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And welcome to your weekly news update! (Don’t forget to share with your friends!)
In this week’s edition
The NIN thing finally happened
Terrorists get special treatment
Terrorists attack another military base
CBN still anti-crypto
And just like that, 70 million Nigerians cannot make phone calls
Telecommunication networks have, on the orders of the FG, officially barred SIMs not connected to a National Identification Number (NIN) from making outgoing calls.
The reason:
To prevent kidnappers from contacting families of victims to ask for ransom.
To be able to track the location of kidnappers and terrorists.
However, tracking the perpetrators of the Kaduna-Abuja railway train kidnapping has proved more difficult than expected as they use the phones of their victims to contact their families. Read more here.
The good news is that you can unblock your SIM. All you need to do is visit your network provider’s outlet— they’ll apply for you and once approved, they’ll connect to your phone number.
Attention: The Court Demands Privacy to Trial Terrorists
The Federal High Court, under the powers of the Chief Judge John Tsoho, has barred the public and journalists from being present during court proceedings involving terrorist charges.
According to a statement from the court’s Chief Information Officer, Catherine Christopher, these court proceedings will henceforth be held with a camera as the only external witness.
Now, terrorist trials will be intimate sessions with only the judge, the accused and their legal representatives.
Violation of this directive will also be deemed an offence under terrorism law as stated in section 34(5) of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2011 (as amended).
Only in Nigeria...
Terrorists Attack Military Base in Kaduna
Terrorists suspected of being a sect of Boko Haram called Ansaru attacked a military base at Polewire in Birnin-Gwari, Kaduna State.
The attack left 17 soldiers and 3 locals dead with 40 others severely injured.
Four armoured vehicles were also destroyed and many military weapons stolen.
Prior to the attack, the Birnin-Gwari Emirate People’s Union (BEPU) raised alarm over the continuous attacks and levies imposed on them by the Ansaru without a response from the FG.
Commentary: So sects of Boko Haram are gallivanting around people’s homes and imposing taxes when there is a whole military base in that same town🙃
This is the third military base attack in less than 3 years— first was Zamfara, second Katsina
Terrorists claim to free kidnap victims in the spirit of Ramadan fasting (God, is Nigeria a simulation?😭)
The terrorists responsible for the Abuja-Kaduna railway train attack have threatened that if the government does not meet all their demands, they will kill all their abducted victims. They also released one of the victims, Alwan Hassan, the managing director of the Bank of Agriculture claiming it was because of his age and the spirit of Ramadan but Premium Times received information from one of his relatives that an amount was paid in ransom for him (surprised pikachu face).
The terrorists also sent a menacing message to the government as quoted by Premium Times;
“We are the people who abducted some people on a train some days back and you can see them. This one here (pointing at Mr Hassan) has been begging us to release him and considering his age and also because of the Ramadan fast, we decided to release him to his relatives,”
“You (government) should know that this is just the beginning of what we’re going to do….. Killing them is not a big deal to us. You know what we want and it’s not money. If it’s money, we’ll not be doing this. So, it’s left to you to hasten and do what we need from you if not, we’ll do what we want to do to them. This is our message,”
The now released Alwan Hassan is pleading with the government to negotiate with the terrorists and meet their demands.
Commentary: Yeah, this whole thing isn’t shady at all...we’ll be keeping a close eye on this ordeal.
168 passengers on the attacked Abuja-Kaduna train still unaccounted for
Almost two weeks since the infamous train attack, 168 passengers are still unaccounted for and are suspected of being in custody of the terrorists.
The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has confirmed that 362 passengers were on the train but Nigerians suspect that the figure has been manipulated and the figure is much higher.
The NRC also confirmed that 14 passengers are safe totalling a number of 186 passengers.
8 of the remaining 176 passengers have been confirmed dead by the NRC while 22 have been declared missing by their families.
Money, money, money
‘Don’t get duped!’ - CBN
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently warned Nigerians to beware of fraudulent financial institutions looking to dupe citizens.
Director of Corporate Communication for the Central Bank of Nigeria, Osita Nwanisobi, confirmed that the CBN often receives complaints from citizens who were scammed by fraudulent financial organisations.
Nwanisobi said shine ya eye
CBN imposes an ₦800 million fine on banks
CBN fined three banks a total of ₦800 million for non-compliance, allowing customers to complete cryptocurrency transactions.
The CBN last year banned all crypto transactions through commercial banks.
The banks fined for non-compliance are Access Bank (₦500 million), Stanbic IBTC (₦200 million) and United Bank for Africa (₦100 million).
The government this week
One small step for woman-kind
The Federal High Court ordered the FG to allot 35% of appointments in the public sector to women.
This happened on Wednesday in Abuja as the court-ordered an enforcement of the National Gender Policy.
The court proceedings were a result of a suit filed against the FG by NGO, Women in Politics Forum (WIPF).
The WIPF appealed for the implementation of Affirmative Action in appointments.
The presiding judge, Donatus Okorowo agreed that women had been subjected to various forms of discrimination concerning key appointments into government office.
Law against cryptic pregnancies
The House of Representatives has declared intentions to, in conjunction with the Ministry of Health and Women Affairs, investigate the prevalence of cryptic pregnancies around the country.
Cryptic pregnancies, according to Ikenna Elezieanya (PDP-Imo) are a fraud scheme where women were falsely pronounced pregnant by persons impersonating doctors and nurses.
Elezieanya also added that it involves an injection of hormones that mimic pregnancy symptoms.
The procedure is usually one of the many ways pressure on women in Nigeria is manifesting.
New University in Buhari’s hometown
The Senate has passed a bill to allow the establishment of a Federal University of Transportation in Daura, Katsina, Buhari’s hometown.
The bill was passed during a plenary on Wednesday and is 50% completed.
The university’s cost is estimated at ₦50 million, some of which they want to use to build a primary and secondary school for children of university employees.
State News
Atheist sentenced to 24 years in prison
Kano State High Court reportedly sentenced Mubarak Bala to 24 years imprisonment for charges of blasphemy as a publicly declared atheist.
Bala was arrested on April 28, 2020, and transferred to Kano from Kaduna State because of a Facebook post that some Muslims considered to be “critical of the Prophet Mohammed and Islam”.
His arrest was petitioned by lawyer, S.S Umar.
Bala has been missing since— his family had no idea where they took him or if he was alive.
After two years of being held without charges, Bala was summoned to court where he pleaded guilty to 18 charges of blasphemy and was subsequently sentenced to 24 years in prison.
Zamfara governor distributes 260 cars to traditional rulers after accusing them of banditry
The governor of Zamfara state, Bello Matawalle distributed 260 luxury cars (2019 Cadillacs) to traditional rulers on Wednesday.
Matawalle is known to frequently accuse the traditional rulers in his governing state of aiding and abetting banditry in Zamfara. The governor says he gave them the cars to curb insecurity.
He said that in addition to this, the government will commission 147 primary healthcare centres for further development of the state.
There is currently a humanitarian crisis in Zamfara with many frequent terrorist attacks and an unofficial taxing of the citizens by terrorists.
When residents refuse or are unable to pay, the terrorists harm families and their livestock.
Because of the rise in insecurity, Matawalle accused high profile chiefs of controlling the gunmen and recommended their dethronement in 2019.
Other news
UN suspends Russia from Human rights council - Premium Times
FG lifts curfew and restrictions on large gatherings - Premium Times
Buhari is “digitalising Nigeria” - Technext
NNPC requests special court for prosecution of oil thieves - The Guardian
Food inflation might cause worsened food insecurity - Business Insider Africa
Four Senior State High School students on trial for alleged sexual assault - DSVA Lagos
FG rejects Amaechi’s N3.7 billion proposal for rail security - Punch
Buhari seeks to increase subsidy to N4 trillion - Premium Times
Sit at home order continues in South East - Premium Times
Concerns over blackout on Lagos airport road - The Guardian
Lagos state government appoints Oluomo to head parks, garages - Premium Times
Boko haram commander surrenders in Borno - The Cable