Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Sunday 5th January 2020
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 05/01/20
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Flights Return To Base As Fire Guts Port Harcourt Airport Runway
A massive fire outbreak has occurred at the Port Harcourt International Airport runway.
The fire incident was said to have happened at about 7:40pm on Saturday, disrupting flight services to the airport.
Some of the aircrafts on the ground could not take off while those in the air could not land.
It was learnt that a Max Air aircraft could not take off as planned, while Arik Air could not land and had to return to base.
Besides, it was learnt that the fire incident also affected Dana Air aircraft flight 363 with the registration number 5NSAI with 124 passengers onboard.
The aircraft had to return to Abuja with the entire passengers onboard.
The cause of the fire incident on the runway could not be ascertained as at the time of filing this report.
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SPONSORED POST: 2020 Promo: Abuja Airport Road Estate Slashes Land Sales To N2,020,000, Offers 2,020 Free Blocks, 20 Per Cent Discounts
T.Pumpy Developers Concepts Limited, developers of T Pumpy Estates, with 22 housing estates spread across Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, has announced slash of its 4/5 bedroom duplex land sales with massive discounts.
The estate land, which is government approved, is located along the Airport Road, Abuja.
This is coming on the heels of its promo, Abuja For All, which ended December 31, 2019 with massive sales.
According to the Chief Executive Officer, Akintayo Adaralegbe, the promo is aimed at encouraging more Nigerians to own houses.
He said the land is about 650sqm for 4 or 5 bedroom duplex or penthouse or can be used for 4-bedroom standard bungalow.
Explaining in detail the new development, Mr Adaralegbe said the market value of the land is N3m however, the company is giving out 20 per cent discount, which is N600,000 and 2,020 block, which is valued at N380,000.
He said, “Total value discount is N980,000 off N3,000,000 which is N2,020,000. Pay N2,020,000 the land is yours.”
Adaralegbe, whose company’s corporate headquarters located at Monrovia Street was recently commissioned by Minister of Women Affairs, Paullen Tallen, said the promo will last till March 31, 2020.
The T-Pumpy Concept team have decades of providing industry-acclaimed off-site home designs and constructions.
Whether you’re interested in a manufactured home or an innovative modular design, the T-Pumpy Concept team continues to deliver what home buyers are looking for in their new homes along with quality construction they expect and deserve.
Corporate office address: No. 12, Monrovia Street, Off Aminu Kano Crescent, Wuse II District, Abuja.
Annex: House 23, (F) Road, Beside RCCG Resurrection Parish, FHA Lugbe, Abuja.
Follow us on our social media platforms.
Instagram: T.pumpy_estates
Facebook: Tpumpy Estates
YouTube: T.pumpy Estates
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WhatsApp/call: 09054545468 or 09023333380
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Many Feared Dead As Gas Explosion Rocks Kaduna
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Scores of persons are currently feared dead as a gas explosion hit Kaduna on Saturday evening.
The incident is said to have occurred in Sabon Tasha under Chikun Local Government Area of the state.
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Chad Withdraws Troops From Fighting Boko Haram In Nigeria
Chad has ended a months-long mission fighting Boko Haram in neighbouring Nigeria and withdrawn its 1,200-strong force across their common border.
“It’s our troops who went to aid Nigerian soldiers months ago returning home. They have finished their mission,” spokesman Colonel Azem Bermandoa, told AFP.
“None of our soldiers remains in Nigeria,” he added, without specifying whether they might be replaced following Friday’s pullout.
“Those who have come back will return to their sector at Lake Chad,” Bermandoa said.
“None of our soldiers remains in Nigeria,” he added, without specifying whether they might be replaced following Friday’s pullout.
“Those who have come back will return to their sector at Lake Chad,” Bermandoa said.
However, Chad’s general chief of staff General Tahir Erda Tahiro said that if countries in the region which have contributed to a multinational anti-jihadist force were in agreement, more troops will likely be sent in.
“If the states around Lake Chad agree on a new mission there will surely be another contingent redeployed on the ground,” Tahiro told AFP.
Boko Haram began the insurrection in Nigeria a decade ago, leading to at least 35,000 deaths with violence spilling over into Chad, Niger and Cameroon.
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Boko Haram Terrorists Abduct Christian Association Chairman In Adamawa
Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria in Michika, Adamawa State, Lawan Andimi, has been reportedly abducted by Boko Haram fighters.
District Head of Michika, Angida Kwache, made the disclosure during a visit of deputy governor of the state, Crowther Seth, on Saturday.
Kwache said, “The pastor was abducted the day Boko Haram insurgents attacked our community.
“He was last seen when the insurgents forced him into a Toyota Hilux. Since then, we have not heard from him or his abductors.”
Also, following the rising spate of Boko Haram attacks, communities bordering Sambisa Forest, stronghold of the terrorists, have appealed for more troops in the area.
Three district heads of Michika, Gulak and Koppa made the appeal, urging government to consider the danger the forest poses to their lives.
The deputy governor assured them that the state government would forward their request for more troops to the Federal Government.
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Nigerian Navy Arrests Two Ghanaians, Seven Sri-Lankans Over Illegal Bunkering
Nigerian Navy boat
Nigerian Navy boat
The Nigerian Navy said it arrested two Ghanaians, 50 Nigerians and seven Sri-Lankans in several operations during Yultide.
Channels TV quoted Commander of NNS Beecroft, Ibrahim Shettima, as saying that officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission as well as those of the Department of Petroleum Resources have been brought in to collect data for further investigation.
One of the vessels trapped in the navy net is MV Zebrugge.
The ship, which was carrying seven Sri-Lankans, had petroleum products without proper documentation.
Its captain denied knowledge of the source of the fuel, saying he was contracted to take the product to Ghana.
Another vessel, MT Jonko, was arrested on December 21 with 11 Nigerians onboard and 1077 metric tonnes of crude oil.
It was gathered that samples of the product on board had been collected from various compartments of the tanker for further analysis.
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Truck Crashes Into SUVs, Kills Two On Lagos Bridge
A truck carrying granite has crashed into a Sports Utility Vehicle on Saturday, causing two deaths.
PUNCH reports that two others were treated and discharged, while a fifth person is critically injured.
The incident was confirmed by Director-General of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Femi Oke-Osanyintolu.
He said, “A fatal accident which claimed the lives of two adult males occurred on Otedola Bridge. Two people were rescued and treated on the spot and discharged, while one was evacuated to accident and emergency hospital in a critical condition. Treatment was commenced immediately.
“Investigations conducted revealed that an articulated truck laden with several tons of granite crashed off into a Lexus SUV.
“The truck’s head was subsequently detached because of the impact and fell off the bridge.
“The mangled bodies of victims have been recovered and bagged, while intervention to ease vehicular movement is being carried out.”
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Why Revised Condition Of Service Is Imperative For National Assembly Workers By Kevin Oji
In established and thriving democracies, experience and capacity in the legislature is not only cultivated and entrenched, it is harnessed to deliver on the core legislative mandate of lawmaking, oversight and effective representation.
This time honoured tradition in pursuit of excellence, efficiency and seamless running of the legislature as an independent arm of government is driven by the vision to attain noble and higher national objectives. It was therefore, in furtherance of this objective, that both chambers of National Assembly deliberated and approved an upward adjustment in the years and age of retirement for staff of the National Assembly.
According to the review sponsored by the then majority leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives, Senator Ahmad Lawan and Rt .Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila in the 8th Senate, a worker in the service of the legislature will henceforth be due for retirement on reaching the age of 65 or after 40 years in service whichever comes first.
Both Lawan and Gbajabiamila said that the reform was necessitated by the overriding need to entrench specialisation, professionalism and quality service delivery that come with years of experience.
For the avoidance of doubt, the reform is in sync with international best practice as borne out by overwhelming evidence from other jurisdictions. In Britain, the retirement age for public officers which includes staff of the legislature is 66, Italy (67) for men, (62) for women, Germany (70) years, France (66) years and 90 years in Canada from the day one enters into the public service; just to mention just a few.
As has become the bane of our convoluted politics and corporate governance, implacable opponents of this pragmatic and visionary reform have unleashed all manner of vile propaganda, some of them verging on blackmail to drive home their narrow selfish agenda.
The arrow head of this vast conspiracy to subvert the reform is a well funded shadowy group, the G-70 who are wedging a sustained media campaign of blatant falsehood. This group and their hirelings and paid hacks canvas the opinion that the reform runs contrary to existing laws and provisions which stipulate 35 years in service and 60 years in age as points of retirement for civil servants.
Given the deluge of lies, half truths, all deliberate ploys to confuse the unsuspecting citizenry, critical posers that require urgent response are these:
Is the legislature an appendage of the executive? Is it bound to abide by the rules guiding that arm of government?
The answers to these posers will not only enrich our laws if there is a legal interpretation of the status of the legislature in presidential democracy, it will also expose and lay bare, the tantrums and perfidy of G-70 and its sponsors as borne out of mischief and vaunted ambition.
The existence of the Judicial Service Commission and the National Assembly Service Commission which are creations of the constitution invest in them certain powers to act as captured in the relevant sections of its Act. As an independent arm of government, the legislature just like the judiciary has the legal powers to fashion rules and regulations regarding the conditions of service of its workforce. The notion that the reform was sponsored by the management of the National Assembly and not by Lawan and Gbajabiamila in close collaboration with the National Assembly Service Commission is not only a fallacy but a ghastly attempt to rewrite history.
For the avoidance of doubt, the reform in matter and for which political predators are having fits of melancholic rage did not breach any sections of the constitution. The revised condition of service is clearly within the framework of legislative independence and the limitations imposed on it by the constitution.
Moreso, the peculiarities of our legislature by this I mean its chequered history and its relatively young age demand that it is supported to succeed by its experienced officials with vast capacity. Successive military administrations did not allow the legislature to thrive let alone to flourish because each of these administrations suspended it upon mounting the saddle. When this latest nascent democratic order came on stream in 1999, the National Assembly workforce were drawn from workers on secondment from MDAs with little or no experience.
Unfortunately, few officers that have garnered enough experience and capacity have been lost either through retirement or death thereby leaving a yawning gap. The revised Condition of Service represents a bold and pragmatic step to cure this capacity deficit and ensure that the legislature reinvents itself.
The personalisation of this commendable effort is clearly unfortunate and not in the interest of the legislature. The visible and invisible forces propelling these contrived crises have thrown all semblances of reason, caution and decorum overboard accusing the National Assembly management without any shred of evidence, of sponsoring this progressive reform. The narrow and self serving prism upon which this campaign is predicated exposes a sustained vicious campaign by powerful vested interests to impugn the integrity and hard work of the present management led by Mohammed Sani-Omolori, Clerk to the National Assembly.
That this obvious take down has collapsed in the face of empirical evidence and overwhelming facts is as clear as daylight. Barrack Obama, former American President, had admonished African leaders to lead a sustained effort to build strong institutions stressing that the era of strong men were gone for good. The revised condition of service seeks to strengthen the legislature by drawing from the vast experience and capacity of its finest officers. It has little to do with the present clerk of the National Assembly who like other staff has a tenured mandate.
In fact, in recent times President Muhammadu Buhari since assumption of office in 2015 has had cause to extend the tenure of some permanent secretaries to bequeath some experience and knowledge to those succeeding them or to guide new ministers taking over administration in such ministries, Mr President by this action acknowledges the importance of experience and knowledge in public service. Already, the universities and the judiciary in Nigeria have since adopted extended age for professors and judges, an admission of the critical need for institution memory transferable to younger ones in a planned succession plan. The legislature surely needs this increase if it must sustain its capacity growth and consolidation.
This is the big picture which the parochial interests wedging this vicious media campaign against the reform have deliberately failed to see. As a discerning commentator on national issues, I believe that the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives acted in good faith and in the best interest of the legislature when they sponsored this reform in the 8th session of the National Assembly.
Those who seek to cause the unraveling of this consequential effort through a relentless campaign are indeed the real enemies of the legislature and our democracy. They will occupy prominent positions in the hall of infamy when legislative historians chronicle events of this era.
Kevin Oji is an author, veteran journalist and a commentator on National Affairs
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Buhari Condemns Kogi Killings, Warns Against Reprisal Attacks
Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, has spoken out against an attack on Tawari community in Kogi State.
The prolonged shooting and burning, which started around 1:00am on Thursday, lasted for hours without any intervention, leaving at least 19 persons dead in the process.
In a statement by his spokesperson, Garba Shehu, Buhari said people should use law courts to settle grievances.
He said, “There is no excuse or justification for killing innocent people by anybody or group, and for whatever motive.
“The killings and revenge killings will only aggravate the cycle of violence, creating neither safety nor security for any side.
“People should avoid taking the law into their own hands because doing so could make a bad situation worse and undermine the government’s efforts to tackle security challenges.
“I am gravely worried about frequency and temptation of using violence to settle disputes instead of following lawful and amicable means to avoid needless destruction of lives and property.”
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Two Persons Arrested Over Attempt To Vandalise Telecoms Mast In Bayelsa
Operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Bayelsa State have paraded two persons for attempted vandalism of a telecommunications facility in Yenagoa, the state capital, during Yuletide.State Commandant of the NSCDC, Mrs Christiana Abiakam-Omanu, made the disclosure on Friday.
She said that the successful operation was as a result of the command’s commitment to lives and property in the state.
Abiakam-Omanu said, “The frequent patrols embarked upon by the security agencies during the festive season yielded results when operatives of the NSCDC got wind of ongoing vandalism and foiled it while the vandals engaged the patrol team in a gun duel.
“This incident happened on December 29, 2019 at about 12:00am, probably they thought that the security agents had lost sight of their responsibilities due to the festivities but they got it wrong.
“Based on credible intelligence and sustained surveillance, two suspects were arrested after exchange of gunfire.
“Items recovered from them include 12 heavy-duty deep cycle inverter batteries, loaded in Lexus jeep with registration number BRS 998 AO.”
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