Author: straightnewsng.com

Reinhard Bonnke, a popular German Pentecostal preacher who singlehandedly sponsored a three-day crusade in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital in Nigeria in 2001, is dead. Aged 79, Mr Bonnke passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family, on December 7, his family said on Saturday in a statement posted on Facebook by Anni Bonnke. The crusade organised by Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) at what is today known as Federal Housing/Akwa Savings Estates, Aka Itiam Road in Uyo local government area had Bonnke as the preacher. “Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, it is with sorrow that the Bonnke Family would…

Fear of reprisals is said to be gripping some Ibos living in the ancient kingdom of Grand Bonny in Bonny local government area of Rivers State over the gruesome murder of Oliver Inoma-Abbey, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) in Orafiete, Anambra State on Monday. Bonny an island community and home to multinational oil and gas firms such the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), Shell Nigeria, Mobil Producing Nigeria Limited, Chevron Plc, among others, is inhabited a large section of Ibos. Inoma-Abbey together with another police officer was murdered by persons suspected to be members of the proscribed terrorist group, Indigenous…

The Akwa Ibom Commissioner of Police, Imohimi Edgal, Thursday, declared a state of emergency on child theft. The commissioner also declared a state of emergency on child abuse, sexual molestation, rape and other related crimes in the state. Of recent, child theft and other crimes involving children and women have been on the increase in the state resulting in many falling victims and others failing to report same to the police for being stigmatised and fear of their life and property. Edgal spoke this during an interactive meeting with the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), representatives of the Ministry of Women…

By Akanimo Sampson Apparently worried by the global economic situation, some concerned legislators of the G20 nations are currently pushing for sustainable economic growth. At a summit in Japan recently, that country’s House of Councillors President Akiko Santo, during the opening session stressed the need to create a virtuous cycle of sustainable economic growth and multilateralism by harmonising all trade measures with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreements. The House of Councillors of the National Diet of Japan, in close cooperation with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), brought together parliamentarians from the world’s 20 major economies at the sixth G20 Parliamentary…

By Akanimo Sampson To mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women last November 25, a Nigerian woman, Adaora, was one of 40 women who participated in a 100 per cent female slam poetry workshop organised by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the local collective Plumes du Sahel in Niger. Adaora who is staying at IOM’s transit centre in Niamey said, “this training has been both a challenge and a relief. It’s inspiring to see women who have been through worse things than I have, opening up and talking about their experiences. Abuse makes you feel very alone,…

After spending 124 days in the Department of the State Security Service (DSS) custody in Abuja, Omoyele Sowore, the convener of #revolutionnow, has been released by DSS on bail. Sowore who is also the publisher of Sahara Reporters was arrested on Saturday, August 3, 2019, by DSS operatives at 1 a.m. ahead of his planned revolution now protest on Monday, August 5, 2019. Report monitored from Sahara Reporters said he was released on Thursday evening after the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered his release for the third time and threatened to jail DSS Director. Recall that Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu…

Former Abia State Governor, Orji Kalu wiped tears from his eyes with a white handkerchief as Justice Mohammed Idris of Federal High Court, Lagos began reading an abridged version of the 228-page judgment. Kalu who was sentenced to 12 years in prison for fraud on Thursday, was also seen asking prison warders, “where are you taking us to?”. A Deputy Chief Whip in the Senate, who appeared shaken, said, “Where are you taking us to now? Please don’t handcuff me. I will follow you.” Kalu’s associate, Udeogu, was sentenced to 10 years in prison while the company which was used…

By Akanimo Sampson Nigeria under the watch of President Muhammadu Buhari’s All Progressives Congress (APC) administration appears to be facing a suppressed financial crisis. According to Menas Associates, oil companies have become the target of the government’s efforts to boost the country’s badly needed revenues. Menas has been helping multinational companies operate in the Middle East, Africa, and other emerging markets since the late 1970s. It is a strategic and political risk consultancy providing actionable intelligence for its clients, from country entry strategies, to due diligence, stakeholder analysis, political risk reports, market assessments, problem solving and exit strategies. The move…

By Akanimo Sampson Data from Mali by the Sahel Women’s Empowerment and Demographic Dividend (SWEDD) tend to show only 1.4 midwives for every 10,000 inhabitants.  According to the source, in 2016 there were 2,657 midwives and obstetric nurses in the entire country. That ratio falls well below the standard of 23 doctors, nurses or midwives per 10,000 people recommended by the World Health Organisation, WHO. In Mali, these services are particularly urgent because of the high number of vulnerable mothers and babies. According to a 2018 demographic survey, some 36 percent of adolescent girls in Mali had already begun childbearing.…

By Akanimo Sampson A gynaecologist in northwest South Sudan, Dr. Joseph Johnson, has said that the country is awash with horrific rape cases. “While I was in the office, they brought me a survivor. They told me she was raped by her own boyfriend,” he recently recalled. Johnson told the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) that the woman had been brutally beaten and required urgent medical attention. “It was serious. Her life was now in danger. We needed to do an urgent operation,” he said, pointing out that cases like this one are horrific – and are all too common.…