Nation
THE STATES
Adamawa
Surgical teams from the International Committee of the
Red Cross (ICRC), have treated 90 people wounded in the Maiduguri and Madagali bomb blasts.
ICRC Health Coordinator in Nigeria, Dr Hashemi Padshah, made the disclosure in a statement made available to newsmen in Yola, Adamawa State.
Padshah said that the Red Cross currently has two surgical teams in the country which had so far treated over 1,800 patients in the north-east within the year.
He said that the ICRC was assisting 16 primary health-care centres and nine mobile clinics by providing them with primary healthcare services for internally displaced persons, returnees and other residents in the north-east
Borno
The Victim Support Fund (VSF) says it has donated about
N370 million for the procurement of building materials for reconstruction of eight primary schools destroyed by Boko Haram in Bama.
The Chairman of the fund, retired Gen. T.Y. Danjuma, disclosed this in Bama at the official flagging-off of the Reconstruction and Rehabilitation of 10 public structures in the area.
Represented by Amb. John Gana, he said the VSF was committed to addressing the plight of victims of insurgency and other related violence in the country.
According to him, the VSF expended N250 million for reconstruction of 40 projects in Dikwa Local Government Area of the state in January 2016.
Gombe
The Gombe State Board of Internal Revenue would soon em
bark on a biometry of tax payers in both formal and informal sectors of the state.
The exercise, according to the Chairman of the board, Alhaji Adamu Damji, is to ensure effective tax collection and adequate remittance of the revenue to the state treasury.
Damji told newsmen in Gombe on the sidelines of a training programme for tax collectors from various Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) in the state that the need for more revenue, informed the state government’s decision to embark on the biometry.
According to him, the state has been making efforts to boost its Internally Generated Revenue and improve its Revenue Data Base.
Kaduna
The Director-General (DG), Nigerian Institute of Transport
Technology (NITT), Zaria, Dr Aminu Musa-Yusuf, says every Nigerian has the right to live and work anywhere in the country.
Musa-Yusuf made the remark when the Niger-Delta APC Youth-Vanguard presented him an award of excellence recently in recognition of his selfless service to Nigeria.
A statement signed by NITT’s Assistant Director, Press and Public Relations and made available to newsmen in Zaria, Kaduna State, quoted the DG as saying: “Nigeria is for all of us, and therefore, every Nigerian has equal right to live and work anywhere in the country.
“That is why the institute religiously adhered to the principles of federal character during the last recruitment exercise”.
Nasarawa
The Nasarawa State House of Assembly has appealed to
the federal and Nasarawa State governments, to dualise the Keffi/Akwanga road.
The Speaker of the House, Alhaji Ibrahim Balarabe-Abdullahi, made the call in Lafia, after Mr Ibrahim Bala (APC-Keffi West), moved a motion, under matters of public interest, on the need to expand the Keffi roundabout.
Balarabe-Abdullahi said dualising the road would reduce the rate of accidents and save the lives of the people plying the road.
Earlier, Mr Ibrahim Bala (APC-Keffi West) called on his colleague, to support his motion
Mr Muluku Ibrahim (PDP-Nassarawa Eggon East) seconded the motion.
Niger
Niger State Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Re
sources, Alhaji Aliyu Abdullahi, has urged the media to educate the youth to embrace agriculture.
Abdullahi, who made the appeal in an interview with in Minna, said that agriculture has huge potentials for employment and wealth creation.
According to him, the gesture will support massive production and ensure food security in the country.
He explained that the state government had provided modern farming inputs at subsidised rates to farmers across the state.
Ondo
A 25-year-old travel agent, Adetula Dotun-Ola, was
last Tuesday brought before an Akure Chief Magistrates’ Court over an alleged N1,000,000 fraud.
The Police Prosecutor, Sgt. Uloh Okokon, told the court that the accused person fraudulently obtained N1,000,000 from one Kehinde Anthony-Bejide, under the pretence of procuring an air ticket for him to Cuba, which he could not procure.
Okokon said that the Adetula falsely presented himself as a travel agent before Kehinde, with intent to defraud him and convert the money to his own use.
He alleged that the accused person committed the offence on July 24, 2016 at Local Government Secretariat Shopping Complex, Akure.
Osun
A 40-year-old man, Ikechukwu Muojekwu, has been
sentenced to 13 months imprisonment in Ilesa prison by an Osogbo Chief Magistrates’ Court for burglary.
The Magistrate, Mr Olusola Aluko, ordered that Muojekwu be kept behind bars due to the magnitude of the offence committed or pay an option of N20,000 fine.
The State Counsel, Mrs Olubukola Akintayo, told the court that the convict committed the offence on December 18, 2009 at about 6.30p.m. at No. 17 Aiyetoro area, Osogbo.
She said that the convict conspired with others at large, broke into the shop of one Mrs Fasilat Suraju and carted away some valuable items.
Akintayo said the the offence contravened sections 86 (1), 516, 390(9), and 249 (d) of the criminal code cap 34 vol. 11 laws of Osun, 2003.
Oyo
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC),
in Oyo State, says it is committed to ensuring standard in the operations of private guard companies in the state.
The state Commandant of the corps, Mr John Adewoye, stated this during a stakeholder’s seminar in Ibadan.
He said the NSCDC was mandated to regulate the activities of private guard companies operating across the country hence it became mandatory for the companies to comply with the operational guidelines.
Adewoye disclosed that biometric registration of all private guard companies across the country would soon commence to flush out fake and unregistered companies.
Ogun
The Ogun Commissioner for Commerce and Industry,
Mr Bimbola Ashiru, has urged the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) to improve information dissemination to shippers to avoid exportable goods being condemned and confiscated at ports of destination.
Ashiru made the plea in Ota, Ogun, in a message to a one-day Enlightenment/Awareness Seminar with a Theme: “Ports Economic Regulator: A Stimulus to Enhance International Trade’’.
The commissioner was represented by a Director in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Mr Kayode Ogunti.
The seminar was organised by the South West Zone of the NSC.
Plateau
Kanam Local Government Area of Plateau State
has sunk 37 boreholes in 20 communities within the locality in the last one year.
The Management Committee Chairman of the council, Mr Isa Hashidu, disclosed this when the state House of Assembly Standing Committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs visited the council.
The House had on December 2 directed the committee to visit and ascertain the levels of development at the 17 local government areas of the state.
The chairman said that the council spent N27 million to execute the project to completion.
Similarly, the Management Committee Chairman for Mikkang Local Government, Mr Vulgab Pabuet, told the committee during its visit that it had constructed 40 lock-up shops.
Sokoto
The Nigerian Army has recovered about 300 cattle
from rustlers in various parts of Zamfara State, Brig.-Gen. Ginikanwa Nwosu, Commander, 1 Brigade, Sokoto, has said.
Nwosu spoke recently in Sokoto, when he addressed newsmen at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Press Centre.
He said:” The recovery was part of the myriad of successes recorded by the military in the fight against cattle rustling, kidnappings and other forms of armed banditry”.
Nwosu announced that the military recently deployed more troops to various parts of Zamfara to reinforce the fight against cattle rustling, kidnappings and armed banditry.
Nwosu pledged to “sustain the current tempo of cordial relations between the military and the journalists, as well as the civilian population”.
The State NUJ Chairman, Isa Shuni, had earlier commended Nwosu for the visit, describing it as the first by any Commander of the brigade.
Taraba
The Taraba State Police Command says it is awaiting
the result of the autopsy conducted on the body of Mr Samuel Awar, a comedian who was found dead by his aides in a hotel in Jalingo on December 8.
The command’s Spokesman, David Mishal, said in Jalingo that the autopsy would determine the cause of Awar’s death.
“ It is normal to conduct an autopsy in situations like this to determine weather the deceased was killed or he died as a result of natural causes,” Mishal said.
He said the two ladies whom the command earlier invited for interrogation in connection with the case, had been released after nothing implicating was found against them.
He made his last public appearance penultimate Wednesday when he went out with his fans to paste posters around Jalingo in preparation for a peace concert scheduled for December 17.
The Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) has commemorated the 15th anniversary of the release of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Environmental Assessment Report on Ogoniland, reaffirming its commitment to restoring the environment and improving the livelihoods of affected communities.
In a statement signed by the Project Coordinator, Prof Nenibarini Zabbey, to commemorate the anniversary, HYPREP described the anniversary as a significant milestone in Nigeria’s environmental restoration efforts, noting that the project has made remarkable progress in implementing the recommendations of the landmark UNEP report released on August 4, 2011.
The UNEP report had revealed extensive oil pollution across Ogoniland, severe environmental degradation, and serious public health risks resulting from decades of petroleum operations. It also recommended an initial $1 billion fund to commence the cleanup of the affected communities.
According to HYPREP, the Federal Government formally launched the Ogoni clean-up in 2016, while the Project Coordination Office was established in 2017 to drive the implementation of UNEP’s recommendations.
Zabbey said the current administration has continued to prioritise the project under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
Providing an update on the cleanup, the Project Coordinator disclosed that 30 of the 65 contaminated sites identified by UNEP have been fully remediated, while work is ongoing at several medium- and high-risk locations. It also stated that more than 1.5 million mangrove seedlings have been planted as part of what it described as the world’s largest restoration of oil-degraded mangroves, with over 1,000 hectares of shoreline already rehabilitated.
Zabbey further revealed that 49 Ogoni communities have been connected to potable water schemes through multiple water projects and booster stations aimed at providing safe drinking water across the region.
In the health sector, he said the 100-bed Ogoni Specialist Hospital in Kpite and the 43-bed Cottage Hospital in Buan are nearing completion, adding that several existing health facilities have been upgraded with modern medical equipment, while five ambulances have been donated to improve emergency healthcare services. The Project Coordinator also disclosed that a three-year human health biomonitoring study is being conducted in collaboration with the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
On economic empowerment, Zabbey stated that the Project has created more than 8,000 direct jobs and trained thousands of Ogoni youths and women in various vocational and technical skills, including software development, cybersecurity, aviation, commercial diving, seafaring, mechatronics, and creative arts. The project also reported awarding scholarships to more than 1,000 students, providing grants to small businesses, and supporting persons living with special needs through skills acquisition programmes.
The statement further highlighted ongoing legacy projects, including the Ogoni Power Project and the Centre of Excellence for Environmental Restoration, which it said is about 96 per cent complete. HYPREP also welcomed the recent designation of the Ogoni Wetland as a Ramsar Site of International Importance and pledged to continue promoting biodiversity conservation and sustainable management of the ecosystem.
Marking the anniversary, Zabbey said the progress achieved over the past 15 years demonstrates the collective commitment of government, development partners, stakeholders, and local communities to restoring Ogoniland. He called for renewed collaboration to sustain the cleanup effort, promote environmental sustainability, and support the long-term development of the region. 3