Legal Aid Council of Nigeria has refused to provide legal aid services to a controversial Kano cleric, Abduljabbar Kabara, who is standing trial for alleged blasphemy.
The Daily Reality earlier reported that the cleric sacked his previous legal teams over a misunderstanding.
Justice Ibrahim Sarki Yola earlier urged the Council to provide pro bono legal services to the cleric to enable him to have a fair trial.
The Council argued that Sheikh Kabara does not deserve its services because he earns more than Nigeria’s minimum wage (30,000).
According to the Council, it is also out of its jurisdiction to defend an alleged blasphemy case.
The prosecuting counsel, Yakubu Abdullahi, appealed to the Judge to allow the Kano State Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice to provide lawyers for the plaintiff.
Justice Yola, however, denied the request and directed that a letter should be written by an independent lawyer, Barr. Dalhatu Shehu to defend the cleric.
Sheikh Kabara has been facing trial for charges related to blasphemy in an Upper Shariah Court in Kano, although he denies the allegations.
Justice Yola adjourned the case to June 9, 2022, for a continuation of the trial.
The level of dilapidation in Sir Muhammadu Sunusi Specialist Hospital, Yankaba, Kano, has graduated something not less monstrous.
Despite the Kano State Government’s claim that Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje’s second tenure would pay more attention to health and education, patients in the hospital have recounted their harrowing tales of how they live miserably without water and light.
Our reporter visited the hospital. He met some patients in dire situations, fighting excessive heat with their hand fans, which has thrown many of them into a dilemma.
The Daily Reality learned that all the taps in the hospital are not working, except one borehole, which the patients said works for less than one hour every day.
Recounting their experiences, some patient sitters complained that they used sachet water, alias pure water, to bathe, flush toilets, make ablutions and wash their dishes.
They also complained about the lack of electricity, which they said was responsible for many problems in the hospital.
A patient, who pleaded anonymity, complained that he spent days without bathing because almost all the sources of water in the hospital were dead.,
He said, “I spend days without bathing because there is no water. Sometimes our brothers go outside the hospital and call a water vendor (“dan ga–ruwa“).
“Also, after all these difficulties, we slept in the dark without light at night. Mosquitoes exploit the opportunity to disturb our nights. The situation is just terrible.”
Also, a patient sitter, Mukhtar Muhammad (not real name), stated that they really faced difficulties mainly at night.
He said, “There is neither electricity nor water in the hospital. Thus we live in the heat with mosquitos singing and biting our patients and us.
“I have wanted to use water since yesterday. But there is no water in the tap. So I had to go outside in search of a water vendor.”
No water to wash new-born babies
Aishatu Isma’il decried that it was indeed a slap on the face for a big hospital like Sir Sunusi to allow this problem to be exacerbated.
“How can you imagine the state of a hospital without water or electricity? You would have shaded tears if you see women as they gave birth; there would be no water to clean the mother or her baby,” she bitterly said.
Dry taps
A group of four women, who happened to be patient sitters of their relatives, confided in our reporter that they used sachets water for there was no water in the hospital.
They added that there was no water in the hospital to even flush the toilets after being used.
They added that the condition of the hospital’s pharmacy too was deplorable as one would only get one or two medicine out of the five or six he was looking for.
The patients also urged the Kano State Governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, to set up a committee to investigate the matter.
Responding, the Managing Director of the hospital, Dr Abdussalam Usman Danjaji, told our reporter that all preparations to address the issues were in top gear.
Danjaji said, “Due to the electricity problem, the diesel provided to us by the government was never enough to use for thirty days.
“And we don’t want to add additional charges to what people are paying. If we do that, we can provide people with light, only that many people cannot afford to settle their bills,” he added.
Kano State Fire Service said fire incidences have killed 14 people and destroyed properties worth over 17 million Naira in the month of May in the State.
This is contained in a statement of monthly of activities of the service made available to journalists in Kano Wednesday by the Service Public Relations Officer, PFS Saminu Abdullahi.
The statement added that 112 people were rescued at different locations by the officers of the Service.
PFS Abdullahi further revealed that People’s properties worth over 52 million naira were saved.
The statement reads in part: “State Fire Service received emergency calls from our twenty seven 27 fire stations across the State in the month under review. We received 59 fire calls, 74 rescue calls and 19 false alarms.
“Estimated properties destroyed by the fire :#17,730,000.00k; estimated properties saved# 52,080,000.00k; the total number of deaths in the month of May we registered 14 lives were lost.
“The number of people that we successfully saved from different incidences 112 people.”
Meanwhile, PFS Abdullahi further said 20 animals were burnt to death while three people were hospitalised in Unguwar Gyartai community of Kunchi Local Government Area of Kano State on Tuesday.
The PRO noted that 20 other people were rescued while eight local food storage (silos) were burnt to ashes in the inferno.
He said Firemen from nearby Bichi Fire Station were mobilised were they saved numerous animals and houses adjacent to the scene of the fire incident.
“Twenty (20) sheep’s and goats burnt to death, and one (1) sheep, one (1) goat were rescued…eight (8) local food storage (Rumbu) well alight.
“While fire escalated to one ground floor of about 200 X 200ft used as a dwelling house with four (4) rooms involved.”
“With good effort of our men, the fire became under control, and successfully saved Twenty (20) rooms, Two (2) local food storage, and forty (40) domestic animals from the fire and control the spreading of fire to the near by structures.”
PFS Abdullahi therefore called on the general public to always abide by the fire safety guidelines to save lives and properties.
A Nigerian based agro-allied company, Silvex International, in partnership with a UK and US based Kingston Organic and Regen Farm have trained 220 farmers from Kano and Jigawa States on climate smart agriculture in Ajingi Local Government Area of Kano State.
At least 30 field officers were equally trained in the programme.
This was made known in a statement by the Vice President-Nigeria Operations, Kingston Organic PLC, Sunusi Bature.
Bature said that the programme is part of the Silvex’s preparation for the full scale implementation of this new innovation of producing organic foods in Nigeria.
The training conducted in Ajingi Local Government with 220 farmers and 30 field coordinators from Kano and Jigawa States focused basic concept of the regenerative agriculture, digital platform for farmers and contract farming.
The statement reads: “The farmers were sensitized on the techniques involved in producing organic food items with a priority given to hibiscus, sesame seed and groundnut. The participants are expected to step down the training to other farmers across the two states of Kano and Jigawa.”
“Silvex International Limited with the support from the British FCDO LINKS Project has already enrolled thirty thousand (30,000) farmers in its digital platform for the regenerative and climate smart agriculture in Kano and Jigawa states and it’s expected to onboard up to one hundred thousand farmers by the end of 2022.”
“The digital platform gives access to real time and verifiable data on the farmers and their activities at the farm, which include farm size, socio-economic profile, weather condition, date of planting, projected date of harvest and expected yield.”
An investigation by the United Kingdom media regulatory agency, Ofcom, has shown that women are more prone to online attacks than men.
According to the study, women are wearier of their online presence and prone to discriminatory, hateful and trolling content. They also feel less able to have a voice and share opinions online than their male counterpart.
Ofcom then calls for technology firms that build sites and apps used by millions of people in the UK to act and make online space safer for women and girls.
Also, according to the study, women from minority ethnic backgrounds are more likely to be affected by their painful online experiences.
“The message from women who go online is loud and clear. They are less confident about their personal online safety, and feel the negative effects of harmful content like trolling more deeply.
“We urge tech companies to take women’s online safety concerns seriously and place people’s safety at the heart of their services. That includes listening to feedback from users when they design their services and the algorithms that serve up content,” says Dame Melanie Dawes, Ofcom’s Chief Executive.
A Nigeria Customs Service post in Mil Takwas hamlet, a few kilometres from Katsina town, was ambushed by a group of gunmen known locally as bandits.
The attack took place around 1 a.m. on Monday, according to multiple sources and the Nigerian Customs Service in Katsina.
The criminals approached the checkpoint on motorcycles, according to Shamsu Magama, a resident of Magama Jibia.
They arrived from the Bugaje village forest and halted a commercial vehicle on its way to Jibia. On the spot, the driver was murdered. He claimed that after that, they rode their motorcycles towards Mil Takwas.
Another community member claimed that the customs officers were attacked because the bandits figured that if they went to the hamlet without chasing the Customs officials away, they would be able to repel the onslaught.
He claimed that four customs vehicles had been set ablaze.
Katsina is one of the northwestern states brutally hit by the criminal activities of the bandits operating in the region.
The senatorial candidate for Kano Central district under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdulsalam Abdulkarim, popularly known as A. A. Zaura, has vowed to put an end to the domination of Kano politics by the duo of Dr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and Sen. Ibrahim Shekarau.
A.A. Zaura emerged as the candidate of the APC for Kano in the just concluded primary election.
The APC candidate made the vow while addressing jpurnalists in Kano in his campaign office.
He said joining forces between the two former governors would only hasten their end politically.
“Shekarau and Kwankwaso, who are joining forces in the forthcoming General Elections, should know that their times are up politically and they should go and rest”, he said.
According to Zaura, “Before the so-called two political giants – Shekarau and Kwankwaso – wake up from their slumber, I will defeat them on the day of our election and this is a promise.”
“Although I humbly respect the dou of Ibrahim Shekarau and Kwankwaso as my former bosses and two former Kano State Governors, but that is by the way, because it will not stop me from beating them hands down on the day of the election.”
Zaura, who had wanted to contest governor of Kano State rescinded and opted for senator, would square it up with the incumbent Senator and former Kano State governor, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau.
“Before, I was facing the entire Kano but now I’m facing only 15 Local Government Areas, so the likes of Shekarau and Kwankwaso should know that their political era is over. They should go and rest.”
He said that his emergence as the candidate of the APC proved to his adversaries that their campaign of calumny against him did not work.
“Despite what they did to me, I’m extending my hands of cooperation to them. They should come and join the winning train because ours is the winning team God’s willing.
Commenting on the APC’s zoning of the president, Zaura said despite his loyalty to Tinubu, he would respect the ultimate decision of his party as a loyal party member.
An online media platform, Nigeria Health Watch, has organised a workshop on promoting media adoption on Solutions Journalism (SOJO) in Kano state.
The one-day workshop titled “Integrating Solutions Journalism Practices in Media Production in Kano State” took place Saturday, May 28, 2022, at the GearHub, 45 Lamido Crescent, Nassarawa GRA, in the state.
The intent of the workshop was said to equip participants with the knowledge, skills, and networks they would need to consciously discover and report stories about people’s responses to social issues in their news bulletins and other forms of reporting.
However, solutions journalism is understood to mean investigating and explaining how people try to solve widely shared problems.
The idea was reportedly aimed at adding rigorous coverage of solutions rather than just reporting problems as “responses to problems are also newsworthy”.
Speaking at the event, the convener, Misbahu El-Hamza, stated that there was a need for journalists to embrace solutions journalism (SOJO) instead of the normal way of just reporting issues.
However, El-Hamza lamented that many people resisted patronising news to escape heartbreaking reports that ended in scaring people.
The participants that graced the event included journalists from various media organisations from Kano State.
Abdulsalam Abdulkarim Zaura popularly known as A.A. Zaura has emerged as the winner of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Kano Central senatorial district primary election.
A. A. Zaura polled highest number of votes, 758, to defeat his main challenger Senator Bashir Garba Lado who scored 77 votes to become a distant second.
Announcing the result Saturday evening, Senator Tijjani Yahaya Kaura who was the Chairman Electoral committee said A. A. Zaura returned elected after securing the highest number of votes.
The Star earlier reported that Sen. Lado accused Gov. Ganduje of manipulation the election for the benefit of A. A. Zaura, which he called on President Buhari and National leadership of the APC to correct the wrongs.
The other aspirants who would have participated in the process, stepped down from the contest following pressure from Gov. Ganduje.
The other two senatorial districts of Kano North and South are have single APC aspirants each.
Former National Youths Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Barr Ismail Ahmed has withdrawn his aspiration to contest for Kano Central senatorial district.
Barr Ahmed announced his withdrawal on Saturday at the Sani Abacha Indoor Stadium, where the primary election is taking place.
A one-time presidential adviser to Buhari on Youths, Barr Ahmed, said Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje prevailed on him to withdraw from the contest earlier today, to which he obliged in the interest of the APC in the state.
Meanwhile, another aspirant and former senator representing Kano Central, Bashir Garba Lado, has accused Gov. Ganduje of manipulating the process to favour one of the aspirants.
Senator Lado alleged that Gov. Ganduje instructed party delegates and other stakeholders in the primary election to vote for his anointed aspirant, Abdulsalam Abdulkarim Zaura.
He said the conversations and instructions conveyed to delegates and other stakeholders can be retrieved from Gov. Ganduje’s and Kano State APC Chairman’s phone calls made from 11:am Saturday.
He called on President Muhammadu Buhari, APC National Chairman Abdullahi Adamu, Inspector General of Police and other heads of security agencies to intervene to ensure a free and fair primary election is conducted to avert any possible breakdown of law and order as a result of governor’s interfere.
Like other states across Nigeria, APC in Kano is conducting primary elections for the three senatorial districts in the state, but the contest is heated in Kano Central between Gov Ganduje’s ally A. A. Zaura and Senator Lado while Aspirants for Kano South and North senatorial districts are unopposed.
