The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Federal Capital Territory

  • Winners emerge at the Korea-Nigeria drawing competition

    Winners have emerged at the 10th edition of Korea-Nigeria drawing and painting competition organized for primary schools in the Federal Capital Territory by the Korean Cultural Centre of the Korean Embassy in collaboration with Nigeria.

    The award ceremony which held on Tuesday in Abuja at the Korean Cultural Centre witnessed the crowning of Ruwo Wodi of Science Primary School, Kwali as the 1st place winner among the 150 pupils who participated in the competition.

    The Director of the Korean Cultural Centre, Lee Jin Su, in his remark said that the judges were particularly impressed by the level of awareness and creativity of the pupils in bringing interpretation and meaning to the theme of the competition ‘freedom’ through drawing and painting.

    “There was a lot of difficulty in selecting the winners because we had many wonderful pictures submitted by the pupils; the judges had a hard time picking the best.

    “It is however important to let the pupils know that apart from natural gifts and talents, consistency in practicing their art and craft is very important.”

    The Director of FCT UBE-Board, Dr. Adamu Jatau Noma, in his welcome address, said that the event which began a decade ago has been gradually institutionalized in our schools, and have been of tremendous benefits.

    Read Also: Pupils shine at Nigeria-Korea poetry contest

    Represented by the Deputy Director of public/private partnership of UBEB, Hajia Habeeb Barau, Adamu said that: “The cultural centre has a burning zeal to promote bilateral relations between Nigeria and Korea and this was clearly shown in the theme of this year’s competition ‘freedom’.

    “We cannot underestimate the role of mutual understanding in the economic and social development of any country.

    “The competition provides opportunity for cultural integration and understanding which an integral component of international relations is.

    “It is important to note that the transformation that is going on in the education sector in the vocational and technical education, one will quickly infer that drawing and painting would go a long way in preparing the pupils and instilling in them the sense of creativity, hence, leading to self-reliance and economic development.”

    The President of FCT Art Association, Mallam Audu Sanni, commended the Korean Cultural Centre for creating a window for pupils to express their innate creativity, hence, polishing and horning their talents.

    He however, urged teachers to improve on themselves and to utilize the opportunity offered to touch the lives of their students.

    The drawing and painting competition had 35 primary schools participating with a total of 150 pupils. Ten schools were selected for the final stage which produced Habila Jehoshaphat of LEA primary school, Peyi in 3rd place; Edache Damian of Smart Academy Abuja in 2nd place; while Ruwo Wodi of Science Primary School, Kwali, was the overall best in 1st place.

    Apart from the prizes given to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd winners, there were other consolation prizes for the 4th to 10th place finanlists.

     

  • ‘Why we specialised in robbing only women’

    It was the end of road for three suspected members of a robbery gang, which specialised in snatching exotic vehicles from women in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja.

    The suspected robbers were arrested by operatives of the Inspector General of Police Special Intelligence Response Team(IRT).

    The trio , identified as Ego Ike, Obinna Igwe and Adamu Nuhu, were  arrested at their hideout in Abuja and Kaduna State, after they robbed a female staff of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS)of her vehicle, while she was returning home from work.

    The suspects were said to have taken the vehicle, a 2016 Toyota Corolla, to Katsina State, before it was smuggled into Niger Republic.

    Nigerien policemen, however, accosted the gang and impounded the vehicle, while a member of the gang identified simply as Yellow, was arrested as Ike, Igwe and Nuhu, escaped back into the country.

    The owner of the car was said to have reported to the police, following which the Inspector General of Police asked the IRT to fish out the bandits for diligent prosecution.

    Some victims of the gang provided information that aided the operatives in apprehending three members of the gang, leaving behind the ring leader, identified simply as Linus, who is still at large.

    On interrogation, the suspects explained that they targeted women because women can’t put up stiff resistance like  men.  The suspects also disclosed that most of the vehicles they robbed were mainly Toyota products because of the huge demand for it in the market.

    Ike, 30, was quoted as saying that he took to crime because he lost all his life savings  to gambling.

    He said: “ I am  a native of Anambra State and I  went into crime because I  lost the N6 million I was using to run my  clothing business to gambling. I am a primary school dropout. I was formerly a spare parts  dealer at the Ladipo market, Lagos, but I  moved to Abuja in search of  greener pasture and when I couldn’t find my bearing, I pressured my father to sell his  only land in the village and he sent me to Istanbul Turkey, with the money.  I stayed in Istanbul for three years; I worked and saved  close to N6 million. Then I started importing clothes into Nigeria.  I was supplying several shops around Abuja and Lagos State, but in 2016, one of my friends introduced me to a sport betting game and I lost all my money.

    ‘’My resident permits in Istanbul expired and I had no money to renew it. I became frustrated and I met Linus in one of my brother’s houses in Jai area of Abuja and we became friends. He introduced me to an armed robbery gang  which had Obinna and Yellow as members and we stole a Toyota RAV4 Sport Utility Vehicle from a woman who was driving into her house in Shafar Road, Abuja,and we took the car to Kaduna.

    ‘’We gave the car to Nuhu, and he offered to pay N200,000. We also accosted another woman in Buhari area of Abuja. Another woman driving a Toyota Matrix and stopped in front of a shop to buy something; we approached her, snatched the car from her and  took it to Kaduna.

    Read Also: Masari’s wife donates rice to women

    ‘’We were paid N270,000 for the car. We didn’t know that the woman who owned the Toyota Matrix works with the Federal Road Safety Corps. The third car we stole was also from a woman who was driving a Toyota Corolla car at Kado Estate in Abuja. We used Yellow’s car to collect the woman’s car. We blocked the woman’s car with Yellow’s car and collected it from the woman. We took the car that night to Niger Republic, but at the Katsina border, Linus and I came down from the car, took a bike and crossed into the country, while Yellow and a man, who I don’t know, took the car into Niger Republic but the Nigerien police stopped them and arrested them.  We targeted women because we don’t use guns and women are an easy catch and most of them are not security conscious. We target Toyota cars because they are easy to sell and the demand for it is on the high side.”

    Confessing, Nuhu, 19, a native of Kaduna State, said: “I attended only primary education. I was 17-year-old when I started stealingvcars. There is this man known as ‘MD’, who I met when I was selling phones in Kaduna State.  ’MD’ is one of my customers who normally buys phones from me and there was this time 2017, when I was attacked by armed robbers and all my phones were stolen and I was stranded.

    ‘’I approached ‘MD’ to assist me because he was always having money and ‘MD’ told me that since I know how to drive, I will be useful to his company. He did not tell me what his company does, rather, ‘MD’ started giving me cars to deliver for him to several states and he was paying between N30,000 to N40,000.

    ‘’He (‘MD’) gave me a master key and showed me how to use it. The first car I stole with the master key was a Toyota Carina and I sold the car in a market in Tuniga Maji, along Kaduna Abuja Expressway. I took the car to Kaduna and gave it to one Mohammed Garuba and he bought it from me for N120, 000. Later, ‘MD’ called me and asked me to meet one Yellow and asked me to collect a vehicle from him, but the vehicle had an engine problem then and we contacted Garuba who  bought it for N180,000.

    He added: ‘’Then I stole three other Toyota Camry cars from the market at Tuniga Maji area along the Kaduna Abuja Expressway and  sold the three Toyota Camry cars for N420,000 to one Alhaji in Sokoto State.

    ‘MD’ also gave me four Toyota Corolla cars to deliver to one Abdul, who is a middle man between car thieves in Nigeria and receivers in Niger Republicepublic. Later in September 2018, Yellow introduced me to his own gang members, who were operating mainly in Abuja with guns, and one of them known as Linus, though he is yet to be arrested, called me and said he was coming with some of his brothers from Benue State who were armed with AK47 rifles and they wanted to carry out a robbery operation in that state but they didn’t know the terrain.

    ‘’I asked Ego, who was also their gang member, to call me, while I was waiting for them, the police showed up and I was arrested.”

  • How Abuja policemen raped, assaulted us, by convicted prostitutes

    Some ladies, who were convicted by a mobile court for alleged prostitution, on Thursday painted gory details of how they were harassed, molested and assaulted by some men of the Nigeria Police in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

    The ladies, who narrated their ordeal to reporters in Abuja, alleged that policemen attached to Utako, Life Camp and Gwarimpa police stations in Abuja, the nation’s capital, raped and physically assaulted them in custody.

    They also claimed that they were compelled to plead guilty when they were arraigned before the court on Monday by the police.

    They all spoke anonymously for fear of being victimised by the police while facing the wall.

    The ladies said they were arrested at a night club, thrown into a cell and repeatedly tear-gassed.

    A fair complexioned victim explained that a policeman attached to the Utako Police station identified as ‘Yellow,’ hit her with a baton and horse whip several times, injuring her arm and face during the assault.

    Her experience was corroborated by her co-convicts who lamented the alleged emotional abuse and physical torture they suffered while in police cell last week.

    Another victim, who claimed to have been arrested at a shopping plaza, said the policemen attached to the FCT ministerial task raped her when she could not pay them.

    The lady said she was held down by three policemen while one of them raped her without a condom.

    She also said two other girls were raped by the same policemen.

    She said: “Three of us were brought out of the van and raped by the policemen because we had no money to give them.

    “We were raped behind the National War College. They pushed me to the ground and held me there while one of them raped me. He didn’t wear a condom.

    Read Also: Civil Defence uncovers prostitutes’ recruitment centre

    “The other girls were also raped by two others one of who used a pure water sachet as condom.”

    Another victim said she was picked up by the police at a hotel where she attended a birthday party.

    She said: “I was invited to a birthday party at an apartment in a hotel. I came to the reception to get bottled water, a woman held my hands and pushed me out of the hotel and I saw a lot of people with cameras and some with mobile phones taking my pictures and shooting a video of the arrest.’’

    An activist, Dorothy Njemanze, during the briefing, also narrated her experience in the hands of policemen who allegedly molested her.

    Njemanze said she was awarded N6 million damages by the ECOWAS court in 2017.

    She lamented that the Federal Government had refused to pay the damages up till date.

    The acting FCT police spokesman, ASP Gajere Danjuma, said the commissioner of police was aware of the allegations which he said were being investigated.

  • Bauchi lawyers query timing of Bauchi Governor-Elect’s arraignment

    A group, Body of Bauchi Lawyers of Conscience (BOBOLAC), has faulted the failed arrangement of Bauchi Governor- Elect, Bala Mohammed by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) on Monday before the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, High Court, Maitama in Abuja over alleged failure to declare his assets.

    The group described the EFCC’s action as a threat to democracy, alleging foul play in the timing of the arraignment which is a month before the Governor- Elect’s inauguration on May 29.

    Chief Convener of the group Shippi Rabo, in a statement, said: ” Couldn’t the arraignment be arranged and prepared in a more responsible way and at such a practically better time than a day when the Governor -Elect was already scheduled to attend to crucial matters like the Nigeria Governors Forum’s organised induction for incoming Governors which held at the Presidential Villa,Abuja, a meeting with the Central Inauguration Committee handling plans for  his inauguration as Executive Governor of Bauchi come May 29th 2019? ”

    Read Also: Bauchi election tribunal commences sittings

    “The EFCC had over 10 months to file charges against the Governor-elect after Justice Talba withdrew from the case following his elevation to the Appeal court but they didn’t.

    “Why did it take EFCC nearly a whole year to have the case reassigned to a new court or Judge?

    “To what extent has the EFCC made progress in prosecuting the case considering that the first arraignment took place almost two years ago?”

    Shipi, who presented the position of the group, added that the latest action of the commission constituted an affront, assault and also represent a grave threat to the survival of democracy.

    He therefore called on all Nigerians to rise in unison against the act saying: ” If really the Prosecuting Counsel of the commission, Wahab Shittu would want us to believe that it has nothing to do with politics, then for obvious reasons and certainty justice of the matter, we should not be talking about arraigning Bauchi State Incoming Governor at this point in time”

  • Building collapse: SON to regulate building materials

    The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has begun moves to check incessant buildings collapse  across the country by regulating weights and measurements of building materials.

    Its Director-General, Osita Aboloma, stated this at a workshop in Abuja on the importance of metrology for quality assurance of products, services and industrial development.

    He said some buildings collapsed because the measurements and weights of building materials used for it were not up to standard.

    According to him, when you have the wrong measurement, things would go wrong. He explained that sometimes builders under-use  rods or blocks. ‘’But when these are accurate, you are sure of what you are doing,” he said.

    Aboloma, who was represented by SON’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Coordinator, Mr. Gambo Dimka, said architects, engineers and related professionals in the built environment, must ensure that the measurements given were  what they used.

    “If the architect says you should use four-by-five windows, don’t go to a quack who will construct less than what the architect specified,” he advised.

    “The SON Act No.14 of 2015 covers all aspects of metrology to ensure the protection of business, safety, wealth and every other aspect of Nigerians’ lives,” he said.

  • 19 children from orphanage evacuated

    The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Social Development Secretariat (SDS) on Thursday evacuated 19 children from Famouskids Orphanage Home, in Tungan Maje area of Zuba, Gwagwalada Area Council, Abuja over alleged negligence and other nefarious acts.

    Also, the SDS officials, accompanied by joint team of security personnel, stormed and sealed off the premises of the orphanage, which also runs a school in the area.

    Famouskids orphanage home had 25 children as inmates but only 19 ages 4-17 years were around during the evaluation exercise.

    Speaking with newsmen during the exercise, SDS’s Acting Secretary, Hajiya Safiya Umar, said the action followed a request by the Police authorities in the Area, asking the Secretariat to evacuate the children from the hitherto orphanage home.

    Umar added following information from the police the owner of the orphanage, Nkechi Udoh had abandoned the Home, the SDS was given a directive to pick up kids and transfer them to Government facility till when she returns from wherever she went to.

    According to her, preliminary report revealed most of the children were brought to Abuja from Cross Rivers and Akwa Ibom states.

    They were reportedly left since February, 2019 in the care of a 23 year old, who claimed to be an undergraduate of the University of Abuja.

    “The police wrote to SDS to come and evacuate the children, meaning there are a lot of things happening in orphanages, from our investigations here, we have come to realize that there are other linkages with some other orphanages in Abuja.

    “It appears it is a big business in orphanages, which the government is expected to look into it.

    “It is quite unfortunate that people are now using orphanages as their own personal businesses.

    “They are using the children as personal business; here, a mother deposited her two children voluntarily and is asking the woman to give her children and she has taken to her heels.

    READ ALSO: Association condemns abuse of children in orphanage homes

    “As we are here the police are asking us to resolve the issues, we don’t know which issue, the police here in Tundan Maje, the area command reached out to us. And a child is missing and one child means a lot, to the world.

    “Orphanages are not meant to sell children reliably from the police that the child might have been sold and she is in Lagos, which they are now trying to track,” she explained.

    She further lamented: “It is bothering us that the orphanages in FCT are abusing the law, they are only supposed to keep the children only for three month and then give them out either for adoption or fostering.”

    On his part, one Edet Rapheal, who claimed to be working with the orphanage as a volunteer, denied knowledge of the missing child from the Home.

    He said: “I don’t know anything about the missing child, the first time I heard I was arrested and taken to the police station and they questioned me about the child.

     “I told them (the police) I don’t know anything about the missing child. I remember the first girl but I have never met the missing girl.”

  • Nightmare on Kubwa roads

    Residents of Kubwa, one of the satellite towns in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), are calling on the Bwari Area Council, and the Federal Government to do something about the deplorable roads in the town.

    The Bwari Area Council is one of the largest Area Councils in the FCT. Kubwa alone is very large and has so many link roads. But for the past six to 10 years, no major roadwork has been done in Kubwa town, leaving the roads in terrible condition. There is no road whatsoever in Kubwa presently that is good enough for motorists.

    Residents are speculating that a lot of the bad roads are used for robbery attacks at nights. Gado Nasko Road from the Federal Housing down to the NNPC is quite scary at night, there are areas there where the potholes are really deep making the driver to slow down completely or risk damaging the car. It had been speculated that armed robbers take advantage of such areas to snatch cars from their owners.

    Sample the potholes. There is one at Gado Nasko Road, another before Nandrem Supermarket, and yet another death trap before the Chemzo Supermarket. Driving towards the Kubwa High Court there is another very bad pothole. There are still others on your way to NNPC before Expressway.

    By the Kubwa Federal Housing is the greatest shame of Kubwa where there is this very bad road. If it rains that area is terrible and messy. There is no way motorists can avoid that road because it is very strategic. As you approach the federal housing to turn into Kubwa before the Nandrem eatery you hit the very rough road. Once in a while some good Samaritans will look for stones and sand to pour on the road, making it better for a few weeks and then it goes back to its very deplorable state.

    The federal government did a very good work on Kubwa Expressway down to the very doorpost of some houses in Kubwa, but expectedly they cut Kubwa Federal Housing Junction out, because it is not in their plan. It is the duty of the Bwari Area Council to do the job which of course they have turned their eyes away from.

    The road from the federal housing down to Total petrol station is manageable though, but the road opposite Zenith Bank linking the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is a terrible eyesore. In dry season it is terrible, in rainy season it is worse. Let’s not forget the fact that these roads have residential areas around them, so we are also looking at the health hazard it is causing.

    The question on the lips of residents is do we really have area councils, do we have chairman and councilors in these area councils? It is understandable that they generate revenue, have budgets for the area council, what are they using the money for?

    The Nation spoke with business owners in Kubwa and other parts. Mallam Aliyu Dutse, a tailor, said the untarred road with potholes everywhere really affects their business.

    He said, “Most of my customers don’t like coming to the shop, it is even better now during the rainy season. As you can see, we are even trying to clear the gutter to create passage for water, the drainage is full with all kinds of dirt, but our major concern is for the area council to come and repair the roads.

    “We shop owners come together to ensure the drainage is clean, if we do not do it when the rain starts you cannot pass the road at all, in fact residents are the worst hit because the rainwater will start entering people’s apartments. With this kind of roads no customer will want to patronise us on this street.

    “We expect the Bwari local government to come and repair the road because they collect revenue from all shop owners on these roads. They collect ten thousand naira from us every year. I want to categorically say that no work has been done on the roads in the past five to ten years. The most annoying part is we are put under intense pressure to pay this revenue money.

    “Once in a while we come together as shop owners, task ourselves and clean up the place just for it to be habitable, we empty our dustbins ourselves, there was a time the local government council people came to say we should be paying one thousand every month so they can be emptying our dustbins, they started it quite okay but after a month they stopped and that was the end.”

    A pub owner, who gave his name as Ezenwa Okwudili, said the road has been this bad for over five years now.

    He said, “The Area Council staff came here last year 2018 to inspect the road, after inspection they did not come back again. I pay twenty thousand every year for revenue, ten thousand for liquor license and ten thousand for revenue, yet nothing has been done on the road.

    “To me I see it as high level corruption from the local government operators. We are in the month of March, by next month now no vehicle can pass this road again, it is that bad. All businesses on this road are put on hold until after the rainy season.

    My appeal to the local government council is for them to try and work on the road before the rain starts. We really do need help on this roads, there is no way we can continue paying such revenue if the road still remains like this , the local government chairman should please look seriously into this issue and do the road for us.

    The Bwari Area Council Chairman, Musa Dikko while presenting the 2018 proposal of over N4.7 billion budget, earmarked N2.4billion for capital expenditure in the council with works and housing gaining the highest amount of N1,046,311,952

    Dikko in his presentation tagged this budget, “budget of consolidation” calling it the people’s budget pointing that his administration placed more emphasis on capital projects to meet the needs of the people.

    The Nation had on two occasions put a call to the Chairman who said “Go ahead and write anything you want to write; can’t you see the work we are doing around the area council, all you people do is carry the negative part of news, please don’t call my line again.”

    The question is if money has been earmarked for capital projects like working on roads within the area council, where are the roads that have been worked on, what did the council use the money for, obviously there was no work done. In most parts of Kubwa the roads are really bad yet the Chairman is not doing anything or saying anything about it. The so much money collected for revenue what is it used for?  In his swearing in speech, he assured the people of Bwari Area Council that by the mandate given to him to represent them, he and his team will d do their best to fulfill all the promises made by their councilors during their campaign.  Are the promises fulfilled?

  • NSCDC sues for peace over death of officer

    Following the death of Ochigbo Jumbo Ogar (ASCI), an officer formerly serving at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command, the commandant in charge of the command, Solomon Iyamu, has appealed to his officers and men to take the incident as an act of God despite the fact that the unjust killing was perpetrated by men of a sister agency.

    He made the statement while addressing the personnel at his Wuse Zone 5, Office, Abuja, after receiving the Commissioner of Police FCT Command, Mr. Bala Ciroma, who paid him a condolence visit to commiserate with the commandant and his officers and men over the loss of one of their colleagues.

    According to a statement he personally signed and made available to The Nation, Iyamu commended the Commissioner of Police for his prompt response to the situation which led to both of them visiting the Asokoro General Hospital to get first-hard information of the incident which in the aftermath led to the order of immediate detention of the police officers involved in the heinous crime by the Commissioner of Police.

    Read also: Why cult killings can’t stop in Edo, by suspect

    He told the personnel that the Commandant General had assured him that he is currently on top of the situation and the matter is being seriously addressed by the CG and the Inspector of General of Police, Alh. Abubukar Adamu, with the resolve that the perpetrators will be brought to book and the family will get justice.

    The commandant stated that the CG, Abdullahi Gana Muhammadu, had also directed all personnel of the corps to be law-abiding and not take laws into their hands in the name of any vindictive action as the matter is under control and there is need to exercise restraint despite the flying tempers among personnel in order to avoid an escalation of the situation because there is no existing rancour between the police and NSCDC.

    In his words, Iyamu said: ‘There is no alternative to peace. Therefore, all of you should continue to see the police as our partners in progress with the mindset for cooperation and synergy towards achieving our common national goal.

  • Police detain two officers for allegedly killing NSCDC personnel

    The Police Command in the Federal Capital Territory ( FCT) says it has taken into custody two of its officers who allegedly killed an officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Nyanya, Abuja.

    Late Ogar Jombo, an Assistant Superintendent of the NSCDC, was allegedly killed on Wednesday in the presence of his wife and children, when he was stopped by the policemen for alleged violation of traffic rules.

    The Commissioner of Police in the FCT, Mr Bala Ciroma, who confirmed the arrest and detention of the officers to the News agency of Nigeria (NAN) said that investigation was ongoing to unravel the cause of the incident.

    Read also: We didn’t kill any suspect in Ondo, says NSCDC

    “There was a fracas between the senior officer and the policemen, we have commenced investigation and we will not know what really happened until after the investigation,’’ Ciroma said.

    NAN gathered from a relation of the deceased, who pleaded anonymity that the late Jombo was taking his children to school in the morning when the unfortunate incident occurred. (NAN)

  • FCT to developers: stop arbitrary change of land use

    Developers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been warned to desist from arbitrary change of land use or face prosecution and demolition.

    Director, FCT Department of Development Control, Muktar Galadima gave this warning while speaking to a section of the media during an inspection of a property it had earlier sealed.

    The property, Crystal Oasis Limited, a beverage factory still under construction, after Gwagwalada Motor Park in Area 1, got approval for a warehouse, but has almost completed construction of a water producing company on the same location.

    Galadima insisted that unlawful change of land use by developers without recourse to the appropriate authority remained a serious contravention of building rules and guidelines, and was capable of attracting sanctions, including demolition if necessary conditions were not met.

    The enforcement team of Development Control also visited and inspected other places, including Trinity Garden Wuse and Junkyard -near Musa YarAdua Center, and warned them against abusing development control guidelines.

    He also used the opportunity to warn other developers and residents to always contact the Development Control department before commencing on any form of development in the nation’s capital.

    James Babagbale, who spoke for the contractor handling the project confirmed change of landuse, but said that it had go-ahead from the Ministry of Environment.