Today's Headlines: I won’t celebrate my birthday in today’s Nigeria – Peter Obi, Gunmen Kill Enugu Lawmaker, Send Community Into Panic

I won’t celebrate my birthday in today’s Nigeria – Peter Obi

Peter Obi of the Labour Party, LP, says he will not accede to requests by his friends, party members and supporters to join him in celebrating his birthday and even present some gifts.

Obi, however, appealed to those who may desire to celebrate him with gifts to look around them and extend the gesture to the people in need.

In a statement issued on his verified Twitter handle on Monday, the former Anambra State Governor said he has always maintained that the sacrifices for a better Nigeria must now start from everyone, the leaders and the well-placed, insisting that the state of the nation gives cause to pause and ponder.

While suggesting that there is far too much insecurity, violence, and bloodshed in the country,’ Obi said he would want to celebrate in a Nigeria that works for all and which Nigerians can be proud of, claiming it is the true celebration that will benefit all Nigerians.

He wrote, ”Wednesday, 19th July 2023, marks my 62nd birthday. While I remain immensely grateful to God for His infinite mercies, I still maintain my decision of over 20 years that I will not celebrate my birthdays in today’s Nigeria, with the current deplorable state of the nation.”

Gunmen Kill Enugu Lawmaker, Send Community Into Panic

Mr. Nelson Sylvester, a councillor representing the Eha-Ulo ward in the Nsukka Local Government Area of the Enugu Legislative Council has been killed by unknown gunmen.

Sylvester, who is popularly known as Ofunwa, was killed on Sunday night at his residence in Eha-Alumonah community, a leader in the community, Celestine Odoagu, told SaharaReporters on Monday morning in a telephone conversation.

Odoagu also informed our reporter that the remains of Sylvester had been deposited in the morgue while police had been properly briefed.

According to him, the assailants stormed the lawmaker’s house and started raining bullets on him.

“We cannot say who was behind the murder,” he said.

During the attack on the councillor, he ran into a neighbouring compound with bullet wounds before he collapsed there. Efforts to take him to the hospital immediately failed as the gunmen who were believed to still be around sent residents into hiding.

“We suspect the attack to be assassination but it left the police to disprove our suspicions. It is heartbreaking; it is too hard for us to swallow. We are in deep agony,” he said.

Osun guber: Why I went on exile – Gov Adeleke

Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State has disclosed that he went on self-exile in 2018 after he was rigged out of the governorship election.

Adeleke lamented that his mandate was stolen through a manipulated judicial process, a situation that led him to self-exile.

He spoke at the Adeleke University convocation in Ede, Osun State, on Sunday.

A statement by his spokesman, Mallam Olawale Rasheed, quoted the governor as saying his self-exile helped him escape from his enemies.

The governor also urged young people to focus on their goals in life, noting that the deciding factor in achieving one’s dream is to be determined.

He described education as a tool to propel people to become whatever they want to become in life.

Army Intercepts Truck Loaded With Live Cartridges Heading For Anambra

It was learnt that the truck was intercepted during a stop and search operation along the road.

The truck, exhibit and suspects were heading to Onitsha, Anambra State, southeast Nigeria, while the exhibit was conveyed through Idiroko international border and concealed in a truck.

The Army in a signal obtained by SaharaReporters on Monday, noted that the truck was carrying 720 cartons of red star live cartridges of 12 calibre containing 25 cartridges each, 250 packets of live cartridges of pellets (black) containing 10 cartridges each of the same calibre.

According to the signal, two suspects arrested were identified as Mr. Eric Sewirvor, a Ghanaian citizen and Mr. Lukman Sani from Ogun State.

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