FEATURES
Hundreds of bakers of local bread, popularly known as ‘Gurasa’ in Hausa, on Friday, staged a protest against rising price of flour in Kano State.
The protesters, mostly women, notably Gurasa bakers, (a local delicacy) staged the protest at Chediyar Yangurasa, in the Dala Local Government Area of the state.
The protesters wielded placards with various inscriptions written in both Hausa and English that included, “High costs of flour are our business”, “High flour prices unacceptable “, and “Flour price is too high in Nigeria; we need help,” among others.
Speaking to journalists during the protest, the chairperson of the Kano State Gurasa Bakers Association, Fatima Auwal, said more than half of the bakers have been sent out of business as a result of soaring prices of flour.
According to her, they had been protesting against the rising price of the commodity since when it reached N16,000 per bag but now, it is N43,000 per 50kg bag.
Though, all flour mills have increased prices, Auwal particularly mentioned IRS as the product they solely use to make Gurasa, calling on manufacturing company, BUA, to consider their plights to make the price affordable.
She said, “We are out here on the streets protesting to let the leaders know the situation we have found ourselves in at the moment.
“This has been our business for long but it is facing a great threat due to the rise in the price of flour.
“More than half of us have been sent out of business as we cannot afford to buy flour at this high price.
“We started protest since a 50kg bag of flour was N16,000, now it is N43,000 and we cannot afford it.
“We solely use IRS Flour produced by BUA, because it is the best for our production but the price is too high for us. Whenever we go to purchase flour, we get an increase of at least N1,500 on the price of a bag of flour.
“We therefore appeal to BUA, other flour mills, and the Federal Government to intervene and come to our rescue.
“We are in a very difficult situation, we need help. This is a small-scale business mostly run by women. Life is becoming more difficult for us. We hardly feed or send our children to school due to this hardship.
“Many have lost their capital. Only 25 percent of us are now in the business as many others have closed down due to lack of capital.”
Fuji maestro, Wasiu Ayinde Marshal, popularly known by his stage name, K1 De Ultimate, has told President Bola Tinubu that Nigerians are suffering and angry with his government due to the current poor state of the economy.
K1 said this in a video recording that surfaced on Thursday during one of his recent stage performances.
Before K1, his daughter, Dami Ayinde, lent her voice on Wednesday to the current economic situation, which she said wasn’t what the All Progressives Congress promised.
On her Instagram stories, the young lawyer said the APC was not delivering on what it promised Nigerians because the people are suffering.
Meanwhile, the Fuji legend, who is known to be a staunch supporter of the President, delivered his message in Yoruba Language while begging the President to find solutions to the multitude of challenges confronting the masses.
The country’s economic hardship has skyrocketed after former President Muhammadu Buhari left office, ushering in the new administration on May 29, 2023.
On the inauguration day, Tinubu declared that his administration would no longer subsidise fuel, hence calling for the end of the financing because it was beneficial to neighbouring countries.
His decision made the price of the Premium Motor Spirit rise from N185 to over N600.
Also, as part of his government’s reforms in the financial sector, the naira has embarked on a continuous free fall against the dollar after the Central Bank of Nigeria floated the currency to move towards market-determined interest rates.
This action has led to the instability of the naira to the dollar in the market, making it sell for between N1,200 and N1,500.
Meanwhile, both decisions — naira floating and subsidy removal — which are largely the factors determining the growth of the economy are being held spellbound and have sent more Nigerians below the poverty level.
Speaking truth to power, K1 said Nigerians are crying, and he pleaded with the President to find a quick fix to the problems before the opposition ride on that to criticise his administration.
“I plead with you to find a solution to the plight of the masses. The citizens are crying and wailing. We’re suffering amid a lack of adequate power supply. How did things get to this point? I implore you to fix these problems,” K1 sang in the video.
“Listen to the complaints of the masses and treat such complaints with all seriousness.
“We know you to be a philanthropist, but we Nigerians are angry. The people of Nigeria are angry.
“The traders in this country are not happy. Look at what the dollar has become (a reference to the exchange rate),” K1 added.
He also wondered why kidnapping incidents have been on the increase recently and called on the President to deal with the issue promptly.
K1 also appealed to Nigerians to persevere and exercise more patience with Tinubu, assuring them that this government will resolve all the challenges facing the country.
He, however, asked those who are profiting from the suffering of the masses to bury their heads in shame.
K1 has in the past sung the President’s praises in some of his records and was on his campaign trail in the build-up to the 2023 presidential election.
Media
The Kaduna Police Command apprehended eight individuals believed to be highway robbers along the Kaduna-Abuja road. Mansir Hassan, the command’s spokesperson, revealed this development in a statement on Thursday, identifying the suspects as members of a robbery syndicate.
The arrest took place on January 27, when operatives from the tollgate divisional police headquarters were on patrol along the Kaduna-Abuja road.
“The patrol team, at about 1100 hours, sighted and intercepted a suspicious vehicle with seven passengers who were met changing their clothing to seemingly operational ones,” NAN quoted Hassan as saying.
“When accosted, they could not offer a plausible explanation, thus, they were moved to the divisional headquarters. In the course of investigation, a locally-fabricated pistol with three live 20 gauge shotgun cartridges were recovered from them.
“The seven suspects included Sheriff Abubakar, Hassan Adam, Nura Mustafa, Abdullahi Mohammed, Umar Mohammed, Umar Mohammed and Isa Usman.
“The eight member of the syndicate, Yusuf Danmakurdi, was arrested by the Divisional Police Headquarters in Tafa.
“From our findings, the syndicate often attack motorists along the Kaduna-Abuja highway. Worst hit are people whose vehicles have broken down.
“They attack mostly articulated vehicles carrying goods such as rice, beans, electronics. They also attack fuel tanks. They usually move with an extra vehicle, a van or bus, into which they pack the aforementioned goods.
“In the case of a loaded fuel tank, they will restrain the driver and his partner in the bush, move with the tanker, sell the petroleum product and abandon the vehicle.”
Famous Nollywood actress, Iyabo Ojo has blamed acute hardship as the major cause of the rising insecurity across Nigeria.
The actress asserted that hardship, acute depression, insomnia, and drug intake are the vices causing insecurity, irrational behaviour, and poor mental health in society.
Iyabo in a post on her Instagram page on Friday, noted that her direct messages, DM, is a testimonial to these facts, hence, her decision to stop reading her DM to protect her sanity.
She, however, prayed God to grant the government the wisdom to urgently do the right thing before it is too late.
“Hardship, causing acute depression, insomnia, an increase in drug intake, which is amounting to the huge volume of insecurity, irrational behaviour, and mental health in our society
“My DM is a testimonial to these facts. Henceforth, I have to stop reading my DM’s to protect my sanity. May God grant our government the wisdom to do right by their people before it is too late”.
An actress, Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin, has been sentenced to six months in prison by Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos.
The conviction on Thursday, February 1, 2024, came after Omoseyin was found guilty of spraying and stepping on new Naira notes at a social event in Lagos, an act that contravenes the Central Bank of Nigeria’s regulations.
Initially pleading “not guilty” to the two-count following her arraignment by the Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on February 13, 2023, Omoseyin later changed her plea in light of compelling evidence against her. She had been granted bail since February 15, 2023.
The charges against Omoseyin detailed her actions on January 28, 2023, at the Monarch Event Centre, Lekki, Lagos, where she was filmed dancing and disrespectfully handling a sum of N100,000 in Naira notes, behaviour deemed punishable under Section 21(1) of the Central Bank Act, 2007.
Upon her guilty plea, the prosecution, led by counsel Z.B. Atiku, presented EFCC operative Abubakar Mohammed Marafa to recount the facts of the case. Marafa explained that the defendant was initially apprehended by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on February 1, 2023, before being transferred to the EFCC for further investigation. Investigations revealed videos on Omoseyin’s phone and footage from the event centre, clearly showing her actions.
Alongside the oral testimony, the prosecution tendered several pieces of evidence, including the ICPC letter, the defendant’s statement, forensic report of her phone, and videos of the event, which Justice Aneke accepted as exhibits.
In her defense, counsel Afuye Adegbola pleaded for leniency, citing Omoseyin’s status as a first-time offender, a mother of one, and her expressed remorse. Adegbola requested a non-custodial sentence.
However, Justice Aneke imposed a six-month prison sentence, effective immediately, with the option of a N300,000 fine payable to the federation’s consolidated revenue account.
The arrest and subsequent conviction of Omoseyin stemmed from a viral video showcasing her misuse of the newly redesigned Naira notes at a party, where she was also seen flaunting the currency. Omoseyin claimed the money was given to her by fans, and she was unaware of the identities of the contributors.
At the time of her arrest on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, authorities recovered a Range Rover among her possessions, highlighting the case’s seriousness and the ongoing efforts to uphold the sanctity of the nation’s currency.
Nollywood actor cum politician, Desmond Elliot, is currently a hot topic of discussion online due to a circulating video.
Serving as the representative for the Surulere constituency 1 at the Lagos State House of Assembly for the third consecutive term, Elliot’s actions often draw public attention.
In the recently surfaced video, Desmond Elliot and fellow members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) were seen on February 1st, 2024, engaging in community charity activities within Surulere constituency 1 ahead of a by-election.
The footage captured Elliot and his team distributing essential items such as notebooks, and perfumes to residents who scrambled to get them.
Watch the video below:
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I sold all my cars to save wife from cancer – Lekan Olatunji opens up on partner’s painful death
AdminNigerian film actor, Lekan Olatunji has recollected how he sold his two cars for N4 million to save his dying wife, Wunmi from cancer.
The Yoruba actor disclosed this in a recent interview with Biola Bayo, in which he revealed that he did not know his wife had cancer until they went for a check-up and found out that the cancer had hit her spinal cord, which made her unable to work.
Lekan Olatunji said:
“When we came to Lagos for the check-up, we didn’t even see any Nigerians, they were like apprentices there. Indians were the ones operating the machines. From there we were given the result and when we saw the result, it was cancer. But instead of reacting in her body, it hit her spinal cord. That was why she couldn’t walk again. Cancer of the breast, she just had something little there, but it wasn’t paining her.
“When I questioned her about it, she said she told her Matron and she said it was due to family planning and it wasn’t paining her truthfully. It wasn’t reacting in her body at all.
“Even the doctors that examined her said her body ought to have started decaying, at the level that it was. They said we were going to do 2 urgent surgeries worth N12.5million.
“In her presence, she looked at me and started crying. I said don’t worry, I went outside and started crying. 12.5m, where will I see it? So the whole family had to be involved because we couldn’t hide it anymore. We were about to fly her out, but unfortunately, we didn’t get a Visa on time. Because the family head said we should bring her over to America, and the expenses will be deducted from his salary. If we don’t do the first operation to correct the spinal cord, she won’t be able to walk again. I sold two of my cars for 4 million.
“The first surgery we did was 5.8million, everything we spent was about N7.8million in Lagos and she was there for like two weeks”.
Lekan announced his wife’s death in an Instagram post on September 2023.
Lekan and Wunmi had three children in their marriage.
Tinubu Knew Nigerians Would Encounter Difficulties When Fuel Subsidy Was Removed – Minister Of Information
AdminThe federal government has said that the situation in the country would be more terrible if petrol subsidy was not removed.
The minister of information and national orientation, Mohammed Malagi, stated this on Thursday during a programme on Channels Television.
He insisted that it would be difficult to carry out meaningful development without removing subsidy.
Defending President Bola Tinubu’s decision, the Minister argued that the economy would have been worse if petrol subsidy was not removed.
He insisted that Tinubu was aware that Nigerians would encounter some difficulties after the removal of the subsidy.
“You are premising your argument on the fact this problem just started yesterday. The foundation of our economy had taken a beating a long time ago. The substructure of our national economy has been one that cannot hold a meaningful substructure on it.
“So, it is important that Nigerians recognise that the President and his team would have to go back to reset that and that is why from day one, he said, ‘Look, subsidy issue has to go.
“He had to expect that there would be this pain, of course. He anticipated that Nigerians would encounter some difficulties. But it would be worse if that subsidy did not go. It would have been difficult to carry out any meaningful development. We needed to free up resources,” Magaji said
He further said the impact of the subsidy was not felt by the masses as some select persons were benefiting from it.
According to Malagi, security agencies are working to arrest the culprits.
“Of course, everybody is being investigated. Security agencies are doing their jobs in that direction,” he said.
It is estimated that about 70.92 million Nigerians are in extreme poverty, according to the World Poverty Clock. The figure translates to 11 per cent of the world’s extreme poor. This means that, at least, one out of every 10 extremely poor people live in Nigeria.
It would be recalled that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) had earlier in its report said over 133 million Nigerians were multidimensionally poor.
Sulaiman Adesina Yusuf of the Department of Agriculture Economics, University of Ibadan, related the statistics yesterday in Abuja in his presentation at a one-day public lecture.
The lecture was organised by the Federal Cares Unit of the Nigeria Covid-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES) programme.
Yusuf, who was the guest lecturer, said Nigeria ranked 163 out of 191 countries in 2021 on the Human Development Index (HDI), and 109 out of 125 countries in 2023 on the Global Hunger Index.
Yusuf said this was not only unacceptable for a country that hopes to compete at the global stage but also calls for concern from policymakers.
While acknowledging efforts made by successive administrations in the country to fund intervention programmes, he said the major challenge has been the lack of political will on the part of the government to fully fund the programme.
The don called for the passage of the Social Protection Bill to generate the political commitment for social protection at the federal and state levels as well as realign the allocation of resources to scale up social protection.
Earlier, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, commended the work NG-CARES is doing to lift Nigerians out of poverty. He said the current administration was very passionate about poverty alleviation, a reason President Tinubu, a few weeks ago, directed a wholesale review of the national social protection scheme.
“Much as you think we have achieved progress, there is a lot that remains to be done,” he said. He promised that the federal government would do all within its power and available resources to ensure that the sad tales of poverty were reversed.
Data Breach: JAMB Arrests Staff For WhatsApping candidate Through A Number On The Form, Not Knowing It’s The Mother
AdminThe manager of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board Computer-Based Test (JAMB CBT) has been arrested and detained for allegedly participating in an online discussion with a 15-year-old candidate while utilizing information obtained during her exam registration.
The situation was exposed when the candidate’s mother, who had registered her daughter using her phone number, received inappropriate messages on her device shortly after the registration procedure
A social media post by the candidate’s mother accused JAMB of incompetence and a lack of data protection, sparking an investigation.
According to the mother’s statement, the CBT manager got the phone number from the registration form and started a text discussion, presuming he was conversing directly with the candidate.
Despite being informed of the teenager’s age, the manager persisted in communicating and requested that the communication be kept anonymous.
JAMB then launched an internal investigation and coordinated with law enforcement authorities, resulting in the arrest of the accused staff member and an alleged collaborator within hours.
Speaking to newsmen after the arrest, JAMB’s ICT consultant, Damilola Bamiro, on Thursday said, “Today, based on the social media report that has gone round where a mother complained that her 15-year-old daughter was being approached by a staff of one of our CBT centers, and immediately we got that information, we swung into action.
“We identified the center and since our system identifies who has registered a candidate, we were able to apprehend both the person that registered the candidate and the person that approached the minor.
“We have them in custody already, just to assure Nigerians that JAMB will always swing into action whenever any case against any candidate is reported.”
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THE beheading of a police personnel identified as Inspector Osang by hoodlums numbering over 10 is currently generating fear among the residents of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital.
It was gathered, yesterday, that the incident occurred about 8:30 p.m., on Wednesday in his residence, located on a street which links Even Afaha and Afaha Ube, a suburb in Uyo metropolis
Although facts surrounding his death were still sketchy at press time, sources from the area told newsmen that the assailants bearing arms stormed the residence of their victim, shooting sporadically.
The shooting, according to a source, caused most of the residents and passersby to run for safety.
State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Odiko MacDon, who confirmed the incident, said: “We have received that information and it is an unfortunate situation.
“Already, investigation is ongoing and we are committed to ridding the streets of criminal elements. Again, we are not dettered and we are committed to ensuring that, criminal-minded persons will account for their actions.”
The Wednesday killing has brought the number of gruesome killings in the state to four in the past two weeks.
It will recalled that a young lady’s body was dismembered, tucked in a Ghana-Must-Go bag and dumped by the roadside along Nwaniba area last week.
Similarly, a woman was reportedly killed at the Banking Layout, Udo Udoma Avenue while a man’s lifeless body was dumped at Ikot Oku Ikono junction in the Uyo metropolitan, two weeks ago.
A former Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, has accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of deceiving him to accept the allegation of N109bn fraud against himself.
The former AGF made the allegation in court on Thursday when he and his co-defendants appeared on 14 counts charges of stealing and criminal breach of trust to the tune of N109.5 billion.
According to Idris, the EFCC tricked him into accepting the fraud allegation as he was told by the anti-graft agency that they wanted to use him to get the minister of finance and some other governors.
Idris was arraigned alongside Godfrey Olusegun Akindele, Mohammed Kudu Usman, and a firm — Gezawa Commodity Market and Exchange Limited.
In a statement said to be written by Idris and dated May 16, 2022, which was partly read out by the prosecution witness, Hayatudeen Ahmed, in court on Thursday, the ex-AGF stated that the EFCC promised him that whatever information he gives would not be used against him.
The prosecution witness read the statement during a cross-examination by Idris’ counsel, Chris Uche (SAN), at the request of the lawyer.
However, after reading, the prosecution witness stated that such assurances were not given, and neither was he under duress.
He said, “There was no such assurance. The statements made by Idris on the 25th, 26th, and 31st of May 2022 and that made on the 1st, 6th, 10th, 20th of June 2022, and 5 July 2022 were made willingly by the defendants contrary to the claims that they were allegedly made under duress by the defendants.”
Earlier, when the hearing commenced on Thursday, the counsel for the EFCC, Rotimi Jacobs(SAN), applied to tender video evidence that contained a recorded interview of the first to third defendants at the Commission’s Monitoring Unit Chairman’s office as an exhibit before the court.
Naija News recalls Idris served under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari and was embroiled in multiple fraud allegations, leading to his suspension from office and arrest by the EFCC.
There is growing restiveness among the staff of the federal civil service, ministries, departments and agencies, and MDAs, over unpaid January salaries.
The worker’s situation is compounded by the fact that they also owed a backlog of N35,000 in wage awards.
It was gathered that non-payment of the January salary to core civil servants and non-core civil servants is due to the inability of the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, OAGF, to finalise the 2024 Appropriation on the Government Integrated Financial Management System, GIFMIS, platform.
The failure has prevented the release of the personnel warrant for January 2024 for salary payment.
General Secretary of the Nigeria Civil Service Union, NCSU, Bomoi Muhammed Ibraheem, confirmed to Vanguard that members of the union have not been paid.
A staff federal secretariat, Abuja, who lamented the situation, told Vanguard: ”The federal civil servants are frustrated with the delayed payment of January salary. Everybody knows what is going on in Nigeria today.
”The economic situation is unbearable, all because of government policies. The N35,000 wage award promised after the removal of the subsidy on petrol was only paid in September. Now, the government has refused to pay us January salary thereby compounding our woes.
”How do they expect us to meet our responsibilities to our families including school fees and other necessities? We cannot continue like this.”
To douse the restiveness of its staff, the management of the National Mathematical Centre, Abuja, in an internal memo dated January 31, 2024, titled “Delay in the payment of January 2024 salary”, among others said “We wish to inform you that January 2024 salaries will be delayed beyond normal.”
Gunmen on Thursday night, invaded the palace of Olukoro of Koro in Ekiti local government area of Kwara State and killed the traditional ruler of the community, General Segun Aremu (rtd).
The assailants also abducted the wife of the monarch and two others.
Naija News reports that Koro in Kwara is the neighbouring town of Irele/Oke Ako/Ipao/Oke Aiyedun and Ikole and shares boundaries with Ekiti State where two monarchs were recently killed.
The Spokeswoman of the Kwara State Police command, Toun Ejire-Adeyemi confirmed the unfortunate incident in the wee hours of Friday.
According to her, “immediate and intensive investigations are underway to apprehend those criminals for this reprehensible act.
“We assure the public that no stone will be left unturned in ensuring that the perpetrators are brought to justice swiftly.
“Security measures in the koro community have been intensified, tactical teams are being mobilised to beef up security to ensure the safety and well-being of residents”.
Toun added that the CP, Victor Olaiya, “urged the public to remain calm, vigilant, and cooperative as we work tirelessly to unravel this matter; arrest and charge the culprits to court.”
Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq described the incident as “reckless, shocking, and abominable”.
He charged the security agencies not to spare any resources to track down the perpetrators, free the spouse and others taken away, and bring them to book.