Paul Okah

The Nigeria Police Force said it has killed 104 armed bandits during an attack on Mahanga forest in Birnin Mogaji Local Government Area of Zamfara State. A statement by the force spokesman, acting DCP Jimoh Moshood, in Abuja on Friday, said 50 hideouts in three camps belonging to the bandits were also destroyed. Moshood said that over 500 cattle and 79 Sheep were recovered from the bandits, adding that a policeman was killed during the operation. He said that following the incessant attacks in the state, the Inspector- General of Police on Nov. 9, deployed a Police Joint Intervention Team of about 1,000 personnel comprising the seven Units of Police Mobile Force (PMF). Other units are : Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU), Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS), Police Anti-Bomb (EOD) Squad and conventional policemen. The spokesman said that the team which was headed by an Assistant Commissioner of Police has been mandated to arrest and prosecute bandits, Kidnap for ransom and c...

Super Eagles captain, John Obi Mikel, has floated a football talent fishing programme, that he styles Africa’s Next Football Superstar.   The programme, which is for kids across Africa is the initiative of the football star’s Mikel Obi Foundation. African kids aged between 12 and 16 will participate.   The event will take place in Nigeria, South Africa and Algeria, with each country holding three different trials in three cities.   In Nigeria, the trials will take place in Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt. Each country will have five winners, with the 15 reduced to nine players, who will be given an opportunity to have trials with a top English club.   Mikel, the former Chelsea midfielder, who now plays in the Chinese Super League, said having tasted life on the streets, he wanted to use the project to take kids off the streets and help them realise their dreams as world-class footballers.   “I’m so grateful to be the captain of the Nigerian f...

There was lamentation in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, at the weekend following the gruesome killing of a 20-year-old 300-level student of the Niger Delta University (NDU) by a trigger-happy policeman. Tariela Nikade, the last in the family of Nikade Anderson, a popular broadcaster, was reportedly shot dead close to their house at Tinacious Road, Edepie, Yenagoa. The latest murder came a few weeks after a 100-level student of the university, Seifa Fred, was shot dead by a gang of cultists, who snatched her smartphone. It was gathered that following the strike declared by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Tariela, an engineering student, decided to learn haircut at a barber shop close to their house. Narrating how his brother was killed, Anderson said: “My brother, the last in our family, who came home following the ASUU strike, was at a barber’s shop where he was learning haircut. “Suddenly, at about 7pm, a team of policemen stormed the area. They en...

A 27-year-old suspected kidnapper, Emmanuel Okemayin, has confessed that he formed a kidnapping gang in a bid to raise money to travel abroad  and further his education, following the death of his father. Okemayin was arrested by operatives of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery (SARS), Lagos State Police Command, Ikeja, Lagos, following a botched kidnap attempt. “I was arrested for planning the kidnap of my employer’s wife which failed. I had good grades in West Africa School Certificate- Government, A1; Economics A1; Biology, A1; Geography, P7; Literature in English, P7 and Chemistry, P7. I can’t remember what I got in English language and Mathematics. I am qualified to go to university,’’ Okemayin said. ‘’My financial problem started when I went to Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, and they told me to pay N120,000 for registration, but I  had no kobo on me. ‘’They even told me to pay in bits by paying only a sum of N50,000 in subsequent payment, yet I knew t...

The Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) said yesterday that it had intercepted 40 by 40 feet containers laden with Tramadol and other dangerous pharmaceutical products worth over N7.3billion. A large number of the dangerous drugs, NCS said, were imported into the country by some scrupulous importers from India to endanger the health of the nation. Attempt by the importers to bribe Customs officers with over $400,000 (about N150million), to effect the release of just one container out of the 40 seized, it was gathered, was rebuffed by the officers. Addressing reporters at the Apapa command of the Service while displaying the dollars yesterday, its Comptroller-General, Col. Hameed Ali (retd), said NCS has also impounded two helicopters that can be used for nefarious activities. One of the helicopters with registration number SN-BLI, the Customs helmsman said, was intended for export, and was concealed in container number PONU7789246, while the second helicopter, a Cessna 182...

Nigeria’s Super Falcons beat the Shepolopolo of Zambia 4-0 on Wednesday at Cape Coast in Ghana to return to contention at the 11th African Women Cup of Nations (AWCON). The defending champions, who lost their opening match on Sunday, bounced back into contention with an emphatic win which sent them to the top of the group’s table, at least temporarily. Desire Oparanozie scored the opening goal for a 1-0 half-time lead, while Francesca Ordega added the second goal minutes into the second half. Oparanozie soon added another goal to make it 3-0, while substitute Amarachi Okoronkwo put the icing on the cake with her goal to make it 4-0. The win helped Nigeria to dislodge Zambia at the head of Group B table, ahead of the South Africa versus Equatorial Guinea match which comes up later in the day. The Falcons will now take on Equatorial Guinea in their final group phase match on Saturday, while the Shepolopolo face South Africa on the same day. The group’s top two ...

Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari, has told the immediate past President of Nigeria, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, that his best years are not behind him, but that he has a great future ahead of him. Buhari, who made the declaration Tuesday in Abuja, during the 61st birthday celebration and  unveiling of Jonathan’s book titled ‘My Transition Hours’ held today at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, said that Jonathan has a great political future ahead of him  Represented on the occasion by Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, Buhari, who was the Special Guest of Honour at the event, said that Jonathan will rise again politically and revealed that Jonathan saved the lives of millions of Nigerians just by a single phone call conceding defeat to him in 2015, even when results of the elections were still being collated. He said: “This book by my predecessor will serve as a document of reference to lawyers, historians, presidents and every Nig...