IG counters Mbu: Police will use arms with cautionI

                                                                          Joseph Mbu

The Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba, has cautioned police personnel against misuse of firearms during the forthcoming elections in the country.

Abba stated that arms would be used only in extreme circumstances, stressing that all police officers must protect the rights of citizens at all times.

Apparently refuting a statement credited to AIG Joseph Mbu, who said “If one of my men is killed, I shall kill 20 of them but don’t shoot first,” the police boss reassured the public that “the Nigeria Police has a mandate to save and protect lives, and not to kill, contrary to recent statements in the media.”

The IG said this during a meeting with senior policemen at the Force headquarters, Abuja, according to a statement by Force Public Relations Officer, Emmanuel Ojukwu, on Saturday.

Bury tenure extension idea, lawmakers warn Jonathan

                                                         President Goodluck Jonathan

Members of the National Assembly have vowed to resist any ploy by President Goodluck Jonathan to extend his tenure by six months on the pretext of insecurity.

There has been speculation since the February elections were shifted that the President is on the verge of sending a tenure extension proposal to the National Assembly, using the insecurity in the North-East as an excuse.

However, senators and members of the House of Representatives, in separate interviews with SUNDAY PUNCH on Friday, said the President should bury the rumoured plan.

On Tuesday, the spokesman of the All Progressives Congress in the Senate, Senator Femi Ojudu, had alleged at a forum that Jonathan had tried to get some members of the National Assembly to elongate his tenure, but that he had so far met a brick wall.

He reportedly spoke in Ibadan, Oyo State at a social discourse organised by the Afenifere Renewal Group, held in honour of a former Ekiti State governor, Kayode Fayemi.

APC resorts to private security guards

                                                       ASIWAJU BOLA TINUBU

Following what the All Progressives Congress described as the growing threat to the lives of its leaders, some of the party’s chieftains have resorted to making private security arrangements.

SUNDAY PUNCH gathered on Friday that part of these arrangements included engaging private security guards (some of which allegedly carry arms) as well as beefing up security in and around their homes and offices.

Some of the party members volunteered this information on the condition of anonymity.

One of them explained that the chieftains were forced to make backup plans because it was becoming clear that the Peoples Democratic Party-led Federal Government would withdraw the services of regular security men as the elections approach.

How I had three kids in four years –TIMI DAKOLO

                                                                TIMI DAKOLO

Winner, Idols West Af­rica, Timi Dakolo, has opened on mar­riage and fatherhood describing it as the climax of every man’s dream. In an exclusive chat with The Entertainer at the Congress Hall of Nicon Hilton Hotel, Abuja, recently, the vocal powerhouse, who tied the knot in 2012 to his baby mama, Busola, declared that marriage has transformed him.

PSquare’s Shekini VS Oritsefemi’s Double Wahala… Which is more popular?

There has been an astronomic rise in the volume of hit songs being churned out by Nigerian artistes in recent years. In fact, so stiff is the competition music buffs argue that the average life span of a hit song in Nigeria is just three months. Conse­quently, this week, Showdown features two of Nigeria’s cur­rently raving singles; P square’s Shekini and Oritsefemi’s Dou­ble Wahala, two of Naija’s most popular tracks as at last count.