Author: straightnewsng.com

After the rancorous 2015 general elections, two ex-Nigerian presidents seemed to have buried their hatchets and harped on the virtues of forgiveness and national unity. Before the elections, Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, both Nigerian leaders, had turned to political arch-rivals with the former, a one-time Board of Trustees (BoT) chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) shredding the party’s membership card. It was generally believed that Obasanjo was instrumental to Jonathan’s defeat by President Muhammadu Buhari in that election, thus sparking off era of frosty relationship between both. In a fence-mending mission, Jonathan had on January 20, 2017 visited the…

Federal Government may soon stop multinational oil firms from shipping the crude oil produced in the country outside for refining as a way of boosting local production. Mr. Ibe Kachikwu, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources said government was considering a policy to compel multinational oil and gas firms operating in the country to build refineries in Nigeria. Speaking at the on-going Nigerian International Petroleum Summit, NIPS, Kachikwu stated soon “We would get to a point where Nigeria, definitely, would be a major supplier of refined petroleum products. It just has to happen. Nothing else makes sense. “We are also…

The Indigeneous People of Biafra, IPOB, has decried what it described as the worst form of judicial immorality and conspiracy in continuous release of Boko Haram suspects and detention of peaceful IPOB members. Federal High Court sitting in Wawa Cantonment, Kainji, Niger State over the weekend freed no fewer than 475 suspected Boko Haram members to be rehabilitated by their state governments. Reacting to the development, the IPOB, in a statement by Comrade Emma Powerful, its Media and Publicity Secretary, noted with dismay the release of another group of Boko Haram suspects ”while innocent IPOB family members are still being…

Professional surveyors and estate valuers under the auspices of Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers have urged governments at all levels to provide affordable accommodation to low-income earners through the provision of subsidy and mortgage loans. Alao Shobanke, chairman of the institution made the call Monday at a press briefing in Abeokuta, Ogun state, asserted that if housing sector enjoys patronage from governments, it is capable of providing a country with substantial income. Shobanke said: “For low income earners, who can build, buy or even rent, they need to be assisted substantially. Government needs to subsidise the provision of housing accommodation…

¨I have a baby now at 19 years and I don’t have anything to take care of my baby girl. I am begging them to help so I can have a hand work. I will appreciate it so that I won’t suffer with this little child,” a Libyan returnee wept profusely. Vivian Imunero, who is among the 65 Libyan returnees, while speaking to Vanguard, appealed to both the Delta and Edo state governors for help. An indigene of Delta state, she was said to have lived in a village close to Benin City with her parents before traveling to Libya…

Two persons were weekend arraigned before a magistrate court in Benin, for allegedly defrauding 11 Reverend fathers of N42 million through their wonder bank business. Mr Greg Okojie and Monday Ahunwa were said to have lured the Reverend Fathers to the Wonder Bank by paying high interest rate on their deposit. The priests were said to have been introduced to the operation of the Wonder Bank by a branch manager of a new generation bank, Mr. Greg Okojie. It was gathered that Father Fidelis Arhedo was first introduced to the Wonder Bank supposedly owned by Monday Ahunwan and deposited N13…

Soldiers of the 144 Battalion, Asa, Ukwa West council area, Abia State, have arrested two robbery suspects who dispossessed a man of an undisclosed sum of money along Ikot Ekpene road, Aba. Eyewitnesses told Vanguard that the victim whose identity could not be ascertained, had withdrawn money from a new generation bank when the robbery suspects who operated with a motorcycle snatched the bag containing the money from him. However, luck ran out on the robbers when sympathisers alerted an Army patrol van which was passing through the area. The soldiers pursued and arrested the robbers as they made to…

Suspected militants in Obon Ebot village in Etim Ekpo local government area of Akwa Ibom State Sunday allegedly captured and beheaded a soldier during a bloody shoot-out between them and a combined team of soldiers, Department of State Service (DSS), the police and other para-military officers. Straightnews gathered that JTF officers stormed the village to arrest a wanted militants’ leader popularly called ‘Aboy Ikpor’ and his gang, who led the Ikot Ekpene prison break, in which no fewer than 40 inmates escaped in December 2017. It is reliably learnt that during the raid of their hideout by the security operatives,…

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has raised alarm of threats to his life over the recently enacted Open Grazing Prohibition law by his administration. Ortom, who spoke Saturday in Makurdi, said he had already reported the matter to security agencies for them to arrest those behind.. The governor said: “There are threats to my life because of the grazing law we enacted in the state to ensure peaceful coexistence between our local farmers and herdsmen. “It is on record. I have also reported the matter to the security agencies that one Gilolo and another of the Miyetti Allah were…

His Eminence, Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie, the retired Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, has warned the nation’s leaders to tread softly because there is anger in the nation, arguing that even leading members of the ruling All Progressives Congress at the centre have demonstrated commendable candour by openly acknowledging that the hopes of 2015 have been shattered. In his latest open letter to the nation, Cardinal Okogie began on a sporty note, reminding the nation that late football commentator, Ernest Okonkwo, was fond of using an Igbo proverb while giving minute-by-minute description of football matches on the radio. “Anytime there was…