JAT HOTNEWS

NORTHERN GOVERNORS REJOICE WITH MUSLIMS AT EID-EL-MAULUD, CALL FOR LOVE AND TOLERANCE.  The Northern Governors Forum has rejoiced with Muslims in Nigeria as they join others all over the world to mark the Eid-el-Maulud. Chairman of the Forum and Governor of Plateau State Simon Bako Lalong in a statement called on all muslims to use the occasion and reflect on the virtues of love, tolerance and compassion as exemplified by the Holy Prophet. Lalong also asked for sober reflection among Nigerians saying the current situation in the country calls for patience, understanding, honesty, sincerity, kindness and collaboration in overcoming various challenges.  He said the Forum continues to crave the prayers of all Nigerians for wisdom and guidance to enable them serve the people with the best intentions and visionary programmes that will alleviate poverty and improve the living conditions of the people. The Governor called for calm from events of recent past, assuring that the Gove

The United States has explained why it opposed the emergence of former Nigerian Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, as the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation. Despite securing the vote of 163 of the 164 members of the trade organisation on Wednesday, Okonjo-Iweala could not be declared the head of the WTO because of the objection by the United States. In a statement by the office of the US Trade Representative, America cited lack of experience and procedural issues for its stance. The statement reads, “The Office of the United States Trade Representative issued the following statement today on the selection of the next World Trade Organisation Director-General: “The United States supports the selection of Korean Trade Minister Yoo Myung-hee as the next WTO Director-General. Minister Yoo is a bona fide trade expert who has distinguished herself during a 25-year career as a successful trade negotiator and trade policy maker.  She has all the skills necessary

SPEAKER, ABOK NUHU AYUBA CONFERRED WITH THE TITLE OF AMBASSADOR OF NIGERIAN CHILD 28th October, 2020. The Speaker of Plateau State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Abok Nuhu Ayuba has been conferred with the title of an Ambassador of Nigerian Child by the Children of Nigeria in Proposed Collaboration with Nigerian Governor's Forum and All Security Agencies. The recognition was confered on the Speaker when the group's leadership paid him a courtesy visit in his official residence in Rayfield. The youngsters expressed their confidence in Mr Speaker's sterling leadership style and also call for the promotion of good governance in Nigeria. The highly delighted Speaker while appreciating the children for the visit and confidence reposed on him and in the leadership of the 9th State Assembly, states that, they will not fail the Nigerian child in the discharge of their responsibilities. He emphasized that they will do everything humanly possible to m

A male US missionary is reported to have been abducted in Niger as confirmed by the State Department. According to CNN, the man is reported to have been attacked by six armed men who demanded money before they took off with him in a motorbike. Confirming the same information was the Governor of the state saying that the armed men took the missionary near the border of Niger and Nigeria. He continued by confirming that the group of six demanded the said amount as the State Department failed to release his identity. In a statement, they revealed that the safety of an American citizen is crucial especially in foreign countries as they promise to work with forces on the ground. They continued by confirming to provide accurate information to the family of the victim but they could not reveal his identity.

A Central Nigerian Cleric, Rev. Polycarp Zongo, an awaiting bride, Fayina Ali,and four others have gone missing after leaving for the Northeast last week Monday,19th October, 2020. Rev. Zongo left Jos for a conference in Gombe, scheduled to start on Tuesday, October 20, 2020 but neither arrived the venue nor returned home, it was learnt. His phone lines have been switched off since departure, causing panic among members of his pastored Church of Christ in Nations, COCIN Wild Life Park, Jos. Miss Ali, a Kaduna based indigene of Adamawa State was said to have also left home for Maiduguri same Monday but never arrived or returned. Miss Fayina Ali thought kidnapped on Monday October 19, 2020 had her marriage introduction over the weekend and the wedding with an Airforce Personnel slated for December 2020, it was learnt. Military sources say the Nuhu Bamalli, Zaria Polytechnic graduate was kidnapped by suspected Boko Haram militia along with four other ladies on public transport but no info

While the social media may have become a major instrument used to trigger fake news and others, the President of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Olusola Teniola, has said the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other technology can assist in fact-checking materials and protecting online child abuse and gender biased cyber-bullying Teniola said this will need to be increased across all social media platforms to replicate the physical world of news publications and journalism. Speaking with The Guardian on how the social media escalated #EndSARS crises in the country, he noted that without these tools being introduced it is going to be extremely difficult to police how Gen Z’s and Millennial use and adopt the social media platforms against how older generations easily relate to censorship due to culture norms and differences. “As we move into a digital economy, it is imperative that the lessons learnt over the past two weeks in Nigeria serve as inp

The Presidency, yesterday, came under attack from former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Nobel Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka over Tuesday’s shooting of ENDSARS protesters by the Nigerian Army at the Lekki Tollgate in Lagos. The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) said it had already dragged President Mohammad Buhari’s government and the military before the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the matter. Scores of protesters were killed as shooters believed to be officers of the Nigerian military opened fire on hundreds of youths keeping vigil at the Lekki tollgate to demand an end to police brutality. Many were also wounded. Still on rampage over the killing irate youths, yesterday, embarked on massive destruction of national and state-owned assets across the country. The worst hit was Lagos, which lost a handful of assets, including some newly commissioned state-owned bus terminals, some media outfits and at least two more police stations. Governor Sanwo-Olu

GOVERNOR LALONG DIRECTS LIFTING OF CURFEW Based on the assessment of the security situation in Plateau State and upon the recommendation of the Plateau State Security Council, the Executive Governor of Plateau State Rt. Hon. (Dr) Simon Bako Lalong has approved the relaxation of the curfew imposed in Jos South and Jos North Local Government Areas with effect from Wednesday 28th October 2020. By this directive, the curfew is hereby relaxed to commence from 6am to 12 midnight beginning from Wednesday 28th October untill further notice. No movement will be allowed between the hours if 12 midnight to 6am.  Citizens are advised to go about their lawful businesses without any fear as security agencies have been directed to ensure effective patrols and surveillance to protect lives and property. They have equally been directed to identify and arrest any individual or group of persons that engage in any acts of criminality including looting, arson, vandalism and threat to lives and property in

Governor Simon Lalong in North Central Plateau State has said he will call off the on going curfew imposed in the State as a result of the hoodlums who go about vandalising private and government properties, saying that the criminals have been identified and will be prosecuted. “We will call off the curfew and go after the criminals. We have identified and made arrest of some of the hoodlums who go about vandalising warehouses, private and government properties. They must be prosecuted. “It is not our intention to impose curfew, but we have to do it to stop further destruction of lives and properties”, he said. Lalong stated this on Tuesday in the city capital of Jos while addressing stakeholders of the National Assembly who came to pledge solidarity with him on the current crisis of looting and vandalism in two Local Government areas of the State. “Plateau is our own and we are not hungry. If Plateau is hungry we would have seen hoodlums in all the 17 local government areas. Why is it

Plateau Pastor, others missing after trip to North East A Central Nigerian Cleric, Rev. Polycarp Zongo, an awaiting bride, Fayina Ali,and four others have gone missing after leaving for the Northeast last week Monday,19th October, 2020. Rev. Zongo left Jos for a conference in Gombe, scheduled to start on Tuesday, October 20, 2020 but neither arrived the venue nor returned home, it was learnt. His phone lines have been switched off since departure, causing panic among members of his pastored Church of Christ in Nations, COCIN Wild Life Park, Jos. Miss Ali, a Kaduna based indigene of Adamawa State was said to have also left home for Maiduguri same Monday but never arrived or returned. Miss Fayina Ali thought kidnapped on Monday October 19, 2020 had her marriage introduction over the weekend and the wedding with an Airforce Personnel slated for December 2020, it was learnt. Military sources say the Nuhu Bamalli, Zaria Polytechnic graduate was kidnapped by suspected Boko Haram militia alo

PLATEAU GOVERNMENT DENIES HOARDING PALLIATIVES Following the vandalization and looting of palliatives from some warehouses in Jos and Bukuru on 24th October 2020, it has become expedient for the Plateau State Government to condemn the action and further make some clarirications about the items to clear the erroenous impression that they were being hoarded.  The items at the warehouses were delivered to the state by the  Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Social Development and Disaster Management for distribution to beneficiaries in Plateau State.  The public may recall that the Hon. Minister of Humanitarian Affairs Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouk was in Jos together with the Minister of Women Affairs Dame Paullen Tallen on the 16th October 2020 to deliver the items and had indeed brought in the personel of the Ministry to carry out the distribution in conjunction with State officials. However as they were preparing to begin the process, the #ENDSARS protests began which put the proce

ADDRESS TO THE NATION BY HIS EXCELLENCY, MUHAMMADU BUHARI, PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA ON THE ENDSARS PROTESTS, 22ND OCTOBER, 2020 Fellow Nigerians, It has become necessary for me to address you having heard from many concerned Nigerians and having concluded a meeting with all the Security Chiefs. I must warn those who have hijacked and misdirected the initial, genuine and well - intended protest of some of our youths in parts of the country, against the excesses of some members of the now disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). On Monday 12th October, I acknowledged the genuine concerns and agitations of members of the public regarding the excessive use of force by some members of SARS. The choice to demonstrate peacefully is a fundamental right of citizens as enshrined in Section 40 of our Constitution and other enactments; but this right to protest also imposes on the demonstrators the responsibility to respect the rights of other citizens, and the ne

PLATEAU STATE CURFEW LIFTED FROM 6AM TO 8PM Following resolutions reached at a high level stakeholders’ meeting chaired by the Executive Governor of Plateau State, Rt. Hon. Simon Bako Lalong, one of which is the need for stakeholders to immediately engage their communities across the state in a systematic Peace dialogues aimed at de-escalating tension, the Government has decided to relax the curfew earlier imposed on Jos North and South Local Government Areas from 6am to 8pm as from Friday October 23, 2020 until further notice. This decision was reached after painstaking deliberations with critical stakeholders and careful assessment of the security situation that led to the skirmishes in some parts of the affected local government areas, last Tuesday. Please note that the government is not unmindful of citizens’ Constitutional Rights to hold lawful assembly or stage peaceful protests as long as these are carried out within the extant laws of Nigeria. As a Government, we also appreciat

SPEAKER HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE - FEMI GBAJABIAMILA As Speaker of this House of Representatives, let me say now for the records to reflect, and in the expectation that I would be held to account: • I will not sign off on a 2021 Budget that does not include adequate provisions to compensate those who have suffered violence and brutality at the hands of the police in Nigeria in the last two decades. • I will not sign off on a budget that does not meet the reasonable demands of the ASUU, to which Government has already acceded. There is no better time to rethink the system of funding for higher education in Nigeria. The current system does a great disservice to our children and our country, and we must commit to changing it so that we can free our institutions of higher learning to be citadels where innovation thrives, and excellence is a given. • With my colleagues in the House of Representatives, I will visit over the next week, some of the families of those who have lost loved ones to

URGENT CORRECTION: Brig. Gen. FRANCIS OMATA: THE HERO, NOT THE VILLAIN! Brig. Gen. FRANCIS OMATA, Lagos Garrison, was at home when people started calling him that soldiers were at the Toll gate shooting.  He rushed to the scene and arrived about 39 mins after. Shouting loudly, identifying himself to avoid “friendly fire”, he immediately moved to pull back the soldiers, who were from 65 Battalion Bonny camp, led by their commanding officer, one Lt Col S. O. Bello.  Lt Col Bello & his men are still writing reports as authorities want to know who authorised this military action. Pls IMMEDIATELY spread this. GEN. OMATA IS A HERO, NOT A KILLER!  He deserves a medal, not condemnation! Don’t let an innocent man suffer for doing good! Already, even photos of his family are in circulation! His only mistake was screaming his name to alert the soldiers of his presence. People at the scene picked that up and ran with it.

The Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives on Wednesday said that extra-judicial killing of defenseless citizens, by suspected agents of the state, cannot be justified or condoned under any rule or guise whatsoever.” The minority lawmakers condemned Tuesday killing of “peaceful and unarmed” protesters by suspected security operatives at Lekki Toll Gate and other parts of the country. In a statement signed by the Minority Leader, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, the lawmakers said “such wicked act of extra-judicial killing of defenseless citizens, by suspected agents of the state, cannot be justified or condoned under any rule or guise whatsoever.” He said “As lawmakers and representatives of the people, we cannot accept this gruesome execution of our young ones in their own country by security operatives. Life is sacred and no one has the right to terminate the life of another just because he has the apparatus of state power. “Such brazen brutally and defilement of right to life, which is

INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION  PRESS RELEASE  BYE-ELECTIONS SCHEDULED FOR 31ST OCTOBER 2020 The public would recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission scheduled the conduct of bye-elections in 15 constituencies in 11 States for 31st October 2020. These consist of six Senatorial and nine State House of Assembly seats. The vacancies were as a result of death and resignation of previous members. The Commission has been engaged in meticulous preparations for the bye-elections for several weeks in its determination to continue to deliver free, fair, credible and safe elections for Nigerians. However, the Commission is not oblivious of the current mood of the nation, the security situation, natural disasters and other emergencies reported in parts of the country. Indeed, the Commission has been monitoring these situations regarding their possible impact on the smooth conduct of the bye-elections.  Consequently, the Commission will tomorrow, Thursday 22nd October 2