Kidnapping: Police arrest 32 suspects in Adamawa

The Police Command in Adamawa, in synergy with some professional hunters, had arrested 32 suspects in connection with kidnapping activities in the state. SP Suleiman Nguroje, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), disclosed this while briefing newsmen in Yola on Monday. Nguroje said that the command recorded the success with the support received from the Adamawa Government and the people in the state including media practitioners. He said exhibits recovered from the suspects included N1.6 million, four vehicles, 13 AK-47 rifles, five locally made pistols, 59 live ammunition, four ATM cards, two permanent voter cards, 10 dane guns, seven fabricated guns and charms. The police spokesman also said that the command equally succeeded in dislodging four identified hideouts where the kidnappers normally operate from. Nguroje said the suspects had all been charged to Courts and were awaiting trial, adding that investigations were still ongoing. He added that the command would redouble its efforts aimed at ensuring that residents in the state sleep with their two eyes closed. The Commissioner of Police in the state, Afolabi Babatola, had commended the officers and the hunters for their gallantry. 

Police arrest 94-year-old man for defiling minor in Adamawa

The Police Command in Adamawa has apprehended 94-year-old man for allegedly defiling a 13-year-old girl in Tappare ward, Ganye Local Government Area. SP Suleiman Nguroje, the command spokesperson, disclosed this in a statement issued to newsmen in Yola on Wednesday. He said the suspect, who is a herbalist, was believed to be in the habit of deceiving young girls to defile them. “It happens that on August 12, while the victim was passing by the suspect’s house, he called her into the house and took advantage of her by having an unlawful carnal knowledge of her. “Investigation, so far reveals that the suspect while committing the act rubbed some concoction in the form of perfume on the victim which made the victim ill after the incident. “It was as a result of the illness when questioned by her mother, she opened up to her about what happened,” he said. Nguroye said that the victim’s mother reported the incident to the Divisional Police Headquarters, Ganye. He said that the Commissioner of Police, Mr Afolabi Babatola directed the officer-in-charge of Family Support Unit of the command to investigate and ensure diligent prosecution of the suspect. The commissioner called on members of the public particularly parents to monitor their wards against criminally minded elements. He also urged residents to report cases on Gender Based Violence. 

NiMet predicts 3-day cloudiness, sunshine from Saturday

*Thunderstorms to occur in parts of Kebbi, Adamawa, Taraba The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has predicted cloudiness and sunshine from Saturday to Monday across the nation. NiMet`s weather outlook released at the weekend in Abuja, forecasts cloudy skies on Saturday with intervals of sunshine over the northern region with chances of early morning thunderstorms over parts of Kebbi, Adamawa, and Taraba. According to it, isolated thunderstorms are expected over parts of Borno, Adamawa, Taraba, Bauchi, and Gombe later in the day. “Cloudy atmosphere is anticipated over the North Central region with chances of morning rains over parts of Kogi, Benue, the Federal Capital Territory, Niger, and Nasarawa. “Later in the day, intermittent rains and thunderstorms are envisaged over parts of Plateau, the Federal Capital Territory, Niger, Kwara, Benue, and Kogi. “Cloudy atmosphere is expected over the inland states of the South and its coastal states in the morning with chances of intermittent rains over parts of Ogun, Oyo, Lagos, Enugu, Imo, Anambra, Abia, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Rivers and Ebonyi states, “ it said. It envisaged intermittent rains over parts of Lagos, Ekiti, Edo, Ondo, Oyo, Ogun, and Delta later in the day. The agency predicted a cloudy atmosphere on Sunday with intervals of sunshine over the northern region with prospects of morning thunderstorms over parts of Kebbi, Sokoto, and Zamfara. It anticipated thunderstorms over parts of Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Borno, Taraba, Adamawa, and Katsina States later in the day. NiMet predicted a cloudy atmosphere over the North Central region with prospects of rains and thunderstorms over parts of the Federal Capital Territory, Nasarawa, Niger, and Kwara in the morning hours. “Progressing into the day, intermittent rains are envisaged over parts of Benue, the Federal Capital Territory, Kogi, Kwara, and Nasarawa. “Cloudy atmosphere should prevail over the South, both its inland states and the coastal cities, with prospects of rains over parts of Osun, Oyo, Ogun, Ekiti, Ondo, Lagos, Delta, and Edo in the morning hours. “Later in the day, intermittent rains are anticipated over parts of Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Abia, Imo, Ekiti, Cross River, Delta, and Rivers,“ it said. NiMet forecast cloudy skies on Monday with sunshine intervals over the northern region during the morning hours. According to it, thunderstorms are anticipated over Katsina, Kano, Zamfara, Kaduna, and Kebbi later in the day. The agency envisaged a cloudy atmosphere over the North Central region in the morning hours with prospects of early morning rains over parts of Benue, Nasarawa state and the Federal Capital Territory. “Later in the day, thunderstorms with intermittent rains and thunderstorms are expected over Kwara, Niger, Benue, Kogi, Plateau states and the Federal Capital Territory. “Cloudy skies are anticipated over the coastal states and parts of the inland states of the South in the morning hours. Later in the day, intermittent rains are expected over the entire inland and coastal states of the South,“ it said. The agency advised all airline operators to avail themselves of weather reports and alerts periodically from NiMet for effective planning of their operations. According to it, moderate to heavy rainfall could lead to flash floods. The public is advised to take necessary caution, and avoid driving and walking through flood waters. NiMet urged disaster risk managers, agencies, and individuals to be proactive to avert the loss of lives and properties during the rainy season. 

Adamawa Lootings: Fintiri imposes 24-hour curfew

Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa on Sunday declared a 24-hour curfew on the state with immediate effect. The governor made the declaration in a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Humwashi Wonosikou in Yola. The curfew followed wide-scale looting and attacks on citizens by hoodlums. According to him, the situation has assumed a dangerous dimension as hoodlums in Yola attack people with machetes and broke into business premises and homes carting away property. “With the curfew imposed, there will be no movement throughout the state. “Only those on essential duties with valid identification would be permitted to move around during the period of the curfew,” he added. Fintiri appealed to law-abiding residents to comply with the directive, warning that anyone caught contravening the order would be arrested and prosecuted. Hundreds of hoodlums had broken into Federal and State government storage facilities and looted food and non-food items in Yola. Mr Ladan Ayuba, Head of Operations National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said that the armed hoodlums looted bags of Rice, Maize, Corn, and Beans, as well as Generators, wrappers, mattresses, and plastic buckets among others from the NEMA facility. .He said that the hoodlums also vandalized and looted facilities at the NEMA office that was recently reconstructed and furnished. It was gathered that the hoodlums attempted to break into a silo but were not successful and later moved to attack other government storage facilities. At least three of the hoodlums were believed to have died while several others were arrested. SP Suleiman Nguroje, the Police Public Relations Officer in Adamawa confirmed the incident, saying that Police and other security operatives have been deployed to protect critical assets and infrastructure.

Development Bank builds capacity of 1,000 MSMEs

In continuation of its capacity development training programmes for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria, the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) has organised a one-day training for over 1,000 small businesses across six states in the North-East and North-West. The MSMEs were spread across Gombe, Maiduguri, Adamawa, Katsina, Sokoto and Kebbi states.  The capacity training programme, which was conducted in each of the locations, had facilitators with experts in business management for small and medium-scale enterprises.  A statement from DBN stated that the training focused on optimisation and development of skills, aimed at further strengthening the capacity of the beneficiaries to scale up their businesses.  It also said the key objective of the training programme across locations, was to help the owners of the businesses develop their capacity and gain better knowledge of how they could access the DBN funding through the participating financial intermediaries (PFI). The Managing Director/CEO, Development Bank of Nigeria, Dr. Tony Okpanachi, commended the facilitators for bringing their expertise and experience to bear and expressed the optimism that the training would have a lasting impact on the participants and their businesses.   He affirmed that the training was in line with the Bank’s unwavering commitment to strengthening the capacity of MSMEs in the country so that they can continue to contribute more to the economic growth and development of the country.  Okpanachi said: “The strategic role of MSMEs as enablers of socio-economic development cannot be over-emphasised. A larger percentage of businesses in Nigeria are in the informal sector dominated by MSMEs. The MSMEs sector is a significant pillar of Nigerian economic growth; they make up 97 percent of businesses, generate six million jobs and contribute 50 per cent of the national GDP. “Small businesses are value-creators and they create wealth for individuals. At DBN, we are passionately committed to seeing MSMEs increase their capacity for growth and expansion, and being more sustainable so that together, we can continue to build a stronger economy for the benefit of all Nigerians.” The Development Bank of Nigeria through its numerous capacity training platforms has enriched the knowledge and capacity of MSMEs owners in the country through regular highly-enriching training initiatives and retooling, thereby positioning them for sustainable growth and expansion.   One of the platforms is the annual DBN Entrepreneurship Training Programme (DBNETP) currently in its 5th Cycle and has benefitted over 2000 MSMEs across Nigeria who have been trained digitally and physically, leveraging partnerships and the DBN Learning Management System (LMS).

Customs seizes N22.8m smuggled items in Adamawa

The Adamawa and Taraba Area Command of Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), has seized smuggled items with Duty Paid Value of N22.89 million in the last six weeks. The Area Comptroller, Salisu Abdullahi-Kazaure, made this known while briefing newsmen in Yola on Friday. According to him, the command made 16 seizures from May 6 to June 16. Abdullahi-Kazaure said the siezed items included 494 bags of NPK fertiliser, 14,980 liters of petrol in Jerry cans and drums, and three vehicles used for smuggling activities. Others, he said, were 90 bags of 50kg foreign parboiled rice from Cameroun and 960 pieces of foreign soap. He explained that the siezed petroleum product would be auctioned, in accordance with NCS Standard Operating Procedure. Abdullahi-Kazaure said though fertiliser was not a contraband, it was siezed because some criminals were using it to manufacture Improvised Explosive Devices.