NEWS P6

NEWS P6

Court dismisses Oduah’s bullet proof car suit

From Yahaya Ibrahim, Lagos

A Federal High Court in Lagos yesterday dismissed a suit for the enforcement of fundamental rights filed by Princess Stella Oduah, the former aviation minister against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF).

Justice Okon Abang held that the court lacks the jurisdiction to entertain the matter and ordered Oduah to pay a cost of N15, 000 to the Attorney General of the Federation.

The former aviation minister had through her lawyer Ajibola Oluyede prayed the court to stop an alleged plan to prosecute her over the two armored BMW cars allegedly purchased for N255 million by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) under her watch.

Oduah had in the suit claimed that the current government under the guise of anti-corruption campaign was making moves to persecute and humiliate her. She is seeking for order restraining the respondents from probing her over the purchase of two armored BMW by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority in 2013.

Oduah had on August 26, 2015 through her lawyer, Mr. R.A Oluyede, obtained an interim injunction from the court barring the EFCC from taking any action against her as regards the purchase of the two armored BMW cars. But, in a preliminary objection the EFCC is challenging the jurisdiction of the Lagos court to entertain the suit.

Zamfara connects 87 villages with national grid

From Shehu Umar,Gusau

Zamfara state government has connected 87 villages with the national grid under its Rural Electrification Programme, the state commissioner for rural and community development Alhaji Lawali M Liman has said.

Speaking with Daily Trust in Gusau, Alhaji Liman said the programme was designed to provide electricity to the rural communities across the 14 local government areas of the state and the project had reached 75% completion.

“We feel it is necessary to convey electricity to the rural communities and this is in line with our philosophy to boost the socio-economic status of the rural dwellers through the provision of conducive atmosphere for small and medium scale businesses to thrive,” he said.

He said the state had embarked on massive overhaul and upgrade of 33 KV transmission lines through replacement of poles with special ones, adding that 500KV transformers are being provided to boost electricity supply in the state.

Speaking on their action plans for rural dwellers he explained that massive women empowerment and construction of rural feeder roads are underway, and that provision of portable drinking water to the rural dwellers in partnership with UNICEF is also in the pipeline.

“The machines for the construction of roads have been procured and will soon be distributed. This, we believe, will halt the menace of rural-urban drift as a good number of the rural populace will be lifted from poverty,” he added.

Fire destroys Kano furniture market, part of Jos Central Mosque

From Halima Musa, Kano & Hassan Ibrahim, Jos

Furniture worth about N15million has been burnt by a midnight

fire at Gandu Furniture Market in Kano Municipal Council of Kano State.

In another fire incident, the women wing of the Jos Central Mosque, including an Islamic school building was destroyed.

Describing how the Kano furniture market fire started, chairman of the market,

Mr Steven Kalu Elem said he was called around 5 am that the market had

caught fire. “I rushed down but before I could reach the place

the fire had razed about 15 shops with furniture worth about

N15million,” he said.

He said they could not say specifically what the source of the fire

was but that they were suspecting a group of armed robbers who tried to

raid the market earlier that night but were chased out by the

vigilante men. “We are suspecting that it could be these robbers that

came back to light the fire that destroyed the shops.

Elem said a similar incident occurred last year in

November when many of their members lost their materials and money, and

appealed to government to assist them because

those affected have lost everything they possessed in this particular

fire.

Speaking on the Jos Mosque fire, the deputy Chairman of the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) in Jos North LGA and custodian of the Mosque, Alhaji Danjummai Khalid, debunked the rumour that the Jos Central Mosque was destroyed by the inferno, saying, “The fire affects only the female side and is a separate building behind the main Central Mosque. The Nigeria Fire Service and other volunteers have put off the fire because about five fire fighting vehicles partook in the fire fighting effort.”

Danjummai said that the fire emanated from second hand furniture stores behind the women wing of the Mosque around 2:05pm, adding that the fire destroyed virtually all the female side of the mosque and classes of an Islamic school at the top floor of the building.

A security man at the central mosque who is a member of First Aid Group of JNI, Jamilu Muhammad, told Daily Trust that scores of volunteers sustained various degrees of injuries in the course of putting off the fire.

NAFDAC nabs fake drug producer

From Christiana T. Alabi, Kaduna

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has arrested one Emeka Mbonu for alleged production and sale of unregistered Mist Potassium Citrate B.P.C in Kaduna.

The Agency’s Public Relations Officer, Northwest Zone, Jessica Okwuchi who disclosed this said Mbonu was arrested while he was trying to purchase pharma bottles used by pharmaceutical companies to package his drugs.

“Realising that he was not a pharmacist, NAFDAC was alerted. On further interrogation, it was discovered that Mbonu has been on the run from the Agency for the past six months on suspicion of the production and sale of the said drug in the Central Market where he used to have a shop,”

“It was discovered during the interrogation that he engages in illegal manufacturing of the drugs at his residence in Maraban Rido, an area in Chikun LGA. At his residence, he was found to be using one of his rooms for production and producing under unhygienic conditions. He informed officers of the Agency that he only produces on order and distributes to the rural areas because he was being haunted in the city by NAFDAC and people were not patronizing him,” she stated.

The Mist Potassium Citrate B.P.C found in his residence, she said, have fake NAFDAC registration number, fake manufacturing and expiry dates, and fake batch number. “The manufacturing address reads Renge Production (Nig.) Ltd, 107 Ibrahim Shakaru Street, Tudun Wada, Kano State which is clearly fake too,” she added.

Jos radio presents N500,000 to deceased journalist’s widow

From Hassan Ibrahim, Jos

A Jos-based radio station, Unity FM yesterday presented a cheque of N500, 000 to the widow of deceased journalist who was working with the station, Solomon Sule Obaje.

General Manager of the station, Hajiya Larai Baba who presented the cheque on behalf of the chairman of the station and former minister of state for Information and Communication, Ibrahim Dasuki Nakande, said that late Obaje, 35, died in a road accident along Gonto-Lafia road last September.

Larai said that the money is an insurance gratuity for the late Obaje who worked for two years with the station, saying, “Death is natural and it can come from any angle. It’s painful but we give glory to God. We are privileged to present the gratuity of late Solomon to his wife, Serah in company of her daughter Victoria, the sum of N500, 000”.

In her response amid tears, the widow of late Obaje thanked the management of the Unity FM for the gesture.