Folarin Kehinde

Julius Abure, national chairman of the Labour Party, and his family members have reportedly been rushed to the hospital following a fire incident at his Abuja home on Wednesday.

The party also claimed that there was an assassination attempt on Abure who was recently re-elected for a second term in office.

The national publicity secretary of the Labour Party, Obiora Ifoh, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday, April 3.

He said Abure’s residence was gutted by a “mysterious fire” which started a few minutes after 1am while Abure and the members of his family were asleep.

The statement quoted a member of the family who narrated the incident, saying they were woken up by neighbours and security men living in the compound.

The statement reads: “The entire family was trapped as the inferno had reached the staircase making it impossible for Abure and family to escape.

“However, it took divine intervention for the national chairman and his family to escape after neighbours and security men gallantly pulled down one of the windows upstairs making ways for the family to escape.

“Men of the Fire Service arrived shortly after Abure and his family were evacuated.

“Abure and his family were rushed to a private hospital where they are presently receiving treatment. Their condition is however stable.”

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has approved an increase of 300 per cent electricity tariff for Band A consumers in the country.

Accordingly, power distribution companies (DisCos) will be allowed to raise electricity prices to N225 ($0.15) per kilowatt-hour from N68 for urban consumers this month effectively from April 1, 2024.

Vice chairman of NERC, Musiliu Oseni, who made this announcement in Abuja, however, clarified that the rate increase will only affect 15 per cent of the electricity customers in the country.

Oseni also revealed that these customers, who represent 15 per cent of the population, also consume 40 per cent of the nation’s electricity.

Details Later…

Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu, arrived late at the inauguration ceremony of the newly elected President, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, at the Centre International de Conferences Abdou Diouf in Diamniadio, Senegal.

This was revealed by an international journalist, Kennedy Wandera, on Twitter.

Wandera shared the video of Tinubu arriving at the event venue with his aides.

He wrote:

”Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu, arrives late at the inauguration of the newly elected President Bassirou Diomaye Faye at the Centre International de Conferences Abdou Diouf in Diamniadio.

”He has arrived minutes after all the Heads of State had been moved from the presidential holding room and ushered into the auditorium.

”He proceeded to his reserved seat”.

Tinubu left Nigeria on Sunday to attend the event. It is not clear why the president showed up at the event late after his colleagues were already seated.

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At least thirty children have been abducted by suspected bandits in Kasai village, located in the Batsari Local Government Area of Katsina State.

Batsari, known as a Security Frontline Local Government Area, has been grappling with escalating activities of bandits and criminal elements in recent times.

The incident occurred in the early hours of Monday and has yet to elicit any official response from government authorities or security agencies.

Details remain scant, with no official confirmation or statement on the matter.

However, according to a resident of the area who spoke to Channels Television, the abduction took place as the children ventured behind Kasai village to gather firewood for cooking.

“Yes, the attack occurred yesterday, Monday, in the morning hours. It all began when the children numbering up to thirty went behind the Kasai village to secure firewood which their parents would use to cook food for them.

“Unfortunately, some suspected bandits intercepted them and took them to an unknown destination.

“We do hope and pray that peace and security will be restored in our state”, he said.

The Nigerian Army has confirmed a “minor explosion” within the Nigerian Army cantonment in Ikeja, Lagos, on Monday, April 1.

In a statement on Monday evening, the director of Army Public Relations, Onyema Nwachukwu, said no casualty was recorded during the incident that occurred on a farmland near the Mammy Market within the cantonment.

The statement reads: “This is to notify the general public that today Monday 1 April 2024, a minor explosion occurred within the Nigerian Army (NA) Cantonment in Ikeja, Lagos. The incident occurred on a farmland near the Mammy Market within the Cantonment.

The statement reads: “This is to notify the general public that today Monday 1 April 2024, a minor explosion occurred within the Nigerian Army (NA) Cantonment in Ikeja, Lagos. The incident occurred on a farmland near the Mammy Market within the Cantonment.

“The explosion is suspected to have been triggered by the burning of refuse and other inflammable debris by a farmer who cultivated the farmland.

“Fortunately, no casualty was recorded in the incident. However, given that the Cantonment was recently cleared and certified free of unexploded ordnances, we understand that there could be concerns among the general public as a result of the historical antecedent of explosion within the Cantonment.

“The NA therefore wishes to assure the public that the situation is under control as the NA Engineers Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team has cordoned off the area of the farmland to conduct a thorough investigation into the cause of the explosion. We urge residents in the general area not to panic and assure them of their safety.”

Dr Kamar Abdulkadir, a lecturer of the Department of Physical and Health Education, at the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID), has been brutally murdered in his office.

Abdulkadir was killed on Sunday when the attackers sneaked into his office and attacked him with a knife and hammer.

Intelligence sources revealed to Zagazola Makama, a Counter-Insurgency Expert and Security Analyst in the Lake Chad, that the victim was later found dead in the pool of blood with several injuries inflicted on his body by his killers.

The sources said ,“His hands were peeled off when he tried to stop the attackers from stabbing him. They also used a hammer to smash his head and his spinal cord, killing him instantly.”

The killers also carted away his vehicle and other valuables as authorities searched for the suspects.

Neither the Borno State Police Command nor the University authorities has issued any statement in respect to the murder of the lecturer as at the time of filing this report.

Jarigbe Jarigbe, senator representing Cross River north, on Sunday abandoned a live interview on Arise Television to avoid “wahala” over the 2024 budget.

In pidgin, “wahala” means trouble or problematic.

Jarigbe was the senator who alleged that some “senior senators” got N500 million in the budget for constituency projects.

His disclosure immediately led to a rowdy session during plenary.

During the breakfast show, the host said she found it fascinating that Jarigbe said he did not familiarise himself with the 2024 budget, and that she had gone through the line items of the appropriation act herself.

But the senator in turn asked her if she knew how much was voted for projects in her senatorial district.

The anchor replied by saying she only scrutinised the budget by ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) and not by senatorial districts.

The chair of the senate committee on gas said he only wanted to speak about his “thanksgiving and representation to my people”.

“Come oh, what is this budget, budget talk nah?,” the senator said in a mix of pidgin and English.

“I want to talk about my thanksgiving and representation to my people, you people are doing budget, budget. I will walk away oh. You people want me to say something that I will go and face wahala.

“You should allow me oh, let me serve my people quietly.”

The interview line went dead afterwards as the anchors repeatedly asked the senator if he was still there. He was not.

The budget came under scrutiny recently after Abdul Ningi, now suspended senator representing Bauchi central, said the spending act was padded by N3 trillion.

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One of the soldiers drafted to curtail the alleged looting of foodstuff by residents of Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State, has been accused of shooting one person dead on Sunday.

A source who spoke with our correspondent from the state confirmed that the victim was declared dead by authorities at the Federal Medical Centre in the state capital.

“Some of the soldiers drafted to protect the centre where residents looted foodstuffs on Saturday night went to a nearby shop to confront the shop owners.

“The soldiers, numbering three, engaged the shop owners in a fight, and one of them suddenly attacked the owner of the shop, mistaking him for being involved in the looting.

“He engaged one of the shop owners in a fight and, in the process, shot him in the chest.

“We immediately rushed him to the Federal Medical Center for medical attention, but unfortunately, he was confirmed dead on arrival at the hospital,” the source said.

Efforts to speak to the spokesman of the Nigeria Police Force in the state were not successful, as the command’s image maker, DSP Nafiu Abubakar, did not pick up his calls and a text message sent to his telephone had yet to be responded to as of the time of filing this report.