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  • Driver docked for allegedly assaulting passenger

    Assault

    By Patience Yakubu
    Kaduna, June 19, 2024 (NAN) A 44-year commercial driver, Salisu Adamu, was on Wednesday, arraigned before a Kaduna Chief Magistrates’ Court for allegedly assaulting a passenger.

    Adamu, whose address was not given, is being charged with assault.

    The Prosecutor, Insp Chidi Leo, told the court that the defendant committed the offence at NDA Junction, Kaduna.

    He said that Adamu gave the complainant, Haruna Gambo, several fist-blows that caused him severe injuries on his face following a disagreement over N200.

    He said that Gambo was rescued by onlookers before the defendant was arrested by a policeman on duty at the bus stop.

    Leo said that the offence contravened Section 224 of the Penal Code of Kaduna State, 2017.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Section 224 of the code prescribes a three-year jail term for offenders.

    The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

    The Magistrate, Ibrahim Emmanuel, granted the defendant bail in the sum of N100,000 with one surety in like sum.

    The case was adjourned until July 16 for hearing.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
    PMY/NNO/AZU

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    Edited by Nick Nicholas and Azubuike Okeh

  • Police arrest airport taxi passenger for attempted car snatching

    Police arrest airport taxi passenger for attempted car snatching

    Arrest

    By Moses Omorogieva
    Lagos, June 19, 2024 (NAN) The Police Command in Lagos State say it has arrested a 35-year old passenger, who attempted to snatch an airport taxi from it’s driver.

    Mr  Benjamin Hundeyin, Spokesperson of the command confirmed the arrest to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos.

    Hundeyin said that the case was reported to the Alausa Police Division on June 11 at about 1:40 a.m., by the taxi driver.

    He explained  that the driver said that at about 1:20 a.m., on June 11, while on driving service at Chevron area of Ajah, he was stopped by the suspect, pretending to be a passenger.

    He quoted the taxi driver as saying that the suspect requested that he  took him to the Shrine in Agidigbi, Alausa area of Ikeja, and on conclusion on the fare, they both started the journey to the destination.

    “On getting to the Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, by 7UP Alausa Ikeja, the suspect, who was sitting beside him suddenly brought out a knife from his bag and attacked him in an attempt to snatch his Toyota Camry car.

    “In the process, the driver sustained a deep knife cut on his hand while trying to struggle with the suspect.

    “He quickly raised an alarm, where some good Nigerians came to his rescue, while the suspect took to his heels.

    ”However, after a hot chase, he was later arrested by Anti-Crime team of Alausa police division,” he  said.

    Hundeyin said that the suspect was taken to the station with the car as exhibit, while investigation was ongoing.

    He said in another development, a 28-year old man, who had been parading himself as military personnel with the uniform of his friend serving in Maiduguri, was arrested for impersonation.

    Hundeyin said that the fake soldier was arrested last Friday at about 5:45 p.m., by operatives from Ilemba Hausa Division, while on Surveillance patrol at Jinadu Street, Ajangbadi.

    He said that the suspect was fully dressed in complete army camouflage uniform riding a black unregistered motorcycle when he was arrested.

    The spokesperson said that on sighting the policemen, the suspect abandoned the motorcycle and took to his heels but the officers gave him a chase and arrested him.

    “Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect is not a soldier and the army camouflage uniform belongs to his friend, who is a military personnel serving in Maiduguri,” he said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

    MIO/DCO/YGA
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    Edited by Deborah Coker/Gabriel Yough

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • NACETEM to revamp vocational education in Nigeria

    Dr Olushola Odusanya, DG, NACETEM

    NACETEM to revamp vocational education in Nigeria

    Trainings

    By Sylvester Thompson

    Abuja, June 19, 2024 (NAN) Dr Olushola Odusanya, Director General, National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM), on Wednesday said that the Centre was poised to revamp interest in vocational education.

    Odusanya in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, said this had become imperative as 70 per cent of job opportunities existed in vocational training.

    He explained that a reliable way of infusing knowledge into the informal sector was to focus on vocational training.

    He, however, said that revamping interest in vocational education called for right investments and issuance of quality certificates as well as quality accreditations.

    He disclosed that NACETEM as a Certiport training and certification centre had structured trainings in which certificates were offered.

    “These certification schemes are now for vocationally trained people and their numbers are also very large, probably larger than other trainees.

    “These are people required in the economy and we feel this would be of particular interest to politicians because they need to empower their voting population,” Odusanya said.

    The NACETEM boss explained that the Academy which was formed in partnership with a private firm was a huge Learning Management System (LMT), which provided for the trainings, thereby allowing several people to come on board.

    He restated that acquisition of vocational skills was quite important, especially to people who were not necessarily educated but required some form of skills.

    He reiterated that vocational training encompassed all of these. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

    SET/DCO/AMM
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    Edited by Deborah Coker and Abiemwense Moru

     

  • NOSDRA confirms oil spill from Aiteo’s field in Nembe, Bayelsa

    NOSDRA confirms oil spill from Aiteo’s field in Nembe, Bayelsa

     

    Spillage

    By Nathan Nwakamma

    Yenagoa, June 19, 2024 (NAN) The National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) has confirmed an oil leak from the Nembe Oilfields operated by Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Limited at Nembe in Bayelsa.

     

    Mr Solomon Ukponevi, Head of NOSDRA’s field Office in Yenagoa, confirmed the development to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Yenagoa.

     

    He said that the oil firm reported the incident to the agency on Tuesday.

     

    He explained that the Agency had deployed its officials to the spill site to ascertain the cause and volume of crude oil discharged to the environment.

     

    On the extent of the pollution, Ukponevi said that the Joint Investigative Visit (JIV) scheduled for Wednesday would determine the area among other details.

     

    “I will not be able to provide details until staff deployed for the JIV return from the fields, but I can tell you that Aiteo has reported the spill and investigation is underway,” he said.

     

    NAN learnt that the leak occurred on Monday at a section of the 97 kilometer Nembe Creek Trunk line (NCTL) that hitherto fed the Bonny Oil Export Terminal in Rivers.

     

    Following persistent vandalism on the oil export line with capacity to evacuate 180,000 barrels of crude daily, Aiteo resorted to using barges to convey crude from the Nembe fields.

     

    The barges are used to transport crude from onshore oil wells to a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel from which Aiteo exports the Nembe Crude blend to crude tankers.

     

    The Management of Aiteo is yet to respond to the incident.(NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

    NN/GOM/IS

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    Edited by Gregg Mmaduakolam/Ismail Abdulaziz

     

  • 2 docked for allegedly stealing cell phone valued N139,00

    Stealing

    By Ige Adekunle
    Sango-Ota(Ogun), June 19, 2024(NAN) Two persons, Abdulateef Olasunkanmi and Sunday Morice, were on Wednesday, arraigned before an Ota Magistrates’ Court, Ogun, for allegedly stealing a cell phone valued N139,000.

    Olasunkanmi, 18 and Morice, 28, whose addresses were not given, are being charged with stealing, assault and conspiracy.

    The Prosecutor, Insp E.O. Adaraloye, told the court that the defendants and others now at large, committed the offences at about 11.05a.m on June 12, at Arobilaye, Ota.

    Adaraloye said that Olasunkanmi and Morice conspired to assault the complainant, Zinsu Joseph, by giving him fists of blows.

    He further said that during the assault, the defendants stole the complainant’s phone valued N139,000.

    The prosecutor said that the offence contravened Sections 390(9), 451 and 516 of the Criminal Code Laws, Ogun, 2006.

    The defendants, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

    The Magistrate, Mrs O.O. Fadairo, granted the defendants bail in the sum of N100, 000 each, with two sureties each in like sum.

    Fadairo said that the sureties who must reside within the court’s jurisdiction, should be gainfully employed and must  present evidence of tax payment to state government.

    He adjourned the case until June 20, for further hearing.(NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

    IGE/CEO/AZU

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    Edited by Chidi Opara and Azubuike Okeh

     

  • Expert advocates locally developed AI for accurate information

    Expert advocates locally developed AI for accurate information

    AI

    By Sarafina Christopher

    Lagos, June 19, 2024 (NAN) Mr Arnold Agure-Dam, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) expert, has advocated for a locally owned platform to enhance accurate and unbiased information retrieval about the country.

    Agure-Dam, who is the CEO of GreyDots, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) firm, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos state.

    The AI app is called Nigeria Info’ Generative Pre-trained Transformer (NiGPT) and will harmonise the nation’s information from a local system.

    According to Agure-Dam, NiGPT is a necessity for Nigeria because most of the data about the country are not controlled locally and has created room for information bias.

    “So we decided to provide a platform that will democratise Nigerian specific information and bring it to the fingertip of our citizens.

    ”This will be easy to access information without going on a long research to get answers. We aim to replace Google with Ask NiGPT in Nigeria.

    “We want to make questions about our country a priority without having to go through long and biased research,” he said.

    Agure-Dam also added that NiGPT was a revolutionary project designed to harness the power of AI to revolutionise various sectors.

    “The goal is to develop sophisticated AI solutions that can be seamlessly integrated into industries such as healthcare, finance, education and agriculture, among others.

    “AI is a cutting-edge technology that not only addresses complex problems but also enhances the efficiency and productivity of businesses and organisations.

    “Therefore, by leveraging AI, NiGPT aims to bring about significant positive changes in how industries operate, ultimately improving everyday life and business operations,” Agure-Dam said.

    The Minister of State for Youths, Ayodele Olawande, said that AI was a welcome development that everyone in Nigeria should key into, adding that it would help improve intelligence.

    Olatubosun Alake, Lagos State Commissioner for Innovation, Science and Technology, reiterated the government commitment towards supporting innovations that would promote accurate information about Nigeria.

    “The launch of this app is along the lines of building capacity in Artificial Intelligence. It also goes to show that our Nigerian companies have the capacity.

    “We are proud to announce that now our local team has built a solution that we own as Nigerians.

    ”This is a significant advantage for us as we can now start to solve problems from a local context,” Alake said.(NAN) (www.nannews.com.ng)

    SAF/COO/IS

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    Edited by Cecilia Odey/Ismail Abdulaziz

  • U.S. regulators accuse TikTok of violating child privacy laws

    U.S. regulators accuse TikTok of violating child privacy laws

    Accusation

    Washington, June 19, 2024 (dpa/NAN) The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has referred a complaint against the popular video-sharing app TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance to the Department of Justice.

    It alleged that they failed to protect children’s privacy.

    The FTC said in a statement that, it uncovered reason to believe TikTok and ByteDance were violating or are about to violate the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.

    The regulator did not provide any further details of the alleged violations in its statement.

    The FTC said that it did not typically make referrals of complaints public, but “determined that doing so here is in the public interest.’’

    The FTC is responsible for consumer protection in the U.S. and also played an important role in competition policy.

    TikTok rejected the allegations in a statement on X, noting it had been in talks with the FTC for more than a year.

    “We’re disappointed the agency is pursuing litigation instead of continuing to work with us on a reasonable solution,’’ it said.

    TikTok also said that many of the FTC’s allegations related to past events and practices were factually inaccurate or have been addressed.

    In 2019, TikTok agreed to pay 5.7 million dollars to settle FTC allegations against its predecessor company, Musically, concerning the collection of data from children under the age of 13.

    These collections were done without parental consent, in violation of U.S. law.

    According to the FTC, the current investigation into TikTok and its Chinese-based parent company ByteDance began with an audit to determine whether the platform was complying with the terms of the previous agreement.

    TikTok is currently involved in a separate legal battle in the U.S. over a proposed law that would force a change of ownership.

    U.S. politicians are concerned that the Chinese government could potentially access data from American users through ByteDance and use the app for propaganda.

    TikTok denied the allegations and has taken legal action in the U.S..(dpa/NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

    COO/AMM
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    Edited by Cecilia Odey and Abiemwense Moru
    08053114137

  • We’re proactive about preventing cholera outbreak -Abia Govt.

    Cholera

    By Ihechinyere Chigemeri-Uwom

    Umuahia, June 19, 2024 (NAN) The Abia Government says it is taking proactive measures to prevent the outbreak of cholera in the state.

    Dr Kalu Kalu, Executive Secretary, Abia State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (ASPHDA) disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Umuahia, on Wednesday.

    Kalu said that part of measures was the agency’s insistence on the promotion of public hygiene and environmental sanitation across the state.

    According to him, the agency is also working with relevant stakeholders to strengthen the campaign on the prevention of cholera outbreak in the state.

    He said that cholera as a fecal-oral disease could be spread through the contamination of water or food with the feces of an infected person.

    The ASPHDA official also said that cholera could be considered a waterborne disease because contaminated water remained a common vector for its transmission.

    Kalu urged residents of the state to only drink water from safe sources, and cautioned food vendors against selling contaminated food to members of the public.

    “I can tell you that as a state, we are on top of the situation, our target is not to  record any single case of cholera.

    “This is the reason we have kick-started a robust sensitisation campaign. Our health workers are taking advantage of every opportunity to educate people on how to prevent the disease.

    “Our jingles are already running, fliers and posters are out. Health talks are ongoing at health facilities across the state.

    “We shall use town announcers to reach out to the hinterlands. We must imbibe the habit of personal hygiene, we must avoid eating foods that are not well-washed,” he said.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

    INA/DCO/AZU

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    Edited by Deborah Coker and Azubuike Okeh

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Kwara Gov commiserates with ex-Gov Saraki over mother’s death

    Kwara Gov. commiserates with ex-Gov. Saraki over mother’s death

    Commiseration

    By Bushrah Yusuf-Badmus

    Ilorin, June 19, 2024 (NAN) Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara has sent his condolences to the Saraki family on the death of their matriarch, Chief Florence Saraki, which occurred on Tuesday, June 18.

     

    A statement from his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Rafiu Ajakaye, on Wednesday  noted that the governor particularly commiserated with the former Senate President Bukola Saraki and the rest of the family on the sad development.

     

    ‘The governor urges the Sarakis to be consoled by the fine legacies of their matriarch.

     

    “‘He prayed to God for the repose of her soul and to uphold the family,” it stated. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

    BAY/PUO/YGA

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    Edited by Perpetua Onuegbu/Gabriel Yough

     

     

  • Vessel sinks in Red Sea 1 week after Houthi attack

    Vessel

    Cairo, June 19, 2024 (dpa/NAN) A vessel is believed to have sunk in the Red Sea a week after the ship was attacked by Yemen’s Houthi Rebels, UK authorities have said.

    Maritime debris and oil have been sighted in the vessel’s last reported location in the Red Sea.

    The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency, which is part of Britain’s Royal Navy, said this late on Tuesday.

    The vessel was attacked on June 12 while it was sailing off the coast of Yemen.

    It was hit twice but the crew was evacuated, UKMTO said.

    Last week, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said that an unmanned surface vessel launched by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels had hit a Greek-owned and operated ship off the coast of Yemen.

    The hit caused severe flooding and damage to the ship’s engine room.

    The Houthis, had controlled parts of Yemen since 2014, but have been targeting ships bound for Israeli ports or those owned by Israeli companies in the Red and Arabian seas.

    They have also been targeting the Indian Ocean for months, in what they said was retaliation for Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip.

    The militia also attacked U.S. and British ships off Yemen after the two countries began launching strikes on areas under the group’s control.

    The U.S., Britain and other Western countries had launched operations to protect ships in the region. (dpa/NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

    COO/DOE
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    Edited by Cecilia Odey/Dianabasi Effiong