Kogi jailbreak: Prisons recapture 5 escapees

The Nigeria Prisons Service has  recaptured five of the 13 prison inmates who escaped from the Koton Karfe Medium Security Prison during Saturday's jailbreak at the facility.

The Controller-General of Prisons, Ja’afaru Ahmed disclosed this on Sunday during an on-the-spot assessment of the jailbreak.

Ahmed confirmed to newsmen, the escape of 13 inmates comprising ten awaiting trial detainees and three convicts during the incident.

However, he announced that five of the escapees have been recaptured while eight remain at large.

“We have recaptured five escapees with the assistance of other security agencies and local vigilante groups as well as individuals and they have been returned to the prison,” he said.

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FG bans procurement, distribution of souvenirs

As the country struggles with economic recession, the Buhari administration has banned the procurement and distribution of souvenirs including conference bags, T-shirts at events and activities like Conferences, Workshops and Seminars organised and funded by Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs.

The new measures which were  recommended by the Efficiency Unit of the Federal Ministry of Finance were conveyed to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and the Ministers of Finance and Budget and National Planning, by the Chief of Staff to the President, Alhaji Abba Kyari for implementation following approval by President Muhammadu Buhari.

According to a statement signed by Salsiu Na’Inna Dambatta, Director of Information, Federal Ministry of Finance, “the directive is a recognition of the fact that in a period of lean financial resources in the face of huge national infrastructural deficit, wasteful and unnecessary expenditure on overheads such as  souvenirs and conference bags were luxuries that the government must eliminate to release funds for infrastructure and services such as health and education that would have direct positive impact on the wellbeing of the citizenry and promote economic development.”

According to Dambatta, the Federal Government also banned production of "unnecessary publications and books of short shelf life which have no real value to the concerned public institutions or the citizens,” adding that the government has emphasized “the need for the citizenry and other interested parties to be aware of the initiatives, activities and programmes being implemented by the government."

The MDAs were directed to save costs by uploading such publications on their websites which have the added advantage of wider visibility, and print only limited number of hard copies of the relevant publications.

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Atiku Abubakar now Agricom Chairman

An agricultural services firm, Agricom Field Services Network has appointed a former Vice President of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as its Chairman.

The Executive Vice Chairman of the company, Mr Adegboyega Olulade, said the former Vice President had agreed to bring his wealth of experience both in agriculture and other successful businesses to Agricom, which provides extension services to millions of registered farmers across the country.

He also said that Dr. Adinoyi Onukaba was appointed the company's Executive Director (North). Onukaba, a university don, journalist and politician,  runs a fish and poultry farm in Bwari, Abuja.

He disclosed that Agricom works closely with federal and states’ ministries of agriculture to provide regular and timely information to farmers, as a means of bridging the gap between government officials and farmers.

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Navy bombs Arepo creeks to dislodge pipeline vandals

The Nigerian Navy on Thursday began the aerial bombardment of Arepo creeks in Ogun State in an effort to dislodge pipeline vandals who have long been entrenched in the area.

Reports indicate that the vandals tried to fight back with General Purpose Machine Guns, GPMG mounted on wooden boats but were overwhelmed.

Security sources said that the decision to use aerial bombardment was borne out of the inaccessibility of the creeks by land and sea.

There have been rumours of casualties emanating from the aerial bombings but the Flag Officer Commanding, Western Naval Command, Rear Admiral Ferguson Bobai told newsmen yesterday that you it too early to confirm since the area was still inaccessible.

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13 inmates escape in Kogi prison jailbreak

13 inmates of the Kotonkarfe in Kogi State reportedly escaped in the early hours of Saturday after bringing down the wall of the facility.

It is still unclear how the inmates executed the plan but a security source told Vanguard that “It’s as if someone in the prisons did not do his/her job well and the prisoners took advantage of that to make good their escape.”

It was learnt that some kidnapping kingpins paraded by the Department of State Services were being detained at the facility.

Abujacitynews learnt that the Comptroller General of Nigeria Prisons Service, NPS has despatched a representative to assess the situation.

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Environment Minister jogging with public servants at National Stadium Abuja (Photo)

The Minister of Environment, Amina Mohammed on Saturday led a team of public servants for the July 2016 Jogging and Exercise at the National Stadium, Abuja.

Photo by Esther Agbarakwe.

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Fear of violence: PDP candidate withdraws from Kano by-election

The main opposition candidate in the Minjibir by-election, Auwalu Ubale Minjibir of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP withdrew from the race Saturday morning, just hours to the commencement of voting.

Minjibir cited the violation of the agreement reached with other critical stakeholders in the election as the reason for his decision. He said that his ambition was not worth the blood of any member of the electorate.

"We agreed on a number issues that would ensure free polls, but that gentleman's agreement has been sacrificed on the alter of desperation.

"From the evidence on ground, there is high risk of violence if I insist on my mandate, and I feel my ambition is not worth the life of my people.

"In the interest of peace, I have withdrawn from the race for another day," he said.

Meanwhile, voting commenced in all the eleven wards with very few voters turning up for the exercise.

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