News
Tight security mounted to prevent attack on railways
Security agents have been deployed in bushes and train stations on the Abuja-Kaduna rail corridor, it was learnt yesterday.
The deployment of soldiers and other security agents is one of the security measures initiated by the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) management to thwart alleged plot to attack trains plying the route.
The Nation also gathered from a top official of the NRC that each train will now have, at least,15 riot policemen on board. This is apart from a close circuit camera and Thuraya phone in each coach.
The official, who declined to be named, explained that the security measures were in line with the content of a letter to the NRC by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) command of the Department of State Services (DSS).
The NRC top shot said: “I spoke with the security team today and they confirmed to me that soldiers have already been deployed in the forests. The men deployed include personnel from the Air Force and Army.
“I can confirm that to you because some of the staff who were on escort operation with the train from Abuja-Kaduna saw some of the soldiers in each of the stations and even in the bushes.
“From the information available to me, the Chief of Defence Staff, in collaboration with the Chief of Army Staff, instructed that the bushes in Rigasa, Jere and Asham be combed thoroughly to fish out the bad elements.
“The number of security personnel on the train has not increased, but on each trip from Abuja to Kaduna, not less than 15 Mobile Police Officers join the train and they are fully armed.
“We also have surveillance camera installed on each of the locomotives, which is monitored from the Idu Station. So, the operators can see what is going in and around the train.
“The stations have also been equipped with Thuraya phone and calls from it can be monitored from the NRC headquarters in Lagos and also by the Force Headquarters in Abuja.”
Finnish prosecutors on Friday said they had charged a man with inciting terrorism online who a media report identified as Nigerian separatist leader Simon Ekpa.
According to the prosecution authority, the accused remained in custody and denied the charges.
AFP reports that Finland’s National Prosecution Authority said in a statement that it had charged “a Finnish individual in a case involving suspected public incitement to commit crimes with terrorist intent and participation in the activities of a terrorist group.”
It added that the alleged crimes had been committed in the city of Lahti between 2021 and 2024 and were related to the suspect’s efforts to establish Nigeria’s Biafra region as an independent state.
The prosecution authority did not name the accused but Finnish public broadcaster YLE identified him as separatist leader Simon Ekpa.Ekpa — who claims to lead the Biafra Republic’s government in exile — was detained in November.
According to the prosecution authority, the accused remained in custody and denied the charges.
News
Tinubu to attend Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration May 18
The inauguration marks the formal beginning of the Pontificate of Pope Leo XIV, the 267th Bishop of Rome.”
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will depart Abuja on Saturday for Rome, Italy, to attend the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV as the new head of the Roman Catholic Church.
The President will be accompanied by a delegation that includes the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu; Archbishop Lucius Ugorji, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria; Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja; Archbishop Alfred Martins of Lagos; and Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of the Sokoto Diocese.
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, confirmed in a statement via X.
‘Tinubu is travelling at the invitation of the Vatican and will lead Nigeria’s delegation to the solemn installation mass scheduled for Sunday, May 18, at St. Peter’s Square.
The inauguration marks the formal beginning of the Pontificate of Pope Leo XIV, the 267th Bishop of Rome.”
A fire broke out on Thursday at the General Hospital in Ifako-Ijaiye, Lagos, engulfing parts of the three-storey building and causing panic among residents and patients.
Videos from the scene showed thick smoke pouring from the hospital building as onlookers gathered in distress. Firefighters later arrived to battle the blaze.
An eyewitness, Modinat Melemuku, who shared footage of the incident on Facebook, called for urgent help.
She said: “Happening now at General Hospital Ifako-Ijaiye, College Road. Please repost.
Help is needed,” she wrote.
An eyewitness also told reporters the fire began in one part of the hospital before spreading to other sections.
“The fire then spread to the prenatal and postnatal rooms, after which it affected the pediatric ward,” the eyewitness said.
There were concerns that nursing mothers and infants might have been trapped inside, although no casualties were confirmed as of the time of filing this report.
Emergency responders were still on the ground trying to bring the situation under control.
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