From Attah Ede, Makurdi

Suspected armed herdsmen again reportedly killed a pregnant woman, 10 other persons during attack on Akilo community in Usha council ward in Agatu West of Agatu Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue State.

It was gathered that the victims were killed in their homes by the marauders who invaded  the community at about 3:30pm on Sunday.

The caretaker chairman of Agatu LGA, Mr.

Ochepo said of the number of  deaths recorded, seven corpses have been recovered.

According to him, A pregnant woman corpse, an elderly man and that of five youths have been recovered, adding  that the community members were able to achieve this through the  aid of soldiers and Air force personnel deployed to the area.

“Soldiers and Air Force went there yesterday (Sunday), to recover the corpses. There were gunshots and they were running away only to regroup again.

“I’m in Makurdi now to report to Operations Whirl Stroke. We need more hands. We hear they captured some alive and threw some into the river but we are still waiting for more reports from the area.

“We have not been able to recover the remaining four corpses yet,” he explained.

Ochepo appealed to both the state and Federal Governments to take drastic action towards ending the carnage by deploying more security personnel to Agatu to check the activities of the killer herdsmen in the LGA.

When contacted, the Benue State Command Police Public Relations Officer, Catherine Anene said she was yet to get information about the fresh attack in Agatu.

It would be recalled that three farmers were reportedly killed by gunmen suspected to be herdsmen at Ogbaulu community in Agatu LGA.

 The victims were working on their farms when the herders came to slaughter them.

Similarly, on April  9, 15 persons were killed after suspected herders attacked same Ogbaulu community.

It was gathered that the attackers conducted relentless attacks on the area for two weeks, invading  all the villages the area.

The Chairman of Agatu listed some of the communities currently  under siege by armed herders in Agatu LGA as: Olegomakwu, Onahe, Ocholonya, Okokolo, Ugboju, Olegobidu, Odugbeho, Odejo, Ogbaulu, Imwenyi, Adana, Ologba-Gishu, Iwarri, Ejima-gope, Ejima-gochi, Ikpele and Okpokpolo.

Fifteen months after the 2023 general elections, the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi yesterday visited former Vice President and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar in his house in Abuja.

Obi also met with former Governor of Jigawa State Sule Lamido and former Senate President Bukola Saraki in Abuja.

This is the first meeting of the former Anambra State governor would meet with his former political allies after he defected from the PDP to LP in May 2022.

Sources said more meetings are expected to take place soon.

This is coming on the heels of claims by Atiku’s media aide, Paul Ibe that Obi was frustrated out of PDP by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike because of the latter’s political ambition.

Ibe made this claim when he featured on the popular online political platform, Mic On Podcast, on Saturday.

Ibe denied that the former VP orchestrated the split.

The Chief Spokesman of Obi’s Presidential Campaign Organisation, Yunusa Tanko explained that the closed-door meeting with the PDP bigwigs bothered on discussions on how to rescue the soul of Nigeria from the clutch of the ruling All Progressives Congress.

He said, “I’m not privy to their meetings. But what you see are some of the long discussions we have had a long time ago. It is part of the discussions and efforts to battle for the soul of Nigeria.

“It is not a surprising thing for Obi to meet some of his political allies to discuss the situation of the country. That is the few I can say for now.”

On the chances of Obi returning to the PDP or the possibility of a merger between the Labour Party and the PDP, Tanko said such talks would only remain in the realm of speculations.

“Well, not really. Those are the permutations of individuals. I don’t want to dwell on that.

“But this is still an ongoing discussion. His destination will reveal itself later. Some of these discussions [Obi returning to PDP] are offshoots of what has been happening since the last election.

“We need to wait and see how these discussions pan out. Let’s hope they bring a positive outcome in the long run,” he said.

An official statement released by Obi’s media team entitled State of the Nation and Plight of the Poor: Obi Visits Atiku, Saraki and Lamido corroborated Tanko’s earlier sentiment that Obi is determined to engage virtually all his political allies on the need to wrest power from the ruling APC.

The statement read, “The 2023 Presidential flag bearer of the Labour Party, Peter Obi has continued to live up to his expressed commitment to the peace and progress of the nation.

“His abiding devotion is to the emergence of a Nigeria that works for all its people and where the people are quickly pulled out of poverty.

“Worried about the state of the nation and the increasing uncertainty in the living conditions of the poor and underprivileged, Obi in Abuja on Monday visited some top Nigerians, among whom are Former Vice President, and PDP Presidential Candidate in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar, the former Senate President Senator Bukola Saraki and the former Governor of Jigawa state, Alhaji Sule Lamido.

“At the centre of discussion during each of these visits was the state of the nation and how to reduce the suffering of all Nigerians irrespective of class and location.“In particular, the desperate condition of the downtrodden in our midst was highlighted. Of particular interest and emphasis in these discussions was the worrisome situation in the Northern parts of the country.”

Lubem Myaornyi, Abuja

President Bola Tinubu has directed the mandatory procurement of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) powered vehicles by all government ministries, departments, and agencies.

This, Tinubu said is in line with his commitment to ensure energy security, drive utility, and cut high fuel costs.

Addressing members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) at the State House yesterday, the President affirmed, “there is no turning back in the energy reforms initiated by his administration.

His directive was also in furtherance of Nigeria’s effort to transition to cleaner energy as CNG-enabled vehicles have been adjudged to produce lower emissions, even as they present a more affordable alternative for Nigerian energy consumers.

“This nation will not progress forward if we continue to dance on the same spot. We have the will to drive the implementation of CNG adoption across the country, and we must set the example as public officials in leading the way to that prosperous future that we are working to achieve for our people. It starts with us, and in seeing that we are serious, Nigerians will follow our lead,” the President stated.

Tinubu directed the rejection of all memos brought by members of FEC seeking the purchase of traditional petrol-dependent vehicles, tasking the affected members of the council to go back and diligently seek value-driven procurements of CNG-compliant vehicles.

The President said he remains committed to effectively harnessing the nation’s gas potential, alleviating the burden of high transportation costs on the masses while enhancing the standard of living of all Nigerians.