Tag Archives: 6 Months

COAS Orders Investigation Of Woman Murdered 6 Months Ago

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The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, has ordered an investigation, commencing monday into the alleged murder of Mrs. Alice Akparobi, and the shooting of one Shedrack Saduwa in the stomach at Effurun in Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State six months ago.

The army boss gave the directive in response to the May 16, 2016 petition by lawyer and rights activist, Oghenejabor Ikimi to the Nigerian Army through the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) demanding that the matter be investigated to let justice prevail.

It was learnt that the COAS order for inquiry was directed to the Army Special Investigation Bureau and communicated in an October 7 letter through the Nigerian Army Corps of Military Police to Ikimi on behalf of Isaac Akparobi, relative to late Mrs. Akparobi and seriously injured Saduwa.

The military police’s letter to Ikimi, signed by Col. K C Okoro, Commander of the Special Investigation Bureau, requested the lawyer to avail his clients, Isaac and Saduwa to the bureau for interview.

“The interview is necessary to have further insight into your petition. Your client are also requested to come with all relevant, and where necessary, duly certified documents in support of the petition,” the letter further stated.

Read More: thisdaylive

Recession: 19,000 Public Sector Jobs Lost In 6 Months- NBS

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No fewer than 18,919 Nigerians lost their jobs in the  nation’s public sector between October 2015 and March 2016, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.
Although about 5,867 new public sector jobs were generated between October and December 2015, the bureau said about 10,155 jobs were lost during the period in the public sector of the federal, state and local governments.
This translates to a negative employment generation figure of -4,288.
Also, while about 5,726 jobs were created between January and March 2016 in the public sector, the bureau said about 8,764 jobs were lost during the period, with a negative employment generation figure of -3.038 for the period.
The bureau, which reported a sharp decline of 84.1 per cent in total employment against the figure in the last quarter of 2015, said only about 79,469 jobs were generated in the economy in the first three months of 2016, against about 499,521 jobs created during the corresponding period of 2015.
The agency said in its quarterly job creation survey in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), that the figure was 83.1 per cent lower than the 389,605 jobs created in the corresponding period last year.
“This sharp decline in employment generation in the first quarter of 2016 is strongly correlated to the weakening economic output within the period, where the Nigerian economy recorded a negative growth of -0.36 per cent,” the statistics agency said.
An analysis of the jobs created for the quarter showed that 21,477 came from the formal sector, consisting formal professional services with less than 10 employees.
About 61,026 jobs came from the informal sector in the first quarter, made up of mainly low skill, low paying blue collar jobs in agriculture, light manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade businesses.
The NBS said the drop by 27,246 in formal employment in the last quarter of last year and 21,477 in the first quarter of 2016 across all the economic activities was as a result of the slowing down of economic activities in the wake of the economic recession.
With the economy fully in recession a following recent formal confirmation by the NBS, analysts say the employment situation would likely worsen, except government took steps to spend on strategic capital infrastructure to reflate the economy.
The Lead Director, Centre for Social Justice (CENSOJ), Eze Onyekpere, said declining employment figures in an economy in recession was not surprising, as firms are closing up and reducing their workforce in the face of declining Gross Domestic Products (GDP) and high inflation.

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http://sunnewsonline.com/recession-19000-public-sector-jobs-lost-in-6-months/

Akpabio’s World Class Hospital Opens 6 Months After Launch

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The much talked-about “world-class” Akwa Ibom specialist hospital has finally begun operations, six months after it was hurriedly commissioned by former Governor Godswill Akpabio who left office May 29.

The hospital, initially known as the Akwa Ibom 20th Anniversary Hospital, is now officially called Ibom Specialist Hospital.

The hospital became a subject of controversy in September after Mr. Akpabio, now senate minority leader, travelled to the United Kingdom for medical attention after a car accident, abandoning the multibillion naira facility his administration promoted as being of world class standard.

Mr. Akpabio later said the hospital’s takeoff was delayed because foreign doctors billed to work there had not been cleared by the Nigerian Immigration Service to travel to the country.

He said the hospital would start off with 150 expatriates at once.

Some of the doctors are now in the state, and have been deployed to test run equipment at the facility.

About 25 foreign doctors have so far started work at the hospital while about 125 others were still being expected in the country.

It was unclear how many Nigerian doctors would be employed at the new hospital.

On Wednesday, doctors, mostly Indians, were busy carrying out medical examinations on the people who visited the hospital for treatment.

Credit: PremiumTimes

Saudi Arabia Executes 100th Prisoner In 6 Months

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Saudi Arabia has beheaded a Syrian drug trafficker, rocketing the number of this year’s executions in the Kingdom to 100. This figure is already more than the 87 sentenced and put to death in the country during the whole of last year.

The execution took place on Monday in the northern region of Jawf. Syrian Ismael al-Tawm smuggled“a large amount of banned amphetamine pills into the kingdom,” the Saudi Interior Ministry said in a statement, as cited by AFP.

The man was sentenced to death according to the nation’s strict version of Sharia law, under which such crimes as murder, rape, armed robbery and drug trafficking are punishable by death. Public executions are mostly conducted by decapitating the accused with a sword.

The 100th execution has surpassed the 87 recorded by AFP in 2014, but is still some way below the highest figure of 192, recorded by the human rights group Amnesty International in 1995. The watchdog has been scathing of the Kingdom’s human rights record, saying they “fall far short” of global norms.

“Almost half of the executions carried out so far this year have been for drug-related offences, which don’t fall into a recognized international category of ‘most serious crimes,’ and the use of the death penalty for such offences violates international law,” a statement on Amnesty International’s website read.

The “fast pace” of executions in Saudi Arabia was deemed “very disturbing” by a UN special rapporteur.

“If it continues at this pace we will have double the number of executions, or more than double the number of executions, that we had last year,” Christof Heyns, who submits annual reports to the UN Human Rights Council and General Assembly, told AFP on May 27.

In a country of approximately 29 million, the number of people sentenced to death and executed is“very high,” Heyns said, adding that Saudi Arabia “is going against the stream.” Execution figures are decreasing in other countries.

Saudi Arabia is one of the top three executioners in the world and is only surpassed by China and Iran. The most common way of executing prisoners is through beheading, which often takes place in public squares. Occasionally, some prisoners are shot by firing squad in some southern provinces.

Credit: rt.com