PEOPLES DAILY, MONday, january 18, 2016
PAGE 10
News
NDLEA arrests 186 drug suspects in Cross River
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he National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said on Sunday that it arrested 186 drug suspects in Cross River in 2015. The NDLEA State Commandant, Mrs Anthonia Edeh, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Calabar. Edeh said 169 of the suspects were male while 17 were females. The commandant further said that 54 of the suspects were convicted to serve various jail terms, ranging from one year to 15 years. She said that the command also impounded 368,908 kilogrammes of various categories of hard drugs during the period under review. She said that 368,479 kilogrammes of the seized drugs was cannabis sativa, while 43,601 grams was cocaine and 9 grams psychotropic substance. She said that the command counselled 99 addicts and integrated them into the society. The commandant said the people were sensitised on the inherent dangers of drug abuse and the need to maintain a healthy lifestyle She appealed for the support of the Cross River Government and other relevant stakeholders in the fight against drug abuse and trafficking in the state. ``There is also the need for the citizens to furnish the agency with information on illicit drug activities in the state,” she said. Edeh assured that the command would double its effort in the fight against illicit drug trafficking in the state in 2016. (NAN)
L-R: Former Kaduna state Governor, Senator Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi, in a handshake with the new elected Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Chairman Kaduna state chapter, Malam Garba Muhammed, during a visit by the new NUJ executives to the former governor at his residence, yesterday in Kaduna. Photo: Bashir Bello
Woman throws own baby from storey building in Plateau From Ado Abubakar Musa, Jos
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he police in plateau state has paraded one Mrs. Salomi Samuel who was alleged to have thrown her new born baby from a storey building. The suspect, Salome
Samuel who confessed to have committed the offence revealed that she was impregnated by one Francis Salu who was a soldier attached to troops of Operation Save Heaven in Makera Base in Riyom LGA but that the said soldier had since been
transferred to another place unknown to her before she gave birth. The woman who soon after delivering of the baby said she threw the baby because she had no further option than to kill the baby since his father was
nowhere to be found. According to CP Adekunle Oladunjoye, while briefing journlists at the police Headquarters in Jos said the new born baby was threw through a window of a storey building and died instantly.
Shady arms procurement: Buhari orders probe of ex-Service Chiefs By Lawrence Olaoye
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resident Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to immediate commence investigations into alleged shady deals in procurement of arms by some serving and retired officers of the Nigerian Air Force and the Army. Certain companies, local and international, indicted by the committee established to audit the procurement of arms and equipment in the Armed Forces and Defence sector from 2007 to 2015, are also to answer queries
from the anti corruption agencies. In a statement made available to newsmen by Buhari’s Senior Soecial Assistant on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, the AVM J.O.N Ode (rtd)’s committee found 20 serving and retired officers culpable in the fundamental breaches associated with the procurements by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and the Nigerian Air Force (NAF). Those officers found culpable include Air Chief Marshal AS Badeh (Rtd); Air Marshal MD Umar (Rtd); Air Marshal AN Amosu (Rtd); Maj-Gen. ERChioba (Rtd); AVM IA Balogun (Rtd); AVM AG Tsakr (Rtd); AVM AG Idowu (Rtd); AVM
AM Mamu; AVM OT Oguntoyinbo and AVM T. Omenyi. Others to face the anti graft agency are AVM JB Adigun; AVM RA Ojuawo; AVM JA KayodeBeckley; Air Cdre SA Yushau (Rtd); Air Cdre AOOgunjobi; Air Cdre GMD Gwani; Air Cdre SO Makinde; Air Cdre AY Lassa; Col N Ashinze and Lt Col. MS Dasuki (Rtd). Those 21 companies mentioned in the arms procurement sleaze include MessrSociete D’ Equipments Internationaux; Himma Aboubakar; Aeronautical Engineering and Technical Services Limited; Messrs Syrius Technologies; Dr Theresa A. Ittu;
Sky Experts Nig Ltd; Omenyi Ifeanyi Tony; Huzee Nig Ltd; GAT Techno Dynamics Ltd; and Gbujie Peter Obie. Others companies indicted by the committee were Onuri Samuel Ugochukwu; Spacewebs Interservices Ltd; Oguntoyinbo Tayo; Oguntoyinbo Funmi; Delfina Oil and Gas Ltd; Chief Jacobs Bola; Mono Marine Corporation Nig Ltd; Geonel Intergrated Services Ltd; Sachi Felicia; Mudaki Polycarp and Wolfgang Reinl. The President ordered investigations into the activities of all these companies and their directors in the arms procurement fraud. According to the statement,
“the breaches identified by the Audit Committee include nonspecification of procurement costs, absence of contract agreements, award of contracts beyond authorized thresholds, transfer of public funds for unidentified purposes and general non-adherence to provisions of the Public Procurement Act. “Furthermore, the procurement processes were arbitrarily carried out and generally characterized by irregularities and fraud. In many cases, the procured items failed to meet the purposes they were procured for, especially the counter insurgency efforts in the North East.
Gov. Lalong pledges more support to Fadama III AF in Plateau
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ov. Simon Lalong of Plateau has pledged more support for the Fadama III Additional Financing (AF) programme, aimed at reducing poverty level and increased food production in the state. The governor made the pledge when he received Dr Adetunji Oredipe, World Bank Task Team Leader (TTL) of Fadama III AF in his
the office in Jos. Lalong, said that the state government was fully aware of the team’s two-day assessment tour of the implementation progress of the Fadama 111 AF in the state. ``We are honoured to have you because we have been waiting for this visit since we assumed office. ``The focus of this administration is to support agriculture and partner
with any organisation or institution to help farmers. ``Although we have partnered Fadama since its existence in the state and paid our counterpart fund within our limited resource, I promise to pay the balance before the end of January. `` I am happy today that the team leader of Fadama has confirmed that my state is doing
well, but I promise we will do more. ``You will be surprised with the record of our achievements when next you visit,’’ he said. Earlier, Oredipe expressed the team’s happiness to be in the state. ``The project is Federal Government’s initiative to round up four values chain of rice, tomatoes, sorghum and cassava which six states were selected.
``We opened window to some states to know how they can do more to support the core states of which plateau is one of them. ``Based on our assessment on these production clusters state, we decided to visit Plateau and Osun state,’’ he noted. Oredipe thanked the governor for promoting agriculture in the state. (NAN)