Author: Vera

Three Lebanese judges have resigned over interference by politicians in the work of the judiciary, including a probe into last year’s Beirut blast, a judicial source said Thursday. In a country where political leaders determine judicial appointments, including in top courts, there is little room for the judiciary to work against Lebanon’s ruling elite. A probe into last year’s monster port explosion has exposed the extent of such interference, with top officials mounting a complex web of court challenges to obstruct the work of lead investigator Tarek Bitar. On Wednesday three judges, all women, handed in their resignation “to protest…political…

President Muhammadu Buhari, has ordered security agencies to intensify surveillance and patrol activities along the Abuja-Kaduna highway. The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, disclosed this to State House Correspondents on Thursday after the National Security Council meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Aregbesola also disclosed that the government was impressed by the recently concluded governorship election in Anambra State, which saw the emergence of the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Charles Soludo, as the governor-elect. He stated, “The police and other security agencies have been mobilised to intensify surveillance, patrol and pursuit of the criminals. And it’s not…

The former Petroleum Resources Minister, Diezani Madueke has lost her bid to recover $40m jewellery from Federal Government of Nigeria. Point News247 reports that the Court of Appeal Lagos Division has dismissed an appeal by the former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, challenging the forfeiture of her $40million worth of jewellery to the Federal Government of Nigeria. The court held that there was no substance in Alison-Madueke’s bid to overturn the lower court’s order and thereby affirming the 2019 judgment of Justice Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court which forfeited the jewellery following an application by the Economic and…

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) yesterday, sealed a plastic company and arrested three persons for producing harmful plastics. Point News247 reports that according to the Director General, SON, Farouk Salim, the enforcement exercise was part of the efforts by the agency to reduce to the barest minimum, sub-standard and harmful products being circulated across the country. He stated that the agency’s Mandatory Conformity Assessment Programme (MANCAP) makes it quite clear the standard requirements for locally manufactured plastic products, adding that the erring company has been producing plastic products below standards parameters.The three arrested suspects have been subsequently taken to…

The principal of Auga Community Grammar School, Joshua Adeyemi, has been kidnapped at gunpoint. Point News247 reports that Joshua Adeyemi and four others were kidnapped along the Auga/Ise-Akoko Road in Akoko North-East Local Government Area, Ondo State. Adeyemi was abducted together with his vice, Ifedayo Yesufu, and three other teachers in the school at gunpoint. The incident happened on Thursday afternoon when the victims were travelling in a Toyota Corolla. They were rounded up and taken into the forest by the attackers. One of the victims, a pregnant lady, Blessing Okeke, was released by the abductors due to her condition…

Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State has been on the watch list of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Point News247 gathered that in a letter to the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) dated November 15, 2021, the commission had requested the service to place the governor on a watch list and inform it anytime he is travelling out of the country from any of the international airports and other points of entry and exit. The reason behind the anti-graft agency’s action cannot be ascertained at the moment. However, sources said the move is an indication that…

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Ogun Area Command, has again proven to be a veritable source of revenue generation for the government. Point News247 reports that the Area Controller, Dera Nnadi, made this disclosure on Wednesday at a press briefing at the NCS office in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital. Presenting the agency’s scorecard on revenue generation, Nnadi disclosed that a total of N2,437,050, being proceeds of auction sales of seized petroleum products and scrap metals, was made by the command during the period under review. He, however, said his management has met with royal fathers in Ogun with the…

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), reveals that 25 schools in Nigeria have been attacked, while 1,440 students have been abducted since January 2021. In a new published report titled, ‘Children in West and Central Africa among those Who Suffer Highest Rates of Grave Violations in Armed Conflict’, the humanitarian agency stated that children in West and Central Africa are among those who suffer the highest rates of grave violations in armed conflict. UNICEF also revealed that since 2016, the West and Central Africa region ranks; “first in the world in terms of number of children verified as recruited and…

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is set to introduce Webb Tracker, a mobile Application which is poised to aid the Federal Government’s ease of doing business policy. Webb Tracker also includes a simplified standard operating procedure for the use of scanners. Point News247 reports that the mobile app enables any person that has access to the NICIS II to remotely validate any declaration/payment and more importantly the status of a particular consignment/vehicle. This information was passed via a press statement signed by the NCS Public Relations Officer, Joseph O. Attah, on behalf of theComptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service,…

Residents in Abuja have expressed dismay over the fire incidence in Nyanya Market, just about three weeks after a fire outbreak at the Kubwa Ultra-Modern Market, where many people lost their lives and property worth millions of naira. Point News247 reports that the fire occured in the late hours of Tuesday. The incident caused serious confusion in the market as traders and passers-by scampered for safety. As at the time of filing this report, the cause of the fire which had not been ascertained However, the spokesperson of the Federal Fire service, Ugo Huan, confirmed the incident, adding that the…