The Akwa Ibom State government on Sunday launched a probe into the nutrition and living conditions of students at Presbyterian Senior Science College, Ididep, following the circulation of a viral video that exposed poor conditions in the school.

The footage depicted students consuming meals in an unsanitary dining area.

In response, the state commissioner for education, Idongesit Etiebet, announced in a statement that she has directed a comprehensive investigation into the state of boarding facilities in the school and the other 25 boarding secondary schools across the state.

Etiebet said the government has suspended Dr. Nse Sunday Umoh, the school principal, pending the outcome of the investigation.

Etiebet also noted that the “review, which will focus on hostels, dining halls, recreation areas, menus, kitchens, and sanitary facilities.”

According to her, the investigation is being jointly overseen by permanent secretaries from the Ministry of Education and the State Secondary Education Board.

The commissioner added that the state’s free education policy covers tuition fees only and not boarding fees.

She, however, appeals to parents to undertake basic parental responsibilities to support their children in secondary schools, noting that “they have already been greatly relieved of the burden of tuition fees.”

“The ministry is committed to ensuring that all public school facilities meet irreducible minimum standards that uphold the well-being of both learners and staff.”

Justice Jude Dagat of the Federal High Court in Maiduguri on Monday, November 18, 2024 convicted and sentenced one Mpada Ishaku Dzarma to nine years imprisonment.

Dzarma was first arraigned on May 4, 2024 by the Maiduguri Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a two-count charge bordering on money laundering and cybercrime to the tune of N9 million.

Count one of the charge reads: “That you, Mpada Ishaku Dzarma between 2023 and 2024 at Maiduguri, Borno State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did directly take possession of aggregate sum of N9,000,000.00 (Nine Million naira) only into your Access Bank with Account No. 1233383458, Mpada Ishaku Dzarma being the naira equivalent value of the Cash App, Pampay, and Gift Cards denominated in United States of America Dollars which sum you knew or reasonably ought to have known is proceeds of your fraud or form part of an unlawful act to wit: falsely representing yourself to unsuspecting foreign nationals amongst who are; Nils Kaptur with social media account @nilf­_kpt, Grace Wamalwa, @ejstorm53 e.t.c as a software engineer based in Holly wood, Texas and could unblock and activate blocked tiktok account and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(2)(d) of the Money Laundering Prevention and Prohibition Act, 2022 and punishable under Section 18(3) of the same Act.”

The defendant pleaded not guilty, which set the stage for the commencement of trial.

Similarly, at the resumed hearing of the case, the defendant through his counsel H. M Dauda prayed the court to change his plea.

Thereafter, the charge was read to him and he pleaded “guilty” to all the count charges preferred against him by the EFCC.

Justice Dagat thereafter, convicted and sentenced Dzarma on count one to four years imprisonment with an option of fine of N200,000 and on count two, he was sentenced to five years imprisonment with an option of fine of N200,000.

The Judge further ordered the forfeiture of iPhone 14 pro max, Android phone Redmi 4C model, used Toyota Corolla 2008, five pieces of blink necklace and one blink penchant to the Federal Government of Nigeria that were recovered from him in the course of investigation.

The convict’s journey to the Correctional Centre began when he was arrested by operatives of Maiduguri’s Zonal Directorate of the EFCC for internet-related offences. He was charged to court and convicted.

In another development, one Amuda Ayuba was arraigned on Monday, November 18, 2024, before Justice Jude Dagat of the Federal High Court, on a one-count charge for the offence of Money Laundering to the tune of N401,006.98 (Four Hundred and One Thousand, Six Naira, Ninety-eight kobo).

The lone count reads: “That you Amuda Ayuba sometime in 2021, in Maiduguri, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, whilst being a POS Operator did accept the transfer of a total sum of N401,006.98 (Four Hundred and One Thousand, Six Naira, Ninety-eight kobo) into your first and second POS account No. 1040660023 and 1040906053, account name Amuda Ayuba domiciled with Zenith Bank Plc from a customer whose identity you fail to verify and undertake due diligence of the customer before carrying on transaction of electronic money transfer and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 4(1)&(2) and Section 19(1)(F) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 and punishable under Section 19(2)(b) of the same Act.”

The defendant pleaded “not guilty” to the charges preferred against him.

Counsel to the prosecution Faruk Muhammad prayed the court for a trial and date and to remand the defendant in prison custody.

Justice Dagat adjourned for the commencement of trial and remanded the defendant in prison custody.

The defendant’s journey to the Correctional Centre began when he was arrested by operatives of Maiduguri’s Zonal Directorate of the EFCC for failing to verify and undertake due diligence before carrying on the transaction of electronic money transfer.

 Some security experts on Saturday warned motorists against reckless driving in desperate bids to make profits.

The experts gave the warning in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Abeokuta.

Mr Paul Ayeni, former Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps ( NSCDC), urged commercial drivers to desist from overloading.

Ayeni said that overloading, using prevailing fuel scarcity as an excuse, was not an option.

” It should be avoided by all means,” he said.

The Founder, Useful Youth Vision Concepts (UYVC), Mrs Adetokunbo Shonibare-Ayantunji, pleaded with motorists not to engage in excessive speeding.

Shonibare-Ayantunji said that according to the third quarter statistics on road accidents by the Ogun Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE), the most common cause of road traffic crashes is excessive speeding.

” The statistics said excessive speeding is responsible for 52 per cent of the road traffic crashes,” she said.

She urged the corps to impose the use of speed detectors by commanding drivers to enforce speed reduction.

A Human Rights advocate, who is also a government official, Mr Sunday Olowoyobiojo, urged the Ogun government to increase the workforce of the corps for effective monitoring

He further urged the state government to purchase extra patrol vehicles to patrol the corridors for constant monitoring patrol to reduce carnages.

The police in Borno on Friday recovered eight unexploded devices from the Dala and Gwange areas of Maiduguri.

A statement by ASP Grace Michael, its spokesperson, said that the recoveries followed a distress call about some unidentified objects suspected to be explosives near an uncompleted building in Dala-Abuja Talakawa Area, Maiduguri.

“Our Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (EOD-CBRN) Base 13 team responded swiftly, recovering six projectiles and one unexploded mortar bomb, which were safely relocated to a secure site.

“Later that day, at about 1 p.m., another report was received from the Gwange area regarding a suspicious object along the riverbank. The EOD-CBRN team was deployed to the scene and recovered an unexploded hand grenade.

“Preliminary investigations suggest that the ordnance were displaced and washed ashore by recent devastating floods in the state,” she said

The police, she said, had conducted an Explosive Ordnance Risk Awareness (EORE) training for residents of both communities, educating them on safety measures.

She quoted the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Yusufu Lawal, as reaffirming the command’s commitment to ensuring public safety.

Michael urged residents to remain calm, vigilant and to promptly report any suspicious objects or activities through the emergency lines – 0806 807 5581 and 0802 347 3293. 

Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni, has approved a N70,000 minimum wage for workers in the state civil service.

According to him, the payment of the new wage will take effect from December 1, 2024.

The Director-General, Press and Media Affairs, Mamman Mohammed said on Friday in Damaturu: “The minimum wage committee recommended a reconciliation of Local Government Finances.”

Mohammed added that this will ensure a hitch-free transition process for the 17 local councils from the existing salary structure to the new wage.

“The reconciliation process is expected to be concluded for approvals and eventual enrolment of council employees into the minimum wage.”

Buni, therefore, expects civil servants in the state to reciprocate the government’s gesture by ensuring effective and efficient service delivery to the people.

Islamic morality police in the northern Nigerian city of Kano are to resume their crackdown on betting shops after a Supreme Court ruling on gambling.

The Nigerian Supreme Court quashed a 2005 law Friday that established a national lottery commission and legalised sports betting and gambling.

The court ruled gambling regulation is a matter for state governments.

Kano State is one of 12 predominantly Muslim Nigerian states in which Islamic sharia is used alongside federal law.

“We will resume our clampdown on betting shops with renewed determination since betting is illegal under Kano state sharia law,” Abba Sufi, director general of the Kano Hisbah, told AFP.

The Hisbah is a state unit that polices Sharia law in Kano, northern Nigeria’s biggest city.

Last month, Hisbah operatives raided and closed dozens of football betting shops across the city, which they said were promoting gambling, which is prohibited under sharia.

Raids were halted after the National Lottery Commission protested that betting on football was legal under Nigerian federal law under the 2005 Lottery Act, Sufi said.

“With this verdict, the controversy on who should be in charge of lottery legislation between the federal government and state governments has been settled,” Sufi added.

“We in Kano have frowned at the lottery law… because it gave legal backing to gambling, which is clearly prohibited in Islam.”

There are around 200 betting shops across the city with television screens where customers watch international soccer matches and horse races and place bets, Sydney Emeafu, head of the National Union of Gaming and Lottery Workers (NUGLOW) in Kano, told AFP.

According to Sufi, the raids followed repeated complaints by parents of children whose love of football teams had led them into gambling.

“And the harsh economic climate is pushing more people into this football gambling, hoping to make easy money and becoming hooked to the vice,” Sufi argued.