No more missile wake-up calls, Kim tells South Korea leader-By Okonkwo Perpetual

    North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has promised the South’s President Moon Jae-in no more missile-related early morning wake-up calls, Seoul said.

Last year Pyongyang carried out 20 ballistic missile tests, almost all of them in the early hours of the morning.

FEATURED [BREAKING] Benue cancels mass burial, prepares for Buhari’s visit-By Okonkwo Perpetual

    

      Benue State Government has cancelled the planned mass burial for victims of Fulani herdsmen attack in Okpokwu.

      The government had promised to accord all the 24 victims of the Omusu Edimoga herdsmen attack a mass burial on Friday (today).

      Governor Samuel Ortom made the announcement for the burial during his visit to Omusu Edimoga in Okpokwu Local Government Area of the state, where the attack took place on Monday, March 5, 2018.

Arik Air plane makes emergency landing in Ghana-By Okonkwo Perpetual

      A Nigerian plane made an emergency landing in Ghana after smoke was detected in the cabin, officials said Friday, in the latest incident to hit domestic and foreign airline operators.

The aircraft, owned by Arik Air, was travelling from Lagos to Accra on Tuesday when the fault was detected but no-one was hurt, a company statement said.

Suicide bomber attacks Kabul’s Shiite area, kills seven-By Okonkwo Perpetual

A suicide bomber on foot blew himself up in Kabul’s Shiite area on Friday, killing at least seven people, officials said, in the latest attack in the Afghan capital.

“In the explosion seven were martyred and seven were wounded,” interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish wrote on Facebook.

Philippine president, Duterte, needs psychiatric evaluation – UN rights chie-By Okonkwo Perpetual

       The UN human rights chief said Friday that Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who has launched profanity-laced diatribes against United Nations rapporteurs, needs “psychiatric evaluation”.

Listing some of Manila’s actions against UN officials, rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said “it makes one believe that the president of the Philippines needs to submit himself to some sort of psychiatric evaluation.”

Mum of four allegedly hacked to death by husband-By Okonkwo Perpetual

       The Police in Enugu State have commenced full scale investigation into an alleged incident in which a man allegedly hacked his wife to death in Enugu city.

      The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, SP Ebere Amaraizu, said in a statement on Friday in Enugu that the incident occurred on March 8.

Again, US Secretary Tillerson Warns Nigeria, Other African Countries Against Chinese Loans- By Okoro Daniella

       U.S. Secretary of State, Mr. Rex Tillerson has counselled Nigeria and other African countries not to forfeit their sovereignty when they accept loans from China, the continent’s biggest trading partner.

      Tillerson, who spoke in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, thursday on the first leg of his African visit, said the U.S was not trying to keep Chinese dollars from the continent but it was important for African countries to consider the terms of the agreement and not forfeit their sovereignty.

Fresh Crisis Looms as APC NEC Plans to Amend Party’s Constitution-By Okolo Jessica

      Fresh crisis may be looming in the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the national leadership is alleged to have perfected plans to amend the party’s constitution at the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting slated for this month, in order to validate the tenure extension of its principal officers at all levels.

       Consequently, some concerned leaders of the ruling party have vowed to reject the planned amendment, which according to them violates Article 13(3-4) of the APC Constitution and Section 223(1-2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

Flour Mills subsidiary to unveil N50bn sugar estate-By Okolo Jessica

   Leading agro-allied firm, Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, has announced plans to open its N50bn sugar estate, the Sunti Golden Sugar Estate.

     The firm said in a statement that the Sunti Golden Sugar Estate would be inaugurated on March 15 by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Ambode tells polytechnic graduates to create jobs- By Okolo Jessica

   The Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, on Thursday said graduates of polytechnics and colleges of technology in the country should use their training and skills to create jobs and become employers of labour rather than job seekers.

     The governor spoke during the 26th convocation of the Lagos State Polytechnic in Ikorodu, Lagos State.

      Ambode, who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Dr Idiat Adebule, noted that the economic climate of the country required that young entrepreneurs  be determined to create wealth and employment opportunities.

     “On our part, we will continue to move education from the norm of certificate acquisition to the level of knowledge development through technology and skills acquisition.

NCP meets on NIPOST’s transaction adviser-By Okorho Ese

   

 

       The National Council on Privatisation chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will today (Friday) meet to take some decisions critical to the Federal Government’s privatisation programme.

       Investigation shows that one of the issues to be discussed by the council, which supervises the work of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, is the appointment of transaction advisers for the commercialisation of the Nigeria Postal Services.

Stop cutting corners, SON warns manufacturers-By Okorho Ese

       Standards Organisation of Nigeria has warned manufacturers of fake products to desist from the criminal act or face the full wrath of the law.

        It also urged Nigerians not to buy fake products, saying the risks associated with such unwise patronage were high and could be life-threatening.

The Director-General of SON, Osita Aboloma, gave the advice in Aba, Abia State, during a sensitisation workshop on substandard lubricants

We won’t spend money on Ajaokuta again – FG-By Okorho Ese

       The Federal Government on Thursday said it would not repeat the mistake of the former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration on the Ajaokuta Steel Complex in Kogi State.

     The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who stated this at a press conference in Abuja, also said the present administration would not spend any money to complete the steel plant.

UPDATED: Serena Williams wins in WTA Tour return-By Okorho Ese

     Serena Williams shook off the rust from a 15-month layoff due to pregnancy to win her opening match at the WTA Indian Wells event with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Zarina Diyas. 

     The unseeded Williams was the top-ranked player in the world when she began her long layoff following her victory at the 2017 Australian Open, where she was already expecting daughter Alexis Olympia who was born in September.

Williams entered the court Thursday night to a loud ovation, with many in the half full stadium standing and applauding as she came out of the tunnel for just her third appearance in Indian Wells in the last 17 years.

After that it was a matter of gradually asserting herself by taking control of the rallies, and she got the first break of serve in the 11th game of the first set and secured the set in the next game on her third set point.

I’m not bothered by Eagles omission – Alampasu-By Okorho Ese

       Goalkeeper Dele Alampasu  says he is not bothered about Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr’s decision to omit him from  his 28-man squad for the  friendly matches against Poland in Wroclaw on March 23 and Serbia four days later in London.

     German manager  Rohr  kept faith with Enyimba’s  Ikechukwu Ezenwa,  much-criticised Chippa United’s  Daniel Akpeyi and  young Deportivo La Coruna keeper  Francis Uzoho, who made his international debut in Krasnodar, Russia, where the Super Eagles defeated South America powerhouse Argentina 4-2 in November.

Several injured as Cart pushers, Lagos sanitation officials clash - By Okorho Ese

    Several people were injured after operatives of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps reportedly clashed with some cart pushers on Idowu Bashorun Street, Liasu Road, Idimu.

      PUNCH Metro learnt that during the clash, which occurred on Wednesday, weapons were freely used by the two sides

FG set to resell Yola Disco, Afam Power- By Okorho Ese

      The Federal Government is set to offer two key power firms, Yola Electricity Distribution Company and Afam Power Plc, for sale to new core investors, investigation has shown.

      For the Yola Disco, this will be the second time the government will be selling the firm which covers Borno, Adamawa, Yobe and Taraba States.

It was also learnt that the first core investor in the Yola Disco, Integrated Energy Distribution and Marketing Company, had yet to be paid back the $146.8m it invested for 51 per cent stake in the firm about three years after it exited through the declaration of force majeure.

The Head of Public Communications, BPE, Amina Othman, confirmed that both the Yola Disco and Afam Power Plc were up for sale to new core investors in a telephone interview with our correspondent in Abuja on Tuesday

Parents of abducted Dapchi schoolgirls protest in NASS, demand rescue-By Okorho Ese

       Some parents of the 110 abducted Government Girls Science and Technology College pupils in Dapchi, Yobe State, and sympathisers on Thursday occupied the premises of the National Assembly complex in Abuja, calling on the Federal Government to rescue their children.

       The protesters, many of whom were clad in black clothes, were brought together by a group, Coalition in Defence of Nigerian Democracy and Constitution, and supported by Our Mumu DonDo Movement.

      The groups transported five of the schoolgirls’ parents from Dapchi to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

Three of the parents, who spoke with The PUNCH, said they had lost sleep and appetite after 17 days of waiting in vain for the girls to be rescued from the captivity of Boko Haram terrorists.

Wife seeks whereabouts of policeman missing for seven months-By Okoro Daniella

     A mobile policeman, Mr. Sunday Ibrahim, attached to a Lagos-based businessman, identified only as Salau, has been missing since July 2017.

       The distraught wife of the policeman, Grace, 35, told PUNCH Metro that she had been living in sorrow and uncertainty since July 28 when she last talked with her husband on the telephone

Controversial Peace Corps bill: Matters arising-By Okoro Daniella

        President Muhammadu Buhari last week declined his assent on the bill establishing Peace Corps of Nigeria earlier passed by the National Assembly. In the reasons adduced by the Presidency for withholding assent as required by law, apart from the financial implications, the bill has overlapping responsibilities of existing security agencies. 
     
       The conflict has generated hullabaloo in the society with the executive and legislature drawing a battle line. Funny enough, the episode developed at a time countless innocent citizens either by politically-motivated or communal crises have been massacred as animals by unknown gunmen. 
    
      A cursory look at the evil and sophisticated weapons being used by the perpetrators of the heinous crimes leaves many to believe that the attacks may not be completely isolated from the security agencies, and therefore, a need on the Federal Government to be cautious in empowering and equipping any group of people with arms