Blog

NAN-H-17
Car
By Deborah Akpede
Lagos, Oct. 5, 2016 (NAN) For allegedly selling a bus to five different buyers, a 45-year-old auto dealer, Umoru Abu, was on Wednesday docked at an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court.

Abu, a resident of Agege area of Lagos, is being tried for fraud and stealing.

The prosecutor, Insp. Clifford Ogu, told the court that the accused committed the offences sometime in  March 2012 at Cement Bus Stop, Dopemu, Agege.

According to him, the accused obtained N147,000 from the complainant, Mrs Sarafina Uwa, on the pretext of selling his car to her.

“The accused put `for sale’ on his Toyota Sienna bus in front of his house, the complainant went to price the car and the accused told her that the price was N750,000.

“The complainant paid N147,000 and promised to pay the balance the following day to take possession.”

Ogu said when the complainant got to the accused’s house the following day, she discovered that the car had been removed from where it was parked.

“She made some inquiries and she was told that the accused had relocated.

“When the complainant reported the case to the police station, she discovered that four other intending buyers from who the accused had collected part payment, had come to the station to report.

“The accused was later arrested after four years he disappeared,” he said.

The offences, Ogu said, contravened Sections 285 and 312 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Section 312 provides a 15-year imprisonment for offenders.

The accused pleaded innocence of the offences and was granted bail in the sum of N100,000 with two sureties in like sum.

The Magistrate, Mrs T. Akanni, adjourned the case to Nov. 30 for mention. (NAN)
DOA/ENN/DA
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(Controlled by Dele Akinsola & edited by Edwin Nwachukwu)

NAN-H-51

Defilement

By Deborah Akpede

Lagos, Oct. 5, 2016 (NAN) A teenager, 17, was on Wednesday sent to a Remand Home in Ikeja, for allegedly defiling an eight year-old girl.

The accused (name withheld) was ordered by an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court to be kept at an Ikeja remand home, for his failure to perfect his bail conditions.

An Ikeja Magistrates’ Court presided over by Mr A.T Elias, granted the accused bail of N 100, 000 after he pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Elias ordered that the accused should produce two sureties as condition for the bail.

He adjourned the case to Oct. 24 for mention.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a detention home for juvenile offenders is between age of 8 and 17 years.

The accused, who reside at Dopemu area of Agege, Lagos, is being tried for defilement.

Earlier, the Prosecutor, Sgt. Rachael Donny, had told the court that the accused committed the offence on Sept. 18, at his residence.

Donny said that the accused unlawfully had sexual intercourse with his eight-year-old neighbour.

“The accused defiled the victim by inserting his penis into her vagina,’’ he told the court.

Donny said that when the victim’s mother left home for work, the accused invited the girl to his apartment to come and watch television.

“The accused called the victim into his room to watch cartoon on television.

“When the girl entered, he laid her on his bed and open her two legs, the accused inserted his manhood into her private part and defiled her,’’ he said.

The prosecutor said that when the mother of the victim returned home, she noticed that her daughter was not walking properly.

“She also noticed blood stained on her clothes.

“The mother asked her daughter who slept with her and the girl told her that it was the accused,’’ he said.

Donny said the offence contravened Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

NAN reports that Section 137 provides life imprisonment to the offender if convicted. (NAN)
DOA/DEB/ MYU/MTM/

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(Edited by Debo Oshundun)controlled by Tukur Muntari.

NAN-ELS-8
Zoos
By Collins Yakubu-Hammer
Abuja, Oct. 5, 2016 (NAN) Dr Olajumoke Morenikeji of the Department of Zoology, University of Ibadan, has decried the poor state of zoos across the country and called on government to do the needful.

Morenikeji told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja that the current state of many zoos in the country was appalling.

“Most of the zoos are old and in a terrible state; they are not maintained; they are not properly taken care of; most of them are neglected and it is a pity.

“I think the reason for that is because the government is not truly involved and they are not committed to seeing that the zoos are well run.

“ If you go outside the country, you will find that people visit zoos a lot; it is a place they can have firsthand experience with wild animals.

“The zoos have lot tourism potentials for Nigeria, but unless and until it is develop to attract tourists and visitors, the potentials will not be realized,’’ she said.

Morenikeji, who is also the National President of Nigerian Association of Zoological Gardens (NAZG), said the association has been sensitising government and individuals on the benefits of visiting zoos.

According to her, NAZG usually organises conferences and seminars and often distributes flyers to sensitise the public on the need to visits zoos and the benefits to the economy.

She maintained that NAZG was liaising with government to acquaint it with the benefit of zoos and to also make them take care of zoos in the country.

“When the zoos are put in a better shape, it will be of great benefit to the public, especially our children; they can be educated by just visiting zoos.

“The zoos have a lot of benefits that can accrue to the economy and individuals that visit them.

“ The animals also benefit because of conservation works that go on in the zoos to make sure that they are well taken care of and do not go into extinction.

“Zoos have plenty of tourism potentials that the government can tap into and make money for the overall development of the country,’’ Morenikeji stressed.

The purpose of setting up a zoo, she said,  was for conservation, research, education, entertainment and for profit, adding that they were the most visited places globally.

She said  explained that while some of the zoos in the country were being run by certain institutions like universities, government and few private owners.

“ In this sector, what we see is a situation where government does not even realise the inherent revenue generation and economic potentials imbued in the sector.

“ Sometime ago, I gathered that the previous site of the Enugu zoo, which was demolished by the Enugu State Government, is now being sold to rich people to build houses.

“The nation is blessed with vast animal and plant resources; government has tried by gazetting and setting aside some portions of the landscape to protect and preserve this biodiversity.

“ It is sad that these government protected areas are still being encroached upon and their resources are fast declining.

“ Nevertheless, there is need to involve all stakeholders, including civil society groups in conservation and zoos,’’ Morenikeji said. (NAN)
CMY/AOS/OJO
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(Edited by Bayo Sekoni and Mufutau Ojo)

NAN-H-21
Stab
By Deborah Akpede
Lagos, Oct. 5, 2016(NAN) For allegedly stabbing a man with a bottle and dispossessing him of his money, a 28-year-old butcher, Mustapha Awolu, on Wednesday appeared at an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court in Lagos.

Awolu, a resident of Agege, Lagos, is standing trial on charges of assault and stealing.

The prosecutor, Insp. George Nwosu told the court that the accused committed the offences on Oct. 2 at Abattoir Market, Agege, Lagos.

He said that the accused unlawfully assaulted one Mr Usman Sani by stabbing him with a broken bottle on his stomach.

Nwosu said that the complainant was counting his money when the accused entered his shop, ordering him to surrender his money.

“The accused entered the complainant’s shop, commanded him to surrender all his money and threatened to kill him with the broken bottle he was holding if he refused to comply,” he said.

The prosecutor said that the accused carried the complainant’s safe box containing N30,000 and the money he was still counting.

“When the accused took the complainant’s safe box and wanted to pack the money he was counting, the complainant prevented him from taking his money.

“He (accused) stabbed him (complainant) with a bottle on his stomach and carted away all the money,” he said.

The offences, Nwosu said, contravened Sections 171 and 285 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

Section 285 provides that if convicted of stealing, the accused is liable to three years imprisonment while Section 171 also prescribes a three-year jail term as penalty for assault.

The accused pleaded innocence of the offences and was granted bail in the sum of N50,000 with two sureties in like sum.

The Magistrate, Mr A.A Adesanya, adjourned the case to Oct. 24 for mention. (NAN)
DOA/AOS/SOA
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Edited by Bayo Sekoni and Controlled by Oluwole Sogunle

NAN-H-18
Abuse
By Deborah Akpede
Lagos, Oct. 5, 2016 (NAN) An Ikeja Magistrates’ Court in Lagos on Wednesday remanded, at the Kirikiri Prisons, Apapa, one Idris Abu, who confessed to sexually abusing his two-year-old  daughter.

The Magistrate, Mr T. A. Elias remanded Abu, 43, after he pleaded guilty.

Elias adjourned the case till Oct. 19 for presentation of the facts of the case and sentencing.

Abu, a resident of Agege, Lagos, was arraigned over indecent treatment of a child.

The prosecutor, Sgt. Rachael Donny, had told the court that the accused inserted his finger on his daughter’s private part on July 29 at his residence.

“The accused always inserted one of his figures into his baby’s private part, ignoring her cries,” he said.

Donny said that the mother of the child noticed that the baby always complained that she felt pains on her private part.

The prosecutor said that the accused had earlier directed his wife to be sleeping in their parlour.

Donny submitted that the accused told his wife that he wanted to be sharing their bedroom with only the child.

“The baby used to cry in the middle of the night; whenever the mother rushed to the room she caught her husband naked with their daughter, with his manhood erected while he was dipping his finger in her vagina,’’ he said.

According to the prosecutor, whenever the woman confronted the accused, he threatened her with divorce.

He noted that the offence contravened Section 135 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the section provides for seven years imprisonment on conviction. (NAN)
DOA/ENN/IGO
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Edited by Edwin Nachukwu and controlled Ijeoma Popoola

Court adjourns Dasuki’s case till Oct 21
NAN-H-49
Dasuki
By Edith Nwapi
Abuja, Oct. 5, 2016  (NAN) An Abuja High Court on Wednesday adjourned retired Col. Sambo Dasuki’s case till Oct. 21 pending the outcome of the meeting of the counsel with the FCT Chief judge, Justice Ishaq Bello.

Dasukii,  a former National Security Adviser (NSA) to former President Goodluck Jonathan, is standing trial with four others for alleged diversion of N13.6 billion

The others were; Shuaibu Salisu, a former Director of Finance, Office of the National Security Adviser;  Aminu Baba-Kusa, a former NNPC Executive Director; Acacia Holding Limited,  and Reliance Referral Hospital Limited.

The judge, Justice Hussein Baba-Yusuf, who adjourned the case after the prosecuting counsel, Mr Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), prayed the court to allow counsel in the matter to meet with the chief judge to approve for the files to be moved to Baba-Yusuf’s court.

At the last two sittings, Mr Joseph Daudu (SAN), counsel to Dauski, had prayed the court to consolidate the cases against his client.

The cases were pending before Baba-Yusuf and Justice Peter Affen.

Daudu sought for an order directing the prosecution to amend charge No FCT/HC/CR/43/ 2015 pending before Baba-Yusuf, to include the counts in suit No FCT/HC/CR/43/2015, before Affen.

He said that his prayer was pursuant to sections 6(6)(a), 35(5) and (9) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, and sections 1(1), 208, 396(3), 401 and 492(3) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.

At the resumed hearing, Jacobs had prayed the court to allow counsel in the matter to meet with Justice Bello to approve the movement of the files to Baba-Yusuf’s court.

He said that it would enable the matter to go on faster, instead of entertaining the application for consolidation which might need some time amendments and allow for waste of time.

Baba-Yusuf stood the matter down to enable the counsel consult after which they agreed to meet with the chief judge for his approval.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that at the last sitting on the sister matter before Justice Affen, Daudu had prayed the court to wait for the outcome of the one before Baba-Yusuf this Wednesday.

NAN reports also that Affen had adjourned till Oct. 21 for commencement of trial. (NAN)
NEO/OFN
Edited by Felix Nwadioha

30 private companies to invest in river basins’ commercialization – Official
NAN-H-19
Commercialisation
By Tosin Kolade
Abuja, Oct. 5, 2016 (NAN) No fewer than 30 private companies have signified interest in investing in the commercialization of the 12 river basin development authorities (RBDAs) to boost agriculture in the country.
Mr Francis Obiwe, Deputy Director, River Basins Operations in the Ministry of Water Resources, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday.
President Muhammadu Buhari, in his broadcast to mark Nigeria’s 56th Independence Anniversary, said his administration was committed to reviving the 12 river basin authorities to boost agriculture.
Obiwe said that 30 applicants were being assessed by the ministry in partnership with the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) to make the process transparent.
The deputy director said the RBDAs were being revived for full commercialisation to achieve better crop production, aqua-culture and accelerated rural development.
“The commercialisation initiative will prevent the river basin authorities from relying on the lean budget of the government to carry out their business.
“The ministry is partnering with the BPE to work out the modalities that will make the RBDAs financially autonomous in their areas of operation, taking cognizance of their different conditions.
“Each river basin differs, based on agro-ecological or hydrological conditions such as rainfalls, rivers or the water bodies,” Obiwe said.
The deputy director also said the ministry was set to concession Goronyo, Oyan and Gurara dams to promote food security and socio-economic development in the country.
He said the private sector was being invited to share in governments’ risk and gains by investing in water resources.
According to the deputy director, the concession will place emphasis on the four major components of domestic water supply, irrigation, hydropower and industrial purposes.
He said that about 5,000 hectares of land would be set aside by the RBDAs for farming and aquaculture to boost revenue and create job opportunities.
“The Minister of Water Resources has directed all the RBDAs to set aside 5, 000 hectares of land for commercial farming, because the in-thing is commercialization.
“When there are functional RBDAs, they will bring development to the grassroots and discourage migration from the rural areas to the urban centres,”Obiwe said.
NAN reports that the affected River Basin Authorities include Anambra-Imo, Benin-Owena, Chad Basin, Cross River, Hadejia-Jama’are, Lower Benue and Lower Niger.
Others are Niger Delta, Ogun-Osun, Sokoto-Rima, Upper Benue and Upper Niger Basins. (NAN)
TAK/MO/WOJ
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(Edited by Morayo Omolade and controlled by Wale Ojetimi)

NAN-H-47
History
By Emmanuel Acha
Enugu, Oct. 5, 2016 (NAN) Stakeholders at a good governance workshop organised by South Saharan Social Development Organisation (SSDO) has advocated the compulsory teaching of Nigerian history at all levels of education.

A guest lecturer at the workshop, Mr Emmanuel Ogbodo, said the move would produce young and vibrant democrats.

Ogbodo, who is an ICT expert from the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Development, University of Nigeria, Nsukka said that the country needed to take proactive efforts to consolidate on its democratic experiment.

“What we need at this stage of our political maturity is a robust history or social studies curriculum that runs through every stage of education to prepare our young democrats for the challenges ahead.

“We should strive to strengthen schools’ resolve to consciously impact to students the ideals and values of democracy and good governance in order to possess the mature political judgment when they graduate,” Ogbodo said.

The Executive Director of SSDO, Mrs Grace Nwobodo, said the event was the grand finale of activities marking the International Youth Day in the state.

Nwobodo said that the event had been replicated in all the states in the zone during which no fewer than 500 students were trained on the ethos of democracy and good governance.

She said that it had become imperative to expose the youth to democratic norms following the growing political apathy which had denied them quality representation.

She said it had become imperative to engage political representatives and hold them accountable for their actions or inactions, adding that people needed to take interest in the running of the government.

“Good governance is central to everything you do but the youth in the zone are indifferent to what is happening. This is a concern as it will be a problem in the future,” she said.

She said that SSDO had been at the forefront of civic enlightenment in the South East due to the people’s indifference to political issues.

She said that democracy had come to stay in Nigeria and that for citizens to derive maximum benefits from the process, they needed to understand their roles.

“Our major aim is to enlighten the youth on the need to engage the government on the issues that affect their lives.

“We went round the South East spreading the word that civic engagement is very necessary if citizens are to derive the benefits from democracy.

“They need to know and understand their roles and responsibilities toward making democracy work,” she said.

Nwobodo said that for the country to sustain its efforts toward deepening democracy, it needed to create an open society where people would be free to express themselves.

“Our young ones need to understand how government works and their own role as the governed and take the necessary steps to hold their elected officials accountable for their deeds or misdeeds.

“It is only when people begin to advocate for their rights that real development happens because most of the good governance issues are based on decisions that are taken most of which affect you in life,” Nwobodo said.

One of the participants and a student of National Grammar School, Nike, Master Ozochi Samuel, said that the workshop had afforded him the opportunity to meet the people that would shape his political life.

Samuel said that the students would begin to imbibe what they had learnt by engaging their parents, teachers and the government on development issues.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workshop featured series of group work that involved the students breaking into practical sessions and making presentations to the audience. (NAN)
EOA/MVO
(Edited by Mbadiwe Okwor)

NAN-H-15
Pilgrims
Birnin Kebbi, Oct. 5, 2016 (NAN) The Kebbi State Pilgrims Welfare Board on Wednesday said it had so far transported 2,965 pilgrims back from Saudi-Arabia.

Alhaji Sanni Dododo, the Chairman of its Transport Committee, disclosed this in telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) from the Holy land.
He said the pilgrims were successfully transported back to Nigeria along with their luggage to avoid cases of missing or unidentified bags.

Dododo said his committee would intensify efforts to ensure timely return of all indigent pilgrims, adding that all the pilgrims were in good health.

He commended the conduct of the pilgrims and the management of Max Airline for sticking to the terms and conditions of the contract.

He said that two pilgrims lost their lives due to protracted ailments even before the beginning of the proper Hajj exercise and were buried in Mecca according to Islamic rites.

Hajiya Maryam Atto, who just returned from the Holy land, commended Kebbi State Government for regular feeding of the pilgrims while in the Holy land.

She also lauded the efforts of the state officials and the media crew for proper handling of the Hajj exercise, adding that “we were accommodated closer to the two Holy mosques in both Mecca and Medina”.

NAN reports that 4,107 intending pilgrims left Nigeria for the 2016 Hajj exercise out of which two who hailed from Maiyama and Augie Local Government areas lost their lives to ailments. (NAN)
BKD/TA
Edited/controlled by Tajudeen Atitebi

NAN-H-11

Motorcycle

By Monday Ajogun

Benin City, Oct. 5, 2016 (NAN) A man, Ogie Junior, who stole a motorcycle in Benin City, may mark his 23 years birthday in prison having been convicted for three years by a court, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

Junior, who clocked 20 this year, was on Wednesday sentenced to three years imprisonment for stealing a motorcycle on the order of an Evbouriara Magistrates’ Court sitting in the Edo capital.

The Magistrate, Mrs C.E. Oghuma, sentenced the convict to 18 months on count 1 and two years on count 2.

He was, however, granted an option of N20, 000 fine on count 1 and N10,000 fine on count 2.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the convict was arraigned for conspiracy and theft.

Earlier, the Prosecutor, Insp. Olatoye Oluwaseun, told the court that accused with others now at large committed the offences on Aug. 28 at about 4.30 a.m. at Prince Johnson Estate, Benin City.

Oluwaseun alleged that the accused stole a motorcycle with registration no. AUC 506 QB valued at N150,000, property of Ogedengbe Ameize.

The offences contravened Section 390 (9) and 516 of the Criminal Code. (NAN)
AJOM/DA
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Edited & controlled by Dele Akinsola