Folarin Kehinde

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Benin Republic, has requested the government’s leniency over the ban on the validity of degree certificates from both the country and Togo, saying 15,000 Nigerian students in Benin will be negatively affected by it.

The ban came after an undercover reporter described how he participated in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) for the second time and graduated from a Benin Republic institution in less than two months.

Following the revelation, the federal government banned the validation of degree certificates from the countries.

Ugochukwu Favour, the NANS president in Benin Republic, stated on Thursday, January 4, that the government should consider pupils who had been admitted legitimately.

“For now, I will say that the Federal Government should look into the issue. Now, you can’t because it is happening in this school, punish everyone because it involved close to 15,000 students in the Benin Republic,” he said on Channels Television’s breakfast show Sunrise Daily.

He further stated that NANS in the Benin Republic has formed a committee to investigate the issue, saying that the report of its findings will be essential in stopping such incidents.

He said: “I have really not validated if it has been happening for a long time. This is just like what just came out on social media, and we are still trying to find out how long it has been happening.

“So, that is why I set up a committee as the president to investigate it.”

A Lugbe Grade I Area Court in Abuja, on Thursday, sentenced a 23-year-old security guard, Peter Elisha to 16 months imprisonment for stealing three bicycles valued at N1.9 million.

Elisha, who pleaded guilty to two counts of theft, begged the court for leniency.

The Judge, Aliyu Kagarko, gave the convict an option of N60,000 fine, ordering him to pay compensation of N1.5 million to the owner of the bicycles.

The judge warned the convict to be a good citizen and desist from committing crimes.

He said the punishment would have been stiffer if the convict had not saved the court the rigours of protracted prosecution.

Earlier, the prosecution counsel, Mr Stanley Nwaforaku informed the court that the complainant, Mohammed Aliyu of Durumi Abuja reported the matter at the Durumi Police station on Dec. 23.

Nwaforaku said on Dec.17 at about 6am the convict stole three bicycles valued at N 1.9 million belonging to one Mr Jonah Izuka, who lives on 316 Francis Okoro Street in Durumi, Abuja.

The prosecutor said during a police investigation, the convict confessed and one of the said bicycles worth 400,000 was recovered from one of his friends, Ali Hassan.

He added that the offence contravened the provisions of sections 79 and 287 of the Penal Code.

The Federal Government says National Identity Number enrollment has increased to 104.16 million at the end of 2023.

The National Identity Management Commission, NIMC, disclosed this in its latest NIN enrolment data.

According to recent data, the figures showed a 10.3 million NIN enrollment in 2023 compared to the 94.03 million total enrollment in December 2022.

Regarding the gender distribution of the enrollees, the NIMC data reveals that 59.12 million, representing 56.8 per cent of Nigerians captured in the NIN database so far, are male. In contrast, on the flip side, 45.04 million, representing 43.2 per cent of the total enrollees, are female.

The development comes in the face of the latest Subscribers Identification Modules, SIMs, to NIN linkage deadline of February 28 2024, announced by mobile network operators.

However, the current data on the NIN enrollment figures is far from Nigeria’s 148 million World Bank target by June 2024.

An accident involving the convoy of Sokoto State Deputy Governor Muhammad Idris Gobir has resulted in the loss of two lives.

The victims, identified as a policeman and a photographer, were returning from an official trip to Sabon Birni when the accident occurred.

The Sokoto State Police Command confirmed the incident, revealing that the accident involved a pilot vehicle within the deputy governor’s convoy.

Unfortunately, the two victims lost their lives in the crash.

Additionally, several others sustained injuries and have been rushed to the Usmanu Danfodio University Teaching Hospital in Sokoto for immediate medical attention.

As part of strategic initiative targeted at ensuring full realization of the corporate strategic goals of the Corps for the year 2024, the Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps, Dauda Ali Biu has approved the redeployment of 2 Deputy Corps Marshals, and 1 Assistant Corps Marshal to key Departments and Corps offices in order to give a boost to existing efforts of the Corps towards creating a safer motoring environment.

The redeployed senior officers, Deputy Corps Marshal (DCM) Shehu Alkali Zaki fsi, the erstwhile Deputy Corps Marshal in charge of Training Department is to henceforth oversee the affairs of the Department of Operations, while the former Corps Public Education Officer, Deputy Corps Marshal Bisi Kazeem fsi, anipr, mnim is to proceed as the DCM in charge of Training Department at the National Headquarters, Abuja.

In addition to the above, the Corps Marshal also approved the redeployment of the former Assistant Corps Marshal in charge of Command Administration and Strategies (CAS), Assistant Corps Marshal Jonas Agwu mni to take over the administration of the Corps Public Education Office hitherto held by Deputy Corps Marshal Bisi Kazeem.

You would recall that this redeployment of the outgoing Corps Public Education Officer who was recently appointed Deputy Corps Marshal marks his first deployment on the new rank.

Expectedly, the Corps Marshal expressed confidence in the capacity and experiences of the newly redeployed senior officers to deliver on mandate as he charged them to bring their professional expertise for impactful leadership.

The redeployment is with effect from 15 January, 2024 which marks the end of the ongoing Operation Zero Tolerance Special Patrol.

Sadiya Umar-Farouq, the former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development, has snubbed an invitation from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to answer questions about an alleged N37.1 billion fraud that occurred during her tenure.

Umar-Farouq, who left office in 2023, was scheduled to appear before investigators at the EFCC headquarters in Jabi, Abuja, at 10:00 am on Wednesday. However, despite waiting for over eight hours, she failed to show up and offered no official explanation for her absence.

Documents reveal that the invitation was linked to an ongoing investigation into the alleged laundering of N37.1 billion through a contractor, James Okwete, during Umar-Farouq’s time in office.

A source within the EFCC, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the interrogation team had to conclude their day at 6:00 pm after it became clear that the former minister would not be arriving.

“We just closed from work now because she didn’t show up today, and it’s 6 pm already. It’s certain that she’s never going to show up today,” the Punch Newspaper reported the source as saying.

Residents of Zhidu Village, off Airport Road in Abuja today, took to the streets to protest against the planned demolition of their homes by the Federal Housing Authority (FHA).

The FHA had earlier announced plans to demolish over 1500 homes in Zhidu Village and its surrounding areas.

The residents say the action does not include providing compensation or resettling them.

According to them, the FHA’s unilateral decision ”blatantly violates constitutional rights, disregards their welfare as citizens, and tarnishes Nigeria’s global reputation.”

They called on the FHA to halt the plans and engage in fair negotiations for compensation and resettlement, as initially promised.

Speaking on behalf of the residents, Apostle Prosper E. Eromosele,
Chairman Zhidu All Property Owners Association, called on President Bola Tinubu to compel the FHA to compensate them.

His words: ”Our gathering here today is to cry out to the world and especially to our Mr President His Excellency Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu of FHA plans to demolish our homes in the above-mentioned villages without following the initial promise of compensation, integration or relocation.

”The Federal Housing Authority’s decision to displace thousands of people and demolish over 1500 already habited houses without adequate resettlement or compensation is a gross violation of human rights and must be stopped immediately.

The FHA is violating the Nigerian Constitution, which guarantees the right to fair compensation for those who the government displaces. This is not only illegal, but it is also deeply immoral.

”The affected people who are faced with this sad reality from the FHA – are among the poorest and most vulnerable in Nigerian society, especially in the FCT.

”They are already struggling to survive, and this action will only serve to push them further into poverty and desperation.

”The FHA’s planned actions will not only cause immense suffering to the people affected but also be very damaging and capable of soiling the cherished reputation of the Nigerian government and the ruling party both on the local and international stage.

”We call on the FHA to put an immediate stop to these already tormenting plans and to begin negotiating in good faith with the affected people to ensure that they are properly compensated or resettled as promised from the beginning of the very processes and exercise.

”We demand that FHA act now with compassion and respect for the rights of the people that their thought-out plans are going to affect and that FHA must do everything within her power to make things right.

”It’s an aberration, in fact, an anathema for FHA to keep ignoring us. All we are only saying is that FHA should be morally right in their dealings with us.”