Author: Elizabeth Jenrola Oso

Movie buffs are relishing the festive season, with multiple top-notch Nollywood films from A-class producers and super thespians competing for nationwide attention in cinemas. NEW DAILY PRIME reports that with so many big-budget films to choose from at the cinemas, there can be no dull moment for movie buffs all through the holidays. First to open the floor was the big masquerade, Funke Akindele, one of Nollywood’s very best, who recently released the highly anticipated “Everybody Loves Jenifa.” The “Jenifa” franchise, which debuted in 2008, has become a household name, and fans are in the cinema to see what is…

Pope Francis on Saturday again condemned Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, a day after an Israeli government minister publicly denounced the pontiff for suggesting the global community should study whether the military offensive there constitutes a genocide of the Palestinian people. Francis opened his annual Christmas address to the Catholic cardinals who lead the Vatican’s various departments with what appeared to be a reference to Israeli airstrikes on Friday that killed at least 25 Palestinians in Gaza. “Yesterday, children were bombed,” said the pope. “This is cruelty. This is not war. I wanted to say this because it touches the heart.”…

France’s new Prime Minister, Francois Bayrou, who is still scrambling to name his government before Christmas, faced a fresh challenge on Dec 22 – a historically low poll rating. AFP reports that even before he has properly started his job, a new poll carried out by Ifop for the French Weekly Journal du Dimanche found 66 percent of respondents were unhappy with his performance. Only 34 percent said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their new head of government. Going back decades to 1959, the pollster said it had not seen such a low rating for a prime minister…

The Nigeria Police have confirmed that the death toll in the unfortunate stampede incident in Okija, Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State has risen to 22. The tragedy occurred on Saturday at the scene of a palliative distribution organised by a philanthropist in Okija. Police spokesman, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, who gave an update on the development in a statement on Sunday in Onitsha, said that the Commissioner of Police, CP Nnaghe Itam, visited the hospital where the victims of the tragic stampede are receiving treatment. He said that Itam sympathised with the families and friends of the deceased while…

The Ijaw Youths Network (IYN) has raised the alarm over the intensified blackmail of huge international proportion against the Chairman of Tantita Security Services, High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited, Mr Mele Kyari, and the Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Dr Dennis Otuaro. The IYN, in a statement by its President, Frank Ebikabo, and the Secretary, Federal Ebiaridor, on Sunday called attention to what they call ”a well-funded blackmail by a ruthless cabal of oil thieves who are uncomfortable with gains of the campaign against oil theft being spearheaded…

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) operatives have busted drug smuggling operations and recovered over one million pills of opioids in various locations across the country. The anti-drug agency’s Director of Media & Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, stated that an attempt by an import and export businessman, Olisaka Chibuzo Calistus to smuggle 256 wraps of cocaine weighing 6 kilograms into the country through the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano, was thwarted by the NDLEA operatives. Babafemi said, “The seizure, which is the single largest interception of cocaine at the Kano airport since the creation of MAKIA Command of…

The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Sunday said it arrested 57,129 people and seized illicit drugs worth 20.7 billion pesos (roughly 352 million U.S. dollars) on the black market during its anti-drug operations conducted from Jan. 1 to Dec. 15, 2024. PNP Chief General Rommel Francisco Marbil said in a statement that 46,821 anti-drug operations were conducted by various PNP units nationwide. Marbil said the seized illegal drugs included methamphetamine hydrochloride (locally known as shabu), marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine, ketamine, and kush, “reflecting the diverse range of narcotics targeted by the PNP’s comprehensive anti-illegal drugs operation.” The PNP’s anti-drug campaign “has…

The missing An-2 light aircraft, which disappeared in Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula has been found with all three people aboard alive, local authorities said on Sunday. All three individuals on board, including two crew members and one passenger, have been evacuated by a Mi-8 helicopter from Kamchatka rescue teams and are being transported to Milkovskaya District Hospital, where their health conditions will be assessed, said the regional office of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations. According to the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency, the missing plane and people were found near Mount Tundrovaya on early Sunday. The plane, which was en…

Israeli forces, on Saturday night, launched more attacks on the barely functioning Kamal Adwan Hospital in besieged North Gaza, after ordering people inside and near the facility to evacuate. According to Aljazeera, the nearby al-Awda Hospital is also under attack. Similarly, Israeli forces have also bombed yet another school in northern Gaza City, killing at least eight Palestinians. Vehicle in Gaza City targetedThere was also reports of an attack on a vehicle in Jalaa Street in Gaza City, with a number of casualties reported.What we are seeing now is a deliberate attack on the health facility. In recent days, Israeli…

When the news broke on social media on Tuesday that an only child, Segun Olowookere, has been sentenced to death in Osun State for stealing a fowl, Nigerians were as enraged as they were stunned, leading to wide criticism of Nigeria’s justice system. Even though the true or correct versions of what truly transpired were unknown, many believed, regardless, that a person should, under no circumstance be killed over the mere theft of a fowl, saying that the punishment was too harsh for the offence. What many people did not know was that the alleged offence was committed in 2010…