A prominent Yoruba nation activist, Sunday Adeyemo, widely known as Sunday Igboho has declared his readiness to confront and expel killer herdsmen from Yorubaland.

This bold statement was made in a video that rapidly spread across social media platforms on Tuesday.

In the video, Igboho is seen speaking to a supportive crowd during the funeral of his mother in his hometown, located in the Igboho area of Oyo State.

Expressing his determination, Igboho, who communicated in Yoruba, criticized the Federal Government and the military forces stationed in Yorubaland, specifically mentioning the inability of these forces to protect Ekiti State, where traditional rulers were tragically killed in broad daylight.

He implied that the government and soldiers have failed to address the threat posed by killer herdsmen, thereby necessitating his intervention.

He said, “I want you all to stand with me so that we can liberate ourselves from the herders encroaching on our lands. Let us mount security in all the Yoruba lands ourselves, if not, they will take our lands.

“We don’t have to wait for the government or anyone. Let’s just work in unison. We cannot farm on our lands because of these herders. And our people are going hungry and angry. We don’t need the soldiers the government claims to have deployed to Ekiti State. We work in accordance with our elders and mount the places ourselves.

“It was my mother that was my fear before but now she’s gone, I have nothing to be scared of again. I am now back to take back our land.

“I am not working for any politician. In fact, if I incidentally slapped someone, the government would be ready to arrest me and put me behind bars. I know they are watching me closely now to know my next action but I’m ready to take a step to stop these marauders’ activities in our lands.”

Some senior officials of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) have been allegedly enmeshed in a multi-billion naira corruption scandal.

At least 40 senior Customs officers have been indicted in a robust investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) into the proceeds of bribes paid to customs officials by smugglers.

At least seven of these officials were detained by the EFCC for days late last year, with some of them spending the festive period in detention when proceeds of bribes allegedly from smugglers totalling over N12 billion were traced to them, according to Premium Times.

The news platform said all seven of them were not prosecuted and have been allowed back to their duty posts. It added that at least seven high-ranking officials of the NCS were grilled by the anti-graft agency, and parts of the bribes they received were confiscated.

Customs insiders and other sources familiar with the matter told the newspaper that the officers were found to own properties and businesses way above what their earnings as customs officers could cater for.

This newspaper learned that the EFCC’s investigation also involves at least 33 other officers of the service.

According to a source, some of these officials amassed the largest tranche of these bribes from smugglers last year after the directive to close the Nigeria-Niger border as part of ECOWAS sanctions against the military junta that deposed Nigerien President, Mohamed Bazoum.

“The smugglers pay bribes directly or through agents designated accounts of the NCS officials,” the source said.

He stated that most of the officers detained operate in Zone B, which operates in more than half the borders that Nigeria shares with the Niger Republic in Sokoto, Katsina, Kano, and Jigawa states.

Six of the seven identified officers worked in Zone B, while one officer, to whom more than 80 per cent of the N12 billion was traced, works in Zone C, Port Harcourt.

Identified Officers
One of the arrested officers, the NCS’ Area Controller Zone B Kaduna, Ibrahim Jalo, was found with $31,200 and N500,000 in cash when arrested, the source noted.

But the EFCC traced suspected proceeds of bribes from smugglers totalling N1.1 billion to him.

Sources revealed that the customs officer promptly refunded N250 million, with a promise to refund the balance.

The EFCC also traced N126 million to Jalo’s personal assistant, Umar Tafarki. He has also refunded N12 million.

Another officer involved in this saga is Kayode Kolade, the Comptroller Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone C, Port Harcourt.

The anti-graft agency was said to have traced N9.5 billion, suspected to be bribes from smugglers, to him, all of which he was said to have received personally and through proxies between 2015 and 2023.

It was learned that the EFCC detained Kolade for three days in December. He spent Christmas Day in detention. He has refunded N50 million and committed to refund N800 million within a short period.

Another indicted officer, Nurudeen Musa, is the Comptroller of Enforcement, Kaduna Zone.

The EFCC traced N950 million to him. The anti-graft agency has recovered N583 million from him after he spent days in detention. He has also promised to refund the rest.

The EFCC’s investigation found that Musa, who previously served as Area Comptroller, Katsina Area command, was extraordinarily wealthy and owned lots of assets including two filling stations and large trucks, all of which investigators suspect were acquired with illicit funds.

Meanwhile, Hamisu Ibrahim, the officer in charge of Operation FOU Zone B, Kaduna, was suspected to have garnered N120 million in bribes from smugglers between 2019 and 2023. As of January, he has refunded N13 million and promised to refund the rest.

Meanwhile, Madugu Saleh and Mohammed Rabiu were suspected to have received N85 million and 84 million respectively from smugglers.

Saleh has refunded N13.5 million and promised to refund the rest.

Rabiu, the officer in charge of patrol on the Agangaro/Jibia Road, refunded N15 million to the anti-graft agency.

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However, the newspaper reports that intense lobbying is ongoing at the highest level of the federal government in an attempt to cover up a multi-billion naira corruption scandal.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has raised the Monetary Policy Rate(MPR) by four hundred basis points to 22.75 percent from 18.75 percent.

Governor of the CBN Yemi Cardoso announced this after the first MPC meeting for the year in Abuja on Tuesday.

“All 12 members of the committee decided to further tighten monetary policy by raising the MPR by 400 basis points to 22.75 per cent from 18.75 per cent. Adjust the asymmetric corridor around the MPR to +100 to -700 from plus 100 to -300 basis points,” he said.

The MPR has been 18.75 percent since the last MPC meeting between 24th and 25th July 2023.

With inflation at 29.90 percent, he said the new MPR is part of moves to tackle the country’s inflation.

Cardoso who chairs the MPC also said the Cash Reserve Ratio(CRR) has been raised to forty-five percent while the liquidity ratio was left unchanged at thirty percent.

The CBN chief also said over $26 billion has passed through the crypto app Binance Nigeria in the last four years.

“In the case of Binance, in the last one year, 26 billion dollars has passed through Binance Nigeria from sources and users who we cannot adequately identify,” he told reporters in his first MPC meeting since assuming office as the CBN governor.

Economic hardship in the country has worsened in the past months, leading to protests in several parts of Nigeria.

But Cardoso has exonerated himself and his team from the country’s economic woes.

“I laugh at that question but it’s not a laughing matter and I think it is very important for Nigerians to understand that the Central Bank Governor — I and my team — are not responsible for the woes that we have today; we are part of the solution,” the former Lagos State Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget said while responding to a question on how the CBN intends to tackle the country’s biting economic hardship.

“We are determined to ensure that we work hard to get out of the mess that Nigeria is in. We assumed responsibility in a time of crisis of confidence; there was a crisis of confidence and you may all want to go to bed and wish that crisis of confidence was not there but it was, and we can’t turn back the clock.

“All we can do is do the difficult things to make a bad situation better and I do believe that the efforts that we are making are beginning to bring back confidence because to be frank, without confidence in your business, you are not going to get far.”

Veteran actor, Kola Oyewo, has narrated his battle with prostate enlargement and how he survived it.
The prostate gland is the tube through which urine passes out of the body, and an enlarged prostate means the gland has grown bigger.

Prostate enlargement happens to almost all men as they get older.

The condition can cause urination difficulty, bladder stones, and reduced kidney function.

In a trending video, Kunle Afod and veteran actor, Peter Fatomilola visited Oyewo in his home to ask about his well-being.

Speaking with his guests, the 77-year-old actor said he first noticed that he had difficulty passing out urine in July 2019.

Oyewo said after a series of tests and scans, he was diagnosed with prostate enlargement and was advised to undergo surgery to save his life.

Speaking in the Yoruba language, the actor said he nearly died during one of the surgical procedures, adding that at one point, he decided not to do any further operations, saying this was after a surgery involving the removal of his scrota.

He said the medical experts also created a bypass in his urinary tract to allow urination.

Oyewo said he had to give up his ability to engage in sexual intercourse during the surgeries to save his life.

The actor said: “I feel better now”, adding that he is now healthy enough to work and go to movie locations.

Oyewo said he told actress Foluke Daramola not to beg for money on his behalf because his children are capable of taking care of him.

He said: “I had an enlarged prostate. In July 2019, I noticed that I was finding it difficult to urinate or I would easily pee on myself.

“I went to the hospital and did several tests before I was told that my prostate is getting larger.

“I visited our family doctor in Ilaramokin and he told me to do more tests. They told me that I was very lucky because the ailment is one that kills and that I will undergo surgery.

“My wife was also sick during that time, she had been down with a stroke since 2017. I told her about the operation that I was advised to do and returned to the hospital.

“They made an incision on my stomach and inserted something that will help me pass out urine. They told me it was to prevent me from dying immediately.

“I was also advised to undergo another surgery that will stop my sexual performance. I told them to go ahead because I no longer needed it and that my children were grownups with their kids.

“I later did the surgery and two of my children were there with me. After that, I was told to do another X-ray at the teaching hospital and that was what almost killed me.

“If I had known that I wouldn’t be able to pee from my penis after doing it, I wouldn’t have done it. I feel better now and I have even been to a movie location since then. I can work now but nothing stressful.

“When Foluke Daramola came to visit, I told her not to make any noise about the situation or beg people for money on my behalf. My children are taking care of me and I also took care of myself.”

Oyewo started acting as a professional in 1964 after he joined the Oyin Adejobi theatre group where he played his first role as Adejare in ‘Orogun Adedigba’.