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The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, on Tuesday verbally attacked his successor, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, and threatened to expose the governor’s wife “if he (Wike) does not shut up his mouth.” Amaechi, who was visibly angry at the allegation leveled against his wife by the Rivers governor, also described his successor as a thug who could hardly speak good English. On Monday, Wike alleged that each commissioner and local government chairman in Rivers State paid the erstwhile governor’s wife, Judith, N3m and N2m monthly, respectively But when asked to react to this while speaking on the sidelines of an inspection program at the Kaduna Dry Port, Amaechi replied, “By accident of Goodluck Jonathan, I don’t want to attribute it to God, but by the accident of Jonathan, the man takes office and talks rubbish. My wife and family, including my younger brothers and sisters, no one had access to government when I was governor. “Even as mini...

Alleged notorious kidnap kingpin, Chukwudi Onwuamadike (popularly known as Evans), collected an extra $200,000 from one of his victims after claiming part of the $1 million ransom was “old money,” PREMIUM TIMES can report. The victim, who requested not to be named because he did not want publicity, said he paid a total of $1.2 million to Evans and not $1 million as being reported. “He collected 1.2 (million dollars) from me, not 1 million he’s writing,” the victim, who was among the several people kidnapped by Evans in the FESTAC area, told PREMIUM TIMES in an exclusive interview. “Because when he released me, there was an agreement between me and him, the day he was releasing me, he said the money my wife gave him, that like 200,000 was old money, that they did not collect it from her, and that the money must be complete. I told him let him release me let me to go and look for the money,” he agreed. “After one month, he started calling me, he now told me about my ...

The coalition of northern groups, including the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, which gave Igbo residents in the North three-month ultimatum to leave the region, has written to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to facilitate the process of allowing Igbo to leave Nigeria. One of the leaders of the coalition and National President, AYCF, Alhaji Shettima Yerima, confirmed this on the telephone to The PUNCH in Kaduna on Monday. In the open letter, signed by five of the leaders of the groups, the coalition urged the Acting President to ease the exit of the Igbo from Nigeria so that they could have their dream country, Biafra. This, they said, should not be through violent means but in a peaceful manner through a referendum. Those who signed the letter are Yerima; Joshua Viashman (Northern Youth Vanguard); Aminu Adam (Arewa Youth Development Foundation); Abdul-Azeez Suleiman (Northern Emancipation Network) and Nastura Ashir Sharif (Arewa Citizens Action for Change). ...