Saturday 15 July 2023 Air Force Plane Crashes In Benue Nigerians Should Support Tinubu, He Will Work – Oba Of Benin Tinubu To Attend 5th Mid-Year Coordination Meeting Of AU In Nairobi Come Out And Surrender, There’ll Be No Negotiation, Army Tells Terrorists Police Arrest Man For Allegedly Selling His Three Kids In Rivers We Will Not Relent In Our Efforts To Clear Terrorists From Northwest – NA Sit-At-Home: We Lose Over N10bn Every Monday – Gov Mbah Police Arrest Five For Allegedly Defrauding 21-Year-Old Student Of N9.8m In Edo NDLEA Intercepts 64,863kg ‘Laughing Gas’ Consignments At Lagos Port, Imo Labour, experts fault Tinubu’s N8,000 transfer to poor families PoS operators begin implementation of new service charge Monday Imo gov election: Uzodimma restates commitment to violence-free election After Subsidy Removal: Businesses, Households Find Succour In Gas-Powered Generators ‘It Favours Lagos Over The North’, Kano Gov Rejects Distribution Mode Of N500bn Palliatives Ambode visits Tinubu at Aso Villa UK work visa to now cost as high as £1,482, study visa to hit £417 Presidential tribunal reserves judgement on APM’s case against Tinubu Stray bullets kill child, injure sibling as NDLEA operatives raid drug joint in Delta Southeast loses N4trn to insecurity in 24 months — Deputy Speaker Sheikh Gumi to Tinubu: Money stolen under Buhari can help your govt Visit a newspaper stand this morning, buy and read a copy for yourself…

  Nigerians, and other foreign nationals coming into the United Kingdom will have to pay more for visa applications. Also, the Immigration Health Surcharge paid by immigrants applying for visas will “increase significantly”, the United Kingdom has said. The British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, made the announcement on the increase in visa application fees on Thursday. The prime minister said the increase would help bridge the gap after the county approved a pay increase in public sector wages. He explained that the increment in visa applications and NHS surcharge had become imperative since the fees have not been increased recently. He said, “If we’re going to prioritise paying public sector workers more, that money has to come from somewhere else because I’m not prepared to put up people’s taxes and I don’t think it would be responsible or right to borrow more because that would just make inflation worse “So, what we have done are two things to find this money. The first is, we are going to increase the charges that we have for migrants who are coming to this country when they apply for visas and indeed something called the immigration health surcharge (IHS), which is the levy that they pay to access the NHS. “All of those fees are going to go up and that will raise over £1 billion. So, across the board visa application fees are going to go up significantly and similarly for the IHS,” he said after announcing a wage increase.” The surcharge – paid as part of a visa application – will go up to £1,035, while the cost of work and visit visas will go up by 15 percent. The cost of study visas, certificates of sponsorship, wide entry clearance, leave-to-remain and priority visas, and others, will rise by at least 20 percent. More than one million public sector workers, including teachers, police and doctors, have been offered pay rises of between 5 per cent – 7 per cent, the government says. Under the proposals, police and prison officers in England and Wales would receive a 7 per cent pay rise, while teachers and junior doctors in England would get 6.5 per cent and 6per cent respectively. Meanwhile, some social media users have faulted the move, saying increment in application fee is not the ‘lasting solution’ to the issue. A twitter user with the username @taadelodun urged prospective applicants to brace up and prepare for the increment. “This is not good news to visa applicants, please prepare for it. Especially those with family. It will cost a lot more, if you are here already, start working on building your credit from day one, see if you could have access to some finance by the time,” he wrote. Also, Chiedozie Hez with the username @ChiedozieHez, while faulting the increment, described the decision by the British PM as “out of touch”. He said, “Unfortunately, I find this decision by @RishiSunak very out of touch. As an academic, I know that most of our Universities in the U.K. will not survive without the foreign students who come to study here at a much higher cost than locals. “The cost of visas are already high, these immigrants get jobs and pay taxes as well and most never have to use the health services. “In a world that has become more open and welcoming to foreigners, U.K. is misaligning itself and will surely become weaker. “Considering that the prospects of most students finding jobs here is slim, why would they choose to study here? This is a question we must answer. “Targeting foreigners with the financial burden of the U.K. is not a lasting solution and U.K. will loose out. I hope that this can be re-thought and fixed asap to avoid its consequences.”

  Standard Chartered Plc says it has reached an agreement to sell its subsidiaries in sub-Saharan Africa to Access Bank, a subsidiary of Access Holdings. The multinational bank made this known in a statement released on Friday. In April 2022, Standard Chartered had said it would fully exit operations in seven countries in Africa and the Middle East (AME) as part of plans to upscale its businesses. Announcing the deal, Standard Chartered said it will sell its shareholding in its subsidiaries in Angola, Cameroon, Gambia and Sierra Leone to Access Bank. The multinational said Access Bank will also take over its consumer, private and banking business in Tanzania. “Access Bank will provide a full range of banking services and continuity for key stakeholders including employees and clients of Standard Chartered’s businesses across the five aforementioned countries,” Standard Chartered said. “The agreement is in line with Standard Chartered’s global strategy aimed at achieving operational efficiencies, reducing complexity, and driving scale.” The deals are subject to regulatory approvals in each of the countries as well as in Nigeria, the bank added. Commenting on the transaction, Sunil Kaushal, regional chief executive officer (CEO) for AME, Standard Chartered, said: “This strategic decision allows us to redirect resources within the AME region to other areas with significant growth potential.” On his part, Roosevelt Ogbonna, managing director, Access Group, said: “With our recent European expansion and our deepened presence in key trading corridors across Africa, we will bridge the gap between cross-border and domestic transfers across all business segments.”

  A Nigerian Air Force FT-7NI trainer aircraft has crashed in Makurdi, the Benue State capital. Channels Television reports that the incident happened on Friday evening, while on a routine training exercise. The NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, confirmed this in a statement on Friday. He said two pilots onboard the aircraft survived and were being observed in a military facility. “Luckily, the two pilots on board survived the crash after successfully ejecting from the aircraft. Additionally, there was no loss of lives or damage to any property around the area of impact. “Both pilots are currently under observation at NAF Base Hospital, Makurdi. Meanwhile, the Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Hasan Abubakar, has constituted a Board of Inquiry to determine the immediate and remote causes of the crash,” he said. Details later….

  The Rivers State Police Command has arrested one Michael Charles alias Thankgod Ekwueme for allegedly selling his three children. This follows the Command’s busting of a child trafficking ring operating in the state. Parading the suspects within the Old GRA Police Station, Head Office of the CP Monitoring Unit, who were responsible for the breakthrough, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, said they arrested a number of suspects involved in the trading of minors in the state. Charles, who is one of the suspects paraded and the father of the trafficked children admitted to selling them, blaming his action on poverty and an inability to fend for the children. Others involved in the racket include a medical practitioner and a former Councillor. Speaking on behalf of the mother of the traded kids who is deaf and dumb, the mother Janet Igwe from Umudiogo, Emohua Local Government Area of the state, said her son-in-law has been selling the children borne by her daughter while telling her the children died at birth. The statement by the police said, “Operatives attached to the CP Monitoring Unit on Saturday, July 8, 2023, at about 5.00pm, based on the revelation of two suspects earlier arrested in a case of child trafficking, extended the investigation to Omudiaga in Emohua LGA of Rivers State and Ogbaku in Mbaitoli LGA of Imo State where they arrested the duo of Ndubuisi Egbueri ‘M, and Ndubuisi Wosa ‘M,’ at Omudiaga, and one Chioma Anele ‘F at Ogbaku. Both Ndubuisi Egbueri and Ndubuisi Wosa confessed to receiving one of the baby , which they later handed over to Hon. Regina Aki ‘F at Rukpokwu in Port Harcourt. Hon. Regina Aki was also arrested and admitted to contacting one Favour Amaewhule ‘F at Aluu, where the baby was sold in the presence of Michael Charles, the father of the baby. “Subsequently, Favour Amaewhule ‘F was arrested and admitted to buying the baby for the sum of N700,000.00, while N350,000.00 was paid to Michael Charles, the father of the baby, and N350,000.00 was paid to Hon. Regina Aki and partners. “However, the baby bought by Favour Amaewhule has been recovered, and the investigation is in top gear with a view to recovering the other babies received by Chioma Anele ‘F.’ Seven (7) suspects are currently in custody.”

  The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has asked the court to dismiss the order barring the agency from imposing fines on broadcast stations. On May 10, a federal high court in Abuja ruled that the NBC does not have the powers to impose penalties on broadcast stations. James Omotosho, the presiding judge, set aside fines imposed on 45 broadcast stations by NBC. WHAT LED TO THE COURT ORDER? On March 1, 2019, NBC sanctioned 45 broadcast stations over alleged ethical infractions during the general election. Is’haq Kawu, then director-general of the commission, said the affected media houses were fined N500,000 each for flouting the provisions of the Nigerian broadcasting code. He said the sanctioned stations from across the country included Channels Television, TVC, AIT, and NTA. Displeased with the fines, the Media Rights Agenda (MRA) sued NBC, stating that the action of the commission violated the right to fair hearing under section 36 of the 1999 constitution (as amended) and Article 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act. MRA had asked the court to declare the fines unconstitutional and null. ‘THE COURT WAS MISLED’ In a suit filed by Babatunde Ogala, NBC counsel, the commission said the court reached its decision in “ignorance of relevant facts”. NBC also claimed that MRA has “two un-appealed, subsisting and binding decisions of the federal high court on the same issues and parties”. The commission added that the media group brought a fresh suit before the court, instead of appealing previous rulings. NBC accused MRA of trying to set the court on a collision course with other courts. Omotosho has scheduled hearing of the motion for October 5, 2023.

  The Kano State Government has faulted the distribution of the Federal Government’s allocation of N500 billion through the Bank of Industry to support small-scale industries across the country’s geopolitical zones. Governor Abba Yusuf made the complaint during a meeting with representatives from the Kano Cooperative Society at the Government House on Thursday evening. He revealed that the distribution was heavily skewed, with Lagos State receiving 47 per cent of the allocation, followed by the South-South Zone with 17%, and other regions receiving significantly lower percentages. Yusuf described the distribution mode as “unfair, unconstitutional, and illegal”. He called on relevant authorities and members of the National Assembly to rectify the situation and take appropriate action against those responsible. He said the state government would support Cooperative Societies in their efforts to alleviate poverty and regain their influence. The meeting was held as part of activities to commemorate the 2023 International Day of Cooperatives. Yusuf, represented by his Deputy, Aminu Gwarzo, reiterated his administration’s primary goal of eradicating poverty in Kano state. In a statement on Friday by the deputy governor’s spokesman, Ibrahim Shuaibu, Gwarzo emphasized the importance of Cooperative Societies as vehicles through which citizens can improve their lives and contribute to the overall development of their community and the nation. President of the Kano Cooperative Society, Musa Aikawa, who spoke on behalf of the delegation, emphasized the significance of cooperatives in enhancing the lives of their members. He disclosed that the state has over 2.8 million cooperative members, primarily consisting of young people. Aikawa requested the intervention of the state government to develop strategies for reducing the high rate of unemployment in the state. Yusuf announced that the state government would engage cooperative societies in designing poverty eradication and sustainable development programs. “Furthermore, committees would be established to review the activities of Cooperative Desk Officers in each Local Government Area, while desk officers would be introduced in major markets such as Dawanau, Kantin Kwari, Yan Lemo to guide and support cooperative activities,” he said. The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Solid Minerals, Mairo Danbatta, encouraged the youth to embrace cooperative business ventures as a means of progress and reducing unemployment in Kano. The meeting was attended by several dignitaries, including government officials and representatives from educational institutions related to cooperative activities in Kano.

  Barely 24 hours after the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) directed all commands and formations of the Agency to begin an immediate clampdown on illegal sale and use of nitrous oxide, otherwise known as laughing gas operatives have intercepted over 64, 863.5 kilogram consignments of the gaseous substance at the Apapa seaport in Lagos and in Imo state. This followed its abuse by people who use it for recreational purposes. Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi said, “”Following credible intelligence, NDLEA operatives at the Apapa seaport on Wednesday 12th July intercepted two containers marked MSKU 7626856 and MSKU 7689448 suspected to contain cartons of Nitrous oxide and plastic pressure release nozzles imported from China. “As a result, a joint examination of the containers was carried out by NDLEA officers, men of the Customs Service and other stakeholders the following day, Thursday 13th July. “During the search of the two containers, a total of 522 cartons of Nitrous Oxide, containing 16,366 packages weighing 64,852kgs were recovered along with the paraphernalia for recreational use. “The importer of the consignment, 30-year-old Stephen Eze and his agent, Michael Chukwuma were thereafter arrested and detained for further investigation”. In the same vein, NDLEA operatives on patrol along Owerri – Onitsha expressway in Imo state on Thursday 13th July intercepted three cartons containing 18 canisters of the same substance weighing 11.5kg heading to Port Harcourt, Rivers State. A swift follow up operation was conducted in the stadium road area of Elekahia, Port Harcourt same day leading to the arrest of the owner of the shipment, 24-year-old Tonye Kalio. While commending the officers and men of the Apapa Port, and their Imo state Command counterparts for being pro-active and swift,   Marwa said the clampdown on illegal sale and use of nitrous oxide will continue nationwide to protect young Nigerians from the devastating effects of abusing the substance and in the overall interest of public health. He commended the cooperation of other sister security agencies and stakeholders towards achieving the set objective.