Author: Vincent Osuwo

Soldiers, police officers, and other security forces occupied Abuja’s iconic Eagle Square on Tuesday, which will host the #EndBadGovernance demonstration on Thursday in the Federal Capital Territory and other major towns.  Our correspondents on the square counted more than 300 security personnel at the facility. In addition, 26 military trucks, 12 police patrol vehicles, and a Black Maria were stationed inside and surrounding the arena. The security personnel took control of the square after the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, and the protest organisers differed on how to conduct the demonstration. In a virtual conference with the IG on Tuesday,…

Two police orderlies attached to a former House of Representatives member, Joan Onyemaechi, and her driver were killed on Tuesday evening when gunmen kidnapped her and her children in Asaba, the Delta State capital. According to reports, the gunmen raided Onyemaechi’s church, King Jesus and I, located at Ogajifo Street off DSB Road, and shot the two police orderlies and her driver before whisking the former lawmaker and her children away. Sources from the street told reporters that a stray bullet also hit a passerby who died on the spot. “The gunmen stormed the church and immediately shot at the…

The Nasarawa State Police Command has arrested three individuals for allegedly stealing 96 bags of 50 kilogrammes of rice from a trader in the Nasarawa Eggon Local Government Area of the state. The businessman was alleged to have purchased 700 bags of rice in Nasarawa State and brought them to Abia State when approximately 15 hoodlums ambushed his truck on the road and carted away the food. The Commissioner of Police, Umar Nadada, made the announcement on Tuesday at the command’s headquarters while paraded 31 suspected offenders who had lately been detained for various crimes in the state. He described…

Operatives of the Nigerian Police have arrested Suleiman Yakubu for clamouring for the destruction of critical state and private infrastructures during the planned hunger protest. The police, in a Tuesday press briefing signed by ASP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the Force Public Relations Officer, mentioned that Yakubu had threatened to burn filing stations, banks, and police stations during the protest. Yakubu, a resident of Jos, Plateau State, in a now viral TikTok video, urged residents to unleash mayhem during the forthcoming nationwide hunger protest. The Police in the press briefing, mentioned that “during interrogation, Mr. Yakubu confessed to being the individual in…

Renowned journalist and publisher Chief Dele Momodu has berated the former Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose over his comments that poor Northern men having multiple wives and children is a hindrance to Nigeria’s growth. Chronicle NG reports that Fayose, in an interview with Channels TV on Monday, claimed that poor men having many wives and children, citing his experiences in the North, is a bane to Nigeria’s growth. Reacting to these claims, Momodu questioned who is more destructive to the nation, the poor man with plenty of wives and children, or the politician with one wife and many high-maintenance girlfriends,…

Lagos State residents have been threatened by some suspected thugs not to participate in the hunger protest scheduled from Thursday, August 1 to Saturday, August 10. In a now viral clip on Tuesday, individuals whose voices were the only ones audible were threatening market women and men in a Lagos market, warning them to desist from the planned protest, as it might lead to more destruction than that witnessed during the #EndSARS demonstration. “Anyone confident should come out on Thursday to protest. Are you the only one hungry? If you dare come out for the protest, you will be mercilessly…

Yoruba Nation agitator, Chief Sunday Adeyemo popularly called Sunday Igboho has kicked against the nationwide hunger protests planned for August 1, 2024. Igboho in a statement issued on Monday night, said, “I, Chief Sunday Igboho, am issuing this press release in response to the planned protests by some unknown & faceless individuals, who are working to disintegrate the country. “Since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s assumed office on May 29, 2023, he has implemented revolutionary policies, which his predecessors lacked the political will to pursue. These bold steps have, unsurprisingly, unsettled those who believe it is their birth right to rule…

President Bola Tinubu has asked the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) to raise the number of modern hostels in tertiary institutions from 36 to 72 by 2025.  Sonny Echono, Executive Secretary of TETFund, announced this during a meeting with the leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students. According to a statement made by the Fund on Tuesday, the president’s direction to the Fund was part of his intentions to establish industrial harmony in higher institutions. The statement, written by TETFund’s Director of Public Affairs, AbdulMumin Oniyangi, stated that Echono also encouraged students to ensure that public property on campus…

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, condemned the “use of excessive” force against protesters in Bangladesh after days of violence that killed at least 206 people.  The violence erupted after student protest against civil service job quotas this month, and the death toll includes several police officers. Critics have argued that the quota is used to stack public jobs with loyalists of the ruling party. Borrell expressed worries over the deaths of officers as well as the “torture, mass arrests, and damage to property that have taken place.” He called for an investigation and for those responsible to…

Naja’atu Salisu, a female student of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, has been confirmed dead after slumping in the bathroom. Salisu, a 300-level student of computer science, died after she was found unconscious by her sister in the bathroom on Friday. According to her roommate, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, she explained that the deceased “had done every routine preparation for the morning class before going into the bathroom. “Naja’atu has selected clothes to wear to the class and kept them by the side of her bed.” It was gathered from the university’s Director of Information and Public…