Folarin Kehinde

The federal government has told social platform, TikTok, to moderate its contents to reduce online problems like hate speech, misinformation, and cyberbullying.

The Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa made the statement on behalf of the government while playing host to a team from TikTok who visited the agency’s corporate headquarters in Abuja, yesterday.

Inuwa who reiterated the need for a safe and inclusive online environment stated that content moderation strategies will help in addressing online problems and protect minors across the country.

In her earlier remarks, the Head of Government Regulation and Public Policy, TikTok Nigeria and West Africa, Mrs Tokunbo Ibrahim revealed that NITDA is one of its biggest and critical stakeholders in Nigeria that has outstanding strides and performance in advancing the digital economy sector.

President Bola Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima will now henceforth pay the required fees at tollgates whenever they use the nation’s airports.

This came as the the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting he presided over at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Tuesday approved that there should be no more exemption granted to users of the airports from paying tollgate fees.

The approval was made following a memorandum presented to the council by the minister of aviation, Festus Keyamo, who argued that the government was losing over 82% of the revenue it should have earned from the e-tags that provide access to the tollgates.

He explained that the memoranda had initially prescribed an exemption for only the president and the vice president before Tinubu overruled and directed that both of them should be included among those that must pay.

Keyamo, who disclosed this at the post-FEC media briefing, regretted that Very Important Persons (VIPs) with money who should pay are those that have not been paying, noting that only poor people had been charged for using the tollgates.

The wedding for 100 orphan girls, scheduled to take place in his constituency, has been called off by Abdulamlik Sarkindaji, the speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly.

Sarkindaji announced his decision not to attend the event.

The choice was made in response to Uju Ohannaya, the Minister of Women’s Affairs, who took legal action against the speaker to halt the wedding.

This was revealed by the speaker on Tuesday, May 14, during a press briefing, where he said the minister had gone beyond her jurisdiction.

He also added that the minister should bear the cost of the wedding ceremony.

Leading reporters earlier reported that the speaker pledged to cover the dowries for the bridegrooms, stating he had acquired all necessary materials for the proper marriage of the 100 girls.

He assured them that their comfort in their matrimonial homes had been arranged, just as it would be for any other child marrying according to Islamic traditions.

Details shortly……

Approximately 50 communities in the Zurmi Local Government Area of Zamfara State have fallen victim to relentless attacks by bandits.

The onslaught has resulted in the abduction of hundreds of residents and claimed the lives of two police officers and three civilians, according to Bello Hassan, the lawmaker representing the Zurmi/Shinkafa Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives.

Speaking to BBC Hausa Service on Tuesday, Hassan revealed that over 500 individuals have been kidnapped in the affected villages over several weeks.

He said the attacks have instilled fear among the populace, prompting many to flee their homes in search of safety.

The lawmaker said: “At Kanwa village on Saturday, the gunmen killed three people and abducted over 30 others. At Gidan Shaho in the Nasarawa area on Monday, they killed two police officers and wounded many people. We are now trying to ascertain the number of people missing following the (latest) attack.”

He said the attacks were continuing despite the efforts of the federal and state governments to check the atrocities.

“There is a need to redefine some of the approaches being deployed by the security operatives in fighting the terrorists in Zamfara.

“The truth of the matter is that the security operatives deployed in Zamfara State are insignificant. Some of them deployed in the areas have overstayed, some for eight years, others for 10 years.

“They have stayed longer than necessary, they need to be changed. We have reported this issue severally to those authorities concerned but without any response,” he added.

The Plateau State Police Command has confirmed the arrest of a man caught with what looked like an Improvised Explosive Device inside a commercial Bank in Plateau State.

Leading reporters gathered that a video on Monday surfaced of a young man caught attempting to detonate a bomb in a bank in Dadin Kowa town of Jos South Local Government Area of Plateau State.

Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency expert and security analyst in Lake Chad, in a post on his X handle on Tuesday, said the yet-to-be-identified man wore belts packed with what appeared to be a Person Borne Improvised Explosive Device (SPBIED).

Makama had said the suspect was apprehended on Monday when he was found with an apparent bomb strapped to his body to detonate at the bank.

The security expert explained that the vigilante Security at the bank prevented the detonation after they spotted the suspect, arresting him before he could achieve his aim.

Confirming the incident on Tuesday, the State Police, DSP Alfred Alabo, said the command immediately deployed its officers to the Bank after an alarm was raised.

According to him, it was later discovered that the explosives seen on the young man were fake.

Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, has moved to stop the Speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly, Abdulmalik Sarkin-Daji, from marrying 100 girls.

Addressing journalists in Abuja, the minister said she has also petitioned the Inspector-General of Police over Sarkin-Daji’s plan.

She said a thorough investigation has been launched into the circumstances surrounding the issue slated for May 24.

The Niger lawmaker disclosed last week that he would sponsor the wedding of 100 girls, some of whom were orphaned by banditry, as part of his Maringa constituency project.

He said he had acquired materials for the event scheduled for May 24, and promised to pay dowries for the bridegrooms.

Following the criticisms that greeted the announcement, the speaker clarified that he was only funding the wedding — not forcing the girls into marriage.

However, Kennedy-Ohanenye said the plan is unacceptable, and that the future of the girls should be a priority.

She said the ministry will take responsibility for the girls’ education and vocational training.

“I want to let the honorable Speaker of the House in Niger state know that this is totally unacceptable by the Federal Minister of Women Affairs and by the government,” Kennedy-Ohanenye said.

“Because there is something called the Child’s Right Act and I said it from the onset, that is no more business as usual.

“These children must be considered, their future must be considered, the future of the children to come out of their marriage must be considered.

“So I have gone to court. I have written him a letter and written a petition to the IG of police.

“And I have filed for injunction to stop him from whatever he is planning to do on the 24th, until a thorough investigation is carried out on those girls, find out whether they gave their consent, their ages, find out the people marrying them.

“As the speaker did not think about empowering these women or sending them to school or giving them some kind of training support financially. The Women Affairs have decided to take it up and we are going to educate the children.

“Those that do not want to go to school, we will train them in a skill, empower them with sustainable empowerment machines to enable that child build his or her life and make up her mind who and when to get married.

“If for any reason the speaker tries to do contrary to what I have just mentioned, there will be a serious legal battle between him and the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs,” added.