On Wednesday, soldiers from the 35 Artillery Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Alamala, actively conducted an environmental sanitation exercise at Lafenwa market in Abeokuta North Local Government Area of Ogun State. This initiative was a crucial part of commemorating the 2024 Nigerian Army Day celebration.

Throughout the market, soldiers diligently swept and cleared drainages, aiming to curb the spread of cholera. Brigadier General Mohammed Aminu, Commander of the 35 Artillery Brigade, emphasized to journalists that the exercise played a pivotal role in preventing the escalation of the cholera outbreak.

Aminu, represented by Garrison Commander Colonel Legborsi Nule, emphasized that the gesture aimed to support the local community and contribute to society.

He highlighted that military personnel are integral community members actively contributing to the country’s development.

He explained that the outbreak of cholera was also considered before deciding to clean the market areas.

“Because of the outbreak of cholera, we decided to clean the environment, this is a market, and all of us shop from here so there is no better place that should be kept clean than a place where you are buying your foodstuffs.

“It is a yearly event that takes place across the country and we use this period as a day to carry out activities like this in support of our host environment.

“We decided to come to the market, we have been passing here and we found out that the market was dirty by the day so we decided to clean it to help the civil authority and our host community.

“And to let them know basically that we in the military are part of the society, we are part of the community.

“Whatever that has to do with the development of the country, it is also our responsibility as citizens of this country.”

On Monday, the Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court arraigned and sentenced a couple, Ezimora Okechukwu, aged 49, to seven years and three years consecutively for indecent handling and sexual assault of their 15-year-old housemaid, and his wife, Ezimora Obioma, to one year of community service for concealing the crime.

The prosecution counsel stated that these actions violate Section 135 (1), 163, and 415 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State.

The incident took place on July 17, 2022, at the convicts’ residence in the Abule-Osun area of Lagos State. Okechukwu indecently touched and sexually assaulted the victim, who reported the assault to Obioma. Instead of reporting it, Obioma chose to conceal the incident.

Their amended charge read, “Felony contrary to Section 135(1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015. Did you, Ezimora Okechukwu, on July 17, 2022, at No 9, Block 19, Divine Height Street, Abule Osun, Lagos State, indecently handle a victim, a 15-year-old, by caressing her breast?”

“Sexual assault contrary to Section 163 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State. Did you Ezimora Okechukwu sexually assault the victim?”

“Accessory after the fact of felony contrary to Section 415 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State. Did you Ezimora Obioma, fail to notify police when the victim age 15 years, reported to you that one Ezimora Okechukwu had sexual intercourse with her.”

Both defendants pleaded guilty to the charges.

PUNCH Metro reports that the first defendant’s charge, which was, “Defilement contrary to Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015, was reduced after he applied for a plea bargain through his counsel. He and his wife were then granted a lesser charge and sentence.

The prosecution counsel attested to this saying, “The Honourable Attorney General considered the request on the grounds that the defendants showed remorse for their actions, were first-time offenders with no previous convictions and the impact of the conviction on the second defendant and her four young children.”

He further stated, “The Attorney General then accepted that the 2nd defendant be sentenced to a conditional discharge of one-year community service.”

In his judgment, Justice Ramon Oshodi stated that the couple’s actions were heinous.

“The first defendant stands accused of a heinous act, the defilement of a vulnerable housemaid who found shelter under his roof. The second defendant, rather than being a protector or seeking justice, the second defendant is said to have become an accomplice in silence and an accessory, she stands accused of disregarding the victim’s right by concealing the alleged crime even after the occurrence. These allegations paint a picture of the horror of abuse of power and moral failure challenging our society’s most fundamental principle of care and trust,” he held.

He then handed down a seven-year sentence to the first defendant, Okechukwu, for indecent handling and an additional three years for sexually assaulting the victim, with both sentences to be served simultaneously. He also sentenced Obioma to one year of community service.

Source: The PUNCH

Olisa Agbakoba, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, has warned that a “hunger riot” could soon erupt in Nigeria, urging the Federal Government to take swift action. On Tuesday, Agbakoba revealed this while speaking to journalists in his Ikoyi, Lagos office.

He pointed out that extreme poverty prevents the majority of Nigerians from affording basic necessities like food.

Agbakoba also highlighted that this situation persists despite the country’s abundant oil and gas resources, which he claimed have been commandeered by foreigners.

Agbakoba insisted that Nigeria must prevent the masses from being driven to the point of taking to the streets due to hunger.

He warned that hungry people might start entering houses and shops in broad daylight to steal food.

“Hunger riot can occur anytime in Nigeria,” Agbakoba advised Tinubu to restructure his cabinet and cut the cost of governance.

“President Tinubu needs to dismantle the cabinet. Having over 40 ministers is too large. We don’t need more than 20 ministries,” he remarked.

The legal practitioner urged Tinubu to eliminate certain government agencies and broaden the tax base, claiming that some multinational oil companies are evading taxes.

Read also: Petrol prices hike to ₦937 per Litre, NBS reports

As food inflation surged to 40.66 percent in May, Nigerians are finding it increasingly difficult to feed themselves.

The cost of food surged by 61 per cent, climbing from 25.25 per cent in June 2023 to 40.66 per cent in May 2024. This significant increase underscores a steady rise in the cost of living. The National Bureau of Statistics highlighted these trends in their latest Consumer Price Index and Inflation report.

The NBS revealed that headline inflation increased by 0.26 percent, rising to 33.95 percent from the 33.69 percent recorded in April.

Therefore, Agbakoba emphasized that we must urgently take action to prevent the impending hunger riots.

On Sunday, the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi, revealed that 25 cases of severe gastroenteritis, confirmed to be cholera, were reported at Kirikiri Medium Security Prison.

This development contradicts the Nigerian Correctional Service’s claim from Wednesday, June 26, 2024, that custodial centres nationwide were free of cholera.

NCoS spokesman, Abubakar Umar, told The PUNCH that routine hygienic measures implemented in correctional centres had effectively kept cholera at bay.

However, in a statement on Sunday, the commissioner reported that “a small outbreak of 25 cases of severe gastroenteritis confirmed to be caused by cholera.”. The statement was signed by Tunbosun Ogunbanwo, the Director of Public Affairs at the Lagos State Ministry of Health.

He announced that they had successfully implemented urgent medical and environmental measures.

At the same time, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention reported 118 suspected cholera cases in Katsina State.

According to data from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, as of June 24, 2024, there were 1,528 suspected cholera cases, 65 confirmed cases, and 53 deaths across 107 local government areas in 31 states, resulting in a case fatality rate of 3.5 percent since the start of the year.

Bayelsa, Zamfara, Abia, Cross River, Bauchi, Delta, Katsina, Imo, Nasarawa, and Lagos were the states most affected.

To combat the spread, President Bola Tinubu approved the establishment of a multi-sectoral cabinet committee on epidemic control, led by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate.

Discussing the Lagos outbreak, Abayomi reported over the weekend that no new cholera-related deaths had been recorded in the last 72 hours. The government intensified its countermeasures to eliminate transmission.

He confirmed that while there was ongoing low-grade community transmission, the number of new daily cases and deaths had decreased.

Additionally, he noted that the interventions were proving effective as residents adhered to public health information, followed safety measures, and sought early medical attention when symptoms developed.

On the Kirikiri incident, Abayomi stated, “We supplied Kirikiri medium prison with intravenous fluids, infection prevention, and other health consumables.

“Additionally, the World Health Organisation donated 10,000 doses of pharmaceuticals already delivered to the prison to support prison health facilities with prevention strategies for about 3,200 inmates if required.

“Immediate water and sanitation issues have been corrected and there are ongoing inspections of other correctional facilities in the state.”

Abayomi stated that investigators traced the original outbreak from two weeks ago to unregulated street beverages and a contaminated water supply.

Read also: Lagos, WHO partner to battle cholera outbreak at Kirikiri prison

“All the containers had no NAFDAC accreditation numbers, indicating they are small cottage backyard informal production units.

“Identifying the precise location of manufacture has proven difficult and the directorate of environmental health is planning to seal any such unregulated manufacture and make arrests of anybody involved with the manufacture or distribution of beverages without NAFDAC numbers,” Abayomi mentioned.

The commissioner reassured the public that there was no need to panic, expressing optimism that with ongoing collaboration, vigilance, and commitment from all stakeholders, the state is taking decisive action to combat and control cholera.

Meanwhile, in Katsina, Dr. Kabir Suleiman, the Director of Epidemiology at Katsina State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, reported that the 118 suspected cases all tested negative.

Source: The PUNCH

The Federal Government has terminated its contracts with Mothercat, RCC and Dantata & Sawoe for non-performance on the dualisation of the Obajana-Benin road project sections two, three and four.

The Minister of Works, David Umahi, made this known in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Uchenna Orji, on Monday in Abuja.

Umahi said that the contracts were terminated due to a delay leading to the expiration of the contract, which had been awarded on Dec. 3, 2012.

”The Federal Ministry of Works has terminated contract numbers 6136, 6137 and 6138 with Mothercat Ltd, Dantata & Sawoe Construction Ltd and RCC Ltd., respectively.

”The projects affected by this termination are the dualisation of Obajana – Benin road and section II, (Okene – Auchi) in Kogi/Edo.

”Others are the dualisation of Obajana – Benin road, section III (Auchi – Ehor) and the dualisation of Obajana – Benin road section IV (Ehor – Benin) both in Edo.

”The termination of the said contracts became necessary in view of the inordinate delay of the affected companies in job performance,’’ he said.

Umahi said that it was also due to their failure, neglect, or refusal to fulfil their contractual obligations as required by the standard conditions of the contract.

”This has affected the timely completion of the projects, which has resulted in the expiration of the contracts by the passage of time.

”The projects which were awarded on Dec. 3 2012 were advertently abandoned by the contractors and no genuine commitment or good faith was shown towards executing the projects after accepting the considerations offered by the Federal Government.

”This thereby is exposing the road users to untold hardship due to the deplorable condition of the projects,’’ he said.

Umahi also said that engineers in charge have therefore been directed to take the necessary steps to do the needful and arrange with the affected companies for a joint measurement of work done so far.

”The Federal Ministry of Works under my watch will not condone acts of unseriousness and sabotage by contractors whose plan is to become a clog in the wheel of progress of the Renewed Hope administration.

”Going forward, the government will not hesitate in terminating all projects that are funded but are non-performing,’’ he said.