The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Kwara State Command has confirmed the arrest of a fraudster, Babatunde Adekunle, for swapping the Automated Teller Machine card of an old man and using the card to withdraw N1.8m from the man’s account.

The state Commandant of the NSCDC, Umar Mohammed, paraded Adekunle alongside six other suspects nabbed with two trucks loaded with railway slippers at Oloru in the Moro Local Government Area of the state.

Mohammed said Babatunde Adekunle, 41, was alleged to have fraudulently swapped his ATM card with that of an old man at one of the ATM points in a bank in Ilorin.

“Having swapped the card, he allegedly withdrew N1.8m from the account. The case was reported and the commandant mandated the tracking unit to arrest him,” he said.

On the nabbed two trucks loaded with railway slippers, Mohammed identified the suspects as Yunusa Bello, 41, Sanni Taminu, 35, Sanusi Lawal, 25, Alhaji Makeri,33, Lukman Sanni, 32, and Olabode Johnson, 41.

Umar appreciated the state government, the traditional rulers and the good people of the state for their support.

He assured the public that the command would continue to work with other sister agencies so as to ensure the safety of the lives and property of residents in the state.

A Bauchi State Chief Magistrates’ Court has sentenced a 32-year-old man, Auwal Usman, for using a machete to cut off the two hands of his friend in the state.

The Presiding Judge, Haruna Mamma, found Usman guilty of cutting his friend’s hands with a machete during a physical fight.

The police prosecutor, Yusuf Musa, told the court that the suspect, a resident of Dogon Ruwa village in Ari, in the Ningi Local Government Area of Bauchi State, had a misunderstanding with Sabo Abduwa which resulted in a fight.

Musa added that during the fight, the convict brought out a machete and cut the two hands of his friend.While one hand fell down, the remaining one was left hanging.

Musa added, “Abduwa was rushed to the Ningi General Hospital for medical attention where the remaining hand was amputated to save his life because of the serious injuries he sustained as a result of the deep cut. This is contrary to Section 241 of the penal code.”

When the charges were read to the suspect, he admitted to committing them but pleaded for leniency from the court because he was a first offender.

Delivering his judgment, Mamman said the court was convinced that the victim lost his two hands as a result of the heinous act of the suspect which would render him disabled for life.

Mamman, therefore, sentenced him to two years in a correctional centre without an option of fine for causing grievous hurt contrary to Section 241 of the Penal Code.

He also ordered him to pay the victim the sum of N150,000 for his medical expenses.

The police in Lagos state on Tuesday arraigned a 46-year-old man, Victor Yabugbe, for allegedly defiling an 18-year-old girl.

The police charged Mr Yabugbe, whose address was not provided, with rape before a Badagry Chief Magistrates’ Court.

He, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The prosecutor, Insp Ayodele Adeosun, told the court that the defendant committed the offence on April 17 at 8.56 p.m. at No 13, Adebola St., Araromi-Ale, Badagry, Lagos.

Mr Adeosun said that the defendant had sexual intercourse with the girl without her consent.

He said that the girl reported the case to the police and the defendant was arrested.

The prosecutor said that the offence contravened Section 260 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

The magistrate, T.A. Popoola, granted the defendant bail in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties in like sum.

Mr Popoola said that one of the sureties must be a community leader.

He adjourned the case until July 26 for mention.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has reiterated that the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) result paraded by Mmesoma Ejikeme “is patently fake,” barring the embattled student from sitting its examination.

JAMB handed a three-year ban to the Anambra student.The board announced this in a statement by its spokesman Fabian Benjamin on Tuesday.

“In the meantime, the management of the board, after considering the weighty infraction committed by Ms Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma, in line with its established procedures, has withdrawn her 2023 UTME result,” the JMAB statement said.

“It has also barred her from sitting for the board’s examination for the next three years.”

The exam board had, on Sunday, withdrawn the UTME result of Ms Ejikeme while accusing the candidate of manipulating and falsifying her scores.

However, the teenager had on Monday, in a new viral video, denied forging the UTME result while saying it could have been a technical malfunction from the board’s system.

“Consequently, the board would like to reassure Nigerians that its system was neither tampered with nor compromised. The candidate simply falsified a copy of a result slip of a candidate named Asimiyu Mariam Omobolanle, who sat the UTME in 2021 and scored 138,” the exam body added.

JAMB noted that it “is also instructive to note that the candidate, in her statement, has inadvertently revealed the rightful owner of the result she is parading.

This she did when she pointed out that the QR code on the result slip showed the actual owner of the said result before she peddled a lie in an attempt to obfuscate the truth.”

It added,

“To witness the unassailable position of the board regarding this obvious falsehood, the general public is, therefore, urged to endeavour to scan the QR code on the result slip to see its actual owner before it was mutilated. It is to be noted that the QR code encapsulates the UTME result of each candidate. Hence, what is on the result sheet is nothing other than the interpretation of the information on this QR code.”

The board further explained that it stopped issuing notification of result slips in 2021 to prevent candidates from falsifying their UTME results.

JAMB said it has been issuing actual UTME result slips (not notification of results) since 2022, complete with the photograph of each candidate.

“Similarly, the public is also invited to ponder on the fact that out of all the candidates that sat the 2023 UTME, only Ms Ejikeme Mmesoma paraded the obsolete ‘notification of result’,” it stated.

Ms Ejikeme had been reported to security authorities, said JAMB.

“This case has, therefore, been rightly handed over to relevant security agencies for a thorough investigation to unravel the masterminds of yet another unfortunate scam,” the statement stressed.

“The board is not averse to public scrutiny and hereby suggests a public session with relevant security agencies, representatives of Ms Ejikeme and civil society organisations in attendance without delay.”

JAMB explained that this was based on the “board’s experience over the years, which showed that these wily candidates confessed to their ignoble acts only when confronted with incontestable facts.”

The board said that the candidate was set to be honoured by the Anambra government when one of its top officials called the board’s attention to confirm her claim.

It further disclosed that the call prompted the board to verify and reveal that Ms Ejikeme had scored 249 and not 362, as she claimed, to obtain scholarships and other recognition fraudulently.

Nigerian masseuse Joyce Ijeoma has fallen through attempting to break the Guinness World Record for the longest massage hours. Ms Ijeoma had done over 50 hours before she collapsed.

A viral video revealed when Ms Ijeoma fell while live-streaming her efforts.The masseuse attempted to overthrow current longest-massage world record holder Alastair Galpin in South Kalimantan, Indonesia, who broke the record with 25 hours and 4 minutes.

Last June, Guinness World Records confirmed that Hilda Effiong Bassey, better known as Hilda Baci, broke the record for the longest cooking marathon (individual), with a time of 93 hours 11 minutes.

The 26-year-old Nigerian chef began on May 11 and continued until 15, cooking over 100 pots of food during her four-day kitchen stint.

Hilda attempted to set a record of 100 hours.

However, almost seven hours were deducted from her final total because she mistakenly took extra minutes for one of her rest breaks early on in the attempt.

Fire has gutted Sopurum Hotel, located in the Nkwelle community, a commercial city of Onitsha, Anambra State, burning a substantial part of the structure.

The cause of the fire has yet to be ascertained, but it was gathered that the incident started at about 4:30 am on Monday.

As of the time of filing this report, men of the fire service from Delta and Anambra states were already on the ground battling with the situation.

The Edo State Police Command has arrested two students of the University of Benin over the death of their friend, Francis Anuide, who drowned in Ekosodin River, Benin, where the trio had gone swimming.

The arrested students are Samson Kennedy, a 200-level biochemistry student, and Wilfred Emmanuel, a 500-level student of Optometry.

The deceased was said to have been invited by the two friends to swim in the river close to the Ugbowo campus of the University, where he allegedly drowned.

Confirming the arrest, the state police spokesman, SP Chidi Nwabuzor, said the duo were apprehended to assist the police in investigating the circumstances leading to the victim’s death.

Mr Nwabuzor explained that after the case was reported at the Ugbowo Police Station, Benin, the divisional police officer and his men led a team of local divers to the incident scene.

“Luckily, they were able to recover the body. The case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for further investigations.

“Two persons were arrested because they went together to swim in that river when the ugly incident occurred.

“Arresting them is very important so that we can know what made them leave their hostel and go to that river at that time and what happened right there in the river,” he said.

Sources told journalists that the two students were arrested due to the discovery of blood on the lips of the deceased and peeled skin around his neck region.The sources said this raised suspicion amongst the victim’s family members and relatives, demanding an autopsy.

“After the deceased got drowned, the duo ran back to the Ekosodin community to seek help from the community and vigilante members, but the deceased died before help could come his way,” one of the sources said.

Housewives in the Federal Capital Territory(FCT) Abuja, on Sunday, said they had ditched tomatoes for their stews and sauces as prices skyrocketed.

The residents stated this in an interview. According to them, eggplants and carrots have replaced tomatoes.

They said eggplants could blend well with rice in the same manner as tomatoes.

Other women said they were exploring pumpkins, pawpaw or traditional soups like white soup and palm fruit soup, popularly called banga soup, instead of tomato stew and sauce.

Jumai Amodu, a mother of five, said a week without rice with tomato stew was unfulfilling for her and the family.

She said rice with sauce was a regular on their menu, adding that “there is an unexplainable satisfaction that comes with taking cooked rice and stew.”

The mother of five, however, said with the scarcity and high cost of tomatoes, her family was exploring eggplant stew.

Ms Amodu said,

“Since tomatoes became very expensive, we decided to use garden egg for stew, and it is as sweet as tomato stew. The only major difference between eggplant stew and tomato stew is the colour. We also use pumpkin stew with rice sometimes, and although it has its unique taste, it blends well with rice.”

Helen Omo, a businesswoman, said although tomato stew was an important recipe in almost all homes in Nigeria, its scarcity had made some Nigerians think of alternatives.

“I went to the market yesterday to get some tomatoes for stew, and a sizeable bushel, which costs between N2,000 and N2,500, was being sold for as much as N6500,” stated Ms Omo.

“I did not bother to haggle the price because it was way beyond my budget.”

An entrepreneur, who identified himself as Chinedu, said he enjoyed eating rice with pepper soup or white soup.

“The prices of all foodstuffs have gone up, but that of tomatoes is outrageous probably because it is tomatoes’ off-season. Besides being expensive, it is very scarce, and as a result, we decided to explore other recipes,” Mr Chinedu explained.

Umar Adamu, a tomato retailer in Nyanya market in the FCT, said he stopped retailing tomatoes for some days due to low patronage. He said customers were not “patronising him because of the high cost.”

Rukkaya Umar, Abraks Farm Produce Nigeria Limited CEO, said the major reason for the tomato scarcity was the high cost of fertiliser. According to her, many tomato farmers did not plant tomatoes because they could not afford fertiliser, adding that fertiliser was critical to its growth.Mr Umar also said reliance on seasonal farming was a reason for the scarcity.

“Most farmers in Nigeria still do seasonal farming, and that is contributing greatly to scarcity of farm produce, particularly in their off-seasons,” she said.

A sizable basket of tomatoes sold for about N10,000 now sells for about N35,000, while big baskets cost more.

Residents of the Ojokoro Low-Cost Housing Estate in Meiran, Lagos, have sent an SOS to the federal government over deaths caused by one-way driving due to failed portions of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.

The residents and several other road users appealed in separate interviews on Sunday in Lagos.

The failed portion of the highway begins from the Sango-Otta-bound carriageway around the ‘U’ turn at Abule-Egba, all the way to Toll Gate, the boundary between Lagos and Ogun.

Potholes dot several portions and worsen gridlock, especially with rains and some vehicles resorting to driving against the Oshodi-bound carriageway traffic up to the Toll Gate area.

The service lane of the Oshodi-bound lane around the popular Ile-Epo Market portion on the highway has collapsed.

Rasheed Ejalonibu, chairman, Ojokoro Low-Cost Housing Residents Association, said accidents caused by one-way driving along the Abule-Egba to toll gate corridor were on the rise, with his members as casualties.

“In March, one of our residents was killed by a hit-and-run driver taking one-way. Recently, a boy going to a salon was also killed on the same road.

“We are seriously feeling the pains; if not an accident, early morning robbery takes place because some drivers would not want to follow one way for the danger it entails but get robbed on the bad road by hoodlums,” he said.

Olubowale Kasunmu, the Community Development Committee (CDC) chairman in Agbado Oke-Odo Local Council Development Area (LCDA), also begged the government to fix the highway quickly.

“Formerly, it was the two lanes, but now, one lane has been fixed, and the other was abandoned, which makes motorists follow a one-way drive to the toll gate from the Meiran axis,” he said.

A civil servant in the community, Ahmed Oyasipe, joined other motorists to appeal to both Lagos State and the federal government to find lasting solutions to the dilapidated road to safeguard lives and property.

Responding, Adedamola Kuti, the South-West director of federal highways, Federal Ministry of Works, said the government had not abandoned the highway.

“Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta, we have not forgotten them, we are having some issues with the contract, and we are trying to resolve the issues surrounding that contract.

“Very soon, we shall resolve the issue surrounding the contract, then we will get back to work.

“The issue is that when the contract was awarded, the scope of work had changed over that period of time.

“We now have more states of disrepair along that axis, and we are trying to, of course, get those planned,” he said.

He explained that because of cost variation in the additional contract, efforts were on towards coming up with a comprehensive request in the form of an augmentation forwarded to the federal government.

He said the ongoing construction achieved 40 per cent completion before the contract review, adding that the increased scope of work necessitated repackaging of the project.

Speaking on the Ota-Idiroko section, he said procedures were still ongoing to help Globacom to take over the reconstruction of the road project under the Tax Credit Scheme of the federal government.

The Inspector-General of Police, Olukayode Adeolu Egbetokun, has summoned police officers in the Edo State Police Command who handcuffed and ran over a man with a vehicle.

Police spokesman Muyiwa Adejobi, who disclosed this in a statement on Friday, said the officers were to report at the force headquarters in Abuja on Monday for investigations.

On Thursday, Footage showed officers in a Sienna vehicle running over a handcuffed man lying on the road in Ekpoma.

Mr Adejobi said Mr Egbetokun condemned the officers’ action and described it as disturbing.

“The IGP has, therefore, directed the erring policemen, who have been in detention in Edo State, to report to the Force Headquarters Abuja on Monday for further action.

“Members of the public, particularly the people of Ekpoma, are implored to remain calm as the present leadership of the NPF will not condone such an act of unprofessionalism and illegality,” he said.

ACoalition of Civil Society groups says it will resist the alleged plan to increase the pump price of petrol to N700 per litre, describing it as unacceptable.

Basil Musa, the group’s convener and co-convener, Ayo Adebayo, said the coalition would shut down filling stations selling above the approved N448 per litre.

Mike Osatuyi, the national controller of operations, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), had said the petrol price could rise above N700 per litre in parts of the north from July.

“What I am seeing is around N600 and above, depending on the exchange rate, the current crude price at the international market and the landing cost,” Mr Osatuyi said.

Reacting to the planned increment of fuel pump price, the group accused IPMAN of running a parallel government outside a constitutionally recognised government of the country.

The group said the development is pure mischief and sabotage, even as Nigerians still grapple with the “price shock” occasioned by the increment on May 29.

The coalition threatened to mobilise members and stakeholders nationwide to protest and shut down filling stations.

The group urged the federal government to call IPMAN to order, stressing that Nigerians were struggling with the recently adjusted fuel pump price with no palliative measures yet.

“We watch the removal of fuel subsidy regime by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in his inaugural address on May 29, 2023, and we take the dire consequences as part of sacrifice awaiting when the government would have settled to come up with ameliorative measures for the citizens.

“But, IPMAN’s plan to adjust fuel pump price will stoke protests because it isn’t in the interest of Nigerians.” the group added.

According to the group, IPMAN was largely behind the mystery litres of petrol consumption that suddenly dropped from 66 million per day to 40 million after the subsidy removal.

Some of the groups include Oil and Gas Transparency and Advocacy Group, the Civil Society Coalition for Economic Development (CED), the Centre for Citizens Rights, the Centre for Good Governance Advocacy, Action against Corruption in Nigeria, and others.

Meanwhile, the chairman of IPMAN in the South-West, Dele Tajudeen, denied the plan to increase pump price to N700 per litre nationwide.

“I want to disabuse the mind of the people that they should not panic about it, there is no cause for alarm, we are in control, and there is nothing like that,” Mr Tajudeen said in an interview on Friday in Ibadan.

He added, “So, people should be rest assured that there is no way they can buy petrol more than the price it is being sold now.”

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has predicted cloudiness and sunshine from Saturday to Monday nationwide.

NiMet’s weather outlook released on Friday anticipates a cloudy atmosphere on Saturday with intervals of sunshine over the northern region.

The agency forecasts chances of morning thunderstorms over parts of Borno, Yobe, Gombe, Jigawa, Bauchi, Adamawa and Taraba states.

“Later in the day, prospects of thunderstorms are expected over parts of Borno, Taraba, Kano, Gombe, Bauchi and Kaduna states.

“Cloudy atmosphere is envisaged over the North-Central region with prospects of intermittent rains over parts of the Federal Capital Territory, Niger, Kogi and Kwara states.

“Later in the day, thunderstorms are expected over parts of the Federal Capital Territory, Kwara, Benue, Nasarawa, Niger and Plateau states,” it said.

According to the agency, a cloudy atmosphere is anticipated over parts of the inland states of the South and the coastal cities in the morning, with prospects of rain over parts of Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ogun, Edo, Lagos, Delta, and Bayelsa states.

NiMet envisages thunderstorms with intermittent rains over parts of Ondo, Oyo, Enugu, Lagos, Imo, Abia, Ebonyi, Edo, Delta, Rivers, Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, and Cross River states later in the day.

The agency anticipated a cloudy atmosphere on Sunday with intervals of sunshine over the northern region in the morning hours with prospects of thunderstorms over parts of Taraba states.

It forecast thunderstorms over parts of Adamawa, Taraba, Bauchi, Gombe, Kaduna and Borno states in the afternoon and evening.Cloudy morning is anticipated for the North-Central region.

Also, thunderstorms are predicted over parts of the Federal Capital Territory, Nasarawa, Benue, Niger, Plateau and Kogi states in the afternoon and evening hours.

Cloudy morning is also expected over the inland states of the South and the coastal areas, with chances of intermittent rains over parts of Ogun, Ondo, Edo, Cross River, and Akwa Ibom states.

NiMet predicted thunderstorms with intermittent rains over parts of Ogun, Ondo, Oyo, Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo, Abia, Edo, Akwa Ibom, Lagos, Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers states later in the day.

The agency envisaged sunny skies on Monday with few patches of clouds over the northern region with prospects of morning thunderstorms over parts of Adamawa, Taraba, Gombe and Borno states.

It stated that later in the day, thunderstorms are expected over parts of Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Borno, Zamfara, Sokoto, Taraba and Adamawa states.

A cloudy atmosphere is anticipated over the North-Central region in the morning hours, with prospects of thunderstorms over parts of the Federal Capital Territory, Niger, Nasarawa, Benue, Kogi, and Plateau states later in the day.

It said cloudy skies are expected over the inland states of the South and the coastal areas with chances of intermittent rains over Edo, Ogun, Ondo, Rivers, Lagos, Cross River, and Akwa Ibom states.

The agency predicted thunderstorms with intermittent rains over parts of Edo, Ogun, Ondo, Ekiti, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Lagos, Cross River, Imo, and Abia states later in the day.

NiMet said strong winds would likely precede rains for areas where thunderstorms are expected.

NiMet advised the public to stay indoors, especially during heavy rainfall, to avoid being struck by lightning as the trees, electric poles, unsecured objects, and weak buildings might be felled.

It advised all airline operators to periodically avail themselves of weather reports from NiMet for effective planning in their operations.