Author: David Great

Gunmen who abducted 286 students and staff from Kuriga, Kaduna State last week have demanded a ransom of N1 billion ($620,432) in exchange for their release, according to a spokesman for the hostages’ families and a local politician. On March 7, the schoolchildren, some older pupils, and school staff were taken in Kuriga, in Nigeria’s northeastern Kaduna State, in the country’s first mass kidnapping in 2024. Jubril Aminu, a community leader and representative for the hostages’ relatives, told Reuters that he received a phone call from the kidnappers on Tuesday. “They made a total of a 1 billion (naira) ransom demand for all the…

Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange platform has stated that it restricted 281 accounts belonging to Nigerians in 2022 due to money laundering concerns. Chronicle NG had few weeks ago reported that Binance announced its decision to exit Nigeria by stopping naira-to-dollar exchange services following a fallout with Nigerian authorities, who had accused the platform of manipulating the country’s foreign exchange rate. In a statement published on its website on Wednesday exchange mentioned that its team visited Nigeria twice in the fourth quarter, conducting comprehensive law enforcement training sessions for officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. With over 30…

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi, has decried the high cost of food items across Nigeria, saying an average Nigerian household now spend all their on food alone. Obi, in a signed statement posted on social media, revealed this against the backdrop of a UNICEF Cadre Harmonisé report, which projected that 31.5 million Nigerians are at risk of acute hunger by August 2024. The Cadre Harmonisé is a unifying tool that helps to produce relevant, consensual, rigorous, and transparent analyses of current and projected food and nutrition situations. It classifies the severity…

The US House of Representatives will vote Wednesday on a bill that would force TikTok to cut ties with its Chinese owner or get banned in the United States. The legislation is the biggest threat yet to the video-sharing app, which has surged to huge popularity across the world all while causing intense nervousness amongst governments and security officials about its Chinese ownership and its potential subservience to the Communist Party in Beijing. The vote is likely to occur at 10:00 am (1400 GMT) and is expected to pass overwhelmingly in a rare moment of bipartisan entente in a politically…

The Enugu Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC on Tuesday, March 12, 2024, arraigned three former Access Bank staff, Ogbu Kingsley Ibekwem, Nwagbara Chidimma and Uwaezuoke Raymond and Chidubem Angela Mgbeke before Justice Mohammed Garba Umar of the Federal High Court sitting in Enugu State. They were arraigned on a four-count charge bordering on conspiracy and stealing to the tune of N15, 944, 100. 00 (Fifteen Million, Nine Hundred and Forty-four Thousand, One Hundred Naira). One of the counts reads: “That you, Ogbu Kingsley Ibekwe and Chidubem Angela Mgbeke sometime in January 2023 in Onitsha, Anambra State…

Following his suspension from the red chambers of the National Assembly by the leadership of the 10th Senate under Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Abdul Ningi, lawmaker representing Bauchi Central Senatorial District has resigned his position as chairman of the Northern Senators’ Forum. This resignation comes barely an hour after he was suspended for three months for alleging that the 2024 budget had been padded with items worth over N3 trillion. Senator representing Ondo South Senatorial District, Jimoh Ibrahim who also doubles as a member of the Appropriations Committee first moved the motion for Ningi’s suspension for 12 months over allegations…

Following allegations of padding the 2024 budget levelled against the executive arm of government by Senator Abdul Ningi the Nigerian Senate under the leadership of Senate President Godswill Akpabio has wielded the big axe by suspending the lawmaker from performing his legislative activities. Ningi, from Bauchi Central Senatorial District, was suspended for three months after a long heated session in the red chamber of the National Assembly. Senator representing Ondo South Senatorial District, Jimoh Ibrahim who also doubles as a member of the Appropriations Committee first moved the motion for Ningi’s suspension for 12 months over allegations of criminal misinformation…

Nigerians on social media have continue to react to comments made by controversial Kaduna based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Gumi over the recent abduction of 287 children from Kuriga Government Secondary and LEA Primary Schools in Chikun Local Government Area of the State. Reacting to the refusal of the Kaduna State government to negotiate with the bandits Gumi urged President Tinubu not to repeat the mistake made by former President Muhammadu Buhari, who refused to dialogue with bandits. “The government’s stand of no negotiation with the bandits is an unfortunate position. My advice is that the government should dialogue with the…

Human Right lawyer and activist Deji Adeyanju has urged President Bola Tinubu to remove import duties on food items brought into the country. The Convener of Concerned Nigerians  on Monday disclosed this in a statement released on his X handle. “Many farmers are unable to go to their farms due to the fear of attacks, resulting in reduced agricultural productivity and food scarcity. I urge the President to temporarily remove import duties on all imported food items. This measure will help alleviate the current challenges faced by Nigerians.” The statement partly reads. Deji Adeyanju demands investigation into Mailafia’s sudden death…

A Lagos Federal High Court has ordered final forfeiture of 36 exotic cars, ‘allegedly stolen’ from Canada to Nigeria. Justice Deinde Isaac Dipeolu, who presided over the court, made the final forfeiture order while granting an application filed and argued by a lawyer to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. A. B. Abdul Rasheed. The forfeited cars include the 2017 Model Toyota Rav, Ash colour; the 2019 Toyota Tacoma 2019 model, silver colour; the 2019 Lexus RX 350 Grey colour, Lexus RX350 Black colour; the 2019 Model 5 FORD FI50 Black colour; the 2018 Model Honda CRV black…