Metro Nigeriana

Suspected billionaire kidnapper, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, a.k.a. Evans, on Wednesday filed a fundamental rights enforcement action before the Lagos Federal High Court in Lagos, urging the court to order the police to charge him to court or release him immediately. Joined as respondents in the said suit marked FHC/L/CS/1012/2017 are the Nigeria Police Force, Commissioner of Police, Lagos State and the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Lagos State Police Command,      in the suit filed on his behalf by a Lagos-based lawyer, Olukoya Ogungbeje, the suspected kidnapper is seeking a court order directing the respondents to immediately charge him to court if they had any case against him in accordance with sections 35 (1) (c) (3) (4) (5) (a) (b) and 36 of the Constitution. He is on the alternative seeking for an order compelling the respondents to immediately release him unconditionally in the absence of any offence that will warrant his being charged to court. Evan...

Former president Goodluck Jonathan has reacted to a statement credited to Kaduna State governor Malam Nasir El-Rufai where he said ‘”What President Goodluck Jonathan did was to take N2bn each from the Ecological Fund and gave to some PDP states. Any PDP state that was not his friend, like Kano and Kwara, didn’t get.” A statement released by Ikechukwu Eze, Media Adviser to Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, titled “ON EL-RUFAI’S LIES AGAINST JONATHAN ON THE SHARING OF THE ECOLOGICAL FUND” reads: “That Malam Nasir El-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State has an incurable knack for lying has been proven by his own boss, Former President Olusegun Obasanjo who described El-Rufai in his book-My Watch Volume 2 as follows: “Nasir’s penchant for reputation savaging is almost pathological. Why does he do it? He is brilliant and smart. I grant him that also. Very early in my interaction with him, I appreciated his talent and brilliance. At the same time, I recognised his weaknesses; the worst being his inability ...

The visit which was a part of the activities marking the second anniversary of the Muhammad Buhari’s administration was essentially to interact with traders to get first hand information on the cost of goods and other food items in the market. Osinbajo arrived the market at about 3:10 pm to the cheers of the traders who shouted “Osibaba, APC” and exited the market after about 40 minutes. While pricing some food items which included fish, onions, rice and beans, the Acting President also received complaints from the traders who said that the cost of renting shops was high. A fish seller who sought government’s intervention to reduce the cost of the shop said it was as high as N250,000 per annum. She also complained that the prices of locally smoked fish had gone high just as the imported ones had also skyrocketed. Similarly, a rice seller, Alhaji Nasiru Maiyaki Kuryfi also complained of inadequate shop space. He said that the management of the market was yet to complete the shops alr...

Thirteen years after dropping out of Harvard University to work on Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday finally got his degree -- well, sort of. Zuckerberg returned to the university where he launched what would become the world's biggest social network, and basked in the spotlight by receiving an honorary doctor of laws degree and addressing the 2017 commencement. His speech capped a nostalgic visit for the 33-year-old billionaire, which included a visit to his old dorm room. "Mom, I always told you I'd come back and get my degree," read the caption of a picture he posted of him posing with his honorary diploma and his parents. Facebook -- now one of the biggest tech firms, with nearly two billion members worldwide -- grew out of a website he created on campus. He left Harvard in May 2004, according to his Facebook profile. In his address, which he said he'd been working on "for a long time," Zuckerberg urged graduates of his alma mater...

Outgoing U.S. President, Barack Obama who broke down in tears has recalled one of his worst days while serving his 8 year tenure which ends January 20. While reflecting on his legacies in a series of exit interviews, he said that the day he met with the parents of victims of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 the toughest day of his presidency. President Barack Obama cries over shooting of school children “I still consider the day I traveled up to Newtown to meet with parents and address that community as the toughest day of my presidency. “It’s the only time I ever saw Secret Service cry at an event. So it was brutal.” Obama said in an interview which will be aired on January 15. On other occasions while recalling the incidence which climed 20 children and 6 others, Obama himself have been moved to tears Obama cried while delivering a statement the day of the massacre, at an interfaith vigil in Newtown. He also cried at the White House last January while announcing ...

  The Nigerian Army said on Wednesday that it had recovered more suspected Boko Haram terrorists’ items during a mop-up operation around Camp Zairo in Sambisa forest. Maj. – Gen. Lucky Irabor, the Theater Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, stated this while briefing newsmen in Maiduguri. Irabor said that the items included a pair of black uniform with camouflage design often used by security guards of Abubakar Shekau in his videos. “On Jan. 5, at about 1000hrs, our troops conducted a mop-up operation around Camp Zairo general area and recovered additional Boko Haram terrorists’ items. “They included a pair of black uniform with camouflage design on the edges, a précis on motar operation written in Arabic, one big size of the Qur’an, and 4 notebooks containing names of terrorists, “he said. ” The items also include a list of the terrorists locs, a list of IED materials and method of preparation and breakdown of quantities of arms and ammunition issued to their members. “There were...

What Ikechukwu must have said to trigger such war of words on himself still remains a mystery as the aggrieved parties made no mention of it in their social media rants. However, in a bid to defend her brother after Ikechukwu aired his opinions about Joy’s brother, the latter took to her Instagram page to hurl unprintable words on the rapper. As if that was not enough, Ikechukwu’s ex girlfriend, Sarah Ofili, also joined forces with Joy on her Instagram page to declare war on the rapper, boasting that she and her friends would wage war on him since he has declared it initially.

fellas a day like any other on the 12 of January, 2012, everyone woke up in Data Kaduna preparing to go about their normal usual business when boom! Bomb went off killing many, maiming many and setting the homes ablaze, pandemonium, chaos everywhere. Little did the family of the Abdullahi’s know that trouble has just began. Abdulrazak Abdullahi and his sister Aishat Abdullahi were the only survivor of in their family. Little did they know that this attack was religiously motivated. They lost their father, mother and two of their siblings during the bomb attack and later discovered that some people hid themselves under the bomb blast to murder their parents. Luckily for them they were not in the scene of the bomb blast. Later, when life began to return to normalcy they came home to start their lives all over, it was then they discovered that it was because of their conversion from Islam to Christianity they were been attacked, as they started getting all kinds of threat and they...

The gunmen who abducted a Catholic Priest in Delta on Friday last week have demanded N20m as ransom. Fr. Jude Onyebadi, the Parish Priest of SS Peter and Paul Catholic Church, Issele-Azagba, was allegedly abducted by three gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen at his pineapple farm located between Ubulu-Uku and Issele-Uku communities. Sources close to the priest told our correspondent on Monday that the captors had established contact with church and made their demands known even as the police command in the state claimed its personnel were closing in on the suspects. Eyewitnesses said the hoodlums stormed the farm command-style and immediately went for the cleric, and dragged him into the bush and whisked him away to unknown destination. One of the sources said, “Father was kidnapped by three armed men who were dressed and looked like Fulani herdsmen. Before help could come he had already been dragged into the bush from where we have not heard from him till today (Monday)....

The debut of the Mavrodi Mondial Moneybox (MMM) in Kenya and Ghana, approximately 48 hours after its activities in Nigeria were suspended for a month, has caused increased panic among Nigerian MMM participants. Chiamaka Ugorji, the wife of Chuddy Ugorji, a leading MMM Nigeria promoter, attempted to calm nerves by writing an open letter to participants, but this failed to reassure Nigerians that their investments were safe. Some individuals, who spoke to newsmen on Monday in Abuja, shared their thoughts on the issue. A civil servant, Charity Okafor, said “I participated in the scheme twice by investing N500,000 and one million naira respectively and I got my money back with the large interest. “However, I felt I should not participate in the scheme any longer and I am lucky I had people around me who convinced me not to reinvest. “I know I would have turned into a crazy woman if I had money there during this suspension,” Okafor said. Ebube Okoh, a housewife, told pressmen that she...

The sad story of the Enaghagbon family in Benin City, South South of Nigeria, who resides at No. 12 Omoruyi Street, Benin City. It was a tale of blood during the governorship election of 2007 that eventually saw the emergence of Comrade Adams Oshiomole as the governor, who fought very hard at the election tribunal and court of appeal to reclaim his mandate that was subverted by the then Obasanjo –led federal government. Mr. Eric osarodion Enoghayiagbon who was a chieftain of one of the political parties PDP found himself and his household in the middle of political crossfire because of his stands on the election as he confront the political leaders for the attacked by gangs of thugs that was  used for the killing of three people at oba akenzua primary school polling unite, Luckily he managed to escape with his family, when ask how he managed to escape Mr. Enoghayiagbon thanked God and thank some person (whose name is withheld) for promptly giving the information so he could e...

Players and officials of the Super Falcons have been paid various sums of money as approved by the Federal Government after the Nigeria Football Federation received the sums on Friday. “The bank accounts of the players and officials are being credited as we speak. They will all receive credit alerts of the monies due to them, as released by the Government, before the end of the day,” NFF’s Head of Women’s Football, Ruth David, said. The monies were for the Super Falcons’ participation at the 10th Women Africa Cup of Nations finals, which the team won after defeating hosts Cameroon 1-0 in the final in Yaounde on 3rd December. Also released by the Federal Government were monies due to players and officials of the Super Eagles for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Algeria, played in Uyo last month. A breakdown of the Super Falcons’ monies showed that each player got the sum of N5,494,500, less the sum of N600,000 that was earlier paid to each of the players at va...

Sports minister Solomon Dalung has ordered an audit of the finances of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) after world football governing body FIFA suspended any grants to the FA until they properly account for $1.1 million that has been paid to them. Dalung was most scathing of the rot at the NFF in his speech during Sunday’s Annual General Assembly in Lagos. “I received a report from the NFF intimating me of FIFA’s audit Report which raised queries on the management of $1.1 Million FIFA’s development grant to the NFF. According to the Report, FIFA has withheld all development funds to Nigeria for lack of proper documentation of $802,000 out of the funds released to NFF,” reported Dalung. “This is a very serious issue that must be given urgent attention to avoid another international embarrassment, more so that the present administration under the leadership of Mr. President, His Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari has zero tolerance for any act of mis-appropriation, misapplication, emb...

THE EVIL GENIUS -   BEDC BOSS When NEPA/PHCN was privatized, Nigerians thought at last we are going to heave a sigh  of relief but little did Nigerians know that  we are biting more than we can chew. Coming home, because i cant speak for other states but for Edo State I can speak. Since the date when the discos arrived, power became a scarce commodity and since then most people in Edo State never knew what it is to have power. In my area in Benin City (Siluko Road to be precised) we experience 1 hour power a day, some days 30 minutes, other days 3hr 30min in 2 days. I run generator for a minimum of 14-16 hours daily We have embarked on a protest mission twice, the BEDC management will tell us they are going to be scheduling 3 hour on and off for us, yet we agreed but it never came. Recently, there have been pockets of protest in most parts of the states, in Auchi, people protested and because of their protest the whole of that local government and some parts o...

SPECIAL REPORT: Inside Agatu killing field: blood on the streets, charred bodies everywhere March 18, 2016 Emmanuel Mayah RELA Agatu Killings: Senate blames Boko Haram, not Fulani herdsmen March 9, 2016 Across the Nasarawa-Benue borderline, Agatu was still hundreds of miles away but passengers on the motorway were already getting an eyeful of savagery. In a village farm with fresh ridges heralding a new planting season, a young Fulani herder was perched on a cashew tree, his cattle trampling below him. Armed with a machete, he was hacking away at the lush branches, felling them to the ground for the animals to feed. The farm owners stood outside their huts and like the passing motorists could only watch helplessly as the cash crop was stripped bare and their yam seedlings destroyed. The routes to Makurdi and on to Otukpo and Apa were characterized by the same landscape and scenario. Along both sides of the road were hundreds of farmlands with ridges and all dott...

   President Muhammadu Buhari AS  a new year approaches, hopes of a brighter future raised by the inauguration six months ago of President Muhammadu Buhari have gone down a notch. A report  by Bloomb erg that the value of quoted equities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange fell by 22 per cent between April and November coincided with yet another foreign shuttle by the President amid petrol and power shortages. At home and abroad, the message to Buhari is strident: settle down and deliver on your promise of change. For Nigerians and the administration, time is a luxury. A presidential term is only four years and Buhari has spent a bewildering six months simply cobbling together a cabinet, during which time he has made about 15 foreign trips. Between June and now, a third round of petrol shortages is just winding down after marketers collected the latest ransom of N407 billion as subsidy, while the naira has crashed to N250 to US$1 at the parallel market, down from N185 ...

Gay and lesbianism is regarded as taboo in most part of the world either through cultural view or religious view until recently when the United States and other European nations are legalizing the act in their various countries and the United States especially has taken it upon herself through President Obama and their top government officials to take the so-called same sex marriage as “human right violation” of those oppose to same sex marriage. In 2013, Nigeria’s National Assemblies passed an anti-gay law under the government of President Goodluck Jonathan.   The bill by Africa’s most populous nation calls for a 14-year sentence for anyone convicted of homosexuality. Anyone who aids or “abets” same-sex unions faces 10 years in prison, a provision that could target rights groups. On January 17, 2014, a popular area in Benin City, precisely Ekenwan road was a central of attraction when two young men were caught in the very act. Eyewitness told Metronigeriana that the mo...