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  • Fire razes six shops in Kebbi central market

    Fire razes six shops in Kebbi central market

    Fire has razed six shops at the side wings of Birnin Kebbi central market on Friday night.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the fire gutted shops where agro chemicals and agricultural materials are being sold in the market.

    A security guard, Malam Aminu Shehu, however told NAN that the real cause of the fire outbreak was yet to be ascertained.

    Shehu confirmed that the intervention of the men of state fire service helped to prevent the fire from extending to more blocks in the market.

    ”Around 10 a.m yesterday day night I saw smoke and fire coming out from the shops and used my touch light to check the source of the fire and smoke. I discovered it was our shops where I am securing and I quickly called for help, but I don’t know the cause of the fire,” Shehu said.

    READ ALSO: Gunmen kill housewife, 3-yr-old daughter in Kebbi

    The sales representative of Saro Agro Science Nig Ltd, Mallam Muhammad Lawal, also told NAN that the company has lost millions of naira to the inferno.

    Lawal said: ”Presently I can’t say the amount of property we lost; we are going to cross check our record and know the products we lost. We lost different categories of agro chemical products and agricultural materials, and their prices vary from each other.

    Mr Ajala Olusoji, another salesman, said they were checking to see what they could salvage from the debris of the fire.

    ”This is wonderful experience i had in my life, shops burn down without knowing the source of the fire; the company has lost millions of naira, we can’t mention the amount of money we lost now because some products are more than N4000 per bottle and we lost many category of cartons of products,” he said.

    The Police and fire service are yet to comment on the incident.

    NAN

  • Buhari challenges regional leaders on illegal flow of arms into Nigeria

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday in N’Djamena, the Chadian capital stressed the need for wider cooperation among countries of Sahel and Saharan regions to counter the infiltration of small arms to Nigeria.

    The president made the call at the one-day Extraordinary Session of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD) in N’Djamena.

    The Nigerian leader maintained that the call had become imperative as such illegal arms were flowing into ”the hands of militia forces, bandits and insurgents who are becoming a threat to human rights and internal security.

    According to him, his administration has worked closely with immediate neighbours in the last few years to stem the widespread availability of small arms and light weapons making their way into Nigeria.

    He, however, noted that the “very disturbing recent developments” had impelled the administration to seek support from a wider circle of countries if the illegal inflows are to be curtailed.

    Malam Garba Shehu, Presidential spokesman said in a statement that ”the President is also putting on the table for discussions, the problems of irregular migration, trafficking in persons, especially of women and children as part of the security nature of his engagements.

    READ ALSO: Japan congratulates Buhari on reelection

    ‘It is in view of the significance of this organization and the role it can play in furthering domestic security that President Buhari ordered the reinvigoration of our nation’s interest, approved the payment of the backlog of unpaid funds and for a speedier work on the processes of the ratification of the treaty binding the members of the organization.

    ”While in N’Djamena, President Buhari is also expected to press for the protection of the well-being of the large population of Nigerians living both legally and illegally in Libya, which is the host country of the CEN-SAD 

    President  Buhari, alongside his host and current Chairperson of CEN-SAD, Idriss Deby Itno and their counterparts from Niger and Togo, with high-level representations from other member-countries are expected to issue a communique at the end of the summit.

    NAN

     

  • Lucas hat-trick helps Spurs to thrash Huddersfield

    Tottenham Hotspurs Brazil forward Lucas Moura struck a superb hat-trick in a 4-0 win over relegated Huddersfield Town on Saturday.

    The victory bolstered the home side’s hopes of a top-four finish in the Premier League.

    Spurs were without the injured Harry Kane and Dele Alli but Lucas’s treble after an early Victor Wanyama goal were just reward for a dominant display against the bottom side.

    The win in the early game took Spurs up to third place, a point ahead of Chelsea and four points clear of fifth-placed fellow London rivals Arsenal.

    Arsenal, however, have a game in hand.

    Tottenham made seven changes from the side that beat Manchester City 1-0 at home in the Champions League in midweek, with an eye on the quarter-final second leg on Wednesday.

    READ ALSO: Spurs suffer shock loss to Burnley

    Wanyama put Spurs ahead after 24 minutes with a fine individual goal after dribbling around goalkeeper Ben Hamer and tucking the ball into an empty net from a Ben Davies pass.

    Three minutes later the hosts scored again thanks to a fierce right-foot drive by Lucas that flew underneath Hamer after the excellent Moussa Sissoko set him up on the break.

    Spurs’ Fernando Llorente hit the bar after halftime and Huddersfield’s Juninho Bacuna had a late free kick tipped on to the bar before Christian Eriksen hit the post on the counter.

    Six minutes later Lucas controlled Eriksen’s cross and fired into the bottom corner past the helpless Hamer before rounding off the win by smashing into the top corner in stoppage time.

    NAN

  • Northern CAN backs national leadership’s visit to Buhari

    The Northern wing of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has cautioned members of Christian group in the north against internal wrangling that may also pitched them against the national leadership and destroy the association.

    This was as it cleared the air that, the national leadership of CAN has the support of Northern CAN over its recent congratulatory visit to President Muhannadu Buhari.

    The religious body also urged all Christian clerics and members to join hands together in fighting the insecurity that is presently threatening the lives and properties of Northerners, rather than engaging in bickering that may tear Christians apart.

    In a statement issued by the Northern CAN Public Relations Officer (PRO), Reverend Joseph John Hayab Saturday, he said;  “It is sad to note that at a time when Christians need unity and love, for progress, some few elements do not seem to want to allow CAN to focus on the security challenges the nation is facing today”.

    According to Reverend Hayab, “One of such distractions are from different views about the visit of CAN to President Buhari, but what we do know is that the meeting was not planned without consultations.”

    He said: “As to whether CAN consulted or not, we need to wait for explanation from the CAN President which should come during next CAN NEC meeting.

    “Without given a benefit of the doubt, it is sad that some have gone to media houses using the names of prominent elders to propagate falsehood, creating an impression that there was a crack in CAN.”

    Hayab explained that, “the truth, however, is that the rumour peddlers do realise that some of us from the North are familiar with the elders whom they claim to have spoken against CAN’s visit to the President.”

    READ ALSO: Buhari greets Prof David Ijalaye at 90

    He further stressed that what some the Christian leaders in the north did not understand is that, “the visit by CAN leaders to Buhari received the blessing of Northern CAN and our Chairman was there with the National leadership of CAN who paid solidarity visit on him in Abuja.:

    “Please, if anyone has any problems with Rev Dr. My Supo Ayokunle, the CAN President, or the leadership of CAN, such should go in person to inquire from, or confront them and stop misleading the not so informed.”

    He argued that “Many of us Christians in northern Nigeria who are active in CAN as stakeholders wish to categorically disassociate ourselves from the self-paraded champions of Christianity using our name and image whereas the truth is that their aim is to destroy the name of CAN for the sake of their stomachs.”

    “Nigerian Christians are wise and mature to recognise the differences between fighting for the church and settling scores with the persons in the leadership of CAN. Their new game is to call anyone who refuses to do their bidding the enemy of the church whereas they are the real destroyers of the church.”

    Hayab continued: “Since CAN elections were yet to hold neither has the electoral college been inaugurated, anyone who goes public to say that CAN will have a new leader in July misleads the public and that is unfortunate. The calibre of the persons in the electoral college are not ‘cash and carry people’ so cannot be cajoled. Given that it is God who knows who and what will transpire between now and July, God will choose for CAN leaders that will lead her.”

    “Christians must come together to pray and work to address the killings and security challenges in our country. We are calling on every true lover of the church to champion what will unite and not what will destroy the church,” he explained.

     

  • NAEE to FG: remove petrol subsidy

    The Nigerian Association of Energy Economics (NAEE) Saturday called on the Federal Government to heed the advice of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to remove petrol subsidy.

    The association’s president, Prof. Wumi Iledare, said that the benefits of the subsidy are more in favour of the elite, who pay less for their luxurious consumption, than the poor that it ought to favour.

    According to him, Nigeria budgets more money for petrol subsidy than it earmarks for health, education, roads and other infrastructure.

    He accepted that the removal of the petroleum support from government would only spark a revolution in the interim, after which there will be calm and a realization of the benefits of the removal.

    He complained that: “You are losing capacity. You have been giving the elite the opportunity to drive their cars without paying for it.”

    He spoke in Abuja during the press conference on the 12th NAEE/IAEE conference with the theme: Energy access and efficiency imperatives  for sustainable development in emerging economies.

    Iledare also admonish the government to stop benchmarking its annual budget with the price of oil, stressing that “when you put your budget on oil, the uncertainty becomes too much.”

    Continuing, he said that “There is an urgent need for Nigeria to focus on balancing its budget not on the back of energy production and pricing but on expanding and diversifying its budget process from the interaction of oil and gas production and petroleum pricing, the latter being highly stochastic.

    “There is no doubt that access to affordable energy is vital for human survival and economic development of the human race.”

    Instead of hinging the budget on the oil, he urged the government to base it on taxation, which is a global legitimate means of revenue generation.

    READ ALSO: Petrol subsidy claims rise to N521b

    He said that it was impossible for government to realize zero gas flare in the country next year.

    According to him, the infrastructure for attaining the phase out of gas flare in 2020 are not in place and cannot be in place overnight.

    He said the government was “kidding, where is the money ?”

    Projecting solution to the nation’s energy challenges, Iledare said it would “begin with a coherent energy policy that is forceful, flexible and effective.”

    The don noted that “Pragmatism begins from properly defining the underlying principles governing policy formulation. An energy policy that is based on woolly thinking and regional sentiments will not meet the targets emboldened in SDG 7 goals by 2030 in Nigeria. It is not about just power to light your homes and cool your environment but have to power the economy.”

    On the focus of the conference, he said that The 2019 NAEE conference theme is in alignment with “Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7), set to “ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all” (United Nations, 2018).

    According to him, the  third of three targets of SDG 7 is to double the global rate of energy efficiency improvement by 2030.”

    Energy, he said,  is a vital factor of production in any economy and an affordable access to sustainable energy is one of the key drivers of a global economic system that is sustainable.

    The don noted that energy efficiency and access are imperative to mitigate climate change, improve energy and grow economies while delivering environmental and social benefits.

    Efficiency and access, he said,  are also relevant in achieving the sustainable development goals to meet energy needs, from the perspective of affordability, reliability and sustainability.

     

  • I was accosted by a community leader, raped behind fish pond, Teenager tells court

    A teenager (names withheld) has told an Edo State Family Court sitting in Bénin City how she was raped by a community leader identified as Goddey Jatto, aged 34.

    The minor was said to have been allegedly defiled by Goddey who is the Odionwere of Jatto Street in Oregbeni Quarters.

    Speaking while being led in evidence by Police Prosecutor, Inspector Thomas Ojo, the victim said she was accosted, taken to a bush behind a fish-pond in the area and defiled by Jatto on January 22, 2019.

    “While I was waiting for my mother at the shop, I decided to go to a neighbour to help me call my mother on phone. Before I could get to the neighbour’s house, I changed my mind and turned back because I did not want to upset my mother. As I was returning to the shop, Jatto called me to help him take a book to his wife and I refused because I do not want my mother to get to the shop and not meet me there.

    READ ALSO: My pastor sexually harassed me, alleges teenager

    “He insisted and as I walked close to him, he held my hand, closed my mouth with his other hand and dragged me to the back of his house by the fish-pond.

    “He removed my pant, brought out his baby (penis) and forced it inside my baby (virginal). It was so painful and when he finished, he gave me N200 and turned my back, trying to do the same thing again. I bend-down, picked my pant from the floor and ran,” she said.

    The child (victim) told the court that immediately she ran back to the shop, she met her mother and narrated her ordeal. “My mother cried, fell and couldn’t move. She informed the Police; they took us to the police station the next day,” she said.

    Mother of the victim said the defendant was initially released at Oregbeni Police Station and was under pressure for amicable settlement but she refused.

    She claimed that she was contacted by officials of the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development and was assured that justice would prevail on the matter

    Presiding Magistrate, Mrs. D.I Adamaigbo, who refused bail application for the suspect adjourned the case to May 2, 2019, for accelerated hearing.

  • Row over withdrawal of petition against Boroffice at Election Tribunal

    The lawmaker representing Ondo North Senatorial District, Prof Ajayi Boroffice has said that the state governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu was not involved in the final withdrawal of the case at the Ondo state Election Tribunal as being reported in the media.

    It would be recalled that the petition filed before the State Election Petition Tribunal on behalf of Mega Party of Nigeria (MPN) against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over absence of its logo on the ballot papers used for Ondo North senatorial election had been withdrawn by the party.

    A statement through his Press Secretary, Kayode Fakuyi described the claim as false, stressing that MPN did not sponsor any candidate for Ondo North senatorial election conducted on February 23.

    It said” this fact is contained in Form CFO 002 C (II) that was signed by both the National Chairman and National Secretary of MPN. The form CF 002 C (II) was submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the 18th of October, 2018.

    READ ALSO: Boroffice condemns invasion of Ondo Assembly

    “This fact also explains the absence of MPN’s logo on the ballot papers used for Ondo North senatorial election.

    “Secondly, MPN did not actually file petition against INEC and Senator  Boroffice. It was the senatorial candidate of Action Alliance (AA) for Ondo North, Tunji Abayomi, who sponsored the case on behalf of MPN without the authorisation of the National leadership of MPN.

    “Instructively, Abayomi of the AA could not have sponsored the case without the support of his political leader, Governor Akeredolu.

    “From the above-stated facts, it is clear Akeredolu did not play any such role like role of arbiter in the resolution of the MPN to discontinue a case that was initiated and instituted on its behalf without its authorisation.

    “Furthermore, If the media wishes to attribute role to Akeredolu on the matter, such role should be confined to the sponsorship of the case”.

    The statement encouraged the media to always maintain its cherished tradition of credible broadcasting and reportage of issues of public importance.

     

  • Ex-Appeal Court President, Mamman Nasir dies at 90

    Ex-Appeal court President, Galadima Katsina and Hakimi Malumfashi in Katsina State, retired Justice Mamman Nasir, died Saturday at about 12 noon in Katsina at the age of 90.

    Confirming the death to The Nation on Telephone, The Information Officer, Katsina Emirate Council, Alhaji Ibrahim Bindawa, said the burial and funeral prayers was already fixed for 4.30 pm later today with the Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Abdulmumin Kabir Usman expected to attend alongside other prominent Katsina indigenes

    He further disclosed that the late Galadima-Kastina died in the afternoon at the Federal Medical Centre, Katsina, after a protracted illness.

    The retired Justice who was born in 1929, attended Kaduna College where he obtained the West Africa School Certificate in 1947 and later attended the University of Ibadan where he obtained a certificate in Latin.

    He later proceeded to the Council of Legal Education in London for his bachelor’s degree in Law in 1956, and was called to the bar in the same year.

    READ ALSO: NYSC cert. saga: Court strikes out Shittu’s case against APC

    He returned to Nigeria in 1956 and was appointed a Crown Counsel, and in 1961, appointed as Minister of Justice, Northern Nigeria, a position he held for five years before he became the Director of Public Prosecution, Northern Region in 1967, the same year he was appointed Solicitor General, North Central State, and now Kaduna State.

    Late Justice Nasir held this position for seven years before he was appointed to the bench of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 1975.

    In 1978, he was appointed President of the Court of Appeal, a position he held until he retired in 1992 to ascend the throne of Galadima of Katsina and was turbaned on May 9, 1992.

    During the General Abacha regime, he was appointed Chairman, Transistion To Civil Rule

     

  • Fuel shortage: Edo, oil marketers warn residents against panic buying

    In the wake of rumoured shortage of petroleum products in the state, the Edo State Government has warned residents in the state not to engage in panic buying as adequate arrangements have been made to ensure ample supply of the products, especially during the Easter break.

    Edo State Commissioner for Minerals, Oil and Gas, Hon. Joseph Ugheoke, disclosed this after a meeting with executives of the Edo Chapter of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) in Benin City, the Edo State capital, at the weekend.

    The Commissioner urged residents in the state to disregard rumours of impending fuel scarcity, assuring that there would not be a disruption in the supply of petroleum products.

    He said the state government was working in collaboration with major stakeholders in the fuel distribution chain to sustain the present availability of products.

    On the outcome of the meeting with the oil dealers, the commissioner conveyed the resolve of the marketers to continue to dispense petrol at the approved pump price and without instigating artificial scarcity through hoarding.

    On their parts, Vice Chairman of the Edo State IPMAN, Abdulhamid Baba Saliu and the Chairman, Major Oil Marketers and Dealers, Tony Aghedo, affirmed the availability of petroleum products for consumers, noting that there was no cause for alarm.

    The commissioner said the stakeholders are expected to reconvene next week to review the situation for further action.

  • Edo wades into dispute between Chinese companies, host communities

    To arrest breakdown of law and order, the Edo State Government has waded into the dispute between three Chinese companies and their host communities in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of the state, calling for dialogue between the contending parties.

    Following a directive from the Ministry of Environment and Sustainability, government officials temporarily shut the premises of the three companies and ordered their staff to stay clear of the premises until the matters are resolved.

    The affected companies are Time Ceramics, Rhongsheng Glass Company, Rongtai Aluminium Company and Watson Doors Industry Ltd.

    Recall that the community leaders raised the alarm that the companies were not abiding by agreements contained in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the communities.

    READ ALSO: ‘Edo is investing in Primary Healthcare to address basic health needs’

    The leader of the government enforcement team and Director of Environment, Mr Godfrey Ehon, who represented the Commissioner of Environment and Sustainability, said government acted swiftly to sustain peaceful coexistence between the companies and their host communities.

    He noted, “We are carrying out the directive of the state government because, for some time, there has been heightened tension in the community. The idea is to temporarily close down the companies so as to give room for dialogue with the host communities.”

    He explained that the intervention was aimed at inviting the community leaders and the companies to a dialogue so as to resolve their differences amicably.

    Public Relations Officer, Rongtai Aluminum Company, identified as Mr.  Bunk denied the allegation, noting that the company maintains a good relationship with the community leaders.

    He said, “We have not received any complaint from the community leaders.  We have been meeting with them and also ensured that we meet our responsibilities to them.”