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JAILBREAK: Gunmen Releases 240 Inmates In Nigeria Prison Break

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NIGERIA: No fewer than 240 Inmates have escaped the Medium Security Custodial Centre (MSCC) in Kabba, Kogi State in North-Central state in Nigeria.

The inmates escaped during an attack by unknown gunmen.

The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) Spokesperson, Mr Francis Enobore confirmed the incident in a communique on Monday, stating that the attack took place at about midnight on Sunday.

How the Attack Occured

Enobore disclosed that the gunmen whose number could not be ascertained yet arrived at the centre with heavy arms and ammunition and engaged the guards in serious gun dwell. 

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The Spokesperson however said that the Comptroller–General, Haliru Nababa has ordered a recapture procedure to be activated immediately and detailed investigation carried out even as he leads a team to assess the situation.

The Comptroller-General also appealed to the general public to furnish security operatives with useful intelligence that will assist in recapturing the escapees

The latest jailbreak comes a few months after gunmen attacked the Nigerian Correctional Service and the police headquarters in Imo State, freeing 1,844 inmates, after which the hoodlums set the facilities ablaze.

The gunmen also razed the Imo State Police Command headquarters and burnt almost all the vehicles parked at the command’s headquarters. No fewer than 50 cars were set ablaze in the process.

Also, a similar attack was experienced at the correctional centre in Ubiaja, Edo State; which was foiled by officers at the facility.

The inmates, after breaking out from their cells, engaged the correctional officers in a fight, leaving some of the security personnel injured.

It took a combined effort by officers from the Nigerian Army, 4th brigade, and the Edo Command of the Nigeria Police Force, to eventually overpower the inmates and return them to their cells.

Bizare: Nigerian Woman Bears 3 Children For Son

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NIGERIA: A middle-aged woman identified as Fati Sime; and her son, Adamu Sabi Sime, have been arrested by the command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) over an alleged incestuous relationship.

The incident occurred in Kaiama local government area of Kwara State in North-Central Nigeria.

it was discovered that the incestuous relationship had produced three children. 

How they were discovered

The local government is one of the councils that shared border with the Benin Republic which the woman and her son said to be relocated from. 

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The spokesperson of the Kwara State NSCDC, Babawale Zaid Afolabi, who confirmed the incident discloses that the woman and her two sons had been handed over to the Nigeria Immigration Service for further background checks because they lacked the necessary papers to stay in Nigeria.

“Yes, the case is true. It was reported to us last Thursday by one Mallam Bandede, the district Head of Mosne Community in Kaiama.

“When our operatives in Kaiama got there, we discovered that the mother (Fati) has three children for Adamu Sabi, her biological son. A further check revealed that the younger brother of the accused, who was also confirmed to be sleeping with the mother, is now at large,” Babawale said.

Reactions

Residents of the community who expressed shock over the incident have called on the immigration service to always carry out diligent checks in profiling foreigners who are migrating into the country.

The local government according to findings also harbours a lot of immigrants from neighbouring Benin Republic because of the closeness with the council. 

Majority of these foreigners strayed into Nigerian soil without proper checks and necessary documents that permit them. 

1,409 Students Abducted In Past 19 Months in Nigeria – Report States

NIGERIA: In a new report by Nigeria’s geopolitical intelligence platform (SBM) about one thousand four hundred and nine (1409) students have been abducted in Nigeria in the last 19 months. 

The report was released by SBM Intelligence on Wednesday. 

The report read, “at least 1,409 students have suffered abductions since the latest school abduction epidemic, which started in March 2020,” with 16 of them killed in the process.

The report identified Kastina as the most affected state with 440 victims, followed by Zamfara with 419.

“At least 1409 students have been kidnapped from their schools in Nigeria since the first incident in the country’s latest school abduction epidemic, which started in March 2020.

“In the 19 incidents up until the latest kidnap in Zamfara state, 17 teachers have also been kidnapped alongside their students, and at least ₦220 million have been paid out as ransoms. Unfortunately, 16 of the victims have died in these incidents,” the report added

Other states that witnesses students abduction includes Niger and Kaduna state all in northern region of the country. 

The incident had force the government’s in those state to shut down a lot of boarding school while many parents also withdrew their children from schools over the fear of being kidnapped. 

State of Schools

Some schools in crisis-ridden parts of Niger state have been shut down and some of the students deboarded.

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In Niger state, 22 Secondary Schools which include 11 Day and 11 Boarding Schools have been closed down because the location where they are sited have been declared hot insecurity zones in the state.

In 82021, the Niger state Commissioner of Education, Hajiya Hannatu Jibrin Salihu said that 31 boarding Schools across Niger state are not fully operational.

10 schools out of the 31 schools have been totally shut down while the others were asked to deboard their students.

Only 25 boarding schools across the state are still operational.

Development Commission Accused Of Mismanagement Of Project Funds

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 NIGERIA: The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has been accused of poorly executing unverified over 13,000 projects in the region despite the N6 trillion allocation it received from 2001 to 2019.

The Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami had said at the presentation of the report on the forensic audit of the NDDC where he represented the Nigeria President, Muhammadu Buhari’s. 

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) is an interventionist agency set up in 2000 to see to the development of the oil-rich Niger Delta region and tackle the ecological problems arising from oil production activities in the mandate states.

It would be recalled that President Buhari had in August 2019 ordered the forensic audit of the agency, in response to what Malami called “the yearnings of the people of Niger Delta region to reposition it for effective service delivery”.

Malami said, “The federal government is particularly concerned with the colossal loss occasioned by uncompleted and unverified development projects in the Niger Delta region, in spite of the huge resources made available to uplift the living standard of the citizens”. 

Details of the Report

The AGF while commending the auditors for their work said all aspects of the report submitted would be strategically implemented without hesitation adding that the President had directed his ministry to conduct a legal review of the report to ensure that justice is carried out. 

“Criminal investigations, prosecution, and recovery of diverted funds would be initiated against suspected looters of the agency’s funds. 

“It is evident that considerable resources have been channelled by the Federal Government to the development of the Niger Delta from 2001 to 2019. 

“Within 19 years, from 2001 and 2019, the federal government approved over N3.3 trillion to the agency as budgetary allocation and N2.4trillion as “income from statutory and non-statutory sources. Which brings the total figure to the sum of approximately six trillion Naira given to the Niger Delta Development Commission,” he said. 

The Minister who shocked participants at the event revealed that “We have on record over 13,777 projects, the execution of which is substantially compromised.

” Apart from poorly executed or non-execution of contracts, the federal government is also concerned with the multitudes of Niger Delta Development Commission’s bank accounts amounting to 362 and lack of proper reconciliation of accounts”.

Reason for the report

The Commission, according to reports from the region, has generally fallen short of meeting the expectations of the people of the nine mandate states of Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo, and Rivers.

In the last 20 years since it was established, the Commission has been riddled with serious corruption allegations and failed to deliver on its mandate for the people of the Niger Delta region.

The AGF said the President had directed that the audit report be forwarded to the Federal Ministry of Justice “for a legal review and relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government will be engaged in doing justice to the findings accordingly.”

Malami said criminal investigations, prosecution, and recovery of improperly used funds would be initiated but he didn’t give a specific time for the investigation.

“The federal government will, in consequence, apply the law to remedy the deficiencies outlined in the audit report as appropriate.

“This will include but is not limited to the initiation of criminal investigations, prosecution, recovery of funds not properly utilized for the public purposes for which they were meant for review of the laws to reposition and restructure the NDDC for the efficiency of better service delivery amongst others.

“In all these instances of actions, legal due processes will strictly be complied with,” he said.

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The Minister added that the essence of the forensic audit carried out on the NDDC “is to ensure probity and accountability in the use of public funds.”

“It is against this background that the Federal Government will without hesitation strategically implement all aspects of the audit exercise that will promote probity and greater prosperity for the Niger Delta Region and Nigeria as whole,” he said.

About Niger Delta Region

The level of poverty and general deprivation suffered by the people of Niger Delta is at odds with their profile as the region that produces the oil which serves as the mainstay of the Nigeria’s economy.

Niger-Delta people’s long-suffering condition is largely attributable to official corruption at various levels.

Since 2007, two former Governors of states in the region – the late Diepreye Alamieyesegha of Bayelsa State and James Ibori of Delta State – have been convicted of money laundering involving funds they stole from their people.

Some other former governors from the region are under criminal investigation.

Cases of funds diversion and poorly executed contracts are rife in the NDDC, which is supposed to apply funds directly allocated to it by the federal government to develop the region.

But officials have only become rich at the expense of the long-suffering and poverty-stricken people of the Niger Delta, resulting in myriads of environmental hazards that deprive them of potable water and means of livelihood, mainly fishing and farming.

43 Million Nigerians Earn Less Than N200,000 Annually – SERAP

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NIGERIA: In a new report by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), it has been established that about 43 million Nigerians earn N200,000 or less annually.

This, according to SERAP, was a result of what it described as widespread and systemic corruption in government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) which is making Nigerians poorer.

Statistics

The report which is titled, “The Ignored Pandemic: How corruption in the health, education and water sectors is plunging Nigerians further into poverty” discovered that budget fraud, procurement fraud, embezzlement of funds among other infractions affect education, water and health service delivery.

According to the report, “48.90 per cent of people living in poverty, more than 27,453,154 earned less than 100 thousand Naira per annum. 27.9 per cent, more than 15,663,456 earned between 100 and 200 thousand Naira per annum”.

Further investigation, however, reveals that 61 per cent of people living in poor areas have no formal/senior secondary education; 57.30 per cent of people in such neighbourhoods were youths between 18 and 35 years old.

It is also revealed that the majority of the 36 states have no documented policies for helping people living in poverty or people earning low income to have access to health, education and water. 

The Report

The 61-page report which was launched at the Radisson Blu Hotel Ikeja, Lagos, said corruption contributes to the poverty and consequential suffering of people living in poor neighbourhoods. 

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SERAP in the report admonished President Muhammadu Buhari to propose an executive bill to amend the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to recognize Nigerians’ socio-economic rights, including the rights to the quality standard of living.

The report also called for the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which allows persons whose socio-economic rights are violated to access accountability mechanisms

Other statistics in the report shows that about 10.70 per cent earned between 201 and 300 thousand Naira per annum; 12.50 per cent earned more than 300 Naira per annum.

Also, 65 per cent of people living in poor neighbourhoods stayed in either one-bedroom or two-bedroom accommodation; up to 40 per cent of people living in poverty, about 2,245,657 have physical disabilities.

Only 19 per cent of people living in poor neighbourhoods get water from governmental providers. 23.96 per cent, more than 10,626,673 people living in poverty, got water from streams or rivers; 10.51 per cent got water from neighbours’ houses, and 1.54 per cent received water from other sources.

The assessment covered the six geopolitical zones of the country and relied on data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) for its report.

The States with the highest and lowest population of people living in poverty were selected from each geopolitical zone.

Call to Action

The SERAP report urged the Buhari administration to publish the criteria for eligibility for the National Social Register of Poor and Vulnerable Households, cash transfers and similar social programmes.

The President was asked to increase investment in public health, education services, clean water and others for the benefit of the majority of the population.

The budgetary allocations to renovate the National Assembly complex should be redirected to vulnerable citizens including women, children, persons with disabilities, and the elderly, the report suggested.

“The leadership of the National Assembly should ensure that the relevant parliamentary committees collaborate to initiate independent public enquiries and fact-finding on how public funds have been spent on education, healthcare and water since the return of democracy in 1999″, it recommended.

The report demanded that the NASS release reports of investigations into allegations of corruption in MDAs and tasked relevant agencies to carry out further probes and prosecution.

Ghana Receives Largest Shipment Of COVID-19 Vaccines

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GHANA: Ghana has received 1,229,620  doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.

According to the government, this is one of the largest shipments of COVID-19 vaccine received so far.

The vaccine was a donation from the United States government which will increase the  range of vaccines and bolster efforts to reach herd immunity.


Ghana Government reaction


The Government of Ghana has said that the vaccine which arrived on Saturday will save the lives of the people in Ghana and help the government combat the spread of COVID-19.

The Deputy Minister for Health, Honorable Mahama Asei Seini received the vaccines on behalf of the government.

He confirmed that the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine received was 1,229,620  doses.

Seini described the donation as best practice of cooperation between the two nations.  

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The Deputy Minister for Health, Honorable Mahama Asei Seini, while receiving the vaccines on behalf of the government, described the donation as the best practice of cooperation between the two nations. 

The Moderna COVID-19 vaccines have been taken to the central EPI cold room before they are dispatched across the country. 

 UNICEF is supporting the Ghana officials to ensure that cold chain equipment is in place for the safe storage of vaccines at specific temperatures.