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SAD! Former Kenyan PM Raila Odinga is dead
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Former Kenyan Prime Minister and opposition leader Raila Odinga has died at the age of 80.
His passing marks the end of a long and influential career in Kenyan politics.
Odinga, a towering figure in Kenya’s political landscape, had been receiving treatment in India prior to his death at an Ayurvedic treatment center. This is according to reports by Reuters.
Over the years, he contested five presidential elections, losing each time, with two of those contests triggering episodes of severe political violence and national unrest.
Despite never securing the presidency, Odinga was widely regarded as a champion of democracy and political reform.
His work as a democracy activist helped bring about two of the country’s most significant milestones: the introduction of multiparty democracy in 1991 and the adoption of a new constitution in 2010. Both reforms reshaped Kenya’s political system and strengthened democratic institutions across the country.
Odinga played a central role in leading protests after the disputed 2007 election, which resulted in the most serious episode of political violence in Kenya since independence. The unrest left roughly 1,300 people dead and displaced hundreds of thousands from their homes. His leadership during these crises cemented his reputation as a steadfast, if polarizing, figure in the nation’s political discourse.
Throughout his career, Odinga remained a vocal critic of government corruption and a persistent advocate for social justice and reform. He often positioned himself as a voice for marginalized communities and sought to hold successive administrations accountable.
Odinga’s death is expected to have a profound impact on Kenyan politics, particularly within the opposition, where he served as a mentor and a unifying figure for younger politicians. National leaders and international figures have begun expressing condolences, highlighting his enduring influence on Kenya’s democratic development.
Brief profile on Odinga
Raila Odinga was born on January 7, 1945, in Maseno, Kisumu District, Nyanza Province, to Mary Juma Odinga and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Kenya’s first vice president.
A member of the Luo ethnic group, he attended local schools before moving to East Germany in 1962, where he studied at the Herder Institute and later at the Technische Hochschule in Magdeburg, earning a certificate in welding in 1970.
Returning to Kenya, Odinga founded a company manufacturing liquid petroleum gas cylinders and later joined the Kenya Bureau of Standards, rising to deputy director. His political career began amid Kenya’s authoritarian era; he was detained multiple times following the 1982 attempted coup and for his pro-democracy activism, earning nicknames like “Agwambo” and “Jakom.”
Odinga played a pivotal role in the fight for multiparty democracy, joining FORD-Kenya and later the National Rainbow Coalition, which helped elect Mwai Kibaki in 2002. He formed the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and ran unsuccessfully for president five times.
In 2018, he struck the historic “handshake” with President Uhuru Kenyatta, giving rise to the Building Bridges Initiative. He also served as African Union High Representative for Infrastructure Development.
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
Suspected bandits have kidnapped retired Major General Rabe Abubakar, former Director of Defence Information, and his wife on Matazu Road in Katsina State.
Security sources told PRNigeria that the couple was ambushed on Saturday morning, May 30, 2026, while travelling in a red Peugeot 504 saloon car.
The gunmen intercepted the vehicle and whisked the retired officer and his wife to an unknown location.
The driver escaped with gunshot wounds and is receiving treatment at a nearby hospital, a security source said.
The former DDI and his wife were waylaid by armed men on the route. The driver escaped with gunshot injuries and is receiving medical attention,” the source stated.
Security forces have launched search-and-rescue operations and deployed intelligence assets to track the abductors, according to the source. Official confirmation from the military was still pending at press time.
—Rising concern in Katsina—
The abduction comes amid persistent insecurity in parts of Katsina despite ongoing military operations against bandit groups in the North-West.
In recent years, several serving and retired security personnel have been targeted on highways linking Katsina to neighbouring states. PRNigeria reports that criminal groups now see high-profile individuals, including retired military officers, as lucrative targets.
Maj-Gen Abubakar served as Director of Defence Information and was one of the Nigerian military’s most visible spokespersons during the counterinsurgency campaign against Boko Haram.
The incident is expected to renew calls for stronger security along major highways and rural communities in Katsina, where residents continue to face kidnapping and banditry.
Credit :PRNigeria
Abia State Police Command has nabbed two suspects for conspiracy, attempted child theft and possession of hard drugs.
The Command which made this known on Saturday, named the suspects as Nzubechi Chinagorom and Chinonso Chibundu, indigenes of Olokoro, Umuahia South LGA of the Abia State.
In a statement signed by DSP Maureen Chinaka, the Police Public Relations Officer, the Command said its officers apprehended the suspects through actionable intelligence, in collaboration with Olokoro vigilante personnel.
She stated that the suspects went to the residence of one Miss Amarachi Chinyereugo and attempted to forcibly take away her two-week-old baby girl.
DSP Chinaka said that the Nzubechi Chinagorom allegedly stabbed the nursing mother with a kitchen knife during a struggle, causing the baby to fall and hit her head on ground.
The police spokesperson said that the two suspects fled from the scene and ran into a nearby bush on realizing that the nursing mother, Miss Amarachi Chinyereugo cried out for help.
She added that the suspects were later apprehended at a bus stop
where they had reportedly gone to take hard drugs.
“The mother and child were immediately rushed to the hospital, where they received treatment and have since recovered.
“The suspects were apprehended, exhibits were recovered and investigation has been conducted at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID). Suspects will be charged to court on 2/06/2026,” Chinaka said.
Ex-Minister of Labour and Productivity, SellJoel Ikenya, has been declared winner of the governorship primaries conducted by the Tanimu Turaki-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Taraba State.
Mr Felix Hyat, the chairman of the election committee, who announced the results in Jalingo on Saturday, said Ikenya scored 34,173, to defeat Mr Dinshiya Usman, who polled 4,853.
Hyat, who described the exercise as free, fair and transparent, commended the state working committee of the party for the peaceful conduct.
Ikenya, in his acceptance speech, pledged to revive Taraba to her days of glory if elected governor in 2027.
“I will transform Taraba; I will change the state from salary base, to an industrialised state.
“My desire is to also revive the state infrastructure and attract more investors to boost the economy,” he said.
The governorship candidate, however, denied the allegations of factional PDP in Taraba.
“There is no factional PDP in Taraba; I don’t know where the other people are coming from.
“PDP in Taraba is one, and we do not have any faction in the state. We are working as one united family to reclaim our mandate from Gov. Agbu Kefas of the All Progressives Congress (APC),” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that, the Nyesom Wike led faction of the party had recently declared senator Emmanuel Bwacha as its governorship candidate in Taraba.
NAN
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