THE STATES

Benue
Police in Benue on Friday said they had deployed 3,325 personnel on special duty across the state for the Easter celebration.
Spokesman of the command, Mr Moses Yamu, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, told newsmen in Makurdi that the measure was to ensure security of lives and property during the period.
He said the figure did not include personnel on essential task force duties in the state.
Yamu said that some of the personnel were posted to churches and other places of worship.
He said that the command had embarked on “Operation Show of Force” to demonstrate its readiness to combat crime and ensure peaceful celebration during the period.

Borno
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) says it has uncovered a fake Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) centre in Maiduguri.
The Commandant of the corps in Borno State, Mr Ibrahim Abdullahi, told newsmen yesterday  in Maiduguri that operators of the fake centre were defrauding applicants.
Abdullahi explained that the centre was uncovered on Thursday at the Kawu Shopping Complex along Lagos Street of the metropolis.
He said that men of the command also arrested one Abizo Precious Idowu, a 31-year-old from Imo who had collected N1,200 each to register about 180 students under the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

FCT
The Federal Government last Wednesday said no fewer than 420,000 people had received meningitis vaccination in Zamfara so as to curb the outbreak in the country.
The Minister of State for Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, announced this after the Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in Abuja.
He said that about 70 per cent of meningitis outbreak in the country was recorded in Zamfara.
Ehanire said that all the medical teams had arrived in the state to improve the application of the vaccine.
“As of now, about 420,000 people have been vaccinated in Zamfara state and I can tell you that we are beginning to see the `plato’ that is to say that the epidemic is no more rising,
“It is beginning to flatten out and we hope that it is going to come down soon.

Kaduna
Kaduna state command of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC)  said it had deployed over 3000 of its personnel to ensure peaceful Easter celebration.
State Commandant of the Corps, Alhaji Modu Bunu, stated this in a press statement Thursday, issued on his behalf by the Public Relations Officer of the command, Orndiir Terzungwe.
Bunu urged all residents to live in peace as both Islam and Christianity preached peaceful coexistence
He assured that the Corps, in collaboration with other agencies, would provide security before, during and after the festivity.
He warned people in the habit of engaging in acts capable of breaching the peace, that trouble makers would face the full wrath of the law.
He appealed to parents and guardians to intensify monitoring of their wards to prevent them from being victims of criminals.

Kano
The Federal Government last Thursday restated its commitment toward the promotion of heritage sites in the country.
The Minister of Information and Culture made the remark at a retreat for management staff and Curators of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, held in Kano.
The minister, represented by the Director-General, National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Mr Yusuf Abdallah, said promoting the nation’s heritage sites would not only boost tourism, but also create job opportunities and enhance socio-economic activities in the country.
“The government is making efforts to develop and promote heritage sites with a view to boosting tourism in the country for the overall economic development of the nation.

Katsina
Funtua Local Government Council in Katsina State lastThursday confirmed the death of six persons and the hospitalisation  of 24 others as a result of outbreak of Cerebro-Spinal Meningitis.
Primary Health Care Coordinator of the Council,  Mrs Muibat Abdullahi, told newsmen  that the outbreak started from a Quranic (Almajiri) school at Unguwar Dahiru area of Makera ward in Funtua town.
She said authorities were alerted and in response, officials of Medicine San Frontiers (Doctors without Borders) conducted tests on isolated persons’ specimens and diagnosed meningitis type ‘C’, which is different with other cases of meningitis in the country.
Abdullahi said San Frontiers supported them with drugs and other relevant consumables while Katsina state government procured vaccines for immediate immunisation of people around the area.

Kogi
Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has said that the decision to probe finances of the state, from 2003 to 2016, was not aimed at settling political scores with his predecessors.
The governor stated this in Lokoja last Wednesday, while receiving the report of a commission of inquiry set up to probe the finances of the state under two previous administrations.
He said that the attempt to look into what went wrong in the past would guide his administration against repeating similar mistakes.
According to him, the exercise is “not a witch hunt or blackmail”.
He lamented that Kogi, created 25 years ago, had remained largely undeveloped due to mismanagement and massive looting of available resources, declaring that the situation would be corrected.

Lagos
Lagos State requires about 720 million gallons of water daily but currently produces 210 million gallons, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode said last Thursday
Ambode gave the figure when he received a delegation from the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) led by its President, Dr Frank Jacobs, at the Lagos House in Ikeja.
The governor said that the state had a water deficit of about 500 million gallons.
“Water is one infrastructure that we are trying to create in the city; it is clear that we have a deficit.
“The city actually needs a minimum of 720 million gallons of water per day; right now, there is a shortfall of about 500 million.
He said that his administration would continue to bridge the daily deficit of potable water in the state without inflicting tax burden on the people.
The governor said that his administration had intensified investments in the water sector, especially by putting measures in place to revamp the 48 mini water works across the state to ensure optimum performance.

Ondo
Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State has directed that the ban on logging activities in the free forest areas in the state be lifted.
The government had banned logging activities in the state in March. The directive was announced by Segun Ajiboye, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor on Wednesday in Akure.
However, Ajiboye, said the ban on logging activities in the forest reserve areas in the state remained in force.
“While assuring the people of the state of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu preparedness to work for the general benefit of the people and the development of the state, the ban on logging activities in the forest reserve areas is meant to ensure that the general commonwealth of the people of the state is not pillaged by a few criminally-minded people,” he said.

Plateau
The maiden edition of the Jos Carnival kicked – off last Wednesday, with a fiesta for Plateau State children.
Wife of the Plateau Governor, Mrs. Regina Lalong, accompanied by the children, ushered in the carnival with a walk.
The governor’s wife, in a speech, said that the carnival was, in itself, a testimony to the fact that permanent peace had returned to Plateau.
“That we are holding a carnival confirms that Plateau is stable; it is a clarion call to the whole world to come to Plateau and explore the massive opportunities it offers,” she said.
She said that the carnival would showcase the rich cultural heritage of the state to tourists and remind them of Plateau’s place as the leading tourists destination in the country.

Sokoto
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has commended Nigeria for its swift response to tackle the meningitis epidemic in some parts of the country.
The Country Representative of the organisation in Nigeria, Dr Alemu Wondi, made the commendation in Sokoto State last Thursday when he paid a courtesy visit on the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III.
“We are here to see how to contribute to shorten the period of the outbreak in the state and other parts of Nigeria.
“ Nigeria has also made crucial efforts to eradicate polio, although the country is yet to be certified polio free.

Yobe
The Yobe State Government has constructed 250 toilets and bathrooms in each of the three Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Damaturu , the state capital.
General Manager, Yobe State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA) told Alhaji Mohammed Bukar, newsmen last Friday in Damaturu that the toilets were constructed in Pompomari, Kukareta, and Muhammadu Gombe farm  camps.
Bukar said that the projects were embarked upon to check open defecation and promote personal hygiene in the camps.u.