May 4, 2019

Banditry, kidnappings, and killings in the North

May 4, 2019 11:25 am

By Odumodu Gbulagu

In the times past when the kidnapping scourge was at it’s peak in the Southeast and South South geopolitical zones of Nigeria, the two zones were mocked by the rest of the country and the Igbos especially were accused of turning everything including kidnapping to money making venture.
Now the menace is a thing of the past in both zones, and it has become a lucrative and budding business in the unlikeliest of places: the Northern part of the country and
Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara and Abuja have become the hotbeds.

ILO begins €28m project in five African countries

May 4, 2019 11:09 am

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has begun a 28-million-euro project, sponsored by the Netherlands, to accelerate the fight against child labour in Nigeria and four other African countries.

This was announced by the Ambassador of Netherlands to Nigeria, Marion Kappeyne van de Coppello, on the side line of a two-day workshop on the project in Abuja on Friday.

The project, Acceleration of Action in the Elimination of Child Labour in Supply Chains in Africa (ACCEL), was also being carried out in Mali, Malawi, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt and Uganda.

The ambassador said the project was a long term one which focused …

Soyinka, others protest as DSS moves Sowore to Abuja

Calabar: DSS nabs 59 for commercial sex, minors, men

May 4, 2019 10:50 am

No fewer than 59 commercial sex workers which included 43 girls and 16 men have been arrested by the Department of State Security (DSS) in Calabar.

Mr Ilupeju Adebayo, Director of DSS in Cross River, who briefed newsmen on Saturday in Calabar, said the girls were rounded up at 2:15 a.m Saturday morning at Peace Garden Hotel and Papsi Place along Murtala Mohammed highway.

Adebayo revealed that there was a cartel responsible for luring the girls and making them swear oaths of secrecy not to abscond or divulge information about the business.

FEC approves the award of ₦169.74bn for 10 roads

May 4, 2019 10:30 am

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the award of N169.74 billion contracts for the construction and rehabilitation of ten roads across the country.

With the award, it is expected that 2,750 direct jobs will be generated with over 90 per cent to be taken up by Nigerian workers.

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola stated the roads will open up settlements, provide access for evacuation of goods and services and improve socio-economic lives of the beneficiary communities.

The Special Adviser to the Minister on Communications, Hakeem Bello, in a statement in Abuja on Saturday, explained the …