Bandits in Zamfara State have released a new video showing its members celebrating the recent Eid-el-Fitr festival in Munhaye community in the state.

This was disclosed on Thursday by Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency expert and security analyst in Lake Chad, in a post on his X handle.

DAILY POST reported that Muslims in Nigeria joined their counterparts in other countries on Wednesday to mark Eid-El-Fitr, signalling the end of the one-month Ramadan fast.

The Federal Government also declared Tuesday and Wednesday public holidays and later extended the public holiday for the Eid-El-Fitr celebration to Thursday.

The Federal Government has disclosed that Nigerians who plan to ply the Lagos-Calabar coastal road when completed will have to pay N3,000 on average per toll gate.

Nigeria’s Minister of Works Dave Umahi made the disclosure on Thursday when he was featured on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief.

Umahi stated that an average of 50,000 vehicles were expected to use the road daily and pass through the toll gate when the monumental project was completed.

He explained that tolling the road was a way of recouping the money spent the project in the shortest possible time.

“Let me leave out the infrastructure along the corridor. Let me just concentrate on the tolls and I put 50,000 vehicles as an average passage on these toll points per day,” Umahi said on the breakfast show.

“I put N3,000 as an average cost. N3,000 because the cars could be like N1,500, and the big trucks could be like N5,000,” he said. “So, we put an average”.

“In 15 years, you make back the money,” he said, dismissing calls that the cost budgeted for the road was high

The road project has sparked controversy in some quarter, with many saying the details of the project, especially how the contract was awarded, are shrouded in secrecy.

Former Vice president, Atiku Abubakar, had called out the federal government and presidency on the vagueness and opaqueness of the contractual agreement of the project, saying important information regarding such project of national significance shouldn’t be shrouded in secrecy.

He implored the Tinubu government to be transparent, forthright and come clean to Nigerians on the cost, design, contractor and other sundry details of the road construction.

The Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) has banned the shooting of movies in riverine areas and also suspended filmmaker Adanma Luke following the death of actor Junior Pope Odonwodo.

Junior Pope was among the persons who drowned while returning from a shoot for a movie called “Another Side of Life” which was being produced by Adanma. Their boat capsized around Cable Point at the waterside of River Niger in Asaba, Delta State.

While there were initial claims that Junior Pope was revived, the AGN said the actor is dead, prompting its suspension of shoots involving riverine areas and boat rides.

“Following the tragic incident of boat mishap that claimed the life of Mr John Paul Odonwodo aka Junior Pope and four other crew members at the waterside of River Niger Cable point Asaba on 10 April 2024 on a movie set titled ‘The other side of Life’ produced by Adanma Luke,” the AGN president Emeka Rollas said in a statement on Thursday.

“The leadership of the Guild has taken the following decisions: (1) All films that involve riverine areas and boat riding are at this moment suspended indefinitely, (2) no shoot on all locations Nationwide on Thursday, 11 April 2024.

“(3)The film titled ‘Another Side of Life’ is suspended indefinitely (4) No actor is allowed to work with Adamma Luke as a producer till further notice. (5) While we keep searching for the bodies of the remaining persons, may their souls rest in peace.”

The move is coming after the AGN president said the actor was alive after initially confirming Junior Pope’s death. But hours later, he deleted the post on his Instagram handle, posting another one where he said reconfirmed the actor’s death.

“It’s so so sad that our joy was shortlived. My first post was out of excitement when we noticed his tingling fingers. Two notable hospitals tried their best to revive him but to no avail. God knows the best,” he said.

“We finally lost him. Mr Friday’s corpse has been identified but three other corpses are yet to be found.”

Investigators from Lagos and Kano states have initiated a search for a 36-year-old Bureau De Change operator named Abubakar Mannir. He is accused of fleeing with $737,015.00 belonging to an Indian national, Manas Das, in Kano.

The suspect is believed to have fled from Kano to Lagos after the theft, and authorities have extended their search efforts accordingly.

Police spokespersons in both Kano and Lagos have confirmed that a manhunt is underway for the suspect in connection with the theft.

The victim, identified as the Chief Executive Officer of Allkraft Technology and Industries Limited, had contacted Mannir for the purchase of $900,000.

Mr Das transferred the naira equivalent from his company’s Zenith Bank account to the BDC operator in December 2023.

However, trouble arose when Mannir allegedly paid only $162,985 through Emirates Booth, his firm, and then disappeared without settling the remaining balance of $737,015.00.

Kano State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Abdullahi Haruna, stated that investigations are ongoing, with efforts expanded to track down the suspect in Lagos.

The General Manager of Allkraft Technology and Industries Limited, Abdulrahman Abubakar, provided further details, mentioning a scheduled meeting that never occurred, leading to suspicion and subsequent reporting of the case to the police.

Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed that the command is searching for the fugitive Bureau De Change operator.

An eyewitness has spoken about the cause of the boat accident which led to the unfortunate demise of popular actor, John Paul Odonwodo popularly known as Junior Pope on Wednesday, April 10.

The actor lost his life after drowning while on a boat on his way back from the movie set.

According to the eyewitness, the boat carrying Jnr Pope hit another boat carrying other passengers resulting in the collapse of both boats in the river. 

The eyewitness said the rider of the boat Jnr Pope was on, failed to see an oncoming boat on time, hence the clash. Unfortunately there were no divers around to help rescue the victims.

The witness also claimed that some of the victims held unto the rope of a boat after it capsized and later rested on the boat while waiting for help. Fortunately, help arrived on time as people on another boat spotted them and rescued them.

So far, three bodies including Jnr Pope's have reportedly been recovered, while a search is ongoing to recover the bodies of other victims .

Athletics has become the first sport to offer prize money to Olympic champions, announcing that the 48 gold medallists in Paris this year will earn $50,000 each to end a 128-year tradition.

Although the concept of purely amateur competition has long since disappeared from the modern Olympics with athletes often receiving payments from sponsors and professionals taking part for years, the World Athletics (WA) decision is a major shift.

WA President, Sebastian Coe, said there had been no discussion with the International Olympic Committee, only that his organisation had given the IOC a heads-up shortly before announcing the $2.4 million prize pot.

“While it is impossible to put a marketable value on winning an Olympic medal, or on the commitment and focus it takes to even represent your country at an Olympic Games, it is important we make sure some of the revenues generated by our athletes are directly returned to those who make the Games the global spectacle that it is,” Coe told reporters.

“I don’t believe this is remotely at variance with the concept that the IOC often talks about, which is recognising the efforts that our competitors make for the overall success of the Games.”

Norway’s Olympic 400m hurdles champion Karsten Warholm welcomed the news.

“I think it’s good so I want to salute them for it,” Warholm said in an interview. “It doesn’t change my motivation to win because for the Olympics I’m not in it for the money. The gold medal is worth a lot more to me personally.”

The IOC said it was up to each International Federation (IF) and National Olympic Committee (NOC) to determine how to best serve their athletes and the development of their sports.

“The IOC redistributes 90% of all its income, in particular to the NOCs and IFs. This means that, every day, the equivalent of $4.2 million goes to help athletes and sports organisations at all levels around the world,” the ruling body said.

A total of $540 million was allocated to the 28 sports at the Tokyo Games, with World Athletics receiving the most at $40 million.

According to Tana River County Commander Ali Ndiema, the 51 people on board the Umma Express bus were travelling from Garissa to Nairobi at 11:30pm when the bus was swept away by floods at Lager Areli.

Mr Ndiema notes that the driver of the bus, Hassan Rage, dared to cross the flooded section against the advice of other drivers, only for the bus to be swept away by the heavy waters 50 metres off the road.

"He took the risk and risked the lives of more than 50 people, which is an offence punishable by law," he said.

However, the district police commander has confirmed that most of the passengers escaped unhurt and a rescue operation was underway for those stuck on the roof of the bus.

Mr Ndiema has called on drivers plying the Garissa-Nairobi route to be alert and avoid driving on flooded sections to avoid killing their passengers.

"These are sections that were broken during the El Niño and should be avoided at all costs when they are flooded so that we do not lose lives on this road," he said.

The Kenya National Highways Authority has since issued a warning to commuters along the Garissa-Nairobi highway (A3) due to flooding in the Mororo area between Madogo and the Tana River Bridge.

According to KenHa, the flooding has affected one lane of the road, posing a high safety risk to road users.

Other roads currently being monitored by KenHa include the Garissa-Mombasa highway at Bilbil and Charidende in Tana River County, which were washed away by the El Niño floods.

Afrobeats superstar Ahmed Ololade aka Asake said he is not sad over his Grammy loss to South Africa’s Tyla.

The Nation reported that Tyla’s ‘Water’ defeated Asake’s ‘Amapiano’ and other Nigerian songs to win the maiden Best African Music Performance category at the 66th Grammys.

However, speaking in a recent interview with GQ magazine, the ‘Mr Money With The Vibe’ crooner said he doesn’t take it as a loss.

According to him, he is upbeat that he might get more Grammy nominations and probably win next year.

“It [Grammy loss] is not a loss for me. I might just get more next year. In my head, I was not even taking it too seriously,” he said.

On his mind space for his sophomore album, ‘Work Of Art,’ Asake said: “People don’t really know me because I’m quiet.

“So everybody started seeing me as a mystery. ‘Work of Art’ is just for them to know me. You have to understand I’m human, but you can’t just deny the heart in me.”

The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mr Mele Kyari, has said that harnessing natural gas resources in Nigeria is crucial in fuelling economic growth and industrial development.

Kyari spoke on Wednesday at the public presentation of a book, ‘The Rise of Gas: From Gaslink to the Decade of Gas’, authored by Charles Osezua.

The GCEO highlighted gas as a crucial energy source that sustains economic growth and drives industrial activities.

Represented by the company’s Head of Relationship and Stakeholder Management, Mrs Oluwakemi Olumuyiwa, Kyari also emphasised the importance of documenting Nigeria’s gas sector.

He underscored the significance of prioritising natural gas production and supply, particularly in the context of geopolitical dynamics and energy security in the global economy.

“With Nigeria boasting substantial gas reserves exceeding 200 trillion cubic feet and a potential to reach 600 tcf, the GCEO said it is pertinent Nigeria leverages the gas resource for sustainable development, energy security, and job creation,” a statement by the NNPCL spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye, said on Wednesday.

According to Kyari, the book aligns with the Federal Government’s ‘Decade of Gas’ initiative, which he said aimed to optimise Nigeria’s abundant gas reserves for domestic consumption and international export.

The NNPCL boss added that the energy firm has been leading in advancing the ‘Decade of Gas’ agenda as a key stakeholder through strategic investments in critical gas infrastructure such as pipelines and processing facilities.

The 19 chairmen of the Labour Party (LP) in the northern states have passed a vote of confidence on the 2023 presidential candidate of the party, Mr Peter Obi.

The northern zone chairman of the party, Muhammad Abdullahi Lawal, disclosed this to reporters after their meeting in Bauchi.

He said, “Sequel to this, we reaffirmed our unwavering support for Peter Obi, who embodies character and distinguished principles that define the Labour Party and the great future of our country’s unity.

“We stand in solidarity with him, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Obedient movement groups and all other stakeholders who are committed to uniting the party and upholding its integrity,” he said.
Lawal said it was unequivocally clear that there was no longer any faction of the LP anywhere, insisting that the party had only a unilateral centre of command and control.

“However, in the interest of party unity and progression, we have collectively agreed today to disband these factions and move forward as one cohesive party,” he said.

Lawal also warned Dr Arabambi to cease from making derogatory remarks against the person of Mr Obi, saying such behaviour was unacceptable within the ranks of the LP.