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Policeman abducted by gunmen in Adamawa

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Gunmen suspected to be bandits have abducted a mobile police officer attached to Operation Farauta, a special task force working to tackle kidnapping in Adamawa State.

Daily Post reports that sources said the policeman who is a resident of Mubi, a principal town in the northern part of Adamawa, was deployed to Mayo-Belwa local government to be part of efforts to tackle kidnapping which has become rampant around Mayo-Belwa.

Operation Farauta is a joint team comprising police, soldiers and local hunters formed in Adamawa State to check rising incidents of kidnapping and armed robbery perpetrated mostly by a youth gang called Shilla Boys in local parlance.

It was gathered that gunmen who stormed Mayo-Belwa around 7pm on Sunday in a convoy of motorcycles were on the trail of a rich man in the area called Idi Bage, when they mistook the officer for their target.

A source said; The man whom the gunmen were looking for owned a mansion beside the Mayo-Belwa to Jalingo highway and who is known to always dress immaculately.

“Luckily for him on that fateful day, he did not dress elegantly but had changed into a casual local dress.

“Unfortunately, the MOPOL who wore an expensive-looking flowing gown in celebration of Christmas was mistaken for the rich man.”

The state Police Public Relations Officer in Adamawa State, DSP Suleiman Nguroje, confirmed the abduction to Daily Post.

Nguroje said; “Yes, it is true. The officer was swooped on and taken away while he was in a relaxed atmosphere with his friends.”

He said the state Police Commissioner, CP Adamu Barde has ordered a search and rescue for the abducted officer and apprehend the abductors.

Wizkid bagged five awards at 2021 AEA USA

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Nigerian Afrobeat’s superstar, Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun popularly known as Wizkid is exiting the year 2021 with a big bang.

The singer won five awards at the recently held 2021 African Entertainment Awards USA.

His smash hit song of the summer, Essence feat Tems won four out of the five categories while his latest Album; Made In Lagos clinched the Album of The Year.

Song Of The Year: Wizkid ft Tems – Essence

Album Of The Year: Wizkid “MADE IN LAGOS”

Best Music Video: Wizkid – Essence Ft. Tems

BEST COLLABORATIONS: Wizkid – Essence ft. Tems

BEST MALE ARTIST WINNER: Wizkid

Similarly, Wizkid bagged three awards at AFRIMA 2021, thereby making history as the first African artiste to achieve such feat.

ABSU Sacks Randy Lecturer, Another Staff For Admission Racketeering

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The Abia State University Uturu, has sacked a senior lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, Dr Michael I. Ukaegbu, for alleged involvement in sex-for-grade in the university. Ukaegbu was a former Acting Head, Department of Mass Communication.

The university also sacked Mr Leonard Chukwuma for alleged fraud and admission racketeering. Their sack was ratified by the University’s Council at its 148th regular and resumed meetings held on Thursday, 16th and Monday, 20th December 2021, at the University Council Chamber, chaired by its Chairman and Pro-Chancellor, Senator Adolphus N. Wabara.

The council in a communiqué, signed by the Registrar/Secretary to Council, Dr Acho Elendu, said “Council-in-Session ratified the dismissal of Dr Michael I. Ukaegbu, former Ag. Head, Department of Mass Communication for involvement in sex-for-grade and Mr. Leonard Chukwuma for fraud and admission racketeering. ”The university also ratified the appointment of Distinguished Professor Ogbonna Onuoha, a Professor of Linguistics/Igbo as substantive Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration); and also approved the regularization and confirmation of some staff which have been outstanding for several years.

The council resolved that henceforth the University would sanction staff who fail to return to the University and fulfil other obligations of their contractual agreement on completion of their TETFund sponsored academic development programmes. It further resolved to revive some of its hitherto comatose statutory committees for efficient oversight functions in line with its mandate and reiterated its determination to continue to improve staff welfare and Infrastructural development of the university in line with the aspirations of the founding fathers.

Customs intercepts N1.4bn tramadol hidden in diapers

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According Blueprint The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Seme command, says it has intercepted some items suspected to be tramadol capsules concealed with packaged jumbo size adult diapers in a container.

The items have a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N1.4 billion.

The Customs Public Relations Officer, Hussain Abdulahi, in a statement in Seme, said the container number is MRKU 9090415.

Abdullahi quoted the Customs Area Controller, Bello Jibo, as saying the container was handed over to the Command on November 15 by the Republic of Benin Authorities under transit to Nigeria. Comptroller Bello Jibo displaying the tramadol concealed inside diapers in Seme.

Mr Jibo said that the container came under the watch of officers of the Command as no importer or his representative have come forward to continue the process of clearance procedure.

“On the Dec. 20, Seme Customs Service invited other security agencies and stakeholders to witness the examination of the said container.

“The items discovered during 100 per cent examination are 200 packages of adult diapers, 100 cartoons of Gabadol 120mg suspected to be tramadol equivalent to 360kg.

“The diapers were smartly arranged at the front of the container while the drugs were was the back.

“I directed that samples be taken out officially and handed over to National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to ascertain and confirm the drugs,” he said.

The controller said that the command had initiated a full-scale investigation with a view to fishing out those involved in the illicit importation.

He warned the perpetrators of unlawful activities to avoid the command or meet their Waterloo.

According to Mr Jibo, officers and men of the Command are not losing guards at ensuring that smuggling under any guise is brought to the barest minimum.

The controller said facilitation of legitimate trade remains the cardinal objectives of the command.

Bala emerges 2020 highest Christian pilgrimage sponsor

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Bauchi state governor, Bala Mohammed, has bagged 2020 excellence award from the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission as the highest sponsor of Christian pilgrimage in the North-east.

Receiving the award at the council chambers, Government House Bauchi over the weekend, the governor expressed gratitude to the Commission for the award and pledged to reciprocate the gesture.

He said to justify the confidence reposed in him by the people of the state, his administration is committed to developing critical sectors of education, health, infrastructure which will be for the benefit of the entire citizens of the state.

Governor Bala used the medium to once again appreciate the people of the state for their support and cooperation to his administration and promised to consolidate on the execution of developmental projects to improve their living conditions.

“I thank you for this honor done to me and I will not take it for granted. I must work for the people of Bauchi State who elected me to be their Governor.”

Earlier the, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission, Reverend Yakubu Pam congratulated the Bauchi governor for emerging the highest sponsor of Christian pilgrimage in the North East and for committing resources towards the sustenance of the pilgrimage in the country.

Rev Pam commended the governor for doing justice to all the citizens of the state without consideration to religious or tribal differences and enjoined him to sustain the sponsorship to enable the beneficiaries to pray for the state while in Jerusalem.

“We are here to celebrate with His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Bauchi State, Senator Bala Mohammed because of his long-term relationship with Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission. Our Commission will never forget his impact to its development.”

 

On his part, the Bauchi state Secretary of Christians Pilgrims Welfare Board, Mr Samuel Haruna, attributed the successes recorded by the board in the just concluded Christian pilgrimage to the outstanding support of the governor.

LETTERS: Politics Nigeriana

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A man who was fed up with the failures of our leaders wants to join politics, he asked me to tell him ELEVEN things he should expect:
1. Enough money to spend on party Exco to get the party ticket and still no certainty they will vote for you.
2. Answer every calls and honor every public invitation and still no certainty you will be their favored choice.
3. Party thugs in your home, offices and wherever you go and you must endure their irresponsible and immoral behavior.
4. Discomfort and no time for yourself and your family as you are always meeting with people, going to people or running away from people.
5. You will have to learn to endure insults and campaign of calumny and all out war against your person and character by political adversaries and their sponsored men on Radio, on Tv and Online.
6. Your political opponents will dig into your past and that of your parents and bring them out to the public and if there is no dirt, they will invent a dirty past for you and sell it to the public. If you are a woman be ready to hear the names of the men you know and the ones you never know as people who once ‘slept with you’. If you are a man, your commitment to your faith and the origin of your grandparents will all be scrutinized and possibly distorted to make a “good bad story”. They will reach out to all the schools you attended in search of any evidence of forgery or misconduct in the past. If you had any history of sickness or divorce or criminal issues in your life or career all will be made public.
7. Be ready to be betrayed or back stabbed by people you like, you believed in, you supported, you helped or you nurtured as they can switch side at any moment of their convenience.
8. Be ready to go into debt in order to oil your political machine and be ready to sell your properties, assets or shares that you spent most part of your life trying to acquire, all to ensure you have steady supply of money as you move on.
9. Be ready to hear that the man who promised to support you in the day is meeting with your opponents in the night. Be ready to pretend to believe a man even if he or she is lying.
10. Be ready to stress your heart, your brain and your body system beyond their limits. Be ready to receive daily stories of plots against you, mischief against you and threats to your life and that of your family everyday even from people that are close to you and for whom you venture to defend.
11. Be ready for the rough and tough road since the road is more of necessity for sane minds.
WHEN YOU SEE POLITICIANS, THIS HAS BEEN THEIR LIFE AND STORY.

Senator Sani Shehu, Kaduna.

Insecurity: We won’t dialogue with Turji – Masari

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Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina state has kicked against dialogue with armed bandits operating in the state and other North-west states.

Masari spoke in a Sunday interview with DW Hausa radio. He was reacting to a controversial letter by a notorious bandit, Bello Turji, seeking dialogue with the government.

Turji wrote an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, Governor Bello Matawalle and the emir of Shinkafi seeking dialogue and a ceasefire.

Some experts had argued that the letter by Mr Turji was a ploy to stop airstrikes and military operations against his fighters.

 

Turji, alongside Halilu Sububu and other terror leaders, has carried out fatal attacks on eastern Sokoto and northern Zamfara states.

NPower employment: 400,000 youths enlisted for Batch C2

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The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, has said the Federal Government will soon enlist additional 400,000 youths under the N-power programme.

Umar-Farouq said the youths will be enlisted under Batch C2 for the program which is aimed at equipping the youths with life-long skills.

The minister represented by her deputy director, Finance and Account, Muhammad Sambo, stated this during the closing ceremony for over 3,000 youths from Northwest zone trained in software and hardware skills under the Batch C1 of the N-Knowledge component of the N-Power programme.

According to her, “It is no longer news that Mr. President has approved that N-Power be expanded to accommodate one million beneficiaries. We have carefully implemented this where the Batch C1 accommodates a total of 510,000 beneficiaries and the batch C2 will commence soon. This is to enlist more Nigerian youths into the programme.

“It is a well-known fact that N-Power programme is a critical part of the National Social Investment Programmes domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development (FMHADMSD) and designed to achieve the National objectives of poverty reduction and job creation. The N-Power programme is key to helping young Nigerians acquire and develop life-long skills that ensure they become solution providers and entrepreneurs in their communities.

“N-Power has 3 core segments: N-Power Volunteer Corps – the Graduate programme, N-Power Build – Non graduate programme and N-Power Knowledge – Which is a non-graduate programme and embodies the N-Tech Hardware, N-Tech Software and the N-Creative training programmes (Animation and Scriptwriting).

“N-Knowledge programme is focused on equipping young Nigerians with relevant skills and certification to become competent workers, innovators and entrepreneurs prepared for both the domestic and global digital job market. N-Knowledge programme targets to upskill 20,000 young Nigerians on the global radar as exporters of world- class services and content in the creative and information technology sectors. The shortfall of about 7,000 will be mopped up as soon as possible to meet up with the target of 20,000 as earmarked for this tranche.

“This training component is targeted at developing competencies of the youth in software development, hardware training and creative industry which is catalytic as well as the groundwork to make Nigeria compete in the outsourcing market for software development.

“It will develop the skills and capacities along the skills set in the value chain of website development, mobile apps maintenance and start the talent development effort for the growth of information technology industry in Nigeria.”

She added that, “The Ministry is committed to ensuring that the strategic objectives of all the social intervention programmes are achieved and sustained.

“Permit me at this juncture to thank His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari for his administration’s unwavering efforts in eradicating poverty in our country and for supporting and sustaining the National Social Investment Programmes.”

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Nigeria Retain Fifth Spot in Africa

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Nigeria’s Super Eagles have remained in the list of Africa’s top five nations to be seeded for the 2022 World Cup playoffs scheduled for next year.

The three-time African champions retained their fifth spot in the continental and 36th in the global ranking for December released yesterday by FIFA despite not in action in the month under review.

There were speculations that Pharaohs of Egypt who are ranked sixth in the African log may leapfrog Eagles to the fifth spot due to their participation in the FIFA Arab Cup concluded in Qatar penultimate weekend.

Nigeria profited from FIFA/CAF’decision not to use participation in the Arab Cup tournament for the purpose of ranking teams in December.

Instead, CAF Executive meeting ruled that the seeded teams would be based on their respective ranking for the month after the last qualifying tournament in October.

In the December ranking released by FIFA yesterday, Egypt moved up in the global ranking from 45th to 44th, while Nigeria remained static at 36th.

The points earned by Pharaohs were not enough to send Super Eagles crashing out of the Top Five of African football. Nigeria will therefore remain one of the five nations to be seeded for the World Cup final playoffs.

Nigeria garnered 1478 points to stay in the 36th position in the world.

The Super Eagles are to be seeded alongside, Senegal, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco in Pot A and will have the slim advantage of playing the all-important second leg on home soil.

The draw ceremony is expected to hold either on January 22rd or 26th during the AFCON tournament in Cameroon.

In the global ranking, Belgium topped for the fourth consecutive year while the most improved side goes to Canada who garnered 130.32 points just as the host of the next FIFA World Cup, Qatar hit the 50th position for the first time.

Former World champions, Brazil and France joined Belgium to complete the top three of global standing.

Also in the month under review, Algeria, Egypt, Qatar and Tunisia played most games due to their participation in the FIFA/Arab Cup tournament just as Algeria, Qatar and Thailand had the most improved position of plus three.

The next FIFA ranking will be out on the 10th of February which is four days after the AFCON tournament.

Femi Solaja with agency report