Author: Chronicle Editor

An Oredo Magistrates’ Court in Benin has ordered the remand in prison custody, of two chieftains of the All Progressives Congress, Osakpamwan Eriyo and Sunday Osagbona, for alleged attempted murder. The Chief Magistrate, Mrs M. C. Ojobo, who said she lacked jurisdiction to entertain the case, directed that both accused persons be remanded in Oko Medium Security prison. She said the prison has proper health facilities and directed that the case file be sent to the Directorate of Public Prosecution for legal advice The accused persons were charged with the attempted murder of Chief Osaro Idah, Secretary of the state’s…

Russia has said it would respond in kind to the U.S. expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats and other sanctions following the Russian hacking of U.S. political parties before the 2016 presidential elections. “I cannot say now what the response will be, although, as we know, there is no alternative here to the principle of reciprocity,” said Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov in a statement late Thursday evening reported by the Interfax news service. He said that Russian President Vladimir Putin would decide the exact response. NAN “The response will be formulated in a direction determined by the president of the…

A US official on Thursday said President-elect Donald Trump could reverse President Barack Obama’s executive order and allow Russian intelligence officials back into the United States once he takes office. But he noted that it would be inadvisable. There is no reason to believe Russia will cease interfering in US and other countries’ elections, Obama administration officials told reporters on a conference call after the president announced sanctions against Moscow. “We believe these steps are important because Russia is not going to stop,” one official said. “We have every indication that they will interfere in democratic elections in other countries,…

U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats including shutting down of two Russian compounds in the U.S. in a number of actions announced on Thursday as reprisal for Russia’s meddling in US election. Obama’s speech obtained by correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in New York, stated that the actions were “in response to Russia’s malicious cyber activity and harassment. “Today, I have ordered a number of actions in response to the Russian government’s aggressive harassment of U.S. officials and cyber operations aimed at U.S. election. “These actions follow repeated private and public…

On Thursday, at least 50 people have died in Western Congo after flooding caused by heavy rains. More than 1,000 houses were flooded in the city of Boma near the Angolan border, according to local authorities. Some 10,000 people have been left homeless, the city’s mayor Marie-Jose Nsuami said. A crisis task force had been set up to help the flood victims and rescue operations was ongoing. NAN

On Wednesday, the Ijaw Youth Council called on the Federal Government to pay the backlog of stipends owed ex-militants. The council’s spokesman, Mr. Eric Omare, made the call in a statement made available to newsmen in Warri, Delta State. Omare said, “Niger Delta ex-militants under the amnesty programme are being owed five months arrears of stipends.” The spokesman said the non-payment had subjected the ex-militants to untold hardship and `miserable’ Christmas celebration. “We also call on the National Security Adviser, Gen. Babagana Munguno, under whose office the amnesty programme is domiciled, to take steps to immediately effect the payments to…

North Korea leader, Kim Jong Un could be responsible for a record number of purges and executions since fully assuming power, while spending a massive fortune on nuclear weapons development, according to Seoul’s spy agency. The North Korean leader may have dismissed or killed 340 North Koreans, many of them government officials, while pouring money into weapons of mass destruction, Yonhap reported Thursday, local time. Those are the findings of the national intelligence service, according to the agency’s white paper covering Kim’s first five years of rule. The report states Kim fully assumed power on Dec. 30, 2011, about two…

As the West African standby force are on alert over Gambia, the country’s embattled President Yahya Jammeh has ordered staff of electoral body to resume work. The staff of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) had not gone to work since the military seized the office. But defeated Jammeh has ordered the staff to return to their offices unhindered with immediate effect, APA reports. According to a statement from the Presidency read over the state television on Wednesday evening, the deployment of soldiers at Election House was due to “imminent security threat that it would be burnt down. Meanwhile, with the…

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano state has constituted a committee to reconcile aggrieved factions of the party in the state. The state APC Acting chairman, Alhaji Abdullahi Abbas, disclosed this while addressing newsmen on Wednesday in Kano. The removal of the former state APC Chairman, Alhaji Haruna Doguwa, led to the party been divided into about three factions. While one of the factions is with Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje, the other faction is with the former governor of the state, Engr. Rabi’u Kwankwaso. Abbas said that the party found it necessary to set up the reconciliation committee in order…

President Barack Obama was considered the man most admired by Americans in 2016, and Hillary Clinton the most admired woman, a Gallup poll released Wednesday revealed. Since 1946, Gallup has asked Americans to name the man they most admire, and incumbent presidents typically lead the list. For the seventh consecutive year, Obama leads the list with 22 per cent of respondents naming him. President-elect Donald Trump is in second place with 15 per cent, followed by Pope Francis, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and evangelist Billy Graham. Gallup noted a four-way tie for sixth place between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the…