Some yet-to-be-identified number of persons may have been trapped as a five-storey building under construction collapsed at Basden Street, Fegge, in the commercial city of Onitsha, Anambra State.

It was gathered that the building, meant to serve commercial purposes on completion, collapsed in the early hours of Sunday while some of the construction workers were on the last floor.

An excavator has quickly been moved to the site to begin the evacuation of rubbles and possible rescue operations of any trapped victims.

The reason for the collapse has not yet been ascertained but as of the time of filing this report on Sunday, a source near the area said one person has been rescued as rescue operations continue at the site.

Punch Anniversary Lecture: Guest Speaker, Prof. Wole Soyinka Delivers On Recovering The Narrative0:05 / 1:01

However, details of the incident are still sketchy as the state police spokesman, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, could not be reached for confirmation.

He did not respond to enquiries on his telephone as of the time of filing this report.

The Public Relations Officer, Anambra State Emergency Management Agency, Chinyere Nworah, has yet to respond to enquiries sent to her telephone.

More details later…

The Nigeria police authorities have dismissed an officer and suspended two others involved in the alleged extortion of 3,000 USD from a Port Harcourt resident.

This is contained in a statement by the Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer, Grace Iringe-Koko, on Sunday.

The statement said while Inspector Michael Odey, one of the errant cops had already been dismissed, the other two, ASP Doubara Edonyabor and ASP Talent Mungo, have been suspended from office.

The PPRO said both officers have been officially suspended following approval from the Police Service Commission, PSC.

“As previously communicated during our press briefing on February 13, 2024, Inspector Michael Odey was found guilty and subsequently dismissed from duty, effective from 07/02/2024, following thorough Orderly room proceedings and a comprehensive review conducted by the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 16,” the statement read.

According to the police spokesperson, the indicted policemen had been arrested while the investigation was ongoing into the allegation.

She assured that the outcome of the police investigation would be made public.

On 23 February, 2023, the Nigeria Customs Service embarked on the distribution of 25kg bags of rice to indigent Nigerian citizens in the Lagos Area at its Zonal Headquarters in Yaba, Lagos State. The exercise was marred by a stampede which claimed the lives of seven persons. The tragic incident led to the imediate suspension of the food disposal initiative by the Nigeria Customs Service. 

It is sad to note that the authorities of the Nigeria Customs Service have not deemed it fit to identify the bereaved families of the deceased and commiserate with them. As a matter the deceased persons have been blamed for their "impatience". According to the spokesperson for the Customs, Mr. Abdullahi Maiwada, “At a point, they decided to be impatient. When we saw the crowd, we even suspended the collection of forms and said, ‘Let’s give them free’. We did that, we exhausted everything. After exhausting everything and we told them everything had finished, and that they could go, that we didn’t have any more, they persisted. Some of them broke the fence of that place. We had to put some barricades to cover the area. Some of them went and entered the container."

Since it is common knowledge that similar distribution of food items to poor people had recorded stampede in the recent past, the authorities of the Nigeria Customs Service must accept full responsibility for the blatant negligence that led to the avoidable death of the seven citizens. Since a bag of rice was selling for N77,000 at the material time, it ought to have occurred to the Nigeria Customs Service that its Zonal Headquarters in Yaba would not be able to contain the crowd that had been invited to purchase a 25kg bag of rice at N10,000.

Therefore, the authorities of the Nigeria Customs Service should take urgent steps to identify the bereaved families of the seven deceased citizens with a view to paying them adequate monetary compensation. However, if our advice is ignored by the authorities, we shall not hesitate to approach the Federal High Court to enforce the fundamental right of each of the deceased persons to life as guaranteed by section 33 of the Nigerian Constitution and article 4 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights. 

Furthermore, the Nigeria Customs Service should lift the suspension of the distribution of the remaining bags of rice without any further delay. To avoid another stampede, the distribution should be carried out through the appropriate local government councils and local government development areas in Lagos State and other States of the Federation. 

Femi Falana SAN,

The Chair, 

Alliance on Surviving Covid 19 and Beyond (ASCAB)

The lawmaker representing Kaduna North Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Bello El-Rufai, in an enlightening conversation with Seun Okinbaloye on Saturday, shared insights into the sentiments of his father, the former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, regarding his recent ministerial nomination by President Bola Tinubu.

According to Bello, his father had no initial desire for a ministerial position and viewed the Senate’s rejection of his nomination as a loss of an effective administrator for Nigeria.

Bello disclosed that it required significant persuasion from him and other family members to convince Nasir El-Rufai to accept the ministerial nomination offered by President Tinubu.

This revelation came to light following the Senate’s decision in August to confirm only 45 out of the 48 ministerial nominees presented by the President, excluding El-Rufai, Stella Okotete from Delta, and Sani Danladi from Taraba.

Senate President, Godswill Akpabio stated that the three unconfirmed nominees would undergo further security checks, advising those not confirmed to seek redress with the President.

This decision has sparked discussions on the criteria for ministerial appointments and the implications of the Senate’s rejections on the administration’s ability to assemble a competent team.

Expressing his disappointment, Bello El-Rufai remarked on the setback his father’s rejection represented, not only for their family but for the country at large.

He emphasized the potential contributions Nasir El-Rufai could have made to the nation, leveraging his vast experience and administrative prowess.

He said, “I was in the National Assembly when my father’s nomination was rejected. It was very disappointing and still is. Myself, the Governor of Kaduna State, Uba Sani, and one of my father’s commissioners, Mr Hafiz Bayero, played a key role in convincing my father to work with this current government.

“He (Nasir) didn’t want it. It’s hard for Nigerians to believe it because they feel it is everyone in Nigeria who wants to be a minister.

“To be fair to him, he didn’t want the job. We convinced him that, with the antecedents of Asiwaju, he would create an excellent team as he did in Lagos.

“The President wanted to work with him. It was clear when he came to Kaduna. We also had an idea of what his portfolio would be. It was meant to be power and gas. He insisted to the President in private that Nigeria would not sort its electricity issue if gas was not put under the other components of power.

“The irony is that nothing has been rougher than the lack of power in the last two weeks. I’m disappointed because Nigeria lost an effective administrator in my father, one who is willing to make difficult decisions to solve a problem.”

Bello, further said many Nigerians do not really know his father.

He said, “My father is a very simple person who’s been stereotyped a lot. I got a video of him where people say this or that about him without even knowing him.

“My father does not go out of his way to change what people think about him. He doesn’t really care.

“There’s a perception that he’s anti-Christian. But, the closest person to him since we (children) were four years old was a man from Cross River State, Peter Jones.

“Religion is personal to us. As minister of the Federal Capital Territory, he demolished mosques. The imam said he hated Islam. He demolished churches and the Christians said he hated Christians. Maybe, it is the wrong imams and pastors who have issues, not him.”

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The Kaduna lawmaker added that his father was highly flawed in many ways.

President Bola Tinubu has ordered the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, to give back the food items they seized at the border communities to the rightful owners, with the requirement that the items should be sold in Nigerian markets.

The Controller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed this in Katsina on Saturday while meeting with people from border areas at Kongolam and Mai’Adua border stations.

He mentioned that Tinubu had made a decision to use his authority not based on legal guidelines, “but rather reflecting the deep sense of generosity he holds towards Nigeria.”

“In doing so, he has directed that those food items that were going out of the country that have been seized in various border areas should be returned to the owners on the condition that those goods would be sold in the Nigerian markets.

“So, we will be monitoring you to know if there is a violation of this. Those food items will be returned, and it is a directive that we will pass them back into the Nigerian markets,” Adeniyi said.

Adewunmi Fatai, celebrity makeup artist and baby mama of actor, Mustapha Sholagbade has finally opened up on their messy break-up.

Speaking with Debbie Shokoya on her podcast, she revealed that she learned of their break-up on the internet after he did an interview giving reasons why he can’t marry her.

Adewunmi noted how she and Mustapha were still together when he granted the interview, yet he didn’t discuss anything with her. She claimed that the actor lied about her insulting his mother noting how his mother never congratulated her when she welcomed their son and was even demanding she kneel to greet her and others despite undergoing Caesarian Section (CS).

Adewunmi stated that Mustapha changed overnight and at first, she thought they were just having the usual relationship issues until she read on the internet that he was set to tie the knot. In the celebrity makeup artist’s words:

“I chop my own breakfast for internet. I was still dating him when he granted an interview saying he isn’t marrying me anymore because I insulted his mother. We were together till I gave birth, he was with me in the labor room. So suddenly he just changed, which at first, I believed was a relationship issue until I read on a blog that he was set to marry.

He said in an interview that he couldn’t settle with his babymama and claimed that I wasn’t ready to get married, she only wanted to have a child and insulted my mother..”

“The only thing I told his mother was “Na pikin you born so?.”(In Yoruba) And that was a year after we broke up.

How will I abuse a woman that didn’t even congratulate me when I gave birth. I gave birth through CS and his family came after 3 or 4 days to check on their grandchild. The mom was saying I should kneel to greet her, without caring that I just went through CS, and at the time, he did the interview, we were still talking.

This guy has been rude to my mum not once, not twice”.

Adewumi Fatai was in a serious relationship with Mustapha Sholagbade but the two called things quit reportedly over her erratic behavior.

According to Mustapha, he was not only tired of the relationship; his babymama was always raining curses on him and his mother. He also alleged she left with the baby when he was just 41 days old, among other things.

Following their separation, Mustapha Sholagbade is now happily remarried. He got married o, August 12 in Oshogbo, Osun State. The wedding was witnessed by friends, colleagues and well-wishers.

On his birthday last year, Adewunmi disgraced him, calling him out for being a deadbeat father. She listed out the several things that Mustapha had failed to do for their son.

Reacting to it, Bukunmi Oluwasina pleaded with him to reunite with his son. She begged him not to allow his son pay for the mistakes he made with his babymama.

Watch clip from the interview below:

Former Super Eagles technical adviser, Jo Bonfrere has endorsed Emmanuel Amuneke for the team’s vacant coaching job.

The Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, declared the position vacant following the expiration of Jose Peseiro’s contract.

Peseiro was in charge of the three-time African for 22 months.

The Portuguese guided the West Africans to second position at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

Amuneke, who is one of the coaches favoured to take over from Peseiro confirmed he has already applied for the job.

Bonfrere believes Amuneke has what it takes to lead the Super Eagles.

“Yes, I agree Nigeria needs a local coach at the moment. Not a foreigner,” Bonfrere told VON.

“But the country will have everything to gain if the authorities should appoint Emmanuel Amuneke for the job. I know him very well.

“He has a very strong mentality. He has the discipline and technical savvy to achieve results. In fact, if the Federation calls me to provide technical backup to Amuneke, I will gladly accept the task.”

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, on Sunday, said its operatives intercepted a consignment of illicit drug consignment concealed in the engine compartment of an interstate commercial bus w

The agency said it also arrested and took into custody two grandfathers over alleged drug trafficking.

The NDLEA noted that no fewer than 5.2kg of cannabis sativa and opioids were discovered in the engine compartment of the interstate commercial bus marked VDY 187 XA on Thursday, 7th March 2024, along Gbongan – Ibadan road, Osun State by its officers on a stop and search operation on the highway.

The anti-narcotic agency said the bus driver, Iorliam Sughnen Dominic, 35, who took responsibility for the concealment was taken into custody for further investigation.

Details of the drug burst were disclosed in a statement by Femi Babafemi, the NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy.

Babafemi said the previous day Wednesday 6th March, a 26-year-old lady, Obasanmi Esther Iyanu, who produces and distributes skuchies was arrested during a raid on her hideout in Osogbo, the Osun State capital.

He disclosed that at least 16.5 litres of the illicit substance and different quantities of molly and cannabis were recovered from her during the raid.

Babafemi further announced that NDLEA operatives in Borno State arrested a 70-year-old grandfather, Mallam Mai Gemu Adam and 65-year-old Yamama Musa for drug trafficking.

According to the spokesman, they were arrested on Saturday 9th March along with 24-year-old Abubakar Ya’u and Babagana Abubakar Ali, 28, in Maiduguri and Gamboru-Ngala respectively while 32,000 ampoules of tramadol injection were recovered from them.

“Same day, operatives at Geidam in Yobe State intercepted a Golf 3 saloon car heading to Gagamari in Niger republic, where the occupant, Alhaji Mala Tijjani, 28, was to deliver 40 blocks of cannabis weighing 24.5kg to another dealer, while 42 cartons containing 8,400 bottles of codeine syrup weighing 1,260 kilograms were recovered from a driver, Mutari Ya’u, 29, at Katsina road, Kaduna on Tuesday 5th March.

“In Kano State, Nura Yusuf, 35, was arrested with 62kg cannabis at Gadar Tamburawa area, where Abubakar Sani, 40, was also nabbed with 244 bottles of codeine syrup, while Mohammad Alkali, 28, was found with 49, 800 pills of tramadol along Kano-Maiduguri road, on Thursday 7th March. This is just as NDLEA operatives in Lagos State on Wednesday 6th March arrested Aba Thomas at the Igbo Elerin area of the state where 84 litres of scrunchies, 1.1 litres of codeine syrup,4kg cannabis sativa, and 800 tablets of tramadol 225mg were seized from him.

“No fewer than eight suspects were arrested on Friday 8th March when NDLEA officers raided the notorious Karu abattoir drug joint in the FCT, Abuja with 51.3kg cannabis recovered from them. Those arrested include: Buhari Muhammadu; Jamilu Muhammed; Abubakar Wappa; Yahaya Tasiu; Ezekiel Mulanda; Abba Haruna; Habibu Umar and Shamsu Lawali,” Babafemi added.

Similarly, NDLEA disclosed that it arrested two suspects: Pam Thomas, 45, and Stephen Nyam, 38, with cannabis weighing 611.428kg at Zawan, Jos South, while in Kogi state, the operatives intercepted a commercial J5 bus coming from Onitsha, Anambra state to Zaria, Kaduna state on Wednesday along Okene-Lokoja-Abuja expressway.

According to the statement, a total of 8,580 pills of tramadol and exol-5 were seized from a suspect, Yusuf Abdullahi, 40.

Meanwhile, the operatives on Tuesday, raided some lock-up shops at the new market in the Enugu metropolitan area, adding that 371.42kg cannabis and 9.49grams of methamphetamine were recovered.

Reacting to the development, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Mohamed Buba Marwa, rtd, commended the efforts of the Borno, Kogi, Kaduna, Kano, Osun, Lagos, Plateau, Enugu, Yobe and FCT Commands of the Agency for jobs well done in the past week.

Marwa charged them and their compatriots in other formations nationwide not to rest on their oars as they continue to intensify their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction activities.

Big Brother Naija reality star Natacha Anita Akide, aka Tacha, has revealed that she is in a committed relationship.

She said contrary to assumptions that she is high-headed, stressing that she wakes up at 2 am to cook noodles for her partner.

She disclosed this in a recent interview with media personality, Chude Jideonwo.

The reality star said she and her partner could be planning a wedding and the public won’t know.

Tacha said, “We [me and my partner] could be planning a wedding and you wouldn’t know unless I say otherwise.

“I wake up at 2 am to make noodles for him. I would ask him, what do you want to eat? And in my head I’m like, ‘People would be like Oh God this Tacha on social media.’ And maybe there’s a fight between us, I will tell him, ‘People will think I am the problem but you know you’re the problem.’ Because I’m super nice.

“I do have someone I love and cherish. And most importantly, he understands me. So, even when people are constantly saying, ‘Oh who’s going to settle down with this one?’ I’m like, ‘If your daddy sees me, he’s going to love me.’ He’s going to want me because I’m tall, dark-skinned, cute, and most importantly, I’m beauty with brains.”

Dey your dey

Make I dey my dey

Dey your dey o

Nobody worry nobody

Kpekele kpekem

Dey your dey

My brother dey your dey

Make I dey my dey

Dey your dey o

Nobody worry nobody

Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, said Nigeria should break up if the path would solve the country’s challenges. Soyinka said this at the PUNCH Newspapers’ 50th-anniversary lecture held in Lagos recently.

Delivering his lecture titled ‘Recovering the Narrative’, Soyinka said Nigeria should decentralise for Nigerians to enjoy the country more.

The elder statesman said decentralisation would allow governance to get closer to the people, adding that it was high time for leaders to stop taking Nigerians for a ride.

“I know the fear. The fear is collapse, break up. That’s been the excuse given by several regimes. But suppose the nation is breaking up informally, in other words as a fact rather than as a theory. Then, you better just address this. Come straight on and see exactly what happened. What is wrong with general representatives seeing them and saying this is the protocol of our association, Anything outside of it? Anyone who does not want to accept these protocols, abide by these protocols and manifest these protocols in the act should take a walk. I have no problem at all.

“We live in what is known as the nation beginning as a vast football field ending up as a ping pong table. If that is going to restore dignity to citizens. If that is going to guarantee three square meals a day then so be it. One of my favourite expressions with people is “Let nations die, that humanity may live.”

He explained that while Nigerian politicians know the importance of restructuring, they change their tune when they get to power.

He said, “What do you mean by restructuring? Well, I don’t even like the word restructuring. I prefer expressions like reconfiguration and decentralisation. And those who lead, recognise the necessity of it. They recognise the importance, almost the inevitability of it…

“It’s about time, I think leaders stopped taking this nation for a ride, you know, we must decentralise. Security, you know, has become a burden to bear. Decentralised so that the government can come closer to the people, and productivity can really be manifested as a product of citizens, not simply as a manna from heaven.”

In the same vein, Mr Emeka Anyaoku, former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, has said that Nigeria’s current constitution would not adequately address the nation’s economic predicaments and other myriad challenges. Anyaoku spoke to newsmen in his country home, Obosi village of Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State.

He said the current challenges being faced in the nation like poverty, insecurity, and dilapidated infrastructure, among others, were serious challenges bedevilling the country.

“We cannot effectively address these challenges that have assumed nationwide dimension, especially insecurity which has pervaded the Northern part of the country and other communities,” he said. He stressed that the current constitution was a departure from the constitution that the nation’s founding fathers negotiated and agreed upon.

“I am on record for saying that these challenges cannot be effectively addressed under the constitution and governance system we have at the moment.

“The constitution for a pluralistic state as Nigeria; we have to return to those principles of the constitution as earlier agreed by our founding fathers. “Until we do that, I am afraid that we cannot effectively deal with the challenges facing the nation,” he added.

Now, let us get to the underground (In Fela’s voice)

I will pick randomly, in Benue, it is the Tiv versus the Idomas vs others, in Kogi it is the Igbiras versus Igalas, in some cases it has even degenerated to no Catholic has ruled our state, and in others we cannot allow the Muslims to continue.

None of these debates has brought the much-needed development for a nation that is so structurally divided.

Because we are structurally deformed we check how many SE, SW, SS (which by the way is an anomaly), NE, NW, NE are on a list before we check whether they are qualified. We still suffer a COVID-like disease called Federal Character in a characterless state, still plagued by terms such catchment area, educationally disadvantaged (by who abeg)

We pride ourselves by our state of origin, yet are minorities in many cases in the so-called state. We debate which region is poorest, and which feeds the other. A nation of an elite and intellectual class conspiracy against the ordinary citizens and themselves.

We keep amending our constitutions and reviewing them since forever. We stay on our high horses and cry restructure like in that one pill is the local Yoruba “agbo” that cures all ailments. We speak to decentralization, to a people that have not allowed the local government system work, we recommend a shift to the parliamentary system of old like if we go back, spirits would operate it.

Nigerians remind me so much of what deep thinkers men are…and permit me to share this.

I mowed the lawn today, and after doing so I sat down and had a cold beer. The day was really quite beautiful, and the drink facilitated some deep thinking.

My wife walked by and asked me what I was doing and I said ‘nothing’. The reason I said that instead of saying ‘just thinking’ is because she would have said ‘about what’. At that point, I would have to explain that men are deep thinkers about various topics, which would lead to other questions.

Finally, I thought about an age-old question: Is giving birth more painful than getting kicked in the nuts? Women always maintain that giving birth is way more painful than a guy getting kicked in the nuts.

Well, after another beer, and some heavy deductive thinking, I have come up with the answer to that question. Getting kicked in the nuts is more painful than having a baby; and here is the reason for my conclusion. A year or so after giving birth, a woman will often say, “It might be nice to have another child.” On the other hand, you never hear a guy say, “You know, I think I would like another kick in the nuts.” I rest my case.

Time for another beer…but before I pop it open

In sincerity have we really allowed the current skewed federal structure to work, with bogus census figures, with criminal politicians, is it about systems, structures or those that work it. If today we have a feeding bottle federal fiscal structure, do we expect much difference or will it be a Seven-up case when we restructure.

Let me end with this little narrative, a young man chose to change his name for reasons best suited and known by himself alone. For small money, he walks into the High Court, swears to an affidavit, that reads, “I, Zakka Davou Dangwang, Nigerian citizen, Adult residing at XYZ, deponent to the oath, and by virtue of positions (that I know he’s not conversant with), changes the said name to Zakka Azi Nyam, all documents/credentials bearing old names remains valid.” He even adds a newspaper change of name publication.

What has changed? The young dude is still who he is…in reality all those calling for restructuring are the same elites that have refused to restructure the structure, especially when they had the opportunity. Nigeria, Nigerians are not yet sure what they want, to restructure, or to structure the restructuring, or to make structures work—May Nigeria win.