A man named Edet Okon Asim, who was alleged to have raped a 12-year-old-girl, has been appointed by Cross River Governor, Ben Ayade as his Special Adviser on Biodiversity. In 2019, Asim was said to have been arrested by police for raping and impregnating the 12-year old girl leading to the damage of her womb after series of abortions. It was learnt that he warned and threatened the girl not to reveal the crime until she started developing repeated belly aches. A source told Sahara Reporters, Asim was supposed to have been jailed for the said offence but manipulated the…
Author: meridianspy
Except something else occurs that grabs the headlines and dominates Nigerian social media, the big news of the past week would probably be the death of Senator Abiola Ajimobi and the political drama that it has generated. Senator Ajimobi served as a Senator between 2003 -2007. He was Governor of Oyo State between 2011 – 2015, 2015- 2019. He achieved the distinction of being the first Governor in that state to be elected for a second term in office. He broke the jinx. His tenure as Governor was quite controversial with mixed results and divided opinions. He was a very…
Former Oyo State governor, Abiola Ajimobi has passed away at age 70. Ajimobi, who was recently named as the Acting Chairman of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), died of undisclosed illness. More details soon.
History repeats itself because man in his usual frailty learns the stories but never the salient lessons. This weakness of man ensures that events are perpetually recycled when such needless rigmarole could have been nipped in the bud. In the build-up to the 2015 governorship election in Lagos State, the question on the lips of most Lagosians was, Ambode who? Akinwunmi Ambode had no political antecedent after leaving the state civil service. The then incumbent governor and current Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, had his preferred candidate in the state’s Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Supo Shasore. At…
As the Nigerian Army troops continue its offensive against insurgents in the North East, more Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) elements are either being arrested or neutralized and their equipment captured or destroyed while others continue to surrender amidst sustained artillery bombardments and offensive onslaught against their enclaves and hideouts by the gallant troops of Operation LAFIYA DOLE. John Enenche, Coordinator of the Defence Media Operations, confirmed, in a statement on Monday, the surrender of a 19-year-old boko haram fighter, Muhammadu Abubakar, also known as, Babagana. Abubakar “surrendered to troops of 242 Battalion deployed at Charlie…
Across the world, as countries and economies slowly reopen, Africa lags behind. We were last to experience the coronavirus—and we expect to be the final continent to flatten the curve. Some may say it is too early, that the crisis still too deep and the recovery too distant to dwell upon the future. But that is wrong. In times of global crisis it is critical to think of the life after, and how—through adversity—we can refashion the world around us. In this new, post-coronavirus age, Nigeria—and Africa, more broadly—wish to benefit the world, not be a drag on its resources…
Tope Akinyode, a human rights lawyer, is set to drag the Nigerian Army to court on behalf of Emmanuel Madubuezi, a polytechnic student in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, who was shot by personnel of the Nigerian Army. On September 14, 2017, stray bullets from operatives of the Nigerian Army hit Madubuezi, who sat in a commercial tricycle on his way to school at the time. According to Sahara Reporters, the bullet pierced through his body and hit an elderly woman sitting next to him, who was thrown out of the tricycle due to the impact of the bullet. The young…
English Premier League clubs have unanimously agreed to stage 1 of ‘Project Restart’ and will return to the first phase of training this week. Following cordial talks among the 20 clubs, a path was cleared for players to return to training on Tuesday, ahead of a possible return of matches on June 19. According to Mirror Football, players will now be able to train in groups of no more than five as clubs look to rebuild the fitness of their squads after football’s enforced hiatus. The Premier League were able to flesh out much more detail at their latest meeting,…
If the gods want to punish a people, they either invoke plagues on the land or deploy agents of slaughter as leaders. The gods are not happy with Rivers state, obviously, hence the affliction by Nyesom Wike. The state had a chance of averting this ruination in 2019, but it did not take it. The recent brutish actions of Wike in Rivers really knock me into wondering whether the governor superintends over a parallel country. Wike has taken deeper gulps from the chalice of malice, absolutism and despotism. He is now running wild and untamed. In April, the governor ordered…
Approximately 40 years ago, two French cinema directors Jean-Jacques Flori and Stéphane Tchalgadjieff arrived in Lagos where they spent several weeks interviewing and shadowing Africa’s biggest musical export of that time. It is unclear exactly when the phrase “Music is the Weapon” found its way into FelaAnikulapo Kuti’s musical lexicon, but by the time the French duo were done producing their documentary in 1982, they had no doubt what to name it. Four decades later, many of the people whom Fela famously lampooned as Animals in Human Skin shortly thereafter, are still very much in and around power in Nigeria and around the continent. Despite his being widely lionised as a symbol of revolutionary Nigerian…
No fewer than 155 persons have died in Gashua and Potiskum areas of Yobe State over the last six days after exhibiting symptoms related with coronavirus disease. A source told told Sahara Reporters on Wednesday that between April 30 and May 5, 98 people died in Potiskum. “Cemeteries are now the busiest places in these towns. “In Gashua town, at least 57 have died. Those dying are mostly elders, yet the state Committee on COVID-19 is sleeping in Damaturu as if nothing is happening,” another source confirmed to Sahara Reporters. It was learnt that instead of addressing the challenges his state…
The general manager of the Nigerian Television Authority NTA in Katsina state, Ayinde Soaga has tested positive for coronavirus. This was confirmed in a statement released by his Family, as they clarified that he is not bedridden, as widely speculated by his friends and associates, but in good spirit. The statement read: “The Family of Alhaji Ayinde Soaga, GM, NTA Katsina appreciates the numerous phone calls and concern raised about the report as regards his testing positive to COVID 19,” “We wish to confirm that he is in high spirits, not bedridden, as he personally called in the NCDC officials…