Ideal Reporters

Barbaric Mass Burning of Innocents in Edo By Farooq A. Kperogi I woke up on Friday morning to a deluge of forwarded, unwatchably terrifying videos showing 16 Hausa hunters, who were traveling from Port Harcourt to Kano for the forthcoming Eid-el-fitr festivities, being lynched and burned alive by a mob of blood-thirsty savages in the town of Uromi in Edo State. I've been sick to my stomach. My inquiry has led me to understand that the Uromi community has been gripped by abductions for ransom, which sometimes result in deaths. Seething with rage and vengeance over the incessancy of deadly kidnapping by “Fulani herdsmen,” the community was primed for jungle justice. When local vigilantes accosted a bus traveling northward through the town, they found Hausa hunters armed with hunting guns and machetes aboard. In the bigoted, know-nothing estimation of the Uromi vigilantes, Hausa hunters were one and the same as Fulani kidnappers. So, they burned the innocent Hausa hunters ...

SENATOR NATASHA'S RECALL – A LITMUS TEST FOR INEC’S INTEGRITY  By Kabiru S Bako The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) finds itself at the center of yet another political storm with the petition for the recall of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central Senatorial District. While the process of recall is constitutionally enshrined, its implementation in Nigeria has historically been fraught with controversy, political maneuvering, and allegations of manipulation. Given the peculiarities of the case, this recall exercise will serve as a critical test of INEC’s credibility and impartiality ahead of the 2027 general elections. It is no secret that recall petitions in Nigeria have often been weaponized as a political tool rather than a genuine expression of voters' loss of confidence in their representatives. Senator Natasha’s emergence as the legitimate winner of the Kogi Central Senatorial seat was not without resistance. The Election P...

SHEIKH JA'AFAR MUSA LOKO ADVISES GOVERNOR SULE ON SCHOLARSHIP  A renown Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ja'afar Musa Loko has called on His Excellency, Engr. Abdullahi A. Sule, the Nasarawa State Governor to invest in education, advising that providing both local foreign scholarship especially on special areas of discipline, to indigenous Nasarawa State students whose academic performance stands out, would go a long way to enhance academic pursuit, professional career and economic growth. He made the call during a Tafsir (Qur'anic exigesis) session at the Tarbiyyah Model School Mosque, situated at Alh. Musa Eigege Depot in Nasarawa.  Emphasizing the need to further expose promising youths in the State to various opportunities, particularly ones offered by education, Sheikh Ja'afar cited foreign and domestic scholarships in professional courses, as exemplified by some Governors, including that of Kano, where the sons of the downtrodden are sent abroad or offered domes...

STATEHOUSE PRESS RELEASE PRESIDENT TINUBU SWEARS IN RIVERS STATE SOLE ADMINISTRATOR, IBOK-ETE IBAS  President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has sworn in Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, the sole administrator of Rivers State.   The Attorney General of the Federation and Justice Minister, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, and other aides of the President witnessed the short ceremony at the State House on Wednesday.   President Tinubu declared a state of emergency in Rivers State on Tuesday, March 18, to address the protracted political logjam between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the Rivers State House of Assembly members, even after the Supreme Court's pronouncement.   In proclaiming the six-month State of Emergency, President Tinubu said the state's security situation and political tension necessitated his intervention to forestall a total breakdown of law and order.   Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas, born September 27, ...

PRESIDENT TINUBU SUSPENDS GOVERNOR FUBARA, HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY  Text of the Broadcast by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, declaring State of Emergency in Rivers state on Tuesday 18 March 2025 Fellow Nigerians, I feel greatly disturbed at the turn we have come to regarding the political crisis in Rivers State. Like many of you, I have watched with concern the development with the hope that the parties involved would allow good sense to prevail at the soonest, but all that hope burned out without any solution to the crisis.    With the crisis persisting, there is no way democratic governance, which we have all fought and worked for over the years, can thrive in a way that will redound to the benefit of the good people of the state. The state has been at a standstill since the crisis started, with the good people of the state not being able to have access to the dividends of democracy.   Also, it is public knowledge that the...

PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY IN RIVERS STATE  President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has declared state of emergency in Rivers State. Tinubu made the proclamation during a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday. He also suspended the Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, his Deputy, Mrs Ngozi Odu including members of the State House of Assembly for the period of six months. Declaring state of emergency, Tinubu said, “The Governor of Rivers State demolished the House of Assembly but has failed to rebuild the building till date “Many Nigerians have intervened and leaders of thought have intervened all to no avail. “The Supreme Court pronounced in very glaring terms that a government cannot run without an arm of government. “The latest security report shows that there has been vandalism of oil pipelines in Rivers State and the governor has not taken any step. “Based on the Section 305 of the constitution of the country, the Governor of Rivers State, Mr Simi...