The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • 659 bags of foreign rice, petroleum products seized in Kwara

    Special task force against smuggling at the weekend said that it has intercepted a total number of 600 units of 250-litre drums of petroleum products Chikanda border town in Baruten local government area of Kwara state.

    The taskforce said the products were about to be smuggled outside the country.

    He also said that a large number of empty drums of petroleum products were seized in the operation.

    The taskforce comprises men of the Nigeria Customs Service, Army, Directorate of the State Service (DSS), Police, Immigration, Air force and the Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA).

    The smuggled items worth billions of naira, were seized in the last one month of operations.

    Assistant Comptroller of Customs Service Aminu Dahiru told reporters in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital, saying that 659 bags of suspected foreign rice, 32 empty sacks of foreign rice and sealing machine were also seized from a warehouse in Ilorin.

    Read Also: Customs seize 1,942 bags of foreign rice, other goods in Katsina

    He added that other items intercepted include petroleum products, cars, fairly used clothing, hard drugs and food items were intercepted along Nigeria border towns and market places in Kwara, Niger, and Benue.

    He also said that the joint border operation drill, code named, Ex-swift operation, was carried out in four zones of Port Harcourt, Lagos, Ilorin and Katsina, with the aim of guarding Nigeria border lines against smuggling and to ensure industrial growth, promote agriculture and improve national security.

    He lamented that the country had become a dumping ground for all imported items, saying that local production and development had suffered.

    The assistant comptroller general in charge of enforcement, investigation and inspection at the national headquarters also led the north central zone of the operation, said that smugging had gone for too long in the country, adding that importation of small arms and ammunition had made the country unsecured, while use of second hand clothing had negative health effect in many communicable diseases.

    He called on Nigerians to be united against smuggling and cooperate with law enforcement agents in that regard, saying that smuggling is stealing from common wealth of the nation and makes people lazy.

  • PhD student who sued ABU for N20m ordered to pay defendants

    On the whole, this case lacks merit. The reliefs sought by the proceeding are refused. The suit itself is hereby dismissed

     

    When a post-graduate student of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Jamilu Auwalu Adamu took the decision to sue the institution, he reasonably believed he had a good case. He was targeting N20m in damages, but when the court verdict came, it was far from what Jamilu wanted to hear. He not only lost the case, but was also ordered to pay the institution the sum of N150,000.

    The Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna dismissed the case for lack of merit.

    The PhD student had dragged the institution and two academic staff to court, praying it to, among other things, declare that his withdrawal from the institution as invalid, null and void.

    Jamilu, a staff of the National Mathematical Centre, Abuja, had claimed that his withdrawal and extension of period of studies at the institution’s School of Postgraduate Studies were wrongly done.

    The plaintiff was seeking the sum of N20 million in general damages for “wrongful withdrawal, unduly prolonging the plaintiff’s period of studies, wasting of time, energy and waste of resources”.

    However, the court in its judgment delivered by Justice S. M Shuaibu, ruled that the case lacked merit and, therefore, refused all the reliefs sought by the respondent.

    Justice Shuaibu ruled that, “On the whole, this case lacks merit. The reliefs sought by the proceeding are refused. The suit itself is hereby dismissed”.

    The judgment, consequently, awarded N50,000 cost to each of the three defendants (the University and two other academic staff) making a total of N150,000 cost against the plaintiff.

    Justice Shuaibu said there was nothing before him to show that the plaintiff had applied for a deferment of his PhD programme or had applied for late registration, saying the conclusion was that the respondent had voluntarily withdrawn from the programme.

    The judge went to add that the plaintiff ceased to be a student of the University since 10th May, 2015 by his own conscious act of omission; and consequently he lacked the locus standi to institute the proceeding as he was no longer a student at the time he did.

    The court, equally, rejected the argument that the plaintiff became aware of his withdrawal by a letter from the 1st defendant to the plaintiff’s solicitors in reply to enquiries made relating to the status of the plaintiff with the 1st defendant.

    Justice Shuaibu said those so-called enquiries were made two years after the plaintiff had voluntarily withdrawn from the institution by his conscious and deliberate omission to register for 2014/2015 academic session.

  • Ondo varsity lecturers mourn kidnapped colleague

    Mathematical Science lecturer at Ondo State University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa,  Gideon Okedayo, who was kidnapped last week has reportedly died at the hands of his captors.

    The development has thrown the institution into mourning.

    The deceased and his driver were said to have been seized by the gunmen on their way to Igara in Edo State.

    The driver was reportedly released, and later reported the incident to the police.

    The Edo State police command had earlier announced that it had recovered Okedayo’s official vehicle, a Toyota Corolla car with registration number, 06X47OD, a few hours after the abduction.

    Read Also: Court remands housewife charged with kidnaping husband for N5m

    Sources said Okedayo’s decomposing body was found on Monday in the bush, where he was abducted by suspected gunmen.

    The Chairman, Joint Action Committee of Staff Union of the  Osustech, Temidayo Temola, who confirmed this yesterday, said the incident saddened all members of the university staff.

    He described the late don as a peace-loving and generous person.

    Temola said, “The death of Prof. Okedayo is a big loss to this institution, we will really miss him,”

    Similarly, the Chairman of the Osustech branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU),  Dr Dipo Akomolafe,  said the staff union and the entire university community had been thrown into disarray.

  • ‘Mentally ill’ man held for ‘robbing bank’ in Kwara

    Is  he a psychiatric patient or a mere thief? And did he really rob a bank in Kwara State?

    Whatever the case, the police in the state Tuesday picked up a midle-aged man who they said burst into a new generation bank in Ilorin, the state capital, and immediately started picking up money on the counter.

    The police later determined that  the bank ‘thief’ is actually a psychiatric patient, and was taken to a mental home in the state capital.

    The news of the ‘robbery’ incident spread like wildfire in the metropolis of Ilorin, as residents became jittery and apprehensive.

    Speaking on the development, spokesperson of the police command Ajayi Okasanmi described the robbery report as false alarm,

    Mr. Okasanmi said, “Kwara State police command wishes to inform the general public of the unfounded news going round that armed robbers invaded a bank in Tanke area of ilorin this morning. This has brought about some level of panic and agitation in the people.

    Read Also: Keke Marwa puts two in trouble

    “The command wishes to state that what actually transpired was that a man strayed into the said bank, and started packing monies on the bank counter which eventually led to commotion in the banking hall. Policemen came in and arrested the suspect who was promptly taken away. Preliminary investigation, however, revealed that the suspect is of unsound mind.

    “Meanwhile, peace has been restored and aggressive patrols of Ilorin has been ordered by the Commissioner of Police Kayode Egbetokun to further instil confidence in members of the public and especially Banks in the state.

    “ Finally,  members of the public are advised to be conscious of happenings around  them and report any suspicions movement to the police.”

  • Keke Marwa puts two in trouble

    Operatives of the Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences Agency (Task Force) on night patrol at Oshodi  have nabbed two persons on suspicion of stealing a tricycle popularly known as Keke Marwa at Ifo area of Ogun State.

    Chairman of the task force, Olayinka Egbeyemi a Chief Superintendent of Police, disclosed in a statement that preliminary investigation revealed that the suspects, Sodiq Sulaiman and Saidi Ibrahim, stole the tricycle with registration No JJJ-706-QF where the owner parked it on the road lay-by at Ifo area of Ogun State.

    Egbeyemi said, “It was after they refused to stop that our officers ran after them before they were caught at Cappa after abandoning the tricycle on the road”.

    Egbeyemi who urged residents to be careful and to take proper care of their belongings however hinted that during these ‘Ember Months’ officers of the Agency have been deployed to strategic locations across the State to protect life and properties of the citizenry.

    One of the suspects, Sodiq Sulaiman, an ex-convict, confessed that the tricycle was stolen at ‘Ifo’ and it was being taken to one ‘Mallo’ at Idi-Oro for sale at an agreed sum of N40, 000 before they were arrested at Oshodi by the task force.

    According to him “I was just released from Kirikiri prison last month where I spent seven months for not being able to produce a commercial tricycle given to me on hire purchase by the owner.”

    Read Also: ‘Mentally ill’ man held for ‘robbing bank’ in Kwara

    “I was trained as a tricycle mechanic for four years at ‘Abekoko’ area of Oyo State before I came to Lagos in the year 2017 and started stealing phones, bags including tricycles with one Saheed Ibrahim whom I met at ‘Akala’ area of Mushin”, he added.

    The second suspect Saheed Ibrahim, a bricklayer, revealed that before both of them started stealing tricycles they specialised in using motorcycles to rob innocent members of the public of their valuable items at night.

    “We had stolen and sold more than 55 phones, jewellery, laptops and seven tricycles to one ‘Mallo’ at Idi-Oro area of Mushin. We sold all our stolen items to ‘Mallo’ and others at Idi-Oro and Akala area of Mushin”, he stated.

    While confirming that the Lagos State Commissioner of Police CP Zubairu Muazu has directed that the two arrested suspects be immediately charged to court for prosecutions, Egbeyemi urged residents to be cautious and take proper care of their belongings during these ‘ember months’.

    In a related development, the Lagos State Government has warned members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) to conduct their activities in a peaceful manner and not to disrupt the peace of innocent members of the public.

    The task force Chairman warned all members of the NURTW across the State to always conduct their activities in a peaceful manner as anyone caught fomenting trouble would be severely dealt with in accordance with the law.

    He confirmed that 11 members of the Union were arrested over the weekend by the Enforcement team of the Agency for causing mayhem around Yaya-Abatan Garage at Ogba.

    Egbeyemi revealed that dangerous weapons such as axes, diggers, broken bottles and cutlasses were recovered from all those arrested in connection with the mayhem.

    He said that all arrested suspects have been immediately charged to court to serve as a deterrent to other union members who might want to disturb the peace in the State.

  • APC youths protest judgments of NASS/State Assembly election petition tribunal in A’Ibom..

    Youths of the All Progressives Congress(APC) have prostested the judgments of the National/state house of assembly election petition tribunal 11 in Akwa Ibom state.

    The youths numbering over 5,000, who stormed the state secretariat of the party on Tuesday along Ikot Ekpene road Uyo, expressed dissatisfaction at the judgments delivered so far by the tribunal chairman, Justice Jennifer Ijohor.

    Addressing a press conference on the sidelines of the protest,the Akwa Ibom state APC youth leader, Comrade Stephen Ntukekpo described the judgments as ‘lopsided, biased and inconsequential’.

    ”Though we utterly frown at the lopsided, biased and inconsequential judgment delivered by Justice Ijohor on the four of the cases brought before her tribunal, we are, however, not surprised since we had earlier perceived and in fact posited clearly a number of parameters which were carefully crafted by the PDP to handcuff justice in connivance with His Lordship.

    ”Firstly, we knew the political peculiarity of our dear state and the possibility of some of the judges being compromised due to pressure from those who are all out to subvert the voice of justice. Of course, it’s no longer news that their manipulative machinations have screwed the judgments so far delivered.

    ”Secondly, at the initial stage of the tribunal, we alarmed of Justice Jennifer Ijohor’s connivance and intimacy with the PDP, a judge whose husband is the current Secretary to the Government of Benue State”, he said.

    The state party’s youth leader also noted that, ”Justice Jennifer Ijohor’s actions against the APC and the generality of Akwa Ibom people is a bold attempt at rendering the President Muhammadu Buhari’s committed fight against corruption counter-productive”.

    Ntukekpo also warned governors of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) to desist from opposing recent appointments made by the federal government.

    It could be recalled that PDP governors had criticized appointments made by President Muhammadu Buhari into the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission(NDDC), adding that they were not consulted for their inputs.

    While thanking President Buhari for appointing Senator Godswill Akpabio as Minister and Mr. Victor Antai and others into the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission(NDDC), Ntukekpo said that governors of the opposition party do not have any constitutional right to dictate to President Buhari who he should give appointments to,.

    He added that former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Late Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan did not allow the opposition parties to decide who they should appoint into their cabinets.

  • CCB begins Makinde’s N48b assets’ verification 

    The Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) has begun verification of the N48 billion assets declared by Oyo State Governor Oluseyi Makinde to the bureau.

    The Director of the bureau in the state, Mr. Bisi Atolagbe, disclosed this at the weekend in an interview with reporters during a meeting of Southwest state directors of the bureau with the member representing the region on the CCB Board of Directors, Prof. Samuel Ogundare, in Ibadan.

    Makinde had caused a storm in the media in July when he made details of his declared assets public. While many Nigerians were shocked about the huge amount of his assets, others wondered if the content of the declaration was not anticipatory.

    Contacted at the time, Atolagbe revealed that his office had forwarded the asset estimates to the bureau’s headquarters in Abuja, stressing that the Oyo State office was awaiting a directive to start verification of Makinde’s claims.

    When asked about the verification, Atolagbe said the exercise had already begun, but added that the process might not be concluded so quickly, given the technical parts of the verification.

    The CCB boss said the verification of Makinde’s assets is nothing special because it is part of the routine work undertaken by the bureau.

    Read Also: Makinde: Changing narrative of governance in Oyo

    He said: “Work has started in the verification of the content of declaration submitted by Governor Makinde. At the right time, the report will be available. It is not about noise making, but technically doing the work to ascertain the assets declared. However, I must point out that the process is not a public exercise. The governor has not committed any crime by declaring his assets. It is just to ascertain what he has declared, to check if they are not anticipatory. I can assure you that a thorough job is being done, without being stampeded. We are not in a hurry over it because we are not doing it just to be seen. It will take a while to be completed.”

    Giving a report on assets declaration by political office holders and top civil servants in the region, Prof. Ogundare said there has been a near 100 per cent compliance to CCB regulations by current and former public office holders in the Southwest.

    He said the newly sworn-in political office holders and those whose tenure ended on May 29 across the region had made their pre-service and post-service asset declarations.

    Ogundare said former governors Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo State), Akinwunmi Ambode (Lagos State) and Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun State) and their deputies have declared their assets within the stipulated period.

    Said he: “Our governors in the Southwest have shown good examples in compliance. They have done what the constitution requires them to do before and after occupying office. Since the governors and their deputies showed good examples, almost all state lawmakers and appointees have also complied.”

    At the meeting were the bureau’s directors in the six Southwest states:  Messrs. Bisi Atolagbe (Oyo), Akinfolarin Feyisola (Ekiti), Olusegun Adeburueje (Ondo), Adeniyi Olufadeji (Osun), Olusegun Rabiu (Ogun) and Ezekiel Olusoji (Lagos).

  • Businessman faces N1m car fraud charge

    A 39-year-old businessman, Olanrenwaju Coker, charged with obtaining N1 million on the pretext of bringing a car from overseas for a woman, at the weekend appeared at an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court in Lagos.

    The defendant, living at Ipaja, Lagos, was arraigned before Magistrate Y. O. Aje-Afunwa on a three-count charge of breach of the peace, obtaining money under false pretences and stealing.

    Coker, however, denied committing the offences.

    Aje-Afunwa admitted the defendant to N500,000 bail with two sureties in the like sum.

    The magistrate said the sureties should be employed and show evidence of two years tax payment to the Lagos State Government.

    Prosecuting Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Peter Nwagwu told the court that the defendant committed the offences on March 10 at Ipaja, Lagos.

    Read Also: Driver accused of assaulting 62-year-old neighbour, two others

    He alleged that the defendant fraudulently obtained the money from Mrs. Nneka Okoli on the pretext of bringing a Toyota Camry car for her.

    “After collecting the money from the complainant, he refused to bring the car for her.

    “Efforts by the complainant to get her car or money proved unsuccessful, as the defendant threatened to deal with her if she called him again,” the prosecutor said.

    Nwagwu said the complainant reported the case to the police, leading to the defendant’s arrest.

    The alleged offences contravene sections 166, 287 and 314 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

    Aje-Afunwa adjourned the case till November 4.

  • Reality film on life in Chibok wins U.S award

    Daughters of Chibok, a virtual reality documentary on life in Chibok, a Borno State community, without the remaining 112 abducted schoolgirls, has won an award in the United States of America (U.S.A), courtesy of the Venice Film Festival.

    The film, produced jointly by a film-making firm, VR360 Stories, and a Yola-based regional non-governmental organisation (NGO), the Northeast Humanitarian Hub, portrays life in Chibok through the home of a mother, Yana.

    The film shows the mother regularly washing the clothes of her abducted daughter in the wishful expectation of her return.

    The virtual reality mode of Daughters of Chibok differentiates it from the more widely known regular documentary productions in the sense of its capacity to virtually take the viewer from wherever he is to the scenes, which he sees as vividly as if he were there.

    Read Also: ‘Daughters of Chibok’ screens at 76th Venice Film Festival

    The film had been shown at different times to different audiences earlier this year in Nigerian cities, including Yola, where it was shown in August to journalists and civil society leaders.

    Daughters of Chibok portrays the misery of life in Chibok without the abducted schoolgirls and appeals to the sensibilities of relevant authorities on the need to bring the girls back.

    The Chief Executive of VR360 Stories and producer of the film, Joel Benson, who received the Venice Film Festival award in the U.S on Saturday night, said he dedicated the award to Yana.

    He said it was a deserving honour to her for sharing her story with him and that because of the award, “the world will hear of Chibok and remember the girls still in captivity”.

  • Keystone Bank partners Google, Facebook on digital marketing for MSMEs

    In demonstration of its commitment to consistently promote and support the growth and development of the real sector, Keystone Bank Limited has embarked on a series of capacity building training in digital marketing and bookkeeping for its micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) customers across the country.

    The first phase of the workshops held in strategic locations in Lagos, Abuja, Benin, Enugu and Onitsha.

    The lender said it is part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) aimed at creating a new breed of entrepreneurs in Nigeria.

    The sessions provided platforms for over 700 entrepreneurs to look inward, develop and deploy their business skills through practical trainings facilitated by experts and successful business owners.

    In Lagos, Benin, Enugu and Onitsha, Keystone Bank in partnership with social media giant, Facebook (Rabbington Media) and Google (Innovation Growth Hub) trained entrepreneurs and self-employed individuals on how to leverage digital social media to achieve their business goals.

    Read Also: Keystone Bank empowers youths, business start-ups

    The participants, comprising existing and prospective customers of Keystone Bank, were trained on the advantages of internet marketing through the digital social media to achieve business growth.

    In Abuja, the bank in partnership with Pundit Book-keeping Services Limited took its MSMEs customers on the importance and benefits of effective book-keeping and taxation.

    Executive Director, South & Corporate, Keystone Bank Limited, Mr Yemi Odusanya, said the bank is providing businesses and organisations the opportunity to expand their customer reach by projecting their message on global platforms such as Facebook thereby promoting widespread exposure.

    “Globally, SMEs are established drivers of the strongest economies and Nigeria is not taking a back seat. With over 15million SMEs dotting the Nigerian landscape, we are poised to ensure our customers in this segment actively grow their businesses through our partnerships and focused initiatives in the segment, and this is the basis for our strong support of the MSME sector.

    “MSMEs are the engines of socio-economic transformation, including industrialisation, as they provide vital platform to enhance technological and entrepreneurial capacity among various segments.

    “We are committed to ensuring that our self-employed customers thrive at their various businesses hence we constantly seek ways and means to connect them to the market and ensure they succeed in reaching their customers.

    “Giving them a social media presence will aid their appeal to the emerging middle-class customers in Nigeria who will most likely form a larger percentage of their customer base in the near future and are mostly upwardly-mobile youths who connect daily on these platforms at a reassuring rate.

    “The capacity building training are available to all Keystone Bank customers who seek a competitive edge to transform their businesses and will be coming to other parts of the country soon.

    “Our SME proposition, which is the “Growbiz Account” has three variants that address their cycles of growth from infancy through maturity and stability.

    “We are also empowering SMEs through our Agency Banking initiative by signing them up as agents for basic off-site cash-in/cash-out services,” Odusanya explained.

    He further stressed that the bank recently re-launched her MSME drive to ensure businesses are well equipped with required knowledge and skills for their growth and survival.