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Boy, 12, drowns inside river at Kwali village

By Abubakar Sadiq Isah

A 12 year-old boy was said to have drowned inside a river last Friday afternoon at Rafin-Daji village, Kwali Area Council.

A resident of the community, simply identified as Musa, said the incident happened when the deceased with one of his brothers took their cows to drink water at the river.

He said the boy’s elder brother was herding the cows, while the deceased boy removed his clothes and jumped inside the river.

He said the deceased boy could not resurface and his elder brother became agitated and ran back to their settlement to report the incident.

“There was heavy down pour on in the early morning of that day and the river’s volume increased,” he said.

He said the corpse of the deceased was later found by some local fishermen late Friday evening and handed over to the family for burial.

Man docked for attempting to steal in church

By Emma Elekwa

A 25-year-old man has been arraigned before an Abuja Grade 1 Area court for allegedly attempting to steal in a church in Kubwa, Abuja.

Muktar Umar of Tipper Garage, was charged under Section 342 of the Penal Code.

The prosecutor, John Akpan, told the court that the complainant, Stephen Akuno of Arab road, Kubwa, on June 24, reported at the Kubwa Police station, that the accused, on the same day, around 2am, trespassed into Overcommers Light Assembly Church with the intention to steal.

He said the accused was however arrested while attempting to escape.

When the charges were read to the accused person, he pleaded not guilty and was granted bail by the judge, Mohammed Marafa, with a reasonable surety who must be resident within the court’s jurisdiction.

The case was adjourned to August 15 for hearing.

NGO trains farmers on compose manure

By Abubakar Sadiq Isah

A Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), Healing Hands International (HHI), Saturday organized a training for farmers at Old Kutunku village, Gwagwalada Area Council on compose manure.

Speaking at the training, the Director of the NGO, Mr. Ebenezer Udofia, said the NGO organized the training for the farmers on agricultural skills especially on how to make a compose manure because it is cheaper and more environmentally friendly.

He said even though chemical fertilizers are good, they still have so negative effects, and would prefer farmers use compose manure in subsistence farming.

“Although the chemical fertilizers are good, but we want to see how compose manure will be adopted by local farmers.

Also speaking, the chief communicator of the NGO based at the community, said ” there is no place we have vast land like Nigeria, even as people are still in poverty, which we discover that government alone can’t feed everybody and we decided to come in to assist, “he said.

He said that 120 farmers participated in the training, which he said will empower the farmers and other Nigerians.

Actors Guild to check quackery in FCT

The Chairman, Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Abuja Chapter, Mr Agility Onwura, has said the guild will take steps to check quackery in the industry within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

He stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday.

“The AGN is the only recognised umbrella body of Nollywood actors across Nigeria, and any actor who is not a registered member is a quack.

“We are now going to audition locations across the FCT to ensure that quacks are not cast by movie producers,” Onwura said.

He added that the presence of the freelance actors, who were always ready to accept little or nothing for acting roles, was making some movie producers undermine the services of the guild members.

He said the guild is the umbrella body for all professionals in the industry, therefore any actor who means business must identify with it.

“We are encouraging actors, especially upcoming ones, to register with the guild for them to be recognised and patronised by movie producers.

“Once an actor is registered with the guild, he or she will pass through our orientation and induction programmes.

“We will then recommend them as our members to movie producers,” he stated.

He said that membership of the guild in the FCT had increased by more than 20 per cent during the first half of the year, as many upcoming actors registered in 2015.

He, however, urged actors to always maintain good reputation on and off set as role models, whose characters should not be questioned.

“The guild takes public perception of its members very seriously, hence the need for them to uphold best-practices in order to gain positive recognition and relevance in the industry,’’ he said.

He also called for funding from government and private investors since the movie industry was crucial to job creation and growth of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).