News

Don’t loot Plateau treasury, PDP warns outgoing APC government

Published

3 years ago

March 24, 2023

vicky

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Plateau State, which won the governorship election, conducted last Saturday, has warned the outgoing government officials of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) not to loot the state treasury, as doing such, would have dire consequences

The party gave the warning on Wednesday, through a statement signed by its State Publicity Secretary, John Akans.

According to PDP, the ruling APC administration in the state, which tenure comes to an end, on May 29, 2023, having lost a re-election bid should not add to the current harrowing experiences of the people of the state, by allowing it’s officials to loot the treasury.

The statement noted: “It is on this premise that the general public and the good people of Plateau State are hereby alerted to the dastardly plan by Governor (Simon) Lalong and some of his officials, and for the public to report any such criminal moves which they may sense, regarding this public alert.

“We have it on good authority that Plateau State assets within the state ministries, Kaduna, Lagos and Abuja are being tampered with for private acquisition. We have detailed reports of several properties currently being processed for ownership transfer, involving serving commissioners and top government officials, hence, this serious warning to those involved in this illegal deals,” the statement further alleged.

Akans stressed: “The Commissioner and Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Lands and Surveys should take note because we are aware of the missing photogrammetry surveying and remote sensing machine procured by former Governor Jonah Jang’s administration.

“Permanent Secretary ministry of Agriculture should as well take note of what is happening at Kuru livestock farm.

“And permanent secretaries of Government House, policy and cabinet office should equally take note that we are aware of vehicles and other government properties in the hands of political appointees.

“Reliable information available to us also indicate there are several shady conducts, ongoing within the state finance ministry, through the accountant general of the state, aside the billions of loan, allegedly taken by the governor to prosecute the lost election,” it pointed out.

The PDP statement added, “We are inundated with credible reports of emergency contract awards, hurried processing of payments vouchers and a grand agenda to incur further debt, under the guise of project implementation.

“There is an elaborate plot to further bankrupt the state to complicate governance under the new administration,” it further alleged.

The party maintained: “We want to use this medium to warn all those involved in this criminal endeavour to desist from these nefarious activities, as we will hold Permanent Secretaries and Directors of various Ministries and other government agencies accountable for their conduct. Let it be known to the governor and his team, that we have the complete records and inventory of Plateau State assets. We are in possession of records of what was handed over to the governor by his predecessor in 2015, as well as true state of government properties.

“Therefore, we put on notice, that any attempt to divert state properties and muddle up Plateau finances will be visited with full measure of accountability.

“Every government official from top to bottom will be called to account for their deeds and handling of government’s assets. We specifically warn bureaucrats to safeguard their career, by refusing to collaborate with any appointed and elected official engaging in such criminal conduct.

“We also wish to alert the public on this subject matter. Let the public be aware that our common patrimony is being tampered with by an administration they just voted out of office. We promise to follow this matter closely and ensure that Plateau state assets remain secure and protected for the benefits of the public,” the statement insisted.

However, Plateau State Commissioner for Information, Dan Manjang, did not respond his voice calls when contacted to react to the concerns raised by the state PDP.

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News

Hackers are abusing unpatched Windows security flaws to hack into organizations

Published

9 minutes ago

April 17, 2026

Preport

Hackers have broken into at least one organization using Windows vulnerabilities published online by a disgruntled security researcher over the last two weeks, according to a cybersecurity firm.

On Friday, cybersecurity company Huntress said in a series of posts on X that its researchers have seen hackers taking advantage of three Windows security flaws, dubbed BlueHammer, UnDefend, and RedSun.

It’s unclear who the target of this attack is, and who the hackers are.

BlueHammer is the only bug among the three vulnerabilities being exploited that Microsoft has patched so far. A fix for BlueHammer was rolled out earlier this week.

It appears that the hackers are exploiting the bugs by using exploit code that the security researcher published online.

Earlier this month, a researcher who goes by Chaotic Eclipse published on their blog what they said was code to exploit an unpatched vulnerability in Windows. The researcher alluded to some conflict with Microsoft as the motivation behind publishing the code.

“I was not bluffing Microsoft and I’m doing it again,” they wrote. “Huge thanks to MSRC leadership for making this possible,” they added, referring to Microsoft’s Security Response Center, the company’s team that investigates cyberattacks and handles reports of vulnerabilities.

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Days later, Chaotic Eclipse published UnDefend, and then earlier this week published RedSun. The researcher published code to exploit all three vulnerabilities on their GitHub page.

All three vulnerabilities affect the Microsoft-made antivirus Windows Defender, allowing a hacker to gain high-level or administrator access to an affected Windows computer.

TechCunch could not reach Chaotic Eclipse for comment.

In response to a series of specific questions, Microsoft’s communications director Ben Hope said in a statement that the company supports “coordinated vulnerability disclosure, a widely adopted industry practice that helps ensure issues are carefully investigated and addressed before public disclosure, supporting both customer protection and the security research community.”

This is a case of what the cybersecurity industry calls “full disclosure.” When researchers find a flaw, they can report it to the affected software maker to help them fix it. At that point, usually the company acknowledges receipt, and if the vulnerability is legitimate, the company works to patch it. Often, the company and researchers agree on a timeline that establishes when the researcher can publicly explain their findings.

Sometimes, for a variety of reasons, that communication breaks down and researchers publicly disclose details of the bug. In some cases, in part to prove the existence or severity of a flaw, researchers go a step further and publish “proof-of concept” code capable of abusing that bug.

When that happens, cybercriminals, government hackers, and others can then take the code and use it for their attacks, which prompts cybersecurity defenders to rush to deal with the fallout.

“With these being so easily available now, and already weaponized for easy use, for better or for worse I think that ultimately puts us in another tug-of-war match between defenders and cybercriminals,” John Hammond, one of the researchers at Huntress who has been tracking the case, told TechCrunch.

“Scenarios like these cause us to race with our adversaries; defenders frantically try to protect against ill-intended actors who rapidly take advantage of these exploits… especially now as it is just ready-made attacker tooling,” said Hammond.

Business

Lagos Police Arrest 23 Suspected Cultists, Recover Firearms in Statewide Raids

Published

16 minutes ago

April 17, 2026

Preport

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The Lagos State Police Command has recorded significant breakthroughs through coordinated and simultaneous operations targeting cultism and illegal arms proliferation across Ikorodu, Lagos Island, Okoko, Ilasan, Ogba, and Iju areas of the State.

The operations resulted in the arrest of twenty-three suspected cultists, recovery of five (5) firearms and other incriminating exhibits.

During the operation in Ikorodu, four suspects were arrested following credible intelligence linking them to cult-related activities. Preliminary findings indicate links to the Buccaneers Confraternity (Sea Lords).

In Lagos Island, nine suspected cultists were arrested during a raid on a criminal hideout. In Ilasan, five suspects in connection with a cult-related killing of one Emmanuel Obioson were arrested. In Okoko, one suspect with ties to the Eiye Confraternity was intercepted in possession of a firearm.

Similarly, in Ogba and Iju areas, the operations led to the arrest of four (4) suspects involved in illegal cult gatherings, assault, and other related violent crimes. Weapons used in the attacks were recovered, and victims are currently receiving medical attention.

The suspects are: Shina Wale ‘m’ 36yrs, Kehinde Kareem ‘m’ 18yrs, Mohammed Aileru ‘m’ 18yrs, Bada Mujeeb ‘m’ 18yrs, Salam Kosoko ‘m’ 30yrs, Yusuf Anjorin ‘m’ 19yrs, Quadri Abubakar ‘m’ 21yrs, Lateef Salako ‘m’ 18yrs, Fawaz Bello ‘m’ 30yrs, Oyesola Olalekan ‘m’ age 36yrs, Ubaka Justice ‘m’ age 36yrs, Emmanuel Obekpa ‘m’ age 36yrs, Sodiq Ademola ‘m’ age 36yrs, Balogun Taofeek ‘m’ 33yrs, Azeez Owolabi ‘m’ age 28yrs, Meshack Obini ‘m’ age 24yrs, Fabulous John ‘m’ age 25yrs, Promise Israel ‘m’ age 28yrs, Bright Aniedi ‘m’ age 27yrs, Familola Fikayo David ‘m’ age 24yrs, Akeem Olamilekan ‘m’ aka Magali age 43yrs, Muiz Oyedele ‘m’ age 20yrs, Hamzat Sadiq ‘n’ age 19yrs

The exhibits include: Five (5) locally made pistols, one (1) toy pistol, fifteen (15) live cartridges, three (3) expended cartridges, one (1) Police camouflage face cap, one (1) Army camouflage face cap, one (1) jack knife with the pouch.

The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, reiterates the Command’s unwavering commitment to eradicating cultism and violent crimes.
He urges members of the public to remain vigilant and continue to support the Police with timely and credible information through the Command emergency lines: 07061019374, 08065154338, 08063299264, 08039344870, and 09168630929.

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