TheNewsGuru

Tag: Kaduna

  • Kidnapped Assistant Commissioner of Police, others rescued in Kaduna

    An Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Emmanuel Agene, serving in Gusau, Zamfara State, who was abducted while travelling with members of his family on Birnin-Gwari–Funtua Road last Wednesday, has been rescued in Kaduna State.

    This was revealed on Sunday by the Commissioner of Police in Zamfara, Mr. Agyole Abeh.

    In his words: “Immediately we received the news of the kidnap of the ACP and his family, we began a manhunt for the kidnappers, led by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) intelligence team and anti-kidnappers squad of the Kaduna command.

    “I’m happy to inform you that the police officer and others have been rescued. He is in a stable condition at a police facility, undergoing checkup.”

    He said the abductors gave the officer an opportunity to speak with them, perhaps not knowing who he was, adding that being a senior police officer; he used a coded language that aided his rescue.

    Abeh said: “Immediately, we mounted air surveillance at a low level, following the coded information he gave as to the location and we secured their release.”

    He said the kidnappers had not been arrested, but assured people that they would be nabbed.

    The police boss said effort was on to track the officer’s phone in possession of the kidnappers.

    Agene and three members of his family were reportedly travelling in a Hi-lux van when they ran into hoodlums, who forced their vehicle to stop and whisked them away in another vehicle.

    He is of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Zamfara State, travelling to Niger State on permission for an assignment.

     

  • Lagos, Kaduna, Cross River, 21 other states exceeded their borrowing limits – FRC

    The Fiscal Responsibility Commission, FRC, has stated that 23 states of the federation exceeded their borrowing limit in 2015.

    This according to the Commission is contrary to the guidelines highlighted by Debt Management Office, DMO.

    This was revealed in a report on the states and their indebtedness.

    The FRC in the report said Lagos, Kaduna, Cross River, Gombe, Ekiti, Edo, Ondo and Imo states had borrowed more than 50 per cent of their annual statutory allocations by 2015.

    Other states in the same boat are Zamfara, Adamawa, Oyo, Abia, Ogun, Taraba, Kebbi, Enugu, Bauchi, Nasarawa, Kano, Benue, Kwara, Katsina and Sokoto.

    The FRC added that when total revenue (gross statutory allocation plus Internally Generated Revenue) was used as the yardstick for measuring the level of indebtedness of the states, a total of 20 states borrowed more than their total revenues in 2015.

    The report read in part, “In the light of the DMO’s Guidelines on Debt Management Framework, particularly as it pertains to debt sustainability, the debt to income ratio of states should not exceed 50 per cent of the statutory revenue for the preceding 12 months.

    “In effect, state governments have a subsisting, though not in line with FRA, 2007, loan policy, which requires states governments not to owe more than 50 per cent of their statutory revenue for the previous 12 months.

    “The Federal Government, on the other hand, is expected not to accumulate debt more than 40 per cent of the national Gross Domestic Product. Bearing this in mind, 23 states exceeded the threshold of 50 per cent of their gross/net statutory allocations during the year 2015.

    “However, out of the 23 states, only 20 states exceeded the threshold of 50 per cent of their total revenue – gross statutory allocation plus Internally Generated Revenue.”

    The report also stated, “Lagos exceeded the threshold of 50 per cent of its gross statutory allocation by well over 300 per cent; Kaduna, Cross River, Gombe, Ekiti, Edo, Ondo, Oyo, Abia and Ogun exceeded the 50 per cent of their gross statutory allocations by well over 50 per cent but less than 100 per cent.

    “Imo, Zamfara, Adamawa, Taraba, Kebbi, Enugu, Bauchi, Nasarawa, Kano, Benue, Kwara, Katsina, and Sokoto states exceeded the 50 per cent of their gross statutory allocations by less than 50 per cent.

    “On the basis of total revenue rather than gross statutory allocation, 20 states exceeded the threshold of 50 per cent. Of the 23 states that exceeded the threshold of their gross/net statutory allocations, Kwara, Katsina and Sokoto states did not exceed the 50 per cent threshold of their consolidated debt to total revenue.

    “From 2012 to 2015, five states consistently exceeded the threshold of 50 per cent of their gross statutory allocations. The states are Kaduna, Lagos, Ogun, Cross River and Osun.”

  • Photos: Buhari commissions $150m feed mill in Kaduna

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday commissioned a $150 million integrated feed mill, breeding farm, and hatchery in Kaduna State.

    This was revealed in a series of tweets via the President’s official handle @NGRPresident on Twitter.

    The President was joined at the commissioning by Governors Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi) and the Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh and other dignitaries.

     

    Details later…

     

  • Senators Shehu Sani, Suleiman attacked in Kaduna [Photos]

    Senator representing Kaduna Central, Sen. Shehu Sani and his counterpart representing Kaduna North, Sen. Suleiman Hunkuyi (APC-Kaduna North) were both attacked on Sunday at a press conference in Kaduna.

    The two lawmakers were said to be about to address newsmen at the press centre of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Kaduna when some hoodlums invaded the event.

    The hoodlums were said to have attempted to assault the senators but the security operatives attached to them did their job.

    The assailants destroyed the vehicle that conveyed the senators to the Press Centre.

    Biafra: IPOB members confront Obiano in church, chant ‘no election in Anambra’

    They also damaged properties, including midgets, cameras, tripods for cameras and chairs, at the Press Centre.

     

  • JUST IN: Thugs attack 2 serving senators in Kaduna

    Two Nigerian senators, Shehu Sani and Suleiman Hunkuyi, were on Sunday attacked by suspected thugs during a press briefing in Kaduna.

    Sani, the senator representing Kaduna Central, confirmed the development to newsmen on Sunday afternoon. He however alleged the attackers were sponsored by the Nasir El-Rufai led Kaduna State Government. TheNewsGuru.com is however yet to establish the authenticity of the allegation.

    Sani said he and Mr. Hunkuyi, Kaduna North, had organized the press conference over alleged “manipulation of the party (APC in the state)” by Governor Nasir El-Rufai with whom he has been having a running political battle.

    The lawmaker said journalists were also attacked and that one of them was receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital.

    Details later…

     

  • Gunmen abduct three students, lecturer in Kaduna

    Gunmen abduct three students, lecturer in Kaduna

    Gunmen, on Friday, reportedly kidnapped three students and a lecturer of the School of Midwifery in Tudun-Wada, Kaduna State.

    The incident took place along Birnin-Gwari Road, Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area, a security source told our correspondent in Kaduna on Saturday.

    The students and one of their lecturers were said to have been travelling in a Toyota Coaster bus when the incident occurred.

    It was learnt that the victims were on their way to visit a colleague in a hospital at Birnin-Gwari when they ran into the kidnappers.

    The source said the gunmen intercepted the bus containing no fewer than 20 students and reportedly abducted three of them and the lecturer.

    The state police command has yet to confirm the incident but a competent government source said efforts were being made to rescue them.

  • Igbo quit notice: MASSOB leader calls for peace, meets northern groups in Kaduna

    Ralph Uwazurike, leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has appealed for peace as he holds consultation with Northern groups in Kaduna.

    Uwazurike, who led a delegation of Igbo leaders from the South East, told some youth groups in Kaduna on Monday that MASSOB had pursued the path of peace since its creation in 1999.

    “MASSOB had existed for 18 years without violence, but 2009, I went to London and opened Radio Biafra and handed it over to Nnamdi Kanu as the director.

    “Soon afterwards, politicians hijacked him, and he started working for them.

    “The radio that was meant to educate our people and advise our people was turned into the source of hate messages, blackmail, intimidation and others.

    “ The resultant effect was that, the northern youths came up to challenge us, to say that they are not happy with the hate messages and the insults they receive from the same radio.

    “ I am here today to say that the main purpose of floating the organisation called MASSOB was not to cause crisis in Nigeria.

    “ I assured the late Odumegu Ojukwu when he was alive that there would be no other civil war in Nigeria.

    “ Because he, Ojukwu was so concerned and wanted some measure of assurance from me that MASSOB would not cause problems in Nigeria and I gave him that assurance.

    “And I am today disappointed, that the assurances I gave, may not see the light of the day, if certain measures were not taken, and that is why I am here in Arewa House today.”

    He assured of the safety of the northerners resident in the South East and urged them to continue with their businesses in the area.

    “I am here to assure you northerners that all your people in the South East are safe and nobody will harass them.

    “And, I am happy to hear my friend, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, who assured of the safety of lives and property of Nd’Igbo in Northern region.”

    Uwazurike averred that the crisis in the country was being manipulated by politicians and urged the youth not allow themselves to be used.

    He, however, stressed the need to address perceived marginalization, adding that though it was right for any part of the country to seek self determination, it was wrong to pursue same through violent means.

    “Self determination without violence is a fundamental right, we must strive against sowing the seed of discord ‎but do all that will promote peace and justice.

    “There is a gap of communication from our leaders which needs to be bridged, hence we are meeting with notable leaders in the north to persuade them that there is no cause for alarm,“ he said.

    Meanwhile, Al-Mustapha, former Chief Security Officer to late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, who convened the meeting, said it was in response to recent quit notice issued by some northern groups to Igbos.

    He said that the meeting was to intervene in the impasse threatening the unity and oneness of the country.

    According to Al-Mustapha‎, the youths need to wear their thinking caps, use their brains and refuse to be used in fomenting any form of crisis in the country.

    He said current events may not be unconnected with external forces wanting to see Nigeria disintegrate.

    Al-Mustapha also cautioned the youth against making statements that would further cause tension in the country, in spite of the unpleasant comments from IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

    He appealed to the Kaduna State Government and the Inspector General of Police to withdraw the arrest threat on the youth leaders who issued the Kaduna Declaration.

  • Ramadan: Church shares food to 500 fasting Muslims in Kaduna

    Ramadan: Church shares food to 500 fasting Muslims in Kaduna

    The Christ Evangelical Intercessory Fellowship Ministry, Sabon Tasha, Kaduna has doled out over 500 food packages to Muslims, since the beginning of the Ramadan.

    Pastor Yohanna Buru,the Church General Overseer, told the News Agency of Nigeria [NAN] in Kaduna on Monday that the food packages and drinks were shared out to destitutes and the poor.

    He said that the Church was in the forefront of promoting religious tolerance in Kaduna State, adding that the gesture was to deepen peaceful co-existence between Muslims and Christians.

    “We must support our brothers and sisters with what to eat in these 30 days, in view of the high cost of food items in local markets.

    “This gesture will strengthen good relationship with Muslims and promote religious tolerance and better understanding among different faiths.”

    According to him, it is not the first time the church is distributing foodstuffs to needy Muslims during the Ramadan.

    Buru recalled that the Church had distributed over 1,000 packaged food and drinks to Internally Displaced Persons, destitutes and prison inmates in 2016.

    The cleric stressed that Islam and Christianity have many things in common as contained in the Bible and Qur’an, adding, “we are all brothers and sisters and must support each other to live in peace and harmony.”

    He decried the negative attitude of traders who usually take advantage of the Ramadan to hike prices of goods, saying that the action negates every tenet of religion.

    Buru appealed to wealthy Muslims and Christians nationwide to support the poor, including widows and orphans to ease their pains.

    One of the beneficiaries, Malam Wambai Isa, who is the leader of visually impaired persons in the state, commended Buru for his relentless efforts to bring succour to less privileged persons.

     

     

    NAN

  • FG warns residents on outbreak of birdflu in FCT, Kaduna, Kano, others

    FG warns residents on outbreak of birdflu in FCT, Kaduna, Kano, others

    The Federal Government on Friday alerted the public to the outbreak of Avian Influenza or Birdflu in the FCT and seven states of the country.

    Dr Gideon Mshelbwala, the Director of Veterinary and Pest Control Services, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development raised the alert at a meeting with state Commissioners of Agriculture in Abuja on Friday.

    Mshelbwala listed the states affected by the outbreak to include Bauchi, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Nasarawa, Plateau, FCT and lastly Kaduna, which reported a case in May 30.

    He said that the disease had spread across 26 states of the federation and the FCT since it started in 2008 affecting 800 farms in no fewer than 123 local government areas.

    Mshelbwala, who said that there were no scientifically proven vaccines for birdflu, noted that the Federal Government was adopting quarantine, movement control, stamping out, decontamination and bio-security measures to curb the spread.

    The director expressed regret over the poor bio-security practices by some poultry farmers, adding that it was the major reason for the continuous spread of the disease.

    According to him, the Federal Government has paid over N674 million in compensations to 269 farmers across the affected states.

    “Our national action plan encourages proper regulation of the poultry industry and enforcement of annual registration of all actors along the poultry value chain including farmers, traders, egg merchants and feed millers.

    “It also encourages the creation of veterinary extension services to facilitate the control and proper inspection of poultry and poultry products,’’ he said.

    Mshelbwala said that the way forward to the containment of the disease was to ban importation of poultry and products, quarantine and bio-security measures, among others.

    He, however, warned poultry farmers against illegal vaccination of birds, saying that it was a deadly alternative to the control of the disease.

     

     

    NAN

     

  • Court stops El-Rufai from demolishing market in Kaduna

    Court stops El-Rufai from demolishing market in Kaduna

    A high court sitting in Kaduna has issued a restraint order on Governor Nasir El-Rufai not to go on with his plan to demolish the Kasuwar Barchi market in Kaduna.

    The court presided over by Justice Mohammed Bello, ordered the governor to hold on until the determination of the case before the court.

    The judge ordered that all respondents to the case should stop “entering into and demolishing Kasuwar Barchi, pending the hearing and determination of the case.”

    Sixteen persons had instituted the case on behalf of stall owners and traders in Kasuwar Barchi, seeking to stop the governor from demolishing the market.

    Joined in the suit are the Attorney-General of Kaduna State and Kaduna Investment Promotion Agency as second and third respondents.

    The plaintiffs include Auwalu Hussain, Kabiru Usman, Aminu Ahmed, Bawa Ahmed, Josia Sunday, Ndubueze Egbo-Ogu, Augustine Sunday.

    Others are, Ali Abdulhamid, Maryam Abubakar, Rabiatu Musa, Latifah Yusuf, Amina Abdulrauf, Aishatu Ibrahim, Hafsat Uba, Sa’adiya Ahmed and Wasilat Ahmed.

    Lawyer to the plaintiffs, Elisha Kurah, SAN, had prayed the court to restrain the defendants from going ahead with the demolition of the market.

    He also prayed the court to determine whether the establishment, maintenance and regulations of markets are vested on the governor.

    The counsel hinged his prayer on Section 7(1) and (5) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, together with item 1(e) of the 4th Schedule to the Constitution.

    He also cited Section 20(a) and 21(2) of the Local Government Administration Law of Kaduna State 2012 as amended.

    Kurah said the court should determine whether the governor has the power to issue a notice to legal occupants of a market in the state for the purpose of establishment, maintenance, regulation or conversion of the said market.

    He said that if the above questions are resolved in their favour, the court should declare that the state government lacked the legal right to make any law to derogate from the function of local governments as specified by law.

    The plaintiffs also want the court to make a declaration that the state government have no constitutional power to take over Kasuwar Barchi market from Kaduna South Local Government and hand it over to a private developer.

    They also prayed the court to declare that the establishment, maintenance and regulation of markets is a function constitutionally conferred on local governments, as such the state government has no legal right to hand over such functions to a private developer.

    The traders said the court should declare that the threat by the defendants to demolish the market, including shops of the plaintiffs, is invalid, improper, blatant display of raw executive power, illegal, unconstitutional and null and void.

    The case has been adjourned till June 5, for hearing.