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  • Kwara teachers accuse leaders of hobnobbing with govt

    Teachers under the aegis of Kwara state Concerned Teachers have accused the leadership of the state Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) of hobnobbing with the state government.

    The group said that the NUT leadership in the state has mortgaged the welfare and interest of its members.

    Speaking with THE NATION, Spokesperson of the concerned teachers, Mallam Abdulwahab Abubakar, urged the incoming government in to place high premium on workers’ welfare to stabilise its administration.

    Abubakar said: “The motive of gathering is to tell the labour leaders in Kwara state that this is the time for them to come together and form a formidable power.

    “The essence of having unions is to cater for the welfare of workers in the state. But in Kwara state, it is as if labour leaders are not there for the workers at all.

    “The labour leaders have been hobnobbing with the government. This time around we need virile and vibrant labour leaders that will fight for workers’ welfare in the state.

    “Besides, most of our benefits are being denied us. The benefits

    include leave bonus, promotion etc. Whenever these things are not being paid to workers, it behoves labour leaders to come out and demand for them. It is injurious to workers for labour and government to have friendly relationship. In situation where labour leaders and government have good rapport, it means the labour leaders are not there for workers’ interest.

    Read Also: Kwara workers to receive salaries this week— Governor’s aide

    “As we await the incoming government in the state, we want a formidable labour leader that will be there for the workers.

    “The labour leaders in the state, candidly speaking are not there for us. I am making reference to NUT.

    “NUT should close rank and form a formidable force so that teachers in the state will have a relief.

    “Our advice to the incoming government is that it should take workers welfare as a priority.”

    He added: “The state government was owing the teachers in the state three months’ salary arrears with some percentage. But to our surprise, we were only paid 81 percent of our March salary out of the huge amount of money that came to the coffers of the state government from the federation account.

    “It is uncalled for. We expect our leaders to come out and confront the government.”

  • Ex-militants to Buhari: don’t confirm Brambaifa as NDDC MD

    A group of ex-militant leaders has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to shelve any plan to confirm Prof. Nelson Brambaifa as substantive Managing Director, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

    The ex-militant leaders under the auspices of Niger Delta Ex-agitators Leaders Forum (NDEL) alleged since his appointment as the acting MD of the commission, Brambaifa had not been able to coordinate the activities of NDDC.

    For instance the ex-militant leaders, who met in Yenagoa, the state capital on Wednesday said the acting MD had not been able to resolve issues surrounding the water hyacinth project.

    The Coordinator of the group, Leader Monday, particularly said Brambaifa refused to pay for water hyacinth projects and to meet with them to discuss kilometer road jobs.

    Monday said the attitude of Brambaifa was at variance with the principles of youth empowerment to stop restiveness in the Niger Delta in line with the objective of the commission.

    He said if the acting MD continued to neglect them, they would storm Aso Rock, Abuja for series of protests.

    Monday said they were particularly unhappy that Brambaifa snubbed all their efforts to meet with him to discuss the knotty issues.

    He called on elders and leaders from the region to reach out to the aching MD and prevail on him to act properly to avoid violent conflicts in the Niger Delta.

    “Professor Brambaifa like most public office holders should desist from playing politics with public NDDC funds to the detriment of e-militants and remain apolitical.

    Read Also: Buhari condemns Kaduna violence

    “Brambaifa is unfit for the position of managing Director of NDDC and should not be confirmed as one. We need an apolitical MD who can address issues without bias,” he said.

    But a university don, Chief Kalaiti Jephthah, sued for peace and warned the ex-militant leaders against fighting their kinsman.

    Jephthah argued that Brambaifa should be given benefit of the doubt and time to settle down as the acting MD of the commission.

    “To the best of my knowledge Professor Nelson Brambaifa is a well- meaning elder, gentle, amiable and a true product of the struggle with good listening ears. We have everything to gain if we are patient with him,” he said.

  • Pastor, eight others jailed for open defecation

    A Magistrate’s Court sitting in Aramoko Ekiti has sentenced a pastor and eight others to six- month imprisonment for failure to provide toilet facilities in their houses.

    The convicts were also jailed for other sanitation offences like practicing open defecation and refusing to provide waste bins within their vicinities.

    They were brought to court from communities like Aramoko, Erio, Ido Ile, all in Ekiti West Local Government Area of the state.

    Out of the 18 people arraigned before the Magistrate court by Local Government Environmental Health Officers, nine pleaded guilty to the offences and were convicted.

    The convicted are: Pastor Olaleye Isaac, Chief Ologun Ala, Mr. Titus Ibironke, Chief Jacob Taiwo, Mr. Sunday Adesoba, Mrs. Olu Obateru, Mr. Adetoyinbo, Mr. Agboola and Mr. Atoro.

    The presiding Magistrate, Mr. Abayomi Adeosun, sentenced the accused persons to six months imprisonment with options of fines ranging from N5,000 to N15,000.

    Read Also: Court remands Togolese cook charged with murdering Credit Switch boss

    While lamenting the environmental nuisance caused by open defecation, he held that the sentence would serve as a deterrence to others.

    The Magistrate also issued a bench warrant for the arrest of nine other persons who failed to appear in court for similar offences.

    He further directed the Police to present them for prosecution on April 25, 2019.

    Addressing journalists after the conviction, Chief Prosecutor, Ekiti West Local Government, Mr. Ebenezer Fashipe lamented that citizens valued their wealth more than their health.

    Fashipe assured that the local government will continue to prosecute households without toilets until open defecation is eradicated in the area.

  • Kwara workers to receive salaries this week— Governor’s aide

    Dr Muideen Akorede, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communication to the governor of Kwara state, Gov. Abdulfatah Ahmed, says workers in the employment of the state government will be paid their salaries this week.

    Akorede told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Ilorin that the delay in the payment of salaries was largely due to challenges with the government’s normal revenue sources.

    Read Also: Ahmed: we’re bequeathing legacy of peace, service in Kwara

    He, however, said the issues would be resolved while workers would start receiving their salaries this week.

    Akorede also insisted that salaries would be paid in full, contrary to speculations that plans were underway to pay workers in percentages and batches.

    He expressed gratitude to the workers for their patience and appealed to them to bear with the state government while it was working hard to tackle the issue.

    NAN reports that workers in the state had yet to receive their March salaries.

  • AA gets nod to inspect Imo election materials

    The Governorship and House of Assembly Petitions Tribunal sitting in Owerri, Imo state has granted the Action Alliance (AA) leave to inspect election materials in connection to the conduct of the March 9 governorship election.

    The Panel granted the petitioners leave to also inspect “copy, photocopy and obtain Certified True Copies of all the electoral materials related to or in connection with the conduct of the Imo State governorship election held on 9th March, 2019, including but not limited to ballot papers, used and unused; the voters’ register used in the conduct of the election.

    Read Also: Imo governor-elect bans issuance of land titles, CofO

    “Forms EC8A, EC8B, EC8C, EC8D, EC8E, EC 17A, EC 25A, EC 25B, EC 40A, EC 40G, EC 40H; all the incident forms filed by voters in all the polling units in the election; the list of permanent voter cards collected and used in the election; all the card readers used in the election; data of accredited voters as captured by all the smart card readers deployed during the 9th March, 2019 governorship election conducted in all the polling units in Imo State, sorted out into Local Governments, Wards, Polling Units and voting points; record of ballot paper allocation to all the polling units in the election; the list of all presiding officers for all the units in the election”.

    Also to be inspected by the petitioners include “INEC manual and guidelines; the list of the polling agents submitted to INEC by all the political parties and every other electoral material used in the conduct of the election for the purpose of instituting, maintaining and prosecuting the petition and for the purpose of presenting same at the trial”.

  • How 19-yr-old robbed, stabbed Assemblies of God Pastor

    The FCT Police Command has arrested one Isaac Agbo, 19-year old for allegedly robbing and stabbing a pastor of Assemblies of God church.

    The suspect who was in company of his friend allegedly went to the residence of the Pastor John Jonathan in Karmajiji area of Abuja and robbed him.

    The suspect who met resistance when they got to the pastor’s house stabbed the pastor with a knife and fled his house.

    According to Police, the pastor was stabbed at his back and is currently recovering at an undisclosed hospital.

    Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, the Commissioner of Police in charge of FCT, CP Bala Ciroma said recent measures put in place by the Command has led to smashing of notorious criminal syndicates, arrest of hardened criminals, recovery of dangerous weapons and other exhibits.

    The CP who was represented by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Criminal Investigation Department, DCP Salisu Gyadi said 84 other suspects were arrested for various crimes.

    The Command also recovered 25 vehicles of different make from a gang of nine, various phones, locally fabricated rifle, knives, cutlasses, daggers, hammers, axe and other dangerous weapons.

    23 packs of solution used as intoxicant, 43 bottles of different cough syrups containing codeine, hundreds of Exol tablet, hundreds of Dizapam tablets were also recovered.

    Speaking on how Agbo was arrested, the CP said: “On the 8th February 2019, at about 2030 hours, a report was received of a robbery in progress at the residence of one Pastor John in Karmajiji, Abuja. Police operatives moved to the scene and met the pastor in a pool of his blood while a locally made pistol and dagger was left behind by the robbers while they were escaping.

    “In the course of trailing the robbers, One Isaac Agbo aged 19 of Games Village, Abuja was arrested and he confessed to the crime. In his confession, he said that when they got to the house of the Pastor, they were able to enter but met resistance. In the process, they stabbed him at his back and ran when alarm was raised.”

    The CP said Agbo’s accomplice, one Ibrahim is currently at large but effort is being intensified to arrest him.

    The Command also arrested a gang of four suspected armed robbers who specialise in snatching cars and receiving stolen cars.

    The suspects; Ibrahim Abubakar, Usman Bala, Abubakar Sani, and Murtala Mohammed specialize in stealing and snatching cars from shopping malls.

    On how they were arrested, the CP said: “They had an accident around Federal Secretariat in Abuja after snatching a car and tried to escape Police who were on hot pursuit. Upon the arrest of the suspects, they confessed having previously stolen a Honda Accord EOD at shopping mall in central area, a Mercedes Benz at Jinifa Plaza also at Central Area, a Mercedes Benz ML at Next Cash and Carry and three Toyota Camry pencil light models.

    Read Also: NAF strikes bandits in Zamfara, destroys 8 camps, kills scores

    “According to the suspects, they use a knife or gun to dispossess their victims of their cars and search their victims collecting all valuables before leaving. The suspects also disclosed their receivers as Murtala Mohammed and one Danjuma who is at large. The receivers sell the cars somewhere in Kebbi State and usually forge new papers for the vehicles.”

    The Police said efforts are being intensified to arrest Danjuma and recover all the stolen vehicles.

    Ciroma also noted that it has keyed into the Operation Puff Adder recently launched by the Inspector-Gnerel of Police, Ag. IGP Mohammed Adamu, adding that extra personnel have been deployed to Abaji, Kwali, Gwagwalada, Bwari, and Kuje areas with to check the activities of criminals within the FCT.

  • Guard kills colleague, shoots Korean staff

    An officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) guarding the Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics (LADOL) Free Zone, Mr. Innocent Oshemi, has shot and killed another NSCDC personnel.

    He also wounded a Korean staff working at the fabrication and integration yard of the Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) located in the free zone.

    The armed security guard went on a rampage around the SHI-MCI yard on Monday, killing his colleague during an argument and shooting a Korean SHI-MCI employee operating a crane within the yard at the time

    According to eyewitness report, the severally wounded Korean was not involved in the original argument between the gunman and his colleague.

    After killing his colleague at about 1.53 pm, the NSCDC officer made his way towards the exit of the SHI-MCI yard but was confronted by guards and other Korean SHI-MCI employees, who prevented from leaving the yard.

    Their bravery prevented the gunman from inflicting further harm on other employees within the free-zone.

    The gunman was taken into custody by Apapa police.

    The gunman, who was supplied to LADOL Free Zone by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, was tasked with the responsibility of defending the Samsung yard from any external attack.

    The Korean employee, who was taken to hospital, underwent several hours of surgery, having suffered serious and life-changing injuries.

    Some workers at the free zone, who witnessed the incident, blamed it on poor management of LADOL as the Free Zone operator.

    Read Also: Insecurity:Police arrest five suspected kidnappers in Ondo

    “LADOL armed guards are supposed to be properly trained to protect Nigerian and foreign workers.

    ‘’SHI-MCI had previously argued against having armed guards at the yard as it posed unnecessary risk to employees due to insufficient training of guards,” said a female employee who asked not to be named.

    “It is vital that those responsible for such a serious failing that has resulted in death and serious injury are held to account.

    “This was a violent act in a free zone, which is supposed to be a safe zone for foreign nationals, investors and Nigerian workers conducting their daily business.

    “Zone operators like LADOL should have measures in place to ensure the safety and security of all their subleases at the zone and if those measures fail there should be contingencies,” another eyewitness said.

    In a statement on Tuesday, Samsung Heavy Industries Nigeria confirmed one of its Korean employees has been critically injured after being shot by a guard, adding that it has arranged expert medical care for this employee.

    “We give thanks to the quick-thinking and bravery of its employees who apprehended the security operative.

    “Samsung will conduct a full investigation and demands answers from LADOL as to how this employee was screened, and what protection they can offer to workers within the LADOL Free Zone who are now extremely concerned for their safety and welfare.

    “Samsung is working with the International SOS service and the Korean embassy in Nigeria to ensure that proper medical care is provided to its employee and that his family has all the support they need.

    ‘’We have already started our own investigation into what happened. We will be encouraging the Nigerian authorities and the Korean embassy to commence a full and thorough investigation into this terrible incident,” the statement added.

    Meanwhile, SHI-MCI excused all its employees for work from yesterday and until further notice.

    “SHI-MCI plans to issue a claim of damages and will request compensation on behalf of the victim as well as commercial loss,” the company added.

    Reacting in a statement, the Head of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Abdullahi Gana, explained a Civil Defence officer opened fire ‘in error’ at the logistics base, ”leaving multiple casualties”.

    He later clarified that the officer, who was not immediately identified, shot and killed one of his colleagues at the base.

    “Also a Korean man who was present sustained gunshot wounds and is currently hospitalised.”

    Gana who sympathised with the victims, promised the incident would be investigated and legally handled.

  • Breaking: Owan-Enoh, Usani granted substituted service on Ayade

    The Cross River State Governorship Tribunal sitting in Calabar on Wednesday granted Senator John Owan-Enoh and Pastor Usani Usani separate orders for substituted service on Governor Ben Ayade, who won the Cross River State gubernatorial election on March 9 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

    Owan Enoh, a serving senator representing the central district of the state and Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Usani, had been in a tough battle over who is the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.

    Both had filed separate petitions, challenging Ayade, the incumbent governor, the PDP and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), over the outcome of the election.

    Owan-Enoh in a suit with number EPT/CAL/GOV/01/2019 had dragged Ayade and INEC, first and second respondents respectively, to court. Also Usani in another case with number EPT/CAL/02/2019 had also dragged INEC, Ayade and the PDP as first second and third respondents respectively

    In court on Wednesday Counsel to Owan-Enoh, M. O. Inyang, who held brief for Awa Kalu, in a motion exparte application for hearing, sought an order seeking substituted service on the first respondent (Ayade).

    In a motion exparte dated April 8, 2019 and filed on April 9, Inyang said there are four grounds for the application, but the paramount was the fact that the bailiff of the court had made fervent efforts to service Ayade personally to no avail.

    Read Also: Ayade, Lalong, Masari, others get INEC’s certificates of return

    The application was supported by a three-paragraph affidavit, an exhibit, which was the affidavit of non-service, as well as a written address in support of the application.

    Chairman of the three-man governorship panel, Justice Josiah Majebi, said the application had merit and granted that Ayade can be served by pasting the notice of service on the wall of the PDP State secretariat along Murtala Mohammed Highway.

    In the second matter filed by Usani, his lawyer, Henrie Ituen, also in a motion exparte dated and filed on April 9, 2019 sought an order to serve the second respondent, Ayade, though substituted means by pasting it at the governor’s office in Diamond Hill.

    Attached to it also was an eight-paragraph affidavit, exhibit (affidavit of non service and a written application.

    This was also granted.

  • Breaking: Anambra Assembly passes bill to reduce burial expenses

    A Bill seeking to curtail burial and funeral expenses in Anambra State has been passed by the state House of Assembly.

    The Bill which was sponsored by the member representing Anaocha 11 constituency,Hon Charles Ezeani, was passed after due consideration by the House during Wednesday’s plenary.

    The burial and funeral expenses had been on the rise in the state, which forced the Catholic Bishop of Awka, Most Rev Paulinus Ezeokafor to raise the alarm a few years ago.

    The Cleric said if not curtailed, people in the state would go hungry after such burial ceremonies, while also advocated for a one-day burial instead of three and four days being practised in Anambra.

    The Bill provided that in the event of death, no person shall deposit any corpse in the mortuary or any place beyond two months from the date of the death

    Also, while burial ceremonies in the state shall be for one day.

    The Bill equally places ban on destruction of property, gunshots, praise singing, blocking of roads and streets during burial ceremonies in the state as defaulters shall be punished according to the law.

    Read Also; Anambra APC to tribunal: nullify APGA’s victory in Idemili South

    The bill also made it clear that from the commencement of the law, no person shall subject any relation of the deceased person to a mourning period of more than one week from the date of the burial ceremony.

    While explaining further, the sponsor of the bill , Charles Ezeani, maintained that the bill also made provision for a monitoring and implementation committee that would enforce the law as well as their responsibilities.

    He described the bill as important and a great achievement by the 6th Anambra Assembly, adding that the bill had put to rest the high cost of burial and funeral activities in the state.

    However, the speaker, Hon Rita Maduagwu commended the lawmakers for passing the bill.

    According to her, it would moderate burial expenses in the state.

  • We never abandoned Chukwu, says Enugu govt

    Irked by the spate of negative publicity the illness of Former Rangers and National team captain has attracted to the state, the Enugu state government has come out with a strong worded statement insisting that it has not abandoned the football legend to his fate.

    In a statement by the state commissioner for information, Ogbuagu Anikwe, it squarely put the blame on Chukwu’s friend who posted on Facebook with the impression that Chukwu was being neglected by the state government.

    Ogbuagu in the statement outlined the efforts the Enugu state government had put to ensure that the football icon got the best of treatment and care regarding his illness.

    The statement posited:

    “The Enugu State Government has so far been restrained in its reaction to the spate of misinformation and outright lies promoted by a friend of the iconic Enugu Rangers player, Mr. Christian Chukwu who is ill and has been hospitalised. This restraint is out of respect to the wishes of both the Chukwu family and the request of his doctors who wanted a space to quietly deal with the emergency situation that brought Chukwu to hospital on a stretcher.

    Today, however, Chairman Chukwu is walking with a stick and has granted interviews to the BBC and a couple of local media. It is on the strength of this that the Enugu State Government is now putting out the following information and clarifications to explain what is happening to Christian Chukwu and how it is being taken care of:

    “Christian Chukwu, popularly called “Chairman” in his playing days, is NOT a destitute old man abandoned to his fate in the face of an emergency health situation. He is currently the Director of Sports in the Rangers Management Corporation, a public service job that enables him to meet his basic health needs.

    Read Also: Chukwu was not abandoned, says Rangers

    “In the circumstance, Christian Chukwu is an employee of the Enugu State Government. This was one of the strategies that Rt. Hon. Dr. Ugwuanyi, the Governor of Chukwu’s home state of Enugu, designed to take care of sportsmen who had served the State or the nation in their youth.

    “When Chukwu’s health situation was brought to the attention of his employer – Rangers Management Corporation – he was rushed to one of the best medical facilities in Enugu where a team of five (5) specialists have been attending to him.

    “The management of Rangers Management Corporation immediately deposited N200,000 with this health facility to begin his treatment.

    “On hearing about his health condition, Gov. Ugwuanyi gave an additional N1.5million to the Commissioner for Youth and Sports to give to the family — in order to ensure that the football legend did not lack anything that the team of specialists may require to manage his condition.

    “The Governor has also given an additional N1million to the family when the doctors

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