidiary on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in the next six months as part of the settlement of the $1 billion fine imposed on it in 2015 by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) over the failure by the telecoms company to deactivate 5.2 million unregistered SIM cards on its network. The chief executive of MTN Group, Rob Shuter, made the disclosure during an interview with Bloomberg Television on Wednesday. According to him, “MTN Group Ltd. is focused on laying the groundwork for an initial public offering of…