The Nation Newspaper

Category: News Update

  • Jonathan orders security to find perpetrators of Mubi massacre

    Jonathan orders security to find perpetrators of Mubi massacre

    President Goodluck Jonathan has ordered security agencies in the country to fish out the perpetrators of independence day massacre in Mubi, Adamawa state.

    Besides, the president also ordered for full investigation into the killing with the aim of bringing the perpetrators to book.

    The directive was issued after the Minister of Education, Professor Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa’i, briefed Federal Executive Council (FEC) on the killings which has continued to elicit strong condemnation from the general public.

    The Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, President Jonathan disclosed this to newsmen on Wednesday.

    The president according to him described the killings as tragic, sad, barbaric and shocking and has therefore ordered security agencies to investigate the gruesome murder.

    “The President has directed Securuty agencies to investigate the matter and get to the root because this kind of incidence, where people are called out and shot is really shocking.

    “He directed that no stone should be left unturned in the bid by the law enforcement agencies to ensure that perpetrators of the mayhem are brought to book”.

    Abati said government regretted that the massacre occurred at a time when considerable progress was being made in tackling the security challenges in some parts of the country.

    43 were killed at Federal Polythecnic, Mubi, Adamawa State University, the School of Health Technology, Mubi and the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) on Monday, October 1st.

    The Federal Polythechnic, Mubi lost 26 students, 14 were killed at the other two higher institutions.

    Also, three other persons, including a retired soldier, a guard and father of a student, reportedly lost their lives too.

    The murdered students were said to have been called out by their killers. As a replacement for one of their targets, the gunmen were said to have killed the father.

    Commissioner of Police in Adamawa, Godfrey Okeke, confirmed that 26 corpses had been deposited in the mortuary.

    Okeke said the killers came with a hit list with which they identified their targets before gunning them down

  • Subsidy: committee members arraigned over alleged gratification

    Subsidy: committee members arraigned over alleged gratification

    Four members of the Presidential Committee on Fuel Subsidy Verification, who allegedly received gratification from the Integrated Oil and Gas Ltd., on Wednesday appeared in court on a three-count charge.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the committee members were docked at a Tinubu Magistrates’ Court in Lagos, along with three executives of the oil company, who allegedly offered them N1.5 million as gratification.

    The committee members are: Buhari Ganiyu (37), Alalade Abioye (30), Oni Oluwanishola (34) and Chukwujekwu Akabueze, whose age was not stated.

    Alalade and Akabueze are women.

    Those from the Integrated oil and gas are: the Managing Director, Anthony Ihenacho, 57; Assistant General Manager, Humphrey Nwosu, 44; and Financial Controller, Akinwusi Julius, 50.

    The three of them are males.

    All the defendants are standing trial for alleged conspiracy, offering and receiving of gratification.

    They, however, pleaded not guilty.

    The prosecutor, SP Asuquo Effiong, said that the company executives, had on August 30 at the company’s office at Marine Road, Apapa, given the money to the committee as gratification.

    He said that the committee members were being prosecuted for receiving the money in order to refrain from exercising their duties according to the rules.

    Effiong said that the offences contravened Sections 409, 64, and 63 (1)(a)(b) of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State, 2011.

    The magistrate, Mr Martins Owumi, earlier turned down their bail application on personal recognition, and later granted each of them bail in the sum of N500, 000 with two sureties in like sum.

    He adjourned the case till Nov. 10 for further hearing. (NAN)

  • Senate condemns Adamawa killings

    Senate condemns Adamawa killings

    The Senate on Wednesday in Abuja condemned the Adamawa  killings and urged the Federal Government to expeditiously apprehend the perpetrators of the act and bring them to book.

    The Senate took these decisions following a debate on matter brought through a motion sponsored by Sen. Bindowo Jibrilla (PDP-Adamawa).

    It will be recalled that more than 20 students of the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi, were killed on Monday by gunmen.

    Jibrilla had in his lead debate called on government to put in place machinery that would ensure that the perpetrators were brought to book.

    The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, said it was indeed a bad day for the country that such an act would be carried out on innocent students.

    “Some are the only children; some are the hopes of their families, while others are investments. You can imagine the pains to these families.

    Ekweremadu expressed worry that it was not an isolated case, but that it was being replicated everywhere in the South East, saying that it was evil and condemnable.

    “What happened in Mubi is a failure of security, whether it is robbery, or Boko Haram, it is the inability of security agents to secure the people.

    “It is painful that at this level of development, they are still playing politics with the lives of our people. If we cannot provide security, we provide nothing.

    He said if it meant moving all the Police and Army to the northern part of the country to save the people, it should be done.

    Sen. Mohammed Tukur (PDP-Adamawa) in his contribution said up till now, no one knew the cause of the mayhem which had led to a large number of people leaving Mubi toward Yola.

    “It is a matter of serious concern to every Nigerian. Nobody can say what led to the mayhem in Mubi, but I am aware that people are leaving Mubi in large numbers toward Yola.

    Tukur asked that urgent measures should be taken to curtail this dastardly act as it may extend to Yola and Jalingo, if care was not taken.

    In his contribution, Sen. Aweisu Kuta (PDP-Niger) expressed concern that the higher institutions were now being targeted.

    Kuta expressed worry that the country was gradually moving to anarchy and nobody seemed to have solutions to what was happening.

    “Some of these started as armed robbery and has now graduated to anarchy. In the whole of the north east, the economy is grinding to a halt,’’ he said.

    Kuta said that that was beyond a religious matter, adding that in spite of all the money spent annually on security, nobody had solutions to the problem.

    “ It is important to look at the security agents again, let them say why they are failing and if there is need to look for other solutions,’’ he said.

    On her part, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu (ACN-Lagos) said that Nigeria was a nation under siege, adding that the country had never experienced what it was currently going through.

    “ Everyone will notice that the rate of unemployment and poverty are high and for me, the present administration has not declared dividends of democracy to the people.

    The Senate President, David Mark, on his part said the act was unacceptable, adding that every state government in the country was responsible for providing security to the citizens of the state.

    “I think this is a very serious issue and if we don’t tackle the real issue and we begin to go on diversionary expeditions, then, we will be missing the point.

    “The security challenges before us in this country are grievious and we have to tackle them headlong.

    “The Mubi killings, even if it’s just attacking the symptoms now, those involved must be brought to book, ’’ he said.

    Mark was of the view that capital punishment be brought to the test in this particular case, to perhaps serve as a deterrent to others.

    “ I know that this is a democracy and with due respect to all of us, capital punishment is still in our statute. This is an opportunity for us to test it.

    `It will be used as deterrent to others and that has to be done as fast and as speedy as possible. Crimes take place in other countries but the reaction of the government is what matters.

    “ But when they happen in this country, after a week, we just try to forget it and wait for the next one to happen,’’he added.

    The Senate also observed one minute silence in honour of those who were killed in the Mubi shooting.(NAN)

  • NUT gives January 2013 deadline for new teachers’ salary

    NUT gives January 2013 deadline for new teachers’ salary

    The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) on Wednesday set January 2013 as deadline for states that have not implemented the new Teachers’ Salary Structure (TSS) to begin payment or face industrial disputes.

    The National President of the Union, Mr Michael Alogba-Olukoya, disclosed this in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

    The governors’ forum had in 2009 approved 27.5 per cent increase in salary of teachers in public schools, in line with the new Teachers Salary Scale (TSS).

    Alogba-Olukoya lamented that 18 states were yet to commence implementation of the TSS.

    He said that teachers’ welfare must always be held in high esteem, describing it as an important factor needed for the reform in the education sector.

    According to the NUT president, the union has displayed enough patience and understanding by suspending its recent strike over the delay in the implementation.

    Alogba-Olukoya observed that the affected governments were not showing concern to reciprocate the position of the teachers.

    “We only suspended the strike, based on the intervention of the Minister of Education, who promised to prevail on all the defaulting state governments over the issue.

    “However, we have started getting some commitments from some of the affected state governments who have promised to capture and commence the implementation of the TSS in their 2013 budgets.

    “We, therefore, want to appeal to these state governments to be honourable enough to honour this agreement which we went into in 2009,” he said.

    Alogba–Olukoya noted that teachers were not interested in strike because their position in national development was critical and should be treated with respect.

    He warned that the union would not be held responsible for actions taken over non-implementation of the TSS by January 2013.

    On the forth coming World Teachers Day, scheduled for Oct. 5, Alogba–Olukoya said that series of activities have been lined up for the celebration.

    “We have set aside a lot of activities to mark our day and celebrate ourselves in this part of the country because, truly we deserve to be celebrated.

    “We shall also be using that day to officially co-opt teachers of all the 104 Unity Colleges across the country into our fold.

    “You know that before now they had been seeing themselves as civil servants, even though they are all professional teachers,” he said.

    Alogba-Olukoya said that the union was hopeful that the Federal Government would use the celebration to come out with policies that would create the enabling environment for teachers to perform optimally. (NAN)

  • Governor’s wife pays fines to free 40 prisoners in Borno

    Governor’s wife pays fines to free 40 prisoners in Borno

    Forty inmates of the Maiduguri Maximum Security Prison regained their freedom on Wednesday after the wife of Borno governor, Mrs Kashim Shettima, paid about N600,000 fined them by the courts.

    The convicts had the fine option or serve their jail terms.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the money was paid through her pet project- the Support for Widows, Orphans and Tsangaya Children (SWOT).

    Speaking at the event, the SWOT Secretary, Mallam Abdulsalam Mohammed, said that Shettima was deeply touched by the plight of the inmates.

    “She was deeply touched by the plight of the inmates who are mostly young men.

    “Hence, she decided to pay the fine option so that they can regain their freedom.”

    Mohammed said the gesture was part of Nigeria’s 52 anniversary celebration.

    He also presented 50 bags of 50 kg rice to other inmates as part of the celebration.

    Mohammed said the foundation was established to provide support to the less privileged and vulnerable

    members of the society.

    Alhaji Yusuf Garba, the Deputy Controller of Prison in charge of the facility, thanked Shettima for the gesture and urged the freed inmates to be of good behaviour. (NAN)

  • Kukah blames nation’s under-development on military

    Kukah blames nation’s under-development on military

    Most Rev. Hassan Kukah, the Bishop, Catholic Diocese of Sokoto State, says the military administrations are responsible for the lack of meaningful development in Nigeria.

    Kukah told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Sokoto on Tuesday that the military only succeeded in destroying the solid foundation of the nation’s democracy.

    He said that other countries that had similar military incursions in leadership had a different experience.

    “But in our own case the greed of the military led to their intervention which destroyed the foundation laid by the nation’s founding fathers,’’ he said.

    He explained that the Nigeria military had no capacity to provide basic infrastructure to the governed for all the years they were in power.

    He said, “the greed of the military that led to the myriad of military coups destroyed even the foundation of the military itself and this truncated democracy in Nigeria.’’

    Kukah called on Nigerians to exercise patience as democracy was the only option needed to ensure rapid political growth of the country.

    He said that the country could have been better in the hands of civilian administrations rather than the military.

    “Patience, understanding and support from Nigerians are the only guarantees to the nation’s even socio-economic and political development.

    “It is only by so doing that Nigerians from all nooks and crannies could feel the impact of the dividends of democracy.’’ (NAN)

  • Mali Islamists execute accused murderer

    Islamist fighters in the northern Malian city of Timbuktu executed a man on Tuesday for murdering his neighbour in an application of sharia, Islamic law, the Islamist group and witnesses said.

    Armed Islamist groups, some with links to al Qaeda, have controlled the northern two-thirds of Mali since April, when they hijacked a rebellion launched by ethnic Tuareg separatists.

    They have since imposed sharia in many of the areas under their control.

    A spokesman for Ansar Dine, which controls Timbuktu, said the executed man was a member of the group.

    “He turned himself in…He was judged, condemned to death and executed this evening. He was shot in the same way he shot his victim. This is what sharia says,” Sanda Ould Boumana told Reuters.

    The United Nations Security Council last week voiced concern about human rights violations by rebel and militant groups in northern Mali.

    West African countries from regional bloc ECOWAS have requested a U.N. mandate for a possible military intervention in the vast, arid country.

    Progress has been hampered by infighting among politicians and military officials in the government-held south and disagreements among international partners.

     

  • FG to engage 1,500 workers in irrigation project

    FG to engage 1,500 workers in irrigation project

    The Federal Government will engage 1,500 workers through the Integrated Irrigation Dam Project in Eyekonrin-Araromi, Kwara, an official has said.

    The Managing Director of the Lower Niger River Basin Authority, Ilorin, Alhaji Abubakar Aduagba, announced this in Eyekonrin, Asa Local Government Area during the National Good Governance Tour to the project on Tuesday.

    Aduagba explained that the construction of the dam started in 2009 as constituency project of Mr. Ayo Adeseun, a member of House of Representatives, which was funded by the Federal Ministry of Water Resources.

    According to him, the 1.3 cubic metre dam will also provide 5,000 gallons of water per day for the people living in the area.

    He also said that the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) took advantage of the project to build structure in the area to train graduates in farming and fishing.

    “The dam, which was built by a local contractor, is now 100 per cent completed and the full irrigation processes will start next year.

    “The NDE is also taking the advantage of the project to build their structure in this area to train people in farming and fishing among others,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria quoted Aduagba as saying on Tuesday.

     

  • NRC goes after unruly passengers

    NRC goes after unruly passengers

    The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has unveiled plans to curb unpleasant behaviour among passengers on its inter-city trains, particularly in the Lagos area.

    Under the plan, announced by the Managing Director, Adeseyi Sijuwade, the corporation will combine punitive measures with moral suasion and public enlightenment.

    Sijuwade, who announced this in Lagos at the corporation’s Ebute Metta Junction (EBJ) terminus, while addressing passengers waiting to board the evening train to Ijoko, Ogun State, said the new measures would complement existing ones.

    “We are getting worried about the habit of some people, who instead of making a choice to travel in any of our afternoon and evening trains, and in our passenger compartments, choose to travel on specific trains, on our coach rooftops and on train engine running boards.

    “We have in the past given out stern warnings to them to desist from such acts. We have previously erected barriers over the track, leaving only a slim clearance over the trains; run jingles on the radio against these acts. We have equally put up notices for fines and or prosecution of those caught,” he said.

    Sijuwade observed that despite the corporation’s efforts, the unwholesome acts have persisted, adding that the NRC will henceforth emphasise punitive measures, with the assistance from men of the Railway Police Command. This, he said, will be complemented with enhanced education.

    “Our message today is to make one last appeal to these people. If you know them or if you can reach them, or if you can send word to them, please help us in this regard. We have increased the level of our policing and monitoring.

    “We will not only be physically prevent them from doing that,we will arrest anybody, who attempts to do that and the full weight of the law will apply. We cannot go above the law.

    “What we can do is to leave it in the hands of the law enforcers. In the next few days, you will witness very intense raiding operations to be directed by the Commissioner of Police, the Railway Command.  Those arrested will be subjected to prosecution as required by the law. And their fate will be decided by the court,” Sijuwade said.

    He said his corporation will continue to sensitize its customers in an effort to  reduce the growing of  accidents on level crossing in city centres.

    “What we are experiencing is a consequence of the long years of suspension of train services in the country. Things are getting better now. Train frequency is increasing. The number of passengers that we have to contend with is also increasing number of passengers.

    “Unfortunately a lot of the commuters are not fully conversant with the frequency of our services and traffic measures. For instance, we have level-crossing barriers, but we have people crashing into these barriers.

    “What we are doing is to continue to repair these barriers and ensure the level-crossing are manned not only by staff, who will not only control traffic, but also pull the barriers down when trains are approaching.

    “We are also coming up with more road signs for pedestrians and vehicle and improve on our awareness and campaign efforts to reduce accident cases,” he said.

    Sijuwade condemned the reported practice where some passengers reserve seats at the detriment of others. He assured of plans to provide modern and comfortable coaches for the corporation’s customers. This he said will be done with the on-going mass refurbishment of old coaches nationwide and the planned importation of more.

    He also disclosed plans by the corporation to extend its passenger services to cover areas currently being affected by flooding, to ease their transportation problem.

    Sijuade attributed the delay in the commencement of the Lagos to Kano train services to the ongoing repair works on Bride 73, a bridge located about 8 km South of the corporation’s Minna station.

    “It is true that as far back as July this year, we did say we were ready to extend our services from Ilorin (Kwara State) all the way to Kano. But unfortunately, having repaired the Akere Bridge (in Niger State) which had been very problematic for years and it was fit for usage, we now again, had challenges with another bridge.

    “This is as a result of the heavy rains we have had in recent time, which has worsened the situation. Since we do not want to compromise safety, we have had to put all further repair works on the bridge on hold pending the end of the raining period to enable us give it the attention it required.

    “We are as we speak, planning to extend our services from Ilorin to Zugeru, near Minna. This is intended to alleviate the suffering currently being experienced by the commuting public on that corridor. We believe by extending our services across the River Niger, those affected by the current wave of flooding will be assisted.

  • 2013 Budget: Reps recommend $82 per barrel oil benchmark

    2013 Budget: Reps recommend $82 per barrel oil benchmark

    The House of Representatives has recommended that the oil benchmark for the 2013 budget be increased from $75 to $82 – a difference of $7 per barrel.

    The joint House committee on Finance, Legislative Budget and Research, National Planning and Economic Development and Loans, Aids and Debt in a report obtained by The Nation on Tuesday, recommended that “the oil benchmark of $75/barrel should be increased to $82/barrel.”

    The joint committee had carried out a review of the 2013-2015 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) of the Federal Government based on the mandate the House.

    One of the reasons the House gave for rejecting the proposed October 4 date for the presentation of the 2013 budget by President Goodluck Jonathan was that it was yet to study the MTEF and FSP submitted to the House by the Executive.

    According to the report, the increase in the benchmark “will lead to an increase in oil and Gas revenue from N7, 250.516 billion to N7, 963.436. The $7 increase in the benchmark will increase Federal Government share of revenue from N3, 561.02 billion to N4, 137.31 billion.”

    The report further recommends: “The revenue target of the Nigeria Customs Service should be increased from N914.366 billion to N1, 018.310 trillion, while the target for FIRS and Federal Government Independent Revenue (FGNIR) could be retained as proposed in the document.

    This increase will make Total Non-Oil revenue to rise from N3,298.46 billion to N3,523.82 billion.

    “The deficit portion of the budget should be reduced from N1, 307.19 trillion to N791.26 billion. Internal borrowing should be reduced from N727.19 billion to N381.25 billion, representing 52 per cent decrease. This is to enhance domestic access to credit by the private sector.