Adamawa

 The police in Mubi Local Government Area in Adamawa have arrested two farmers, Jonathan Rugwari and David Rugwari in connection with an assault occasioning  harm on one Dotorr Markul.

The Police Area Commander, Mr Bashiru Itanola, an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), confirmed the arrest to  newsmen in Mubi on Wednesday, but declined to say the cause of the attack.

He said the suspects were apprehended for allegedly attacking Markul with daggers at Kirya village in the local government area.

Itanola said Markul sustained injuries from the attack and was currently receiving treatment at a private clinic in the area.

According to him, the suspects would soon be arraigned.

The commander appealed to the people of the area to cooperate with the police and remain law abiding.

Bauchi

The Bauchi State Command of the Nigeria drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has called on youths in the state to shun anyone offering to engage them as political thugs or for other criminalities.

The Commandant of the agency, Alhaji Suleiman Madu, made the call on Wednesday in Yuguda village, Bauchi Local Government Area, during a sensitisation exercise on the dangers of drug abuse.

Madu expressed concern with situations where politicians engaged youths as political thugs by giving them hard drugs that were detrimental to both their physical and moral up bringing.

Madu urged the people in the state to report illicit drugs dealers who were bent on circulating hard drugs to members of the society, especially the youth.

Earlier, the Sarkin Yuguda, Alhaji Hamza Musa, commended the command for the campaign and assured the agency that the people of his domain would always support it in its war against hard drugs.

FCT

Prof. Williams Emofurieta, Lecturer at the Department of Geology, University of Benin, said on Wednesday that more than 4 billion metric tonnes of virgin bentonite had yet to be exploited in the country.

Emofurieta disclosed this while delivering a lecture at a two-day international conference on “Modern Mining Processing’’ in Abuja.

Bentonite, according to him, “is a mass of clay minerals dominated by over 70 per cent montmorillonite, while  other minerals such as quartz, illite, kaolinite, vermiculite and attapulgite may occur in association as impurities within bentonite”.

“Nigeria has an estimated large reserve of more than 4 billion metric tonnes of virgin bentonite ore yet to be exploited.

“This will more than serve Nigeria for the next 1,000 years for our domestic needs and export purposes,’’ Emofurieta said.

He said the development of the ore would create more employment opportunities capable of increasing the country’s source of revenue and the Gross Domestic Product.

FCT

In another development the House of Representatives on Thursday appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan to re-award the Abuja-Lokoja-Okene road contract.

It summoned the Minister of Works, Sen. Sanusi Dagash, to appear before its Committee on Works to explain the delay in the completion of the project.

The House also directed the minister to ensure that critical portions of the road at Abuja, Gwagwalada bridge and Lokoja  were completed before the end of the year.

It directed relevant agencies to release funds to the contractors to facilitate the completion of the project on schedule. 

Gombe

The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has stressed the need for change of attitude among Nigerian pilgrims to ensure smooth Hajj operations in the country.

A NAHCON Commissioner, Alhaji Isa Bukar, made the call in Gombe on Wednesday at the North East Zone sensitisation meeting of state chairmen and secretaries of Pilgrims Welfare Board.

Bukar said some of the problems encountered during hajj exercise could be a thing of the past if there was a change of behaviour on the part of all concerned.

He sais most of the problems faced during Hajj operation such as overloading, misbehaviour and absconding of pilgrims were caused by lack of proper and clear knowledge on how Hajj should be conducted.

The meeting suggested that NAHCON should find ways of preventing those who had performed hajj exercise from embarking on the holy pilgrimage to give others opportunity and reduce congestion in the Holy land.

The meeting, the first of its kind, attracted Hajj officials and clerics from the six states in the North East Geo-political Zone.

Kwara

 The Olofa of Ofa in Kwara, Oba Muftau Gbadamosi, has tasked security operatives to fish out those behind the recent killing of journalists in the country.

Gbadamosi made the call in Ilorin at a ceremony to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Kwara State Broadcasting Corporation (Radio Kwara).

He also pleaded with government to provide adequate security for media practitioners.

The Monarch said that the killings, if not checked, would affect the practice of journalism and information dissemination, which he described as crucial to nation building.

Gbadamosi, however, urged journalists not to renege in discharging their constitutional roles and also to uphold the ethics of journalism.

The General Mananger of the station, Mr Abdulateef Adedeji, said that the station was in total state of disrepair until 2003, when the present administration was inaugurated.

Adedeji assured that the station would continue to practice responsible journalism with a view to promoting peace within and outside the state.

Lagos

A cooking competition organised by the women fellowship of the Christian Community Church, Surulere, Lagos tagged ‘cooking contest for Jesus’ has ended.

Rivers State indigenous delicacy prepared with ripe plantain and fresh fish pepper soup (biate mbana) by Mrs. Helen Bob-Manuel emerged the first position while Cameroonian dish, Ndole soup cooked by Mrs. Okome Dibo-Ebong came second.

In an interview with our correspondent shortly after the keenly contested event at the church premises last Sunday, the leader of the fellowship, Mrs. Bose Abisagboola r4ecalled that the group had organised symposia for members in other areas of endeavour, but stressed that the cooking contest was aimed at getting women more involved in their kitchens.

According to Mrs. Abisagboola, “most women are not seriously involved in cooking for their families, rather they prefer buying cooked food outside for their families, hence the competition is to show how orderly and simple the handling for kitchen environment and the entire home should be”.

Oyo

 Unregistered human resources management practitioners in the country will be sanctioned, the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria IPMN) warned on Thursday in Ibadan. 

The National President of the CIPMN, Mr Abiola Popoola, gave the warning at an agricultural human resources management forum organised by the institute.

 He sought the support of registered members in flushing out fake practitioners.

He urged those who had not registered with the institute to do so immediately, saying it was the only way true professionalism could be brought to bear on the practice of personnel management.

Popoola also said that in line with the institute’s professional development plan, there was an urgent need for it to add value to national development through increased capacity building.

The president noted that the CIPMN had branches in 25 states  and promised that efforts would be made to expand and establish branches in the 11 remaining states and Abuja as well as in some local government areas.

Sokoto

 The Sokoto Government has distributed 726 assorted brands of vehicles to its workers, who are expected to pay back the cost as loans.

It also disbursed about N530 million as car purchase/refurbishing loans to the workers.

The Commissioner for Social Welfare, Alhaji Ahmed Aliyu, made the announcement in Sokoto on Thursday while briefing newsmen on the outcome of the state executive council meeting.

He said that 30 Kia and 14 Hyundai vehicles worth N128.8 million were approved for Permanent Secretaries and Directors-General, while 100 Hyundai and 235 Chevrolet cars worth N476.7 million were given to civil servants on grade levels 14 to 16.

Aliyu said that those on grade levels 12 to 13 would be allocated 247 Hyundai and 100 Kia Picanto cars worth more than N400 million, while civil servants under grade level 12 would be given N800,000 and N500,000 each as car loans, amounting to N530 million.

The Commissioner for Education, Alhaji Arzika Tureta, said the council also approved some projects, including the construction of roads within and outside the state’s metropolis at more than N2 billion.

Taraba

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Taraba seized 977 kilogrammes of Indian hemp from dealers between January and May this year, an official of the agency has said.

The agency’s Commander in the state, Mr Kaku Mshelia, said the figure surpassed the total seizure of 796kg in 2009.

Kaku  newsmen in Jalingo on Wednesday that the command made its largest catch since its establishment in 2003 in May when it seized a consignment weighing 345kg.

He said that his men, acting on a tip off, intercepted the consignment conveyed from Akure.

The commander said that four persons, Joseph Etim, Okon John, Akpabio Philip and Mohammed Ibrahim, were arrested and charged to court in Yola as the main suspects in the deal.

 Kaku said that 56 suspects were arrested during the period, out of whom 17 have been convicted to various jail terms, while 23 others were counseled and rehabilitated.