Author: straightnewsng.com

The All Progressives Congress governorship candidate in the 2019 general election in Akwa Ibom State, Nsima Ekere has gone to Supreme Court to reclaim his purported lost mandate. The Appeal Court in Calabar Cross River State had on November 14, affirmed the victory of Udom Emmanuel of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as elected Governor of Akwa Ibom in the March 9, 2019 governorship election. Ekere who was awarded N500,000 cost in favour of the respondent had accused the Appeal Court judges of abandoning the substance for technical judgment. In the appeal, which was filed on November 25, 2019, the APC…

The Akwa Ibom State Police Command has apprehended three murder suspects for allegedly killing a middle-aged man from Afaha Atai in Ibesikpo Asutan local government area. The suspects who are Shehu Ule, Aliyu Umar and Neusa Adamu allegedly stabbed one Peter Edem Asuquo in his farm to death on November 30 at 9.30 a.m. The three persons who are suspected cattle rearers were said to have killed their victim at Shelter Afrique Extension. SP Odiko MacDon, the state Police Public Relations Officer, in a press release on Tuesday, said on the strength of the killing, the Commissioner of Police, Imohimi Edgal, ordered…

An All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker in the 26-member Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly has resumed law-making duty. Effiong Johnson, a member representing Mbo State Constituency in the seventh assembly, will compete the law-making business with the 24 members of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in the house. Already, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, is yet to conduct re-run election in the Essien Udim State Constituency for Nse Ntuen of APC and Esse G. Umoh of PDP. The Speaker of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Aniekan Bassey administered oaths of Office and Allegiance to the Mbo lawmaker at 12:35 p.m after…

Nine people of an Idaho Falls family representing four generations were killed in a plane crash in South Dakota during their hunting expedition. Among the victims were two brothers- Jim and Kirk Hansen, executives and founders of health and wellness company Kyäni Inc., who were on the single-engine Pilatus PC-12 with their father, Jim Hansen Sr., when it crashed after take-off last weekend in Chamberlain, South Dakota. Also killed in the crash were Jim Hansen Jr.’s son, Jake Hansen, and Jake’s son, Houston. Kirk Hansen’s sons, Stockton and Logan, and his sons-in-law, Kyle Naylor and Tyson Dennert, died in the…

Four correctional centres in Akwa Ibom State are overstretched in facilities due to the large number of inmates awaiting trial. Currently, the centres with a capacity for 1,336 inmates are occupied by 2,559. A breakdown shows that Uyo correctional centre has capacity for 613 inmates but currently accommodating 1,282; Ikot Ekpene centre has 400 capacity but accommodates 756 inmates; Eket centre has 123 capacity but now holds 365 inmates, while Ikot Abasi centre has 200 capacity but has 156 inmates. Briefing the press on the 1st Inmates’ Rehabilitation Concert Unity For Success Security Week 2019, the State Controller of the…

Argentina superstar Lionel Messi, Monday, clinched his world-record sixth Ballon d’Or at the Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris. At the star-studded ceremony, the FC Barcelona star who was crowned the world’s best player for the first time in 2015 saw off strong competition from the likes of Liverpool’s Virgil Van Dijk, Sadio Mane and his long-time rival, Cristiano Ronaldo. With this award, he has taken his Ballon d’Or tally to six and has become the most successful player since the inception of the award, surpassing Cristiano Ronaldo, who had five such awards to his name. Notably, Lionel Messi had also…

By Akanimo Sampson The ongoing ordeal of the Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, is currently stoking a fresh unease in the Niger Delta, Nigeria’s main oil and gas region as the armed rebels in the vastly oil-polluted region are divided on the matter. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has interrogated the embattled airline chief over an alleged $44.9 million wire deals. Onyema has been placed on administrative bail and remains under surveillance. Among others, Onyema in the unsealed indictment by the United States purchased an armoured Lexus LX570 ($204,000); Rolls Royce ($180,000); and Mercedez Benz ($88,500) with…

By Akanimo Sampson A new report by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) says the consequences of the occupation by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) are still being felt in many rural areas where agricultural production was used as both a source of political propaganda and income, or destroyed as the group was forced out. ISIL occupied large swathes of Iraqi territory between 2014 and 2017.  It is estimated that the group’s brutal three-year occupation reduced Iraq’s agricultural capacity by 40 percent. Head of IOM Iraq’s Community Stabilisation Unit, Siobhan Simojoki, said “it is necessary to…

By Akanimo Sampson More than 150 Bangladeshi migrants including conflict wounded survivors of failed sea crossings to Europe and former detainees have returned home from Libya. They returned on Thursday with the assistance of the International Organisation for Migration’s (IOM) Voluntary Humanitarian Return (VHR) programme. The flight with 152 men aboard left Misrata on Wednesday bound for Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport where they were met by IOM Bangladesh staff. The Organisation worked closely with the government of Bangladesh and the Libyan authorities to facilitate their safe return. Mohammed Akmal, 38, who suffered shrapnel wounds during an airstrike on the…

A 13-man Ministerial Project Coordination Committee has been set up by the Ministry of Police Affairs to recruit policemen and implement new policies to end security challenges in the country. This follows approval the Presidency granted the ministry for the recruitment of 400,000 policemen for the Nigeria Police Force to address its manpower shortage. This is against the backdrop of the ongoing legal battle between the Police Service Commission (PSC) and the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) over the recruitment of police personnel. Already, Mohammed Dingyadi, the police affairs minister, has inaugurated the committee whose members are drawn from the ministry…