The following section illustrates the date alerts were reported on Friday, 10th March, 2023.
PROTEST ACTION
- On Thursday, the Association of Local Government Nigeria (ALGON) in Benue State issued a warning about simultaneous attacks by armed intruders in six Local Government Areas in the state. ALGON chairman Mike Uba, speaking at a press conference in Makurdi, expressed concern that armed invaders had recently sustained mayhem on rural dwellers in what appeared to be coordinated attacks. Logo, Guma, Kwande, Gwer West, Agatu, and Makurdi were among the six affected local government areas, according to Uba, who added, “This is the first time that six local government areas have been attacked simultaneously.” Soludo. “Seven people were killed on Wednesday – three in the night and four in the morning – at Yelewata community; the menace continues,” he said. The security agencies are doing their best, but it would be difficult for them to respond to all of these attacks at the same time. Their numbers are insufficient to do so all at once.” Uba, who is also the chairman of the Guma Local Government Area, has urged the Federal Government to send more troops to the state to combat security challenges.
SHOOTING (GUNMEN)
- On Thursday, the Association of Local Government Nigeria (ALGON) in Benue State issued a warning about simultaneous attacks by armed intruders in six Local Government Areas in the state. ALGON chairman Mike Uba, speaking at a press conference in Makurdi, expressed concern that armed invaders had recently sustained mayhem on rural dwellers in what appeared to be coordinated attacks. Logo, Guma, Kwande, Gwer West, Agatu, and Makurdi were among the six affected local government areas, according to Uba, who added, “This is the first time that six local government areas have been attacked simultaneously.” Soludo. “Seven people were killed on Wednesday – three in the night and four in the morning – at Yelewata community; the menace continues,” he said. The security agencies are doing their best, but it would be difficult for them to respond to all of these attacks at the same time. Their numbers are insufficient to do so all at once.” Uba, who is also the chairman of the Guma Local Government Area, has urged the Federal Government to send more troops to the state to combat security challenges.
NATIONAL SECURITY
- According to the Defence Headquarters, troops from Operation Delta Safe discovered and demolished 74 illegal refining sites in the Niger Delta region over the last two weeks. Musa Danmadami, the Director of Defence Media Operations, a major general, announced this at the bi-weekly news briefing on armed forces operations on Thursday in Abuja. Mr Danmadami stated that during Operation Octopus, troops destroyed 341 storage tanks, 31 wooden boats, 260 ovens, and 15 dugout pits. He also claimed that troops recovered 209,000 liters of crude oil, 145,000 liters of diesel, and 4,500 liters of gasoline. He also stated that 27 different types of weapons, 468 different types of ammunition, two speed boats, two outboard engines, eight vehicles, and four motorcycles were recovered, as well as 71 criminals. Preparations were made at creeks, waterways, the high sea, towns and cities in Bayelsa, Delta, Rivers, Cross River, and Akwa Ibom states, he said, with positive results.
- Tension is rising as a result of a standoff between the Nigerian Army and residents of Gindiri Town in Plateau State’s Mangu Local Government Area over the fate of a 50-year-old bridge built by the army in the area. The Nigerian Army intends to demolish the “Langa Langa” bridge and relocate it to the dreaded Sambisa Forest, ostensibly for operational reasons. However, the community, which had previously relied on the strategic infrastructure, is adamantly opposed to any such move. The community cites the bridge as the only link between the Tongzong community and the famous Church of Christ in the Nations schools the Boys Secondary School, Girls High School, COCIN Comprehensive Secondary School, College of Theology, Demonstration Primary School, and others as one of the reasons for their opposition to its demolition. They are concerned that removing the vital communication link will create severe transportation problems for the natives and cut them off from the rest of Nigeria, and they are adamant that it should be avoided at all costs.
ACCIDENT
- On Thursday, five people were burned beyond recognition and three others were injured in a fatal accident on the Badagry-Seme Expressway in Lagos. Mr Sulaiman Taiwo, the Unit Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps in Badagry, confirmed the accident. According to him, the accident happened on the Badagry-Sème Expressway near Akoro Village. A Honda Pilot SUV with the registration number LSR 772 HE and a motorcycle with an unidentified registration number were involved in the accident. Sources said the driver of the Honda Pilot must have been over-speeding and lost control before hitting the motorcycle laden with petrol while the driver of the jeep collided with the motorcycle resulting in an explosion.
- On Thursday, ten passengers were burned to death on the Oyo-Ogbomoso road. The passengers were burned beyond recognition after a head-on collision between a Mazda and a Toyota Hiace passenger bus. On Friday morning, a container fell off a trailer on the Ojuelegba bridge in Lagos, blocking access to the stadium in the Surulere area of the state. As the evacuation begins, the Lagos Police Command has been dispatched to the area to maintain law and order. the buses with registration numbers LEM 963 XA and NSR 222 ZS were coming from Lagos and Nasarawa states respectively. He attributed the cause of the accident to speeding and overloading.
FRAUD
- A 45-year old man was arraigned in Lagos on Thursday for allegedly defrauding two men out of N950 million. According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the defendant was arraigned in a Sabo-Yaba Chief Magistrates’ Court on three counts. He did, however, enter a not guilty plea to the charges of obtaining by false pretenses, forgery, and stealing. The prosecutor, Rita Momah, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, told the court that the defendant committed the crimes in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State between January 2017 and December 2022. Momah claimed that the defendant obtained N450 million from one Mr Olusola lkuyajesin and N500 million from one Mr Durodola Balogun under false pretenses of using the money to purchase stationery. She also stated that the defendant forged an organization’s Local Purchase Orders in order to carry out the acts, in violation of Sections 287, 314, and 365 of the Lagos State Criminal Law.
- The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s Ibadan Zonal Command has secured the conviction and sentencing of 37 Internet fraudsters to various terms of imprisonment, fines, and community service. The convicts were prosecuted before Justices Mohammed Owolabi, Ladiran Akintola and Mojeed Ishola of the Oyo State High Court, Ibadan; Justice Olanrewaju Mabekoje, A.A. Babawale,
- O.O. Majekodunmi and O. Ogunfowora of the Ogun State High Court, Abeokuta and Justice Ayo Emmanuel of the Federal High Court, Osogbo, Osun State between January 10 and March 6, 2023. They include Olubanji Dare, Abdullahi Olalekan, Salau Abdulazeez, Joshua Showemimo, Awotunde Sunday, Abegunde James, Sadu Babatunde, Emmanuel Oluwasanya, Joshua Okunlaja, Emefele Kelvin, Lateef Abiodun, Salawu Ismail, Azeez Rasaq, Akinleye Abdul-Azeez Oloruntosin, Quincy Okonma, David Olayiwola, Balogun Olanrewaju, Adebayo Bolaji, Makinde Busola, Ojekunle Apesinola, Akorede Abimbola, Olowofela Omolaja, and Olatunde Sulaiman. Others are Fagbamiye Temitope Akinola, David Mautin Sadagbande, Odunjo Fodirudeen Bamidele, Abayomi Gideon Ayeni, Folorunsho Samuel Oluwatobi, Amoo Abdulmalik Ademola, Shittu Toheeb Ife, Stephen Godwin Olawoye, Oladimeji Ayomide Michael, Arasi Taiwo Bolaji, Sulaiman Lateef Damilare, Olori Daniel Oluwaseun, Ganiu Jamiu Adufe and Akinlagun Oyindamola Tomiwa.
POLITICS
- The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has vowed to appeal a court ruling ordering the use of Temporary Voter Cards (TVCs) in the upcoming governorship and state assembly elections. In a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/180/2023 and filed on February 8, one Kofoworola Olusegun and Wilson Allwell challenged INEC’s position that only Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) can be used in an election. However, in a decision issued on Thursday by Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court in Abuja, the electoral body was ordered to allow the use of TVC in the March 18 gubernatorial election. The order was issued by the presiding judge while delivering judgment in a suit filed by two Nigerians seeking the use of TVCs in general elections when PVCs are unavailable. According to the judge, the order was issued on the assumption that the plaintiffs were duly registered and captured in INEC’s database prior to the start of the general election, but the commission’s Chief Press Secretary, Rotimi Oyekanmi, stated that the commission would appeal the decision.
DRUG CONTROL
- Prof. Christianah Adeyeye, Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, stated on Thursday that Nigeria will not support the trend of legalizing cannabis for non-medical use because the country lacks the financial capacity to combat cannabis cultivation, production, and illegal use. Meanwhile, the International Narcotics Control Board, INCB, has released its 2022 Annual Report. Adeyeye stated at the launch of the INCB Annual Report, Availability Supplement, and Precursor Report for 2022 in Lagos that the 2018 National Drug Use Survey revealed that the prevalence of any drug was 14.44%, or 14.3 million people using drugs between the ages of 15 and 64. She noted that it is relatively high when compared to the global annual prevalence of 5.6 percent among adults in 2016. She stated that the challenges posed by drug supply and consumption are not limited to drug users, but have far-reaching health, social, and economic consequences for the family, community, and country. “The report also revealed that cannabis is the most commonly used drug,” she said. In the previous year, an estimated 10.8 percent of the population, or 10.6 million people, had used cannabis. In the general population, the average age of first using cannabis was 19 years.
CRIME
- A 22-year-old woman awaiting trial in Akwa Ibom State High Court in Uyo was granted bail after giving birth to a baby girl in Uyo Medium Custodial Center. The nursing mother and her younger brother were being held in custody for allegedly receiving a stolen phone worth N20,000. The siblings were granted unconditional bail by Justice Ntong Festus Ntong, who said he was moved to grant the order because of the condition of the nursing mother and the infant, who has also been in prison since she was born on September 24, 2022. to grant the order. Barrister Samson Adula, counsel for the defendants, told the court that her case was sympathetic, lamenting that “a 40-year-old Police Inspector, caused the arrest and detention of the poor orphans, accusing them and two others of breaking into her shop along Aka Etinan Road near Uyo, in December, 2019, to steal phones and recharge cards.” The siblings, both senior secondary school dropouts from the Edem Idim Ibakeshi community in the Ini local government area, were charged with conspiracy to receive stolen property and receiving stolen property, and have been imprisoned since January 2022.
BUSINESS
- Mr. Roger Brown, the CEO of Seplat Energy Plc, has had his work permit, visa, and residence permit revoked by Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, Abuja, following allegations of racism, favoring of foreign workers, and discrimination against Nigerian employees leveled against him by company employees. The federal government also charged Brown with having a Combined Expatriate Residence Permit and Aliens Card (CERPAC) that was not based on a valid Expatriate Quota. Brown was also accused of failing to honor invitations from the Ministry’s panel that investigated the matter. The revocation was contained in a March 3, 2023, letter from the Minister of Internal Affairs to the Board Chairman of Seplat Energy Plc, which THISDAY obtained at the Federal High Court Lagos, where some concerned stakeholders today instituted a legal proceeding against Seplat in this regard. “Withdrawal of Work Permit, CERPAC, Visa/Residence Permit of Mr. Roger Thompson Brown – CEO, SEPLAT Energy Plc,” the letter stated. “These allegations include racism, favoring foreign workers, and discriminating against Nigerian employees. Several witnesses provided testimony that supported the allegations. Mr. Roger T. Brown refused to attend despite two invitations, claiming he was unavailable, despite the fact that we learned he was in Abuja for other reasons at the time. Mr. Roger Brown was also found to be in possession of CERPAC that was not based on a validly issued Expatriate Quota approved by the Ministry of Interior, resulting in a violation of relevant Immigration Laws and Regulations. As a result of these findings, the Honourable Minister determined that Mr. Brown’s continued presence in Nigeria is detrimental to national interests.
