Nation
THE STATES
Borno
The Defence Headquarters said last Thursday that all the terrorism suspects in the custody of the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Maiduguri would soon be screened.
The Deputy Director, Civil-Military Relations’ at the Defence Headquarters Abuja, Air Commodore Ademola Onitiju, made this known at a town hall meeting with religious and political leaders in Maiduguri.
He said the screening by an investigative panel had become necessary to determine the level of their complicity in the charges against them.
Onitiju added that the military would collaborate with the civil authorities toward the speedy trial of those found wanting. “We are going to require the assistance of the political authorities toward trying the suspects in law courts,’’ he said.
FCT
Justice Oluseun Shogbola of the National Industrial Court, Abuja, last Thursday advised the parties in a suit to respect court order to avoid contempt of court.
Shogbola said this during hearing in a case of unlawful termination of employment filed by Mr Espedis Omo-Osagie against Loyola Jesuit College and Fr Ehi Omoragbon, the President of the collage.
The Judge noted that the counsel was bringing the issue to the notice of the court for the first time and cautioned the defendant to reconnect the light and water.
She also noted that such behaviour should not emanate from a Christian institution and warned the defendants not to take laws into their hands.
The defense counsel, Mr Gbenga Adesina, told the court that effort to settle the matter out of court had proved abortive and that defense was ready to open its case.
Jigawa
Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State said that the alliance between the major opposition political parties in the country would not succeed.
Lamido, who said this in Dutse when he spoke at the Jigawa chapter of the PDP stakeholders meeting, also dismissed the alliance as “political jamboree perfected to deceive the electorate”.
He added that the alliance posed no potential threat to the PDP.
Lamido observed that the opposition parties had divergent interests, ideologies and manifestoes, which could jeopardise their effort to work as a single political entity.
The governor, who said that the architects of the alliance were former PDP members, explained that the development would promote PDP and make it more relevant in the country.
The state’s PDP Chairman, Alhaji Salisu Mamuda, said that the meeting was designed to appraise the party’s performance and fashion out ways to move it forward.
Mamuda said the party had conducted congresses, elected new officials to run its affairs in the state and concluded plans to construct a permanent office complex in the area.
Kano
The Police Command in Kano State, has declared three persons wanted in connection with the recent attempt to assassinate the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, and series of armed robbery operations in the state.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Ibrahim Idris, made the announcement while briefing newsmen at the command’s headquarters in Kano last Thursday.
He gave the names of the wanted persons as Na Allah, a shopkeeper at Sabon Gari Market implicated in the attack on the Emir and Babangida Salihu of Sauna Kawaji, a Jigawa State indigene, suspected of being the gang leader of armed robbers and an associate of Na Allah.
The third person, Adamu Safiyanu, also known as Adamsy of Kafur in Katsina State, was declared wanted in connection with the recovery of arms, ammunition and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) abandoned at Sauna Kawaji quarters.
Kebbi
Governor Saidu Dakingari of Kebbi State last Thursday assented to the amended budget of N125 billion passed by the state legislature.
Dakingari had in November 2012 presented a budget proposal of N114 billion to the state House of Assembly.
The budget comprised a recurrent expenditure that was reduced from N34 billion to N30 billion, while the capital expenditure increased from N85 billion to N95 billion.
The Acting Speaker of the house, Alhaji Garba Bena, who presented the amended budget to the governor at a ceremony in Birnin Kebbi, said the increase was sequel to under estimations in many aspects of the budget.
He said the SURE-P and Oil revenue to the state were not captured in the proposals, stressing that the anomalies were rectified with the support of officials of the state Ministries of Finance and Budget and Planning, respectively.
Assenting to the bill, Dakingari said he would ensure that 80 per cent implementation was recorded in 2013.
Kwara
The Kwara State Government is to spend a total of N810 million to build a College of Engineering Technology at the state- owned university at Malete to boost youth empowerment.
Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed said last Thursday during the foundation laying ceremony of the college, said that the amount was for phase one of the project.
He said his administration was determined to ensure that the university produced, “highly skilled engineers, equipped to become entrepreneurs in the competitive global economy of the 21st century”.
Ahmed said that this was also in line with the vision of his administration in establishing an International Vocational Centre in Ajasse-Ipo, designed to produce middle-level manpower.
Lagos
The X-Squad at the Police Command in the Lagos last Thursday arrested two suspected fake policemen operating illegally on highways and extorting unsuspected members of the public.
The suspects, a fake corporal and a dismissed sergeant, were arrested separately while terrorising motorists and other road users in Lagos. The fake corporal claimed that he was attached to the Railways Police Command in Lagos.
During interrogation he could not name his immediate past Commissioner of Police and the present one as well as other principal officers he was working with.
He could neither remember the duty post assigned to him in the acclaimed Railway Divisional Police Office at Iddo, nor remember the name of his Divisional Police Officer.
The corporal was caught in police black uniform with the service written on his left side and his names on the right side of the uniform as against the opposite at Oshodi, Lagos.
Oyo
The National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB) has appealed to the Federal Government to ensure uninterrupted power supply at the centre to prevent the extinction of Nigerian crops.
The Director of the centre, said in Ibadan recently that the major constraint of the Ibadan-based centre was power.
He said that some of the germplasm or living organisms of both crops and animals inherent in Nigeria, had spent about 20 years in the centre’s gene bank.
Odofin said that the conservation was possible, in spite of the erratic power supply in the country, because the centre had no choice but to resort to the use of electricity generating sets, adding that the centre was the only government institution that had the mandate for germplasm conservation.
“God forbid for instance, if all the yams of our farmers are eaten by rodents, they must come to us to get new varieties or replacement from our gene bank to plant or else yam will become extinct,” he said.
Plateau
The Plateau State Government says it would achieve 40 per cent of the MDG on sanitation by 2015.
The Commissioner for Water Resources and Rural Development, Malam Idi Waziri, gave this indication while inaugurating the State Task Group on Sanitation (STGS) in Jos.
He said that the issue of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) required urgent action so as not to truncate development and accelerate poverty in the state and disclosed that inaugural ceremony was aimed at establishing the State’s Sanitation Task Group, noting that the national body had been in existence since 2002.
“The role of the task group is to have a manpower that will strengthen the sanitation transformation and will serve as a backup to the existing sanitation service delivery in the state.
Sokoto
The Sokoto State Government has earmarked N1.3 billion for the environment sector in 2013, Dr Jabbi Kilgori, the state Commissioner, has disclosed.
Kilgori said in Sokoto on Thursday that some of the projects earmarked for the year included the provision of adequate facilities for modern refuse collection and disposal.
According to him, the ministry has developed programmes to “intensively’’
sensitise the people of the state on best practice in waste disposal, with a view to curbing the menace of indiscriminate waste disposal.
The commissioner said that the state government would expend N6 million on the establishment of 30kms shelterbelts in the frontline local governments of Sabon-birni, Isa, Gada, Illela, Tangaza and Gwadabawa.
The Head of the Department of Anatomy at the University of Port Harcourt’s College of Health Sciences, Prof Gabriel Sunday Oladipo, has underscored the urgent need for Nigeria to develop a comprehensive forensic science infrastructure, warning that the nation’s ability to investigate and solve crime is being hampered by lack of scientific data and systems.
In his inaugural lecture titled, “Man: Fearfully Different, Wonderfully Made,” delivered as part of the 207th Inaugural Lecture Series of the university, Prof Oladipo highlighted that while no two individuals are exactly the same, the country currently lacks the robust systems needed to collect and manage biological and anthropometric data that could support criminal investigations.
He explained that the natural variations among humans — from fingerprints to physical measurements — form the foundation of personal identification in forensic work. These biological differences, he said, are essential for distinguishing one person from another, especially in the context of criminal investigations where clarity of identity can mean the difference between justice and impunity. Without this scientific foundation, he argued, law enforcement agencies lack a critical tool in the fight against crime.
Experts have noted that Nigeria’s forensic science capacity has historically lagged behind needs, with only a few forensic facilities available and many law enforcement agencies struggling to access or use scientific evidence effectively. One review of the state of forensic investigation in Nigeria found that outdated facilities and limited adoption of modern forensic methods have left many cases unsolved or poorly investigated, even as crime rates rise across the country.
In Lagos, efforts to improve forensic capabilities have focused on DNA analysis, with the Lagos State DNA Forensic Centre — the first of its kind in West Africa — providing critical support for criminal investigations and helping to identify human remains, link related cases, and assist with paternity testing. However, such initiatives are yet to be replicated at a national scale, leaving many regions without access to these vital scientific tools.
Prof Oladipo’s lecture went beyond academic theory to propose concrete actions. He called for the establishment of a National Institute of Forensic Science responsible for creating and managing a nationwide anthropometric and forensic data bank. This repository, he stressed, would significantly enhance Nigeria’s capacity to track crime, assist law enforcement agencies, and improve the administration of justice by providing reliable scientific evidence for investigative and legal processes.
He also highlighted the importance of strengthening research and training in forensic science. Many Nigerian universities currently lack the funding and infrastructure to offer complete undergraduate or postgraduate programs in areas such as forensic anthropology, DNA analysis, and crime scene investigation, a gap that forces aspiring experts to rely on collaborations with institutions abroad. By fostering a research-friendly environment and securing greater support from both government and private sectors, Nigerian institutions could produce homegrown experts capable of advancing forensic science in the country.
Awareness of forensic science’s role in criminal justice remains low among the general public and even among some security professionals. Studies have shown that a significant portion of Nigerians are unfamiliar with basic forensic concepts or the existence of tools such as DNA profiling and national forensic databases — tools that are common features of criminal justice systems in countries like South Africa and the United Kingdom.
Prof Oladipo also urged regular training and retraining programs to keep forensic practitioners updated with evolving scientific methods. According to him, continuous professional development is critical in a field where technological advances — from biometric databases to digital forensic tools — are transforming how crimes are investigated and solved.
The lecture was attended by academics, students, and professionals drawn to the intersection of science, identity, and justice, all of whom heard the professor make a compelling case for scientific innovation and institutional reform as central to Nigeria’s effort to contain crime and strengthen its justice system.
The event not only showcased Prof Oladipo’s expertise in human anatomy and forensic psychology but also positioned forensic science as a strategic national priority — one that could bring clarity to investigations, support victims and their families, and ultimately enhance public safety across Nigeria.
The University of Port Harcourt Women Association (UPWA) on Thursday staged a vibrant and memorable edition of its Annual Inter-House Sports Competition at the University of Port Harcourt Sports Village, drawing an impressive turnout of pupils, parents, staff and invited guests.
The event, organised by the UPWA International Group of Schools, brought together children from the pre-nursery, nursery and secondary sections in a colourful celebration of youth athleticism, discipline and teamwork. The arena came alive with cheers and excitement as pupils, clad in their various house colours, marched in a ceremonial parade before proceeding to compete in a wide range of track and field events, relays, novelty races and other team-based activities designed to promote physical fitness and healthy competition.
Declaring the competition open, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt, Professor Owunari Georgewill, commended UPWA for sustaining a tradition that continues to nurture young talents beyond the classroom. He noted that sports remain a critical component of holistic education, helping to build resilience, confidence, leadership skills and social interaction among children.
In her remarks, the President of UPWA, Professor Udeme Georgewill, expressed appreciation to parents, teachers and members of the organising committee for their dedication and sacrifice in ensuring the success of the programme despite prevailing economic challenges. She described the event as a reflection of unity and collective effort within the school community.
“This is the first time White House is emerging overall winner, and that shows remarkable improvement and great sportsmanship,” she said. “We all had fun. It is not easy putting an event like this together considering the economic situation, but we are grateful to the parents for being part of this journey. The excitement everywhere is truly heartwarming.”
The competition featured spirited participation from the various houses, including Purple House, San Chicago Red House and White House, with pupils demonstrating strength, speed, coordination and teamwork. Parents and supporters filled the stands, cheering enthusiastically and adding colour to the spectacle, while teachers ensured orderliness and safety throughout the proceedings.
Professor Georgewill emphasized that the true essence of sports lies not merely in winning trophies but in participation and personal growth. “Sports is not just about winning. It is an avenue for growth, discipline and opportunity. The fact that a child is able to participate is already a win. Losing this year does not mean you cannot win next year. Keep trying,” she encouraged, urging pupils to see both victory and defeat as stepping stones to greater achievements.
She further observed that while there are many competing interests in the Nigerian sports sector, consistent grassroots investment remains essential for discovering and nurturing future champions.
The colourful ceremony culminated in medal presentations, trophy awards and group photographs, with UPWA executives, including Vice President I, Professor Adedamola Onyeaso, joining the participating teams to celebrate the day’s achievements.
The annual inter-house sports competition continues to stand as one of UPWA’s flagship events, reinforcing its commitment to balanced education, character formation and the promotion of healthy lifestyles among its pupils.
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