The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Garki

  • Police nab ex-banker over N14m theft

    The FCT Police Command has arrested one Emmanuel Emeka Onuma, for allegedly stealing the sum of N14million from a bank ATM lobby.

    The 34 years old suspect who was a former staff of a new generation bank located in Garki, Abuja said he worked in the bank for about eleven years before his unjust dismissal in August.

    He said he stole the money because he was not paid a dime after his dismissal despite the number of years he worked for the bank.

    After stealing the money, the suspect according to the Police converted some of the money to foreign currency at Abuja and Kaduna for ease of movement.

    The suspect was arrested and paraded alongside 14 other suspects for armed robbery, murder, motorcycle snatching and other crimes.

    Giving details of his arrest, the FCT Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations, ACP Valentine Olumese said: “On 1st November, 2018 in furtherance with an on-going investigation, Police Operatives attached to Garki Division arrested one Emmanuel Emeka Onuma m‘ 34 years old who broke into the ATM lobby of a bank Iocated in Garki on 19th October, 2018 at about 12 midnight and stole the sum of N14,000.000.00.

    “The suspect who was an employee of the bank before he was sacked in August this year for fraudulent activities, confessed that he acted alone.

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    “According to him, some of the money he stoIe from the bank were converted to foreign currency $33,000) at Abuja and Kaduna for ease of movement. Upon his arrest, the cash sum of $28,000, N1,650,120) and nine pieces of Ghana ceddis.

    Other exhibits recovered from him include one new SIM card and AZMAN flight tickets.

    On why he stole the money, the suspect said: “I worked with the bank for about eleven years and I was dismissed unjustly without pay and benefit.

    “There is no justification for doing what i did but i did it because they didn’t pay after eleven years of service.”

    The Police also paraded one suspect, Iliyasu Omika , 22yrs of Tungan Maje who disguises as a lady
    at a Brotel in Mpape and lures men.

    The Police said: “On 5th November, 2018 at about 0500hrs based on information, Police operatives from Mpape Division arrested one Iliyasu Omika ‘M’ 22yrs of Tungan Maje at a Brotel in Mpape.

    “The suspect who disguised as a lady to lure men at nightclubs for amorous relationships was arrested after his supposed client raised alarm upon discovery that he was actually a man and not a woman as he claimed.”

    The Police said the suspects will be arraigned in court upon the conclusion of investigation.

  • Man in court over alleged stabbing of neigbour

    A 27-year-old man, David Orih, on Tuesday faced charges of criminal force and causing grievous hurt in a Karshi Grade I Area Court, Abuja, after the police said he allegedly stabbed his neighbour with a knife.

    Arih, who resides in Kugbo, Karu, Abuja, is charged with four counts of joint act, criminal force, causing grievous hurt and disturbance of public peace.

    The prosecutor, Ayomide Adeyanju, told the court that one Sunday Ani, reported the matter on behalf of his junior brother at the Karu Police Station, Abuja, on October 10.

    He said that on October 6, the complainant’s junior brother, Michael was approached by the defendant to help him buy something from a store.

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    However, the prosecutor said after refused, the defendant, in company of his three brothers and one other now at large, beat Micheal up.

    The prosecutor said the defendant and his brothers used knives and inflicted serious injuries on Michael’s abdomen, hands and other parts of his body.

    “Michael is still receiving treatment in Garki Hospital.

    The offence, the prosecutor said, contravened the provisions of Sections 80, 265, 248 and 113 of the Penal Code.

    After the charges were read to him, the defendant pleaded not guilty.

    The judge, Aliyu Kagarko, admitted the defendant to bail in the sum of N80,000 with one surety in like sum and adjourned the case until Nov. 16, for hearing.

  • Catching them young 

    Nigeria, among the nations of the world, is now heavily saddled with the problem of unemployment.

    Many tertiary institutions in the country have continued to produce a huge number of graduates who end up in the labour market every year.

    This trend has continued for many years even though things are no longer as rosy as they used to be in the 1970s and early 1980s when graduates had many job opportunities awaiting them before even graduating from school.

    The situation then was so good that such job opportunities always had attached fringe benefits like official cars, private health care and befitting accommodation serving as incentives.

    So, it was normal for students in schools then to continue to look forward to white-collar jobs.

    It was unthinkable then for such students to be engaged in entrepreneurship and skills acquisition trainings.

    Such entrepreneurship and skills acquisition trainings, then were believed to be for school dropouts and illiterates.

    Then the problem graduates mostly faced when passing out from their tertiary institutions was how to select the best out of the various job options they had.

    But all that is now history as the complete opposite is what prevails today.

    Now, you have graduates, who have no form of entrepreneurship or skills acquisition training, moving from one office to the other in search of employment.

    Some of them, who have remained unemployed for up to nine years since graduation, have continued to rely on the support of their families and loved one.

    Others have taken up demeaning jobs, which are not befitting their certificates, just to make ends meet.

    But to change the trend, the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has started to change the orientation of students and pupils in secondary and primary schools.

    The students are now to be equipped with entrepreneurship and creative skills that will make them, at the end of their tertiary institutions, become their own bosses and employers of labour rather than searching and waiting endlessly for jobs in the labour market.

    This is to be achieved through the National School Entrepreneurship Programme (N-SEP) launched at the old Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja, last weekend.

    During the launching, two schools out of the twenty four that have competed in entrepreneurship skills, were awarded and given prize money of N500,000 each.

    They were involved in many entrepreneur skills including recycling plastics into inter-locking tiles.

    The two winning schools, Government Secondary School, Garki, Abuja and Government Girls Secondary School, Abaji, Abuja, will also represent Nigeria at the Student for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship (SAGE) 2018 World Cup scheduled for Durban, South Africa from August 8th to 14th.

    Speaking at the occasion, the Director General/CEO of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Dr. Dikko Umaru Radda, said “The development of entrepreneurial mind-sets among pupils/students in primary and secondary schools in Nigeria is becoming increasingly important in preparation for catching them young for improving employment generation through wealth creation and self-reliance.

    “N-SEP is set to provide access to functional and hand-on entrepreneurship and community service education to every primary and secondary school students in Nigeria.

    “This is to reduce poverty and massive youth unemployment. Also to create a network of leaders who will see the challenges in their communities as their responsibilities.

    “N-SEP is to empower the students to recognise opportunities, exploit them, and succeed in entrepreneurship and community service.

    “SMEDAN is mindful of the paradigm shift in today’s education, it is no longer ‘go to school, get a good grade and work in a reputable organization. It is now go to school, get a good grade, acquire the skill and knowledge that will enable you to start your own business’.

    “The era of brilliant curriculum vitae is over, this is the era of crafting a bankable business plan that will launch the students into being their own bosses.” he said.

    According to the Vice President,Yemi Osinbajo’s speech  at the occasion, the increasing influence of globalization and emergence of knowledge based economy have led to the adoption of entrepreneurship education as a means of linking knowledge and skill with learning for developing critical human capital and mitigate social consequences of unemployment.

    “Socio-economic implications of entrepreneurship and human capital development all over the world is seen as booster for wealth creation, employment generation, living standard, poverty and crime reduction which have direct impact on the national economy.

    “This programme we are launching today is aimed at encouraging an innovative/skills among basic and secondary schools pupils/students as this will enhance entrepreneurship and enterprise development towards poverty reduction and employment generation.

    “They should cultivate the culture of being their own bosses and not job seekers right from primary and secondary schools.

    “The development of any nation depends mainly on the creative capacity of the citizens to be capable of effectively exploring and exploiting the country’s natural resources and transforming them into finished products and services through value addition.

    “The main purpose of entrepreneurship for children in primary/secondary education is to encourage them to think of creativity and innovation.” he stated

    Despite Nigeria winning the SAGE World Cup eight times in the last ten years, observers have noted that it has not shown any corresponding improvement in self-employment in the country.

    It is hoped that N-SEP, in no distant future, will boost entrepreneurship and self-employment while also scaling down the unemployment rate in Nigeria.

  • Four men docked for causing public disturbance

    Four men docked for causing public disturbance

    Four unemployed men on Wednesday appeared before a Gudu Upper Area Court in Abuja for allegedly inciting disturbances.‎

    The men are Samuel Ezeala, 25, Ibrahim Umar, 22, Ibrahim Shilu 23 and Zadine Yahaya, 24.

    They were arraigned on charges of joint-act and inciting disturbances at a public peace.‎

    ‎The Prosecutor, Fedelix Ogubwe, told court that one Abubakar Umar of the Chief’s Palace in Garki, Abuja reported the matter at the Garki Police Station on May 29.

    Ogubwe said the defendants and 16 other men now at large were found at Apo Roundabout, Abuja using sticks, cutlasses and iron in beating one another.

    He said that the action caused a breach of public peace, adding that the offence contravened Sections 97 and 114 of the Penal Code.

    The accused men, however, pleaded guilty but Umar pleaded not guilty to the charges.

    The Judge, Alhaji Umar Kagarko, granted the defendants bail in the sum of N20, 000 each with one surety each in like sum.

    He adjourned hearing on the matter and reserved sentencing and conviction of Ezeala, Shilu and Yahaya until June 2.

     

  • Stakeholders to parents: Channel your wards energy towards positive impacts

    Stakeholders in education sector have urged school management and parents to help channel students’ energy toward positive programmes.

    They spoke on Wednesday in Abuja at the 4th edition of the Power Forward Project organised by Exxon Mobile in conjunction with Africare, an NGO.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Power Forward Project is aimed at using the game of basketball to teach and mentor over 10,000 students from 10 secondary schools in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    It is also aimed at teaching secondary school students, life skills training such as leadership, respect and personal responsibility through basketball and other programmes to positively impact on them.

    Mrs Samira Jibir, Executive Director, Glisten International Academy, said that schools should as a matter of urgency, develop and orientate the minds of the students toward productivity.

    She said this would make students to be of value to themselves, their immediate society and the world at large.

    “There are so many distractions for the children which conflict with socio-cultural values of the society.

    “These range from exposure to high technology waves without control, being left at the mercy of adults’ house helps, relatives, cartoons, comprehensive sexuality education and peer group.

    “We neglect our roles as adults to guide, love and protect these children; we have failed these children.

    “We must therefore channel their energy to positive programmes like sports, for example basketball,” she said.

    Jibir commended power forward for engaging the time of the children positively, building their confidence and maximising their potential.

    Also, Mr Michael Kukigan, Business Resources Manager, ExxonMobil, said the project was meant to bring development to Nigerian youths by engaging them in what they loved doing, especially sports.

    Kukigan said the organisation, over the years, had been harnessing the talents and potential of youths, especially secondary school students, to groom them in becoming self-reliant in future.

    “The children have the talent and what we do is to focus on developing these talents.

    “We believe that beyond sports, the students need to have substance, know what it takes to get goal and leadership skills through education.

    “They also need to learn valuable lessons and understanding about public health and get education, to make life better for them and the country,” he said.

    He also said the 2017 edition of the project was targeted at reaching out to 10,000 youths in schools and vulnerable communities with life skill information.

    Mrs Victoria George, Deputy Director, FCT Secondary Education Board, stressed that popularising sports, especially basketball in the Nigerian schools would help the children to be celebrated in their life long skills.

    George noted that children were key players in leadership role in their various schools, adding that about 50 per cent of them that participated in the project were leaders in their various schools.

    She further said the project had tremendous impact on the students because it would help them turn away from social vices thereby building bridges that would foster country’s development.

    The schools represented in this edition are: Model Secondary School, Maitama, Rahinna Model College, Jikwoyi, Raberto Schools, Wuse 2, Divine Mercy Secondary School, Asokoro and Glisten International School, Jahi.

    Others are; Bicardos International School, Kubwa, Government Secondary School, Karu, Wuse, Garki and Airport.

     

  • 40 schools to participate in 2017 Schools Debate League

    No fewer than 40 primary schools in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) will be participating in the 2017 School Debate League, says Mr. Barrow Omagbitse, Founder, Life Skill Experts.

    Omagbitse, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja, said that the debate would involve both primary and secondary schools within the territory.

    He said that the group had earlier approached the authorities of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) for approval of the schools in the competition and support had been granted accordingly.

    Omagbitse said that the debate would create consciousness in the heart of pupils on the happenings in their communities.

    He noted that the debate would help introduce to the pupils and schools administration some basic learning resources as well as share in the philosophy of a life skill education.

    According to him, the success of a child is depended on the ability to combine both the emotional intelligence or life skills and intelligence quotient.

    “For individuals to achieve sustainable success, they need a combination of academic skills and life skills that is the combination of intelligence quotient and emotional intelligence.

    “Social scientists have argued that as a component of success, emotional intelligence accounts for 85 per cent while intelligence quotient accounts for 15 per cent.

    “This means that the major thrust of our efforts to educate our children should be focused on emotional and life skills that create this form of intelligence.

    “Unfortunately, our school programmes in this part of the world focus almost exclusively on the 15 per cent intelligence quotient.

    “And it is therefore no surprise that we create graduates and school leavers who do not possess the basic skills for value-based leadership, personal effectiveness, creativity and innovation,’’ he said.

    Omagbitse, however, called on school administrations to pay more attention to this so that the children would not grow up with the significant deficit in the particular areas that actually mattered to their success.

    He said that efforts had also been made to develop books and resources in life skill areas.

    “We have also intervened in the academic arena to fill the 15 per cent space by developing an eight-hour long video in mathematics for upper primary school.

    “We also developed a quick reference guild on Nigerian history, civic and current affairs for upper primary schools too,’’ he added.

    Omagbitse said that this would greatly benefit the children in learning experiences that task them to think about real life issues and challenges.

    The schools slate for the debate include LEA Primary School, Galadimawa, Gwarinpa 1 and 2, Area 1, Jabi, Aleyita, Jikwoyi 1and 2, Jahi and Titsal Global School.

    Others include Lead British International School, Model Science Primary School, Garki, Raberto Nursery and Primary School Wuse, Ladela Nursery and Primary School, Creative Learning International School and Greenice International School.

     

  • Man with stolen ATM cards docked in Abuja

    Man with stolen ATM cards docked in Abuja

    A  28-year-old man, Ifeanyi Obasi, was charged on Teusday before a Gudu Upper Area Court, Abuja, for allegedly attempting to make withdrawals with 10 stolen Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards.

    Obasi, whose address is unknown, is facing a two-count charge of possession of stolen items and theft.

    Police Prosecutor Fidelis Ogbobe told the court that the complainant, Galadima Usman of First Bank, Garki, reported the incident at Garki Police Station on April 7.

    Ogbobe said the complainant alleged that the accused attempted to withdraw money with stolen ATM cards bearing different names at the bank in Area 3, Abuja.

    “During police investigations, the accused could not give a satisfactory explanation how he came about the ATM cards.”

    The offences contravened Sections 95 and 319(a) of the Penal Code.

    The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

    The judge, Mr Umar Kagarko, granted the accused N100, 000 bail with one surety in the like sum.

    He adjourned hearing until June 6

     

  • Garki market reopens after crisis

    Traders at the Garki International Market have expressed their delight at the reopening of the market after an agreement was reached with the market managers.

    The chairman of the market’s traders association, Mr. Chibuzor Anukam who spoke on behalf of the traders said the market was reopened last Thursday and business activities as long commenced.

    He said the traders have agreed to work with the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) in ensuring that only defaulters are disconnected.

    “We are happy that the market is reopened it is just to take the necessary steps so that what happened the other time will not happen. It is just the issue of light and we are going to help NEPA that they disconnect only those that owes,” he said.

    The General Manager of Urban Shelter Facility Management Company, Hamisu Jumare said the market was reopened after series of meeting with stakeholders.

    He said the management regretted the inconveniences the close had caused to shop owners adding that necessary steps have been taken to forestall future occurrence.

    “The market was reopened after an agreement was reached by the operators that there will be no vandalism and they will be law abiding and provide guarantors,” he said.

    The market was shut last Sunday after a clash between some operators over the disconnection of a block by officials of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC).