Osun: Two injured as new school building collapses

    the collapsed building

Residents of Ejigbo town in Osun State were on Wednesday woken up by the noise of the structure which collapsed at the newly completed Ejigbo High School.

Our correspondent gathered that part of the school which had been completed and ready for inauguration collapsed at around 5.30am.

Some persons were reportedly injured, but there was no death recorded as the structure had yet to be occupied by pupils.

Governor Rauf Aregbesola had on Tuesday at his campaign rally in Ede listed the new school as one of the most beautiful schools in the country.

The administration built the school following the introduction of school restructuring by the incumbent governor.

The Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Mr. Ayo Olowe, told our correspondent that the building collapsed around 5am.

The Police Public Relations Officer for the state, Mrs. Folasade Odoro, said the school building came down due to heavy wind.

She said that the preliminary investigation by the police revealed that the building collapsed following a heavy wind on Wednesday morning.

She said, “The building collapsed due to heavy wind which blew this morning. Two artisans laying tiles sustained injuries. They were treated and have been discharged.”

The governor, while reacting to the incident in a statement issued by his media aide, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, said,
 “The Government of the State of Osun regrets to inform members of the public about the suspect incidence of the collapse of the main hall of the newly completed ultra-modern Ejigbo High School.

“Information at the disposal of the government indicates that the main hall which had been completed along with other classrooms of the school came down at about 6am Wednesday after a loud bang.

“As a responsible government, it is too early for us to say what the exact cause of the collapse is until we have full investigations and advice of professionals.

“However, it must be stated here that all necessary quality assurance tests were carried out to ensure structural durability and integrity of the project.

“Engineers from the Osun Ministry of Works and engineers from the Structural Engineering section of the Nigerian Society of Engineers have been dispatched to the site to establish the real cause of this unfortunate incident.”

The Commissioner for Information, Mr. Sunday Akere, had earlier in a telephone interview with our correspondent blamed the collapse on sabotage.

He said that some residents of the town claimed that low calibre explosive was used to blow up part of the structure.

The Director of publicity, Research and Strategy of the All Progressives Congress, Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, accused the Peoples Democratic Party of being behind the collapse.

He said, “I can tell you this categorically that the PDP sabotaged the structure. Investigation is going on.”

But the Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Bola Ajao, denied the allegation. He said it was unfortunate that the school building collapsed.

Ajao said, “They are driven by what they will gain from everything. They used substandard products and now they are blaming it on PDP.”

sources; punch

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Boko Haram: Jonathan admits Nigeria passing through stress

                                                           President Goodluck Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday admitted that the country was currently passing through stress orchestrated by the violence being perpetrated by members of the Boko Haram sect.

He said that was why his administration had resolved to tackle the insurgency from different fronts.
Jonathan spoke while inaugurating a steering committee for the Safe Schools Initiative, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The committee, which is co-chaired by the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and a former British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, also has the likes of Aliko Dangote, Nduka Obaigbena, as well as governors of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states, among others as members.

He said, “This country is passing through stress within this period, caused by the excesses of the Boko Haram sect and our government has been approaching it from different fronts.

“We always insist that the defence or security does not end terror but we need to stop collateral damage on innocent people.

“For us to win the war, we need to look at it holistically: economic issues, educational issues, religious issues and socio-cultural issues, among others.

“At the federal level, we have the Presidential Initiative on the North-East. They are looking at the totality of what the Federal Government can do in collaboration with stakeholders.”

The President said he had already received a copy of the report of the North-East Economic Summit, and that based on that report, his administration was looking at areas where government would come in.

He said the Safe Schools Initiative was one of the areas, where his government was intervening.

He decried the high rate of school dropout in some of the states, which he said, had risen to 70 per cent in some states, saying that was not acceptable to his administration.

He said Brown pioneered the initiative with government to see how they could tap global fund for school security.

Jonathan said he would also set up a Victims Support Fund, to assist victims of terror attacks.

He said he would launch the fund on July 16.

The President said, “We are also coming up with a package. Because we know that we need to intervene to cushion the effect of Boko Haram. So many people have been killed; we have widows and orphans. Properties have been destroyed, schools burnt.

“Government is also coming up with what we call Victims Support Fund. We believe that government alone cannot cushion the effect. We want to mobilise resources within and outside Nigeria, just like we did during the flood of 2012.

“We are trying to get somebody that will head that fund. We are looking at the 16th of this month to formally launch the fund. Government will put something and individuals will do too.”

Jonathan said the safety of Nigerian children and the security of their education must be paramount to all stakeholders.

He said tragic occurrences, like the kidnapping of the Chibok girls, must not happen again in the country.

“In line with this, we have designed this initiative to enhance the safety of our children and the teachers within the school environment and maintain the confidence of parents in sending and keeping their children in school.

“Education and skill acquisition are key to the advancement of our country and ensuring the employment potential of our youths.

“In Borno State today, for example, children, especially girls, are not going to school because of the risk they face from terrorism and violence. This is not acceptable.

“I understand we can only make schools safer within the context of a secured nation but I want to assure you that my government will do everything possible to ensure safety of lives and property nationwide. We have challenges; we are confronting it and we will surely overcome,” he said.

Jonathan disclosed that in tackling insurgency, his administration was deploying a three-point strategy that focuses on security, seeking political solution as well as economic solution through various economic empowerment and job creation programme all directed at combating insecurity.

sources;punch

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List Of Most Expensive Universities In Nigeria

       BABCOCK UNIVERSITY

Gone are the days when university education was free! It now costs a fortune to have your child educated in a private university. Parents part with as much as N3 million per year for their child to earn a degree in a private university. The advent of missionary schools has not even helped matters.


List Of Most Expensive Universities In Nigeria

This is a private Christian co-educational university owned and operated by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Nigeria. The university was established as the Adventist College of West Africa (ACWA) in 1957. Their school fee ranges from N620,000 to N3 million



In Babcock University, your meal and hostel defines your fee. It offers two and three daily meal services. And for accommodation, there are three to seven students in a room. When it comes to accommodation, it depends on your choice. Either it is regular (7 in a room), premium (4 in a room) or classic (3 or 2 in a room).


Here is a breakdown of Babcock school fees: Medicine: N3 million, Law: N2 million, Accounting: N1.5 million, Nursing: N1 million, other faculties: N860,000 – N620,000.


AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA (ABTI)

ABTI is the first Nigerian university with American structure and curriculum. It is in north eastern Nigeria, Yola, capital of Adamawa State. At ABTI, students pay as much as N1,378,500 to receive quality education. Parents, however, pay in dollars.


For tuition: $6,600 (N990,000), meals: $1,900 (285,000), four in a room: $500 (N75,000), private room: $1,900 – N285,000). In total, it amounts to N1,378,500 per annum.

Accommodation and feeding are taken care by the school.

AFE BABALOLA UNIVERSITY

Afe Babalola University is a private higher institution in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State. It was established in 2009 by Nigeria’s foremost lawyer and legal icon, Chief Afe Babalola (SAN). The fee covers tuition, development levy, ICT, ID card, medical, sports, PTCF levy, course registration, caution fee and accommodation which is either four per room or two per room.

Here is a breakdown of their school fees:

For Engineering: N925,000 (4 beds) and N1,075,000 (2 beds).

Health Science: N725,000 (4 beds) and N875,000 (2 beds)

Sciences: N675,000 (4 beds) and N825,000 (2 beds)

Social Management Science: N675,000 (4 beds) and N825,000 (2 beds)

The fee ranges from N675,000 to N1,075,000 annually. There is no provision for feeding.

IGBINEDION UNIVERSITY

The university came into existence following the presentation of certificate of approval on May 16, 1999. Thus, it became the first licensed private university in Nigeria. The tuition ranges from N540,000 to N820,000 without feeding.

For Medicine, Pharmacy, Law and Engineering, they pay a tuition of N610,000, accommodation: N100,000 and other facilities: N110,000.

BOWEN UNIVERSITY

It is owned and operated by the Nigerian Baptist Convention, at Iwo in Osun State and opened November 4, 2002. The tuition fee ranges from N500,000 to N750,000 per annum. The university is only responsible for accommodation and tuition. Students are made to buy their food from the cafeteria.

CRAWFORD UNIVERSITY

Crawford University is a private Christian institution in Igbesa, Nigeria. It was established in 2005. The school provides accommodation for students but does not provide feeding. Parents only pay for tuition, accommodation and some additional charges. The school fee ranges from N400,000 to N600,000.

REDEEMER’S UNIVERSITY

Redeemer’s University is a Christian school located in Redemption City, Ogun State, Nigeria. It was opened in 2005. At Redeemers, Natural Science pays N605,000, Management Sciences; N575,000 and Humanities pays N545,000. All this fees are paid without feeding but tuition and accommodation. We can see that the fees range from N500,000 to N650,000 per annum.

- Sources;naijaloaded.com

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Nigeria’s Police Chief Accused Of Investment Fraud

A human rights group named Paths of Peace has accused Nigeria’s Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, of defrauding police officers of billions of naira in a dubious investment scam.

IG of Police, MD Abubakar

In a petition to the Senate, the group demanded that Mr. Abubakar be probed over the alleged multi-billion-naira scheme that reportedly affects every police officer in the country. Paths of Peace (PoP), a non-governmental organization that wrote the petition, stated that its objective was to fight for the rights of the oppressed.


The petition, which was submitted to various Senate Committees, including the Committee on Petition and Privileges and the House Committee on Diaspora, alleged that Mr. Mohammed deducts N11,000 from each police officer’ account each month. The petition stated that the deductions are part of a scam perpetrated through the so-called “mechanized salary section” (MSS). The measure allows police authorities to cut the salaries of officers and to divert the deductions into what is called a mortgage bank called Fokas Savings and Loans Limited.






The petition disclosed that the deductions were purportedly to be used to buy shares for all police officers. However, none of the officers ever received any certificates or documents detailing the ownership of shares or the size of their shares.






PoP’s spokesman, Dandy Eze, stated that the Senate had previously ordered the IG to stop the illegal deductions from officers’ salaries. Mr. Eze disclosed that Mr. Abubakar had not heeded the Senate’s order.

According to the petition, the IG never refunded the deducted funds to police officers. The petition also accused Mr. Abubakar of flouting the legislature’s order by continuing to make further deductions from police officers' accounts.

PoP urged the Senate to intervene and to prevail on the Inspector General to stop making any more deductions and also to refund what he had so far deducted from police officers’ accounts.

sources;sahara reporters

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15 Nigerian Soldiers Ambushed And Killed As 200 Troops Attempt To Recapture Damboa Barracks From Boko Haram

Nigerian soldiers deployed around noon today (Nigerian time) to recapture Damboa military base suffered huge casualties as Boko Haram militants ambushed them, killing at least 15 soldiers, a security source has disclosed to SaharaReporters.

The source stated that 200 soldiers had been sent on the operation to reclaim the base from the Islamist insurgents who overran it and took it over a few days ago. Our source stated that the militants, who had hoisted their flag on the base, had dug a trench where many of their heavily armed gunmen lay in ambush awaiting what they knew would be the inevitable arrival of a contingent of soldiers to retake the base.

As soon as the soldiers approached, the Islamist militants surprised them by opening fire from their trenches, killing as many as 15 soldiers and wounding many more, said the source. “Some of the injured soldiers said that they lost 15 soldiers, but the full extent of those who died is even unclear now,” he told our correspondent.

“I went to the MRS Hospital in Maimalari barracks in Maiduguri. The hospital is filled to capacity with injured soldiers,” said the source. He added that the hospital was so stretched that some of the wounded soldiers were on the bare floor to receive treatment. “There’s a lack of space and facilities to accommodate the injured victims.”

Our source said the injured soldiers were enraged that they were sent on such a high-risk operation without enough firepower and troops to take out Boko Haram insurgents. “They are very angry and the atmosphere is tense,” said the source.
sources; sahara repoters

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NDLEA Arrests 34-Year-Old Man With 1.370kg Of Cocaine

A 34-year-old man has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), yesterday, with 1.370 kilogrammes of c*****e at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

The suspect identified as Mr. Nriagwu Augustine Ifeanyi, was nabbed during the screening of passengers on a Turkish Airline flight at the departure hall of the airport.


NDLEA Commander at the Lagos Airport, Mr. Hamza Umar while confirming the arrest said the suspect hid the drug and packed them in two parcels inside a laptop bag.


He said: “The suspect was found with two parcels of c*****e industrially hidden by the sides of his laptop bag. He was detected on his way to Turkey from where he would have proceeded to South Sudan. The drug tested positive for c*****e and weighed 1.370kg.”


Meanwhile, Chairman of NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade said that the agency would continue to engage in both drug supply and demand reduction activities towards making the country drug-free.
Sources; Naijaloaded.com

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Boko Haram Member Speaks With BBC, Says Only Prisoner Exchange Can Secure The Girls Release.

A man who described himself as a teacher/scholar inside the Boko Haram camp today July 8th spoke anonymously with Tobi Oladipo of BBC World radio service where he stated that it’s only the release of their imprisoned members by the Federal Government that can make them release the over 200 Chibok girls they abducted on April 14th at the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok.


“Yes we want the Nigerian government to release our members. As our leader Abubakar Shekau promised to the media, if today the government releases our members, tomorrow or the next day we promise you can see all of them (the girls) sure. We would release them tomorrow or the next day.” he told BBC World Radio.
Seaking further, the man said the abducted girls are in good condition and are well catered for


“I am telling you a fact, they are in a state of amnesty. They don’t have a problem. Some of them have belief in Islam, some of them say they would not convert to Islam but we didn’t differentiate them, we treat them equally. They are healthy, feeding and all these. We didn’t differentiate between them at all, why because, Allah commands us to do them equally. Some of them say they would not come back to Islam, we ask them to stay, no problem. There is no forcing in Islam but some of them not Muslims are converting to Islam but we are not differentiating them. If you see them now, you would see they don’t have any problem”he said

The man also said Boko Haram attacks anyone who gives out information about them and their activities

“Under Islam, killing children and women is not accepted you understand, but if they are fighting you, then you must fight them but if they are not fighting you, then it is not accepted weather they are Muslims or non-Muslims. Do not fight them, it is not accepted but if you bomb somewhere or make arrest somewhere, it will affect them but killing children and women is not accepted” he said
- Sources; naijaloaded.com

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