News

By Muhammadu Sabiu 
 
Service outages were observed by some MTN subscribers throughout Nigeria.
 
It was learned that the subscribers were unable to make a phone call, use the internet, and SMS services offered by the mobile network operator.
 
The telecom provider expressed its regret for the inconveniences in a tweet that read, “Due to an unexpected technical issue, some customers have difficulty using our services at this time.
 
“Work is ongoing to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.
 
“We regret all the inconveniences this may cause.”

By Aisar Fagge

The Dangote Group Tuesday has bagged the First Runner-Up award at the just concluded 44th Kaduna International Trade Fair in Kaduna State.

The group was awarded for its enormous contribution in buoying investment opportunities across Africa through numerous businesses and philanthropic forays.

The Dangote Group made the disclosure in a news release issued to journalists on Monday.

The statement disclosed that Professor Umar Dantsoho, an economist, while speaking to journalists on the event, said the Dangote Industries Limited has been creating investment and job opportunities for Africans through its cement establishments in Nigeria and in Africa.

He said the key to developing the African economy is through the growth of the manufacturing sector, which is a major preoccupation of the company.

The statement added that, “Only recently, Dangote Industries Limited sealed a fresh deal of six million tons per annum with China Sinoma International Engineering which will strengthen local and African production to 57.6 million tons per annum.

“Aside government, Dangote Group is adjudged the biggest employer of labor in Nigeria.

“Speaking also Second Vice President of the Kaduna Chamber of Commerce Industry Mines and Agriculture (KADCCIMA). Alhaji Faruk Suleiman, commended the company for creating opportunities across Africa, adding that the upcoming Dangote petrochemical refinery will change the face of the African economy.

“General Manager, Sales, Dangote Sugar Refinery (DSR) North-West, Alhaji Abdulsalam Waya said the conglomerate would continue to provide opportunities for all willing Nigeria to invest as distributors or as investors in the stock market.

“He added that the theme for this year’s Trade Fare: Value Addition for Sustainable Growth and Development is apt, as Dangote Cement exports its product to several African countries, thereby creating jobs and opportunities across the value chain.

“The company is the major sponsor of the 44th annual event.

“Speaking, President of KADCCIMA Alhaji Suleiman Aliyu described the partnership with Dangote as very important for deepening commercial activities in the country.

“He said the support of the Dangote Group towards the success of the Fair cannot be quantified.

“Speaking to newsmen, the Director General of the Chamber Mr. Usman Saulawa said the Dangote Group is a major sponsor of this year’s Trade Fair and has been sponsoring the annual event.

“He said Dangote Group has been playing the role of supporter and partner for many years. It participation has been adding value to the Chamber.”

“The DG described this year’s fair as unique as there would be a Business Roundtable session that will further help deepens business opportunities for participants.

“The companies that participated under Dangote Industries Limited are Dangote Cement, Dangote Sugar, NASCON, Dangote Fertiliser, and Dangote Sinotruk West Africa Limited.

“A statement from the Corporate Communication Department of the Dangote Group said participants who seek to do business with any of the company’s subsidiaries can avail themselves of such opportunity through a special help desk at the pavilion.

“It described Kaduna State as one of the biggest markets in the country, given its historical position as the political capital of Northern Nigeria,” the statement added.

By Muhammadu Sabiu

Turkish officials reportedly issued arrest warrants or detained about 113 people who were allegedly involved in some illegal construction methods six days after earthquakes caused buildings to collapse and lost of many lives.

According to CNN, at least 12 people, including building contractors, have already been detained by Turkish authorities. Reports have it that rescue operations have been hampered in some areas due to protests in southern Turkey. More than 33,000 fatalities in Turkey and Syria have now been officially confirmed.

The arrests of building contractors, according to CNN on Monday, were perceived by many as a move by the Turkish government to shift full responsibility for the catastrophe.

According to findings before the natural disaster occurred, it was expected that the destroyed structures were built to withstand earthquakes. Since many new buildings in Turkey are unsafe because of widespread corruption and government practices, experts have been warning about this for years.

In order to promote a construction boom, including in earthquake-prone areas, those rules permitted so-called amnesties for contractors who flouted building regulations.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The presiding pastor of an Abuja church, Pastor Uche Ugbe, has brought himself to great disrepute and backlash after he took gun to the church on Sunday.

Pastor Ugbe, while on the altar addressing christian faithfuls, had an AK-47 dangling from his shoulder.

He was reported to have said he came to church prepared because some people are looking for his trouble

However, his action do not sit well with many Nigerians and they have taken to different social media platforms to lambast him.

Abdullahi O. Haruna, a journalist and public affairs analyst, described his action as insensitive.

Haruna said, “Yes, he is not a security guy,
He is a pastor wielding unabashedly this weapon of death, to a congregation that had children, exuberant youths, not minding the sensitivity. He reigns with such impunity. Don’t worry, this is Nigeria. Anything goes…”

Another Facebook user, Nasir Muhammad Salis, said, “I can’t fathom the high level of panic or tension some people will ignite in the country if this was Sheikh Gumi or Sheikh Pantami. But now, they are ignoring it. I don’t see, in my view, any justification for this childish dramatic action!”

Other persons have described him as silly, childish and attention-seeking.

As at the time of writing this report, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), is yet to comment on the illegal possession of firearm by the pastor.

Interestingly, the Nigerian Police Force has also been conspicuously silent on the issue.

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.