The Curious Mind

The police command in Taraba on Friday said death toll from the crisis between the Fulani and Mambilla ethnic groups in Sardauna Local Government area of the state had risen from seven to 18. The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Yakubu Babas, disclosed this at a press conference in Jalingo. Babas said the police and other security agencies had deployed enough men to the area to ensure protection of lives and property. He said two persons had so far been arrested in connection with the crisis. He said, “I want to use this medium to warn that nobody is untouchable, no matter how highly placed. “Investigation machinery are already in motion to dig deep and bring those behind the ungodly acts to book.” Babas said the remote cause of the crisis was the disagreement between the Fulanis and the Mambillas over land, and the state government had set up a commission of inquiry to look into it. He, however, added that the immediate cause was a court case among people of th

The Department of State Services (DSS), on Friday, said it had uncovered a plot by suspected terrorists to infiltrate the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, also known as Shiite and also attack Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto and Maiduguri during the Eid-el-Fitr celebration. Mr. Tony Opuiyo, an operative of the service who made the disclosure in Abuja, said two suspects – Yusuf Adamu and Abdulmuminu Haladu – were arrested in Sokoto in connection with the plot in the early hours of Friday. Represented by Mr. Nnanna Nnochiri, also an operative with the service, Opuiyo said the service had earlier arrested Bashir Mohammed, the facilitator of the Kano attack on June 20 at Unguwar Barnawa, Kaduna. Shekarau Madaki was also arrested at Kumbatso Local Government Area of Kano State. Opuiyo said that their plan, together with some who are currently at large, was to assemble explosives and use them on selected targets during the sallah celebration. He added that items recovered from Mohammed ‘s hous

Sunderland striker Victor Anichebe has completed a move to Chinese club Beijing Enterprises. The forward - who was released by the Black Cats following their relegation from the Premier League moves to the second-tier side in China and will be available as soon as he regains his match fitness.

The consortium of 13 banks involved in Etisalat Nigeria loan on Thursday refuted reports that they have taken over the operations of the company. A management source close to the banks who pleaded anonymity said in Lagos that there was no truth in the report making the round. The source said that the banks’ major interest was the loan repayment borrowed by the company and not takeover. “We are not telecommunication companies, all we want is our money,” he said. The source said that the company must pay back the loans in order not to jeopardise the economy, jobs, payment of dividends and depositors funds. He stated that it was not only the banks that would suffer but billions of Nigerians, even the vendors, and distributors doing business with the company. “We did not take over Etisalat as being insinuated, if we have taken over, it has to be registered with the CAC. “They are still doing their business, they just want to weep up sentiment at the United Arab Emirates,” t

Former presidents, lawmakers and senior government officials in Ghana will no longer have special privileges for private travel to the United States, Washington’s envoy has said. Until now, such individuals were able to take advantage of “protocol services” where they did not have to physically appear at the US embassy to obtain a visa. But on Thursday, US Ambassador Robert Jackson told members of parliament that the process had changed, sources in the legislature said. “If you are travelling for tourism or business that is not related to government business, you will be required to make a personal appearance, even with former presidents,” he said. “There are no exceptions.” The withdrawal of protocol privileges comes two months after Britain’s top diplomat in Accra accused three MPs and a former lawmaker of visa fraud in a letter to Ghana’s parliament, raising the prospect of a travel ban. The allegations included visa overstays for family members, in some cases for s

The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu  says the November 18 governorship election in Anambra state will not hold unless the federal government conducts a referendum on Biafra. He threatened that members of his group might also boycott the 2019 general election in Biafra land should the government refused to heed to the call for referendum. He said Biafrans were ready to go to prison if the federal government did not grant their request of having a republic. “If the federal government does not agree with us on a date for referendum, there will be no elections in the southeast, we are starting with Anambra come November this year. There will be no governorship election in Anambra state,” Kanu said. “In 2019, the whole of Biafra land will not vote for any president. There will be no senator, there will be no house of reps, there will be no house of assembly and there will be no councilor-ship elections in Biafra land if the federal government fails t

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has written a letter to Senator Dino Melaye, representing Kogi West senatorial district, to inform him that it has received a petition for his recall. In a statement by Mohammed Haruna, INEC’s National Commissioner, the decision to inform Melaye was taken at a meeting held in Abuja following the submission of a petition and collected signatures to the commission for Melaye’s recall from his constituents. Haruna said INEC would issue a notice to the petitioners and Melaye on July 3, on when it would begin the verification of the signatures of those who signed the notice. “The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) held its regular weekly meeting today and considered the petition submitted by some registered voters from Kogi West Senatorial District to kickstart the process of recalling Senator Dino Melaye,” the statement read. In accordance with the INEC guidelines for the recall of members of the national assembly

Some 30 boys have worn skirts to school in protest at being told they were not allowed to wear shorts. The pupils from ISCA Academy in Exeter asked permission to modify their uniform because of the hot weather. One of the boys who took part in the protest said: "We're not allowed to wear shorts, and I'm not sitting in trousers all day, it's a bit hot." Head teacher Aimee Mitchell said shorts were "not part" of the school uniform, Pupils said the idea for the protest came from the head teacher, who originally made the suggestion, although one student said he did not think she was being serious. They said they hoped the school would reconsider its shorts policy as a result of the protest and the head has indicated it might be considered. Ms Mitchell said: "We recognise that the last few days have been exceptionally hot and we are doing our utmost to enable both students and staff to remain as comfortable as possible. "Shorts are

Five cases of Lassa Fever have been confirmed in two local governments of Owo and Akoko South West areas of Ondo State. Three cases have been reported at Owo Local Government, while two cases were reported in Akoko South-West. Of the three cases in Owo, one involving a female student was recorded at the Achievers University, prompting its management to close the institution while students were asked to embark on three weeks semester break. Addressing journalists on the issue, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Tunji Ibiyemi, said that the institution recorded just one isolated case of Lassa Fever in a female student who must have contracted it from her off campus residence. While noting that the lady has been given the best of medical treatment at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owo and would soon be discharged, Ibiyemi said the school has declared a three-week break.

Tyson Fury Top of Form   Tyson Fury has hit back at Anthony Joshua for calling him “boring” – but saying he is “more Nigerian”, according to The Sun. The two continue to angle for a “Battle of Britain” heavyweight domestic clash – but it’s clearly only at the “trash-talking” stage at the minute. Speaking to Sky Sports about Fury’s points win over Wladimir Klitschko back in 2015, Joshua said,  “He didn’t throw a punch. He didn’t come to fight. He just walked around the ring for like 12 rounds, it’s boring.It’s not winning, it’s how you win.” Joshua climbed off the canvas in April to record a stunning 11th round stoppage victory against Wladimir Klitschko to add the WBA and IBO titles to his IBF strap. But Fury has hit back, in somewhat strange circumstances. Sharing a video on Instagram, he captioned it, “I’m more Nigerian than you! I’ll fly the flag for Nigeria when we fight. “Gypsy man represents the world.” In the video which the self-titled “gypsy king” shar

Abba Kyari, an assistant commissioner of police and head of the Intelligence Response Team, has revealed how operatives trailed and placed billionaire kidnapper, Chukwudi Onuamadike aka Evans, under surveillance. According to ThePoint, Kyari disclosed that he rode on a commercial motorcycle, popularly known as okada, to enable him move faster to Evans’ Magodo GRA Phase II residence. The top cop said knowing the traffic situation in Lagos could delay him, he had to ditch vehicular movement for another alternative. His words: “At about 1.30am (on Saturday), Evans and some of his gang members went out to a club around Ikeja and returned at 5.10am. So, we were very sure that would be our day. “So, I decided to go and cleanup myself and have a little rest before I returned to Magodo,” he told The Point. “I was still resting when my guys called that the target was set; that it appeared he wanted to go out. So, I had to take Okada from where I was, to meet up.” Kyari added that

A writer from Enugu recently made claims that the Nigeria Police command in Gombe State copied her ideas and used it without acknowledging her.  The police in Gombe recently conducted a career day activity for kids in the state in which they dressed up the kids in different career attires and gave them lectures on it. That was what the novel Edet and Career Day was all about.   So judging by that, your guess is as good as mine.  It will be great if we learn the art of acknowledging owners of ideas in this country and not go all out to take credit for other peoples ideas. below is her comment on Facebook: "yes. I'm very angry right now. Edet and Career Day was the same book which we used for the maiden edition of the Police Commisioner's Reading Competition which  was organised by the Enugu State Police Command in collaboration with the Early Reading Empowerment Initiative (EREI) on the 25th October, 2016. I don't have a problem that they copied it. But