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Imo Jailbreak: FG to pardon escaped inmates who return voluntarily -Aregbesola

April 6, 2021Posted in SecurityLeave a comment

Fugitives who escaped from the custodial centre in Owerri, the Imo capital, will be granted amnesty if they return voluntarily, the Minister of Interior, Mr Rauf Aregbesola, has said.

He said this during the inspection of the centre after it was attacked by unknown gunmen.

During the attack, over 1,880 inmates were said to have escaped while 36 stayed back.

According to the minister, escape from custody is unlawful, and a crime.

He said, “Unlawful escape from custody is a crime but the government in its magnanimity will grant amnesty to prisoners who willfully return.

“They will no longer be charged with an unlawful escape but only for the initial crimes that took them to prison. So we urge all escapees to return before they are caught on the run.”

Punch

BREAKING: Buhari appoints Baba as acting IGP

April 6, 2021Posted in SecurityLeave a comment

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has appointed a Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, as the acting Inspector-General of Police with immediate effect.

The Minister of Police Affairs, Maigari Dingyadi, disclosed this to State House correspondents in Abuja .

Baba is taking over from Mohammed Adamu, whose tenure Buhari extended for three months on February 4.

He has only spent about two months out of the three-month extension.

Punch

JUST IN: WAEC releases 2021 WASSCE results

April 6, 2021Posted in EducationLeave a comment

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has released the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for private candidates, 2021 – First Series.

Head of the Nigeria National Office, WAEC, Mr Patrick Areghan, told reporters the examination was primarily designed to help candidates seeking admission to tertiary institutions to reduce the waiting time for results and beat admission deadlines.

He said: “The analysis of the statistics of the performance of candidates shows that out of the Seven Thousand Two Hundred and Eighty-Nine (7,289) candidates that sat the examination:

“Two Thousand Nine Hundred and Thirty-Eight (2,938) candidates representing 40.31 per cent obtained credit and above in a minimum of any five subjects (with or without English Language and/or Mathematics; out of which One Thousand Three Hundred and Ninety-Six (1,396) were male and One Thousand five Hundred and Forty-Two (1,542) were female candidates, representing 47.52%and 52.48 % respectively;

“Two Thousand One Hundred and Ninety-Five (2,195) candidates representing 30.11 per cent obtained credits and above in a minimum of five (5) subjects, including English Language and Mathematics.

“Of this number, One Thousand and Seventy-Four (1,074) i.e. 48.93 per cent were male candidates, while One Thousand, One Hundred and Twenty-One (1,121) i.e. 51.07 per cent were female candidates. The percentage of candidates in this category in the WASSCE for Private Candidates, 2019 and 2020, that is, those who obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects, including English Language and Mathematics, were 26.08 per cent and 32.23 per cent respectively. Thus, there is a marginal decrease of 2.12 per cent in performance in this regards.”

Punch

[JUST IN] Strike: Judiciary workers shut Federal High Court in Lagos, Oyo Among Others

April 6, 2021Posted in CourtLeave a comment

Members of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, shut down the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos State.
They also sent out staff from offices, court rooms and premises of the court around 09am.

Newsmen learnt that the JUSUN members were enforcing their indefinite nationwide strike, which started on Tuesday (today).

The circular issued by the General Secretary of JUSUN, Isaiah Adetola, partly read, “Therefore, as a result of the public holiday on April 5, 2021, the strike action has been postponed to Tuesday, April 6, 2021. You are directed to shut down courts/departments in your states until further notice from the National Secretariat of JUSUN in Abuja.”

Punch/TheNation

JUST IN: Polytechnic lecturers begin indefinite strike

April 6, 2021Posted in EducationLeave a comment

The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics has commenced an indefinite strike with effect from today.

The union said this followed the failure of the government to address the sorry state of polytechnics and monotechnics and the expiration of the ultimatum issued since March 2020.

The action is coming less than a week after resident doctors embarked on a nationwide strike over non-payment of allowances and other issues.

Announcing this at a press briefing in Abuja, the ASUP President, Anderson Ezeibe, said academic activities had been shut shown in all polytechnics and like institutions nationwide with effect from 12am, April 6.

According to him, the union’s demands were communicated to the ministries of education, labour and others as well as to state governors but nothing was done about them.

He said, “Our grievances also include the non-reconstitution of governing councils in federal polytechnics and many state-owned institutions leading to the disruption of governance and administrative processes in the institutions since May, 2020.

“This has also undermined the renegotiation of the union’s 2010 agreement with the government which was unilaterally suspended by the government for over two years now.”

Punch

JUST IN: Putin signs law extending tenure by two terms

April 5, 2021April 5, 2021Posted in PoliticsLeave a comment

Russian President Vladimir Putin has gave final approval to legislation allowing him to hold office for two additional six-year terms, opening the possibility for him to stay in power until 2036.

The 68-year-old Russian leader, who has already been in power for more than two decades, signed off on the bill , according to a copy posted on the government’s legal information portal.

Putin proposed the change last year as part of constitutional reforms that Russians overwhelmingly backed in a vote in July. Lawmakers approved the bill last month.

The legislation will reset presidential term limits, allowing Putin to run in elections again after his current and second consecutive term expires in 2024.

Putin was first elected president in 2000 and served two consecutive four-year terms. His ally Dmitry Medvedev took his place in 2008, which critics saw as a way around Russia’s limit of two consecutive terms for presidents.

Punch/AFP

BREAKING: Five of 39 abducted Kaduna College students regain freedom

April 5, 2021Posted in SecurityLeave a comment

Five of the 39 kidnapped students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization, Afaka Kaduna have regain freedom after 25 days in captivity.

Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, confirmed the development in a statement .

He said the five students were recovered by troops of the Nigerian Army .

Aruwan said they were undergoing thorough medical check-up at a military facility.

According to him: “The Nigerian military has informed the Kaduna State Government that five of the many kidnapped students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization, Afaka, Kaduna were recovered this afternoon and are presently in a military facility where they are undergoing a thorough medical check-up.

“The Kaduna State Government will provide updates on further operational feedback to be received on this case.”

Punch/TheNation/Vanguard

JUST IN: FG extends NIN-SIM linkage by one month as Ban on new Sim registration still in force

April 2, 2021Posted in National IssueLeave a comment

The Federal Government has extended the deadline for linking Subscriber Identification Modules (SIMs) with valid National Identity Numbers (NIN) by one month.

This was contained in a statement by spokesperson of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Kayode Adegoke.

The statement reads: “The meeting took place on Thursday, April 1, 2021 and approval was given to extend the period of the NIN-SIM linkage to the 6th of May, 2021.

“The request for the extension was presented to President Muhammadu Buhari and he endorsed it.”

Meanwhile, Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Pantami, has disclosed that the current ban on registration of new subscriber identification module, commonly known as SIM, to Nigerians will stay in place for a while longer.

“The ban on new SIMs remains in place for security reasons. We know this ban is painful, but very necessary.

“In the past, SIM registration processes were compromised, most of the SIMs were improperly registered, hence we have most of the SIMs used to commit crimes in the country.

“So what we are doing now is matching all the SIM cards with NIN. This has become necessary for security purposes.

“The ban may affect our economy, but when addressing the issue of security, the economy takes back stage.

“People used the biometrics of one person to register about 100 SIMs, after people are given money, this is even as some SIMs were improperly registered.

“This is one of the most difficult decisions taken as a minister. It is a very painful decision, but we had to take it,” he said.

JUST IN: INEC to commences voter registration June 28

April 1, 2021Posted in National IssueLeave a comment

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it will begin a nationwide Continuous Voter Registration on June 28 across the 774 Local Government Areas ahead of the 2023 general elections.

INEC’s chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this during a briefing in Abuja.

According to him, the registration exercise would be carried out continuously for over a year until the third quarter of 2022.

He said: “The CVR could not recommence in 2020 due largely to the COVID-19 pandemic. In line with the general advise by health officials regarding events involving large groups of people, we considered it inauspicious to restart the CVR at the height of the pandemic. In the light of the pandemic, the commission promised the nation that it would recommend the CVR in the first quarter of 2021.

“The first quarter of 2021 ended yesterday (Wednesday) and obviously the commission was unable to restart the CVR exercise. In consideration of these challenges and the measures we have taken to overcome them, the commission is now in a position to announce Monday June 28 2022 as the date for the recommencement of the CVR exercise nationwide.”

TheNation

COVID-19: France announces school closure, nationwide lockdown

March 31, 2021Posted in Covid-19Leave a comment

French President Emmanuel Macron announced that French schools would close next week and a limited lockdown in place in Paris and other regions would be extended to the whole country to battle soaring Covid-19 cases.

Macron said in an address to the nation that the current efforts to limit the virus “were too limited at a time when the epidemic is accelerating”. The spread of the so-called British variant meant “we risk losing control”.

He said that schools would close from Monday for the next three weeks, but this would include two weeks of spring holiday.

From Saturday night and for the next four weeks, travel restrictions will be imposed across the whole country and non-essential shops will close in line with measures already implemented in Covid-19 hotspots such as Paris, he said.

But striking a more optimistic tone for the medium term, he said some cultural venues and cafe terraces would reopen in mid-May “under strict rules” and a calendar drawn up for a progressive reopening of other facilities.

“Thanks to the vaccine, the way out of the crisis is emerging,” he said.

He also announced that the vaccine drive would be open to all those over 60 from April 16 and those over 50 from May 15.