By Ramatu Garba

A Chief Magistrates Court sitting in Kano on Friday ordered that a teenager, Babangida Inusa, who allegedly raped his neighbours 50-year-old mother, be remanded in a correctional centre, pending legal advice.

The police charged Inusa, who resides at Falgore Village, Kabo Local Government Area of Kano, with rape.

Chief Magistrate, Muhammad Idris, who did not take the plea of Inusa, ordered the police to return the case file to the Kano State Directorate of Public Prosecution for legal advice.

Idris adjourned the case until Dec.12, for further mention.

Earlier, the Prosecution Counsel, ASP Badamasi Gawuna, told the court that the complainant, Rabiu Hussain, of the same address reported the case at the Garo Police Division Kano, on Sept.6.

Gawuna alleged that on Sept.4, at about 4 p.m, Inusa attacked and raped the complainants 50-year-old mother on her farmland in Kabo Local Government Area of Kano.

He said that the offence contravened the provisions of Section 283 of the Penal Code.(NAN)

Source: NAN

The Arndale shopping centre in Manchester on Friday has been evacuated after reports of stabbings.

According to the BBC the UK ambulance service was treating four people after the incident at the Arndale shopping centre in Manchester.

Five people have been stabbed and counter-terrorism police are leading the investigation, British police said in a statement.

We are on the scene, we are treating four patients, a spokeswoman at the North West Ambulance Service said.

Manchester Police said on twitter that they were responding to an incident at the shopping mall.

According to media reports, armed police officers are patrolling inside the shopping mall.

UK police said that a man has been arrested on suspicion of serious assault over the incident at the shopping centre.

A man in his 40s has been arrested on suspicion of serious assault. He has been taken to custody for questioning.

Footage from outside the shopping centre, shared on social media, shows police vehicles arriving at the scene. (Sputnik/NAN)

Source: NAN

The Lagos State House of Assembly on Thursday threatened to issue a warrant of arrest on the former Governor of the State, Akinwunmi Ambode and four others who served under the ex-governor as commissioners.

The decision followed two preliminary reports presented by two different ad-hoc committees set up by the House to investigate the 820 buses purchased by Ambode and to appraise the 2019 mid-year budget.

Presenting the preliminary report of a 9-man ad-hoc committee to probe the 820 buses purchased by the former governor, Chairman of the committee, Fatai Mojeed said that it was discovered that due process was not followed in the purchase of the buses.

The lawmaker said Ambode used the refund of the Paris Club for the purchase of the buses without the approval of the House, saying he did not inform the House before commencing the purchase of the buses.

Over N48 billion was spent on the purchase of the buses and N22 Billion were spent on import duties. 520 of the buses are still at the seaport.

Mojeed stated that the Accountant General of the state told the committee that she depended on the approval of Ambode for the purchase of the buses and that no payment voucher was made available to the committee.

According to Mojeed, they also demanded for the budget instrument used for the purchase, but that there was no budgetary provision for the purchases.

They could not produce any newspaper where the purchase of the buses was advertised. The committee invited 20 stakeholders, 16 of them complied, while four of them refused against the constitutional provision, he added.

On his part, Gbolahan Yishawu, Chairman Adhoc Committee on mid-year budget review, alleged that the above-mentioned commissioners were invited by his committee but refused to appear without giving any excuses for their absence.

Yishawu also claimed that the former governor gave some directives on spending without the approval of the lawmakers.

Reacting to the matter, some members of the House suggested that since the ex-governor and those officials who worked with him had been invited by the two committees and refused to show up, warrant of arrest should be issued on them.

Bisi Yusuf, the member representing Alimosho Constituency 1, told his colleagues that the House is empowered by the constitution to issue a warrant of arrest on the concerned individuals for their refusal to appear before the committees.

While expressing a contrary view, member representing Badagry Constituency 1, Ibrahim Layode urged his colleagues to tread with caution.

He advised that the concerned individuals should be invited through newspaper advertisements, stating that the ex-officials were likely to come across the publications.

According to the Majority Leader, Hon. Sanai Agunbiade, I want to observe that if they have been invited and refused to show up, we should summon them and if they still refuse, then a warrant of arrest can be issued. Now, theyve been invited, we should summon them by using the dailies before going to the extent of issuing an arrest warrant.

Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, noted that the issue was beyond arrest warrant, because when this house invite people and they refused to show up, its like setting a bad precedence for others coming behind.

The clerk should write them, including the ex-governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode and if they refused, we will do newspaper publications and after that, we will issue a warrant of arrest, Obasa stated.

Source: NAN

By Uchenna Ugwu

The Ebonyi State Emergency Management Agency on Friday, said that flood had displaced no fewer than 30,000 people, including children in six local government areas of the state.

The agencys Acting Executive Secretary, Mr Chibueze Iteshi, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abakaliki that the flood submerged farmlands, livestock and houses.

About 30,000 persons are currently displaced by flood across the state. It affected infants, children from one to 12 years old, adults from 18 to 49, 50 years old and above at the camps.

When the disaster occurred, about 95 per cent of the children stopped going to school because the school structures might have also been affected.

There were fears that the roofs of the school buildings might have been blown off by storm. .

The schools appeared no longer accessible to the children, he said.

According to him, the Nigerian Metrological Agency (NIMET) and Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) predict the heavy rains.

Iteshi said that the children were in different nursery, primary and secondary schools in the affected local government areas.

He appealed to UNICEF to come to the aid of the children, adding that they were finding it difficult to cope with the displacement.

According to him, the agency has commenced has commenced inventory of the affected persons and communities.

He also disclosed that the agency had inaugurated 13 Local Emergency Committees (LEC) across the state to mitigate the effect of flooding in communities.

He said that the committees had the responsibility of promoting community enlightenment and prompt response activities for the reduction of flood in communities.

Iteshi commended the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on its commitments toward disaster management measures.

He also commended the state government for providing logistics for strengthening flood management and sensitisation campaigns across the state. (NAN)

Source: NAN

In a first-century collaboration (we mean the A.D. era, people), a Brooklyn-based company created $1,425 customized Nike sneakers called “Jesus Shoes” — that sold out in one minute.

The sneakers, a pair of Nike Air Max 97s injected with holy water derived from the Jordan River in the Middle East and adorned with a steel crucifix, are by creative label MSCHF. Head of commerce Daniel Greenberg, 22, tells Yahoo Lifestyle that an August brainstorm meeting on brand partnerships, including one between Adidas-Arizona, produced the winning idea.

“I said, ‘What would a collab look like with Jesus Christ?” Greenberg tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “You could say Jesus is the most influential person of all time.”

The premium price may not faze true sneaker fans — Bergdorf Goodman sells Jimmy Choo “Diamond Crystal-Embellished Metallic Sneakers” for $3,995, and Dior is selling high-top sneakers for $1,100.

MSCHF employees pitched different shoe concepts — sneakers with a holy nail and fake blood and a modern upgrade on the classic “Jandal” (Jesus sandal) trend. But the idea of “walking on water” won out. “We weren’t making a religious statement, but more saying, ‘Hey, collab culture is getting out of hand,’” says Greenberg.

The team decided to use Air Max 97s, Greenberg’s daily shoe (although the product has no association with Nike), and inject holy water into the midsole, the cushioned part of a sneaker. But engineering required innovation. Fortunately, Greenberg has a friend living in Israel, who agreed to retrieve one gallon of water from the Jordan River — where, per Christian tradition, Jesus was baptized — and ship it to New York.

Walk on water while blessing your kick game with the exclusive all white Nike Air Max 97 MSCHF x INRI Jesus Shoes.

Shop the sneakers on StockX: https://t.co/ulGquMQIPm pic.twitter.com/npejhQ3Lrs

— StockX Sneakers (@StockXSneakers) October 8, 2019

Greenberg and his colleagues also called a priest to the office to bless the water. “He didn’t have any issue with it, but sort of laughed at our weird request,” he says. The water was mixed with blue dye for realism and red soles to reflect the shoe color worn by the Pope. The inserts are also scented with the resin frankincense, one of three gifts presented to baby Jesus.

And the ungodly price? It’s a play on Matthew 14:25, which describes Jesus walking on water. (The shoes are also available on retail site Stock X for around $3,000).

The completed product was sent to a handful of Instagram influencers and rapper A$AP Rocky, but Greenberg believes they went viral due to “sneaker heads” obsessively following the product tease online. The shoes went on sale at 11 a.m. on Tuesday and all two dozen pairs were sold out by 11:01 a.m.

Greenberg, who dropped out of college after his freshmen year and is now studying two days a week at New York University while working full-time at MSCHF, tells Yahoo Lifestyle while rushing to class, “We’re not a shoe company and we did not believe many would buy these or pay freaking $1,425.”

Now MSCHF, which Greenberg says is “the anti, anti company,” plans to introduce new concepts on every second and fourth Tuesday. When pressed for details, he teased, “an app, a weird exponential thing about streaming wars, and weed paraphernalia.”

64-year-old man, Bassey Archibong, of No. 10 Kunle Dipo Street, Majidun, Owutu, in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State, has been arraigned for having carnal knowledge of his four daughters aged between 12 and 20.

It was learnt that Archibong had been having incestuous sexual relationship with the girls since 2016.

Archibong was arraigned on three counts of continuous sexual relationship with his daughters, failure to get their consent and involvement in an amoral relationship with the victims before the Ikorodu Magistrates’ Court 1, Lagos.

The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The prosecutor, John Iberedem, said Archibong used food as bait to get the girls to consent to his amorous desire.

Iberedem said whenever the children objected, he would refer to Lot in the Bible, who had sex with his daughters and was not punished by God.

The prosecutor also stated that the offences were punishable under Section 265 (2) of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2019.

He said, “The defendant beat the children and starved them whenever they confronted him on why he was sleeping with them.

“He would tell them that intercourse between fathers and daughters were normal and approved by God.

“He told the children that God did not punish Lot, who had sexual intercourse with his children, meaning that He approves of the act.”

The charges read in part, “That you, Bassey Archibong, between the years 2016 and 2019 at No. 10 Kunle Dipo Street, Majidun, Owutu, Ikorodu, Lagos State, in the Ikorodu Magisterial District, did engage your four daughters between the ages of 12 and 20 in sexual activities by having carnal knowledge of them continuously without their consent, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 265 (2) of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2015.

“That you, Bassey Archibong, on the same date, time and place in the aforementioned magisterial district, did have unlawful carnal knowledge of your 20-year-old daughter without her consent even when you knew that it was morally wrong, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 260 (1) of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2015.”

The Chief Magistrate, Mrs F. A. Azeez, remanded the accused person in a correctional facility pending advice by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

She adjourned the matter till October 30, 2019.

Chiniki Guard, a Nigerian Information Communication Technology (ICT) startup application has won the best prize of 10,000 USD in the Artificial Intelligence category competition at the ongoing Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX).

GITEX is a global annual and biggest technology gathering in the Middle East,North Africa and South Asia with theme “Synergising the Mind and Technology Economy.”aqq

Chiniki Guard is an Artificial Intelligence security solution for retail stores,supermarkets to monitor,detect and alert shop owners of shoplifting as well as suspicious behaviour in real time.

Chiniki Guard is among the 34 startups in the category of the Supanova finalists at the GITEX Futurestars competition.

Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)Mr Abdulhakim Bashir,the Founder of Chiniki Guard, said the opportunities at GITEX had accorded him the win and would enable him widen the scope of his business.

Bashir said he woud launch the application after GITEX and move to the cloud for storing data to accommodate the number of requests from shop owners.

According to him,Nigerians have potential that can transform the economy but the private sector needs to be involved.

247Medic, a health ICT application that connects doctors with patients across Nigeria within a maximum waiting time of 10 minutes and provides auxiliary services, including lab testing,door step delivery of drugs,also made it to the finals.

Other Nigerian start-ups at the exhibition include: Blue Circle of Notitia,a health application that digitise patients’ medical history, Zowasel,an agritech application to improve value chain.

Naira Packet also among the startups is a solution mechanism that reduces the cost of micro transactions and Sublime Square, an online platform, designed to ensure efficiency in waste evacuation and management.

NAN reports that Nigeria’s participation at GITEX is spearheaded by NITDA.

Nigeria Postal Service, Nigeria Communication Satellite Limited, Nigeria Petroleum Exchange Commission, Petroleum Equalisation Fund Management Board are some agencies representing the country at GITEX.

The start-ups were mentored and supervised by the Office for ICT Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIIE), a subsidiary of NITDA.

(Reuters/NAN) Ugandas Joshua Cheptegei triumphed after a close battle in the 10,000 meters on Sunday, winning his first world title and bringing his country their second medal of the championships.

Cheptegei remained near the front of the pack for most of the race and surged in the final kilometer to pass leader Rhonex Kipruto.

He held off the challenge of Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia to finish in a world leading time of 26 minutes 48.36 seconds.

Kejelcha finished just under one second behind Cheptegei, clinching silver with a personal best time of 26:49.34.

Kenyas Kipruto had to settle for bronze after having led for most of the race, crossing the finish line in 26:50.32.

Source: NAN

By Emmanuel Afonne

Two Presidents on Monday emerged at separate elective congresses in Port Harcourt, Rivers and Abuja, to pilot the affairs of the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that while the Port Harcourt 2019 Triennial Delegates Congress returned Honour Sirawoo as National President for a 2nd term in office through a voice vote, a parallel group in Abuja, elected former Edo SWAN chairman, Ahmed Aigbona, as its president.

Aigbona was removed as Edo SWAN chairman on July 6, 2016 after he was elected a board member of the Edo State Football Association (FA) as he cannot hold two elective offices.

Also elected in the Port Harcourt were Vice Presidents Bonny Nyong, South South; Dan Musa Mohammed, North Central; Jiboh Zakari, North East, and Chigozie Chukwuleta, South East.

Jude Opara, a member of the FCT was elected as Secretary-General, while Bello Farouk emerged as the Treasurer, and Orji Samson Nwabebe, became the Financial Secretary.

Isaiah Benjamin, Chairman, SWAN Electoral Committee (SWANECO), said the positions of Deputy President, Vice President, North West and Deputy Secretary General were not occupied.

Benjamin who is the SWAN Chairman, Kaduna State said the vacant positions would be filled in due course as some of those who purchased the forms were absent at the congress, thereby contravening the SWAN statutes.

The SWANECO chairman also said Kwara, Bauchi, Zamfara, Cross River and Gombe States where absent at the event in Port Harcourt, while Lagos came with five observers.

Delegates from Ogun were attacked on their way and as such couldnt make it to Port Harcourt, he stated.

Thirty states attended the congress in Port Harcourt, while the Abuja event was graced by aggrieved members of SWAN who vowed vehemently opposed the return of Sirawo for a second term.

In a similarly development, Mike Oboh another member of the FCT SWAN emerged as Secretary-General of the Abuja faction.

The immediate-past Vice-President North West, Ado Salisu emerged Deputy President, while Femi Amusan from Oyo State became Vice-President South West.

Emmanuel Uja from Benue emerged as Vice-President, North Central; Loveday Herbert from Bayelsa became Vice-President South South, and Ismaila Mohammed from Jigawa was elected as Vice-President North West.

Ikem Asika from Anambra is the groups Vice-President South East, while Monica Iheajam of The Sun Newspapers in Lagos was elected the Financial Secretary.

Meanwhile, Mike Oboh, factional Secretary-General of SWAN, in a statement on Monday in Abuja, said the re-elected SWAN president Sirawoo, has been suspended.

He explained that Sirawoo was suspended for acts inimical to the well-being of the body.

The Port Harcourt and Abuja congress held contrary to the directive by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), that both events be suspended pending when issues surrounding the conduct of the elections were resolved.

NUJ had earlier threatened to sanction any group that would violate the directive. (NAN)

Source: NAN

By Ijeoma Olorunfemi

Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Oct. 7, 2019 (NAN) In line with global requirements of communications, Dr Isa Pantami, Minister of Communications, said Nigeria was ready to deploy 5G network across the country to ease network flow.

Pantami said this on Monday at the ongoing 39th Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX) holding in Dubai (United Arab Emirates).

GITEX is a global technology exhibition that brings together over 200,000 trade visitors, investors, innovators, IT experts, countries, Information Communication Technology startups from over 145 countries of the world, to share trends of ICT and ways of advancing technology innovations.

Nigerias participation in GITEX, which is spearheaded by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is a week long programme holding from Oct. 6 to Oct. 10.

5G mobile network is the next-generation standard for wireless communication, set to start taking over the mobile network environment in 2019. 5G delivers vastly increased capacity, lower latency and faster speed.

The minster said Nigeria is ready for 5G network but preparation is key. We are ready but need deployment and before that we need pre-deployment and post-deployment.

We are working to handle the challenges of pre-deployment but the approval has been given for the trial.

Nigeria is not yet into the 5G network deliberately. Some of the telecom operators are ready to deploy the 5G network but the proposal was put on hold, so we can be productive and proactive.

There could be potential challenges that could obstruct 5G network, which include regulations. You cannot just rush into it without preparing your ground, he said.

He said that the Federal Government is engaging some security agencies like the National Intelligence Agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Nigeria Police, among others to ensure a seamless process, while establishing regulations on deploying the 5G network.

The minister also said that 5G network cannot be deployed across the country yet due to some gaps in citizens being unable to access 2G, 3G and 4G networks.

At the pace we are moving, some places do not even have 2G, there are over 200 cluster areas in the country and with this you cannot say we can move to 5G when some people are yet to access 2G, 3G.

The gaps are already there, it is not a new one but you cannot delay advancement because other people are not benefiting, what we should do is to bridge the gap.

He added that Nigeria was not doing badly in technology, however, patriotism and confidence in indigenous products and services was lacking.

Pantami recalled that a Nigerian in the UK was the first person globally to develop, build and design first real time 5G network dedicated to self-organised networks in the UK , using general purpose processors.

According to him, we usually fail to deploy what we produce, we are so much addicted to foreign products and whenever we hear anything local it appears to us as inferior.

That perception of undermining our effort is what we need to change.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nigeria Postal Service, Nigeria Communication Satellite Limited, Nigeria Petroleum Exchange Commission, Petroleum Equalisation Fund Management Board are some agencies representing the country at GITEX. (NAN)

Source: NAN