Headline

Banditry: ‘If I Open Up, Heads Will Roll – Senator

Published

4 years ago

September 27, 2021

Senator representing Kaduna South Senatorial district, Danjuma La’ah has disclosed reasons he wept on different occasions on the floor of red chambers while presenting motions on banditry attacks in his constituency.

The lawmaker said, banditry activities in Southern Kaduna in the thinking of some Senators looked like a Southern Kaduna issue alone, saying at that point, if he opens up on what he knows about banditry, heads will roll.

Speaking on the development in his senatorial district, the lawmaker recalled how he told senators that one day, all the 109 Senators will encounter insecurity, in form of bandits, kidnapping, insurgency and other forms of criminality, stressing that his words have come to pass.

He said: “I have wept times without number, but I knew time shall come and time has come because while I was weeping in the chamber when presenting motions on banditry in Southern Kaduna, I said that one day somehow, that these things will affect everyone of us.

“Because we were thinking that it was just meant for Southern Kaduna, but tell me which state in this country has not been affected by bandits?

“Bandits don’t have friends, they don’t know tribes; they don’t know religion. Whoever, you are and they found you, it’s about money.”

The lawmaker said after he presented a motion on insecurity in Southern Kaduna severally, he stopped talking, stating that if he continued based on what he knows, “heads would roll and the world will turn upside down, so it better I allow the sleeping dog lies.”

He said banditry activities in Southern Kaduna were not new, while he hoped that in the ongoing onslaught against criminal elements in the north, those who raise and trained bandits should drive them away.

He added: “All these things are not new. Bandits, Boko Haram and insurgents and my motion has all along not been changed from what it is. We can only pray.

“Those that raised them over there should be the same people that will come and drive them out of this place.”

Asked to speak on Constitution amendment, Senator La’ah revealed that the Senate leadership deliberately refused him to be a member of the Constitution Review Committee chaired by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege because they considered him too stubborn to be there.

His words: “I am not a member of the Constitution Review Committee. When the members were sent to the Constitution Review Committee, they didn’t want those of us they consider too stubborn to be there.

“What else will I say? I will not say what I don’t know. It’s good that people accuse me, if they don’t, then I am not a Senator because what affect one Senator affects all.”

Headline

Putin Says Russia Ready For War, Blames Europe For Sabotaging Peace

Published

13 hours ago

December 2, 2025

Editor

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia was “ready” for war if Europe seeks one, accusing the continent’s leaders of trying to sabotage a deal on the Ukraine conflict before he met with US envoys.

The comments came as US envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner were in Moscow for high-stakes talks on ending the nearly four-year war, which were preceded by days of intense diplomacy.

“We are not planning to go to war with Europe, but if Europe wants to and starts, we are ready right now,” Putin told reporters in Moscow.

“They have no peaceful agenda, they are on the side of war,” he added, repeating his claim that European leaders were hindering US attempts to broker peace in Ukraine.

He added that European changes to Trump’s latest plan to end the war “aimed solely at one thing — to completely block the entire peace process and put forward demands that are absolutely unacceptable for Russia”.

Washington has presented a 28-point draft to end the conflict, later amended after criticism from Kyiv and Europe, which viewed it as heeding to many of Russia’s maximalist demands.

The plan to end the war is championed by Trump, but European countries fear it risks forcing Kyiv to cave in to Russian demands, notably on territory.

Fearing further Russian aggression, Europe has repeatedly said an unfair peace should not be imposed on Ukraine.

The Trump envoys are now seeking to finalise the plan with the approval of Moscow and Kyiv.
AFP

Headline

US Senator Proposes Bill To End Dual Citizenship

Published

13 hours ago

December 2, 2025

Editor

A United States lawmaker has introduced a bill seeking to abolish dual citizenship for American nationals, a move that could affect thousands of Nigerians who hold both US and Nigerian passports.

Bernie Moreno, a Colombian-born US senator, announced the proposed legislation — titled the Exclusive Citizenship Act of 2025 — arguing that the current system, which allows Americans to hold multiple nationalities, creates “conflicts of interest and divided loyalties.”

“One of the greatest honours of my life was when I became an American citizen at 18, the first opportunity I could do so.

“It was an honour to pledge an Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America and only to the United States of America! Being an American citizen is an honour and a privilege—and if you want to be an American, it’s all or nothing. It’s time to end dual citizenship for good,” Moreno said.

Moreno, who has since renounced his Colombian citizenship, maintains that exclusive allegiance is essential to national integrity.

If passed, the bill could have far-reaching implications for prominent figures such as US First Lady Melania Trump, who holds both US and Slovenian citizenship. It would also significantly impact Nigerians with dual citizenship.

According to a July naturalisation flow report by the US Department of Homeland Security, 38,890 Nigerians became naturalised American citizens between 2021 and 2023. Nigeria ranked 13th among countries with the highest number of new US citizens and was the only African nation in the top 20.

Nigerian law allows citizens by birth to hold dual nationality without relinquishing their Nigerian citizenship.

This development comes months after President Donald Trump issued an executive order aimed at denying automatic US citizenship to children of undocumented immigrants born in the country.

The order was immediately challenged by 18 states and multiple rights groups, who argued it violates the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of birthright citizenship. Ongoing legal battles have prevented the order from taking effect.

Headline

12 Die, 30 Missing In Peru Landslide

Published

2 days ago

December 1, 2025

Editor

At least 12 people, including three children, died in a landslide at a river port in central Peru on Monday, and 30 were reported missing, officials said.

The landslide submerged a boat with about 50 passengers on board, and another with none, as they were docked at the port of Iparia in the Amazon jungle region of Ucayali, according to a police report cited by the Andina news agency.

Six people were injured, it added, and a search and rescue operation was underway at the start of the Peruvian rainy season.

Without giving a toll, Peru’s COEN national emergency operations centre said on X that tragedy struck at dawn due to “erosion” of the bank of the Ucayali river.

It said the navy has been called in to help.

AFP