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NAF trains 37 medical personnel on Aeromedical Evacuation, Trauma Life Support

By Doris Esa
Abuja,Sept.13, 2018(NAN) The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) says it has commenced a 5-day training in Aeromedical Evacuation and Advanced Trauma Life Support for 37 medical personnel, drawn from NAF units across the Country.

Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, NAF Director of Public Relations and Information, made this known in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.

He said the training of the personnel is taking place at the 261 NAF Reference Hospital Bauchi.

“The training, which is holding at the 261 NAF Reference Hospital Bauchi, is part of efforts to further enhance the capacity of NAF personnel.

“To provide effective aeromedical evacuation and advanced life support services within Operation LAFIYA DOLE as well as other Theatres of Operation in the country”, he said

AVM Sale Shinkafi, the Chief of Medical Services, was quoted as saying that the workshop was aimed at equipping NAF personnel with the necessary skills to provide effective aeromedical evacuation services to injured persons, especially at the front lines and theatres of operations.

He also said the training was aimed at ensuring that NAF Aeromedical Evacuation Teams and paramedics are appropriately prepared to effectively man the Accident and Emergency Units in NAF Hospitals across the country.

Shinkafi was represented by Group Capt. Azubuike Chukwuka, the Director of Public Health and Humanitarian Services NAF Headquarters.

Daramola said the training was in line with one of the key drivers of the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar’s vision, aimed at creating needed capacities in every NAF professional specialty to enhance the ability of the service to effectively carry out its constitutional roles.

He said that the workshop would expose the selected medical personnel to the complexities involved in providing real time first aid to casualties before evacuation in real battle situations.

Daramola said other areas to be covered during the workshop include, Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS).

He said that facilitators at the Workshop include American Heart Society, certified consultants from the Jos University Teaching Hospital as well as resource persons from NAF Headquarters Medical Services Branch.

The NAF spokesman said that one of the highlights of the workshop was a practical demonstration of casualty evacuation of injured troops using a NAF Bell 412 Helicopter.(NAN)
ORD/AFA
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Edited by Felix Ajide

Phone addiction worries Kogi residents
By Ronke Asagun
Addiction
Lokoja, Sept. 13, 2018 (NAN) Some residents of Lokoja, Kogi, have expressed worry over the increasing menace of cell phone addiction, especially among young persons and women in the state.

The residents expressed their concern while fielding questions on the effects of phone addiction among Nigerians from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Mr Friday Ayoola, a mobile phone dealer, told NAN on Thursday in Lokoja that about 75 per cent of youths between the age range of 16 and 25 years were addicted to their Smart phones.

Ayoola said most of his customers were youths who use the phones to browse and listen to music aside making calls.

He said that their hand-held phones as the name suggests were always handy for services with a lot of applications for such services as chatting on Facebook and Whatsapp, pinging, selfie, SMS and transfers, among others.

The trader said that some youths even use their phones to watch adult videos, which is not really proper.

He noted that more females than males in the state were addicted to phones, especially Android phones.

“I want to implore parents to focus more on their children especially the underage because once they have access to Android phone they have access to Internet which gives them liberty to watch anything they want,’’ he said.

Mrs Rashidat Lawal, a parent and mother of four, also told NAN that majority of the phone addicts were youths.

According to her, house wives are more addicted to their phones than their husbands because they use the phone for over 10 hours a day while the men, though also guilty, are prevented by their jobs.

Lawal said addiction to phones had also led to incidences of broken homes because a lot of women give less attention to their domestic chores and eventual affection for their husbands, homes and family.

She added that many had little or no time for their children anytime their attention was needed.

The house wife said that the phones had their advantages as they could be used for snapshots, browsing, send and check mails, video calls, Twitter, watch videos, listen to music and use as bible in church, among other ills.

Lawal cautioned that too much of everything was bad, advising that phones should be used with some level of responsibility.

She also cautioned against health hazards inherent in addiction to cell phones, saying radiation from the phones could cause cancer, digital eye strains, neck problem, accident, male infertility and many more.

Lawal urged government to enact laws that could limit addiction, noting that “some secondary students still take their phones to school and play with it even when teacher is in their classroom”. (NAN)
ART/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Aspirants

By Chijioke Okoronkwo

Abuja, Sept. 13, 2018(NAN) Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has expressed support for the request by young aspirants under the platform of All Progressives Congress(APC) to be given quotas in elective offices.

Osinbajo’s stance was communicated in a statement by Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President on Thursday in Abuja.

The vice president had on Wednesday night met with young aspirants under the platform of APC at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Osinbajo commended Nigeria’s youths for their desire to contribute to nation building in their various constituencies through active involvement in politics.

He called on them to make needed sacrifices to ensure the ideals they want to see in the country were realised.

“We are in a place where we are the ones who can make the difference; nothing is going to change overnight, but we can make efforts to change the process.

“We can do a lot more, but it depends on our commitment. I like the idea of young people getting a quota in the party structure to run for office on some level, such as the state houses of Assembly.

“Some of the aspirants had earlier raised the issue of allowing quotas to young people in elective offices.

“It is up to us to fight at every stage to see the ideals that we desire; we will win, in the end, if we are consistent.

“ Our party is stronger if our young people are determined to make a change and a difference, even from within.

“We would see what can be done to ensure that women and youths are more involved in party politics.”

Osinbajo noted that the country’s future depended on the commitment of young people who were willing to play their part and make positive differences.

He said that it was important to encourage young people to participate at all levels of the party.

The vice president said the courage of the young aspirants was exceptional for aspiring to run for offices in a country of about 200 million people.

“Having gone this far in the game; that you are not just sitting down at home, not just getting upset with yourself on Social Media.

“You are putting your money, resources and your time where your mouth is.

“So, consider yourself in very exceptional company. This is a group of people who have not lost hope, but are very determined to ensure that things work.”

Osinbajo added that young people should not lose hope in the country as things would continue to change for the better if they remained committed to the ideals.

He said he strongly believed that the future of the party depended on people who were committed to building a party that was based on ideals that were deemed important.

“ As a young person, I belonged to several pressure groups. I graduated at the age of 21.

“And when I graduated, I began to participate in various pressure groups, human rights organisations, anti-corruption, civil society groups of every kind.

“When political parties started forming, we could not aspire, but we remained involved. My first involvement in government was when I was appointed as Attorney General in Lagos State.

“For seven years – after serving as Lagos Attorney-General – I was part of the party, I did not have a board appointment or anything, but I kept working for the party.

I kept working for the party as a lawyer. Most of those cases we were not paid a dime. But we went from place to place.

“Sometimes we didn’t even have a place to stay when we went to court the next morning. So, there is a measure of paying the price, it depends on how serious or committed we are to some of the things we say we are committed to,” he said.

Osinbajo further called on young people to stay committed and remain within the party to help to build the party structures.

He said that he believed that, in party politics, faithful must go beyond positions, whether elective or appointed, but must be committed to something, the principles and beliefs of those who were the forebears of that party.

Young aspirants in APC across the country who attended the meeting on Wednesday night had requested for audience with the Vice President ahead of the forthcoming party primaries.(NAN)

CJ/SH

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edited by Sadiya Hamza

Reserves
By Nabilu Balarabe
Kaugama (Jigawa), Sept. 13, 2018 (NAN) The Jigawa Mediation Committee on Farmers and Herdsmen Clashes, has cautioned farmers in Kaugama against crop cultivation on grazing reserves in the area.

The committee chairman, Alhaji Aminu Usman, gave this warning at a stakeholders’ meeting in Kaugama Local Government Areal on Thursday.

According to him, encroachment on the Askandu and Unguwar Jibrin grazing reserves is one of the major causes of farmers and herdsmen clashes in the area.

Usman, who is also the Commissioner for Works and Transport, said the state Cattle Routes and Grazing Land Act 2012, had outlawed such encroachment and made it punishable by law.

He said that erring farmers had no excuse for their actions because cattle routes, grazing and farmlands in the area were demarcated with trees.

Also speaking, the Commissioner for Environment, Alhaji Barau Ganbasha, urged the leadership of cattle breeders present in the meeting to caution their members against invading farmlands.

Ganbasha also advised the herdsmen to always lodge complaints about perceived injustice meted out to them to the appropriate authorities and avoid taking laws into their hands.

In his response, the vice chairman of the council,  Ahmed Abdulhamid, promised to give the committee maximum support and cooperation for sustainable peace and security in the area. (NAN)

NB/OFN/YEMI

Edited by Felix Nwadioha/Yemi Idris-Aduloju

Prison

Enugu, Sept. 13, 2018 (NAN) The Controller General of Prisons, Ahmed Ja’faru has presented commendation letters to six prison officers who foiled escape of two inmates of the Enugu Maximum Security Prisons on May 5.

ASP Emeka Monday, Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Prison Service, Enugu State Command made the disclosure in a statement  in Enugu on Thursday.

Monday recalled that two inmates with minor offence who evaded custody in May 5 were recaptured by the six officers.

He listed the gallant officers as Theophilius Martins, Ezekiel Yohanna, Christopher Nwaforenyi, Philip Nnamani, Nwadinobi Nwoke and Emmanuel Igwe.

The command spokesperson said that the Controller of Prisons in Enugu Command, Mr Ndubuisi Ogbodo presented the commendation letters to the officers on behalf of the controller general.

He said that Ja’faru encouraged other officers to always be committed to their duties as there was reward for excellence in the service.

Inspector Theophelius Martins, who spoke on behalf of the recipients, thanked the CGP for the recognition accorded them and pledged their commitment to the service. (NAN)

AOE/MNA

Edited by Maureen Atuonwu

Basketball

By Babatunde Ogunrinde
Lagos Sept. 13, 2018 (NAN) Col. Sam Ahmedu, a member of the Nigeria Basketball Federation Board (NBBF), on Thursday said that Nigeria could make the second round and beyond in the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.

Nigeria’s senior women’s national team, D’Tigress is scheduled to play in Group B with teams from Australia, Argentina and Turkey when the competition dunks off in Sept. 22.

Ahmedu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the team was capable of progressing into the knockout stages and also go all the way to win going by the quality of the players.

“I think we have a formidable team, it is true no African country has yet to get past the group stage but that was in the past and we cannot continue to leave in the past.

“The array of players we have are just phenomenon, they play in top leagues in Europe and other parts of the world and can’t be intimidated anymore.

“We have seen in their preparations that they are working hard ahead of the competition which is the mother of events in the year and a place for them to compete with the best.

“They know also what it takes because they meet with these players in their various leagues they play in so there is no cause for alarm,’’ Ahmedu told NAN.

Similarly, Franca Ukwoji, an ex-international backed the team to do well in Spain going by the quality of its.

“I think we have great girls that can make us proud, I have seen them train and also watched their friendly match against the Raptors of Lagos.

“They are a hardworking team but should not play any individual or selfish basketball but stick together like a team.

“Teamwork is very important, for any team to be successful they just have to play for each other and gel together.

“It will be a great thing if Nigeria get past the group stage with the arrays of talents that abound in the team,’’ Ukwoji said.

In the same vein, Sarah Imovbioh, who plays in the forward position, told NAN that the team was unfazed with the challenges coming from other teams in the group.

“We have a very good team; we work very hard and are confident of going far because this is our goal.

“We want to do this for ourselves and our country because we know that our basketball has truly come of age, we are no more pushovers.

“This is why we prepare so hard and very determined to shine in Spain,’’ Imovbioh said.

Nigeria is ranked 34 in the world and will work their socks off to overcome Australia, Argentina ranked number four and 15 respectively.

NAN reports that in 2014, the U.S. won the World Cup, while Nigeria placed 13^th. (NAN)
BAO/PDE
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(Editing by Peter Ejiofor)

Lottery
By Kate Obande-Okewu
Abuja, Sept. 13, 2018 (NAN) Mr Bello Maigari, Acting Executive Secretary, National Lottery Trust Fund (NLTF) has said that the Federal Government loses more than one trillion Naira annually due to activities of illegal lottery operators.

Maigari, who made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja, stated that the lottery industry was worth over two trillion Naira.

He said that there were many lottery operators in the country without licence, adding that this has resulted to leakages in terms of what they were supposed to remit to the trust fund.

“Nigerian government is losing more than one trillion Naira every year because of illegal operators. There are a lot of illegal operators in the industry and these are part of the reasons why there are leakages.

“Some are conducting this business without being regulated and there are chances that such proceeds will be channelled towards crime, fraud, and of course, money laundering.

“We also have so many operators that are not performing for reasons best known to them; they have decided not to be moribund.

“And we learnt that some of them lease such licences to third parties to operate and through that there is huge leakage and government is losing revenue, particularly in the last 10 years,’’ he said.

Maigari stated that NLTF was collaborating with the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC) to develop a strong and robust enforcement strategy to curb leakages and enhance remittances.

He added that the strategy would be an automated form of collecting proceeds from operators.

He explained that the national lottery Act 2005 stated that lottery operators were required to pay NLTF 20 per cent of their proceeds in the first five years of their operation.

“The national lottery Act 2005 section 24, sub section 3 requires an operator to pay to the trust fund at the end of every lottery a percentage of 20 per cent for the first five years of operation.

“Then subsequently 25 per cent, then after 10 years 27.5 per cent, this is the way it is structured.

“We are to use these proceeds to promote good causes for Nigerians in health, sports, water and sanitation and other social services that will impact the social well being of Nigerians.

“But our only challenge is that funds are not coming in as expected,’’ he said. (NAN)
KTE/IS
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Cases

By Bosede Olufunmi
Kano, Sept. 13, 2018 (NAN) The Legal Aid Council of Nigeria on Thursday said it treated 31 cases in Kano State in August through its free legal services to those who could not afford to pay for such.

The state Coordinator of the council, Alhaji Abubakar Umar, who made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano, said that 30 of the cases were civil matters, while the remaining one was criminal.

According to him, some of the cases are still pending in court and that some of the civil cases were resolved out-of-court.

He said most of the civil cases were on non-payment of pension and retirement benefits, mostly by privately-owned companies and pension fund administrators.

Umar said others were on land disputes, marriage and debt recovery.

“However, some of the criminal cases were on armed robbery, criminal breach of trust, homicide, rape and theft,” he said. (NAN)
BO/OFN/SA
Edited by Felix Nwadioha/Salif Atojoko
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Stealing
By Deborah Akpede
Ikeja, Sept. 13, 2018 (NAN) Two security guards — Everest Eke and Tunde Balogun — on Thursday appeared in an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court for allegedly stealing their employer’s pipes valued at N300,000.

Eke, 75, and Balogun, 67, residents of Alagbado and Agege areas of Lagos respectively, are facing a two-count charge of conspiracy and stealing.

The Prosecutor, Sgt. Kenrich Nomayo, told the court that the accused committed the offences on Aug. 25, at Abule-Egba.

He alleged that the accused conspired to steal iron pipes, property of Eauxwell Nigeria Ltd.

“The accused stole four borehole iron pipes valued at N75,000 each,” Nomayo said.

The prosecutor said that the accused stole the items and sold them to a cart pusher.

“They were caught selling the pipes to the buyer at a cheaper rate.

“The accused were arrested and the stolen pipes recovered,’’ he said.

The offences contravened Sections 287 (7) and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that section 287 (7) prescribes seven years jail term for stealing, while section 411 attracts two years for conspiracy.

The accused denied committing the offences and were admitted to bail of N100,000 each, with two sureties each in like sum.

The Magistrate, Mrs T.O Ojo, said that the sureties must be gainfully employed and should show evidence of two years tax payment to the Lagos State Government.

She adjourned the case till Sept. 27, for further hearing. (NAN)
DOA/AOM/SOA
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(Edited by Abdullahi Mohammed/Oluwole Sogunle)

Threat
By Deborah Akpede
Ikeja, Sept. 13, 2018 (NAN) A 40-year-old teacher, Funmilola Orimola, on Thursday, appeared before an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court in Lagos for alleged threat to life.

Orimola, a resident of Iyana-Ipaja, Lagos, is facing a two-count charge of breach of peace and threat to life.

The teacher was accused of threatening the lives of her ex-employer and members of her family.

The accused committed the offences between April 15 and Aug. 22 at Ipaja, Lagos, the prosecutor, Sgt. Kenrich Nomayo, told the court.

He alleged that the accused threatened the lives of Mrs Funmilola Adewale and that of her family.

Nomayo said that the complainant terminated the appointment of the accused for being an habitual absentee from school.

“The complainant, a proprietress, employed the accused to teach in her school but later sacked her due to her frequent absence from duty,’’ he said.

The prosecutor said that since the day the sack letter was issued to the accused, she had been calling and sending series of threat messages to her.

“The accused sent text messages and also called the complainant, threatening to kill her and her family.

“When the complainant and her family could no longer bear the constant death threats, the case was reported to the police and the accused was arrested,’’ Nomayo said.

The offences contravened Sections 56 and 168 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Section 56 prescribes one year jail term for threat to life.

Following her plea of not guilty, the Magistrate, Mrs T.O Ojo, granted her a N50,000 bail.

Ojo also ordered that the sureties must be gainfully employed and should show evidences of two years tax payment to the Lagos State Government.

The case has been adjourned till Sept. 29. (NAN)
DOA/AOM/YEMI
Edited by Abdullahi Mohammed/Yemi Idris-Aduloju