Personal Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on New Media, Bashir Ahmad has today slammed the media blackmail alleging that the United States has placed a Nigerian Minister of communication, Isa Ali Pantami on the watch-list.

The Agbajawo Advocacy for Yoruba People’s Rights, a pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group has slammed those agitating for secession from the country. The group made this known through a communiqué yesterday in Ado Ekiti at the end of its monthly meeting, saying those calling for Nigerian break-up are not part of them but trouble makers.

South-East Governors, including those of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo, Yesterday, unveiled a security outfit, Ebube Agu, to curtail the rising insecurity in the region. Chairman of the South-East Governors Forum, Dave Umahi, made the announcement on Sunday. Ebube Agu, with its headquarters in Enugu, is charged with the responsibility to coordinate all the activities of vigilantes in the Southeast, and to checkmate rising unrest in the region. It will also complement the efforts of federal security agencies in tackling the security challenges in the region. Ebube Agu, meaning fear of a lion in Ibo, is fashioned after the Southwest security outfit, Amotekun, launched early last year. The governors, in a communiqué issued in Owerri at the end of a meeting, asked the heads of security agencies in the zone to draw up a comprehensive list of their logistics and material needs that will enhance their efficiency in combating the security challenges in the zone, so that the governors could provide them.

Asere community in Ese-Odo Local Government Area of Ondo State has been thrown into turmoil following an attack on the riverine village by suspected criminals terrorising waterways. The assailants razed 15 houses in a midnight attack The gunmen were said to have attacked the community for allegedly tipping off security agencies about their activities and movement. Angered by the move of the arsonists, women in the community who protested the attack and destruction of the community, called on security agencies to arrest the gang members.

Nigerian Army authorities have revealed that Troops of I Division FCC rescued five of the students of the College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, Kaduna State, who were kidnapped by bandits on March 11. The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig-Gen. Mohammed Yerima made the above information public in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja, NAN reports.

President Muhammadu Buhari has named Usman Alkali Baba as the new replacement for Mr. Mohammed Adamu as Inspector-General of Police. Alkali an acting DIG, Finance and Administration, hails from Yobe State. Born in 1963, Baba before his appointment as acting IGP, was the DIG in charge of Force Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department (FCIID). He is an alumnus of Bayero University, Kano, and the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID). He holds a teacher’s grade II certificate (TC II) from Teachers College, Potiskum Yobe.