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Twenty persons, including a police officer, have been kidnapped in Pupuple town, Yorro Local Government Area of Taraba State by terrorists.

The victims were abducted by the gunmen who invaded the village at about 2 am earlier today.

Eye-witnesses say the gunmen shot sporadically in different directions and took away victims, including a Chief identified as Umaru Nyala, his Police orderly, religious leaders, and a pregnant woman.

Confirming the incident, the spokesman of the Taraba State Police Command, Abdullahi Usman, noted that the command was investigating to gain more facts before issuing an official statement.

Earlier this month, residents of the community decried the rate of kidnapping in the community following the abduction of six persons yesterday in October.

The abduction came a few days after a Police Inspector was abducted from his farm in the Kurmi Local Council of the state.

The residents, who said they could no longer sleep with their two eyes closed, called on the state government to deploy more security operatives to the area.

They also called on the state government to support the security agencies with logistics that would enable them to stamp out kidnappers, armed bandits and other hoodlums that have been making life difficult for the people of the council and the state as a whole.

Social Media was set buzzing on Monday evening after Nigerians took to their various social media platforms to humorously express their opinions about the high level of fake products which has proliferated the Nigerian market.

While sharing their thoughts about these products, some of these users expressed their fears about these anomaly as they shared various samples of products on the markets and their variations against the original product samples.

They also lamented the effects of these products which are all highly consumed by Nigerians.

Recall that popular Nigerian artiste, Buju Benson, on the 17th of December, 2023, voiced his concerns regarding the prevalence of adulterated and fake alcoholic beverages being sold in clubs, shedding light on the potential health hazards and financial losses faced by patrons.

The singer expressed his frustration with the situation, emphasising the substantial amounts spent on what he referred to as “overpriced drinks.”

The Nigerian Communications Commission has directed MTN Nigeria, Airtel and other telecommunications firms to fully bar phone lines without National Identity Numbers and those whose NINs have not been verified.

This was disclosed in a corporate notice that MTN Nigeria filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited revealing the directive from NCC and the attached deadlines for the barring.

In the statement signed by its Company Secretary, Uto Ukpanah, MTN Nigeria said, “This is part of an industry-wide directive that requires phone lines for which the subscribers have not submitted their NINs to be barred on or before 28 February 2024. With regard to NINs that have been submitted but not verified, such lines are to be barred on or before 29 March 2024, where five or more lines are linked to an unverified NIN.

Similarly, where less than five lines are linked to an unverified NIN, such lines are to be barred on or before 15 April 2024. All affected subscribers must be verified (biometrics and biodata) before their lines are unbarred.”

The current directive is a follow-up to the NCC’s directive of April 2022 requiring operators to restrict outgoing calls (one-way barring) for subscribers whose lines are not associated with NINs.

MTN encouraged affected subscribers to submit their NINs for verification.

“As part of these efforts, we are enhancing the capacity of our various service outlets to make the process smoother and more efficient. We are committed to ensuring that our subscribers comply with the NCC directive and will continue to work with the National Identity Management Commission to accelerate the NIN verification process,” MTN added.

The company also expressed a willingness to work with the Federal Government in ensuring compliance with the industry-wide directive from NCC.

“As a law-abiding corporate citizen and in line with our operating licence requirements, we are committed to complying with the industry-wide directive from the NCC and will provide further updates to investors on progress and potential impact with the release of FY 2023 results,” the firm said.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, has said the 2024 budget proposal would be passed on December 30, 2023.

The lawmaker representing Zaria Federal Constituency stated this on the floor of the Green Chamber at the resumption of plenary on Tuesday.

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This is just as he notified Committee Chairmen that the Appropriation Committee has directed them to prepare reports of the budget defence by the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies for submission latest by 8 pm on Tuesday, the 19th day of December 2023.

Bandits around Ardo-Kola local government area of Taraba State have resorted to collecting beer as levies from farmers before allowing them to harvest their crops, Leading Reporters reports.

A senior civil servant in Jalingo, who preferred anonymity, told the paper that he was forced to buy beer worth over N200,000 before he was allowed to harvest his Benniseed farm.

He said the levy imposed by the bandits ranges from N20,000 to N100,000 depending on the size of the farm.

“ I paid with beer worth N200,000 before getting access to my farm,” he said.

According to the report, farming communities where the levy was imposed by the bandits include Baka, Kasakuru, Majowere, Digun, Nyapori, Buzi, Dare, and Sakala.

A resident in the local government area, Mallam Dantala Bello claimed that farmers have become used to paying the levy to the bandits before harvest.

“Some abandon their farms if they are levied too much and project that they can’t recover the amount after harvest,” he said.

Another source in the area said the bandits were working with informants to get information on people coming to harvest their farms in the area.

lSinger, Adewale Mayowa,  popularly known as Mayorkun, has vowed not to perform in  Calabar again following the theft of an undisclosed item.

Mayorkun, who performed in the state on Monday, expressed dissatisfaction in his social media posts, hinting that the overall experience was far from enjoyable.

He wrote, “I just want to wake up from this dream bro 🥴🥴🥴🥴🥴. Nightmare is a better word! 🤦🏽‍♂️.

“CALABAR, You’ll probably NEVER EVER see me again, good luck to the other artistes coming for your festivals tho.”

In another post, be wrote, “❤️ Izz gone! no wam! ❤️”

Reacting to the post, his colleague, Iyanya tweeted, “My calabar people, this is very bad for the peaceful people I know us to be.

“The government has brought my colleagues to entertain you, all you owe them is protection and great hospitality.

“If you know anyone who stole from my brother, please return it and I will personally compensate you.

“Drop it at THE GRAND HOTEL 🏨 I will personally compensate you PLEASE.”

The Pastor-in-charge of Region 12 of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Richard Adeboye, has called for more prayers for the leadership of the country to overcome its array of woes and challenges.

Adeboye said rather than protesting and cursing them as done in the past with no reprieve in sight, Nigerians should rather rely on the instrument of prayer for a desired turnaround for the good of the country.

The cleric disclosed this while speaking with newsmen at this year’s Halleluyah Mega Praise Night, Season 2 with the theme, ‘Dominion’, held at the Shimawa High School, Ogun State.

Adeboye said, “There is no nation like Nigeria. The fact that we are still surviving is a symbol that God has created this nation in a very unique way and very soon, we shall shout victory at last.

Kogi State House of Assembly is to begin investigation on the recent recruitment exercise carried out by the State Science, Technical Education and Teaching Service Commission, STETSCOM.

The Speaker of the State Assembly, Hon. Aliyu Umar Yusuf disclosed this on Monday in Lokoja when the Executive Chairman of STETSCOM, Mrs Cicilia Cook led other management staff to defend the commission’s proposed 2024 budget.

According to him, the need to look into the recruitment and posting of the 1100 teachers is to check procedures and criteria used to grade them.

He noted that some of the individuals who passed the Computer Based Test, CBT, were not employed, as the recruitment did not reflect the spread across all local government areas of the state.

The member representing Ankpa I Lawal Akus, said the house should review the list of the teachers recruited recently to meet the state character.

In her reaction, Cook commended the effort of the lawmakers in ensuring that the education sector in the state developed.

Kano State governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, has pledged to immortalise the late Asma’u Sani, the patient he sponsored for surgical operation in India but died before the departure to the Indian hospital.

The governor made the pledge when he alongside his deputy, Comrade Aminu Abdussalam, paid a condolence visit to the family of the deceased at Alkalawa Quarters in Gwarzo local government area of the state.

Governor Abba said he was deeply saddened by the death of young Asma’u, and described her death as very shocking and pathetic.

He then directed the Imam of the area to secure a plot of land for the construction of either a hospital or an Islamiyya school, which would be named after the late Asma’u.

He further directed that the money set aside for the treatment of the deceased be used to sponsor her parents to Saudi Arabia for lesser hajj (Umra).

The father of the deceased, Malam Sani, who was moved by the honour done to the family by the governor, prayed to Almighty Allah that the election of the governor be affirmed at the Supreme Court.