Adamawa

Some residents of Yola, Adamawa State, have expressed
delight at the release of 21 Chibok girls by their abductors.
The residents said in an interview with newsmen that the development would boost government efforts to secure the release of the rest of the schoolgirls.
The state Commissioner of Information and Strategy, Malam Ahmad Sajoh, lauded the development and called for more action to secure the release of the remaining Chibok girls and others abducted by the insurgents.
A market woman, Hanatu Adamu, who described the development as “exciting”, said she was happy for the girls’ parents and the people of Chibok.
Sanusi Gambo, Janet Zira, Musa Buba and Lami Mohammed, students of Adamawa Polytechnic, also expressed joy at the development.

Bauchi

The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has
concluded plans to mobilise some of its equipment to Bauchi and Gombe States in anticipation of oil exploration in the Benue Trough.
Its Group Managing Director, Dr Maikanti Baru, disclosed this when he spoke with journalists at the  Abubakar Tafawa Balewa  International Airport, Bauchi.
He, therefore, advised that the people of the two states should not panic when they see the movement of the equipment into the states.
He said his mission to the two states was to sensitise the people to the anticipated exploration of oil in the area.

Benue

The office of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is
building six primary healthcare centres in Benue State.
Senior Special Assistant to the governor on Media and ICT attached to the SDGs office Makurdi, Mr Terkula Ati, who made the disclosure said that medical equipment needed for the take-off of the healthcare centres had been purchased.
He said that the healthcare centres were the last MDGs projects in the state that were constructed.
Ati attributed the delay in the construction of the projects to non-payment of counterpart funding by the previous administration.

Ekiti

Contractors handling projects at the Federal University,
Oye-Ekiti in Ekiti State have been warned to complete the projects in November or risk revocation of their contracts.
The Deputy Director of Procurement in the Federal Ministry of Education, Mr Musa Odiniya, gave the warning when he led a team of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Government Projects to the university.
Odiniya said that the committee would not hesitate to take punitive measures against erring contractors.
He warned that Tripod Nigeria Ltd. and Dumaco Best, handling the Central Administrative Block and the University Library projects, respectively, must stick to the November, 2016 deadline agreed on.

Jigawa

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has selected
Kafinhausa Local Government Area of Jigawa State for the flag-off of the 2016 Global Handwashing Day in the state.
The council’s Information Officer, Malam Fahad Muhammad, made this known in an interview with newsmen in Dutse.
Global Handwashing Day is observed every October 15 to raise awareness of handwashing with soap as a key approach to disease prevention.
“It is a campaign to motivate and mobilise people around the world to improve their handwashing habits”, he said.

Kaduna

The Kaduna State Government has earmarked N35 billion
for massive roads and schools construction in 2017, the Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Muhammad Abdullahi, has said.
Abdullahi said in Kaduna at a coordination meeting with development partners, that the government would spend N15 billion on roads construction in the coming year.
He said that the government has already contacted 11 construction companies that would be engaged in the road construction, both in rural areas and urban centres.
He also said that N20 billion would be expended on schools construction across the state.
The commissioner explained that the essence of the meeting was to align all interventions by development partners in the state to avoid duplication of efforts and resources.

Kano

The Kano State Government has set aside N500 million as
intervention fund for small and medium moribund industries.
The state Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Alhaji Rabiu Bako, disclosed this when he visited the Kaura Macaroni Company, Kano, makers of Kaura Macaroni and biscuit.
He said that the state government was determined to revamp ailing industries for economic development.
Bako said that the government had selected 50 small and medium scale industries for support to return them to full business.

Kogi

A Lokoja Chief Magistrates’ Court has remanded two auto
mechanics, Ibrahim Audu and Husseini Idris, for allegedly robbing an  Automated Teller Machine (ATM) manager, Elias Amos, of N402,510 at a gunpoint.
Both Audu, 28, and Idris, 25, are to be kept behind bars at Federal Prisons, Ankpa on the order of Chief Chief Magistrate  Levi Animoku.
Animoku described armed robbery as a grievous offence and one of the social vices that had permeated the society.
Earlier, the prosecutor, Sgt. Tuesday Ganagana told the court that the accused with others still at large, committed the offences on September 2 at about 4.00 p.m. at Imane-Barracks in Olamaboro Local Government of Kogi.

Kwara

A lecturer at the Department of Political Science, College
of Education, Oro, Kwara State, Mr Musbau Abdulkareem, has said that examination malpractice might weaken students’ reading culture.
Abdulkareem, who made this assertion in an interview with newsmen in Ilorin, posited that examination malpractice negatively affected students’ zeal to read.
He said that students would no longer study hard, having relied on cheating in the examination hall.
According to him, students prefer to hang out on the eve of the examination to discuss how to perpetuate exams malpractices instead of reading their books.
The lecturer described the habit as bad, saying that students were only interested in their success in the examinations and not to widen their knowledge.

Nasarawa

The Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) says it has
registered over 22,000 qualified pharmacists since its inception in 1970.
The council’s Registrar, Mr Elijah Mohammed, disclosed this in Lafia at a pharmacy stakeholders’ meeting organised by the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), Nasarawa State Chapter.
The registrar, who was represented by Mr Nwora Okpalaeke, called on drugs regulatory agencies to partner with PSN to tackle drug abuse and improve on the health of the populace.
Earlier, PSN Nasarawa chapter Chairman, Agada Vincent-Agada, had said the stakeholders meeting was aimed at providing solution to the problems associated with drug administration in the country.

Niger

The Niger State Governor, Sani Bello has called on the
Federal Government to immediately intervene in the rehabilitation of all federal roads in the state.
Bello, who made the call after inspecting the failed sections of Minna/Suleja Road, said all federal roads in the state are presently in bad shapes.
He said the quick rehabilitation of the roads would reduce the  hardship faced by motorists and other road users across the state.
Bello directed the state Ministry of Works to come up with a comprehensive rehabilitation plans for some of the Federal roads in the state as a palliative measure to bring relief to the people.

Ondo

An Akure Magistrates’ Court has slammed a bail of N500,
000 each on two Union Bank staff, Tunde Daramola and Samuel Babatunde, for alleged assault and theft of N420,000.
Daramola, 30, a driver, Babatunde. 38, a cash officer, and others now at large, were arraigned on a four-count charge of conspiracy, assault, stealing and threat to life.
The Magistrate, Mrs Victoria Bob-Manuel, said the sureties must reside within the magisterial district and one them must be a religious leader or community leader in the residential area of the accused.
Bob-Manuel adjourned the case till November 21 for trial.
The Prosecutor, Insp. Martins Olowofeso, told the court that they committed the offences on Sept.30 at about 11:15 p.m along Oba-Ile Airport Road.

Oyo

The Oyo State Government has approved the constitution
of 10 mobile courts to prosecute environmental degradation offenders as part of efforts at ensuring clean environment and flood control.
The state Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Chief Isaac Ishola, told newsmen in Ibadan that the 10 mobile courts would be distributed across the state.
Ishola stated that five of the 10 mobile courts would be stationed in Ibadan, while one each would be in the remaining four zones, namely: Ogbomoso, Oyo, Saki, Iseyin and Eruwa.
The commissioner said that the state government would not tolerate the violation of the state environmental laws, such as indiscriminate dumping of refuse.

Plateau

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry in Plateau State,
under the administration of Governor Jonah Jang sold seven state-owned filling stations to private individuals.
Director of Commerce in the ministry, Mr Dauda Gashi, made the statement when he appeared before the Judicial Commission of Inquiry constituted by Gov. Simon Lalong to probe the activities of government between May 2007 and May 2015.
The commission was constituted in August this year.
Gashi told the commission that some of the filling stations were sold for N2 million, while others were sold for N1 million.
He said that several individuals in the state indicated interest when the tender and advertisement for the sale of the filling stations were made public.