The Committee set up by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to investigate the allegations of underage voting during council elections in Kano has submitted its report.

The committee, according to a statement issued by INEC Director of Publicity and Voter Education, Mr Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, submitted it report to INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, on Friday.

It quoted Mr Ahmed Nahuche, Chairman of the committee as saying that diligent and wide consultations with stakeholders were made by the committee.

The committee was inaugurated by INEC in February 2018, to investigate the allegation of underage voting which was maliciously linked to the Voters Register in Kano.

Nahuche said that in carrying out the assignment, the committee consulted with critical stakeholders through visitations and interactive sessions.

The stakeholders interactive sessions included Civil Society Organizations, Political Parties, Print and Electronic Media organizations as well as Security Agencies.

The committee in the course of consultation and interactive sessions received a number of pictures, video clips, reports, documents and presentations from the stakeholders`.

It immediately embarked on thorough review and analysis of these materials in order to ascertain the actual connection with KASIEC LGA elections.

The committee also examined the social media reports of pictures and video clips that triggered the outrage and the alleged participation of underage persons in the KASIEC LGA elections as a key area of focus for the investigation.

The pictures and video clips were thoroughly analyzed by the committee, he added.

Nahuche advised that the State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) and Political Parties be encouraged to work towards improving electoral logistics to enhance the credibility of their respective processes and procedures.

He urged political parties to observe best practices for the sustenance of democracy.

Receiving the Report, INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu commended the Committee for discharging the assignment diligently.

Yakubu reiterated that the Commission was committed to ensuring that the voter register was purged of ineligible persons.

The credibility of the voter register is very important to the Commission; (and) that the outcome of the investigation, in the interest of transparency would be shared with the general public. (NAN)

Source: NAN

A snake charmer escaped death by the whiskers during a live show in Uttar Pradesh, India, after a deadly python coiled around his neck and almost strangled him.

At first, people thought it was part of an act, as the python coiled harder around the neck of the charmer who incidentally owns the snake, in an effort to kill him.

But they soon found out the act was all too real.

The snake charmer initially picked up the adult snake and allowed it to sit on his shoulders as he welcomed the crowd; slowly, the snake slithered up the mans body and started to wrap itself around his neck.

The man appeared calm, acting as if he was simply wearing a turtleneck and continued to motion people to come closer.

Thirty seconds later, the man kneeled on the ground and appeared to be having trouble breathing.

He leaned forward and grabbed the snakes body, attempting to forcefully pull the creature off.

For nearly a minute, a group of people just watched in shock and horror.

They realized the man was in serious trouble when he toppled over onto the sandy ground.

He appeared to be unconscious when a man stepped in to help. He sprinkled water on the snake and eventually the python slitered away.

According to report, three men came forward and rushed the unidentified man to a nearby hospital in Varanasi on March 20. His condition is still unknown.

Snake charmers are common in India, but the reptiles have been known to turn on their handlers.

It would be recalled that a famous snake whisperer in Malaysia died last week after he was bitten by a cobra.

Also, Dan Brandon, a snake enthusiast in the U.K., was found suffocated to death near his pet python, Tiny, last year.

A coroner later confirmed there was no doubt the python had killed him.

Source: NAN

The fiscal allocation to the 36 states by the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FACC) stood at N1,73 trillion in 2017.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) the total revenue available to the states in the year is put at N2.67 trillion.

Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) at State Level for 2017 report published on the bureaus website.

According to the report, the total revenue available to the states is in the year is put at N2.67 trillion.

Meanwhile, the NBS stated that the full year 2017 state IGR figure was N931.23 billion compared to N831.19 billion recorded in year 2016.

This, the bureau stated it indicated a growth of 12.03 per cent year- on- year.

The report stated that at the end of second half of 2017, total revenue generated by states was put at N432.65billion as against N409.09 billion in first half of the year.

NBS stated that 31 states recorded growth in IGR while five states which included (Akwa Ibom , Anambra , Bauchi, Osun and Taraba) recorded a decline at the end of 2017 Fiscal Year.

However, the bureau stated that the value of foreign debt stood at 19.9 billion dollars while domestic debt was N3.35 trillion at the end of the year respectively.(NAN)

Source: NAN

Hundreds of thousands of Americans are attending rallies nationwide on Saturday for tighter gun laws in March For Our Lives in the United States.

The protests led by survivors of the Florida school massacre, which re-iginited public anger over mass shootings.

Students from the Parkland, Florida, high school where 17 students and staff were killed on Feb. 14 will be among the 500,000 people organizers say could rally on Pennsylvania Avenue near the Capitol in Washington.

The protests orchestrated by survivors of the rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School are aimed at breaking through a legislative gridlock that has long stymied efforts to tighten firearms controls. Mass shootings at American schools and colleges have become a regular occurrence.

This issue is going to turn into the No. 1 issue in this country. I know thats not only what I want, but I know its what you guys want, Alfonso Calderon, a junior at the Florida school, told Washington students at a pre-march event on Thursday.

The Washington rally is among more than 800 events scheduled worldwide, with U.S. demonstrations set from San Clemente, California, to New York and Parkland, according to gun-control group Everytown For Gun Safety.

The teenage organizers have won kudos and cash from dozens of celebrities, with singer Ariana Grande and Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda among those performing in Washington.

Trainwreck star Amy Schumer is set to appear at the Los Angeles rally. Actor George Clooney and his human rights attorney wife have donated $500,000 and said they would be at the Washington rally.

Organizers want Congress, many of whose members are up for re-election this year, to ban the sale of assault weapons like the one used in the Florida rampage and to tighten background checks for gun buyers.

On the other side of the debate, gun rights advocates cite constitutional guarantees of the right to bear arms.

On Friday, Republican President Donald Trump signed a $1.3 trillion spending bill that includes modest improvements to background checks for gun sales and grants to help schools prevent gun violence.

David Hogg, a senior at Stoneman Douglas, said the protests were a way for young Americans to show their opposition to the National Rifle Association, the powerful gun lobby.

Were asking people (to) put the USA over the NRA, he said at the Thursday event in Washington.

An NRA spokeswoman said it had not taken a position on the protests.

Democrats and nonpartisan groups hope to register at least 25,000 first-time voters at the rallies, potentially a boost for Democrats, who generally favor stricter gun controls .

Source:

Students at Columbine High School in Colorado join their fellow students in the nationwide protests against gun violence. Amazing.

Ricky Davila (@TheRickyDavila)

Source: NAN

The trade war ignited by U.S President Donald Trump against China has caused a dip in the stock markets of both countries..

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped more than 700 points as investors worried that trade tensions between the worlds largest economies would escalate, reports on Friday.

The planned sanctions include tariffs on $60 billion worth of Chinese imports as well as restrictions on Chinese investments.

Mr Trump said he is taking those steps in response to theft of American technology but the Chinese government was quick to confirm it will defend itself.

Investors are worried that trade tensions would hurt US companies and harm the world economy.

On Thursday they fled stocks and bought bonds, which sent bond prices higher and yields lower.

With interest rates falling, banks took some of the worst losses. Technology and industrial companies, basic materials makers and healthcare companies also fell sharply.

Peter Donisanu, an investment strategy analyst for the Wells Fargo Investment Institute, said the risk of a damaging trade war is still low because the Trump administration is targeting specific goods that are not central to Chinas economy.

That could change if it puts tariffs on products like electronics or appliances imported from China.

also reports that war between the worlds two largest economies jolted Chinas markets on Friday, with the countrys main stock indexes tumbling the most in six weeks, while bond yields fell as investors rushed into less risky assets.

But in contrast to stock market ructions, the countrys currency markets remained quiet, with analysts expecting that any Chinese response to U.S. trade actions is unlikely to include changes in its foreign exchange policy.

China shares fell sharply after Beijing unveiled plans for tariffs on up to $3 billion of U.S. imports in retaliation to U.S. duties on Chinese steel and aluminium products went into effect on Friday.

China urged the United States to pull back from the brink, while its embassy in Washington vowed Beijing would fight to the end in any trade war with the United States.

The Shanghai Composite index closed down 3.6 percent at 3,152.76 points, its lowest close since Feb 9.

Chinas blue-chip CSI300 index was down 2.9 percent at 3,891.47, its lowest close since Feb. 12.

Source: NAN

Report by UN and EU on food crisis has predicted that the impact of severe dry weather on crop and livestock production is likely to heighten food insecurity in pastoral areas.

The areas are Somalia, southeastern Ethiopia and eastern Kenya, and in the Sahel in Senegal, Chad, Niger, Mali, Mauritania and Burkina Faso, the report said.

The report said that Nigeria, Somalia and South Sudan are among the countries that faced the worst food crises in 2017, the UN and EU said Thursday.

Yemen also features among the countries that hosted some 124 million people worldwide whose food security was under acute threat, the two organisations said in an annual report.

Conflicts and climate-related shocks have recently sent levels of world hunger marching back up, following decades of steady decline.

The figure of 124 million is 15 per cent higher than the number in 2016.

The report says was untouched while pointing out that in Africa, the Middle East and in parts of South Asia, conflict and insecurity undermined food security.

Likewise, persistent drought in the Horn of Africa, floods in Asia, and hurricanes in Latin America and the Caribbean have all contributed to the spread and intensification of hunger.

Looking ahead, the report said that conflict and insecurity were likely to remain major drivers of food security crises in 2018, affecting Afghanistan, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, north-east Nigeria and the Lake Chad region, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen as well as Libya and the central Sahel (Mali and Niger).

Yemen will continue to be the largest food crisis by far, the report said.

The situation is expected to deteriorate, particularly because of restricted access, economic collapse and outbreaks of disease.

On a more optimistic note, the report predicted that southern Africa was headed for a better year thanks to bumper cereal production in 2017 and falling food prices.

The report was presented by the European Union, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).

Source:

Source: NAN

The United Nations (UN) has noted that Boko Haram fighters have stepped up the use of women and girls for suicide bombings.

Noting a progress in the war against the jihadist by the four countries of Nigeria, Chad, Niger and Cameroon, the UN said while children were deployed in 135 such attacks in 2017 a five-fold increase over the previous year.

Therefore, UN Deputy Secretary-General, Ms Amina Mohammed, said it was critical to shore up areas of Lake Chad Basin that have been freed from the grip of Boko Haram terrorists.

Mohammed, in a video address to the Security Council, also called for efforts to rebuild the lives of women and girls that had suffered at the hands of the terrorist group.

She said recent joint efforts of Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger had resulted in considerable progress in the fight against the extremists.

Mohammed, speaking via videoconference from Liberia where she participated in celebrations to mark the end of the UN peacekeeping mission noted the liberation of hostages as well as territorial gains.

It is now key to stabilise the areas that have been reclaimed, and that we seize the opportunity to really promote sustainable development, she said.

Mohamed was joined by Mohammed Bila, a representative of the Lake Chad Basin Commission based in NDjamena, and Senior Conflict Adviser at Adelphi, Chitra Nagarajan.

They painted a picture of the factors behind peoples suffering in the Lake Chad Basin and driving some to terrorism one year after the Council adopted its first resolution on the activities of Boko Haram in the region.

Boko Haram, an Islamist militant organisation based in north-east Nigeria, has carried out raids, suicide bombings and kidnappings across the Lake Chad region over the past decade.

Their operations have led to displacement, insecurity, destruction of infrastructure and what Mohammed described as a complex and dire humanitarian situation, with nearly 11 million people requiring assistance.

The group gained international notoriety in 2014 after abducting more than 270 girls from a Government school in Chibok, Nigeria.

It is believed to be behind the kidnapping last month of 110 schoolgirls from the Nigerian town of Dapchi, most of whom were safely returned this week.

Overall, Boko Haram has abducted more than 4,000 women and girls, according to the UN deputy chief, who added that those who return to their communities are often stigmatised.

As the violation of human rights continues to fuel insecurity in the Lake Chad Basin region, Mohammed said investing in community justice mechanisms would be essential for reconciliation, as well as for ensuring accountability and promoting peace.

She stressed the need to incorporate human rights and gender dimensions into activities aimed at countering terrorism or preventing violent extremism.

She said the increase in Boko Harams use of women and girls as suicide bombers could be due to a lack of women security officers who could search other women at checkpoints.

The UN deputy scribe also called for more international action to support children affected by the upheaval in the region.

Also briefing, Nagarajan, who is based in northeast Nigeria, also used her briefing to touch on the gender-related aspects of the crisis and its impact on persons with disabilities.

She spoke of how women and girls were pushed into early marriage with combatants, for example, or they fall victim to sexual abuse and exploitation, including at the hands of people who were supposed to protect them.

Men and older boys are often the first to flee insecure areas, she said, speaking via videoconference from Maiduguri adding, women and girls were deliberately targeted, killed and forcibly recruited by armed groups.

Theyre viewed with suspicion, arrested, and detained by security agencies, and they are involved in fighting, leaving women of all ages, as well as girls, younger boys and older men struggling to cope.

Mohammed Bila, a Remote Sensing Expert with the Lake Chad Basin Commission, spoke of how climate change had had an impact on water governance.

Bila said the shrinking of Lake Chad had affected communities which depended on its shoreline to grow crops, leading to increased competition for water, accusations of river diversion, loss of livelihoods and social tensions.

He told the Council that the environmental monitoring network there was inadequate, sparse, poorly funded and operated, with only one water level measurement station for the entire lake.

The environmental challenges facing the Lake Chad basin are interconnected to the challenges of climate change faced by the region of the Sahel of Africa.

The Sahel is increasingly facing extreme variability of climate resulting in frequent droughts, short-duration high-intensity rainfall, desertification, water scarcity, land degradation, and ultimately food insecurity.

Consequently, addressing the climatic root causes of local challenges through risk assessment and management will require a similar solution at the Sahel regional level, he said. (NAN)

Source: NAN

No fewer than 17 people were killed and eight others injured in an explosion on Thursday outside a popular hotel in Somalias capital Mogadishu.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Internal Security, Abdiaziz Ali Ibrahim, told the media that the wounded were being treated at the citys hospitals.

Seventeen people died including a young girl, some workers and persons having tea at roadside teashops popularly known as bibiito, said Mr Ibrahim.

He said a tricycle taxi, locally known as bajaaj, may have been used for the explosion.

The blast occurred opposite one of Mogadishus oldest lodges, the Weheliye Hotel, along the busy Maka al-Mukarrama Avenue.

The jihadist Al-Shabaab group claimed responsibility.

The group carries out frequent attacks in Mogadishu as it seeks to overthrow the internationally recognised Somali government.

In October last year, al Shabaab killed more than 500 people in the deadliest attack at a busy intersection in Mogadishu.

Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen, more commonly known as al-Shabaab, is a jihadist fundamentalist group based in East Africa.

Founded in 2006, the jihadists In 2012, it pledged allegiance to the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda.

It emerged as the radical youth wing of Somalias now-defunct Union of Islamic Courts, which controlled Mogadishu in 2006, before being forced out by Ethiopian forces.

There are numerous reports of foreign jihadists going to Somalia to help al-Shabab, from neighbouring countries, as well as the US and Europe.

It is banned as a terrorist group by both the US and the UK and is believed to have between 7,000 and 9,000 fighters.

Al-Shabab advocates the Saudi-inspired Wahhabi version of Islam, while most Somalis are Sufis.

It has imposed a strict version of Sharia in areas under its control, including stoning to death women accused of adultery and amputating the hands of thieves.

Source: NAN

Mr. Basile Kouna, Cameroons former water and energy minister, was arrested in Nigeria and flown home on Thursday.

Kouna was removed from his ministerial position during President Paul Biyas March 2, cabinet reshuffle.

In February, he was ordered not to leave the country.

Kouna is in Cameroon. He was arrested in Nigeria and sent back to Cameroon.

He arrived this evening, one police source, who asked not to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the press, told Reuters.

Vision 4, a private television channel considered allied to Biya, reported that the former minister arrived at the international airport in the capital, Yaounde at 6:20 pm (1720 GMT) escorted by police officers.

Another channel, Canal 2 International, also reported his arrest in Nigeria and subsequent extradition back to Cameroon.

Cameroons government spokesman was not immediately reachable for comment. Neither were officials in neighbouring Nigeria.

It was not clear what charges Atangana Kouna was facing, but there was speculation on Thursday that he was arrested as part of an anti-corruption drive known as Operation Sparrowhawk.

A former Ministry of Public Works official, the head of a state company, and the ex-rector of the University of Douala, were arrested as part of the operation on Monday.

Cameroons oil wealth has spawned a sprawling political patronage system fueled by revenues from crude exports.

Transparency International ranked it 153 out of 180 countries on its annual corruption perceptions index.

Biya has ruled virtually by decree since taking over from a retiring predecessor in 1982 and then winning an election with 99.98 per cent of the vote a year later.

Now 85, Biya is expected to again seek re-election in presidential polls later in the year, but he is currently facing some of the biggest challenges to his 35-year rule.

Cameroons oil-dependent economy has been crippled by low crude prices.

And separatists are mounting a guerrilla campaign in the countrys two English-speaking provinces, demanding independence from the majority Francophone Central African nation.

Nigeria had warned it will not be used as a staging post by any dissident to attack the Republic of Cameroon,

The Security Adviser, Major. General Mohammed Monguno (rtd) at the opening of the 6th session of Cameroon-Nigeria Trans-Border Security Committee Meeting.

He spoke amidst local and international outcry over the deportation by Nigeria of 47 Cameroonian Anglophone secessionist campaigners to Cameroon on 26 January.

Although the NSA did not address the issue, he said President Paul Biya and the entire people of Cameroon have the full backing of President Buhari in finding solution to the countrys internal cisis and will not be pawn in the hand of any group that may want to destabilize Cameroon.

It is critical for me to re-emphasize that His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari assures you that we will take all the necessary measures within the ambit of the law to ensure that Nigerias territory is not used as a staging area to destabilize another friendly sovereign country.

Maj. Gen Monguno said it is the hope and belief of Nigeria that Cameroon will emerge from the challenges it currently faces as a stronger and more united country where peace, justice and prosperity reign.

I hereby assure you that there should be no doubt whatsoever, of Nigerias support for the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Cameroon. I need not stress that the bond of friendship and unity between our two countries is strong and can never be broken, he said.

He, however, advised and encourage the Cameroonian authorities to engage all aggrieved parties in a constructive manner to de-escalate tensions in the Anglophone regions and facilitate the return of Cameroonian refuges that have crossed the borders into Nigerian territory due to heightened tension and apprehension.

He said it is also important to observe that Nigeria as a signatory to most of the United Nations international protocols on the Rights of Refugees and their humane treatment, strictly enforces these provisions, not only as an obligation, but without prejudice to the cordial relations between our two countries.

He said it is against this backdrop that the Abuja meeting is expected to exhaustively examine all these developments as well as build on the successes recorded so far in the actualization of peace and security along the common borders.

In carrying out the mandate of Presidents of both Nigeria and Cameroon especially in the area of sub-regional security, the Security Adviser acknowledged the close cooperation Nigeria continues to receive from Cameroon in the fight against the Boko Haram terrorist group and other transborder criminal elements.

To Cameroon, he said your steadfast commitment and resolve has no doubt contributed significantly campaign and other security concerns in the sub-region.

(Reuters/NAN)

Source: NAN

Spains prosecutor says it is seeking a five-year jail sentence and a fine of four million euros (3.5 million) for former football player Xabi Alonso over accusations of tax fraud.

The prosecutor said in a statement on Wednesday that Alonso was accused of defrauding the Spanish state some two million euros between 2010 and 2012.

The prosecutor called for the same sentence to be applied to Alonsos financial advisor Ivan Azcuenaga and the administrator of consultancy shell company, Ignasi Casanova.

Source: NAN