President Muhammadu Buhari has met with former President Olusegun Obasanjo behind closed doors at the statehouse in Abuja on Friday, June 3, 2016.

Reasons for the visit and details of the meeting were not known as at press time, but sources say it may not be unconnected with recent developments in the Niger-Delta region of the country where a new militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers, has been blowing up oil and gas installations leading to a huge drop in the Nation’s crude oil production.

President Buhari on Thursday called off his planned visit to River State to flag off the UNEP recommended cleaning up of Ogoniland. There were speculations that the visit was cancelled due to rising tension over renewed attacks by militants. Buhari was represented at the historic event by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

Former President Obasanjo had a running battle with militants during his tenure between 1999 and 2007.

The Nigerian Senate has directed the Executive to immediately commence the remediation of Shikira community in Niger State and other communities affected by lead poison in Nigeria.

The motion which was moved by David Umaru, Senator representing Niger East Senatorial District,, was supported by all the senators, many of whom lamented the negative effects of illegal mining on the environment and the health of Nigerians.

Senate President, Bukola Saraki also agreed with the motion and asked the Executive arm of government to release intervention funds for the communities that were affected in order to reduce their suffering.

Twenty-eight children have reportedly died as a result of lead poisoning since 2015.

Troops of the Nigeria Military have continued their operation to clear Sambisa of any remnant of Boko Haram insurgents as troops of 202 Battalion of 21 Brigade ambushed and kill three insurgents between 1st and 2nd June 2016. One of the terrorist was arrested,

This was contained in a statement by the Acting Director, Army Public Relations Colonel Sani Usman.

The captured Boko Haram terrorist, Umar Mustapha, who claimed to have come from Sabsawa,   has been handed over to the Brigade Headquarters for further interrogation and processing.

In a related development, on Thursday, 2 June 2016, troops of 112 Battalion on patrol from Mafa to Dikwa were ambushed at Ajiri village, by Boko Haram terrorists, killing a soldier and injuring an officer and three soldiers.

The troops however successfully cleared the ambush, killing eight Boko Haram terrorists and recovering various arms and ammunitions including, 1 Rocket Propel Grenade,  AK-47 Rifles, 2  Rocket Propel Grenade bomb, 3 AK-47 Rifle Magazine and 120 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition.

The troops also discovered three Improvised Explosive Devices concealed by the edge of the road which were safely detonated by the Explosive Ordnance Device team.

The body of the late soldier as well as the injured ones was evacuated to 7 Division Medical Services and Hospital, Maiduguri.

A civil society group, Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL, has kicked against the planned amendment of the Code of Conduct Bureau Act by the National Assembly.

The group is of the view that the proposed amendment is meant to create unnecessary obstacles in the path of the ongoing war against corruption.

The House of Representatives recently adopted a report to amend the Code of Conduct Bureau [CCB] Act which is meant to compel the Bureau to furnish accused persons with details of the charges against them for response before they are made to appear before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).

Chairman of CACOL, Debo Adeniran, stated that the Senate had tried to do the same thing but had to abandon the idea following public outcry against the move.

He explained that the group is convinced that the ongoing trial of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki for corruption is directly linked to this development.

Adeniran said the public and civil society organizations should reject the amendments, because the move is a way of protecting the interest of political office holders who have embezzled public funds.

He called on the House of Representatives to abandon the adoption of the amendment and concentrate on issues that are more important to the country’s development.

He also urged the legislators to correct the impression on the mind of the people that the legislature is a deeply corrupt institution.

Read also:

• 61 Rescued Children Hospitalised In Borno

• Badeh Gave Me N865m To Buy Properties — Witness

• Buhari Condoles Ghanaian President Over Mother’s Death

• Dangote’s Gas Pipeline Will Help Solve Electricity Problem — Osinbajo

• David Cameron To Quit As UK Votes To Leave EU

• DH Says Terrorists Now Disguise As Vigilantes And Hunters

• Drama In Ekiti As State Assembly Holds Plenary Along The Road

• Edo PDP Primary: Sheriff Plans Fresh Exercise

• FCT Administration Takes Over THISDAY Dome Over N197m Debt

• FG Clears Buratai Over Assets

• Former Foreign Affairs Minister, Ojo Maduekwe Is Dead

An inmate of the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison, Lagos, Albert Ajogbor, has earned a Bachelor’s Degree, B.A. (Hons) in Christian Theology of the National Open University, NOUN.

The University, which runs online degrees, also has study centres across the federation.

At a short ceremony held in Kirikiri Prison to formally present the certificate to the inmate, Vice-Chancellor of the University, Abdalla Adamu, who was represented by the Director of Learner Support Services, Nebath Tanglang, expressed delight over Ajogbor’s feat despite the fact that he is incarcerated.

He also announced that the University is offering one hundred percent full scholarship to all prisoners in Nigeria who are undertaking a degree programme in the university.

Professor Adamu said the decision was in fulfillment of the university’s corporate social responsibility as well as to contribute its own quota towards a better prison system in Nigeria.

The Lagos State Controller of Prisons, Timothy Tinuonye, commended the initiative by NOUN, saying it was a boost to the Nigeria Prison Authority’s duty of reformation of the inmates.

He disclosed that there are over 70 inmates studying for various NOUN programmes in the three prisons in the state but the number will rise because of the tuition-free policy.

The Federal Government has officially kicked off the clean-up of oil spills in Ogoni land, Rivers State, South-South Nigeria as recommended by the United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP, report.

President Muhammadu Buhari was billed to launch the clean-up in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State today, but called off the trip for unspecified reasons, although there were speculations that it was due to “scheduling difficulties”.

But the ceremony went on as scheduled with Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, representing Buhari at the event. Osinbanjo described the occasion as historic not just for the people of Ogoni, but also for the entire Niger Delta region.

He said the clean-up programme was a restoration of the environment as well as the people’s health, wealth and livelihood and prayed that it would mark the beginning of real change in the land and in the future of the Ogoni People.

The Minister of Environment, Amina Mohammed, who was on the VP’s entourage, called on the people to support the exercise as Government had kept its own side of the bargain with the official kick-off.

The minister assured that the federal government was not only committed to the implementation of the UNEP report, but would go further by ensuring that the Niger Delta region enjoyed improved security, good governance and economic boost.

UNEP had conducted an independent assessment of the communities affected by oil spills in the Niger-Delta and made recommendations for remediation.

The UNEP report was accepted by many residents of the Ogoni community and government decided to use the report as a starting point in the clean-up process.

According to the UNEP report, there are over 200 oil-impacted locations across Ogoni land and the full environmental restoration of the community will take between 25 and 30 years.

The Minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi says the Abuja-Kaduna railway project will be completed and commissioned by President Muhammadu Buhari in July 2016.

The Minister said this on Wednesday, June 1, after he inspected the level of work that has been done on the project so far.

“We are looking at bringing Mr. President to commission in July. In two weeks’ time, they will do the test run of the track without passengers, after that it will take another two weeks to do test run with passengers and it will be free of charge and that will take us to the end of June, which means by first week in July, we believe that the President will come and flag it off for commercial service”, he said.

It would be recalled that the Abuja-Kaduna Rail project was initiated by Former President Goodluck Jonathan, but work on it stopped following the inability of the administration to release funding.

The minister who was joined by top officials of his ministry to test run the first trip on one of the trains from Idu to Kubwa, commended the contractor handling the project and noted that the train service is coming at a time when commuters were in need of an effective means of public transportation.

He also said that plans are underway between the Ministry of Transport and the Nigerian Railway Corporation, NRC, to ensure that affordable fares are charged for using the train.

Amaechi further stated that adequate security measures will be provided in and around the train stations to ensure that only passengers whose identities have been screened and certified will board the trains.

He said over one thousand police personnel will be deployed to man the railway during and after it’s commissioning.