No fewer than , 15 people have died in a boat mishap in Tijana, Munya Local Government Area of Niger State while several others are still missing.
The boat mishap occurred at about 6:00 pm on Saturday when the villagers were returning from a local market in Zumba, in Shiroro Local Government Area of the state.
The Sarkin Kasuwan (Head of the Market) of Zumba, Mallam Adamu Ahmed, who confirmed the incident to our correspondent said the local boat was carrying over 60 people, including women and children when it capsized due to a heavy windstorm.
Among the victims were some returnees who had earlier fled their homes with their children due to bandits’ attacks.
Ahmed said 17 people have been rescued alive through the efforts of local divers who swung into action immediately after the incident was reported.
The local divers had defied the heavy downpour to continue their rescue operation as at the time of filing this reports as no help yet from the government.
Recall that a similar boat mishap in the area claimed 13 lives in 2017 when a boat carrying 30 people capsized midway into their journey to the same Zumba market.
Our Correspondent reliably gathered that the villagers were returning from a local market in Zumba in Shiroro local government area of the state when the boat capsized.
It was further gathered that the boat must have been overloaded as it was carrying no fewer than sixty passengers which were mostly women and children.
Heavy windstorm was also attributed to the ugly incident.
Speaking on the development, the Sarkin Kasuwan (Head of the Market) of Zumba, Mallam Adamu Ahme said part of the victims were part of the villagers who fled their different communities after bandits had recently sacked them from their ancestral homes.
He said , “the boat was carrying no fewer than sixty passengers and there was heavy windstorm and these two factors may have contributed to the fatality.”
Already,17 people have been rescued alive through the efforts of local divers who swung into action immediately the incident was reported and they are still on the rescue operation of several others,” he remarked.
The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has said no level of intimidation or attacks will make the State succumb to the secessionist agenda of those “bent on plunging Nigeria into another unwarranted crisis”.
Wike, made this disclosure when he presided over an emergency meeting of the Security Council at the Government House, Port Harcourt on Saturday, condemned the attacks by unidentified armed assailants on some police formations.
He called for calm following an overnight attack on police personnel in the State.
Wike,however, expressed his deepest condolences to the families of the Policemen that lost their lives in the attack and the Rivers State Police Command.
“On behalf of the Government of Rivers State, I wish to offer our heartfelt condolences and express our deep sadness in the wake of these horrific attacks,” he said
Governor Wike urged residents of Rivers State to be calm, as the Security Council had taken measures to secure the State.
He further enjoined them to be vigilant and report any suspicious movement or persons to security agents.
Newsfocusng gathered that the suspension of the Managing Director of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman, is causing ripples in the Presidency.
Recall that Hadiza was asked to step aside on Thursday while an administrative panel examines the books of the organisation.
Although the Presidency which ordered the suspension gave no reason for its action, sources said it has to do with the alleged non-remittance of N165.3 billion surpluses of the NPA into the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) by the suspended MD.
Meanwhile, barely 48 hours after the announcement of the suspension, pressure is being piled on President Muhammadu Buhari by some stakeholders for the appointment of a co-chairman or alternate chairman for the probe panel.
Some governors who are pleading Hadiza’s case with the Presidency are said to have accused Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi of violating administrative procedure in getting the MD suspended and in the composition of the probe panel.
The stakeholders are also objecting to the appointment of all members of the panel coming from the Ministry of Transportation.
Following agitation for fairness, Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi was said to have approved a seven-man probe panel yesterday with three members from the ministry and the remaining four to be nominated by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
Besides, supporters of the suspended Managing Director of NPA have rejected the choice of the agency’s Executive Director of Finance and Administration, Mohammed Kolo, as acting MD.
They want Kolo dropped and returned to his desk as Executive Director because he was a nominee of Amaechi.
It was learnt that Kolo was not affected by the shake-up because Procurement Unit has been relocated to the office of the Managing Director.
Reliable sources said the division in the Presidency and government over the suspension of Hadiza stemmed from alleged support Hadiza enjoys from the President’s Chief of Staff, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari.
It was Gambari who wrote a memo to Buhari for the renewal of the tenure of Hadiza as MD of NPA on January 21.
It was learnt that Gambari acted without any recommendation for renewal from the Transportation Minister or the supervising Minister of State, Senator Gbemisola Saraki.
A source in government however said the Chief of Staff only raised the memo in line with the prerogative of the President to make any appointment.
One source said appointment and reappointment of any public officer can be done directly by the President.
An angry Amaechi however protested to the President alleging that the Chief of Staff was usurping his (Amaechi’s) duties.
In retaliation, Amaechi also took his memo on the unremitted N165.3 billion surpluses and request for the auditing of NPA to the President without routing it through the Chief of Staff.
Although Gambari later conveyed the letter of suspension of Hadiza to Amaechi, a source said “it was a burden he could not resist because it was a presidential directive.”
Despite the cracks, Hadiza was battling for survival last night with clarifications that all audit certified surpluses were remitted into the CRF.
Buhari had suspended Hadiza through a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.
The statement said the President also approved the recommendation of the Ministry of Transportation for the setting up of an Administrative Panel of Inquiry to investigate the management of the NPA.
It said the panel is to be headed by the Director, Maritime Services of the Ministry while the Deputy Director, Legal of the same ministry will serve as Secretary.
Men of Ogun State Police Command, on Friday rescued 22 teenage girls who were lured into prostitution all the away from Akwa ibom state to Ogun state.
In an operation, coordinated by the Area commander Ota, ACP Muhideen Obe, the police team, upon credible intelligence received, that minors were being recruited from other states and used as commercial sex workers at KOLAB hotel in Itele ota, stormed the said hotel at about 8pm, where the 22 teenagers whose ages are between 10 and 14yrs were rescued.
On interrogation, the girls narrated how they were lured from their respective villages in Akwa ibom state to come to Ogun state, with the promise to employ them as sales girls in restaurants and supermarkets, only for them to get to Lagos and transferred to a brothel in Ogun state as commercial sex workers.
They narrated further that, they were deprived from using phone or any communication devices, therefore, making it impossible for them to reach out to their parents or relations.
The manager of the hotel one Isaac Ogbaji m’ 33yrs and ten other male suspects were also arrested during the operation
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, CP Edward Awolowo Ajogun, has ordered that the family support unit of the Area command Ota should take over the investigation of the case, identify the recruiting cartel and bring them to justice as soon as possible.
No fewer than six police officers have been killed in a gun attack on a divisional police station in Ini area council of Akwa Ibom State.
Cars and parts of the building were set ablaze in the attack early Saturday, Newsfocusng gathered.
The Six officers were said to have been killed in the attack which took place in the early hours of Saturday in a local police station in Ini Local Government Area of the state.
An official of the Akwa Ibom state government, who prefers anonymity , said a part of the station was razed by the attackers.
“They went to the police quarters where the police officers were sleeping and shot them dead,” the official said.
The chairman of the local council and the member of the Akwa Ibom House of Assembly representing the area have visited the scene of the attack.
The police spokesperson in the state, Odiko MacDon, however, confirmed the attack, but declined to mention the number of officers killed. He said six people were killed, but that not all of them were police officers.
He said a wife to one of the officers was among those killed.
“Yes, there was an attack in Ini Divisional Police Headquarters,” Mr MacDon.
“We are trying to assess the situation, we will get back to you,” he added.
This is the fourth police station in Akwa Ibom state to be attacked.
Others are Ika, Essien Udim and Ikono divisional police stations.
Just seven days ago, some gunmen killed two police officers during a similar attack in another local police facility in Akwa Ibom State.
There has been a spate of attacks on security agencies in the South-east and South-south which has compounded the security challenges in the two regions.
The Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), on Friday, hinted that the Federal Government was set to prosecute some high-profile Nigerians and businessmen for financing terrorism.
He did not disclose the identities of the suspects or the number of people affected.
Malami gave this hint in an interview with State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The minister said the profiling of the suspects started with the recent convictions of some Nigerians on terrorism financing in the United Arab Emirates.
He said an investigation had revealed that the suspects being profiled were culpable and there was the need for them to be prosecuted.
According to him , “Sometimes back, there were certain convictions of Nigerians allegedly involved in terrorism financing in the United Arab Emirates.
“That gave rise to a wider and far-reaching investigation in Nigeria and I am happy to report that arising from the wider coverage investigation that has been conducted in Nigeria, a number of people, both institutional and otherwise, were found to be culpable.
“I mean reasonable grounds for suspicion of terrorism financing have been established, or perhaps have been proven to be in existence in respect of the transactions of certain high-profile individuals and businessmen across the country.
“I am happy to report that investigation has been ongoing for long and it has reached an advanced stage.
He continued; “Arising from the investigation, there exists, certainly, reasonable grounds for suspicion that a lot of Nigerians, high-profile, institutional, and otherwise, are involved in terrorism financing and they are being profiled for prosecution.
“In essence, it is indeed true that the government is prosecuting and it is indeed initiating processes of prosecuting those high-profile individuals that are found to be financing terrorism. It is indeed true.”
On the number of the suspects to be prosecuted, the minister said since an investigation was still ongoing, he would not be able to disclose that.
He however said those involved were in large number.
He said, “As to the number, an investigation is ongoing and it has to be conclusive before one can arrive at a certain number, but one thing I can tell you is it is a large number and they are being profiled for prosecution.
It is indeed a large number and I am not in a position to give you the precise number as of now because the profiling and investigation are ongoing.”
Malami said the Federal Government would not spare anybody found to be culpable.
“The message is clear: nobody is going to be spared, no stone will be left unturned. We shall certainly and aggressively pursue those people that are involved in terrorist financing as far as the Nigerian state is concerned,” he declared.
Sports Doctor, Bukola Ojuwoye has urged Napoli striker Victor Osimhen to be careful, warning that persistent concussions could lead to memory loss in the future. In the wake of his latest head injury in Serie A.
The Nigeria international player suffered a nasty collision, which required bandages to his head in the Partenopei’s 1-1 draw against Cagliari on Sunday and was replaced in the 75th minutes by Dries Mertens, making it the second time that he had suffered such injury in two months and the third within a year.
The former Lille though took to his Twitter account to assure fans that he was fine and would be available for Napoli’s next fixture but Dr Bukola, in an interview pleaded with the striker to be more careful, to prevent memory loss.
According to him , “Any head injury is called concussion and the symptoms of the concussion is dizziness loss of memory, lack of coordination sleepiness. Even in rugby when you check you will be able to see how badly they are affected. There is loss of memory, Parkinson and so many other effects. I can’t exactly mention all of it now but majorly these are the side effects of having constant head clash.
“As long as he is getting good care we don’t expect any complications. But he also needs to be more careful when playing and get regular check up to prevent complications of multiple concussions. Head injury and concussion has protocols observation for at least 24 hours and a doctor to certify fit to return play after treatment and filling the SCAT 5 form. If he is properly taken care of now he is not going to have many issues but otherwise, they may start giving him warning on how to play because maybe he is not doing the right thing.
“My advice to Osimhen, is to always get good care and clearance to play. He must get regular check to prevent complications. He also must protect himself and play safe because as more frequent this happens, the more of risk of him having issues (memory loss) but he needs to very careful.”
Some Muslim youths in Kano are engaging in illicit drugs to suppress the impact of fasting during the Ramadan period, Newsfocusng gathered.
Some of these youths continue to take hard drugs like codeine, heroin and tramadol during Sahoor (pre-dawn meal) to be able to ignore the pangs of hunger during the daytime.
One of them, a young lady who does not what her name on the print , revealed that even in Ramadan she takes codeine and heroin.
She said, “Honestly, I take codeine during my Sahoor. If I don’t take it, I suffer a lot,” she said, adding that she can only endure the hunger that comes with fasting by sleeping through the period, and that is what codeine offers her.
Another person who admitted to having been a drug addict for a long time said that since Ramadan began he did not take any drugs, but he knows a lot of his fellow addicts that are still doing drugs while fasting.
According to him, “I am an addict but during this Ramadan I stopped taking anything to allow me to concentrate fully on the Ibadah”.
He said some of the drug addicts do it at Sahoor to suppress hunger.
“When you take one bottle of codeine you will sleep throughout the day. And once you sleep, you will not think of taking drugs or any other thing,” he said.
He further revealed that some youths break their fast with drugs.
“I know of some people that take drugs during iftar. They break their fast with either Indian hemp or codeine,” he said.
Another person who doesn’t want his name mentioned said youths would take drugs to reduce the effect of fasting.
“They normally take it after the meal and spend hours sleeping; when they wake up, time would have gone far. So fasting becomes easier for them,” he said.
The Administrative Panel of Inquiry set up to probe the suspended Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala-Usman, is set to commence work early next week with a focus on N165.32 billion alleged to be unremitted to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) by the NPA management under her leadership.
Newsfocusng gathered on Friday that the panel, headed by Director Maritime in the Federal Ministry of Transportation, may also expand its probe in accordance with the presidential approval to audit the accounts of the NPA.
One area the committee is likely going to look at, according to insiders, is award of contracts.
The Accountant General Annual Audit Report for 2017, released in 2019, had raised questions over N7.5 billion contracts that was allegedly not properly accounted for.
Recall that the suspended NPA boss had reportedly had clashes with the minister over ‘bypassing’ him in key decisions in procurement and other matters.
The latest quarrel, according to sources familiar with the altercation, was around reappointment of the MD and constitution of the new board of the NPA without Amaechi’s input.
Several ministers had had running battles with heads of agencies under their ministries.
Minister requests probe of N165.32bn
In a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari dated March 4, 2021, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, requested for the audit of NPA account over alleged unremitted operating surpluses between 2016 and 2020, as flagged by the Budget Office of the Federation.
The letter entitled “Remittances of operating surplus to the Consolidated Revenue Fund Account (CRF) by the Nigerian Ports Authority from 2015-date”, was signed by the minister.
It reads in parts: “It has been observed from the records submitted by the Budget Office of the Federation that the yearly remittance of operating surpluses by the Nigerian Ports Authority from year 2016 to 2020 has been far short of the amount due for actual remittance.
“In view of the above I wish to suggest that the financial account of the activities of Nigerian Ports Authority be investigated for the period 2016 to 2020 to ascertain the true financial position and the outstanding unremitted balance of One hundred and sixty five billion, three hundred and twenty million, nine hundred and sixty two thousand, six hundred and ninety seven naira only (N165,320,962 697).”
The Minister prayed that the president approve the audit of NPA accounts.
“Approve that the account and remittance of NPA in the period of 2016 – 2020 be audited to account for the gross shortfall of remitted public funds”.
The minister’s prayer, according to the minute on the one page document by the president, was approved on the 17th March, 2021.
According to the Audit Report for 2017 released by the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation (OAGF) in December 2019, NPA was queried over alleged irregularities in contract awards and payments.
Officials of the NPA confirmed the authenticity of the documents on Friday, but did not explain whether they were wholly or partly responsible for the change of guard at the NPA on Thursday.
The Audit Report recommended that the Managing Director of the NPA should be sanctioned in line with extant regulations for these infractions.
Responding to the allegations, the embattled Hadiza Bala-Usman denied any wrongdoing.
The report by the Accountant- General office said in its findings that about N7.5bn in contract sum wasn’t properly accounted for at the NPA under the watch of Hadiza Bala-Usman.
The document said NPA awarded the contract for Shore Erosion Control Work at Akipelai, Ayakoro and Otuoke towns in Bayelsa State for N7.5bn.
The Audit Report suggested that as of November 11, 2015, about N4.24bn was paid to contractors in four payments certificates. That represented about 56.61 per cent of the contract amount.
The Audit Report had indicated that a “review of documents and the Bill of Quantities under Bill No. 1 (General) attached to the payments revealed that mobilisation fee of N1.12bn paid to the contractor was supported by a conditional bank guarantee from Zenith Bank Plc with a validity period of 365 days.”
The report said the “guarantee, which expired on March 2, 2013, was contrary to the provisions of Section 35(1a) of the Public Procurement Act, 2007 and Financial Regulations 2933 ’i’ (2009) which provided for submission of an unconditional bank guarantee or insurance bond.”
In another line item, the Audit Report revealed that “the sum of N19.5m was paid for the purchase of three Toyota Hilux vehicles without any evidence that the vehicles were purchased.”
It also found that the sum of “N13.5m was provided as an annual running cost for the project vehicles, out of which N6.75m was certified and paid to the contractor without evidence it was quoted for.”
The Audit Report added that, “The sum of N11.25m certified for compensation of properties to be affected by a project and paid in certificate No.3 had no records on how the money was utilised nor the beneficiaries involved.
“The sum of N12.5m provided for community relations was certified and paid vide certificate No. 3 with no supporting documents to validate the payment.
“The sum of N128m provided for insurance of the work and insurance against damages to persons and properties was certified and paid through certificate No. 3 with no evidence that any insurance policy was undertaken,” it said.
The auditor-general also found that while N3.9bn was the value of work executed for the contract based on the Principal Manager’s report on Interim Valuation Certificate No. 4 dated November 11, 2015, about N4.24bn was the amount paid.
“During the inspection of the project, it was revealed that the contractor had since abandoned the project site; and the duration of the project had since lapsed without approval for its extension,” the report added.
The NPA, however, refuted the claims in the audit report.
The General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications of the authority, Jatto Adams, had in a statement on Friday said the NPA wasn’t indicted.
According to him: “While audit queries are part of the standard operating procedures to entrench accountability in government Ministries, Departments and Agencies, the NPA has, at this moment, not received queries of the nature being circulated in the media.
“The management of the authority has answered audit queries to the satisfaction of the Office of the Auditor- General of the Federation in past years and is committed to providing evidence that all our operations have followed due process in the event of any queries in the future.”
Meanwhile, the embattled NPA MD has said that the allegations against her of financial misappropriation of funds and abuse of office were not true.
Usman in a letter to the Chief of Staff to the president, Amb. Ibrahim Gambari, dated May 5, a copy of which was made available to our reporter, said the figures provided by the Budget Office of the Federation as the operating surplus for the respective years on which basis they arrived at the shortfall were derived from submission of budgetary provision and not the actual amounts derived following the statutory audit of the authorities financial statements.
She said remittances of audited financial statements of the authority for the period 2017 and 2018 provided operating surpluses of N76.782 billion and N71.480 billion for 2017 and 2018, respectively, contrary to the sums of N133.084 billion and N88.79 billion arrived at by the office from the budgetary submission.
She said in line with the template issued by the Fiscal Responsibility Commission, the accessible Operating Surplus of the Authority stands at N51.09 billion and N42.51 billion for 2017 and 2018 respectively, adding that this amounts will give rise to a remittance due to the CFR in the sum of N40.873biIIion and N34.065 billion which represents 80% of the surpluses for the year 2017 and 2018 respectively.
“Accordingly, the authority consequently made a remittance of N42.415 billion and N33.969 billion for the years 2017 and 2018 respectively for the full amount required as remittance for the period (attached herewith are the treasury receipts).
“Based on the above, we wish to clarify the following: (1) The Authority’s computation of its remittances to the CFR are concluded arising from numbers from Audited Financial Statements using the template forwarded to the Authority from the Fiscal Responsibility Commission.
“That the Authority has remitted the full amount due it to CFR for the periods 2017 and 2018 arising from the Operating Surplus derived from the Audited Financial Statement for the period totalling N 76.384 billion as evidenced in attached treasury receipts.
“That the Authority has remitted a total of N 82.687 billion for the period 2019 and 2020 pending the audit of the financial statement at which point the amount so computed arising from the value of the Operating Surplus in the audited financial statement will be remitted to the CFR” she added.
Usman further said that she wish to request that the Chief of Staff requests the Office of the Accountant- General of the Federation which is the statutorily custodian of status of payment to the CRF to provide clarification on the above so as to establish the true position of the Authorities’ remittances to the CFR.
