Naija Sniffer: News Gossip Monger

sports prediction app Hitwin Predicts taking over Africa

noreply@blogger.com (KratosNG) — Sun, 14 May 2017 06:39:00 +0000

We have been observing the app for a while which is available on google play store...
Most users have been from Nigeria and Kenya with a little mix from Europe.
The CEO of the app (JayGan) in a recent interview says its just for fun but we think its far beyond that as many users takes it serious.
To download the app, Click here

Wenger Ready To Walk Out of Arsenal

noreply@blogger.com (KratosNG) — Mon, 20 Feb 2017 10:54:00 +0000

The signs haven't been great for Arsene Wenger since the start of the season
Too many times we have heard about stability and consolidation at Arsenal
That shouldn't be the case... they should be talking about winning trophies
Wenger's teams used to win things but they don't now... that's a big problem

For Arsene Wenger this season, the signs were not great on day one. Liverpool at home as the Premier League reconvened back in August and Arsenal were 4-1 down just after the hour.

The game had followed a pretty similar pattern to the one we witnessed in Munich on Wednesday. Arsenal emerged from half-time with the match tied at 1-1 only to concede three quick goals and effectively surrender the game.

On that occasion, there was a fightback. The game ended 4-3 to Liverpool and Wenger's team were spared humiliation at least.

James Bond takes over M-Net Movies

noreply@blogger.com (KratosNG) — Sat, 18 Feb 2017 12:44:00 +0000

James Bond, the savviest super spy in the world of cinema, has been handed an intriguing assignment: to infiltrate the homes of DStv Premium customers, and keep them spellbound for two weeks.

From Thursday, February 23,through Sunday, March 5, M-Net Movies will be screening every single Bond film ever made- from 1963’s vintage Dr No to the latest explosive big-budget blockbuster Spectre (2015)- on an extra-special M-Net Movies pop-up channel.
All the action will play out on DStv Premium. It can also be streamed live on DStv Now and enjoyed at your convenience on DStv Catch Up Plus (where available), which is available with a DStv Wifi Connector.
The M-Net Movies James Bond pop-up channel pays tribute to one of Hollywood’s biggest movie franchises, celebrating 55 years of Hollywood’s most charming secret agent. Over the course of two weeks, fans will be able to experience all the dapper tuxedos, iconic fast cars, sultry Bond girls, exotic locations, mind-blowing gadgets, deadly villains, unforgettable music, incredible title sequences and martinis… shaken, not stirred, of course.
The explosive 24 Bond films will be screened in chronological order with Sean Connery, the first actor to incarnate author Ian Fleming’s suave creation, embarking on the first mission on Thursday, 23 February. Thereafter, he will hand the Bond baton over to Roger Moore and the rest of the Bonds until Daniel Craig has dismantled Spectre on Sunday, February 26.

Man United boss Jose Mourinho reveals Saint-Etienne fury: This is what I said at half-time

noreply@blogger.com (KratosNG) — Fri, 17 Feb 2017 08:55:00 +0000

Zlatan Ibrahimovic bagged a hat-trick as United ran out 3-0 winners at Old Trafford.

But despite the result, Mourinho was less than happy with his side’s start to the last-32 tie.

And, speaking to MUTV after the match, he revealed how he whipped his players into shape at the break.

“My first message was that it is impossible to play football at a high level without concentration, without intensity,” said Mourinho. “That was the first message.

“After that I went through a couple of tactical details.

“I changed the team a little bit, but the most important thing was really the attitude.

“Because we started the game with an immediate back-pass to a striker to face Romero in a one-against-one, so we started pretty badly.”

United go to France for the second leg next Wednesday.

But before that Mourinho’s men face a trip to Blackburn in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Sunday.

New music: Walking out this mess - Sherry X Sarai

noreply@blogger.com (KratosNG) — Thu, 16 Feb 2017 14:39:00 +0000

Fresh tune from the duo who have translated a true life story into a masterpiece.

Click here to download

PDP Will Win In 2019 - Goodluck Jonathan

noreply@blogger.com (KratosNG) — Thu, 16 Feb 2017 13:07:00 +0000

Former Nigerian president, Goodluck Jonathan on Monday spoke on the possibility of The Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP), winning back the Presidential seat despite the loss to APC in the last election.

According to reports this was what he stated while receiving newsmen in Abuja.
While receiving a report from professor Jerry Gana, he maintained that PDP is still the biggest political party in Nigeria.

He said: "Yes we lost the presidential election but that doesn’t diminish us. Every other party still knows that PDP is a leading party.

"Losing the presidency is something temporary. We should be able to get that position back as long as we are able to get our acts together, I am happy that you people are working towards that."

On the direct primary, especially under presidential system of government recommended by the committee for picking its candidates for the future elections, Jonathan stated that this is the ultimate and best way of selecting candidates for elections.

"The best way to stop imposition is to make sure that people don’t control the delegates. How to select delegate is that at least 70 per cent of the delegates should not be under the control of anybody."

Download Music: Abi By Samklasic Ft Jaymvy, Mc, Kings

noreply@blogger.com (Naija Sniffer Admin) — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 13:45:00 +0000

Having largely gained reputation for bringing you good music and now hitting surprising heights with this upbeat danceable song which shows his versatility and resilience to bring you real music.

This is “ABI”, by Samklasic Ft Jaymvy, Mc, Kings; a self produced joint, served chilled to funk you up.
ABI is a lovely tune that will stay up in your playlists.

Download Now

Twitter Handles - @samklasique @Ayaya_Media @Ayaya_Tv @Teamayayamedia

Download Music: Wizkid Ft. Chris Brown, Trey Songz & French Montana Shabba

noreply@blogger.com (KratosNG) — Sun, 03 Jul 2016 12:17:00 +0000

Wizkid has dropped off a new song in what promises to be a banger and it's produced by MikeWillMadeIt.

The record features top American stars Chris Brown, Trey Songz & French Montana.

Click here to download

The Cost of Credit Report Mistakes

noreply@blogger.com (KratosNG) — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 13:00:00 +0000

Grapevine has it that the Federal Trade Commission in a 2012 study found 25% consumers with errors on their Credit Report.

Onalaska (a mother of two) had a busy yet, normal life until she stated noting some abnormal activities in her credit report.

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The 25 year old said,

“I was filing my taxes this year, and it popped up with an email address that didn't belong to me,”

Brittany found another mistake after checking her credit report.

“I saw a Comcast bill on there,” said Tostrud. “Well, I've never lived anywhere where there's a Comcast. So it started really to not add up.”

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While this young mom admits she expected her credit report would show a few bills she knew she hadn't paid on time, she didn't expect to see incorrect information start to stack up.

“Then it showed an Illinois address on my credit report, and I've never lived in Illinois,” said Tostrud. “So that kind of was a red flag right there that something wasn't right.”

“It happens quite frequently,’ said GECU collection manager and loan officer Jackie Mahlum-Paul.

Mahlum-Paul said she has worked with people who have found errors in their credit reports, and the consequences can be serious.

“It will always be a negative impact if there is an error,” said Mahlum-Paul. “The degree of negativity is determined by what kind of an error it might be.”

A 2012 Federal Trade Commission study of the U.S. credit reporting industry found 1 in 4 consumers identified errors on their credit reports that might affect their credit scores. Local law enforcement says if you find an error, act fast.

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“If there's debts, if there's creditors that you just don't have any idea why they're there, you need to contact us and file that police report, because most creditors are going to want a police report before they even start looking into it,” said Onalaska Investigator Chad Marcon.

To file a police report and start the process to determine if the mistake is the result of a credit reporting error or identity theft, Marcon says people should bring in proof.

“Whatever documents you've got from that creditor that you don't believe is true, bring in, and we will add that to the police report and pretty much take it from there,” said Marcon.

Once the police report is filed, the Federal Trade Commission website says there are two steps that need to be taken to correct the mistake. First, a person should write to the credit reporting company stating the inaccuracies and include copies of documents that support the claim. Click here for a sample dispute letter. The second step is to write to the company or organization that reported you to a credit company and state that you dispute an item in your credit report. Click here for a sample dispute letter.

These steps are exactly what Tostrud needs to do to have the misinformation removed from her credit report.

“It's just weird to see this address in Illinois keep popping up under my name,” said Tostrud.

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And she knows the importance of fixing the problem.

“All I know is I want to figure out how to get it taken care of and get it off my credit, because eventually it probably will start to hurt it, especially if people are opening up Comcast things, or whatever else, under my name and not paying them or just racking up bills. I don't want that to keep showing up on my credit,” said Tostud.

Once you report an error to one of the big three credit reporting agencies -- Trans Union, Equifax or Experion -- the credit reporting company usually investigates the claim within 30 days.

Business Strategies: Apple may be interested in buying the streaming-music service Tidal.

noreply@blogger.com (KratosNG) — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 09:00:00 +0000

The technology giant is talking to Tidal about a possible acquisition, but the terms being discussed are unknown and the negotiations could ultimately collapse without a deal, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

Tidal’s connections to popular musicians and entertainers like Kanye West and Madonna is apparently attractive to Apple as it tries to grows its own Apple Music catalog, the report said.

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Apple has been signing exclusive deals with musicians like Drake and Future to persuade more people to sign up for Apple Music, which it inherited by buying the parent of the Beats Music streaming service for $3 billion.

Tidal, which rapper and entertainment tycoon Jay-Z bought in 2015 for $56 million, is operated by a sort-of quasi-collective of musicians and entertainers including Beyoncé, Rihanna, and Kanye West.

It has been rocked by a series of lawsuits in recent months. In April, users filed a lawsuit seeking class action status against Tidal that claimed the company misled its users about a Kanye West album being exclusively released on the music service. In March, a music-publishing group and a musician sued Tidal for $5 million for allegedly failing to pay them royalties.

Get a College Degree Online

noreply@blogger.com (Naija Sniffer Admin) — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 15:17:00 +0000

With the situation of things during these hard-knock times you can get yourself a degree at your own convenience.
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Pursuing a bachelor’s degree online is a great option for students who need to attend classes on their own time, are working or are older students with some of their bachelor’s degree already completed, or are simply uninterested in more traditional campus life.

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Online Bachelor's Degrees list below
Accounting,
Business Administration and Management,
Business Technology Management,
Communication, Computer Science,
Criminal Justice,
Cybersecurity, Dietetics,
Early Childhood Education,
Electrical Engineering,
Elementary Education,
Engineering, Environmental Science,
Family and Human Development,
Finance,
Graphic Design,
Health Care Administration and Management,
Health Science, Homeland Security,
Information Technology,
Interior Design,
Liberal Studies,
Marketing,
Network Administration,
Nursing,
Paralegal Studies,
Political Science,
Psychology,
Public Safety Administration,
Special Education

Read more: http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/bachelors

Lawal gives hope to young footballers

noreply@blogger.com (KratosNG) — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 04:26:00 +0000

The COPA Coca-Cola coaching clinic recently received a visit from the famous ex-international, Garba Lawal, a 1996 Olympic gold medalist. The celebrated footballer was at the COPA Coca-Cola coaching clinic with ex-golden Eaglets coach, Hassan Abubakar to help the young players strengthen their confidence with several football drills and earnest motivational words, ahead of their group stage matches.

The veteran midfielder, Lawal who had 53 caps for Nigeria, lauded COPA Coca-Cola for helping the kids nurture their talents, while also building the nation’s football. He expressed that, “This initiative is fantastic, it is very important to the overall development of Nigerian football.”

Lawal spoke to the teams from Kano, Jigawa, Katsina and Zamfara state, who had all won at the grassroots phase of the COPA Coca-Cola tournament and currently gathered in Kaduna to contest at the COPA Coca-Cola regional stage, so that the North West region could have a representative at the upcoming national finals in Lagos.

Copyright PUNCH.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.

Contact: editor@punchng.com

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2018 World Cup: Nigerians write off Eagles chances

noreply@blogger.com (KratosNG) — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 04:26:00 +0000

’Tana Aiyejina

Top Nigerian football stakeholders have expressed pessimism over the Super Eagles’ chances of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia after the African draw for the qualifiers was conducted in Cairo, Egypt, on Friday.

The Eagles are drawn in Group B alongside Africa’s highest ranked team Algeria, perennial rivals Cameroon and 2012 African champions Zambia, in a pool analysts have described as the group of death. Twenty teams were drawn into five groups of four teams each, with the group winners qualifying for the World Cup.

Football administrator Shuaib Gara-Gombe dismissed Nigeria’s chances of qualifying immediately after the draw.

“You can call me names but Nigeria will not be at Russia 2018 World Cup. Any country willing to be at the World Cup should have a coach by now and should have also qualified for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations to further reinforce its team tactically and technically,” Gara-Gombe stated.

He added, “Nigeria should seize this opportunity of our unofficial ouster from the World Cup to reorganise our football administration completely. With the latest draw, which has Nigeria facing Algeria, Cameroon and Zambia, it is clear that Nigeria is out of the World Cup.”

Former Eagles winger Ndubuisi Okosieme said the national team would find it difficult qualifying since they’ve not had a coach since the exit of Sunday Oliseh in February. Samson Siasia and lately Salisu Yusuf have managed the side on a caretaker basis.

The 1988 AFCON silver medallist said, “We have a very big problem at hand because we are in a tight group. Zambia is okay but our major threat is Algeria and Cameroon. Things are really bad with Nigerian football at the moment and it’s going to be very difficult for us to qualify considering that we don’t have a coach few months to the beginning of the qualifiers. It’s going to be a big task; we need the grace of God to qualify for the World Cup from that group.”

Football analyst Adeniran Ogunsanya said the Eagles should forget the trip to Russia in 2018 if they hired the services of a local coach.

“We need a foreign coach to go past those teams. I will put my bet on it; with a local coach, we are not going to the next World Cup. We need a coach who can bring the best out of the boys and a local coach doesn’t have it. We are just wasting our time. Our best local coaches are no longer around,” Ogunsanya said.

“Cameroon is tough but Algeria is tougher. I was expecting something like that; both countries are better rated than us, so how are we going to go past them? Both nations qualified for the Nations Cup but we didn’t and this group is even tougher than our AFCON group. It’s time we have to know what we are doing. We have good players but it’s going to be either Cameroon or Algeria.”

A football fan Fred Oboh wrote off the Eagles chances completely.

“We don’t have the quality to beat the other teams and the players are not committed like it used to be in the past,” he said.

And former Eagles coach Adegboye Onigbinde said he was more concerned about how the team prepared ahead of the qualifiers.

“In my coaching career, I’ve never bothered about who I’m playing; I’ve never believed in the group of death. We all qualified to be there to play at that level. What we should concentrate on is building a strong team. This should include appointing a substantive coach for the team; this idea of an acting coach should stop if we want to be serious. All I care for is to ensure that the team is adequately prepared for the qualifiers,” he said.

But President of the Nigeria Football Federation Pinnick Amaju said the football body would appoint a substantive coach as they hope to begin preparations immediately for the qualifiers.

He stated, “You can never afford to underrate any team these days. Now we must quickly sort out the issue of head coach and his assistants and put every other thing in place in good time.

“It is a tough draw, but then I have always said that you have to beat the best to get to the World Cup. Now we have the draw, we know how to prepare. The preparation has to start right now and we must make good use of every single day leading to the kick-off of the series. We will prepare well and take it one match at a time.”

Contact: editor@punchng.com

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Who is to blame for the Osun hijab crisis? Aregbesola or CAN?

noreply@blogger.com (KratosNG) — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 04:26:00 +0000

Religious leaders share their opinions on the hijab crisis in Osun State

Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, Secretary-General, Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs in Nigeria

In my view, I think Governor Rauf Aregbesola committed no crime and did nothing that deserved blame. There is no debate about that. There are so many people accusing him of causing the crisis. Some people are religious bigots who are just trying to incriminate somebody because he belongs to another faith. I have not seen a sensible and logical submission by the persons blaming Aregbesola.

I believe that the crux of the matter is that some people want to continue to deprive Muslims of access to public schools while they turn round to say Muslims are not receptive to western education. If you check history, you will know that Muslims were averse to western education because of the possibility that it could change the perspective of their members about their faith. Indeed, when western education came, what it did, the havoc it caused in Muslim homes, was that it ‘de-islamised’ them and turned them to non-Muslims.

So, they avoided western education. We are now trying to make them embrace it, telling them that western education is compatible with Islamic ethos. Now that they are responding, some people want to discourage them because they are asking them to either take Islam or western education. That is how I see it because they were not the ones who chose to go to a particular public school. It was the government that sent them to the school of its choice. You cannot now say that ‘de-Islamising’ them is a condition to attend a school. I think you should also take note of what happened in Lagos.

Muslims were deprived of using hijab in Lagos; the Muslims went to court and as you know, the governor at that time (Babatunde Fashola) is a Muslim. But a Christian judge gave a judgment against the Muslims. What the Muslims did was to quietly appeal the judgement; they did not malign the judge; they did not malign the governor. They simply went to the appellate court.

Look at what is happening in Osun now. They went to court and the court gave a judgment. Then, they now mobilised people to blackmail the court. I think that is the height of lawlessness; I think that our courts should know that they cannot be blackmailed, no matter how vast the propaganda is. My suggestion is, and I will continue to appeal to Muslims, let us follow due process.

Fr Gabriel Osu, Director of Communications, Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos

I wonder what the problem is with that part of Nigeria. They are not talking about the standard of education and how to pay teachers’ salaries. Osun State should take a cue from Lagos State. It shouldn’t give in to parochialism and other narrow interests. I wonder which interest is being promoted in that part of the country. The hijab crisis is distractive; we should be talking about what to do for a better Nigeria. On whether to blame Governor Aregbesola or CAN, I think is not the time to apportion blame to anybody. The state government should follow what the law says about education; we should rise above religious sentiments. A former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, is a Muslim yet you saw the way he ran the state during his regime. So, rather than bicker over hijab or no hijab, we should seek to promote what is in public interest. The parties involved should dialogue and resolve their differences.

Prof. Adebayo Akinde, Archbishop of the Lagos Province of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion)

I believe that Nigeria has too many problems for leaders to be dwelling on that matter. Religious leaders, who should be agents of change , progress and peace, should not be involved in such a pedestrian issue. Education must be viewed from the right perspective and we must be careful not to mix religious issues with education. There are too many problems begging for attention. Wearing hijab or not should not take pre-eminence over other important issues. I want to passionately appeal to our religious leaders not to mislead their flock, not to allow politics or religion to create problems.

If a school is set up by Muslims and they say their pupils should wear hijab, let it be. As a Christian, we have a choice to enroll our children in such a school or not. Our leaders must be very careful not to lead the nation into a religious crisis; this is because religious war is very difficult to fight. On who to blame for the crisis, I don’t think Governor Rauf Aregbesola made any pronouncement on hijab as school uniform. I doubt if he made such a pronouncement because he is a reasonable man. It’s complicated because of some overzealous civil servants.

Yerima Shettima, President of Arewa Youths Consultative Forum
The issue of hijab is purely a religious matter and as far as I am concerned, a religious issue cannot be forced on anybody. People should be allowed to decide on how they want to live, either to use hijab or not. Let us not handle it as if it is a big issue. People are beginning to take advantage of it, and the hijab controversy has now become a political issue.

Let us not make it a do-or-die matter. Even before Allah, it is something that people voluntarily go for . You cannot force religion on anybody and even Prophet Mohammed did not force anybody to do anything as regards Islam. It is either you are a Muslim or you are not. If you are Muslim, you should do according to what Islam teaches. So, there is no big deal about all these.

Pastor Femi Emmanuel, Living Spring Chapel International

I honestly think Governor Aregbesola is to be blamed for the hijab crisis. The South-West has always been in peace. Christians even marry Muslims. The governor dragged the state into such a volatile situation.
The hijab crisis in the state is disturbing and very unfortunate. Ogun State has a Muslim as its governor, yet there is no disagreement between Christians and Muslims.
Lagos, which had a Muslim, Babatunde Fashola, as governor, has always been in peace. Why is it that Osun State is different? The state government must stop dragging religion into educational issues.

Tunde Popoola, immediate past national chairman of The Companion, an association of Muslim elite in business and investment market

I think both the state government and CAN should be blamed. The government may have created an atmosphere of suspicion in the way it has been handling religious issues in the state. Otherwise, it is not only in Osun that people wear hijab. If there had not been any religious undercurrent, CAN wouldn’t have acted the way it did.

I also find the reaction of CAN strange and intolerant. Hijab is a slab a Muslim wears to cover her head. How does it disturb anybody? I find their reaction strange, and I consider it as a high level of intolerance. It is just because some people don’t want to hear anything that has to do with Islam. In Oyo State, pupils wear hijab. In the United Kingdom, Muslim police wear hijab on their uniforms. Members of orthodox churches also cover their heads during prayers.

And even if they were not satisfied with the court ruling, there are other two levels of judicial process they could have explored. They should have appealed. People react negatively to anything that has to do with Islam even if it does not affect them. This breeds disunity, disharmony and suspicion. We are in a democratic regime; so, people should reflect on what their fellows are doing in a civilised manner. What they should have done initially was appealing the judgement, which is what they have just done.

Contact: editor@punchng.com

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Redefining Nigeria’s unity

noreply@blogger.com (KratosNG) — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 03:39:00 +0000

“Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?”

Amos 3:3

Most countries adopt the system of government which best suits their circumstances and people. Often adopted is federalism, a system in which power is shared between a central government and its constituent units. It is commonly attractive to countries with multiple cultural, ethnic, religious or lingual identities as it provides some form of autonomy and assures the flourishing of such identities within the system, while facilitating peaceful relations among the different groups.

Broadly divided into two categories: symmetric (where all the constituent units possess equal powers) and asymmetric (where the units possess unequal powers), part of the uniqueness of federalism is in the fact that, whatever type is practised, it is usually as agreed upon by all stakeholders.

Spain, for example, has what some call “imperfect federation” in which the central government grants different levels of autonomy to its substates, considerably more to some autonomous communities and considerably less to the others, out of respect for the nationalist sentiments and rights these regions have enjoyed historically.

Canada practises a combination of symmetric and asymmetric federalism, allowing Quebec, among other things, to operate its own pension plan and have extensive authority over employment and immigration issues within its borders.

The United States of America continues to practise symmetric federalism, with each of the 50 states in the Union having the same standing and powers, while Malaysia and India practise various forms of asymmetric federalism. The former grants two states significant autonomy in excess of that exercised by the other 11 states, and the latter makes special provisions for some states on certain issues.

One will discover that though these all practise federalism, there are no two countries where it is practised exactly the same way. Each country, with the consent of its people, determines what is best for it, based on its peculiarities.

Though Nigeria tilts more in the direction of symmetric federalism as practised in the US, its citizens have not had the privilege to go into dialogue and negotiate their co-existence.

And in almost every government that has led the country, corruption – among other things – has not allowed the authentic practice of this federalism. Ironically though, a couple of past governments have thought about it but shied away; the closest we have gone being the 2014 National Conference.

It is therefore not surprising that many groups in different regions of Nigeria cite marginalisation as the reason for their ethnic agitations. Yet, one of the advantages of federalism is that it helps to mitigate and manage conflicts, as it disperses power and allows groups and communi ties to self-determine their existence.

At this point in our national existence, we just have to come to terms with the fact that dialogue is inevitable in truly defining the basis and parameters of the relationship among and between the different groups and communities in this country.

Nigeria has a great future!

Taiwo Odukoya is the Senior Pastor, Fountain of Life Church, Ilupeju, Lagos

Contact: editor@punchng.com

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Taming rampaging students

noreply@blogger.com (KratosNG) — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 03:39:00 +0000

ON campuses across the country, hooliganism is fast gaining ascendancy as the preferred mode of student activism. At the slightest provocation, students feel the best way to ventilate their anger and showcase their radicalism is by unleashing mayhem on the academic community: destroying school property and generally turning themselves into a public nuisance. This is very distressing in a community that is supposed to embody decency, civility and serenity, providing an atmosphere for the stimulation of intellectual discourse and unrestrained pursuit of academic excellence.

Among the recent incidents are the ones recorded at the Auchi Polytechnic, the University of Nigeria (Enugu campus) and the University of Port Harcourt – three federal institutions located at Auchi, in Edo State, Enugu in Enugu State, and Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, respectively. At Enugu, students were said to have locked out workers who had reported for duty. Protesting against the lack of water and electricity supply, the students decided to occupy the school gates after they were prevented from marching to media houses in town to present their plight to the outside world.

This action taken by the UNN students is quite legitimate, especially as there was no report of wanton destruction of property. But the incidents at Auchi and Port Harcourt deserve investigation and decisive actions taken in accordance with the laws of the land because of the level of destruction that reportedly took place there. In Auchi, not only were buildings and scores of cars vandalised by the rampaging students, some of the critical pieces of equipment germane to learning were wilfully destroyed in an orgy of violence that is beyond justification. Luckily, the school authorities claimed that no lives were lost even though many people were reportedly injured; but the students insisted one person died. It took the arrival of riot policemen and soldiers to restore normalcy to the school.

At UNIPORT, the students could not just restrict their acts of vandalism and hooliganism to the campus; they invaded the town and made life difficult for people who had nothing to do with whatever grievances they nursed against the school authorities. After destroying buildings and other property within the campus, they went ahead to barricade adjoining roads in the city, including the very busy East-West Road, where they lit bonfires and disrupted traffic. There were also claims that people were killed, which the school authorities said must have taken place outside the campus.

These are very worrying trends. Nobody says students should not carry out marches and protests if they feel aggrieved; these should however be conducted in a civilised manner. According to reports, the reason for the mayhem in Auchi and Port Harcourt was that the students did not want to pay the agreed school fees, a precondition for taking examinations. It is still hard to imagine how the destruction of property should lead to their exemption from paying school fees.

It is high time the school authorities started treating this issue as pure criminality, for which the culprits should be brought to justice. These are acts considered quite unbecoming of people being groomed for leadership in the not-too-distant future. It is a trend that has to be curbed. If those involved are not made to account for their deeds, others will continue to assume that it is the right course of action to take, whenever they feel aggrieved about any policy.

This is what Afe Babalola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, tried to do when a similar incident occurred at the Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti. He had ensured that those who destroyed property and looted shops on the university campus were not only rounded up, but were arraigned in court, after which they were clamped in detention, like the criminals that they were. He had insisted on the law taking its course until he was prevailed upon by parents and prominent members of the society to change his mind.

Activism is part and parcel of university life the world over. A labour party politician and Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, John McDonnell, wading into issues of student unrest in the United Kingdom, said, “Universities should recognise that students have a right to protest as long as it is peaceful. We should be encouraging people to speak out and exercise their democratic right and to be involved in the society.”

Yet, when student demonstrations turned violent in London on November 4, 2015, 12 of the demonstrators who threw eggs and smoke bombs at officers were arrested for public order offences, even though their activities were described as a campaign for justice by the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn. Likewise, when authorities of the University of London felt that the demonstrations of December 2013 went beyond acceptable boundaries, they obtained a court injunction, banning students from demonstrating on campus for six months. About 41 students were also arrested in an action the university secretary said was meant to prevent the “violent and intimidating” behaviour of the students.

In Nigeria, activism in the past saw students engaging the government and school authorities constructively, especially on matters of national importance. Until the 1970s when students rioted over increase in the cost of feeding, student unionism was an instrument for positive impact on the society. This was the case, for instance, when students protested against the Anglo-Nigeria Defence Pact that would have seen Britain establishing a military base in Nigeria in the early 1960s.

The unionism of the days of Segun Okeowo as the student union leader, who represented the students at the Constituent Assembly that produced the 1979 Constitution, now seems to be gone for good. What you find on campuses now are groups that can be easily hired by politicians as thugs during elections. These are groups of hooligans in the garb of students that have been unleashing violence on campuses. The only way to stop them is to round them up wherever they carry out their destructive acts and ensure that they face the full weight of the law. Parents and guardians who do not wish to find their children and wards on the wrong side of the law should train them to be laws abiding before unleashing them on the society.

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How to acquire landed property with little or no money

noreply@blogger.com (KratosNG) — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 03:39:00 +0000

Abiodun Doherty

The simplest and easiest method of buying properties is to pay cash. The seller is happy and you are happy. There is no need for extra paper work and security, which you will need to comply with if you are sourcing the funds from a third party. There are no monthly payments and thus, less sleepless nights if you have a drop in your cash flow or lose your job if you are an employee.

However, if you do not have the cash that you need to buy a property, there is no need to be discouraged. All you need is to become more creative and all things being equal, you will eventually achieve your dream of home ownership. There is always a way for those who are willing to pay the price to find it. There are several ways of acquiring properties other than paying the full amount upfront as it is usually the case in Nigeria.

If you have no money at all but you are knowledgeable about real estate, it is possible to convert your effort into a property or properties. Most professionals who work in the real estate sector, depending on the circumstances, can choose to be paid in kind rather than in cash or part cash and part in property. In this case, your equity is what is called sweat equity. Several real estate professionals are familiar with this and can share their own experiences in this regard.

Take the case of an estate surveyor engaged by traditional land owners to carry out a survey of a large expanse of land, but the owners cannot afford to pay his or her professional fees. In most cases, they offer to pay professional fees using the land in lieu. This same arrangement is applicable to all those who are engaged in one aspect of real estate investment or the other. The critical point to note is that it is possible to trade your effort, skill or professionalism for real estate.

Another easier way of buying a property is to team up with other people who are interested in acquiring properties but do not have enough money set aside for the purpose. This is the philosophy behind cooperatives. With small monthly payments, you can become part of a big estate project and benefit from the values that coming together creates. One of the benefits is that when you buy land in acres and hectares, it gives you greater negotiating powers with the seller. It is possible for you to negotiate and be given bigger discounts that may not be available to an individual buyer.

Buying properties off plan is another way to come on board a property investment train. Developers are often pressed for money at the inception of their project. Some have to borrow from financial institutions at very high interest rates before they can commence their project. Thus, it is in their interest to have investors even before they put the first block on the ground. Such an expression of interest in the project that is backed with cash deposit considerably reduces the financial burden on the project. Also quite naturally, it draws several other people to the project. Many developers have several options and concessions available to early investors.

In addition, if you are already investing in real estate you can scale up by trading your present property for the one you desire. Several years ago I was impressed with the creativity of a woman who wanted to buy a property at a strategic location for use as a gas station. She did not have enough cash, but was able to convince the seller to accept two properties that she had in exchange for the difference. She did not allow her limited finances at that time to hinder her dream.

These days, there are several real estate companies that have payment in installment in place to encourage first-time real estate investors. This innovation is making buying a property easier for first time buyers in particular. This method of paying for a property is considerably cheaper than mortgages with their current high interest rates. All you need is to find the right scheme that fits your budget on monthly or quarterly basis, do your due diligence and go for it.

Finally, the principle behind all these creative solutions is that there is a way if you seek for one. Remember that if you negotiate for a fixed purchase price at the start of any of these arrangements, you are going to benefit from the capital appreciation that the property will gain. Many investors have used this principle to cash in on an appreciation that occurred when the project they had bought off plan was completed.

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To everything, its place

noreply@blogger.com (KratosNG) — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 03:20:00 +0000

The issue, I understand, is the flaunting of religious markers in public educational institutions. Let me begin by confessing that I envy the French to whom those choices have only been recently thrust to the fore – they have always been with us in Nigeria. I also envy those to whom the issues are straightforward, and permit of dogmatic positions. In normal circumstances, perhaps, I would agree that it should be a non-issue. It is tempting to simplify the debate by evoking the nature of club membership – a public school has certain rules, and if you wish to be a member, or make use of its facilities, then you must conform to those rules or seek alternatives elsewhere.

However, the world we inhabit has changed vastly and dramatically over the past few decades, and club rules – like race or sex differentiated membership rules – are no longer sacrosanct. In addition, the genie is out of the bottle and the beasts of intolerance, suspicion and polarisation stalk the streets. Dialogue is mostly relegated to the status of a poor relation of terror and intimidation, barely tolerated, often mocked. Conscious of the fact that the present dialogue is being conducted within such an atmosphere, it may be helpful if I began with a reference to my personal response when a directly contrary policy was announced in my own country, Nigeria, and not just recently. It happened about 20 years ago, long before the introduction of the Sharia – the Islamic law – in a number of states within the country.

After several decades of independence, during which the issue of school uniforms in public schools never emerged as a volatile social problem, I was appalled when a Minister of Education ordered that secondary school pupils should be allowed to dress in a distinct fashion that was favoured by their religious belonging. What I experienced was, frankly, a deep sense of revulsion at this insertion of a wedge of difference among the youth, at a period in their lives when they should be saved from the separatist imbecilities of the so-called adult world. My response was visceral and instinctive, and I realised that this move had savaged a deep held social philosophy within me that I had always taken for granted.

The contributive effects of upbringing to such a reaction cannot be ruled out, so let me also state my own background. The schools that I attended – both primary and secondary – observed the tradition of the school uniform. The primary school was an Anglican missionary school whose uniform – a khaki shirt, a pair of shorts and bare feet – could not, by any stretch of the imagination be attached to any religion – from the traditional orisa worship of the Yoruba to Zoroastrianism. My secondary school – or High School as it is known in some parts – was a boarding school. On Sundays, Christian service was conducted in the chapel while, on Fridays, Muslims gathered for their devotion. On Saturdays, the Seventh Day Adventists received an automatic exeat, went into town for their version of the Christian worship . Even Sunday devotion among the Christians respected differences. Roman Catholics as well as Pentecostal – known as the aladura – went their own spiritual ways. In short, although this school, a state-owned school, could be said to be basically oriented towards an Anglican tradition, freedom of worship for every pupil was not only guaranteed but structured into the school’s routine. The minister’s claim that the uniforms worn by pupils in the various secondary schools were “Christian” was so specious that even a number of his Muslim peers expressed deep scepticism about his motives. Those motives are reflected today in the deep social cleavages that have become exacerbated over time, and now express themselves in religious clashes of increasing savagery.

The basic question for me is this: What does adult society owe its younger generation in a world that is so badly torn by differences? Having observed alternative examples in practice, and weighed them without the burden of religious partisanship, I find the model of my upbringing infinitely preferable to most others. It proposes that, while the right of religious worship, even in schools, should remain sacrosanct, society profits in the long run from severely muting the overt manifestation of religion in places of public education. Now, I am positioning myself here on a platform of principle, not of details. We may find that some religious augmentation of a school’s dress code is not obtrusive, while others violently blare forth! I associate myself, basically, with a policy of creating the maximum possible sense of oneness within the younger generation. Allowance having been made for differences on those days allocated to spiritual exercises of choice, I see no harm done to the young mind when it is thereafter bound with others in routine expressions of a common identity, and that includes, most prominently, the school uniform.

If we may approach this issue obliquely and push aside religion for the moment, I should add that I hold the same view of schools where absolute freedom of dress is permitted school pupils. What that has meant is that children from affluent homes can attend school in designer clothing, forming associations distinguished by an elitist consciousness, in contrast to the farmers’ and workers’ children who can just about scrape together the odd pieces of castoff dressing from charity or second class clothing markets. A simplistic reading of the rights of children to individual self-expression is responsible for this takeover of the learning environment by fashion parades, a sight that is so prevalent in countries like the United States. My objection to this rests on the recognition that the modern school is an equivalent of the age-grade culture in traditional societies. There, the rites of passage from one phase of social existence to the next, are bound by rules that eliminate exhibitionism, and that includes a strict dress (or undress) code. The purpose of this is to create a common group solidarity distinguished only by age and learning aptitudes, enabling the pupil to imbibe not only a formal education but the sense of place and responsibilities within the overall community. At the heart of this strategy is purposeful leveling. This is the one place, in a child’s life, where the child can see the other as a human equal, as, very simply, another human being.

In a situation that involves a plurality of faiths, a common dress code thus strikes me as a medium of secular arbitration, a function that is thereby vitiated by a blatant divergence from the uniform. To revert for a moment to our own Nigerian experience, the action of that Minister of Education in decreeing a duo form policy – as I dubbed it at the time – in place of the uniform, was a denial of a profound educational virtue in the personality formation of our youth. That equipment is a foundation block in the acquisition of the concept of oneness, one that does not interdict the celebration of the pupils’ faiths with their families at home, in places of worship outside the school, and in religious season.

Six to eight hours each day, five or six times a week, in a basically undifferentiated companionship of their age group, a period that is interspersed with huge spaces of vacation weeks during the year, strikes me as being not too great a sacrifice for parents to make, and I must stress that this “sacrifice” is made, not by the children, but by the parentage, the adult stakeholders who are so obsessed with re-living their lives, with all acquired insecurities and prejudices, through their offspring. That sacrifice, or danger, exists only in the parental mind, since no child loses his or her spiritual bearings simply from the removal or addition of a piece of tissue or headgear from an outfit for a few hours a day. Left alone, children create their own world. They should be encouraged to do so. They re-enter another world on returning home and again, left alone, harmonise both and others without any anguish. In itself, this constitutes part of their educational process, and makes their existence a richer one. Learning includes cultivation of an adjustment capability. I should add that I take this position within the context of a situation where private educational institutions – which include missionary owned schools – are permitted. Such schools are then free to decree their own modes of dressing, but their curricula should also be routinely vetted by the state – for reasons that I hope, are obvious. Schools should never be allowed to serve as an instructional field for the curriculum of hate in the young mind.

Boko Haram did not happen overnight. If I happen to believe that youths should be weaned away from any sense of class distinction through a display of affluence in school, it is only logical that the more insidious demonstration of religious difference should be equally discouraged. “I am wealthier than you”, as an attitude among the youth earns our immediate disapprobation. Even more binding an institutional responsibility should be the attenuation of all buntings that, today especially, leave impressionable youth with the message: “I am holier than thou.”

In the name of whatever deity – or none – that we believe in, leave these youths alone! Subject them to a uniform character formative discipline. Don’t give them airs – spiritual or material – and do not fight surrogate wars through their vulnerable being. If there is an after-life of well deserved “weeping and gnashing of teeth” called hell, it is surely reserved for those who foster a mentality of separatism in humanity at an age when the sense of oneness, of bonding, comes instinctively, effortlessly, and selflessly.

This write-up by Prof Soyinka is only slightly altered from a 2008 contribution to a symposium at UNESCO, Paris.

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How Buhari is harming the North and Nigeria

noreply@blogger.com (KratosNG) — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 03:20:00 +0000

With last week’s appointment of Mr Ibrahim Idris as the Acting Inspector-General of Police, President Muhammadu Buhari further made the headship of virtually all the military-cum-defence agencies and related agencies which wear uniform a Northern affair.

show the following: Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, North; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar, North; Acting Inspector General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris, North; Minister of Defence, Brig Gen (retd) Mansur Dan Ali, North; National Security Adviser, Major Gen (retd.) Babagana Munguno, North; Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr Ibrahim Magu, North; Director-General, Department of State Services, Mr Lawal Daura, North; Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service, Col Hameed Ali (retd.), North; Comptroller-General, Nigerian Immigration Service, Mr Kure Abeshi, North; Controller-General, Nigerian Prisons Service, Alhaji Ja’afaru Ahmed, North; Commandant-General, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Mr Abdullahi Muhammadu, North; Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps, Brig Gen Sule Kazaure, North; Comptroller-General of the Federal Fire Service , Mr Garba Anebi, North.

If it is recalled that the Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Damazzau (retd.), under whose ministry are Prisons Service, Immigration Service, Fire Service and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, is also from the North, then the Ministry of the Interior with its agencies is virtually controlled by the North in clear breach of the Federal Character policy enshrined in the constitution.

Furthermore, even though it was not Buhari that did it, yet for the first time in the history of Nigeria, all the three arms of government are headed by Northerners: Executive, President Muhammadu Buhari; Legisture, Dr Bukola Saraki; and Judiciary, Justice Mahmud Mohammed.

In addition, the two arms of the legislature are headed by Northerners: Dr Bukola Saraki, Senate President, and Mr Yakubu Dogara, Speaker, House of Representatives.

Currently, the three levels of the law courts are headed by Northerners: The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is Justice Mahmud Mohammed (North); the President of the Court of Appeal is Justice Zainab Adamu Bulkachuwa (North); while the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court is Justice Ibrahim Auta (North). It should be recalled that in 2015, Buhari appointed Alhaji Abubakar Malami as the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, also from the North.

Furthermore, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, which supervises the conduct of national and state elections, is also a Northerner: Prof. Mahmood Yakubu. The unwritten code used to be that the President of the country would appoint someone from a different zone (different language, different religion) as the INEC Chairman to give a sense of balance and increase the believability in the “independence” of INEC. That was why many people raised their voices when Buhari appointed Yakubu, who is from Bauchi State, just one state away from Buhari’s Katsina State, as the INEC boss; for even though Bauchi is grouped under the North-East, it is not seen as being culturally and religiously different from Katsina. It is like a President from the South-East appointing an Igbo from Delta State or Rivers State as INEC Chairman because Delta and Rivers are technically in the South-South, or a President from the South-West appointing a Yoruba from Kwara and Kogi as INEC Chairman on the grounds that Kwara and Kogi are in the North.

The argument of those who support this dangerous precedent is that what matters is getting those who are qualified and who will get the required results. But that argument is baseless. Statistics show that the North does not come close to the South in education and manpower. Year after year, statistics from the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board show that any pair of Imo State and Delta or Imo State and Ogun or Imo State and Anambra produces more candidates than the 19 states of the North. State-by-state performance statistics in senior secondary school examination from NECO and WASSCE also show that no Northern state usually appears among the top 10 states. Admission into Unity Schools follows the same trend. That is why the least cut-off marks are given to Northern states. However, competent hands can be found in abundance from all zones and states of Nigeria.

In addition, if it does not matter where office holders come from, why didn’t Buhari choose popular politicians like Kwankwaso, Atiku Abubakar, Nasiru el-Rufai or Aminu Tambuwal, all fellow Northerners, as his running mate? He knew that if he had done that, he would have lost the election, no matter how “qualified, clean and popular” he and his running mate were. These two points testify to the fact that Buhari benefited from zoning and balancing of offices.

Furthermore, our constitution states that federal appointments must reflect federal character. Buhari has only reflected that in the appointment of ministers. In other appointments, he has disregarded that aspect of our constitution that he swore to uphold.

The danger in this is that in future, a Southern President may decide to do something worse than what Buhari is currently doing. If any part complains, they will be given ample evidence of how it was done in the past by Buhari and many people rationalised it. In addition, a diverse country like Nigeria needs the President to take actions and make statements that show that he treats all parts of the country equally. Much of the tension and crisis in the country today can be attributed to the obvious unfairness that Buhari has displayed in his one year in office. A President with an all-inclusive orientation would have won over the majority of those who did not even vote for him within his six months in office. But Buhari’s actions show that he does not care. He seems to say: “You can say whatever you like or do whatever you like, it will not stop me from carrying on the way I like.”

One of the points those who opposed Buhari’s presidential ambition raised against him was that given his antecedents, he would not be fair to all Nigerians based on ethnicity and religion. By his actions and utterances, he has not proved that view wrong. This does not augur well for the unity, peace and progress of the nation.

Even some Northern groups and personalities like Alhaji Balarabe Musa, a former Kaduna State governor; Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, Chairman of the Northern Elders Forum; and Dr Junaid Mohammed, Convener of the Coalition of Northern Politicians, academics, professionals and businessmen, who see the bigger picture and the inherent danger in this trend, have raised their voices against this trend by Buhari.

As the President of Nigeria, Buhari is like the father of the nation. A father who loves his home and wants the peace and progress of that home avoids actions and utterances that will show he favours some children and create a gulf among his children.

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Stepmother remanded for cutting off baby’s penis

noreply@blogger.com (KratosNG) — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 03:20:00 +0000

Samson Folarin

A 22-year-old woman, Bara’atu Rabiu, has been remanded in the Minna Medium Security Prison for allegedly cutting off the penis of her rival’s one-month-old baby, Buhari.

She was arraigned on Monday on one count of attempted homicide before a Chief Magistrate’s Court in Minna.

PUNCH Metro learnt that Bara’atu allegedly cut off the victim’s penis at their home in Kuta town, Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State.

It was learnt that the suspect had been married to her husband, Mohammed Rabiu, for seven years, without a child.

She allegedly cut off the baby’s penis to punish him for marrying a second wife.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Bala James, explained that the suspect wanted to kill the victim, adding that the child, who was named after President Muhammadu Buhari, survived the attack.

He said, “The woman used a sharp knife to cut through the genitals of the one-month-old baby. She had been married to her husband for seven years without any child. So, out of pressure, the man decided to marry a second wife.

“When the second wife had a baby, she became angry and frustrated. She thought the best thing to do was to kill the child.

“On June 21, around 10pm, she took the baby to the backyard of their house and used a sharp knife to cut off his penis.

“The cry of the baby attracted neighbours, who rushed to the place and found him in a pool of blood. The suspect wanted to run away, but she was overpowered. She was handed over to the police, while the baby was taken to a hospital.”

The baby was said to have been taken to the Accident and Emergency Ward of the Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida Specialist Hospital, Minna.

Our correspondent was told that a surgical operation to enable him to pass out urine was immediately performed.

The Head of Department, General Outpatient Ward of the hospital, Dr. Ahmed Mohammed, said the boy might never regain the use of his private parts.

He explained that all the tissues in the affected part had been dead before he was brought to the hospital.

He said, “He is doing well – health-wise. He survived the attack. However, there is no assurance of the penis getting back because all the tissues were dead when he was brought into the hospital. We just had to conduct a surgery for him to be able to pass urine.

“Medically, for him to regain the use of his manhood will be difficult. If the team that was supposed to work on him had been around immediately, maybe the situation would have been different. For such a case, you need a general surgeon, a neurologist and a plastic surgeon. But these were not available. His future right now is in the hands of God. Another possibility is if there is artificial attachment.

“I really pity the boy’s condition. I cannot imagine that somebody will do this to a baby. It is better for the child to die than for him to be in this condition. Even if he survives, what purpose will he be living for?”

The suspect, who was arraigned on Monday on one count of attempted homicide, was remanded in prison by the court.

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Vandals kidnap Arepo landlord, demand N10m ransom

noreply@blogger.com (KratosNG) — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 03:20:00 +0000

Samson Folarin

Some suspected pipeline vandals have abducted a landlord, Samson Olufemi, on Voera Estate, Arepo area of Ogun State.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the vandals had entered the estate through the creek and scaled the fence into the victim’s house on Michael Ajao Street.

They were said to have turned off his generator to trick him out.

Our correspondent was told that Olufemi, who worked in a brewery, however, sent his son outside to check what went wrong and restart the generator.

The vandals were said to have emerged from their hideout, forced the boy back into the house and abducted his father.

Our correspondent gathered that the victim had only packed into the estate four months ago, after completing the building.

A resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the vandals looted the family’s valuables before disappearing with Olufemi into the creek.

He said, “The incident happened last Friday night. The vandals jumped over the fence into the man’s house and switched off his generator.

“The man, who was surprised that the generator went off, asked his son to go check what happened. The boy went out, turned on the generator and was about going inside when the vandals held him. They asked him to lead them inside.

“When they got in, they ransacked the building and took jewellery, mobile phones, laptops, an iPad, and money. They took all the valuables they could lay their hands on. After they finished, they disappeared with the man.”

A source said the vandals had been communicating with Olufemi’s wife, adding that they had demanded N10m as ransom.

It was gathered that the case was reported at the Ibafo Police Division.

PUNCH Metro had reported that the vandals shot dead an Assistant Superintendent of Police in the locality about a month ago.

A resident, who called for government’s help, said security took a turn for the worse when the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation stopped pumping fuel through the pipelines in the community.

He explained that people had been leaving the estate in droves, saying residents could no longer sleep with their eyes closed.

He said, “They have always been in the creek, but they never gave us any problem. However, when there were no more pipelines to burst, they unleashed terror on us.

“The first time they came, they said, ‘Since you are the ones that asked them to stop pumping fuel, you will now be providing the food we will eat.’ We want the government to send them out of the creek so we can have peace of mind.”

A landlord, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said efforts by residents to increase security in the area had been abortive.

He said, “We arranged with some military personnel to patrol our estate, but it didn’t work. The route through which the vandals usually enter into the estate was illuminated. It also didn’t work.

“What makes us prone to the attacks is that the estate is surrounded by water.”

The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Muyiwa Adejobi, confirmed the kidnap, adding that investigation was ongoing.

He said, “We are on it. We suspect they are militants. There was a meeting today involving the government and stakeholders on how to put an end to their criminal acts in Ogun State, including the attacks on our communities. We will rescue the victim.”

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Computer teacher gives schoolgirl N30 after rape

noreply@blogger.com (KratosNG) — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 03:20:00 +0000

Olaleye Aluko

The police in Lagos State have arrested a computer teacher, Cosmos Ubaja, for allegedly raping a 14-year-old schoolgirl in the Owutu area of Ikorodu.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the victim, Victoria (pseudonym), was lured by the suspect when she went to his shop to make photocopies after school hours.

Our correspondent gathered that Victoria, who attends a public secondary school in Owutu, Ikorodu, had been allegedly raped by the suspect on several occasions in eight months.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the victim, who is in Junior Secondary School, Class 3, was given pittances such as N50, N100 and N30, each time the suspect raped her.

It was learnt that the suspect, who owns a computer centre in the area, was contracted by the school to teach the junior pupils computer studies.

PUNCH Metro was told that the suspect gave Victoria N30 after the latest rape, which occurred on Wednesday, June 1, 2016.

A police source told our correspondent that the bubble burst when the girl complained to her mother that she had stomach pains and her menstrual cycle was affected.

She said, “Ubaja is married with a son. He is not a worker of the state government. The school just arranged with him to be teaching the pupils computer studies since he has a computer centre.

“He works on the school’s examination papers and answer sheets. The school is in a very quiet community. Pupils usually go to his centre to make photocopies and train with his computers.

“The suspect had been raping the girl for months. He gave her between N30 and N100 each time. The girl kept the secret away from her parents.

“But the last time he raped her, she complained to her mother that she was having stomach pains and her menstruation had stopped. She was then taken to a private hospital.

“That was where it was discovered that she had been raped several times. The girl confessed that it was the computer instructor who raped her and he was arrested. He has also confessed to the crime.”

Our correspondent learnt that the matter, which was reported at the Owutu Police Division, was also reported to the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team, Alausa.

The DSVRT team took the victim for a checkup at the Mirabel Centre, Ikeja.

The group’s Coordinator, Lola Vivour-Adeniyi, said the matter had been transferred to the Gender Unit of the Lagos State Police Command.

She said, “The matter got to our attention on Monday, June 20. The 14-year-old girl was raped by her computer teacher near the school’s premises.

“The teacher and some individuals around the school initially pleaded with the girl’s parents not to report to the police. Fortunately, they rejected the plea.

“The perpetrator is in police custody and the case has been transferred from the division to the Gender Unit at the police headquarters, Ikeja. The Directorate of Public Prosecutions has also requested the duplicate case file.”

The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, had yet to reply to a text message sent to her phone on the incident.

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FMC’s chief accountant kidnapped in Ondo

noreply@blogger.com (KratosNG) — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 03:20:00 +0000

Peter Dada, Akure

The Chief Accountant of the Federal Medical Centre, Owo, Ondo State, Mr. Kayode Asaju, has been kidnapped by suspected gunmen.

Asaju, who was on his way to Abuja, was reportedly abducted on Sunday on the Lokoja-Abuja Road.

A source in the hospital told our correspondent on Monday that Asaju was on his way to Abuja for an official meeting scheduled in the Federal Capital Territory, before the hoodlums stopped his vehicle on the highway and took him away.

The source added that the suspected kidnappers had contacted the family of the victim and demanded N5m as ransom.

Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer, Ondo State Police Command, Mr. Femi Joseph, said the command would work with the Kogi State Police Command to ensure the accountant was rescued unhurt.

“Though it did not happen in our jurisdiction, we will join forces with the Kogi State command to rescue the victim. He will be released very soon,” the spokesman said.

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25 injured as truck crushes seven vehicles

noreply@blogger.com (KratosNG) — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 03:20:00 +0000

Mudiaga Affe, Calabar

No fewer than 25 persons have been seriously injured after an overloaded truck belonging to Dangote Cement rammed into seven vehicles at the Odukpani Junction in Cross River State.

The truck, which was reportedly overloaded with bags of cement, was said to have lost control due to the recklessness of the driver.

The unregistered truck, which had the number ICT-11F-050 inscribed on it, crushed seven vehicles, including a Toyota Sienna (Abuja: HZ 719 ABC); Volkswagen Golf (Akwa Ibom: AE 900 TTU); Suzuki (Cross River: DUK 17 XA); Mercedes Benz 190E (Abuja: AS 774 RSH); Toyota Highlander (DUK 273 AA) and a motorcycle.

A survivor told PUNCH Metro that the accident occurred around 7.45pm on Sunday, adding that no life was lost as of the time of the crash.

The victim, who asked not to be named, explained that no rescue agency was in sight hours after the incident, alleging that a team of policemen fled the scene as soon as the accident happened.

He said the cement-laden truck was heading towards Calabar.

He said, “It (truck) first hit the Toyota Highlander, which was heading towards Calabar. After that, it hit the Toyota Sienna, and then the Volkswagen Golf. It then crushed the Mitsubishi car before the Mercedes Benz.”

An eyewitness, Matthew Michael, said it took the intervention of other road users to bring out the injured victims from their vehicles and convey them to various hospitals in Calabar.

A motorist, Mr. Ayuba Kunle, who joined in the rescue operation, said a total of 25 persons were taken to hospitals.

Kunle lamented that the exercise took over four hours as motorists were reluctant to render assistance.

He said, “Motorists were reluctant to convey the injured victims to hospitals. A few of us had to use our vehicles to convey the victims to the hospitals.

“Some policemen, who were in a patrol vehicle, left the scene as soon as the accident occurred.”

The state Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Mr. Ikechukwu Igwe, said his men later joined in removing the damaged vehicles from the road.

He noted that the accident was caused by reckless driving.

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Salesgirl in a coma after rape by hoodlums

noreply@blogger.com (KratosNG) — Tue, 28 Jun 2016 03:20:00 +0000

Some hoodlums have raped a salesgirl (name withheld) to a coma after beating her at the Ekuigbo community of Ughelli-North Local Government Area of Delta State.

The incident occurred on Monday at a store where the victim sold fish feed. The girl was said to be in her 20s.

It was gathered that the incident was one of several rape cases in the community as the wife of a popular hotelier had also been reportedly attacked and raped last Friday.

A source told our correspondent that the girl was found naked in a pool of blood by a trader in the area.

“The victim was left at the point of death after she was raped by some boys. She was discovered naked by the owner of an adjoining shop in the same building. The woman then raised the alarm.

“Sympathisers helped to rush her to a hospital,” a witness told our correspondent.

The witness described the incident as shocking, calling on security agencies to act quickly to forestall rape incidents in the area.

The Police Public Relations Officer of the Delta State Police Command, SP Celestina Kalu, confirmed the incident, adding that investigations were ongoing.

Contact: editor@punchng.com

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