Blog

Treatment

Abakaliki, Dec. 24, 2018 (NAN) The Ebonyi State Government has approved N3.7m for the treatment of a 12 year-old victim of maltreatment by her mistress in the state.

Mr Godwin Igwe, the Head of Department (HOD), Child Welfare, Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Monday in Abakaliki.

Igwe said that medical report revealed that the minor, Miss Faith Nwanja would go deaf and blind in future if prompt intervention was not made for her treatment.

NAN recalls that Nwanja was allegedly dehumanised by her mistress, Mrs Nkechinyere Bartholomew in March.

He explained that the victim had undergone some medical examinations by a team of medical experts because of the level of injury inflicted on her.

“The suspect inflicted injuries in almost all parts of Nwanja’s body and the hospital has advised to commence treatment to avoid blindness and deafness.

“She has physical scars on her skin, lip, chopped ear, mouth, fractured hand, head and internal injuries,” Igwe said.

The HOD noted that the governor also released fund quarterly to the ministry to take comprehensive care of vulnerable children in the rehabilitation home.

He commended the governor and his wife Rachael for improving lives, intervention programmes and campaigns to stop all forms of violence against children and women.

Igwe also applauded the Commissioner of the ministry, Mrs Rebecca Ogbuewu for her efforts in the progress of the ministry.

“The suspect who is currently in prison awaits trial and should be judged accordingly to serve as deterrent to any intending perpetrators.

“I plead to all relevant authorities such as the police and judiciary to bring justice to the innocent girl,” Igwe said. (NAN)

UVU/MNA

Edited by Maureen Atuonwu

NSCDC arrests 120 suspected kidnappers, others in Adamawa

Arrest

By Yakubu Uba

Yola, Dec. 24, 2018 (NAN) Adamawa Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) said it arrested 120 suspected kidnappers, fraudsters, bandits, rapists and vandals in Adamawa between January and December.

The commandant of the corps, Mr Aliyu Ndanusa, made this known in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Yola.

“We have prosecuted some, while others were profiled and handed over to relevant security agencies for further investigations,” he said.

Ndanusa called for more public support for security agencies to make the state safer.

He also called on the state government to assist the corps with logistics and operational vehicles to enhance its operations.

On the preparations for the yuletide, Ndanusa said about 1, 200 personnel had been deployed across the state.

“We are also engaged in joint patrol with other security agencies to ensure security in the state,” Ndanusa said.

The commandant who also spoke on the approaching 2019 general elections, urged politicians to play according to the rules.

“I want to use this opportunity to also appeal to politicians to avoid thuggery in their campaigns,” Ndanusa said. (NAN)

YMU/SA

Edited by Salif Atojoko

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Technology
By Chiazo Ogbolu
Lagos, Dec. 24, 2018 (NAN) The Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC) on Monday said that the centre had so far trained more than 23,000 women and girls.

The Centre’s Communications Officer, Mr Adeyemi Odutola, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

NAN reports that W.TEC is a Nigerian non-profit organisation focused on encouraging girls to pursue technology careers and supporting both girls and women to use technology for entrepreneurship and to speak about issues affecting their lives.

This is done through technology literacy training, technology-based projects, mentoring, work placement and research.

Odutola said: “The training of women and girls is being done through the centre’s technology camps, after school clubs and other programmes.

“Since its inception in 2008, W.TEC is one of the first organisations working in the gender and technology space in Nigeria and as at December 2017, the centre has trained 23, 132 women and girls.

“W.TEC is focused on nurturing the next generation of female technology creators, entrepreneurs and leaders and this is done through the centre’s programmes which include technology camps, after school clubs, mentoring and research activities.

“The centre has worked hard to educate the wider public about the importance of gender equality in technology through training, speaking at conferences, hosting public discussions, media interviews and presenting our results and alumni.

“We build the capacities of Nigerian girls and women, to increase their economic power and ability to speak about issues that concerns their future.’’

He said that nurturing the next generation of female technology creators, entrepreneurs and leaders was being done in partnership with local and international Non-Governmental Organisations(NGOs), educational and research organisations.

Odutola said that the centre faced some challenges during its work; listing them as getting the women to understand what they are doing, getting them to concentrate, as what they do does not have to do with money.

He listed other challenges as: power, the facilities on ground as the centre has to carry its equipment around and the time it takes to agree on a day for the programme.

“It is really time-consuming to agree on a day as sometime, programme planned early is pushed backwards and this sets the centre back, ‘’ Odutola said.

He added that a society where Nigerian women and girls would be able to create and use Information and Communication Technology(ICT) for learning, activism, entrepreneurship and professional activities effectively, was the vision of W.TEC. (NAN)
CAN/OSA/AJA
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Edited by Shittu Obassa/Adeleye Ajayi

U.S. authorities must probe migrant girl’s death, stop child detentions — U.N.

Death
Geneva, Dec. 24, 2018(Reuters/NAN) – A United Nations human rights expert called on U.S. authorities on Monday to conduct a full and independent investigation into the death of a seven-year-old Guatemalan migrant girl in U.S. custody and to stop detaining children.

Felipe González Morales, U.N. special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, also said the family of Jakelin Caal, from the Mayan indigenous community, should be given access to legal representation in the proceedings in a language they understand.

“Redress to her family should be provided and if any officials are found responsible they should be held accountable,” he said in a statement.

“The government should also address failings within the immigration system, and specifically within the US Customs and Border Patrol agency, to prevent similar situations.”

Caal and her father Nery were in a group of more than 160 migrants who handed themselves in to U.S. border agents in New Mexico on Dec. 6.

Jakelin developed a high fever while in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and died two days later at a hospital in El Paso, Texas.

“The U.S. authorities must ensure that an in-depth, independent investigation of the death of Jakelin Ameí Caal is conducted,” González Morales, who is a Chilean professor of international law, said in the statement.

U.S. officials have said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s internal watchdog will investigate the girl’s death.

Initial news reports said Caal died of dehydration and exhaustion. Later U.S. officials said she had suffered cardiac arrest, brain swelling and liver failure.

Gonzalez Morales also called on the Trump administration to halt the detention of children, unaccompanied or with their families, based on their migratory status, and to seek alternatives.

“As repeatedly stated by a series of UN human rights bodies, detention of children based on their migratory status is a violation of international law,” he said.

Detention is detrimental to a child’s well-being, produces long-term severe adverse impacts and exacerbates the trauma that many suffer along their migration journeys, he said.

The U.S. authorities’ treatment of migrants and “the public discourse about immigration in the US”, were of great concern, Gonzalez Morales said.

His two requests to carry out an official visit to the U.S. to obtain first-hand information had not received a reply, he said.(Reuters/NAN)
DCU
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Edited by Donald Ugwu

Passengers

Lagos, Dec. 24, 2018 (NAN) Passengers in their hundreds were on Monday seen arriving and departing the Domestic Terminals 1 and 2 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, ahead of the Yuletide.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Federal Government had declared Dec. 25 and 26 and Jan.1 , 2019 as public holidays to mark the festive period.

NAN correspondents that visited the airport terminals observed an influx of outbound and inbound passengers heading to various destinations.

Many passengers were seen on long queues, waiting to board flights, while others waited patiently to pick up their luggage on arrival.

Several travelers were also seen struggling to get seats on the few available flights to their various destinations across the country which led to increments in air fares.

For instance, an air ticket from Lagos to Kano, which hitherto sold for between N30,500 and 32,000, rose to about N45,000 and N47,000 in some cases due to high demand.

Flights from Lagos to Abuja, which normally cost between N27,000 and N32,000, depending on the airline and the time of flight, also went for N45,000 and above.

NAN reports that there were no flight tickets available on the Lagos-Benin and Lagos-Port Harcourt routes as all the seats had been booked since the previous week.

It was also observed that most of the flights that had their fares increased were heading for the northern part of the country.

The Air Peace and Arik Airlines check-in counter had the longest queues of passengers at the General Aviation Terminal, while Dana Air and Max Air also had the longest queues at the MMA2.

A passenger, Miss Tosin Akilla, who was travelling to Abuja with her children, said she had purchased tickets for the flight from Lagos the previous week.

Akilla, however, said that she got to the airport a few minutes after the first boarding call, but was denied access to the plane on the excuse that she was late.

“I was surprised to get here only to learn that I was late. My flight was scheduled for 12:30p.m., and I got here at 10.30 a.m. because of traffic, but the airline’s officials did not check me in.

“They said I was very late; I had to run around to raise extra money to pay in order to be able to go with the next available flight.

“I think it is rather unfair, because I should still have been allowed to get on the plane,’’ she lamented.

Another passenger, Mr Seun Fijabi, who was heading to Enugu, also decried the way the airlines were operating.

He said, “It is funny how things operate here. This is a time to share and not to exploit your passengers.”

According to him, domestic airlines should learn to introduce low cost promotional fares to attract travellers instead of exploiting passengers as a result of the season.

He decried the dearth of government-owned airlines, saying the few ones that were privately-owned were cashing in on the development at the detriment of their customers.

Meanwhile, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) said it had put all the necessary measures in place to meet up with the increase of passengers’ traffic during the yuletide.

FAAN, in a statement by the General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Mrs Henrietta Yakubu, assured all airport users that Nigerian airports under its management are fully ready to play host to all air travellers.

Yakubu advised the general public and intending travellers to make early preparations to enable them complete their travel requirements in good time. (NAN)

WAC/ASO/KOLE/MNA

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Edited by Remi Koleoso/Maureen Atuonwu

Marriage
By Deborah Akpede
Igando (Lagos State) Dec. 24, 2018 (NAN) A 50-year-old herbalist, Idris Ibrahim, lost his 23-year-old marriage to his wife, Opeyemi, on Monday for accusing her of sleeping with their son.

The petitioner, Opeyemi, had told an Igando Customary Court in Lagos that her husband, Idris, defamed her character by spreading fake news that she was sleeping with their second son.

“How will I sleep with my son when I am not under a spell. My husband is embarrassing me everywhere, telling all who care to listen that I am having sex with our son,’’ she said.

The 47-year-old trader accused her husband of being fetish.

“There was a day I woke up around 3:00 a.m, my spirit told me to go to my children’s room. When I got there, I saw my husband and his mother covering our youngest son with red cloth.

“I shouted and they quickly removed the cloth and ran out of the room. If not for my quick intervention, who know what they wanted to use the boy for,’’ Opeyemi said.

The mother of four said that her husband turned her and the children into a punching bag.

“My husband is in the habit of beating me and the children.

“There was a day he hit me with broom and it took days for my children to remove the crumbs of broom from my body.

“He is also hostile to the children. He punished them by torturing as if he is not their biological father,’’ she said.

Opeyemi said that her husband was fond of sending her packing from her matrimonial home.

She described her husband as a “vandal’’, saying that he used to destroy her property whenever they had a fight.

She begged the court to terminate their marriage, saying she could no longer cope and that the love she once had for her husband had faded.

However, Idris accepted the allegation of accusing his wife of having illicit affair with their second son.

“My mother told me that she caught my wife sleeping with our 19-year-old son. I believed her because she could not lie,’’ he said.

The 50-year-old herbalist said that he beat his wife whenever she erred, saying that his wife goes out at will and comes home at will.

He pleaded with the court to grant his wife her wish, saying that he too was no longer interested in the marriage.

While delivering the judgment, the Court President, Mr Adeniyi Koledoye, on Monday said that it appeared that the estranged couple was tired of the marriage and that all efforts to reconcile both parties had failed.

“Since both parties consented to the dissolution of their marriage, this court has no choice than to dissolve the marriage.

“The court hereby pronounces the marriage between Mrs Opeyemi Ibrahim and Mr Idris Ibrahim dissolved today; both of you henceforth cease to be husband and wife.

“Each of you should go on his or her separate ways unmolested. The court wishes both of you well in your future endeavor.

“The custody of the last two children who are still minor is awarded to the petitioner until they attain the age of majority to decide where to stay,’’ the court president said.

Koledoye ordered Idris to be paying N10, 000 monthly for the feeding of the two children who are in the custody of their mother and should also be responsible for their education and general welfare. (NAN)
DOA/ENN/AJA
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Edited by Edwin Nwachukwu/Adeleye Ajayi

Export
By Chidinma Agu
Lagos, Dec. 24, 2018 (NAN) The Technical Committee on Yam Export has urged the National Assembly to amend the Export Prohibition Act of 1989 to facilitate the export of agricultural produce in Nigeria.

Prof. Simon Irtwange, the Chairman of the Committee, who made the call on Monday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, said the amendment would boost export of yam.

“The Export Prohibition Act of 1989 runs counter to the policy of government on agriculture export. The Federal Government policy is diversification from oil to non-oil export, which includes agriculture.

“We have a legislation that prohibits the export of agricultural produce in the country.

“There cannot be a law prohibiting the export of agricultural produce like rice, cassava, sorghum and yam, and government officials and National Assembly members are talking about exporting the same commodities,” he said.

Irtwange said that there was a conflict between the Export Prohibition Act and the country’s desire to earn foreign exchange from yam export.

According to him, the Export Prohibition Act amendment is before the National Assembly.

“By passing the bill, the members would be including their names in the good books of facilitators of export of agricultural produce in the country,” he said.

Irtwange said that the country could earn huge foreign exchange from the export of yam seedling alone.

According to the professor, there are companies who are into yam seedling production now, with the capacity to feed the local farmers and for export.

The technical committee chief said that because of the Export Prohibition Act of 1989, the committee was unable to meet its set target of 5,750 tonnes of yam export in 2018. (NAN)
ACA/FLP/IS
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Edited by Folorunso Poroye/Ismail Abdulaziz

Peace

By Mohammed Lawal

Sabongari (Kaduna State), Dec. 24, 2018 (NAN) Alhaji Fahad Ahmed-Chikaji, a Peoples’ Redemption Party (PRP) candidate for Kaduna State House of Assembly on Monday urged Christians to use the Christmas season to pray for peaceful 2019 General Elections.

Fahad-Chikaji, who is contesting for the seat of Sabongari state constituency, stated this in a Christmas message to Christians in his constituency.

He said the call became necessary in view of the fact that peace was not only critical to the success of the elections, but also a path to building a greater society.

Fahad-Chikaji, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Arewa Youth Trust Foundation, appealed to Christians to have sober reflection on the reason for the Christmas celebrations.

He urged them to emulate the teachings of Jesus Christ for peace and tolerance could only be achieved through their interactions and actions towards others.

He said: “I want to enjoin our friends, the Christian faithful, to use this festive season to promote love, unity and tolerance among themselves and extend it to those of other religious faiths for national cohesion.

“The Almighty God created us not to fight each other, but to live together in peace with one another.

“We must learn to tolerate, embrace and accommodate one another toward building a great nation.

“This is a season of love, season of gift and season of peace, you should therefore try to promote such values for the common good of all.’’

Fahad-Chikaji noted that neither the Qur’an nor the Bible encouraged violence, chaos or breach of peace.

He said the two religions always preached peace, love and unity among their adherents, stressing the need for both Muslims and Christians to accommodate and tolerate each other’s faith.

Fahad-Chikaji also used called on all Nigerians to do all within their powers to ensure hitch-free 2019 elections. (NAN)

KLM/OSA/DOR
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Edited by Shittu Obassa/Nyisom Dore

(08030571716 mohdammed4u@yahoo.com)