Friday 13 October 2023 Forex crisis: CBN raises dollar supply, lifts ban on cement, 42 items Atiku’s evidence from Chicago irrelevant, Tinubu tells Supreme Court Isreali-Hamas: US, UK, India evacuate citizens, deaths hit 2,700 Two die, others injured in Osun collapsed building PSC promotes 12 commissioners, 5,706 police personnel South-East Will Appeal For Nnamdi Kanu’s Release, Says Ifeanyi Ubah Tinubu Fair To South-East, Has Other ‘Good Things’ For Region, Says Ubah Senior Advocates Elevation: Afe Babalola’s Daughter Folashade Alli, Others Make List Troops Kill 50 Terrorists, Arrest 114 Others – DHQ Ifeanyi Ubah Dumps YPP, Joins APC House Of Reps Screens NDDC Board, Management Designates Navy Destroys Illegal Refinery In Rivers EU Warns TikTok Over ‘Illegal Content And Disinformation’ Apapa gridlock: Lagos govt evacuates abandoned trucks 93 unexploded bombs recovered in Lagos Hotelier’s murder: Kwara Poly disowns 2 female students after police parade Naira depreciates to N1030/$ in parallel market Tinubu appoints Olukoyede EFCC chairman,  Hammajoda, secretary NNPC, Oilserv to deliver $2.5bn AKK gas pipeline project next July Tinubu Breaches Law On Olukoyede’s Appointment As EFCC Chair – Experts FG Warns Against Sexual Harassment Of Students Controversy trails Peter Obi’s names on academic certificates Poor funding, low investment rob Nigerian sports N500 billion revenue yearly Era of exporting raw materials over, says Alake Visit a newspaper stand this morning, buy and read a copy for yourself…

  The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) says there are plans to review its act to ensure peddlers of life-threatening materials are “jailed and not just fined”. Farouk Salim, director-general of SON, spoke on Thursday during the destruction of materials seized by the organisation in Lagos. Salim said the peddlers are economic saboteurs who kill industries and consumers who innocently buy the products. “In the last national assembly, we went to them to review our act to make sure that peddlers of life-threatening materials are jailed and not just fined,“ he said. “They have passed the law but unfortunately did not get the opportunity for the president to sign it into law. “So, it is back in the National Assembly and hopefully very soon it will be with the president. “I am sure the president will sign that amendment and those individuals selling threatening items will be jailed immediately they are caught. The SON director-general said the value of the seized products was estimated to be worth billions of naira, adding that they would keep seizing the products to force the perpetrators to stop. He said the products included vehicle tyres, which were not fit for use while some were new but were stuffed with other used ones. “As a result, the tyres lost their integrity and are dangerous to society, while the ones looking new are used tyres, which were pressed and polished to look new,” he said. “The fakers of the motor oil lubricants intercepted in Calabar used popular products. So, our Nigerian lubricant manufacturers that are successful have to contain with individuals trying to copy their product. Nobody copies a product that is not successful; the only problem is the copying is a bad one. “The product you are seeing behind does not belong to that popular company. It was being copied and they were taken to court, convicted and the court gave us the permission to confiscate the product and destroy them.”

  Ninety-three unexploded bombs (ordnance) have been recovered at the Ikeja Military Cantonment, Lagos, in the ongoing ‘Exercise Clean Sweep’. The exercise was flagged off on Tuesday, October 10, 2023, to disinfect the epicentre of the 2002 bomb blast at the cantonment.   The recovered bombs, according to the Army, were in various calibres and descriptions. The Director at the Directorate of Explosives Search and Disposal, Nigeria Army Engineers / Coordinator of EXERCISE CLEAN SWEEP, Colonel Abdulrazaq Kazeem, who made the disclosure at his maiden brief on the update of the exercise, yesterday, said among others, “So far, a total of 93 unexploded ordnance have been recovered from the site. Despite past clearance and disposal exercises at the site, there have been several reports of the discovery of remnants of UXOs within and around the vicinity of the bomb blast much to the detriment of the safety and security of the inhabitants of the Cantonment and environment. “The moment we reach maximum limits of explosives within our holding area, such ordinances will be moved to the range. If we get to the explosive limits today, I will move to the range today. We would not exceed a kilogramm above the explosive limits because it is measured in kilogramme. We wouldn’t cross that line. At 93, we have not yet reached the limits,” he reiterated. On his part, the Safety Officer, Lt Col Oluseyi Oladapo Bamikole said necessary measures had been put in place “for the safety of personnel as they have made adequate equipment available including demarcations and trained personnel to identify UXO before recovery from the site.”

  The House of Representatives has screened the presidential nominees to the Board and Management of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). This was made known in a statement jointly signed by the Chairperson, House Committee on NDDC, Hon. Erhiatake Ibori-Suenu, and Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon. Akin Rotimi, Jr, on Thursday. According to the statement, the designates appeared before the House ad-hoc committee mandated to conduct the screening on Thursday. In her remarks, the Chairman of the House Committee on NDDC, Hon. Ibori-Suenu charged the designates to justify the confidence reposed in them by H.E. President President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. “Now, more than ever before, the NDDC needs visionary leaders with integrity to drive the discharge of the commission’s mandate, to translate to tangible impact on the lives of the people and communities in the Niger Delta,” she said The screening exercise featured presentations by Mr. Chiedu Ebie and Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, NDDC Chairman and Managing Director/CEO designates respectively, who shared details of their respective career trajectories, and vision for the commission. Subsequently, the Deputy Minority Leader of the House, Hon. Ali Isa, moved the motion for the nominees to take a bow in deference to the fact that the Senate had similarly screened and confirmed the nominees, and also in consideration of the fact that some of the nominees are former parliamentarians. The motion was seconded by Deputy Leader of the House, Hon. Abdullahi Ibrahim Halims, and unanimously carried by the committee. The motion was seconded by Deputy Leader of the House, Hon. Abdullahi Ibrahim Halims, and unanimously carried by the committee. Consequent to the screening exercise, the committee is expected to submit it’s report and recommendations during plenary. Upon confirmation by the House, the National Assembly is expected to immediately transmit its resolution to the Presidency, haven effectively fulfilled Section 2 (2) (a) of the NDDC Act, which prescribes that the nominees must be screened and confirmed by the Senate in consultation with the House of Representatives. The designates confirmed include: Mr. Chiedu Ebie, Chairman (Delta); Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, Managing Director/CEO (Bayelsa); Mr. Boma Iyaye, ED, Finance & Admin (Rivers); Mr. Victor Antai, ED, Projects (Akwa Ibom); Hon. Ifedayo Abegunde, ED, Corporate Services (Ondo); Senator Dimaro Denyanbofa (Bayelsa); Mr. Abasi Ndikan Nkono (Akwa Ibom); Rt. Hon. Monday Igbuya (Delta); Chief Tony Okocha (Rivers); and Hon. Patrick Aisowieren (Edo). Others are Mr. Kyrian Uchegbu (Imo); Hon. Otitio Atikase (Ondo); Chief Dimgba Eruba (Abia); Rt. Hon Orok Otu Duke (Cross River); Hon. Nick Wende (North Central); Hon. Namdas Abdulrazak (North East); and Senator Dr. Ibrahim Gobir (North West). According to the House leader, Hon. Prof. Julius Inhovbere, the designates are charged with the responsibility to chart a new course for the very critical interventionist agency, and be just and fair to all the communities. He further charged the designates to be guided by the fear of God and respect for the constitution in the discharge of their duties. “Nigerians expect to be proud of your achievements. You all owe the duty to Nigerians to perform.” Justice for all is justice for one, and justice for one is justice for all.”, he said.

  The Indigenous People of Biafra has secured a court victory for about seven supporters of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, said to have been arrested and illegally held in various detention centres by security agencies. Kanu’s counsel, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, said the court did not only discharged the IPOB supporters but also awarded N130m in damages in their favour against security agencies. According to the lawyer, in the charge marked ‘FHC/ABJ/CR/475/2021, Justice M.O. Olajuwon of the Federal High Court in Abuja discharged Maria Ezediaro “of all frivolous criminal allegation/charge brought against her before the court.” Ejiofor said, “She was arrested on February 26, 2021 when she visited the State CID, Owerri, Imo State Command to give food and medication to her friend who was detained there, and was subsequently transferred to the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team detention facility in ‘Abattoir’, Abuja, where she was subjected to all forms of inhuman treatment, severe torture and degradation. “However, following the refusal of the police to release her or charge her to court, we filed a fundamental rights enforcement suit on her behalf before the Federal High Court Abuja. “Still on our application, she was granted bail by the court on April 21, 2022 and consequently released to us upon perfection of the bail conditions. On October 10, 2023, following our application and submissions before the court, the Federal High Court, Abuja per Hon. Justice M.O. Olajuwon struck out the four counts of terrorism filed against Mrs Maria Ezediaro and consequently discharged her. “Also Justice V.S. Gaba of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja discharged the Pastor of the Holy Trinity Sabbath Church, Orlu Imo State, Cletus Nwachukwu Egole; his wife, Ifeyinwa Egole; a prophet of Jewish Faith, Michael Uba, Ugochukwu Samuel; and Raphael Idang. The court also granted them N100m compensatory damages against the police.” They were said to have been arrested and subsequently paraded by the Imo State Command of the Nigeria Police on March 21, 2021, and subsequently transferred to the IGP Intelligence Response Team detention facility in “Abattoir”, Abuja. “Justice Z.B. Abubakar of the Federal High Court in Abuja also ordered the release of Ngozichukwu Ada-Dav and awarded N30m compensatory damages in her favour,” he said. “Ada-Dav was arrested in June 2021 by a team of fully-armed operatives of the Nigeria Police Force and thereafter taken to the IGP/IRT located in Ikeja GRA, where she was detained in unlawful custody till July 3, 2021, when she was transferred to the Garki Command of the Nigeria Police, notoriously known as the Abattoir

  Two people were on Thursday confirmed dead following injuries they sustained when a storey building under construction in the Eweta area of Ikirun, Osun State, collapsed. The deceased and two others were said to be working in the building Wednesday evening when it collapsed and trapped them. A resident simply identified as Lateef, during an interview with PUNCH Metro, said the victims were evacuated by some residents who rushed to the scene. He said the building owner and one woman among the victims died while on admission at the hospital. He said, “Some minutes to 7pm on Wednesday, we heard a loud noise from a construction site in our area and people rushed to the scene. “When we got there, we saw that a storey building under construction had collapsed and search-and-rescue started immediately. We evacuated four people from the rubble, three females and a male. We learnt they were working in the building when the incident occurred. “The victims were taken to a hospital here in Ikirun. All of them were in critical condition. But this morning (Thursday), we were told that two of the victims died.” When contacted, the spokesperson for the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in the state, Kehinde Adeleke, confirmed the incident. Adeleke added that though the building was still under construction, it was already being used as a church. She said, “A storey building being used as a church collapsed yesterday (Wednesday) around 6.45pm. The church building is in the Eweta community in Ikirun. “Our officer that visited the scene said the affected building was still under construction and some workers were working inside it when collapsed. “Four people were trapped under the rubble. They were later evacuated and taken to a nearby hospital. Three women and a man were evacuated. “As of this morning, Thursday, two of the victims have died. One of the deceased was the owner of the building.” Meanwhile, a man identified simply as Seun has escaped narrowly after a building in the Old Bank area of the Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State collapsed on Wednesday. PUNCH Metro gathered that although no casualties were recorded, the stairs of the collapsed building fell on the victim, who was trapped for hours before being rescued. An eyewitness who spoke with PUNCH Metro revealed that the building had been distressed for a long time before it finally caved in around 5.20pm. Speaking on the incident, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, who confirmed the incident to PUNCH Metro on Thursday, said the victim was receiving treatment. “The man is responding to treatment at a hospital. The place has been cordoned off. We have also reached out to the local government authority to seal the place off,” Odutola told our correspondent in a WhatsApp chat.

  The Apex Igbo Socio-cultural Organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo worldwide has reiterated its commitment to secure the release of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Mazi Nnamdi Kanu from detention.   The National Publicity secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Alex Ogbonna made this known while reacting to the release of Yoruba freedom fighter, Sunday Adeyemo, also known as Sunday Igboho who was arrested and prosecuted in Cotonou. Recall that Mazi Kanu was arrested in Kenya on the 19th of june and repatriated to Nigeria in July 2021. Upon his extraordinary rendition to Nigeria, Kanu was locked up by the Department of State Services, DSS, while subjecting him to legal tussles. To this end, Kanu’s Special Counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, instituted a legal action against the Nigerian Government and the court granted all the seven prayers sought by Ejimakor. Sunday Adeyemo, also known as Igboho was arrested in Cotonou, Benin Republic in July 2021. Reacting to the release of Igboho and continuous detention of Nnamdi Kanu by the federal government of Nigeria, even when the court of jurisdiction had declare him discharged and acquitted, Chief Ogbonna said that President General, PG, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu is engaging the federal government for the release of Nnamdi Kanu. He however, said that both Igboho and Kanu can not be released the same day, adding that Chief Iwuanyanwu had taken the release of Kanu as priority. “What do you want Ohanaeze Ndigbo to say again concerning Nnamdi Kanu’s release. The President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu has said everything the Igbo leaders are doing to get him released. “Iwuanyanwu is consistently engaging the Federal Government to secure his release,’ he said.

  The Federal government has said it is not interested in stifling the media and free flow of information into and out of the country. The Minister of information and national orientation Alhaji Mohammed Idris Malagi stated this Thursday when he received Director of Google in West Africa Olumide Balogun at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.   He said, “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a democrat and democracy cannot thrive without freedom of expression. “We know that information dissemination is critical to the survival of any country and I as a minister, i am also from this industry and I believe that it is important for us to have a free press. “I feel that once people communicate, once people are able to put information out there it reduces tension and the menace of fake news. “Stifling or trying to gag that platform that people get information is not in anyone’s interest. I don’t think there is any responsible person that will be interested in saying look don’t give out information.” The minister, further cautioned that though, the administration would not interfere in media expressing it’s freedom, it must come with responsibility. “Nigeria is such a sensitive country and anything that will create tension will not be tolerated. “Freedom as I would often say comes with responsibility. You have enormous responsibility to ensure that freedom does not translate to an avenue for the creation of anarchy for our people. “We want to stay united and in peace and sometimes if you feel that the knife in the kitchen will be harmful, you remove it and make do with whatever is available. “Thank God there is an international collaboration trying to find a common ground to regulate platforms such as yours so that it will not be used against the people that it is meant to serve. “While government is interested in freedom of information, allowing environment to be free for everybody to express themselves, and for everyone to have the right to know and right to access any kind of information, it is also critical for those who are responsible in bringing out these information, creating the platforms for these to happen are also very conscious of the fact that it can also be used against the very people that it is meant to serve,” he said. Speaking earlier, Balogun told the minister that Google is ready to partner with the federal government to empower Nigerians with skills that will enable them contribute to national development. He however, called on the government create an enabling environment that will enable the high internet penetration in Nigeria translate to economic growth.