The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Sokoto State strongly condemns the arrest of Shafi’u Umar Tureta, Special Assistant on Media to Senator Aminu Waziri Tambuwal. Tureta was detained earlier today, Sunday, August 25, 2024, by the police, allegedly on the orders of Sokoto State Governor, Ahmed Aliyu. The arrest follows Tureta’s sharing of a viral video clip showing the Governor struggling to speak in English and another widely circulated video of cash being sprayed at the Governor’s wife’s birthday party. “We wish to remind the Governor that these videos were likely recorded by his office’s or family’s cameramen and initially…
Author: Abdoulaye Kay
Listeners of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) Kaduna national station have expressed concern over the prolonged power disconnection of the station which renders it off-air. Some of the listeners who spoke to our reporter in Ikara, Zaria, Kaduna and Makarfi on Sunday expressed disappointment that for almost two months the station has been completely off air. One of those who spoke, Musa Ibrahim Kofar Doka said he is missing the station and called for a concerted effort to address the situation. He said the station has been playing a vital role in not only propagating government policies and…
The elders of Tukur-Tukur community in Zaria local government have expressed their deep gratitude and appreciation to the Kaduna State and Zaria Local Government health authorities for their prompt and professional response to the recent outbreak of suspected diphtheria in their community. According to Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, a community leader and Director of Publicity and Advocacy of the Northern Elders Forum, the health authorities, along with representatives from the World Health Organization, quickly responded to the community’s distress call and took immediate action to address the situation. The swift and coordinated response from the health authorities and the World Health Organization…
The Department of State Services (DSS) has freed a journalist, Adejuwon Soyinka, hours after he was picked up at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos. The reason for his arrest early Sunday was unknown as of the time of filing this report but a source close to the former BBC Pidgin Editor confirmed his release to one of our correspondents. The source, however, said the secret police seized his travel passport. Soyinka, the Regional Editor of The Conversation Africa, was arrested around 5 am upon arrival at the Lagos airport from the United Kingdom. ALSO READ [BREAKING] DSS detains Soyinka at Lagos…
As the Economic Communities of West African States (ECOWAS) continues to navigate the complexities of regional integration, three of its member states – Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger – have already announced their withdrawal from the regional bloc. By Angela Atabo ECOWAS was founded on May 28, 1975, by the heads of state of 15 West African countries, initially to enhance regional economic cooperation and later expanded to include political and security objectives. The bloc has received particular recognition for its trailblazing role in regional conflict intervention, the free movement of goods and people, and a degree of financial self-reliance…
Operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), also known as the State Security Service (SSS), detained Nigerian journalist Adejuwon Soyinka at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on Sunday, August 25. The incident occurred around 5:40 a.m. shortly after Soyinka arrived in Lagos from the United Kingdom on a Virgin Atlantic flight. Soyinka, who is widely recognized as the West African Regional Editor of The Conversation Africa and a former Pioneer Editor of the BBC Pidgin Service, was taken into custody by DSS operatives under unclear circumstances. Despite the passage of several hours since his detention, the security…
The Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ahmed Rufai Abubakar, on Saturday, tendered his resignation at the Presidential Villa. Speaking to State House correspondents after tendering the resignation letter, Rufai expressed gratitude to the President for the rare opportunity to serve Nigeria for an extended period of 15 months. Sources said the resignation was part of the president’s plan to overhaul the security architecture of the country towards checkmating the rising insecurity. Mr Abubakar was first appointed to head the nation’s premier external security outfit by the Buhari administration in April 2017, following the removal of the acting…
The Tukur-Tukur community in Zaria of Kaduna state has raised a public health alert regarding the potential outbreak of diphtheria disease in the community. A prominent elder of the community, who is also the Director of Publicity and Advocacy for the Northern Elders Forum, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman disclosed this in a statement on Saturday, following the tragic deaths of five children within 24 hours, all of whom exhibited symptoms consistent with diphtheria disease. The distressing situation has caused widespread concern among residents and health officials. Suleiman reported that some of the affected children died at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Teaching…
The Nigerian government says it has traced ₦83 billion to Pidom, the detained anonymous Nigerian whistleblower, whose name is now revealed as Isaac Bristol, has been accused of terrorism funding, espionage, treasonable felony, computer wire fraud and unauthorised removal of classified documents, sources privy to the matter say. According to new information obtained by the Foundation of Investigative Journalism (FIJ), the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) said the N83 billion in cryptocurrency it uncovered in early August was traced to Pidom’s account. The security unit claimed it was part of the funds used to fund the nationwide #EndBadGovernance…
How did vaccines, once hailed as essential tools for global peace, security and international cooperation, become something that some now fear could kill them? This is the focus of the latest Global Health Matters podcast, hosted by Garry Aslnyan. In an interview with author Peter Hotez, the discussion delves into how vaccines misinformation and politics, particularly in the United States, have led to a deadly distrust of vaccines. By Maayan Hoffman Hotez and his colleague, Maria Elena Bottazzi, were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for “their work to develop and distribute a low-cost COVID-19 vaccine to people of the world without patent…