Daily News Roundup

The Police Command in Plateau State has confirmed the abduction of Rev. Bung Dong at Ganawuri community, Riyom Local Government Area of the State. DSP Alfred Alabo, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the State, confirmed the incident to newsmen on Monday in Jos.

The Presidential candidate of Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, has said next year’s Presidential election is not based on ethnicity or religion, hence it is nobody’s turn. Speaking at the Labour Party Leadership Retreat in Abuja on Monday, Mr. Obi promised to sign a performance agreement with the Nigerian Labour Congress to make sure that ideas generated at the retreat are followed to the letter.

-. Senator Kashim Shettima, the All Progressives Congress (APC) Vice-Presidential Candidate, has described Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Candidate, as a political tourist who comes to the country only when there is an election and returns to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to relax thereafter.

- The Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, has apologised to Christian clerics over the Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress. In a statement on Monday, the governor also appealed to them to help talk to their followers about the need to forgive and give the party a chance.

-. Two persons lost their lives during the flood that submerged various communities in Alimosho LG of Lagos State on Monday. The Lagos Territorial Coordinator, National Emergency Management Agency, Ibrahim Farinloye, in a statement, said the flood caused by the torrential rainfall, swept the victims away in the Iyana Ipaja and Command areas of the State.

-The Senate, yesterday, ordered security forces to go after oil thieves and bring them to justice. At a meeting with military and intelligence chiefs to review progress made in the fight against insecurity, the lawmakers lamented the massive loss of crude oil to illegal bunkering in the Niger Delta and the impact on the economy.

-. Hearing in the Federal Government suit against the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been shifted to September 16 after a failed attempt by the Social Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) to join the suit. Meanwhile, the National Industrial Court (NIC) adjudicating over the case has ordered the parties in the suit to file and exchange their processes before the adjourned date.

-Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has hit former minister of transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, saying he was a total failure and should not talk in public. The governor said, as far as Rivers State was concerned, Amaechi failed to attract any meaningful project to the State in the seven years he served.

-. The Ogun State Police Command has launched a manhunt on one of the sons of the traditional ruler of Gbokoto land, Ogun State, Oba G.O Olukunle for attempting to murder his father. The police said the manhunt became imperative following the confessional statements by six of the suspected assassins who were arrested while trying to shoot the monarch.

- Apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo has again appealed to the United Kingdom authorities to grant bail to Senator Ike Ekweremadu.

The lawmaker has been in detention for months now after he was charged alongside his wife for alleged organ harvesting.
Although the wife, Beatrice was granted bail, the court ruled that the former Deputy Senate President was a flight risk.

But on Monday, the lawmaker’s daughter, who has been down with kidney disease, cried out to the world, soliciting for a kidney donor.
She went ahead to reveal that her father was also battling kidney ailment even while in detention.




-Activist, Chief Rita Lori-Ogbebor has condemned the award of pipeline protection to Government Ekpemupolo, a.k.a. Tompolo.

There is controversy over the federal government job allotted to the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) leader.
After years of hardline, the Buhari administration engaged Tompolo, arguably Nigeria’s strongest militant. He got the same deal during the Jonathan presidency.

The government opened talks with him as illegal bunkering saw the country lose over 500,000 barrels per day.

Speaking to reporters in Abuja on Monday, Rita Lori declared that it was wrong to hand over the guard of the pipeline to an individual.

The Igba of Warri Kingdom said it was the duty of the national government to take control of happenings in the oil-rich South-South region.
She accused the authorities of treating a matter involving the nation’s biggest earner of foreign exchange with levity.

The prominent Itsekiri leader wondered why the government could not protect oil facilities to avoid theft and other problems.
“Despite the warning, they went ahead to award the contract to Tompolo. This has resulted in disagreement.

“There has been a parade of guns in a show of force. The region may be enveloped by war any moment from now,” she said.
Lori, who maintained the contract must be revoked for peace to reign, also decried the state of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

from daiy post