The Jigawa State Justice Sector and Law Reform, says it has trained 20 rape victims at its Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC), to become self reliant.
Mr Lawan Buba, Executive Secretary of the Commission said in Dutse on Monday.
Buba said the beneficiaries were trained in various income generating trades at the empowerment centre.
The SARC was established in 2016 by Jigawa government in collaboration with Department for International Development under its Justice for All (J4A) programme.
The SARC was opened at the General Hospital Dutse to provide counseling services to victims of rape in the state and document evidence against rapists.
He explained that the centre also assisted rape victims to overcome the trauma, feel secure and quickly reintegrate into their respective communities.
“The empowerment centre was opened at our SARC in Dutse General Hospital in order to train victims or their parents in trades so that they should able to take care of themselves and become self reliant.
“So far, we’ve trained 20 victims in various income generating trades.
“If a victim is not old enough to receive the training, then we trained his or her parents or guardians.
“We also train those who dropped out of school as a result of trauma or stigmatization and return them back to school.
“We also counsel residents, teachers, students and some of the patents,” he said.
The executive secretary stressed that it was important for families, friends and communities to show love and care to rape victims.
“For such victims to fully recover, they need adequate and proper family and community care,” he stressed.
Buba said lack of proper family care was a major cause of rape in the state, adding that the agency had been conducting community-based counseling and sensitisation on the dangers associated with it.
He reiterated that the commission would continue to fight for justice for rape victims in the state.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has cautioned Nigerians, especially youths and owners of small-scale businesses against fraudulent messages on social media requesting loan seekers to apply for loan in the name of CBN.
The bank gave the warning in a statement on Monday in Abuja issued by its Director, Corporate Communications Department, Mr Isaac Okorafor.
Okorafor advised the general public to disregard messages requesting them to send their personal details for any loan.
“The attention of CBN has been drawn to fraudulent messages on the social media circles requesting unsuspecting loan seekers and owners of small-scale businesses to apply for loans provided by the Federal Government.
“The fraudsters asked the loan seekers to do so through an e-mail address ([email protected]) purportedly being handled by the CBN.
“While the CBN indeed has several development finance intervention programmes from which different categories of businesses have benefited (and still benefitting), the bank does not do so through direct interaction with prospective applicants.
“For the avoidance of doubt, there are clearly spelt out procedures for accessing CBN intervention funds, which are disbursed through Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs), such as Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and Microfinance Banks (MFBs).’’
The director advised prospective applicants to approach their respective banks or the CBN branch nearest to them for clarification on the procedure for accessing any of the CBN-related loans.
Royal Purple Bee Foundation (ROPBEE), an NGO, on Monday advised youths in the country to imbibe the culture of being productive and acquire necessary skills to enhance their personal development that will make them employers of labour.
Spokesperson for ROPBEE, Miss Yetunde Shuaibu, who gave the advice in Abuja said that the call became necessary following the need for vocational skills and work experience among youths.
She said that the rate of crime in the country was on the increase, hence the need for youths to engage in skills acquisition, technical and vocational training.
“I advise the youths to engage themselves in vocations that will be of benefit to them in the nearest future,” she said.
Shuaibu said that lack of self confidence on the part of some youths could lead to indulgence in anti-social vices, adding that failure to make right decisions could also hinder personal growth.
She called on youths to believe in their capabilities, reject being used as agents of vices in the society and always indulge in more creative and innovative ventures.
According to her, youths must learn to seek guidance and counselling when necessary to avoid making costly mistakes that could jeopardise their future.
Shuaibu urged job seekers to explore other options of earning a living instead of relying solely on the government.
“The advantages of learning practical skills could not be over emphasised, as the rush for white collar jobs was gradually becoming discouraging.
“The days of white collar jobs are over. Job seeking youths should strive to create jobs by exploring the inborn talents that God has given them.
“The era of being solely dependent on the government for jobs is no more tenable,” she said.
Shuaibu appealed to government at all levels to embark on skills acquisition and empowerment programmes for youths to reduce their level of redundancy.
The foundation had been engaging youths in skills acquisition and empowerment programmes.
Say No Campaign’, a non-governmental organisation , has urged traditional rulers, community and religious leaders, market women and youths to assist in the ongoing efforts to combat corruption at the grassroots.
Co-convener of the group, Mr Jaye Gaskia, made the appeal on Monday in Abuja.
Gaskia said that the campaign against corruption should not be left for the government alone.
“The fight against corruption is a fight for every person, every group, association and not just the Federal Government only.
“Nigerians must join the fight against corruption at the grassroots by changing their orientation on cutting corners, shunting on queues, beating traffic lights and taking or giving bribes.
“Impatience has been identified as a major act of corruption at the grassroots, making corruption to thrive and we must stop it,’’ he said.
According to him, grand corruption involves election rigging and embezzlement while retail corruption is bribing to cut corners.
He encouraged Nigerians to imbibe the culture of holding their leaders accountable for public funds and blowing the whistle on those involved in corrupt practices.
Similarly, Mrs Adenike Olasoji, a market women President in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), appealed to parents and guardians to teach and inculcate in their children and wards good morals and the fear of God.
According to her, these categories of people are the first role models and mentors that children and wards will first encounter in life.
“Whatever is exhibited by parents and guardians will automatically translate into the lives of their children and wards.
Anti corruption
“So, to curb corruption we must start with parents, guardians, teachers and even religious leaders making efforts to teach their children and the youth the fear of God and good morals,’’ she said.
Federal Capital Territory (FCT), minister Muhammed Bello on Wednesday resumed office with a promise to consolidate on the foundation he built for rapid development of the territory during his first tenure.
Bello, who assumed duty alongside the Minister of State for FCT, Mrs. Ramatu Tijjani, told the FCT workers that he would be guided by policy guidelines given to him by President Muhammadu Buhari
Bello explained that Buhari was very clear on the direction he wanted the country to move in the next four years
“Buhari’s direction is clear; he wants to take Nigeria to where it truly belongs. What the administration did during the first tenure was basically to prepare ground and establish foundation.
“What we need to do now is to build upon the foundation that has been established
“I thank President Buhari for reappointing me as minister out of so many eminently qualified persons from my state. I also thank him for returning me to FCT.
“I also want to thank President Buhari for restoring the tradition of appointing a Minister of State for the FCT,” he said.
He thanked the management staff of the FCT administration for the tremendous work they had been doing over the years, urging them to guard the city jealousy.
“You have to work hard to build the city because it is a great city established by our predecessors.
“Abuja is a city that is growing far beyond normal growth speed, so we have to work at a speed more than the normal rate.”
The FCT Minister of State, Mrs. Ramatu Tijjani, who said that the reappointment of Bello as the FCT Minister by Buhari symbolised trust, solicited the cooperation of the FCTA staff toward success.
Speaking earlier, the FCT Permanent Secretary, Mr Chinyeaka Ohaa, assured the ministers of his full cooperation as well as the loyalty of the FCTA staff.
The Chairman of Bwari Area Council, Mr John Gabaya, has appealed to the Federal Government to intervene in communities affected by erosion and flood in the district.
Gabaya made the appeal while addressing newsmen after visiting some of the affected communities on Tuesday in Abuja.
He described the incidence as unfortunate and critical, while also calling on both the federal Government and the FCTA to come to the rescue of the residents.
“We need Federal Government’s assistance because the council, 10 years from now, cannot solve this problem. The erosion has caused a serious havoc and this was as a result of the recent heavy rainfall.
“Thank God there are no casualties but some houses have so far been slightly affected. I must say, the ecological challenge in this council is numerous and so many villages are faced with this problem.
“Once it rains, the rivers and streams overflow and people are automatically cut off from accessing the roads that leads to their businesses or children to their schools.”
He listed the affected areas as Mashafa, Gudupe, Bamboyi, Dankubo, villages, which he said were all connected to the same access road that have become inaccessible at the moment.
According to reports that at Dutse-Baupuma area of the district, three bridges linking residents to the township collapsed following the recent heavy downpour.
residents has also called for governments urgent attention to address the ecological challenge in the communities.
Mr Nwokike Obinna, of the Obasanjo road, Sagbayi II community said that the major bridge connecting the community to the township had collapsed following Monday’s downpour.
“We woke up to see the bridge we have been managing to have finally collapsed. People have not been able to go to work or anywhere else because of the unfortunate incident.
“We thank God there has not been any loss of life but we appeal to government to urgently come to our aid because this is not what the community can shoulder, we need the government with this.
“Even though we have alerted the area council and the chairman has visited and promised to do something but our fear is we do not know how soon it may be.”
Mr Zachariah George, a resident of Freedom Avenue, Sagbayi III in Dutse, said that residents have decided to contribute to buy wood to create a temporary passage so that residents can move.
He said: “No one has been able to go anywhere since this happened. We cannot even go to the market to buy food to eat, so we needed to tax ourselves so that we can buy wood to create a temporary bridge for now.
“We have even collected some of the wood on credit before we gather the money from other residents.”
Ten houses, two worship centres, farmlands, shops and assorted property worth millions of naira have been destroyed by flood in Gudaba community of Kuje area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Among worship centres affected were “Omega Fire Ministry” belonging to Apostle Johnson Suleiman, and White Garment Church.
The flood, which followed a heavy downpour that started on Sunday, Aug. 18, and ran into the early hours of Monday, Aug. 19, also affected a bridge linking unto Kuje-Gwagwalada road.
Our correspondent, who visited the area, found that the flood had taken over most of the roads, forcing residents to either remain indoors or move through the water to their destinations.
Some of the residents, who spoke said that flooding was a recurring decimal in the community that was situated close to a riverine area.
Mr Zaka Tukura, whose house collapsed, told NAN that he was asleep when water submerged his house.
“I was asleep when water submerged my house.
I had to quickly move my children to a neighbour’s house.
“The level of destruction is devastating; it is quite unfortunate that the flood has affected many people in this community,” he said.Another resident, Mrs. Sarah Musa, said she could not sleep with her family throughout the night due to the heavy downpour,
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“We could not sleep throughout because of the downpour. When the rain kept persisting, we knew we were in danger and started removing our property from the building even when we were not sure which area could be safe,” she said.
She said that her family members succeeded in moving some important household items before the house collapsed.
Mrs. Machbery Modupe, Head, Department of Works, Kuje Area Council, told NAN that the council was already assessing the situation.
“We are already assessing the situation to ascertain the number of houses affected by the flood. The aim is to see how the victims can be supported,” he
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is set to host the Conference of African Telecommunications Regulators on Consumer Affairs (CATCO) in Abuja from Aug. 20 to Aug. 22.
The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta disclosed this in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja by Mr Henry Nkemadu, the Commission’s Director of Public Affairs.
Danbatta said the 3-day conference with the theme: “Empowering the Telecom Consumer in an Era of Technological Evolution’’ is geared towards pursuing a continuous collaboration between African telecommunications regulatory Agency of individual country and their regional body.
He said the conference would look at how regulatory activities of the 54-member nations of African Union (AU) could be integrated for seamless connectivity to boost customers’ satisfaction.
Danbatta said bodies such as West Africa Telecommunication Regulatory Association (WATRA), East African Communications Organisation (EACO) among others would participate in the conference..
According to the EVC, the conference will provide the platform for Africa to establish unity, solidarity, collective self-reliance in the ICT sector.
“It will build on the principle of pan-Africanism within the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) space; and sustaining a robust collaborative regulatory environment where current and future challenges are addressed,’’ he said.
Danbatta noted that participants are expected to provide varying and fresh perspectives to burning issues affecting telecoms consumers and service delivery in Africa.
He said that vital discussions would focus on the current state of telecom industry in the continent, ways to improve it and how to sustain a healthy telecom industry.
The EVC said that other areas that will be looked into are; challenges confronting African telecoms regulators, international best practices, emerging technologies and their applications for the benefits of consumers.
He said stakeholders from various African countries, Legislators and Government officials, Consumer Advocacy Groups, African Telecommunication Regulators and Regional bodies are all expected to be at the event.
“This year’s conference will advance on the gains of CATCO 2013 because it has been specially designed and tailored towards improving Africa telecommunications Industry in the 21st century.
NCC hosted the first edition in 2013, in Lagos with the theme, “Harnessing Regulatory Policies to Protect Telecom Consumers in Africa’’.
No fewer than 15 African countries participated in the 2013 CATCO conference.
The Federal Government said that the political will demonstrated in the execution of the N-Power programme, insulated it from corruption and other forms of sharp practices that marred similar youth empowerment endeavours in the past.
Communications Manager, National Social Investment Office (NSIO) Justice Bibiye, in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja, said the transparency in running the programme was also responsible for its huge impact on its beneficiaries and the economy.
He said that media reports highlighting minority views expressed by a few critics who made bogus allegations bordering on corrupt practices in the implementation of N-Power did not reflect the true picture on ground.
Bibiye said that N-power, one of the social intervention programmes of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, remained the most successful government-driven youth empowerment schemes in history.
“It is either those critics have lost touch with existential realities as it concerns this government’s strict approach in implementing its policies and programmes, or that the resounding successes recorded, as evidenced in the outpouring of sincere and honest testimonies by the beneficiaries, is lost on them.
“We are aware that some persons have assumed the role of perpetual pessimists of the SIPs, following the institution of processes and procedures that frown at selfish tendencies and corrupt practices at the NSIO.
“We, however, owe it a duty to Nigerians to continue to set the records straight whenever naysayers come up with falsehoods to mislead the public.
“We wish to state categorically that there are no N-power ghost beneficiaries neither is the programme embroiled in corruption as alleged by those who have decided to see nothing good in the scheme.
“From application, selection, deployment and payment of volunteers, the process is transparent, being technology driven,’’ he said.
According to him, at inception, the BVN of successful candidates are sent to Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) for verification.
Bibiye, said that NIBSS, being the custodian of the BVN data, authenticated the identity of each and every name, number and account number submitted by the NSIO, and anyone not verified was dropped from the list of successful beneficiaries.
“For the first set of 200,000 beneficiaries submitted for verification, NIBSS verified 93 per cent of the total number, after which only those verified were submitted to the various States, which entities are saddled with the responsibility of physically verifying the beneficiaries and deploying them to their Primary Places of Assignment (PPA).
“Upon confirmation of the deployments to the PPAs, the NSIO then signs off to the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, which makes payment directly to the accounts of beneficiaries through the NIBBS.
“This process also applies to other components of the social intervention programmes except for the National Conditional Cash Transfer programme, where due to logistics challenges, mobile money agents (MMA) are engaged to reach out to beneficiaries in the rural areas.
“The successful MMA’s are selected through an open process in compliance with the BPP Act, and even though they pay beneficiaries in remote locations where there is a dearth of banking infrastructure, they each have a backend technology that enables visibility and timely reconciliation of payments, as a pre-condition to engagement,’’ he said.
He said the Federal Government remained favourably disposed to constructive criticisms and the feedback that would aid ongoing efforts to strengthen the execution strategies of the SIPs for greater service delivery to Nigerians.
Bibiye however said that critics were also encouraged to follow up closely and interrogate the processes of the programme to avoid making remarks that were not evidence-based.
N-Power insulated from corruption—FG
He said that Nigerians, particularly beneficiaries of the programme and their dependents, should be rest assured that the SIPs were not crumbling or coming to an end any time soon as predicted by naysayers.
The communications manager said that the Federal Government, through the NSIO, would continue to redouble efforts to ensure that the intended objectives of the Social Intervention Programmes were achieved in line with public expectations.
The Directorate of Road Traffic Services (DRTS) has deployed 200 of its personnel to ensure free flow of traffic within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) during the Eid-el-Kabir celebration.
Mr Kalu Emetu, the Public Relations Officer (PRO), Vehicle Inspection unit, disclosed the figure on Friday in Abuja.
He said the directorate had also sent out 25 patrol vans, 17 motorbikes and 11 trucks, to ensure smooth operations of its officials during the festivity.
According to the spokesman, the deployed personnel are to stay at different junctions at the city centre, including the satellite areas.
“They are also to ensure all entry and exit points of the FCT are traffic free,” he said.
The Federal Government had declared Aug. 12 and Aug. 13 as public holidays to mark the Eid-El-Kabir.
