TheNewsGuru

Tag: Kaduna

  • Transmittable diseases : Kaduna Govt introduces house-to-house search

    The Kaduna State Government has introduced a house-to-house search mechanism to prevent and protect residents against outbreak of infectious diseases.

    The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Paul Dogo, said in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Kaduna that government was ready to tackle measles, cholera, meningitis and other viral haemorrhagic diseases.

    Dogo noted that the exercise was designed to curb the spread of the diseases across and beyond the state.

    He said the state has not recorded any single case in the 23 local government areas and assured that no chance would be taken to contain any disease outbreak.

    The commissioner said the state has a robust supply chain management system with medicines that can easily be pre-positioned in hospitals to manage isolated cases. ‎‎

    “We have made preparedness for outbreak of infectious diseases such as measles, cholera, meningitis, Lassa fever and other viral haemorrhagic diseases.

    “Our robust supply chain management system have medicines that can easily be pre-positioned in our hospitals to manage isolated cases,” he said.‎

    Dogo also said that the state have maintained polio-free status since November 2012 and is working hard to build sufficient herd immunity through strengthened routine immunisation ‎programme.

    On tuberculosis, the commissioner explained that the ministry had commenced house-to-house search for active tuberculosis patients to curb the spread of the disease by undetected active TB cases within communities in the state.‎‎

    He said that to ensure success, the state government deployed 1,240 newly recruited medical professionals to hospitals across the state.

    “This has improved the human resource situation of our General Hospitals and better quality of services,” the commissioner said.

     

    Ambode goes tough gives ‘danfos’ quit notice on Lagos roads

  • Police name Sen. Shehu Sani suspect in murder case

    The police in Kaduna have named Senator Shehu Sani as a suspect in an ongoing homicide investigation.

    Consequently, Austin Iwar, the police commissioner in the state has written to the senator asking him to appear on April 30 at the Command Headquarters in Kaduna for questioning.

    “This is in connection with a case of criminal conspiracy and culpable homicide transferred to this office by 1 Division, Nigerian Army, Kaduna, alongside with exhibit audio CD in which your name was mentioned by the principal suspect,” Iwar said in a letter to Sani, who represent Kaduna Central at the red chamber.

    “This is to enable us fairly and timely conclude investigation into the matter, Mr Iwar said,” Iwar said in the letter addressed to Sani through the Clerk of the National Assembly.

    A copy of the letter was also forwarded to Senate President, Bukola Saraki.
    Reacting, however, Sani claimed there was a plan to frame him up for murder by his political opponents in the state.

    The lawmaker pointed accusing fingers at the Kaduna government, with which he has been having a running battle.

    “They want to frame me the same way they frame Senator Dino Melaye in Kogi on allegation of arming thugs,” Sani, who claims not to have seen the letter said.

  • Killings: What we recover from criminals, bandits in Kaduna – Police

    The Police in Kaduna state on Friday said it had recovered 84 arms and 120 live ammunition in the state.

    The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Austin Iwar, stated this at a media briefing in Kaduna.

    Iwar said that the recovered arms comprised 20 AK-47 rifles, 42 dane guns, 15 pump action guns, four locally-made pistols and three revolver guns.

    Also recovered, according to him, are three Boxer motorcycles, three military boats, two berates, two bows and arrows, 40 “weaponized’’ clubs and 30 cutlasses and charms.

    Iwar attributed the successes recorded by the command within a few weeks, to the diligence of officers and men of the command.

    He said that the operation that led to the recovery of the arms was in response to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Ibrahim Idris’ directive, adding that the command was supported by Kaduna State Government Disarmament Programme.

    According to him, following the directive that all Police commands should immediately commence mop-up of all prohibited and unauthorised firearms to solve the problem of proliferation of firearms in the country, the command swung into action.

    Iwar, however, said that recovery of firearms in the state had been gradual as it involved extensive negotiations, adding that the effort was yielding result.

    He said that the command had always collaborated with community leaders on crime prevention in the state, adding that the relationship helped in developing the renunciation of violence and crime and retrieval of firearms programme.

    “This process led to renunciation by a total of 760 criminals, bandits in Anchau Local Government Area in the state.’’

    He said the programme would be sustained in the state as the command was currently engaging with community leaders across the state to bring criminals into mainstream society.

    The police boss said a total of 70 street gangs called “Sara Suka’’ were arrested, with various dangerous weapons around the state.

    “The weapons include daggers machetes, Weaponized clubs and iron bars,’’ he said

    He said that 20 of the suspects had been charged to court while the remaining were still under investigation and were making useful statements.

    Iwar urged residents of the state to remain law-abiding and report to the police or nearest security agency any suspicious activity for prompt action.

  • BREAKING: Bandits storm Kaduna community; kill village head, five others

    There was pandemonium on Thursday afternoon at Sarari Village in Kaduna State as armed bandits killed the village head and five others.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that Sarari village is near Kuriga town in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

    According to a report by Premium Times, the incident which happened around 2 p.m. left ‎about eight people injured.

    One of the injured victims, who identified himself as Henry and was shot on the leg, confirmed the death of their village head.

    He said the bandits stormed the village, going house to house shooting people.

    “I don’t know where they came from we were just sitting down when we started hearing gunshots from all directions.

    “They came on motorcycles in large number. They go house to house shooting people. Our village head and five other people were killed. I was shot on the leg while trying to escape,” Henry said.

    It was also learnt that all the dead victims were ‎male adults.

    Henry gave the names of the dead as Sule Sarari, the 60 years old village head, ‘Lado, Yunusa, Jonah, Tela and one other person.’

    The victims were rushed to a Primary Health Centre in Oduwa town, few kilometres from where the incident occurred.

    The nurse in charge of the PHC where the victims are receiving treatment, Silas Ayuba, ‎confirmed that six bodies were brought to the clinic.

    “Yes we have six bodies right now at the clinic; all males. Eight people were injured and we are doing our best to stabilise their condition,” he said.

     

  • Kaduna needs $65.5 bn to address infrastructural challenges – El-Rufai

    Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai says it will require up to 65.5 billion dollars to address the state’s infrastructure challenges over the next 30 years.

    El-Rufai stated this on Wednesday at the unveiling of the infrastructure master plan, 2018-2050, during the 3rd edition of the state investment forum in Kaduna.

    He stressed that the long term infrastructure master plan summarised the infrastructure target of the state aimed at providing job opportunities and making lives better for the people.

    “The breakdown of the future infrastructural developments between now to 2050, include, the transportation sector which would require N8 trillion while N5.1 billion would be required annually in the education sector to build about 9,006 schools including tertiary institutions.

    “Other sectors include, the health system which would require N158 billion, while N100 billion yearly is targeted for the water sector; agriculture would require N53 billion, and 5,000 housing units would be developed annually all within the time frame of 2018-2050,’’ the governor said.

    According to him, the administration had attracted investments into the state in the last two years, with 79 percent coming from outside the country.

    “Due to the low percentage of domestic investment, we have decided to focus more on domestic investment, we need to attract businesses in Kaduna by providing skilled workforce,’’ he said.

    The governor stated that, “to encourage domestic investment in the state, government’s first priority is to build human capital by engaging in different activities where the young people are willing to be employed in businesses.’’

    El-Rufai reveals that the government expects some of the investments would bear fruits before the next edition of the summit.

    He listed the investments to include Vilisco Textile Park, Arfa Dairy Farms and Ranches, Kaduna Automobile village, Green Economic Zone, Solar Power Project, Dangote-PAN Assembly Plant among others.

  • What we are doing to stop killings in Kaduna, others – Minister

    The Federal Government is mapping out strategies to halt the incessant killings in Birnin-Gwari in Kaduna State, Interior Minister Abdulrahaman Dambazzau said on Tuesday.

    “The Federal Government is worried over continuous killings, kidnappings and cattle rustling by armed bandits in Birnin-Gwari and is already mapping out strategies to nab the bandits responsible,” Dambazzau said at the palace of the Emir of Birnin-Gwari, Malam Zubairu Jubril-Maigwari.

    Dambazzau was on a visit to the troubled area to assess the security situation.

    The minister was accompanied by the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Operation, Mr Habila Joshak, and Mr Austin Iwar, Commissioner of Police in Kaduna State.

    He said that government was very concerned about the situation in Kaduna State, particularly the Birnin-Gwari axis, and would do everything to restore order.

    In his remarks, Jubril-Maigwari decried the persistent killings of his people, and appealed to government to intensify efforts to rid the area of bandits.

    The emir said that the armed bandits hibernate in Zamfara State from where they invade his domain and rush back after wreaking havoc.

    He also decried the neglect of his emirate, saying that he had forgotten that Birnin-Gwari was part of Nigeria, until the minister visited.

    The royal father expressed optimism that the situation would improve with the minister’s visit, and urged him to appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari to rehabilitate the Kaduna-Birnin Gwari-Jebba road.

    “The Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road has been awarded for rehabilitation because top government officials like senators and governors ply it, but our road has not received similar attention because only peasants ply it,” he alleged.

    Recall that 11 soldiers were killed in the area on March 20, while nine persons, including a bride, were kidnapped by bandits who killed two persons on Friday, March 30.

     

  • Gunmen in army uniform kill six in Kaduna

    Gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen on Thursday reportedly killed six persons and injured four others in two separate attacks on Baking Kofi, Kaninkon Chiefdom in the Jema’a Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

    It was gathered that the gunmen, numbering about 10, were in army camouflage and mobile police uniforms.

    This is coming in the wake of a meeting between Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna and Fulani leaders of on peace in their domains.

    El-Rufai had said at the meeting, “We called this meeting because we need to deepen peace in our state. Peace is important and it is something we cannot compromise.

    “We will continue to work assiduously for the security and peace of our communities. Everyone must reject violence because it is a destructive tool that tears communities apart and retards all human development.”

    But on Thursday, gunmen struck killing six, a member of a local security committee, Auta Maurice, said.

    Maurice said the two separate attacks occurred between 10am and 11am. It was believed to have been carried out by suspected Fulani herdsmen, who were wearing army and mobile police uniforms.

    He explained that three persons were killed in the bush where they had gone to cut wood for roofing, three others were killed at a mining site while four others were injured.

    The injured, according to him, were taken to a hospital in Kafanchan.

    “The first attack occurred at about 10am when some members of our community went to the bush to cut wood for roofing their houses. All of a sudden, the herdsmen opened fire on them and three people were killed while others managed to escape.

    “The second attack happened at about 11am at a local mining site. Three people were also killed there, while four others were injured.

    “We reported the case to the soldiers maintaining security in our community and we went to the bush with them, but the bandits had fled,” he said.

    When contacted, the Kaduna State Police Command confirmed the attacks.

    The State Police Public Relations Officer, Aliyu Mukhtar, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, told our correspondent that the attacks claimed six lives while four persons sustained varying degrees of injury.

    According to the spokesman, four males and two females lost their lives during that attacks which occurred on Thursday morning.

    “There was an attack at a mining site in the Bakin Kogi area in the early hours of today (Thursday) where six persons were killed by some gunmen; four males and two females.

    “A combined team of the police and the military are currently on a manhunt for the perpetrators.

    “We will not leave any stone unturned until the perpetrators are apprehended and brought to book.”

  • Unsolicited SMS, illegal deductions: Ex-Kaduna gov threatens legal action against glo

    Unsolicited SMS, illegal deductions: Ex-Kaduna gov threatens legal action against glo

    Worried by constant reception of unsolicited SMS and and the illegal deductions trailing such, a former Military Governor of Kaduna State, Abubakar Umar, has threatened to take legal action against Glo, one of Nigeria’s major telecoms service providers.

    Umar disclosed this Wednesday afternoon after receiving several unsolicited subscription alerts and deductions of money from his Glo line.

    He forwarded some of the unsolicited subscription alerts he received.

    One of the alerts reads: “Dear customer, your Jokes tips subscription alerts will be renewed on 2018-03-22 00:00:00 . You will be charged N100 for 1 month. To deactivate SMS Unsub joke to 577. Thank you.”

    Another alert sent to Mr. Umar’s phone reads: “Dear customer, your SMS WIKI tips subscription alerts has been renewed for 100.00 NGN till 2018-04-11 00:00:00. To deactivate SMS STOP WIKI to 577. Thank you.”

    Umar said he will ask his lawyers to press charges against Glo if they failed to discontinue these unsolicited subscription alerts.

    Many Nigerians have been complaining about the unsolicited alerts by telecoms firms in Nigeria.

    One subscriber said “if a telecoms firm deducts N100 from one hundred thousand subscribers, that will amount to a huge sum of money fraudulently stolen from Nigerians for just one unsolicited alert.”

    Recall that Umar had some time ago decried similar unsolicited subscription alerts by another telecoms giant, MTN.

  • FG pays N5, 000 monthly grant to 10,623 vulnerable persons in Kaduna

    A total of 10,623 extremely poor and vulnerable persons in Kaduna State have been selected to receive N5, 000 monthly under the Federal Government Conditional Cash Transfer Scheme.

    The beneficiaries, whose age range from 25-90 were selected from nine local government areas in the state.

    Those selected represents 30 percent of the extremely poor and vulnerable persons in the selected local areas.

    The scheme is part of the National Social Investment Programme of the Buhari administration and plans to reach 80 million poor Nigerians in the long run.

    So far, 455,857 poor and vulnerable households have been uploaded onto the National Social Register, from which 297,973 households have been mined and are being paid stipends in 20 States.

    The states are Jigawa, Bauchi, Kogi, Osun, Cross River, Anambra, Katsina, Kano, Taraba, Gombe, Adamawa, Niger, Nassarawa, Benue, Oyo, Ekiti, Kwara, Borno, Kaduna and Plateau.

    Under the conditional cash transfer scheme, 2,495 community facilitator have been trained to assist the beneficiaries to form cooperatives and give them basic financial training, skills and support.

    At the event in Kaduna, the state Commissioner for Rural and Community Development, Hassan Usman emphasised that the scheme would run for three years.

    He said that the beneficiaries were selected from Ikara, Kubau, Lere, Birnin Gwari, Chikun, Kajuru, Kachia, Kauru and Sanga Local Government Areas.

    One of the beneficiaries, Hauwa Musa, 80, expressed gratitude to the government for the support.

    The beneficiaries were paid N10, 000 each as payments for February and March.

     

  • El-Rufai, Adeosun meet Kaduna business leaders, tax payers

    Executive Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai and the Honourable Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, will on Thursday, March 1, meet with business leaders, business owners and tax payers in Kaduna over the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS).

    The Kaduna State Government is hosting the VAIDS Stakeholders’ Symposium, which is expected to have in attendance Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Babatunde Fowler; members of the State Executive Council, members of the State House of Assembly and traditional rulers.

    Also invited to the sensitisation meeting are business owners and groups, tax advisers, captains of industries, professional and artisan bodies, and other strategic economic groupings within Kaduna State and environs.

    The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, has identified regular tax payment by Nigerians as fundamental to the growth and development of the country.

    She noted that predictable tax revenue inflow would lead to more investment by the Federal and State Governments in infrastructure and job and wealth creation across the nation.

    “Payment of taxes is a fundamental requirement for our growth story. Nigeria has a very poor scorecard in tax payment. When oil came, we abandoned the old systems of tax collection that provided most of our infrastructure since colonial days.

    “Currently, we have just 14 million tax payers out of 70 million who are economically active. So, many people who should be paying are not paying anything. It is the development of taxes that will help the States and the Federal Government to achieve their true potentials,” the Minister said.

    She advised tax payers to take advantage of the tax amnesty opportunity to regularise their tax profiles, adding that tax defaulters would be subjected to investigations as well as made to face criminal prosecution for tax offences.

    The VAIDS programme, which commenced on 1st July, 2017, provides opportunity for tax payers to voluntarily and truthfully declare their assets and incomes before the March 31st, 2018 deadline.

    The Scheme embraces all Federal and State taxes such as Companies Income Tax, Personal Income Tax, Petroleum Profits Tax, Capital Gains Tax, Stamp Duties, Tertiary Education Tax, Technology Tax, Tenement Rates, and Property Taxes.

    It also covers all back taxes for the last six years in line with the statutory periods of limitation under the relevant tax statutes.