The senate has introduced a bill seeking to create Tiga, a new state, from Kano. Kawu Sumaila, senator representing Kano south, is the sponsor of the bill that was read for the first time on Thursday. The legislation is seeking to alter the constitution to create the provision of the new state. Kano, one of the populous states in Nigeria, has 44 LGAs. It is not clear how the bill seeks to divide them. This is not the first time that a senator is proposing a new state. In June, Ned Nwoko, senator representing Delta north, said he would sponsor a constitutional bill to create “Anioma”, a new state in the south-east. The south-east geo-political zone currently has five states. The senator said the creation of a new state would address the “longstanding imbalance in the geopolitical distribution of states in Nigeria”. “The South East geopolitical zone currently has five states, unlike its counterparts, except for the North West, which has seven states,” he had said in a social media post at the time. “This disparity results in an imbalance of representation and resources, with the South East having only 15 lawmakers compared to the 18 lawmakers of other zones in the senate.”

  The Lagos Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court sitting in Ikeja has sentenced a 34-year-old businessman, Oluwafemi Asekeji, to life imprisonment for sexually assaulting his 12-year-old daughter. This was disclosed in a statement by the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, obtained by our correspondent on Wednesday. According to the statement, the presiding judge, Justice Abiola Soladoye, noted that the prosecution had proved the three legs of the charge of rape against Asekeji. The statement noted that close acquaintances of the victim and the convict who were privy to the incident testified as witnesses against the convict which spurred the decision of the judge to sentence Asekeji to life imprisonment. Among the key witnesses presented by the prosecutor included the convict’s father, mother and brother whom he had left the victim with. The statement quoted the judge as saying, “The survivor, in her testimony, told the court that she was 14 years old but her father defiled her when she was 12 years old. She testified that she was at home with her father, who was drunk on June 11, 2020, and he instructed her to enter the room and lie on the bed. “She told this court that her father asked her to take off her clothes and then he defiled her. She said her father took videos of her and threatened to show the video to people if she told anybody what had happened.” It added that the court held that the survivor testified that her father instructed her to drink salt water after he had defiled her. The judge said the survivor told the court that she could not tell anyone earlier because the convict had threatened to kill her if she told anyone that he had been sexually abusing her before the last incident of June 11, 2020. The judge also stated that the medical report revealed that the survivor had been defiled as the report showed the hymen had been broken. Soladoye said that the convict’s act of having unlawful sexual intercourse with his biological child was against the law of nature, calling it a case of incest which should never be heard of. The convict’s mother, a petty trader, was said to have testified before the court that she returned from the market and observed something strange about her granddaughter which led her to enquire about what had happened. Upon interrogation, the grandmother noted that the victim confided in her about the incident. The survivor’s grandmother said that a report was made at the Meiran Police Station and the convict was arrested. The convict however pleaded not guilty stressing that he did not live with his parents but that he had access to the house, where his daughter lived with his parents. Reacting, the court noted that the victim had identified her biological father as the man who had sexual intercourse with her several times. Soladoye said, “Apart from identifying Asekeji as her father, other witnesses confirmed the evidence of the victim. Circumstantial evidence and also medical report, evidence of the grandmother, evidence of the grandfather and evidence of her uncle all point to the convict. Delivering the judgment, Justice Soladoye sentenced the convict to life imprisonment. She also ordered that the convict’s name be included in the Lagos State Sexual Offenders Register. “Oluwafemi Asekeji, you have been found guilty as charged and you are hereby sentenced to life imprisonment. The convict is to have his name registered in the Lagos State Sexual Offences register,” the statement concluded.

  Thursday 11 July 2024 FG projects massive food price crash January Ex-Accountant General begs for time to refund looted funds Bizman bags life jail for raping daughter in Lagos Oronsaye Report: Reps vow to oppose workers’ sacking No official announcement on $2bn crude-backed loan – NNPC LG funds: Supreme Court decides FG suit against govs today Pro-Wike lawmakers’ seats remain vacant, I won’t present budget – Fubara Soldiers arrest fleeing IPOB members Tinubu swears in eight perm secs Conflicting orders embarrassing, erring judges risk sanction – CJN 57,675 students benefit from Seplat education support in Edo, Delta NULGE backs call to seize funds of LGs run by caretakers #EndSARS: ECOWAS Court Finds FG Guilty Of Rights Violations Emefiele, Wife Not Signatories To Companies’ Accounts – Witness CJN Swears In 22 Appeal Court Justices, Warns Against Conflicting Judgements House Of Reps Member Akinremi Dies At 51 EFCC To Arraign Ex-Power Minister Saleh Mamman For Alleged N33.8bn Fraud Suspected Herdsmen Kill 13 In Benue Police Arrest Man With Human Parts In FCT We’ll regulate price of imported foodstuffs — FG N423bn fraud: We stand by our report, el-Rufai economical with truth — Kaduna Assembly   Visit a newspaper stand this morning, buy and read a copy for yourself…

  At least 13 people were killed after armed invaders launched fresh attack on Olegomachi community in Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State. Villagers said the incident which happened on Tuesday evening was the second invasion by the armed invaders in about 12 days. A villager who declined t give his name told our correspondent that 13 dead bodies were counted by the time the dust settled in the latest incident while two people were killed in the previous attack. The Agatu Council Chairman, Barr Phillip Ebenyakwu, confirmed the attack to journalists in Makurdi. Ebenyakwu said, “Yes, it’s confirmed. There was an attack. They gave me a list of 10 people killed. The attackers were armed with sophisticated weapons, they were looting, robbing and burning houses. And killed people. “About seven houses were burnt down, they carried so many properties and animals – goats and fowls – were carted away. It has been reported to police. The DSS is aware too. I’m trying to ensure that security men visit the place. Arrangement is being made for them to visit the place.” The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) SP Catherine Anene, however said she was yet to receive any reports on the matter from the Agatu Divisional Officer (DPO).

  A 23-year-old boy, simply identified as Samson, has been arrested by operatives of the Delta State police for stabbing his aged mother to death in Obiaruku, Delta State. According to the information gathered, Samson was initially sent to Asaba, the state capital of Delta, to learn a trade after his secondary school. However, he was sent back a few months later after joining a group of boys involved in drugs, which affected his brain. It was learned that he was brought back to Obiaruku, where his mother took him to a native mental health facility for treatment. Eyewitness account Speaking on the incident, an eyewitness who wished to remain anonymous, explained to Vanguard, “They live on Jehovah Street, Obiedike Obiaruku, close to my shop. “The mother is in her 50s, but certainly not up to 60. “At around 5 a.m., the mother came outside and saw her son, Samson, smoking. She confronted him, telling him it was too early. “Perhaps she shouted at him. Then Samson went inside, brought out a knife, and stabbed his mother. The elder brother, who is a sickle cell patient, was the one who shouted, which made people enter the compound because the gate of the compound was still locked at the time.” Also, neighbors further explained to Vanguard via phone call that the boy had been addicted to drugs since his return from Asaba. They further stated that operatives of the state police came to arrest Samson while he was standing close to the corpse of his mother. A video of the scene seen by this reporter showed some eyewitnesses pleading with Samson to drop the knife as they stood at the top of the building fence demarcating the compound from Samson’s house. Samson was seen wearing boxers with no shirt on, while standing close to the corpse of his mother, who was lying in a pool of blood. When contacted, the spokesman for the Delta State Police Command, SP Bright Edafe, said the suspect had been arrested.

  One of the umbrella bodies for herders in Nigeria, the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), has asked governors to “settle pastoralists” with grazing reserves designated for herders in the 1960s. MACBAN President, Baba Othman-Ngelzarma, who featured live on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Wednesday, believed that the “preservation” and the “protection” of grazing reserves, especially those in the 19 northern states would address the intractable and internecine challenge of farmer-herder crisis. Othman-Ngelzarma, who spoke hours after President Bola Tinubu announced the creation of a new ministry for livestock development, explained that the livestock sector could turn around the economy of Nigeria if well-tapped. He said the end value chain benefits of the cows raised in the northern region are enjoyed by the southern part of the country. The MACBAN boss said herders are not interested in land grabbing but settlements. ADVERTISEMENT “Talking about land grabbing, even in the northern part of the country where the pastoralists belong, they don’t have lands. They don’t care about land; they stay in the forests (and) when development reaches them, they move further into the forests,” he said. Will Open Grazing Stop? Asked whether the creation of the new ministry would stop herders from open grazing, Othman-Ngelzarma said, “If the right people are put to manage the activities of that ministry. If good representatives, professionals are put there.” “We are never against settlement; we are for settlement but what model of settlement? We just have to evolve a model of settlement to stop the roaming because it is not going to be sustained. The population is growing and it will continue to grow against a land that doesn’t increase. So, this calls for an effective planning of the land.” Asked further whether state governors would have to give the herders land for settlement or ranching, the MACBAN leader said, “Do they need the state governments to give them (herders) lands? We have areas that are dedicated as grazing reserves. “We have about 415 of them all located in the northern part of the country covering about six million hectares of land. There are some encroachments on them but if you minus the encroachments, you will still have about five million hectares of land that are dedicated for grazing, have laws for them for grazing, the lands are there. “Do we need anybody’s land? The reason why we are calling for the protection and preservation of those lands is that if we are going to settle the pastoralists, they need lands to be settled. “Since there are dedicated areas that are designated for settlement for grazing, those areas can be used to settle the pastoralists but there has to be a model of settlement because this roaming while looking for pastures is not going to be sustained even in the northern part of the country because of the increase of the population, because of challenges of climate change and what have you. So, there has to be effective planning for the two professions – farming and herding – to co-exist peacefully.” The MACBAN chief, who applauded Tinubu for the new ministry, faulted the National Livestock Transformation Plan introduced by then President Muhammadu Buhari, saying whilst over ₦500bn was spent on agriculture, none was budgeted for livestock. Decades-Long Clashes In 2021, Buhari reignited talks about the outdated National Grazing Reserve Law of 1965 when he set up a committee to collate data on grazing routes to assess levels of encroachment and make recommendations for gazetting of ungazetted grazing reserves. The presidential pronouncement was meant to solve the farmer-herder crisis but it boomeranged and sparked outrage from many Nigerians and some governors, especially the 17 governors in Southern Nigeria who resisted the outmoded policy of resurrecting grazing reserves and routes in the country, with many of them vowing to seek legal redress. The matter died a natural death as southern governors took it further and unanimously banned open grazing in their domains. Many farmers have been sacked from their farmlands by violent herders whose roaming cows eat up crops and desecrate their plantations. Some farmers have not been lucky as they are sometimes mauled to death by vicious trespassing herders or kidnapped only to be released after hefty ransom have been paid. Some innocent herders have also suffered losses when their cows stray into farmlands whose crops were poisoned by vengeful farmers. President Tinubu, when he inaugurated the Presidential Committee on Livestock Reforms on Tuesday, expressed optimism that with the new ministry and the committee’s mandate, the internecine crisis would be sufficiently addressed.