Good day! Here are 10 things you need to know today: Friday, August 22, 2014 1. The Nigeria Customs Service, Ogun State Command has intercepted 1,480 cartridges of live ammunition concealed in 15 bags of rice from smugglers along the Abeokuta-Igboora bush path. Comptroller of the state Command, Haruna Mamudu, said his men got the information of the illegal movement of the ammunition and had laid ambush for the criminals. He said, the Command also confisicated nine sacks of Indian hemp at the Imeko area of the state 2. Nigeria’s health minister,Onyebuchi Chukwu has just recently announced that Nigeria is sad to discover two new cases of the Ebola virus. He said that the new cases recorded where spouses of the primary contacts of the index case, Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian-American who brought the virus to Nigeria. He said that these were the first secondary contacts to test positive to the deadly virus that has killed five people in Nigeria. The secondary contacts had been put under intense monitoring by the Federal Government since the virus made its way into the nation via Patrick Sawyer. 3.The Ekiti State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said it will not partake in a proposed rally for President Goodluck Jonathan, scheduled for Ibadan, Oyo State, because the organizers of the said rally lacked the mandate to do so. The party in a statement by its state Publicity Secretary, Pastor Kola Oluwawole, in Ado-Ekiti on Thursday, said the planned rally does not have the blessing of the leadership of the party in the South-West geo-political zone. According to the statement, “we are calling on the leaders and members of our party in Ekiti State to shun the particular rally slated by the organisers for tomorrow, Saturday August 23, in Ibadan. 4. President Goodluck Jonathan has said the report of the National Conference will be sent to the National Assembly and the Council of State for onward incorporation into the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Jonathan also assured the conference Chairman, Justice Idris Kutigi, in Abuja on Thursday that the report will be implemented, and their efforts won’t be wasted. 5. A riot Police Training Academy close to Gwoza, Borno State has been taken over by Boko Haram militants, says report. A witness told our source that shots were heard after the militants arrived in three Armoured Personnel Carriers and on dozens of motorcycles. The Academy, otherwise known as Liman Kara Police College, since Wednesday had been in the hands of the militants who have now hoisted their flag in the college. 6. The All Progressives Congress, APC, Osun State chapter has commended the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and its Chairman, Attahiru Jega for saying that elections shouldn’t be flooded with excess security men. The party made the commendation in a statement signed by its Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy, Mr. Kunle Oyatomi. 7. The Lagos State Police Command has arrested two suspected human parts dealers engaged in the business of human skulls in parts of Ogun and Lagos states. Report says the suspects, Muritala Mustapha and Sunday Oluyeba were arrested by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the command after a tip-off. 8. ABIA State governor, Theodore Orji, had on Thursday called on Nigerians to encourage the Army in the battle against the current security challenges facing the nation. Governor Orji said encouragement and unbiased criticism were what the soldiers needed now to be able to battle the Boko Haram terrorists tormenting the nation. Orji was speaking, yesterday, in Umuahia when the Chief of Army staff, Lieutenant Gen. Kenneth Minimah, led other senior Army officers on a courtesy visit to Abia state. 9. President Goodluck Jonathan this morning leaves for Germany on a private visit alongside some of his close aides. The president’s trip was confirmed by his spokesman, Reuben Abati, in a short statement he issued late Thursday. 10. The All Progressives Congress, APC, has called for the suspension of the existing curfew in Adamawa state, as a result of the forth coming election in the state. The APC Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, while making the demand in a statement said that the existing curfew would hamper the freedom of movement of members and officials of the party if it remained in place during the period of campaigns for the governorship poll. 10b. The elder son of a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nasir El-Rufai, Bello, has made a sound warning that he would disown his father if he joins the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from the opposition party, All Progressives Congress (APC). Bello’s declaration is coming after the recent defection of a former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, from the APC to the PDP. He stated that despite Ribadu’s move to the PDP, he would always have a bias for him, but warned his father against following in the footsteps of the ex-anti-corruption czar, noting that El-Rufai would never enjoy such an honour from him.
Posted on: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 12:13:08 +0000