Check out some of the news & stories that made the headlines this week within & outside Nigeria.
1. Jos Tension.
Jos the capital of plateau have been ravaged by incessant killing of civilians and destruction of properties.
Hours after President Muhammadu Buhari met behind closed doors with Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, some gunmen, on Tuesday night, turned the state to a theatre of war, as they attacked Yelwan Zangam community, close to the permanent site of the University of Jos (UNIJOS), killing about 36 people and burning houses
A resident of one of the affected communities, in the state, Jeremiah Bulus, said, “corpses have been taken to the mortuary this morning and people are still making efforts to recover more corpses from several houses, which the gunmen also set ablaze. The situation is really bad for the people.”
As the violence continues, some state governments have stated evacuating their indigens, especially students from jos as reports of attacks on non-indigenes by gunmen.
2. Rachel Oniga laid to rest
Legendary Nollywood actress, Rachel Oniga, has been buried in Lagos. The actress died from heart-related issues on July 30 at the age of 64.
A lying-in-state ceremony had earlier been held for the actress at the Catholic Church of Resurrection, Magodo Estate, Lagos.
Her remains were later committed to mother earth at a private cemetery in Lagos.
Oniga began her career in 1993, starring in the blockbuster movie, Onome. In the Yoruba sector of Nollywood, the actress starred in the hit movie, Owo Blow.
The recent movies she starred in include The Wedding Party, The Royal Hibiscus Hotel, 30 Days in Atlanta, Sango, Out of Bounds, among others.
See photos from her burial below (Credit: Bimpe Olajiga).
3. Alexx Ekubo & his fiancée, Fancy Acholonu ends their relationship few months to their wedding.
Top actor, Alexx Ekubo and his fiancée, Fancy Acholonu have ended their relationship.
The couple was set to get married on the 20th of November, 2021, but to the surprise of their fans & well-wishers, Fancy confirmed the news of their breakup after the rumors spread on the 25th of August, 2021.
This was after their joint Instagram handle @FALEXXFOREVER was deleted.
Check out what fancy posted
4. Nigerian Doctors seek greener pastures.
No fewer than 500 Nigerian medical doctors on Tuesday in Abuja participated in a recruitment exercise organised by the Saudi Arabia health ministry.
This is amidst the ongoing strike embarked on by the National Association of Resident Doctors in the country.
SaharaReporters learnt that the Saudi Arabian recruitment exercise was held at Sheraton Hotel and witnessed a large crowd of Nigerian doctors with different specialties such as anesthesia, ICU, pediatric surgery, family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology.
Others were; ENT, emergency medicine, orthopedic surgery, radiology, hematology and others.
SaharaReporters learnt that the recruitment exercise was conducted by an agency on behalf of the Saudi Ministry of Health and that another recruitment exercise would be conducted in Lagos State and other parts of the country.
Applicants were said to have been paid N10,000 as the application fee after which medical certificates, means of identification, and other documents were tendered.
Recall that the NARD had on August 2, 2021 embarked on indefinite strike action at the end of the union’s National Executive Council meeting in Umuahia, Abia State.
The strike is over the inability of the Federal Government to implement the agreements it entered with the union 113 days after it suspended the previous strike as a reason for the industrial action.
Source: SaharaReporters.
5. DSS & Channels drama
Officials of the Department of State Services(DSS) questioned two anchors of Channels Television, Chamberlain Usho & Kayode Okikiolu, on Thursday over the controversial interview with the Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom.
It was gathered that they were invited for questioning by the DSS after a petition was submitted by the National Broadcasting Commission(NBC)
The official added that the presenters, who were accompanied by their lawyer, were questioned for not cautioning the governor while making ‘’inciting and divisive statements.’’
The spokesman of the DSS, Peter Afunanya also denied the arrest of the television anchors."This is false and misleading. Fake news peddlers should shun the act,’’ Afunanya said.
Governor Ortom who was a guest on the TV programme on Tuesday morning had this to say among other things.
“Mr President is pushing me to think that what they say about him, that he has a hidden agenda in this country is true because it is very clear that he wants to fulanise but he is not the first Fulani president.
6. Kabul Explosion
Thirteen US service members and at least 60 Afghans have been killed in two bombing attacks outside Kabul's airport, according to the Pentagon and Afghanistan's Ministry of Public Health.
The deadly blasts came as the United States and other Western countries raced to complete a massive evacuation of their citizens and Afghan allies following the Taliban takeover of the country.
An official with Afghanistan's Ministry of Public Health told CNN on Thursday that more than 60 Afghan people were dead and 140 wounded.
Eighteen US service members were injured in addition to the 13 dead, said Capt. Bill Urban of US Central Command.
US President Joe Biden, speaking from the White House, called the troops "heroes" and said he was "outraged as well as heartbroken."
"We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay," he warned the perpetrators of the attack.
Biden said he didn't feel that it had been a mistake to rely on the Taliban to provide security outside the airport.
The President said that while he does not trust the Taliban, it was in the best interests of both the United States and the Taliban to try and prevent an attack from ISIS.
7. Ronaldo rejoins Manchester United.
The transfer window of 2021/22 will go down as one of the best in football history. No one anticipated that Lionel Messi would leave Barcelona for any other club, but just as the saying goes, "This is football, anything can happen".
PSG fans are no longer the only ones who can boast of a star filled team. Man United fans want wild as Cristiano Ronaldo was confirmed by the club as a new addition.
Initially, the Portuguese was on the verge of signing for united's bitter rivals city, but as the citizen back out
the deal, United quickly responded by going for the superstar who has a solid history with the club.
They have agreed to pay an initial £12.8million and almost £7m in add-ons, while Ronaldo — excited by the talent Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has within his squad — is expected to sign a two-year contract.
Solskjaer on Ronaldo:
"We’ve always had good communication. I know Bruno has been talking to him as well and he knows what we feel about him and If he was ever going to move away from Juventus he knows we’re here."