The lawsuit follows calls from the All Progressives Congress’ Akida Forum for an investigation into the minister’s alleged links to rising insecurity in the North-West.
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Defence minister sues two journalists over defamation, demands N60bn damages
Defence minister sues two journalists over defamation, demands N60bn damages
Nigeria’s Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, has filed a N10 billion defamation lawsuit against two northern journalists, Shu’aibu Mungadi and Tijjani Ramalan, alongside their employers and media organisations.
The suit, filed at the Kano State High Court, accuses the journalists and their platforms—Vision Media Services Ltd, Vision FM, Farin Wata Television, and Liberty Radio and TV—of airing reports portraying Matawalle as a sponsor of banditry.
Matawalle, a former governor of Zamfara State, claims the allegations, broadcast across multiple media platforms, have damaged his reputation. He seeks an injunction to restrain the defendants from making further statements until the case is resolved.
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The court has scheduled the hearing for December 12, 2024.
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Kidnap kingpin who abducted 20, collected N70m, arrested in Taraba
Kidnap kingpin who abducted 20, collected N70m, arrested in Taraba
Troops from the 6 Brigade of the Nigerian Army in Jalingo, Taraba State, have arrested a suspect who confessed to abducting 20 individuals and extorting N70 million in ransom.
Captain Oni Olubodunde, the Acting Assistant Director of Public Relations for the brigade, said in a statement that Suleiman Ahmed, a resident of Bomanda village in Lau LGA, was apprehended on November 12, 2024, during an anti-kidnapping operation conducted in Maraban Abbare, Bomanda, and Karamuke villages.
“The operation was targeted at curbing kidnapping activities in Lau LGA. During initial investigations, Suleiman Ahmed confessed to abducting 20 people and collecting over N70 million in ransom,” Captain Oni said.
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He said the suspect also admitted to using an AK-47 rifle in his criminal operations.
“A follow-up operation on November 15 led to the recovery of the weapon from a concealed location and the arrest of one of Ahmed’s accomplices, identified as Hussaini.
“The troops also apprehended a suspected gunrunner at his residence in Mayo Dassa, Lau LGA,” he said.
Captain Oni emphasised that the 6 Brigade remains resolute in its commitment to ensuring the safety and security of residents in Taraba State, continuing to intensify efforts to dismantle criminal networks in the state.
Kidnap kingpin who abducted 20, collected N70m, arrested in Taraba
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Obasanjo’s comment on Tinubu mischievous, says Afenifere chief
Obasanjo’s comment on Tinubu mischievous, says Afenifere chief
The National Organising Secretary of Afenifere, Mr Kole Omololu, has said President Bola Tinubu’s short stay in office has shown signs of outperforming former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s record.
The chieftain of the Pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organisation said in a statement yesterday that the emerging gains of the president’s economic reforms gave hope that the nation was on a trajectory of recovery, growth, and development.
Omololu, in reaction to Obasanjo’s claim on Saturday that Nigeria had become a failing state under President Tinubu, said the former president’s assertion was incorrect given the increasing gains being made under the president.
Delivering a keynote address at the Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum, Yale University, New Haven, at the weekend in Connecticut, USA, the former president, in his recorded lecture titled, ‘Leadership Failure and State Capture in Nigeria, said the country’s pervasive corruption, mediocrity, immorality, misconduct, mismanagement, perversion, injustice, incompetence, and all other forms of iniquity confirmed Nigeria’s failing state status under the president.
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However, Omololu said Obasanjo’s conclusions were inaccurate and mischief from the former president’s habitual attention-seeking.
“This is typical Obasanjo grandstanding. As the late President Shehu Shagari wrote about him in his autobiography, ‘Beckoned To Serve,’ Obasanjo is an egotistical narcissist who cannot stand not being the centre of attention and the cynosure of all eyes. He will engage in serial acts of incitement to attract the spotlight to himself,” he stated.
Saying Obasanjo had persistently criticised his successors unduly, Omololu contended that Tinubu’s managerial, moral and anti-corruption records were shoulder above the former president’s.
The Afenifere chieftain said the president’s economic reforms, including the withdrawal of petrol subsidies and the unification of forex rates, were bold measures the former president did not have the courage to take while in office.
He said these measures had shored up the nation’s revenue and helped it to reduce its debt service ratio from 97% to 65% of income within 17 months.
He added that Nigeria, under Tinubu, had achieved a new record in its trade balance, with an unprecedented N14.07 trillion trade surplus by half-year 2024, pointing out that the administration’s non-oil revenue in one quarter was more than the total generated during Obasanjo’s eight years in office.
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Omololu queried, “How can President Obasanjo talk of mismanagement when, on Thursday, March 28, 2024, the Nigerian Stock Exchange crossed 104,562.06 All Shares Index, a 39.84% increase year-to-date, making it the second-best performing exchange in Africa?”
The Afenifere chieftain also disputed the former president’s assessment of the president’s anti-corruption record, stating that the top global transparency rating agency, Transparency International, reported a more positive evaluation.
“Transparency International says Nigeria is less corrupt today than during the Obasanjo administration,” he said, adding, “Nigeria improved on TI’s Corruption Perception Rating this year, moving five places from 150 in 2023 to 145 in 2024. In contrast, under Obasanjo, Nigeria was rated the second-most corrupt nation in the world, with only Bangladesh ahead of us in 2002. Out of 102 nations, Nigeria was number 101.”
Omololu pointed out that Obasanjo and his deputy, Atiku Abubakar, publicly exposed themselves via a nasty public exchange exposing their dirty dealings.
Omololu said Obasanjo, who could not manage his deputy, Atiku, lacked the moral authority to accuse Tinubu of immorality and mismanagement.
“If you could not manage your Presidency, what moral authority do you have to call the man who has managed his government and party with almost military efficiency a mediocre?” he queried.
Obasanjo’s comment on Tinubu mischievous, says Afenifere chief
metro
Gunmen abduct NDLEA officers in Delta
Gunmen abduct NDLEA officers in Delta
Gunmen have abducted officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Delta State, sparking concerns over rising insecurity in the are.
Reports indicate that the armed assailants ambushed the officers and their orderly near the agency’s state headquarters at around 8:00 pm as they were returning home from work.
The attackers, believed to have monitored the victims’ routine, intercepted them along the Isah-Ogwashi-Uku Road in Aniocha South Local Government Area.
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Sources familiar with the incident suggested that the kidnappers may have received insider information to carry out the attack.
Efforts to obtain a comment from the NDLEA State Command’s spokesperson, Mr. John Kennedy, were unsuccessful, as he declined to speak on the matter.
This incident follows a troubling trend in Ogwashi-Uku, where five people have reportedly been kidnapped in the past 10 days. The recent wave of abductions has left residents in fear, with criminals allegedly adopting new strategies to elude law enforcement.
Gunmen abduct NDLEA officers in Delta
(DAILY POST)
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