March 2021 – Page 10

Post Date : March 26, 2021

OAU worker sends suicide text to family, hangs self after work

A male employee of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Fisayo Oyeniyi, has committed suicide inside his apartment. It was gathered that Oyeniyi hung himself after sending a suicide note to his family. The note the varsity worker left for his aged mother, wife and children read: “I am not interested in living again.” It was learnt that Oyeniyi, who was one of the armed guards in the security department left his office for home at Kanmi bus stop, Ifewara road, Ile-Ife, to commit suicide. A source in the area told The Guardian that the incident happened on Thursday afternoon. “I saw people rushing to his (deceased) apartment to see for themselves what Mr. Oyeniyi did to himself. “We saw where he hung himself, dangling on the rope inside. He has been buried. This is so sad,” the source said. When contacted, the spokesperson of the Nigeria Police Force, Osun State, Yemisi Opalola, said the matter was yet to be reported to the police. “It has not been reported to the police. I asked the DPO of Moore Police Station and he told me he didn’t hear anything like that,” Opalola told our correspondent on the telephone. But the Public Relations Officer of the university, Mr Abiodun Olarewaju, confirmed the incident. Olanrewaju said Oyeniyi left office after he sent a suicide text message to his mother, wife and children.

Post Date : March 26, 2021

EFCC arrests woman, son for alleged N50m internet fraud

Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) Lagos Zonal Office, have arrested Ibeh Theophilus Uche, Chief Executive Officer, CEO, 10 Kobo Wine Place, Ikotun, Lagos alongside his mother for their alleged involvement in computer-related fraud to the tune of about N50million in Lagos. The 28-year-old suspect was arrested recently in his room in Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, following credible intelligence reports about his alleged criminal activities. During interrogation, Uche, who presents himself variously as Rachael Armstrong , Keanu Reeves, Rebekah Schwarzenberger, Keanu Private, Elizabeth Hortman and Stefan Paulson, confessed to being into Bitcoin investment scam, romance scam and identity theft. The suspect also confessed to have defrauded his victims to the tune of about N50m, since he started the criminal activities in 2020. Investigations revealed that the suspect had been using a First Bank account belonging to his mother, who is one of his accomplices, to launder the proceeds of his alleged criminal activities. Items recovered from the suspect are one iPhone 11 Pro Max; one iPhone 12 pro max; two MacBook Pro laptops; a PlayStation 5; an iPad and a small Nokia touch phone. Others are a Mercedes Benz S550 2015 Sedan car and a Lexus RX 350 SUV 2016, among other incriminating items. EFCC Spokesperson Wilson Uwujaren said the suspect will soon be charged to court.

Post Date : March 26, 2021

I still kneel before my husband – Tanzanian President, Suluhu

Newly sworn-in first female President of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu, has disclosed that she is submissive and kneels before her husband when she was even vice president and nothing will change now that she is the president. Samia Suluhu became the first female president of the East African country after the death of President John Magufuli. According to her, her gesture of kneeling before her husband is not out of inferiority, but out of love, affection and respect. She stated that this tradition should not be discarded, as it strengthens the family bond and ensures that children are brought up with good manner.

Post Date : March 26, 2021

Two workers abducted as gunmen attack FAAN staff quarters in Plateau

Two staff of the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NMA) have been abducted by gunmen at the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) staff quarters in Barkin Ladi, Plateau state. The gunmen were said to have stormed the area on Thursday evening. Ubah Ogaba, police spokesperson in the state, confirmed the incident and said detectives had already been deployed to rescue them. “The command received a reported case of kidnapping within D Division Barkin Ladi where a staff of the Nigeria Meteorological Agency of the airport was kidnapped,” he said. “A team of detectives and operational personnel promptly deployed to the scene are making concerted efforts towards rescuing the victim and to arrest of the suspects.” In a similar vein, suspected bandits had also attacked the FAAN staff quarters in Kaduna two weeks ago. About 11 members of staff and their children were kidnapped. In the few past months, there have been series of attacks and kidnappings across the country.

Post Date : March 26, 2021

Buhari, Abdulsalami in closed-door meeting

President Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), is meeting with former military Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, in Aso Villa, Abuja. Personal Assistant on New Media to the President, Bashir Ahmad, said his principal received Abdulsalami on Friday afternoon. “President @MBuhari receives in audience former Head of State Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar (rtd.) at the State House, Abuja,” Ahmad tweeted. Although the presidential aide did not disclose the purpose of the meeting but it might not be unconnected to the security challenges plaguing the nation in recent time. The meeting might also not be unconnected to the rising calls for secession by various groups in the country. Abdulsalami, who is the Chairman of the National Peace Committee, was Nigeria’s Head of State between June 1998 and May 1999 when he handed over power to a democratically elected President in the person of Olusegun Obasanjo, thereby, heralding Nigeria’s Fourth Republic and return to democracy after years of despotic military reign. Details later

Post Date : March 26, 2021

NNPC to maintain ex-depot price despite N120bn monthly subsidy

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Friday said it would maintain its current ex-depot price of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) until the conclusion of ongoing engagement with the organized labour and other stakeholders. The Corporation had on Thursday disclosed that it was bearing the burden of subsidizing the pump price of petrol to the tune of N120 billion monthly. It warned that it may not be able to do so for much longer, leading to speculation of pump price increase in the month of April. NNPC Group Managing Director, Mallam Mele Kyari had explained that the NNPC absorbs the cost differential which is recorded in its financial books, adding that while the actual cost of importation and handling charges amounts to N234 per litre, the government is selling at N162 per litre. But the Corporation in a statement in Abuja by its Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Dr. Kennie Obateru clarifying the position of Mallam Kyari explained that NNPC has no intention to preempt ongoing engagement with labour by unilaterally increasing the ex-depot price of petrol. Obateru noted that as a proactive organization, NNPC has made arrangements for robust stock of petroleum products in all its strategic depots across the country to keep the nation well supplied at all times. He advised petroleum products marketers not to engage in arbitrary price increase or hoarding of petrol so as not to disrupt the market. He also urged motorists not to engage in panic buying, stressing that NNPC was committed to ensuring energy security for the country as the supplier of last resort. He assured marketers and all other relevant stakeholders in the downstream sector of sustainable collaboration for the public interest.

Post Date : March 26, 2021

Man Bags 1-Year Jail Term For Stealing During Church Vigil

An Abeokuta Magistrates’ Court, on Friday, sentenced a 21-year-old man, Afolabi Samuel, to one-year imprisonment for stealing a Tecno phone valued at N76,000 and N52,000 cash. Samuel, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to the two-count charge of stealing. The Magistrate, Mr D.S. Ogongo, said that all pieces of evidence tendered in court had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty of the offence. Ogongo, therefore, sentenced Samuel to one-year imprisonment without an option of a fine. Earlier, the prosecutor, Insp. Olaide Rawlings, had told the court that the convict committed the offences on Feb. 24 at Celestial Church of Christ, Itunu Parish in Ilawo area of Abeokuta. Rawlings said that the convict, at midnight during the vigil, burgled and entered into the church through the window and stole a Techno Camon-16 phone valued at N76,000, property of one Mr Ganiu Adeola. She told the court that the convict also stole the N52,000 cash, belonging to one Mr Dairo Theophilus. All items, she added, were valued at N128, 000. She added that the convict was caught with the help of a phone tracking device, which led to his arrest. The prosecutor said that the offences contravened sections 415, 383 and 390 (9) of the Criminal Code, Vol. 1, Laws of Ogun, 2006. (NAN)

Post Date : March 26, 2021

Fuel May Sell For N230 Per Litre

The federal government on Thursday said spending over N100 billion to subsidise petrol every month is not sustainable. The Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, said petrol is currently being subsidised at between N100 billion and N120 billion on a monthly basis. Kyari disclosed this while fielding questions from State House correspondents at the fifth edition of the Special Ministerial Briefings coordinated by the Presidential Communication Team. This is even as he said the cost of importation and handling charges now amounts to N234 per litre. The contention surrounding government intervention in the procurement and distribution of petrol for local consumption attracted different names from 2015, including under recovery. Analysts believe that while the interventions were plagued by secrecy, Nigeria will never get it right until its refineries become functional to channel generated revenues to other critical sectors. The NNPC GMD said the corporation could no longer bear the burden of the product currently being sold at N162 per litre. He spoke after the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, had briefed on the efforts to ensure the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). Kyari, who said NNPC currently absorbs the cost differential which is recorded in its financial books, revealed that while the actual cost of importation and handling charges amounts to N234 per litre, the government is selling at N162 per litre. He said market forces must be allowed to determine the pump price of petrol in the country but was silent on when the regime will take off. He, however, added that the government was being considerate of the actual impact of the price increase on Nigerians. While speaking on the exact amount the NNPC is subsidizing fuel monthly, he said: “Our current consumption is about N600 million litres per day; we are selling at N162 per litre and the current market price is N234; actual market price today. “The difference between the two multiplied by 60 million times 30 will give you per month. “I don’t have the numbers now, this is simple arithmetic we can do; but if you want the exact figures from our books, I do not have it this moment, but it is anywhere between N100 billion to N120 billion per month. I don’t have the exact number.” Kyari added: “Today, NNPC is the sole importer of fuel. We are importing at market price and we are selling at N162. Looking at the current price situation, the market price could have been between N211 to around N234 per litre. “The meaning of this is that the consumers are not paying for the full value of the PMS (petrol) that we are consuming and therefore the NNPC is bearing that cost. “That is why early last year, you will recall the full deregulation of PMS and we have followed this through until September when the price shifted above N145. “Disputes came up between us and the trade unions and the civil societies leading to an engagement between us and organised labour which prevented the implementation of the actual price of the petroleum product as at that time. “These engagements continued and the objective of the engagement is actually not to prevent the implementation, but to make sure there is sufficient framework on the ground to ensure that consumers pay the actual price of this product and that they are not exploited. “Secondly, (it is) to also put some relief such that the potential effects of the fuel price increase are not transferred to the ordinary people. Part of this is to deepen the auto-gas programme. “With the auto-gas programme, we will be able to deliver alternative fuel for vehicles, including Keke Napep, so that the price per litre equivalent will probably be half of the PMS at its current price.” Engr. Kyari said petrol remains cheapest in Nigeria on the ground that it sells above N200 across our borders and in some places about N500 a litre. “In some countries, the Nigerian fuel is their territory’s fuel and we are supplying almost everybody in the West African region. “We cannot continue to afford this because we have our own issues. “That is why the eventual exit from this is completely inevitable. When that will happen, I don’t know. “But I know that some engagements are going on; the government is concerned about the natural impact of price increase on our transportation and other consumer aspects of our society.” Organised Labour has charged Nigerians to join forces with the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress and all its affiliates for mass action if government tampers with the current pump price which is already at N162. President of NLC Ayuba Wabba, in an interview with Daily Trust, maintained that Nigerians can no longer bear any increase in pump price because of geometric increase of unemployment and inflation rate. He stated: “At this point in time, Nigerians cannot accommodate any price increase or fluctuation because already, many Nigerians have been impoverished occasioned by COVID-19 and economic downturn. We just came out of recession. “Importantly, we have seen the statistics on unemployment and inflation. It means those statistics will be doubled if we go in that direction. “The primary purpose of government is to continue to make sure that citizens don’t suffer the consequences of what they have not bargained for. “As we speak, with the increment in tariff, energy is still being subsidized. We have shared that document very widely – a commission report by the NLC.” When asked about the labour’s next line of action if the government goes ahead to actualise its plan, Wabba said, “Our position is very clear, once that happens, certainly we are going to consult our people to know the next line of action. “Once it reaches the level of going for a showdown, we will consult our organs and roll out what we need to engage them on.” Responding to a question about Nigerians’ expectation from the labour, the union

Post Date : March 26, 2021

Kogi govt spent N90 million on a N300,000 software

The Kogi State Government last year spent N90 million on software that the developers now offer for only N300,000. The software, approved by a COVID-19 sceptic, Governor Yahaya Bello, was for tracking coronavirus cases in the state. However, the software is no longer functioning as the developers said they had a contract to host it for only one year. At a time Nigeria had just recorded over 6,000 cases of COVID-19, the Kogi State Government announced it had developed a software, which is basically for risk assessment. The state government said the software, which comes in a mobile application and website, was one of its measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Kogi. The software uses the checklist of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for suspected and high-risk cases to evaluate users. Financial records obtained by PREMIUM TIMES revealed that the state government procured the software at a cost of N90,720,000. But checks by our reporter showed that the same software now costs only N300,000 from the same company that developed it for the state government. An official of the state also admitted that the government actually spent less than a million naira for the project and could not defend the N90.7 million announced expenditure; an indication the declared price was excessively inflated. As of March 2020, when Nigeria had about 6,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, Kogi and Cross River were the only two states in the country with a zero-case status. The NCDC had raised an alarm then that the two states were not conducting tests for the virus. For instance, in Kogi, officials deployed by the federal health agency were denied cooperation and controversially sent back. Asked why Kogi was not conducting tests, Governor Bello, during an interview on Channels TV, said the state had developed a special app to track possible cases of coronavirus infection “So far, so good, we have launched an app and if nobody shows any sign or any cause for any test, we would not go out and begin to test anybody. Because there’s enough and adequate sensitisation of our citizens. So far, we don’t have any testing centres here but there’s one in Kubwa in FCT,” he said. Meanwhile, data from NCDC, a year after the first COVID-19 case was recorded in the country, exposed the inadequate testing for the virus in Kogi. In fact, when the country had conducted over 1.4 million tests and recorded over 150,000 COVID-19 cases and over 1,800 deaths, Kogi had tested less than 4,000 samples, about 0.1 per cent of Kogi’s 3.5 million population. Experts said that explains why the state had not reported a single case and death over 250 days after its record of five cases in July. Mr Bello, an accountant, had also repeatedly described the deadly disease as a hoax and discouraged the use of the COVID-19 vaccine. The Kogi COVID-19 risk assessment application, which is in two categories; web and mobile applications, was accessible on www.kogicovid19.com.ng. Users could download the mobile version for android devices or make use of the website. Going by its features, users were to fill a questionnaire on the app and from the information provided, health workers could ascertain whether the user has been exposed to the virus and was exhibiting symptoms that warranted further actions. According to the state government, if a user was a high-risk case, health workers would then trace their location for further engagement. Although health experts and public affairs analysts questioned the efficacy of the app, the state Commissioner for Information, Kingsley Fanwo, insisted that it was effective in checking for coronavirus cases. “In fact, we built our self-assessment app hosted at kogicovid19.gov.ng around the NCDC’s checklist for ‘suspected and high risk’ cases and as at last week it has been visited nearly 200,000 times with over 14,000 completed self-assessments out of which only about 60 presented cause for further investigation which then failed to meet the COVID-19 spectrum,” he said in a statement issued in April 2020. However, checks by this newspaper revealed that both the self-assessment portal and the app have been unavailable since the beginning of March 2021. “Your request looks suspiciously similar to automated requests from spam posting software or has been deemed by a security policy configured by the website administrator If you believe you should be able to perform this request please let us know,” the query on both the application and website read. Screenshot of the query on the app “Both are even non-functional at the moment. Makes it so hard to access what the value could be. But then, it is some crap! No IOS version, App not functional, website non-functional,” Osungbade Wisdom, a tech expert consulted to evaluate the software, told our reporter. According to the audited COVID-19 response and recovery expenditures submitted in September, 2020, the computer software for COVID-19 response gulped N90,720,000 out of N4.5 billion Kogi obtained from donations, loans and support from the federal government. The financial records seen by PREMIUM TIMES were certified by the Accountant General of the state, Momoh Jibrin, and the Commissioner for Finance, Asiru Idris. In the breakdown, the government initially budgeted N150 million for the computer software project but ended up spending N90.7 million, thus saving N59,280,000. Meanwhile, when this reporter approached Telnet Technology Limited, the Abuja-based technology company awarded the project, it said a similar project will cost N300,000 This reporter posed as a government official who wanted to replicate the same project in another state. The Managing Director of the company, Daniel Idakwoji, disclosed that the Kogi State Government only signed a one-year contract with him, citing it as the reason the web portal and mobile application are no longer functional. But he refused to disclose the amount paid by the state government. “The contract is even on my table as we speak. The one we signed is for a year hosting and you know is a year already. It has expired.” Upon request, Mr Idakwoji sent

Post Date : March 26, 2021

Reps propose 4-Year tenure for IGP

The House of Representatives is proposing a four-year tenure for the holder of the office of Inspector General of Police, IGP for effectiveness and optimal performances through a Bill which seeks ‘repeal Police Service Commission Act and re-enact the Police Service Commission bill, 2020.‘ Speaking at the Public hearing on the bill to strengthen the commission to be more functional in its operations and a bill for the establishment of the National Institute for Police Studies, in Abuja on Thursday, the sponsor of the Bill, Hon Yusuf Gadgi reiterated the resolve of the House towards statutory reforms of the Police force and other urgent areas of intervention with a view to make the police force function better, including recruitment, training, funding and operational priorities. The Lawmaker observed that there was no bottleneck on the issue of four-year tenure for the holder of the Inspector General of Police, as well as issue bothering on gender disparity against women on the appointment of Inspector General of Police. According to him, “as long as the Bill emanates from the National Assembly, from the Nigerian people, everybody that deserves to benefit from that Bill ought to benefit and what was the wisdom in the National Assembly giving four years tenure to the Inspector General of Police? Police are the only lead security agency in the country “Military is in the maintenance of internal security because of the aggregate nature of the insecurity in Nigeria. We need Police reforms, from 1999 to date we have about 11- 12 IGs, some serve for seven months, some for one year, how can you reform the institution when you have the person to superintendent over that institution serve only seven months, the initiatives of the other person will be thrown away. He will start his police reform differently and that is why the Nigerian through the National Assembly allocates a tenure of office to the IG so that he will have the time to carry out reforms.” Declaring open the Public hearing session, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila assured Nigerians and the international community of the 9th Assembly’s resolve to bequeath a Police Force that would act within the limit of the law and respect the rule of law. He noted that, “Reforming the Nigerian security architecture, with specific emphasis on our policing system and law enforcement, is one of the cardinal commitments of the 9th House of Representatives. It is a commitment against which our tenure in office will be measured. “When the time for assessment and judgment comes, we must not be found wanting. The Nigerian people deserve a Police Force that they can trust. They deserve a Police Force that acts within the limits of the law and respects the rule of law. We will do everything in our power to meet these expectations. “These issues are the responsibility of the Police Force administration and the executive. Nonetheless, the 9th House of Representatives will be part of those conversations around effecting changes in this regard, and we will do our utmost to ensure that everything that ought to be done is done and done right,” the Speaker added. He also stressed instituting an independent system for holding errant police officers to account for abuses of power and related misconduct in office. According to him, the bill proposed changes to the composition of the Police Service Commission (PSC), “reorganising the Commission to be public-facing and able to receive and investigate complaints against Police Officers, as well as, increasing the minimum requirement for recruitment into the constabulary and allow for the recruitment of more qualified candidates into the Nigerian Police Force (NPF).” Also speaking, the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu warned against setting a bad precedent on the appointment of PSC Chairman, canvassed for the appointment of a technocrat who understands the “workings of the Police for you to be able to have oversight functions for the police. On this note, we adopt what the Minister of Police Affairs said in terms of comments on the PSC bill.” The IGP who affirmed that Policing in the world has changed, underscored the need for adequate training of Police to lead in other spheres of life after leaving the service. “So we needed an institute that will deal with policing and security matters. In the whole of Africa, we do not have, even that field is so new that you hardly get professors in the field. So we came up with this Institute for Police Studies, so that our colleague officers at the strategic level from Assistant Commissioners of Police, Deputy commissioners of police, up to Commissioners of Police, will have strategic knowledge of what is happening in policing all over the world, so it can be applied within our own clime so as to solve the series of security problems that we are having within the country. Speaking earlier, Chairman, House Committee on Police, Hon Usman Kumo, promised a level-playing field for all the stakeholders to make their submissions in a just and fair atmosphere. Hon Kumo called on all presenters to be “God-fearing”, nationalistic, frank and open-minded to assist the committee in producing a report that would meet the expectations of the House and Nigerians in general. On his part, the Minister of Police Affairs, Muhammad Dingyadi applauded the provisions of section 4 or Section 6 (1b) of the bill which empowers the Commission to employ, train, discipline and deploy persons to serve as Investigation Officers in all the States of the Federation. “The Commission has the powers to establish Investigation Units in the States and the FCT, investigate allegations of misconduct made against Police Officers. We just want to emphasise that this seems to be in order, because the extension of the powers of the Commission to discipline Officers, there is need for proper investigation of allegations of wrongdoing against Police Officers in the discharge of their duties.”