Over 30 houses and shops were Monday razed in Omitowoju area of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, in a late afternoon inferno caused by a petrol-laden tanker which fell on a road side. THISDAY learnt that the fully loaded tanker was trying to link Inalende road towards the Mokola round about area of the city when the driver lost control falling on its side while its 33,000 litres content which spilled on the gutter immediately sparked fire.
Updated 7 Years ago

President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday again admitted that corruption was currently pervading the nation’s system. He however said the reports of the menace were being exaggerated. Jonathan spoke at the presidential power reform transactions signing ceremony held at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, barely three days after the United States government indicted the Federal Government of massive and widespread corruption.
Updated 7 Years ago

Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole on Monday warned the Esama of Benin, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion, to stop undermining state laws. Oshiomhole, at the inauguration of 14 newly elected local government chairmen in Benin, said government had the capacity and the will to contain Igbinedion’s excesses. He also asked the state Independent Electoral Commission to tender unreserved apology to the people of the state for the lapses recorded in the local government election held on Saturday.
Updated 7 Years ago

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Sunday a $10 billion arms deal planned with Arab and Israeli allies sent a "very clear signal" to Iran that military options remain on the table over its nuclear program. "The bottom line is that Iran is a threat, a real threat," Hagel, who arrived inIsrael on Sunday on his first visit there as defense secretary, told reporters on his plane. "The Iranians must be prevented from developing that capacity to build a nuclear weapon and deliver it," he said.
Updated 7 Years ago

Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has told investigators his older brother Tamerlan was the driving force behind last week's attack and that no international terrorist groups were behind them, a U.S. government source said Monday. Preliminary interviews with Tsarnaev indicate the two brothers fit the classification of self-radicalized jihadists, the source said. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, wounded and held in a Boston hospital, has said his brother -- who was killed early Friday -- wanted to defend Islam from attack, according to the source.
Updated 7 Years ago

A bill seeking to punish organisations for any act of negligence which results in the destruction of human lives, received a major boost at a public hearing in the National Assembly yesterday as stakeholders threw their weight behind the bill at the one-day event. However, some major stakeholders such as judges, Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke, Inspector General of Police (IG), Mohammed Abubakar, Ministry of Aviation and various bodies in the aviation industry, invited to the event stayed away without sending representatives.
Updated 7 Years ago

Their rivalries have helped to define American politics for more than a quarter-century. And sometimes the complex relationships among the only five people alive who know what it's like to be president of the United States have seemed to be straight out of a soap opera. They have called each other names and blamed one another for the nation's problems. But when they have a rare meeting in Dallas on Thursday for the opening of former president George W. Bush's library and museum, there will be smiles for the cameras and friendly chatter by President Barack Obama and former presidents Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter.
Updated 7 Years ago

One hundred and ninety-one persons were feared dead, 10,000 others rendered homeless while 2,000 houses were destroyed at the weekend in Baga town, Borno State, after what could be termed the most deadly confrontation between Boko Haram and soldiers of Multinational Task Force (MTF) deployed in the area to rein in the sect. The MTF comprises troops from Nigeria, Cameroun, Niger and Chad. It was set up by the four countries to curb the rise of Islamic insurgency and terrorism in their countries.
Updated 7 Years ago

Nigeria’s oil companies are battling a surge in crude oil theft, with estimates suggesting that the oil-rich country loses some $6 billion annually in revenues due to bunkering. Oil theft is a lucrative black market in Nigeria, Africa’s top oil exporter, as well as neighbouring countries. Bunkering, as oil theft is commonly known in Nigeria, involves siphoning crude from pipelines into makeshift vessels and has turned into huge a business that is damaging the country’s investment profile as well as international oil companies operating in Nigeria.
Updated 7 Years ago

Mobile-phone users in Nigeria will be able to change service providers and retain their numbers under new regulations from today, increasing competition between companies including MTN Group Ltd. and Bharti Airtel Ltd. The new rules are among a series of measures introduced by the regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission, to help increase competition and deliver more benefits to consumers, Reuben Muoka, a spokesman for the NCC, said in a phone interview from Abuja, the capital, on April 19. Rates for calls between different phone companies were set 40 percent lower from April 1.
Updated 7 Years ago