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Nigerian Journalist raided, escaped death in Makurdi

Published

7 years ago

January 22, 2020

Nigerian Journalist, the Media Officer of the Golden Eaglets and the publisher of www.totorinews.com Francis Achi, on Sunday escaped death when he was robbed at his hotel room in Markudi, Benue state

Unfortunately, that day happened to be his birthday and he narrated the sad ordeal below.

According to him, I was robbed inside my hotel room at Makurdi. It was around 3.30 am. I am in Makurdi to cover the NPFL game between Lobi Stars and Dakkada FC of Uyo. I just finished night vigil of singing praises to God for the grace to celebrate another birthday. I then posted the birthday groove on my social media handles a few minutes past 3.00 am.

“Slept for about 10 minutes, only for me to be woken up at about 3.30 am by the strange movement of my phone and power bank towards the window.

I switched off the Samsung Galaxy A 30 to charge it, but the thief used a stick to drag both the phone and the power bank after he opened the window. The room was at the ground floor. Suddenly, I woke up and I quickly dragged the power bank back to the room, but the phone was gone.

I reported the matter at the police station in Makurdi around 7.30 am and they have arrested some staff of the hotel that was on duty last night.

It was later gathered that the Amoakachi Lane where City Gate Hotel and the entire area is a den of criminals in Makurdi and four persons were killed in the area in the past year. The City Gate Hotel itself has recorded cases of theft as reported at the Police station in B – Division Police station in Makurdi recently and the security agencies have put their surveillances on the hotel and the area in Makurdi.

The Police later informed me that I should be grateful to God that I was not shot and the attack did not turn fatal tragedy as in some cases in Makurdi where innocent Nigerians have been killed in a robbery.

Visitors to Makurdi should avoid lodging at the City Gate Hotel located at Amoakachi land in Makurdi due to the high rate of crime at the hotel and in the area and the security agencies have placed the area as the flashpoint of crimes in the capital of Benue state.

The Police detained the staff on night duty at the hotel, but they insisted on their innocence.

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Featured

Alake Inaugurates Nigeria-US Solid Minerals Committee, Dismisses $700bn Claim, Says No Assets Sold

Published

4 days ago

October 28, 2026

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, on Tuesday inaugurated the Nigeria-United States Committee on Strategic Cooperation in the Solid Minerals Sector in Abuja, dismissing reports that Nigeria sold $700 billion worth of solid minerals to the US.

The inauguration followed the strategic cooperation framework established between Nigeria and the United States during the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.

In a statement issued on Wednesday by the Head PRESS and Public Relations Department Mrs. Kania Maliki Andeyaba stated that, Alake in the Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, signed with the US is a government-to-government platform to facilitate business-to-business engagements between American investors and Nigerian local operators, not a sale of assets.

Harping on the importance of the solid minerals sector to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s economic diversification agenda, he noted that the administration was committed to reducing dependence on a mono-product economy through the sustainable development of Nigeria’s vast mineral resources.

According to him, the Nigeria–US partnership as a strategic initiative to attract investment, promote technology transfer, strengthen local mineral processing and create employment opportunities.

“There is no sale of any Nigerian asset. There’s nothing exchanging hands,” Alake declared.

“We created a platform to facilitate mingling of US investment ventures with Nigeria’s local operators. It is in the public domain. We signed it in public and published it in four or five national newspapers.”

The Minister said reports claiming the US was coming to take over Nigeria’s minerals and security architecture were untrue at best and products of riotous imagination at worst.

Explaining the policy thrust, Alake said Africa has historically held the short end of the stick in global economic transactions, and Nigeria is determined to change that model.

“We have the resources, the critical elements the world needs to transit to clean energy. So we are creating a new paradigm — you bring your capital, expertise and technology, to match with our natural resources and create a win-win situation . The investor gains, Nigeria gains.’’he said.

Nigeria, he stressed, had operated a mono-cultural economy dependent on oil, while solid minerals were exploited informally — with ores taken “from pit to port” without value addition.

Alake said government has now made local processing mandatory, refusing to grant mineral titles to investors without a clear pathway to processing in Nigeria.

He said the policy led to the springing up of processing factories, including the largest lithium processing plant in West Africa commissioned recently in Nasarawa by the Vice President, and informed the formation of the African Minerals Strategy Group.

Alake noted that investor confidence has returned due to macro-economic reforms by President Bola Tinubu that guarantee security of tenure and repatriation of profits.

He charged the committee to discharge its assignment responsibly, saying its work is strategic to achieving the President’s $1 trillion economy target.

To this end, he told the Committee to ensure effective coordination, identify investment opportunities and translate the framework into measurable outcomes capable of positioning Nigeria as a competitive player in the global solid minerals industry.

In his welcome address, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Engr. Faruk Yusuf Yabo, said the inauguration translates growing bilateral engagements into a structured framework for practical cooperation and investment mobilization

Economic Officer at the US Embassy, Jonathan Baas, said President Donald Trump has prioritized three areas for US embassies — energy, artificial intelligence/super intelligence, and critical minerals.

Baas said Washington’s direction is to work with partners to secure critical supply chains while ensuring partners capture value.

“We just signed a contract today on looking into building AI data centres in Nigeria at the Nigerian Economic Summit. That’s the direction Washington wants us to go,” he said.

In his vote of thanks, CEO/Managing Director of Nigeria Solid Minerals Company, NSMC said that the committee

is expected to coordinate implementation, facilitate investment and monitor progress towards achieving the objectives of the Nigeria–US cooperation framework.

The inauguration reinforces the Federal Government’s commitment to repositioning the solid minerals sector as a key driver of economic diversification, industrial development and national prosperity under President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

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