Former Nigerian President, Chief Ernest Shonekan is dead.
Shonekan who headed the interim national government that succeeded the junta of General Ibrahim Babangida, has died.
Shonekan died at Evercare hospital, in the Lekki area of Lagos state, at the age of 85.
The Federal Government has reacted to viral reports claiming the nation’s National Identity Management Commission, NIMC server was hacked.
Naija News reports that a cyber-tech who identified himself simply as Sam, on Monday claimed in an article that he hacked into the nation’s NIMC server and stole over three million National Identification Number, NIN of Nigerians.
Sam’s claim has stirred a barrage of reactions among Nigerians on social media, as many berated the nation’s cyber security system.
The hacker had boasted in his post on infosecwriteups.com, that he got access to ‘juice’ on the Nigerian Government agency’s server and that he could go ahead to do whatever he desired with the sensitive data at his disposal.
Reacting, however, in a statement on Tuesday, the NIMC authority said its servers were not hacked but are fully optimised at the highest international security levels.
According to the Director-General of NIMC, Engr. Aliyu Aziz, the organization has built a robust and credible system for Nigeria’s identity database, therefore it couldn’t be possible for some hackers to have access to details of citizens.
Naija News understands that the official statement quoted Aziz as saying that the commission, as the custodian of the foundational identity database for Africa’s most populous nation, has gone to great lengths to ensure the nation’s database is adequately secured and protected especially given the spate of cyber-attacks on networks across the world.
The statement read partly: “Over the years, through painstaking efforts, NIMC has built a robust and credible system for Nigeria’s identity database. The Commission and its infrastructure are certified to the ISO 27001:2013 Information Security Management System Standard which are revalidated annually”.
The statement signed by NIMC’s head of corporate communications, Kayode Adegoke, explained that the possession of an individual’s NIN slip does not amount to access to the National Identity Database.
According to Aziz, NIMC had ensured maximum security of its systems and database because of the critical nature of the identity data which the Commission collects, manages and maintains as critical assets for the country.
The Commission assured the public that it will continue to uphold the highest ethical standards in data security on behalf of the Federal Government and ensure compliance with data protection and privacy regulations.
The NIMC Director-General explained that the Commission does not use nor store information on the AWS cloud platform or any public cloud despite the usefulness of the NIMC Mobile App available to the public for accessing their NIN on the go.
It noted that the NIMC MobileID application has no database within the app, nor does it store information in flat files.
The Commission has made this app available to the public to reduce and eliminate any delay or challenge(s) in accessing one’s NIN.
The statement added: “The public should be aware that the possession of a NIN slip does not amount to access to the National Identity Database, but that the NIN slip is just a physical assertion of a person’s identity. Under the data protection regulations, no licensed partner/vendor is authorized to scan and store copies of individuals NIN slips but rather authenticate the NIN using the approved and authorized verification platforms/channels provided.
“As part of its policies to protect personally identifiable information stored in the National Identity Database, the public may recall that the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy through NIMC launched the Tokenization features of the NIN verification service. This solution is to safeguard the personal data of individuals and ensure continuous user rights and privacy.”
The commission commended the concerted efforts of several Federal Government agencies such as Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB), the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Nigeria Immigration Services, Pension Commission (PenCom), the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigeria Correctional Service, the Nigeria Customs, and a host of others, who have streamlined their services in line with the use of National Identification Number (NIN) as the valid means of identification.
Gunmen suspected to be enforcing sit-at-home order, Monday, forced businesses to shut in Enugu metropolis.
The affected businesses include ShopRite on Abakaliki road, banks, shops and schools. Motorists, who had begun the day’s activities, were also forced to park.
A security man at ShopRite told our correspondent that, “We opened but around 9:30am, we began to hear that gunmen were shooting at Garki. So the management asked us to close.”
A customer, Rose, said “I was inside the premises of ShopRite shopping. Suddenly, we were asked to leave.”
A shop owner opposite Parklane, Nkechi Eze, told our correspondent that, “We have closed for the day. No gunshot took place here, but we were told that they were moving around, chasing people away.”
It was gathered that the gunmen stormed Garki early in the morning and started shooting sporadically.
A trader said, “We thought the sit-at-home has ended. It was terrible. I don’t know if anybody was injured, but we managed to escape.”
Police and military operatives were seen moving round the metropolis to ensure orderliness.
As at the time of filing this report, the city of Enugu was deserted.
The sit-at-home order on Mondays was initially pronounced by the Indigenous People of Biafra to press home the release of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu. He I facing trial on felony, jumping bail, among others.
However, IPOB has since cancelled the order.
A security expert, who did not want his name mentioned, said the enforcement of the order would likely be renewed following President Buhari’s reneging from using political solutions to settle Kanu’s matter.
A survey conducted by our correspondent shows that no police checkpoints were manned around the metropolis.
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike has declared 19 illegal oil refinery kingpins in the state wanted.
The Governor in a statewide broadcast on Sunday accused the identified persons of causing the black soot which has constituted both an environmental and health challenge in the state capital of Port Harcourt.
Apart from the illegal refiners, Naija News reports Wike also ordered the Rivers State Head of Service to query a Director in the State Ministry of Energy, Mr. Temple Amakiri whom he accused of aiding the illegal oil bunkering activities.
Amakiri is to be handed over to the Polic for prosecution, the Governor ordered.
Wike in his speech on Sunday said the details of the identified illegal refinery owners has been submitted to the Rivers Police Command, urging those on the list to present themselves willingly to the security agents.
“We have also identified those behind illegal bunkering activities in Okrika communities, Port Harcourt Township, Rivers South-East and Rivers South-West Senatorial Districts and their names would be soon published and declared wanted, if they fail to voluntarily report to the Police,” the Governor said.
The persons declared wanted by Wike are: Mr. Azubike Amadi, OSPAC Commander, Ogbogoro community and Chairman of Akpor Central OSPAC; Mr. India, of Rumuolumeni community and Chairman of Oil bunkering Association in Akpor kingdom; Mr. Okey who is in charge of Oil bunkering in Rumupareli; Mr. Anderson, who is in charge of oil bunkering activities in Ogbogoro community; Amadi Gift of Ogbogoro community; Azeruowa of Ogbogoro community; and Kingsley Egbula, also of Ogbogoro community.
The others alleged to be in charge of oil bunkering activities in Isiokpo community of Rivers are: Mr. Kemkom Azubike, Mr. Mezu Wabali, Mr. Chigozi Amadi, Mr. Opurum Owhondah, Mr. Bakasi Obodo ,Mr. Opus, Mr. Galaxi Mas, Mr. Chioma, Mr. Ogondah, Mr. Soldier, Mr. Chefo, and Nkasi.
While affirming the total ban on the use of motorcycles in Obio/Akpor and Port Harcourt councils, Governor Wike also accused some traditional rulers of allowing street trading to go on unchecked in their domains because of money they are collecting from the traders.
He threatened that if such monarchs don’t bring the situation under control, they should be prepared to be removed from office.
Those in the category according to the Governor are the traditional leaders, including members of Community Development Committees and youth leaders of Rumuola, Rumuogba and Okoro-nu-odo communities.
“Consequently, I hereby direct the traditional leadership of Rumuola, Rumuogba and Okoro-nu-odo communities to immediately stop all street trading activities around, in or under the flyovers in their respective domains or be deposed, arrested and prosecuted.
“Similarly, the traditional leadership of Rumuwoji Mgbuduku, Obiekwe, Nkpolu-Oroworokwo, Abali, Rebisi, Rumukalagbor-Oroworokwo and Ezimgbu communities are hereby directed to enforce the ban and ensure that no form of trading takes place around and under the flyovers located in their communities,” he ordered.
Governor Wike also directed the enforcement of a ban on the use of umbrella and table trading stands in the entire old and new GRAs of Obio/Akpor and Port Harcourt City, Eleme councils.
In his view, criminals are using the means to monitor the movement of important persons in the society.
President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the National Caretaker and Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to immediately prepare the schedule/timetable for the national convention.
Recall that the Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum and Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, had disclosed that the president would meet with APC governors on Sunday over the party’s national convention.
Speaking with State House correspondents after a meeting with the president, Lalong said the leaders will discuss the convention slated for February and other matters affecting the party.
A source close to the APC governors told ThisDay that Buhari had asked the committee led by Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State to submit the prepared schedule before Friday.
Following the president’s directive, the source said the caretaker committee will meet on Tuesday to prepare the timetable and submit it to the president for approval.
Speaking further, the source said that the governors were divided on the issue of holding the convention next month or postponing the event.
He claimed that some of the governors wanted the exercise to hold next month to ensure that reconciliations that may arise after the convention are fully addressed before next year’s general election while others want the event shifted.
The source stated that the publicity, venue, accreditation, finance and other committees would depend on the outcome of the two meetings on Sunday and Tuesday.
At least seven people were killed and three were missing after a cliff collapsed onto boats carrying tourists on a lake in Brazil, authorities said Saturday.
Rescue teams including a dive squad and members of the Brazilian Navy rushed to Furnas Lake in Minas Gerais state, where panicked tourists had watched helplessly as a large rock fragment broke off a ravine and plunged atop three boats.
The latest official toll is “seven dead and three missing,” Minas Gerais firefighters’ spokesman Pedro Aihara said on Saturday night.
Another 32 were wounded, including nine who had to be hospitalized, authorities said.
Firefighters had initially reported 20 missing, but “that number was substantially reduced because a good part of the victims who were unaccounted for were people who moved by their own means to hospitals,” Aihara said in a voice message sent to reporters.
Tourists flock to see the rock walls, caverns and waterfalls that surround the green waters of Lake Furnas, formed by the hydroelectric dam of the same name.
Dramatic videos shared on social networks caught the exact moment when the cliff fell on the three boats.
Another video posted on social media shows the minute before the fall, in which several people warn that “lots of stones are falling” and yell at the occupants of the other boats to move away from the wall.
President Jair Bolsonaro retweeted some of these videos on his account, and reported that “as soon as the unfortunate disaster occurred, the Brazilian Navy moved to the site to rescue victims and transport the injured.”
The divers’ search will be interrupted overnight for safety reasons and resumed in the morning, but other rescuers continue to work at the site.
Very heavy rain has fallen in recent days in southeastern Brazil, making the collapse more likely, according to firefighters.
SUSPECTED Fulani kidnappers resumed criminal activities in Oyo State early on Saturday, as they struck at Onigaari axis of the Lagos-Ibadan highway, killing a commercial driver, identified as Oluwatosin Aruwajoye, and abducting five of his passengers, while another one, Ibrahim Tiamiyu, was shot in the thigh.
One of the passengers, however, managed an escape, it was gathered.
The abduction reportedly occurred at about 6 am.
Sunday Tribune learnt that the passengers boarded an eight-seater ash colour Toyota Sienna bus with registration number MUS 493 HH from Ibadan, Oyo State, and were on their way to Lagos State when the kidnappers suddenly emerged from the bush on the roadside at Onigaari, shooting sporadically.
Information had it that the driver, who sensed their presence and tried to manoeuvre his way through, was immediately shot dead at close range, while Tiamiyu was shot in the thigh.
Among the five abducted victims was a woman, it was further learnt.
On getting information about Tiamiyu, the brother of the injured victim reportedly rushed to Toll Gate Division of The Nigeria Police where he reported the case.
Police operatives from the Oyo State Police Command’s Anti-Kidnapping Squad and the Toll Gate Police Division were said to have moved to the scene immediately they got the information and rushed the injured victim to the hospital for treatment.
Several operatives were said to have combed the bush in a move to rescue the victims and apprehend the perpetrators.
The driver’s corpse was also deposited in the mortuary at Adeoyo State Hospital, Ring Road.
Meanwhile, the kidnappers have demanded N30 million as a ransom for the female victim.
A reliable source told Sunday Tribune that the kidnappers made the call to a female relation of one of the victims based in Lagos not too long after the abduction.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Adewale Osifeso, confirmed the incident which he described as unfortunate.
The PPRO said that there would be an update in due course.
The Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Brigadier General Mohammed Buba Marwa (retd.), has lost his first wife, Hajiya Zainab Marwa.
A statement by the family on Saturday said Zainab Marwa died in the early hours of the day at the age of 66 after a brief illness.
The deceased is survived by four adult children: Abubakar, Mohamed Jr, Mariam and Zainab, and 10 grandchildren as well as her siblings and aged mother.
During her lifetime, she championed the course of women and the girl child.
The statement added that a burial arrangement will be announced at a later date by the family.
The owner of Hilton hotel, Prince Ramon Adedoyin has been further indicted in the circumstances that led to the death of Timothy Adegoke, a masters student of OAU who died at the hotel some months ago.
He was said to have been gruesomely murdered and buried by staffers of Hilton hotels. The police also confirmed that he was buried without the consent of his family members or the police force.
This made the matter complex and led to the arrest of Ramon Adedoyin as investigations began into the sudden death of the young man.
In the course of investigation, the police revealed that Ramon Adedoyin’s son monitored the burial of Timothy Adegoke and that since the matter happened, he has been on the run.
In a new twist today, a human right activist who has been making revelations about the case, simply called Hamzat spoke this evening and made it known that the CCTV has been released and Ramon Adedoyin was confirmed to be part of the people that carried out the act.
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A Kenyan police officer from Koromotangi village in Kakamega County has reportedly committed suicide over an alleged salary delay.
Abel Kemboi was found dead on Wednesday, January 5, after complaining to friends and relatives that his December salary had been delayed.
Before committing suicide, Kemboi reportedly said he would take up the salary issue with his bosses at Kakamega Police Station and even requested his cousin identified as Zacheaus Kalama to accompany him.
When Kalama woke up the following morning and headed to Kemboi’s home, he found the door locked from inside. Upon getting no response, he broke into the house and saw that Kemboi had hanged himself. He noted that his late cousin had show signs of being depressed earlier.
Kalama said;
“We had agreed to go to the station to inquire the cause of the salary delay from his bosses but it was shocking that he took his own life even before we achieved our mission.
“He had hanged himself and I did not believe what I saw.”
The deceased’s immediate boss and Kakamega Central OCPD David Kabena also confirmed that he was always depressed.
Kabena said that they had already launched investigations to ascertain the exact cause of his death. In addition, he urged officers with any underlying mental issues to seek expert attention.
He said;
“It is important for those who realise that they are stressed to reach out and share what they are going through.”
Kemboi’s body was taken to Kakamega Teaching and Referral Hospital morgue awaiting postmortem.
