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  • Couple who fulfilled their lifelong dream of traveling to the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia dies in extreme heat

    Couple who fulfilled their lifelong dream of traveling to the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia dies in extreme heat

    An American couple, who finally fulfilled their lifelong dream of traveling to the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, has sadly passed away. 

    Alieu Wurie, 71, and Isatu Wurie, 65, died on the annual five-day pilgrimage as temperatures soared over 120 degrees. 

    They were walking for over two hours in scorching temperatures before they succumbed to heat stroke, BBC reports. 

    They were among the more than 1,300 people who died in extreme heat this year in Mecca, the birthplace of the prophet Muhammad. 

    Speaking with News4 on Sunday, their daughter Saida Wurie recounted her last communication with their parents.

    “She let me know that they had been walking for over two hours to get to Mount Arafat, which is part of the Hajj process.

    They weren’t the best of conditions. Transportation should have been provided. They paid for transportation to be provided, however, there was none.

    Despite everything, they still walked and pushed to what they wanted to do because of their religion.

    It’s something that they wanted to do their entire lives. They were beyond excited,” she said. 

    Saudi officials said on Sunday that more than 1,300 people died during the Hajj, which Muslims are expected to make at least once in their lifetimes.

  • Court Adjourns Hearing In Case Against Emir Bayero, See New Date

    Court Adjourns Hearing In Case Against Emir Bayero, See New Date

    A Kano State High Court has adjourned the hearing of a case filed by the Kano State Government seeking to restrain the 15th Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero and four other emirs from parading themselves as emirs to July 2, 2024.

    Presiding over the case, Justice Amina Adamu Aliyu listened to arguments from both sides before deciding on the adjournment.

    Counsel to Ado Bayero, Barr. Ibrahim Muktar, and the counsel representing the Attorney General of Kano State, the Speaker of the Kano State House of Assembly, and the House of Assembly itself, Barr. Ibrahim Isah-Wangida, also presented their cases before the court.

    The court was initially set to address a motion on notice filed by the plaintiffs, concerning an interlocutory injunction following an interim order granted by the court, however, the first defendant had served the plaintiffs with a counter-affidavit, necessitating a response.

    The respondents in the case include Emir Aminu Ado Bayero, Emir Nasiru Ado Bayero of Bichi, Dr. Ibrahim Abubakar II of Karaye, Emir Kabiru Muhammad-Inuwa of Rano, and Emir Aliyu Ibrahim-Gaya of Gaya.

    Other respondents include the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and the Nigerian Army.

    The case was previously slated for hearing on June 11, 2024.

    However, Mr. Abdulsalam Saleh, counsel to the IGP, informed the court that attempts to serve the first to fifth respondents had failed due to a Federal High Court order preventing harassment and intimidation.

    As a result, the counsel for the applicants, Eyitayo Fatogun (SAN), requested another date to complete the necessary applications for service on the respondents.

    Justice Aliyu directed that the emirs be served through the office of the Kano State Commissioner of Police and adjourned the matter to June 24, 2024, for hearing the motion on notice.

    During Monday’s proceedings, Barrister Abdulrazak Ahmad confirmed that Bayero had been served and requested the court to dismiss the suit, arguing that the Kano State High Court lacks jurisdiction over the case.

    Contrarily, Barr. Ibrahim Isah-Wangida, representing the government, maintained that the court has jurisdiction and requested the court to hear the case in its entirety, including the originating summons.

    Justice Aliyu subsequently adjourned the case to July 2, 2024, to consider the pleas from both sides and continue the hearing of the case filed by the Kano State Government.

  • 2027: Northern Politicians Who Visited Buhari Plotting To Unseat Tinubu – Shehu Sani

    2027: Northern Politicians Who Visited Buhari Plotting To Unseat Tinubu – Shehu Sani

    Shehu Sani, a civil rights activist and social critic, has described the recent meeting of Northern politicians with former President Muhammadu Buhari as a strategic move to unseat President Bola Tinubu in 2027.

    The ex-president played host to former Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State on Sunday, less than 24 hours after ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar paid a similar visit to him at his residence in Daura, Katsina State.

    Like Atiku, El-Rufai is not on the same page with the All Progressives Congress (APC) at his home state of Kaduna and at the federal level.

    Reacting, Sani, who represented Kaduna Central in the 8th National Assembly, described the move as an effort to regroup Northern political forces for the next general election, predicting that it would ultimately fail.

    In a post via Facebook on Monday, he criticized the attempt to revive Buhari’s political influence and mobilize support, cautioning against stirring Arewa sentiment without regard for the potential chaos it could cause.

    He wrote: “The recent visits by some prominent Northern politicians to Daura appears to be the Usual Eid homage, but looking deeper and beyond the facade, it’s surreptitiously a new attempt to build a strong northern alliance using ex President Buhari as a rallying point to challenge and evict President Tinubu’s Government in 2027.

    “It’s a regrouping of Northern political forces for the next general election.A project that will eventually kiss the dust. They want to resurrect Buhari’s political charm, fanaticism and mobilise the gullible to another hollow and bewildering end. They want to stock up and light up the Arewa sentiment without considering the inferno it would eventually generate.

    “The same Buhari that led Nigeria for eight years and left the North Worst than he met it. It’s too early to forget. By the time he left power, poverty and insecurity was at its peak than at anytime in Nigeria’s history. They had power and wasted it; what do they want to do with it again?.

    “A Southerner is in power just for one year. It’s too early for the desperate and power hungry northern elite to start plotting. The south never did that to Buhari. Their intended action has the capacity of ruining the democratic process and wrecking the fragile unity of the country when the south is awakened to this reality.

    “Their obsession with power is condemnable. Opposition to Tinubu from the point of policies, promises and programs of his administration is a democratic right of any Nigerian. People have the right to speak and criticize the Government.

    “But attempts to whip up Northern sentiments to achieve their political ends is a dangerous political experiment and expedition at this material time. No serious southerner challenged Buhari for eight years;these power drunk Northern politicians are dragging the region to a new political journey through a land mine.

    “Buhari’s reign ensured nepotistical placement, installation and dominance of Northerners at strategic positions of authority and power for eight years. Results had shown that they only enriched themselves, pillaged the economy of the country and pauperised our country.

    “The Daura homage of the disgruntled and the obsessed will fail. Our people in the North should reject these faces and their plots. They have nothing to offer. From the abandoned Baro Port, Ajaokuta, Lake Chad basin refiling and Mambilla hydro power, they failed. They came to power when the North was in the hands of terrorists and left it in the joint hands of terrorists and Bandits. The Northern Talakawa should reject their antics.”

  • BREAKING: Sultan Must Be Guarded Jealously, Shettima Tells Sokoto Govt

    BREAKING: Sultan Must Be Guarded Jealously, Shettima Tells Sokoto Govt

    Vice-President Kashim Shettima has told the government of Sokoto State that His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, the Sultan of Sokoto, must be guarded jealously.

    The nation’s number two citizen said this at the ongoing North West Peace & Security Summit, which is being broadcast live on Trust TV.

    The event is ongoing in Katsina State.

    “In all developmental issues in this country, His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto, I want to use him as a point of reference to recognise and appreciate all our royal fathers present here.”

    “And to the deputy governor of Sokoto, I have a simple message for you, Yes, the Sultan is the Sultan of Sokoto, but he is much more than that; he represents an idea, he is an Institution, that all of us in this country need to jealously guard, protect, promote, preserve and project for the growth of our nation,” Shettima said.

    Shettima spoke after the Executive Director of the Muslim Rights Council (MURIC), Prof. Isiaq Akintola raised the alarm that the Sokoto government is allegedly plotting to depose the Sultan.

    Governor Ahmed Aliyu had earlier deposed 15 traditional rulers for various offences.

    In his statement, Akintola said Nigerian Muslims would reject any thought of deposing the Sultan.

    “Feelers in circulation indicate that the governor may descend on the Sultan of Sokoto any moment from now, using any of the flimsy excuses used to dethrone the 15 traditional rulers whom he removed earlier.

    “MURIC advises the governor to look before he leaps. The Sultan’s stool is not only traditional. It is also religious. In the same vein, his jurisdiction goes beyond Sokoto. It covers the whole of Nigeria. He is the spiritual head of all Nigerian Muslims.

    “Therefore, any governor who tampers with the stool of the Sultan will have Nigerian Muslims to reckon with because the Sultan combines the office of the Sultan of Sokoto and that of the President General of the NSCIA,” Akintola said.

  • El-Rufai visits Buhari

    El-Rufai visits Buhari

    Barely 24 hours after the visit of former Vice President of Nigeria, Alhaji Abubakr Atiku, Malam Nasir El Rufai, the immediate past Governor of Kaduna state has also been spotted at Daura on a visit to former President Muhammadu Buhari.

    While the visit is fueling speculations about potential political maneuvers ahead of the 2027 general elections in some quarters, some also think that it may have a thing or two to do with the emirate tussle in Kano as el Rufai’s bosom friend, Muhammdu Sanusi II locks horns with his cousin, Aminu Ado Bayero over Emirship of Kano.

    It will be recalled that Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi was dethroned and banished from Kano by former Kano State Governor Abdulahi Ganduje under circumstances in which many observers speculated had the tacit approval of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2020.

    Analysts who hold this opinion insist that since those opposed to Sanusi’s reinstatement are the heavy lifters in the current Federal Government and loyalists of former President Buhari, it will make sense for the former governor to appeal to President Buhari for his intervention.

    There is also the 2027 connection that the reinstatement of Sanusi will augur well for the emergence of a northern president in 2027 if Sanusi is returned as Emir of Kano as opposed to Aminu Bayero who may likely side with Dr. Ganduje and his co-travelers.

  • Kano Emirate Tussle: Federal agents sack Sanusi’s guards

    Kano Emirate Tussle: Federal agents sack Sanusi’s guards

    The Police have taken an active role in the Kano emirate tussle as it descends fully into the arena, sacking the local security arrangement that previously guided the main Palace of the Emir after the reinstatement of Lamido Sanusi.

    Famously called ‘Yan Tauri’ the bulk of the local security were hunters, drawn from various parts of the state to secure the palace following rumours that federal authorities would forcefully return Aminu Ado-Bayero who is now being protected at the Nasarawa mini Palace by security agencies of the federal government.

    According to Premium Times, security agents took control of the main emir’s palace, called Gidan Rumfa, on Sunday evening, during an exercise akin to a game of cards between the hunters and the government agents.

    A security source confirmed to journalists that the hunters had been sacked.

    “You can see for yourself that the hunters are no longer here,” a police officer at the palace noted.

    “Some of them left behind their machetes to conceal their identity after they were asked to vacate the palace or face the wrath of the security agents”, a resident said.

  • BREAKING! Christ Embassy Headquarters On Fire

    BREAKING! Christ Embassy Headquarters On Fire

    The headquarters of Believers Love World, the mega church popularly known as Christ Embassy, is currently on fire.

    The cause of the fire outbreak at the church in Oregun, Lagos, is unknown as of the time of filing this report.

    When contacted, Okunbor Nosa, Public Relations Officer of the Lagos State Emergency Management Authority (LASEMA), told Daily Trust the cause was not yet known.

    Videos and pictures of the incident are circulating on social media.

    In one of the videos, heavy smoke was seen billowing from the building painted in white.

    Officials of the Lagos State Fire Service and other emergency responders were seen making efforts to contain the inferno.

    Details later…

  • ‘Ganduje Would Have Made My Life Miserable’ – Sanusi Opens Up On His Dethronement

    ‘Ganduje Would Have Made My Life Miserable’ – Sanusi Opens Up On His Dethronement

    The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has disclosed the reasons behind his decision not to contest his dethronement by the immediate past Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje.

     Ganduje had, before leaving office, dethroned the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and subsequently banished him from the mega city in March 2020.

    At the time, the development had stirred mixed reactions among concerned stakeholders.

    However, Sanusi, who Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf’s administration recently reinstated, shed light on the incident, which happened years ago.

    The Emir told Sun Newspaper that the Kano emirate is large and has a number of deserving people, which means he lacks the basic entitlement to hold the position of Emir.

    When asked why he didn’t challenge his dethronment, Sanusi said, “A number of reasons. I have told you that I don’t have a fundamental right to be an Emir. I am one of hundreds of princes. God chose me. And if God says I should leave, for me, I take it that God knows better than me. That was why I had to leave.
    Okay, let’s say I go to court. Let me even say this; I just got a letter that said I had been dethroned for insubordination.

    “I had never been queried for insubordination.

    “The details of the insubordination were not given. I had not been given any chance to defend myself. So, it was clear that the state and the federal governments had both decided that it was time for me to go. Okay?”

    According to Sanusi, even if he had gone to court and the court returned him, he wouldn’t be able to hold the position with Ganduje as a governor.

    Sanusi added: “So, let’s even assume that the court said I should come back. Do you think I was looking forward to working with that government? Would I have been happy as an Emir in the last three years working with that government? You’re under a governor. The law gives him the power to be on top of you. He has said he doesn’t like you. He has made it clear he does not like you. If I came, he would just make my life miserable.

    “It was going to be one story after the other. One fake story, one social media insult after another, and in my position, I won’t be able to respond. So, for me, I had a happier life in Lagos with my friends, publishing my book, doing my PhD, doing my UN work, doing my Tijaniya work, than sitting here in a constant fight with the government.

    “Secondly, look at the Emir of Gwandu, who was removed under Obasanjo. How many years now? Almost 20. The state High Court said he was illegally removed, and returned him. So, there was an appeal. The Court of Appeal said he was illegally removed and returned him. It is at the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has not yet spoken out about him. I mean, do I have 20 years to fight in court to come back to a throne?

    “So, for me, I had been Emir for six years, alhamdulillah. I had done what I did. At least, the only reason I would have gone to court is if they had removed me on an allegation that harmed my reputation because the only currency I have is my integrity. So, if they had accused me of fraud or something, I would have had to go to court to clear my name, but they said insubordination.

    “So, the governor was asked, what are the reasons for insubordination? He said, that sometimes he is invited to meetings, and he does not come. For every well-meaning Nigerian who saw that story, who saw that news, I don’t even need to defend myself because if you are going to remove an Emir and the only reason you can have is that you invite him for some meetings that he does not come, then nobody takes you seriously. Everybody knows that this was not the reason. So, I always felt that if it was God’s will that I come back, if not, I’d go and continue my life.

    “So, I didn’t go to court to challenge my removal. I went to court to challenge their attempt to keep me in exile and under house arrest to enforce my fundamental human rights but I did not go to court to challeng

  • Court Orders Final Forfeiture Of N12.18b Property Linked To Godwin Emefiele

    Court Orders Final Forfeiture Of N12.18b Property Linked To Godwin Emefiele

    The court has decreed the permanent forfeiture of a property valued at N12.18 billion associated with former CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele.

    Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke granted the ultimate forfeiture order following a court session where the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), represented by lawyer Chineye Okezie, presented and discussed a motion.

    The properties, situated in highly sought-after locations within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of Abuja, were included in two separate listings.

    Justice Aneke directed the EFCC to publish the interim forfeiture order in a national newspaper to give all concerned parties the opportunity to challenge the final order.

    On June 21, when the court resumed proceedings, there were no parties present to contest the temporary order.

    After carefully examining a detailed 41-paragraph affidavit presented by EFCC Investigating Officer Michael John Idoko, along with the 19 accompanying exhibits and a written address signed by Okezie, Justice Aneke approved the application.

    The judge said, “Having carefully considered the application and submission of counsel, it is hereby ordered as follows: a final forfeiture order is made forfeiting to the Federal Government of Nigeria, properties contained in Schedule A, which were traced and reasonably suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities.”

  • Mikel Obi Undergoes Surgery in UK

    Mikel Obi Undergoes Surgery in UK

    Nigerian footballer, Mikel Obi has revealed that he recently underwent surgery at the Princess Grace Hospital in the United Kingdom.

    The football star revealed this in photos shared on his Instagram story on Saturday.

    He, however, did not disclose the nature of the surgery.

    Sharing a picture he took before the operation, he wrote, “Pre-op, let’s go.”

    Another picture of him lying on the bed at the hospital post-surgery was captioned, “All good, #PostOp.”

    In April 2017, Obi was reported to have undergone a successful surgery in the UK, after which he began rehabilitation for proper recovery.