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Police  Bust Child -Trafficking Syndicate In Delta,   Arrests Cripple,  Other Suspects, Rescue 3-yr-old Child

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The Delta State Police Command’s agents claimed to have broken up a child trafficking ring and taken down some of the gang’s leaders, including a cripple.

A three-year-old who had been trafficked was recovered from the gang, according to the Command.

It also disclosed the recovery of a trycycle and one functional cut-to-size short pistol from a different criminal organization.

In a statement made available to Daily Independent, Delta State Command’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Bright Edafe, disclosed.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Edafe reported that on June 13, 2023 at approximately 8.30am, one “Aisha Yusuf (female) of Abraka community Asaba, reported at the station that her son Abubakar Atiku (make), aged 3yrs was stolen by one Mohammed Isah (male) aged 35years. “Acting on the complaint, the Commissioner of Police Delta state, CP Wale Abass gave a marching order to the DPO ‘C’ Division Asaba CSP Apu Torukeregha to go all out to arrest the suspect and rescue the stolen child. 

“In compliance with this directive, the DPO led operatives of the division Anti-crime patrol team on a frantic search for the stolen child. 

“Acting on a tip-off, the team stormed Abraka market Oshimili-South LGA, where the principal suspect Mohammed Isah was arrested. 

“Upon interrogation, he confessed to the crime and led the operatives to arrest three other members of the child-stealing syndicate namely; Ibrahim Sani ‘m’ 23yrs, Kabiru Ibrahim ‘m’ 52yrs and Abubakar Mohammed ‘m’  a 32yrs old cripple.

 “Preliminary investigation revealed that they belong to a child-trafficking syndicate that steal children and sell for a huge amount of money.”

 The police image maker said that the suspects led policemen to a hotel in Onitsha Anambra state where the team arrested one Suleiman Mohammed,  a   38-yr-old man  in whose custody the missing child was found. 

“The suspect arrested in Anambra stated that he was waiting for the supposed buyer of the said child, and they have agreed to sell the child for the sum of Eight Hundred Thousand Naira (#800,000). 

“The child has been reunited with the mother, while the suspects are in custody, and investigation is ongoing,” Edafe further disclosed. 

In another development, He said  on June 12, 2023 by 8.00 am,  men of “A’ Division Warri Anti-Crime Patrol team while on visibility patrol along the African church behind Daudu Police post, sighted a tricycle Reg No. BUR 240 VC conveying two male occupants heading towards their direction. 

“When the team accosted the tricycle for a routine search, the duo jumped out and escaped, and the team chased but could not arrest them.  When a search was carried out on the abandoned tricycle, one  locally fabricated cut-to-size pistol was recovered, exhibits in custody, while manhunt for the fleeing suspects is ongoing.”

Meanwhile,  the CP has solicited for support from members of the public in useful, timely, and credible information to the Police, while assuring them that their identities will be treated with utmost confidentiality.

Double Celebrations For Hilda Baci As She Becomes Landlady At Yomade Heritage Estate

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Game-changers in the real estate sector, Zealand Properties has named Hilda Baci as the newest landlady at one of its estates, Yomade Heritage in Epe. Baci is the holder of the most recent Guinness Book of World Records.

Hilda Baci signed and received her land paperwork earlier today at Zealand’s headquarters in Ikeja, thus establishing her as the landlady at Yomade Heritage.

Recall that when Hilda Baci attempted to break the previous Guinness World Record for a cooking marathon, Zealand Properties had earlier offered to give her a parcel of land at Yomade Heritage Estate worth N5.7 million as a gift.

After receiving her land document and discovering the investment potential in Yomade Heritage, Baci said she’d cash in on the current price and buy one more plot of land for herself

“I’m super excited because they were so kind to gift me a plot of land in one of their prime locations in Epe, and trust me, at the price that they are currently selling, I’d probably buy one for myself because it honestly feels like a steal”.

Meanwhile, the Managing Director of Zealand Properties, Mr. Adedeji Agarawu while addressing Hilda Baci stated that her drive and hard work was worthy of emulation by other youths and she deserves to be rewarded.

“I appreciate hard work, and what you pulled out there was incredible hard work. You must have gone the extra mile and conquered a lot of fear to have achieved your feat”.

Hilda Baci’s confirmed new record of 100 hours 40 minutes in a cook-a-thon has officially surpassed India’s Lata Tondon who set the record in 87 hours 45 minutes in 2019.

Agbakoba Says Naira Float Plan is the best policy implemented by Tinubu

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Former president of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) and human rights campaigner Chief Olisa Agbakoba has praised the Federal Government for allegedly floating the naira after so many years of maintaining a rigid peg that hurt investors and sapped the economy of money.

A market rate based on a willing buyer and a willing seller is currently being given by banks, who sent emails to certain customers Wednesday morning announcing the move, according to reports that Nigeria has officially floated its naira currency.

The news caused some apprehensions among Nigerians given that it could lead to higher exchange rate from banks, even as we gathered that exchange rate could go as high as between N800 and N1000 by the end of today, according to some bankers, who said the CBN’s next move should be to prioritise supply of dollars to support the naira float.

Speaking to our correspondent, the rights activist and lawyer said this is one piece of good news that would be classified as a good one for him in the last sixty years.

He said much as it could engender higher exchange rate, it was good since the foreign exchange market has become another source of corruption among the few players.

He said: “This is one piece of news that I will say is the best I have heard in the last sixty years. I am hearing it from you and if it is true, I have to commend Tinubu on this. He has shown that he is in charge.

“With these two policies of fuel subsidy and forex market, Tinubu has done very well in the short period he has been the president.

“What is forex market, it is artificial control of the foreign exchange whereby few people manipulate the system to the detriment of the poor and the majority.

“What is fuel subsidy? It is the manipulation of the petroleum subsidy regime whereby few people enrich themselves corruptly in the name of importation of fuel. There is no way Nigerians are consuming 60 million liters of petrol daily but because they are corruptly enriching themselves, they sell what they quoted in other countries.

“But firstly I want the government to fully explain to Nigerians the corruption in the foreign exchange market and the same in the fuel subsidy regime so that they would know why the two have to go and why they should ensure the pain for a while,” he said.

Meanwhile, reminded that the naira float could cause some hardship in the country, he said it was very imperative despite the initial pain.

“Are you saying that we cannot for example bear the pain of say five to six months instead of few people corruptly feeding fat on our commonwealth? I think this is the best news I have heard in the last 60 years,” he said.

Tinubu directs prompt investigation into Kwara boat accident

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***Condoles victims families

President Bola Tinubu has expressed sorrow over the Kwara State boat accident, which resulted in the loss of numerous lives.

According to accounts, the boat catastrophe claimed the lives of over 100 wedding guests at Egbu village in the state’s Patigi Local Government Area.

“The news of the horrible boat accident that took the lives of our compatriots in Kwara State greatly saddens me. The tragedy was made worse by the fact that the victims were attendees at a wedding ceremony.

“Please accept my sincere sympathies and sorrow to the families and friends of the unfortunate accident victims. I share the government’s and the residents’ sorrow over the incident in Kwara State.

While urging the Kwara State Government and relevant Federal Government agencies to look into the circumstances surrounding the boat accident, President Tinubu promised that his administration would look into the challenges of inland water transportation in the country to ensure the matter of safety and operational standards are strictly adhered to.

“The Kwara State Government and relevant federal agencies should work together to unravel the immediate and remote causes of this unfortunate accident. Immediate relief and necessary assistance should also be provided to the survivors and families of victims,” the President said.

World Blood Donor Day 2023: Patients in WHO Africa Region Spend, On Average, $42 Out of Pocket to Access Safe Blood , Says Moeti

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Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, Regional Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) for Africa, has revealed that blood donation rates are still low, with an average of 5.9 units per 1000 persons compared to 33.1 donations per 1000 people in high-income countries.

Stressing, the cost of acquiring safe blood is a worry. Patients in the WHO Africa Region must pay an additional fee of around US$42 to get safe blood.

In her statement to mark World Blood Donor Day 2023 on Wednesday in Abuja, Moeti dropped this suggestion. The catchphrase for the current campaign is “Give blood, give plasma, share life, share often.”

The message reads:”Results from a survey conducted in 2022 revealed that sixteen (16) countries out of thirty-nine (39) that took part in the survey, had more than 80% of voluntary non-remunerated blood donation (VNRBD), and 19 countries had less than 50% of voluntary non-remunerated blood donation. Thirty (30) countries reported that plasma-derived medicinal products were listed on their essential medicines list . These statistics show that there is a need for more work to be done in the African Region to improve access to safe blood and blood products.

“We must address persistent challenges to ensure sustainable access to safe and quality-assured blood and blood products for needy patients. Through our collaborative efforts, we must raise adequate and sustainable funding and increase blood donation rates. We also need to build the capacity of countries to separate donated blood into its components such as red cell concentrates, platelet concentrates, fresh frozen plasma, and cryoprecipitate, and curb inappropriate clinical transfusion practices.

“A blood service that gives patients access to safe blood and blood products in sufficient quantity is a key component of an effective health system providing patient centred healthcare and focusing on assuring equitable access with the aim of progressing to achieving Universal Health Coverage.

“We celebrate World Blood Donor Day every year on 14 June to raise awareness of safe blood and blood products, such as plasma, and highlight the critical contribution of voluntary, unpaid blood donors to save lives.

“It is a special opportunity to celebrate and thank voluntary blood donors worldwide for their gift of blood; the day focuses on achieving universal access to safe blood transfusion.

It continues: “It underlines the role every person can play by regularly giving the valuable gift of blood to create a safe and sustainable supply of blood and blood products that can always be available to needy patients.

“Over the years, Member States in the WHO African Region have made significant progress in establishing nationally coordinated blood transfusion services, policy frameworks, and national standards for collecting, testing, processing, storing and distributing blood and blood products.

*This notable progress notwithstanding, only eight countries have blood services that are designed to always ensure the highest levels of quality and safety for patients and donors. Reliance on non-renumerated blood donors is still high, with 16 countries accounting for over 80% of voluntary non-remunerated blood donation”.

Moeti said that the WHO Regional Office for Africa is working with partners to leverage expertise and available resources in the region to ensure improved access to supplies of plasma-derived products through the fractionation of domestic plasma.

“Thus, in collaboration with the International Coalition for safe plasma protein products in low- and middle-income countries, the WHO Regional Office organized a virtual congress in June 2022 to discuss issues of safe transfusion and blood supply, including donations to highlight these needs in LMICs. The webinar was hosted by the International Society for Blood Transfusion. The first pilot project, located at National Blood Transfusion Center in Dakar, Senegal, on pathogen-reduced cryoprecipitate, started in September 2022.

“On this World Blood Donor Day, I celebrate and thank individuals who donate blood and encourage all of us to join efforts to ensure access to safe blood for all in need.

“While doing so, let us remember the health of blood donors. The African Region would like to focus on donor health and the quality of donor care as critical factors in building donor commitment and a willingness to donate regularly.

“I would like to emphasize the critical roles of regular voluntary unpaid blood and plasma donations in achieving universal access to safe blood products for all populations”, she added.

She , however, called on governments, partners, and all stakeholders to mobilize support at district, national and regional levels to invest in strengthening and sustaining blood programs.

Donating blood is an act of solidarity. Becoming a blood donor will help ease the pressure on health systems and save lives.

Breaking: Chef Dammy completes a 120-hour cook-a-thon

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Damilola Adeparusi, the well-known Chef Dammy from Ekiti State, has officially finished the 120th hour of the ongoing cook-a-thon.

Just a few hours prior, Chef Hilda Baci, who holds the record for the greatest stretch of cooking time (individual category) at 100 hours, was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records.

New hybrid crude export terminal granted license by FG

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The first of its kind in the world, the Federal Government presented a license for the construction of the Belema Sweet Export Terminal on Tuesday in Abuja.

Farouk Ahmed, CEO of the Nigerian Mainstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), presented the license on behalf of the Federal Government to Mr. Tein Jack-Rich, CEO of Belema Oil Producing Limited, and reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to making doing business in Nigeria simple.

He said that by receiving the license, Nigeria had successfully secured its first hybrid crude export terminal, which has a storage capacity of eight million barrels.

Ahmed noted that with the presentation of the licence to Belema Sweet Export Terminal, the indigenous oil company becomes the second to acquire such a license, the first being the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Exploration and Production Limited.

The NMDPRA boss explained that except in accordance with the appropriate licence by the Authority, no company or entity had the right to engage in any exploration activity in the country, except the two companies.

He stressed that:” no entity had the right to operate or establish terminals or other facilities for the export or importation of crude oil or petroleum products.

”In line with this, the authority has processed and hereby approved terminal establishment licenses to these two organisations.

”One is the NNPC Exploration and Production Limited, with 2,179,704 barrels of crude oil terminal at Off Shore Akwa Ibom State within the waters of the exclusive zone.

”The second is the Belema Sweet Export Terminal in Kula, Rivers State, with 2 million barrels of crude oil terminal,” Farouk said.

According to him, the terminals are expected to operate within the provisions of the conditions of the licences as contained in the document.

He, therefore, called on investors to invest in the sector as the government was determined to ensure a business-friendly environment for them.

Speaking after the ceremony, Jack-Rich said the event marked a great milestone for the country, and attestation to the great success story of President Bola Tinubu, in less than two weeks of assuming office.

”With the establishment of Belema Sweet Crude Export Terminal, Nigeria now ranks number one in the world to establish a crude oil Export Terminal that is climate-conscious, where traditional energy and renewable energy integration is operated through a virtual power plant model.

”This is in line with energy efficiency/sustainability to protect our ecosystem,” Jack-Rich said.

”This will also create over 100,000 jobs for families in the Niger Delta and Nigeria at large.

Also speaking, Mr Modibbo Ahmed, who received the licence on behalf of the NNPC, said that Nigeria should expect the crude oil terminal in the next one to three months.

Belema Sweet Export Terminal Project is designed to be the first hybrid crude oil export terminal in the world.

It is a land-based terminal with good proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, via the San Bartholomeo River, for ease of offtake.

The terminal is divided into two sections; the crude oil processing terminal section and the oil export loading terminal section.

The first phase of the project will comprise a 2,000,000 million barrels storage capacity.

The export loading terminal would be able to receive any crude oil carrier size such as Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC), Suezmax, and Aframax, among others.

Another key feature of the Belema Sweet Export Terminal includes 400,000 barrels of Liquid per day central processing facility (CPF).

On June 15, INEC Chairman Mahmood will appear in court to defend Atiku against Tinubu.

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Professor Yakubu Mahmood, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, is scheduled to appear before the Presidential Election Petition Court in Abuja on June 15 to testify on behalf of the Peoples Democratic Party and former vice president Atiku Abubakar, the party’s presidential candidate in the election held on February 25.

The PDP and Atiku are contesting Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s election as president.

The development came after Chief Chris Uche, SAN, of Atiku’s legal team, served Mahmood with a subpoena.

Uche informed the Court that the INEC Chairman would testify regarding the handling of the contentious Presidential election and provide some sensitive documents to help the petitioners.

However, Atiku’s lead counsel did not open up on the nature of documents the INEC boss is expected to give evidence on and tender.

Uche told the PEPC that he decided to announce to the court of his intention to bring Mahmood before the court on Thursday so that the respondents especially Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) would not be caught unaware.

Meanwhile, at Tuesday’s proceedings, Atiku called his first star witness, Dr Alex Adum Ter, a legal practitioner and former Attorney General of Benue State, who in his testimony claimed that the presidential election was highly flawed with monumental irregularities and non-compliance with the Electoral Act 2022.

The witness, a National Coordinator, Situation Room for PDP on the February 25, presidential election had tendered three different video clips featuring Mahmood, INEC’s Commissioner in charge of Voter Education, Mr Festus Okoye, who in their broadcast assured Nigerians that presidential election results would be electronically transmitted to make the election credible and transparent.

The third video involving European Union Election Observer Mission was admitted as exhibits by the court alongside Guidelines for Election Officers 2022 and Manual for Election Guidelines 2023.

Though, Tinubu and APC opposed the admissibility of the documents, Chairman of PEPC Justice Haruna Tsammani admitted them after which the video clips were played in the open court.

The witness also tendered screen shots of the IReV portal.

However, upon cross examination by INEC’s lawyer, Abubakar Mahmoud SAN, the witness admitted that he was not at the National Collation Center but was at the PDP situation room in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The witness also admitted not being an ICT expert but that he based his report from information obtained from agents of the PDP at the collation centers.

The witness faulted INEC for not transmitting presidential election results electronically, adding that calculation errors led the electoral body into grave errors .

Under cross examined by Akin Olujimi SAN, counsel for Tinubu, the witness said he came to the conclusion that the presidential election was a sham by reason of corrupt electoral practices as related to him by PDP agents.

Nigeria’s Telecom Access Gaps Drop By 53%

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According to Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), as of the end of 2022, there will be 53.1% fewer recognized areas of clusters throughout Nigeria without access to telecommunications services.

At a recent telecom sector stakeholders event in Yenagoa, Bayelsa state, Danbatta made this disclosure.

Usman Mamman, the Head of Pre-Licensing at the Commission, represented Danbatta at the forum. Danbatta claimed that from 207 clusters of access gaps in 2013, the industry has seen a drop to 97 clusters of access gaps as of the end of 2022 by bridging 110 clusters of access gaps, indicating a 53.1% reduction.

This was said in a statement made by Mr. Reuben on Tuesday.

Danbatta said by implication, the number of Nigerians who fell within the access gap which were estimated at 37 million in 2013 has been reduced to 27 million, following increased access to telecoms services by those hitherto not digitally included.

Recalled that access gaps refer to the cluster of communities or grouped areas in different parts of the country that are bereft of access to telecom services and till date, the NCC has reduced clusters of access gap by more than half.

 He said, “We have worked tirelessly to ensure we bring telecom services to people living in rural, unserved, and underserved areas of this country, totalling 37 million people courtesy of the consultancy that was conducted in 2013.

“By 2019, we had succeeded in reducing the clusters of access gaps to 114 through the deployment of the necessary infrastructure needed to bring services to people living in rural, unserved and underserved areas of the country. The deployment of infrastructure is in terms of base transceiver stations, which resulted in the reduction of Nigerians in those clusters from 37 million to 31 million in 2019.

“By 2022, we have reduced the clusters of access gaps to 97 from 207 in 2013. The number of Nigerians again have come down from 37 million in 2013 to 27 million as we speak. We achieved this by deploying, from 2009 to 2011, a total of 79 new base transceiver stations,” he said

Danbatta stated that in 2013 to 2018, the telecom sector also witnessed the deployment of additional 124 base transceiver stations while from 2019 to 2022, a total of 364 base transceiver stations were deployed.

“So far, the total number of base transceiver stations we have deployed to date between the time the access gaps were identified till the end of 2022 are 567,” he said.

While describing the reduction in access gap so far as a landmark, Danbatta, however, said the Commission will not rest on its laurels as it thrives to ensure that the remaining 27 million Nigerians, who currently lack access to telecoms services, are provided with services.

Meanwhile, the EVC said part the regulatory interventions of the Commission to bridge the remaining 97 access across the country to provide ubiquitous connectivity in all the nooks and crannies of Nigeria are the issuance of the Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) Licences and the deployment of Fifth Generation (5G) networks, among others.

I earned more money in my career through gospel music, says singer Kcee

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Kingsley Okonkwo, better known by his stage name Kcee, is a Nigerian artist who claims that throughout the course of his career, gospel music has brought in more money.

This was revealed by the artist in an interview with Lagos’ Cool FM, which was released on Monday.

The gospel record ‘Cultural Praise’ by Okwesili Eze Group, which was published in 2021, was cited by Kcee as being his most streamed work to date.

He said, “When I did the gospel and a lot of people were like, ‘It’s over, he is actually going close to his village. Now he’s taking the music to the village. I think he is moving from his town to a village’.

“That was horrible. When I heard that I was like, ‘Okay, let’s see how that works’. And it didn’t happen. I made more money from it; more than any ever before in my whole career.”

Speaking on how certain he was that the song would be a financial hit even before it was released, he said, “I knew I was going to make a lot of money. I fought with a lot of people before I released it. They said that this one is 10 mins and a lot of people in this generation do not have that patience. That project has been my highest stream project ever.”