News
Straight from the Headlines! What Everyone was Talking About This Week
The House of Representatives today suspended the Chairman of it’s ad hoc committee that probed the fuel subsidy and the Chairman of the Committee of Education, Farouk Lawan, over the alleged $3million bribe from billionaire oil magnate Femi Otedola. Investigations into the alleged bribery scandal between the two men have been prominent among news headlines all week.
The House also rescinded its earlier resolution of the deleting Synopsis Enterprises Ltd. and Zenon Petroleum and Gas Ltd. from the list of oil marketers indicted in the report.
It recommended the two oil companies for investigation by the country’s anti-corruption agencies.
It is hoped that this scandal would eventually reach a conclusive end where justice would prevail.
Here’s a recap of some of the major stories that made headlines this week:
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3 brothers, Chinemerem (5), Okechukwu (4) and Nzube (2) who were kidnapped last week by their driver, Godwin from their school at ABC Academy, Utako, Abuja have been found. They were found on Monday June 11, 2012 with their abductor at Makurdi, Benue state. The kidnappers were arrested along with the driver. The driver had arranged for them to be kidnapped when he went to pick them up from school in Abuja. The rescue was perfected and executed by members of the Nigerian police through a tracking device that was also used to rescue some kidnapped victims Owerri and the little girl kidnapped in Enugu that was rescued in Warri last week.
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Shop owners in the newly opened Ikeja City Mall closed temporarily on Monday June 11, 2012 to protest the imposition of parking fees on visitors to the mall. Most of the shops were shut down and had signs on the doors saying the were protesting extortion by the Ikeja city mall operators. Some shop owners said that the new fees would affect thier business adversely and was not part of the agreement with the mall operators.
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Twenty seven persons, including a police officer, were massacred by gunmen in the early hours of Monday June 11, 2012 in Dangulbi Village in the Dansadau Emirate of Zamfara State. Some other people were also injured in the raid. An eye-witness, Lawalli Dangulbi, told journalist at the Gusau Specialist Hospital, where the injured were receiving attention, that the assailants shot sporadically, killing 18 persons instantly. He said that the other dead bodies were discovered in neighbouring villages of Biya, Guru and Sabuwar Kasuwa, adding that he managed to carry eight wounded persons from the scene of the attack which, he said, was over 100 kilometres from the state capital, Gusau, for treatment.
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The Federal High Court in Kano has sentenced one Ado Danjuma, 53, to three years imprisonment for abducting a nine-year-old girl and sexually molesting her. The prosecution counsel, Aondona Orti, told the court that the convict had on February 2, 2011, lured the victim to a shop where he worked as a security man. “He inserted his finger into the private part of the nine-year old girl, touched her buttocks and later asked her to go,” said Orti. He said the police arrested the convict at his duty post after the girl went home and narrated what happened to her parents. When the charge was read to Danjuma, he pleaded guilty and asked for leniency as he had five children and a pregnant wife. The trial judge, Justice Shehu Yahaya, sentenced him to two years imprisonment without the option of a fine on first count of taking custody of the girl without the consent of her lawful guardians; and also sentenced him to one year imprisonment for having carnal knowledge of the girl contrary to the Trafficking in Persons Act 2003. The two sentences will run concurrently.
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The biggest cement factory in sub-Saharan Africa has been opened in Nigeria by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote. Located in Kogi State, Obajana cement is expected to produce about 10 million tonnes of cement per annum. President Jonathan in his remark, called the plant a “quantum leap” for that nation’s construction sector. The president noted that the success of this factory was as a result of the government’s policy on public-private partnership. “To sustain the achievement, government is working with the private sector to launch a Cement Technology Institute, which Aliko Dangote will be the chairman” he said. The president also revealed that a backward integration policy will soon be implemented for the automobile and garment sectors as well as sugar and rice, “so that by 2016, we not only be producing for our consumption, but also export.”
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The Special Assistant to the Minister of Aviation, Joel Obi, on Thursday June 14th, 2012 disclosed that the Federal Government has commenced the installation of four generators at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja. Obi said the government is taking the initiative to resolve the problem of blackout at the airport and to prevent future embarrassment. On three occasions this year, the Abuja Airport has suffered a total blackout, with the last blackout occurring days after the unfortunate Dana plane crash. According to Obi, the installation would end the power challenge at the airport as the four generators acquired have a combined capacity of 6,000KVA.
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The pioneer Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer of the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), Angus Ifeanyi Ozoka, who headed the investigative panel on the Sosoliso plane crash in Port Harcourt on Wednesday June 13 2012, said power failure at the airport was responsible for the accident that occurred six years ago. On December 10, 2005, a Sosoliso Airlines flight full of school children from Abuja to Port Harcourt crashed killing 107 people, including famous cleric, Bimbo Odukoya. Although the government is yet to make the crash report public, Mr Ozoka, who addressed journalists in Abuja on how to improve safety in the aviation industry against the backdrop of the recent Dana air crash said at the point of landing, the pilot of the doomed Sosoliso aircraft lost sight of the runway because there was no diesel to power the generator for the runway lights. A similar account on the possible cause of the Sosoliso plane crash was given by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), who in their report said that the pilot was racing a thunderstorm’ nearing the airport. The inclement weather forced the pilot to make an instrument landing, meaning that visibility had been reduced to the point the pilot needed to rely on instruments to make his landing.
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How do you feel about the news that made headlines in the country this week? What other stuff happened that you would like to share?
Have a great weekend!
