THE STATES

Adamawa

A bill to legitimise the setting up of caretaker management committees for local governments in Adamawa has passed through the first reading in the state House of Assembly.

The motion was moved by the House Majority Leader, Alahaji Ishaq Bala (PDP-Yola North) on Monday in Yola at the plenary and it was seconded by Mr Aloysius Babadoke (PDP-Leko/Koma). The bill is seeking for a law to amend the Adamawa Local Government Establishment and Administration Law No. 4 of 2000.

Bala observed that for the past one year when the tenure of elected local government councils in the state expired, the state Independent Electoral Commission had not conducted elections.

The House also considered the report of its standing committee on Information on a bill for a law to establish the Adamawa Local Apprenticeship Scheme Agency. The scheme is aimed at training and empowering youths in the state to contribute more effectively to the economic development of the state.

Benue

The Benue Rent Tribunal on Monday ordered Krees Danyi to surrender the house keys belonging to Mr Iorver Tsegba and to refund N1,890 spent on litigation by the plaintiff.

The tribunal Judge, Priscilla Uche, who gave the order, said the defendant should also pay the rent arrears accruable for the period the keys were in his possession, faulted the plaintiff for not supplying the details of monetary transactions with the defendant.

Tsegba had dragged Danyi to the tribunal alleging that he defaulted in rent payment after vacating a one-bedroom apartment leased to him without surrendering the keys.

The plaintiff said that the defendant took possession of the apartment in June 2010 on an agreement to pay N50,000 per year, a charge that was later reviewed to N80,000 per year.

He explained that he served two quit notices to the tenant but he refused to vacate.

FCT

The Bwari Area Council has evacuated the refuse dump close to the Dutse Alhaji Market to create a favourable environment in the area, Mr Haruna Labaran, the Head of the Environment Department, of the council, has said

Labaran said that the evacuation of the refuse and relocation of the market would eliminate the traffic jam usually experienced in the area.

According to him, the traffic jam has been a thing of concern to residents of the council, adding that department was doing a lot to sanitise the environment.

He advised residents to desist from indiscriminate dumping of refuse and imbibe good hygiene practice to prevent disease outbreak in their area.

Labaran also said that the council was poised to partner with stakeholders to create approved refuse dump sites for the people.

Gombe

No fewer than 143 youths in Gombe State have been trained in the area of renewable energy devices, Alhaji Labaran Mijinyawa, the Commissioner for Youths and Poverty Alleviation, said.

Mijinyawa said  in Gombe on Monday that the 10-day training was conducted by the state government and Energy Commission of Nigeria.

He said the trainees were expected to establish their own businesses and become employers of labour on graduation . They were also expected to serve as resource persons in subsequent trainings on renewable energy.

The commissioner said the trainees were taught how to construct solar panels, bio-digesters, solar dryers and stoves for cooking.

Mijinyawa said the trainees would access loans through the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) to enable them to establish their own businesses, while the state government would serve as guarantor of the loans.

Jigawa

The Dutse Municipal Council of Jigawa has recruited 63 environmental and sanitary workers to enhance sanitation services in the area. The Director, Primary Healthcare Agency in the council,   Alhaji Tasi’u Muhammad, disclosed this in an interview in Dutse on Tuesday.

Muhammad said that the council engaged the workers to clear drains, evacuate solid waste and ensure effective refuse control.  He said that teams of environmental cleaners had been deployed to government offices, departments, markets and strategic locations to keep the environment clean.

Kano

A total of 1,277 of the 2,150 corps members posted to Kano State for the 2012 ‘Batch B service year have so far sought for redeployment to other states.

The state NYSC Coordinator, Alhaji Bashir Yakasai, who  disclosed this in Kano on Monday said that of those, who sought redeployment, 1,108 were posted to other states on health grounds and for security reasons, while the remaining 169 were re-deployed on marital ground.  He, however, said that the state NYSC had also received more than 50 corps members re-deployed from other states to Kano.

On the issue of rejection, the coordinator said that the number so far rejected by employers was negligible considering the number of corps members, who relocated to other states.  The coordinator, however, assured the corps members serving in the state of adequate security during their one year stay in the state.

Kebbi

The Kebbi Police Commissioner, Mr Adisa Bolanta, has ordered Police formations in the state to remain on alert, apparently to prevent attacks on sensitive locations similarly carried out in other states.

Two Police stations were attacked in neighbouring Sokoto State on Monday during which lives were lost.

Bolanta, while addressing newsmen dispelled the rumours that bomb attacks had been carried out in some parts of Birnin Kebbi, and advised people to shun spreading of rumours.

“The decision to place Police formations on alert is the result of the bomb attacks on some Police stations in neighbouring Sokoto State.’’

Bolanta said that the command, in conjunction with other security agencies, would remain alert to ensure that crime level remained at the lowest level nationwide.

He called on members of the public to assist the command with relevant information on suspicious people and their activities, stressing that efforts would not be spared to protect lives and property.

Kogi

The newly appointed Commissioner for Education in Kogi, Mrs Grace Elebiyo, has promised to promote qualitative leadership in the ministry.

Elebiyo’s pledge is contained in a press statement issued on Tuesday in Lokoja by the Public Relation Officer of the ministry, Mrs Janet Ekundayo.

The statement said that Elebiyo promised to lead the ministry by example and would not tolerate laziness and lateness to work during her tenure as commissioner.

“I will not tolerate absenteeism, laziness and late coming; everybody must work,” the statement quotes the commissioners as saying when she addressed the workers on assumption of duty.

She commended Governor Idris Wada for having confidence in her ability to contribute her quota in such capacity, and She  urged every member of staff of the ministry to work very hard in other not to betray the opportunity given to them.

Kwara

A father of three, Abdulrazaq Haruna, whose wife wants a divorce over his drinking habit, on Monday told an Ilorin Area Court that he was not a drunk.

Haruna admitted that he drank beer but pleaded with the court to persuade his wife, Rashidat Olayinka, to change her mind.

Olayinka, a resident of Adabata Area in Ilorin, had told the court that she wanted their union dissolved on the ground that her husband was a heavy drinker. She said Haruna was addicted to alcohol and never cared about the welfare of the children.

However, Haruna urged the court not to grant Olayinka’s prayer but to give him a second chance to make amends.

Lagos

The South-West Zonal Office of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) received 1,611 young Nigerian returnees in Lagos between March 2011 and July 2012.

Zonal coordinator, Mr Iyiola Akande, said on Monday in Lagos that the returnees came in from Egypt, Tunisia and Libya.

Akande said that NEMA, within the period, received, fed and clothed the returnees, while also giving them financial support to enable them to re-join their family members in other parts of the country.

“Most of them came dejected, with children who had no food and clothes, but as soon as we received them, we always ensured that they were well fed and the children were given clothes.

“We have tried to make them to realise that it was needless leaving Nigeria and that there is a better Nigeria,’’ he said.

Nasarawa

A Mararaba Senior Magistrate Court in Nasarawa State on Monday sentenced a 35-year-old man, Michael Sunday, of Ado Karu in Nasarawa State, to six months in jail for insulting a police officer.

The convict was charged with using abusive word on police officer, who was performing his lawful duty. The convict pleaded guilty to the charge, and was sentenced by Chief Magistrate V. D. Ishaku to six months in jail for the offence. Ishaku, however, gave him an option of N1,000 fine.

The Police Prosecutor, Mr Jospeh Ahuwa, had told the court that on July 28, the Divisional Motor Traffic Officer ASP Musa Abubakar attached to ‘A’ Division Mararaba reported the case to the police.

Ahuwa said the officer was posted to control traffic along the high way popularly known as Mararaba Junction.

He further explains that the convict packed his Wagon Golf marked AR 881 LKJ, under the bridge obstructing the flow of other vehicles.