Author: David Great

The National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, has said that a sizable number of illicit arms being used to commit crimes in the country originally belonged to the government. Mr Ribadu said this on Thursday during the Arms Destruction Exercise organised by the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms And Light Weapons (NCCSALW), Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), at Muhammadu Buhari Cantonment Giri, Abuja. He explained that the weapons ended up in the hands of non-state actors due to corrupt elements within the security agencies. Ribadu condemned and rained curses on the security personnel who facilitate…

Niger’s military authorities have banned rice, cereal and other food exports to all countries except fellow junta-led Burkina Faso and Mali to protect local supply, the government has said. With the Sahel nation experiencing high inflation on certain foods, the products banned for export besides rice include legumes such as cowpea as well as cereals like millet, sorghum and corn. Junta chief Abdourahamane Tiani took the measure “to protect the supply of the internal market” and “make the goods of mass consumption accessible”, the government said in a statement late on Wednesday. “These prohibitions do not apply to exports” to…

David Beckham is hopeful that minority owner Jim Ratcliffe will turn Manchester United’s fortunes around but says it will take time to return to the “good old days”. British billionaire Ratcliffe’s INEOS took charge of the club’s football operations earlier this year but United have had an underwhelming start to the new campaign as they look to build on last year’s FA Cup success. Pressure has mounted on manager Erik ten Hag, with United sitting 14th in the Premier League after seven games and winless in two Europa League fixtures. Beckham, who won six Premier League titles, two FA Cups…

The Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice Emeka Nwite, has ordered the final forfeiture of N2,739,836,331.31 to the federal government, funds identified as proceeds of illegal mining activities in Endo Community, Nasarawa State. The judgment was delivered following an application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) through its counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, on September 27, 2024. The EFCC’s application requested the final forfeiture of the sum, citing Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act No. 14 of 2006, on the grounds that the funds were reasonably suspected to…

President Bola Tinubu has directed a high-level Federal Government delegation, led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, to Jigawa State following a devastating tanker fire that claimed over 100 lives in Majia town on Tuesday night. The delegation includes the Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru Abubakar; the Minister of Transportation, Senator Saidu Alkali; the Corps Marshall of the Federal Roads Safety Commission (FRSC), Mr. Shehu Mohammed; and the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement (North West), Abdullahi Tanko Yakasai. The team’s mission is to assess the situation at the scene…

The executive chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ola Olukoyede has directed the establishment of a Public Complaints Desk at all the Zonal Directorates of the Commission and the Corporate Headquarters. The Desk, designed to be manned by specially trained officers, will receive complaints from members of the public on all aspects of the Commission’s activities. It is also planned to bridge the interface gap between the EFCC and the larger public to enhance quick resolution of complaints by the public. Why we raided Enugu radio station to arrest broadcaster – EFCC The EFCC’s boss urged members…

The batteries inside the weaponised pagers that arrived in Lebanon at the start of the year, part of an Israeli plot to decimate Hezbollah, had powerfully deceptive features and an Achilles’ heel. The agents who built the pagers designed a battery that concealed a small but potent charge of plastic explosive and a novel detonator that was invisible to X-ray, according to a Lebanese source with first-hand knowledge of the pagers, and teardown photos of the battery pack seen by Reuters. To overcome the weakness – the absence of a plausible backstory for the bulky new product – they created…

Fifteen days after turning 100, former US president Jimmy Carter cast his vote in the US election on Wednesday, fulfilling his earlier expressed wish to live long enough to support Kamala Harris in the poll. The former Democratic leader “voted by mail,” according to the Carter Center, the non-profit organisation he founded after leaving the White House in 1981 to pursue his vision of global diplomacy. The centenarian, who left office under a cloud of unpopularity but has seen his reputation improve over the years, took advantage of early voting in his home state of Georgia, where he is currently…

Human rights activist and lawyer, Femi Falana, and his son, Folarin, popularly known as Falz, have demanded a public apology and retraction of defamatory statements made by the popular crossdresser Idris Okuneye, also known as Bobrisky, in audio recordings circulating online. In one of the audios shared by controversial media critic Martin Otse, also known as VeryDarkMan, Bobrisky claimed that he had spoken with Falz, requesting his assistance in persuading his father (Falana) to help secure a presidential pardon, which allegedly cost N10 million. The crossdresser also alleged that he asked Falz for N3 million to secure special treatment at…

Billionaire Elon Musk has donated almost $75 million to the political action committee he founded to support Donald Trump’s US presidential campaign, according to filings made late on Tuesday, illustrating the Tesla founder’s growing commitment to the Republican cause. Musk, estimated to be the world’s richest man, has taken an increasingly visible role in Trump’s campaign, appearing on stage with him at a recent rally in Pennsylvania and frequently criticising his opponent, Democrat Kamala Harris, on social media. Trump regularly mentions Elon Musk at rallies and has promised to appoint him to a committee tasked with cutting government bureaucracy. According…