09012021 - Nigeria must stop paying ransom to kidnappers

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26—SATURDAY Vanguard, JANUARY 9, 2021 How man killed his colleague for N70,000 in Benue By Ifeanyi Okolie Operatives of the Force Intelligence Response Team, IRT, have unraveled the circumstances surrounding the gruesome murder of a middle-aged man, Francis Atache, whose corpse was found in a bush at Makurdi, Benue State, in August 2020. Atache, who was a staff of the National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN, in Benue State, was said to have been attacked and robbed by some gunmen on his way back from work while his lifeless body was dumped in a bush. It was gathered that the police in Benue State was alerted when residents of the area found the decomposing corpse and the police, during its investigations arrested one Ikon Danasabe, also a staff of the National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN, who was said to have had a feud with the deceased few days before he was killed. Sources disclosed that Danasabe denied killing Atache at the time he was interrogated by the police and he was subsequently remanded at the Makurdi Correctional Center, on a holding charge, which was obtained from a Magistrate Court. Vanguard gathered that since Danasabe wasn’t charged for murder and the Makurdi police had no strong evidence linking him to the crime, which may see him being set free by the court, relatives of late Atache then promptly wrote a petition to the Inspector General of Police, Adamu Mohammed, asking him to order an intensive and discreet investigation into the matter. Operatives of the IRT, headed by Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, were then assigned to investigate the matter which saw a team of crack operatives deployed to Makurdi, Benue State who visited the site where the corpse was found as well as the NOUN study center where Atache and Danasabe worked. The team then discovered that Danasabe was a member of dreaded Aye Confraternity and he had a feud with Atache over the sum of N70,000. The operatives also discovered that Danasabe invited his cult members to help him kill Atache when he refused to pay him the said sum. It was learned that when the IRT operatives verified this information and discovered its authenticity, they visited the Makurdi Correctional detention, brought out Danasabe and re interrogated him with those facts and he later confessed masterminding the killing of Atache, adding that he had no other option. In an interview with Vanguard, Danasabe who is from the Junkum tribe in Taraba state, said; “I am a staff of NOUN, Markudi branch. I am 31 years, I have BSc in public administration. I started working with NOUN over 5-years, I started as senior clerical officer as I used my diploma to apply for the work. While at work I applied for school study where I got my BSc from NOUN. Francis Atache was a junior clerical •Suspect officer who worked with me. If I generated data for students to go and pay their school fees at the bank, I usually gave him the money to go and help me pay it. “On that day, I was preparing to go to Nassarawa and I gave Francis money to help me pay for my monthly contribution organized by one Alhaji. Normally after some months or years we would collect the money back with interest. I told him that if he payed the money he would be given a paper that would serve as receipt and reflect my balance. When I came back, I asked for the paper, he promised to bring it to work the next day. The next day when I asked for the paper, he gave one excuse or the other. I reported him to his elder sister who was also working in the same office, after two days that I did not hear from her, I called her again and she asked me why I gave money to Francis who was not trust worthy. “Francis then started threatening me with gun; I even reported the matter to the director. I told him that if he wanted to engage in confraternity war, we should do Microsoft partnership offer excites Osinbajo By Johnbosco Agbakwuru I was shocked when on August 29, police came and picked me. They had arrested some of the boys who witnessed the incident. I had no choice but to tell them the truth. Blue chip technology firm, Microsoft Corporation, has disclosed plans to partner with the federal government for the benefit of the Nigerian people, especially young people. Specifically, Microsoft is now offering support for the Digital Transformation pillar of the Federal Government’s Economic Sustainability Plan. This will be a continuation of the technology company’s investment in Nigeria after the establishment of an African Technology Development Centre in 2020, all in affirmation of the efforts of the Buhari administration in the creation of a viable technology ecosystem in Nigeria. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Thursday noted in a virtual meeting with Microsoft Corporation team led by its President, Mr Brad Smith, that the company’s interest in supporting the efforts of the federal government is a welcomed development and could be leveraged to address issues affecting the youths, especially in engaging them productively. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President, Laolu Akande stated this in a statement he issued yesterday in Abuja. According to the statement, While Google Inc. in July 2020 announced plans to establish its first Google Launchpad Space outside the United States in Lagos, Facebook, in September of same year made public its decision to open an office in Lagos as part of its planned expansion in Sub-Saharan Africa. HUAWEI on the other hand last November promised the Vice President that the company will position Nigeria as a technology center for the African continent. Speaking on the need to constantly engage with the youths, the Vice President noted that Nigeria’s case is peculiar given that the youths constitute a larger percentage of the country’s population hence the need for all stakeholders to pay more attention to that demography. He said, “It seems to me that there is just a wave of general anger around the world and people are generally impatient. Impatient with government, impatient with practically all of the formal structures there are. “But I am open and happy to hear what views there might be on trying to engage and engage even more with young people (and in our case, that is 70% of our population, if not more). So, we are really talking not just about the youth population but the Nigerian populace because that is the majority. “So, whatever it is that we are able to deploy to be more inclusive, to engage even more, is really a solution for the entire populace as opposed to a solution for just a segment of our population especially given the fact that young people constitute 70% or even more.” Speaking on the government efforts in developing the technology space especially in boosting viable sectors of the economy, Prof. Osinbajo noted that “we have a digital innovation initiative which we hope will be the foundation for doing far more in the digital space than we are doing at the moment.” Earlier in his remarks, Mr. Smith, noted that his company’s vision for investment in Nigeria was one that would lead to the creation of Africa’s most viable technology ecosystem. R-L: Frs Victor Egbuachor; Emmanuel Udu (Director of the home) ; Mr. Peter Obi; Fr. Simon Azuka; Msgr Simon Amateze; Fr. Ikem Oliobi and Fr. Ernest Nwankwor during Obi’s visit to their home - Old Priests’ Home at Awka as part of the celebration of the festive period. it outside after office hours. Later I reported the case to the vigilante in our area and he begged for two days. The two days elapsed and a week later, I called the vigilante people to report him again. “Francis met me the next day and told me that I should bring a proof that I gave him the money. He made it clear to me that he was not going to pay me my money. I was bitter because I knew at that point he was not going to give me the money. I contacted my cult members and asked them to monitor his movement. There was a place near a Bishop’s farm where we normally went to smoke and relax. On August 5, my cult members who spied on him got information that he was going there to buy weed and smoke. I chose that place to confront him because if anything should happen, people would assume that it was a cult fight and would not take it serious. When he went there with his friends, about 15 of us went there to meet him. I confronted him with the issue, my boys asked him to surrender the money he had with him. He had more than N70, 000 at that point which he wanted to use to buy weed which he would sell at boys’ town. He refused to surrender the money. Meanwhile while we were coming, I brought an axe and the others came with their guns. “When he refused to bring the money, we started fighting. He stood up and came after me, my boys hit him with a stick from the back and he fell down. He started bleeding and stopped moving. Everyone was terrified and ran away from him. I ran home, took some of my clothes and left my house. I got information that the police found the body. We did not hide it, unfortunately I was found and arrested. I did not expect him to die like that. “After some days in police detention, I was remanded in prison. Meanwhile I told them that I was innocent. I was shocked when on August 29, police came and picked me. They had arrested some of the boys who witnessed the incident. I had no choice but to tell them the truth. I denied it initially because they didn’t have any proof. I did not use the axe but a stick. “I was initiated in 2009 into Aye confraternity by one Ernest. Aye means African Youth Empowerment. It is normal for every youth to join one cult group or the other to earn respect. We still relate with other cult groups that was why I trusted Francis so much to give him such money to make payment for me. I only wanted to scare him as we normally did as cult members but he died in the process. I was not the one who hit him with the stick but I pinned him down on the ground while my guys were beating him”.. Obi celebrates Awka Diocesan elderly priests *Says life, all about giving The Vice Presidential Candidate of the Peo ple’s Democratic Party, PDP, in 2019 elections, Mr Peter Obi, has eulogised Awka Diocesan elderly priests, praising their contributions to the church and society at large, while calling on people to always show love to others, especially the elderly ones in the society. Obi who visited Awka Diocesan Priests Welfare Home, Awka, celebrated mass with them and took the reading, described the encounter as part of how he has chosen to celebrate the festive period. Further, he described as fulfilling “to celebrate the elderly ones who had faithfully served the church and society. it is not only morally binding, but spiritually rewarding, to spend time with them, care for them and tap from their wealth of wisdom and experience.” Obi who said he loved spending time with the elderly, encourages the younger ones to always say ‘thank you’ to them for their good roles in societal development. Recalling his association with the elderly as the Governor of Anambra State, Obi said: “I organized birthday celebrations and / or took care of the likes of Prof James Nwoye Adichie (of blessed memory), Chike Obi etc. These were elderly people who had invested their youthful ages in making society better. So I am happy to be celebrating our elderly priests today”, Obi said. Obi who also recalled how he spent close to 40 billion Naira to clear outstanding pension and gratuities owed by successive governments of Anambra state since 1990, said that one of the worst crimes anyone could commit against humanity was heartlessly withholding the benefits due to the elderly, be they pensions, gratuities and so on. Obi encouraged the priests to continue to live their lives happily, and always thank God for the gift of their old ages. Appreciating Obi for what he described as extraordinary show of love, the Catholic Bishop of Awka Diocese, Most Rev Paulinus Ezeokafor, represented by the Director, Awka Diocesan Priests’ Welfare Home, Rev Fr Emmanuel Udu, said he was not surprised by Obi’s kind gestures, as showing love to people had become Obi’s signature.
Firm’s e-commerce Mobile App ensures free access, easy download for SMEs Stories by Moses Nosike Hicolumn, the groundbreaking e-commerce Tech, which made entrant into Nigeria’s online market sector in November, ensures free access and download of its mobile App by merchants, store owners, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with existing and verifiable businesses within 30 minutes. This is free of any registration charges. The Chairman of Hicolumn, Benjamin Madu, said the mobile App which can also be downloaded by consumers from the Google Play Store and the Hicolumn e- commerce website www.hicolumn.com, comprises the Hicolumn Customer, Hicolumn Merchant and Hicolumn Delivery Apps. These are connected together and work as one Enterprise Resources Programme, designed to give visibility to neighbourhood stores and connect them directly to customers anywhere, anytime. Hicolumn gives merchants, store owners as well as SMEs the opportunity of leveraging the internet to serve or sell to their existing and prospective customers without the customers physically visiting the shops. The e-commerce Tech also ensures customers’ usual places of shopping are made available for them to choose or change current location from where orders are made, for real comfort and convenience. According to Madu, “Merchants can register and setup their stores for free without difficulties and start getting orders from consumers. They don’t need any delivery facility, but they need to have goods available in stock for packaging after receiving payment n the spirit of Christmas led by Idivine passion, and with the objective of promoting a generation with human values and creating a community of people, the Indian Women’s Association had completed another round of children support at Orile, a suburb of Lagos state. This was achieved in conjunction with the Indian Christian Congregation. “Abraham Children” is an charitable arm of ICC that provides children christian values for the development of Nigerian children. During the interactive session with the children at the empowerment programme, President of IWA, Mrs Geetika Tandon encouraged the children to be committed to their studies and continue to trust God, saying further that as the children continue to obey their parents, IWA will continue to support them the more. Also in its efforts to continue helping the less privileged in our society, Indian Women’s Association, Lagos, presented a cheque of N 300,000 each to Odogbolu Comprehensive High School and Odogbolu Grammar School, to support the education of deserving girl students. “The cheques were presented to Kabiyesi of Odogbolu and his queen, Madam Esther Olori, to be duly handed over to the school authorities. Thanks to all the donors who made this possible”. Speaking on the responsibility of IWA, Mrs Tandon said that we gather Indian women in Nigeria to support community projects like the one of “Abraham Children” initiated by ICC. “We adopt schools and provide vocational trainings. During the COVID-19 we visited Ilupeju Police Station and LASMA with palliatives, and IWA donated a lot of things both government and private”. In the same vein, the Coordinator From Left: Mrs. Titilola Fapohunda, wife of the Chief Operating Officer (COO) Mouka, with the COO, Femi Fapohunda; the Chief Medical Director, Prof. Adetokunbo Fabamwo; Director, Clinical Services and Training, Dr. Ibrahim Mustapha and Head of Department, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Dr. Kabiru Rabiu, all of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH); at the presentation of gifts to the First Baby of the year by Mouka, at LASUTH, in Lagos. from consumers.” He posits that consumers who have made purchase on the platform would have prompt delivery of goods within 20 minutes, with same quality, same price and faster than physically being at the stores. The leading-edge e-commerce Tech has come to the rescue of merchants and store owners, who should see Hicolumn as a cuttingedge platform that has come to their neighbourhood, to enable them become super strong, active online and not to lose their business focus to foreign competitors currently entering their domain, especially in this period of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, when shopping is mostly done online. Benefits accrued to merchants and stores partnering on the platform are increased profitable sales; reduced cost of operation with less than five employees; proper inventory management; and elimination of threat posed by the current e- commerce system. Others include empowering merchants with the same capacity of an e-commerce global giant; customers’ retention on full scale; reduction of operational cost; business enhancement through effective online promotion; increased merchants’ focus on core operations; and opportunity for massive promotion and customer acceptability. IWA supports 1000 ‘Abraham children’ in Lagos, empowers Odogbolu’s schools From left, President IWA Mrs Geetika Tandon & Treasurer Mrs Rupa Walia right presenting cheques to Kabiyesi of Odogbolu and his queen, Madam Esther Olori for the welfare of tOdogbolu’s schools and Treasurer, IWA, Mrs Rupa Walia said, “we are here to bring our people together to render service to humanity, encourage children to build human values, and to celebrate our rich culture and support charity work in the country where we operate. Service to humanity is the best service anybody can offer. In a media chart with newsmen, the General Overseer, ICC, Santhosh Abraham revealed that the initiative of ‘Abraham Children’ started in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown where all Nigerian schools were closed and many poor children were left without any formal education or access to any online education. “Basic needs like food, shelter and clothing were also lacking”. However, as part of our social responsibility, we decided to adopt 50 children from Orile area of Lagos to support. To our surprise, there were almost a response of 1000 children who wanted to be part of the ministry. Due to the social distancing terms we decided to call them in lots of 50 and started registering them into the ‘Abraham’s Children’ programme while we conducted an awareness session about COVID-19 as well as the precautions needed to safeguard themselves during the pandemic time”. Abraham further said that Abraham’s Children is an initiative developed as part of the charity outreach ministry of the Indian Christian Congregation with the purpose of partially adopting needy Nigerian children between the age of 4 to 14 and to provide them with sound Biblical and social values of human life and to build them up as responsible adults that would contribute to the future of Nigeria. Abraham said, “We are also open to work as a channel of blessings for some overseer ministries that would like to contribute into the lives of such needy Nigerian children”. SATURDAY Vanguard, JANUARY 9, 2021—27 Stanbic IBTC sets up vocational centre for young inmates STANBIC IBTC Holdings PLC, a member of Standard Bank Group, has donated a vocational centre to one of its host communities. The Finance Department of the organisation recently built a fully equipped vocational centre at the Borstal Training Institute (BTI), Abeokuta, Ogun State, as part of its Corporate Social Investment (CSI) initiative. The BTI is the Nigerian Correctional Service’s juvenile arm, set up to correct, train, reform, rehabilitate, and reintegrate young offenders. The vocational centre built and donated by the Finance Department of Stanbic IBTC at BTI in Abeokuta, is a facility where young male inmates are exposed to various skills acquisition trainings like carpentry, tailoring and ICT. The BTI facility at Abeokuta is one of the three borstals in Nigeria, and it serves the entire Southern part of the country. The other two are located in Kaduna and Kwara States. Speaking on the rationale behind this donation, Omolola Fashesin, Head, Sustainability, Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, said, “At Stanbic IBTC, we pay strong attention to empowerment, being one of the pillars around which our CSI initiative revolves. We delight in seeing people succeed and advance financially, and we empower them to be able to make and act on economic decisions.” She added: “To achieve societal and economic empowerment, young people need the skills and resources to compete in markets, as well as fair and equal access to economic institutions. This is what we provide at Stanbic IBTC. It is the beginning of a cumulative process that will allow these young men to develop the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to succeed.” Appreciating the staff of Stanbic IBTC’s Finance Department for the positive contributions to the lives of the inmates, Mojeed Adeniran, Comptroller of Corrections, Ogun State Command, noted that the donation would help the skill development of the trainees, as correctional centres serve to correct and build the capacities of the inmates. Ahmed Adetola Kazeem, Executive Director, Prisoners’ Rights Advocacy Initiative, urged other corporate organisations to match the commitment to social and economic growth, as displayed by Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC. How Malta Guinness splashes thousands with Christmas gifts in Lagos AS part of Malta Guinness’ 30th anniversary celebrations themed: “30 years of Bustling with Goodness”, Malta Guinness set out to bring joy and spread lots of goodness to thousands of less privileged Nigerians during the festive season in their campaign tagged: “Malta Guinness Goodness Splash” in partnership with Aunt Landa Bethel Foundation at the just concluded Annual Aunt Landa’s free market square charity outreach tagged, “The Restart Edition”. This took place at CPM International, Ikotun-Egbe on December 19, 2020 and was met with so much gratitude from the recipients who were overwhelmed by the show of love as the air was filled with so much emotions, tears of joy and sincere appreciation to Malta Guinness and the organisers of the Aunt Landa’s Market Square for the truckload of gifts shared. In a statement, Ifeoma Agu, Marketing Manager, Premium Non-alcoholic Drinks, Guinness Nigeria Plc, said “Malta Guinness continues to seek opportunities to add colour and spread goodness and vitality to our consumers. The commemoration of our 30th Anniversary affords us a platform to give back to Nigerians who have chosen Malta Guinness for the past 3 decades and made us their No.1 choice in Premium Malt Drinks. We are thankful to Dr. Yolanda N. George-David for the Aunt Landa Market Square initiative which provided us an avenue to touch lives significantly this season. I would also want to appreciate our supporting partners- Unilever Plc, Hayat Kimya Nigeria Plc., makers of Molped and Molfix, Godrej Nigeria Ltd, makers of Darling Braids, Mouka Ltd, Nestle Nigeria Plc and GDM Consult for supporting with products to make the “Malta Guinness Goodness Splash” a huge success. The success of the Malta Guinness Goodness Splash is a testament that “we always walk the talk” and we remain Africa’s No.1 Premium Malt drink bustling with goodness, energy and vitality. Hollandia Evap Milk, Mercy Johnson- Okojie unveil holiday kitchen THE holiday season is a time to focus on celebrating family, friends, the moments that bring you joy, and importantly an opportunity to indulge in exciting meals. With this in mind, Hollandia Evap Milk partnered Mercy Johnson-Okojie to unveil an online reality cooking show tagged “HEM Holiday Kitchen with Mercy Johnson-Okojie” to herald the holiday season. “With Johnson-Okojie as the host, the show would also feature the versatile actress’s family and friends as they share exciting meal recipes with a twist for the holiday season. The show is designed to nurture Hollandia Evap Milk’s bond with consumers by inspiring them during the festive period and in their everyday lifestyle. Running in four episodes and streamed weekly on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, the show will reward consumers through the #CookwithHEM challenge. For the challenge, consumers are expected to record a video showing themselves preparing any meal of their choice using Hollandia Evap Milk. For their entries to be considered, consumers will have to upload their video on their personal page, follow Hollandia Evap Milk on Facebook and Instagram. They must tag the product’s social media handles on the video, so it can be reposted on the brand’s Facebook and Instagram pages. They will also have to tag their family and friends to comment and like their video on the pages. Every week, 10 consumers with the most interesting meal videos will be chosen by Mercy Johnson-Okojie. The winners will be announced live at the end of each new episode’s weekly broadcast and rewarded with cartons of Hollandia Evap Milk and branded gifts. A total of 40 consumers will be emerge. Brand Manager, Hollandia Evap Milk, Mrs. Bose Ogunyemi, stated that the essence of the “HEM Holiday Kitchen with Mercy Johnson-Okojie” is to bring the joy and wholesomeness of the holiday season into our consumers’ homes. By sharing recipes and cooking together, family moments are made even more special and the yuletide season, even more nurturing and nourishing. Experts advocate use of quality pillows for proper spine alignment EXPERTS have advocated using quality pillows for proper spine alignment during sleep to prevent aches and pains that can be detrimental to physical and mental wellbeing. They have also strongly recommended Mouka brand of pillows, and mattresses, because of their high quality, having met the ergonomic standards. These were the submission of Dr. Onigbinde Ayodele Teslim, National President, National Association of Orthopaedic Manual Therapists (NAOMT) and Dr Nnenna Chigbo, PT. President, Nigeria Society of Physiotherapy (NSP) while urging Nigerians to maintain a healthy sleep culture for better wellbeing. Read more on www.vanguardngr.com
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09012021 - Nigeria must stop paying ransom to kidnappers

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