Author: straightnewsng.com

The rising incidences of kidnapping along the Abuja-Kaduna highway has created a chaotic situation at Idu and Kubwa Train stations in the Abuja, the nation’s capital. Vanguard gathered that the activities of the dreaded kidnappers and armed robbers, operating with sophisticated weapons now make even some of the top brass of the military and security organisations to park their cars and take trains between the two cities. The insecurity on the Abuja-Kaduna road, has forced a lot of travelers to abandon the road, thereby exerting pressure on the train service, with unprecedented large number of passengers moving to the stations,…

Amid calls for the adoption of open ballot system in the election of presiding officers of the 9th National Assembly, two lawmakers in the House of Representatives said Sunday that the lower chamber’s laid down rules could not be disregarded. The lawmakers, Rimamnde Shawulu (PDP-Taraba) and Kehinde Agboola (PDP-Ekiti), made the remarks in separate interviews with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja. According to Shawulu, any attempt to change the House of Representatives’ Standing Orders in the 9th Assembly election without following the due process will be an aberration to the practice. The lawmaker, who got re-elected in the…

Detectives attached to Operation Puff Adder have arrested more 18 notorious kidnap suspects across the country, the Police have said. The police in a statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Frank Mba, also said the detectives recovered a total of 22 AK 47 rifles, five locally-made pistols and a cache of live ammunition. The statement read: “Sequel to the arrest of the ‘spiritual father’ of kidnappers and armed bandits operating in the Northern part of the country, one Mallam Salisu Abubakar, Police detectives attached to Operation Puff Adder, through a series of detailed, intensive and sustained investigative operations,…

The Lamido of Adamawa, Aliyu Mustapha, said weekend that he was detained by the military administration of Muhammadu Buhari after it toppled the civilian administration led by the then President Shehu Shagari in 1983 because he was a commissioner in the civilian government of the then Gongola State. Mustapha gave the explanation while receiving the Programme Manager of Wadata Communication Limited, Zubair Idris, who paid him a courtesy visit after an event in Yola, recalled that the new military regime ordered the detention of all the politicians in government at the time for investigation for alleged corruption. “I was investigated…

Joint Admission Matricualtion Board, JAMB has alerted of fresh plots being deployed by fraudsters to dupe unsuspecting candidates as they await release of the 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, results. In a weekly news bulletin released to the media on Sunday by Dr. Fabian Benjamin, its Head of Media, the board advised candidates to jealously guard their UTME registration numbers and profile codes to avoid falling victim of this latest scam. It also said more than 200 candidates, drawn from seven countries, participated in its Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME. JAMB stated: ”Candidates should know that what these fraudsters…

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State to reject the proposed life pension bill for lawmakers in the state. The bill which was proposed last week by the leader of the House of Assembly Peter Akpe,  will grant life pensions to Speakers, Deputy Speakers and other members. Under the bill, Speakers will go home with N500,000 monthly, deputy speakers will receive N200,000 while 24 other members will each collect N100,000. The House is seeking life pensions for members similar to those “applicable to former Presidents, Vice-presidents, Governors and deputy governors across the…

Dominic Thiem  started slowly and finished brilliantly on Sunday at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. The third seed went down an early break to seventh seed Danil Medvedev of Russia, but won 12 of the last 13 games to take the title 6-4, 6-0. The Austrian became just the fourth player in the past 15 years to lift the title in Barcelona, joining Rafael Nadal, Kei Nishikori and Fernando Verdasco. He’s also the first Austrian winner at this event since Thomas Muster in 1996. Thiem now has 13 ATP Tour titles, nine of which have come on clay. “Winning this…

Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge ran the second fastest marathon in history to win the London Marathon for a fourth time as Britain’s Mo Farah finished fifth. Kipchoge, 34, who broke the world record in Berlin last year, triumphed in two hours two minutes 38 seconds. Farah finished three minutes one second behind Kipchoge, while fellow Briton Callum Hawkins was 10th. Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei, 25, became the youngest female London winner, with Britain’s Charlotte Purdue 10th. Ethiopia’s Mosinet Geremew and Mule Wasihun finished second and third respectively behind Kipchoge, who finished 59 seconds shy of his world record of 2:01:39. Earlier, American…

A one-day retreat for the 29 Nigerian governors-elect will hold in Abuja on Monday, while registration for members commences on Sunday. The summit is to prepare them on how to handle some of the challenges in their incoming administrations, due to be inaugurated on Wednesday, May 29. Organised by the secretariat of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), the retreat expected to be witnessed by the old governors and some of their counterparts from the United States of America will be followed after with another for their spouses. In a statement at the weekend from the NGF Secretariat, the summit is…

An upper Shari’ah court in Tudun Wada, Zaria, Kaduna State has sentenced three rapists to a one-year imprisonment but with an option of N7,000 fine with 20 strokes of cane for their actions. The suspected rapists are Hassan Suleiman, Ibrahim Usman and Adamu Audu, who were alleged to have lured secondary school victims while on their way to school. The presiding judge of the court, Malam Iliyasu Muhammad Umar, ruled that the three suspects who were earlier arraigned before him will serve a one-year jail term or pay N7,000 fine with 20 strokes of cane as deterrent to their actions.…