NewsReports

Prominent groups and individuals have berated the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, for claiming that budget padding is not an offence. In separate interviews on Friday with Saturday PUNCH, they said that the Speaker’s statement showed that he was not sensitive to the suffering of Nigerians. Dogara, after a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday, …

The Niger Delta Revolutionary Crusaders, NDRC, Saturday, vowed that it would carry out reprisal attacks on Muslims and mosques in the Niger Delta region if Boko Haram kills Christians and burn down churches in the north, as threatened by its new leader, Abu Masab el Barnaw, last Wednesday. Spokesperson of the militant group, W O I Izon-Ebi, in a statement, …

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has recorded an improved performance in this year’s May/June West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), as a total of 878,040 candidates representing 52.97 per cent of the 1,544,234 candidates that sat for the examination, obtained credits in five subjects and above including English Language and Mathematics. In the 2014 and 2015 WASSCE, the …

The Federal Government has uncovered a firm which supplies militants the explosives with which they have been bombing oil installations in the Niger Delta. The firm was said to have diverted 9,000 kilogrammes of nitro-glycerine explosives and 16,420 pieces of detonators to the militants for “illegal use”. National Security Adviser (NSA) Maj.-Gen. Muhammed Babagana Monguno yesterday said investigation revealed that …

Donald Trump would play into the hands of the Islamic State militant group, Barack Obama claimed, in one of his strongest attacks on Donald Trump’s preparedness to be president. Following an hours-long meeting of his National Security Council at the Pentagon on Thursday, the US president said Trump’s broad-brush rhetorical attacks on Muslims worldwide, his enthusiasm for “bomb[ing] the shit” …

A former chief judge of the Federal High Court, Abuja, Justice Dahiru Saleh (retd.), who tied the last judicial knot before the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election has absolved former President Ibrahim Babangida of culpability over the issue. Saleh, while taking responsibility for the annulment, also faulted the failure of Chief Moshood Abiola, the acclaimed winner of …

A black crocodile skin Hermes Birkin handbag toted by the wife of the president, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, has caused a social media storm, as Nigerians on Thuesday took to different social media platforms to express their mixed feelings. Mrs. Buhari was spotted with the 35cm Porosus Crocodile bag, which is estimated to cost anywhere between $50,000 and $300,000, at the …

The new leader of Boko Haram is the son of the group’s founder, according to a Boko Haram insider. Abu Musab al-Barnawi is about 25 years old and the second son of Mohammed Yusuf, who founded the group in 2002, the source told CNN. Mohammed Yusuf was captured and executed after a clash with Nigerian security forces in 2009. The …

Black Lives Matter UK campaigners have blocked roads leading to London’s largest airport, as part of a series of nationwide shutdown protests on Friday. Transport routes in other British cities have come to a standstill, with demonstrators chaining themselves together in Birmingham and Nottingham. More protests are planned in Manchester later today. The UK-wide protests mark five years since 29-year-old …

High-profile Republicans are reportedly considering whether to confront Trump amid the candidate’s increasingly outlandish behavior. Donald Trump has insisted all is well with his campaign even as Republicans grow increasingly worried about a candidate who seems to have gone permanently off-track. Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus is reportedly among a handful of high-profile Republicans considering whether to confront Trump …