Headline

Sexual Harassment: FG To Establish Mobile Courts To Prosecute Offenders

Published

1 year ago

July 9, 2024

The Federal Government is planning to establish mobile courts to address issues relating to sexual harassment.

The Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, made this known at a one-day National Stakeholder’s Engagement on Sexual Harassment Prevention on Tuesday in Abuja.

The event was organized by the ICPC in collaboration with the Gender Mobile Initiative.

She decried the high rate of sexual harassment, especially in tertiary institutions across the country but added that the measures being put in place would tackle the menace.

“Sexual harassment is not relegated to tertiary institutions alone but even in primary and secondary schools, which are often carried out by teachers and sometimes among pupils.

“We are also working in collaboration with hotel owners to deny access to under-aged children from lodging and report any such attempts to security operatives to curb the terrible sexual harassment problems.”

She urged stakeholders to rise up to the challenge by ensuring that sexual harassment is brought to the barest minimum to address the problems of stigmatisation, and low self-esteem among victims.

Speaking, the Chairman of the ICPC, Dr Musa Aliyu Aliyu, raised the concern that until there are heavy consequences on offenders, the menace will continue to be on the increase.

Aliyu, also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, noted that sexual harassment and other related societal ills, including gender discrimination, are tarnishing the nation’s reputation.

“Only a consistent, persistent, focused and united campaign can ensure that the challenge of sexual harassment in tertiary institutions is decisively addressed.

“ICPC had a few years ago, in line with its commitment to addressing all forms of corruption, including abuse of office via sexual harassment, with the support of the Ford Foundation, executed a project aimed at curbing this societal malaise.

“One of the expected outcomes of that project was the drafting of model anti-sexual harassment policies for various levels of educational institutions,’’ he said.

He said that the commission engaged the Gender Mobile Initiative to draft a model policy for tertiary institutions and the Federal Ministry of Education approved the policies for primary and tertiary institutions.

“The policies are not necessarily meant to be adopted word for word by stakeholders.

“Instead, it is expected that although they may be adopted wholly by any institution that so desires, they should serve as guidelines for what a comprehensive policy should contain’’.

He reminded participants to always keep in mind that anyone, irrespective of status, designation, or gender, staff or student, can be a victim of sexual harassment, and likewise, anyone could be a perpetrator.

“It is a notorious fact that Nigeria has so many laws and policies, but many of them are not being correctly implemented.

“Therefore, proper implementation of the model policies cannot be over-emphasized. The success of this initiative largely depends on the active participation and commitment of stakeholders,’’.

The founder and Executive Director of the Gender Mobile Initiative, Omowumi Ogunrotimi, urged stakeholders to think about a prevention framework rather than a response framework.

“That is why we are in collaboration with ICPC to see that the policy we designed together will be a product of extensive community engagement.

“As far back as 2019, 2020, we had a national conference where we validated this policy.

“This was with a critical mass of stakeholders in the room across the National Universities Commission (NUC), National Board for Technical Education NBTE and even the student community.

“The policies centre on leadership, participation, aspiration and experiences of persons who are mostly affected by the structural inequity, and that is the student community.

“We really look to moving this forward from here because we know in Nigeria, when policies are made, they do not automatically translate into implementation.

“That is why we have drawn participants from far and wide, over 25 Commissioners of Education from States of the federation to participate in this programme.”

NAN

Headline

UK Links Nigeria, Others To Poisonous Alcoholic Drinks

Published

4 hours ago

October 22, 2025

Editor

Nigeria and seven other countries have been added to a UK Foreign Office list warning of the risks of methanol poisoning from counterfeit or tainted alcoholic drinks.

Other affected countries that have warned of potential risks include Ecuador, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Russia, Uganda, and Kenya.

The countries are included in the updated travel guidance following incidents involving Britons in those countries.

The advice previously covered Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Turkey, Costa Rica and Fiji and followed a number of high-profile incidents, including the death of six tourists in Laos last year.

The UK foreign Office warned travellers to watch out for signs of methanol poisoning such as blurry vision and confusion, which could lead to serious illness and death.

Methanol is an industrial chemical found in antifreeze and windscreen washer fluid. It is not meant for human consumption and is highly toxic.

With instances of unscrupulous backyard brewers adding methanol to drinks to extend their reach, and some bars and street vendors mixing it with spirit-based drinks and cocktails to cut costs, the Foreign Office has said it is crucial to be cautious.

The Foreign Office advised British nationals going abroad to purchase sealed drinks from licensed establishments, avoid homemade alcohol and pre-mixed spirits, cocktails and drinks served in buckets or jugs.

Travellers are advised to watch out for warning signs of poisoning, which include nausea, vomiting, dizziness and confusion.

Headline

Mosquitoes Discovered In Iceland For First Time

Published

15 hours ago

October 21, 2025

Editor

Mosquitoes have been discovered in Iceland in a first for the island nation, which has long been one of the world’s mosquito-free places, a researcher told AFP Monday.

Three Culiseta annulata mosquitoes, two females and one male, were sighted around 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of the capital Reykjavik, according to Matthias Alfredsson, an entomologist at the Natural Science Institute of Iceland.

“They were all collected from wine ropes… aimed at attracting moths,” the researcher said in an email, referring to a method of adding sugar to heated wine and dipping ropes or strips of fabric into the solution, which are then hung outside to entice the sweet-toothed insects.

Along with Antarctica, Iceland has long been one of the few places on earth without a mosquito population.

“It is the first record of mosquitoes occurring in the natural environment in Iceland. A single Aedes nigripes specimen (arctic mosquito species) was collected many years ago from an airplane at Keflavik airport,” Alfredsson said, adding that “unfortunately, that specimen is lost”.

Their presence could “indicate a recent introduction to the country, possibly via ships or containers”, he said, but further monitoring in spring would be necessary to determine their further spread.

Rising temperatures, longer summers, and milder winters, all brought on by climate change, create a more favourable environment for mosquitoes to thrive.

But Alfredsson did not believe that a warmer climate explained the discovery.

The species “appears to be well adapted to colder climates”, which “allows them to withstand long, harsh winters when temperatures drop below freezing”, he said.

He added that its “diverse breeding habitats… further enhances its ability to persist in Iceland’s challenging environment”.
AFP

Headline

Trump Urged Ukraine To Give Up Land In Peace Deal Talks — Official

Published

15 hours ago

October 21, 2025

Editor

United State President Donald Trump pressured Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to give up the eastern Donbas region in exchange for peace during “tense” talks last Friday in Washington, a senior Ukrainian official told AFP.

The source added that the talks with Trump were “not easy”, and that diplomatic efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war felt like they were being “dragged out” and “going in circles”.

Zelensky met Trump at the White House last week, hoping to capitalise on the US leader’s growing frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s reluctance to accept a ceasefire.

But he instead left empty-handed after Trump — who spoke with Putin the day before — denied his request for long-range Tomahawk missiles and pressured him into making a deal.

When asked if Trump urged Zelensky to pull out of land Ukraine still controlled — one of Putin’s key demands — the Ukrainian official told AFP: “Yes, that’s true.”

Following his meeting with Zelensky, Trump said on social media that their talks were “very interesting and cordial, but I told him, as I likewise strongly suggested to President Putin, that it is time to stop the killing and make a DEAL!”

Trump promised to end Russia’s three-and-a-half-year invasion within “24 hours” of his inauguration in January, but has failed to extract any concessions from Putin.

His position on the war has repeatedly shifted following his conversations with both Putin and Zelensky.

AFP