Out of school refugees: Educate them or pay the price – UN

Less than half of the world’s refugee children are getting a school education, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said Friday, warning of negative consequences for host countries.

“We need to invest in refugee education or pay the price of a generation of children condemned to grow up unable to live independently, find work and be full contributors to their communities,” said Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugees.

An estimated 3.7 million among 7.1 million school-age refugees do not go to school, the Geneva-based UNHCR said in a report that was published as children across the northern hemisphere are heading back to class after their summer vacations.

Only 63 per cent of refugee children attend primary school, compared to the global rate of 91 per cent.

The rate drops sharply in high school, as 24 per cent of refugees get an opportunity to receive secondary education, far below the global 84 per cent.

The UNHCR called on governments and donors to fund a new initiative to build secondary schools, train teachers and cover education costs for refugee families.

Without school or job prospects, “adolescents are more vulnerable to exploitation and more likely to turn to illegal activities out of desperation,” the UNHCR report said.

It noted that children from host communities also stand to profit if additional schools are built.

Only 3 per cent of refugee youths attend university, compared to 37 per cent of their global peers.

The UNHCR urged universities to be flexible about education certificates, which many refugees leave behind as they flee violence or persecution, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported.

- PM NEWS

Airtel overtakes Globacom to become Nigeria’s second largest network

Airtel Nigeria is now the second-largest telecommunications service provider in the country.

According to the July subscriber data released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Airtel gained a total of 906,400 customers in July to become second.
Airtel currently has 123,327 subscribers more than Globacom that has occupied the position for years.
In total, there are now 174,668,626 active GSM lines in the country.

In the month under review, MTN gained 1,379 new subscribers with another 118,442 subscribers from Visafone, a CDMA network it acquired.
Globacom gained 118,087 new subscribers to reach a total of 46,713,068 GSM users while 9mobile was the only operator that lost subscribers.

It lost 225,283 subscribers, dropping to 15,739,967 mobile users.
In terms of market share, MTN retains the largest share of the market at 37.43% with Airtel at 26.81%.
Globacom holds 26.74% share of the market while 9mobile holds 9.01%.


The total number of subscribers on the two Voice over Internet Protocol networks (VoIP) increased from 165,333 users in June to 172,111 active users in July.
Smile Communications network added 6,543 users to stand at 167,555 customers while Ntel added 235 users to stand at 4,556 subscribers.

- THECABLE

Immigration ‘gets access’ to Interpol database, vows to track fraudsters

Muhammad Babandede, comptroller-general of Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), says the agency has been granted access to the international police (INTERPOL) database. 

Speaking on Thursday at a seminar organised by the Bureau of Public Service Reforms in Abuja, Babandede said the move will curb the activities of fraudsters in the country.

He said access to the information on interpol database will enable the NIS to track and prevent wanted criminals from entering or doing business in Nigeria.

The CG urged Nigerians to desist from cyber crime and stop patronising fake recruitment sites for jobs.

“This notice became necessary due to the increasing activities of fraudsters that have remained unrepentant,” he said.

“After several arrests and arraignment they continue to open fake recruitment sites through which they defraud unsuspecting citizens of their money.”

Ibrahim Arabi, director-general of the bureau, said the immigration service has implemented most of the recommendations made by the bureau.

Arabi noted that this has improved the quality of service delivered by the NIS, which no longer relies on conventional approaches.

“Hence there is need to leverage on ICT to plan and execute government policies, programmes and projects,” he said.

- THECABLE

Unemployed man nabbed after ‘buying’ N2m car with fake bank alert

The Niger State Police Command has arrested an unemployed man, Luba Udoka Jonah, who allegedly specializes in defrauding people by sending them fake bank transaction alerts.

Jonah was arrested after trying to defraud a car dealer in Minna.

The car Dealer, Abubakar Yahaya of TK Motors reported Jonah to the Police after the suspect sent him a bank alert which did not reflect in his bank account.

According to Yahaya, the suspect came to car stand to buy a Mercedes Benz C240 model which they agreed at the rate of N2 million. He deposited N50, 000 before taking the car for test running.

However, after two days, the seller retrieved the car from the suspect following his refusal to pay the balance even though the suspect took his account details to pay the balance of N1.950 million.

Upon receiving the alert from the suspect, Yahaya went to the bank only to be told that no money had entered into his account.

This made Yahaya to report the suspect to the Police, which led to his arrest.

The suspect confirmed that he sends fake alert to his unsuspecting victims upon transacting business with them adding that this was made possible with an application which he uses to manipulate bank accounts.

He said he uses the fake bank alert to buy expensive things and leave the area immediately before the person can discover that he or she has been duped.

“There is one application I downloaded which I use to manipulate any bank account number that comes my way. I have been defrauding innocent people of their money without them knowing about it.

“I can buy goods worth millions of naira in somebody’s shop, once I complete the fake transfer, the person will get alert on the spot and I leave the area immediately.”

The command’s Public Relations Officer, Muhammad Abubakar urged the public to be discreet with their banking transactions in order to avoid falling prey to fraudsters.

He said that the case would be charged to court soon.

- DAILY POST

P&ID to Nigerians : Justice Minister Malami cause of $9b nightmare

The Irish company, P&ID trying to make Nigeria Nigeria poorer with a charge of $billion on national assets said the country should hold . Attorney General, Abubakar Malami responsible.

It blamed Malami’s inaction and dilly dallying for the turn of events and not even past governments as Nigeria had ample time when Buhari took over to settle matters, when the reparation costs stood at just $850m.

In a statement today that it said was its effort to set the record straight, P&ID chastised Malami for trying to revise history and introducing allegations of contract fraud.

Read the full statement:

Malami’s Revisionist History

It is another day, and with it comes another attempt from the Nigerian Government to create a fictional history of the P&ID case.

This week’s series of desperate conspiracy theories point to something deeper: the Buhari Administration is refusing to admit its own role in the P&ID case from 2015-2019 after it came into office.

Appearing on CNBC Africa, Attorney General Abubakar Malami sought to wipe his hands and the hands of the Buhari Administration clean when he stated, “[t]he government as a unit was delicately involved. And that was the government in 2010, the award was in 2012, and then three years thereafter the current administration under the leadership of Muhammadu Buhari came into place. So the time when this administration came to place in 2015, the award was over three years, there was no appeal, no application for execution, no application to set the award aside.”

Attorney General Malami seems to have a case of amnesia.

Let’s set the record straight:

May 3, 2015: P&ID offers to settle the dispute with the Nigerian Government for $850mm. President Goodluck Jonathan indicates they are handing over the negotiations to the incoming Buhari Administration.

May 29, 2015: Muhammadu Buhari is sworn in as the 15th President of Nigeria, but fails to appoint a cabinet for five months.

July 17, 2015: The Arbitration Tribunal found in favor of P&ID (i.e. – the Liability Award). The new Buhari Administration did not make any attempts at settling or negotiating with P&ID, and did not make any effort to challenge the decision.

November 11, 2015: Attorney General Malami was sworn in November 11, 2015, just under three months after the Liability Award.

May 27, 2016: The Arbitration Tribunal wrote to the Nigeria Government confirming that: “As the parties will be aware from Procedural Order No 12, the Tribunal has decided that the seat of the arbitration is England. It follows that the Federal Court of Nigeria had no jurisdiction to set aside its Award.” Neither Attorney General Malami, nor any representative of the Buhari Administration did anything in response other than continue with the proceedings, thereby tacitly accepting the analysis of the Arbitration Tribunal.

June 24, 2016: Having failed to set aside the Liability Award by falsely claiming the seat of arbitration was in Nigeria; not England, Attorney General Malami wrote personally to the arbitrators to say “my office has taken over the handling of the above arbitration on behalf of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.” He asked for and obtained an extension of time to file a defence to quantum, and appointed his own legal team in place of the Ministry of Petroleum Resource’s legal team.

August 30-31, 2016: The Quantum Hearing (i.e. – amount of damages payable) takes place in London. Attorney General Malami’s legal team conducted Nigeria’s defence at the quantum hearing. Expert witnesses as to quantum were called to give evidence and were cross-examined.
 After the Quantum Hearing, Attorney General Malami instructed his lawyers to request a standstill agreement, which would take effect from the date of the Award.

This fact has never been publicly reported until today. 

January 31, 2017: The Arbitral Tribunal issued a final award, ordering Nigeria to pay P&ID $6.5 billion plus $2.3 billion in uncollected interest as of March 2018.

February 17, 2017: The Award on Quantum was delivered to the parties on February 17, 2017. Despite the 60-day standstill having been agreed by P&ID, Attorney General Malami made no attempt to negotiate with P&ID during the 60 days following the handing down of the Quantum Award.

April 28, 2017: After the 60 days had expired, Attorney General Malami instructed his lawyers to write to P&ID’s lawyers and explained that “The delay was occasioned by the bureaucracy of the Federal Government in a bid to determine a reasonable strategy after receipt of the Arbitral award.” The Attorney General’s lawyers added: “we now have the authority of the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to meet with the Claimant to negotiate the Terms of the Arbitral award.”

Today: In the lead up to the judgment by the English Commercial Court, Attorney General Malami allowed the time for acknowledging service in both the United States and London to lapse without filing any response. In both jurisdictions, Nigeria’s lawyers Curtis Mallet had to apply for ex post facto extensions of time and make the necessary apologies and explanations to the court.

In London, a senior Curtis Mallet partner explained that the Claim Form was “immediately filed and not passed up the chain of command” at the Ministry of Justice. The partner pleaded that “the delay was neither deliberate nor intended to be disrespectful to the Court.”

In the US, Curtis Mallet explained that the deadline was missed because they were in the process of being formally retained by the Nigerian Government and had been instructed to enquire about the potential for a settlement

The Attorney General’s pronouncements in the Nigerian press are a clear attempt to cover up his own incompetence and that of the Buhari Administration. This is a matter, which could have been settled shortly after he took office in November 2015 for $850 million. Instead, he personally took the decision to gamble on the arbitration and turned an $850 million liability into a $9.6 billion liability.

And at no time since has Attorney General Malami assumed responsibility has he raised any allegation of fraud or scam, either in the arbitration or in the subsequent enforcement proceedings. The reason for this is that there was no fraud. All of this raises serious concerns for foreign investors in Nigeria, whether you are investing in a commercial enterprise or buying Eurobonds. Not only will Nigeria deliberately refuse to pay an international arbitration award backed by an English Court, but they are prepared to launch sham investigations and character assassinations when all else fails.

This is a serious assault on the Rule of Law by a demonstrably dishonest administration.

Meanwhile, P&ID is now focused on vigorously enforcing its legal rights in the UK, including seizing Nigerian assets to satisfy the award. This will begin as soon as possible.

- PM NEWS

Rivers: Why we need state police – Wike tells UN

The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has highlighted the need for the establishment of state police across the country.

Wike said the creation of state police would help to resolve the current insecurity facing the country, stressing that the present security structure makes it difficult for the Federal Police to respond quickly to security challenges.

Speaking when the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, Ms. Agnes Callamard, visited him at the Government House in Port Harcourt, the governor said: “We believe that there should be state police for us to effectively fight crime in the country.

“Our system is fashioned towards the United States, which has Federal, State and Local Police. Each of them has their responsibilities. In the present situation, if a crime is committed, the Commissioner of Police will first report to the Inspector General of Police, before taking any action.”

The governor also stated that his administration established the Neighbourhood Safety Corps Agency to support security agencies with information, but the agency was frustrated for political reasons.

“We established the Neighbourhood Safety Corps Agency which would have helped the security agencies with information, but it was politicised by the Federal Government when they sent the Army to ensure that it did not come to fruition.

“If the Neighbourhood Safety Corps Agency was allowed, probably we would have solved part of the security problems,” he added.

- DAILY POST

Nigerian govt acquires $8.5m calibration aircraft

The Nigerian government on Thursday said it has taken delivery of a calibration aircraft worth $8.5m to make the air space safer.

Hadi Sirika, country’s Aviation Minister said on his twitter account on Thursday evening that he just received new calibration aircraft for the country.

He said the make of the aircraft is King Air 350i and cost $8.5m.

According to him, the acquisition of the aircraft had saved the nation the agony of contracting it to South Africa or Niger at about $500K every 6 months.

Sirika said the nation’s airspace is safer now and thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for purchasing the aircraft/

“Just received new calibration aircraft for the country. Make is King Air 350i. Cost $8.5M. The agony of contracting it to South Africa or Niger at about $500K every 6 months is over. Our airspace is safer. Thanks Mr President, we started & finished during your regime,” he wrote on his twitter page.

- PM NEWS

Police provides graphic details of how slain OOU student was killed, thrown into Osun river

The police in Ogun State said the remains of Ahmed Obisanwo, a 400-Level student of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, who was reportedly killed by some vigilantes, were thrown into Osun River to flow freely into the lagoon.

DAILY POST earlier reported that the Ogun police command arrested three members of a community vigilante group for the alleged murder of the final-year student.

It was learnt that the vigilante group, which the suspects claimed they belonged is known as ‘Yaluwon’ in Ijebu-Igbo.

According to the Police Spokesperson in Ogun, Abimbola Oyeyemi, “After killing their victim, the suspects stripped his corpse naked before throwing it into Osun river for it to flow freely into the lagoon.”

DAILY POST gathered that efforts are still ongoing by the police to search for the corpse of the 24-year-old Obisanwo from the Osun River.

The police also said, “efforts are on top gear to apprehend other members of the group connected with the case.”

It will be recalled that the three suspects in police net, Idowu Ayodele (a.k.a Olori Odo), Segun Ogunbanwo (a.k.a Kikisore) and Salisu Akeem were arrested following a petition written to the Commissioner of Police, Bashir Makama, by the father of the victim, Surakat Obisanwo, who complained that his son had got missing after he and a friend were arrested on August 8, 2019 at Ijebu-Igbo by the local security outfit on allegation that the two friends were members of Eiye cult group.

Obisanwo’s was, however, released, but he was nowhere to be found; prompting his father to petition the CP.

- DAILY POST

Biafra: Kanu discloses why Nigerian President will not return from Japan

Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has again come up with some claims about President Muhammadu Buhari.

Nnamdi Kanu, in a statement he personally signed, said that President Buhari, who he described as Jubril-Buhari, has been encircled and trapped by members of IPOB in his (Buhari) hideout in a Yokohama hotel, adding that there is no escape for the Nigerian leader.

The pro-Biafra leader, who claimed that the real Buhari was buried in Saudi Arabia, vowed that his group knows where the President’s presidential jet is and will never allow him to leave Japan.

The IPOB leader claimed that even if they try to smuggle ‘Jubril-Buhari’ out by hiding him in a diplomatic bag, that they (IPOB) shall get hold of him.

Kanu added, “How come all of their so-called Elites, Intellectuals, Professors, Academics, Opinion Leaders, Politicians, Royal Fathers, Pundits, Pastors, Native Doctors, are silent as their government keeps on dishing out lies upon lies, deceit upon deceit, fake picture after fake picture, fake video after fake video, but are busy worrying about IPOB confronting their dirty murderous politicians abroad?

“Whether shame will allow them to admit to it or not, the fact remains that Buhari is dead, buried in Saudi Arabia and replaced by Jubril Al-Sudani an impostor. That is why they have this elaborate dance of shame going on in Japan with fake pictures.

“We have now made sure that every government of the world is aware of this national disgrace and most heinous and despicable act being perpetrated by Fulani cabal. No amount of badly photoshopped pictures, fake videos lies and doctored images will save Jubri-Buhari.

“Those that claim custody of societal morals and values have suddenly lost their tongue, paralysed by fear of the killer Fulani cabal in Aso Rock. In front of them is a national fraud of immense proportion being perpetrated by a bunch of criminals in high political office but out fear and ingrained cowardice, they have chosen to keep quiet in the face of evil. This scale of deceit is not only historic but unprecedented, yet these people that claim to know it all are gravely silent.

“We smell blood and are closing in for the kill. Jubril-Buhari is encircled and trapped by IPOB in his hideout in a Yokohama hotel. There is no escape for him. We know where his presidential jet is and will never allow him to leave Japan. Even if they try to smuggle him out by hiding him in a diplomatic bag, we shall get hold of him.

“Those the government killed through their Army and Police as a result of Operation Python Dance, including those that fell at Nkpor, Onitsha, Enugu, Aba, Afaraukwu, Ngwa, Mbiama and Igweocha are crying from the grave. We must not let them down.

“Check this video posted by the President of Liberia and tell me if you can find Jubril-Buhari in it. Every other head of state is there except the Sudanese impostor Nigerians adopted as their president. Common to demand live video of the event from Femi Adeshina, they can’t. Shame on them.”

- DAILY POST

EFCC arrests another 20 ‘Yahoo Boys’ in Imo

Officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, have arrested another 20 suspected internet fraudsters, popularly known as ‘Yahoo Boys’ in Imo State, Southeast Nigeria.

Operatives of the commission, South East Zonal office in Enugu swooped on the suspects on Friday morning in Owerri, Imo State and whisked them away.

This is coming barely six days the anti-graft agents swooped on boys suspected to be into cybercrime at their abode at the Spibat area of Owerri and arrested 30.

The EFCC operatives, who arrived Owerri on Thursday were said to have stormed Aladinma extension area of Owerri in the early hours of Friday and arrested the suspects popularly known as ‘Yahoo Yahoo boys.

The EFCC operatives struck while their targets were still asleep enthused that apart from picking the suspects, cars, expensive mobile phones and laptops were recovered by the anti-graft agents.

An EFCC source told the PUNCH that the area was known to be where cybercrime suspects lived.

According to him, no fewer than 20 suspects were arrested by the EFCC operatives while others jumped out of the windows of their rooms.

He said, “EFCC operatives on Friday morning stormed Aladinma extension area of Owerri and arrested Yahoo Yahoo boys. They were more than 20 they picked up. They also recovered cars, phones, and laptops from their targets.

“Others who were smart jumped out of the windows and fled. It was a funny scenario this morning. This is the second time these people are storming Owerri in less than one week to arrest Yahoo boys.”

Police sources who confirmed the development  said that the EFCC operatives arrived in the state on Thursday.

- PM NEWS