3.1m households will benefit from school feeding scheme during lockdown ―FG

The federal government has said a total of 3.1 million households in Nigeria will benefit from its Homegrown School Feeding programme during the lockdown period.

The revelation came as 520 people living with disabilities in Abuja village, Saturday, benefited from its ongoing palliatives following the lockdown declared to control the spread of coronavirus in the country.

Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, speaking at the Disabled Colony, a settlement in Abuja for the PLWD and located at Karmajiji Village, along Musa Yar’Adua Expressway, said the government was going through state governments to reach the beneficiaries.

Handing over the palliatives to the 520 beneficiaries, the minister explained that the government’s gesture was aimed at cushioning the hardship they were facing as a result of the lockdown.

She said the government was also reaching out with palliatives to other vulnerable groups across the country through their respective state governments.

She said her ministry had convened a technical working group that would come up with actionable plans and strategies how to relate with PLWD, promising that “we will take the appropriate action as soon as the technical working group submits its report.” (Vanguard Newspaper)

COVID-19: FG To Probe Kogi, Cross River Zero Case Claims

The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, said on Friday at the daily rundown of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja that the Federal Government would bulletin its technical teams to validate the claims by Kogi and Cross River states that they did not have COVID-19 cases.

He said the initial team conclude to Kogi had a failed mission because of “some differences” with the state authorities but that a fresh engagement would be carried out.

Ehanire said, “Kogi State is one of the two states that have said that they do not have COVID-19 patients. They seem to be sure of this. So, the agreement we have had with them after discussion with the governor is that we shall send a team in just to validate that fact and engage the authorities.

“Of course, we do that for national records and to be able to report to the world the situation in our country. We tried to send a team into Kogi on Thursday but there were some differences there. So, we need to engage the state governor again and state some conditions within which the ministry and NCDC can complete their jobs. We are going to send a team to Cross River next week also.”

The minister in his address also noted that a technical team deployed to Kano State by the ministry had trained 100 ambulance drivers and patient handlers as part of efforts in tackling the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic.

The minister said the government was also making efforts to build the “prowess of critical care doctors and nurses to make use of ventilators and other appliances being allocated to rigorous care hospitals nationwide.”

He added, “A ministerial technical team comprising of various specialists was set up and deployed to Katsina State to assess the situation and report on needed support. Also, calm has been reinstate in the Gombe State isolation centres.”

The minister also said government’s team was in Jigawa State on a fact-finding mission as the state resist with repatriated Almajirai, “of whom many have tested positive for COVID-19.”

Ehanire said, “On Friday morning, we deployed a multi-sectoral technical team on a fact-finding mission to Jigawa State at the request of the state governor. The challenges in Jigawa revolve around repatriated Almajiris, of whom many have tested positive for COVID-19.

“The team includes doctors and nurses, who will support the state Ministry of Health in setting up and authorize their isolation and treatment centres.”

Contractors are making progress on State Projects- Fayemi

Despite the lockdown order in Ekiti State as part of measures to contain Covid-19, construction works are ongoing at the projects initiated by the State Government as contractors are working hard to meet set deadlines.

The Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi  stated this on Friday when he inspected some of the on going projects in several parts of the State.

Governor  Fayemi, who inspected projects at the College of Agriculture and Technology, Isan Ekiti, Ikupeju- Ire- Ilumoba and Ado- Iyin road projects as well as the ongoing water project, described construction work as essential duty that must be allowed during the lockdown in order for the contractors to meet up with the deadline given to them.

He added that the contractors working on the state projects were working within the precinct of safety and security.

The Governor said: "we allowed them to work because for us construction is an essential duty. In order to meet the deadline they have been given, of course within the limit of safety and security."

Dr Fayemi who was accompanied on the inspection by the Commissioner for works and Transport, Mr Sola Adebayo, Special Adviser on Road infrastructure and Transport, Mr Sunday Adunmo, Senior Special Assistant on Public buildings and infrastructure, Arch Wale Ajayi and other government functionaries, also inspected  on going drainage work at Ilupeju-Ire-Iluomoba road where asphalt laying has commenced.

 

Expressing satisfaction with the pace and quality of work done in the places visited, Dr Fayemi said; "As you can see for yourself, they (the Contractors) were making progress on the projects we visited.

The Governor said infrastructure  development of the State would not be impeded by the war against the coronavirus.

N426m Found In Army General’s Bank Accounts -EFCC

The sum of N426.7m belonging to Brig Gen John Onimisi Ozigi (retd), suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities has been forfeited to the federal government.

The order for its final forfeiture was given by Justice Muslim Hassan of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Friday, May 8, 2020.

The Judge had earlier ordered the interim forfeiture of the money following an exparte application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

A statement issued on Saturday by Spokesman of the anti-graft, Dele Oyewale, said other respondents are Diamond Head Ventures and Dev. Company Ltd.

According to the statement, the judge, in granting the interim forfeiture order, directed interested parties to show cause why the sum of money should not be permanently forfeited to the government.

Furthermore, the statement said, the commission, in an affidavit deposed to by one of its operatives, Clever Ibrahim, stated that the first respondent, Ozigi, was an officer of the Nigerian Army, while the second respondent, Diamond Head Venture, was a business name owned and incorporated by the first respondent.

EFCC, in the application, also stated that the first respondent, was a salary earner and a public officer with an estimated monthly salary of about N750. 000.00 (Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira).

“The EFCC, through its lawyer, Nkereuwem Anana, further stated that the money was found in an account opened in the name of the first and second respondents,” the statement briefly reads.

Anana, while moving the application for final forfeiture of the money, stated that the first respondent, in his statement to the Commission, indicated willingness to refund the money to the Federal Government, adding that the said statement was attached as exhibit 3.

The EFCC counsel, therefore, urged the court to grant the final forfeiture of the money, saying that “ if made, it will serve the course of justice, as same is sought in good faith and in accordance with the Oaths Act.”

Delivering his judgement on Friday,  Justice Hassan granted the motion for final forefeiture as prayed by the Commission.

“The Judge held that the respondent failed to satisfy the court with concrete evidence why the money suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities should not be forfeited to the Federal Government,” the statement added.

“The application has met the conditions stipulated in Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Related Offences Act.

“The application is meritorious and it is hereby granted as prayed.” (The Whistle)

Why I Poisoned My Husband Of 8 Years- Angry Wife Narrates Her Ordeal

A 33-year-old wife in Nasarawa state has recounted how she poisoned her husband of eight years to death because he was deliberately sex-starving her while cheating on her with her best friend.

The angry wife identified as Janet Ekpe who has two children with her husband, Sunday Ekpe, confessed that she killed him after she found out he was having an affair with her best friend, Helen, who is a widow in Zumbagwe community in Karu local government area of the state.

According to The Nation, Janet and Sunday seemed to be living a happy life until she noticed that his sexual desire for her started to decline after they welcomed their second child.

In her confessional statement, Janet said

“We were married for eight years with two children. It was three years ago I discovered that my husband had fallen in love with my best friend, a widow, and had been dating her. Since then, he stopped sleeping with me; he began to starve me sexually while satisfying my best friend.

“When we got married eight years ago, sex seemed to be the only thing on my husband’s mind. He was always in the mood. We would make love three or four times before morning, and when he woke up, he would be ready to continue. There were days he skipped work and we would spend the whole day making love.

“We had sex in the bathroom, in the kitchen, and anywhere it caught our fancy in the house. I became used to constant sex through him and also became the envy of my close friends, including my best friend who he later fell in love with.

“Whenever we shared stories of our exploits in bed, my friends felt I had the best man and jokingly begged me to allow them to have my husband just for a day because their husbands could not satisfy them in bed. But shortly after we had our two kids, I began to notice his disinterest in sex with me and his performance level began to drop.

“While we were having sex on a regular basis before, it came down to two times in a week and later became so bad that we could stay for three or four months without making love. Initially, I was not bothered because I felt that he would come around it after the babies were weaned. But I was wrong. He began to starve me of sex for months on end. It got to the point that I would be begging him to sleep with me but he would rebuff my requests.

“At times, he would tell me I should relive the moments we had sex every day and wallow in that fantasy. When I pestered him further, he told me he was no more interested in sex as he had had enough to last him a lifetime. He even told me that sex is not food and that if I felt so sex-starved, I should get a man to satisfy me.

“I reported the matter to our church and the pastor summoned him, but he could not convince our pastor. I reported the matter to his parents in the village and some of his relations around, but he ignored their invitation. Within this period, my husband started keeping late night, which was very unusual of him.

“Unknown to me, my best friend, Helen, who is a widow, started keeping distance with me, while some of my friends started hinting that she and my husband were dating. I watched the way they acted and how happy he always seemed in her presence. I monitored them closely and caught them five times in a drinking joint in new Nyanyan. When I confronted him about it, he said I was being silly; so I decided to believe the whole story. The worst was the day I saw a text message from Helen in my husband’s phone, thanking him for giving her the best sexual satisfaction ever in her life the previous day. I was devastated. I felt sick and angry. I was hurt that my own husband could do this to me. I went back to our pastor but my husband turned down the pastor’s invitation and even stopped attending church.

“At this point, he stopped coming back home most times and resorted to sleeping in hotels with Helen. I felt like a single mum and it upset me. I confronted Helen and told her she was hurting me and that their relationship was getting stronger while they were not taking my feelings into consideration. I could not stand the thought of them being so close.

“I used to love and trust my husband but he turned me into something I never knew I could become: a murderer. I killed him. I poisoned him and watched him die in our bedroom, painfully. I mixed a deadly, colorless, tasteless, and odorless substance in his meal and drinking water which destroyed his intestines immediately. He cried and struggled uncontrollably after taking the meal. He gave up after an hour and I used a sharp blade and knife to chop off his penis, place it on his chest as evidence of what killed him.

“If your penis is the one that is giving you the audacity to have feelings for my best friend and refusing to listen to the advice of your parents and even your pastor, it is better to cut it off. Mr Sunday (Ekpe), a cheating, filthy, lying bastard, ought to die for me to live. I deserve to live because I am human and have blood flowing in my veins. These foolish men, you give them everything, yet they choose to fool around and play with your intelligence. I had monitored him closely and tolerated him for long and his end has come.”

An uncle of the deceased, Adakole Onoja, who was also interviewed, said he called the late Sunday several times, warning him not to sexually starve his wife.

“When his wife reported the matter to me, I invited him to my house and told him the implications of his actions. You cannot completely starve your young wife of sex and resort to dating her best friend. Many people, including his parents in the village, his pastor, and his close friends, interfered in the issue but he turned a deaf ear to them.

“Maybe that was how he was destined to end his life. His wife’s action may not be right, but she is a human being too.” Onoja said

We’re lured into Ansaru terror group with trip to Libya, better life –Suspects

Nine suspected members of the Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladis - Sudan (aka Ansaru) have said they were lured into joining the terror group with promises of a trip to Libya and a better life.

The suspected terrorists were recently arrested by operatives of the Inspector- General of Police Intelligence Response Team.

They were Mustapha Aminu (23), Saidu Aminu (26), Aminu Shuaibu (33), Yusuf Abubakar (24 ), all from Kaduna State .

Others were Ishak Khalid (30 ), Awal Tela (34 ), and Abubakar Mustafa (32) from Plateau State , Abubakar Muhammad (25 ) from Kano State , and Shuaibu Ahmadu (25 ) from Katsina State.

The IRT said the terror group was responsible for the kidnapping of two expatriates, a Jordanian and Syrian working with Triacta Nigeria Limited at Shiroro , Niger State on December 9 , 2019 .

The group was said to have collected a ransom of N120m before releasing the captives. Gang members were reportedly given between N200, 000 and N 300, 000 each.

Gang leaders , one Aliyu Sokoto and Mus ’ab , also reportedly sent a threat email to the company’s managing director seeking a yearly payment of N50 m to stop kidnapping the company’s expatriates.

The police also said the group was responsible for the kidnapping of the Magajin Garin Daura in Katsina State and the attack on Mothercat Construction Company.

Speaking to City Round during the week, Mustapha recounted that his father handed him over to one Mamoud , who taught him how to shoot and drive their operational vehicles.

He said, “ My job was to run errands until I was able to travel to Libya for training. I normally assisted them to buy food and sometimes watch over the people that were kidnapped.

“ When I was converted , they told us we were fighting against the Nigerian government. They made us believe that when we took over Nigeria, our families would become millionaires and own houses in Abuja. I was placed on N 100, 000 monthly allowance.”

Mustapha ’s elder brother , Saidu, said he was 17 years old and in his final year in secondary school when his father , a member of the group who was arrested by the police last year , asked him to withdraw from school and join the terror gang .

“ As soon as I was converted in 2015 , I was sent to Libya for training. I was supposed to be in the field , so my training was more of how to survive during a war. They told us that if we were trained there, we would experience real fighting between the government and our members. I was there for just six months before I had an accident and they had to cut two of my fingers.

“ I was driving our operational jeep when I unknowingly fell into a ditch. They said I could not continue with my training, so I was sent back home . Back in Nigeria, I was told to go and learn how to sew clothes and that I would assist them when the need arose . By this , no one would suspect that I belong to the group. They would send money to my account and I would help them buy items that they needed to survive in the bush,” he said.

Shuaibu , 29, said he was enticed to the group by one Mamoud sometime in 2015 while they prayed at the mosque.

He said, “ After prayers , we would hang out and discuss life . I was a member of the Izala Muslim Movement and we normally gathered for prayers and to listen to lectures from the imam. Mamoud was the one that told me about Ansaru and that I would make more money if I became a member . He explained to me that we were fighting the cause of Allah and I would also have the opportunity to travel to Libya .

“ Three years ago , I was one of the members who were drafted to go to Libya to assist in fighting against their government. On getting to Libya, I was drafted to work at their clinic.”

Meanwhile , the IRT has said investigations were ongoing and that efforts were in progress to arrest the remaining members of the terror group.

The team said the suspects had confessed to the crimes while 204 rounds of AK- 47 live ammunition , military uniforms , vehicles , drugs , foodstuffs, and charms were recovered from them.

(The Punch)