The Nation Newspaper

Category: News Update

  • Police arrest robbery syndicate in Jigawa

    The Jigawa State Police Command has arrested four men suspected to be members of a syndicate that specialised in armed robbery and shop breaking in some parts of the state, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.

    The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Kayode Theophilus, said at a news conference in Dutse, that the syndicate operated in Yayari village in Buji Local Government Area of the state.

    Theophilus said the suspects operated with two others earlier arrested about two weeks ago in the state, adding that investigation into the case had begun.

    He said some of the suspects in Takur, Dutse Local Government Area, were arrested based on information by members of the public.

    The commissioner said they made confessional statements that they broke into the house of one Mr. Attah Emmanuel and Adamu Hussaini of Miyyati Allah quarters in Dutse.

    Theophilus said a police patrol team in Duste also recovered a motorcycle with registration number QB 543 YKS, belonging to one Francis Akpede of the State Security Service.

    The commissioner said in the course of investigation, a suspect from Karaye Local Government Area of Kano State was arrested while riding on the motorcycle.

    He said the suspect alleged that he was sent from Malunfashi Local Government Area of Katsina State “to come and be stealing such items in Jigawa.’’

     

  • Jaji blast: Death toll rises to 15, says Commandant

    Jaji blast: Death toll rises to 15, says Commandant

    The Commandant, Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, AVM Abdullahi Kureh said the death toll of Sunday blasts in Jaji, Kaduna had increased to 15.

    Kureh confirmed this to Gov. Patrick Yakowa on Monday when he visited the site of the attack in Jaji, Igabi local government area of Kaduna state.

    He condemned a situation where people who went to pray to God to give us peace were attacked by another group, saying that security had been beefed up to forestall future recurrence.

    Kureh decried the spates of attacks witnessed in various parts of the country, adding that no meaningful development could be achieved without peace.

    On his own part, Gov. Yakowa commiserated with the family of the victims, describing the incidence as an act of “terrorism or religious extremism aimed at destroying the country.”

    He condemned the attack at the command, saying that people expects that the Command, as a premier military institution, should have solution to the insurgency bedevilling the nation, rather it was attacked.

    Yakowa stressed the need for a synergy between all the security agencies, traditional leaders, and other stakeholders to arrest the situation.

    He directed that all government installations, as well as civilians should be properly guided against any attack.

    The governor urged the perpetrators to lay down their arms, embrace peace as the government was ready to dialogue with them.

    Yakowa said the state government and the military would assist the victims to enable them recover.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that 11 people were on Sunday killed in a twin bomb blast at the St Andrew Military Protestant Church, Military Cantonment, Jaji. NAN

     

  • Contract scam: ‘Ogbulafor not on firms’ board’

    Contract scam: ‘Ogbulafor not on firms’ board’

    An Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission witness, Mr. Basil Momodu, on Monday told an Abuja High Court that Chief Vincent Ogbulafor was not on the board of the three companies allegedly used to siphon N107 million.

    Ogbulafor and Emeka Ebila are being prosecuted by the ICPC on a 16-count charge of alleged involvement in a N170 million contract fraud.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the commission alleged that Ogbulafor, while in office as the Minister of Special Duties in 2001, colluded with Ebila to float three fictitious companies, Chekwas International Nigeria Limited, Henrichko Nigeria Limited and D.H.L. Consultants.

    It also claimed that he used the companies to perpetrate the fraud.

    At the resumed hearing, Momodu, during cross examination by Ogbulafor’s counsel, John Egwuonwu, said that investigations by ICPC did not show that Ogbulafor was a share holder in any of the companies.

    Momodu told the court that Ogbulafor’s companies, Basics Nigeria Limited, Basics Travel Nigeria Limited and All Basics Products Limited, did not benefit from the payments and were not mentioned on the “fake list.”

    He said that it was Ebila (second accused) who told him that he gave the sum of N28 million to one Chief Chris Nwoke, who was a proxy of Ogbulafor.

    The witness also told the court that he was not present when Ebila gave Nwoke the money.

     

  • Nigeria seeks support for production of yellow fever vaccine

    Nigeria seeks support for production of yellow fever vaccine

     

    Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, said Nigeria is seeking the support of Global Alliance Vaccines Immunisation (GAVI) to resume the production of yellow fever vaccine.

    Chukwu disclosed this in a chat with the News Agency of Nigeria on the outcome of the just concluded World Health Organisation African Regional Meeting on Polio held in Luanda, Angola.

    He said that the country had also solicited support towards the introduction of new rotavirus and human papillomavirus vaccines.

    The minister said the support became necessary given the need to strengthen routine immunisation in the country.

    Rotavirus vaccines protect children from rotaviruses, which are the leading causes of severe diarrhea among infants and young children, while human papillomavirus vaccine is used for the treatment of cervical cancer.

    The minister said, “What we discussed was to review the state of immunisation in Nigeria; the support that GAVI is giving to Nigeria; the possibility of introducing some additional new vaccines such as the router virus and the human papillomavirus vaccine for cancer of the cervix; and also the need to support local industries; we have at least one company that is WHO-prequalified as manufacturing syringes.

    “GAVI says that there is room for them to be supported in terms of been patronised for their products. We also looked at the issue of Nigeria resuming the production of yellow fever vaccines; and again GAVI will be visiting Nigeria next one week or so; we are going to hold discussions on whether they are going to give us some support to move towards being able to produce the yellow fever vaccine in Nigeria.’’

    Chukwu expressed concern over the refusal by some Nigerians to accept the polio vaccine, but assured that government would strive towards the total elimination of polio.

     

  • Subsidy scam: EFCC re-arraigns ex-PDP chairman, Ahmadu Ali’s son

    Subsidy scam: EFCC re-arraigns ex-PDP chairman, Ahmadu Ali’s son

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday re-arraigned Mamman Nasir Ali, the son of former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman, Ahmadu Ali, and three others before a Lagos High Court, Ikeja for alleged N4.4 billion fuel subsidy fraud.
    They were re-arraigned before Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo on a 13-count charge of conspiracy, obtaining money under false pretence, forgery and for the use of false documents.

    One of the defendants, Abdulazeez Afeez is said to be at large.

    Those arraigned alongside Mamman Nasir Ali on Monday included Christian Taylor, Oluwaseun Ogunbambo and Nasaman Oil Services.

    When charges were read, the defendants pleaded not guilty to the 13 count charge against them.

    The trial judge, Justice Onigbanjo ordered that Ali and Taylor should continue to enjoy the N20 million bail earlier granted to each of them on July 26, 2012 when they were first arraigned.

    The EFCC had initially arraigned Ali alongside Christian Taylor and Nasaman Oil Services on July 26, 2012 on a 13 count charge for an alleged N2.2 billion fuel subsidy fraud.

    It later amended the charge in order to re-arraign the defendants.

    In the amended 13 count charge, the EFCC alleged that the defendants were involved in fuel subsidy fraud to the tune of about N4.4 billion.

    The commission alleged that the defendants had conspired to obtain the money from the Federal Government for the purported importation of 30.5million litres of Premium Motor Spirits (PMS).

    It said that the alleged offences contravened and punishable under sections 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act of 2006.

    The trial judge, Justice Onigbanjo, has however fixed November 28, 2012 for ruling on the bail application filed by Ogunbambo’s counsel, Mr Adebayo Adenipekun (SAN).

  • NLC condemns governors move to scuttle LGAs autonomy

    NLC condemns governors move to scuttle LGAs autonomy

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Monday flayed states governors for their alleged attempts to influence the National and State Houses of Assembly to  scuttle the calls for Local Government Areas (LGAs) autonomy at the ongoing  public hearings on the 1999 constitution review.
    Speaking  at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Harmattan School in Abuja, the congress’ President, Comrade Abduwahed Omar, said the governors want the status-quo to be maintained in spite of the unanimous call for autonomy local councils autonomy.
    He urged the National Assembly to ignore the governors and review allocation formula to provide more fund for the Local Government Areas to meet their obligations.
    According to Omar, if the Local Government Areas get their autonomy, the state governors will no longer complain that they augment the Local Government allocation for them to pay teachers’ and workers’ s salaries.
    His words: “It is very clear they are making efforts to ensure that to influence the National Assembly to maintain the status-quo as far as the issue of Local Government autonomy is concerned. But everybody knows that it is not a good thing and trend throughout this country is the same. Everybody is saying no to this joint account that there must be Local Government autonomy.
    “I think the National Assembly should listen to what the people are saying not what few people are saying because the stand to benefit.
    “Our position is clear and it is not different from that of the generality of Nigerians. As a tier of government, let Local Government be autonomous. In fact, they should even get more money so that even the issue of what the governors always say-they have to augment money for the Local Government to pay salaries of teachers and Local Government workers.
    ” The thing is simple, make Local  Government autonomous as a tier of government just as the state is autonomous so that that money they claim they augment, now readjust the allocation formula so that there will be enough money for Local Governments to carter for their own obligations.” Omar stated.

  • No bus plunged into the lagoon — LAGBUS, BRT

    No bus plunged into the lagoon — LAGBUS, BRT

     

    Operators of both the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) and LAGBUS bus services in Lagos have denied that a vehicle in their fleets was involved in any road mishap on Monday.

    The rumour mill was thick on Monday morning to the effect that ‘a fully loaded BRT bus crashed and plunged into the Lagoon from the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos’.

    The managing director of LAGBUS Assets Management Ltd., operators of LAGBUS buses, Mr Babatunde Disu, denied any such incident.

    Disu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that no bus in the LAGBUS fleet, as well as its sister transport company, BRT, was involved in any accident on Monday.

    “Some people can be mischievous! Nothing of such has happened and nobody is praying for such a disaster”, Disu said.

    In the same vein, Mr Kolawole Ojelabi,  a consultant with the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA)– regulators of the BRT– told NAN that the “malicious rumour was only the imagination of some weird people”.

    Ojelabi also prayed that no such evil would befall the transport sector in the state, either private or public. (NAN)

  • ICPC arraigns Head of Service staff over ‘ghost’ pensioners

    ICPC arraigns Head of Service staff over ‘ghost’ pensioners

    The ICPC on Monday arraigned two officials of the office of the Head of Service of the Federation before Justice Hussein Baba-Yusuf for corruptly enriching themselves with pension funds.

    They are are John Emmanuel and Gloria Philadjigbey.

    Emmanuel, a Data Processing Officer, was attached to the Pensions Reform Task Team (PRTT) while Philadjigbey worked as an Office Assistant in the same office. .

    The ICPC arraigned them on a 31-count charge bordering on dishonestly through insertion of “ghost” pensioners on the e-pension data base to perpetrate a N30 million fraud.

    The ICPC, is prosecuting Emmanuel, based on a petition from the Chairman of the Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina.

    It further alleged that Emmanuel used various banks where he kept some of the pension funds through electronic transfers.

    Both accused pleaded not guilty to the charges.

    The ICPC counsel, Mr Emmanuel Akaakohol, who did not object to an oral bail application by the counsel to the accused, Ms Chinwe Asonme, however, prayed the court to impose conditions that would ensure they attended the trial.

    Baba-Yusuf admitted the two to bail in the sum of N1 million each with two sureties in like sum.

    The sureties, the judge said, must be civil servants, residing within the FCT.

    He adjourned hearing to Feb. 19 for the prosecution to begin its case. (NAN)

  • Syrian attack ‘kills’ 10 children

    Syrian attack ‘kills’ 10 children

    Activists in Syria said a government jet has dropped a cluster bomb on a playground, leaving 10 children dead.

    Video posted on the internet showed children’s bodies on the ground with their mothers grieving over them.

    The children were killed when a MiG fighter hit a playground in the village of Deir al-Asafir, east of Damascus, opposition activists said.

    BBC says intensive fighting has continued around the capital. Rebel fighters captured at least part of an airbase on Sunday.

    Further footage of the playground attack showed what appeared to be cluster bomblets on the ground.

    In recent months there have been mounting accusations that the Syrian government has resorted to using cluster bombs as the conflict intensifies, although those claims have been denied.

    “None of those killed was older than 15 years old,” Abu Kassem, an activist in Deir al-Asafir told Reuters news agency.

    He said 15 people had been wounded in the attack.

    An unverified report by activist group Local Co-ordination Committees put the number of casualties across Syria on Sunday at 117, including 14 children.

     

  • Anambra moves to reduce maternal, child mortality

    Anambra moves to reduce maternal, child mortality

    The Anambra Government on Sunday said that it had started five-day vaccination to reduce the rate of maternal, neo-natal and child mortality in the state.

    The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Azubuike Nnalue, made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria in Awka.

    Nnalue said that the objective of the exercise was to give vitamin A vaccine to children within the age of six to 59 months as supplement, among other activities.

    According to him, pregnant mothers will be administered with iron foliate while children will be de-wormed and screened to find out their level of nutrition and vaccinated.

    He said that all the vaccines, including BCG, HBV and tetanus toxoid would be administered free, adding that they were safe.

    The permanent secretary assured the people that they would be available in all the government primary healthcare centres and other designated posts.

    Nnalue said that adequate funds had been made available for the exercise to achieve optimal result.

    He appealed to parents, guardians and caregivers to make the children available for the exercise.