Police in Germany say a couple left their five-year-old daughter behind at the airport after returning from a holiday.

Reutlingen police said that officers spotted the child wandering aimlessly and alone around the terminal at nearby Stuttgart Airport late Monday.

Fox News reports that the girl was taken to the airport police station but her mother called shortly afterward, to ask whether her daughter had been found.

Police said the mother explained to officers that the family had driven home in separate cars and each believed the girl to be with the other parent.

The child was eventually handed over to her father, who had returned to pick her up.

It wasnt clear how long the child had been abandoned at the airport by her parents.

Source: NAN

The Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Owerri in Imo is the best polytechnic in Nigeria, according to the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE).

The Executive Secretary of the Board, Dr Masaudu Kazaure made this known in Kaduna on Thursday, at the end of the Second Regular Meeting of the NBTE Governing Board. The meeting was chaired by Prof. Modupe Adelabu.

Kazaure explained that the polytechnic emerged the best after scoring 85.08 per cent in the assessment of 112 federal, state and private polytechnics in the country, in the pilot ranking of Nigerian polytechnics.

He said that the exercise covered 2015/2016 and 206/2017 academic sessions.

He said that the Federal Polytechnic Ilaro, Ogun came second with 73.08 per cent, while Kaduna Polytechnic, Kaduna State came third with 72.31 per cent.

Other polytechnics in the top 10 included The Polytechnic Ibadan, Oyo State, ranked fourth with 67.69 per cent; Federal Polytechnic, Bida, Niger, fifth, 65.38 per cent; and Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi, Edo, sixth, with 63.85 point.

Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu, Enugu State, seventh, with 62.31 per cent. Federal Polytechnic Offa, Kwara, Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Ondo State and Yaba College of Technology, Yaba, Lagos State were ranked eighth with 60.77 per cent.

Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Anambra was ranked 11th with 60.00 per cent and Federal Polytechnic, Idah, Kogi, occupied the 12th position with 59.23 per cent.

The NBTE boss also said that when disaggregated by ownership, the Federal Polytechnic Nekede also emerged the best Federal Polytechnic in the country followed by Federal Polytechnic Ilaro and Kaduna Polytechnic.

The Polytechnic Ibadan, IMT and Rufus Giwa polytechnics were the highest ranked among state polytechnics, while Lagos City Polytechnic is the highest ranked private polytechnic and the 16th in the country.

Dorben Polytechnic and Heritage Polytechnic were the second and third best private polytechnic in the country.

Kazaure explained that the polytechnics were ranked based on total number of programmes with full accreditation in the last two years and percentage of programmes with full accreditation.

Other criteria include proportion of academic staff showing the right mix, that is, chief lecturer and principal lecturer down to assistant lecturer; and ability of institution to introduce programme in new and emerging fields.

They were equally assessed based on capacity building of staff both within and outside Nigeria, teaching quality, including staff /student ratio and ratio of full-time to part-time staff.

Other areas are availability of current Campus Master Plan, Strategic Plan, and Academic Brief; percentage of academic staff with relevant higher qualification and professional registration; and 70:30
technology-non-technology enrolment ratio.

Another consideration was the incorporation of entrepreneurship education into the institutes curriculum and fully established Entrepreneurship Development Centre, he said.

He said other issues discussed by the board borders on quality assurance, accreditation, resource inspection visits and proliferation of illegal technical and health institutions in the country.

He said that 191 out of the 239 programmes in 41 polytechnics visited for accreditation between June and September 2018 were granted full accreditation while 48 got interim accreditation.

He also said that 117 programmes were scrutinised for resource inspection within the same period and 94 programmes were granted interim accreditation to commence operation, while 23 were denied.

Four proposed private polytechnics were also visited for approval and licensing within the period under review and only one was recommended while three were asked to remedy some identified deficiencies.

The governing board also approved a memorandum of understanding with Environmental Health Officers Registration Council of Nigeria to reduce the burden of duplication of quality assurance visitation and accreditation activities.

The board also agreed to hold meetings with relevant stakeholders to put an end to proliferation of illegal technical institutions and unapproved private health institutions operating in the county.

The board particularly commended the effort of the Kaduna State Commissioner for Health, Dr Paul Dogo for expressing concern to the board on illegal health institutions operating in the state, he said.

Kazaure added that the board equally frowned at the conversion of colleges of agriculture to polytechnics by some state governments and agreed to take necessary actions to put a stop to the development. (NAN)
FDY/

Source: NAN

Some houses and vehicles were burnt in Epe, Lagos East, on Thursday as political violence erupted following the killing of a supporter of one of the aspirants contesting to represent the All Progressives Congress in the House of Representatives election next year.

The person killed was identified as Idris Alooma, said to be 30 years old.

He was shot by hoodlums who attacked a polling unit in Ward 4, after voting had taken place and party members were awaiting the declaration of the result.

Four persons were cleared to contest for the APC ticket to the House of Representatives. They are Wale Raji, the incumbent, Lanre Odubote, a former Rep member, Remi Adebowale and Segun Olulade, a member of the House of Assembly.

Voting had ended at Ward 4, when the gunmen arrived at about 4.15 pm and shot Alooma, a witness Mr Akeem Lawal said.

He said the hoodlums stormed the polling unit after learning that their candidate had lost.

Lawal complained that the security in Epe was loose because there were no police officers at the polling unit when the attack occurred.

A NAN reporter who monitored the election reports that, some aggrieved youth set houses and vehicles ablaze across Epe community, after the killing of Alooma.

The Divisional Police Officer in Epe, CSP Adeyeri Sunday told NAN that one of the suspects, who attacked Alooma, had been arrested, adding that his team would do everything humanly possible to arrest other suspects and bring them to book.

The direct primaries to elect the candidates for both the House of Representatives and the Senate were held at the 19 wards in the Epe Federal Constituency.

Senator Gbenga Bariyu Ashafa, cleared to run unopposed for the Lagos East senate seat by the APC National Working Committee, had an opponent in Bayo Osinowo, a four-time member of the state of House of Assembly.

Voting started at about 3:45 p.m. in many of the wards in Ibonwon, Ikosi-Ejirin, Epe Recreation centre and Ogunmodede among others.

Results are being awaited.

Source: NAN

A witness, Izuchukwu Ezeuko, on Thursday told an Igbosere High Court in Lagos how he dropped $1 million dollar ransom for the alleged kidnap kingpin, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, popularly known as Evans.

The ransom was to save Mr. James Uduji, then held hostage by Evans.

Ezeuko, a manager in Udujis firm, made the revelation while giving evidence at the ongoing trial of Evans.

The manager, who was the fifth witness in the trial, said he agreed to travel from Lagos to the South East to drop the ransom in order to save his boss life.

Evans is facing two separate charges bordering on conspiracy to kidnap, kidnapping and attempted murder before Justice Adedayo Akintoye.

In the first charge, Evans is standing trial alongside Joseph Emeka, Ugochukwu Nwachukwu and Victor Aduba.

In the second charge, he is standing trial alongside Joseph Emeka, Linus Okpara and Victor Aduba.

At the resumed trial of the case on Thursday, Ezeuko narrated how he paid one million dollar ransom in two tranches of 800, 000 and 200,000 dollars to the kidnappers of his employer.

The witness said that on Sept. 7, 2015, his employer came to the factory at Agbara as usual.

According to him, at 5.00 p.m. he got a call that his employer who had left the factory for home was kidnapped.

However, after some weeks of the alleged kidnap, on Oct. 10, 2015, he got a call from a private number, who said he should speak with his boss.

My boss then spoke to me and said if I want him alive, I should go to the East to deliver money to the alleged kidnappers.

I went to Festac Town and met Mr Edwin Uduji, the victims brother, who arranged the first 800, 000 dollars for me to travel with.

On October 11, I drove to the East with the victims elder sister, and in the East, a voice gave us instructions on how to drop the money, Ezeuko said.

He said they were made to drive round Anambra from Awka to Ozubulu, also to Ekwuluobia and the environs until they were asked to stop at Oba.

It was at Oba that the voice asked the victims sister to come down from the vehicle with the money.

The voice directed her to an uncompleted building where she dropped the money. It was dark so we did not see the person who picked the money, Ezeuko told the court.

He said two weeks after the 800, 000 dollar ransom was dropped and the kidnappers released his boss.

However, towards the end of October, his boss asked him to take another 200, 000 dollars to the kidnappers because the kidnappers were still threatening his life.

Ezeuko said he took the money down to East and was asked to drop it on the Onitsha expressway by the voice that gave him instructions.

However, during cross-examination, counsel to Evans, Mr Olarewaju Ajanaku, asked Ezeuko if he informed the police that such ransom was to be paid or gave the call logs of the person he interacted with the to the police.

The witness said he did not inform the police about the ransom before paying and did not give the call logs to the police.

However, another witness, Sgt. Kingsley Harold, gave evidence concerning the first charge, in which Evans is standing trial alongside Joseph Emeka, Ugochukwu Nwachukwu and Victor Aduba, over the kidnap of Mr Donatus.

Harold said after Evans was arrested, he was asked to make a statement at the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) office in Ikeja but Evans said he was not too good in writing.

He said Evans, however, asked him to write the statement for him, adding that the statement was recorded in an open office in the presence of senior police officers and other people who came to the office for other cases.

He said the statement was recorded in a conducive environment between 2.00 pm and 3.00 pm, adding that the defendant was cautioned before making the statement.

However, the defendant s counsel opposed the admissibility of such statement and a trial-within-trial was conducted to ascertain the admissibility of such evidence.

After listening to the arguments, Justice Akintoye adjourned until Oct. 8 for continuation of trial.

Source: NAN

Two years after Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in Paris, her insurance company, AIG is suing her former bodyguard and his security firm in the United States for $6.1 million.

The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday in Delaware by AIG, which accuses Pascal Duvier and the company he worked for, ProtectSecurity, of breach of contract.

Celebrity website TMZ, which first reported the suit, says Duvier left the luxury residence, where Kardashian had been staying during Paris Fashion Week in October 2016, and followed two of her sisters to a nearby club.

As a result, Kardashian was left without security. The lawsuit also accuses Duvier of failing to plug a number of breaches at the property that allowed the masked gunmen to enter, TMZ reported.

Five men tied her up, gagged her and locked her in a bathroom, before making off with jewels worth $10.6 million, including a diamond ring gifted by rapper husband Kanye West, which she had flaunted on Instagram.

AIG is seeking the $6.1 million that it paid Kardashian after the robbery, holding the bodyguard and firm negligent, TMZ said.

Duvier no longer works for the mother of three.

French justice charged 11 suspects in connection with what was the largest robbery of an individual in France for 20 years. Only one piece, a diamond-encrusted cross, has been recovered.

The suspected ringleader, Aomar Ait Khedache, told investigators he had struggled to find a buyer for Kardashians 18.88-carat ring, complaining it was too recognizable and that he had given it to an unidentified third party.

Source: NAN

German second seed Alexander Zverev suffered an early exit at the China Open as he went down 7-6(4) 2-6 6-4 to Tunisias Malek Jaziri on Thursday.

The world number five appeared to have righted the ship after losing the opener in a tiebreak but paid the price for failing to convert his opportunities.

Jaziri, 34, executed an audacious tweener to win a point at 2-5 down in the second set and although Zverev still levelled he went onto claim his third victory over a top five opponent this season.

Up next for the world number 61 is a first Tour meeting with Nikoloz Basilashvili. The Georgian, ranked 34 in the world, overcame Spains Fernando Verdasco 7-6(3) 6-4.

Italys Fabio Fognini thumped Andrey Rublev 6-4 6-3 and will take on world number 45 Marton Fucsovics for the first time.

Hungarian Fucsovics beat surprise French Open semi-finalist Marco Cecchinato of Italy 6-4 6-2.

Its going to be a tough match because he (Fucsovics) is great, he played really well today, Fognini, currently ranked 11th in the race for the ATP World Tour Finals, said.

Top seed Juan Martin del Potro, who has already clinched his place in next months season-ending tournament in London, will meet Serbias Filip Krajinovic on Friday.

Briton Kyle Edmund takes on Dusan Lajovic in another last-eight clash.

Source: NAN

Former rap mogul Marion Suge Knight was sentenced in a Los Angeles courtroom on Thursday to 28 years in prison for manslaughter in the death of a man he ran over with his pickup truck outside a hamburger stand in 2015.

The sentence appeared to forestall any chance of a future recording business comeback for Knight, 53, known as much for repeated run-ins with the law as for his career as a hip-hop executive promoting the likes of Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and Tupac Shakur during the 1990s.

He admitted then to using a deadly and dangerous weapon on Jan. 29, 2015, when he ran down two men with his pickup truck in an altercation outside Tams Burgers that spilled over from a quarrel on the nearby set of a TV commercial for the film Straight Outta Compton.

Carter later died of his injuries. The second man, Cle Bone Sloan, was left with a badly mangled left foot and head injuries. Knight, who was out on bail in a robbery case at the time, fled the scene but was later arrested.

Knight had previously contended that he accidentally struck the two men with his vehicle while trying to flee what he thought was an ambush attempt.

Had Knight been convicted of murder and attempted murder as originally charged, he faced a life sentence with no eligibility for parole for 25 years.

As part of his agreement with prosecutors to plead no contest the legal equivalent of guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter, all other charges in the case were dropped. Two separate criminal cases in which he was charged with robbery and making criminal threats were also dismissed.

Judge Ronald Coen said Knight had earned the equivalent of 4.2 years credit for time served in pretrial detention. He also is eligible to shave another 15 percent, or 4.2 years, off his term for good behaviour while in prison, meaning he could end up serving nearly 20 years before release.

Seated beside his lawyer and wearing an orange jail uniform and horned-rimmed glasses, the burly, bald ex-college football player showed no visible emotion as sentence was pronounced. He did not address the court.

Knight previously served more than half of a nine-year term for violating the probation he received in 1995 for an assault on two aspiring rappers at a Hollywood recording studio.

The probation violation stemmed from a scuffle involving Knight at a Las Vegas hotel in September 1996, hours before Shakur was shot to death while riding in a car with Knight on the Las Vegas Strip. Knight was slightly wounded in the attack.

Knight was later named by police as a suspect in the shooting death of rival rap artist Christopher Wallace, known as Notorious B.I.G., but was never charged. Both rap murders remain unsolved.

In 2002, the year after his release from prison, a federal racketeering probe of Knight and his record label was closed with the company pleading guilty to misdemeanour tax charges. The onetime college football star and gangsta rap pioneer eventually lost control of his label in bankruptcy proceedings.

Source: NAN

The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has declared Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu as winner of Tuesday’s governorship primary.

This was contrary to the position of the Clement Ebri-led National Working Committee appointed electoral panel, which had earlier nullified the election that produced Sanwo-Olu as winner.

Ebri had said that the primary would be rescheduled as the state chapter has no power to conduct the party governorship primary election on its own.

However, the Lagos State Chairman of the party, Alhaji Tunde Balogun, announced Sanwo-Olu as the winner of the primary.

Watch the declaration here:

Breaking News

The State Party Cbairman, Hon Tunde Balogun announced at the State Party Secretariat ACME just now the results as follows.

Akinwunmi Ambode 72901

Babajide Sanwo Olu
970851

Babajide Sanwo Olu emerged as the party Candidate. pic.twitter.com/1oIyoudwwe

— APC Lagos State (@apc_lagos) October 2, 2018

Announcing the results to newsmen in Ikeja, Balogun said that Sanwo-Olu polled 970, 851 votes to defeat Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode, who polled 72, 901 votes.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the announcement was in contrast of the pronouncement of the electoral panel which had declared that election did not hold in Lagos.

NAN reports that both parties had on Monday, at a meeting, disagreed on the pattern of primary to adopt without reaching a consensus.

Balogun thanked party members for coming out en masse to participate in the primary, saying that their participation reflected their belief in democracy.

“I am aware that conflicting information has been circulating on our primary election, but I must tell you that the election was held and it was free and fair.

“It would be very painful to disenfranchise the over 1.5 million members who voted across the 245 wards in the state.

“At the end of the exercise, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu polled 970, 851 votes and Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode scored 72, 901 votes.With this, Mr Babajide is declared winner.

“I thank party members for participating in the election and their dedication to democracy,” he said.

Meanwhile, the National leadership of APC said it had postponed the governorship primary in Lagos State indefinitely to douse tension generated within the party in the state.

The African Students Education Support Initiative (ASESI), an NGO, has congratulated Nigeria for remaining a strong and united country at 58 years.

ASESIs Executive Director, Chinonso Obasi, in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja, said, however, that the leaders of the country had not done much for education and called for a state of emergency in the sector.

Obasi said that it was regrettable that a country blessed with rich natural and human resources was still lagging behind in basic education which was fundamental to everyones life.

The neglected citizens who have no access to quality education, affordable medical care services shall someday express their grievances to the society to register the level of disappointment.

The hopes of young Nigerians are in danger as their future is already doomed by those who occupy public offices who ought to lay formidable foundation like basic education for a Nigerian child.

It is only in Nigeria you will find public office holders spend tax payers money on sending their children overseas to acquire quality education while educational institutions in their constituencies are neglected.

The medical facilities in Nigeria are not standard as the elites and public office holders derive joy traveling abroad for ordinary medical treatment, he said.

According to him, Nigerias Independence Day calls for sober reflection.

He said that ASESI had plans to sponsor and support internally displaced children in Nigeria to acquire quality education as that was a better way of saving and protecting their future.

Source: NAN

Another fuel tanker explosion has been reported in Lagos Badagry Expressway on Tuesday morning.

Casualty has not been ascertained, but unconfirmed reports say four tankers were involved in the accident and many commercial buses were up in flames.

Many Nigerians have taken to twitter to report the incident which is said to have occurred at 5.32 am at Barracks bus stop in Ojo.

According to Jose @yemmytimmydar, A big bang of tanker explosion at Barracks now 5:32am

GIDITRAFFIC Verified account @Gidi_Traffic which retweeted@olaabdulakeem: Tanker explosion at Barracks Bustop along Lagos Badagry Exp way this early morning 2/10/2018. No loss of life had been confirmed though.

: Tanker explosion at Barracks Bustop along Lagos Badagry Exp way this early morning 2/10/2018. No loss of life had been confirmed though.

GIDITRAFFIC (@Gidi_Traffic)

Details on the latest accident later, but the last fatal oil tanker explosion occured on June 29 in Lagos and was reported to have killed many people and destroyed 54 cars when the tanker fell on Otedola Bridge along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

It took the effort of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA), Lagos State Fire Service, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Lagos State Ambulance Service (LASAMBUS), State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit (SEHMU), Rapid Response Squad (RRS), the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the police and other agencies to put out the fire and restore calm on the road.

General Manager, LASEMA, Adeshina Tiamiyu, said: The accident happened around 5.25pm and involved a tanker loaded with petrol. The tanker fell and spilt its content, causing fire which burnt 54 vehicles. The vehicles, which were of different models, were trapped behind the truck.

Some motorists, who turned to run away, crashed into other vehicles. Some jumped out and others fell into the gutter in the course of running away. We found dead bodies on the ground and in the gutter. Some of the people who died in the gutter had probably been caught by the fire and jumped into the gutter to put it out.

Nine dead bodies have been recovered and four were injured. Two were seriously injured, while two sustained minor injuries. The injured have been taken to a hospital, while the bodies have been taken by SEHMU to the mainland hospital mortuary. We are currently making efforts to remove the burnt vehicles from the road.

Source: NAN