Vreporters

Month: February 2022

  • UNILAG Speaks On ‘Kidnap Attempt’

    The Management of the University of Lagos,UNILAG, has debunked the news making the rounds on social media that a kidnap attempt was witnessed on its main campus today.

    Some Internet users had uploaded a video online, saying some ritualists were apprehended at the UNILAG 2nd Gate while the suspects allegedly tried to kidnap a female student.

    But the school management, in a statement, said the claim by the social media users was not true.

    “The incident was a case of social misconduct and physical assault between students, in which one party attempted to flee the scene and was apprehended by the University security towards the Onike gate axis of the University.

    The case is being handled by the Security Unit and Division of Students Affairs.

    “The Vice-Chancellor and University Management wish to assure our dear students, parents and the public that the security and safety of all students remain a priority at the University of Lagos,” the university said in the statement.

    Also, the spokesman for the Lagos State Police Command, Adekunle Ajisebutu, confirmed that the case was that of assault and not kidnapping.

    “There was no kidnap. It was a case of misunderstanding between a female student and three others (one of whom is a UNILAG student) which led to an assault on the lady and some of the security guards,” he said.

  • Senates Confirms 7 Nominees as INEC Commissioners (See List)

    Senates Confirms 7 Nominees as INEC Commissioners (See List)

    The Senate has confirmed seven nominees appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari as National Commissioners and Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission.

    The confirmation of the nominees on Wednesday followed the consideration of a report by the Senate Committee on INEC.

    Those confirmed include Mal. Mohammed Haruna (Niger – North-Central, National Commissioner); Mrs May Agbamuche-Mbu (Delta – South-South, National Commissioner); Ukeagu Kenneth Nnamdi (Abia – South-East, National Commissioner); and Major General A. B. Alkali (Rtd) – Adamawa (North-East, National Commissioner).

    Others were Prof. Rhoda H. Gumus (Bayelsa – South-South, National Commissioner); Mr. Sam Olumekun (Ondo – South-West, National Commissioner); and Olaniyi Olaleye Ijalaye (Ondo – South-West, Resident Commissioner).

    Chairman of the Committee, Senator Kabiru Gaya, in his presentation, recalled that the confirmation request was made by President Muhammadu Buhari in compliance with the provision of Section 153(1)(f) of the Constitution, and pursuant to the provision of Section 154(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).

    He disclosed that the Committee received a petition from the Taraba Elders Forum against the nomination of Maj. Gen. A. B. Alkali (Rtd.) over “the seeming inconsistency in the rotation of the nomination”.

    According to Gaya, the Taraba Elders Forum stated that the nomination started from Taraba (2003 – 2008), Adamawa (2008 – 2015) and Gombe (2015 – 2021).

    He added that petitioners observed that it was the turn Taraba State to produce the nominee against the backdrop of the principle of rotation.
    Gaya, however, explained that the Committee resolved that all the states (Taraba, Adamawa and Gombe) had been nominated between 2003 and 2021, therefore, it was the prerogative of the President to pick his nominee from any of the three states.

    Lawmakers, including the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege and Senator James Manager, spoke highly of the competence and credibility of the President’s nominees.
    The Senate President, in his remarks after the nominees were confirmed, congratulated them while noting that the 2023 General Election would be a “baptism of fire” to test their efficiency.

    He added that the National Assembly would support the electoral body to ensure the conduct of free and transparent elections in 2023.

    Lawan said, “They (confirmed nominees) would have a baptism of fire because 2023 is just by the corner.

    “In fact, the process has already started, as INEC may soon announce the dates of elections and then the subsequent process.

    “We expect nothing less than excellence from our electoral body.
    “This Senate has confirmed National Commissioners and Resident Commissioners before.

    “We have done this today, and INEC now has full compliment of the people that need to do the work.

    “INEC also gets the support of the National Assembly through appropriations and, therefore, it would have no reason not to perform.

    “We are also expecting that the Electoral Bill amendment will be signed, and if that happens, INEC would have a document to guide it through, even in the off season before the 2023 general elections.
    “Therefore, Nigerians are expectant that INEC will perform creditably well.

    “[And] for us in the National Assembly, we will always be there for INEC because we believe that it is in the interest of Nigeria and our citizens to have free and transparent elections to determine the leadership of this country at all levels.”

  • ”Drugged” Policeman Reportedly Shot Dead Army Officer in Borno

    ”Drugged” Policeman Reportedly Shot Dead Army Officer in Borno

    A yet-to-be-identified dragged policeman has reportedly shot dead a Nigerian Army officer attached to Operation Hadin Kai, simply identified as Donatus.

    The incident reportedly happened at the Shehu of Borno palace general area in Maiduguri.

    A twitter user, @Zagazola who confirmed the incident described the deceased as a celebrated army officer who saved the Shehu of Borno from suicide bomb attack in 2012.

    “The MOPOL returned for Sintiri but he was looking very drug, initially the staff sergeant wanted to disarm him but later left him. Minutes later, he started shooting sporadically and accidentally shot the staff sergeant on the cheek, killing him instantly.

    “Staff sergeant Donatus was a celebrated officer; In 2012 he saved the Shehu of Borno from suicide bomb attack. He forced himself to the bomber in the midst of people and pushed him away. The IED detonated and injured him on the leg. He was loved and cherished by the people,” he posted.

    It was learnt that the development caused pandemonium in the area, forcing residents to scamper for safety.

    This comes amid claims by the Nigerian Army that officers of the Nigeria Police Force were brutalising some of its personnel.

  • Weird!13-year-old Boy ‘Hangs Self’ In Oyo

    A 13-year old boy, Abolarinwa Opeyemi, has reportedly hanged himself in Oyo after alleged misunderstanding between him and his mum.

    According to report, the teenager was a student of Muslim Comprehensive High School (MCHS), Oko.Ogbomoso, Oyo State

    It’s gathered that his corpse was found dangling from a tree, and the deceased reportedlycommitted the suicide a day earlier, while still in his school uniform.

    According to findings by newsmen, nobody knew what led to the suicide as he did not leave any note.

    However, it was disclosed that he had a little misunderstanding with his mother at home which led to his mother threatening to deal with him after returning from school.

    It was further gathered that , he had attempted to scoop some cashew nuts spread in the family compound to dry and later proceed to where he could sell for his own gain but was discovered and was angrily chastised by the mother.

    “We heard that the mother threatened him seriously that after he returned from school he would still be dealt with. We don’t know if it was to escape the punishment that he hanged himself,” a teacher of the school told newsmen on condition of anonymity.

    Further enquiries revealed that the boy did not mark the attendance as being in school that day.

    ”His name was not marked present in his class register that day but his friends saw him and he reportedly told them that he just came to get something done in the school that day but would not enter class or mark attendance,” the teacher added.

    “When his parents did not see him at home they looked for him all around; they searched him in the classrooms but was not found. The parents now thought he had gone to sleep at a friend’s place to avoid being subjected to punishment.

    “When he was not seen again on Tuesday morning, they reported him missing. A radio announcement was also made about him being missing”.

    Further search in the morning eventually led to his body being discovered with a rope hanging from a short tree behind a block of classrooms in the school.

    Meanwhile, it was asserted that his mother was a very harsh woman with a notorious habit of heaping abuses and curses on her children, and so some people believed it was the fear of her mother that drove the boy to take his life. “But what does a boy of thirteen know about suicide?” a worried commentator posited.

    The incident which threw the whole community into mourning was confirmed by a source at Oko Police station and is already being investigated.

  • Most Men Suffer Sperm Count Issues, Expert Reveals

    A fertility expert and chief executive officer of EEK Fertility clinic, Dr Ekinyi Ochete, has said the high intake of alcohol, sugar and unhealthy foods are responsible for low sperm count in men.

    This is as she advised Nigerians to use alternative medicine and treatment to take care of fertility issues.

    Ochete gave the charge during an interview with selected journalists in Abuja.

    She said, “Most men suffer from sperm count issues. This is high in this part of the world because of high intake of alcohol, sugar, unhealthy foods and lack of adequate rest.

    “For the female, the major challenge is blockage of the fallopian tube, which is caused by underlying infections. Sometimes, it is also a case of personal or medical carelessness.

     “It is not all conditions that require medicine. There are cases that require eating right and proper detoxification of the system. When people come to me for treatment, the first thing I tell them is to eat right, have good health habits, and rest properly.

    “Many women conceive while in the detoxification process without treatment. A lot of conventional medicines have been modified, and that is why so many people are suffering. But when we bring in the natural side and give it to them in the raw form, they get results.’’

  • Just In: School Bus Catches Fire in Abuja

    A school bus belonging to Pacemark International Schools has gone up in flames with the driver escaping by the whiskers. There were no students on board, Peoples Gazette learnt.

    Credit: Joseph Ogaba/Peoples Gazette

    The incident occurred at 6:30 p.m.

    It was an 18-seater bus.

    The driver of the school bus told The Gazette he just drove off from the school located at Apo Resettlement Zone E Extension in Abuja, to pick up students.

    “I went to the school to pick the bus. It was empty. As I drove out, I started to notice that the vehicle was jerking and jerking. As I slowed down for road make I check wetin dey happen, I noticed that there was fire in the back of the bus,” the school bus driver told The Gazette.

    The driver added, “As I no get anything to quench the fire, I rushed out of the bus. That’s how fire burnt the bus.”

  • Strike: FG Committed To Promises Made To ASUU, as Buhari Lauds NIREC Intervention

    Strike: FG Committed To Promises Made To ASUU, as Buhari Lauds NIREC Intervention

    President Muhammadu Buhari says the Federal Government remains committed to honouring promises made to the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU.

    This, the President said was to prevent disruptive strikes, engender uninterrupted academic programmes and improve funding of educational institutions.

    The President made the pledge when he received members of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council, NIREC, led by the Co-Chairs, the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar, and the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Samson Ayokunle, in Abuja on Tuesday.

    He commended the leadership of NIREC for intervening in the year-long strike by ASUU and holding consultations with the parties.

    According to him, no society which wishes itself well neglects its educational system and all its component parts.

    Mr Buhari urged NIREC that in its subsequent consultations with members of ASUU, it was important that they shared with them, that government regarded them and the service they provided to the nation very highly.

    ”However, they should be cognizant of the fiscal pressures that we are currently facing. Nevertheless, we remain committed to honoring our promises.

    ”For their part, I will like to encourage ASUU to continue to work with us toward finding resolutions to the challenges that confront us.

    ”My administration is committed to this engagement and dialogue, and I urge them to stay the course toward a joint resolution in the best interest of our children and nation,” he said.

    Responding to issues raised by the leadership of NIREC on finding sustainable solutions to the perennial and disruptive strikes that threatened the sanctity and integrity of the nation’s university system, the President said he had directed his Chief of Staff, the Ministers of Labour and Employment and Education, to make resolving the issue a priority.

    The President said he had received briefing from the minister of labour, “detailing where we are today, given the various interested parties, and he apprised the meeting as follows:

    ”To show our commitment, several payments have been made over the last 6 months, addressing several of the issues you raised – details of which the minister of labour and employment can make available to you.

    ”Funding has also been provided for infrastructure development across several public universities and several of them have begun drawing down on this facility to improve their level of infrastructure

    ”Finally, and perhaps the most contentious of issues regarding the decision to use either the Integrated Payroll and Personal Information System (IPPIS) or the University Transparency Accountability Solutions (UTAS).

    ”As you may be aware, IPPIS was introduced as a means of blocking leakages. Through IPPIS, the Federal Government was able to save over N100 billion annually from the core civil service alone. In view of the resistance from ASUU we devised UTAS which is now on the table.

    ”I have also been informed that the System Assessment Report conducted by NITDA has been shared by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy to all stakeholders, including ASUU, and they are to make the appropriate modifications and report their recommendations.’’

    Speaking on behalf of the Council, CAN President said the meeting with the president was on the single point of averting strikes in the universities and the challenges of ASUU, which they considered to be of national interest.

    Mr Ayokunle told the President that from NIREC’s meeting with ASUU on Jan. 10, 2022, the university lecturers outlined that the bone of contention between the union and Federal Government centred on eight issues.

    According to him, these issues includes the inconclusive renegotiation of 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement, UTAS, IPPIS and distortion in salary payment challenges.

    Other contentious issues are visitation panels to Federal Universities report issues, funding for revitalisation of public universities, earned academic allowance, state universities and promotion arrears.

    While acknowledging that some of the issues had been addressed by the government, the NIREC leadership appealed to the President to direct the immediate return to the table to conclude the renegotiation of the 2009 agreement.

    ”If the renegotiation process continues to conclusion, issues that the government is not comfortable with can be renegotiated with a view to reaching only implementable agreements.

    “We believe that with renegotiation in place, other issues will be adequately addressed along the line,” the NIREC co-chair said.

    NAN

  • Ogun Governor Splashes N1 million each on two best graduating students of OOU

    The Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, has splashed N1 million each and automatic employments for the two overall best graduands of the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye.

    The Governor announced the job offers at the combined 30th and 31st convocation of the institution held on Monday.

    The management of the OOU had announced Peter Ebuka Iloka of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Adebisi Fatima Awolumate of the Faculty of Agricultural Economics as overall best graduating students for the two sets.

    The Vice-Chancellor, OOU, Prof Ganiyu Olatunde, said Iloka scored a Cumulative Grade Point Aggregate of 4.92 to emerge as the overall best graduating student for the 2020/2021 academic session, while Awolumate of the Department of Management and Rural Development emerged as the overall best graduating student for the 2019/2020 session with 4.86 CGPA.

    A total of 6,257 graduates were produced at the combined convocation with 55 of them making First Class.

    “The two overall best graduands will have automatic employment with the civil service and a sum of N1m from us to encourage them,” the governor announced.

    Abiodun, however, tasked tertiary institutions in the country to use research and innovation to inspire practical and lasting solutions to the myriad of challenges facing humanity.

    He advised that solutions should be sought for local challenges, stressing that there was a need to encourage and cultivate the culture of innovation, ingenuity and technology among the youth.

    The governor, who congratulated the graduands for their successes, urged them to persevere in life and avoid temptation to use short cut, saying it would lead to nowhere of worth.

    He also urged the youth, particularly students, to emulate the best graduating students in learning and character of diligence and hard work.
    Abiodun disclosed that the state government had approved the construction of a 1,600-bed space hostel in OOU to ease the accommodation challenges being faced by students.

    The vice-chancellor, who was completing his tenure, said over N20 million had been expended on scholarships for 446 indigent students in the last four sessions.

    He also said the university had witnessed significant growth and development in its operational and administrative sectors.

    “Discipline is a major focus of this administration and it has been integrated as a culture. We ensured that our students are well behaved and modestly dressed by enforcing a dress code that enhanced the moral standard in this great institution,” Olatunde added.

  • Obasanjo Reacts To Burning of his Farm in Benue

    Obasanjo Reacts To Burning of his Farm in Benue

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has reacted to the burning of his 2,420 hectares of land farm at Howe in Aliade area of Gwer East Local Government of Benue State, at the weekend.

    The highly revered statesman described incident as a bad development, noting that the arsonist will be fished out by security agents.

    The ex-president had acquired about 2,420 hectares of farmland in the community, where he planted fruits such as mango and orange.
    Some indigenes, who claimed they were not compensated for the land, had allegedly set the farm on fire, beat up and robbed the firefighters deployed in the area to put out the fire.

    Reacting in a release by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, on Tuesday, Obasanjo said “the local and state governments, including the security agencies in the state, have taken up the issue, with a view to fishing out the perpetrators and prosecution”.

    The statement was titled, ‘Obasanjo condemns burning of farm in Benue.’

    The former President also thanked those who had called him to identify with him on the incident, stressing that, despite the huge loss on the farmland as a result of the inferno, there was death recorded, and this is gladdening to note.

    mango and orange.


    Some indigenes, who claimed they were not compensated for the land, had allegedly set the farm on fire, beat up and robbed the firefighters deployed in the area to put out the fire.

    Reacting in a release by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, on Tuesday, Obasanjo said “the local and state governments, including the security agencies in the state, have taken up the issue, with a view to fishing out the perpetrators and prosecution”.

    The statement was titled, ‘Obasanjo condemns burning of farm in Benue.’

    The former President also thanked those who had called him to identify with him on the incident, stressing that, despite the huge loss on the farmland as a result of the inferno, there was death recorded, and this is gladdening to note.

  • Senate Approves Upgrading of Offa Poly To Varsity of Technology

    The Senate on Tuesday gave approval for the upgrade of the Federal Polytechnic, Offa, Kwara State, from a Diploma awarding institution to a full-fledged Degree awarding Federal University of Technology.

    The upper Chamber also passed a bill to establish the School of Mines and Geological Studies, Guyuk.

    The passage of both bills followed the consideration of two separate reports by the Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND.

    Chairman of the Committee, Senator Ahmad Babba Kaita, in his presentation, said that establishing the school of mines and geological studies would provide for the training of middles and junior level manpower for the mineral and mining sector.

    He added that it would also facilitate collaboration with other national and international institutions involved in general exploration and mining of precious stones and ore as well as encourage teacher training, research, and general development of teacher education.