Gist Arena

No fewer than 10 persons were burnt beyond recognition in a Fuel tanker accident that occurred at the Felele area in Lokoja, Kogi state earlier today. Most of the victims were passengers in an 18-seater commercial bus. FRSC officials attribute the accident to head-on collision between the commercial bus which was coming from Abuja and the petrol tanker that was coming from the opposite direction. See more photos below

IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, was in Ebonyi state today and he received a rousing welcome from members of his group. See more photos below

The six students of the Lagos State Model College, Igbonla, Epe, who were kidnapped on May 25th by unknown gunmen, have regained their freedom. The kidnappers of the students released them in Ajakpa Community in Ese Odo Local Government Area of Ondo State. They are currently at the Ondo State Police Command headquarters in Akure, the state capital. Photo Credit to Dr Samson Akindele

Fresh facts have emerged on how the release of the six Igbonla Model College students was secured on Friday at Ajamkpa in Ese-Odo Local Government of Ondo State. PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the governments of Ondo, Ogun, Delta and Lagos states began negotiations with the kidnappers 10 days ago when information came out that the students were kept at the creeks in the riverine communities of Ondo State. The students, Peter Jonah, Isiaq Rahmon, Adebayo George, Judah Agbausi, Pelumi Philips and Farouq Yusuf, were kidnapped from their state-owned school on May 25. The Ondo State Deputy Governor, Agboola Ajayi, who is also from the area, was said to have led the negotiations with the militants, on behalf of the Lagos State Government. “I know the Ondo State Deputy Governor, Mr. Agboola Ajayi who is from the waterside area met with some leaders in the area and a negotiation was made,” a source at the Ondo State Government House, said. He said Mr. Agboola made seve...

T he Chief Ralph Uwazurike -led Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB and the Biafran Independent Movement, BIM yesterday slammed the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, and its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu over its stance that there would be no governorship election in Anambra by November this year. Uwazurike who spoke in Onitsha through its MASSOB-BIM Leader for Anambra south senatorial zone, chief Arinze Igbani asked IPOB and its leader to desist henceforth from instilling fear into people’s mind concerning the election.

The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has reacted to a media report alleging that a civil servant in Kwara State was sacked for reportedly criticising him on Facebook. The report on the social media, which gave the name of the civil servant as Biodun Baba, said he was arraigned in court on Thursday for calling Mr. Saraki “a bastard”, but that the charges were later dropped. Mr. Saraki, Friday, said on Facebook that the report was “entirely untrue”. “As a public servant who has subjected myself to the service of my country, I face criticism everyday from many quarters,” he wrote. “However, this does not deter me. It never has. I learn from the constructive criticisms, and continue to work with my colleagues in the Senate to pass our legislative agenda for all Nigerians. “I use social media. As such, I am a firm believer in freedom of speech and the use of social media to air out views. “Throughout my time in public office, I have never attempted to stifle a...

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo declared open the 16th conference for the Speakers and Presiding Officers of Parliaments from across the Commonwealth’s Africa Region, which held in Abuja on Tuesday July 25th. At the meeting, Osinbajo mocked his physical stature while reflecting on various newspaper headlines that have over time captioned their news items that he has positioned himself to battle with the leadership of the Senate and that of the House of Representatives. According to Osinbajo, anyone who sees the combined sizes of Saraki and Dogara viz-a-viz his own would know that fighting with these men would only mean a suicide mission for him. "If you follow the news here for example, you would regularly be confronted especially in recent weeks by exclusive and breaking news stories reporting several different issues of conflict between the Executive and the Legislature. I will pick just one, a particularly intriguing report in one of our popular newspapers with the...

A 14-year-old Obiamaka Orakwue has been raped and killed in Lagos for refusing the love advances of some hoodlums in her neighbourhood. The Junior Secondary School (JSS) student was attacked by some boys, who scaled the fence into her parent’s Abule Ado residence while she was at home. According to the Nation newspaper, Obiamaka’s mother – Mrs. Orakwue – said she was contacted by some of their neighbours, who saw the boys jumping out of their compound. She said the neighbours called her after they knocked on the gate to be sure she was safe but got no response. The woman said she left her place of work immediately and rushed home only to find her daughter gasping for breath with blood in her private part. She said: “I was at work when I got a call from our neighbor that they saw some boys jumping out from the fence of our compound. They said my daughter was not responding to knocks on the gate and it was locked from inside. “I was worried because my daughte...

A former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode has said that if Nigeria cannot be restructured, let it disintegrate into smaller independent entities. Fani-Kayode said this in reaction to the National Assembly’s rejection of the proposal to devolve more constitutional powers from the centre to the states which would have kicked-off the process of restructuring Nigeria in earnest. He urged Nigerians to understand that restructuring the country can never be achieved through the 1999 constitution or the current National Assembly. According to him, the system was rigged and designed to protect and preserve itself, adding that and the core north effectively had a power of veto in the National Assembly which it will always exercise in order to block any form of restructuring. Fani-Kayode wrote on his Facebook page: “For those commentators in this forum who have never participated in or understand Nigerian politics but who tend to speak and act as if they are the only ones ...

Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, has disclosed that he has not spoken with President Muhammadu Buhari in the last two years. Fayose, who is a known critic of the President, said he refused to speak with the President’s security chief to whom his calls to the Presidential Villa were diverted, because he considered it an “insult”. Speaking with The Interview Magazine, he said: “Well, we met twice or so during the Council of State meetings. There is nothing personal. I represent Ekiti State, he represents Nigeria. That is the basis of our interaction. Nothing personal.” Asked if he had said as much as ‘hello’ to the President, Fayose added: “No.” “For me, during our meeting, whenever any issue arose and I felt I should make a contribution, I raised my hand and spoke. That is it. “I remember I tried to call him several times before he took ill. Then, there was this day I called again and the switchboard told me that any call from me must be diverted to Presid...

Former Special Assistant to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on New Media, Reno Omokri, has visited the Abuja House in London, where President Muhammadu Buhari is currently staying. Omokri posted images of himself in front of the building and said he was a “pilgrim”. He wrote on his Twitter page: “If pilgrims to Mecca can get dollars at concessionary rate of ₦200 to $1, I also demand mine because I am a pilgrim to Abuja House, London!” Credit To DailyPostng

Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State has alleged that former President, Olusegun Obasanjo was aware of the health issues of his successor, the late Umaru Yar’Adua before the 2007 presidential election. Fayose claimed that Obasanjo insisted on Yar’Adua despite his health challenge because he wanted a stooge he can control as President. The Ekiti State Governor was the head of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP’s National Committee, which searched for the party’s presidential candidate in the 2007 election. Speaking with The Interview Magazine, Fayose said Yar’Adua told him that he was not healthy enough to become president. The governor said most members of the committee, who were governors at the time, wanted ex-Kaduna State governor, Ahmed Makarfi as the party’s presidential candidate. Fayose said, “As a loyal Obasanjo boy then, I went to Obasanjo and told him that this committee that was set up, everybody seemed to prefer Makarfi except me and one other person a...

The council of chiefs in Nri community in Aniocha Local Government Area of Anambra has threatened to institute legal action against the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, for allegedly committing a taboo in their community. The Personal Assistant to the monarch of Nri community, Eze Obidiegwu Onyesoh, Ifeanyi Onyesoh, who spoke to journalists in the community today, said Kanu along with his wife and supporters stormed the community on July 19th without prior information to the monarch. Onyesoh said on July 18th, some persons said to be supporters of Nnamdi Kano visited the monarch to verbally inform them that Kanu was coming for a visit. He said he was the one that received them and he told them to go back and return with a written letter seeking for an appointment. Onyesoh said the monarch was surprised to hear the next day that Kanu had arrived the town and paid a visit to one Mr. Shadarack Mbanefo who is a subject to the monarch.  “I was...