Newspaper of the Year
News Govt to court: stop defectors Sports Moses’ll ‘return to Chelsea’ Business $152m loan for agric sector
CAN seeks more power for governors
NEWS
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•Conference rejects regionalism
•Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper
VOL. 9, NO. 2828 THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 2014
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TR UTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM TRUTH
EKITI 2014
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AND MORE •Thugs attack APC members in Ipole-Iloro •ON PAGE 9 •Abuja can’t impose governor on Ekiti, says Fayemi •Accord candidate to sign bond with Ekiti people
Boko Haram scare seizes Lagos-Ibadan Expressway Thousands stuck for hours in traffic jam
L
ONG rows of vehicles crawling bumper-to-bumper, a sea of people trekking and a police helicopter hovering overhead. It was a terrible experience yesterday for commuters on the ever-busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. They were trapped in a traffic jam that lasted for hours, following a rumour that suspected Boko Haram gunmen had seized the road – Nigeria’s busiest. A widely circulated message on the social network and text messages early in
By Okwy Iroegbu-Chikezie, Joseph Jibueze and Ernest Nwokolo, Abeokuta
the day said nine policemen and 11 civilians had been killed in an attack by the dreaded sect’s gunmen, who have turned the Northeast into a vast killing field. There was anxiety in Ogun, Oyo, Lagos and other neighbouring states over the message, which warned travellers going to either Ibadan or Lagos to avoid the expressway. But the police and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said it
Tinubu warns against rigging in Ekiti, Osun
was all a hoax. A variant of the message reads: “If you are on the Lagos/Ibadan Express Road going towards Ibadan, please turn back… 18 suspected Boko Haram members with AK47 riffles are on the highway now displaying their skills. Nine policemen and 11 civilians have been confirmed dead by these gunmen while trying to stop them from shooting. Please rebroadcast to save lives. May God help us in Nigeria.” The police deployed men on the expressway to ascertain the veracity of the rumour. Continued on page 2
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WHERE ARE THE 234 GIRLS KIDNAPPED ON APRIL 15 AT THE GOVT SECONDARY SCHOOL, CHIBOK, BORNO STATE?
Borno women protest abduction of girls •Soyinka: Jonathan insensitive •Amaechi offers girls free education From Ozolua Uhakheme, Port Harcourt and Biodun Kayode,
B
Maiduguri
ORNO State women rose yesterday against last week’s abduction of 234 girls at the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok. They demanded unconditional release of the girls, whose abduction Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka described as the “fatwa” of our time. He criticised President Goodluck Jonathan’s handling of the security situation in the country. Information Minister Labaran Maku said troops were still combing the forest for the girls —almost two weeks after they were snatched away from their hostels. Continued on page 2
•APC leader becomes LAUTECH Chancellor By Raymond Mordi, Deputy Political Editor and Bisi Oladele, Ibadan
T
HE setting was purely academic - the convocation of a university. But, the gathering was a mixture of intellectual giants and frontline politicians – an opportunity for a few words on the state of the nation. After berating what he called the sit-tight attitude of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)Federal Nobody will controlled Government, the serve you freedom National Leader of All Progressives a la carte. You the Congress (APC) must demand it. and former goverWe won’t allow nor of Lagos State, Bola any mutilated Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, election result in warned Nigerians the governEkiti and Osun. that ment was planning We will drive to rig the 2015 electhem out. It won’t tions. be a court matter It was all at the
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this time
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Continued on page 2
•From left: Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Prof. Wale Omole and Tinubu’s wife, Senator Oluremi PHOTO: ISAAC AYODELE at the ceremony...yesterday.
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