Author: straightnewsng.com

Chinese Super League club, Hebei China Fortune, are reportedly prepared to meet the €700m release clause of Barcelona’s Argentine wizard, Lionel Messi. Messi recently signed a new long-term deal at the Nou Camp with a €700m release clause. New rules in Chinese football mean any deal would cost Hebei a staggering €1.4bn (£1.2bn). Reports in various European news media said Hebei China Fortune, which signed Javier Mascherano from the Catalan side in January, are preparing another bid for Messi after their first move was rejected. Hebei also signed Ezequiel Lavezzi and reports claimed the two signings were aimed at convincing…

The federal government has announced the appointment of a consortium of banks including Citi Group, Standard Chartered, StanbicIBTC, Whitten-Case and African Practice to handle the $2.5b Eurobond. Kemi Adeosun, Minister of Finance, stated this while briefing journalists on the USD2.5 billion External Borrowing for refinancing. Adeosun speaking on the impact of the use of the Proceeds of the USD500 million issued in November 2017, hinted that the proceeds, about N162.50 billion, were used to redeem Nigerian Treasury Bills, NTBs, which matured in December 2017. She said: ” The immediate impact was a significant drop in the Bid Rates at the Auctions of…

Four suspected robbery suspect were Tuesday killed in a gun battle with operatives of the Anti -Crime Patrol Squad of the Nigeria Police Force in Sapele, Delta State. Andrew Anieamaka, the Delta State Police Command’s spokesman, who confirmed the incident via telephone conversation with Vanguard, said the hoodlums met their waterloo in the early hours of yesterday when they invaded a brothel along Adeola by Crudas road junction in Sapele. A police source stated that the robbery suspects who were on rampage in Sapele and its environs have been on the police wanted list for some time now. “They robbed…

Five policemen allegedly involved in the death of a commercial bus driver in Benin City were Tuesday arrested, the Edo State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Babatunde Kokumo stated. The policemen were alleged to have pushed the bus driver into the upcoming vehicle before the trailer crushed him to death. Though CP Kokumo did not confirm the number of arrested policemen but Vanguard gathered they were five of them currently in detention. The death of the driver identified John sparked protests in some parts of Benin City which led to the burning of five police Hilux vans and killing of three…

A High Court sitting in Yenagoa in Bayelsa State has sentenced to death by hanging a 30-year-old woman for killing her husband. The unfortunate incident occurred on February 4, 2015 at the couple’s residence on Ebisam road at the Akenfa suburb of Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital. The deceased, Henry Gagariga, a lawyer and his wife, Victoria, a staff of the Bayelsa Arts and Culture, both of Bayelsa State origin got married in 2014, though the union was yet to produce any child before the unfortunate incident. Victoria was said to have stabbed Henry on the neck after a misunderstanding…

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has feigned he was unaware that the reinstated Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS, Usman Yusuf was being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, over allegation of corruption. Mohammed was fielding questions from State House correspondents on why the Federal Government decided to upturn the suspension slammed on the Executive Secretary when he was allegedly being investigated by EFCC. “I am not aware that the EFCC is investigating the recently reinstated Executive Secretary of the NHIS. But if that is the case, I don’t think…

The 20-year-old intra-communal crisis that rocked Isuofia town in Aguata local government area of Anambra State was Tuesday resolved following the reconciliation of the two factions and the ultimate election of a new town union Executive Council. Trouble was said to have started in 1997 when a quarter of Isuofia community announced its secession from the town and proclaiming Isuanioma community, an action that led to a breakdown of law and order in the area. During the crisis, more than nine buildings were torched, 36 families fled their homes for fear of attacks, while two persons were alleged to have…

Four Chinese and 16 other persons suspected to be engaged in illegal mining operations at Echara Unuphu, Abakaliki local government area of Ebonyi state have been arrested by officials of the state government and security operatives in the state. Addressing newsmen at the mining site, Dr. Kenneth Ugbala, the Senior Special Adviser to the governor on Internal Security, condemned the activities of illegal miners across the state, noting that the state government would no longer fold its arms and allow the fortunes of the state to end in private pockets. “The future of this state is at stake because of…

Apparently peeved by the state of insecurity in the country, the House of Representatives Wednesday asked President Muhmmadu Buhari to sack Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, and replace him with a more professional officer. This came on a day the Senate threw out the report of Committee on Police Affairs and National Security and Intelligence over recent killings in Benue State, and scolded the committee for writing and presenting what it described as unbalanced and incomplete report. Lawmakers in the House of Representatives, after listening to two separate motions by Mark Gbillah and Nuhu Damburam from Benue and Kano on…

The Senate has summoned the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, to appear before it and explain the reason behind the influx of refugees from the Republic of Cameroon to some border communities in Cross River State and its attendant security fallout. It also called on the authorities to increase military presence and intensify border patrol within the area to prevent further acts of trespass by Cameroonian soldiers, and asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, to urgently liaise with his Cameroonian counterpart to secure the release of innocent Nigerians. Resolutions of the Senate Tuesday were sequel to a…