Boko Haram frees 82 Chibok girls

Charity Nnaji:

Boko Haram, the dreaded Islamic Insurgent group operating in the Northeast part of Nigeria has freed 82 Chibok girls in their captivity.

The girls were part of the 276 girls captured by the group in 2014.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s government says the 82 kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls who have been released in an exchange for detained Boko Haram suspects are expected to meet President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday in the capital.

The government says the Swiss government and the International Committee of the Red Cross helped in negotiations with the extremist group. Similar talks led to the first release of 21 Chibok girls in October.

The latest announcement means 113 girls remain unaccounted for. It is feared some were forced to carry out suicide bombing missions for Boko Haram, which has ties to the Islamic State group.

MTN Nigeria sacks 280 workers

Charity Nnaji:

MTN Nigeria on Friday sacked 280 employees, which the company said is a major job cut that affected about 15% of the company’s entire workforce in Nigeria.

According to information sourced from Premium Times , those affected by the move include some 200 permanent employees and about 80 contract staff across various cadres, ranging from new graduates to senior managers.

 Many of those sacked spent up to 15 years with the company having joined MTN as it opened its business in Nigeria in 2001.

Our sources said affected workers were given a severance of 75% of their gross monthly income multiplied by the number of years with the company.

“Given that the company is about 16 years old in Nigeria, the severance package brought pain and discontent among the affected staff,” one source said.

“With the payoff structure, senior managers with 15 years of service were left with about N15 million. Most of the staff got less than N5 million.”

MTN Nigeria recorded nearly $1 billion in profit in 2016. However, the telecoms firm was heavily fined by the Nigerian government for failing to disconnect 5.2 million unregistered subscribers.

The spokesperson for the company, Funso Aina, could not be reached for comments on Monday.

But a source familiar with the latest downsizing said 200 of those affected had earlier agreed to leave the company voluntarily.

The source said the sackings were as a result of “the changing dynamics of the telecoms industry in recent times”.

The source also said the company introduced the voluntary severance scheme, VSS, to provide a window for one week in April, for persons who have served in MTN for five years and above to take up.

Judiciary staff sentenced to death for stabbing flat mate’s wife

Charity Nnaji:

Narebor Stephen Donbrapade, a 49-year-old judiciary staff in Delta State, has been sentenced to death.

 Donbrapade will die by the hangman’s noose as ordered by a Delta State high court sitting in Ughelli for stabbing his flat mate’s wife to death.

The accused, hails from Esama town in Bomadi Local Government Area, had on or about January 31, 2013, murdered one Stella Avwenayerhe by stabbing her on the chest at Otobo Street, Ughelli.

He was said to share a three bedroom flat with the deceased’s husband but had a minor altercation with the victim after he walked on the rug in the sitting room without removing his shoes.

Angered by the deceased’s audacity, the accused dashed into his room only to appear with a knife with which he stabbed Stella Avwenayerhe on the chest. She was confirmed dead by doctors at the Ughelli Central hospital, where she was rushed to by neighbours.

The accused, in his defense, pleaded not guilty to the one-count charge of murder, alleging that the victim was stabbed to death by some unidentified hoodlums in the area.

Delivering his judgment, Justice F. O. Ohwo found the accused guilty on the one-count charge preferred against him by the State Attorney-General through the Director of Public Prosecutions.

He held that the evidences of the four prosecution witnesses called by an Assistant Director in the Ministry of Justice, including the husband of the deceased, proved beyond all reasonable doubt the essential ingredients of the offence of murder against the accused.

The accused was then sentenced to death by hanging. Daily Post

Anthony Joshua kocks out Wladimir Klitschko in the 11th round

Charity Nnaji:

Anthony Joshua has knocked out Wladimir Klitschko in the 11th round of an epic heavyweight world title fight at Wembley on Saturday night.

The 27-year-old appeared to be on the brink of his first defeat since he turned professional, after he was floored in the sixth round. But he produced a dramatic late onslaught to halt Klitschko with one round left.

After 10 rounds, two judges had Joshua ahead, one by 96-93 and one by 95-93, while the other judge had Klitschko 95-93 ahead.

With this victory, Joshua has successfully defended his IBF title, while also claiming the WBA ‘super’ belt.

“What can I say? 19-0, three and a half years in the game. As I said, I’m not perfect but I’m trying and if you don’t take part you’re going to fail.

 “As boxing states, you leave your ego at the door and you respect your opponent. So a massive shout out to Wladimir Klitschko,” he told SkySports.

Nnamdi Kanu freed

Charity Nnaji: 

Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, has regained his freedom from Kuje prison.

The IPOB leader was arrested in October 2015 following allegations of treasonable felony by the federal government.

He was held in the custody of the State Security Service till the ruling in January 2016 when the Federal High Court ordered that the detained Biafra agitator be kept in prison custody.

Since his detention, Mr. Kanu has made various applications for bail which were refused by the different judges handling the matter.

He was, however, granted bail on Wednesday by Justice Binta Nyako

On Friday, Mr. Kanu’s lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, told reporters that his client had fulfilled the bail conditions given to him by Mrs. Nyako.

By Friday evening, Mr. Ejiofor confirmed that his client had been released. Premium Times

OBJ says he was unaware of Yar’adua’s illness

Charity Nnaji:

Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, the former President of Nigeria has disclosed that he was unaware of Umaru Yar’adua’s illness, when he selected him as his successor during the 2007 election.

Yar’adua was declared the winner of the controversial presidential election held on April 21, 2007, and was sworn in on May 29, 2007.

In 2009, Yar’adua left for Saudi Arabia to receive treatment for pericarditis. He returned to Nigeria on February 24, 2010, where he died on May 5, 2010.

His vice president Goodluck Jonathan became president.

In a book ‘Against the Run of Play’ authored by Olusegun Adeniyi, Obasanjo insists that Yar’adua’s response to two clarifications he sought from him, convinced him (Obasanjo) to go ahead with his decision.

“One, the lingering doubts about his health, while the other was a very pervasive allegation that he had a manipulative wife who had too much influence on him,” Obasanjo said.

“Not being a medical practitioner, I gave the report to a friend and renowned professional in the medical field who reviewed it and told me that the person in the report was not on dialysis, which meant either he didn’t have a kidney problem or that he had successfully undergone a kidney transplant. 

That was the report I had about his health,” Adeniyi quoted Obasanjo as saying. From Daily Post

Illegal use of Spectrum: NCC issues 14-day ultimatum to Telecoms

Charity Nnaji:

Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has issued a 14-day ultimatum to telecoms companies illegally using certain spectrum, or face the music.

The Commission said the use of any spectrum not duly licensed by any operator is criminal and could lead to imprisonment.

Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, warned all unauthorized users of 5.470-5.725 gigahertz (GHz) spectrum band to desist from doing so in order not to incur the wrath of the Commission.

“The Nigerian Communications Commission hereby informs the general public that the 5.4GHz band spanning 5.470 – 5.725 GHz frequency range is a licensed band in Nigeria,” Dambatta said.

He added that the transmission of signals or use of equipment in any form on the band without a frequency license obtained from the NCC is illegal and shall not be tolerated.

Continuing, he warned, that all concerned operators and companies or any person(s) using the band to note that it was a criminal offence pursuant to the section 122 of the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA), 2003 to operate on any frequency not duly assigned by the Commission.