By Tosin Omoniyi, Abuja

The United States, Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, on Tuesday donated a forensic work station to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

The equipment, technically referred to as Forensic Recovery of Evidence Device, F.R.E.D, was presented to the Head of Operations, Lagos Zonal office of the EFCC, Iliyasu Kwarbai by the United States acting Consul General, Dehab Ghereab.

According to Ghereab, the equipment would be used to enhance the EFCC’s fight against cyber crime and equally standardize its operations.

“As we engage in these practices, we needed our counterparts, so the FBI office made an assessment of the prevailing cases of cyber-based crimes which are not unique to Nigeria,” Ghereab explained.

She also praised the long term partnership between the FBI and EFCC which she noted had existed for more than a decade. She commended the anti graft agency for its professionalism and encouraged it to keep up the good work.

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According to technical staff member of the FBI, Fritz Kenelley, the device will help the EFCC in analyzing, processing and preservation of digital evidence which can be presented in court in a clear, concise and understandable manner, thereby aiding judges to adjudicate effectively.

Kwarbai, while receiving the device thanked the FBI for its support to the commission in the areas of manpower development and investigation.

It would be recalled that the United States Department of Homeland Security is currently conducting a five-day training for security personnel, including operatives of the EFCC in financial crimes and tracking of illicit funds.

By Abiose Adelaja-Adams, Lagos

The Department for International Development, DFID, the British development and aid organisation, has announced an initiative to upgrade the standard and quality of education offered in low cost private schools in the Lagos State.

This is in a bid to improve the quality of life of about 1.5 million boys and girls from low income households who are enrolled in the schools across the state.

The team lead of the initiative, Developing Effective Private Education in Nigeria, DEEPEN,  Stephen Bayley, said on Wednesday in Lagos that it is important to improve quality in these private schools as they have become the main education provider, with 18,000 private schools, compared to only 1,600 public schools in the state.

“By improving the quality, we are saving these children from life-long poverty. These schools are springing up every day, with an annual growth rate of 1,500 schools per annum. And that is where parents send their children to because of proximity and they feel they are better educated,” Bayley observed.

The United Nations Children Education Fund, UNICEF, recently said that about 10.5 million Nigerian children are out of school. The implication of this is multiple social burden such as Illiteracy, crime, early marriage, unemployment and terrorism.

“There are 18,000 private schools in Lagos and 5 million parents and these schools are fraught with several challenges. DEEPEN hopes to improve education in low cost private schools especially those serving low income households, bringing to the fore the challenges these schools experience in order to improve quality,” Bayley said at the media workshop flagging off the programme.

Among the challenges facing the schools, Bayley said, are high, exorbitant school fees, lack of government approvals, poor regulatory framework, poor financial support to these schools from financial institution, poor rules and standards on the part of government for instance, heavy taxation and strenuous approval processes; high teacher training services, weak academic leaders and poor quality assurance for school improvement.

Media practitioners at the workshop on various fronts agreed that the government had long neglected public schools and ignored the proliferation of private schools, but are however waking up to the reality that the low cost private schools have taken over the education system.

“Education is on the concurrent list so the three tiers of government have not really paid enough attention to the springing up of private schools. Government abuses them calling them mushroom schools, but these low cost private schools are providing better quality than the public schools,” said Kofoworola Bello Osagie, education correspondent of The Nations newspaper.

“What they need is just technical support to improve their standards and address wrong practices in the school, so this is coming at a good time,” she added.

Defining low cost private schools, Bayley said these are those that charge N1,000-25,000 per term and are mostly unapproved by government.

Other classification include medium income schools which are those whose fees range from N25,000-N50,000. They are also not government approved. Schools that charge from N50,000 and above are referred to as high income schools and they are the government approved schools.

The five-year initiative will be executed in conjunction with the Wole Soyinka Center For Investigative Journalism and promises to work through the media to create awareness on burning issues so that parents, stakeholders, government policymakers, can begin to make demands, thus forcing the standards up.

The programme coordinator of the center, Motunrayo Alaka, had this to say: “The media has so much power in bringing about a change and that is why we are engaging the media to help them generate dedicated articles/reports, education programmes contents on radio, capacity building, for the overall goal of promoting quality private education in Lagos.”

The General Managing Director, GMD, of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Ibe Kachikwu, on Tuesday said that the corporation would subsequently publish all its financial records on a monthly basis, starting from next month.

He said this was in consonance with the new era of transparency and accountability which the recent change in leadership at the corporation was initiating.

Kachikwu, who made this promise via a press statement issued on his behalf by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the corporation, Ohi Alegbe, said the corporation would from next month operate an open accounting system that would allow the public scrutinse all its books.

He said in addition to this, periodic publications detailing the financial transactions embarked upon by the corporation would be published.

He noted that the changed NNPC he envisaged would be one that is transparent and meets the yearnings and aspirations of the present government and majority of Nigerians.

He called on the staff of the corporation to eschew corrupt acts, which he noted had marred its image in the past.

He also urged the staff to disobey any directive from him which is not in tandem with the new surge of anti-corruption campaign sweeping across the nation.

“I want transparency. Beginning from next month, I want to be able to publish what the corporation makes. I have told the President that as from next week, I will be sending him weekly reports. You are the ones who have been around and who understand the system and so you are the ones who should drive the change,” he said.

The GMD also said the change he would be initiating in the next few weeks would centre on three key areas which he listed as people, processes, and profit.

He, however, said he could only succeed if the staff and, indeed, Nigerians assisted him in ensuring the success of the government- led reform agenda for the corporation and the nation’s oil and gas industry.

The Nigerian Army, on Wednesday, said it had arrested two key members of Boko Haram sect in Geidam, Yobe State.

The spokesperson of the army, Sani Usman, a Colonel, said that two pick up vehicles were also seized from the fleeing insurgents.

He said the detained terrorists are currently being interrogated.

Colonel Usman also said that the Nigerian Air Force is conducting air surveillance and armed reconnaissance in the area to arrest more suspects. He also debunked claims of an alleged massacre and drowning of over a hundred civilians in Kukuwa-gari, Gujba Local Government Area of Yobe State, as reported in the media.

Also, according to a statement issued by Usman, troops of 26 Task Force Brigade in Gwoza, Borno State, on Tuesday routed Boko Haram terrorists fleeing Sambisa Forest following continued aerial bombardment by the Nigerian Air Force.

The fleeing terrorists, riding in seven vans and some motorcycles mounted with assorted weapons such as Rocket Propelled Grenades, RPG and Anti-Aircraft Guns were engaged by the Nigerian troops who raided locations in the notorious forest.

The soldiers also destroyed the vehicles, weapons and motorcycles of the sect members. Also recovered were a vehicle, one motorcycle and two AK47 riffles and large quantities of 7.62mm NATO and 12.7mm ammunition.

The Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, Kaduna Zonal Office, has sealed eight petrol stations in the state capital and environs.

According to reports monitored on Channels TV, some of the stations were closed for selling petrol above the N87 approved pump price while others were sealed for adjusting their sales machines in order to cheat customers.

The department’s Head of Engineering and Standards, Yahaya Maishera said the petrol stations were caught during a routine monitoring of service stations within the state capital.

Some of the sealed petrol stations are Tonsjos Service Station Kachia road, Al-Mudeco Service station, Nnamdi Azikiwe Bye-pass, Mobil Service Station and Shema Petroleum, among others.

The agency said they would remain sealed till they received appropriate sanctions from the authorities.

These include the payment of the N100, 000 punitive fines and signing of an undertaking not to flout the rules of the agency again.

According to  Maishera, DPR had put measures in place to make sure that depot owners and marketers sell products at a rate that would enable the marketers sell at official pump price of N87 per litre of petrol.

The agency also announced that 100 trucks of petrol had been lifted by different independent marketers from the Kaduna refinery for onward delivery to the states within the northern region.

By Musdapha Ilo, Maiduguri

Boko Haram insurgents at the weekend reportedly killed not less than 60 persons in Kukuwa – Gari in Gulani local government area of Yobe state.

A member of the local vigilante group, Mohammed Ibrahim, said most of the persons killed drowned in a river as they fled from the rampaging terrorists. Others, he said, were shot dead.

“The terrorists invaded Kukuwa village and its surroundings on Friday on motorcycles and pick-up trucks and started shooting at every possible target. Some of us in the local vigilante group and a few security officials, who accosted them, could not withstand the terrorists’ firepower as they were over 50 and were heavily armed,” Mohammed said.

He said after the mayhem, he counted about 60 bodies, many of them floating in the nearby river.

Also, a resident, who claimed that he narrowly escaped being killed in the attack, said the death toll must have risen beyond 60.

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He insisted that more bodies were counted at the river over the weekend after the attack.

“I was able to hide in the bush for two days. When I came out, I saw many bodies at the river. Certainly over 60 persons were killed by the insurgents. Most of us could not communicate with people in Damaturu because telecommunication network had been disrupted by the insurgents,” he said.

Spokesperson for the Yobe State Police command, Toyin Gbadegesin, confirmed the attack, but could not state the numbers of people killed.

“I can confirm that there was an attack at Kukuwa village. The police and other security operatives were able to repel the Boko Haram attackers. We are however not aware of the death toll,” he said.

The Ijaw Youths Council, IYC, has called on the federal government to ensure that the principle of federal character is reflected in the restructuring of the oil sector, saying it supported the efforts of the Muhammadu Buhari led administration in this regard.

The group also expressed support for the stepping up of the anti – corruption crusade but warned that it should not be targeted at individuals, particularly former President Goodluck Jonathan.

It vowed to resist any attempt to use the anti-corruption campaign to rubbish Jonathan’s name.

The IYC’s position was made known by its president, Udengs Eradiri, at a press briefing held at the Ijaw House, Yenagoa, capital of Bayelsa State.

The group commended the federal government for the steps it had taken so far to reposition the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, for better productivity and efficiency.

Eradiri said that while the Ijaws supported the restructuring exercise as it would cut areas of waste and make more resources available for development, they were worried because the attendant downsizing in the oil corporation had mostly affected people from the Niger Delta.

“We observed that the downsizing was skewed against the oil producing states of the Niger Delta region, because we believe in the principle of derivation to ensure that people from the oil producing areas participate in the management of the sector,” the Ijaw youth leader stated.

He said further: “We wish to ask the newly appointed Group Managing Director to review the list, most of them with to ensure that those with good records and few years to retirement be recalled to complete their service.”

Eradiri also expressed the group’s support of the anti-corruption but advised that it should not target particular persons

“The IYC wholly supports the anti-corruption efforts”, he stated, but warned that “if it is limited to Jonathan, we shall resist it”.

He alleged that there is a “deliberate and calculated attempt to diminish the popularity of Jonathan despite his sacrifices for the nation”.

The IYC president also lamented that only the federal government was meeting its commitment to the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme, adding that the state governments and oil companies operating in the region had abdicated their responsibility.

Eradiri said that under the amnesty plan, the oil companies are supposed to employ beneficiaries of federal government training programmes while state governments were expected to empower non-violent youths.

He therefore President Buhar to ensure that states governments and oil firms operating in the region fulfill their commitments under the programme