News

By Uzair Adam Imam

The Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has shut down Wellcare Supermarket for refusing to collect the old naira notes.

The governor instructed Baffa Babba Dan’agundi, the Acting Chairman of Kano State Consumer Protection Council, to shut down the supermarket.

Dan’agundi, who made this disclosure after shutting down the supermarket, said legal action would be taken against the supermarket.

Wellcare is a prominent supermarket that sells food products and drugs among other provisions stuffs.

The Daily Reality gathered that the closure order was a result of its refusal to accept the old naira notes from costumers.

It can be recalled that the Kano State Government instructed supermarkets and other marketers to continue accepting the old notes.

The Acting Chairman also warned other traders in Kano against refusing to collect the old naira notes.

He added that any supermarket caught refusing the old notes will be dealt with decisively.

By Muhammadu Sabiu 
 
Olaniyi Nasiru Ojikutu, a 39-year-old Nigerian, was convicted of participating in a multi-year romance scam and was given a sentence of nearly seven and a half years in a U.S. prison.
 
Ojikutu, a permanent resident of the US, allegedly opened roughly 25 bank accounts under his own name, a fictitious name, and the name of a shell company, through which nearly $3.4 million in fraud proceeds were moved.
 
It was revealed that Ojikutu and nine other people were charged in Operation Gold Phish, a Chicago-based sting operation that uncovered cybercrimes that preyed on senior citizens.
 
Ojikutu was charged with wire fraud in the scheme in 2019 and received an 88-month prison term on Wednesday, according to Fox32Chicago.
 
Ojikutu fled to Canada by bus after being charged, but was apprehended seven months later and turned up to American authorities in January 2020.
 
Last July, he entered a guilty plea to one count of wire fraud.
 
Social networking sites, including Facebook and Instagram, as well as the mobile dating app Match.com were used to contact scam victims.
 
Prosecutors asserted on Thursday that Ojikutu used the money obtained fraudulently for his own personal gain, including buying cars in the US and exporting them to Nigeria for resale.
 
Federal prosecutors reported that some victims suffered financial losses of several hundred thousand dollars as a result of Ojikutu’s acts.
 
 

By Uzair Adam Imam

The Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has dragged President Muhammadu Buhari before Supreme Court on Thursaday over naira notes redesign.

Governor Ganduje asked the court to command the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) not to stop collecting the old naira notes of N200, 500 and 1000.

He added that the naira redesign has also contradicted the provision of the 1999 constitution of Nigeria.

In a complaint filed by Sunusi Musa SAN yesterday, Ganduje said President Buhari alone had no right to instruct the CBN to stop collecting the old naira notes without consulting the House of Assembly.

Ganduje also decried about the way people are suffering in the country because of this newly introduced policy by the CBN.

In his interview with BBC Hausa, Musa said the court will hear the case on Wednesday next week.

The Daily Reality recalls that the governors of Kaduna, Zamfara and Kogi had earlier dragged president Buhari to the court over same case of naira redesign.

However, some analysts are seeing it as a power tussle between Buhari and Tinibu cabal ahead of 2023 elections.

By Muhammadu Sabiu 

A woman from New York City who was accused of trying to steal the identity of another woman by feeding poisoned cheesecake to her doppelganger was found guilty of attempted murder.

In a news release, Queens district attorney Melinda Katz stated that a jury had found 47-year-old Viktoria Nasyrova guilty of trying to kill 35-year-old Olga Tsvyk with cheesecake laced with a potent sedative in August 2016 and stealing her passport and other belongings afterwards.

The district attorney stated that Nasyrova intended to pass herself off as Tsvyk after killing her since the two women had similar looks, including dark hair and skin tones.

The attorney was quoted as saying, “The jury saw through the deception and schemes of the defendant. She laced a slice of cheesecake with a deadly drug so she could steal her unsuspecting victim’s most valuable possession, her identity. Fortunately, her victim survived, and the poison led right back to the culprit.”

According to the prosecution team, after eating the cheesecake, Tsvyk felt nauseous and passed out. Later, she was discovered practically unconscious in bed by a friend and was rushed to a hospital for treatment.

The team noted that after Tsvyk was released from the hospital and went home, she discovered that her passport, work authorization card, gold ring, and other valuables were all gone.

Nasyrova was detained after it was discovered through testing of residue from the cheesecake container that it contained phenazepam, a strong sedative.

By Aisar Fagge

The International Trade Fair of the year 2023 has been dedicated to the Dangote Group by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Kaduna State Chamber of Commerce organised the trade fair in collaboration with the Industry to Pan-African Conglomerate.

This was disclosed in a statement signed and issued by the Corporate Communication Unit of Dangote Group.

The statement said that President Buhari, who was represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Muhammad Mahmud Abubakar, made the dedication while declaring the Trade Fair open over the weekend.

The statement read in part, “As part of strategies to expand market share and reach more customers, the management of the Pan-African conglomerate, Dangote Group, has announced its partnership with Ogun and Kaduna states Chamber of Commerce and Industry to stage this year’s International Trade fair with a promise to invest more in Nigeria’s economy.

“To this end, the Group Chief, Branding and Communication, Dangote Industries Limited, Mr Anthony Chiejina, said subsidiaries under the Group are featuring prominently at the two fairs, which kicked off at the weekend in Kaduna and Abeokuta, Ogun states, respectively.

“While the Trade fair organised by the OGUNCCIMA will be formally declared open today (Monday) by the Ogun State Governor, Chief Dapo Abiodun,” the statement added.

The president also commended the Dangote Group for its contributions to national development.

President Buhari further urged the general public and businesses to use the opportunities offered at the fair.

By Ukasha Rabiu Magama

In a bid to prevent pre and post-election unrest across Toro and Bauchi during the oncoming elections in Nigeria, Toro Uplift Association commences a sensitisation program across various secondary schools in Bauchi state.

The sensitisation program, which will commence on Monday, 13 February 2023 and end on Thursday, 23 February 2023, has been disclosed by the Union’s chairman Abdulfatah Mu’azu while addressing some susceptible youths in Toro last Wednesday on the consequence of political thuggery.

Abdulfatah said the sensitisation journey, which will be embarked on in three selected secondary schools across the state’s towns, is aimed at discouraging pre and post-election violence in the forthcoming poll.

He, however, admonished the susceptible youths to disassociate themselves from unprofitable politicians who may hire them to disrupt the smooth conduct of elections for selfish interests.

In their respective comments, some of the susceptible youths, Shamsudden Umar and Nabil Saleh, paid allegiance to Toro Uplift and thanked the union for considering them despite their situation and promised not to engage in any political violence no matter the amount of money one will offer them during the election period. 

In his remark, the association’s secretary Umar Muhammad Sani said the Toro Uplift would not fold its hands to allow selfish politicians to use youths to disrupt the peaceful conduct of the exercise. He, however, charges that susceptible youths report any suspicious politicians whose target is to use them as thugs.

He further called on the principals of various secondary schools across the state to give the Toro Uplift Association maximum cooperation to have a smooth sensitisation exercise so that entire societies will be benefited from the program’s outcome. 

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The National Universities Commission (NUC) has directed that all universities in the country be shut down in order for students to exercise their franchise in the 2023 general election.  

The Deputy Executive Secretary of the Commission, Chris Maiyaki, issued the directives in a letter dated February 3 and addressed to universities’ vice-chancellors and directors.

According to the letter, the security of staff, students and the universities’ properties during the general elections is the reason for the closure. 

Mr Maiyaki also stated that the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, gave the directive following consultation with relevant security agencies.

Part of the letter reads: “As Vice-Chancellors of all Universities and Director/Chief Executive of Inter-University Centres are quite aware the 2023 General Elections have been scheduled to hold on Saturday, February 25, 2023, for the Presidential and National Assembly, and Saturday, March 11, 2023, for Gubernatorial and State Assembly, respectively.

“In view of the foregoing and concerns expressed on the security of staff, students and properties of our respective institutions, the Honourable Minister of Education, Mal. Adama Adamu has, following extensive consultations with the relevant security agencies, directed that all Universities and Inter-University Centres be shut down, and academic activities be suspended between February 22 and March 14, 2023.

By Sumayyah Auwal Ishaq

Kaduna State Governor Nasir Ahmad El- Rufai on Tuesday called on the people of Kaduna to ignore calls for massive protests amidst currency swap debacle.

In a statement signed by the Commissioner Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Kaduna State, Mr. Samuel Aruwan, Gov. El-Rufa’i said “the government is aware that certain individuals and groups have made plans to organize massive protests, seizing on the acute shortage of cash and attendant hardships faced by citizens”.

He further said “The Kaduna State Government wishes to appeal for caution and vigilance by all citizens, amidst the prevailing situation arising from the ongoing cash swap and currency redesign policy.

“Citizens are reminded that care must be taken not to play into the plans of devious elements seeking to create crisis in this crucial period. Citizens are thus advised to ignore these calls for massive protests in the interest of public security”.

By Muhammadu Sabiu 

A commercial bank in Nigeria, Sterling Bank, has announced that all bank fund transfer services will be offered for free for seventeen days.

This is coming amidst the tough time customers are passing through when withdrawing and depositing money, using online banking, and other financial activities due to the CBN’s new naira note policy that placed many restrictions.

In an email Sterling Bank sent to its customers, it says, “We at Sterling understand the difficult times many of our customers are facing. In light of this, all our fund transfer services will be offered Free of Charge to all personal account customers from February 6, 2023, till February 18, 2023.

“Additionally, we are also pleased to announce that we will be issuing free Debit Cards to all interested customers. This will provide you with a convenient and secure way to make purchases and carry out transactions. You can order your cards directly on OneBank (Download the latest version on your phone’s App Store or simply go to sterling/OneBank)”.

By Muhammadu Sabiu 

Over 1,200 people were killed, and nearly 3,000 were injured when an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale rocked Turkey and Syria.

Local media stated that the earthquake occurred close to the border between the two countries.

Millions of people in the two affected countries, including Israel and Lebanon, were startled from their beds, according to a Monday report by the New York Times.

The Aleppo, Hama, Tartus, and Latakia districts have so far reported 237 casualties, according to the Syrian Health Ministry.

Lebanon and Cyprus were also affected by the strong earthquake that struck at 4:17 a.m. near the Turkish city of Gaziantep at a depth of 17.9 km.

The 10 cities of Gaziantep, Kahramanmaras, Hatay, Osmaniye, Adiyaman, Malatya, Sanliurfa, Adana, Diyarbakir, and Kilis were reportedly damaged, according to a statement to the media by Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu.

The Minister said at least 23 fatalities were recorded in the Malatya province, which is northeast of Gaziantep, while 17 fatalities were reported in Sanliurfa, which is in the east, and the remaining fatalities were reported in Diyarbakir and Osmaniye.

According to Xinhua news agency Ahmad Damiriyeh, Syria’s Deputy Minister of Health, general emergency preparations have been implemented for the affected districts, and private institutions have been instructed to accept all injured patients.