10—Vanguard, TUESDAY, JULY 2, 2013
Mushin LG gives free GCE forms to youths
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S PART of the its ef forts to take youths out of the streets and become useful citizens, Mushin Local Government Area of Lagos State, will tomorrow give free General Certificate of Education, GCE, forms to youths in the local government. Chairman of the council, Olatunde Adepitan, who announced this, yesterday, said: “The form is available for collection free tomorrow morning (Wednesday) at the council secretariat. “If a student with the required five units has not obtained the form as at today, it shows that the parents need to be assisted. “Only those who have evidence of residence in Mushin will be considered. This is another way to lure our youths off the street.”
Assault: Court orders Gen Diya, others to pay N5.5m to victim BY ABDULWAHAB ABDULAH compensation, while declar-
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AGOS — FIVE years after he was accused of assaulting and battering one of his employees, Mr. Oluwatosin Onamade, the former Chief of General Staff, CGS, Gen. Oladipupo Diya was, yesterday, ordered by an Ikeja High Court, to pay the victim the sum of N5.5million compensation. In a judgment delivered by Justice Opeyemi Oke, the judge ordered the former CGS and other directors of his company, Lotad Funeral Services Ltd, to pay the damages as
ing the action of defendants as an act of impunity. Justice Oke held, that “the action of the defendants is condemnable; it is an arbitrary use of power.” The trial judge said it was wrong for the defendants “to assault, batter and unlawfully seize the belongings of his employee” when they attempted to force him to sign a backdated resignation letter on July 31, 2008. The court held that the defendants took the law into their hands by taking up the
work of the police. The court slammed Diya and four other directors of the company who were “jointly and severally” held liable for the assault and battering of the claimant. Others affected by the judgment are Messrs. Kehinde Diya, Dele Obakoya, Emmanuel Ilori and Dele Oyesanya. Only one person, Kehinde, a lawyer, testified against the victim over a fraud allegation while the trial lasted. Onamade had claimed that he was assaulted when he refused to compulsorily sign a resignation letter based on alleged fraud, while he was still
owed by the company. Justice Oke held that the notice of resignation given to the claimant was in breach of the six-month notice provided for in his letter of appointment. According to her: “If they had given him the notice six months earlier, the claimant would have had no choice other than to pack his things and leave.” She ordered the defendants to immediately return the claimant’s belongings unlawfully seized from him, comprising Mercedes Benz 190 model car with keys; HP
Piracy in Nigeria not as worse as Somalia BY EVELYN USMAN
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HE SPANISH Ambassador to Nigeria, Alvaro Castilo Aguilar, yesterday, in Lagos, commended the Nigerian Navy over its efforts at curbing illegalities on her waterways, inisisting that terrorism and piracy on Nigeria waters was not as worse as what obtained in Somalia. Aguilar, who gave the commendation during a joint briefing on the visit of Spanish ship to Nigeria, at the Western naval command, however, expressed worry over activities of sea pirates in the Gulf of Guinea. He added that the situation would be checkmated, following recent efforts by stakeholders. He explained that the purpose of the Spanish Ship, MV RAYO to Nigeria was to further boost the Nigerian Navy’s efforts in its fight against piracy and other illegalities on the waters, particularly in the gulf of Guinea.
DONATION: From left, Charles Eri, Communications Officer; Nwakpa Nwakpa, Head of Communications Department; Altilina Simon, Deputy Disaster Management Coordinator, all of the Nigerian Red Cross; Dr. Tawanda Mushuku, MD; Paul Okeke, Finance Director, and Peter Folikwe, General Manager Sales, all of UAC Foods Ltd, during the donation of items to victims of violence in the North through the Nigerian Red Cross, yesterday, in Abuja.
laptop DV 6000; wedding ring and Rolex wrist-watch. Other items are Reltel Nokia Mobile Phone; 6280 Nokia phone, N76 and two wooden caskets. The court also directed them to return to Onamade a bag containing N72,000 cash, personal documents/credentials, complimentary cards, file and seal stamp. Taking a departure from the arguments of the defendant, the court stated, the allegation of fraud levelled against the claimant was the duty of the police to investigate. She added that the move by the defendants and allegations made were afterthoughts after they had been served with the court action.
Afenifere faults Turaki, seeks compensation for victims of Boko Haram BY DAPO AKINREFON
LAGOS — PAN-YORUBA socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere has faulted statements credited to the chairman of Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution on Security Challenges in the North, Tanimu Turaki, that there would be no compensation for the victims of Boko Haram insurgency It called on the Federal Government to compensate victims of the insurgency, at least, by off-setting their medical bills. Reacting to the statement credited to the chairman of Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution on Security Challenges in the North, Afenifere in a statement by its National Publicity Secre-
tary, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, stressed the need for a data of the victims of the insurgency and said it was imperative for the committee to know the number of victims affected by the insurgency “In the first place, Afenifere would like to know how many
victims of the insurgency the committee has identified so far for it to come to the conclusion that government lacks the capacity to compensate them. “Is there a data or just an assumption off the cuff? The question then is how is the committee going to determine the com-
pensation for military personnel and the value to place on their lives? Is one life more important than the other? “We hold strongly that the position of Turaki is no tenable and quite insensitive to those who have been at the receiving ends of Boko Haram attacks.
Govt rewards injured LASTMA officials with N3.4m BY OLASUNKANMI AKONI
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AGOS — LAGOS State Government has paid N3, 433,510 as compensations to 23 officials of the State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, who sustained injuries on duties in 2012. LASTMA had earlier in the year compensated about 30
staff under the same scheme. While presenting the insurance claims to the beneficiaries at the agency ’s secretariat, Oshodi, Chairman, LASTMA, Young Arebamen, told the beneficiaries and their families that the efforts of those who lost their lives were not in vain. He enjoined other officers to work diligently without favour or prejudice, but to discharge their
duties within the confines of the law. According to the Public Relations Officer of LASTMA, Mrs. Bola Ajao, Arabamen, said government was aware of the hazard officers were exposed to in the discharge of duties and made adequate provision to cushion the effects of the pain and hardship encountered on the field.