by Admin | Oct 5, 2016 | Blog |
Follow @NigeriaPI A former minister of environment, Mrs. Laurentia Laraba Mallam and her 73 year old husband, Mr Pius have been kidnapped, in Jere area of Kagarko local government in Kaduna State. A family source who confirmed the development said that the duo were kidnapped on Monday night on their way to Kaduna from Abuja. According to the source, the abductors are demanding 10 million ransom to release them. It was learnt that the driver of the former minister was shot on his left hand by the gunmen. Mrs Laurentia served under former president Goodluck Jonathan. She hails from Kaduna...
by Admin | Oct 5, 2016 | Blog |
Follow @NigeriaPI A Federal High Court, sitting in Jos, Plateau State, has issued a bench warrant for the arrest of a former Governor of Gombe State, Senator Danjuma Goje, for refusing to show up in court. The EFCC said in a Facebook post that Goje, who is being charged with an alleged N25bn fraud, might be arrested on Wednesday (today) if he failed to show up in court. The statement read, “A Federal High Court, sitting in Jos, Plateau State, on October 4, 2016 (Tuesday) issued a bench warrant against former Governor of Gombe State, Danjuma Goje, for refusing to show up in court. The warrant is however to take effect by 8am on October 5, 2016, if he fails to show up in court again.” Among several charges, Goje, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, is accused of illegally awarding a N1bn contract for the supply of dictionaries to secondary schools while he was governor of the state. At the last sitting, a prosecution witness, Salisu Abaji, said the ex-governor awarded a contract for the supply of dictionaries for over N1bn to Gombe State Universal Basic Education Board without following procurement process. He was also alleged to have paid 85 per cent of the contract sum upfront to the supplier, Real and Integrated Hospitality Company, as against the prescribed 15 per cent as contained in the UBEB guidelines when he was the governor. The prosecution witness, who is a former secretary to UBEB, made this testimony against his former boss. He further submitted that one Aliyu el-Naffty, former UBEB chairman, also an accused person standing trial...
by Admin | Oct 4, 2016 | Blog |
Follow @NigeriaPI Owing to the frustration that comes with difficulty in securing admission into choice universities in Nigeria, many youths of university age have fallen victim to fake admission racketeers. In the process, many waste vital years ‘chasing shadows,’ only to learn of their hard reality years later. But while some victims have been able to rise above the disappointment and move on, many have been disillusioned and their ambitions wrecked for life. Dorcas Egede explores the travails of some ‘fake admission’ victims and how they have managed to pull through. PROBABLY by virtue of Nigeria’s population and the sheer size of its youth demography, securing a university admission in the country has for decades been a herculean task. A quick look at Nigeria’s Demographics Profile (2014) showed that out of a whopping estimated population of 177,155,754 people, youths between the ages of 15-24 constituted 19.3%: 17,486,117 male and 16,732,533 female, totalling 34,218,650. That is not to talk of the spill-over in the 25-54 category, where the nation boasted of a whopping 54million. As a result, high school graduates who feel time is fast running by and that they may be losing out on the appropriate time to go for higher education usually get desperate. In the process, they fall into dubious hands, who take advantage of their predicament by offering them ‘admission’ and ultimately getting their fingers burnt – so to speak. Augustine Orireosobua Anyanna, 32 is one of such youths. Sitting on the pavement in front of his Surulere home, Anyanna narrated the arduous journey he had to undertake, just to get a university admission and further...
by Admin | Oct 4, 2016 | Blog |
Follow @NigeriaPI A firm, Bedding Holdings Limited (BHL), and its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Sylvester Odigie, have sued a businessman, Alhaji Dahiru Barau Mangal, and his company, D. B. Mangal Nigeria Limited, at the the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court. The plaintiffs are demanding over N20 billion for alleged loss of business. Mangal, his company, the FCT Minister, Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), Jimec Company Limited and Matterson Properties Limited – owned by ex-Information Minister, Emeka Chikelu, are the defendants. The plaintiffs are seeking compensation for alleged losses following false allegation of fraud made against them to the Economic and Financial Commission (EFCC) by Mangal and his firms over a 2005 land deal. In their statement of claims, the plaintiffs stated that BHL, in 2005 sold Plot 527 Cadastral Zone A7, Wuse District of the FCT to Mangal and his company through their lawyer, Messrs Shehu Wada and Co., at N125 million. The buyers, they added, paid for the land on October 26, 2005 following the outcome of their searches at some agencies, including the Department of Land Administration and Resettlement of the FCDA. The plaintiffs said some months after the transaction when Mangal and his company wanted to begin development, they learnt that the FCDA had reallocated the plot to Chikelu and his firms. Mangal and his firm demanded a refund from BHL, the plaintiff averred, stating that, in its bid to recover the land for Mangal and his company, BHL sued the FCT Minister, FCDA, Mangal and two companies owned by Chikelu, in a suit marked: FCT/HC/CV/1074/2006. The plaintiffs added that despite the pendency of the...
by Admin | Oct 3, 2016 | Blog |
Follow @NigeriaPI A 35-year old mother of eight, Margaret Effiong, has reunited with one of her kids, Nkoyo, who was given out as a housemaid to a runaway child trafficker in Calabar. Nine-year-old Nkoyo and another child identified as Patience Stephen (eight) were on September 16, 2016, rescued in Calabar by a lawyer and child rights activist with Basic Rights Counsel, Mr. James Ibor, following a tip-off. The two victims, who were hawking coconut on the streets of Calabar, had bruises on their body when they were rescued. They were severely assaulted by one Eka Obong, who is on the run. After rescuing the abused kids, Ibor sent the pictures on the social media platform, Facebook, where it went virile and someone identified one of the kids. Narrating how he rescued the victim to Southern City News, Ibor said he was able to trace the mother of one of the abused kids to Ikot-Effanga community in Akpabuyo Local Government Area of the state. The mother of Nkoyo, Mrs. Effiong, who spoke in native dialect, admitted that she had eight children but had to send most of the kids to work for people as housemaids because she had no money to send them to school. Mrs. Effiong, who disclosed that her husband died five years ago, said she was into small scale farming and petty trading to provide food for the three children with her. Ibor, in his narration said, “After the post on Facebook, someone who is the distant relation of one of the kids (Nkoyo) identified her. He had to call our numbers, which were included in the...
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