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The United States government exchange alumnae-led organisation, in collaboration with the the country’s Consulate General, has launched a Street to School Initiative.

The initiative is tagged “Re-imagining EducationX 2021: The Teacher on the Move.”

Teacher ICIR

Through this teacher capacity-building workshop, 300 high school teachers from Lagos, Rivers and Enugu states will acquire skills in effective virtual classroom pedagogy, best practices in curriculum development, lesson planning, and innovative 21st century student-centered teaching methods.   

This initiative also aims to strengthen digital literacy skills of the participating teachers to enable them to utilise digital tools and platforms more effectively in both classroom and virtual learning environments.   

Declaring the workshop open, U.S. Consulate Public Affairs Officer Stephen Ibelli, reiterated the U.S. Mission’s commitment to supporting a more educated population by increasing and strengthening the capacity of Nigerian teachers through teacher training workshops and exchange programs.   

“Education is the key to the success of any nation and Nigeria’s young people are its greatest resources and hopes of producing a more prosperous future for this great country. From the north to the south, from Calabar to Kano, we support educational initiatives like this, and we remain committed to strengthening human capital for inclusive Nigerian economic growth and human development.

“We know you will take advantage of this great opportunity and acquire the requisite skills for providing a quality learning experience for your students,” Ibelli told the Lagos cohort of the workshop comprising 100 high teachers drawn from public and low-cost private high schools in underserved communities.   

Ibelli lauded the CEO of Street to School Initiative, Oluwatosin Olowoyeye-Taiwo, a 2014 alumnus of the International Visitors Leadership Program (IVLP) for her tireless efforts in enhancing quality education in Nigeria.

“U.S. Government exchange alumni members like Ms. Oluwatosin Olowoyeye-Taiwo are at the forefront of promoting access to qualitative education, good governance and civic engagement throughout Nigeria,” Ibelli added.   

As part of the Consulate’s commitment to the success of the workshop, 10 tablets and a laptop were presented to deserving teachers following a competitive selection process. In addition, tablets will be presented to the five top-performing teachers at the completion of the workshop. The teachers will use the devices to continue working with students, updating lesson content, innovating teaching methods, and monitoring learners’ progress.   

In her remarks, Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Education, Mrs. Abosede Adelaja, expressed appreciation to the U.S. government and its partners for collaborating to upskill teachers across public and private schools in Lagos. “This workshop will further improve educational outcomes in Lagos,” she added.   

The workshop is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund with support from the Public Affairs Section of the U.S Consulate General in Lagos.

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The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has concluded plans to start dismantling some telecommunication masts belonging to Globacom Ltd, a Global Sattelite Mobile (GSM) telecommunications provider, in various locations across the country over failure to pay N5.9billion renewal fees for height clearance to the agency.

The development followed a directive from the Nigerian government to some of its agencies and parastatals to go after debtors and defaulters and recover all the outstanding for the government. 

SaharaReporters learnt that the matter came to a head following exchange of correspondence between Globacom and NCAA and scheduled meetings designed to ensure payment of the said accumulated fees by the telecommunication network which failed.

In a letter dated October 4, 2021, titled: "Re: Illegal Erection of High Structures and Refusal to Renew Expired Aviation Height Clearance Certificates by Globacom Limited" and addressed to the Managing Director, Globacom, obtained by SaharaReporters, it was affirmed that following the failure by Globacom to pay the the required fees amounting to N5.9 billion, the regulatory agency had no choice but to commence the dismantling of the its masts across the country.

"In the circumstance, having exhausted all avenues for a resolution of this matter, we are now left without choice but to apply the relevant sanctions, including the dismantling of all your non-compliant masts nationwide. And this shall be without further notice to you", it said.

The letter signed by Legal Adviser/Head, Compliance and Enforcement, Mr. Emmanuel Chukwuma, recalled that, "The meeting to discuss the above subject-matter, was fixed for September 23, 2021, at your instance.

“You may wish to recall that you had on August, 25, 2021, requested that the meeting, earlier rescheduled, at your instance, from Monday, July 26, 2021 to Thursday, August 26, 2021, be further rescheduled to Thursday, September 23, 2021, to enable your Chief Operating Officer/COO to attend.

"It is unfortunate that despite our concurrence to a further rescheduling of the meeting to the requested date, and so informing you through our letter of 13th September, 2021, you failed to turn up for the meeting", it said.

The letter noted that the Director-General of the NCAA had to abort an official assignment in Europe and return to Nigeria in order to be able to attend the meeting.

"Globacom only wrote the letter under reference three days after, asking that the meeting be rescheduled, without any explanation for the failure of any management staff to show up.

"I am directed to inform you that the NCAA is not disposed to granting this latest (fourth) request to reschedule the meeting, particularly, as no reason was given for your non-attendance on the last date.

"In the circumstance, having exhausted all avenues for a resolution of this matter, we are now left without choice but to apply the relevant sanctions including the dismantling of all your non-compliant masts nationwide. And this shall be without further notice to you", it said.

In an earlier communication with Globacom, NCAA listed the indebtedness of globacom to include application fee for 2006 to 2007 at N100,000 per mast, totalling N689,800,000, annual renewal fee for 2007-2022 (15years), N50,000 per mast amounting to N6,898 and inspection fee covering N6,898 masts across the nation all totalling N6,064,230,000.

SaharaReporters learnt that Globacom paid the sum of N100million on July 31, 2019 and had not made any further payment.

An earlier letter from NCCA to Global said total application fee for the period under review stood at N604,800,000 while cost of inspection amounted to N190,930,000.

The letter also stated the position of NCAA in law with regards to regulation of masts.

"Please be reminded that Section 30(3)() of the Civil Aviation Act 2006 empowers the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) by law to prohibit and regulate the installation of any structure (including telecommunication mast), which by virtue of its ‘height or position is considered to endanger the safety of air navigation," it said.

This is coming two years after the agency asked Globacom and other Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) operators to remove their over 7, 000 masts or risk seeing them demolished.

NCAA had claimed the masts, erected at different locations within the country close to the nation’s airports, are obstructing flight safety and could cause accidents if not removed.

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Police believe a bow-and-arrow attack that killed five may have been as a result of mental illness.

A fashion designer, Akorede Imole, has been shot by a policeman attached to the Ogun State Police Command.

Speaking with SaharaReporters, Akorede said the incident happened during a stop-and-search in the Odogbolu area of the state on Wednesday.

The 26-year-old man said he was coming from Ijebu Ode when the policemen stopped him, searched his phone and found nothing.

Narrating how the incident happened, he said, “I was on my way coming from ijebu Ode to ijebu Igbo. Those police officers stopped us and told everyone to get down including the driver.

“They searched us but didn’t see anything incriminating on us; so one of them said we should enter the car back. As we were about to enter the car, one of the policemen said we should not enter and we asked him why but he didn’t say anything.

“He just told us to enter one guy’s private car. I don’t know what the guy did to them because we met him there. They already arrested him before they stopped us. And I told the officer no, we could not enter the guy’s car unless the police car. Before I knew what was happening, he shot me.

“I was rushed to the hospital; the officer almost ran away but was caught by residents who witnessed the incident.

“Currently, some police officers are on their way to the hospital to check on me. The Divisional Police Officer has been begging my father as well that we should settle everything amicably.

“My family has been the one paying my hospital bills but I heard the police planned to pay for my bed space alone today.”

In different video clips shared with SaharaReporters, Akorede was seen writhing in pain while sitting in a red car, as blood dripped from his leg.

The policeman who perpetrated the crime was also seen sitting on the ground.

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The Nigerian Government has declared Tuesday, October 19 a public holiday in respect of this year’s Eid-ul-Mawlid celebration in commemoration of the birth of the Prophet Muhammad.

This was made known by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Shuaib Belgore in a statement on Friday.

According to the statement, the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, congratulated all Muslims at home and in the Diaspora for witnessing this year’s occasion.

Aregbesola enjoined Nigerians to imbibe the virtues of Prophet Muhammad which include love, patience and perseverance, as he stated that doing so would guarantee peace and security in the country.

“Ogbeni Aregbesola enjoined Nigerians, particularly Muslims, to refrain from violence, lawlessness and other acts of criminality. As the indisputable leader of our race, we must show responsible leadership in Africa,” the statement said.

“While calling for a stop to all divisive tendencies across the country, the Minister urges all Nigerians and the youth, in particular, to embrace the virtues of hard work and peaceful disposition to fellow humans, irrespective of faith, ideology, social class and ethnicity and cooperate with President Muhammadu Buhari’s led-Administration in its effort to build a progressive and enviable nation that all citizens would be proud of.”

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has withdrawn a suit it filed against the Kogi State Government seeking the forfeiture of the N20billion bailout funds allegedly granted to the Kogi State Government.

The EFCC explained that it is expedient for the suit to be discontinued and the account unfrozen to enable the bank’s management effect the transfer and return of the sum to the coffers of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello.

Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke granted the order following EFCC’s prayer to withdraw the N20billion suit against the Kogi State government.

The counsel to EFCC, Mr Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, leading Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, listed six grounds upon which the judge granted the prayer.

The money was meant for the payment of workers, but was alleged to have been domiciled in an interest yielding account with the bank.

On Friday at the resumption of proceedings, Pinheiro presented EFCC’s grounds for discontinuance as contained in an application dated October 13, 2021. See Also News Nigeria's Anti-graft Agency, EFCC Seeks Forfeiture Of N20billion Salary Loan Allegedly Diverted By Kogi Government 0 Comments 2 Weeks Ago

The motion titled “Notice of discontinuance” stated that “the Applicant, the Economic and Financial Crime Commission has resolved to discontinue this matter in SUIT NO: FHC/L/CS/1086/2021 pending before this Honourable Court against the Respondent’s Account herein.”

Some of the grounds upon which EFCC’s application of discontinuance was brought were; that the Management of the bank where account No. 0073572696 with the name ‘KOGI STATE SALARY BAIL OUT ACCOUNT’ is domiciled has clarified the questions resulting to the commencement of the suit.

It was also stated that the management of the bank had since acknowledged the existence of the said account in their book but claimed that the same was a mirror account.

The N19,333,333,333.36 still standing in the credit of the account remained frozen pursuant to the order of the court and that the management of the bank had in a letter dated 21st September, 2021, signed by its Managing Director, indicated intention to return the total sum to the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Justice Aneke, in granting the EFCC’s application held that the application was meritorious and ought to be granted accordingly.

“I have listened to the submission of the learned silk for the application, Mr. Kemi Pinheiro (SAN) vis-a-vis perused the motion to withdraw. My humble opinion is that the application is meritorious and ought to be granted accordingly; the application is granted as prayed,” he said.

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A British lawmaker, David Amess has lost his life after he was repeatedly stabbed multiple times at a meeting with constituents in southern England on Friday.

The police had said that they found an injured man at Essex after they were informed about a stabbing which occurred in the afternoon.

They added that the man's injuries were treated but he did not survive it.

According to BBC News, a 25-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of a murder, and a knife was found.

Amess, 69, was a member of Conservative Party and had been a member of the parliament since 1983.

He is the second Member of Parliament (MP) to be murdered in five years and he was married with five children.

It was learnt that sometimes in 2016, Labour MP, Jo Cox, was shot on the street in her constituency and she died.

The Jo Cox Foundation, the charity set up in her memory, said on their Twitter page that it was "horrified" by the stabbing of Amess.

"We are thinking of him, his family and loved ones at this distressing time," the foundation said.

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Residents of Nkiendonwro village in the Miango District of Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State have yet witnessed another sorrowful day as suspected Fulani herdsmen on Thursday, invaded the village and unleashed terror on it.

A source told SaharaReporters that the herdsmen waylaid a father and his two children who boarded a motorcycle on their way to the farm.

During the attack, they killed the man and his children while another resident reportedly sustained serious injuries from gunshots.

The spokesperson of Miango Youth Development Association, Nuhu Bitrus Nga, also told SaharaReporters that the attack happened at about 8am when the family members were planning to go to their farm.

He identified the dead victims as Amos David, 42years, Reuben Sunday, 28, and Abednego Amos aged 8 years while 12-year-old Emma Amos was injured by gunshot.

Emma Amos had been rushed to a nearby hospital where he is currently undergoing treatment.

It was learnt that Nkiendonwro village had been deserted due to an attack which led to the death of over 29 people in 2017 while the entire village was razed down.

The larger number of inhabitants of the village therefore, abandoned the area to seek refuge in some other parts of Rigwe land.

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The Rivers State Police Command have arrested a middle-aged man for unlawfully accessing a billboard in Port Harcourt and uploading a pornographic film.

According to a report by NewsWire, the LED billboard, situated around the Garrison area, was streaming pornography images until it was shut off when pedestrians lodged complaints.

File photo used to illustrate story.

Reacting to the development, the operator of the billboard, E-motion Advertising, in a statement said; “It has come to our attention that an unauthorised break-in happened at one of our sites in Rivers State, where an individual (name withheld) gained unlawful access to our site and local server.

“The individual then caused an obscene material to be uploaded to an external display device.

“Our remote monitoring team was immediately alerted to this incident and the LED board was turned off. The culprit has since been apprehended by the police and taken into custody for questioning.

“As a socially responsible company, we are working with law enforcement agencies to ensure that the law takes its full course in prosecuting this heinous and distasteful act that goes against all manner of public decorum.”

“Finally and most importantly, we apologise for this distasteful incident and assure the public that we are currently putting additional measures in place across our sites to prevent a reoccurrence.”

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An activist and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Youth Leader, Austin Usman Okai, has lambasted the Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, over the freezing of a bank account belonging to the state government.

Tijani Ringim, a Lagos High Court judge, had on August 31, 2021, frozen the Kogi State account domiciled in Sterling Bank Plc, following an ex parte application brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), pending the conclusion of the investigation or possible prosecution.

Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello.

The commission, in a 13-paragraph affidavit in support of the motion, said it received credible and direct intelligence which led to the tracing of funds suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities deposited in account No. 0073572696 domiciled in Sterling Bank Plc, with the name ‘Kogi State Salary Bailout Account.’

The anti-graft commission stated that a loan of N20billion meant to augment the salary payment and running cost of the state government was kept in an interest-yielding account with Sterling Bank.

It added that instead of using the money for the purpose it was meant for, Sterling Bank Plc, acting on the instruction of the Kogi State Government transferred the money from the loan account and placed same in a fixed deposit account.

Reacting in a statement on Friday, Okai wondered why money meant for workers was diverted due to greed and wickedness.

Describing the governor as "adminstrative fraudster", he said the imprints of his actions are on the poor workers in the state who “are victims of percentage salaries in recent years.”

He added, “Yahaya Bello's dirty and shady deal orchestrated and or coordinated to defraud and milk Kogi state is what led to this harsh decision From the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC, it's unfortunate that this is happening at a time when civil servants and pensioners are committing suicide due to hunger and starvation.”

Okai asked Bello to tender a public apology to the entire state, stating that the court's decision to grant EFCC request to return the money back to the Central Bank of Nigerian is a big blow on the state and her economy.

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The Senior Pastor of Citadel Global Community Church, Tunde Bakare, on Friday afternoon visited President Muhammadu Buhari in Aso Villa.
 
The Christian cleric who had vowed never to visit his political and personal friend he once supported ate his words on Friday as Presidential media aide Femi Adesina posted their photos on his Facebook page earlier in the day.
 
Adesina supported the photos up with a caption that read, "President Buhari receives Pastor Tunde Bakare in State House on 15th Oct 2021."
 
SaharaReporters had reported how Bakare in his State of the Nation message on July 25, 82 days ago, spat fire, condemning Buhari over atrocities and excesses of his government.

He vowed not to visit the Daura-born ex-military general again.
 
Bakare had said, “I’m not interested in meeting you any longer; no more visits. Now, it is war because Nigeria must be set free.
 
“I dare you to come after me since that is the usual style now. You might have done it to others. You are about to learn a lesson if you touch me.
 
“If you know what I have done in secret, bring it to the open. I dare you to come after me if you can. I worked with you; I worked for you; I supported you to get there (where you are). When I talk now, I now have a smelly mouth.”
 
He further explained that injustice and lack of equity were responsible for the recent calls for secession in the country.
 
“We must realise that what has given rise to the agitation is lack of justice and equity. When there is justice, when there is equity, agitation will die down," Bakare had added.
 

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An event centre in Lagos, Landmark Centre has cancelled #EndSARS Summit scheduled to hold there later in October.

Tagged Sorosoke Summit, the event was expected to hold on at the venue on October 20, 2021 to commemorate the first anniversary of last year’s #EndSARS protest and honour the lives of protesters who were killed or injured during the demonstration, especially at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos.

The keynote speaker billed to grace the event is the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II.

However, the event, which was billed to start by 11.30am Wednesday, October 20, 2021, has been cancelled by the management of the event centre.

About the planned event, Banks Omisore had earlier tweeted, “We need to have honest conversations of the event surrounding 10/20/21. @OoniAdimulaIfe will be the keynote speaker.

“What really happened? Who opened fire? Did people die at Lekki toll gate? Who was responsible? What happened to the #5for5 demands? Is #EndSARS still an issue?”
However, the organisers of the event have noted that the cancellation by the event centre will not stop them from going ahead with it.

“We invite everyone to come to LekkiTollGate for the memorial,” one of them told SaharaReporters.
 
On the night of October 20, 2020, Nigerian soldiers opened fire on peaceful #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate, killing an unspecified number of people and injuring many others. 
 

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A reckless policeman has deliberately rammed his car into a barricaded area, knocking down three construction workers and injuring them in Adamawa state.
 
The incident happened at a road construction site near the State Police Command headquarters, Yola, the state capital on Thursday.

SaharaReporters learnt that the power-drunk police officer drove into a barricaded area of a construction site despite being warned against it.
 
The cop who drove a Peugeot 206 with registration number -RBC 179 TT - was reported to have refused to take a diversion created to protect the construction workers.
 
It was further learnt that the state governor, Ahmadu Fintiri and the state police commissioner, Mohammed Bards were among the dignitaries who used the diversion earlier the same day.
 
However, the police officer was said to have allegedly insisted that he was not going to go through the diversion before he subsequently hit three workers.
 
Eyewitnesses told SaharaReporters that the policeman also pulled out a service pistol and fired shots into the air, before escaping the scene.
 
He was, however, apprehended shortly thereafter.
 
One of the eyewitnesses, Philemon Danladi said, "He came with his car where we were working and refused to stop. He insisted he was not going to follow the diversion.
 
"A security person at the construction site confronted him, asked him to obey and go through the diversion but he refused. In the heat of the argument, he accelerated and hit three people.
 
"When he saw them in a pool of blood, he brought out a gun, fired some shots and ran away, leaving his car behind.”
 
Another eyewitness, Isa Abdullahi, said, "He acted like a power-drunk fellow. He intentionally drove the car, hit three people and at the same time fired gunshots.”
 
The police spokesperson in the state, DSP Suleiman Nguroje, confirmed the report, saying, "Yes, I can confirm the incident.”
 

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