Author: straightnewsng.com

Zambian authorities have arrested and detained a Nigerian pastor for allegedly trafficking 26.29 kilogramme of ephedrine, a medication and stimulant drug, a spokesperson said. Isaac Amata, 42, is known for having predicted that President Edgar Lungu would win Zambia’s 2016 general elections. Amata was arrested by anti-drug officers on Wednesday upon arrival at the Kenneth Kaunda International Airport in Lusaka, the country’s capital, according to Drug Enforcement Commission spokesperson Theresa Katongo. She said the Nigerian pastor was arrested upon arrival at the airport from Nigeria aboard a South African Airways plane. Katongo said the suspect is currently in police custody…

Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions, NASU, has vowed not to resume work until the Federal Government settles the N9 billion arrears owed its members. The Joint Action Committee, JAC, of the three non-teaching staff in the universities, comprising NASU, Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU and the National Association of Academic Technologists, NAAT, had embarked on strike December last year over non-payment of Earned Allowances, among other things. Speaking Tuesday in Abuja, Comrade Peter Adeyemi, General Secretary of NASU, said the union would sustain the on-going strike in research and development institutions across the country. Adeyemi stated…

Oil prices were firm on Wednesday, receiving ongoing support from healthy economic growth and supply restrictions led by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia. NAN reports that Brent crude oil futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at 70 dollars a barrel, up four cents from Tuesday. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at 64.59 dollars a barrel, up 12 cents. In the latest sign of healthy global economic growth, Japanese manufacturing activity expanded at the fastest pace in almost four years in January, a survey showed on Wednesday. Economic growth is translating…

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Tuesday, said it earned $239.10 million from crude oil export and gas in November 2017. The NNPC, in a statement on its Monthly Financial and Operations Report for November 2017, stated that the crude oil and gas export figure in November was 25.68 per cent lower than the previous month’s performance. Giving a breakdown of the figures, the NNPC declared that crude oil export sales contributed $113.97 million, or 47.7 per cent of the dollar transactions compared with $227.83 million contribution in the month of October 2017. It added that export gas sales amounted…

The House of Representatives is considering a law to discourage international medical trip by public office holders in the country. This is against the background of the terrible state of Nigeria’s health-care system due to government neglect and the huge drain on foreign exchange caused by the unchanging appetite of Nigerians for medical treatment overseas. It is a ”Bill for an Act to Regulate International Trip for Medical Treatment by Public Officers to Strengthen the Health Institutions for Efficient Service Delivery and for Related Matters”. The bill, which was consolidated with a similar proposal Tuesday, is being sponsored by Sergius…

An Osun Magistrate Court sitting in Ile-Ife, Wednesday, remanded a tipper lorry driver in prison for allegedly killing a passenger. The Magistrate, Mr. Olalekan Ijiyode, ordered that the accused, Makinde Mutairu, 35, be remanded in prison custody pending the consideration of his bail application. The Prosecutor, Insp. Emmanuel Abdullahi told the court that the accused on January 13, 2018, knocked down and killed the motorcyclist at Akeredolu village near Ile-Ife. According to him, the accused drove a Bedford lorry with number plates: OYO XE 494 BDT dangerously on a public highway and without a driver’s licence. The prosecutor explained that…

The police and Taraba government have disagreed over claim that a helicopter loaded with arms landed in Jibu, a village in Wukari local government area of the state last weekend. Mr. Dave Akinremi, Commissioner of Police in Taraba at a press briefing in Jalingo described Tuesday the report as false, misleading, unfounded and a deliberate attempt to misinform the people of the state. However, Mr. Bala Dan-Abu, Senior Special Assistant to Governor Darius Ishaku on Media and Publicity insisted that the Taraba State government still stood by its earlier statement. “We also have our channels of getting information, and I…

The House of Representatives on Tuesday changed the order of elections ahead of the 2019 general elections. Early this month, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had released a timetable that the National Assembly and presidential elections are scheduled to hold first. In the revised order by the representatives, presidential election will now come last, as against the current trend of holding the presidential poll first. The amendment was endorsed by members when the House considered and approved further amendments to the Electoral Act, 2010. A total of 156 clauses were amended in the Act. The recommendations were made by the…

Pastor Benny Hinn, a renowned US evangelist, has prophesied that there would be a major change in Nigeria’s political space in the next few weeks. Hinn made the declaration while speaking as a guest preacher during a church programme hosted by Rev. Tom Amenkhienan of Christ Embassy, Abuja recently. “God is sending an anointing for authority. God is exalting His name in the nation, Nigeria. God will do it in the next few weeks. God is going to bring change into the political system of Nigeria. “Fast for three weeks and when you fast, target the individuals you want to…

Airtel is said to have pulled out of the race to acquire the properties of defunct Etisalat now known as 9Mobile, StraightNews has gathered. Initially, industry experts saw airtel’s effort to acquire a new telecom service provider as a boon that would have launched it from the third to the first telecom service provider in the country. It was believed that if aritel had successfully purchased the infrastructure owned by 9Mobile, it would have become the number one biggest telecom provider, an effort that would have skyrocketed airtel’s customer base to 85.5 million subscribers both on voice and internet packages.…