ONE WORD

Adewuyi Adegoke, a pastor at Methodist Church, Ado-Ekiti, capital of Ekiti state, has been arrested by the police for allegedly organising his own kidnap. TheCable gathered that Adegoke had arranged with one Oluwadare Sunday to demand N3 million ransom from his congregation. He reportedly went into hiding on Sunday evening while there were reports that he was abducted between Esa-Oke in Osun state and Aramoko-Ekiti in Ekiti. His purported abductors later contacted the church members to demand the ransom, which they insisted must be paid latest by Thursday to prevent the reverend from being killed. Detectives, however, intercepted the pastor’s accomplice, Sunday, who came to pick up the ransom at Okeyinmi area of Ado-Ekiti, after which he led them to the hotel where the pastor had been hiding Detectives reportedly tracked the suspects through the mobile phone that he was using to make contact with the church members. Amba Asuquo, commissioner of police in Ekiti, confirme...

A jet belonging to the Nigerian air force crash-landed at Umaru Musa Yar’Adua international airport, Katsina, on Wednesday. Ibikunle Daramola, spokesman of the force, announced this in a statement, saying the incident happened as the aircraft was returning from an operation against bandits in Katsina. Katsina has recorded an increase in kidnapping and banditry. On Tuesday, the village head of Garin Labo in Batsari local government area of Katsina, was abducted on his farmland, sparking tension in the community. The military had launched “Operation Hadaran Daji” to check insecurity in the state and other parts of the north-west. Daramola said no life was lost in Wednesday’s incident, adding that Sadique Abubakar, chief of air staff (CAS), had directed that a board of inquiry be constituted to probe cause of the accident.

  Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says it is not enough to declare June 12 as Democracy Day as many Nigerians are hungry. President Muhammadu Buhari had signed into law, the bill to make June 12 Democracy Day, in honour of MKO Abiola, the presumed winner of the 1993 presidential election. But Atiku said June 12 demands something bigger than “merely declaring it a Democracy Day”. “It is not enough to declare June 12 a work-free day when a disproportionate number of citizens are not sure of where their next meal will come from and when the sanctity of their lives is not guaranteed,” he said. “It is not enough to declare June 12 a work-free day when freedom of the press, and of speech, fundamentals of democracy is being assailed.” He said June 12 remained a threshold in Nigeria’s national life, urging the people, to do a soul-searching. “The significance of the celebration of June 12, 1993 Presidential Election is a reminder...

Barcelona women’s new striker, Asisat Oshoala scored for Nigeria’s Super Falcons in their second game at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France on Wednesday Oshoala, who was later named player of the match, struck in the 75th minute, following an assist by Chidinma Okeke to give Nigeria their second goal. Nigeria had been gifted the first goal by Korea’s Kim Doyeon in the 29th minute in the match played at Stade des Alpes in Grenoble. Onome Ebi for Nigeria had her shot towards goal blocked by the Koreans, but Doyeon had the misfortune of putting the rebound in her own net, in the match refereed by Anastasia Pustovoytova from the Russian Federation. The Nigerian women coached by Thomas Dennerby now have three points and go third in Group A, after losing the first game against Norway 0-3. Hosts France and Norway will play later today. France beat Norway 4-0 in the opening match on Saturday. Oshoala remarked at the end of the match: “At first, I think we were a little b...

As Nigeria marks the maiden edition of the Democracy Day celebration, most former presidents and heads of state are absent at the Eagle Square, venue of the event, despite the fact that they were invited. According to the programme of event, they were billed to arrive the venue at 9.35am but as at press time, none of the former presidents and ex-heads of state were sighted. Former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan, former military president Ibrahim Babangida, who annulled the June 12, 1993, and General Yakubu Gowon are not at the venue of the event. Former head of the Interim government, Chief Ernest Shonekan, who took over from President Babangida, was also absent.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said the country is moving towards disaster under President Muhammadu Buhari. Obasanjo, who spoke in an interview with Premium Times, said the economy was unstable, added that the current administration had destroyed the war against corruption, which he said started during his administration. The former Head of State backed the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, ahead of the February 23 presidential election. “You can question that, but we have no choice but to be on (the) path of sustainable development. Any other thing will be a disaster. In fact, the pace at which we are going now is tending more and more towards disaster and instability and unsustainability.” Obasanjo said he was worried that the first three top officials of government were from a particular region. He said the situation had called for concern as it was against the constitution. He based his decision on the situation in the count...

European clubs will urge UEFA to make a huge change to the Champions League, to avoid it becoming a mainly closed competition, the UK Times reports. If accepted, the new proposal could see the existing 32-team competition expand, to include either 40 or 48 teams in the group stages from 2024. This could mean each team play eight group stage games, as opposed to the current six. A 40-team tournament could feature eight groups of five teams playing eight group matches each, with two from each group then progressing to the last-16 stage as they do now. Alternatively if UEFA don’t agree to that plan, a 48-team competition could feature eight groups of six teams each, potentially producing 10 group games a season. The proposals are set to be put forward to UEFA at a summit of clubs on September 11, shortly before the 2019/2020 Champions League season begins.

President Muhammadu Buhari in his speech marking the 2019 Democracy Day at Eagle Sqaure Abuja on Wednesday June 12 outlines the transformational programme of his administration in the next four years and how he intends to take millions out of poverty. He also announces the renaming of National Stadium Abuja as Moshood Abiola National Stadium Buhari speaks at Democracy Day in Abuja Protocols All Praise is due to GOD Almighty Who spared our lives to be present at this great occasion. We give thanks also that the democratic process has been further entrenched and strengthened. 2. Twenty years ago, a democratically elected government took over from the military in a historic transfer of political power for our country. 3. Today, we are privileged to mark the longest period of unbroken democratic leadership and 5th peaceful transfer of power from one democratically elected government to another in Nigeria. 4. Throughout the last four years, I respected the independence of IN...