Nigeria National News Today 04 January 2019

Kabir Yakubu — a 53 year old civil servant — has been arrested for raping his 4 year old neighbour.

The victim’s mother, Aisha Murtala, reported this incidence at the police station in Bakori local government area, Kastina state.

During interrogation, Yakubu confessed to have committed the offence — an act punishable by Section 283 of the Penal Code.

Yakubu, was arraigned before a Katsina Senior Magistrates’ Court on Thursday and did not enter a plea.

The presiding magistrate, Hajiya Fadile Dikko, adjourned the matter till 31 January 2019, and remanded Kabir Yakubu in the Katsina Prison.

The Accountant of the Emure Local Government Area of Ekiti State, Abayomi Ajayi, has been shot dead by unknown gunmen.

Two other employees of the council – the Coordinator of the state Primary Health Care Board, Dr Fashina, and the Administrative Officer, Pastor Onaade – were also kidnapped during the incident.

The gory incident took place around 8pm along the Ikere-Ise Road, when the local government council officials were returning home from work.

The gunmen are demanding a ransom of N10m from each of the two families.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has warned that it would not succumb to blackmail over the 2019 elections.

ASUU said Nigerians were only interested in credible elections and not the participation of lecturers in the conduct of polls.

The ASUU chairman, University of Ibadan chapter, Dr Deji Omole, said the union would not be distracted by the business of 2019 elections in its struggle to have revitalised public universities.

He said “Whoever feels he wants to participate in the elections can go and participate. If you check the letters addressed to individuals who have participated in the past, the letters were addressed to individuals and not to ASUU. We would not be disturbed by the business of elections. We are ready to pursue this struggle to a logical conclusion irrespective of whether there is election or not. ”

He further said “We are not part of INEC. INEC can look elsewhere for ad hoc staff to conduct the elections. What Nigerians are only interested in is will those elections be credible or not? Even when we were not on strike, not all our members were interested in participating in the elections. So it is a voluntary thing. Our demand is sacrosanct to us. The demand is that the Memorandum of Action of 2017 should be implemented ”

The strike action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, has lasted since 5 November 2018.

A 35-year-old man, Gabriel Elijah, has been arraigned before a Barnawa Customary Court, Kaduna, for allegedly beating his neighbour’s wife. He is standing trial for a charge of assault.

The prosecutor, Sergeant Chidi Leo, told the court that the defendant committed the offence on December 27, 2018, at his residence.

According to him, the defendant and the complainant had a misunderstanding, which led to the former beating the latter until she fell unconscious, an act which he claimed contravened section 240 of the Penal Code.

The judge, Mr Ibrahim Emmanuel, who adjourned the case till 15 January 2019, also admitted the defendant to bail in the sum of N100,000, with two sureties in like sum.

The Federal Government has given marching orders to the contractor handling the Lagos-Ibadan rail line to deliver the project within the next two weeks.

The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, directed officials of the China Civil Engineering Construction Company to speed up work on the Iju-Agbado section of the project and get it ready for test-run in two weeks.

Five crew members, made up of two pilots and three personnel of the Nigerian Air Force, have been confirmed dead in the military helicopter crash which occurred in Damasak, Borno State.

The victims were identified as Flight Lieutenant Perowei Jacob, the pilot in command; Flight Lieutenant Kaltho Kilyofas, the co-pilot; Sergeant Auwal Ibrahim, a flight technician; Lance Corporal Adamu Nura, a gunner; and Aircraft Man Meshack Ishmael, also a gunner.

The five crew members were on board the NAF Mi-35M helicopter, providing air support to troops of 145 Battalion, Damasak in Borno State.

The Police Service Commission has received a total of 242,455 applications from candidates in the recruitment process of 10,000 police constables.

A summary of the applications indicated that 212, 716 applicants are males while the remaining 29, 694 are females.

The Chairman of the Commission, Alhaji Musiliu Smith, reiterated that adequate measures had been put in place to ensure that the recruitment would be merit-based.

The acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr Ibrahim Magu, says the EFCC is committed to ensuring that more corrupt persons are jailed in 2019.

Magu said the anti-graft agency secured the conviction of 312 persons in 2018 and the agency was targeting double of this figure (624) in 2019.

He said the commission was committed to intensifying its efforts in order to ensure that it secured more convictions in 2019.

A former General Evangelist of the Christ Apostolic Church, Prophet Samuel Abiara, has asked the Federal Government to accede to the N30,000 minimum wage demand of the Nigeria Labour Congress.

The cleric urged the government to prevent any strike action that could damage the economy.

Abiara, who spoke in his New Year message, said the government should give priority to the masses in 2019.

President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to various labour unions in the country to reduce their agitations to enable his administration to concentrate on repairing damaged infrastructure.

Buhari specifically mentioned the Academic Staff Union of Universities and urged the striking teachers to appreciate the efforts of his administration at fixing collapsed infrastructure.

Buhari assured labour unions that he meant well for Nigeria by focusing more on rebuilding collapsed infrastructure for now.