Author: Chronicle Editor

The Plateau State Police Command has intercepted a 27-year-old woman conveying 15 minors from Bauchi State to Anambra State. The development came days after Police also in Plateau intercepted two trucks loaded with 145 children. The woman, Rifkatu Bello, suspected to be trafficking the teenagers, was intercepted around Gada Biyu in Jos Tuesday evening. Police Public Relations Officer in the State, ASP Tyopev Terna said the minors included 14 females and one male. Tyopev disclosed that they were between the ages of 13 and 15. He added that the suspect was presently being held at the Police A division, while…

Nigeria’s efforts to secure funds from international lenders to help haul it out of recession have stalled because it has not submitted the required economic reform plans, according to one of the banks and sources close to the matter. The government has been in loan talks with the World Bank for a year. It had told the lender it would present its proposed reforms to make the economy more resilient and attractive to investment by the end of December, according to Western diplomats and a Nigerian official who declined to be named as they are not authorised to speak publicly.…

Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure has turned down a £430,000-a-week offer from China, BBC Sport reports. Toure, 33, was the subject of interest from the Chinese Super League last summer. He decided against moving then and gave the same response when he was contacted again to say the offer remained open during the current transfer window, which closes on 31 January. The Ivorian’s contract at the Etihad expires in the summer. Toure’s future appeared in doubt when he was left out of the City squad by Pep Guardiola at the start of the season. However, he has been a regular…

Against suggestions in certain quarters that the inauguration of Donald Trump on 20 January as the 45th U.S. will witness a low turnout, the president-elect has said that people are actually pouring into Washington DC to witness the historic event. The Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that almost 50 Democratic Congress members have announced their boycott of the inauguration after civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis announced his, saying he did not regard Trump as a legitimate president. Several groups, including celebrities and civil rights organisations, are also mobilising to “shut down” Washington DC to protest…

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has expressed sadness over the accidental air strike that affected the Internal Displaced Persons Camp in Rann, Kala Balge area of Borno State. The accident claimed 52 lives including six Red Cross officials. About 120 people were injured. The Air Force jet was on a mission to attack Boko Haram insurgents north of Borno, when it mistakenly dropped a bomb on the camp. The Air Force in a statement on Instagram said it was saddened by the tragedy. “While available information is sketchy, the Theatre Commander OPERATION LAFIYA DOLE is taking appropriate steps to avail…

JJammeh Gambia’s President Yahya Jammeh has declared a state of emergency, just two days before he is supposed to cede power after losing elections last month. In a national TV address, Jammeh said on Tuesday the measure was necessary because of “the unprecedented and extraordinary amount of foreign interference” in a December 1 presidential vote, which he lost to opposition leader Adama Barrow. Jammeh also cited external interference in “the internal affairs of The Gambia and the unwarranted hostile atmosphere threatening the sovereignty, peace, security and stability of the country”. The state of emergency, which is supposed to last 90…

The Ministry of Mines and Steel Development has urged the Federal Government to give special attention to the development of eight critical areas to improve the mineral and mining sector. This is contained in the Ministry Roadmap made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja. It said that government should focus on Investor Friendly Regulatory Environment by conducting reviews of existing tax system, licensing fees and other various fees. According the document, historically, Nigeria neglects the investor friendliness of its mining sector, after the shift to a state-led mining development model. It said that significant…

The U.S. has warned the embattled President Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia, saying he is losing opportunities to peacefully handover to President-elect Adama Barrow and avoid the consequences of his actions. Jammeh’s tenure ends tomorrow 19 January, the same day that Barrow is expected to be sworn in as his successor. Both the African Union and ECOWAS have said that Jammeh will cease to be recognised as Gambian President from the date. Spokesperson of the U.S. Department of State, Mr John Kirby, said at a press briefing on Tuesday that Jammeh is putting his legacy and The Gambia in peril.…

US President Barack Obama on Tuesday commuted the sentence of transgender soldier Chelsea Manning, who is serving 35 years behind bars for handing classified US documents to WikiLeaks. Obama pardoned 64 people and commuted the sentences of 209 others, including Manning, in one of his final acts as president. Manning was convicted in August 2013 of espionage and other offenses after admitting to leaking 700,000 sensitive military and diplomatic classified documents to WikiLeaks. The 29-year-old will now be released in May. The former private was sentenced by military court martial as Bradley Manning and has since been held in an…

At least 52 aid workers and civilians were killed on Tuesday when an air force jet accidentally bombed an Internal Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in northeast Nigeria instead of Boko Haram militants, medical charity MSF said. The incident happened at about 9:00 am (0800 GMT) in Rann, in the far north of Borno state, the epicentre of the jihadists’ insurgency, as food was being distributed to displaced people. There was no official death toll from the military, which blamed “the fog of war” for the mistake, but one senior commander described the casualties from the air strike as “huge”. One…