Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Thursday 14th April 2022
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 14/04/22
Read also
E2%80%99s-husband-already-had-another-wife-%E2%80%93-women-affairs-minister Late Gospel Singer, Osinachi’s Husband Already Had Another Wife – Women Affairs Minister
Nigeria’s Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, says Peter Nwachukwu, the husband of the late gospel singer, Osinachi Nwachukwu, is married to another woman.Osinachi sang the popular gospel song, Ekwueme.
Peter is allegedly kicked Osinachi in the chest, causing her to suffer from a blood clot which eventually killed her. The late Osinachi was said to have endured domestic violence for years.He has since been arrested by the police.Featuring as a guest on NTA’s Good Morning Nigeria’s breakfast show, Tallen said the children of the deceased disclosed that their father had married another woman.Tallen said, “The deputy chief whip happens to come from the late Osinachi’s village and she was out of town (and when she returned), she was in my office to thank me for the visit and she demanded that I should ask one of my aides to take her.“I asked my CSO (chief security officer) to take her and when they got to the house, with the encouragement I gave the children, they are encouraged to speak out.“So, more revelations are coming out and (one of) the sons went in and brought out an album. He’s (Peter) been married to another woman. You can imagine collecting money from her (the late Osinachi) and treating this woman like a beast of burden.”
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK
Disable advertisements
:
Pandemonium At Abuja Airport As Passengers Destroy Max Air Counters, Gadgets Over Delayed Flight
Pandemonium broke out at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja on Wednesday when passengers staged a protest over flight delays by Max Air. The protesting passengers complained that they were not informed about the delay until they began to register their grievances.
In a video seen by SaharaReporters, the travellers were seen destroying the airlines’ counters and other facilities of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). This comes a few months after the Nigerian government said airline operators in the country must refund the full cost of travel tickets to passengers after a two-hour delay. “On domestic flights, delay beyond one hour, a carrier should provide refreshment, and one telephone call, or one SMS, or one e-mail. They should send you an SMS or email or call you to say, ‘I am sorry, I am delaying for one hour. “Delay for two hours and beyond, the carrier shall reimburse passengers the full volume of their tickets. For delays between 10pm and 4am, the carrier shall provide hotel accommodation, refreshment, meal, two free calls, SMS, email, and transport to-and-fro airport,” the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika had said. Data released by NACA show that in the first quarter of this year, out of the 14,662 domestic flights operated in the country, 7,554 were delayed. Also, 562 flights were delayed out of the 1,871 international flights operated out of the country. Nine international and 149 domestic flights were cancelled. Currently, there are nine domestic airlines operating scheduled flights in the country, while 19 airlines operate international flights in and out of Nigeria, according to the NCAA data.
Travel
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK
Disable advertisements
:
E2%80%93-yoruba-elder-ayo-opadokun What Will Happen If Buhari Refuses To Hand Over Power In 2023 – Yoruba Elder, Ayo Opadokun
An activist and chieftain of the defunct National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), Chief Ayo Opadokun has explained that the international community would step in if President Muhammadu Buhari refuses to step down from government in 2023. Speaking during an interactive session on Wednesday, Opadokun said he is not in a position to prophesy whether Buhari will transmit power to another in 2023 when his second term will be over.
He, however, said the world has become more of a global community where government policies and decisions are not taken in isolation, particularly with the power of social media. Buttressing his point, he referred to the recently launched United States consulate at the Eko Atlantic City, Lagos State worth over $500 million. He said, “Ayo Opadokun is not a prophet, I’m not in the business of conjuring responses, I’m neither a psychologist nor a seer to say reading from the body language of this person, this is what this person will do or this is what he will not do, but one thing I can assure you of is that the world is now a global community. No leader is immune from the effects or focus of social media as to what it does. “What you do here in one minute can go viral globally and be known and followed excessively. I will like to give President Buhari the benefit of doubt, he said he is going to Daura to take care of his family. “I am confessing to you that what the American government had just recently done by deciding to spend a whopping $535 million to establish an American consulate in Lagos is not a joke, we are being taken seriously. “If anybody is daring to mess up that, he will have the world community to contend with, I believe that no matter what may be your doubt, you are entitled to it because of the happenings of the recent past. I myself was a reporter at the time, I was in Kano to cover the tribunal in 1981, but it has gone beyond that. “But we are doing, we are positively directed, focused, there’s a reason for us not to lose this chance because Nigeria is on a precipice, any slight miscarriage of the current situation may lead to something else. Let’s do what we can do.”
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK
Disable advertisements
:
Nigerian Senate Passes Bill To Establish Research Bureau For Army, Navy, Air Force
The Nigerian Senate, on Wednesday, passed a bill seeking to establish the Defence Research and Development Bureau in the Armed Forces of Nigeria. This was made known in a statement issued by Ezrel Tabiowo, the Special Assistant (Press) to the Senate President.
According to the statement, the bill seeks to initiate new scientific, technological and environmental research on defence matters. It will also facilitate collaboration with other national and international institutions in the promotion and transfer of science and technology relating to defence. The Senate also passed the FCT Area Courts Bill and the Federal College of Education Birniwa, Jigawa State (Establishment) Bill.The motion for re-committal was sponsored by the Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi (Kebbi North). Senator Abdullahi, in his presentation, recalled that the bills were passed by the National Assembly and transmitted to the President for assent. According to him, “some fundamental issues which require fresh legislative action by both chambers of the National Assembly emerged after critical analysis of the Bill by Mr President C-in-C.” He added that against the backdrop of the issues identified, a Technical Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives and Directorate of Legal Services met and worked on the Bill. Accordingly, the Senate while relying on order 1(b) and order 52(6) of the Senate Standing Order, 2022 as amended, rescinded its decision on the bill as passed and re-committed same to the Committee of the Whole for reconsideration and passage.
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK
Disable advertisements
:
E2%80%93governor-matawalle Respected, Powerful People In Zamfara Behind Banditry, Killings –Governor Matawalle
Zamfara Governor, Matawalle.
Governor Bello Matawalle has expressed worry that bandits are gradually returning to Zamfara, alleging that top politicians are sponsoring the terrorists.Matawalle also alleged that residents of the state have been by bandits as informants.
Zamfara Governor, Matawalle.
The governor questioned some top politicians in the state for declining to use the Quran to swear. The Quran is the holy book of Islam, a faith that the governor professes. In the past months, the state has come under a series of attacks by suspected bandits. Bandits again on Tuesday abducted five female students of the College of Health Science and Technology, Tsafe, Zamfara State. One of them escaped from the abductors. Zailani Bappa, a media aide to the governor, in a statement condemned the gradual return of bandits and kidnappers to the state. “Strong facts indicate that the recurrence of banditry in the state is aided and abetted mostly by powerful indigenes. Some of these people are strong personalities who the people respect. “There are also, among the generality of the people who receive paltry sums of money to serve as informants to bandits,” Bappa quoted the governor as saying. He added that it was based on suspicion that the governor directed those taking political appointments to swear by the Quran while taking the oath of office, NAN reports. He noted that some top politicians in the state, however, declined to use the Quran. Matawalle also described swearing by the Quran as the only way for politicians to distance themselves from banditry and kidnapping. The governor explained that the government and security forces had been able to reduce banditry and kidnapping despite multiple challenges. The governor assured that the security forces had employed new strategies to contain the trend. “They want people to revolt against the state and the federal government. They will not succeed. Success is ours by the grace of God, the Almighty,” Matawalle was also quoted as saying. Troops have secured the release of 700 kidnap victims, mostly women and children, according to the Zamfara government.
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK
Disable advertisements
:
E2%80%98ukraine-crime-scene%E2%80%99 International Criminal Court Says ‘Ukraine Is A Crime Scene’
“Ukraine is a crime scene,” the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor said on a visit to the town of Bucha west of Kyiv.A mission of experts set up by Organization for Security and Cooperation and Europe (OSCE) nations has found evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine, an initial report by the mission said on Wednesday, CGTN reports.
The mission was set up last month by 45 of the OSCE’s 57 participating countries to look into possible offences, including war crimes in Ukraine, and to pass on information to bodies such as international tribunals, a move that was opposed by Russia. “The mission found clear patterns of international humanitarian law violations by the Russian forces,” the report said, citing failures to take necessary precautions, act proportionately or spare sites like schools and hospitals. It said it had also found some violations by Ukraine, particularly in its treatment of prisoners of war, but it said Russia’s violations “are by far larger in nature and scale”. Despite Russian denials, the report said a March 9 attack on the Mariupol Maternity House and Children’s Hospital was carried out by Russia and those responsible had committed a war crime. It also said the attack on Mariupol’s Drama Theater on March 16, in which local Ukrainian officials say as many as 300 people may have been killed, was a war crime. “The Mission is not able to conclude whether the Russian attack on Ukraine per se may qualify as a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population,” it said, referring to the context in which crimes like murder and rape constitute crimes against humanity. “It however holds that some patterns of violent acts violating International Human Rights Law, which have been repeatedly documented in the course of the conflict, such as targeted killing, enforced disappearance or abductions of civilians… are likely to meet this qualification,” it said. “Any single violent act of this type, committed as part of such an attack and with the knowledge of it, would then constitute a crime against humanity.”Britain and the European Union (EU) announced coordinated sanctions against pro-Russian separatists, as well as more oligarchs and their relatives, on Wednesday. The UK government said that in coordination with the EU, it is sanctioning “178 Russian separatists” in eastern Ukraine, in addition to six more oligarchs and their families and employees. “This comes after multiple reports last week that Russia was barbarically targeting civilians in those regions,” Britain’s Foreign Office said in a statement. The latest sanctions include Alexander Ananchenko and Sergey Kozlov, who are described by the UK Foreign Office as “self-styled” leaders of the Russia-backed so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics. “In the wake of horrific rocket attacks on civilians in Eastern Ukraine, we are today sanctioning those who prop up the illegal breakaway regions and are complicit in atrocities against the Ukrainian people,” said UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss. “We will continue to target all those who aid and abet Putin’s war.” Britain is taking part in an international effort to punish Russia with asset freezes, travel bans and sanctions, after President Valdimir Putin ordered the assault on Ukraine on February 24. Those sanctions have so far targeted Russian defense, trade and transport companies. Truss said the latest package would include extending a UK import ban on Russian goods, to include iron and steel from Thursday. “We will not rest in our mission to stop Putin’s war machine in its tracks,” Truss said. London has sanctioned more than 1,400 individuals and businesses linked to Russia – including more than 100 oligarchs and their family members – since Moscow’s military campaign began. Russia’s defense ministry said on Wednesday that more than a thousand Ukrainian soldiers have surrendered in Mariupol, the strategic eastern port that has been besieged by Moscow’s troops for over a month. “In the city of Mariupol… 1,026 Ukrainian servicemen of the 36th marine brigade voluntarily laid down their arms and surrendered,” the ministry said in a statement. Among the troops were 162 officers and 47 were women, the ministry added. More than 100 were wounded. If the Russians seize the Azovstal industrial district, where the marines have been holed up, they will be in full control of Mariupol, the lynchpin between Russian-held areas to the west and east providing a land corridor for troops and supplies. It would be the first major city to fall to Russian forces since the conflict started on February 24. Ukraine’s general staff said that Russian forces were proceeding with attacks on Azovstal and the port. However, Ukraine’s defense ministry spokesman said he had no information about any surrender. Thousands of civilians are believed to have died in the city, which has seen some of the most intense fightings in the conflict.
CRIME
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK
Disable advertisements
:
Nigerians Among Worst People Suffering From Internet Poverty Globally
The Internet Poverty Index by the World Data Lab has revealed that Nigeria has the largest number of Internet poor people in the world. It was gathered that no fewer than 169 countries were ranked on the index.
It was reported that 1.39 billion people were suffering from Internet poverty in the world in 2022. 47.39 per cent (103.02 million people) of Nigeria’s 217.37 million population suffer from Internet poverty. It was also said that 51.43 per cent (714.79 million) of those living in Internet poverty in the world live in Nigeria, India, China, Congo (DRC), Brazil, Pakistan, Philippines, Tanzania, Indonesia, and South Africa, The Punch reports. The data enterprise disclosed that Internet access is increasingly being viewed as a basic requirement, alongside access to food, clothing, housing, and energy, noting that the ability to measure Internet poverty could raise awareness and identify the most vulnerable groups. It said, “Internet poverty is measured by how many people can or cannot afford a minimum package of mobile internet. “Moreover, it is based on three assumed pillars: affordability, quantity, and quality. Affordability, where up to 10 per cent of total individual spending is assumed. Quantity, where 1GB per month is assumed. Quality, where 10Mbps download speed is assumed. “The hedonic pricing method is used to assess prices of mobile internet around the world, based on Internet quality and a set of socioeconomic variables. The variable of internet quality is fixed to project the cost of 1GB of mobile internet at that quality globally. “These numbers are then combined with individual spending distributions to calculate the number of people who have the ability to afford that package of mobile internet (including up to 10 per cent of total individual spending).” The nation’s broadband penetration was 40.91 per cent (78.08 million) in February 2022, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission. In its ‘A Better Future for All Nigerians: 2022 Nigeria Poverty Assessment’ report, the World Bank disclosed that the number of poor Nigerians is projected to hit 95.1 million in 2022. “Given the effects of the crisis, however, the poverty headcount rate is instead projected to jump from 40.1 per cent in 2018/19 to 42.0 per cent in 2020 and 42.6 per cent in 2022, implying that the number of poor people was 89.0 million in 2020 and would be 95.1 million in 2022. “Taking the difference between these two scenarios, the crisis alone is projected to have driven an additional 3.8 million Nigerians into poverty in 2020, with an additional 5.1 million living in poverty by 2022,” it said.
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK
Disable advertisements
:
E2%80%99s-revised-framework-seeking-fuel-subsidy-increase-n4trillion-thursday Senate To Pass Buhari’s Revised Framework Seeking Fuel Subsidy Increase To N4Trillion On Thursday
Senate
The Senate will Thursday, pass the revised 2022 fiscal framework before adjourning on the Easter break. The hint was given by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, after the report of the Committee on Finance was stepped down today for consideration, a statement on Wednesday signed Dr. Ezrel Tabiowo, Special Assistant (Press) to the Senate President, said.
Senate
Among other requests, President Muhammadu Buhari had asked the chamber to approve an increase in the estimated provision for 2022 subsidy for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also called petrol, by N3.557 trillion, from N442.72 billion to N4 trillion.The request was contained in a letter dated April 5, 2022.The Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi, who moved a motion for the report to be stepped down, explained that its deferred consideration till Thursday, April 14, 2022, would allow lawmakers to make their inputs.President Buhari had in the letter dated April 5, 2022, requested the Senate to adjust the 2022 fiscal framework. He said doing so became necessary in view of new developments in both the global and domestic economies.According to him, the developments were occasioned by spikes in the market price of crude oil, which were a fallout of the Russian-Ukraine war. He, therefore, requested the upper chamber to approve an increase in the oil benchmark by US$11 per barrel, from US$62 per barrel to US$73 per barrel. The President also sought a reduction in the projected oil production volume by 283,000 barrels per day, from 1.883 million barrels per day to 1.600 million barrels per day.President Buhari underscored the need for a cut in the provision for Federally-funded upstream projects being implemented by N200 billion, from N352.80 billion to N152.80 billion. He proposed an increase in the projection for Nigerian Government Independent Revenue by N400 billion; and an additional provision of N182.45 billion to cater for the needs of the Nigeria Police Force.In a related development, the Senate also stepped down consideration of a bill to amend the 2022 Appropriation Act.The chamber, however, considered three bills that scaled second reading during plenary on Wednesday. The bills seek to provide for the establishment of the Federal University of Health Sciences Azare, Bauchi; Federal College of Education Jama’re, Bauchi State; and to repeal the Immigrations and Prisons Services Board Act and to Enact the Internal Affairs Services Board Act.The bills were sponsored by Senators Jibrin Barau (Kano North) and George Thompson Sekibo (Rivers East).The bills after consideration were referred by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, to the Committees on Health (Secondary and a Tertiary); Tertiary Institutions and TETfund; and Interior, respectively.The Committees were all given four weeks to report back to the chamber in plenary.
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK
Disable advertisements
:
Adamawa Lawmakers Create 22 New Districts
The Adamawa State House of Assembly has created 22 new districts.This followed the passage of a bill for the creation of 22 new districts out of 97 requests submitted in November 2021.
SaharaReporters had on December 25, 2021, reported that the State House of Assembly was condemned by a group of concerned Christians for commencing a public hearing on the creation of new districts a day before Christmas. The new districts created include Nassarawo-Abba and Karewa in the Yola North Local Government Area; Lamorde, Nasarawo and Yadafa in the Mubi South LGA; Mildu (Mildu Shalmi) in the Madagali LGA; Garum (Tapare), Serkum (Gurum-Nongvan) in the Ganye LGA; Gangzamanu, Mayo Duken and Kogin Baba in the Toungo LGA. Others are Vomni, Kilbawo and Mbangan Tiren in the Jada LGA; Numan and Wayam in the Numan LGA; Kawon Dowaya, Mbula Penda (Kulasala) Dili, Bilachi and Sabon Pegi in the Demsa LGA and Zakawon (Boshikiri) in the Guyuk LGA. The assembly during its sitting on Tuesday, adopted the committee’s report entitled, “The report of the Ad-hoc committee on a bill for a law to create districts for Adamawa State of Nigeria and to repeal the Adamawa State creation of districts law 1992.”The group had described the legislative arm’s action as being insensitive to the religious concerns of Christians in the state.The group on December 24, 2021, staged a protest at the venue of the public hearing, demanding that the process should be put on hold until Christmas festivities were over. Leading the protest, Prof Caleb Wunisari accused the lawmakers of an attempt to shortchange stakeholders through exclusion occasioned by the short notice. Wunisari, who represented no fewer than 40 groups under the auspices of Gongola Peace Initiative, said, “We were only given one day notice for the event. “We are here for the new districts’ creation but we must say the date is not feasible and the timing is wrong because it is convened on the eve of Christmas. “If the conveners want to succeed, there must be proper timetable and they must consult widely. “Arranging it on the eve of Christmas and on a short day like Friday is apparently an attempt to shortchange the people.” Reacting to the issues raised, the Speaker of the Adamawa State House of Assembly, Aminu Iya-Abbas, had said, “The public hearing would continue after the Christmas holidays. “If there are people who were unable to make presentations today, they can do so after the holidays on Wednesday or Thursday.”
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK
Disable advertisements
:
N22.9billion Fraud: Nigerian Supreme Court Affirms 6-year Jail Term For Pension Fund Thief, John Yusuf
The Supreme Court on Wednesday affirmed the six years jail term imposed on a former Assistant Director in the Police Pension Office, John Yakubu Yusuf.Yusuf was prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for a fraud involving N22.9 billion (Twenty–two Billion, Nine Hundred Million Naira).
The apex court in a judgment read by Justice Tijjani Abubakar also ordered the convict to refund N22.9 billion to government coffers, a statement on Wednesday by Wilson Uwujaren, EFCC’s Head, Media & Publicity, said. Yusuf is one of the six civil servants facing prosecution for allegedly stealing N32.8 billion from the Police Pension Fund. He was initially convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment with an option of a fine of N750, 000 (Seven Hundred Thousand Naira only) by a Federal Capital Territory High Court presided over by Justice Abubakar Talba. The EFCC, dissatisfied with the judgment of the trial court, approached the appellate court to set aside the judgment. Ruling on the substantive matter, the Court of Appeal held unanimously that the three counts involving Yusuf (Counts 17, 18, and 19) clearly stated the amounts he converted for his personal use.He pleaded guilty to the three counts and thereby admitted to the conversion of an aggregate sum of about N24 billion to his personal use. He was therefore sentenced to six years in prison and ordered to return the stolen N22.9 billion.In his appeal to the Supreme Court, Yusuf prayed the apex court to set aside his conviction and the order to refund N22.9 billion on the ground that the Court of Appeal judgment was a miscarriage of justice.But the Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the decision of the appellate court. Justice Abubakar said the appeal of the former pension Director seeking to set aside the six years jail term against him was frivolous, vexatious and devoid of merit. He further held that victims of the convicted Director deserved restitution which can only be achieved through justice.The EFCC in June 2020 re-arrested Yusuf, who had been on the run since 2018 after the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, sentenced him to six years imprisonment and a fine of N22.9 billion, for conniving with five others to steal N32.8 billion of Police Pension Fund. Based on his re-arrest, Justice Baba Yusuf of the FCT High Court on Monday, June 22, 2020, issued a remand order that would enable him to serve his six years jail term in Kuje Correctional Centre, Abuja.
CRIME
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK
Disable advertisements
:
Read also
You can also check
