The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • Oyo APC tackles Makinde over N10 billion infrastructure loan

    Oyo State All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday  flayed the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)-led administration over the request of N10 billion loan by Governor Seyi Makinde and the hurried endorsement by the House of Assembly after 55 days in office.

    The APC said the action of the governor and the lawmakers showed that they are naive about governance and without any blueprint.

    In a statement by the state APC Publicity Secretary, Dr. Azeez Olatunde, the party wondered how the decision to obtain such a huge debt of N10 billion be taken without the state executive council in place.

    “Has the state budget been reviewed before the House of Assembly for the loan to be fixated to the expenditure framework component of the budget?” it queried.

    According to the APC, the manner of passing the loan request clearly exposed the naivety of both the executive and the legislature.

    “To start with, we make bold to challenge Governor Makinde and his PDP to deny that he promised to make Oyo State financially solvent between six to 12 months of assumption of office.

    “The governor promised to apply the magic wand he used to turn his life around for Oyo State,” the party stated.

    Read Also: Critics of my style of governance won’t distract me, says Makinde

    It expressed surprised that someone who promised financial solvency without depending on Federal Government’s Allocations within a stipulated time and even condemned the debt profile inherited from his predecessor is now applying for the second loan within 55 days of office for some nebulous infrastructural projects.

    “For the education of the public, the immediate past government led by Senator Abiola Ajimobi is on record to have done the following projects, which the citizens of Oyo State, including those in government today are living witnesses to:

    “Modernisation and dualisation of major entry roads into major cities and towns in the seven geopolitical zones of Oyo State i.e Ibadan city, Ibadan outer city, Oyo, Ogbomoso, Iseyin, Saki and Ibarapa – 61.85 kilometres.

    “Also 183 other roads with 582 kilometres mileage network and seven bridges and 850 kilometres of rural access feeder roads through RAMP – all without recourse to any loan.

    “So also were Mokola Transformation Flyover (first under any civilian government) and stubborn restoration bridge at Bodija were done without any loan.

    “All the roads are visible for all to see i.e Challenge to Toll Gate; Eleyele to Ologuneru to Ido/Eruwa Road; Jericho to Agbarigo to Magazine to Aleshinloye market Road; Gate to Old Ife Road to Bola Ige International Market, Alakia; Gate to Idi-Ape to Iwo Road interchange; IdiApe Junction to Orita Basorun to Akobo Ojurin – all within Ibadan alone.

    “However, kindly let us add achievements in education of the immediate past government, with the construction of 10 blocks of three classrooms; 59 blocks of four classrooms; 20 blocks of six classrooms and renovated

    118 classrooms and 88 toilets in schools without any loan.

    “So, our poser is, if PDP government of Governor Makinde is seeking N10 billion loan within two months of assumption of office, how much indebtness are they going to plunge Oyo State in 48 months or four years?”

  • Woman allegedly inserts pepper in housemaid’s private part

    12-year-old girl, Precious Nwali, has been reportedly battered by her mistress for allegedly stealing her N26,000.

    The Nation learnt that the incident occurred at Nzekwe Street, near Akwata meat market in Awka, Anambra State.

    The victim, from Ebonyi State, was allegedly stripped naked and red pepper was inserted into her private part by the mistress, Mrs. Charity Effiong, who later drove her away from the house around 10:30pm.

    It was gathered that the victim, a primary four pupil, was later found by a good Samaritan while wandering and crying along the meat market.

    Narrating her ordeal, the victim, who sustained injuries, said she had suffered maltreatment in the hands of her mistress.

    “She always flogs me with a cable. She has her own children, but she hardly beats them or sends them on an errand,” she said amid tears.

    The woman who picked her up, Mrs. Amaka Okoye, said it took her about 30 minutes to wash off the grinded pepper in the victim’s private part.

    Read Also: Cry of abused child (2)

    Pastor Effiong Inyang, who connected the girl with the mistress, said the victim’s parents requested she stayed with her following the family’s predicament.

    He said: “Her siblings are being given out because her parents are struggling to survive due to the condition of the family.

    “The father has been under severe pains, having sustained injuries after several falls from the palm tree.”

    He said he had already contacted the victim’s parents, who had requested that she be brought back to them.

    Reacting, the Secretary, Anambra State Child Protection Network, Lady Hope Okoye, described the action as a violation of the state’s Child Right Act of 2004.

    “Stuffing Cameroon pepper in the girl’s private part is another level of abuse, which has psychological, physical and emotional consequences.

    “I don’t know why this should be swept under the carpet. A woman who can treat a little child in this inhumane manner should be exposed,” she said.

    The Nation, however, learnt from a police source that the suspect had been detained on the order of the DPO in charge of the Central Police Station, Awka.

    Police spokesman Haruna Mohammed confirmed the incident, but said the suspect denied inserting pepper into the victim’s private part.

    He said she claimed that the victim stole N26,000 from her house, adding that she removed her undies in the course of searching for the money.

    Mohammed said the suspect had been charged for assault, adding that the victim had been handed over to her parents.

  • Police yet to receive information on CMD’s son’s kidnap

    The families and relatives of the Chief Medical Director (CMD), Lafia Hospital, Apata, Ibadan, Oyo State were yet to recover from the shock of the Tuesday night kidnap of their son at Ogunmakin area of Ogun State.

    There is no communication yet between the victim’s family and the abductors.

    Last night, the Oyo State Police Command said the kidnap of the son of the CMD of the Lafia Hospital, Apata, Ibadan, Dr. Oladipupo Sule, was yet to be reported officially.

    Police spokesman Gbenga Fadeyi, in a phone interview, told reporters that the spot of the incident falls under the jurisdiction of the Ogun State Police Command, saying that maybe that could be responsible for not receiving official report on the kidnap.

    It was gathered that the kidnappers blocked the road around 7pm and abducted their victims.

    The hospital’s vehicle, a Toyota Sienna car, in which the victims were travelling as at the time of the incident, was abandoned by the kidnappers.

    Read Also: Police begin bush clearing to curb kidnapping in Edo

    The CMD said the vehicle had been recovered by the policemen at Ogunmakin Station in Ogun State.

    The kidnappers, who were said to be 15 in number, comprising mainly youths, were still being awaited to open line of discussion with the victims’ relatives.

    Dr. Sule said: “I am at present in Ogunmakin Police Station as I talk to you. I am distressed and seriously devastated. My son and two others went to Lagos to buy drugs for the hospital and were on the way back from the trip when they were ambushed and kidnapped.

    “The driver said one of the kidnappers communicated in English language and others spoke Hausa or Fulani language. They are yet to talk to me for us to know what their real identities and intentions are,” Sule added.

    The Ogun State Police Command, while confirming the kidnap story through the Public Relations Officer, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the “police operatives have taken charge of the case. The DCP in charge of operations is leading three units to comb the forests around the scene of the incident with a view to rescuing the victims unhurt and arresting the suspected abductors.”

  • Police nab suspected kidnapper of Delta students

    Men of the Edo State Police Command have arrested a member of the gang that abducted two students of Delta State Polytechnic, Oghara.

    The suspect, identified as Happy Idodo, was nabbed in Benin City, the Edo State capital, while looking for a buyer for the Toyota Camry snatched from the victims.

    Another female suspect belonging to the gang was earlier arrested while attempting to collect the ransom paid for the release of the kidnapped students.

    Happy, who denied being a member of the kidnap gang, said it was his brother, Wisdom, who brought the vehicle to him.

    He said he was into yahoo yahoo business.

    Read Also: Edo police take battle to kidnappers’ den

    Happy said: “I am not a kidnapper. It was my brother who brought this car on Saturday. I was surprised and asked him about it. He said it belonged to his friend. On Sunday, we were going out and the car stopped. As were pushing it, we heard gunshots. The two others ran and where I ran to. I was caught. I called my brother, Wisdom, but he didn’t say anything. I was surprised when police told me that the owner of the vehicle was kidnapped.”

    Narrating their ordeal, the two students, who are lovers, said they were returning from a school party.

    Benjamin Becky, 25, said: “My boyfriend and I were returning from a party at 5am. We were in front of our hostel gate when some boys accosted us and took us away to the bush. We spent three days in the bush; they did not give us any food or water. They wore mask.

    “We were inside the forest under the rain for three days and we were blindfolded. I was not raped.”

    Her boyfriend, Yelsin Eisemage, said he paid N350,000 for their release.

    Police Commissioner Danmallam Abubakar said other fleeing members would be arrested.

  • Edo police take battle to kidnappers’ den

    Edo State Police Command, in collaboration with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and Nigerian Army has taken the battle to kidnappers’ den in the forest on the Benin-Lagos Highway.

    The forest, along the highway from Ugbokun junction to military checkpoint, before the Okada junction, is to be cleared.

    However, bulldozers were yet to arrive the spot at press time.

    Police Commissioner Danmallam Abubakar and Edo Commander of the NSCDC, Ayela Makinde, took a walk through the route suspected to be used by kidnappers.

    Read Also: Kidnappers kill eight-year-old girl

    Live ammunition and expended ammunition were recovered at a place close to the highway, believed to be the hiding spot of the kidnappers.

    Some wrappers of the victims were also recovered.

    Abubakar assured the contractors that adequate security would be provided during the clearing of the bush.

    He said the height of the grasses provided an easy cover for the kidnappers to hide.

    “You can see that from these spots, they can see our men, but we cannot see them. This road must be kept safe; we will not allow kidnappers to remain in this state. The battle line has been drawn.”

  • Monarch to punish rape suspects

    The Deji of Akure, Oba Ogunlade Aladelusi Aladetoyinbo, yesterday urged residents to bring rape suspects to his palace for punishment.

    He spoke in his palace before the beginning of a march by stakeholders. The exercise tagged: “A Walk against Rape”, was initiated by the Office of the Wife of the Ondo State Governor, Mrs. Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu.

    The exercise attracted representatives of non- governmental organisations and interest groups.

    It was led by Women Affairs and Social Development Commissioner Mrs. Titilayo Adeyemi.

    The monarch said the spate of rape cases had reached an alarming level, adding that all hands must be deck to stop it.

    Oba Aladetoyinbo suggested life imprisonment for any person convicted of rape.

    Read Also: House of Reps to investigate rape in school

    He said the institution was ready to introduce traditional punishment for erring persons.

    Said he: “Bring any person suspected of rape to the palace. We have special water we will give to the suspect. Once the person drinks the water, the curse will be on him for life.

    “You don’t have to catch the person in action, once you suspect anybody; we shall make him to drink the water before we hand him over to the police for proper action. But I will first deal with the issue.

    “I am also advocating that rapists should be sentenced to life imprisonment.”

    Participants in the walk thereafter marched from the palace through the popular Oyemekun/Adesida Road to the ‘A’ Division Police Station, condemning rape.

    Mrs. Adeyemi, who represented the governor’s wife, said everybody must come together to speak and take action against rape.

  • House of Reps to investigate rape in school

    The House of Representatives is to set up an ad hoc committee to investigate a rape and assault allegation at the Federal Capital Territory School for the Blind.

    This followed the passage of a motion by Onuh Onyeche Blessing with the title: “Urgent need to tackle the assault and rape by teachers at the School for the Blind, Jabi.

    The House also condemned the rape of a visually-impaired female pupil by a teacher at the FCT school.

    Moving the motion, the lawmaker said: “Recall that on July 16, 2019 Shina Abiola Peller moved a motion on the floor of this honourable House on the need to tackle the scourge of rape and other sexual offences against children.

    “Note that less than 24 hours after the resolution passed by the House on the rape of minors, a worse form of rape and assault against visually-impaired girls was uncovered at the Federal Capital Territory School for the Blind located at Jabi district of the FCT.

    “Also note that FCT administration officials, who visited the school, were shocked by the revelations made by the pupils and teachers over a visually-impaired teacher and one other visually-impaired teacher, who regularly raped and assaulted girls at the school.”

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    He expressed concern that a teacher in the school, Mr. Ebenezer Olateju, “has since become infamous for leading visually-impaired pupils to hotel rooms where he drugged them before raping them.

    “Aware that the school authority has confirmed six reported cases of rape by Olateju.

    “Also aware that another visually-impaired teacher, Mr. Ilo Chukwuma, was notorious for fondling the breasts and other sensitive organs of the visually-impaired girls.”

    Blessing urged the House to take a firm position in support of capital punishment for perpetrators of rape and violence against underage girls.

    The House also resolved to set up a committee to investigate the molestation of the pupils of a deaf and dumb school at Kuje, Abuja.

    This was sequel to the passage of a motion by a member, Mohammed Musa Pali.

    The lawmaker said the school, which admits children, both boys and girls, of between five and six years, who are mostly defenceless and vulnerable, is being invaded regularly by cultists, who abduct and molest the children.

    The two motions were put to a voice vote.

  • Residents, others reject planned closure of Lagos-Ibadan expressway

    Stakeholders and residents of communities around Berger area have called on the Federal Government to come to their aid and stop the contractor, Julius Berger, from going ahead with its plans to close a section of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, especially from Berger to the Ogun River beginning from Saturday.

    The residents and other stakeholders claimed that the closure coming two days before the beginning of the 67th Annual Convention of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), which is slated for August 5 -11, will compound the traffic jam in the area.

    A resident of Aseese Village, Mr. Ayo Lawal, said the closure would further compound the crisis that people face on the corridor.

    He said in the last six months, the residents have had no “respite as they daily face traffic congestion of the worst type”.

    He said closing the road during the period of the largest convocation of Christian faithful at the Redeemed Camp, which will hold for one week, will throw traffic on the corridor into a serious crisis. The Interdenominational religious gathering, which takes place every August, attracts between five to 10 million worshippers from across the world.

    Read Also: Seven perfect ways to beat, survive Lagos traffic

    The RCCG has presence in 191 countries of the world, all of which often send delegates to the convention every year.

    A travel advice signed by Route Commander Florence Okpe, which was released on Monday, quoted the Ogun State Sector Commander, Corps Commander  Clement Oladele, as saying that the section of the road would be closed to traffic beginning from Saturday.

    She, however, did not disclose the duration of the closure.

    According to the statement, the travel advice was in line with Julius Berger’s notice of the “extension of the rehabilitation work on the expressway from around Berger area to Kara Bridge (otherwise known as Ogun River Bridge) around the Kara Cattle Market, a distance of 1.4 kilometres beginning from Saturday, August 3”.

    The FRSC, therefore, advised motorists to plan their trips by allowing more time to their travel time in view of the construction, which would narrow the carriageway and impair traffic.

    “The general public, especially motorists are advised to use alternative corridors like the Epe/Ajah  – Ijebu – Ode; Lagos – Ota – Itori – Abeokuta, and  Ikorodu – Sagamu to access Lagos.

    When contacted, the Corps Commander in charge of Public Education of the Federal Road Safety Corps, (FRSC) Commander Bisi Kazeem said the closure was at the instance of Julius Berger Nigeria.

    Responding to The nation’s requests via a Short Message Service, SMS, Kazeem said the closure is to enable the contractor to meet its work schedule.

    Kazeem added that the closure would be on for three months, terminating on October 30.

    His SMS reads: “It (the closure) is in JBN’s idea in their work schedule. They would have started since, but we kept urging them to postpone in view of last RCCG’s event. They said they must start now to maximise the time before the rains intensify and to enable them to meet the 2021 delivery timeline. If the rains permit, they would end the diversion by October 31.”

  • Suspected ATM card thief arraigned

    21-year-old man, Raphael Asogbo, was on Wednesday arraigned at a Badagry Chief Magistrates’ Court, for allegedly stealing an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card and N21,000 cash.

    He pleaded not guilty.

    Prosecuting Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Akpan Nkem said Asogba committed the offence with others at large on July 14, at 1, Osungbemi Street, Badagry.

    Read Also: Phone thief jailed one year

    He alleged that the accused stole an Access Bank ATM card, belonging to Omowunmi Abdul-Ramon, the complainant.

    “The accused used the card to withdraw N21,000 from the ATM machine,” the prosecutor said.

    Chief Magistrate Patrick Adekomaiya granted the accused N50, 000 bail with two sureties in the like sum. He adjourned till August 27.

  • Lawyers demand overhaul of public schools

    Some lawyers on Wednesday called for an overhaul of public schools to ensure they meet international standard.

    They said the dwindling educational standard should be redressed for the sake of the future generation.

    A constitutional lawyer, Mr. Godwin Adelemoni, of Beacon Solicitors, said education, like some other sectors, had suffered neglect for years.

    He said a larger percentage of Nigerians attend public schools. So, there is need for a thorough check and appraisal of their activities.

    “To understand the impact of public schools, we must understand that overwhelming majority of Nigerians cannot afford private education for their children.

    “So, for their children to get any hope of education, they must attend public schools.

    “It, therefore, means that a poor standard of education in our public schools means poor education for many Nigerians,” Adelemoni said.

    Read Also: Corps member organises seminar for Kogi teachers

    Mr. Spurgeon Ataene, said most successful people today were products of public schools, including professors.

    “The proliferation of private schools is partly responsible for this and more agonising is that public schools no longer have well-trained teachers.

    “While some of the teachers can teach children how to speak English; some lack depth and knowledge of other subjects,” he said.

    On the way forward, Ataene said: “To be very frank, I think educational policy in public schools should be overhauled, to keep it in line with international standard.

    “The government should equip, empower and retrain teachers in public schools, to bridge the gap between the rich and poor, so that education can be accessed at little or nothing for quality.”

    He suggested adequate remuneration for teachers and the scrapping of substandard private schools.

    Another constitutional lawyer Mr. Ayotunde Ologe, called for increased funding of public education and employment of more qualified teachers.

    A rights campaigner, Mr. Malcolm Omirhibo, said: “There were so many beautiful public schools known for excellence in our days; and in those days, you must be well-qualified as a teacher to be employed in such public schools.

    “We can get back our public schools to those good old times and government can ensure this, by putting the right structures and personnel in place,” he said.