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  • Our members never burnt police station in Anambra – IPOB

    Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) on Wednesday, said the suspects recently arrested and paraded by Anambra police command for allegedly attacking a police station in the state were not their members.

    The group wondered why police always linked IPOB which had remained a non-violent organisation, with criminal matters.

    The police had on Monday, paraded five suspected members of the pro-Biafran group over the burning of one of its police stations in Ajali, Orumba, Anambra State.

    A statement by the group’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, insisted that no member of the group was criminal and had never bore arms since it started the movement for the restoration of Biafran state.

    “IPOB members never carted way AK-47 rifles, burnt police patrol van or police station at Ajali, in Orumba, Anambra State, and will never do so until Biafra’s freedom is restored,” it said.

    READ ALSO: Five IPOB members nabbed for burning Anambra police station

    The group asked governors of Anambra and Abia States to release those arrested in their respective states, insisting that they remained responsible for the ongoing manhunt and illegal arrests as the chief security officers of the states.

    The statement partly read, “Our people are in serious danger over the recent and latest version of manhunt and illegal arrest going on in Abia and Anambra states, instructed by Ikpeazu and Obiano.

    “We are worried over the deployment and posting of Nigerian police and army officers in Biafraland.

    “The commissioner of police in Anambra and Abia states including other states in Biafraland are Fulani officers, their spokespersons, area commanders and DPOs. Our people are seriously under cage.

    “It is important we remind Nigerians and stakeholders in Abia and Anambra states to warn Ikpeazu and Obiano to release those arrested in their respective states or wait to see IPOB’s new strategy to restore Biafra sovereignty in the shortest possible time.”

  • Nigeria needs result-oriented managers, says NIM

    Management is a science but managing is an experience and it changes as the demands of man changes in time.

    This was the submission of Professor Murtala Awodun, FNIM, the executive chairman of Kwara State Internal Revenue Service at the 2019 Corporate Members’ Forum of the Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM) held on Tuesday in Lagos.

    Awodun, in his lecture “Management: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” noted that management of man and resources has begun from creation and man was made solely for that purpose

    “Starting from creation, we are safe to say that the first profession is management. Man was created for the purpose of managing the earth, and the singular reason for management is to add value.

    Awodun further noted: “The concept of division of labour also propelled the concept of management that we practice today.”

    He said the future of management “can only be premised on circumstances and situations within the human nature, the organization, and the environment. This is because these three have played significant roles in the evolution of what we call management today.

    “We cannot practice management tomorrow if we don’t understand management today. This is because management tomorrow is already here today.

    “Our ability to excel in management tomorrow is based on our knowledge of management yesterday and practice of management today.”

    Speaking on the reason for the forum, the President, Nigeria Institute of Management (Chartered), Professor Olukunle Iyanda said that the forum affords members to be more involved in the activities of the institute.

    Read Also: Group urges Buhari to be magnanimous

    Appreciating members of the institute who have met all obligations set by the institution, Iyanda appealed to top level executives to share their knowledge with other members

    “We would appreciate all corporate members encouraging their top level executives to make their rich knowledge and expertise available to the generality of our members through lectures and participation as resource persons in our capacity building and development activities.”

    He added that management of the Institute will from time to time visit corporate members’ top executives “to encourage them to help us in spreading the gospel of management excellence through contribution of articles on their managerial experience and the lessons they have learnt in their distinguished careers.”

  • Zamfara imposes curfew on motorcycles

    Zamfara state government on Wednesday imposed curfew on commercial and private motorcycles in all the fourteen local governments from 7 pm to 7am.

    Commissioner for Local Government Affairs, Bello Dankande Gamji, announced the decision in Gusau.

    The commissioner explained the curfew became unavoidable in view of the security threat bedeviling the state.

    He lamented a woman and her child were abducted recently when she boarded a tricycle to her home.

    READ ALSO: Dusk to dawn curfew imposed on troubled Kajuru LGA

    Dankande, who was flanked by the Commissioner of Police Celestine Okoye, warned the police will be spread in all nooks and crannies of the metropolis enforce the curfew and arrest defaulters.

    He further revealed most of the crimes committed were organised and perpetrated with some commercial motorcycle riders and tricycle operators.

    “We know that the action could be considered harsh or hard on our people but such measures are must be taken in order to safeguard our people, protect lives and property, ensure that peace prevail in all corners of our state,” Dankande explained.

  • Court sentences ex-convict to five months imprisonment for stealing one chicken

    A Karmo Grade 1 Area Court, Abuja, on Wednesday sentenced a 29-year-old ex-convict, Mubarak Abdullahi, to five months in prison for stealing one chicken.

    The judge, Mr Inuwa Maiwada, however, gave the convict an option of N10, 000 fine, and warned him to be of good behaviour.

    Abdullahi, who resides at Angwan Hausawa Karmo, had pleaded guilty to three counts of being in possession of a chicken suspected to be stolen, idleness and constituting nuisance.

    The convict pleaded with the court  saying,: “please sir, temper justice with mercy, times are hard, and no work in the country.”

    Read Also: Woman in court for gripping, squeezing manhood

    Earlier, the Police Prosecutor, Ijeoma Ukagha, told the court that one Mohammed Ismailia, a team of vigilante at Idu Gbagji, arrested and took him to the Karmo Police Station on Monday.

    The prosecutor said that the convict has been prosecuted before for stealing a turkey.

    During police investigation, he said that the convict confessed to the crime and all efforts made by the police to take them where he stole the chicken from proved abortive.

    Ukagha said the offence contravened the provisions of sections 319, 406 and 199 of the Penal Code.

    NAN

  • ICT mainstay of economy, says Shittu

    Minister of Communication, Barrister Adebayo Shittu, has lauded the Nigerian technology market initiative.

    The initiative, he said, will further boost the ecosystem.

    He spoke when the technology market team paid a visit to him at the Ministry’s Headquarters in Abuja.

    Shittu said it  was gladdening that young Nigerians have found something to do with their time and brought up an innovation, which is the first of its kind.

    He reiterated his commitment to giving young minds a platform for development in the country especially through Information Communication Technology

    “Nigeria harnesses lots of opportunities and it is only appropriate that ICT becomes a mainstay of the Country’s economy , this kind of initiative goes a long way to ensuring we have a better society in the Information Communication Technology Industry, my tenure believes that Technology and Information Technology is a mainstay of Nigerian Economy, ICT can give us better than Crude oil, ” he stressed.

    Read Also: You lack powers to stop campaigns, Shittu tells INEC

    He also promised to serve and support in best minds as the Grand Patron of the Initiative noting that he remains committed to ICT development .

    Creative Director of the Nigerian Technology Market, Olanrewaju Oyedeji praised the policies of the communication ministry under Barrister Adebayo Shittu

    “The Communication Ministry under you , made it possible  for us to pull off this of project,” Olanrewaju noted.

    Speaking on the focus of the Nigerian technology market,Olanrewaju reemphasised the need to spread knowledge about Technology informed the need to have the project

    “We have the first ever free E-institute in Nigeria for Technology and Information Technology Courses , we have the first ever portal for Job Bank, we also have the first E-market for Technology and Information Gadgets  which we believe remains essential for us as a country” he noted.

    Olanrewaju thanked the Minister for giving youths a platform for innovation stating  that his administration has remained a unique one.

    The team had  top Youths across the country and intentionally.

    Former British Broadcasting Corporation Reporter and Executive Director of Largest Youth Platform in Nigeria (YouthsDigest) ,Gidado Yushau Shuiab, the organizer of the largest Chief Executive Officers Awards in Nigeria ,Ali-Bob , one of Nigeria’s Finest young Lawyers Barrister Nelson Nnamdi, Executive Director of Centre for Hunger and Poverty alleviation and Research Alabidun Shuaib Abdulrahman, team of the Nigerian Technology Market and Media personnels were at the meeting.

    The team presented a letter of Grand Patronship of the project to the Minister of Communication while an inauguration ceremony has been fixed for the first Saturday in May.

     

  • We didn’t see Adeleke in exam hall, witnesses tell court

    Two witnesses in the ongoing trial of Sen. Ademola Adeleke on a seven-count amended charge bordering on examination malpractice on Wednesday told the Federal High Court Abuja that they did not see the senator in the examination hall.

    The witnesses, Mr Emmanuel Adesola and Enoch Adigun, both teachers, while being led in evidence by the prosecutor Mr Simon Lough, told the court that they invigilated examinations at Ojo -Aro Community Grammar School in Osun State in 2017.

    Adesola told the court that when he got to school, he asked for the school album but was told it was not ready.

    According to him, “I could not identify any student without the school album since it was my first time there so the principal and the register helped me to identify them as I used the list I had to call the students into the hall.

    “I didn’t see any of the defendants in the examination hall; Sen. Adeleke was not in the examination hall, he is a public figure so I would have recognised him,” the witness told the court.

    Read Also: Court: Adeleke unfit to run for Osun governor

    The witness who further told the court that he had been supervising National Examination Council (NECO) examination for the past five years also told the court that there were four elderly students in the hall.

    While being cross examined by Mr Alex Iziyon, (SAN), the witness said that he did not make a formal report on the absence of a school album to his superiors even though he ought to have done so.

    He also told the court that on the day he invigilated, he did not witness any form of examination malpractice in the hall.

    On his part, Adigun told the court that he saw the second defendant, Sikiru Adeleke in the examination hall while he was invigilating.

    According to Adigun, I was surprised to see him because he was the most matured student in the hall but when I checked and saw that he had an identity card duly stamped by the school, I had to allow him write the examination.

    Adigun said that he didn’t see Adeleke in the examination hall or any of the other defendants besides Sikiru.

    The trial judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo adjourned the matter until June 10 and 11 for continuation of hearing.

    Adeleke was first arraigned by the Federal Government in Sept. 2018 on a four-count charge bordering on examination malpractice, along with his brother, Sikiru Adeleke and three others.

    The senator pleaded not guilty to the charges and was granted bail on self-recognizance by the court.

    The others were Alhaji Aregbesola Mufutau (Principal, Ojo-Aro Community Grammar School, Ojo-Aro Osun), Gbadamosi Ojo (School Registrar) and Dare Olutope (a teacher).

    The police accused them of fraudulently registering Adeleke and his brother Sikiru as students of Ojo-Aro Community Grammar School in Ojo-Aro, Osun State, for the National Examination Council’s June/July 2017 Senior School Certificate Examination in Feb. 2017.

    They were re-arraigned in Dec. 2018 on a seven-count amended charge bordering on examination malpractice.

    NAN

  • NDLEA arrests 81 for illicit drug peddling in Oyo

    The Oyo State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA)  says it has  arrested 81 suspected drug traffickers and ensured the conviction of 20 in the state between January  and March 2019.

    The Commander of the agency in the state, Mr Ralph Igwenagu, said this on Wednesday in a statement  made available to newsmen by the Public Relations Officer, Mrs Mutiat Okuwobi.

    Igwenagu noted that the convicts were sentenced to different jail terms ranging from six months to five years.

    He also said that 600.561kg of cannabis sativa were seized from the suspects during the period under review.

    Igwenagu further  said that the command  limited the circulation of substances of abuse including Dazepam, Exol 5 and Tramadol among others in the first quarter of the year.

    Read Also: NDLEA nabs 35 suspected drug peddlers

    According to him, the anti-drug agency also gave drug intervention to 42 persons in the year under review, among whom 10 are still undergoing rehabilitation.

    The state command also uncovered a secret laboratory where the production of “skushi”, a derivative of potpourri of illicit and controlled drugs, was done illegally.

    “This led to the seizure of 290 litres of the illicit cocktail drink and its paraphernalia.

    “The command will not relent in frustrating the activities of drug peddlers in the state and the nation at large,” he added.

    He appealed to the public to always report any suspicious activities to the relevant authorities  in order to rid the state of illicit drug trafficking and its attendant crises.

    NAN

  • ‘MFM FC ready to pull weight in FA Cup’

    The Media Officer of the Lagos-based MFM FC, Olawale Quadri, says the team will ensure it pulls its weight in the Federation Cup coming up later in the year.

    Quadri spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Wednesday.

    He said that the current excellent run of the team in the abridged 2018/2019 Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) would be nothing if not replicated in the FA Cup.

    Quadri said that though the club had dominated the Lagos State FA Cup in the last four years, the club was yet to have the desired campaign in the national FA challenge, which they sought to address.

    “We have been dominating the state FA Cup, wining it back to back to back; yet, we have yet to have the desired campaign in the National FA Cup, this we will seek to address.

    “Firstly, we will start our preparation with the state FA Cup, because we also have some good sides playing in the competitions as well, so we will take it one step after the other.

    “The present team is young and ready for any challenge that may come their way, which has been exhibited in our campaign in the league so far,” he said.

    Quadri said that MFM’s good run in the league would amount to nothing if the team failed to transfer it to the oldest cup competition in the country.

    “Our good run in the league will count for nothing if we do not have a good campaign in the National FA Cup; we want to surpass our previous achievement.

    “MFM FC has a rich football culture because the owners of the team will not settle for anything less than the best, and that is the philosophy of the team.

    Read Also: MFM FC crash out of CAF Champions League

    “We want the best for the owners, our fans and the state; the team will be adequately prepared to face any opposition when the FA Cup starts; others should watch out.

    “Our underwhelming results in the previous campaign will be compensated with strong determination for a good result this year,” he said.

    NAN reports that MFM FC sits on top of the Group A of the Abridge NPFL table with 23 points from 13 matches, winning seven games, recording two draws and having. four losses.

    MFM, also known as the Olukoya Boys, have emerged winners of the State FA Cup four consecutive times since their promotion to the elite division of the league.

    NAN

  • Shema: Katsina High Court bows to Appeal Court Ruling

    The Federal High Court sitting in Katsina and presided over by Justice Hadiza Shagari on Wednesday ruled she would comply with the Court of Appeal’s ruling which directed the court to decide on whether or not it has jurisdiction to entertain the alleged money laundering charges brought against former Governor Ibrahim Shema at the high court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    The  Nation recalled that EFCC had dragged Shema before the high court, slamming him with  26 count charges, all bordering on alleged  laundering  of over five billion naira belonging to the state  SURE -P while in office.

    Shema’s counsel had equally challenged the competence of the court to entertain the case, since similar issue was subject to litigation before the Katsina State High Court & the Federal High Court, Abuja respectively.

    Justice Babagana Ashigar who was previously presiding at the high court, deferred ruling on the competence of the court to entertain the case until all issues concerning it( the case) were first entertained.

    Shema, through his counsel, subsequently approached the Appeal court in Kaduna to determine whether the high court has jurisdiction to entertain the case, in the first instance.

    The Appeal Court, in its ruling, directed the high court to determine whether it has jurisdiction to entertain the case.

    At the resumed sitting,the lead counsel for the EFCC, Dr. Joseph Olatoke told the high court that the commission was ready to continue with Shema’s trial.

    He also told the court that a prosecution witness was already in court in readiness for the continuation of the case.

    Read Also: Police nabs kidnap syndicate, recover arms in Katsina

    Shema’s lead counsel, Chief Sebastine Hon drew the attention of the court to the ruling of the Court of Appeal which he said, was delivered in February that it(the High Court) must first determine whether it has jurisdiction to entertain the matter.

    Chief Hon told the court that he had a certified true copy of the Appeal court ruling, to further drive home his argument.

    He said “Your lordship, the court of Appeal has directed that this court should rule on our observation, according to section 287 of the Constitution.Your lordship should please abide by that order.We have a certified true copy of the court’s judgment.”

    Dr. Olatoke however told the high court that it could still continue with the trial, declaring “The court cannot make ruling on an application filed before a judge who has been transferred. If the defence is interested in the application, they ought to have moved an application before your lordship who has taken over as the new judge.”

    Chief Hon told the court that he was ready to move the new application on the jurisdiction of the court, adding “we are ready now to move an application.”

    Dr. Olatoke however explained to the court that even if the application was moved, the prosecution would still need time to file counter affidavit on that application.

    Justice Shagari consequently directed Shema’s counsel to file the application, assuring that she was ready to entertain it as directed by the Appeal court.

    She adjourned sitting to May 28, 2019 during which she would commence hearing and entertain all issues concerning the new application.

  • Relief as firm donates accommodation to Abuja displaced orphans

    An investment company based in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has donated four units of three bedroom accommodation to shelter over 130 orphans recently displaced by the Department of Development Control.

    The development is part of the firm’s corporate social responsibility.

    Presenting the building, the Chief Executive Officer of Cosgrove Investment Limited, Mr. Umar Abdullahi said the donation was also in line with the company’s policy of caring for the less privileged in the society.

    Abdullahi revealed that since the news broke out a couple of days ago, the firm has been making arrangements to see that the displaced children are accommodated in a decent environment for a reasonable period of time, stressing that the children will be sheltered for a period of one year by the company.

    According to him: “this is not the first time Cosgrove has embarked on humanitarian service as part of our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). We have provided educational service to the less privileged in the society and just recently we constructed 1.5 kilometres road in Katampe district in Abuja to ease movement for residents of the area.

    Read Also: Court remands Islamic cleric over alleged defilement of neighbour’s child

    “So, when this happened, we felt we should come to their aids to cushion the effect of these affected children. And we will continue to render such humanitarian services whenever the need arises”.

    Responding, the FCT Permanent Secretary, Sir Christian Ohaa, commended the firm for coming to the aid of the FCT Administration in time of need.

    Ohaa called on other firms operating in the Federal Capital Territory to emulate the firm in assisting the less privileged in the society.