so lovely. i pray you guys get back together. Ameen

Take it easy guys. No need fighting. It's just a game

Justice must be served....that's great effc

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Akwa Ibom State Command, has destroyed 2.768 tonnes of illicit drugs estimated at over N2bn in the state.
This is as the State Government lauded the anti-narcotic agency and pledged to support its efforts towards the attainment of zero case profile in drug-related offences in the state and Nigeria at large
This was contained in a statement on Thursday by the press Secretary to the Deputy Governor, Ekikere Umoh, after the agency’s chairman, Brig. General Mohammed Marwa, (retd), paid a courtesy visit to the deputy governor, Moses Ekpo, at Government House, Uyo.
Marwa who was represented by the agency’s Secretary, Barr. Shedrach Haruna, listed the destroyed drugs to include cannabis sativa, cocaine, heroin and other psychotropic substances.
He said the drugs were seized between 2014 and September 2021, adding that the destruction was in line with the agency’s Act which mandates it to take measures for the destruction of seized narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.
While reassuring that the agency will not rest on its oars to rid the country of the menace of hard drugs, the chairman stated that NDLEA is not only” involved in arrest and prosecution of drug offenders, but also tackling the scourge through aggressive drug awareness and sensitzation programmes for vulnerable youths and other groups”.
He disclosed that the agency recently launched a 24/7 toll-free call centre for members of the public who may need help on drug-related matters.
The chairman who appreciated the federal and state governments and other partners for their support in the fight against illicit drugs, requested for land from the state government for the construction of a staff barracks for the command as well as the establishment of Drug-free Clubs in schools in order to curb the menace.
Responding, the Deputy Governor, Mr. Moses Ekpo while acknowledging the positive report- card of the Agency, commended Buba Marwa, noting that his appointment has positively altered the performance narrative of the agency nationwide.
He said the efforts of the NDLEA has resulted in the upsurge of drug seizures, arrest and convictions at critical drug corridors across the country, adding that the Akwa Ibom command made a recent arrest and seizure of 90 kilograms of substance suspected to be Amphetamine, and other seizures.
“This has obviously rubbed off on the Akwa Ibom State office, with the result that we have been able to more effectively contain the challenges of drug abuse and illicit trafficking”, he stated.
The Deputy Governor urged the Federal government to further empower the NDLEA with more funding to enable them to not only give support to state offices, but procure needed work tools for a revolution in the fight against unhealthy drug use.

“I call on Nigerians to team up with the government in the war against drug use and illicit trafficking. The negative implications of drug abuse are far-reaching, including adverse effects on the health of our people, avoidable road accidents and drug-related criminality”, Ekpo appealed.

Accord Party has announced a former Secretary to the Zamfara State Government, Bello Bala Maru, as the running mate to Accord’s presidential candidate, Prof. Christopher Imumolen.
The was contained in a press statement on Thursday. The party maintained that they arrived at the choice of Maru after due consultations and realisation of his powerful political clout in the northern leadership hemisphere.
Accord’s National Chairman, Muhammad Nalado, said from all indications, the party leadership has struck a good South/North synergy in the urgency of now when Nigeria must attain a solid form through inter-region inclusiveness.
He expressed confidence that the party will produce the next president and vice president of Nigeria.
He pointed out that it was with Accord that Nigeria gained independence and produced nationalists, calling on the Nigerian youths to take advantage of Prof. Imumolen who is a youth to achieve the long dreamt dream of a youth president.

A crippling drought exacerbated by a record heatwave has spread across half of China and reached the normally frigid Tibetan Plateau, according to official data released ahead of more searing temperatures on Thursday.

The world’s second-largest economy has experienced over 70 days of heatwaves, flash floods and droughts — phenomena that scientists say are becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change.

Southern China has recorded its longest continuous period of high temperatures since records began more than 60 years ago, the agriculture ministry said this week.

Experts have said the intensity, scope and duration of the heatwave could make it one of the worst recorded in global history.

A chart from the National Climate Centre showed Wednesday that swathes of southern China — including the Tibetan Plateau — were experiencing “severe” to “extraordinary” drought conditions.

The worst-affected area — the Yangtze river basin, stretching from coastal Shanghai to Sichuan province in China’s southwest — is home to over 370 million people and contains several manufacturing hubs including the megacity of Chongqing.

The China Meteorological Administration predicted continued high temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in Chongqing and the provinces of Sichuan and Zhejiang Thursday.

The National Chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance, Victor Oye, has called on all party members in Nigeria and Diaspora to pray fervently for the Anambra State House of Assembly for God’s mercy to stem the hand of death that has struck the House killing two of its members in a space of three months.
The PUNCH had reported on Wednesday that the House Majority Leader, Nnamdi Okafor, died at a legislative retreat in South Africa.
The lawmaker slumped and died in the early hours of Wednesday in a Hotel in Sandton City, Johannesburg, South Africa, and was confirmed dead hours later.
Before his death, Okafor, popularly called Akajiugo Awka, represented the Awka South Constituency 1 in the state Assembly.
In a press statement on Thursday, Dr. Oye urged all members to embark on three-day fasting and prayer for peace, growth and development in the House and in the party ahead of the 2023 elections.
“The times in which we have found ourselves are perilous and call for constant prayer, self-examination and penance”, the statement quoted Oye as saying.
He called on the leadership of the Anambra State House of Assembly to join in the prayer and fasting as “I see God doing something new in the House soon.”
He used the opportunity to commiserate with the Anambra State Governor, Prof. Charles Soludo, the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Uche Okafor and the, indeed, all the members of the House on the sudden death of the Majority Leader, Hon. Nnamdi Okafor, in faraway South Africa.
He prayed God to grant the soul of the deceased eternal repose in heaven

The Chairman, Lagos State Park and Garages Management, Musiliu Akinsanya aka MC Oluomo, has disclosed that the candidacy of All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, is being accepted across the world.
He noted that contrary to insinuations from some quarters, Tinubu was being accepted by Nigerians and non-Nigerians alike.
Oluomo stated this on Wednesday when he shared a video of two Caucasian ladies endorsing Tinubu. In the thirteen-second video clip, the ladies were seen wearing T-shirts with the image of Tinubu.
MC Oluomo, who is s staunch supporter of the former Lagos State governor, said with the general and growing acceptance of Tinubu’s candidacy, election victory was assured for Tinubu.
“You can see that our product is selling all over the world, so ladies and gentlemen, don’t let them sweet mouth(sic) you. Seeing is believing. Asiwaju 2023 is assured in shaa Allah,” he captioned the video.

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Terrorists on Wednesday evening abducted an unspecified number of travellers inside two vehicles along the Katsina/Jibia highway in Katsina State.
Sources said the incident occurred at a portion of the highway at Kadobe village around 5p.m
The Spokesman for the Katsina State Police Command, Gambo Isah, confirmed the incident, insisting he should be given time to find out the actual numbers of those kidnapped.
He said, ” Yes, it is true but give me time to find out the actual numbers of those kidnapped as not all the passengers were kidnapped.”
It was learnt that the terrorists arrived at the scene of the incident on no fewer than twenty motorcycles and stood in the middle of the road, shooting indiscriminately.
The drivers of the two vehicles were said to have panicked and veered off the road.
The terrorists were said to have thereafter swooped on the vehicles and abducted some of the occupants.
Security operatives were said to have later arrived the scene to secure the highway.

Fans have questioned Nollywood Actress and Lagos state deputy governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Funke Akindele for featuring another man that’s not her husband in her 45th birthday dance video.
Funke Akindele celebrated her 45th birthday on Wednesday and her estranged husband, JJC Skillz surprised many with his sweet birthday message to the mother of his twin boys but was, however, absent from the birthday party.
JJC Posting a video collage comprising of his favourite moments of Funke and their twin boys, with a soundtrack of a professing love song, the music producer wrote “Happy birthday my darling mama ibeji, I pray for our children to embody the goodness of God and be a blessing to generations. Today is your day to celebrate and live to the fullest, Long life and prosperity.”
However, Funke shared a creative video of herself featuring popular Instagram influencer known as Tom who has also featured several celebrities like RMD and others in dance skits.
Fans didn’t find it funny as many trooped into her comment section to question her.

Veteran Nollywood actress and Evangelist, Eucharia Anunobi, has said s*x before marriage should be encouraged.
In a video posted on her Instagram page, the actress said the proponents of the no s*x before marriage agenda are out of their minds
Eucharia said if couples don’t indulge in s*x before marriage, how do they know if their partner is good in bed?
She said, “What is this whole noise about no s*x before marriage? How can someone, how can anyone say that someone should not indulge in sexual activities with someone who has already proposed?
“The proponent of this whole wicked agenda of no s*x before marriage must be completely out of their minds. If they are not out of their minds, how can they recommend such a wicked thing?
“How do I get to know if my intended is good in bed?
She also stated that it’s difficult to abstain from s*x with the one you’re attracted to.

Watch video below:

A former Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Prof. Charles Quaker Dokubo, is dead.
Dokubo reportedly died at a hospital in Abuja on Wednesday night.
When contacted, a reliable source from the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, who spoke to The PUNCH on condition of anonymity, confirmed the death.
“Just heard it inside the hall this morning. I understand he died last night. So pathetic!”, she said.
Details later…

• The EU condemned Russia’s deadly bombardment of a railway station in Ukraine’s eastern city of Chaplyne and warned that those “responsible for Russian rocket terror will be held accountable”.
• The death toll from Russian missile attacks on Chaplyne has risen to 25 from an initially reported 22 after three more bodies were retrieved from the rubble in the town as rescue operations there ended, Ukrainian presidential aide Kyrylo Tymoshenko said on Thursday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to increase the size of Russia’s armed forces from 1.9 to 2.04 million, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.
The figure, which includes a 137,000 increase in the number of military personnel to 1.15 million, comes into effect on January 1.

Kidnappings by criminal gangs are frequent in Nigeria, especially in the northeast but increasingly elsewhere too.

Nigerian gunmen have released four Catholic nuns abducted early this week in the southeastern Imo state, the police have said.
“The four reverend sisters have been freed. They were released yesterday,” Imo state police spokesman Michael Abattam told the AFP news agency on Wednesday.

The protests were against soaring costs of living, power cuts and high unemployment rates in South Africa.
Hundreds of South Africans protested in the executive and legislative capitals of Pretoria and Cape Town on Wednesday, against inflation that has soared to a 13-year high.
The protests were led by the trade union group Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), a longtime ally of the governing African National Congress.
Labour unrest often affects sectors such as mining during wage negotiations, but it is rare for COSATU, South Africa’s biggest union, to lead a national protest.
Union officials said more protesters were expected to join the marches as the day progressed, though it was not immediately clear if a call for a national shutdown to take place in more than 10 major cities would be successful.
The Department of Public Service and Administration said in a circular to government departments that state employees participating in the COSATU-led protests, which were supported by unions from other federations, would not be paid.
Protesters holding placards saying “Stop Taxing Basic Food Items” sang as they marched through central Pretoria towards Union Buildings, which houses the office of President Cyril Ramaphosa, a founding COSATU member.
In Cape Town, they marched towards Parliament.
Some complained that frequent power cuts by state power utility Eskom have hurt businesses.
“At the moment, I’m not coping because there is no work and at my age, I’m struggling,” said Helen Pont, 65, a former hotel receptionist, who was among protesters in Pretoria.
South Africa’s headline consumer inflation rose to an annual 7.8 percent in July, its highest level since 2009.
Last month, the central bank delivered its biggest interest rate rise in 20 years to try to curb inflation, despite four previous increases.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities has rejected the proposed payment of N10, 000 per session by each parent to assist the Federal Government in making more funds available for universities.
The PUNCH had on Wednesday reported that the National Parent-Teacher Association of Nigeria proposed the levy and sought an audience with the government over the lingering strike by ASUU.
“We have submitted a letter to the Office of the Education Minister, seeking an audience where we hope to discuss a proposal.
“We are proposing a sum of N10, 000 per parent every session that will be directly paid to the universities. That will be our own contribution apart from other statutory payments in making more funds available to the universities.
“It can be called parent support levy for universities. We are at the receiving end of the industrial action. We plead with the ASUU and Federal Government to immediately resolve their differences,” NAPTAN’s Public Relations Officer, Dr. Ademola Ekundayo, disclosed this during an interview with The PUNCH on Tuesday.
But reacting to the proposed levy on Thursday, ASUU’s National President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, said the parents should intervene by joining the body in mounting pressure on the apex government.
Osodeke made the call while speaking during an interview on Arise Television on Thursday.
“I think what this association should be doing is to tell the government to perform its function. They should put pressure on the government to use Nigerians’ money to fund education as it is done in other countries.
“We can’t be calling ourselves the giant of Africa and we are the worst in education. You see students from Nigeria going to Ghana, Benin Republic, Togo, and other small countries to study but nobody from these countries is coming to Nigeria to study.
“So they should add to the pressure coming from ASUU to ensure that the government prioritise education. That is more important than the N10,000”

The Joint Union Congress of the Police Service Commission has issued a notice of indefinite strike to the management of the commission over a breach of agreement
The union noted that the strike will commence with effect from Monday, August 29, 2022.
Chairman of the Joint Service Union, PSC chapter, Mr Adoyi Adoyi, disclosed this in an interview with our correspondent on Thursday.
The notice is coming amidst disagreement between workers of the commission, the Chairman of the commission, Mr Musiliu Smith, and the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, on which body should be responsible for recruitment, promotion, and appointment of constables and officers.
He noted that the IGP and other police chiefs in connivance with the chairman of the PSC, have overruled the constitutional duty of the PSC.
Adoyi added that the IGP has allegedly taken it upon himself to carry out the functions of the PSC in flagrant disregard of the Nigeria constitution, a verdict of the Appeal Court, and the authorities of the PSC.
Adoyi said, “We’re embarking on an indefinite strike from Monday, August 29, to show how discontent with the way the PSC is being run by the chairman of the commission, and the flagrant disregard for the constitution, the court of law, and the PSC by the IGO, Usman Baba.
“The duties of the PSC are spelled out in the constitution, but the IGP has disregarded all of that, and has taken over the duties of the commission. He appoints and promotes at will as opposed to what is stated in the constitution.
“According to the constitution, the appointment, promotion, and recruitment of police officers and constables are the prerogative of the PSC, not the IGP.”

The Director-General of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, on Thursday, warned Nigerians against moving to Northern Cyprus, due to the human rights abuses meted out to Nigerians in the country.
She also warned that the country, which is only recognised by Turkiye, does not have robust mechanisms that would enable the Federal Government to pursue justice for several Nigerian students killed in the de facto state.
Dabiri-Erewa said this at the 48th session of the State House Ministerial Media Briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Officially called the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Northern Cyprus is a de facto state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus.
Recognised only by Turkiye, Northern Cyprus is largely considered by the United Nations and the international community to be part of the Republic of Cyprus.
Dabiri-Erewa who noted that several Nigerians are being maltreated and killed in the region said, “Think twice before going to Northern Cyprus. We can’t do much for Nigerians there. Our students are being killed daily.”
She added that every Nigerian stranded in Ukraine at the start of the conflict returned home safely.
Students psychologically affected by the conflict underwent proper counselling before continuing their education either online or onsite by enrolling into local Universities to continue their programmes.
More details later…