Connect with us

Headline

Removal Of Fuel Subsidy Will Worsen Economic Harship, Criminality – Varsity Don

Published

on

Former head of Department of Economics, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Professor Yusufu Dalhatu on Friday, kicked against the Federal Government’s plan to remove fuel subsidy.

Recalls that on November 23, 2021, the Nigerian Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed had during the launch of the World Bank Nigeria Development Update (NDU) said the federal government would remove fuel subsidy and replace it with a monthly 5,000 Naira transport grant to poor Nigerians.

READ ALSO: Jonathan Outlines Causes Of Security Conflict In Nigeria

Advertisement

According to her, the transport grant would target about 30 to 40 million Nigerians who make up the poorest population of the country.

However, Prof Dalhatu while speaking to DAILY POST in Kaduna on Friday, frowned at the decision to remove fuel subsidy, describing it as premature, and disastrous to Nigerians, especially in this critical period when every household was facing challenges of insecurity, hunger, lack, coupled with poor healthy environment.

He said, “If fuel subsidy is removed, Nigerians can no longer breathe due to economic suffocation, as the cost of transportation will shoot up and become unbearable”, adding that majority of micro, small and medium enterprises which depend on fuel for their power generating sets due to epileptic power supply will fold up.

“The level of unemployment in the country due to job losses will increase exponentially. This is apart from increase in criminal activities, especially kidnapping for ransom and banditry.

Advertisement

“There is a nexus between economic hardship and criminal tendencies,” Dalhatu said.

According to him, since 1999, successful Governments refused to do the needful to turn the fortune of Nigerians, just as the four local petroleum refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna have been moribund for a long time despite the huge amount of money spent on turnaround maintenance.

He noted that, the proposed N5000-a month transport grant for 40 million poorest Nigerians is not practicable and of no benefit to the economy.

READ ALSO: Six Killed, Score Injured In Ondo Community Cult Clash

Advertisement

According to him, “the money should be invested on new refineries. This will be beneficial to all Nigerians in the long run”, adding that the federal government should look for investors to revive the four refineries across Nigeria and make them functional.

“Removal of fuel subsidy can only be tenable when local production of refined petroleum products begins. When this happens, fuel subsidy will fizzle out and the current brouhaha, as well as hullabaloo on subsidy will die down,” he further explained.

Advertisement

Headline

Disregard Claim Of Me Bringing Investors To Nigeria – Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Published

on

By

The Director-General of the World Trade Organization, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has denied sending a WhatsApp message claiming she’s bringing investors to Nigeria due to Tinubu’s “commendable policies”.

A message had been circulating on Whatsapp alleging that former Minister of Finance has been contacted by President, respected instutitions and investors who congratulated her because Nigeria has finally found a “focused leader.”

Anything forwarded to you purporting to be a WhatsApp message from me is fake – Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala debunks news claiming she?s bringing investors to Nigeria due to Tinubu?s ?commendable policies?

Advertisement

READ ALSO: JUST IN: Pius Olanrewaju Sworn In As 23rd CIBN President

Reacting via her X handle, Okonjo-Iweala described it as fake. She wrote;

‘’It’s been brought to my attention that another FAKE message has been manufactured and is being forwarded on WhatsApp in my name. I want to make clear that this fake message is not from me. I am pleased that those who know me instantly recognized this as fake.

“Thanks to friends who brought this to my attention. Please be aware that I do not use WhatsApp broadcasts, thus anything forwarded to you purporting to be a WhatsApp message from me is FAKE.

Advertisement

“This is a bad example of the use of social media. I want to warn those in the business of manufacturing FAKE messages, that they will not succeed.”

Continue Reading

Headline

Moment Man Falls 40 Feet Onto Police Van After Climbing Building For ‘Drugs Stash’ [VIDEO]

Published

on

By

This is the shocking moment a man fell 40 feet onto a police car and landed on the concrete road after climbing a building for a “drugs stash”.

The alleged drug dealer was trying to escape from police when he decided to jump from an apartment building in northern Brazil on Sunday night, May 12.

In response to the arrest of a teenager for drug-related offences in Marechal Floriano, the Espirito Santo Military Police launched an operation targeting neighbourhood drug dealers.

Advertisement

Authorities apprehended a 17-year-old youth carrying cocaine as he was making his way to the building to sell it to a 31-year-old man. The officers then had their attention drawn to a noise coming from an apartment building.

READ ALSO: JUST IN: Collapsed Roof Injures OAU Students During Lecture

When they looked up at a window on the third floor, they saw two men attempting to escape.

One of the individuals involved jumped out, landed on the rear-view window of the police SUV and quickly ran away. But the escape didn’t work out as well for his 26-year-old accomplice.

Advertisement

In footage captured on a smart phone video, he is seen trying to climb down before losing his balance and hitting his head on the window.

He ended up on the floor beside the police car.

READ ALSO: VIDEO: Drama As Portable Jumps Gate To Evade Police Arrest

The unnamed suspect was quickly taken to Dr. Arthur Gerhardt Hospital by the Military Police for treatment of trauma. He was then moved to São Lucas Hospital and handed over to the police.

Advertisement

The suspect will be moved to a nearby jail once he is fit and ready to leave.

During the home search cops seized 295 crack rocks, 45 packages of cocaine, 10 grams of crack and 189 grams of cocaine paste, as well as $116.

The man who was supposedly meeting the teenager to buy drugs was released as cops lacked sufficient evidence to accuse him of actually making the purchase.

Meanwhile the teen admitted to drug trafficking in a logbook and was released to his family.

Advertisement

Watch a video from the scene below.

 

Advertisement

Continue Reading

Headline

B-I-Z-A-R-R-E! Man Missing For 26 Years Found Alive In Neighbour’s House

Published

on

By

An Algerian man, Omar Bin Omran, who went missing at the age of 17, 26 years ago following an alleged kidnapping, has been found alive in his neighbour’s house.

According to Daily Mail on Wednesday, Omar was discovered in a hole in the ground within a sheep pen, concealed under stacks of hay.

Omar, one of nine children, disappeared in the city of Djelfa, Algeria, 26 years ago. His family believed he had been killed during the civil war that ravaged the nation in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Advertisement

According to reports, Omar was found less than 200 meters from his family’s home. A 61-year-old neighbour is now in police custody after Omar, now 45, was rescued on May 12.

Footage was shared on social media and broadcast on Algerian television networks of the moment that he was found in what appeared to be a hole in the ground, described by authorities as a sheep pen, within the home of his alleged captor.

READ ALSO: JUST IN: Convicted Kidnap Kingpin Evans Re-arraigned, Opts For Plea Bargain

The blurry video shows torchlights shining into a pit surrounded by hay as Omar furtively looks up, seemingly in shock at the search party surrounding him, with stray pieces of straw in his hair.

Advertisement

Other images have since been circulated of the bearded man emerging from the hole, thought to be a sheep pen, and of him as a teenager, sitting with a dog and with young children before he disappeared.

According to the Algerian newspaper El Khabar, his dog recognized his scent and stayed near where Omar was held. It was alleged that the captor poisoned the dog to ward the family off.

Omar went missing in 1998 while heading to a vocational school. He was found after the captor’s brother aired grievances on social media, reportedly over an inheritance dispute.

This led Omar’s family to search the neighbour’s house, where they found him. The captor attempted to flee but was restrained and arrested.

Advertisement

 

Tragically, Omar’s mother died in 2013 without knowing the fate of her son. Reports suggest Omar was informed of his mother’s death while in captivity.

A relative said on Facebook: ‘Thank god my cousin was found. Bin Imran Omar is in good health after 26 years of disappearance. Awaiting details of the case and investigations.’

Public prosecutors in Djelfa, a mountain city of around 500,000 people around 140 miles south of coastal capital Algiers, say Omar will receive psychological care after being rescued as they vowed to get him justice.

Advertisement

‘The Djelfa Attorney General’s Office informs the public that on May 12 at 8 pm local time, it found victim Omar B, aged 45, in the case of his neighbour, B.A., aged 61,’ they said in a statement.

A court official in Djelfa was quoted as saying: “Two days ago, on 12 May 2024, the Public Prosecutor’s Office received, through the regional department of the National Gendarmerie in El Jadid, a complaint against an anonymous person claiming that the complainant’s brother, Omar bin Omran, who has been missing for about 30 years, is in the house of one of his neighbours, inside a sheepfold.”

Following this report, the General Prosecutor of the Court of Idrisiya in the province of Djelfa ordered the National Gendarmerie to open an in-depth investigation and officers went to the house in question.

READ ALSO: [FULL LIST] BET Awards 2024: Burna Boy, Asake, Others Bag Nominations As Drake, Nicki Minaj Lead

Advertisement

He added: “The Public Prosecutor’s Office ordered that the victim receive medical and psychological treatment, and the suspect will be presented to the Public Prosecutor’s Office immediately after the completion of the investigation.”

Officials have promised the ‘perpetrator of this heinous crime’ will be tried with ‘severity.’

The suspect, a civil servant, lived alone but was often seen buying enough food for two people. A neighbour recounted to Algerian TV station Bilad that Omar’s mother died without knowing her son was so close by.

Questions have arisen about why Omar did not call for help during his captivity. Some reports claim Omar said he was unable to call out because of a spell cast by his captor, while others suggest his psychological state may have prevented him from seeking help.

Advertisement

The case may be among the world’s longest-running kidnapping cases. Eleven-year-old Jaycee Dugard was kidnapped in Meyers, California in 1991 and remained missing for over 18 years after she was captured by Phillip and Nancy Garrido.

Dugard was kept in depraved conditions and was subjected to extreme sexual abuse, having two children by Phillip Garrido, and later said she adapted to sympathising with her captors to survive.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending

Exit mobile version