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Tag: Nigeria News

Court remands man for alleged possession of cocaine

The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Wednesday ordered the remand of a 32-year-old man, Ya’kau Audu, for alleged illegal possession of 2.7 grammes of cocaine.

Audu, who was arraigned by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency ( NDLEA ), is standing trial on a count charge, bordering on unlawful possession of cocaine.

Counsel to NDLEA, Mr Mike Kassa, told the court that the accused committed the offence on Sept. 10 at Nyanya, Abuja.

Kassa said the defendant was arrested on the same date by the police with 2.7 grammes of cocaine while driving a Honda Civic car.

He said the offence contravened Section 19 of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act, Cap N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

The defendant pleaded guilty to the one-count charge.

Kassa, who urged the court to summarily convict the defendant having pleaded guilty, however, asked for a short adjournment to enable him present facts of the case.

He also informed that the defendant was once convicted for one year imprisonment on Dec. 2, 2013 by Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court, Abuja, for trafficking seven grammes of cocaine.

Counsel to the defendant, Mr Victor Edeh, however pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, adding that the defendant had become remorseful and self-reformed.

Edeh said the defendant did not waste the time of the court by pleading guilty and had been cooperating with the prosecution in its investigation.

The judge, Justice Gabriel Kolawole, consequently ordered the remand of the defendant in prison and adjourned the case until Oct. 4, for review of facts of the case.

September 27, 2017
No industrial growth with paper certificate alone – Obaseki

Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo said investment in vocational education is fundamental to job creation and industrialisation of the state as well as the country as oil revenue continues to dwindle.

Obaseki said this on Tuesday when he received donations made by the Nigerian Employers Consultative Association ( NECA ) in collaboration with the Industrial Training Funds ( ITF ), at Government Science Technical College, Benin.

He commended the organisations for the donating electrical equipment and tools to the technical college.

According to him, no country can grow industrially with `paper certificate’ alone; it must have technical skills to make the needed difference.

The governor noted that most industrialised countries had in their workforces, people with vocational training who might not be university graduates.

He said that plans were underway to set up three or five megawatts of power on the Government Science Technical College premises for its light industrial park to ensure constant electricity supply.

The governor gave the assurance that the donated items would be judiciously utilised.

Earlier, the Director-General of NECA, Mr Olusegun Oshinowo, thanked the state government for emphasising improvement in vocational and technical education.

Oshinowo said that the biggest challenge facing Nigeria was that of unemployment due to lack of technical skills to make youths employable.

He urged that all hands should be on deck to tackle the challenge.

The Principal of the college, Mrs Bose Imafidon, said that the benefitting electrical department was one of 10 departments with highest enrolment.

Imafidon pledged to use the equipment for the intended purpose.

The News Agency og Nigerian (NAN) reports that the other equipment and tools included desktop monitors, contact voltage regulators, prismatic fluorescent fittings and bundles of cables.

September 27, 2017
Gov. Ikpeazu, wife underscore need for urbanisation

Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia has expressed regret that the three major cities of Aba, Ohafia and Umuahia, the state capital, do not have master plans, 26 years after the creation of the state.

Ikpeazu made the observation at a meeting organised by Vicar Hope Foundation in collaboration with UN-HABITAT Programme in Nigeria.

He wondered how past administrations carried out physical infrastructural development in the cities without master plan.

He said that the meeting was auspicious, considering the way and manner people abused the environment.
“We need to preserve our environment for our generation and generations to come.

“I believe that if you do not take care of your environment, your environment will kill you.’’

He, therefore, charged stakeholders at the meeting to think about the environment and how to achieve a better place for human habitation.

In her speech, the Wife of the Governor, Mrs Nkechi Ikpeazu, urged the participants to evolve the best ideas and realisable action plan that would help turn around the conditions of the cities.

She further underscored the need for all hands to be on deck in the onerous task of “making our cities cleaner, safer, functional and more profitable to dwellers and visitors’’.

Mrs Ikpeazu, who is the founder of Vicar Hope Foundation, thanked the UN Habitat Programme for collaborating with the foundation to organise the meeting.

In a goodwill message, the UN-HABITAT Programme Manager in Nigeria, Mr Kabir Yari, said the essence of the event was to promote sustainable urbanisation.

Yari was represented by Dr. Steve Onu, a member of the UN Steering Committee on making cities resilient.

He expressed the hope that the meeting would come out with a road-map on how to tackle the challenges posed by rapid population growth in the urban centres.

In her speech, the Executive Director, Women Communication Centre, Hajia Limota Giwa, said that the meeting provided an opportunity for the cross-fertilisation of ideas on how to achieve the UN objective for the new urban agenda.

Giwa commended the governor’s wife for her passion and commitment toward achieving sustainable urbanisation in Abia.

She said that her initiative had given Abia visibility on the global map.

September 27, 2017
UniAbuja to commence academic activities Oct. 3

The University of Abuja( UniAbuja ) is to commence full academic activities on Oct. 3, following the suspension of the nationwide strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) .

The Public Relations Officer of the university, Mr Waziri Mohammed,
disclosed this on Wednesday in an interview with the New Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gwagwalada .

He told NAN that since the university has formally resumed after the ASUU strike, the management had been working on the time table for revision and examinations at all levels.

Meanwhile, the President, Students Union Government (SUG), Ajiboye Okoyekola, had earlier forwarded messages to students briefing them on issues regarding resumption.

He enjoined them to stay off the hostels as fumigation and general cleaning was ongoing.

“The students should please bear with any inconveniences this decision may bring,” he said.

He, however, urged the students to study hard, adding that exams would likely start on Oct. 9.

September 27, 2017
Ambode inaugurates DNA centre to reduce crime

Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos on Wednesday inaugurated the state’s Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) and Forensic Centre to accelerate collection of evidence and improve its quality to quicken justice dispensation.

The centre is located at CMS on Lagos Island. The centre is the first government-owned in Nigeria.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that DNA is a molecule that reveals the chromosomes in the centre of cells of living things.

Ambode said: “Before now, most of, if not all DNA analysis and testing, were performed outside Nigeria, a situation that caused longer turn-around time and an overall higher cost of bringing closure to a case.

“I am, therefore, convinced that the establishment of the centre will assist our courts in quick dispensation of justice.

“This centre is a definite boost for our administration’s justice sector reform programme, and it will further transform the system of administration of justice in Lagos in particular and Nigeria as a whole.’’

The governor said that the centre had the capacity to provide the police, prosecutors, defence attorneys and private citizens with crime scene processing and serological screening for blood and semen.

He said that it would also provide services such as DNA analysis of bone, teeth and hair; maternal and paternal relationship DNA analysis, expert witness and case handling services.

“Besides, it will help in paternal and maternal ancestry DNA analysis; cold case file review and mass disaster human identification.

“With the successful completion of this stage of the facility, our administration plans to include additional capacity in the areas of toxicology, trace evidence and controlled substance analysis, fingerprint and latent prints, firearms, ballistics and tool marks, digital forensics and questioned documents examination.

“The development of these other forensic sections at the facility will complement the DNA and forensic section and enhance the level of services offered today.

“This will be helpful when dealing with organised crimes, as scientific methods can now help prosecutors to exonerate or convict a suspect, thereby reducing incidence of crime in the state,” Ambode said.

He said that his administration established the centre in the realisation that security was vital for good governance and sustainability of investment.

Mr John Bray, the U.S. Consul-General in Nigeria, said that the centre would better equip Lagos and Nigeria to deal with social challenges in an effective and scientific manner.

He said that the centre was set up in partnership with an American company – IPSI Bio-Science Company – adding that U.S. would continue to collaborate with Nigeria to bring about growth and progress.

Dr Richard Somiari, Managing Consultant of the centre said that the project was initiated in 2016 for consultation on old and new cases, crime scene processing and evidence collection.

Somiari said that the centre could carry out serological screening for blood, semen, saliva and mass disaster victims’ identification and cold case files’ review.

The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Abayomi Olonisakin, lauded Lagos State Government for establishing the centre, saying that it would also help to fight insurgency.

Mr Imohimi Edgal, Lagos State Commissioner of Police, said that the centre would make police investigations and prosecution easier.

“It will help in solving crime cases; even our old and pending cases will now have closure with this centre,’’ he said.

Mr Adeniji Kazeem, Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Lagos State, said that efforts at transforming the judiciary and fighting crime would be incomplete without a modern crime laboratory centre.

Kazeem said that lack of proven scientific evidence had made trial of many cases difficult.

“We can now move away from relying on confessional statements,” he said

September 27, 2017
Police parade three armed robbers in jigawa

The Police Command in Jigawa has arrested three suspected armed robbers who had been terrorizing the residents of Kazaure Local Government Area of the state.

The command’s Spokesman, SP. Abdu Jinjiri, who paraded the suspects before newsmen in Dutse on Wednesday said the suspects were arrested along Kazaure-Daura road.

Jinjiri said that they were apprehended after they had blocked the road and robbed motorists of their money and other valuables.

He explained that the suspects, hailed from Kusada, Kankiya and Malumfashi Local Government Areas of Katsina State.

“On September 22, our officers in Kazaure local government area received a distress call that there were some armed robbers who blocked the Kazaure-Daura road and were robbing motorists.

“We swiftly moved to the scene and luckily enough we arrested three of them. They were arrested in collaboration with the residents of the area.

“During their arrest, cutlasses, sacks of rice, sticks and some amount of money they allegedly collected from the motorists were recovered from them,” Jinjiri said.

The spokesman added that investigation into the case was on and that they would be charged to court afterward.

It will be recalled that the command had on Sept. 20 arrested three other suspects in Dutse after they allegedly robbed a widow of N80,000

September 27, 2017
Court docks man for defiling minor

A 24-year-old man, Oribamise Jimoh, on Wednesday appeared in an Ikeja Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos for allegedly defiling an 8-year-old daughter of his neighbour.

Jimoh who resides at No 9, Owonikoko Street, Ayobo, Lagos, is facing a two-count charge of defilement and breach of peace.

The Prosecutor, Insp. Clifford Ogu, said that the offence was committed on Sept. 16 in the apartment of the accused.

Ogu told the court that the accused lured the minor into his room on the pretext of sending her on an errand and defiled her.

“The accused defiled the girl in his room, gave her N30 and told her not to tell anyone and that if she did, she would die.

“The girl walked strangely and her mother’s sister who noticed it called the mother’s attention to it.

“The girl narrated everything that the accused did to her to them,” the prosecutor said.

He said the offence contravened Section 137 and 166 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the section prescribes life imprisonment for offenders.

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

The Chief Magistrate, Taiwo Akanni, granted bail to the accused in the sum of N200,000 with two sureties in like sum each and adjourned the case until Oct. 10 for mention.

September 27, 2017
Few private schools have complied with teachers’ registration – TRCN

The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria ( TRCN ), said on Wednesday that only 50 per cent of private schools in the country have complied with its directive to deploy only professional teachers to classrooms.

Malam Adamu Bello, the Deputy Director, Professional Operation of the council made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Wednesday.

Adamu said the council would continue to enforce the directive until all teachers get the mandatory certification to teach in schools across the country.

He stressed that the 2017 deadline for all categories of teachers in the country to obtain the required professional qualification remain sacrosanct.

The official disclosed that TRCN would prosecute unqualified and incompetent teachers nationwide as from 2018.

“Very soon, those people that think it is a joke for the 17 years we have been drumming it for them to professionalize, will be arrested, prosecuted and imprisoned.

“The council will go after them with the full weight of the law even as we seek state governments’ cooperation to rid the country of quack and unqualified teachers,’’ he said.

Adamu emphasised that the certification programme of the council was necessary for all teachers, irrespective of the type of certificate they possess after their graduation.

“It is meant to strengthen and upgrade the standard of education as all professionalized teachers will attend periodic re-certification lecture and examination to keep them abreast of modern best practices,’’ he said.

September 27, 2017
Costa’s return to Atletico Madrid finalised

Diego Costa’s return to Spanish La Liga side Atletico Madrid from Jan. 1 has been finialised, English Premier League champions Chelsea said in a statement on Tuesday.

The two clubs agreed the transfer last week and on Monday the 28-year-old Spain forward passed a medical to return to the Spanish capital.

“Diego Costa has today agreed terms for his transfer to Atletico Madrid, which will take effect on Jan. 1, 2018,” Chelsea said in a statement.

“We thank Diego for his efforts and wish him well in his future career.”

The controversial Spaniard’s departure from Stamford Bridge signalled the end of a messy transfer saga.

During this, Costa claimed Chelsea manager Antonio Conte had told him via text that he was no longer required at the club.

His last game for Chelsea came at Wembley in May when he scored in the 2-1 FA Cup final defeat against Arsenal.

Costa leaves Chelsea having won two Premier League titles, one League Cup and scored 59 goals in 120 appearances.

He finished as Chelsea’s top scorer in each of his three seasons in west London.

“I‘m very happy to return home,” Costa said in a statement on Atletico’s official website.

“I’ve always said it, Atletico is my home. I‘m very, very happy. I‘m looking forward to start contributing. I‘m going to give my all for the team, as I always try to do.

“Thank you to the whole club for making this move forward, I‘m very grateful to everyone.”

Costa will have to wait before pulling on the red and white striped shirt of Atletico as the European transfer window is closed.

Also, Atletico are banned from registering new players until 2018 after breaching FIFA rules.

Diego Costa’s return, means he will wear the number 18 shirt, and will join the team’s training from Wednesday.

He will be eligible for selection from Jan. 2 when the Spanish transfer window opens and Atletico’s ban ends.

Costa first joined Atletico in 2006 and, following a string of loan spells, established himself as a key part of Diego Simeone’s title winning side in 2013-2014.

He then joined Chelsea in a deal worth 32 million pounds ($43.21 million).

Atletico are in the same Champions League group as Chelsea but their two clashes will both be before Costa is eligible to continue his career with the Spanish club.

September 27, 2017
‘Nigeria needs $142bn to meet NDC’s target’

The Nigeria’s Nationally Determined Contributions’ ( NDC ) ambition under Climate Change Accord will cost estimated 142 billion dollars, to meet the 2030 target.

Minister of State for Environment Ibrahim Jibril disclosed this at the UN while presenting Nigeria’s progress report on climate change goal under the Sustainable Development Goals.

The NDC is a binding agreement, which spelt out the actions a country intends to take to address climate change – both in terms of adaptation and mitigation – when it ratifies the Paris Agreement.

The Minister said: “The delivery of our NDC will require a fundamental re-orientation of financial flows within the economy.

“It is estimated that Nigeria will require around 142 billion dollars , translating to about 10 billion dollars per annum to meet her NDC target by 2030,” he said.

He said Nigeria had recognised that climate change presented one of the greatest challenges of the world today.

“In the midst of this vulnerability, an opportunity resides for Nigerian economy to grow in a manner that is climate resilient and empowers people whilst meeting its energy deficiency.

“One of the innovative means of exploring this opportunity is through the issuance of green bonds, which has gained recognition as means of raising finance for climate friendly purposes.

“Accordingly, the Federal Government has advance plans to issue a program of N150 billion in green bonds over the next few months.

“This is with a pilot issue of N12.384 billion in the third quarter of 2017 and the balance over the course of the budget year.

“Collaboration between Ministry of Environment and Finance continues to pull together the institutional partners necessary to achieve what would be Nigeria and Africa’s first sovereign green bond and the worlds third.”

Jibril said Nigeria was partnering with the Lake Chad basin countries to address the challenges of drying up of the lake which will have adverse consequences on the people and the ecosystem.

“Equally, actions to fast track the environmental clean-up of the Niger Delta beginning with Ogoniland are undoubtedly one of the most significant decisions taken by the President Muhammadu Buhari’s Administration.

“The President’s action has now breathed new life into a four-year report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), which hitherto had experienced a series of false starts since it was published on Aug. 4, 2011.”

The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, said Nigeria’s progress towards localising the SDGs was with an emphasis on ensuring implementation across all levels of government.

“Specifically, the Ministry incorporated and ensured policy linkages between the SDGs and the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, a four-year medium term development plan launched on April 5, 2017.

“The plan is aimed at ensuring sustained and inclusive growth; building a globally competitive and diversified Nigerian economy, investing in our people and building strong governance institutions to drive change.”

Additionally, specific programmes and projects aimed at achieving the SDGS have been integrated into the 2017 National Budget, and will be included in future budgeting frameworks, she said.

September 27, 2017