The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • Kidnappers kill eight-year-old girl

    An eight-year-old girl, Aisha Sani, who was kidnapped two weeks ago at Tudunwada quarters in Kano State by an unknown woman, has been found dead.

    The abductor of the girl was later discovered to be a close ally of kidnappers.

    Aisha, who was kidnapped after closing with her siblings at an Islamiyya School, was taken away by a woman who covered her face with a veil.

    Days after, no formal communication was made with her parents.

    A week later, a text message was said to have been sent to her parents informing them that Aisha was in good health and that they should not be bothered.

    Read Also: Police arrest two suspected kidnappers, recover arms in Enugu

    A family member, who preferred anonymity, said the kidnappers later demanded N200 million as ransom.

    The abductors were said to have requested that the ransom be given to her mother, who would bring the money to them.

    But after two weeks of search, Aisha’s body was found yesterday. She was reportedly hacked to death by her kidnappers.

    Her parents have taken custody of the body for burial.

    Contacted, the police said they were investigating the incident, adding that the culprits would be fished out.

  • Gowon Estate residents send SOS to security agencies

    Residents of Gowon Estate in Egbeda, Lagos State, complained of frequent attacks and urged the police to come to their aid.

    They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday that things have become so bad in the estate.

    Former Gowon Estate Community Development Association (CDA) Chairman Nathaniel Okoro said the beer parlour at the Car Wash on 51 Road was robbed with the patrons helpless.

    “On 34 Road, someone coming out of B Close, to go to work, was accosted around 5:30am and attacked. He sustained machete cuts while being robbed.

    “Similarly, on the same 34 Road, Orange Bar which experienced armed robbery in 2015 was again burgled on July 21.

    “Also, in a Customs block, on 51 Road, robbers entered a flat and robbed the occupants, which resulted in a fatality.

    “Two women going to work in the morning on a certain day were accosted at Ponle bus stop entrance and robbed,’’ Okoro said.

    The ex-CDA chairman said some residents going to Ponle bus stop were accosted on 41 Road by suspicious persons lurking under the coconut tree in front of a beer joint attached to a police block and robbed.

    Read Also: Pacific Lagos housing estate’s foundation laid

    Gowon Estate Community Mosque Chairman Alhaji Dauda Oyebanji said some residents were attacked and robbed a few months ago on 411 Road, A Close.

    He said an area on 411 Road, which houses a transformer, had become a free spot for youths to gather from 8:30pm to 10pm to smoke Indian hemp.

    Residents, he said, had cried out repeatedly over the menace without anything being done.

    “In most cases the smell of Indian hemp takes over flats, thereby making it impossible for occupants to breathe properly,’’ he said.

    The community leader said: “On 121 Road, the security personnel were tied up at gunpoint and some houses on the road robbed.

    “All over the estate, mechanics and motorcycle operators have taken over the roads, while road users are left at their mercy. Whatever space is left is taken over by dealers of fairly-used cars.

    “Shanty shops litter the whole place and are converted into sleeping quarters at night by people whose characters or identities we do not know.

    “The point is, the bona fide occupants of the estate are no longer sure of the security of their lives and property.’’ Oyebanji said.

    Contacted, police spokesman Bala Elkana, a deputy superintendent, said residents should organise their internal security.

    Said he: “Every estate all over the country organises private security. Gowon Estate residents should organise private security.

    “We all live in estates and there are people in charge of estate management, who we pay security levy to. Alternatively, people should organise private security to patrol the estate.

    “It is just like asking the police to guard everybody’s house. It’s a different issue if the estate is making arrangement for a police post in the estate or requesting increase in manpower.

    “We should not make this an issue as it is a general problem. Also, if there are beer parlours in the estate which hoodlums are using as hideouts, who authorised the beer parlours to operate in the estate?’’

    Elkana said the estate management should sit with the Divisional Police Officer to discuss the areas where there are gaps and see how the gaps can be filled.

    “If the DPO feels there is an area which the command headquarters needs to address, she will contact us,’’ he added.

  • Power outage in Lekki

    Some electricity consumers in Lekki, Lagos on Monday accused Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) of negligence. The firm, they claimed, has refused to fix their faulty transformer 7 at Ilasan Jakande Estate, Lekki.

    There has been power outage in the area for the past four weeks following shortage of transformer oil and damage of feeder panel.

    Read Also: N12.9b debt: AMCON takes over luxury homes in Lekki

    Residents have been in darkness. Commercial activities are paralysed.

    A resident, Mr. Kazeem Sulaiman, appealed to EKEDC head office to intervene, “as the Lekki Business Unit of the firm at Agungi has not responded to our complaints.”

  • Travel agent faces N1.3m visa fraud charge

    52-year-old travel agent, Lamidi Muis, was on Monday arraigned at a Magistrates’ Court in Lagos for allegedly obtaining N1.3 million from a client on the pretext of procuring Australian visa for him.

    Muis is facing a five-count charge of conspiracy, stealing and obtaining by false pretences.

    He pleaded not guilty.

    Prosecuting Sergeant Modupe Olaluwoye said that the defendant committed the offence last month in Apapa, Lagos.

    She said the defendant stole the money of the complainant, Mr. Uthman Musbau, given to him through an electronic transfer for his travel logistics.

    According to him, the defendant had promised to procure an Australian visa, a flight ticket and hotel reservation for Musbau, but failed to do so.

    Olaluwoye said the defendant forged a visa and flight ticket and gave them to the complainant.

    Read Also: Court freezes NDDC contractor’s accounts for ‘fraud’

    “My lord, it was at the airport that the complainant discovered that the ticket and visa were fake.

    “He was seriously embarrassed and was almost arrested at the airport for trying to travel with a fake ticket and visa.

    “Musbau reported the case to the police, and the defendant was arrested,” the prosecutor said.

    Chief Magistrate Oluwatoyin Oghere granted the defendant N2 million bail with two sureties each in the like sum.

    She said one of the sureties must be a relation of the defendant and should live within the court’s jurisdiction.

    Oghere ordered that the sureties must be employed and show evidence of three years tax payment to the Lagos State Government.

    The case continues on August 7.

  • Jakande: serving Lagos, clocking 90 are best gifts of God to me

    First civilian Lagos State Governor Alhaji Lateef Jakande said on Monday that the best gifts he got from God include the opportunity of serving the state and clocking 90 years.

    Jakande was the governor between 1979 and 1983, before his second tenure was truncated by a military coup.

    The elder statesman spoke with reporters yesterday at his Ilupeju home.

    “I thank God for giving me the opportunity to serve Lagos. No better gift will one have than the opportunity to serve my people. I thank God for that,” he said.

    Read Also: 10 facts about Lateef Jakande at 90

    Jakande advised young politicians to make up their mind to serve and know what they want to do in power.

    He said young politicians have to be educated to get ready to serve.

    The elder statesman was happy that successive civilian governments that came after him served Lagos and kept the vision he had for the state.

    According to him, his success in Lagos State was because of the programmes he introduced, which had the acceptance of Lagosians.

    Jakande added that the development of Lagos State in recent time had been very commendable, saying that “those who came after me have done very well”.

    He said the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration had started on a good note, adding that he would further sustain the tempo in the development of Lagos that he and other administrations had started.

  • LASU renames longest road after Lateef Jakande

    The Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo has renamed the longest  road on the campus Dr. Lateef Kayode Jakande Road.

    Jakande, the first civilian governor of the state, was in office between 1979 and 1983.

    The road stretches from LASU main gate to the students’ hostels at the rear of the campus.

    Jakande was honoured as part of the celebrations to mark his 90th birthday. He  mooted the LASU initiative in 1981. The university took off in 1983.

    The street renaming was preceded by a lecture organised by the Faculty of Arts, with the theme: “Lateef Kayode Jakande: A phenom of administration”. It was held at LASU main auditorium. The guest speaker, Prof. Hakeem Danmole, from Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin, Kwara State, said no government in Lagos had touched lives in a short period like Jakande’s.

    Read Also: Afenifere’s secretary Arogbofa presents autobiography to mark 80th birthday

    Describing Jakande as a “man of integrity and honesty”, Danmole said the ex-governor’s achievements were yet to be equalled.

    LASU Vice Chancellor Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbohun said Jakande epitomised what a public servant should be.

    He said the students’ enrolment figure of 375 undergraduates at inception had increased to 6,500, with overall students’ population close to 25,000.

    Dean, Faculty of Arts, Prof. Harrison Adeniyi, said henceforth, an annual lecture would be held in Jakande’s honour.

    Jakande’s friend, Adekunle Ali, described the celebrator as a reference point in contemporary politics.

    He said: “Nobody can discuss modern politics in Nigeria without making a reference to his (Jakande’s) own period. For only 51 months, Jakande achieved all he did by transforming everything for good and bringing this institution to existence. I wish him more years because I don’t want him to go yet. We still have a lot to learn from him because his presence alone is a lesson.”

    The high point of the event was the cutting of the birthday cake.TT

  • Gbajabiamila’s intervention makes resident doctors suspend strike

    Following intervention of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, the National Association of Resident Doctors of Nigeria (NARD) has suspended its planned industrial action due to commence today.

    According to a statement signed by Lanre Lasisi, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Speaker, the union had at the end of its 39th Ordinary General Meeting in Benin City, Edo State in May, given a 40-day ultimatum, calling for the payment of outstanding salary shortfalls and arrears of its members.

    However, after the ultimatum, the Speaker had appealed to the resident doctors through the immediate past secretary-general of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Hon. Yusuf Sununu, a member of the House, to give him time to make consultations on the issues at stake.

    Read Also: PDP probe panel meets Senators, Reps over Lawan, Gbajabiamila

    NARD’s National President, Olusegun Olaopa, who confirmed the suspension of the strike said the union had to put it on hold to honour the Speaker till Monday, 29, July when the Speaker would meet with the union.

    Olaopa said: “It was based on the ultimatum that we gave earlier, which we served the Hon. Speaker. Based on the discussion with the Speaker, who actually showed good intention to intervene in the matter, we felt that it is honourable for us to meet and take his intervention.

    “For now, we considered trying to hold on any action that we want to take, which is supposed to be today (yesterday), at our meeting tomorrow (today). But we thought that since the Hon. Speaker has intervened, we should give him the honour at least to meet with him and allow him to intervene in the matter before we go ahead.

    “So, the meeting has been fixed for Monday. We are planning to make some concessions to allow us to meet with the Speaker first and see his good intervention before we consider any other action”.

    Other demands of the resident doctors as contained in their communique included the appropriate placement in grade levels of doctors who suffered same scale promotion and for state governments to look into their tertiary health institutions to immediately halt the decay in providing access to quality healthcare to the citizenry.

  • BREAKING: We lost 11 members, 30 injured – Shi’ites

    The Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) popularly branded as Shiites group has alleged that 11 of its members were killed in a clash with the police in Abuja.

    It also claimed that 30 others were injured in the fracas.

    It said out of those injured, the police went to University of Abuja Teaching Hospital in Gwagwalada and took them to unknown place.

    The figures were contained in an update by the President of the Media Forum of Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), Ibrahim Musa.

    The statement did not provide the list of those killed and injured.

    The statement said: “Abuja today (on Monday) yet again witnessed one of the worst cases of blatant trampling of the rights of citizens ever seen in the Federal Capital, when joint security forces consisting of both uniformed men and officers of the Nigerian Police Force and others in mufti, unleashed their fury on a Free Zakzaky protest by members of the Islamic Movement.

    “The procession, attended by several thousands of persons, including very young children, the aged, women and the physically challenged, met with an extreme rage indicative of deep seated animosity the Nigerian authorities bear for the Movement.

    Read Also: Photos: Shi’ites burn vehicles in Federal Secretariat

    “What actually happened was that the protesters started the procession from NITEL junction and on getting to federal secretariat the police cordoned off the road and started firing at them.

    “A lot of people have been shot but for now we can only confirm 11 deaths, but several are injured, the figure for now stood at 30. Though we are aware of the fact that the security agents have been going around taking off those they killed from the streets.

    “Even some seriously injured persons that were taken to Abuja University teaching Hospital Gwagwalada; the police went there and took away about 11 people they shot during the protest.

    “We strongly dispute the claim by the police that the protesters shot at them because throughout our processions we have not been carrying any arms right from 2015 to date. It was also the police who shot at the Reporter of Channels TV, another indication that many innocent people were shot at by the police, including some of their own.

    “In this era of social media the brutality displayed by the police today has been captured with some pictures showing the police setting up the bonfires and there are videos that captured the police carting away their victims”.

  • Domestic workers, relatives loot Jonathan’s N300m jewellery

    The police in Bayelsa State are investigating the looting of valuables, including jewellery worth over N300 million belonging to former President Goodluck Jonathan by his domestic workers and relatives.

    Operatives were said to have arrested some suspects, who allegedly broke into the palatial home of Jonathan at Otuoke in Ogbia Local Government and stole the items, including customised walking sticks.

    The police were coordinated by operatives of “Puff Adder”, a new police tactical squad  launched by Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu.

    Sources identified the arrested suspects as domestic workers and relatives of ex-President Jonathan.

    It was learnt that one of the suspects and a management worker of Mrs. Patience Jonathan’s Aridolf Resort, Hotel and Spa illegally duplicated the keys to the rooms where the valuables were kept.

    He reportedly gained entrance to the treasure room and removed most of the valuables.

    The Nation gathered that some persons uncovered the theft and reported the matter to the police, who effected the arrest and recovered some of the valuables.

    Read Also: What do Jonathan and wife want in Bayelsa?

    It was learnt that the incident shocked the former first lady, who wondered why they resorted to stealing her husband’s belongings instead of hers.

    A security source, who confirmed the development, said the theft was carried out by persons working as domestic employees to the former first family.

    “It was not done by outsiders. The suspects have been working for the former first family. They decided to help themselves. One of them is a domestic servant, who is responsible for keeping the key to the room where the treasures were kept.

    “The other ones share relationship with former President Jonathan. I know that the police arrested some of them. I don’t know the monetary value of the stolen items. Only Patience Jonathan can say the value.

    “They are already making useful confession to the police and money from the proceeds is being recovered,” the source, who spoke in confidence, said.

  • ASUU criticises Buhari’s appointment of UNIABUJA VC

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has faulted the appointment of a former Vice Chancellor of Kwara State University (KWASU), Prof Abdulrasheed Na’allah, as Vice Chancellor of University of Abuja (UNIABUJA) by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The union said appointing Na’allah, who was allegedly indicted by a visitation panel, would make a mockery of the government’s fight against corruption.

    In a statement jointly signed by its University of Ibadan (UI) Chairman, Prof Deji Omole, and the Ibadan Zonal Coordinator, Dr Ade Adejumo, the union recalled that Na’allah had been indicted by the visitation panel under former Governor Abdulfattah Ahmed.

    The union said the visitation panel’s report of 2016 indicted Na’Allah of financial recklessness, maladministration and abuse of due process as entrenched in the university’s laws.

    Read Also: Welcome end to Unilorin ASUU crisis

    The duo stated that while the tenure of Abdulrasheed Na’Allah lapses at Kwara State University on 27th of July, he has since resumed in University of Abuja has Vice Chancellor.

    The statement said: “A government that claims to be fighting corruption is protecting people alleged for corruption and compensating them with appointment. Example is the case of KWASU Vice Chancellor, who was indicted by the visitation panel set up by former Governor Abdulfattah Ahmed’s administration. The White Paper recommendations were not implemented; they were suppressed by politicians. Now, the government of President Buhari has appointed the same person as the Vice Chancellor of University of Abuja. He has even resumed while his tenure is yet to lapse in KWASU, thereby occupying two vice chancellorship seats.”

    Crow at Dawn, which I used to watch while growing up.

    “I was moved by a sense of nostalgia and concern when I read of his medical situation recently and decided to take over his medical bills. He has been visited and arrangements are being made to support him.

    “In other climes, the likes of Sadiq Daba and other such actors who, more or less, paved the way for the entertainment industry and the Nollywood industry in Nigeria (which is touted as the third largest movie industry in the world) would be celebrated as icons and due recognition would be accorded to them.

    “For me, taking care of Sadiq’s medical expenses is my little way of showing appreciation and gratitude for the good memories he created for me and others in the past.”