Convictions
By Muhammad Nasir Bashir
Dutse, June 27, 2024 (NAN) National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Jigawa Command, says it has successfully secured 185 convictions in the last one year.
NDLEA Commander in the state, Mr Musa Maina, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Dutse on Thursday, in commemoration of the 2024 United Nations’ Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
Maina said those convicted were among the 426 suspects arrested by the agency from across the state between July 2023 and June 2024.
The commander said that a total of 526.29 kilograms of assorted illicit drugs, including cannabis and other psychotropic substances, were also seized by the agency during the period under review.
The commander further stated that more than 200 drug users among the arrested suspects were counselled and rehabilitated by the Drug Demand Reduction (DDR) unit of the command.
He commended traditional and religious institutions as well as the state government for their support and cooperation to the agency in its fight against drug abuse.
Maina urged residents of the state to continue to join hands with the agency to fight the menace. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
MNB/DE/WAS
Edited by Dorcas Jonah and ‘Wale Sadeeq
Blog
NDLEA secured 185 convictions in Jigawa in 1 year – Commander
Kastina farmers cry out for help as worms destroy crops
Worms
By Zubairu Idris
Katsina, June 27, 2024 (NAN) The Katsina State chapter of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) has called on the state government to assist farmers in controlling worms that are destroying crops in their farmlands.
The AFAN Chairman in Kastina, Alhaji Yau Umar-Gojo-gojo, made the call while speaking with newsmen on Wednesday in Katsina.
He said that the appeal had become imperative because whenever the worms invaded farmlands, they ate up stems which made it difficult for the crops to survive.
Umar-Gojo-gojo said that the problem was much in places like Batarawa, Mani, Daura and Funtua axis.
He said that the worms mainly attacked newly planted crops like maize, guinea corn and millet.
The chairman advised farmers affected by such incidents to apply recommended insecticides to kill and prevent the worms from spreading to other places.
“We have received complaints from some of our members that the worms are seriously destroying their crops.
“We have visited such affected places and seen how the worms but we advised them to, as a matter of urgency, use recommended chemicals to kill the worms before the government intervenes so as to reduce losses.’’
He said that the worms appeared due to rainfall seizure in many places in the state for over 10 days.
“We are hoping that they will disappear as soon as rainfall resumed; we are hopeful for the rainfall any moment from now,” he said.
Umar-Gojo-gojo urged the state government to assist the farmers in controlling the worms and prevent them from recording pre-harvest losses.
“We are calling on the government to assist the farmers with chemicals to control these worms.
“The government can deploy the 722 extension workers to each ward in the state to ensure elimination of such insects in their respective communities.
“At least, the government has given each extension worker a motorcycles and sprayer for use in his area where necessary.
“So, the government should also provide them with the chemicals to control the worms,” he advised.
He expressed fear that the problem could affect agricultural productivity, especially maize, guinea corn and millet if urgent measures were not taken.
The chairman explained that farms that reported such problems were located in the major areas producing such crops in the state.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
ZI/ CJ/
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Edited by Chijioke Okoronkwo
Court remands 2 teenagers for allegedly defiling neighbour’s daughter
Remand
By Moronke Boboye
Lagos, June 27, 2024 (NAN) An Ikeja Chief Magistrates’ Court, on Thursday, remanded two teenagers, Segun Solomon and Segun Adebiyi in Kirikiri Correctional Center for allegedly defiling their neighbour’s 10-year old daughter.
Solomon and Adebiyi both 19 years old, and reading at Temidire Street, Ayobo, Lagos, are being charged with defilement.
The Magistrate, Mrs Bola Osunsanmi, who did not take the pleas of the defendants ordered that the case file should be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for advice.
Osunsanmi adjourned the case until July 18 for DPP’s advice.
Earlier, the Prosecutor, ASP Raji Akeem, told the court that the defendants committed the the offence in May at the Temidire area of Ayobo.
Raji said that the defendants lured the girl to an uncompleted building and sexually molested her.
The prosecutor said that the girl reported the incident to her mother before the case was complained to the police.
Raji said that the offence contravened Sections 137 and 261 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.(NAN)
MTO/EOB/AZU
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Edited by Edith Bolokor and Azubuike Okeh
IDPs: UN body seeks revalidation of National Action Plan
IDPs: UN body seeks revalidation of National Action Plan
Revalidation
By Fortune Abang
Abuja, June 27, 2024 (NAN) The UN International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has underscored the need for revalidation of the National Action Plan (NAP) to tackle issues affecting Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Nigeria.
Mr Laurent De Boeck, Chief of IOM Mission in Nigeria disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja at the 7th National Humanitarian Coordination Technical Working Group (NHCTWG) meeting to revalidate the NAP on IDPs in Nigeria.
The event was organised with support of the Swiss government, Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation and in close coordination with IOM and WFP.
Boeck, represented by Daniel Salmon, Head of Policy Governance Liaison and Support of IOM, described the national policy on IDPs as a dynamic framework designed to ensure transparency, accountability, and effective coordination of humanitarian responses to IDPs.
According to him, the NAP undergoes regular joint reviews to adapt to evolving contexts and ensure continuous improvement, through inclusive and democratic processes.
“What has been fantastic is the process of people from different parts of Nigeria, from the civil society, governments or international partners all coming together, to discuss the critical matters of internal displacement in Nigeria.
”There is over about 3-million IDPs in Nigeria. This document provides us roadmap to go beyond purely humanitarian assistance and look at how to constructively develop sustainable pathways for internal displacement.
“It sets out the obligations and responsibilities of each government entity under the national policy and relevant benchmarks, timelines and indicators to facilitate monitoring accountability.
“This document identifies the budgetary requirements for implementation of the national policy to enable necessary allocation and resources of the fund as a result of the collaborative and inclusive process.
“This involved input and feedback of various stakeholders, including line ministries, institutions, state authorities, UN agency, NGOs and displaced communities through technical working group meetings, bilateral consultations, focus group discussions and validation workshops,” Boeck said.
In separate interview, Mubarak Yusuf, Head of Nigeria Office/Field Director, International Public Opinion Research and Analysis, said three documents were reviewed for the revalidation and the first document was the NAP on IDP policies.
He revealed that not less than 200 participants were engaged participated in consulting throughout the whole process.
He added that one of the gaps in response to issues related to IDP is the reality there is perhaps no national detail, particularly when it comes to IDPs across Nigeria.
“The NAP is trying to ensure that critical activities of the policy were outlined and this is a process seamlessly that has started right from August 2022 with a number of actors.
“What we are looking at particularly now is revalidating this document,
“Also, we are looking at it from the framework of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and poverty alleviation to measure what extent these activities will aid in alleviating poverty, particularly the vulnerable population,” he added (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
FEA/ISHO/HS
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Farmers decry destruction of rice farms by quelea birds in Taraba
Farmers decry destruction of rice farms by quelea birds in Taraba
Rice
By Polycarp Auta
Jalingo, June 27, 2024 (NAN) Rice farmers in Nahuta – Lalinga community of Karim – Lamido Local Government Area (LGA) of Taraba, have decried the destruction of hectares of cultivated farmlands by quelea birds.
One of the affected farmers, Mr Tanko Andemi, disclosed this in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Jalingo.
NAN reports that quelea bird is a small, short-tailed weaver with a mottled back and a yellow or reddish bill, eye-ring, and legs.
The red-billed quelea is mostly found in tropical and subtropical areas with a seasonal semi-arid climate.
Andemi, who said that the attack by the birds would lead to poor harvests, called for intervention by the federal and state governments, towards ameliorating the situation.
”I’m expected to harvest 100 bags of dry season Paddy Rice, but with the invasion of the quelea birds, I may end up harvesting less than 10 bags.
”So, we are calling on the government at both federal and state levels to urgently intervene to prevent further losses.
”This can be in the aspect of controling the birds which resurface after the dry season, control and provision of inputs to boost production and avert losses of crops in the field,” Andemi said.
Mr Adamu Kazaure, the Field Officer of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, in charge of Adamawa and Taraba states, told NAN that the level of damage caused by the birds had been properly assessed.
Kazaure explained that a compressive report, including video clips of the destruction on the farmlands, had been forwarded to relevant authorities in the ministry for further action.
NAN also reports that the presence of quelea birds result in dry thornbush grassland, including the Sahel; and its distribution covers most of sub-Saharan Africa. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
AZA/DOR
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Edited by Nyisom Fiyigon DorePromoting inclusivity for PWDs through access to public buildings
Promoting inclusivity for PWDs through access to public buildings
By Diana Omueza, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
In 2018 the Nigerian government passed the Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities Prohibition Act, bringing to end the struggle for a legal framework for the integration of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in the country.
The National Commission for Persons With Disabilities (NCPWD) estimates that there are 35.1 million persons currently living with disabilities in Nigeria.
Nigeria is one of the first countries in Africa to sign a Disability Rights Act. Series of legislation have since taken place at the national and sub-national levels for the promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities in the country.
The Disability Act provides for the full integration of PWDs into the society, establishes the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities and, vests in the commission the responsibilities for their education, health care, social, economic and civil rights; and for related matters.
The Act among other provisions also states that from the date of its passage, “there shall be a transitory period of five years within which all public buildings and structures, whether immovable, moveable or automobile which where inaccessible to PWDs shall be modified to be accessible and usable by PWDS including persons on wheelchairs“.
The spirit of that section of the Acct is to ensure that PWDs have access to physical environments and buildings on an equal basis with others.
However, several years after the passage of the Act, in spite the imposition of sanctions in the form of fines and imprisonment for defaulters, access to public buildings still remains a major challenge for PWDs.
A recent research carried out by the Inclusive Friends Association (IFA), a disability advocacy group, revealed that disability budgeting may be an issue impeding the modification of public buildings for the benefits of PWDs.
The research, which assessed five government Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to ascertain their compliance with the disability Act, showed the lack of critical physical accessibility features for PWDs.
“Some of the MDAs with multiple storeys, PWD employees are restricted to the ground floor as there are no lifts/stair-lifts in the buildings, and none of the MDAs has an accessible toilet, even though the general toilets are somewhat inaccessible the PWDs’’, the document said
It further said that: “18.1% of PWDs believe that the MDAs are not accessible to persons with disabilities, 36.4% believe they are largely accessible and 45.5% believe they are somewhat accessible.”
Similarly a report by the Whistlers showed that the Federal Secretariat Complex in Abuja which accommodates not less than five MDAs in each bloc has no ramps leading to the elevator area.
According to the report, only one or two MDAs have ramps that lead to the elevator, while persons on wheelchair are usually assisted to get into the elevator area in other parts of the complex.
Similar studies show substantial non-compliance to the provisions of the Act. This calls for concern.
However, a 2023 survey conducted by the Centre for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), ranked Lagos State as top of states which exceeded the required criteria for implementing the access to infrastructure and other services for PWDs.
The survey, which was carried out to assess the level of implementation of the Act and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) criteria across different Nigerian states, saw a lot of states lagging.
Mr Christian Agbo, Chairman of the National Association of Persons with Disability, Abuja Chapter, attributed non-compliance to the Act to the failure institutions responsible for creating awareness about it to effectively discharge their responsibilities.
Agbo, who uses wheelchair for mobility, said even government-owned media organisations have failed to sensitise the public to the need to make public buildings accessible to PWDs.
“The media and agencies responsible for the sensitisation of the public on the Act and its provisions are doing little in this regard.
“Shockingly, even the National Orientation Agencies (NOA) under the Federal Ministry of Information and Orientation which I believe has the core mandate of disseminating this information is not accessible to us.
“The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the foremost news outlet in the country, has no ramp for PWDs to gain access to the building, though I am aware there is an elevator there.
“So if these public buildings where we should get some succour and support are not accessible, you can imagine what the rest public buildings are like,“ he said.
He urged the media and journalists to contribute their quota by mainstreaming disability issues in their reportages, especially in the area of access to public buildings.
Agbo also called on the Ministry of Works and Housing, saddled with the responsibility to engage other government organisations to ensure that public buildings are dully modified.
He also called on the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities responsible for implementing the Act to live up to its mandates.
Mr Jake Epelle, the Executive Director, Albino Foundation, also called for awareness creation about the Act and urged PWDs and organisations of PWDs to intensify efforts on awareness creation and advocacies to ensure compliance to the legislation.
Mrs Grace Jerry, Executive Director, Inclusive Friends Association (IFA), a disability advocacy group, recommended that MDAs develop implementation policies and strategies to ensure implementation of the law, especially with the provisions on physical accessibility.
Jerry also appealed to the government demonstrated enough political will to ensure implementation of the provision of the Ac.
Mr David Anyaele, the then Executive Director of the Centre for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), attributed the unimpressive report and low implementation of the Act to lack of adequate awareness of its provisions.
“In terms of access to public buildings and transportation facilities among my community of persons with disabilities, it has remains weak.
“Both government and privately owned transportation facilities are not accessible to persons with disabilities,” he said.
Anyaele also said absence of political will, ignorance of the important players in policy making, and lack of funding for disability-related issues and institutions such as the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities, had continued to hinder the implementation of the law.
While PWDs in Nigeria saw a significant degree of institutional relief five years ago when the bill was assented to, unfortunately it is yet to garner momentum in its implementation and execution.
PWDs still face major barriers excluding them from society such as lack of access to public transportation, social stigma and discrimination, educational barriers, employment disparities, and financial constraints which called for concern.
Stakeholders across board believe that accessibility and inclusion is not just about lifts and ramps, but a society where all barriers are removed for PWDs. (NANfeatures)
**if used please credit the writer and News Agency of Nigeria.
Man, 21, docked for allegedly stealing compressors
Stealing
By Raji Rasak
Badagry (Lagos State), June 27, 2024 (NAN) A 21-year-old man, Wasiu Ojulari, was on Thursday arraigned before a Badagry Chief Magistrates’ Court for allegedly stealing refrigerator and air-conditioning compressors.
The defendant, whose address was unknown, is standing trial on a two-count charge of stealing and unlawful entry.
The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The Prosecutor, Insp Edet Ekpo, told the court that the defendant committed the offences on June 12 at about 1 a.m. at Green Arcade Hotel, Ojeomo Str., Imeke, Badagry, Lagos.
Ekpe said that the defendant stole 11 pieces of Panasonic refrigerator compressors and 10 pieces of split air-conditioning compressors, with value yet unknown, property of one Sogunro Olayinka, the complainant.
“The defendant unlawfully entered the premises of the hotel which is the property of the complainant.
“The offences contravene Sections 287and 306 of the Criminal Law of Lagos state, 2015,” he said.
The Chief Magistrate, Mr N.A. Layeni, granted the defendant bail in the sum of N500,000, with two sureties in like sum.
Layeni said that one of the sureties must be a community leader, with three year tax clearance.
He adjourned the case till July 31 for mention. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
ROR/AYO/WAS
Edited by Ayodeji Alabi and ‘Wale SadeeqChina to review anti-dumping measures on toluidine imports from EU
China to review anti-dumping measures on toluidine imports from EU
Dumping
Beijing, June 27, 2024 (Xinhua/NAN) China’s Ministry of Commerce announced on Thursday that it will launch an expiry review of anti-dumping measures on toluidine, an organic chemical imported from the European Union (EU).China in 2013 imposed anti-dumping duties on toluidine imported from the EU, with rates ranging from 19.6 to 36.9 percent.
In 2019, China opted to extend these duties for another five years, according to a statement from the ministry.
Toluidine is widely used in the production of dyes, medicines and farm chemicals.
The expiry review, requested by domestic toluidine producers, will determine if terminating anti-dumping measures will lead to continued dumping and harm, the statement said.
The Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council said it will maintain the anti-dumping duties during the review, with scope and rates remaining unchanged.
Currently, the rates are 19.6 per cent for toluidine imports from LANXESS Deutschland, GmbH, and 36.9 per cent for those from other EU companies, the statement said.
Toluidine imports from Britain would be exempted from anti-dumping measures starting June 28, according to the statement. (Xinhua/NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
COO/HA
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Edited by Cecilia Odey/Hadiza Mohammed-AliyuNDLEA arrests 360 suspects, prosecutes 197 for drug abuse in Anambra
NDLEA arrests 360 suspects, prosecutes 197 for drug abuse in Anambra
DrugsBy Joy MbachiAwka, June 27, 2024 (NAN) Mr Daniel Onyishi, the Commander of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Anambra, said the agency arrested 360 suspects in connection with drug related offences from June 2023 to June 2024.The commander also said that 197 persons were prosecuted for illicit drug trafficking in the state
during the year under review.He made the disclosure during an event to mark the 2024 International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking and 10th edition of Drug Quiz Competition for Secondary Schools in Anambra in Awka on Wednesday.Onyishi said that the events were sponsored by Alexander Onyido, the traditional ruler of Ogidi in Idemili North Local Government Area, a pharmacist by profession.
According to him, the command also counselled and rehabilitated 258 former drug addicts and reconciled them with their families.He said that a total of 2.8557 tonnes of drugs, including cannabis and other dangerous substances were seized during the year.He explained that the command achieved the feat through collaborative efforts with sister security agencies and communities.He reiterated the agency’s determination to increase awareness campaign on dangers of drugs and substance abuse, especially among youths, in the state and beyond.Earlier, the Chairman of the occasion and traditional ruler of Awka, Obi Gibson Nwosu, represented by his Palace Secretary, Chief Pius Okonkwo, described the year’s international drug day as “apt.”He urged community leaders and families to sensitise their members on the inherent dangers and how to survive without drugs.On his part, the acting Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Prof. Joseph Ikechebelu, represented by the Dean, Faculty of Engineering, Prof. Solomon Nwigbo, commended NDLEA’s efforts toward the drug fight.He unveiled the institution’s drug policy, which, among other things, prohibited drugs and substance abuse for serene environment, effective teaching and learning.The sponsor of the programme, Onyido, represented by his son, Ikenna Onyido, pledged to
continue the fight to achieve drug-free societies.He explained that the awareness campaign would be sustained to sanitise the society, including schools.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)JOY/OIF/HA
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Edited by Ifeyinwa Okonkwo/Hadiza Mohammed-Aliyu
