The Presidency has appealed to El-Zakzaky-led Shiite members to desist from needless violent street protests and await the decision of the court in Kaduna where their leader is currently being tried.
The issue of El-ZakZaky is before the court in Kaduna and his supporters should focus on his on-going trial instead of causing daily damages, disruptions and public nuisance in Abuja.
It is wrong to be in court and resort to violence at the same time in order to get justice for anybody accused.
The destruction of public property in the name of protest is not within the right of this group of Shiite members and no government anywhere would have tolerated a situation where any group would take over public roads in cities as they have done in Abuja and interfere with the rights of other citizens who are prevented from reaching their destinations.
We imagine a situation where families are taking their loved ones to hospital for emergency treatment and they are held up needlessly by the protesters. No government anywhere in the world would turn a blind eye to this unlawful behavior.
As far as this country’s Ministry of Justice is concerned, the case involving El-Zakzaky is no longer in its domain. The Federal Government no more has hands in the matter and to that extent, the government at the centre can be said to be clear of any alleged violations of court orders as being trumpeted everyday.
These rallies and street dances ostensibly to openly insult the President and other leaders, threatening bloodshed will lead nowhere because President Buhari will not ask the country’s judiciary to abandon due process and set a suspect free. At the same time, the administration is determined to enforce the decision of the court clearly issued. The Buhari administration has absolutely no hand in the on-going court case and the courts are free to determine the bail request and the final outcome.
The mentality that you are above the law and that your own rights are superior to other people’s rights is unacceptable.
You can’t be provoking other citizens by interfering with their own rights on public roads and disrupting their businesses and call it democratic freedom. In democratic traditions, their rights end where the rights of others begin.
Law abiding citizens must avoid deliberate lawlessness. It is not within the rights of any group to enter protected public institutions such as the National Assembly by force to attack police and destroy public and private property.
It is always advisable to embrace dialogue and eschew violence in all our actions so that we can continue to live together in peace.
We therefore appeal to the Shiite group to stop deliberate provocations that result in violence and fatalities and allow the trial of El-ZakZaky to take its course.
It appears the BBNaija drama outside the house is getting pretty captivating following the recent interviews the ex-housemates have been granting and the interesting things they have to say about the other housemates.
Ex-housemate, Isilomo, seems to be pretty vocal about her impression of the housemates and from the look of things, she doesn’t care whose ox is gored in the process of expressing herself.
Just recently during an interview with Linda Ikeji Blog shortly before KimOprah and Ella were evicted, she was asked who she wants evicted from the show. Without hesitating, Isilomo chose KimOprah. Giving her reason, she described KimOprah as a fake person and for that, she didn’t like her.
Explaining further, she recalled an incidence in the house where KimOprah burst into tears but it turned out she was only faking it.
This would be the second time Isilomo is coming for the beauty queen after the show.
Recall a while back, she put on blast both KimOprah and Ella for speaking ill of another housemate, Tacha.
Isilomo did not take kindly to the comments about Tacha and she addressed the issue on her Instagram live. In the video, Isi slammed Ella and Kim as she explained that their comments came from a place of ‘painment’.
Yinka Ayefele is probably the happiest man on earth at the moment as he has welcomed triplets with his wife in the United States of America.
In a chat with his manager who gave us an exclusive about the arrival of the triplets. According to him, Yinka Ayefele and his wife are in Maryland, the United States of America where she put to bed.
The manager also revealed the sexes of the babies; two boys and a girl. However, the music star took to his Instagram page on Friday, July 19, 2019, where he shared a video of himself and one of the babies.
This latest development is coming a few weeks after he had denied the reports that his wife had given birth to a set of twins.
Yinka Ayefele, a few weeks ago debunked the news going around that he has welcomed a set of triplets with wife, Temitope. The music star made this known via his Instagram page on Thursday, June 6, 2019, where he asked fans and followers to ignore the rumours.
“Fake News, Fake Pictures. That picture was taken 7yrs ago during my younger brothers naming at music house in Ibadan. Thank you all for Wishing me well and I claim it in Jesus name,” he wrote.
All roads will lead to the Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos Saturday, July 20 as the popular Clergy and founder, Esther Ajayi Foundation, Rev. Mother Esther Abimbola Ajayi will debuts her annual Celebrate The Comforter programme in Nigeria.
The London-based prophetess and philanthropist, who returned from another pilgrimage to Israel early this week, has assured everyone that the forthcoming programme will be hitch-free and successful.
Ajayi, who is the Convener of the ‘Celebrate The Comforter’ programme which seeks to unite the Celestial Church of Christ and the Cherubim and Seraphim Church, noted that the event will feature leading preachers, celebrities and top gospel musicians.
Speaking after a lively reception at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, the prophetess stated that her visit to Israel was to prepare her for the enormous task ahead and she has been buoyed by the spiritual uplifting garnered while in the holy land.
The Rev. Mother, who is also the General Overseer, Love Of Christ Church, Clapham, London, said she was elated that her efforts to unite the White garment churches have started to yield fruits.
She stated that the mega Christian programme that is open to people of all denominations and faiths is specifically designed to glorify God, celebrate unity and preach peace.
In her words: “This is the first time the programme will be holding in Nigeria and I can tell you that we will shake the country with the word of God and the country will never be the same again. Come and join us for an unforgettable day of life changing prayer, preaching, praise and celebration in honour of God.”
We learnt that the venue of the Lagos evangelical explosion is wearing a new look with participants from United States, Canada, United Kingdom, other European countries and worshippers from the 36 States of the federation are already in town for the programme.
The annual programme has always been held in London, UK until last year (2018) when the event was held at the United Palace, New York, USA.
The United States programme was attended by former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Popular Journalist and columnist, Bashorun Dele Momodu and the legendary Evangelist Ebenezer Obey-Fabiyi.
Ten years after Nigeria last hosted a FIFA World Cup event, the country is set for another chance as the world football governing body seems ready to award the country the hosting right of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup for 2020.
The breakthrough came following months of pressure on FIFA by the Nigerian Football Federation whose president is said to be working hard to bring as many FIFA and CAF competitions to the country.
Sources close to FIFA has revealed to PREMIUM TIMES that officials from the world body are already planning an inspection exercise to Nigeria to ascertain if the country would be fit to host the second biggest women football event on the FIFA calendar.
“Officials from Zurich are expected in August for a four-day inspection tour and some of what they would be looking out for during the planned visit is what Nigeria can offer in terms of infrastructure/operations, security, medical and the likes,” a source in the know of happenings in FIFA told PREMIUM TIMES.
It was also gathered that the world football governing is planning to spend as much as $4m on the event which effectively takes off a huge chunk of the financial burden from Nigeria, if finally given the hosting rights.
The news came a day after NFF president, Amaju Pinnick, completed his two-year tenure as 1st Vice President of the Confederation of African Football. CAF President, who is facing corruption charges, failed to recommend Mr. Pinnick for another term of office.
But despite stepping down as CAF’s first vice president, Mr Pinnick remains a strong member of the CAF exco. He also remains a member of the organising committee for FIFA competitions.
The FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup is an international association football tournament, organised by FIFA for national teams of women under the age of 20.
The tournament is held in even-numbered years.
It was first conducted in 2002 as the FIFA U-19 Women’s World Championship with an upper age limit of 19.
In 2006, the age limit was raised to the current 20.
No African country has ever hosted the event and Nigeria is looking set to be the first, having been pencilled down by FIFA to stage the 10th edition of the biennial football event.
Interestingly, Nigeria has made it to the final of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup on two occasions in 2010 and 2014 but was defeated by Germany both times.
The last FIFA event held in Nigeria was the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup, which was the thirteenth edition of the tournament.
It was staged from October 24 to 15 November 2009 across some major cities in the country.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has said electricity customers will be able to acquire meters without upfront payment starting from next month.
NERC said customers could get meters and pay in instalments within one year or a maximum of 10 years, with the prices of a one-phase and three-phase meters put at N36, 992 and N67,055 respectively, exclusive of Value Added Tax.
The regulator disclosed that it approved 42 Meter Asset Providers in April under the MAP Regulation after a rigorous procurement exercise carried out by the 11 electricity distribution companies in the country, adding that the Discos were asked to commence the deployment of meters effective May 1, 2019.
“Although the installations did not commence immediately across the country as anticipated, due to the need to finalise some documentations and also mobilise the supply of meters, I am happy to report that the installations of meters have now commenced across various Disco franchise areas,” the Commissioner, Finance and Management Services, NERC, Mr Nathan Shatti, said.
Shatti, who spoke on Thursday at a press briefing on the sidelines of an industry event in Lagos, said meter deployment, customer registration/network clean-up and installations had begun in most of the Discos for customers who had indicated interest to pay upfront.
According to him, there are two options provided in the MAP Regulation for acquiring a meter: upfront payment and payment in instalments.
“Currently, we have asked or encouraged the MAPs to concentrate on the upfront payment for obvious reasons. The payment by instalment is scheduled to commence on August 1, 2019,” he said.
Shatti said Discos had given MAPs designated areas and a meter rollout plan for those areas, as “Discos have the responsibility to make the areas for meter deployment ready in line with MAP regulation and the planned roll-out.”
He said, “MAPs will then determine the type of meter the customer needs and the customer will decide how long (the period) he/she plans to pay for the metering services.
“After confirming the type of meter and period of repayment, the MAP will install meters across the whole area in an organised and systematic manner – no exception, all customers without meters in those areas must be metered by the MAP).”
The NERC commissioner said repayment for the cost of the meter services would be done at the point of vending on a monthly basis “through what is called metering service charge. (Punch)
A 37-year-old guard, Wasiu Orilonise, has confessed to an Oyo State Magistrates’ Court sitting in Ibadan that he raped his 15-year-old daughter in order to ascertain her virginity and protect her.
Orilonise begged the court not to punish him as he had carnal knowledge of the victim for protection and to confirm if she was still a virgin.
The accused was arraigned on one count of having unlawful carnal knowledge of his daughter.
The prosecutor, Mr Sunday Ogunremi, told the court that the accused had sometime in December 2018 at Omo village, Agbofieti, Ibadan, in the Ibadan Magisterial District, raped the victim without her consent.
Ogunremi said the offence was contrary to and punishable under Section 34, sub-sections 1 and 2 of the Child Rights Law of Oyo State of Nigeria, 2006.
The plea of the accused was, however, not taken during the arraignment.
When the Chief Magistrate, Mr Taiwo Olaniran, sought to know what pushed him into defiling his biological daughter, Orilonise said since he lost his wife a few years ago, he had been taking care of the victim and her siblings.
He told the court that he committed the act in order to protect his daughter.
Orilonise said the incident happened when he was trying to ascertain if the victim had lost her virginity, adding that upon discovering that she was still a virgin, he started having sex with her regularly before she would leave for school and at night.
The magistrate berated fathers, who were fond of sexually abusing their daughters and other under-aged girls, saying they were allowing the devil to use them to destroy the society.
He, thereafter, ordered that the accused be remanded in the Agodi Prison pending legal advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions and adjourned the case till July 30, 2019. (Punch)
For the ninth year in a row, Africa’s foremost financial institution, Guaranty Trust Bank plc, will bring together some of the world’s leading experts in Autism for two days of critical discourse on supporting children and adults living with Autism in Africa. Organized as part of the GTBank’s Orange Ribbon Initiative, the Annual Autism Conference, will hold on the 30th and 31st of July 2019 at the MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos.
Themed, “Autism: Transitions, Vocational skills and The Role of Technology,” the Annual Autism Conference will bring to the fore the challenges facing children living with Autism as they grow into adulthood. The conference will feature presentations and keynote addresses on how to empower children and adults living with Autism to reach their full potential. Some of the facilitators include Dr. Loretta Burns, a leading expert in the field of neurodevelopmental disorders and the founder of ABE International Clinic; Dr. Tisa Hooper-Johnson, the Medical Director of the HFHS Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities (CADD), USA; Janette Washington, a speech-language pathologist with nearly a decade of experience working with children living with autism and other special needs; and Ivie Emokpae, a qualified special needs coordinator from the Institute of Education London.
Following the Autism conference will be free one-on-one consultations for children with Autism and other developmental challenges, as well as counselling for parents and guardians. There will also be sessions for Speech Therapy, Physical Therapy, Behaviour Analysis, Audiology, Clinical Psychology, Developmental Psychiatry, Physiotherapy, and Occupational Therapy. These sessions will hold from Thursday August 1st to Tuesday August 6th, 2019 at Digital Village, Alausa, Lagos.
Commenting on the 9th Annual Autism Awareness Conference, Segun Agbaje, the Chief Executive Officer of Guaranty Trust Bank plc, said; “Children and adults living with autism often lack the support and vocational training that they need to develop critical life skills for leading independent and productive lives. As an organization that is passionate about uplifting the most vulnerable in our society, we will continue to empower people living with autism with all the support and resources that they need to reach their full potential.”
Guaranty Trust Bank plc is a Nigerian financial institution that has maintained a defined Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy since its inception in 1990. The Bank actively supports numerous programmes across Africa that positively affect Infant and Maternal Healthcare, Education, the Arts, Community Development and the Environment.
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