A Chief Magistrates’ Court in Kafanchan, Kaduna State, has ordered a 30-year-old teacher, Josiah Alkali, to be remanded in a correctional facility for allegedly having anal sex with four boys

Alkali was charged by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC) on four separate charge sheets with unnatural offence, contrary to section 259 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law.

The four boys were between the ages of 13 and 15 years.

The NSCDC prosecutor, Mr Marcus Audu, told the court that the matter was reported to the Corp’s office for investigation by the Salama Sexual Assault Referral Centre, Kafanchan on July 3.

Audi explained that the defendant committed the act with the boys separately on multiple occasions between February and July 2024.

He said the defendant lured each of the boys into his room at Takau and had sex with them through the anus.

According to him, the defendant threatened to kill them if they told anyone about the affair.

The prosecutor added that during the course of investigation, he confessed to the commission of the crime.

The Presiding Judge, Samson Kwasu, however, declined to take the defendant’s plea for lack of jurisdiction to entertain the matter.

Kwasu directed the prosecutor to forward duplicate copies of the case files to the State Director of Public Prosecution for legal advice.

He, thereafter, adjourned the matter until July 25 for further mention.

The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) says its operatives are not responsible for the dead body found hanging by the gate of an estate along the Lagos-Shagamu Expressway.

The LASTMA General Manager, Mr Olalekan Bakare-Oki, said this in a statement by Mr Taofiq Adebayo, the agency’s Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment Department, on Friday in Lagos.

Bakare-Oki debunked the rumours circulating on social media, insinuating that the deceased’s vehicle was impounded by the officers of the agency.

He confirmed that the body was discovered in the early hours of Thursday by passersby and was immediately reported to the police at Shagamu Road.

“Several speculations were made by sympathisers present at the scene. Some said he was dressed like a motorcyclist (okada rider), while some speculated he was a tricyclist (Marwa rider).

“Some even believed he was brought to the scene by his killers during the wee hours of midnight, and stage managed it, to give it the semblance of suicide because the victim’s leg was touching the ground.

“For brevity, no one could really identify him as either an okada or Marwa rider from amongst several operators of okada and Marwa who visited the scene.

“It is unfortunate that the incident occurred by an estate gate along Lagos-Shagamu Expressway,” Bakare-Oki said.

While expressing sympathy to the deceased family, he warned those spreading unfounded reports to verify information before disseminating it.

He urged the public, especially motorists, to seek clarification on any traffic information through the agency’s newly toll-free call centre (080000527862)

“Meanwhile, the body of the deceased has been evacuated by the State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit, Yaba, Lagos,” he said.

At least seven lifeless bodies have been pulled from the rubble of a collapsed school building in central Nigeria’s Plateau state on Friday, a Reuters witness said.

The two-story building, belonging to Saint Academy in the Busa Buji community of Jos north district in the state, gave way during school hours around 0730 GMT, raising concerns about student and teacher casualties.

So far, five students have been rescued alive. Rescue efforts are underway, with security personnel including soldiers and police at the scene.

Building collapses are frequent in Africa’s most populous country due to lax regulations and often substandard construction materials.

Credit:Reuters

A two-storey school building at Saint Academy, Jos, has collapsed, trapping scores of students.

The building that housed classrooms and offices collapsed on Friday, while the students were writing their third term examination.

A correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), who was at the scene of the accident, reports that the ground floor contains mainly Junior Secondary School One (JSS1) students, while the senior students are on the top floors.

NAN reports that at the time of filing this report, rescue efforts were ongoing by thePlateau State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).

Mr Sunday Abdu, the Executive Secretary of Plateau SEMA, told NAN that the agency had mobilised its personnel and relevant agencies to the scene for emergency rescue efforts.

Abdu said the Jos Metropolitan Development Board (JMDB) personnel, and others, were currently at the scene with earth-moving equipment to remove the debris and try to rescue the children.

The Zonal Coordinator, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr Eugene Nyelong, also told NAN that the number of casualties would be ascertained on completion of recuse operations.

NAN reports that rescued victims are being rushed to different hospitals by ambulances of various organisations, including the FRSC, NEMA, Red Cross, Army, Police, and many others.

A Spanish tourist was trampled to death by an elephant after stepping out of his vehicle to take photos of a small breeding herd at a renowned South African park, authorities said Tuesday.

READ ALSO:Businessman In Court for Receiving Stolen Spaghetti

The 43-year-old man was attacked on Sunday at the Pilanesberg National Park, a tourist magnet about 200 kilometres (120 miles) northwest of Johannesburg, according to park officials.

The man, his fiancee and two women were driving their vehicle within the reserve when they spotted three elephants and three calves, police said.

“Reports suggest that the man stopped the vehicle, alighted and went closer to the elephants to take pictures,” police spokesman Sabata Mokgwabone said.

North West province’s Parks and Tourism Board (NWPTB), which manages Pilanesberg, said an adult female elephant then charged at the man.

“He was unfortunately not able to escape or evade the elephant, which was now joined by the whole herd, and was caught and trampled to death,” it said.

“The elephants moved away immediately from the scene without any aggression towards the nearby vehicles and eventually disappeared into the bushes.”

Pieter Nel, NWPTB’s chief conservation officer, said the matriarch of the herd attacked upon becoming “agitated” after seeing the tourist approach.

It is normal behaviour for elephants to try to “defend the young ones”, he added.

“Lots of tourists are oblivious to the dangers and do not realise how dangerous these animals can be,” he told AFP.

Nel and Mokgwabone said the man was from Spain.

His companions, all from Johannesburg, were unharmed, the police said, adding they had opened an investigation.

Elephant attacks are not uncommon in the region. In 2021 a suspected poacher was killed by elephants in South Africa’s world-famous Kruger National Park.

And last year 50 people were killed and 85 injured by wild animals — mostly elephants — in neighbouring Zimbabwe, according to local authorities.

Pilanesberg and other South African parks tell visitors driving through the reserves to keep the windows closed and not to disembark from their vehicles.

“The dangerous and unpredictable nature of wild animals are always emphasised on the permits and booklets for sale in Pilanesberg,” NWPTB said, adding it was saddened by the “tragic incident”.

The police, on Tuesday, arraigned a businessman, Sanni Alhassan, 38, before an Ikeja Chief Magistrate’s Court for allegedly receiving stolen spaghetti worth N54 million.

The prosecution counsel, Insp. John Iberedem, told the court that the defendant committed the offence between Feb. 18 and 23 at Taiwo Sabo Aharon Road.

He said that the defendant received 4,725 cartons of Honeywell spaghetti valued at N54 million, knowing the same would be stolen.

“He couldn’t give any satisfactory explanation as at how he got the said goods “, Iberedem said.

The offence, according to him, contravenes the provisions of Section 328(9)(1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos.

The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The magistrate, Mrs E. Kubeinje, granted the defendant bail in the sum of N4 million, with two reliable sureties in the same sum.

Kebeinje ruled that the sureties must be gainfully employed, with proof of tax payments and verification.

She adjourned the matter until July 27 for a hearing.