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  • NANS cautions students against spreading false information

    NANS cautions students against spreading false information

    The National Association of Nigerian Students ( NANS ), on Thursday cautioned students against using the social media to spread falsehood and information capable of causing disaffection.

    NANS National Public Relations Officer, Bestman Okereafor, stated this in Enugu.

    Okereafor said students should desist from spreading false information through the social media on incidences that do not exist, as the practice was capable of endangering the relative peace being enjoyed in the country.

    “The attention of the apex students’ governing body under the auspices of NANS has been drawn to a purported voice note and old pictures of an attack that happened in Ogun in circulation.

    “It should be noted that the Nigeria Police Force, Ogun State Command, under the watch of Commissioner of Police, Mr Ahmed Iliyasu, remains pro-active and second to none in the country.

    “People, especially students spreading false rumours about the security status of the state should desist from such act.

    “Gov. Ibikunle Amosun has over the years made security a priority in the government’s agenda, which indeed has fetched him several awards and laurels,’’ he said.

    The NANS spokesman said that the association had confidence on the Ogun State Police Command.

    “So, the purported voice note and pictures about herdsmen attack along the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway, currently in circulation is not true and totally false and should be disregarded by the public.

    “Furthermore, students should endeavour not to be used as political instruments by some desperate dare devil politicians,’’ he said.

    NAN

  • FG arraigns 2 brothers for non-declaration of assets

    FG arraigns 2 brothers for non-declaration of assets

    The Special Investigative Panel on Recovery of Public Property, on Thursday, arraigned two brothers, Ibrahim and Tijani Tumsah for non-declaration of assets.

    Ibrahim and Tijani, who are public servants, were arraigned on a two-count charge of refusal and neglect to declare their assets.

    They entered a not guilty plea and were admitted to bail in the sum of N20 million and two sureties in like sum.

    Other conditions for their bail included that the sureties could be either private business men or civil servants and must show proof of ownership of landed property anywhere within the Federal Capital Territory.

    The court held that where the sureties were civil servants, they must not be below grade level 15.

    In addition, the defendants were ordered to deposit their international passports with the court registry and not to travel outside the country without the permission of the court.

    The judge, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, however, ordered that the defendants be remanded in Kuje Prison should they fail to perfect their bail conditions within three days.

    Read Also: Assets declaration: Justice Ngwuta asks CCT to dismiss charges

    Earlier, Mr Kehinde Ogunwumiju, (SAN) and Mr Abdul Mohammed, counsel to the defendants prayed the court to grant their clients bail since the offence for which they were standing trial was bailable.

    Mr Festus Keyamo, (SAN) counsel to the panel informed the court that he was not opposed to the application for bail.

    One of the count read; ”That you, Ibrahim Tumsah and Tijani Tumsah on or about Oct. 10 and 25, 2017, being public officers with the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing Abuja and Presidential Committee on North East Initiative Abuja respectively within the jurisdiction of this court committed an offence to wit:

    “Refused to declare your assets without reasonable excuse and upon notice to declare your assets before the Special Presidential Investigative Panel for the Recovery of Public Property, Abuja, contrary to and punishable under Section III (3) of the Recovery of Public Property (Special Provision) Act 2004.”

    Justice Dimgba adjourned the matter until March 1 for commencement of trial.

    NAN

     

  • 11 die in 533 fire incidents in Sokoto

    11 die in 533 fire incidents in Sokoto

    The Sokoto State Fire Service said on Thursday that it recorded 11 deaths and saved 77 lives in 533 fire incidents it responded to in the state  in 2017.

    Alhaji Murtala Muhammad, the Director-General of the State Fire Service, gave the figures  in an interview with our reporter in Sokoto.

    He said six persons were rescued while properties valued at N3.1 billion were lost, with the agency being  able to save N4.2 billion worth of properties during the period under review.

    Muhammad blamed the fire incidents on electrical sparks and  negligence, urging residents  to be vigilant and embrace safety measures.

    He said the organization has  18 functional fire-fighting vehicles and 13 operational fire stations  equipped with modern fire-fighting tools within Sokoto metropolis.

    According to him, the Aminu Tambuwal-led administration bought 10 new vehicles, refurbished the existing ones and constructed eight fire stations.

    He said the administration also drilled two boreholes and provided two water tankers as back-up to facilitate the agency’s activities.

    Muhammad also lauded the state government for the prompt supply of chemicals used in putting out fires as well as the provision rain boots and jackets.

    “ At present, the organisation has 142 workers whose salaries are being paid regularly  and also enjoying shift  and hazard allowances,’’ the fire chief said.

    He, however, appealed to the state government to provide the organisation with an ambulance  to complement its  services to  victims without waiting for responses from hospitals which may delay emergency services.

    Read Also: Search Sokoto IMN leader, Kasimu dies, laid to rest at residence in Mabera, Sokoto

    The director-general also requested for the employment of additional 300 or  400 workers to effectively man the vehicles  as 24 personnel were needed to handle each fire-fighting  vehicle  in the three shifts.

    Muhammad, who noted that each of the 23 local government areas in the state has  a fire-fighting vehicle, urged  the government to promptly deploy them equitably after refurbishment.

    He commended the cordial working relationship existing between the organisation and other security agencies such as  the Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

    The fire chief, who noted that  the state government was the sole financier of the agency, pointed out  that it was also not accessing  support from national and international bodies.

    He, however, said  that assistance on manpower training, advocacy and equipment would enhance the agency’s  operations.

    The director-general said that Gov. Aminu Tambuwal’s efforts on  fire prevention and safety of  lives and properties  fetched him a  prestigious fire safety award.

  • Man seeks dissolution of marriage over adultery

    Man seeks dissolution of marriage over adultery

    An Ado-Ekiti Customary Court has fixed March 8 to deliver judgment in a petition for dissolution of marriage, filed by ‎a mechanic, Olayiwola Olarewaju.

    The President of the Court, Mrs Olayinka Akomolede, gave the date after hearing submissions of parties.

    Olarewaju, 39, and a resident of Omisanjana Street, Ado-Ekiti, had asked the court to dissolve his 7-year-old marriage with Yetunde, over allegation of adultery and assault.

    The petitioner told the court that his wife was adulterous and combative.

    He said although no official marital rites were done to consummate the union, the marriage was blessed with three children.

    The petitioner told the court that he had in 2013, sued ‎her, because she aborted a pregnancy she had for another man while they lived together.

    He said the intervention of family members compelled him to eventually withdraw the matter from court.

    He said on Dec.25, 2‎017, the respondent left the house with their two children in the pretext of going to collect money from one of her debtors in Oke-Ila Street.

    Read Also: Court dissolves pastor’s marriage

    The petitioner said it was the next day that the respondent returned home.

    “She claimed she and our two children slept in her uncle’s house, who lives at Oke-ila Street,’’ he said.

    Olarewaju, however, said he and his elder sister traced the movement of the respondent to a particular man’s house.

    He said it was discovered that the respondent had often visited the man.

    The petitioner further said apart from being adulterous, the respondent was a trouble maker.

    Olarewaju prayed the court to dissolve the union, adding that the court should grant him custody of his three children to enable him take good care of them.

    Testifying in the matter as witness, Mrs Olayinka Adeoye, re-echoed the allegations of the petitioner that the respondent was adulterous.

    According to her, she and the petitioner have caught the respondent in several compromising sexual acts with a man other than the petitioner.

    The respondent, Yetunde , 33, a tailor, and a resident ‎of Omisanjana Street, Ado-Ekiti, denied all the allegations levelled against her.

    She told the court that on Dec.25, 2017, her debtor actually delayed her and in the process the battery of her phone went flat.

    According to her, the incident unfortunately compelled her to sleep in her uncle’s house.

    Yetunde said she could not get a motorcycle or taxi to bring her home around 10p.m.

    She prayed the court to award the custody of her three‎ children to her, if the petitioner insisted that the court should dissolve their union.

    The respondent further requested that the court ordered the petitioner to pay her N15, 000 as monthly feeding allowance for their three ‎children.

  • Fans celebrate late Bob Marley at 73

    Fans celebrate late Bob Marley at 73

    It was a beehive of activity at the Bob Marley Museum, in Jamaica, as thousands packed the venue for the annual event to celebrate the life of late reggae legend, Bob Marley.

    Marley, known as The Gong, would have celebrated his 73rd birthday on Tuesday and his international reach was shown in the audience, with the a blend of people from all over the globe.

    The posthumous birthday celebration of music legend kicked off in Jamaica in a concert, tagged ‘SoulRebel73’, and was witnessed by a crowd of Marley fans and streamed live on YouTube for viewers all over the world.

    It featured performances of Marley’s hit songs ‘No woman, No cry’, ‘Redemption song’, ‘One Love’ amongst others by his son Ziggy Marley and other singing groups, including children.

    Fans all over the world are celebrating the Jamaican legend, almost four decades after his death.

    Announcements of other shows organised by fans to commemorate his birthday week, are trending on Instagram with the hash tag #bobmarley.

    Marley, who was born on February 6, 1945, is credited with popularising reggae music around the world and served as a global symbol of freedom, love, unity; Jamaican culture and identity.

    He died of skin cancer in 1981 at the age of 36, with thirteen studio albums and two live albums to his name.

    Marley started his music career in 1963 with the group ‘The Wailers’, forging a distinctive songwriting and vocal style that would later resonate with audiences worldwide.

    His first solo album ‘Exodus’ released in 1977, established his worldwide reputation and elevated his status as one of the world’s best-selling artists of all time , with sales of more than 75 million records.

    ‘Exodus’ included four hit singles: ‘One Love’, ‘Exodus’, ‘Waiting in Vain’ and ‘Jamming’.

    His greatest hits album, ‘Legend’, was released in 1984, three years after his death. It subsequently became the best-selling reggae album of all time.

    Marley supported independence of African countries from European domination and saw it as a victory for all those in the African diaspora.

    He expressed his support for Africa in several songs including the hit songs ‘Africa Unite’ and ‘Zimbabwe’.

    NAN

  • Power stations generate 94,627MWh in 2017 Q4 – NBS

    Power stations generate 94,627MWh in 2017 Q4 – NBS

    Nigerian power stations generated 94,627 megawatts per hour (MWh) of energy daily in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS.

    The bureau’s website on Thursday in Abuja showed that daily energy generation attained a peak of 105,152 megawatts on Dec. 8.

    The website was tagged: “Power Sector Report: Energy Generated and Sent Out and Consumed and Load Allocation for Fourth Quarter, 2017.’’

    The report said the thermal stations generated 84,026 MWh while the hydro stations generated 21, 126 MWh out the total power generated.

    The report, however, stated that the lowest daily energy generation was 73,246MWh and was attained on Oct. 18.

    According to the report, on Oct. 18, thermal stations generated 55,941 MWh out of the 73,246MWh  while the hydro stations generated the remaining 17,305 MWh.

    It stated that metering data for all discos reflected that 3.45 million consumers, representing 46.16 per cent of the total 7.48 million consumers captured had been metered.

    The report stated that Benin Disco had the highest percentage of consumers metered because 69.49 per cent of the them had so far been metered.

    It said that the figure was closely followed by Eko Disco with 60.73 per cent and Ikeja Disco with 55.95 per cent.

    According to the report, Yola and Enugu Discos recorded the least percentage of consumers metered with 23.61 per cent and 27.72 per cent.

    NAN

  • Sales boy docked for alleged N400,000 fraud

    Sales boy docked for alleged N400,000 fraud

    The Police on Thursday arraigned a 21-year-old sales boy, Ejeh Christian, in a Karmo Grade 1 Area Court, Abuja, for alleged N400,000 fraud.

    Christian, a sales boy at Amosco Rapid Investment, Gwagwalada, Abuja, and resides at Kuje Road, Gwagwalada, is standing trial on a two-count charge of criminal breach of trust and cheating.

    The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges levelled against him.

    Read Also: Sales boy arraigned for alleged theft

    The prosecutor, Florence Avhioboh, told the court that one Amodu Godwin, of same address with the defendant, reported the matter at the Utako Police Station, Abuja, on Feb. 3.

    The complainant said on that same date, he entrusted the defendant with N400,000 to buy some cell phones, which he failed to do.

    Avhioboh said that the offences contravened Sections 348 and 288 of the Penal Code.

    The judge, Alhaji Abubakar Sadiq, granted the defendant N50,000 bail with one surety in like sum.

    He ordered that the surety must reside within the court’s jurisdiction.

  • PDP chides Presidency for reinstating NHIS boss

    PDP chides Presidency for reinstating NHIS boss

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has chided the Presidency for reinstating the Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme ( NHIS ), Prof Usman Yusuf after he was suspended indefinitely by the Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole in July 2017.

    Yusuf was suspended for alleged financial misconduct bordering on the misuse of N919 million and insubordination towards constituted authority following a report of a ministerial panel of inquiry which indicted him of abuse of office.
    In a dramatic twist however, the Presidency on Tuesday, overruled the minister by reinstating the indicted NHIS boss, even as he was still undergoing interrogation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
    The PDP, in a statement on Wednesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, described the Presidency’s action as shocking, scandalous and a mockery of justice.
    The party also mocked the All Progressives Congress (APC)-controlled Federal Government for allegedly covering up a cabinet minister reported to have bought a property worth N280 million in Abuja from alleged corrupt enrichment.

    “The Presidency stinks of corruption and has lost all claim of fighting graft, as long as it continues to protect indicted officials of the APC administration”, the statement added.

    The PDP added that it was disgusting that the same Presidency that is brandishing a medal of African Union Anti-Corruption champion, would short-circuit the processes, arm-twist anti-graft agencies and pull out an indicted government official, while he was still a guest at the EFCC where he was being grilled for his alleged malfeasance.

    The statement said, “This is a government official probed and thoroughly indicted for abuse of office and fraud to the tune of N919 million by a committee set up by the Minister of Health, comprising senior officials of the Health ministry, Department of State Services, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) and which report was submitted to the President last September.

     

    Read Also: NHIS:  ‘We’ve attained 98% coverage of formal sector’

     

    “The report detailed Yusuf as a public servant who portrayed a holier than thou attitude but at the background, milked the agency dry by ganging up with other fraudulent elements to fleece the NHIS to the tune of over N919 million through fraudulent procurements, while name-dropping on the President.

    “Instead of allowing for the conclusion of investigation and eventual prosecution by EFCC, the Presidency halted the process and rewarded the indicted official with a recall from suspension, even without any recourse to the supervising minister, simply because Prof. Yusuf is not only of the APC but also known to be very close to the President.

    “The only way the Presidency can redeem itself from this particular scandal is to immediately return Prof. Yusuf to the EFCC and allow the law to take it course if it is actually fighting corruption in Nigeria.

    “In the same vein, we challenge the Presidency to immediately name the minister indicted for corrupt enrichment and bring him out for investigation and prosecution in line with the law”.

    The opposition party called on Nigerians and the international community to continue to note what it called the insincerity and deception of the APC government, especially as the nation approaches the 2019 general elections.

     

  • Group urges Christians to join political parties

    Group urges Christians to join political parties

     

    A Christian group, Koinonia Ministerial Network, (KONMET) has advised Christians to participate in politics by joining political parties.

    Konmet urged Christian leaders to encourage their followers to register to vote in the 2019 elections.

    The group gave the advice in a statement made available to The Nation today, following its first quarterly prayer retreat held between January 21 and 23, 2018.

    It said Christians in government would be in a position to influence policies to stem the tide of “evils bedeviling our country such as insecurity, kidnapping, killings, fuel scarcity, lack of electricity supply.”

    It said: “The fellowship advised all Christian leaders to mobilise their followers to take active part in politics by joining any political party of their choice and registering as card carrying members of such parties.

    “Also, it is important for Christian leaders to encourage their followers who are 18 years’ old and above to get their Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) voters card particularly now that the 2019 elections are around the corner and INEC is moving from Ward to Ward registering prospective voters.

    Konmet expressed worry about “the growing level of insecurity and wanton killings of innocent Nigerians, particularly Christians, by Fulani herdsmen.

    Read Also: Cleric urges modesty among Christians

    “This is with particular reference to the killings in Benue where over seventy people were deliberately and brutally killed by Fulani herdsmen. This has continued unabated in other parts of the country.”

    The group condemned the killings and urged its followers to boycott beef as a protest against the violence and in solidarity with the dead.

    Konmet said: “All Christians in Nigeria should truly stop forthwith eating of cow meat (beef) … in protest of the fact that the Fulani herdsmen value the life of a cow more than that of a human being which is the reason behind their killing people when they lose one of their cows.

    “This is also in solidarity with our brothers and sisters who were murdered in cold blood by Fulani herdsmen because of cattle in several parts of Nigeria.”

    It advised the Federal Government to respect the Nigerian Constitution which recognises Nigeria as a secular state.

    Konmet added: “We appeal to the Federal Government to call the killer Fulani herdsmen to order to avoid turning our beloved nation into a battle field.

    “We urge all levels and organs of government of this nation to rise up to their constitutional responsibility of protecting the lives of all citizens of this country irrespective of tribe and religion.”

  • Herbalist, Badoo cult members arraigned for allegedly killing Pastor

    Herbalist, Badoo cult members arraigned for allegedly killing Pastor

    Six men, including a herbalist, who were alleged to be “Badoo” cult members, were on Wednesday charged with smashing the heads of a pastor and other family members with a grinding stone at an Ebute Meta Magistrates’ Court.

    The accused are Chibuzor Igwe, 19; Omotayo Onamoyegun, 25; Samuel Ameze, 38 and Gift Ameze, 35,

    Others are Uche Igwe, 23, and Fatai Adebayo a.k.a Aleshe, 34; a herbalist.

    The trial of the accused, who are facing a seven-count charge bordering on conspiracy, murder and stealing, which started at 3.00 p.m. ended at 4. 05 p.m.

    Chibuzo and his brother, Igwe, however, pleaded guilty to the charge of murder brought against them, while other accused entered a `not guilty’ plea.

    The Magistrate, Mrs Bola Folarin-Williams, remanded them at Ikoyi Prisons pending legal advice from the State Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

    She adjourned the case until March 8.

    Mr Emmanuel Eze, a lawyer from the State Criminal and Investigative Intelligence Department, Panti, had asked the court to remand all the accused in prison and asked that the case file be duplicated and sent to the DPP.

    He said the accused committed the offences on Nov. 26, 2017 at Ofin area and also at No. 12, Alajo Close, Abule Oshorun, Ibeshe in Ikorodu.

    He alleged the accused had broken into the apartment of the deceased, Pastor Victor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Ikorodu, and used a stone to smash his head while he was asleep.

    He told the court that the accused gained entry through the window and made away with his phone valued at N13, 000.

    The accused also entered the premises of the Yekinis and used a grinding stone to smash the heads of Sakiru, Kehinde and Salad Yekini causing them grievous harm.

    Eze said the accused also went away with a DVD player and a T-shirt, all valued at N8, 000 belonging to the family members.

    The offences contravened Sections 223, 245, 280 and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.