The Nigerian Army says bandits and some other criminals operating in the North West and North Central regions of the country are adopting some of the tactics being used by terrorists to wreck havoc in the country.

It said it was evident in their usage of the Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), which were aimed at sending shivers down the spines of law-abiding citizens, insisting that all their tactics would be deplored no matter how hard they try.

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Taoreed Abiodun Lagbaja, stated this at Army Headquarters, Abuja on Thursday while receiving the Under-Secretary-General, United Nations Office for Counter-Terrorism, Vladimir Voronkov.

The Army Chief, however, said the service was ready to collaborate with the organisation to restore peace to troubled parts of the country, saying both kinetic and non-kinetic approaches would be employed to end the adversaries.

The senior military officer specifically sought the support of the UN and other organs of the organisation on the deradicalisation programme for the repentant terrorists.

The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism, Vladimir Voronkov promised that his organisation would build Nigeria’s capacity to detect, investigate and prosecute terrorism-related offences.

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike has given reasons why he believes it is impossible for President Bola Tinubu to lose at the election petition tribunal.

Wike who supported Tinubu who was the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 presidential election said he believes God supports what they did during the election and won’t turn against them.

He added that the lawyers are also doing their work at the tribunal and he believes the outcome will not be against President Tinubu.

Naija News reports the former Rivers State Governor made the submission during an interview with Channels Television on Wednesday.

Also during the interview, Wike maintained that he and others with him did the right thing in not supporting the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the presidential election, Atiku Abubakar.

He reiterated that they did what they did in the interest of justice and fairness.

According to Wike, it is regrettable that Atiku refused to acknowledge he made a mistake and seek forgiveness before and after the elections.

Four former presidential candidates in the 2023 general elections have pleaded with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to include them in his ‘Government of National Competence’.

Naija News reports that the opposition presidential candidates met with the National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje, on Thursday, begging for inclusion in the administration of President Tinubu.

Some of the presidential candidates who met with Ganduje at the National Secretariat of the party included those of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Action Democratic Party (ADP), National Rescue Movement )NRM) Action Peoples Party, APP, among others.

The presidential candidate of NRM, Felix Osakwe, who spoke on behalf of the Forum of Concerned Presidential Candidates, said they are for the peace and development of Nigeria, hence their refusal to challenge Tinubu’s victory at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT).

Recall that Tinubu, before his swearing-in as President, called for a Government of National Unity and would go beyond that to establish a ‘Government of National Competence’.

The Nigerian government has directed all international airlines to vacate the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos from October 1, 2023.

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo made this known on Thursday, October 1, 2023, during a tour at the airport.

The minister who was accompanied by the Managing Director, Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, Mr. Kabir Yusuf Mohammed, said said the move was necessary to give room for total maintenance work at the airport.

The minister maintained that the development would pave the way for airport expansion.

The minister further expressed his dismay about the airport environment that was unkept. He then issues various orders to keep the facilities clean.

The African Union’s Peace and Security Council said Thursday it had decided to “immediately suspend” Gabon following the military coup this week.

The body said on X, formerly Twitter, that it “strongly condemns the military takeover of power in the Republic of Gabon which ousted President Ali Bongo on 30 August 2023”.

It “decides to immediately suspend the participation of Gabon in all activities of the AU, its organs and institutions until the restoration of constitutional order in the country”.

The announcement came after a meeting of the council on the situation in Gabon following Wednesday’s coup that followed disputed elections in which Bongo was declared the winner.

It said the meeting was chaired by AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Bankole Adeoye, of Nigeria and the current holder of the council’s rotating chair, Burundi’s Willy Nyamitwe.

On Wednesday, the head of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, had called on the Gabonese army and security forces “to guarantee the physical integrity” of Bongo, who the coup leaders said had been placed under house arrest.

Faki also condemned the coup and said the events in Gabon were a “flagrant violation” of the legal and political instruments of the Addis Ababa-headquartered African Union.

“(Faki) encourages all political, civil and military actors in Gabon to favour peaceful political paths leading to the rapid return to democratic constitutional order in the country,” he said on X.

Earlier this month, the African Union took similar action to suspend Niger after a coup in the West African country in July that toppled elected president Mohamed Bazoum.

The Nigerian Navy has thwarted an oil theft operation at Lekki Waters and arrested four individuals identified as men of TANTITA Security Service, owned by a Niger Delta ex-militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo.

But Tantita security service swiftly dismissed the report, claiming their men were after the real culprits who owned the wooden boat laden with crude products.

While parading the suspects on Wednesday, the Commander of NNS Beecroft, Commodore Kolawole Oguntuga, said Tompolo’s men were arrested by men of the Nigerian Navy stationed at FOB LEKKI at waterways near the Itolu community, Lekki, after the residents of the area raised the alarm following gunshots from the waterside.

He said they were arrested while attacking a local from whom they tried stealing a boat engine.

Oguntuga said, “In a swift response to a distress call, the Nigerian Navy stationed at FOB Lekki foiled an attempted oil theft operation on the waterways near Itolu community, Lekki, in Lagos State.

“The incident occurred in the early hours of August 29, 2023, when local youths reported gunshots in the vicinity of the community.

“Reviewing the information, naval patrol teams immediately launched a response operation. Upon arrival at the scene, the naval team met four individuals dressed in black polo shirts with TANTITA inscribed on the back, trying to recover a dismantled outboard engine from a local. The team recovered the engine and apprehended the four Tantita employees.”

“It was after this arrest that the patrol team realized that the four individuals were part of a movement of a large wooden boat with two fibre boats. The four arrested individuals beckoned on the two fibre boats to approach them, but when they noticed NN patrol teams, the boats altered courses fled away, and abandoned the large wooden boat laden with 11 x 1000L Geepee tanks with product suspected to be stolen crude oil.

“The arrested individuals have been identified as Asonja Goddey (28), Obajimi Oluwaseyifunmi (38), Awoowo Aribo (35), and Oluwadaisi Balogun (40), all hailing from Igbokoda in Ondo State. The owner of the boat they were trying to forcibly employ, Ishola Ojubuyi (42), is also taken into custody.

“The Nigerian Navy has initiated an investigation to unravel the circumstances surrounding the incident, particularly the possession of firearms used in the community, economic sabotage, how the product came from Ondo State to Lagos State, as well as attempting to steal a boat engine from the locals.

“Also, one Mr Owoyele Omotuyi, who was identified as a Tantita staff member, came to secure the release of the four apprehended, claiming they were Tantita employees. All suspects, along with the confiscated exhibits, will be handed over to appropriate agencies for further necessary action and prosecution,” he added.

Denying the allegations, the security outfit’s Ondo State Coordinator, Idowu Asonja, alleged that the Navy was paid to guide the vessel.

He said, “It is a pathetic and worrisome moment in the western corridor of the Niger Delta states as Nigerian Navy officers arrested four of the Tantita security guards in Ondo/Ogun Zone after the Tantita guards successfully apprehended a wooden vessel fully loaded with crude oil.

“This afternoon, it happens that the Navy security initially were parading a wooden vessel loaded with crude oil, after a while, they released the vessel which was fully loaded with crude oil by some oil thieves.

“Meanwhile, the Tantita security guards were monitoring the matter and later bombarded the vessel after discovering that the Navy officers were paid to guide the vessel. This notorious act/display by the Navy officers provoked the Tantita guards in the area to pursue the vessel, which they later succeeded in arresting.

“To our greatest surprise, the owners of the vessel ran away and came back to the scene with some Nigerian Navy officers working at the Dangote Refinery, which resulted in a conflict and finally, the Navy officers attacked my men, later arrested four of the Tantita security guards from Ondo zone, and set free the wooden vessel.”

Federal Government on August 22, 2022, awarded the contract of protecting oil pipelines to TANTITA Security Service, but there has been controversy over the contract with Nigerians disagreeing on whether it should be revoked or not.

The World Bank Country Director, Shubham Chaudhuri has announced that the $800 million palliative will be disbursed soon.

Chanduri revealed this to Betta Edu the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (FMHAPA) at the bank’s headquarters in Abuja.

He said “The proposed disbursement of $800m for the Social Safety Nets Project will commence soonest.

“We will support the verification and scaling up of the National Social Register (NSR), provide technical support in the preparation of the Ministry to attend UNGA, and give specialized backing for the establishment of the Trust Fund”

The decision to support the minister, was a show of commitment after Chaudhuri pledged to provide all the needed support for the new minister to deliver on the new mandate of the ministry during her visit.

Edu’s visit to the bank was to inform that the Federal Government will fund 15 million households through the Conditional Cash Transfer(CCT).

A CCT is a government initiative aimed at reducing poverty by making welfare programs conditional upon the receivers’ actions.

In a statement signed by the Deputy Director, Information FMHAPA Rhoda Ishaku Iliya on Thursday, Edu reminded the World Bank team of President Bola Tinubu’s direct focus on the people and lifting them out of poverty.

She said, “The Federal Government of Nigeria is set to cover no fewer than fifteen million households under its updated social safety net project tagged Conditional Cash Transfer.

“The flexibility of the World Bank to accommodate the re-focused agenda of the Ministry to eliminate poverty is a welcome development.

“The ministry is preparing to host the Humanitarian Dialogue as well as the creation of the Renewed Hope Humanitarian and Poverty Alleviation Trust Fund (HPATF).

“The Trust Fund is expected to come from federal government budgetary provision and allocation, development partners, international community, taxes, private sector contribution among others.

“The Ministry needs the support of the World Bank to verify and expand the National Social Register (NSR) and offer your technical support to work with the Ministry to achieve Mr President’s target.”

Ego, a well-known Nigerian singer who served as Lagbaja’s backup singer has lost her husband to the cold hands of death.

Chris Kehinde, a Nigerian journalist, claims that Ogbaro passed away on Wednesday in the US.

On Thursday, he posted a picture of the couple to his Instagram account along with the caption: “Ohh No Victor Niyi Ogbaro this can’t be true. Victor and husband of Ego died today from what I just learnt. May his soul Rest In Peace.”

Ego, born Nwakaego Iheanacho, got married to Ogbaro in 2009. They, however, lived apart for a while.

Before her husband’s death, Ego removed Ogbaro from her social media accounts fuelling rumours of trouble in their marriage.

Wale Adedayo, the suspended Chairman of Ijebu East Local Government area of Ogun State has said he will challenge his suspension in court.

Recall that seven councillors of the local government led by their leader, Fasheyi Adesuji, from Itele Ward 7 had amid tight security on Thursday morning suspended the embattled council boss for three months over what it described as “maladministration and financial mismanagement”.

The lawmakers had listed about 15 financial infractions against the LG boss including using N8.2m to procure 20 tables and chairs for the primary schools as well as misappropriation of N35m among others.

Adedayo has however described his purported suspension as a “hoax and one that was forced down the throat of the lawmakers having been allegedly baited with N1m”.

His suspension came a day after he accused the governor of fraud.

He said, “The suspension or impeachment of a local government chairman ought to follow due process. The first stage is a letter to me about the so-called infractions.

“Of course, they stormed the Council secretariat with more than 100 armed policemen this morning along with thugs and agberos. They think we were going to react violently as they had prepared. We are in a democracy. We’ll challenge them democratically.

“All the allegations are baseless and without foundation. They forcefully marched the Clerk of the House to Abeokuta yesterday along with the local government’s HOLGA. So, we knew what the Governor was up to before the charade of this morning.

“Two of the councillors were led to the council at gunpoint. And immediately they finished all of them were taken in a vehicle to Abeokuta. Of course, I was told that N1m was given to each person who signed. We are not bothered. Once the EFCC comes, the books of the local government can also be opened for them to see,” the statement concluded.

The former spokesperson for the Atiku Abubakar Presidential Campaign Council, Daniel Bwala, has revealed that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, would be expelled from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, very soon.

He dismissed Wike’s importance in the PDP noting that the party no longer considers him relevant hence the lack of reaction to anything the former Rivers State Governor says.

Bwala made the revelation on Thursday while speaking on Channels Television where he ridiculed Wike whenever questioned.

The former strongman of PDP has however challenged the PDP to suspend him boasting that he had not seen anyone who could suspend or expel him from the PDP.

Wike who also spoke on Channels Television on Wednesday said although he picked up the job as a minister in the All Progressives Congress-government administration, he was working for the president, Bola Tinubu and not the APC.

He stopped short of saying if he would join the APC during the governorship campaign for the November election following the party’s initial inclusion of his name in the campaign council.

The party however denounced the list officially released by its National Organising Secretary, Sulaiman Argungu, and has released the Kogi Campaign Council leaving Imo and Bayelsa which were also initially released on Tuesday.

The PDP had also listed Wike as a member of its governorship campaign council for Bayelsa.

Even as calls for his expulsion rage, Wike has maintained that he will continue to serve the country as a minister while remaining a member of the PDP.

Bwala, who frowned at Wike’s antics said, “Why we hardly react to what he (Wike) says is because he loves drama, everybody knows that,” Bwala said.

“The quietness of the party is not a weakness…the party knows what it is doing.

“At the appropriate time, he (Wike) would not only be suspended but also expelled. Take that to the bank,” he said.