The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Minna

  • Housewife seeks divorce over husband’s failure to provide food

    A housewife, Zulei Mohammed, has asked a Sharia Court in Minna to dissolve her marriage accusing her husband, Aliyu, of failure to provide her with food.

    Zulei also accused her husband of being cruel to her in spite that had nine children for him.

    She told the court: “I want this marriage dissolved because there is never food in our house and I cannot bear it anymore.

    “As if that is not enough, my husband is in the habit of maltreating me for no good reason.

    “He does not treat me like a husband should treat his wife.’’

    Mohammed, however, denied his wife’s accusations, saying she was only leveling allegations against him because he married a second wife.

    He said that he still loved his wife and would not want them to go their separate ways.

    The husband, therefore, prayed the court to give him more time to prevail on his wife to have a second thought about their marriage.

    The presiding judge, Ahmed Bima, advised the couple to give peace a chance and settle their differences with patience and understanding.

    Bima, thereafter, adjourned the case until March 29 to give room for both parties to reconcile their differences.

    NAN

  • NYSC to Employers: Stop aiding absenteeism, abscondment of Corps Members

    The Director General of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, Brigadier General Suleiman Kazuare has warned that the scheme will not spare any Corps Employers or other persons aiding and abetting absenteeism and abscondment from service by Corps members.

    The DG issued this warning during the 2018 Corps Employers Workshop at the Education Resource Center in Minna on Tuesday.

    According to him, efforts at curbing absenteeism and abscondment is being frustrated by some Corps Employers stressing that this would no longer be tolerated by the scheme.

    “We have increased the number of regular inspection of Corps Members at their places of primary assignment while ensuring that absentee Corps Members are sanctioned. The scheme will not spare Corps Employers and other persons who may be found liable in aiding and abetting absenteeism and abscondment from service by Corps Members.”

    Read Also: Re-crafting NYSC scheme

    Kazuare who was represented by the Assistant Corps Welfare Department of the National Directorate, Mrs. Ngozi Ugo urged government establishments and corps employers to make budgetary provisions for the welfare of corps members rather than rejecting them.

    He also disclosed that the scheme have recorded great success in the online registration and clearance of corps members stating that this have further stemmed evasion of service and other unwholesome practices by the corp members.

    In her address, the Niger state NYSC Coordinator, Mrs. Theresa Ibukun Arokoyo said that the NYSC has sustained its mandate to mobilize graduate youths and instill in them the tradition of industry at work as well as promote national unity and integration.

    She said that the challenges of evasion of rejection, under-utilization and evasion of service need to be tackled for the improvement in the delivery of youth based intervention.

    Arokoyo said the workshop will also evaluate the contributions of stakeholdersand seek new ways for increased synergy for more effective output from both corps members and corps employers.

     

  • Writers’ club welcomes leaders

    A writers’ club at the Federal University of Technology, Minna (FUT MINNA) in Niger State, Prestige Anchor International, has inaugurated leaders that will pilot its affairs for a year. The non-governmental organisation (NGO) is the brain behind Campus Anchor Newsy, a prominent news bulletin in FUT MINNA.

    The event was attended by members, guests and officers of the Students’ Union Government (SUG). The inauguration was held at New Lecture Room (NLR) of the School of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology (SAAT) on Gidan Kwano campus.

    The Club’s Staff Adviser, Mr O.G. Ajayi of the Surveying and Geoinformatics Department, said the commitment of the bulletin to professionalism showed that there is hope for the nation in leadership recruitment.

    He said: “It is not impossible that a new era of exemplary, altruistic and visionary leadership will not be birthed in our polity, if NGOs like Prestige Anchor are sprouting daily. As potential leadership icons, the outgoing executive members blazed many incredible and scintillating trails. It behooves on the incoming officials to sustain the tempo.”

    Ajayi urged the club’s leaders to divert their energy into restructuring unionism on the campus towards selfless leadership. “The easiest way to achieve that is through relentless advocacies and uncompromising social activism facilitated by your eloquent and articulate writings. More importantly, do not be intimidated by anyone,” he said.

    The bulletin’s Chief Anchor, Nathaniel Ademola, attributed the organisation’s “spectacular achievements” to members’ tenacity, persistence, steadfastness, discipline, courage and doggedness.

    He urged the leaders to remain focused, humble and dedicated to their studies. Nathaniel said there would not be progress in the organisation if members did not show team-spirit, diligence, vision and cooperation.

    Members of executive sworn in included the Chief Operating Officer, Tajuddeen Tijjani; Executive Director, Olarenwaju Fasasi; Director of Operations and Strategy, Ayorinde Ajiteru; General Secretary, Bashir Suleiman and Head of Finance and Programme, Rahmah Adesire.

    Others are Organising and Welfare Officer, Hasiyat Muhammed, Director of Campus Anchor News, Victor Akerekan, Head of Publications, Samson Ayero, Head of Marketing, Shukurat Olarenwaju and Head of Field Event and Live Report, James Adedokun.

    In his acceptance speech, Tajuddeen promised to consolidate on the success recorded by his predecessor, saying his team was ready to offer service leadership.

  • IBB, Danjuma hold closed door meeting in Minna

    IBB, Danjuma hold closed door meeting in Minna

    Former President General Ibrahim Babangida on Thursday held a close door meeting with General Theophilus Danjuma at his hill-top mansion in Minna, the Niger state capital.

    The meeting lasted for three hours and Sources disclose that the meeting may not be disconnected  with the current security challenge and political trend of the nation.

    The former military President was in the news recently over his letter to President Buhari advising him on the state of the nation.

    A reliable source disclosed that General Danjuma arrived at the Minna airport at exactly 11:45am, was driven straight to the Uphill home of IBB and was ushered into the private parlor where the meeting took place.

    Read Also: Why I built maternity hospital in Taraba – Danjuma

    No other person was allowed into the meeting except for the duo as all the guests that accompanied the visitor was asked to vacate the private parlor.

    Immediately the meeting ended, General Danjuma went straight to his host private   Mercedes Benz E class that brought him from the airport and zoomed away.

    The Source said, “I am very sure that they must have discussed the general situation in the country, both security and the political situation.

    “Nobody was in the parlor with them, it was only two of them. The meeting started after they had launch together and it lasted for about three hours.”

  • Niger to sponsor surgery of rape victim

    Niger to sponsor surgery of rape victim

    Niger Government would sponsor the surgery of a 10-year-old boy victim of homosexuality at Minna General Hospital, Mrs Mairam Kolo, and the Director General of the state Child Rights Protection Agency, said.

    Kolo told the News men in Minna on Friday, the boy needed immediate Adrenal surgery, alongside three other boys who were sexually abused by a 50-year-old man
    in Wushishi Local Government Area of the state.

    The director general said, the suspect, currently under police custody, lured the boys into his room one after the other and had anal sex with them.

    She added, medical examination on the victims showed that one of them needed immediate surgery on the anus and had been experiencing stomach pains.

    Read Also: NCDMB initiative on science subjects among Niger Delta students

    She said the state Child Rights Protection Agency, in collaboration with Minna General Hospital, would sponsor the surgery to avoid further complications.

    She noted, other victims would undergo counselling after which they would be enrolled in school to acquire formal education.

    She said the state Commissioner of Police had directed that the suspect be transferred to Minna for proper prosecution.

    Kolo, however, said, the increasing rate at which children were being defiled was becoming alarming and urged parents to monitor the movements of their children and people they leave their wards with.

    She enjoined parents and guardians whose children were abused to always report to the appropriate authority for the perpetrators of the crime to be punished.

    NAN

  • Niger CJ frees 21 prison inmates in Minna

    Niger CJ frees 21 prison inmates in Minna

    The Chief Judge of Niger State, Justice Maria Dzukogi, has freed 21 inmates at the Minna new prison.

    Dzukogi released the inmates on Tuesday during her visit to the detention facility as part of efforts to decongest the prison.

    Freed inmates were mostly convicts who had been of good behavior or nearing the end of their jail terms and those with serious health challenges.

    She also ordered the summary trial of 16 inmates.

    The Chief Judge enjoined those released to be of good conduct and shun criminal acts, adding that a lot of good things awaited them outside the prison.

    “I want you to maintain your good conduct even after you leave this place.

    “I am releasing you on the recommendation of the officer in charge so make sure you stay away from anything that will bring you back here.

    “And I must commend the prison officials for training you people and keeping you engaged in one way or the other,” she said

    She, however, frowned at the large of number of inmates who have been languishing in prison for years without trial.

    According to her, the Police and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) in the Ministry of Justice must hasten up action in all cases in the interest of justice.

    She gave the police and the DPP two weeks to conclude work on certain cases that had lingered for too long without any progress and get back to her.

    Earlier in his remarks, the officer in charge of the prison, DCP Garba Abubakar, said the facility had a population of 393 inmates and 259  are awaiting trial.

    The CJ had on Feb 6 released 13 inmates at the old Minna prison.

    NAN

  • CVR: INEC solicits stakeholders’ support in Niger

    CVR: INEC solicits stakeholders’ support in Niger

    The Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) on Thursday solicited the support of stakeholders towards mobilising eligible residents to participate in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).

    Prof. Samuel Egwu, INEC Resident Electoral Commission (REC) in Niger made the appeal in an interview with the News men in Minna.

    He said active participation of stakeholders, especially traditional and religious leaders, would greatly assist the commission in capturing eligible voters.

    Egwu explained that INEC was currently rotating its personnel across the state to ensure that it registered all eligible residents.

    He said the personnel would also attend to voters seeking to transfer their voting units from where they were originally registered to other locations among others.

    Read Also:INEC  seeks collaboration with NIGCOMSAT for e-results

    “We have also reached out to leaders of political parties, development associations and the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) to fully mobilise their eligible members to register,” he said.

    Egwu also called on the mass media to initiate more enlightenment programmes that would help educate residents to get registered to enable them elect credible leaders during the 2019 general elections.

    The news men report that similar exercises were ongoing in other states of the country.

     NAN

  • Gov. Bello refers to rift with legislators as ‘technical fault’

    Gov. Bello refers to rift with legislators as ‘technical fault’

    Niger state Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello has confirmed that the Executive had a rift with the State House of Assembly which stalled the confirmation of some Commissioner nominees.

    He described the rift as a ‘technical fault in the engine of government’.

    Speaking during the swearing in of new Commissioners and Permanent Secretaries into his Cabinet in Minna, Bello affirmed that some technical fault occurred between the Executive and Legislators.

    Read Also: Buhari unstoppable, says Bello

    “You should have been sworn in but we had some technical fault but I believe the technical fault have been resolved. Sometimes, when you have machines, you can have technical fault with the machines. The engine of government had some technical fault and it have been resolved.”

    There have been some animosity between the executive and legislative arm of government in the state but each arm have continuously denied it. 

    The animosity led to the rejection of the list of Commissioner nominees sent to the Assembly in November before they finally agreed to screen some of the Commissioner nominees in December while some were not screened under the guise that they had pending petitions and one was rejected.

    The Governor had to resend the name of the rejected Commissioner nominee who was later screened and approved along with three others.

  • Niger to renovate 12 more schools in 2018

    Niger to renovate 12 more schools in 2018

    Hajiya Fatima Madugu, the Niger State Commissioner for Education, says the state government is to renovate six vocational and technical schools and six day secondary schools in 2018.

    Madugu said in Minna on Tuesday that the renovation was part of the second phase of the government’s school development programme which started in 2017.

    Reports say that the state government had spent N4.3 billion on renovation and provision of furniture in some selected schools in the first phase of the programme.

    The commissioner said that the programme involved renovation and furnishing of schools as well as training of teachers.

    Read also: Sokoto distributes 45,926 desks to schools

    She said that this was part of the state government’s efforts to provide a conducive environment for teaching and learning in order to improve educational standard in the state.

    “One technical and one vocational school will be selected for renovation in each of the three zones in the state and six day schools will also be upgraded.

    “We want to renovate the facilities in our technical and vocational schools and provide them with modern equipment and infrastructure to facilitate a conducive learning environment.

    “The workshops and training centres of these schools will also be upgraded to enable the students to acquire different skills.’’

    She disclosed that the ministry would also be training teachers on modern teaching techniques.

    According to her, principals and vice principals across the seven zonal offices in the state are already undergoing training.

    “Training of teachers is an initiative of the ministry. We have started with principals and vice-principals; they are being trained on modern teaching techniques.

    “They are are also being trained on how to administer schools. We are done with three zones; two zones are left.

    “Once we are done with the principals and the vice-principals, we will start with our teachers,’’ the commissioner said.

    NAN

  • Police say gunmen kidnap seven in Niger

    Police say gunmen kidnap seven in Niger

    The Commissioner of Police in Niger, Dibal Yakadi, said gunmen on Friday kidnapped seven people in Munya Local Government area of the state.

    Yakadi made the disclosure in an interview in Minna.

    He said that two brothers Alhaji Garba Yakassai and Alhaji Umar Yakassai and five others were kidnapped on two different occasions.

    He said that Garba and Umar were kidnapped in a Toyota Corolla car with registration number YAB 669 GB, adding that the car was abandoned on a bush path.

    He explained that five passengers in a Toyota Sienna commercial bus were equally suspected to have been kidnapped.

    He said that their identities were yet to be ascertained as special squad, mobile policemen and the police in Sarkin Pawa had been drafted to the bush to rescue the victims.

    He said the kidnappers came in the morning with sophisticated weapons shooting indiscriminately and blocked Minna-Sarkin Pawa road before taken the victims into the bush.

    He called on residents of the local council to offer the useful information that would assist in the rescue of the victims.

    NAN