TheNewsGuru

Tag: Kaduna

  • 15 dead as FRSC recovers 5 AK47 rifles from accident victims in Kaduna

    15 dead as FRSC recovers 5 AK47 rifles from accident victims in Kaduna

    At least 15 persons, including six national women leaders of the Evangelical Reformed Church of Christ, lost their lives in separate auto accidents that happened in Kaduna on Sunday.

    The Federal Road Safety Corps’ Sector Head of Operations, Kaduna, Mr. Salish Umar Galadunci, who confirmed the incidents, said one of the accidents occurred along Kajuru junction Maraba Rido Kachi road in Chikun Local Government Area of the state.

    It was gathered that the bus was conveying the women from Kebbi State after attending the inauguration of the Church in the state.

    An eyewitness told newsmen that wife of former ERCC Secretary General and vice chairman Sanga LGC in Kaduna State, Mrs lydia Nuhu Idzi, was among the women that died in the accident.

    The FRSC official said, “On 14/5/17 at about 1630hrs at Kajuru junction Maraba Rido Kachi road, two vehicles moving in the same direction collided and caught fire with 18 persons inside.”

    Galadunci explained the vehicles were trying to dodge a motorcyclist who was crossing the road when it collided with another oncoming car and immediately went up in flame, roasting about 13 of the 18 persons in a Toyota Hummer bus with number plate AkW 60 XA.

    He said, “The first vehicle in front which was on speed tried avoiding the Okada but instead ran into a ditch by the roadside and the other vehicle following also rammed into the bus in front and there was fire.

    “The two vehicles are Toyota bus AkW 60 XA, Toyota Starlet AA 379 FNN. 18 persons involved while 5 persons injured 12 dead burnt alive, 2 were male adults, 10 female adults.”

    He added that victims and the remains of the deceased had been deposited at St Gerard Catholic Hospital in the state capital.

    “Initially the hospital hesitated taking in the bodies not until after some serious argument that led to them closing their gate for our ambulance,” he added.

    Meanwhile, Galadunci said in another rescue operation carried out by the men of the sector command, another accident, claiming 3 lives occurred along the Mazuga Village, 10km away from Kachia-Kafanchan road on Saturday.

    Curiously, the FRSC official said items recovered from one of the vehicles included five locally made AK47 rifles and a magazine.

    He said, “In another development, on 12/5/17(Saturday)at Mazuga village 10km Kachia – Kafanchan road another accident happened involving two vehicles, Audi Salon car AG 601 MKR and an Opel Vectra (no registration)‎.

    “This happened at about 1607hrs. Our men quickly rushed to the place and found out good Samaritans had already started bringing the victims out of the accident vehicles. 7 persons were involved, 3 died 4 injured.

    “In addition 5 locally made AK47 rifles and a magazine was found in the Audi Salon car with whose driver Mr Sabo Goni was still alive but injured. Kachia police were quickly alerted.

    “The recovered arms and ammo were handed over to DPO Kachia Division for further investigation.”

  • Ahmadu Chanchangi, foremost businessman, laid to rest in Kaduna

    Ahmadu Chanchangi, foremost businessman, laid to rest in Kaduna

    The remains of Alhaji Ahmadu Chanchangi, a foremost businessman and philanthropist was on Wednesday (today) buried in Kaduna.

    Thousands of people attended the funeral prayers of the 82-year-old Chanchangi, who died after a protracted illness.

    The funeral prayer was led by Dr Ahmad Gumi before the deceased was buried at the Tudun-Wada Cemetery in Kaduna.

    The deceased who owned chains of businesses including Chanchangi Airlines, is survived by two wives and 33 children.

    Among the children is Rufai Ahmed-Chanchangi, a member of the House of Representatives.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the late Chanchangi died on Wednesday morning.

    TheNewsGuru.com dignitaries that graced the funeral prayer are Sen. Ahmed Makarfi, factional Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, the immediate past Governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Murkhtar Yero and Alhaji Sani Dauda, Chairman Peugeot Automobile.

     

     

    NAN

  • Dogara replies El-Rufai, releases 6 months pay slip

    Dogara replies El-Rufai, releases 6 months pay slip

    The face-off between the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara and the Kaduna State Governor Mallam Nasir El-Rufai is far from nearing its end as the Chairman, House Committee on Media and Publicity, Hon. Abdulrazak Namdas on Tuesday (today) in Abuja issued a strong worded release asking Mallam El-Rufai to face business of governance in Kaduna and leave the National Assembly to do its job.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that El- Rufai and Dogara had at the closing session of a retreat for National Assembly members in Kaduna, exchanged words with El-Rufai challenging the National Assembly to make its budget public while Dogara challenged the governor to make public what he was getting as security vote and as allocations to local governments.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that El-Rufai on Monday released details of what he spends on security votes as well as what he earns as governor.

    However, in a similar vein, the Speaker on Tuesday (today) released his payroll which dates back to the past six months.

    See photos of slips below:

     

  • Gurara, Kaduna Power Stations to commence transmission soon – Fashola

    Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, on Saturday said Gurara and Kaduna Power Stations would soon commence transmission into the National Grid.

    Fashola made the disclosure while addressing newsmen in Awka during his visit to Anambra.

    He said efforts were ongoing to ensure that the national power output was increased to 7,000 megawatts from the present 3,500 megawatts.

    According to him, we are completing our transmission lines and commencing new ones.

    “Gurara and Kaduna transmission lines will come up this year while Kashinbura Station will come up much later.

    “We are also working on solar initiative as alternative to complement our efforts in hydro.

    “We have lost about 3,000 megawatts on the western axis of the Niger Delta, we are currently running about 3,500 megawatts.

    “If we can get back the 3,000 we are losing in the Niger Delta, in addition to the 4,000 we are targeting, that will make it close to 7, 000 megawatts.

    “That is why are calling our brothers who are angry with us to sheathe their swords and allow production to go on,” the minister said.

    Fashola also said that the Federal Government was embarking on a power audit to ensure that the issue of metering was properly addressed.

    “We are addressing metering issues with Discos; we know the experience with the estimated billing, and we are doing power audit to ensure that people pay according to the categories of tariff they fall in,” he said.

    In his response, Gov. Willie Obiano thanked the Federal Government for its renewed attention to infrastructural deficiency in the South-East and Anambra in particular.

    Obiano expressed hope that the benefits of the minister’s visit would manifest in no distant time.

     

    NAN

  • We’ll soon abolish the use of blackboards in public schools – El-Rufai

    Governor Nasiru El-Rufa’i of Kaduna State on Saturday said the use of blackboards as teaching facility in public schools across the state would be stopped.

    Speaking as the Chief Host at the 24th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Zaria Education Development Association (ZEDA) held in Zaria, the governor said the measure was aimed at eliminating the hazard posed to health of teachers by the facility.

    Represented by Prof. Andrew Nok, Commissioner for Education, El-Rufa’i also said that government was prepared to give intensive ICT training to public school teachers in rural areas to enable them cope with the present e-learning challenges.

    He said that government had already procured 5,000 Tablets (minicomputer facilities) for distribution to teachers in public schools.

    According to him, about N3 billion has been committed for infrastructural development in unity schools across the state.

    In his speech, the Chairman, Board of Trustees (BOT), ZEDA, Prof. Idris Abdulkadir, who is also the former Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), said the association had since inception 25 years ago, focused its energy towards enhancing the education of children in Kaduna State and Nigeria at large.

    Dr Abdul Alimi-Bello, Chairman, Central Working Committee (CWC) of ZEDA, stressed the need for commitment from all and sundry to enable children gain admission into universities and institutions of higher learning.

    Alimi-Bello observed that despite series of achievements recorded by the association, it still had some laudable programmes lined up but were yet to be implemented due to financial constraints.

    He appealed to well-meaning Nigerians to support ZEDA towards complementing the efforts of government in developing the education sector.

    In his speech, Emir of Zazzau, Dr Shehu Idris, pleaded with members of the society, especially well-to-do and elites, to contribute their quota in enhancing education of the youth.

    The Emir, who was represented by a traditional title holder of ‘Fagacin Zazzau’,Alhaji Umar Mohammed, lauded the achievements recorded by ZEDA and urged it to continue the good work.

    In his remark, Proprietor of Prof. Ango Abdullahi International School, Zaria, Dr Aliyu Shamsuddeen, announced a 50 per cent scholarship to 50 students from Zaria Emirate to study in his primary and secondary school.

     

     

    NAN

  • Abuja-Kaduna road gets 8 additional FRSC out-posts

    The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) says it is establishing eight additional operational outposts on Abuja-Kaduna road to deal with expected rise in vehicular and human traffic on the route from March 8.

    The FRSC Corps Marshal, Mr Boboye Oyeyemi, disclosed this at a news conference in Abuja on Thursday.

    The Federal Government recently announced plans to close the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, for six weeks from March 8 to pave way for repairs on the runway.

    During the period, flights would be diverted to neighbouring Kaduna Airport from where passengers to or from Abuja would travel by rail or road, aviation authorities said.

    The FRSC boss said this would, therefore, lead to increase in human and vehicular traffic on the Abuja-Kaduna road with an estimated driving distance of 199 kilometres.

    He stated that more vehicles and operational logistics would be deployed alongside adequate personnel on the route to boost the corps’ capacity to promptly respond to emergencies within the period and beyond.

    Oyeyemi assured travelers along the corridor and other routes across the country of the FRSC’s presence and preparedness to effectively manage the traffic.

    He solicited orderly conduct and cooperation from motorists and other road users with traffic management agencies.

    The corps marshal announced that full enforcement of the installation of speed limiter in commercial vehicles would now begin on Feb. 1.

    Speed limiter is a device installed in vehicles to limit their top speed.

    The official speed limit for buses in Nigeria is 90 kilometres per hour, but the device is calibrated to 95 kilometres per hour.

    Enforcement was initially scheduled to begin on Sept. 1, 2015, but postponed several times following pleas by stakeholders.

    The FRSC boss said different categories of commercial vehicles must calibrate their devices in accordance with the respective permissible speed limits.

    He noted that “Nigerian roads are not race tracks and the corps is determined to ensure that this remains so. There will not be any short-cut to this.

    “We count on the sensibilities of Nigerians to rise against national challenges; this is not expected to be an exception.”

  • NAF launches aerial patrol over sambisa, other troubled areas in Kaduna

    The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has intensified aerial patrol over the sambisa forest in a renewed effort to deny the insurgents, who might have escaped the latest onslaught, from regrouping.

    A statement by its Director of Public Relations and Information, Group Capt. Ayodele Famuyiwa, and made available to newsmen in Abuja noted that the aerial patrol is against the insurgents from regrouping.

    “The over 60,000km forest is being painstakingly patrolled day and night by NAF Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft to deny the fleeing insurgents the opportunity to regroup.

    “It is also to stop them from launching any attack against host communities and own surface troops on clearance operation,” he said.

    In a similar operation, NAF had deployed ISR platforms for surveillance activities over Samaru, Katab, Zonkwa, Kafanchan and other troubled areas in Southern part of Kaduna State, including the Kaduna metropolis.

    Famuyiwa explained that the ongoing air operations was aimed at supporting the surface forces as well as restoring confidence in the people living in the affected areas.

    He said further that the aerial patrol was also aimed at soughting out the hideouts used by criminal elements and armed bandits within the troubled areas.

    Famuyiwa added that aside employing air power to flush out the bandits, NAF also relayed on the intelligence gathered from its ISR operations to land forces to aid the conduct of the entire operations.

    Recall that the Nigerian military defeated the insurgents about a week ago and they were now on the run.

     

    NAN

  • Senate to investigate Southern Kaduna killings – Saraki

    The Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, has said that the senate would commence investigation into the latest killings in southern Kaduna State.

    Saraki made the announcement in a statement signed by his Special Assistant on New Media, Mr Bamikole Omishore, in Abuja on Tuesday.

    According to Saraki, the Senate will on resumption from recess on Jan. 10, make the issue a priority.

    Omishore said the senate president made the disclosure while responding to a tweet posted by one Chimeze Ukoha on the Kaduna killings.

    The statement quoted Ukoha as saying that “about 800 Christians were massacred in Southern Kaduna and nobody is talking about that, very bad.’’

    It quotes Saraki as responding that “once @ngrsenate resumes, this issue will be addressed to get a clearer picture of what the real situation is and find a lasting solution.

    “Every Nigerian life matters and @ngrsenate will work to ensure that rule of law is always upheld as prescribed by the Nigerian Constitution.’’

    The statement explained that Saraki was already in touch with senators from Kaduna State and that he was constantly getting updates on developments.

    People described as Fulani herdsmen have repeatedly killed minority Christians in the southern flank of Kaduna State.

     

  • Kaduna killings: Sultan sad over death of 800 people, begs Buhari for lasting solution

    Kaduna killings: Sultan sad over death of 800 people, begs Buhari for lasting solution

    The Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, NSCIA, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, has condemned what he described the ongoing unjust acts of destruction of lives and properties in Southern Kaduna.

    A statement from the Director of Administration, NSCIA, Ustaz Christian Isa Okonkwo, Monday, quoted the Sultan as expressing sadness that as at the last count, over 800 people were reportedly killed while about 57 others have suffered life-threatening injuries.

    Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III Okonkwo said: “The NSCIA denounces these events in its entirety particularly because they run contrary to fundamental Islamic law which ordains human life to be sacred and strongly forbids its unlawful destruction except for a just course.”

    He urged the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government and the Governor Nasir El-Rufai-led Kaduna State Government to urgently step into the situation and put a stop to the crisis.

    “The NSCIA would like the Federal and Kaduna State governments to go a step further by proffering lasting solutions to these recurrent acts of hatefulness and savagery in Southern Kaduna.

    We also wish to call on the Federal government to objectively investigate the matter and prosecute whoever that is found guilty irrespective of the person’s tribe, creed and/or social status,” he said.

    He urged all Nigerians to continue to promote justice, preach, teach and live in peace with one another, and not to allow themselves be used by forces of evil which may hide behind tribal, political or even religious disguise order to perpetrate evils.

  • IG disagrees with CAN over number of people killed in Southern Kaduna crises

    IG disagrees with CAN over number of people killed in Southern Kaduna crises

    Abuja – The Inspector-General of Police (IG), Mr Ibrahim Idris, has disagreed with the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), on the number of people killed in the Southern Kaduna crises.

    The Catholic Archdiocese of Kafanchan had alleged that the unrest in Southern Kaduna had claimed over 808 lives, in 53 villages in the area.

    But Idris disputed the claim in Abuja on Sunday at the New Year dinner organised by the Nigeria Police Force for its personnel.

    He stressed the need for religious, community and political leaders to be patriotic in their endeavors for peace to reign in the country.

    The IG cautioned Nigerians to avoid unnecessary tension which could lead to destruction of lives and property. He said that Nigerians had no other country than Nigeria, hence the need to do those things that would bring peace and unity to the country.

    Idris advised Nigerians to live in peace with one another in spite of religious and ethnic differences. He commended officers and men of the force for their commitment to providing security to all Nigerians across the country.

    Idris restated the Nigeria Police Force’s commitment to providing adequate security without bias to any section of the country.