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Expert: Corporal punishment impedes autistic child’s development
Baerbel Jaja, Head, Government Special School, Lafia, Nasarawa State, says corporal and psychological punishments should not be meted to special needs persons. Jaja told newsmen in Lafia on Friday that corporal and psychological punishments hamper the overall functionality and the development of such persons. She said: “If you flog an autistic child, that’s the end of the development for that child. “You have killed his spirit. “Even for a normal child, if you keep flogging him, you have actually killed the spirit of that child and that will make him not to function well. “If an autistic child does not function the way you want, you have to be patient with him. “You cannot use force on any of this special need kids because it doesn’t work; it will rather close up the little you have achiev...
Kassim Afegbua: No need for reconciliation with Governor Obaseki
Prince Kassim Afegbua, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former Commissioner for Information in the state, has said he has no need to reconcile with Governor Godwin Obaseki on his purported suspension from the party. Speaking in an interview, Afegbua also said he remained a member of the PDP despite his public endorsement of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last governorship election in Edo state. He said: “There is nothing to reconcile with the state Governor. I am older than him at the party. He only came because he needed a platform to contest the election. After his second term inauguration, can you name the PDP members in his administration, five months after? “Yes, I was purportedly suspended for one month by my ward...
Official: Why CCB denies Nigerians access to public officers’ assets information
The Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) on Wednesday explained why it denies Nigerians access to the details of the assets declared by public officers. The chair person of the bureau, Muhammad Isah, also disclosed that assets declaration would soon become online-based. Mr Isah, represented by his special assistant, Mustapha Musa, spoke in Lagos at a meeting on ‘Promoting Transparency and Accountability in Asset Declaration by High-Ranking Public Officers’. Newsmen report that the meeting was organised by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP). On access to public officers’ assets information, the CCB chair said the bureau never honoured citizens’ requests for such information because the National Assembly had yet to give the guidelines for such public disclosure. He said the...
Ohanaeze faction opens own office
The division in Ohanaeze Ndigbo leadership following January 10th election has deepened with the faction opposed to the Prof. George Obiozor- led leadership opening a parallel office opposite the Akanu Ibiam International Airport as its operational base. The Engr. Chidi Ibeh-led faction had while inspecting the main Ohanaeze Secretariat at the Park Avenue, Enugu, recently, declared it as uninhabitable and vowed to secure another secretariat to run the affairs of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organization. Meanwhile, the Ibeh group has declared April 22, 2021 as “Atonement Day of Ndigbo”. According to Ibeh, on the issue of atonement, “this land must be purified; our prayerful men and women will be assembled together, all the clergy in Igbo land will come together and pray for the cleansing o...
Presidency: President Buhari never promised to make N1 equal $1
The Presidency has said that there was not a time when President Muhammadu Buhari promised to make N1 equivalent to $1. The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said this on a Channels Television programme, Sunday Politics, on Sunday. Adesina, who also addressed complaints about the economy by Nigerians, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, said of the often quoted promise by Buhari to make N1 exchange for $1: “It does not exist, it is fake, it is false, it is apocryphal, it doesn’t exist.” He further told Channels Television that the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has debunked the claim several times and challenged anyone with clips and publications of the President promising such to make them available. On the critic...
Sudan and rebel group sign agreement on separation of religion and state
The Sudanese government and a major rebel group from its southern Nuba Mountains on Sunday signed a document which paves the way for a final peace agreement by guaranteeing freedom of worship to all while separating religion and the state. The signing is viewed as a crucial step in efforts by the power-sharing government headed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan to reach accords with rebel groups across the country and end decades of conflicts that left millions displaced and hundreds of thousands dead. Last year Sudan signed a peace agreement with many groups, including from the Western region of Darfur. But a key faction of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu, did not join in last year’s agreement because it stuck to its demand that Sudan dispens...
Interpol: Fake coronavirus vaccines are being sold online
The International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) has warned against the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines online. INTERPOL noted that criminals have started producing and selling fake vaccines through online platforms. The law enforcement organisation, in a statement published on its website, said members of the public that purchase such fake vaccines are at risk of serious health hazards. “With criminal groups producing, distributing and selling fake vaccines, the risks to the public are clear: these can include buying a product which not only does not protect against COVID-19, but poses a serious health hazard if ingested or injected. Such products are not tested, regulated or safety-checked,” the statement read. “Legitimate vaccines are not for sale. They are strictly administered ...
Benue governor: Do not politicize attempt on my life
Governor Samuel Ortom Monday cautioned against anyone politicizing last Saturday’s attempt on his life by gunmen at Tyo-Mu community in the outskirts of Makurdi town along Makurdi-Gboko road. He stressed that the level of insecurity in the country was a clear indication that Nigeria was sitting on a gun powder and everyone must be conscious to avert an implosion. The Governor who spoke at the end of an emergency State Security Council meeting held in Makurdi, appealed to Benue people to be calm and await the outcome of the investigation being carried out by the Police as directed by the Inspector General of Police, IGP. The Governor who said he was still in shock, lauded the Presidency, the Inspector -General of Police, IGP, as well as the array of groups including Nigeria Govenors’ Forum,...
Ekiti governor: By-election violence perpetrators to face murder charges
Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti on Sunday said there is no wasting time in prosecuting those responsible for the killings during Saturday’s house of assembly bye-election for murder. He said this while on a sympathy visit to Omuo Ekiti, headquarters of Ekiti East LGA, where the incident occurred, that those arrested would be arraigned not later than Monday for murder. Newsmen report that while in the town, the governor visited the private home of Abiodun Olujimi, a PDP Senator representing Ekiti South Senatorial District, who was one of those who narrowly missed being hit by the bullets. He later held a closed-door meeting with the senator where he reportedly told her, after the latter had narrated her ordeal, that the issue at hand was not a political issue, promising that anyone arrested...
Ekiti by-election: Shot policewoman recuperating – CP
Contrary to the news making the rounds, that a policewoman lost her life during Saturday’s bloody poll, in Ekiti East Constituency 1, the Ekiti State Police Commissioner, Mr Babatunde Mobayo, has clarified that she is alive and responding to treatment. Mobayo said the Policewoman who was shot during Saturday’s House of Assembly bye-election, only sustained gunshot wounds and was immediately rushed to the hospital for medicare. Three persons were on Saturday shot dead by suspected party thugs while five others sustained gunshot wounds during the House of Assembly bye-election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the state constituency. Speaking with journalists via telephone in Ado Ekiti, on Sunday, Mobayo, who responded through the Command’s spokesman, ASP S...
Bayelsa governor promises to investigate youth’s ‘death’ during police operation
The governor of Bayelsa, Douye Diri, has ordered an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of a youth on Thursday, in Ovom community, Yenagoa Local Government Area (LGA), of the state. Newsmen gathered from residents of the area that the young man was allegedly shot by a policeman, at Ovom surburb. Mr Diri gave the directive on Thursday, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, after being briefed about the incident in Uyo, where he is attending a state cabinet retreat. He also directed that an autopsy be carried out to determine the cause of death. The governor promised that the government would ensure perpetrators of the dastardly act are uncovered and brought to book. “Human life is sacred. As a responsible government, we would not shy away from o...
UFC star Israel Adesanya tenders apology after ‘rape’ comment
UFC star Israel Adesanya has apologized to fellow fighter Kevin Holland after he came under attack for his rape comment. Isreal Adesanya made the “rape comment” while trash-talking Holland in a since-deleted video. “Bro, I will fuckin’ rape you,” Adesanya said in an Instagram video directed at Kevin Holland, who had targeted him with a series of insulting remarks. However, in a statement on Friday morning, the Nigerian-born New Zealand MMA fighter said he “crossed the line” and he understands the gravity of what he said. The statement on Adesanya’s official Twitter account reads: “Last week fight talk escalated to a point in which I crossed the line. I understand the gravity of this word and how it can affect and hurt other people apart from my opponent, although that was never my intentio...