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I Was Abducted, Raped By Traditional Healer -Teenager
A teenager (name withheld) yesterday narrated before an Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court, how she was allegedly kidnapped and raped by a traditional healer who was to treat her father.
The Tide reports that the 17-year-old testified as the first prosecution witness at the trial of one Prince Tom for defilement and kidnapping.
The teenager who was led in evidence by the state prosecutor, Mr Peter Owolabani, said that she was a 15-year-old senior secondary student when Tom came to her home on December 10, 2019, with a member of her family’s church.
The witness said that the defendant requested for N25,000 as part of a fee to heal her father of stroke.
She said that her mother told her to follow Tom to a Point of Sale (POS) to withdraw the sum.
She said that they went to some POS to make withdrawals but were unsuccessful because the operators had insufficient fund.
The teenager said that in their search for another POS, she and the defendant took a commercial motorcycle from her neighbourhood in Bariga to Ilupeju, both in Lagos State.
“When we got to Ilupeju, my mother called him on the phone and I heard him telling her: ‘She is my sister, I cannot do anything to her ma’.
“He approached a commercial tricycle park and informed the drivers that were siblings who just came to Lagos from a village, and asked for a hotel around the area.
“I had exhausted my transport fare, I am always staying at home, my parents do not allow me to go out; so, upon hearing him asking for a hotel, I told him I wanted to go back home.
“He said that he was seeing something in the spiritual realm that if I went back home, my father would die,” she said.
The witness said that they went to a hotel (Osmak Hotel Mushin) and the defendant paid for a room but she refused to follow him into the hotel room.
According to her, the defendant persuaded her to follow him so that they could pray for her father’s healing.
“In the room, he was praying in God’s name and he brought out a black oil and said: ‘In the next five minutes, your father is going to get up from his sick bed and walk’.
“After five minutes, he said it had been done and we should enjoy ourselves but I insisted that we should go home.”
He asked if I was stupid and told me to lie on the bed.
“I refused, and the next thing I felt was a gun pointed at my head.
Ict/Telecom
Nigeria Set To Host International Conference On Biotechnology
The Director-General of the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), Prof Abdullahi Mustapha, has disclosed that Nigeria will be hosting International Conference on Biotechnology in June.
Mustapha, who made the disclosure recently in an interview with The Tide’s source in Abuja, said the conference would take place in June, adding that the agency was determined to introduce new things for the benefit of Nigerians.
“That is why we are organising this international conference where people across the globe will showcase what they are doing in their various countries in biotechnology. NABDA will also showcase what we are doing and had been doing to engage all our people in the country”, he said.
According to him, the conference would offer a platform where industries, private organisations, universities and others would have the opportunity to showcase their works.
The Director-General said the conference would be tailored around environment, industry, agriculture, genomics and bioinformatics as well as health.
Mustapha disclosed that he had inaugurated a committee toward organising the conference, adding that it had started work.
“The Nigerian policy on biotechnology was prepared in 2000, and I have seen that its about time to effect a change.
“This is imperative because the world is moving fast from what was regarded as the norm to a certain level of precision and accuracy in terms of investigations and deliverables”, he added.
He continued that Nigeria could meet up with advanced countries’ biotechnology as it could boast of scientists and experts.
“Whatever document we are going to produce is going to look at Nigeria and its projects in the next five to 20 years. This policy is what will drive Nigeria’s biotechnology to success”, he said.
Ict/Telecom
Expert Tasks Female Journalists On Content Creation
A digital media expert, Mr. Chimodo Paul, has charged female journalists in Rivers State to generate good contents in order to carve a niche for themselves in journalism.
He gave the charge at a one-day capacity building workshop held last Thursday, at the NUJ Press Center, Moscow Road, Port Harcourt.
The workshop, tagged, “Maximizing New Media Platforms: Upscaling Digital, Entrepreneur Skills of Journalists”, was organised by the Step-up for Women in Journalism Initiative (SWIJ), with support from Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) and the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Rivers State Council.
Paul urged the women to upscale their digital skills in order to enable them improve their career prospects and earning potentials.
He expressed dismay that ego had prevented some veteran journalists from upscaling their digital skills, which, he said, had deprived them from reaching their full potentials and becoming visible in the present new media era.
He also urged those stucked in old fashion media to start maximizing the social media tools.
The women was further challenged to invest in themselves by acquiring good digital gadgets, subscribe to online trainings, sponsor their good contents on social media platforms.
“Most journalists do not know how to maximize the new media platforms yet. Ego and pride is not allowing them to learn digital tools. This is the major reason they are where they are and it’s not helping to build and improve professional competence in this new media era”, he said.
He insisted that journalists must identify the social media tools that aligns with their line of job and build presence on it to gain from opportunities that abound from such tools.
“Social media has made it easier for journalists to collaborate on stories with other journalists, photographers, and videographers. Collaborations can help journalists reach a wider audience, tell more complex stories”, he stated.
Ict/Telecom
Expert Wants Telcos To Prioritise Improved QoS
A Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy Advisor, Mr. Jide Awe, has urged telecommunication operators to give priority to improving Quality of Services (QoS).
Awe, who is also the Founder of Jidaw.com, made the appeal in an interview with newsmen in Lagos State, recently.
He said it was necessary to improve the current poor QoS using strategic investment in infrastructure to support current and future needs.
Awe said the future needs included increased number of users and increased traffic volumes of transactions among others.
“Customer journey has evolved significantly over the years, largely influenced by the advancements in telecommunications technology.
“Customers now expect seamless and uninterrupted connectivity across multiple touchpoints, be it through their smartphones, laptops, or Internet of Things (IoT) devices”, he said.
Awe also noted that the telecoms industry was plagued with right-of-way charges, multiple taxation, and insecurity of telecoms infrastructure.
According to him, addressing these challenges is essential for consumer protection to ensure QoS standards are met, and that consumers receive the promised level of service quality.
The policy advisor added that solving the issues would also help in promoting affordable broadband services.
On the role of the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) as a regulator, he said the NCC needed to adopt an innovative, supportive, and visionary regulation approach that appreciated the importance of innovation and expansion.
“As new technologies continue to emerge, regulation cannot afford to be static. NCC should inculcate a spirit of innovation and growth in the sector.
“Innovative regulation helps to cultivate an environment that attracts investment to propel sectoral growth. Investor-friendly initiatives, simplification of regulations, strategic and disruptive thinking/approaches are crucial”, he said.
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