Straight from the Headlines! What Everyone was Talking About This Week

Issues surrounding the ongoing strike by doctors in Lagos state-owned hospitals were prominent among news headlines this week. The Lagos State Government issued 788 striking doctors their letters of dismissal, an action which caused an uproar among several groups and individuals in the country. The state government was heavily criticized for their action but did not renege on their decision and proceeded to evict the doctors from their official quarters.

While their grievance continues, other topics have continued to rise up across the country.

Here’s a recap of some of the events that made headlines this week.

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In view of the security challenges across the country, with bombings and attacks by fundamentalist sects, the University of Lagos is concluding plans to start programmes in terrorism and security studies. This was disclosed by the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Adetokunbo Sofoluwe at a press briefing to flag off the institution’s 50th anniversary celebrations. According to him, the proposed department will help in research and training to tackle the menace. Professor Sofoluwe also noted that the University is being positioned to be one of the first 100 universities in the world, as it marks its golden jubilee.

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Emmanuel Okuju, a police corporal accused of abducting a teenage girl after shooting her sister, turned himself in at the Lagos State Police Command on Monday. Okuju’s arrest is coming three months after he was declared wanted by the police for attempted murder and the kidnapping of Patience Isabor. After allegedly kidnapping 17-year-old Isabor and wounding her sister, Blessing, on February 10, 2012, Okuju went into hiding. Before the incident however, Okuju was a police officer attached to Ifako police station. Okuju, who allegedly shot Blessing in the cheek at the girls’ Bariga residence in Lagos, blamed the “devil” for his action. He denied kidnapping Patience, saying she absconded with him after his gun accidentally discharged and a bullet hit her sister.

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The Joint Military Task Force (JTF) has arrested a Yoruba man, Suleiman Mohammed, who hails from Ogbomosho, Oyo State and is allegedly operational Commander of the Boko Haram sect in Kano.
According to THEWILL, an online publication, Mohammed was detained on Friday alongside his wife and five children after a raid at Farawa Babbanlayi where the military found sophisticated weaponry. He has since been flown to Abuja.

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Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo state, has renamed the Delta Crescent, where the mansion of the former chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Tony Anenih is located in GRA Benin City, after the his late Principal Private Secretary, Olaitan Oyerinde. The Governor who made the pronouncement Wednesday, during the Service of Songs for the deceased Oyerinde at Government House Benin City, said Oyerinde who was murdered at his residence last week, fought against god fatherism and the entrenchment of democracy and good governance in Edo state, “therefore it is very proper we rename Delta Crescent where a lot of big men resides, after him”.

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The Senate Committee on Federal Character and Intergovernmental Affairs has recommended the reduction of the cost of the new plates from N15,000 to N8,400. The committee also recommended that the cost of driver’s licence should be reduced from N6,000 to N4,000. It directed the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) to recommence the issuance of the new number plates and licenses which was earlier suspended. The recommendations were contained in the committee’s report, following an investigation into the issue of new number plates. The committee also ordered that the cost of motorcycle number plates put at N3,000 should revert to the old price of N1,500; the licences are to remain at N750. It  also directed the cessation of the collection of e-coding scheme and the collection of N2,000 per  vehicle by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO).

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) on Friday said that doctors in federal hospitals may join the dismissed Lagos state doctors “on a solidarity strike in support of their colleagues”. Osahon Enabulele, the national president, told journalists at the NMA secretariat in Lagos that the state chapter of the association has been directed to “explore all options it deems fit”. “NMA will be convening an emergency meeting soon to review the health crisis in the state, and take a national position,” Mr. Enabulele said. The body called on the Lagos state government to reverse the sack notices and queries issued to doctors and open themselves up for “sincere and genuine dialogue” with the doctors. “Nobody forced them to enter into an agreement reached with the doctors on March 24, 2011 to implement Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) in full,” he said. “They should honestly take responsibility for all that has happened because what has generated the crisis is their inability to keep faithfully to the agreement,” he added.