Sahara Reporters Latest News Thursday 3rd October 2019

Sahara Reporters Latest News Thursday 3rd October 2019

Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 03/10/19

E2%80%99s-senate-president-lawan-calls-radical-approach-fight-against-kidnappers-others target=_blank>Nigeria’s Senate President, Lawan, Calls For Radical Approach In Fight Against Kidnappers, Others

Ahmad Lawan

President of the Nigerian Senate, Ahmad Lawan, on Wednesday said that the upper arm of the legislature will adopt a radical approach in tackling the rising spate of kidnapping and insecurity in the country.
Lawan made this known during the consideration of a motion brought to the floor by lawmaker representing Kogi West, Dino Melaye.
He said, “The issue of kidnapping, banditry and other crimes affect all of us. I agree completely that we need to do something differently.
“You recall that before we went on recess, we agreed we need to go back to the report to review the architecture of security in Nigeria, which the 8th Senate set up, in addition to a public hearing on a way to ensure that we review the security architecture and structure of our agencies today.
“The way they are designed, we are not getting the best out of them; and we can’t go on like this.
“We will take it up with the executive arm of government, and also our Committee on Communications and the Federal Ministry of Communications.
“The bandits and kidnappers use telephone lines to negotiate, so it means there will always be a lead to where or who they are.
“At the last count, I was told two million lines had been blocked. I think we should go far beyond that.
“And maybe we will need to be a bit radical. We need to give the security agencies some more funds but insist on accountability.”

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target=_blank>US Justice Department Halts Investigation Of Shell Over OPL 245 Purchase

Royal Dutch Shell said on Wednesday that the United States Department of Justice, has stopped its investigation into the company’s 2011 purchase of oil prospecting license 245.
This comes a day after Eni released a similar statement, according to Reuters.
The multinational, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, said the DoJ made its decision based on facts before it and the ongoing trial in Milan, Italy.
It said, “The US Department of Justice has notified us that it has closed its inquiry into Shell in relation to OPL 245.
“We understand that this is based on facts available to the DoJ, including ongoing legal proceedings in Europe.”
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration had in 2001 withdrawn the OPL 245 license from Malabu Oil and Gas – an entity set-up by Dan Etete in 1998 while serving as Minister of Petroleum resources.
After several legal battles, the Nigerian Government reached a court-brokered deal to return the OPL 245 block to Malabu Oil and Gas in 2006.
While claiming that it had no idea that Etete, who was acting as the face of the company, was listed as a member of the board of directors with a fictitious name, the Nigerian Government under Goodluck Jonathan refereed a controversial deal that saw Shell partner with Eni to pay Malabu $1.1bn and give the government a signature bonus of $210m.
Two of the middlemen responsible for funnelling some of the proceeds of the payment to politicians and officials of both Shell and Eni, were convicted by an Italian court in Milan in 2018.
Shell, Eni and seven officials from both firms are still under trial in Milan – Eni’s homestead.
The United States looks into cases of corruption by companies registered within its jurisdiction through the Foreign Corruption Practice Act.
Under the provision of this law, Eni and Shell had in 2010 promised to amend their ways after escaping full prosecution for separate acts of corruption in Nigeria.

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target=_blank>Cannabis Worth N160m Intercepted By Customs In Oyo

The Nigeria Customs Service in Oyo State has intercepted N160m worth of Indian hemp smuggled into the country through the Oke-Ogun border.
Head of the command, Zulkifli Abdullahi, on Wednesday told journalists that the intercepted Indian hemp was discovered concealed inside several packs in a vehicle.
According to him, the consignment was the biggest of such illicit drugs discovered in recent times by the men of the command.
He said no one was arrested during the raid as the driver and the motor boy of the vehicle fled into the forest upon sighting his men.
He said, “We seized 101 bags of the India hemp and 1,047 pieces of blocks of compressed and special Indian hemp.
“According to what we learnt, three years ago, it was selling for N120,000 in Kaduna and today, it may go for N150,000.
“If you add the value of the bags which is N20,000 each, the Indian hemp is worth N159m, approximately N160m.
“If this had made it into the market, it could have caused enormous danger to our children.”

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target=_blank>Mathew Knowles, Father Of American Musician, Beyonce, Diagnosed With Breast Cancer

Father of American star musician Beyonce, Mathew Knowles, has been diagnosed with breast cancer.
The 67-year-old made the disclosure during a live radio programme on Wednesday.
According to Knowles, early detection helped him in managing the life-threatening disease after he began noticing blood stains that always appeared as a red dot on his shirt and bedspreads.
He said, “The mammogram revealed that I had breast cancer.”
After informing his adult daughters, Beyonce and Solange, they both got tested also.
He said he has since been on treatment, while also advising men to be more vigilant about their health.
According to America-based National Breast Cancer Foundation, although rare, men also develop breast cancer.
“The lifetime risk for United States men is about 1 in 1,000.
“An estimated 2,670 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year in the United States and approximately 500 will die,” NBCF said.
Less than one per cent of all breast cancer cases involve men.
However, it’s most frequently diagnosed in men between the ages of 60 and 70.

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target=_blank>Edo Governor, Obaseki, Fires All Aides

Edo State Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has terminated the appointment of all his senior special assistants and special assistants with immediate effect, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.
In a statement on Wednesday, Secretary to the State Government, Mr Osarodion Ogie, said fresh appointments would be announced within the next 30 days.
Ogie said the development was in line with efforts to re-organise the governance structure to enhance service delivery to Edo people.
Ogie said the state government offered its immense gratitude to the outgoing assistants for their service and assured of continued cordial relations in the years ahead.

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target=_blank>BREAKING: DSS Hands Over Maina, Son To EFCC

The Department of State Services has handed over former Chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, and his son, Faisal, to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, SaharaReporters can confirm.
Maina and his son were handed over to the anti-graft agency at about 5:45pm on Wednesday by agents of the secret police for further investigation.
Maina, who had been on the wanted list of the EFCC for the past four years for N2.1bn pension fraud, was apprehended by the DSS operatives in Utako, Abuja shortly after entering the country from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where he had been hiding.
Top sources authoritatively told SaharaReporters Maina wore fetish amulets and jackets to prevent his arrest when men of the DSS and the EFCC arrested him in Abuja.
Maina, the source said, had been in the country since June, 2019 but managed to evade arrest for many months until he was apprehended on Tuesday.
Spokesperson for the DSS, Peter Afunanya, had earlier said that Faisal attempted to shoot operatives of the security agency during the arrest of his father.
He went on to list items recovered from the suspects to include a pistol with live ammunition, a bullet-proof Range Rover SUV, a BMW car, foreign currencies, a phantom 7 drone and sensitive documents.

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target=_blank>Security Guards In Oyo Assembly Allegedly Steal Fuse From Generator

The police in Oyo State has arrested two security guards working within the state’s House of Assembly for allegedly stealing electrical fuse from a generator inside the complex.
Clerk of the House, Mrs Felicia Oyediran, said this while briefing journalists in Ibadan, the state capital, on Wednesday.
She said that the police arrested the two guards, who were on duty at the time the theft occurred.
According to her, the only stolen item was an electrical fuse in the generator worth N40,000 and not electrical cables worth over N500,000 as being speculated in some quarters.
Oyediran said, “The stolen fuse was from the generator and not a cable belonging to the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company.
“Though the occurrence was not the first, we have to build a burglary-proof to protect the generator.”

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target=_blank>Democracy Beyond Periodic Elections, Says Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan

Former President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, has said that functional democracy was not only about periodic elections.
He made the statement during a summit in Niamey, Niger Republic, on Wednesday.
According to Jonathan, democracy is participatory and should go beyond the legislature – one of the three arms of government under such a system.
He said, “Periodic elections alone is not democracy. Democracy is about people. The people must be carried along.
“Democracy must be participatory. Participation must be extended beyond the parliament.”
Speaking further, the former President wondered why anyone would want to stay in office for 14 years.
He added, “Why would anyone want to serve as President for up to 14 years?
“It is not personal property. Democracy is about the participation of the people in governance.”

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target=_blank>Nigerian Government Returns Toll Gates On Federal Highways

More than 10 years after toll gates on federal highways in the country were removed, the Nigerian Government on Wednesday announced plans to return them.
Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, stated this while briefing speaking with State House Correspondents after a meeting of the Federal Executive Council in Abuja.
According to Fashola, a former Lagos State governor, there is no law that stops the government from having toll gates on federal roads.
He said, “There is no reason why we can’t toll, there was a policy of government to abolish tolls or as it where, dismantle toll plaza but there is no law that prohibits tolling in Nigeria today.
“We expect to return toll plazas, we have concluded their designs of what they will look like, what materials they will be rebuilt with, what new considerations must go into them.
“What we are looking at now and trying to conclude is how the bank end runs.”
Speaking further, the minister said that government was considering eliminating payment through cash by introducing electronic mode of payment.

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Police Arrest Wanted Robbers, Serial Killers In Imo

The police in Imo State has arrested two notorious armed robbers and serial killers on its wanted list.
Parading the suspects on Wednesday at the police headquarters in Owerri, the state capital, Commissioner of Police in Imo, Rabiu Ladodo, said, “I am happy and walking shoulder high as we speak.”
The police chief stated that apart from being armed robbers, the suspects were known for killing and abducting people for ransom.
He disclosed further that beyond being on the police wanted list, the suspects had been declared wanted by the state government, adding that their arrest was a major breakthrough for the command.
Ladodo said, “I commend the SARS commander, Victor Godfrey, and his team for an exceptional job.
“The suspects have made confessional statements of their involvement in robbery operations and killings.
“We seek cooperation from the members of the public in our commitment to fighting criminals to a standstill in the state.”

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