An attack by gunmen on Nteje divisional headquarters, in the Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State, was on Thursday foiled by state police command.
 
It was learnt that the police intervention followed a distress call by the station which came under attack by a deadly gang in the early hours of Thursday.

Commissioner of Police, CP Echeng Echeng, reportedly led the operation against the attack at about 3 am. Where one of the gunmen was killed and the other gang members fled the scene.
 
Items recovered by the operatives included one type O6 rifle, one magazine and 53 live ammunition of 5.56mm and charms.
 
“The Police Operatives decisively dealt with the assailants.
 
“During the gun duel, one of the gunmen was neutralised and due to the superior fire of the Police operatives, the other assailants fled the scene. The station was secured and all police operatives and arms are intact
 
“The CP, while reiterating that the Command will not relent in delivering on its mandate on the protection of life and properties, commended the officers and men of the Command for their perseverance and painstaking efforts to weed out all criminal elements in the State,” a statement by the Command said.

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CAF logo
CAF logo

Two of Africa’s leading football journalists, Oluwashina Okeleji from Nigeria, and Amr Fahmy from Egypt have decried the lack of accountability in football management in Africa.
They spoke on Sunday on the online news programme, 90MinutesAfrcia hosted by Rudolf Okonkwo and Chido Onumah.

CAF logo CAF

Corruption has impacted the growth of football in the continent, the journalists noted.
They observed that the scale may be different, but there is corruption in football across the continent.
“There is corruption with TV deals for local competition, corruption in youth football where sons of ex-players are promoted very quickly while other players who are talented have to go on loan to prove themselves and then their original clubs would buy them,” Fahmy said.
According to Okeleji, “Everybody talks about corruption in football, but nobody wants to address it.”
Oluwashina Okeleji and Amr Fahmy were joined by Saddick Adams, Ghanaian ace sports journalist, to examine the recently concluded qualifying matches for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and Africa’s chances at the competition.
Africa’s football powerhouses, Nigeria, and Egypt were eliminated by Ghana and Senegal respectively.
On the call by football fans for the dissolution of the management of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) following Nigeria’s inability to qualify for Qatar 2022, Okeleji noted that fans were justified in their call because they have been shortchanged by the NFF and “there has been no accountability in terms of the money that comes into football in Nigeria.”
“There is the sponsorship money, there is the grant from FIFA, about 1.6 million dollars every year, there is the World Cup bonus and participation fee, there is money from the sponsors of the NFF,” Okeleji observed.
“There is no accountability on how this money is spent, where it goes to. Since 2004 there has been no year that I didn’t write about corruption in Nigeria Football Federation, whether the coach is unpaid, the players are crying over unpaid bonuses and allowances, or they are being kicked out of hotels because the NFF didn’t settle hotel bills.
“The NFF will tell you they are always cash-strapped, but they are getting funding from FIFA, they are getting money from the government.”
According to the journalists, the money that FIFA gives to football federations on the continent is meant for the development of football, but many of the federations can’t account for it.
“Under Sepp Blatter (former President of FIFA), football federations were free to do what they wanted with their allocations,” Okeleji remarked. “But under the current leadership of Giovanni Infantino, you need to come up with a plan on how you want to spend your allocation. Nigeria could not claim that money for three years because every time they sent documents, they couldn’t defend it. No one knows where the money goes to. The NFF audits their own account, and they tell you we are clean. And it is difficult for the government to investigative because FIFA will say you can’t interfere in the running of football.”
Some football federations in Africa have been suspended by FIFA because of alleged government interference.
The journalists called for a body to oversee how the funds football federations in Africa get from FIFA and CAF are managed.
“FIFA supports federations, but they do not follow up with the federations to know what they do with the money,” Fahmy added.                                                            
 
The journalists agreed that the five African teams—Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, and Tunisia—would go far in the competition if they are able to overcome some of the problems plaguing African football, particularly the issue of the welfare of the players.

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Kaduna State Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) says that Nigerians are thirsty due to poor economy, bad governance and insecurity in the country.
 
Rev. John Joseph Hayab, Kaduna CAN Chairman in his Easter message to Nigerians said, “Jesus, in the last days and hours of his agony made many spiritual revelations about life and how to address human, spiritual, and physical needs. Jesus on the cross shared in human pains by saying ‘I am thirsty.’ Indeed, Nigerians, nowadays, can say, like Jesus on the cross of cavalry, that they are thirsty.”

He added, “They are thirsty due to poor economy, thirsty due to bad governance, and thirsty because of insecurity. All the thirst experiences could lead to misery.


“Accordingly, celebrating Jesus’s victory at Easter with a dry throat, dry stomach, and dry lifestyle is because of the failure of the successive administrations, as well as the existing one.”

According to him, the government needs to provide cold water to quench the thirst of Nigerians, saying that people have been crying out loud like Jesus on the cross, that they are thirsty.

He said, sadly, Nigerian leaders do not appear to care.
He wished that Nigerian leaders could learn from the soldiers who were with Jesus while he was on the cross, stressing that when the Lord cried out that he was thirsty, they provided vinegar for succour.

“So, what is basic is that the government needs to provide cold water to quench the thirst of Nigerians. People have been crying out loud, like Jesus on the cross, that they are thirsty, but, sadly, the leaders do not appear to care.

However, there is a lesson that I wish Nigerian leaders could learn from the soldiers that policed Jesus on the cross. When the Lord cried out of thirst, they provided vinegar for succour,” Hayab said.

The body, therefore, appealed to the government to take concrete steps towards providing palliatives that could quench the thirst of Nigerians and make them have confidence in the affairs of the country.
 
He said, “The citizens, on their part, should similarly be one another’s keeper by contributing meaningfully to national growth; they should also support to quench the thirst of their neighbours, friends, and the underprivileged near them.”

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A Court of Appeal sitting in Kano on Wednesday set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court, Kano which discharged and acquitted a governorship candidate in the state, Abdulsalam Sale Abdulkarim Zaura, popularly known as AA Zaura.

 

Zaura was prosecuted by the EFCC on five counts before the Federal High Court sitting in Kano.

The Commission accused Zaura of defrauding a Kuwaiti national of the sum of $1,320,000 (One Million Three Hundred and Twenty Thousand Dollars) under the pretext that he is into real estate development in Dubai, Kuwait and other Arab countries.

 

On June 9, 2020, Justice A. L. Allagoa found the defendant not guilty and discharged him on all counts.

 

Dissatisfied with the judgment, the prosecution counsel, Musa Isah, appealed the judgment, asking the appellate court to set aside the judgment of the lower court.

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The trial of John Warimeme Abebe before Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, which was slated for the adoption of final written addresses on Wednesday, April 13, 2022, could not go on as expected.

This was because the defence counsel, E.D. Onyeke, informed the court that he had received a call informing him that his client collapsed and was admitted to the hospital.

The sociable and influential business mogul is a brother-in-law of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Abebe, who was arraigned on July 26, 2018, is facing four counts bordering on forgery, fabricating evidence, using fabricated evidence and attempting to pervert the course of justice by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Wilson Uwajaren, the EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday.
According to the statement, one of the counts reads: “That you, Dr. John Warimeme Abebe, on or about the 22nd day of June, 2010 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, knowingly forged BP Exploration Nigeria Limited's letter dated 30th November, 1995 to Inducon (Nigeria) Limited by inserting in page 2 of the said letter the following words: “Also note that the ‘Buy-Out Option' only applies to the pre-production stage of the NPIA. The $4m buy-out is thus irrelevant from production of oil in any of our fields” and purported same to have been issued by BP Exploration Nigeria Limited and committed an offence contrary to Section 467 of the Criminal Code Cap C17, Law of Lagos State of Nigeria 2003.
 
“Another count reads: ‘That you, Dr. John Warimeme Abebe, on or about the 22nd day of June, 2010 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, knowingly used fabricated evidence in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/224/2010 between Dr. John Abebe, Inducon Nigeria Limited and Statoil Nigeria Limited, before the Federal High Court, which evidence was admitted and marked exhibit BB in the said suit and committed an offence contrary to Section 120 (2) of the Criminal Code Cap C17, Law of Lagos State of Nigeria 2003.’”
 
He pleaded "not guilty" to the charges.
 
The defence had closed its case on January 18, 2022, and the court adjourned till Wednesday, April 13, 2022, for "definitive adoption of written addresses".
 
However, at the resumed sitting on Wednesday, Onyeke told the Court that his client was on admission and so could not be in court.
 
He said: "Yesterday, I got a call informing me that the defendant collapsed, and was taken to the hospital.
 
"I put a call through. And lo and behold, it was a case of heart palpitation! So yesterday, I was told that he had been admitted to the hospital."
 
He further informed the Court of the medical report issued by the cardiologist consultant of the hospital, where he is presently hospitalized, which he said the prosecution had also been furnished with.
 
He also furnished the Court with the said medical report.
 
"That's why he is not in court," Onyeke added.
 
He also apologised for the absence of his client.
 
He, thereafter, informed the Court that the defence had filed its final written address, but apologised and admitted that it was served late on the prosecution in March.
 
"I know that they will need some time to respond, and I apologise," Onyeke said.
 
The prosecuting counsel, Abbas Muhammed, acknowledged receipt of the said medical report "this morning".
 
He also acknowledged the receipt of the defendant's final written address, noting that "we are still within time to respond".
 
The case was, thereafter, adjourned till May 25, 2022.

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EFCC Chairman Bawa

The US government says the bulk of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) anti-corruption efforts are focused on low and mid-level government officials.
 
According to its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, most high-profile cases being prosecuted by the agencies remain pending before the courts due to administrative or procedural delays.

EFCC Chairman Bawa

“On February 16, President Muhammadu Buhari nominated Abdulrasheed Bawa to replace Ibrahim Magu as head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Bawa, a 17-year veteran of the commission, was the first chairman without a background in the Nigerian Police Force,” the report read.
 
“The bulk of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s anticorruption efforts remained focused on low- and mid-level government officials, although both organizations brought indictments against various active and former high-level government officials. Many of the corruption cases, particularly the high-profile ones, remained pending before the courts due to administrative or procedural delays.
 
“In January the assistant commissioner of police, Okubo Aboye, was sentenced to life in prison for accepting bribes in a high-profile kidnapping case in Ekiti State.”
 
This comes a few months after President Muhammadu Buhari admonished EFCC to avoid being used for partisan politics or getting dragged into personal disputes.
 
“I must advise the leadership and operatives of this commission to resist the temptation of being used for partisan politics or be dragged into personal disputes. Your job is to serve the nation in its efforts to entrench good governance,’’ he had said.
 
Sources however told SaharaReporters that the President was only trying to silence the EFCC following the agency's encounters with some of his political associates, which the affected cronies considered embarrassing.
 
The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, and former governors of Imo and Nasarawa states, Rochas Okorocha and Abdullahi Adamu respectively, had all complained about the anti-corruption agency in the course of doing its job.
 
They accused the EFCC of being used by their adversaries as a tool for a political witch-hunt.
Adamu is the current National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) after his victory through a consensus at the national convention of the party in March.
"He (Buhari) is using that to silence the EFCC because Rochas Okorocha complained recently. Adamu Abdullahi was embarrassed. Tinubu reportedly was forced to write a statement recently," one of the sources had said.
 
During a meeting with Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, in February, Okorocha sought the intervention of his host over what he described as unjust harassment by the EFCC.
 
Speaking to correspondents after the meeting, he had said: “I also used this opportunity to intimate Mr President of what is going on between me and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the harassment and intimidation that I’m getting from the EFCC, literally on daily basis, and to inform him that I have court judgment and two court orders for different judgments at different forums, which stop the EFCC from harassing and intimidating me. EFCC has refused to obey the law.
 
“And so I have to inform Mr President that EFCC should be made to obey the law that established it. And without the law, there wouldn’t be an EFCC. And the desperation with which they go about any affair that concerning me, should stop.
 
“And I reminded Mr President that recall that sometime ago, the EFCC had claimed that they recovered the sum of N5.9 billion from my account, which the court found out to be untrue.
 
“In other words, they were biased and they prejudged me. On that basis, the court ruled and ordered that they should not further interrogate and harass me. This has also not been obeyed.
 
“The court ordered the EFCC to release my international passport, the EFCC has refused to obey. The court gives damages to me for some N500million for EFCC to pay. EFCC has not paid that. “Rather than doing that, on the day of my declaration, EFCC went on the press to announce that I’m being prosecuted for some criminal charges of N2.9billion and no more than N5.9billion.
 
“So, I said as the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and one that stands on the side of the law, he should bring this to the attention of the EFCC."
 
SaharaReporters earlier reported how Adamu, the new APC National Chairman, who served as governor of Nasarawa between 1999 and 2007, was in March 2010 arraigned by the EFCC at the Federal High Court in Lafia.
 
The EFCC had instituted N15 billion fraud allegations against Adamu and others.

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Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State has dared anti-graft agencies that previously investigated him to tell Nigerians if he was found guilty.
 
Bala, who is one of the presidential aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said this while addressing members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the opposition party and other stakeholders, on Wednesday.

The governor challenged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt and Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and other anti-corruption agencies as he seeks to contest for President.

The EFCC on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, arraigned Mohammed before Justice A. M. Talba of the Federal Capital Territory, High Court sitting in Gudu, Abuja, on 6 counts bordering on abuse of office, false declaration of assets and fraud to the tune of N864 million.
 
According to the EFCC, Bala, while in office as minister, allegedly received N550 million as a bribe from the Aso Savings and Loans Limited with respect to some properties in the Asokoro area of Abuja.
 
Mohammed, however, said if elected, he would not be a northern president, but one who captures the nuanced aspirations of every part of the country.
 
The former FCT minister, who is seeking the support of the committee to emerge as the party’s presidential candidate, expressed the belief that the party would pick the most suitable of the 17 presidential aspirants who have so far obtained their nomination and expression of interest forms.
 
He stated, “I don’t bear any malice against anybody who investigated me. But I dare anybody to find me guilty because I know my conscience and that’s why I’m still standing here. I dare every investigative agency; I did my best.”
 
Citing his record in the past three years in office as governor, Mohammed argued that states do not have to be rich before providing infrastructure for their people.
 
He also noted that he would not be a partisan president only reflecting the desires of the North but all Nigerians who, he said, need good governance, justice and equity.

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A chieftain of the defunct National Democratic Coalition, Chief Ayo Opadokun has advised Yoruba youths to ask politicians about their position with regard to the ‘Yoruba Agenda’.
 
He noted this while speaking at a conference organised by the Alliance of Yoruba Democratic Movement with the theme, ‘Democracy and the future of Yoruba Nation’.

According to him, the Yoruba Agenda has been harmonised since 1994 under the Chairmanship of the late Professor Adebayo Adedeji with that of traditional rulers at conveyed meetings at the Ogbagba Court of the Awujale of Ijebu land.
 
He said Yoruba youths should seek to know the positions of aspirants on the Yoruba Nation's demand for a return to true federalism.
 
Opadokun noted that Nigeria gained independence through the practice of Federal Constitutional Governance but the country had since 1996 remained under a Unitary/Central government which was imposed on the people.
 
He further charged the youths to demand from political aspirants, written and actionable guarantees of positive and categorical determinations on promises and vows made.
 
Opadokun said, “The second and perhaps a much more fundamental matter for the younger generation to consider, request and insist upon is that aspirants who will soon be coming to you should respond to where they stand on the Yoruba Agenda.
 
“Since 1994, the Yoruba Agenda has been harmonised under the Chairmanship of the late Professor Adebayo Adedeji. The political/elite's position was harmonised with that of the traditional rulers at conveyed meetings at the Ogbagba Court of the Awujale of Ijebu land when we thought that General Sani Abacha was going to organise a truly representative assembly of Nigerians to discuss and resolve the national question.
 
“The most germane item is the Yoruba Nation's categorical demand for a return to Federal Constitutional Governance. We have always stated with clarity that Nigeria secured its independence on a Federal Constitution Governance that was negotiated by the different ethnic nationalities and their political leaders.
 
“There was no time where Nigerians consented to, nor agreed with the Unitary and Central Government that was imposed on us by military governments by decrees since January 15, 1966.
 
“And Nigeria has since then been governed unitarily and centrally till date, in spite of popular, credible and sustained categorical demands for a return to the negotiated Federal Constitution that recognises the fact and reality that the geographic and political space created by the imperialist Great Britain composed of heterogeneous people with over 350 ethnic nationalities with their different languages, religions, cultures, customs, traditions, artefacts, folklore, mores, morals, etc.
 
“Furthermore, those who will come to seek your votes must give you written and actionable guarantees of positive and categorical determinations on the 10 points you have highlighted above that they will not again renege on their promises as many of the current political operators have done.
 
“I need not remind you that Federalism, as was practised in the First Republic, assisted the various governments not only to be responsible and responsive to the electorate's yearnings and aspirations; but it guaranteed justice, equity and fair play, as well as the protection, defence and consolidation of the rule of law as the basis of government policies.”

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Muhammadu Buhari

A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Ahmed Lawan in Adamawa State has condemned President Muhammadu Buhari's request for an additional N3.557 trillion for fuel subsidy.
 
Lawan, who lost the contest of the APC party's National Organising Secretary during the last convention, argued that the current N250 pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, renders the President’s request ridiculously unacceptable.

Muhammadu Buhari

His condemnation comes ahead of Thursday's Senate approval of additional N3.557 trillion fuel subsidy money as requested by President Muhammadu Buhari.
 
On Wednesday, SaharaReporters reported that the Senate will Thursday (today), pass the revised 2022 fiscal framework before adjourning on the Easter break.
 
The hint was given by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, after the report of the Committee on Finance was stepped down today for consideration, a statement on Wednesday signed by Dr. Ezrel Tabiowo, Special Assistant (Press) to the Senate President, said. 
 
Among other requests, President Muhammadu Buhari had asked the chamber to approve an increase in the estimated provision for 2022 subsidy for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also called petrol, by N3.557 trillion, from N442.72 billion to N4 trillion.
The request was contained in a letter dated April 5, 2022.
 
"My personal observation is that it's better for the federal government to remove fuel subsidy and use the money to improve power supply in Nigeria.
 
"If, with subsidy, people will still buy fuel in filling station at the rate of N250 per litre and also collect subsidy from federal government by marketers; that's double profits and does not make sense.
 
"Federal government should take over power stations from the private sector to give us light because we are paying bills every month without commensurate value.
 
"Giving electricity to the public is like automatically creating job opportunities to our youths in Nigeria. More so that the youths are now manufacturing electric cars and other devices in Nigeria," Lawan told SaharaReporters.

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Step after step

We ply life’s Road

Through dust, through clay

Through the airy amplitude of the seamless sky

 

The winds whirl or whisper          

In accents so brisk and broad

As the roadside grass sways to the rhythm   

Of seasons which oblivion forgets

 

From the geography of Pain

To the archaeology of Pleasure

From the heart which knows

And the mind that feels

 

The Road walks us through 

Its web of wit and wonder

Its house of endless echoes, its poetry

A running fare of hint and hyperbole

 

                  Pause

 

Hail, then, this Wayfarer

Whose feet bear the dusts of many roads

From far desert-fringes to the thirsty ocean

Polyglot who savours the glide of many tongues

 

Confluence of many rivers

Whose bridge prolongs the Road

Dibia* at the Crossroads who doctors 

The riddle of the knotty distance

 

Rain, drought, rain

The Road molds the mud, distills the dust

Etches your memory on the endless milestone

On its epic span. Sun and star en-lamp your path

 

Step after step after step

Echoing footsounds re-mind

The corridors of the Moon

The Road never forgets   

 

*Diviner-physician, an Igbo word

 

 

           Niyi Osundare

 

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Russia is ready to sell its oil and gas to certain nations at “any price point” as the Kremlin looks to prop up the main source of its revenue despite sweeping Western sanctions during the Ukraine war, the country’s energy minister said Tuesday.
 
Russian Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov said the offer applies to so-called “friendly countries” – meaning nations that haven’t imposed sanctions since the Kremlin began its brutal invasion of Ukraine, New York Post reports.

Shulginov discussed the state of Russia’s energy sector in an interview with Kremlin-friendly newspaper Izvestia, according to Reuters. Russia has continued to reap massive profits from oil and gas sales despite mounting calls for an international boycott of all oil and gas imports from the country.
 
The energy minister said sale prices could range as wide as $80 to $150 per barrel. Shulginov noted the Kremlin was most concerned with keeping Russia’s oil industry operational during the conflict.
 
Pavel Zavalny, chair of the Russian State Duma’s committee on energy, previously identified China and Turkey as two nations the Kremlin still considered “friendly.” Meanwhile, India and China are among the countries still buying shipments.
 
The European Union’s heavy reliance on Russian gas has complicated the West’s efforts to squeeze the country’s economy.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is requiring western nations buying oil and gas from the country to pay for the shipments in rubles – a move widely seen as an attempt to prop up the sagging currency. Last month, Putin warned Russia would cut off shipments to countries that did not follow his ruble requirement.
 
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly called for a complete embargo on Russian energy – arguing that the proceeds were being used to fund the war. So far, the European Union has refused to take that step, with wary officials citing fears of an energy crisis without shipments required to heat homes and maintain electricity.
 
Oil and gas exports account for approximately 40% of the Kremlin’s annual revenue – and Russia is poised for an even larger windfall this year.
 
The country will earn nearly $321 billion from its energy exports this year, according to Bloomberg. That figure is an increase of more than a third compared to the previous year.

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The Middle Belt Forum (MBF) has described the recent killings in the country as a function of a failed government.

Bitrus Pogu, National President of MBF said this in Makurdi, the Benue state capital, on Wednesday while reacting to the recent killings in Benue, Plateau and Kaduna states by terrorists and bandits.

He lamented that President Muhammadu Buhari-led Nigeran government has failed the people.

“It is an unfortunate development; it is a function of a failed Federal Government. A government that cannot protect its people. A government that has failed in its primary responsibility as provided in our constitution which is the provision of security and welfare for the people.

“This thing has gone too much for Nigerians. I recall that before the recent killings in Benue and Plateau states, three major indents happened in Kaduna which are the attack on the airport, the attack on the train and the attack on the community that is in the immediate south of Kaduna.

“It is only a failed government that would allow such a thing to happen in a country unchecked. It is unfortunate because their failure to put an end to these killings is gradually making the average Nigerian to hate a Fulani man.

“And may God forbid that day when the Nigerian will rise up against innocent Fulani because of the failure of this government, so they better do something and quickly too.”

Pogu, who expressed support for a recent call by the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, that people should arm and defend themselves, however, noted that “our people do not have the wherewithal”.

“If they have the wherewithal, I can assure you that they will defend themselves,” he added.

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UNICEF

UNICEF has called on Nigerian authorities to make schools safe and provide a secure learning environment for every child in the country, especially girls.

Today (Thursday) marks eight years since the first known attack on a learning institution in Nigeria on 14 April 2014, in which 276 students at Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in North-East Nigeria were abducted by a Non-State Armed Group.

UNICEF

UNICEF in a statement on Thursday lamented the spate of attacks on schools that followed the Chibok incident, saying 11, 536 schools were closed since December 2020 due to abductions and insecurity.

“Since December 2020, 1,436 school children and 17 teachers have been abducted from schools, and 16 school children lost their lives,” it said.

“In Nigeria, a total of 11,536 schools were closed since December 2020 due to abductions and security issues. These school closures have impacted the education of approximately 1.3 million children in the 2020/21 academic year.

“This interruption of their learning contributes to gaps in children’s knowledge and skills and may lead to the loss of approximately 3.4 billion USD in these children’s lifetime earnings. This, risks to further perpetuate cycles of poverty and inequality,” it added.

“Unsafe schools, occasioned by attacks on schools and abduction of students, are reprehensible, a brutal violation of the rights of the victims to education, and totally unacceptable. Their occurrences cut short the futures and dreams of the affected students,” said Peter Hawkins, UNICEF Representative in Nigeria.

“Attacks on learning institutions render the learning environment insecure and discourage parents and caregivers from sending their wards to schools, while the learners themselves become fearful of the legitimate pursuit of learning,” added Hawkins. “The invisible harm school attacks inflict on the victims’ mental health is incalculable and irredeemable.”

“Girls have particularly been targeted, exacerbating the figures of out-of-school children in Nigeria, 60 percent of whom are girls. It is a trajectory which must be halted, and every hand in Nigeria must be on deck to ensure that learning in Nigeria is not a dangerous enterprise for any child, particularly for girls,” said Hawkins.

UNICEF said, along with generous donors, it is however collaborating with the government of Nigeria to protect children’s right to education in a safe and inclusive learning environment. This, it said, involves building the capacity of School-based management committees (SBMCs) on school safety and security and strengthening community resilience.

It said, “In Katsina State, 300 School-based management committees (SBMCs) members have been trained, and schools, supported through the Girls’ Education Project (GEP3) funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of the UK, have developed Emergency Preparedness and Response Plans to mitigate the impact of potential and actual threats.

“Multi-sectoral task teams on school safety have also been established across all the 34 LGAs of Katsina state to provide timely and efficient networking among actors on school security, with particular focus on the safety of girls. Additionally, 60 Junior Secondary Schools have developed emergency plans and tested the plans in evacuation drills.”

“In Katsina State, government and communities have fenced some schools, and this is encouraging girls to attend school, underscoring the reality that collaboration is required in addressing insecurity in schools and making schools safe, especially for girls,” said Hawkins.

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A destroyed farm

Water bodies in Osun State, South West Nigeria have become highly contaminated with mercury, lead and cyanide as a result of illegal mining activity currently going in parts of the state, putting the health of residents of the state at risk. 

A visit to Osogbo, Idoka, and Ijesha environs, revealed the extent of the damage done not only to farmland of residents but also the gross pollution of their water source. These residents blame the government of the state that has failed to take action to stop the illegal miners. 

A destroyed farm

Gold mining in Osun State has appeared to be the main cookie jar for cabals who work in connivance with government officials. Many indigenes and residents have had their means of livelihood taken away as these individuals mine the valuable resource at their expense without recourse to environmental protection.

According to the residents, these miners continue to enter farmlands in search of gold and other mineral resources. Counting their losses, the affected residents lamented that they have resorted to walking long distances to get water for their daily use.

A resident of Osogbo who simply introduced herself as Mrs Ajeigbe narrated her ordeal with the pollution of the river by the activities of the gold miners.

“We first noticed a change in the taste of the water and then a few days later, there was a change in the colour and it was becoming brown. Some of us could not use the water and some other people who had no other option were managing it like that.

“We had to depend on water from the well or go far distances like 30-minutes walk to fetch good water,” Mrs Ajeigbe explained.

A farmer in Kajola-Ijesha whose farmland was destroyed by the miners said she has been in debt since the invasion of her farm by the miners.

The farmer who does not want to be named because of reprisals explained that the miners went to the farm while she was away and destroyed all her crops in the process of excavating gold.

“The experience was shocking and has put me in debt. I went to my farm and saw that they have brought in heavy equipment to dig the soil. They said they were searching for gold but they destroyed my farmland.

“So many people here have suffered the same thing and we have nobody to run to because the government is not doing anything,” she lamented.

The Team Lead of Urban Alert, a Civil Rights organisation documenting Illegal mining issues in Osun State, Anthony Adejuwon, said the contamination of Osun River has been confirmed to be as a result of the activities of illegal miners.

He said while experts from China were brought in, they work with some Northern youths to mine gold.

Adejuwon added that the people were left with no other option than to utilize the contaminated water adding that it is hazardous to their health.

He said “All the rural communities are agrarian communities and looking at the effect on farmers, during the dry season people depend on rivers for irrigation and use water from the river to cultivate vegetables and the rest. Indirectly, people still consume the content in the contaminated rivers.

“The river flows from the mining areas into Osogbo, Ede, some parts of Iwo and to Oyo State.

“The mining communities even suffer more than the affected communities because not only are the water affected, their farmlands are affected as a result of contamination and the mining also causes erosion and landslides, thereby leading to them abandoning their farmlands.

“It is not only Osun river that is affected, virtually all the water body in Ijesha land is gone and some parts of Ife areas. Towns and villages like Idooko, Egbeda, Iponda, Ilase, Eti-oni, even within the Ilesa metropolis and many of them. Those are the mining communities where they are filling the impact of the mining directly.”

A member of the Miners Association of Nigeria, Osun State Chapter, who has also been a victim of illegal mining, stressed that the efforts to arrest the miners have been frustrated by the authorities at various levels.

She said on one of the occasions when she reported the destruction of farmlands by miners to the Environmental Mining Cadastre Office in Osogbo, she was asked to pay for the fuelling of their vehicles before any action can be taken

“They entered into my farm and other people’s farms to dig and mine without consulting the farm owners. We don’t see them because they come at night and mine. They make the farm unusable for the farms.

“Very few times, some of the foreign miners speak to the owners of the farms, give them small money before they mine but they don’t fill the lands when they are done.

“We have reported to the government several times and on one occasion, the police asked me to bring N50,000 before they can make any move,” she said.

Complicity Of The Government 

Suggesting the state government’s complicity in illegal mining, the member of Osun State Chapter of Mining Association of Nigeria said no mining can take place without the necessary approval from the state government.

“We know for certain that the Chinese nationals cannot enter into Osun State to mine gold without the knowledge of the government. They can’t mine gold without seeking and taking approval from the Cadastre Office, so the government cannot say they are not aware,” she said.

The Team Lead of Urban Alert also knocked the government for not taking steps to illegal mining in the state despite setting up a committee.

“The government said they are going to stop the miners because they are polluting the environment but the miners are still working. That shows it is more of words of the mouth, it does not translate into action.

“The fact is the Osun State government seems not to have the best strategy to solve this problem, the state government cannot do it alone because mining is under the purview of the federal government. For us, the government is just talking and nothing significant seems to have been done,” Adejuwon said.

The Miners Association of Nigeria, Osun State Chapter, urged the Osun State Government to take steps in purifying the contaminated river and to ensure activities of miners in the state are regulated.

Affected residents also appealed to the government to take steps not only to decontaminate the water but also stop illegal mining in their communities.

CSO Intervention

Urban Alert, a Civil Society Organisation, has been at the forefront of calling the government to rise up to the task of stopping illegal mining in Osun State.

The Team Alert of Urban Alert, blamed the harmful contamination of the Osun River on the activities of gold mining which it said has put the lives of over two million residents of the state in danger.

Adejuwon said his organisation is keen on finding a solution to the contamination of water in the state and the danger it has been posing to people’s health.

"We started the first campaign targeted at informing the government and public about the problem.

“The Osun State House of Assembly went to do an on-the-spot assessment of the situation. Two weeks after, the state government set up a committee and we thought since there was a committee, the mining should be done the right way but months after, the water remained more polluted and nothing was done.

“In collaboration with senior researchers from Obafemi Awolowo University, we collected samples from different points of the river and took it to the laboratory. Unfortunately, the result came back with the fact that the Osun river has been contaminated with mercury, lead and cyanide.

“Since then we have been reaching out to all the stakeholders and began the #SaveOsunRiver campaign,” Adejuwon said.

He added that the state governor, Gboyega Oyetola, was officially informed through a letter to his office in December 2021

“The Federal Ministry of Mines office in Osun state was well informed, in fact UNESCO was also informed. We have also been engaging the public on how we can all come together to start the problem and we will continue till the government does something serious on this,” Adejuwon added.

An online petition has also been launched by Urban Alert calling for an investigation into the brown colour of Osun river.

The online petition is calling for an assessment and immediate action to purify the water and stop unregulated mining in the state.

Over 2Million Exposed To Danger

The issue of contaminated water currently put over 20 communities across Osun State in the lurch as they lack access to clean water. This poses great danger to the health of the people who remain at the mercy of the illegal miners and empty government policies. 

“Over 2 million people living in 20 communities in Osun State, 5,000 traditionalists, and over 5 million tourists are currently exposed to heavy metals that are capable of causing brain and kidney damage, tremor, impaired vision, paralysis, and cancer. The vulnerable white-throated monkeys and sitatunga antelopes drinking from the Osun River are also facing extinction.

“Ending the menace of illegal and unregulated gold mining activities and its impacts on the lives of the people, water bodies, the environment, and the Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove (UNESCO World Heritage Site) demands a sincere approach by the government and all stakeholders. There is an urgent need for an independent assessment of the current situation, remediation, and enforcement of laws that protect the environment, mining communities, and water bodies,” the petition reads.

Osun Government Response to Illegal Mining

Osun residents have faulted the government for not taking any step to stop the illegal minings and also purify the contaminated river. Despite several promises, the act had gone unabated making the people lose hope in the government.

However, the state government through the State Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Funke Egbemode, said the government will clamp down on illegal miners in the state.

According to her, the state government is worried and deeply concerned about the flagrant abuse of its environment by illegal miners who are daily degrading and polluting the Osun River.

“In spite of efforts to curb the excesses of these fly-by-night businessmen, they have consistently resisted guidance and refused to follow approved standards for mining in Osun.

“The state Government’s mining blueprint has sought through a combination of enforcement and formalisation via registration and capacity development of artisanal miners, to mitigate the degradation caused by mining,” she said.

She added that Governor Oyetola has deployed its limited enforcement resources to curbing illegal and informal mining to arrest the desolation of our land and pollution of our rivers.

“In addition to the enforcement activities the state has commissioned studies on the level of pollution and how to remediate it and also sought assistance from the Federal Government as well as Development partners, including from the Ecological fund, to remediate the damage,” the State Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation said.

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The Oodua Youth Coalition (OYC) has threatened to picket the office of pay TV company, Multichoice Nigeria on Victoria Island in Lagos.
The group described the move as its response to the agitations of the Nigerian public regarding the recent increment of tariffs on DStv and GOtv, paid direct broadcast satellite service and terrestrial service respectively.

A letter addressed to the Chief Executive Officer of Multichoice Nigeria on Wednesday, titled, ‘Notice of Picketing’ and signed by the President of the group, Oluyi Akintade Tayo, said the company had refused to toe the path of peace, hence the planned action.
 
The letter obtained by SaharaReporters reads, “I, on behalf of OYC, write to inform you that your organization's refusal to back down on the proposed increment and implementation of same on your GOTV and DSTV tariffs had inflicted and still inflicting financial, physical, emotional and mental burden on Nigerians. This is the second increase in subscription rates under two years from your organization. It, unfortunately, took effect on the 1st of April, 2022.
“We have it on good authority that on the 31st of March, 2022, a Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal sitting in Abuja had restrained you and your organization from jerking up your DSTV and GOTV tariffs, products and services as scheduled for the next day.
“Also, the Nigerian Senate, the highest, constitutionally recognized lawmaking body in Nigeria, after setting up an ad-hoc committee to address these arbitrary hikes in your rates, had directed that you and your organization put a hold on your proposed tariff increase and immediately effect a downward review on your prices as they are not in tandem with economic realities in Nigeria today.
“While we continue to agitate for pay-per-view plans for Nigerians, taking into consideration other service providers like telecoms and electricity distribution companies which charge consumers based on unit use and not monthly use as yours, we have concluded on the next and necessary step.
 
“We will be picketing Multichoice Nigeria Victoria Island office, Lagos on the 27th of April 2022. This is in response to the agitations of the Nigerian public and your refusal to toe the path of peace, empathy and honour.”
The company had announced new rates for its offerings in Nigeria, saying from April 1, subscribers would pay more for all its bouquets and its premium package on DSTV would cost N21,000, no longer N18,400.
It had announced that its Compact Plus which cost N12,400 would now for N14,250, while Compact would cost N9,000 instead of N7,900.

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Nigeria’s Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, says Peter Nwachukwu, the husband of the late gospel singer, Osinachi Nwachukwu, is married to another woman.
Osinachi sang the popular gospel song, Ekwueme.

Peter is allegedly kicked Osinachi in the chest, causing her to suffer from a blood clot which eventually killed her. The late Osinachi was said to have endured domestic violence for years.
He has since been arrested by the police.
Featuring as a guest on NTA’s Good Morning Nigeria’s breakfast show, Tallen said the children of the deceased disclosed that their father had married another woman.
Tallen said, “The deputy chief whip happens to come from the late Osinachi’s village and she was out of town (and when she returned), she was in my office to thank me for the visit and she demanded that I should ask one of my aides to take her.
“I asked my CSO (chief security officer) to take her and when they got to the house, with the encouragement I gave the children, they are encouraged to speak out.
“So, more revelations are coming out and (one of) the sons went in and brought out an album. He’s (Peter) been married to another woman. You can imagine collecting money from her (the late Osinachi) and treating this woman like a beast of burden.”
 
 

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Pandemonium broke out at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja on Wednesday when passengers staged a protest over flight delays by Max Air.
 
The protesting passengers complained that they were not informed about the delay until they began to register their grievances.
 
In a video seen by SaharaReporters, the travellers were seen destroying the airlines’ counters and other facilities of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
 
This comes a few months after the Nigerian government said airline operators in the country must refund the full cost of travel tickets to passengers after a two-hour delay.
 
“On domestic flights, delay beyond one hour, a carrier should provide refreshment, and one telephone call, or one SMS, or one e-mail. They should send you an SMS or email or call you to say, ‘I am sorry, I am delaying for one hour.
 
“Delay for two hours and beyond, the carrier shall reimburse passengers the full volume of their tickets. For delays between 10pm and 4am, the carrier shall provide hotel accommodation, refreshment, meal, two free calls, SMS, email, and transport to-and-fro airport,” the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika had said.
 
Data released by NACA show that in the first quarter of this year, out of the 14,662 domestic flights operated in the country, 7,554 were delayed.
 
Also, 562 flights were delayed out of the 1,871 international flights operated out of the country. Nine international and 149 domestic flights were cancelled.
 
Currently, there are nine domestic airlines operating scheduled flights in the country, while 19 airlines operate international flights in and out of Nigeria, according to the NCAA data.
https://twitter.com/daily_trust/status/1514309505319936000?s=20&t=3Em0bqlI7x66DnXz9BKVFg

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An activist and chieftain of the defunct National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), Chief Ayo Opadokun has explained that the international community would step in if President Muhammadu Buhari refuses to step down from government in 2023.
 
Speaking during an interactive session on Wednesday, Opadokun said he is not in a position to prophesy whether Buhari will transmit power to another in 2023 when his second term will be over.
 
He, however, said the world has become more of a global community where government policies and decisions are not taken in isolation, particularly with the power of social media.
 
Buttressing his point, he referred to the recently launched United States consulate at the Eko Atlantic City, Lagos State worth over $500 million.
 
He said, “Ayo Opadokun is not a prophet, I'm not in the business of conjuring responses, I'm neither a psychologist nor a seer to say reading from the body language of this person, this is what this person will do or this is what he will not do, but one thing I can assure you of is that the world is now a global community. No leader is immune from the effects or focus of social media as to what it does.
 
“What you do here in one minute can go viral globally and be known and followed excessively. I will like to give President Buhari the benefit of doubt, he said he is going to Daura to take care of his family.
 
“I am confessing to you that what the American government had just recently done by deciding to spend a whopping $535 million to establish an American consulate in Lagos is not a joke, we are being taken seriously.
 
“If anybody is daring to mess up that, he will have the world community to contend with, I believe that no matter what may be your doubt, you are entitled to it because of the happenings of the recent past. I myself was a reporter at the time, I was in Kano to cover the tribunal in 1981, but it has gone beyond that.
 
“But we are doing, we are positively directed, focused, there's a reason for us not to lose this chance because Nigeria is on a precipice, any slight miscarriage of the current situation may lead to something else. Let's do what we can do.”

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The Nigerian Senate, on Wednesday, passed a bill seeking to establish the Defence Research and Development Bureau in the Armed Forces of Nigeria.
 
This was made known in a statement issued by Ezrel Tabiowo, the Special Assistant (Press) to the Senate President.
 
According to the statement, the bill seeks to initiate new scientific, technological and environmental research on defence matters.
 
It will also facilitate collaboration with other national and international institutions in the promotion and transfer of science and technology relating to defence.
 
The Senate also passed the FCT Area Courts Bill and the Federal College of Education Birniwa, Jigawa State (Establishment) Bill.
The motion for re-committal was sponsored by the Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi (Kebbi North).
 
Senator Abdullahi, in his presentation, recalled that the bills were passed by the National Assembly and transmitted to the President for assent.
 
According to him, “some fundamental issues which require fresh legislative action by both chambers of the National Assembly emerged after critical analysis of the Bill by Mr President C-in-C.”
 
He added that against the backdrop of the issues identified, a Technical Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives and Directorate of Legal Services met and worked on the Bill.
 
Accordingly, the Senate while relying on order 1(b) and order 52(6) of the Senate Standing Order, 2022 as amended, rescinded its decision on the bill as passed and re-committed same to the Committee of the Whole for reconsideration and passage.

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Zamfara Governor, Matawalle.

Governor Bello Matawalle has expressed worry that bandits are gradually returning to Zamfara, alleging that top politicians are sponsoring the terrorists.
Matawalle also alleged that residents of the state have been by bandits as informants.

Zamfara Governor, Matawalle.
The governor questioned some top politicians in the state for declining to use the Quran to swear.
 
The Quran is the holy book of Islam, a faith that the governor professes.
 
In the past months, the state has come under a series of attacks by suspected bandits.
 
Bandits again on Tuesday abducted five female students of the College of Health Science and Technology, Tsafe, Zamfara State.
 
One of them escaped from the abductors.
 
Zailani Bappa, a media aide to the governor, in a statement condemned the gradual return of bandits and kidnappers to the state.
 
“Strong facts indicate that the recurrence of banditry in the state is aided and abetted mostly by powerful indigenes. Some of these people are strong personalities who the people respect.
 
“There are also, among the generality of the people who receive paltry sums of money to serve as informants to bandits,” Bappa quoted the governor as saying.
 
He added that it was based on suspicion that the governor directed those taking political appointments to swear by the Quran while taking the oath of office, NAN reports.
 
He noted that some top politicians in the state, however, declined to use the Quran.
 
Matawalle also described swearing by the Quran as the only way for politicians to distance themselves from banditry and kidnapping.
 
The governor explained that the government and security forces had been able to reduce banditry and kidnapping despite multiple challenges.
 
The governor assured that the security forces had employed new strategies to contain the trend.
 
“They want people to revolt against the state and the federal government. They will not succeed. Success is ours by the grace of God, the Almighty,” Matawalle was also quoted as saying.
 
Troops have secured the release of 700 kidnap victims, mostly women and children, according to the Zamfara government.
 
 
 
 

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