Author: Chronicle Editor

Nigerian commander Remi Fadairo points to the roiling plume of black smoke blotting the morning horizon in the Niger Delta — the unmistakable sign of an illicit oil refinery. “Let’s see if we can go eat them for breakfast,” he says with an ominous chuckle. The 44-year-old colonel, a man with broad shoulders wearing his fatigues tucked into gumboots, is standing in the middle of a destroyed illicit refinery in Kana Rugbana, an area in the swamplands some 20 nautical miles from Port Harcourt. Fadairo is part of the Joint Task Force Operation Delta Safe, a coalition of Nigerian security…

Kendrick Lamar has pulled off the biggest US album debut this year with “DAMN.,” overtaking Drake’s More Life playlist, which had earlier held the crown for the year. DAMN is an introspective work of hip-hop storytelling that features Rihanna and U2. It has sold 603,000 copies or the equivalent in streaming and downloads in the week since its April 14 release, tracking service Nielsen Music said late Saturday. More Life sold 505,000 within the same period, after its release. But “DAMN.” remains well below Drake’s last full-fledged album “Views,” which sold more than one million copies in its first week…

South Africa Magistrate’s Court has denied a Pastor Tim Omotosho, a Nigerian, bail who was arraigned for alleged sexually abusing 30 female members of his congregation. The 58-year-old Nigerian miracle worker, Pastor Tim Omotosho, the senior pastor of the Jesus Dominion International, was arrested in South Africa. The pastor based in Durban, who was arrested inside the toilet at the Port Elizabeth Airport shortly after his flight landed, He was arraigned in court on Friday and was denied bail. According to South African newspaper, The Herald, it is understood that the miracle worker, who cures the sick, reforms criminals and…

The first civilian governor of Osun state, Senator Isiaka Adeleke, who died earlier today will be buried at about 4pm in Ede, his hometown. The 62 year-old three time Senator died at a private hospital in Osogbo after succumbing to a protracted ailment. A correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the residence of the former governor in Ede reports that the atmosphere was emotional as his corpse was brought in at about 1:10 p.m, preparatory to the Islamic burial rites at 4:p.m. A huge crowd of sympathisers and family members were seen weeping uncontrollably on sighting the…

A United States Federal court has convicted a Nigerian, Wiseman Oputa, who set up a number of bank accounts with bogus passports over a year, in which he managed to steal at least $500,000 through wire fraud and Internet scams. The court convicted Oputa of one count of wire fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Texas announced. Wiseman Oputa, 25, pleaded guilty to opening bank accounts in the area surrounding Houston, using counterfeit passports. Once the accounts were created, Oputa and his associates conducted a number of Internet scams from romance schemes to hacking into company…

A senator in the current 8th Assembly, and a three term senator representing Osun West senatorial district, Isiaka Adeleke has been confirmed dead. Sen. Adeleke died at the age of 62 at Bikets Hospital in Osogbo, the Osun state capital after suffering a heart attack according to family sources. His death has been confirmed by the All Progressives Congress (APC through its twitter handle: @APCNigeria https://twitter.com/APCNigeria/status/856104019324002304 The three-term Senator, was a former governor of the state under the short-lived democratic dispensation under the Babangida administration. His emergence as the governor then, fresh from the United States, was still the stuff…

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will begin distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in Lagos State on April 29, for the local government elections. The spokesman of the electoral body in the state, Mr Femi Akinbiyi, said on Saturday that the distribution of the cards was in preparation for the July 22 local government elections. He said: “INEC will as from Saturday, April 29 begin distribution of Permanent Voter Card (PVC) in all the 245 Registration Areas in the state. “This is purely for the purpose of the Local Government elections coming up soonest in the state. “The exercise…

The Northern Coordinator, United Labour Congress (ULC), John Gimbason on Saturday reiterated the union’s demand for N96,000 minimum wage for workers in the country. Gimbason, also a former Kaduna State NLC chairman spoke while inaugurating a ULC 12-member State Executive Council on Saturday in Kaduna. He said the proposal was realistic and realisable considering the current inflation in the nation’s economy and in view of workers’ contributions to nation’s building. He said that the new Labour Centre had opened negotiations with the Federal Government on the proposed N96, 000 minimum wage, assuring members that the proposal would soon yield fruits.…

Middlesbrough’s hopes of avoiding relegation suffered a major setback as they lost heavily at Bournemouth after playing for 70 minutes with 10 men. Midfielder Gaston Ramirez was sent off for two bookable offences after 20 minutes – one for diving and another for a reckless challenge on Marc Pugh. They were already trailing 2-0 after Joshua King had scored from close range just 96 seconds into the match and then Benik Afobe converted from Charlie Daniels’ pass. Marc Pugh’s curling effort made it 3-0 and Daniels added the fourth. Boro, 19th in the Premier League table, are nine points from…

Nemanja Matic scored a stunning strike to help Chelsea beat Tottenham at Wembley and reach the FA Cup final. Willian opened the scoring with a well-placed free-kick after five minutes and the Brazilian added his second from the spot two minutes before the break. Harry Kane had headed in from Christian Eriksen’s cross to equalise for Spurs, who pulled level again from Dele Alli. Substitute Eden Hazard put Chelsea in front, before Matic fired in the fourth to keep them on course for the double. Chelsea will face the winners of Sunday’s semi-final between Manchester City and Arsenal in the…