Author: Opalim Lifted

On Saturday, fire engulfed the popular Enugu nightclub, Ballroom, at Otigba Junction in Enugu, causing panic. The fire allegedly started from the side of the kitchen around 5.10pm, when preparations for the night’s activities were underway. The fire was said to have engulfed the rest of the nightclub, forcing revelers to flee, while other guests who had parked their vehicles on the premises abandoned them. According to eyewitnesses, about three fire engines mounted by men from the state fire service were on the ground fighting the fire, which spread quickly from within. There were no human casualties, but the inferno…

Baba Bintin, a presenter with Ibadan-based private radio station Fresh FM Nigeria, died after collapsing on his way to the radio station for his program on Saturday. Baba Bintin’s death was announced during a radio programme by the station on Saturday. “I’m finding it very difficult to believe this story that is breaking here,” popular presenter, Mayor Isaac Brown, said on the radio station. “He (Baba Bintin) left his home like we all did this morning to come into this station to do our daily job and contribute our quota to national development; the job like we love to do,…

More than a quarter-century after college freshman Kristin Smart went missing in what became one of California’s most notorious unsolved crimes, the man eventually convicted of her murder was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison on Friday. The San Luis Obispo County district attorney announced in a statement that Smart’s former classmate, Paul Flores, received the maximum sentence under California’s current penal system. “Today, our criminal and victim justice systems delivered justice for Kristin Smart,” wrote District Attorney Dan Dow. Flores, 46, was found guilty in October 2022 by a 12-member jury in Monterey County Superior Court after…

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has assured Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos state and all Yoruba that it will not attack any region or tribe unless threatened. In response to a claim made by a group calling itself the Delta Igbos that The Indigenous People of Biafra had deployed a Special Squad in Lagos to cause mayhem, the pro-separatist group stated that the IPOB would never attack the Yoruba nation because it is a non-violent group seeking only the freedom of its people through a referendum. In a statement issued on Friday, the group’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emmanuel…

The coast guard said on Saturday that more than 1,300 migrants were rescued in three separate operations off the southern tip of Italy, two weeks after at least 74 people died when their boat collided with rocks near the coast. The increasing number of migrant arrivals has put pressure on Italy’s conservative government, which took office in October promising to reduce the flow, only to see a sharp increase in such landings this year from both North Africa and Turkey. The coast guard said one of its vessels picked up 500 migrants from a boat more than 100 miles (160…

Gunmen kidnapped nine residents of the Grow Homes Estate along Kuchibiyi in the Kubwa area of the Federal Capital Territory. Around 1:30 p.m. on Friday, a group of about 20 gunmen stormed the estate. The victims were apprehended from two separate apartments in the estate, according to a resident of the community who identified himself simply as Hassan over the phone. He went on to say that the incident had caused widespread panic in the community. He said,” Yesterday, at about 11:30 pm some gunmen in their large numbers came to carry out an operation at Grow homes estate along…

Mustapha, an Abuja-based middle-aged man, described how he discovered a vast collection of sensitive materials from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), including results and declaration sheets. Mustapha, who appeared in a viral video obtained by our correspondent, displayed some unfilled sensitive materials littered near the refuse site, in the Jikwoyi area of the Federal Capital Territory’s Karu Amac municipality. Our correspondent reports that seven candidates from seven political parties were discovered in the empty declaration of result sheet, including Dogo Bukar, Action Alliance; Nijhu Jonathan, African Democratic Congress; Golkos Gaius All Progressives Congress; Abubakar Ibrahim, New Nigeria Peoples Party;…

Semiu Adegesin, 45, was arrested by men from the Ogun State Police Command in connection with the death of Esther Samuel, a three-year-old girl. Adegesin was arrested for what was described as “contributory negligence” in the death of the child. The suspect, who owned a dane gun, was accused of leaving it loaded in an open space in his backyard where children played. Babalola, a 13-year-old boy, is said to have picked up the gun, pointed it at the girl, and pulled the trigger. DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, the state Police Public Relations Officer, stated that the suspect was apprehended following…

Mr Alkali Baba, the Inspector General of Police (I-,G), has presented N16 million cheques to the families of police officers killed in the line of duty in Kogi. The IG made the presentations at the Command’s Headquarters in Lokoja through the Kogi Commissioner of Police, Akeem Yusuf, who was represented by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Administration, DCP Abel Audu. In Lokoja, N16 million cheques were presented to the next of kin of 28 state police officers who died while on duty. Baba explained, “this gesture is part of the “Group Life Assurance Scheme” and IGP’s “Family…

The Prosper Africa initiative of the United States government has disclosed the conclusion of $274 million in long-term financing for West Africa’s rapidly growing housing sector. This is being done in collaboration with Bank of America Securities, Inc., Brean Capital, LLC, The Bank of New York Mellon, Togo’s Caisse Régionale de Refinancement Hypothécaire (CRRH), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the United States International Development Finance Corporation (USIDFC) (DFC). This partnership, announced on Thursday, creates new opportunities for US investment in Africa’s emerging markets and allows West Africans to gain greater access to homeownership, according to a…