The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • FG to inaugurate SEC board Monday

    The Federal Government will, on Monday, inaugurate the board of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to be chaired by Mr. Olufemi Lijadu.

    The board’s constitution is coming four years after President Muhammadu Buhari sacked the former SEC board headed by Mr. Peter Obi.

    The inauguration, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) will take place at the Ministry of Finance Headquarters, Abuja.

    Other  members of the  board  include Mr. Lamido Yuguda from Gombe State (Non-executive Commissioner); Mrs. Rekiya Ladi (Kaduna), Non-executive Commissioner; and Mr. Okokon Ekanem, representing the Ministry of Finance.

    Read Also: 25 things Buhari promised to do in second term

    The rest are: Dr Alvan Ikoku, representing the Central Bank of Nigeria; Ms Mary Uduk, SEC’s Acting Director-General; and Mr. Henry Rowlands, SEC’s Acting Executive Commissioner, Corporate Services; Mr Isyaku Tilde, Acting Executive Commissioner (Operations); and Mr. Reginald Karawusa, SEC’s Acting Executive Commissioner (Legal and Enforcement).

    The board will have a four-year tenure, according to the source.

    Buhari dissolved the previous board on July 16, 2015, and set up an eight-man panel headed by a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Babachir Lawal, two months later, to reconstitute it.

    Market operators had been calling for the  reconstitution of the board to strengthen SEC’s operations.

  • CBN summons currency dealers, others on development in forex market

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has summoned all authorized currency dealers for a meeting to discuss development in the foreign exchange market.

    The invitation was contained in a circular released and signed by the bank’s Director, Trade and Exchange, Mr Ahmed Umar, in Abuja, on Friday.

    It explained that the meeting would engage the participants on development so far in foreign exchange market with a view to proffer solutions or to chart a way forward.

    Read Also: CBN, others urged to reposition power 

    The meeting is scheduled for Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, on Thursday, July 4.

    Apart from authorized currency dealers, the representatives of Nigeria Customs Service are also expected at the meeting.

    Other participants are representatives of Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and those of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

  • Ebola: FG orders surveillance across states

    The Federal Government on Friday called for increased surveillance at all entry points into Nigeria following the lingering Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

    Government directed all Port Health Service officials and other relevant agencies at such points of entry to heighten surveillance and ensure that all passengers coming into the country are screened.

    The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Mr. Abdulaziz Abdullahi Mashi, on an inspection visit to Port Health facilities at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, said that any suspected case must be presented for relevant tests in line with the global practice on disease emergency control and prevention.

    Mashi, who was accompanied by other top officials of the ministry and those of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), said he wanted to ascertain the level of preparedness of Nigeria for the worst.

    He said: “More doctors, nurses and other health officials would be deployed in the Port Health Services at the airport. Consumables required for day-to-day activities at the airport would also be adequately provided.”

    Read Also: No Ebola case in Nigeria, says FG

    Mashi met with the Permanent Secretary in the Lagos  State Ministry of Health, Dr. Titilayo Goncalves, and hailed the state for its preparedness and surveillance system against Ebola.

    He said the Federal Ministry of Health and Lagos State Ministry of Health had been working together to forestall the importation of any disease into the country and called for continuous collaboration.

    He said: “Lagos State is the entry point of most of the visitors to Nigeria. Therefore, there is need to heighten the surveillance system”.

    Responding, Dr. Goncalves dismissed social media reports about an Ebola virus carrier in Nigeria.

    She said the person in question was tested and the result was negative.

    “I want to authoritatively tell you that the patient was tested and the result was negative. She is well and has been discharged. Everybody should put his mind to rest; there is no Ebola in Lagos”, she said.

  • AFCON 2019: 10 Interesting facts about the Africa’s biggest football tournament

    The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations starts today in Egypt.

    The spectacular biannual African football competition has always been known to be exciting, intriguing captivating and filled with surprises. However, this year’s promises to be no different.

    The 2019 African Cup of Nations will feature “24 countries” for the first time. Football lovers in many parts of the world are in high spirit to watch the 32nd edition of the African Nations Cup.

    Here are few interesting facts about the spectacular football competition:

    1. Cameroon are the reigning champions of Africa and this time around, they will face serious contest from other nations who are ready for this championship.

    It should be recalled that Vincent Aboubakar came off the bench to score a stunning winner with two minutes left as Cameroon fought back to beat Egypt 2-1 in a thrilling 2017 Africa Cup of Nations final in Libreville, Gabon.

    2. The AFCON 2019 was initially meant to be hosted by Cameroon but in November 2018, Cameroon was stripped of hosting the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. The reasons were due to infrastructural delays, the insurgency and the Anglophone Crisis in Cameroon. Hence, by January 2019, Egypt was chosen to replace Cameroon as this year’s AFCON host.

    Read Also: AFCON 2019: Don’t underrate Burundi, Finidi warns Eagles

    3. The video assistant referees (VARs), which has generated much heated controversy will be used for the first time during the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, starting from the Round of 16.

    4. Tanzania will play the 2019 African Cup of Nations for the first time in 39 years. They qualified for the tournament under the leadership of Nigerian Emmanuel Amuneke.

    5. Mauritania, Namibia and Burundi all qualified for the African Cup of Nations for the first time this year. Hence they will make their first ever AFCON appearance as newbies.

    6. This will be the fifth time that Egypt will host the African Cup. Egypt had previously hosted the tournament in 1959, 1974 1986, 2006 and now 2019. They are now the country to have hosted it the most in the entire continent. Egypt will make use of 6 stadiums in 4 major cities for the tournament.

    7. The most successful winners of AFCON has been Egypt with seven titles followed by Cameroon (five), Ghana (four), Nigeria (three) and the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Ivory Coast (two each).

    8. Historically, Cameroonian Samuel Eto’o is the leading overall Cup of Nations scorer, notching 18 goals in six tournaments between 2000 and 2010.

    9. 2019 will be the first time the tournament features 24 teams, this is in tandem to CAF decision to expand the tournament in order to enhance competitiveness.

    10. Fourteen countries of the 54 nations of CAF have won the AFCON trophy The 14 countries are Egypt, Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria, DR Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Algeria, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Africa, Tunisia, Morocco, Congo-Brazzaville and Zambia while six others have reached the final without ever winning it, they are; Mali, Burkina Faso, Uganda, Guinea, Libya and Senegal.

  • Six things you probably didn’t know about new NNPC GMD

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday appointed Mele Kyari as the new Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

    A statement by the spokesperson of NNPC, Ndu Ughamadu, said President Buhari also appointed seven new Chief Operating Officers to work with Mr. Mele Kolo Kyari.

    Kyari who hails from Borno State succeeds the incumbent GMD, Maikanti Baru, who is due for retirement from the NNPC in July.

    Here are six things you probably don’t know about the incoming NNPC GMD, Mr. Mele Kolo Kyari;

    1. Kolo Kyari is going to become the 19th Group Managing Director of the national oil company since the inception of the organization. This is according to the statement issued by NNPC’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Ndu Ughamadu.

    2. He bagged his Bachelor of Science in Geology and Earth Science from the University of Maiduguri in 1987.

    3. He was a former Nigeria’s national representative to the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as he led the OPEC’s economic commission board which was in charge of reviewing the global oil markets.

    4. Prior to his appointment at the OPEC, Kyari was a group general manager for crude oil division, which shows that he had been in the downstream sector for some time.

    Read Also: Why Buhari removed Baru as NNPC GMD
    5. He began his career at the Nigerian Geological Survey Society as a field geologist from 1988 to 1991 before he became a seismic data geophysicist and IDSL, a subsidiary of the NNPC.

    6. In 1998, he was in National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) and then became the Abuja operations manager of the same organization. He became the head of the production contracts department between 2007 and 2009. In 2016, he was the supervisor of production sharing contract for the NNPC.

  • ‘Why I stole three-day-old baby from Jos hospital’

    The woman who allegedly stole a three-day-old baby from Plateau State Specialists Hospital in Jos, the state capital, has given reasons for her action.

    The police arrested Mrs. Leritshimwa Dungjil Diyal early this week for stealing an infant after she lied to the mother that a doctor requested for the baby for treatment.

    She said she took the action because she is barren.

    The suspect said she had been married for seven years and could not bear a child.

    Mrs. Diyal, who was paraded at the police command’s headquarters in Jos on Thursday, also said she had tried to adopt a child but was not successful.

    “I am desperate to have a child. That was why I decided to steal one to cover myself of shame in the society,” she said.

    Read Also: Woman, 67, charged with stealing N16m from hacked account

    The command also paraded 16 other suspects for crimes ranging from culpable homicide, kidnapping, armed robbery and cattle rustling.

    Police Commissioner Isaac Akinmoyede, who paraded the suspects at the command’s headquarters in Jos, said they will be arraigned in court after investigation.

    On the stolen baby, Akinmoyede said: “Due to the painstaking and diligent investigation, coupled with medical reports, the police discovered that Leritshimwa Dungjil Diyal had not given birth as she claimed.

    “When confronted with this obvious and naked reality, she broke down and confessed to the commission on the crime. The police are investigating her claim that the crime was committed by herself alone.”

    Mrs Diyal, who addressed reporters, confirmed that she committed the crime and regretted her action.

    She said: “Honestly, I regret my action. I wish I was dead. I have been married for seven years without a child. I have tried to adopt a child, but to no avail. Honestly, my husband was not aware of the incident. I was just desperate to have a child to call my own.”

  • DSS parades ‘fake doctor’ for killing 15 patients

    The Department of State Services (DSS) has paraded a man described as a fake doctor, Ibrahim Mustapha, having operated illegally under the Adamawa State government since 2015.

    DSS State Director of Security, Bola Olori, paraded the suspect yesterday in Yola, the state capital.

    He said Mustapha, who allegedly started his alleged fake practice as a ward attendant in Gombe State, was employed in Adamawa as a doctor with alleged forged medical certificates.

    Olori said: “Preliminary investigations revealed that Mustapha holds an NBTE certificate. He perfected the act in Gombe State, where he worked as a ward attendant in several clinics.

    “He was aided by a practising doctor who gave him sample copies of his NECO result, MBBS of Bayero University, Kano (BUK), the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate and that of Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) annual registration licence, all of which he forged.

    Read Also: An Ex-DSS assistance bitter-sweet experience as a security operative

    “The suspect subsequently gained employment into the Adamawa State Health Management Board in October 2015 as a doctor and rose to the post of Principal Medical Officer, serving at the cottage hospitals in Mayo Belwa and Fufore.

    “Prior to his arrest, the suspect, in the past five years, performed hundreds of surgical operations in several hospitals in the state.

    The suspect and his accomplice have been taken into custody. They will be prosecuted after investigations.”

    The DSS director did not mention the number of casualties the suspect caused, but Governor Ahmadu Fintiri was quoted on Wednesday to have accused the suspect of causing the death of 15 people.

    The governor spoke during a ministerial briefing in Yola, saying a fake doctor who was employed in 2015 by the State Health Services Management Board was discovered to have attended a secondary school and only possessed a National Board for Technical Education (NABTEB) certificate.

    The governor said his administration will set up a committee to fish out quack doctors in the state and bring them to justice.

  • ‘Collapsed Synagogue building was in perfect condition’

    The collapsed Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) building was in “perfect condition” before it came down on September 12, 2014, a Lagos High Court heard on Thursday.

    An architect, Dayo Fabiyi, told Justice Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo that the building had no crack nor any defection on its beams before the incident.

    Fabiyi, who described himself as a volunteer in the church’s maintenance department, said he was part of the team that investigated the beams after the crash.

    He testified as the seventh defence witness in the ongoing trial of two engineers and their firms for the incident in which 116 persons died.

    The defendants are Oladele Ogundeji, Akinbela Fatiregun, Hardrock Construction and Engineering Company and Jandy Trust Ltd.

    They are facing a 110-count charge of involuntary manslaughter said to contravene Section 222 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

    The fifth defendant, the Registered Trustees of SCOAN is facing a count of building without approval.

    The Lagos State Government said the trustees violated Section 75 of the Urban and Regional Planning Law of Lagos State, 2010.

    Read Also: ‘Synagogue’s foundation, bearing did not fail soil test’

    Led in evidence by a defence counsel, Mr Olalekan Ojo (SAN), Fabiyi explained that he worked as a volunteer in SCOAN’s maintenance department, “I go round the facilities to check if there are any sort of cracks or deflections on the beams and I did such routine inspection on the collapsed building last on September 14, 2014.

    “There was no sign of deflections or any stress on the collapsed building before it collapsed,” Fabiyi said.

    Under cross-examination by the prosecutor, Dr. Jide Martins, the witness said he was not involved in the investigation of the beams of the collapsed building.

    He, however, added that cracks and deflections were “always visible to the eyes.”

    Following a question by Martins, the witness said he did not use any mechanical device to check for deflections during his maintenance works.

    During “re-examination” by Ojo, Fabiyi said it was not only civil engineers that could detect cracks in a building.

    Mechanical devices, he noted, were only used to investigate deflections after a building had collapsed not before.

    “A deflective building must have shown signs that the building is under stress, the collapsed building did not show any sign of stress before it collapsed,” Fabiyi insisted.

    Earlier, the fifth defence witness, Mr Ebenezer Ologuntoye, an engineer, said apart from foundational failure, other factors could be responsible for a building collapse.

    Ologuntoye under cross-examination by the prosecutor said from his investigation “the building did not collapse due to foundational failure”.

    The witness said: “As a civil engineer, apart from foundational failure, other factors can be responsible for the collapse of a building”.

    Following a question by Dr Martins, Ologuntoye said he was never contracted by the church to do geotechnical work on the building before its collapse.

    Justice Lawal-Akapo adjourned till June 28.

  • ‘Prophet’ kills, buries housewife after meeting on facebook

    The Oyo State Police Command has arrested a “prophet” of Cherubim and Seraphim, Dotun Ogunlade (aka Arole Jesu), for allegedly killing a 25-year-old housewife, Bosede Oguntade, for money rituals.

    Ogunlade was said to have started a friendship with Mrs Oguntade on facebook.

    The police said the “prophet” allegedly strangled the woman on her arrival from Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, when she sought Ogunlade’s help for her spiritual problems.

    Police Commissioner Shina Olukolu, who led a team of policemen to where the woman was buried, said the head and arms of the victim were cut off before she was buried.

    Reliving how the victim was killed, the police chief said on her arrival in Igboora, the fake prophet told her to first get over the fatigue the stress of her trip from Ilorin to Igboora caused by taking sleeping drugs.

    He said Ogunlade allegedly injected her with an overdose of sleeping drugs and subsequently overpowered and strangled her.

    Olukolu said Mrs Oguntade head and arms were removed for rituals while the remaining body parts were buried in a shallow grave at Ogboja, Igboora.

    Read Also: Herbalist arrested for allegedly using human parts for money rituals

    The police chief added that following credible information and diligent investigation, the command arrested the fake prophet and his accomplices.

    “Further investigation revealed that parts of her body were burnt and ground into powder for rituals to become powerful and rich. Two knives used to kill and cut her body parts, a white clothing bag containing substance inside a gourd where the alleged powdery parts were kept and a bottle of Stallion Schnapps were also recovered,” he said.

    Olukolu urged the residents to give timely and useful information to the police to enable them serve the state better.

    “The police will continue with their resolute determination to stamp out crimes and criminality in the society. Members of the public should be careful about having absolute trust in individuals or groups who are strangers, especially those they meet on the social media or those who claim to possess the power of clairvoyance or ability to combat and treat terminal diseases or possess solutions to social and marital challenges,” Olukolu said.

    Addressing reporters, Ogunlade said he gained experience from his former boss who was also a prophet of Cherubim and Seraphim.

    He said: “The woman and I have been chatting on facebook since January. I later invited her to Igboora.

    “Mutiu, a friend of mine, had told me about his challenges. He told me he was ready for money rituals. So, I decided to use the woman for money for him.

    “When the woman later arrived from Ilorin, I went to pick her and bring her to Igboora from Iseyin. On her arrival in my house on May 31, I gave her sleeping drugs after she complained of body pains. She slept off and I cut off her head and arms. Her head was later burnt to ashes for money rituals,” Ogunlade said.

  • ‘UNIBEN student was raped before committing suicide’

    Christabel Omore Buoro Owoicho, a 300-level student of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) who was found dead in her room, was raped before she committed suicide, her friend and uncle have said.

    Earlier report had said she committed suicide because of a strained relationship with her boyfriend.

    She was said to have locked herself indoors after her roommate had left the hostel, increased the volume of her music player, left a note and committed the act.

    Her roommate, identified simply as Folakemi, as well as a man who identified himself as the deceased’s uncle, Ben Bamiyi, said Christabel was an introvert.

    Read Also: UNIBEN student commits suicide over ‘heartbreak’

    “She had never had a boyfriend in her entire life. Christabel was exceptionally brilliant,” Bamiyi said.

    Sources said the late Christabel was a virgin before her encounter with the rapist.

    Police spokesman Chidi Nwabuzor, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said no arrest had been made though investigation into the incident had begun.

    “Investigators said the suicide note was incoherent. Professionals will examine the body to ascertain if she was a psychiatric patient,” Nwabuzor said.