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Tag: Nigerian news

Court dissolves 16-year-old marriage between clerics

An Ado-Ekiti Customary Court, ‎on Thursday, dissolved a 16-year-old marriage between Mr Emmanuel Jegede and his wife, Olubunmi, both clergymen.

The marriage was dissolved on the grounds of threat to life, provocation, stubbornness, lies and adultery.

The petitioner, Mr Emmanuel Jegede, 41, a clergyman, resident at Irewumi quarters, opposite Bawa Estate, Ado-Ekiti, told the court that the respondent was arrogant, lazy, stubborn and unsupportive.

He explained that the respondent, who gave birth to three children for him, was not willing to work to assist him in taking care of the children’s welfare.

Emmanuel said that she was the only one responsible for the family upkeep including the education of the children.

The petitioner, therefore, pleaded with the court to separate them and award the custody of his three children to him for proper care.

The parties have since January, 2016, stopped living together, as the petitioner had remarried ‎a new wife.

The respondent, Mrs Olubunmi Jegede, 39, a prophetess, trader and resident at No 31, Ifesowapo q‎uarters, off Nova road, Ado-Ekiti, denied all the allegations leveled against her.

She alleged that the petitioner was an adulterous man and that in 2008 alone, he committed adultery with five women in their church.

The respondent added that she even caught more women with the petitioner in their parish.

The mother of three children told the court that for two years, the petitioner abandoned her and the children.

She said the petitioner preferred to drink beer to stupor and smoke cigarette instead of taking good care of her and the children.

Olubunmi said she was responsible for the school fees of their second child, Elizabeth, 6, since 2015 to date.

She consented to the decision of the petitioner that the court should dissolve their marriage.

The respondent, however prayed the court to award the custody of her three children to her for proper care.

The president of the court, Mrs Olayinka Akomolede, observed that the marriage had broken down irretrievably and consequently dissolved the marriage.

She awarded ‎the custody of the three children to the respondent for proper care.

Akomolede ruled that the petitioner would be paying N2, 500 as feeding allowance on each of the three children, beginning on or before Nov. 30 through the court registry.

She further ruled that the petitioner would be responsible for the education of the children at all levels.

However, the court granted the petitioner, unrestricted access to his children between the hours of 8a.m. and 6p.m.

NAN

October 26, 2017
Malami, Oyo-Ita attend FEC, Danbazzau absent

Some cabinet members linked to the recall to service of the former Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Maina, attended the Federal Executive Council ( FEC ) meeting on Thursday.

Maina, who was on the run for alleged N2 billion scam, got back into service without the knowledge of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The President, on Monday had ordered disengagement of Maina from service and immediate investigation of how he was recalled.

Those linked to the recall who attended FEC on Wednesday included the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.

Malami, who arrived the Council chamber around 10:53 a.m had discussions with the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed and the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, before the rendition of the National anthem.

The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita, who was also linked to the issue, arrived the Council chamber around 10:54 a.m.

But the Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Danbazzau, whose Ministry Maina was posted to, was absent when the FEC meeting started on Thursday.

The meeting commenced when President Buhari arrived the Council Chamber around 11 a.m.

BREAKING: Police, DSS seal off venue of PANDEF’s Assembly in Port Harcourt

October 26, 2017
Police, DSS seal off venue of PANDEF’s Assembly in Port Harcourt

Fully armed policemen and operatives of the Department of State Services ( DSS ), early morning today, sealed off Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt, Rivers State’s venue of the Pan-Niger Delta Forum’s ( PANDEF ) General Assembly, allegedly because of security threat.

Also sealed were all the roads leading to the five-star hotel, owned by the Rivers state government, with the accredited delegates from all the nine crude oil and gas-rich states stranded.

After waiting for many hours at the hotel’s entrance, with none of the security personnel ready to speak, it was gathered through the telephone from one of the leaders of PANDEF, who would not want his name in print, that PANDEF’s leader, Chief Edwin Clark, 90, who arrived Port Harcourt on Tuesday and lodged in Hotel Presidential, is currently presiding over an emergency meeting of some of the leaders the forum inside the hotel.

The source disclosed that at the end of the meeting, a communique would be issued, in order to know the next line of action.

PANDEF’s general assembly in Port Harcourt that was aborted by security personnel, was to elect officers of the forum at the national, states and local governments, as well as elect members of PANDEF’s Board of Trustees (BoT), Advisory Committee and ratify the constitution of the forum, among others, with PANDEF said by its leaders at Monday’s news conference in Port Harcourt to be on the same level with Afenifere, Ohanaeze Ndigbo and Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF).

Presidency: Jonathan govt officials, Maina shared loot

October 26, 2017
President Buhari presides over FEC

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday presided over the meeting of Federal Executive Council (FEC) in the Presidential Villa, Abuja

The meeting which was shifted from Wednesday, Oct. 25 to Oct. 26, started at about 11 a.m.

It is being attended by the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, acting Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Dr Habiba Lawal, and cabinet ministers.

Gathered that the 2018 budget might be the sole agenda to be deliberated upon at the meeting.

NAN

October 26, 2017
N8bn currency scam: Court refuses bail to ailing accused

A Federal High Court in Ibadan on Thursday refused the bail applications filed by the seven accused persons standing trial over alleged N8 billion currency scam.

The accused are; Kolawole Babalola, Muniru Olaniran, Kayode Togun, Isiaq Akano, Festus Adeyemi, Akeem Oyebanji and Ayodele Alese.

Justice Joyce Abdulmaleek in a ruling turned down the applications believing that the accused might jump bail and refuse to show up for trial.

“I have previously refused similar bail application and I know that the only option left for the applicants is to appeal the decision of the court.

“The accused persons have also failed to convince this court that their ailment was contagious even though they said that the medical facilities in the prison were not adequate to cater for their deteriorating health.

“In exercising my discretionary power, I see the possibility of the accused persons jumping bail if granted bail.

“Therefore, the application for bail is refused and dismissed accordingly,” she ruled.

After the ruling, the judge adjourned the case till Nov. 21, for continuation of trial.

Earlier, Mr R. O. Sadiq, counsel to all the applicants had tendered a bail application, citing deplorable health conditions of his clients as reason for the bail application.

Sadiq had asked the court to consider various portions of the constitution as well as the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) in her decision.

Mr Adebisi Adeniyi, counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC ), hwever, opposed the bail application, saying the accused persons might jump bail.

Adeniyi also reminded the court that it had rejected all previous bail applications tendered by the accused.

Similarly, the court also turned the bail application tendered by one Esther Olunike-Afolabi in a sister case.

Olunike-Afolabi was earlier convicted and jailed in the case when she opted for plea bargain arrangement with the EFCC.

Due to her involvement in another case, she was produced in court, but her bail was rejected.

Meanwhile, in another sister case, Mr Eddwin Ennah, a former Head of Currency Processing and Disposal Unit, Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN ) Ibadan office, who testified in the case, said he was shocked to see newspapers cut to the size of Naira notes in a box meant to contain N10 million.

Testifying before Abdulmaleek, Ennah stated that the box was supposed to be containing N10 million made up of N500 notes all through, however, the box was interleaved with N100 notes and cut papers.

“My lord, another terrible thing during that box inspection period was when our then Branch Controller asked us to cover up that discovery.

“However, I disagreed with him.

“The Branch Controller asked each of us to contribute certain amount to make up the loss sum in the box that was interleaved,” Ennah told the court.

The witness further pointed out that election fraud was not the only avenue of great corruption in Nigeria, but also that several billions of Naira were usually lost to such exercise at the CBN.

Babalola, Olaniran and Togun along with others have since 2015 been facing multiple charges bordering on conspiracy, conversion, forgery, recirculation of mutilated currencies and stealing of N8 billion at Ibadan office of CBN.

NAN

October 26, 2017
UNESCO, CBAAC to celebrate 40th anniversary of FESTAC 77

UNESCO in partnership with the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization (CBAAC) would mark the 40th anniversary of FESTAC 77 to push for the preservation of images captured across the globe for posterity.

This is contained in a statement by Mr Olushola Macaulay, UNESCO’s National Information and Programme Officer in Abuja, to mark the World Day for Audio Visual Heritage.

He said that the event would come up in Lagos from Nov. 6 to Nov.11.

FESTAC 77, also known as the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture, was held in Lagos from Jan. 15 to Feb. 12, 1977.

It was a celebration of African culture, music, fine art, literature, drama, dance, and religion.

FESTAC 77 placed audio visuals in the spotlight, and UNESCO, at its 21st General Conference on Oct. 27, 1980, agreed to safeguard and preserve the images and consequently initiated the World Day for Audio Visual Heritage.

According to Olushola, people still capture moving images across the world, but lack the ability to preserve them.

“Everyday, all over the world, people capture moving images to record all facets of life, from science to culture or to education.

“Some of the images depicting different events and situations of life are lost due to inappropriate preservation.

“The World Day for Audio visual Heritage, therefore, provides a platform for preserving and promoting our heritage.

“Not only does it provide a platform for highlighting audio visual preservation, it also provides an avenue for building dialogue around it.

“As conserved material, audio visual archives form a cornerstone for the memory of the world and preserve recordings for future generations.

“UNESCO in collaboration with CBAAC celebrates the 40th Anniversary of the Second World African Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC 77), holding in Lagos from Nov. 6 to Nov.11,” he said.

“FESTAC 77, places in the spotlight, the role of audio visual preservation in ensuring that the memory of FESTAC 77 is kept for future generations to see,” he said.

He added that the celebration would feature panel discussion with the theme “The Histori-cultural Importance of Audio Visual Preservation and the presentation of the Archive Digitisation Project.’’

NAN

October 26, 2017
Police arrest five suspects for breaking into 10 shops

The Police in Jigawa on Thursday announced the arrest of five persons suspected of breaking into 10 shops in Dutse, the state capital.

The command Public Relations Officer, Jinjiri Abdu, confirmed the arrest in an interview in Dutse.

According to him, the suspects have been terrorizing shop owners along the popular Hakimi street in Dutse and other parts of the town.

Abdu alleged that those arrested had broken into over 10 shops in the last three months and carted away goods and other valuables.

The command spokesman explained that three of the suspects believed to be directly involved in the alleged crime were apprehended in the locality while two others were arrested in Kano for alleged receipt of stolen items.

He said the suspects would be charged to court on conclusion of investigation and urged residents to be vigilant and report any suspicious character to the nearest police station for prompt action.

NAN

October 26, 2017
FG terminates payment of OBC, FBC certification fees

The Federal Government( FG ) on has terminated payment of Outline Business Case (OBC) and Full Business Case (FBC) Compliance Certification fees with effect from Oct. 19.

Mr Chidi Izuwah, the Acting Director, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission ( ICRC ) announced this in a statement in Abuja on Thursday.

Izuwah, the Acting Secretary to the Government of the Federation, directed that all Public Private Partnership (PPP) stakeholders in Ministries, Departments and Agencies ( MDAs ) of the government should immediately discontinue payment of the fees.

According to him, removal of the OBC and FBC fees will ease doing business on PPP procurement by MDAs in line with the change agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“It is hoped that this will provide the needed impetus to MDAs and other key stakeholders in the development and deployment of an avalanche of PPP projects,’’ he said.

Izuwah explained that the decision by the government was in accordance with the high cost of PPP project preparation in the country.

He said “this follows a feedback from stakeholders and potential investors with respect to the cost and procedure of Public Private Partnership (PPP) project preparation.

“It is in a bid to give additional push to the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria, policy of the current administration that the ICRC initiated steps aimed at mitigating the bottlenecks that impede the successful conclusion of PPP projects’’.

NAN

October 26, 2017
Aisha Buhari tasks women on participation in active politics

The wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, on Wednesday stressed the need for more women to show interest and participate in partisan politics.

Buhari made this assertion at a 2-day Nigeria Women Political Stakeholders Summit in Abuja with the theme: “Increasing the Participation of Women in Governance process in Nigeria,” organised by the National Council of Women Societies ( NCWS ).

The wife of the president noted that the decline in participation of women in governance has led to poor national development in the country.

According to her, in spite of the good intention of this administration to actively engage women in governance, there has been an alarming decline of women participation.

Mrs Buhari, who was re‎presented by the former deputy governor of Plateau State, Dame Tallen, lamented the alarming decline in the statistics of women participation in governance, saying it would not augur well for national development.

“Since 1999 there has been an alarming decline in the statistics of women in governance, something has gone terribly wrong, and we women need to speak out and do something about it.

“We make up 50 per cent of this country’s population and we cannot continue to be sidelined in the decision making process of this country”.

Earlier, Gloria Shoda, President of NCWS, said that insensitivity of the government was responsible for most problems confronting women.

She opined that the recurring issues of women are not limited to poverty, unemployment, lack of access, lack of any social support system, inequality and the abysmal levels of women participation and representation in decision making in the political parties structures an in government.

Shoda added that the society has decided to fight for the thirty five percent affirmative action to help change the narratives of Nigeria’s politics.

She said that going forward the society would, henceforth, negotiate with and partner with any political party that would implement the 35 per cent affirmative action in filling it’s political party leadership positions.

“We will partner with parties that will respect the 35 per cent affirmative action in selection of candidates for the 2019 general elections, prioritise women issues in its manifestos, and implement the 35 per cent action in its appointments when it wins the elections”.

The chairman House of Representative ‎on Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Stella Ugwu representing the Speaker of the House of representative, noted that the representation of women in the house was quite low.

According to her, in the house of representatives there are only 22 women out of the 360 members, which is not too impressive.

NAN

October 26, 2017
Police arrest 31 suspects for various crimes in Edo

The new Commissioner of Police for Edo, CP Babatunde Kokumo, said on Wednesday that the command had arrested 31 suspects for various offences in the last three days.

Kokumo, who took over on Monday, made this known in Benin during his maiden news briefing.

He said that seven of the suspects were arrested in connection with the murder of a University of Benin Professor, Paul Otasowie.

Otasowie was murdered on Oct. 4 at his residence on Ekenwa Road, Benin, by unidentified gunmen.

He also said that a syndicate that specialises in robbing filling station was also busted as well as five armed robbery suspects and some suspected kidnappers.

The police commissioner said that the suspects would be charged to court within the shortest possible time on completion of investigation.

He also said that, henceforth, the command under his leadership would have zero tolerance for corruption.

He, however, said that the command would begin by first cleaning it’s house, by ensuring that no bailable suspect was made to pay any money for bail.

Kokumo said his leadership in the State would not tolerate officers collecting money from suspects, saying “We will ensure total abhorrence for corruption”.

The CP also said that the command would not tolerate human right abuse as his leadership would ensure the Human Rights activists and organisations were accorded huge respect.

He gave assurance that the command would adopt effective strategies in fighting crime in the state.

The police boss explained that the command was presently carrying out crime profiling to enable the command approach the various crimes strategically.

He said his mission in the state was to work and work hard to ensure that crime was reduced to the bearest minimum.

He further assured the people that the command would fight crime in the State with all seriousness as well as partner with communities and sister security agencies.

Kokumo also promised that the command would ensure constant media briefing on activities, achievements and successes recorded by the police in the state.

NAN

October 26, 2017