News
Probe Maltreatment Of Nigerians By Foreigners, Senate Urges IGP
The Senate has urged the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, to investigate the maltreatment and torture of Nigerians by foreign nationals living in Nigeria.
The call was made amid its resolutions on a motion entitled, “urgent need to check the alarming trend of inhuman treatment and torture of Nigerian citizens by foreign nationals in the country.”
The motion was sponsored by Senator Biobarakuma Degi-Eremienyo (Bayelsa East).
Presenting the motion, yesterday, the lawmaker noted that in a bid to get a confession from victims alleged to have stolen iron rods, a Lebanese ordered some of his Nigerian subordinates to gag the mouths of one Mr. Anayo Friday Ndubuisi and the late Chadian with rags to stifle any noise from them.
According to him, they were beaten mercilessly with iron rods, tied to a car and driven round their premises.
“The Lebanese also set his dog upon the victims and the said dog attacked them”, Biobarakuma said.
He lamented that, “the second Nigerian (a security personnel), on trying to defend and absolve Anayo Friday Ndubuisi from any allegation whatsoever was shot with an arrow, thereby leading to grievous bodily harm.
“Aware that some suspects have been arrested and paraded by officers of the Nigeria Police Force in connection with this nauseating crime against humanity but without the Lebanese being equally apprehended or paraded.
“Surprised that certain insinuations have been made by some concerned security authorities involved in the matter that since the late Chadian was an illegal migrant, little or nothing can be done about the case.
“Aware that the administration of criminal justice system provides protection for foreigners such as the late Chadian irrespective of his migration status.
“Alarmed about the despicable level of gross subjugation of Nigerians in their own country by some foreign nationals, noting that this type of incident has become one too many and must be urgently checked to preserve sanctity and dignity of human life at all times in accordance with our bill of rights as enshrined in Chapter 4 of our Constitution and other international conventions and protocols, bearing in mind that even in the animal kingdom, there are salient rules for hunting game.”
Accordingly, the Senate, in its resolution, condemned in the strongest of terms the dastardly acts committed against the victims.
It called on the Inspector General of Police to commence thorough investigations into the acts of the said Lebanese in question, his dog and similar infractions by other foreign nationals, acting by themselves or in collusion with Nigerians or members of the Nigeria Police Force.
The chamber demanded the prosecution of those found culpable in accordance with the provisions of the law to serve as a deterrent to others.
It urged the Ministry of Labour and related MDAs to take adequate steps to address the labour-related issues in respect of the case and similar ones to ensure that the rising trend of crime and criminality is curbed.
The Nigeria Immigration Service has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this yesterday while inspecting Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
He said the centralised production system aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for better service delivery.
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has disbursed N2.225 trillion as federation revenue for the month of August 2025, the highest ever allocation to the three tiers of government and other statutory recipients.
This marks the second consecutive month that FAAC disbursements have crossed the N2 trillion mark.
The revenue, shared at the August 2025 FAAC meeting in Abuja, was buoyed by increases in oil and gas royalty, value-added tax (VAT), and common external tariff (CET) levies, according to a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting.
Out of the N2.225 trillion total distributable revenue, FAAC said N1,478.593 trillion came from statutory revenue, N672.903 billion from VAT, N32.338 billion from the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and N41.284 billion from Exchange Difference.
The communiqué revealed that gross federation revenue for the month stood at N3.635 trillion. From this amount, N124.839 billion was deducted as cost of collection, while N1,285.845 trillion was set aside for transfers, interventions, refunds, and savings.
From the statutory revenue of N1.478 trillion, the Federal Government received N684.462 billion, State Governments received N347.168 billion, and Local Government Councils received N267.652 billion. A further N179.311 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) went to oil-producing states as derivation revenue.
From the distributable VAT revenue of N672.903 billion, the Federal Government received N100.935 billion, the states received N336.452 billion, while the local governments got N235.516 billion.
Of the N32.338 billion shared from EMTL, the Federal Government received N4.851 billion, the States received N16.169 billion, and the Local Governments received N11.318 billion.
From the N41.284 billion exchange difference, the Federal Government received N19.799 billion, the states received N10.042 billion, and the local governments received N7.742 billion, while N3.701 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) was shared to the oil-producing states as derivation.
The Governing Council of Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori, has decried the inadequate power supply and poor state of infrastructural facilities and equipment at the institution.
The Council also appealed to the government, including Non-Governmental Organisations, agencies, as well as well-meaning Rivers people to intervene to restore and sustain the laudable gesture, dreams and aspirations of the founding fathers of the polytechnic.
The Chairman of the newly inaugurated Council, Professor Friday B. Sigalo, made this appeal during a tour of facilities at the Polytechnic, recently.
Accompanied by members of the team, Prof Sigalo emphasised the position of technology, technical and vocational education in sustainable development.
He noted that with the prospects on ground, and the programmes and activities undertaken in the polytechnic, there is no doubt that the institution would add values to the educational system in our society and foster the desired development, if the existing challenges are jointly tackled.
This was contained in a statement signed by Deputy Registrar, Public Relations, Kenpoly, Innocent Ogbonda-Nwanwu, and made available to The Tide in Port Harcourt.
The chairman who restated the intention of his team of technocrats to ensure that KenPoly enjoys desirable face-lift, said the Council would deliver on its core mandates, accordingly.
Earlier, the Rector, KenPoly Engr. Dr. Ledum S. Gwarah, commended the appointment of Professor Friday B. Sigalo as Chairman of the KenPoly Governing Council.
He described him and his team as seasoned technocrats and expressed confidence in their ability to succeed.
The Rector pledged the management’s support to the Council to ensure that KenPoly resumes its rightful place in the comity of polytechnics in the country.
Facilities visited by the Governing Council include KenPoly workshops, laboratories, skills acquisition centre, library, hostels and medical centre.
Chinedu Wosu
-
Sports3 days ago
CAFCL : Rivers United Arrives DR Congo
-
Sports3 days ago
FIFA rankings: S’Eagles drop Position, remain sixth in Africa
-
Sports3 days ago
NPFL club name Iorfa new GM
-
Sports3 days ago
NNL abolishes playoffs for NPFL promotion
-
Sports3 days ago
Kwara Hopeful To Host Confed Cup in Ilorin
-
Sports3 days ago
NSF: Early preparations begin for 2026 National Sports Festival
-
Sports3 days ago
RSG Award Renovation Work At Yakubu Gowon Stadium
-
Sports3 days ago
RSG Pledges To Develop Baseball