Gist Arena

Barely a week after report surfaced that the leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau had been killed during a fierce gun battle in Konduga, Borno state, succession crisis has allegedly hit the camp of the insurgents. According to a report by Daily Sun, thirty insurgents lost their lives yesterday, September 25 in Madagali, Adamawa state as they battled over who should succeed Shekau. Some residents in the area said trouble started when some of the sect members suggested they should cease fire and handover their weapons to the Federal Government. Another reason for the gun battle was for the succession of Shekau. One of the residents named Mr Musa Aui said: “From what we learnt, 30 Boko Haram fighters have been killed in Madagali town after a fight ensued between them over whether to surrender their weapons. They just kept shooting themselves freely.” Stephen, another resident who corroborated Musa’s story said there is leadership tussle over who should emerge the new ...

The news coming out of Ekiti State is terrifying, to say the least. All peace loving Nigerians should get really scared. Nigerians will do well to pay close attention to the rumble in the jungle of Ekiti Parapo. Blow the trumpet, people. Sound the alarm, Brothers and Sisters. Trouble is brewing in the underbelly of Ekiti Hills. Hitherto, this quaint little state has known relative peace. In the years that the outgoing Governor has been in office, this sleepy state has trudged along on with life uneventfully. The past three-and-a-half years have seen the trajectory of the Land of Honor bend, little by little, inch by inch, towards progress and development. The State’s outgoing Governor has been accused, perhaps justifiably so, of being an out of touch elitist who fails to feel the pulse of the ordinary people of Ekiti. He has been labeled, rightly or wrongly, a carpetbagger who feels more at home among his fellow out of town friends – the imports from Lagos who allegedly...

In reaction to the collapse of a 6 storey guest house belonging to the Synagogue church which resulted in the death of 115 people ,a human rights group, Vote for Service Initiative has written a strong worded letter dated September 25, to the Lagos State governor . They are demanding the immediate persecution of TB Joshua and accused the government of treating him with leniency based on the ‘Touch not my Anointed.’” excuse. “We are Vote for Service Initiative. We like to remind your good office that, it was in this state your attorney general and commissioner for justice prosecuted and convicted Rev. King to death by hanging for (killing) one of his devotees with ignited fire. It is also the same attorney general office that prosecuted recently Mr. Arowolo to death by hanging for killing his wife with knife and cudgel, how much more the man that (killed) over 115 souls through criminal negligence and brazen impunity,Failure to which we will be left with no other option ...

It appears Mavin records First Lady, Tiwa Savage and Tunji Balogun, her husband are presently experiencing marital crisis. According to reports, the five months old wedding might be hitting the rocks soon. Hip TV claims Tiwa sacked Tunji from being her manager recently, reporting that he is no longer in charge of her calls and he has also stopped accompanying her to events. The report claims one of the event where it became obvious that all was not well between the two was the Africa unplugged event that took place recently in London. Report says they were not together at the event. As at the time of filling this report, they are yet to respond to the mail DailyPost sent to them hours ago. More details shortly… Source

The United States yesterday expressed doubts over claims by the Nigerian military that Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau had been killed in recent clashes with troops. According to a senior State Department official who spoke with reporters, “ the Nigerian government has announced several times that the head of Boko Haram was dead, and every single time, we find out that it is not true. “What I read recently is that Shekau’s lookalike or some Shekau impostor was killed and then I read later that maybe, Shekau himself was killed. I don’t put a lot of weight on those stories until we see more evidence,” the official added, asking not to be identified. The Nigerian Defense Ministry had, on Wednesday, said that Shekau was dead and that one Bashir Mohammed, killed during recent clashes with troops, was a lookalike who had been impersonating him in videos. The announcement makes it the first time that the military high command will be confirming the death of Shekau, after ...

A head of the February 2015 general elections, 6 serving ministers including  Sen. Bala Muhammed (Min. for Federal Capital Territory), Mr. Labaran Maku (Min. of Information), Chief Emeka Wogu (Min. of Labour), Mr. Nyesom Wike ( Min. of State, Education), Dr. Samuel Ortom (Min. of State, Trade, Industry and Investment) and Senator Musiliu Obanikoro ( Min. of State, Defence) are expected to tender their resignations in October to enable them pursue their Governorship aspirations in their various states.     While Mr Wike is bidding to take over from Rivers state Governor Chibuike Amaechi, Sen. Bala Mohammed is said to be gunning for the government house in Bauchi state. Sen. Obanikoro is to contest for Governor of Lagos state while Dr Ortom is to contest for Governor in Benue state. Mr Labaran Maku is gunning for the Nassarawa state governor's seat while Mr Wogu is said to be eyeing the Abia state governor's seat. A source at the Presidency who confirmed t...

The 2015 general elections is surely one to look out for, as more entertainers join the race on a daily basis. Today, it’s the turn of veteran Nollywood actor, Kenneth Okonkwo. The star actor is the latest to declare his intentions to seek political office come 2015. Kenneth Okonkwo, who started from the very early days of Nollywood and has remained relevant through the years, is a native of Nsukka Local Government, Enugu State and he’s seeking to represent Nsukka/Igboeze South Federal Constituency at the National Assembly on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).  Kenneth Okonkwo graduated with a degree in Business Administration from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in Enugu State and also holds a Masters degree in International Law and Diplomacy from the University of Lagos, Akoka.  Aside those qualifications, he also studied Theology at a Bible school, after he rose to stardom as an actor in 1991 when he featured in the movie, Livi...