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http://ift.tt/eA8V8J Perez Brisibe EKETE – GUNMEN suspected to be kidnappers have reportedly abducted Mrs. Theresa Sakpra who is the wife of the Delta State Commissioner for Special Duties Governor’s Office, Chief Henry Sakpra. Mrs. Sakpra was said to have been abducted last Thursday at about 6:15p.m around the Ekete Inland junction along the DSC Expressway in Udu Local Government Area of the state. Giving details of the incident, a police source hinted that the victim was whisked to an unknown destination by the hoodlums on her way home after dropping one of her sales girls along the Expressway. “The hoodlums went away with the victim in her car which was later recovered the following day along the Effurun/Ughelli section of the East-West road,” the source stated. Contacted, the State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Andrew Aniamaka said: “The facts are not known to me so I cannot speak on it as I have no information on it.” Meanwhile, youths under the aegis of Udu Youth Co...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Ikechukwu Nnochiri ABUJA – The Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Walter Onnoghen, has okayed the appointment of Mrs. Hadizatu Uwani Mustapha, as the new Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court. A statement from the CJN on Sunday indicated that Mrs. Mustapha will assume office on July 1, to replace the current Chief Registrar, Mr. Ahmad Gambo Saleh. The statement further revealed that Saleh will on the same day resume in his new position as the Secretary of the National Judicial Council, NJC. Mrs. Mustapha’s elevation to the apex court was contained in a Letter of Offer of Appointment dated May 31 and signed by the Secretary of the Federal Judicial Service Commission, FJSC, Mrs. Bilkisu Bashir. According to the CJN, “Mrs. Mustapha emerged from a strong field of six applicants interviewed by the FJSC on May 30”. Until her appointment, Mrs. Mustapha, was the Deputy Chief Registrar of the Sharia Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). “Born...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J By Joseph Erunke ABUJA-CHIEF of Air Staff,CAS, Air Marshall Sadique Abubakar, yesterday, said the service could only immortalise its fallen heroes through adequate provision of welfare packages for their families. To this end, he has vowed to make life comfortable for all personnel of the service who die in active services to the nation, insisting that the labour of the heroes’ past would not be in vein. The Nigerian Air Force chief, who spoke while commissioning a new block of 12 by one-bedroom flats for airmen and airwomen at NAF Base, Abuja, reiterated the commitment of his organisation towards the welfare of the families of deceased personnel. Represented by the Chief of Administration, COA, Air Vice Marshal Lawal Alao, at the commissioning of the building which was named after late Corporal W. I. Omaka, who died in Minna, Niger State in 2016, while participating in internal security, Abubakar said the Nigerian Air Force initiative was to boost the morale ...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J The Coroner appointed by the Osun Government to investigate the cause of death of Senator Isiaka Adeleke, on Monday declared that his death was caused by drug overdose. The Coroner, Chief Magistrate Olusegun Ayilara while giving his verdict in Osogbo, said all the evidence before him in no way pointed to poisoning as the cause of death of the late senator as alleged in some quarters. “I have critically gone through all the evidence before me. From the totality of evidence, the possibility of poisoning of the deceased is not sustainable. “I have not been able to trace any link to poisoning by anybody. The autopsy report and also the toxicologist’s report are very specific to say there was no trace of poison or heavy metal in the blood of the deceased. “Therefore it is my firm opinion that he was not poisoned, I so hold.” he said He said the evidence of the pathologist, the toxicologist, police forensic expert, and the Chief Medical Director of LAUTECH Tea...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J The South Sudanese government on Friday freed a South Sudanese journalist working for a UN radio station after two and a half years of imprisonment, officials said. George Livio, who worked for Radio Miraya, was arrested in August 2014 but never brought to trial. “He has been released and the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is looking into his needs right now,” said Daniel Dickinson, spokesman for the mission. The post South Sudan frees UN journalist held for over 2 years without charge appeared first on Vanguard News . Vía Vanguard News http://ift.tt/2rpl5Kh

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J The Federal Government plans to tackle post-harvest losses put at nine billion dollars annually through multiple approaches, including setting up of staple crops processing zones. Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister of State for Agriculture, made the disclosure on Thursday in Abuja, at a stakeholders’ conference organised by Akassa Development Foundation (ADF). Akassa is a community in Bayelsa in the southernmost part of Nigeria. The theme of the stakeholders’ conference is: “ Sustainable Development and Security in the Niger Delta beyond Oil.’’ The minister, represented by Eniye Amloakederem, Senior Technical Adviser on Agric-business, listed the approaches to include-storage, development of cold chains, improving infrastructure, improving product handling, among others. He said that staple crops processing zones would be set up in “ areas of high food production.’’ According to the minister, the government will utilise “ fiscal and infrastructure incentives’...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J The Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has warned government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to desist from rejecting corps members posted to them for primary assignment. Osinbajo gave the warning during the Swearing-In Ceremony of the 2017 National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Batch ‘A’ Stream I corps members at the Permanent Orientation Camp at Kubwa, Abuja, on Thursday. The acting president was represented by Mrs Amina Abubakar, the Director, Human Resources, Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA). Osinbajo said there was already an existing government policy directing MDAs against rejecting corps members. He said the policy was still in effect, urging parastatals to ensure its full implementation. The acting president also urged MDAs and private corps employers to assign challenging responsibilities to corps members during their primary assignment. According to him, by doing so they will be fully incorporated into the process of na...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Aisha Alhassan, on Thursday called on stakeholders to make quality invest in children to attain Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs) in the country. Alhassan made the appeal during the ministerial briefing to mark the 2017 National Children’s Day celebration with the theme “Child Protection and SDGs issues and Opportunities’’. “Children’s rights and SDGs are interlinked; therefore the failure of stakeholders to come up with strategic plans to guarantee the right of children will slow down the desired progress in achieving the SDGs targets by 2030. “Children as we all know are the leaders of tomorrow and pillars on which the nation’s sustainable development is built. “More than 17 SDGs targets are on children, therefore, we cannot achieve the goals without addressing the issues and concerns on welfare and well-being of our children,” she said. Alhassan listed the issues to be addressed to include e...

http://ift.tt/2ooZH2T Electricity Distribution Company The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Nigeria’s power stations generated 3, 687 Megawatts of electricity in first quarter of 2017. The NBS stated this in “Daily Energy Generated and Sent Out for 1st quarter 2017’’ report posted on its website in Abuja on Monday. The report stated that Afam VI Power Plant contributed about 12.64 per cent share of the average energy generated in the quarter. This, it stated, represented the highest generation among 23 power plants within the period under review. “Daily energy generation attained a peak of 5,846 mw on the 24th January and daily energy sent out on same date was 5,747 mw. “Similarly, the highest daily energy generated per hour attained a peak of 140,316 mwh on the 24th January, 2017 and daily energy sent out per hour on same date was 137,920 mwh “This represents the highest level of energy generated and sent out in the month of January 2017 and in the first quarter...

http://ift.tt/2pYOI1G Nicole Kushner Meyer (3L), the sister of US White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, poses at a promotional event in Shanghai on May 7, 2017. The sister of White House senior adviser Jared Kushner urged wealthy Chinese on May 7 to buy stakes in real estate through a controversial programme that offers US residency in exchange for investment. Nicole Kushner Meyer was in Beijing Saturday and in Shanghai Sunday, seeking more than $150 million in investment in a luxury apartment complex project in New Jersey. / AFP PHOTO / ALBEE ZHANG The family of White House advisor Jared Kushner apologized Monday for mentioning his name while urging wealthy Chinese investors to sink millions into a New Jersey real estate project. Nicole Kushner Meyer was in China at the weekend, seeking more than $150 million in investment in a luxury apartment complex known as “One Journal Square,” on which ground is scheduled to break early next year. She urged wealthy Chinese to buy stake...

http://ift.tt/2qP9Yah Steinmeier's visit, his first to Israel since becoming president in March and first to any country in that capacity outside Europe, comes after a recent row between Germany's foreign minister and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu./ AFP PHOTO / dpa / Rainer Jensen / Germany OUT German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier sought to move past a diplomatic dispute between his country and Israel while visiting Sunday, saying ties were strong enough to endure “turbulence”. Steinmeier’s visit, his first to Israel since becoming president in March and first to any country in that capacity outside Europe, comes after a recent row between Germany’s foreign minister and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “The foundations (of the Israeli-German) relationship are so broad that I think they can endure some turbulence like that taking place in the last 14 days,” Steinmeier said at the residence of Israeli President Reuven Rivlin. Netanyahu had ca...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J One of the Chibok schoolgirls released by Boko Haram on Saturday returned with a leg amputated, The Guardian has learnt. The unnamed girl was among the 82 girls taken from Banki, a town on the border with Cameroon, to Abuja, where they were taken to a Department of State Services clinic. “Two [of the girls] have injuries,” said, the chief of staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Abba Kyari, who received the girls at the Abuja airport. “One has hand injury, the other has a leg injury.” He was quick to point out that the amputation had nothing to do with the “rescue” operation, which he said was carried out”professionally, without any hitch.” The director of medicals, DSS Clinic, Anne Okoroafor, assured that the girls would be given adequate medical care. The 82 girls were among the 276 female students kidnapped by Boko Haram from the Government Girls Secondary School on April 14, 2014. Fifty-seven of the girls escaped while being taken away and three other...

http://ift.tt/eA8V8J The Naira on Tuesday depreciated marginally against the dollar at the parallel market, newsmen report. The Nigerian currency on Tuesday afternoon lost one point to exchange at N391 to the dollar, weaker than N390 posted on Friday, while the Pound Sterling and the Euro closed at N498 N420 respectively. At the Bureau de Change (BDC) window, the Naira was sold at N362 to the dollar, while the pound sterling and the Euro exchanged at N490 and N417 respectively. However, the Naira appreciated at the Nigeria investors and exporters window, closing at N379.68 to the dollar, stronger than N380.31, its opening rate. Trading at the Nigeria interbank market saw the Naira closed at N305.80 to the dollar. Currency traders said that in spite of the marginal loss of the Naira, the nations’ currency had remained stable. They called for patriotism on the part of Nigerians to save the Naira from the jaws of speculators and currency hoarders. The post Naira loses marginally a...

http://ift.tt/2p1zjN8 Senate President Bukola Saraki at the National Assembly PHOTO: TWITTER/NIGERIAN SENATE The President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki has described Nigerian workers as the pillars and driving force of the nation in view of their invaluable contributions to national development. Saraki made this known in a message signed by his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, Mr Yusuph Olaniyonu, in Abuja at the weekend to mark this year’s 2017 Workers’ Day celebration. He lauded the resilience and commitment of workers in both the formal and informal sector describing their contribution to the nation and the economy as “priceless’’. “From the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that contribute over 47 per cent to our Gross Domestic Product (GDP), to the civil servants who are the driving force behind our government; “All the way to the unregistered business owners who work to make a living for themselves and their families, every Nigerian worker in both the forma...

http://ift.tt/2oY0Hvf Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk (R) discusses a vision of cars being lowered into tunnels to travel efficiently and eliminate traffic congestion with curator Chris Anderson (L) at a TED Conference in Vancouver, Canada, April 28, 2017. Glenn CHAPMAN / AFP Elon Musk paused while chatting about his series of potentially world-changing endeavors to say he isn’t in it to provide salvation. It was during a talk on Friday at a prestigious TED Conference in Vancouver, where the tech entrepreneur was discussing his ventures building electric cars and trucks, rockets, a newly launched tunnel-boring company and even dabbling with super-fast mass transit. “I’m not trying to be anyone’s savior,” Musk said while discussing colonizing Mars and other dreams. “I am just trying to think about the future and not be sad.” “You’ll tell me if it ever starts getting genuinely insane, right?” the Silicon Valley star known for turning his passions into visionary enterprises added ...