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Tag: NAN

  • Ex-NAN Director, Ogungbemi Oguntula is dead

    Ex-NAN Director, Ogungbemi Oguntula is dead

    Mr Ogungbemi Oguntula, a retired Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) is dead. He passed away on Sunday, May 11 at age 69, few days to his 70th birthday.

    Family sources said Oguntula took ill suddenly and was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he gave up the ghost despite medical efforts.

    Born in 1955, Oguntula was a seasoned journalist and administrator who dedicated over three decades of service to the nation’s news agency.

    He joined NAN in 1983 and rose through the ranks to become Director, Planning, Research and Statistics (PRS) before his retirement in 2016.

    Colleagues described him as diligent, humble, and committed to mentoring younger journalists within and outside the agency.

    The late Oguntula is survived by his wife, Mrs. Olusola Oguntula, two children, and grandchildren, who mourn his sudden departure.

    Even as tributes continue to pour in from friends and former colleagues, the family said that burial arrangements will be announced soon.

  • Journalist regains freedom after days in kidnappers’ den

    Journalist regains freedom after days in kidnappers’ den

    Mr Gregory Maduakolam, an Assistant Editor-in-Chief with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Owerri Office, who was reportedly kidnapped on Thursday, has regained his freedom.

    Maduakolam announced his release through phone calls to some of his colleagues at about 11:51 p.m. on Saturday.

    He explained that he was released after his family had paid an undisclosed amount as ransom to the kidnappers. He said that he was manhandled by the hoodlums while in their custody.

    Maduakolam, who was recently transferred from NAN Abuja to Owerri, narrated that he as ambushed by the hoodlums. He said that he was kidnapped at Irete, near Owerri,  where he had gone with a friend and a house agent to inspect an accommodation.

    “After inspecting the house, I agreed with the agent on the part payment and other fees I will pay. As I was about to board a commercial motorcycle to go back to Owerri, five young men surfaced from the neighbourhood and took me away,” he said.

    Maduakolam further narrated that the hoodlums seized his cellphone and used it to collect all the money in his bank account. He expressed gratitude to God and all those that showed concern over the incident, including the management and staff members of NAN.

  • My abductors told me they are dismissed soldiers – NAN reporter

    My abductors told me they are dismissed soldiers – NAN reporter

    Not long ago, one of the correspondents of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), was abducted by gunmen in Abuja.

    The correspondent had boarded their vehicle at the Federal Secretariat on the way home after an assignment on the fateful day.

    The fear-stricken Reporter, who is yet to recover from the trauma and has become generally afraid of everyone around her, tells the story:

    On the said day, I covered an assignment at the Presidential Villa.

    After the assignment, I filed my story and decided to go home. One of the Directors in the Villa offered to give the cameraman and I a ride to the Federal Secretariat where we could board commercial vehicles.

    I live in the suburbs and had to get to the Finance junction to board a vehicle to Dantata bridge and thereon to my place.

    Time was 4.45 p.m.

    I was careful not to join the wrong vehicle in view of the many stories about the activities of kidnappers and “one chance” operators in Abuja.

    So, I refused to board the first vehicle that stopped because it was totally new and its owner couldn’t have been so poor to begin to use it as a cab. I didn’t trust it.

    I boarded the second that came because the driver looked like a regular civil servant forced by the economic situation to pick passengers to augment his income. The passenger beside him looked like a banker that had just closed from work because he was well dressed, looked calm and wore an expensive perfume.

    I told them I was going to Dantata bridge along Lugbe route.

    There was only one person at the back. He wore a black vest atop a military camouflage. He was just playing with his phone.

    When we moved from the Finance junction, we stopped at the Bolingo junction, near NAN headquarters, where there were many others waiting for vehicles to go to Lugbe.

    A lady peeped and said she was going to Lugbe. The driver told her to pay N400, she offered to pay N200. But when they were discussing, the man seated beside me shouted on the driver and threatened to leave if the vehicle did not move. He ordered the lady to close the door. The driver quickly moved and started speeding.

    At this point, I was uncomfortable. I became afraid and told them I wanted to go down; I told them I had forgotten something and wanted to go back to pick it.

    That was when they swung into action.

    The front seat passenger quickly adjusted his seat and pressed it down to block me from attempting to go out while the man beside me brought out his gun, pinned it on my forehead and ordered me to close my eyes. He pressed me down to his laps and ordered me to cooperate with them otherwise they would kill me. They blindfolded me and said they would waste me if I didn’t behave well. They asked me where I live and I told them. They warned me against lying to them.

    At that time, I just started praying inside me. My body was shaking. I was dazed and confused. I started begging them not to harm me.

    They ransacked my bag and took everything. They took N375,000 a colleague gave me to help buy a gadget. They took my wristwatch and GTB ATM card.

    They also took my laptop, phones, 200 dollars, headphones, power bank, the Villa tag, NAN Identity Card, some other monies and valuables.

    They said they had been trailing me from the Villa and were aware that I was from the particular assignment.

    I told them I am just one of the reporters deployed by NAN to cover the Villa. They said I should call my family to bring N13 million while I should bring N5 million.

    I was so confused. So scared. I told them I am just a poor reporter and had nothing and no one. They scrolled through my phones and said I should call my contacts to bring money. I told them I only visit those people to pray for them.

    They asked if I am ready to change my faith. I told them I would not. They said even at gun point? I said yes.

    They asked me what bloody civilians knew about security to even organise any seminar about it.

    They told me they were not “one chance” operators. They said they were soldiers with the two in front already dismissed from the service while the one beside me was still in service and currently in Abuja.

    Those dismissed said they were kicked out in Sokoto and had come to Abuja for the Army General that sacked them, but did not meet him in his house.

    At that point, the journalist in me was curious to know why they were dismissed, but I couldn’t have asked them that ‘crazy’ question.

    They said they were forced into criminality because of the situation in the country and that Nigeria had turned them into criminals.

    They tied my legs and said they would take me to Sokoto; they were discussing among themselves whether to throw me out of the speeding vehicle.

    They said they picked me because they thought I had money. And added that they wouldn’t have picked me if they knew I had nothing.

    I told them there was no money where I work.

    They showed me an Indian ring they could press on me and I would lose my memory.

    Inside, I kept praying, while begging them not to harm me.

    They collected the PIN of the GTB ATM card and withdrew everything. They took money that evening and continued in the morning of the next day as I was too traumatised to get GTB to block the account.

    They took a total of N505,000 from the account.

    I was just sweating. And sucked up. I was just praying. One said they should waste me, one said I should be allowed to go. They kept moving round and round. Deep down in me, I believed that by God’s grace, they would not kill me.

    After going to the ATM where they took the money, they said they would not kill me because of two reasons – my confidence in God and the fact that I did not betray or deny Him even at gunpoint, and the fact that I pray for people.

    They kept moving and eventually dropped me somewhere. I think it was past 8.50 p.m. or so. I  still don’t know which part of Abuja that is.

    After I left the vehicle, the driver, who appeared to be their commander, called me and gave me my Villa tag. And the Techno phone. I tried to use it to call my boss in the office, but the phone was not working. I don’t know what they did to it. It appeared to have been deactivated.

    It was after I was able to get some people to reset it that I was able to put calls through.

    EPILOGUE

    I still feel so scared. I still feel so afraid of everyone and everything. But I thank God that they did not kill me.

    I find it difficult to trust anything and anyone around me. Sometimes, I feel like taking to my heels to nowhere in particular. It was a traumatic experience. I try not to bring back the hard memories but they keep returning.

    It was a bad experience, really. But, I thank God that they did not kill me.

  • NAFDAC seals up sex shops for selling unregistered aphrodisiacs in Abuja

    NAFDAC seals up sex shops for selling unregistered aphrodisiacs in Abuja

    The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control  (NAFDAC) on Wednesday in Abuja sealed two shops for allegedly selling unapproved products to Nigerians.

    The shops are located in the Zuba Central motor park and Utako main market.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that some of the unregistered products said to be aphrodisiacs are: “Hajiya Ayesha Snuff, AK47, Bulletproof, and Hajiya Aysha Maisanda.

    Mr Tamanuwa Baba, Deputy Director, investigation and Enforcement directorate, NAFDAC, said the operation followed intelligence reports received about the shops.

    “The products are meant to boost sexual performance and some were said to have been manufactured in Ghana.

    “NAFDAC laboratory analysis indicates that these products contain a chemical substance called Pyridine which is a potentially harmful to the human body.

    “We found a lot of unregistered products in the two shops. We will begin immediate investigations,” he said.

    Baba said that the agency has apprehended the sales representative in the Zuba shop pending when the owner of the shop will return from his journey.

    “We will get in touch with the owner of the shop on where he is sourcing these products from, but from the label on the products, some of them were allegedly manufactured in Ghana.

    “What the sellers are saying is that these products usually make them high and some said that the product is used as an aphrodisiac.

    “After the investigation, these products are going to be destroyed because they have not been registered by us.

    He said similar set of products were also discovered in a shop at Utako known as Kabo Investment Limited.

    He said that it was scary that some of the products have flooded the Nigerian market and that they are fast spreading because the agency conducted a similar operation in Sokoto where some of the products were removed from a shop.

    “I can tell you that Pyridine which is the chemical that is contained in some of these products can cause cancer, skin irritation and even lead to death

  • Apologize to state universities over ‘quack’ comment – NANS tells Osodeke

    Apologize to state universities over ‘quack’ comment – NANS tells Osodeke

    The leadership of National Association of Nigeria Students (NANS) has called on the President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ( ASUU) Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, to tender an apology over uncomplimentary statements he made on national TV calling state universities quacks.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that Osodeke while granting interview on Arise TV morning show referred to state universities as quacks, saying they have never been members of ASUU.

    Asked to comment on the pulling out of ASUU strike by some state universities,  Osodeke downplayed the importance of state universities.

    He said “Talk about important universities not those quacks. They’re not part of our strike.”

    Meanwhile, the president of the apex students’ body,  (NANS) Sunday Ashefon,  said ASUU president should apologize for the statement.

    He said, “That is an unguided statement. Imagine an erudite professor calling universities where his colleagues, who are also professors, work quack universities! This is sad, we condemned this in totality and we demand an apology from him.”

    Ashefon added that  state universities wouldn’t get any  benefit from the demands of ASUU but wasting their efforts and students time joining the strike.

    Meanwhile, the Kwara State University on Friday condemned Osodeke for referring to some state universities currently running their academic calendar despite the ongoing strike of the union as “quacks and irrelevant”.

    It said such  statement was undeserving of an academic don, saying the union’s president should not have denigrated the institutions of learning because of their refusal to join the ongoing strike action by the union.

    He added that Osodeke should get educated despite being a professor.

    In a statement on Saturday by its Director of University Relations, Dr. Saeedat Aliyu, the institution explained that such statement was uncalled for and would be considered as reckless, adding that it could also be translated to bullying of the higher institutions.

    Similarly, , Kwara state University, Malete, (KWASU) has asked Osodeke to retract the statement, saying it’s highly unbecoming of a Professor and ASUU president.

    The management of the institution described the statement as derogatory and capable of causing division among the university communities.

     

  • NAN Editor dedicates first child after 14yrs of marriage

    NAN Editor dedicates first child after 14yrs of marriage

    Mr Isaac Ukpoju, an Editor with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Lafia office, has expressed gratitude to God for blessing him with a daughter after more than 14 years of marriage and dedicated her to the altar of God.

    Upkoju, while dedicating the child, Blessing Isaac on Sunday at Dunamis, Koroduma Centre, Karu Local Government Area (LGA), appreciated God for answering his prayers 14 years after marriage.

    “I want to thank God for answering my prayer after 14 years of marriage.

    “I will continue to worship God as long as I live, and I pray God to give me the resources and strength to bring her up in the way of the Lord,” he added.

    The NAN Editor also thanked his family members, colleagues, and other well-wishers, who stood and prayed with him and his wife throughout the period.

    Earlier, Elvis Mike-Oche, Pastor of the church, lauded the NAN Editor alongside others, who still remember to present their children to God after blessing them.

    He said that many people hardly remember to thank God for answering their prayers and only remember him again when they are facing another challenge in life.

    The pastor called on parents to ensure the proper upbringing of their children in a Godly way.

    He added that children are a special gift from God, hence the need for parents to take adequate care of them.

    The pastor, who preached from Psalm 127:3-5 said; “children are the heritage of the Lord and happy is the man that had a quiver full of them.”

    He, therefore, congratulated them and wished the child well in life.

    Upkoju married his wife, Juliana Ukpaju in 2008.

  • What Nigerian passport applicants went through in 2021

    What Nigerian passport applicants went through in 2021

    It is a truism that many intending international travelers went through tough times in the year 2021 while trying to obtain passports from the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).

    While some were lucky to get the international travel document, others remain on waiting list after going through all the required process. Similar situation obtained in Nigeria’s embassies abroad.

    It got to a point that the NIS, under the watch of its former Comptroller-General, Mohammed Babandede, halted applications for new and renewal of passports to enable the service to clear backlogs of passport applications.

    In its bid to ensure enforcement of the directive, the service shut down all payment portals from May 18 until June 1 and sent Task Force teams to all passport offices to enforce the clearance of passport backlogs.

    Consequently, Deputy Comptrollers were deployed to all passport centres to monitor the process and ensure the directive was followed.

    However, in spite of the measures, difficulties in accessing passports persist.

    Recently, a report from Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Europe, (NIDOE), Italy Chapter, indicated that more than 1.5 million Nigerians living in Europe needed passports.

    Also, the Nigerians in Diaspora Network (NDN) staged a protest in Oberhausen, Germany, over passport scarcity, according to reports widely publicised on social media.

    The NIS blamed the scarcity on emergence of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) that surged in 2020

    The service explained that when the lockdown that resulted from COVID-19 eased, what it witnessed was geometric turn-in in passport applications.

    It also attributed its inability most times to meet its six weeks timeframe for fresh passport issuance and three weeks for re-issuance to challenges posed by the National Identity Management System (NIMC).

    The NIS claimed it always got delayed responses from NIMC when enquiries were filed.

    A new circular recently emerged from the NIS in Lagos. barring the management of the service from speaking to journalists. Also, a circular barring journalists from exclusive interviews with Passport Control Officers (PCOs) was released in November 2021.

    Speakíng with newsmen before the circular was issued, the Passport Controller, Lagos Passport Command, Mrs Milka Musa, said that difficulties in getting passports were caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which kept the world at standstill during the lockdown.

    “When the lockdown was eased, what the NIS witnessed was a geometrical growth in passport applications,” he said, adding that the service was working hard to ensure a state of equilibrium was achieved.

    A banker, who preferred to remain anonymous, attributed the difficulty in getting passports to corrupt elements both within and outside the service.

    According to the banker, such corrupt elements intentionally create artificial scarcity of the passports to push up the cost.

    For instance, the official price for a 64-page Nigerian passport with 10-year validity period is N70, 000, while that with five years validity is N35,000

    Applicants for the new 32-page passport with a five-year validity period are to pay N25, 000.

    However, some applicants part with as much N40,000 to get the 32-page passport with five years validity instead of N25,000, while the 64- page passport with 10-year validity is gotten by some for as high as N250, 000.

    The Federal Government, through the NIS, has warned Nigerians to stop patronising touts and when applying to curb the trend.

    According to the government, payments for Nigerian passports have been digitised, which means that applicants can apply and pay for international passports online

    The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, made this known during the rollout of the Enhanced e-Passport with Polycarbonate Data Page and other security features in Ibadan, recently.

    On ways to tackle the challenges to prevent bottlenecks in 2022, the Chairman, Amuwo Odofin Local Government, Mr Valentine Buraimoh, urged the Federal Government to reduce procedures in passport application.

    “For example, the official time to procure a fresh passport should be reduced from 6 weeks to 7 days. “The time for renewal should be reduced to three days,’’ Buraimoh said.

    The council boss said there was a need for NIS and Nigerian Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to have a smooth relationship.

    “NIS always blames NIMC for not confirming applicants’ NINs number sent to NIMC for confirmation on time. NIMC also said NIS refused to use the right channel by NIMC to seek information needed…what is that?’’ Buraimoh said.

    The former chairman, Insurance Industry Consultative Council, Mr Mufutau Oyegunle, said it was time the NIS started to name and shame corrupt officers after three consecutive warnings.

    “There is need for drastic measures to stop corrupt officials within the service,’’ he said.

    A migration expert, Mr Alo Francis, advised the federal government to permit the NIS a window to utilise part of the money realised to produce booklets.

    According to Alo, this will cushion shortage of passport booklets in Nigeria.

    But, the Acting Comptroller-General (CG) of the NIS, Mr Idris Jere, stated at a virtual press conference on New Year’s Day that the service received 45,000 booklets on Dec. 31 last year.

    According to Jere, the booklet will help to clear the backlog of applications within and outside the country for international passports.

    The acting CGI charged Nigerians to make use of the six-month window to renew their passports before expiration so as to help the applicants and the NIS in terms of logistics to get passports ready for them before such vital documents expire.

     

    Bukola Adetoye/NAN

     

  • 2019: INEC uncovers 1,224 dead persons in Adamawa register

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has detected 1,224 dead persons’ names in its Adamawa voters’ register for the 2019 general elections.

    Mr Kassim Gaidam, the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, disclosed this during the opening of a two-day workshop for North East Zonal lmplementers on election monitoring and support, holding in Yola on Thursday.

    Gaidam said that the statistic was uncovered during the recent display of voters’ register for claims and objections.

    The commissioner said that the exercise was successfully conducted across the state.
    He explained that during the exercise, the commission recorded 2,113 claims and out of the 1,588 objections, 1,224 were reported death.

    The commissioner noted that during the exercise, 38,658 Permanent Voter Cards were collected across the state.

    Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the INEC Chairman, said that the election monitoring and support centre was one of the significant tools used by the commission in planning, monitoring and implementation of support provision to field officers for credible conduct of the elections.

    Yakubu, who was represented by his Special Assistant, Prof. Muhammed Kuna, said that the commission would use all resources at its disposal to ensure fair and free conduct of the 2019 general elections.

    He explained that the workshop was to strengthen the commission’s capacities to monitor the mechanisms and activities put in place for smooth conduct of the 2019 general elections, among objectives.

    Also speaking, Mr Samson Fadare, the representative of European Centre for Electoral Support, said the EU was proud to support INEC’s laudable initiative that sought to ensure free, fair and smooth conduct of elections.

    “It will be recalled that European Centre for Electoral Support supported the conduct of the election monitoring support implementer workshops for the off-cycle governorship elections in Anambra, Ekiti and Osun in 2017 and 2018, among others,” Fadare said.

    He noted that the workshop was the second of its kind designed for zonal implementers and would be organised across the six geopolitical zones to educate and familiarise the functionaries of the commission across the nation.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workshop was organised by INEC and supported by European Union.

    Five out of the six INEC resident electoral commissioners from North East with their top management staff were participants, excluding Bauchi State.

  • Lai Mohammed inaugurates Boards of NAN, VON, others

    …Charges Members To Support Fight Against Corruption

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has inaugurated some of the boards of parastatals and agencies under the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, with a charge to members to support the ongoing anti-corruption war of the Buhari Administration.

    “May I also remind you that one of this Administration’s three cardinal programmes is the fight against corruption and entrenchment of accountability and transparency. All board members are therefore charged to support the government in this direction,” the Minister said in Abuja on Friday at a ceremony to inaugurate the boards.

    He told the board members that their role is to formulate policies, and not to engage in the day-to-day running of the organizations.

    “The board is to evolve strategic ways of supporting the agency so it can most effectively deliver its mandate. I am sure some of you are already conversant with this, but it is necessary to restate it here for the benefit of all,” Alhaji Mohammed said.

    He also informed the members that with the introduction of the Integrated Payroll Information System (IPPIS) in the payment of staff salaries in the public service, agencies are constrained in employing staff until permission is sought and received from the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation.

    The Minister commended the board members for their support and loyalty to the President and the administration, and urged them to see their appointment as another opportunity to contribute their own quota to the success of the Administration.

    In his vote of thanks on behalf of other members, the Chairman of the National Gallery of Art, Ambassador Umaru Suleiman, said the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture is a service ministry, hence members are supposed to add value to the system and make a difference in wherever they find themselves.

    The inaugurated boards are those of the News Agency of Nigeria; Voice of Nigeria; National Gallery of Art; National Orientation Agency; National Commission for Museums and Monuments; National Theatre and National Troupe; and National Council for Arts and Culture.

    Others are: National Institute for Cultural Orientation; Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation; National Films and Videos Censors Board; Nigerian Film Corporation; National Broadcasting Commission and National Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization.

  • Benin residents jam ATM points

    ImageFile: Benin residents jam ATM pointsBarely 24 hours to Christmas, residents of Benin city are scrambling to use the Automated Teller Machine (ATM), to draw money.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that few of the ATMs in some banks visited in Benin on Saturday were dispensing cash.

    Many of the residents told NAN that they had been in some of the banks as early as 5a.m.to avoid the crowd that would arrive in the bank premises later.

    They also raised concern about their suffering in getting access to the machines which they alleged were not even fed with enough cash for the day.

    For instance, Mr John Ebidah, said people had been exposed to risk all in attempts to withdraw money via ATMs.

    He called for the relevant authorities to urgently look into the matter, especially bank managers in Benin.

    Another resident, Mr Osato Owie, alleged that the banks deliberately refused to put enough money in the machines.

    “I don’t understand how one, with his money in the bank, can find it extremely difficult to make use of ATMs.

    Similarly, Mrs Nkechi Goddy-Asekomhe, said after several attempt at making use of the ATM, she met with one official of a particular bank.

    “He told me that it was because of the cash challenges that made the bank to load few ATMs,’’ she quoted the official.