Headline

Diri Takes Swipe On Arewa Youths, Says ‘You’re Ignorant Of Happenings In N’Delta’

Published

4 years ago

December 4, 2021

Bayelsa State governor, Senator Douye Diri, has taken a swipe at the Arewa Consultative Youth Movement, describing them as the most ignorant of what is happening in the Niger Delta for saying that he was over politicizing the Nembe oil spill.

Diri, who was speaking as the guest of honour at the All Ijaw Summit, organised by the Ijaw National Congress, INC, in Yenagoa the Bayelsa State capital, weekend, averred that he will never play politics with the health and development of the people but will continue to defend the territory and people who elected him as governor no matter whose ox is gored.

The governor who stressed that he is particularly vexed with the proportion of the Nembe oil spill, said he does not need to be a petroleum engineer to comment on the spill.

He challenged environmental activists to come to Nembe to see the level of pollution and environmental damage done to the flora and fauna of the Ijaw people.

While warning that no one should take the hospitality of the Ijaw nation for granted or doubt the determination of the state government in protecting the sanctity of communities and the livelihood of the people, Diri added that the people and state will not swallow this flame in the name of decorum.

His words: “I laughed this morning when my attention was drawn that Arewa Youths are opposing my statements and my views, I laughed at it. But for me, they are not only opposing me, they are opposing Bayelsa State and the Ijaw Nation.

“I have never played politics with the health of our people, I have never played politics with the development of our people and if Arewa Youths think that what I said is to over politicized the situation in Nembe, then I want to believed that Nigeria and indeed Arewa Youths are the most ignorant people of what is happening in the Niger Delta.

“Merely presupposing that the Governor is not a Petroleum Engineer, I don’t need to be a Petroleum Engineer to defend my people. If they have forgotten that our own President of the country is not also a Petroleum Engineer he is the President of Nigeria. That I am only a Political Scientist, yes I accept, a political scientist and an educationist and I have been elected to defend the territory and people of Bayelsa State.

“On the heels of very recent conference of political parties, what has been tagged as “COP 26”, I was in Scotland, United Kingdom to represent Bayelsa State, and in that event, there is already a global action to curb pollution. And recently in the UK as I said, I was and we will remain particularly vexed with what is happening in Nembe and that is why I will not stopped to call on all environmental activists to come on to Nembe to see the level of pollution and environmental damage done to the flora and fauna of the Ijaw people.

“Whereas we appreciate the oil and gas sector, current continuing in future importance to our country, there should be no doubt about our own commitment to stop the impunity that threatens the present and undermined the future survival of our people. No one should take our hospitality for granted or doubt our determination to protect the sanctity of our communities and indeed the livelihood of our people. We will not swallow this flame in the name of decorum.”

He commended the INC for providing a touch to illuminate the path of the Ijaw people under the present circumstances in the country noting that all is not well.

He stated further, “For too long we have only operated a pseudo-federalism in reality what we have in our country today is a unitary system of governance and dressed in the borrowed robes of federalism.

“We cannot procrastinate in returning the terms of engagement where the regions or state expropriate their own resources and pay taxes to the centre more and more, we are creating a cast where the categorization of subordinate and super-ordinate is entrenched. Not surprising, states and ethnic nationalities are increasingly clamouring for self determination or even in outright cases secession that is in very extreme cases.

“I am proposing without insisting that the idea and ideal situation would be the devolution of powers from the centre to the state such that the federal government would be responsible with the issue of currency, foreign policy, national security, commands in the military, appointment of ambassadors and any other matter that have common bearing on all states. But I am willing to abdicate my views if there is a superior collective counsel arising from this summit.”

In his welcome address, the President of INC, Prof Benjamin Okaba, said the crossroad Ijaws find themselves in the Nigerian federation is the most compelling reason confronting the convocation of the All Ijaw Summit, with the theme: “The Nigerian State and the Ijaw Question.”

He said the Ijaws need to agree on a common direction, adding that, “We need to evoke common understanding of our perculiarities and determine common panacea.”

The Summit which was chaired by HRM Justice F. Tabai, retd, was attended by prominent Ijaw sons and daughters across the country.

Headline

Bomb Scare Forces Emergency Landing Of Hajj Flight In Indonesia

Published

52 minutes ago

June 17, 2025

Editor

A plane carrying hundreds of hajj pilgrims back from Saudi Arabia was diverted in Indonesia on Tuesday after an email bomb threat was sent to authorities, Indonesia’s aviation body said.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation said it received a report from Indonesia’s airport operator “regarding a bomb threat sent by an unidentified person via electronic mail”.

The email at 07:30 am (0030 GMT) contained a threat to “blow up” Saudia Airlines flight SV 5276 which was flying from the Saudi city of Jeddah to the Indonesian capital Jakarta, it said in a statement.

After 10:00 am the pilot diverted the plane from its destination of Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport to Kualanamu International Airport in Medan, a city on Sumatra island in western Indonesia.

The flight was carrying 442 hajj pilgrims, including 207 men and 235 women, it added.

“Upon identifying security and safety threats, the pilot decided to divert the landing to the nearest airport,” said In Journey Airports, Indonesia’s airport operator.

A transport ministry official told AFP the plane was still in Medan and Flightradar24 showed the plane there.

The airport evacuated the pilgrims and a bomb disposal unit swept the plane for explosive devices, the aviation body said in its statement.

AFP

Headline

Russian Strikes Kill 16 In Kyiv

Published

59 minutes ago

June 17, 2025

Editor

Russia launched dozens of drones and missiles at Kyiv in the early hours of Tuesday, killing at least 16 people and wounding dozens of others, as negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow broke down.

President Volodymyr Zelensky described the latest overnight barrage as “one of the most horrific attacks” on Kyiv since the Kremlin launched its brutal invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago.

Zelensky said a total of 440 drones and 32 missiles were launched in the strikes nationwide and urged the international community not to “turn a blind eye”.

“Russian President Vladimir Putin does this solely because he can afford to continue the war. He wants the war to go on,” he said.

AFP journalists saw smoke billowing over the capital’s skyline at dawn and a multiple-storey housing block gutted by the attack. Rescue workers were scrambling to find any survivors buried beneath the rubble.

“It was probably the most hellish night in my memory for our neighbourhood,” 20-year-old student Alina Shtompel told AFP.

“It is indescribably painful that our people are going through this right now.”

More than three years into its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has stepped up attacks despite efforts by the United States to broker a ceasefire.

Talks have stalled. Moscow has rejected the “unconditional” truce demanded by Kyiv and its European allies, while Ukraine has dismissed Russia’s demands as “ultimatums”.

– Diplomatic ‘facade’ –

Zelensky had been hoping to speak with US leader Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada, but the US leader cut short his visit, amid the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran.

Russia hit some 27 sites in Kyiv overnight and some residents were left without electricity, officials said.

Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv’s military administration, updated an earlier toll of 14 dead, saying two people had been pulled from the rubble at the scene of one strike.

“The search continues, as there may still be people under the ruins,” he said.

One person was also killed and 10 wounded in the southern port city of Odesa, while attacks on the Sumy and Kherson regions later in the day killed two others, authorities said.

The Russian defence ministry said it had carried out precision strikes on “military-industrial facilities in the Kyiv region,” in a statement similar to those releases after major attacks.

Germany vowed in response to “increase the pressure” on Russia. The strike showed that “Russia is using diplomacy merely as a facade,” the foreign ministry wrote on X.

“Putin doesn’t want a solution, he wants capitulation.”

– US citizen dead –

Dozens of residents took shelter in a metro station in central Kyiv, sleeping on mats, exchanging information on attack or reassuring pets, AFP journalists reported, while drones buzzed and explosions echoed out over the city.

“I was asleep. There was a loud bang. The window was smashed, and glass rained down on me,” Sergii, another Kyiv resident, said.

Residential buildings, educational institutions and “critical infrastructure facilities” were all hit, Interior Minister, Igor Klymenko.

Kyiv’s mayor reported earlier that a 62-year-old US citizen had died in a Russian strike on the capital’s Solomyansky district.

Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said the new attacks showed Moscow was “continuing its war against civilians”.

Tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed on both sides since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, according to independent monitors and Western intelligence agencies.

Russian forces have been steadily advancing across the sprawling front line even since the inauguration of Trump brought about an uptick in US efforts to secure a halt in fighting.

AFP

Headline

25-year-old Nigerian Arrested With N1.8bn Drugs In India Risks 20-year Jail

Published

3 hours ago

June 17, 2025

Editor

A 25-year-old Nigerian woman, Ifeoluwa Akinwunmi, risks up to 20 years jail in India after she was allegedly caught in possession of drugs worth over N1.8bn.

Akinwunmi, reportedly a hairstylist and nail artist, was arrested last Tuesday by operatives of the Anti-Narcotics Wing of the Central Crime Branch in Bengaluru.

She was apprehended at the Tarahunase village, along Rajanukunte Main Road, after arriving from Delhi with a suspicious bag.

According to The New Indian Express, which was cited in a report by The PUNCH on Monday, the bag contained 5.325 kilograms of MDMA crystals, a banned party drug.

The contraband was concealed among 11 new churidars — traditional Indian outfits.

“She is a courier. She had come to hand over the drugs to a group of African peddlers.

“We noticed four men on two scooters in the area, but they did not collect the parcel. Akinwunmi was arrested while standing with the bag,” a police officer involved in the operation was quoted as saying.

The suspect, who claimed she travelled to India to establish a beauty salon, is now facing charges under India’s Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, and the Foreigners Act, 1946.

Section 23 of the NDPS Act stipulates severe penalties for those caught importing, exporting, or transhipping narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

According to the Indian legal code reviewed by The PUNCH, offenders found with a commercial quantity, such as the MDMA seized from Akinwunmi, face a minimum of 10 years and up to 20 years in prison, in addition to heavy fines.

The section reads in part, “Where the contravention involves commercial quantity, [the offender shall be punished] with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than ten years but which may extend to twenty years and shall also be liable to a fine which shall not be less than one lakh rupees but which may extend to two lakh rupees.”

Under the Foreigners Act of 1946, the Indian government also has the authority to prosecute and deport foreigners involved in criminal activities.

Akinwunmi’s arrest comes just two days after another Nigerian national, Emmanuel Bediako, also known as Maxwell, was apprehended by the Telangana Anti-Narcotics Bureau for alleged drug trafficking.