Author: straightnewsng.com

By Akanimo Sampson In Akwa Ibom State, one of the big oil and gas states in Nigeria, with a profile of more than N7 billion internally generated revenue as at the first quarter of 2018, there is a community in Etinan local government area where school pupils are daily exposed to risk in their frantic bid to access basic education. Following the recommendations of the Akilu Commission of Inquiry into the administrative structure of the then South Eastern State, Etinan local government area was created in 1976 out of the defunct Uyo Division with Etinan as its headquarters. The area…

Two Dutch have been sentenced to death by Moroccan court over the accidental killing of a medical student in 2017, a lawyer for the victim’s family said Saturday. Two years ago Edwin Gabriel Robles Martinez and Shardyone Girigorio Semerel allegedly opened fire on a cafe in the tourist hub of Marrakech. They had apparently been aiming at the cafe’s owner, but instead killed the student and wounded two other people, local media reported. At the time local officials said the shooting was a “settling of accounts” that was “directly linked to a criminal network which has ramifications in some European…

By Akanimo Sampson The coup in Sudan was hatched to foil transition to democracy in the country, security sources have said. The country’s army chief and at least a dozen high-ranking army officers and Islamists have been arrested in a second coup plot. Sudan’s military is insisting that it was a plot to restore the party of ousted autocrat President Omar al-Bashir to power, who is despised for his iron-fisted rule and repression on women. According to the military, “failed attempt aims to abort our glorious revolution and to return the former National Congress regime to power, and to disrupt…

The Federal High Court in Abuja, Friday, ordered the Federal Government to proscribe Islamic Movement in Nigeria, IMN, otherwise known as Shiites’. The Shi’ites have been protesting the continued detention of their leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky despite several court orders granting him bail. El-Zakzaky, who is facing trial for culpable homicide and breach of peace among others, has been in detention since 2015. According to the PUNCH newspapers, Justice Nkeonye Maha issued the order in a ruling in which she also designated the activities of the Shiite’ organisation in any part of Nigeria “as acts of terrorism and illegality.” The court…

By Akanimo Sampson Worried by the negative effect of open grazing on the security of lives, property and food production in Nigeria, the House of Representatives is currently bracing to criminalise it. The move is coming as a pregnant mother of two children was among three others allegedly killed by herdsmen in Plateau State on the night of July 14 and morning of July 15. Margaret Wakili, a 27-year-old from Ancha village, was allegedly slain on her farm at about 10 a.m. on July 15, community leaders said. The herdsmen allegedly attacked the communities of Ancha, Tafigana, Kperie, Hukke and…

Eminent and deserving Akwa Ibom indigenes at home and in the Diaspora are to be conferred with icons’ awards on September 20, this year, the Governing Council of Akwa Ibom Icons Awards has stated. Known as AKIA 2019, the programme also tagged Dakkada Plus and being the fourth season has commenced the public/institutional nomination of prospective awardees in 10 categories which lasted from July 22 – 26, 2019, while verification of claims will begin from July 29 to August 9, 2019. Announcement of the best five nominees/final voting in the different 10 awards categories is slated for August 12 –17, compilation…

Former Super Eagles keeper and captain, Vincent Enyeama is eager to return to top-flight football with French Ligue 1 side Dijon FCO. Enyeama Enyeama Reports monitored in France stated that Enyeama who left the Super Eagles unceremoniously will undergo trials at Dijon with the hope of continuing his career which took a hit after he was dropped by Lille in 2018. His case was not also helped by an injury which laid him off for almost a year. The 36-year-old Enyeama was part of the 2013 Super Eagles that won the AFCON in 2013 and it was glaring that his…

By Akanimo Sampson A new report from Maritime Strategies International (MSI) says rapid decarbonisation of global energy supplies will have radical implications for the global shipping industry. “Vessel selection will be critical, requiring divestment from sectors with the greatest exposure to fossil fuels’’, the report said. The consequences for shipping markets of a major shift in energy consumption away from hydrocarbons and towards renewables and biofuels is the subject of the report prepared by MSI on behalf of the European Climate Foundation that projects two demand frameworks – Reduction and Reference – designed to provide broad narrative and structure to…

A total of 1,020,519 candidates, who sat for the 2019 May/June WASSCE for schools, obtained credits and above in a minimum of five subjects including English Language and Mathematics. Recall that Demianus G. Ojijeogu, WAEC Nigeria’s Head of Public Affairs, broke the news via the council’s official twitter page on Thursday. The statement said: “Candidates who are not indebted to the council will be able to access and check their results online, using the results checker pin on their smart identity cards used during the conduct of the examination.” Giving a breakdown of the results on Friday, Mr. Olu Adenipekun,…

By Akanimo Sampson Apparently shaken by the tough stance of the Yoruba people of South West Nigeria on the killer Fulani herdsmen in their region, the Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF) has dared President Muhammadu Buhari, insisting that herdsmen living outside Northern Nigeria have to return home in their best interest. Afenifere, a socio-cultural organisation of the Yoruba ethnic nationality had warned that the Yoruba will no longer tolerate the menace of members of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) in any part of Western Nigeria. Concerned about the safety of the herdsmen, the northern elders confronted President…