Governors Violating Interstate Travel Ban

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June 5, 2020

State governors have been embarking on interstate movement in clear violation of a ban to that effect which they agreed on as a measure to mitigate community transmission of COVID-19.

The governors, under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), had on Wednesday, April 22, “unanimously” agreed to the implementation of an interstate lockdown in the country to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 from state to state, giving permission to only essential services.

Daily Trust reports that the Federal Government also banned interstate movement effective Monday, May 4, as part of new measures to fight the dreaded COVID-19. Before the agreement on the interstate travel ban was reached, the 36 governors resorted to weekly COVID-19 teleconference meetings and suspended their monthly gathering at the NGF secretariat that hitherto brought them to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, on a regular basis.

The agreement was sequel to the imposition of a total lockdown in the FCT, Lagos and Ogun states by President Muhammadu Buhari to halt the spread of the virus; a measure which some of the states also took.

Checks by Daily Trust, however, showed that some of the governors have been violating the interstate travel ban with recent trips to Abuja and Lagos undertaken either by flight or road. While some of the trips by the governors could be described as security-related, others were purely political. For instance, on Monday, June 1, Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo State visited President Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, to formally inform him of his intention to seek re-election for a second term.

The same day, the Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF) and Governor of Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu, led six of his colleagues to meet with the Comrade Adams Oshiomhole-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC on what was believed to be a last-minute effort to save Obaseki’s candidacy ahead of the APC primary election in Edo. Both the National Chairman of the APC, Comrade Oshiomhole, and Gov. Bagudu, however, dismissed the notion that the visit was to discuss the feud between the national chairman and his godson.

Governors sighted by our correspondents at the venue of the Monday meeting were those of Kebbi (Bagudu); Ondo (Rotimi Akeredolu); Lagos (Babajide Sanwo-Olu); Plateau (Simon Lalong); Kano (Umar Abdullahi Ganduje); Kwara (Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq) and Gombe (Muhammed Inuwa). Before the meeting with the NWC, a delegation of the governors met with the APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in Lagos, Gov. Bagudu confirmed while speaking with journalists on Monday.

The governors who were reported to have met Tinubu to deliberate on the internal crisis rocking Edo and Ondo chapters of the party ahead of the governorship elections were Bagudu, Akeredolu, Ganduje, Sanwo-Olu, Abubakar Badaru (Jigawa), Mai Mala Buni (Yobe), Adegboyega Oyetola (Osun), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun) and Godwin Obaseki (Edo). Also, Gov. Babagana Zulum of Borno State alongside Yahaya of Gombe had on Monday, May 18, attended the swearing-in ceremony of Waziri Bulama as the National Secretary of the APC at the party’s secretariat in Abuja.

66-Year-Old Man Who Lures, Rapes Children With Chocolate, Candy Arrested

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Alex Enemanna

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June 5, 2020

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Parents and concerned residents in Yobe State are calling for justice after they found out that a man in their community had been defiling little children by luring them with chocolate and candy.

Baba Sahabi, 66, a resident of Daban Kare area of Sabon Gari in Yobe State, allegedly lures the children into his compound before raping them.

Sahabi was arrested after parents noticed the girls expressing pain in their private areas, which had been damaged due to repeated defilement.

A resident of the area said, “He is always buying chocolate daily to use to lure the girls into his compound.

“The victims who live around his area were sexually abused several times by the randy man. He was said to have been very friendly with children and often offer them, sweets.

FG Write NASS, Seek Approval For $1.2Bn Agric Loan

“Parents of the victims said that they only discovered about the incident after the girls were showing signs of being in pain. A check on their bodies showed that the victims’ private parts were severely damaged as a result of a repeated assault.”

Sahabi is currently in police custody at the Gashua Area Command.

The arrest comes as cases of sexual violence against women and children are increasingly recorded across the country.

On Wednesday, SaharaReporters detailed how residents in Nguru area of Yobe State expressed anger after the Nigeria Police Force set free a man, who serially raped a seven-year-old refugee girl.

The resident, who spoke with SaharaReporters, said this was not the first time in Yobe that alleged rapists will be escaping justice.

“Last year a traditional ruler in Gashua was suspended for repeatedly sodomising a six-year-old boy. The traditional ruler was said to have been hijacking the boy every morning while riding on his bicycle to school, luring him to a room and raped him.

“Prominent politicians said to be connected to the traditional ruler were said to have been influencing the case and so far family of the victim’s hope of getting justice has been dashed,” he said.

Deal With The Incessant Rapes, Killings Now —Hon. Onyejeocha Charges Police

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ABN TV EDITOR

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June 5, 2020

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As the country records increasing cases of rape, the Deputy Chief Whip, House Of Representatives and the member representing Isuikwuato/Umunneochi Federal Constituency of Abia State, Hon Nkeiruka Onyejeocha has charged the police and other relevant security agencies in the Country To Fast Track Their Investigations On Reported Sexual Assaults On Nigerian Girls And Extra Judicial Killings.

Contributing in a motion raised on the floor of the House on Monday to a motion of Urgent Public Importance Raised At The Plenary By Rep. Rotimi Olagunsonye And Was Seconded By Rep.Taiwo Oluga, the forth time representative said Nigerian girls have become endangered species in the country.

She condemned in strong terms the rape and killing of a 100-level Microbiology student of University of Benin, Vera Uwaila Omozuwa and others.

She called on the police to treat with the needed seriousness issues of gender-based violence across the country.

FG Write NASS, Seek Approval For $1.2Bn Agric Loan

By

Alex Enemanna

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June 5, 2020

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The Federal Government, FG has written the National Assembly, seeking its approval for $1.2 billion agricultural loan from Brazil and Deutsche Bank; to set up mechanisation service centres in 632 local governments of the federation.

The $1.2 billion loans would be deployed under The Green Imperative programme, which is a Nigeria-Brazil Bilateral Agriculture Development Programme.

The programme would be implemented over a period of five to 10 years, with funding from the Development Bank of Brazil (BNDES) and Deutsche Bank; with insurance provided by Brazilian Guarantees and Fund Managements Agency (ABGF) and the Islamic Corporation for Insurance of Export Credit (ICIEC) of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and coordinated by Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV).

The loan agreement has been signed by the two countries; since 2017.

The programme, said Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, and his counterpart in Agriculture and Rural Development, Sani Nanono, during a joint press conference in Abuja, yesterday, would essentially be private sector-driven.

Mohammed also explained that the programme “is one of President Muhammadu Buhari’s initiatives to attract our younger ones into farming.

“This is a specific loan. It is coming to Nigeria and most of the loans would go to manufacturers of the knocked down components. It’s a loan in kind whereby those who would produce the knocked down items would be paid directly. “When it comes to Nigeria, it would create more jobs and reach more small-time farmers.

“The programme will lead to the following: Reactivation of six motor assembly plants in the six geopolitical zones of the country for assembling tractors and other implements.

“The programme will import the Completely Knocked Down (CKD) parts of about 5,000 tractors and numerous implements (for local assembly) annually for a period of 10 years.

“(The programme would lead to the) establishment of 142 agro-processing service centres for value addition, with one centre in each senatorial district, the establishment of 632 mechanization service centres to support primary production in the 774 local government areas and the Federal Capital Territory.

“This will create 774 service centres nationwide to mechanise our farming methods and process or add value to farm produce locally, leading to efficiency and eliminating post-harvest losses, thereby cutting down the cost of food all-year-round

“Private sector operators will operate and manage all the service centres and assembly plants.

“The programme will create about five million jobs and inject over $10 billion into the economy within 10 years. It will create a sustainable supply chain of agricultural raw materials for our large manufacturing companies to source locally, thereby saving billions of US dollars in food-related forex.

“It will train about 100,000 extension workers within three years and would impact over 35 million persons nutritionally and economically.

“Also, it will revitalise our Research and Extension service delivery through a five-year technology-package transfer component.”

Put Party Interest First, Gov Yari Tells Oshiomhole, Obaseki

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Alex Enemanna

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June 5, 2020

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Former Governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, has advised Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Oshiomhole, and Governor Godwin Obaseki, to put the interest of the party first as they go into the governorship primaries in Edo State.

Yari, who was at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on a private visit to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, called on Oshiomhole and Obaseki to tolerate each other no matter what their personal interests might be.

The governorship election slated for September 19, 2020, has been trailed by an intra-party feud between Oshiomhole and Obaseki.

Similar unresolved issues in Zamfara and Rivers states cost the APC electoral fortunes in the 2019 general election in Nigeria.

“I think as a party man and pioneer party person, the entire life is about tolerance.

“We have to tolerate one another and no matter what interest we have, we must put the interest of the party in our hearts. We should also look at the interest of the party as superior to any other interest.”

The former Zamfara governor said that there are laid down procedures of the party, insisting that such procedures must be followed in resolving issues in the party.

“The laid down procedure there is there; the rules are there; the constitution is there.

“Let us respect the constitution of our party and let us respect one another because the issue of part is not about me, it is not about the chairman, it is not about the president. It is a collective responsibility.

“Therefore, I think it is important for both the governor and the chairman to fine-tune how they are going to work for the safety of this party and for the purpose of winning election in Edo State,” Yari stated.

Thief Falls Asleep Inside Victim’s Car During Operation [Photos]

By

Alex Enemanna

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June 5, 2020

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A thief fell asleep in the middle of his operation after breaking into a TV presenter’s house in Tanzania.

Confirming the incident in an interview with East Africa Radio, ITV Zanzibar presenter, Farouk Karim said the thief entered his compound by scaling the fence.

The journalist added that the thief stole shoes and clothes before setting his sights on the car’s power windows.

Recounting the incident, Farouk said he left home early in the morning for morning exercise only to receive a call that a thief was found at his home.

When he returned home, he found the thief sleeping in his car.