TheNewsGuru

Tag: Abdullahi Usman

  • 349 ghost schools discovered in school feeding programme in Nasarawa

    349 ghost schools discovered in school feeding programme in Nasarawa

    The Enumeration Committee for the home-grown feeding programme for public primary schools funded by the Federal Government of Nigeria says it has uncovered 349 ghost schools in Nasarawa State benefiting from the scheme.

    Mallam Abdullahi Usman, the team leader of the Enumeration Committee and adviser to the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, revealed this when he led the committee members on a courtesy call on Governor Abdullahi Sule at the Government House, Lafia.

    Usman told Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule in Lafia yesterday that due to the findings, Top officials in Abuja almost delisted the state as one of the program’s beneficiaries.

    “After due process of vetting, the committee discovered that 349 of such schools were actually ghost schools, with some officials pocketing the money meant for feeding these schools,” he said.

    According to Usman, the programme organisers only agreed to let Nasarawa State continue to benefit from the scheme to avoid undue punishment of innocent children that would benefit from the project.

    He disclosed that one thousand, two hundred and three public primary schools were originally captured as beneficiaries in the state.

    He praised the governor for his partnership and support while also recognising the assistance of the state focal person, Mr. Imran Usman Jibrin, Senior Special Assistant (SSA), to the Governor on Humanitarian Services.

  • TARABA: Suspected herdsmen kill 7 people, many others injured

    TARABA: Suspected herdsmen kill 7 people, many others injured

    Suspected herdsmen have attacked Tor Damisa village, in Donga Local Government Area of Taraba State, killing seven people including a woman and many others injured.

    This reprisal attack by the herdsmen on the Tiv community is coming days after a herder was said to be brutally injured by some suspected Tiv militia while rearing his cattle on the axis of the village.

    Confirming the incident, Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Abdullahi Usman, on Tuesday disclosed that houses were set ablaze.

    He noted that the police, army and professional hunters are currently after the assailants with a view to arresting and prosecuting them.

    “A Fulani young herder was rescued from the bush where he was shot on his leg with multiple fractures and was brought before the divisional police officer there in donga and was questioned as to what led to the fracture and he confessed to have been shot by some suspected Tiv militia,” the police spokesman said.

    “The shepherd was later identified to be from Plateau State and his relations were contacted and handed over to them for further treatment at the Plateau State Teaching Hospital.

    “When they left with the injured herder, the other herders living within Tor Damisa in Donga Local Government Area now suspected those Tiv tribes living around and then mobilized to attack the Tiv settlements.

    “We got the information of the pending attack and also mobilized alongside the military and professional hunters, but unfortunately before they could reach Tor Damisa village the Fulani herders had already attacked the Tiv settlement and fired sporadically where they killed seven people including a woman.

    “When the security agencies arrived, they calmed the situation down and are currently in pursuit of the attackers. As I talk to you now, the situation is under control and the area combed.”

    While noting that the area is now calm, Usman urged residents to continue their lawful businesses while security operatives are dealing with the situation.

    He also revealed that the remains of the victims have been released to their families for burial, adding that a discrete investigation has been launched to unravel hidden agenda and curtail the escalation of the attacks.

    The police spokesman further assured that a more drastic strategy will be deployed to ensure synergy between the community and security agencies to avert a repeat of such incidents.