Governor Masari. Governor of Katsina state, Aminu Masari, has said the abductors of at least 333 students of Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, have contacted his government. The Governor made this known when he briefed President Muhammadu Buhari in Daura on Monday. The Senior Special Assistant to the President, Garba Shehu said in a statement after Masari’s visit to Buhari in Daura. It was titled, ‘Gov Masari Briefs President Buhari On Kidnapped School Children, Assures Of Steady Progress In Rescue Efforts’. The statement partly read, “President Muhammadu Buhari Monday in Daura, Katsina State, received more briefing on children kidnapped from Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, with an assurance from Governor Aminu Bello Masari of steady progress to bring them out unharmed. “The Governor, who was accompanied by the Deputy Governor of the state, Manir Yakubu, said the kidnappers had made contact and discussions were already on pertaining to safety and return to the

Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has inaugurated Eastern Security Network, ESN. Kanu said that the ESN was launched to protect the Southeast from marauding Fulani herdsmen and other criminal elements. The IPOB leader furthermore highlighted that ESN was not different from Amotekun in the Southwest and Miyetti Allah in the North. Kanu’s launch of ESN was disclosed in a statement signed by IPOB’s spokesman, Emma Powerful. He warned armed robbers, kidnappers, to vacate the Southeast or be prepared “for the worst.” Kanu vowed that the new security outfit will adequately defend the Southeast. He also disclosed that mobile numbers would be released so people can call whenever there is any case of criminality in the region. Kanu lamented that terrorists have converted forest in the Southeast into slaughter grounds and raping fields. The statement reads partly: “We the global family of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) under the command and leadership

                                  Mayor  Keisha Lance Bottoms Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms turned down an opportunity to serve in President-elect Joe Biden’s Cabinet, a spokesperson  for Bottoms said in a statement that she  respectfully declined Biden’s offer. The statement did not say what Cabinet position she had been offered, but denied  speculation that Bottoms had turned down a step to be an ambassador. “She was never offered an ambassadorship,” the statement said. “Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was honored to have been offered a role in the Cabinet, which she respectfully declined,”  “The Mayor’s focus remains on the people of Atlanta and the great state of Georgia,” the statement said. “Out of respect for the process, and the other candidates under consideration, no additional comment will be forthcoming on this matter at this time.”    Bottoms was elected mayor in 2017 and she was a former member of the Atlanta City Council, representing part of Southwest Atlanta

  Bishop David Oyedepo While preaching sermons at  the Encounter Night - Shiloh 2020,  Bishop  David Oyedepo  said that he stopped receiving salary from his church since December 1984,  he also proclaimed that   there is a difference between the blessings of the Lord and the blessings of the effort of man.  The founder and presiding Bishop of the megachurch Faith Tabernacle in Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria, and Living Faith Church Worldwide, also known as Winners' Chapel added: i t is the blessing of God that makes a man rich and add no sorrow with it. “We run our home like hotel. I have always had people living with me even when I was living in one room apartment. The last time I counted I had about 22 people working for me". “I didn’t bring a dime into ministry. God is too big to help. Men are not the builders of Churches, God said he will build his church and the gates of hell will not prevail. “I still sleep like a baby. I never asked God to enrich me, I only suçceeded in passi

                                                    Image Courtesy-pixabay/Ingi Finnsson  The land borders with Canada and Mexico will remain closed through Jan. 21, Chad Wolf, acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced on Friday. “Canada and the United States agreed today to keep our shared border closed until January 21,” Trudeau told a news conference. The border was initially closed in March to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. The closure has been renewed monthly since then. Only trade in goods and merchandise and essential travel are allowed. A second wave of Covid-19 infections in Canada — with a total of nearly 450,000 cases reported as of Friday — has forced several regions to reintroduce pandemic measures. As of Friday, the U.S. has the most  COVID-19 cases   of any country with more than 15 million, while Mexico and Canada have more than 1 million and 400,000,  separately. The border between the US and Mexico will also remain shut until th

  Sylvanus Nsofor  Nigeria’s outgoing Ambassador to the United States, Justice Sylvanus Nsofor, is dead.  His death was announced in a statement  today by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu. The 85-year-old diplomat was said to have died yesterday night at a hospital in Maryland in the US. The retired justice of Nigeria’s Court of Appeal,Nsofor, who assumed office as the ambassador to the US on November 13, 2017, succeeded Professor Adebowale Adefuye who also died towards the end of his tenure as Nigeria's ambassador to The US..  President Buhari characterized the late envoy as “an outstanding judge of rare courage and truth who is not afraid to give justice to whom justice is due”.The President said the country would miss him because he was a man of impeccable character.  He, therefore, directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to work with Justice Nsofor’s family on the burial arrangements.

                                              Elechi Adendu Kingsley, The  National Drug Law Enforcement Agency  (NDLEA) has captured a 32-year-old man, Elechi Adendu Kingsley, for attempting to smuggle controlled substance, 14.4 kg of Cocaine into the country from  Brazil. Kingsley, who has been living in Brazil for over 13 years, was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja. According to a statement issued yesterday by Mr Jonah Achema, NDLEA mouthpiece, the suspect was arrested with a bag containing cellophane bags during the inward clearance of Ethiopian Airline flight ET 911. Kingsley, an indigene of Umulolo Local Government Area of Imo State, who is based in Brazil, said he had no one to blame for his involvement in the crime. “I am an adult and I am fully aware of what I was going into. I agree that somebody gave it to me but I offered to carry it,” Kingsley was quoted as saying. Kingsley said he was promised N3 Million upon successful delivery of the drugs t