Nation
THE STATES
Adamawa
The Adamawa State Police Command has arrested eight persons suspected to be behind kidnapping cases in the state.
The State Commissioner of Police, Mr Moses Jitoboh told newsmen yesterday in Yola that the suspects were arrested on September 23 in Mubi South Local Government Area of the state .
Jitoboh explained that their arrest was as a result of intensive security patrol by men of his command.
“Exhibits recovered from the suspected kidnappers include one locally made pistol, two live 7.62 millimeter ammunition, 58 live cartridges and seven empty cartridges.
“Others are one double-barreled gun, two masks, one ear protector, two military helmets and SIM cards, among others,” Jitoboh said.
FCT
The Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC) last Monday in Abuja signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Turkish and Israeli companies for the 2017 Christian pilgrimage operations.
The companies are Tailor Made Tours (TMT) of Israel and Atlas Jet, a Turkish airline which emerged as the preferred bidders for the 2017 Christian pilgrimage operations to the Holy Land.
TMT will handle ground operations including hotel accommodation, transportation and feeding of the pilgrims in Israel while Atlas Jet Nigeria will handle flight to and from Israel.
Executive Secretary, NCPC, Rev. Tor Uja, signed the MoU on behalf of the commission, while Mr Ercument Filiz, Executive Director, Atlas Jet, signed for Atlas Jet and Mrs Josephine Zinder, President, TMT signed on behalf of the TMT.
Gombe
The Gombe State Government has advised residents to avoid places with reported cases of monkey pox.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Kennedy Ishaya gave the advice in Gombe yesterday while briefing journalists on the state’s level of preparedness against the disease.
“Since monkey pox is a viral infection, I am appealing to the general public to avoid places with the reported case,” Ishaya said.
He also urged residents in the state to report any constituted signs such as fever, headache and common cold to health facilities and avoid self-medication.
According to him, since the outbreak of the disease in some parts of the country, the Ministry of Health had put machinery in place to contain the outbreak of the disease.
Kaduna
Gwauro Community in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State has embarked on the building of maternity to stem the high maternal and infant deaths in the area.
Head of the community, Malam Umar Galadima told newsmen last Monday in Gwauro that lack of access road and hospital had led to the death of several pregnant women and infants in recent times.
“We have been losing lives of so many pregnant women and children as a result of the distance between our village and near-by towns to access hospital services.
“We have to travel about 25 to 30 kilometres from this community to locate any hospital outside the town for medical attention”, Galadima said.
Kebbi
The Kebbi State Police Command has arrested a 23-year-old girl, Gambo Suleiman who allegedly dumped a day-old baby boy near a house in Yauri, Kebbi State.
An eye witness, Malam Musa Yauri told newsmen in Yauri that the new born baby was found dumped behind a building at about 5 p.m. last Sunday evening.
“They have handed over the baby to the Yauri Local Government Authority, which in turn, handed over the baby to the Kebbi Orphanage Home for proper care,” he said.
The Command’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Mustapha Suleiman, confirmed the incident, saying the baby’s mother had been arrested.
Kogi
A socio-cultural group, the Movement for the Emancipation of Kogi State People has slammed some youths in the state for allegedly blocking the delivery of relief materials including food to the striking state civil servants.
The group described the action of the youths as misguided and wicked in a statement signed by its Chairman, Alhaji Yakubu Asipita and the Secretary, Mr Bodunrin Olufemi, last Sunday in Lokoja.
“It is shameful for paid jobless youths to carry out such a disgraceful act of trying to prevent relief materials meant for the striking workers from entering the state,” it said.
Our correspondent reports that some youths on October 27 reportedly laid an ambush on Lokoja-Abuja highway in an attempt to hijack bags of rice donated by some senators to the striking workers.
Lagos
An anti-corruption group has commended President Muhammadu Buhari over the removal of Babachir Lawal as Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Ayo Oke as Head, National Intelligence Agency (NIA).
The Chairman of the group, Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership (CACOL), Mr Debo Adeniran gave the commendation in an interview with newsmen yesterday in Lagos.
According to him, the development will further boost the anti-corruption fight.
Nasarawa
Chairman, Interim Management Committee (IMC), Kokona Local Government Area, Nasarawa State, Hajiya Jamila Sarki, has advised newly sworn-in councillors of the council to shun corruption and other sharp practices.
Sarki gave the advice at the swearing-in ceremony of the new members of the interim management committee yesterday in Garaku, headquarters of the local government area.
The council boss urged the IMC members to be transparent and accountable in the discharge of their duties for the overall development of the area.
Niger
The Emir of Agaie in Niger State Alhaji Yusuf Nuhu has appealed to herdsmen and farmers in the emirate to continue to live in peace for meaningful development of the emirate.
Nuhu made the call at a town hall meeting at IBB School of Preliminary Studies, Agaie in the state yesterday.
He said that the meeting was convened to bring the herdsmen and farmers together, and to encourage them to live in peace because the country needed them for a viable society.
“The dry season is setting in now, we should all appreciate it as God’s routine for humanity, herdsmen should meticulously shepherd their herd and avoid their cattle from trespassing into farm lands”, the Emir said..
Ondo
The Ondo State Government has inaugurated a four-day validation workshop on 2017-2021 Strategic Health Development Plan II.
Inaugurating the workshop yesterday in Akure, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Wahab Adegbenro,said the training was meant to produce an all-encompassing and harmonised strategic health development document for the health sector of the state.
“The purpose of this final validation workshop is to produce document with its appropriate costing which will serve as the basis for collective ownership, adequate resource allocation, inter-sectoral collaboration, decentralisation, equity, harmonisation, alignment and mutual accountability in Ondo State.
“The document will also stipulate requirements for future health investment towards achieving sustainable universal access and coverage with a defined package of essential services within the planned period,” Adegbenro stated.
Plateau
The Federal Government last Monday said it planned to train 800,000 youths and women on vocational and skills acquisition in Plateau State.
National Coordinator, Basic Skill Acquisition Training Programme in Nigeria, Mr Lawrence Kyuka, disclosed this during a three-day training programme for youths and women in Pankshin Local Government of Plateau.
Kyuka disclosed that nine local governments had been selected for the programme being anchored by the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Youths and students Affairs, Mr Nasir Adhama.
He gave the names of the areas as Shendam, Langtang North, Langtang South, Pankshin, Mangu, Bokkos, Jos North, Jos South and Riyom.
“The Federal Government is out to ensure that the teeming youths and women are empowered with skills to be self-employed and become employers of labour to boost the nation’s economy.
Sokoto
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) says it has intensified manhunt for a woman suspected of harbouring under -age girls for sexual exploitation.
The Zonal Commander of the agency in charge of Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara states, Mr Hassan Tahir, told newsmen in Sokoto recently.
He said that the suspected woman allegedly engaged in the unlawful act at Gidan Sauro in Sokoto metropolis.
Tahir said the agency had also arrested a businessman, Umar Babuga for allegedly caging two underage girls for sexual exploitation.
He said that investigation was in progress and the suspect would soon be prosecuted.
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