The Nation Newspaper

Tag: abscond

  • Abscond for seven days, be rusticated, Commandant warns cadets

    •As NDA matriculates 470

    As 470 cadets were matriculated into the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) yesterday, the Commandant of the Academy, Major General Adeniyi Oyebade, has warned the officer cadets not to abscond from the Academy, otherwise, they will face dire consequences.

    Oyebade gave the warning during the matriculation ceremony for cadets of 70th Regular Course at the academy’s permanent site in Kaduna yesterday, charging them to be of good character, principle and integrity.

    According to the Commandant, “If you abscond from Academy for seven days and you are gone. If you leave for three days you will be demoted.”

    He also advised parents not to make unnecessary demands from their children which might make them lose focus in the academy.

    He said, “The officers that we need in battle must have good disciplines, character and integrity. If you don’t have all these, your men will not listen to you. You were chosen out of the over 10,000 candidates and women who competed for the admission, so I want you to be among the officers and generals who will lead the country successfully in the future.

    “Your character must be your guiding principle. The military is not about coercion but a free choice.”

    He said the standard of the NDA is being improved upon on the daily basis and as such, assured that the NDA will provide the cadets with the best skills required of any military formation in the world.

    The Special Guest of Honour, Brigadier General Tai Pedro advised the cadets to take every bit of their military and academic training very seriously, saying that such are the necessary ingredients needed to succeed in their career.

     

  • Don’t abscond, Uja appeals to pilgrims

    The Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC) Rev. Tor Uja has told intending pilgrims the futility of abscondment.

    Abscondment, he said, reduces them and the nation’s image.

    He spoke last week in Abuja while playing host to the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa.

    He explained that abscondment limits one’s capacity and voice.

    According to Uja: “Abscondment is not a good thing for anybody. I want Nigerians to stop abscondment; Nigeria gives us a better life, a good life.”

    The NCPC boss stated the Commission faces the challenge of tackling abscondment because the Israeli authorities give liberty to everyone with a valid visa as a matter of policy.

    He explained even when a potential absconder is detected, there is nothing much the Commission could do as long as the pilgrim still has a valid visa.

    To however assured “we are still working with the government of Israel to see how some of these things can be fine-tuned”.

    He tasked the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora to call on Nigerians in Diaspora to assist the Commission to fund pilgrimage.

    He pointed out Israel stabilised a nation through Diaspora funding.

    Uja further stated the Commission would have been involved in other pilgrimage destinations aside the current three but for the challenges or dangers in some other destinations.

    Dabiri- Erewa congratulated the NCPC boss for his well-deserved appointment.

    She stated that she had observed the dynamism Uja brought to bear in the Commission.

    She promised “my office will like to work with your Commission. There are a lot of Nigerians that work in Israel legitimately”.

  • Absconded Ondo bride calls Parents from Osogbo

    The bride who allegedly absconded from her wedlock in Ondo town last Saturday, Miss Taiwo Orimoloye has reportedly called her parents from Osogbo, the Osun State Capital.

    Taiwo disappointed her husband to-be, family members and many guests including traditional rulers who attended the wedding.

    Her whereabouts was unknown on the day she was to be at the altar to sign her matrimonial vow with her prospective husband.

    A resident of Christ Land area in Oka, Ondo, where Taiwo’s parents live, who spoke on condition of anonymity said the absconded bride had called her parents on a different telephone line, informing them of her destination.

    According to the resident, “She has called her parents on a telephone line on Monday where she told them that she was in Osogbo. Her call, as a matter of fact has doused the tension in her family. Everybody in the family is now happy that she is hale and hearty.

    “But the reason for taken such an action is still unknown to us and we did not know what she discussed with her parents. Her father has gone to meet her in Osogbo and we believe all is well with her.”

    Sources however denied the report that the bride ran away with another man on the fateful day because she wanted to dump her long time future partner.

    He said the lady was a good Christian and could not do such a thing.

    “We don’t know what actually happened that day, but I am sure Taiwo did not elope with another man, she is a good and devout Christian, she has a good Christian background, her father is a founder of a church, she is not a wayward girl.

    “We did not know any other man with her except Abiodun and they have been coming a long way. So the reason for that action is what no one cannot explain but she cannot abscond with another man.” The source said emphatically.

  • Driver arraigned for absconding with employer’s bus

    Driver arraigned for absconding with employer’s bus

    The Police on Thursday arraigned a 33-year-old driver, Musiliu Musa, in an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court, for allegedly absconding with his employer’s bus, valued at N850, 000.

    Musa, of no fixed address is standing trail on a one-count charge of stealing.

    The prosecutor, Sgt. Kehinde Olatunde, told the court that the accused committed the offence on April 24, at Oregun, Lagos.

    Olatunde said the Ford bus belonged to one Mr. Anthony Osas.

    “The accused bolted with his employer’s bus to an unknown destination,’’ he said.

    The prosecutor said that the accused was employed in March but disappeared with the bus in April.

    “The complainant gave the accused his bus which was registered to ply Ojota to Ikeja area of Lagos.

    “The accused, who only worked for a month took the bus in the morning as usual and disappeared with it into thin air, all efforts made to locate the accused and the bus proved unsuccessful,’’ he said.

    “The complainant received information that the bus was seen in Sagamu in Ogun, he got there and saw the bus, but it was damaged beyond repairs.

    “The complainant was told by the residents of that area that the driver of the bus was over-speeding and had an accident.

    “The accused was later arrested after four-month of his disappearance,’’ the prosecutor said.

    The offence, Olatunde said, contravened Section 285 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

    Section 285 prescribes a three- year jail term as penalty for offenders.

    The accused pleaded not guilty to the charge and was granted bail in the sum of N200, 000 with two sureties in like sum.

    The Magistrate, Mr. Aka Bashorun, adjourned the case till Sept. 21 for mention.

  • Team Ondo suffers setback, as some athletes abscond

    Team Ondo suffers setback, as some athletes abscond

    With just six days to the commencement of the 18th National Sports Festival (NSF), some of Team Ondo’s elite athletes have absconded abroad, according to a top official.

    Bola Akinbobola, Special Adviser on Sports to the Ondo State Governor, disclosed this during a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos.

    Akinbobola, however, dismissed insinuations that the `unceremonious departure’ of the seasoned athletes could hamper Team Ondo’s chances at the “Eko 2012’’ fiesta.

    “We lost some athletes; they travelled abroad for greener pastures, but we believe that our athletes on ground will prove their worth at the festival.

    “So when we carried out an assessment on Monday with the governor, we perceived that we may not be able to do better than we did in Port Harcourt in 2011.For most of them, it is their first competition and the enthusiasm is there. They have shown us that they are ready to take the centre-stage,’’ he said.

    The special adviser went on to say that while the departure of the elite athletes was regrettable, Team Ondo would strive to maintain its consistency at the NSF.

    “ We will ensure that we maintain our position and possibly push hard to surpass our feat at the 2011 Garden City Games in Port Harcourt. Though most of our athletes will be participating in the festival for the first time, we will still expose them to the rigours of the competition,’’ Akinbobola said.

    NAN reports that Team Ondo finished in the fourth position at the 2011 Games in Port Harcourt with 30 gold, 32 silver, and 43 bronze medals. Team Ondo is expected to arrive in Lagos on Nov. 24.