Mogaji Gboyega Adejumo, one of the chieftains of Afenifere, a pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, says the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye played a video showing Sunday Igboho hurling insults at him for the group to watch.

Igboho was hurling insults at the cleric over his son’s death.

According to Adejumo, members of the group were moved to tears as they watched the video.

He added that Pastor Adeboye had been supporting Yoruba Nation agitation, contrary to Igboho’s belief that the cleric had not been supporting the secession plans of some Yoruba people.

According to Adejumo, Igboho shouldn’t have attacked such a respectable person.

Igboho had often caused controversy by raining curses on leaders who refused to support the secession agenda, saying God would kill their children and wives.

His aide, Olayomi Koiki, had in a video asked him (Igboho) to commiserate with Adeboye over the death of his son, Pastor Dare Adeboye.

But the visibly infuriated self-acclaimed Yoruba activist asked if the cleric had declared his support for the Yoruba nation.

He had said, “Has Baba supported the Yoruba nation that we will now be greeting him? We don’t need to greet Adeboye. What is my own with that? We are not doing church here. This is not religion.

“Adeboye has never spoken about the Yoruba issue. Look at how huge his congregation is, why hasn’t he spoken for the Yoruba Nation? We don’t need to commiserate with him.

“God himself will judge those who have not supported us, may He continue to kill their wives and children since they don’t want us to reach our promised land.”

But the Afenifere chieftain in a statement yesterday said the cleric had never worked against the agitation.

He described Igboho’s action disrespectful to important people in Yoruba land, saying it was be a disservice to the agitation for Yoruba liberation.

He said, “This evening, I accompanied Pa Ayo Adebanjo, leader of Afenifere, who also had with him, Kabiesi Ọba Diipo Olaitan and Barrister Sola Ebiseni, on a condolence visit to Pastor Adeboye regarding the passing of his son.

“A man of great faith is Pastor Adeboye. The sour point was the Igboho video in which Sunday clearly made an unsavoury reference to Pastor Adeboye’s son’s death. Pastor Adeboye himself made reference to it and the video was played back for us all to see. The leader, Pa Ayo Adebanjo was close to tears.

“Now, I must say this — Today is the 3rd time of my meeting with Pastor Adeboye in less than one year and the second time with Pa Ayo Adebanjo. I can categorically say that Pastor Adeboye is totally behind the Yorùbá cause. A great disservice is to insult, mock and or disrespect, misrepresent this great man of God, a proud Yoruba man that has been supporting all our efforts for a while now!

“Once again, the idea of rushing to destroy our best assets in the untoward, untutored ignoble manner of late, abusing, cursing, demeaning our elders, leaders can only serve one purpose: Losing all the gains of years of hard work — prolonging our days of slavery, annoying God to the point of 40 days becoming 40 years!!!

“What is the logic in running the very people who have the leverage to lead us out of slavery, like Moses did, down? Sheer ignorance! Moses never raised a sword, instead, he raised his staff. (Chukwuemeka) Ojukwu fired many guns and mortars, and his people still lost.

“No one wants the Yorùbá out of Nigeria more than these men that have lately become the target of unwarranted abuse even by those who chose (President Muhammadu) Buhari and whose antecedents are nothing to compare with the earth-shaking events that surround and define the incomparable lives of these men and leaders.

“Pa Ayo Adebanjo, a veteran of the treasonable felony saga of Papa (Obafemi) Awolowo and the 30 others who went to jail for it. Same Pa Ayo Adebanjo, who stared down at (Sani) Abacha and said, ‘I only owe you one bullet you coward, pick up your gun and shoot’.

“It saddens me therefore to see a lot of grandstanding, gaslighting, cognitive dissonance parading naked, misdirected anger remotely being made to appear as logic in a clear situation where wisdom has altogether taken shelter and all that is left is mutant presumptions, falsified perceptions and latent pretences. Who will save the Yoruba from going into self-distrusting, self-disruptive excoriation? When we finish destroying ourselves, sooner than later, what we will become is a laughing stock of the Fulani!” (sundiatapost)

Reno Omokri, an ex-aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan, has slammed the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, for saying that the Federal Government and its security agencies know the whereabouts of kidnappers and bandits but only being careful.

According to Omokri, the government was not careful with #EndSARS protesters last October when soldiers allegedly opened fire on youths at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos, injuring over 30 protesters and allegedly killing some youths.

The PUNCH had earlier reported that the minister at a briefing on Tuesday said the government indeed knew the locations of kidnappers, adding that security agencies were only being careful to avoid civilian casualties.

“One of the most difficult things to do, for a democratically-elected government, is to use the instruments of coercion against its own people. For example, while the nation’s military have superior firepower over the rag tag band of Boko Haram and ISWA, the terrorists most often than not operate among the populace, either in our villages or towns, hence the military, in tackling them, is usually careful to avoid collateral damage.

“The same applies to the kidnappers who abduct our school children. Usually, the location of the kidnappers is not unknown to security forces, but they still have to exercise caution in order not to hurt the same children they are trying to rescue. Despite these inhibitions, the security forces have the wherewithal to decisively tackle the challenges,” Mohammed had said.

Reacting, Omokri, in a string of tweets on Wednesday, wrote, “Lai Mohammed says the Buhari government knows where kidnappers are, but are only being ‘careful’. But why was the Buhari administration not careful during #LekkiMassacre, or when they massacred Nigerian Shiites? Why is their mercy only reserved for kidnappers?

“Lai, why is your government now appealing to bandits and herdsmen? Did you ‘appeal’ to #EndSARS protesters before massacring them, or to the people of Orlu before slaughtering them? The Buhari administration is a useless embarrassment!” (sundiatapost)

Grammy award-winning Singer, Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu aka Burna Boy has reached a new milestone.

The self-acclaimed African giant has become the first African to reach 100 million streams with different albums on Spotify.

According to chart data, Burna Boy became the first African artist to have three albums with 100 million streams each on Spotify

The albums to achieve this feat include his three last albums; “Outside” 2018, “African Giant” 2019 and “Twice as Tall” 2020.

This is coming after he unveiled what people should expect from his next album.

On May 7, he tweeted: “This next album. I need you to hear the pain in my voice, The pain of an OUTSIDER, Forever marked by my skin, my past and the place I come from No matter how skilled I am or how honourable I proved myself.”

And also after news that “Ye,” a single off the album “Outside” had been certified gold in the US. (Sundiatapost)

The Nigerian Army has reacted to reports that a soldier allegedly killed a fruit vendor, Abdulkadir Musa, in Gusau, the Zamfara state capital.

News Express had on Monday reported that a fruit vendor was allegedly shot dead by a soldier after refusing to make payment for fruit he bought and walk away with his bunch of fruits without paying.

Reacting to the report in a statement he issued on Tuesday, the Director Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Muhammed Yerima, on behalf of the Nigerian Army noted that the General Officer Commanding 8 Division, Major General Usman Yusuf, had ordered an investigation into the incident.

The army spokesman stated that the perpetrator of the crime would be subjected to investigations and would subsequently be prosecuted if found wanting.

“The Nigerian Army wishes to state that the sad incident is quite regrettable and condole with the family of the deceased.

“It is worthy of note that the General Officer Commanding 8 Division, Major General Yusuf, has since commissioned an investigation to unravel the circumstances that led to the altercations which eventually claimed one life as efforts are ongoing to arrest the yet-to-be-identified perpetrator,” he stated.

The Nigerian Army, however, said no military operational vehicle was set ablaze.

It assured the people of Zamfara state that normalcy has been restored in the general area adding that the Army is also working to put in place measures to ensure that such incident never occur again. (sundiatapost)

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said the national grid experienced a total system collapse on Wednesday resulting in a blackout in some parts of the country.

The TCN made the confirmation in a statement by its General Manager, Public Affairs, Mrs Ndidi Mbah, obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

Mbah said: “The TCN hereby states that at about 11.01 a.m today, May, 12,2021, there was a total system collapse of the grid, as a result of voltage collapse at some parts of the grid.

“TCN commenced grid recovery immediately after the collapse, from Shiroro Generating Station to Katampe TS, Abuja through the Shiroro – Katampe line at 11:29 a.m and also through Delta Generating Station to Benin Transmission Substation and has reached Osogbo and parts of Lagos.”

Also read: Efforts ongoing to restore power to Kakuri substation — TCN According to her, while the restoration of the grid and power gradually progress to other parts of the country, the cause of the voltage collapse that precipitated this failure is equally being investigated. “TCN appeals for patience as it works assiduously to ensure full restoration of the grid and consequently power supply to the remaining parts of the country,” she added.

NAN reports that the national grid on Feb. 17, experienced partial collapse leading to a power outage in some parts of Nigeria including Lagos State.

Vanguard News Nigeria 

The Governors of the Southern part of Nigeria yesterday concluded plans to ban open grazing in their territories, as a way of curbing the menace of the Fulani herdsmen in their region after a successful meeting in Delta State.

The outcome of their meeting has stirred up a lot of conversations in the media space. 

The people from the Southern part of the Country lauded the decision of their Governors to ban open grazing by Fulani herdsmen,  why the people from the Northern part of Nigeria especially those from Fulani background are not pleased with the decision.

One of the elites from the North, Professor Usman Yusuf, who was the former Executive Secretary National Health Insurance Scheme, has said that the Southern Governors must first and foremost provide lands for the Fulani herdsmen to graze their cattle, before they can ban them in their territories for open grazing.

Speaking in an interview monitored on AIT this morning, Professor Usman said while reacting to the decision of the Southern Governors on open grazing: “Land use act have taken over this land. So all this crisis is about land. 

“Government needs to act responsibly and see to the security implications of this crisis and this can be solved not militarily.

“The Southern Governors must provide place where these Fulanis will graze their cattle,” he said.

Present at the Southern Governors Forum yesterday Asaba were Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa , Okezie Ikpeazu,  Abia State Governor, Willi Obiano of Anambra, Douye Diri of Beyelsa, Godwin Obaseki of Edo and David Umehi of Ebonyi.

The Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu was also in attendance along with Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, Dapo Abiodun of Ogun, Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, Seyi Makinde of Oyo State while Nyesom Wike of Rivers, Hope Uzodimma of Imo and Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom were represented by their deputies, Prof. Placcid Njoku and Mr Moses Ekpo.

The police in Benue State have uncovered mass graves in the Katsina-Ala Local Government Area of the state.

The discovery was made possible by two of the eight gang members arrested in Osun State last week for kidnapping.

Recall that the Osun State Police Command had last Saturday announced the arrest of eight members of a gang, who are from Benue State, in the Omo Ijesa area of the state.

The spokesperson for the Osun State Police Command, Yemisi Opalola, had explained in a statement on Saturday that the eight-member kidnap gand abducted one Mrs Catherine Akiishi and relocated to the state to negotiate the ransom for her and added that the suspects would be handed over to the Benue State Police Command.

Two of the suspects, Aondoaseer Terseer, aka Bob Tsetse, 23, and Orkashima David, aka Cash Money, on Monday led a team of detectives to the shallow graves, where their victims were buried in order to conceal their nefarious activities.

The suspects claimed to have been working for one Azonto, a militia and the late Gana’s second-in-command and were responsible for several kidnappings and killing of security agents in the Sankera area of Benue State.

Three male and three female decomposing bodies were recovered in the shallow graves, with two of the females killed in January and April identified as wives of two of the suspects.

The victims were identified as John Nyitamen, Catherine Akiishi, Aondoverb Fidelis as well as wives of two of the suspects.

The suspects were said to have confessed to killing their wives, with Tertse allegedly saying his wife died when a piece of wood he threw at her pierced her neck following a misunderstanding.

David said his wife’s death was instigated by his father after he accused her of trying to set him up by calling security agents.

According to him, through the help of his two other gang members, the wife was killed and her remains buried in a shallow grave.

The suspects gave the names of their other gang members as Umangu Ihuman, aka Aka; Agwe, aka Banga; Aondover Ihom, aka D’ver; Luper; and Yaryon, aka Snake, adding that four of them had been killed by security agents.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Catherine Anene, who confirmed the discovery, said she was still expecting details of the operation carried out by her colleagues in Katsina-Ala.

“Yes, I can confirm the report, but am still waiting for the details,” Anene told our correspondent on the phone.

The PUNCH

The National Security Council (NSC) presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday, assessed circumstances and factors that have been impeding the success of the fight against insecurity and approved considered solutions.

Among the steps to be taken to achieve quick wins in the ongoing crusade include revisiting the effectiveness of the nation’s judicial system, increased efforts at reducing unemployment and poverty as well as tackling factors described as enablers of crime, one of which is the menace of drug abuse.

The National Security Adviser (NSA), Major-General Babagana Monguno (Rtd), who led the Chief of Defense Staff, General Lucky Irabor, and the acting Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, to brief State House Correspondents after the NSC meeting in the Presidential Villa, disclosed this during the briefing.

According to the NSA, President Buhari had already given specific instructions to all the various sectors of the nation’s security architecture on carrying out their part of the new strategy.

“The National Security Council has met three times in 11 days. The first two meetings were inconclusive, but today’s meeting is the final in the three meetings. Again, Mr. President’s concern at the growing trend of insecurity has been highlighted and the meeting, basically, was briefed by the National Security Adviser, the Chief of Defense Staff and the Inspector-General Police.

“I briefed the meeting on strategic issues in relation to security, while the Chief of Defense Staff briefed on operational issues, and Inspector General of Police briefed on constabulary matters. On my part, I briefed Council on the enablers of crime and the need to find quick responses with a view to mitigating the growing threats to society.

“These enablers are discussed in detail and Mr. President has already given direction on how to deal with them, specifically issues of drug abuse as propellants for crime, how to make the criminal justice system much more effective, as well as looking at issues of unemployment, which of course, the federal executive council had given an approval, through previous memos on how to get 100 million people out of poverty, that was also discussed. Then, again, the lack of an effective crime reporting system.

“Again, the President has given direction on how to make these things effective. Already, the NCC has been given certain instructions on how to deal with this, but by and by Council has agreed that the level of insecurity in the country, especially in the last one month, is something that has to be addressed with the immediacy that it requires and at the operational level, of course, the Chief of Defense Staff has been working with the service chiefs and the recommendations they’ve made to the Council are already being handled,” he said.

On his part, the acting IGP, Usman Baba, said President Buhari had approved new security measures for combating the situations in the Southeast and South-South regions of the country.

Baba, who like the NSA refused to disclose details of the new instructions and plans for combating the situations in different parts of the country, however, appealed to the public to assist the security in achieving success.

“I want to also follow suit with my colleagues and inform you that the Security Council meeting, which has taken place three times during the last 11days, has assessed the situation in the country, particularly Southeast and South-South, as it affects law and order and we have some measures that have been approved by the Council to check.

“We have some measures which we have outlined and have been approved by the Council and we’ll see how we can change the narrative within the quickest possible means to restore law and order and restore peace in that area”, he said.

On his part, the Chief of Defense Staff, General Irabor, disclosed that the Council had been briefed on the activities of the armed forces so far and had considered their various needs.

“No doubt, far-reaching decisions were made. On our part, just as the National Security Adviser indicated, I briefed on various measures that the Armed Forces, in partnership with other security agencies, the measures we’ve taken to stem the tide of insecurity across the country.

“The council was pleased with the actions and of course, the prayers that were made, which Council has also graciously undertaken to look into.

“These, of course, have to do with manpower development, training and equipment issues, and thankfully, the glow on my face should, of course, give you an indication as to the graciousness of the National Security Council, in relation to the briefings that we’ve given in this regard and I believe that going forward, we shall be translating that and it will have some great impact on the security disposition across the country,” he said. (Thenigerialawyer)