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A senior Nigerian soldier was on Tuesday killed by the Boko Haram, army sources told Premium Times.  B.U. Umar, a lieutenant colonel and commanding officer of 114 TF battalion of the Nigerian Army was ambushed alongside his troops on Monday morning between Bita and Piridang. “His vehicle stepped on an improvised explosive device, but he was not hurt,” a source told Premium Times. “He came out to assess the damage on the vehicle and Boko Haram opened fire and killed him in the process.” The soldiers were said to be on their way to Yola in Adamawa State from Bita in Borno State when the incident occurred, sources said. The full casualty from the attack is not yet clear. Mr. Umar, who recently took over the command of the 114 battalion about three weeks ago, was a member of the 48 Regular Course in the Nigeria Defence Academy, NDA. When contacted, the Army spokesperson, Sani Usman, said he was unaware of Mr. Umar’s death. He said he would seek further confirmation from...

A housewife, Jelila Nurudeen, on Friday asked an Ojaoba Sharia Court, Ibadan, to put an end to the union with her husband, Nurudeen Olanrewaju, on grounds of sexual starvation for over seven years.  The mother of three in her petition alleged that her husband was subjecting her to emotional torture by starving her of sex for seven years. “My lord, all the interventions made so far by this court has yielded no results as Olanrewaju has turned no new leaf. “I may soon run mad if the court fails to separate us, because I can no longer withstand seven years of sexual drought. “Should I start visiting the homes of some of the committee members set up to reconcile us to meet my sexual desire? “Please I am ready to walk away from this union because Olanrewaju has already remarried to another wife, who is now satisfying his emotional desire,” Jelila explained. However, Olanrewaju, who denied the allegation, rejected the divorce suit. Olanrewaju who works at Nigeria Tobacco ...

A National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member is feared drowned in a boat accident on Thursday in Okpotuwari Community in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa.  Sources in the community told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday that the corps member, who hailed from Anambra drowned when the canoe he boarded capsized. Mr Tontiemote Yeiyei, a resident of the community said that the deceased, who was serving at Okpotuwari Community had gone to Ondewari with two of his friends across the Osiana creek by a hand paddled canoe. Yeiyei said the ill-fated canoe encountered rough currents at the jetty as the deceased and the others were returning to Okpotuwari. He said that following the boat accident, sympathisers quickly raised a search party, during which the two others were rescued alive. “The rescue team searched for the remains of the drowned corps member to no avail, and local divers later joined them but they are yet to find the body. Hopefully it will be a...

President Muhammadu Buhari has sworn in Walter Onnoghen as the new acting Chief Justice of Nigeria. The swearing in ceremony was conducted, Thursday, at the council chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Mr. Onnoghen replaces Mahmud Mohammed whose tenure ended at midnight on Wednesday.

The Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly voted against the report of its committee on Finance, on the budget of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) for the 2016 fiscal year. The Senate had at its sitting of Thursday, 21st July 2016 considered the request of President Muhammadu Buhari on the 2016 Budget of the FIRS and referred same to the committee on Finance for further legislative action. However, when the committee’s report was read on the floor by the Chairman, Senator John Enoh, the Senate President and other Senators discovered loopholes in the said report.  The committee through its report, had recommended that a total expenditure of N143, 722, 430, 526 (One Hundred and Forty-Three Billion, Seven Hundred and Twenty-Two Million, Four Hundred and Thirty Thousand, Five Hundred and Twenty-Six naira) be approved for FIRS in 2016. While reacting, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki queried the report. According to him, “the committee met in July, how comes it is r...

Two yet-to-be named men were arrested on Wednesday in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, while trying to buy some dollars with fake naira notes. They were nabbed at a Bureau De Change located in Zone 4, Wuse area of Abuja. It was gathered that the suspects mixed real and counterfeit Naira notes which amounted to about N2m. They approached a Bureau De Change operator in exchange for dollars. But luck ran out on them after the Bureau De Change operator noticed that of the N2m presented to him, only N50, 000 was real naira notes. The operator, who simply identified himself as Sani, raised the alarm and the duo was handed over to the Wuse Police Division. An officer, Uchendu Michael told our correspondent that, “In this recession? They would not escape. They are already in our custody, the matter would be investigated and the suspects would be made to face the law.”

The Super Eagles will wear a new set of jerseys, when they host Algeria in a 2018 World Cup qualifying match this weekend. In 2015, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), signed a three-and-a-half year deal with Nike, which will see the US-based sportwear giant provide products worth $3.75m. The new home kit is a deep shade of green, with white ribbing around the back of the modern crewneck collar, while the away jersey is white with a green stripe that runs down the sides of the shirts and shorts. It has already been modelled by Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi, who is a Nike athlete. He tweeted: “Looking forward to playing in our new kit against Algeria on Saturday.” Nigeria’s U-23 team were the first side to wear the new Nike kit, at the 2016 Rio Olympics where they won bronze medal.

Niger Delta Avengers, NDA, the militant group at the forefront of the agitation for fiscal federalism in Nigeria and economic emancipation of the Niger Delta region, has commended the President – Elect of the United States of America, Donald J Trump.  The group in a statement by its spokesperson: self-styled Brigadier General Mudoch Agbinibo, asserted: “Your hard fought victory against world establishments is hope for us, the over 30 million oppressed minorities of the Niger – Delta that have being continuously raped and economically colonized because of our God-given resources, over the last six decades, by the Nigerian state and Islamic fundamentalists in power.” “Mr. President elect of the United States of America sir, we are hoping for a new perfect economic order and relations as it concerns the United States’ critical assets and interest in the Niger Delta. “Lead the world to a real change not the President Barack Obama change that manipulated a clueless puppet in Gen...

Bloody protest greeted the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) local government council primaries in Isiala Ngwa north local government area of Abia state on Wednesday, leaving atleast one person dead and three other severely injured.. It was alleged that some people believed to be thugs set ablaze the council headquarters to protest what they described as monopolization of party positions by a section of the party stalwarts as well as imposition of candidates at Isala Ngwa north local government  The PDP chairmanship primaries was held yesterday in the 17 local government areas of the state ahead of the December 17 local government election. The body of the dead man identified simply as Onyemaechi, a staff working in the office of the local government chairman, has been deposited at a mortuary while three other staff who were badly burnt have been taken to hospital. 

Niger Delta youths on Wednesday expressed their readiness to work with the United States’ President-elect, describing his electoral victory as unprecedented in the country’s political history.  Their message is contained in a statement jointly issued on Wednesday by the Niger Delta Youth Forum and the Niger Delta Izon Youth Forum and signed by Mr. Kemeizonpoumokumor Ayuba. The statement said the people of the oil-rich Niger Delta were counting on Trump’s government to prevail on the Nigerian government to enable them to enjoy their God-given resources through restructuring and ownership of such resources. Similarly, the Indigenous People of Biafra on Wednesday congratulated the President -elect of the United States of America, Mr. Donald Trump, on his electoral victory. The group said in a statement: “The IPOB under the command structure of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu congratulates Donald Trump. “Trump passed through so many trials and so many odds from the leadership of the party...

 Thousands Protest Trump's Victory Around US 2:06 Thousands of protesters swarmed the streets of several major cities Wednesday to voice their opposition to Donald Trump, who less than 24 hours earlier stunned the world to become the 45th person elected president of the United States. Protesters in Chicago chanted "Not my president" and "F--- Trump" outside Trump International Hotel & Tower in what seemed like a grand uprising — one in which minority groups that have felt targeted by Trump over the past 18 months hoped to send a direct message to the president-elect. "I'm here today because I'm speechless at what happened," Rebecca Gomez, 22, told NBC News. "I'm Mexican, but I was born in the United States. I'm afraid people won't care about that, though. I'm afraid they will be violent." In New York, thousands of protesters could be heard chanting and banging drums as they marched past Rockefeller Cent...

President Buhari with Niger Delta Traditional Rulers shortly after their meeting today! Photo credit: @bayoomoboriowo

  The Senate has rejected President Muhammadu Buhari’s request for authorisation to borrow about $30 billion.  The president, last Tuesday, forwarded a request to the National Assembly to approve external borrowing plan of $29.960 billion to execute key infrastructural projects across the country between 2016 and 2018. He made the requests in two separate letters to the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara. Mr. Buhari said the external loan, the biggest in Nigeria’s history, will fund targeted projects cuts across all sectors with special emphasis on infrastructure, agriculture, health, education, water supply, growth and employment generation. Other sectors, he said, included poverty reduction through social safety net programs and governance and financial management reforms, among others. According to him, the cost of the projects and programs of the borrowing (rolling) plan is $29.960 billion. This i...