Author: Farouk Abbas

THE Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) has filed criminal charges against MTN Nigeria Communications Ltd. and four others over alleged copyright infringement. The charge with Number FHC/ABJ/CR/111/2024 filed in the Federal High Court, Abuja Division was obtained on Monday. The four other defendants in the case are; Karl Toriola, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MTN Nigeria,  Nkeakam Abhulimen, Fun Mobile Ltd. and Yahaya Maibe. In the three-count charge, NCC alleged that the defendants, between 2010 and 2017 “offered for sale, sold and traded for business’’, infringed musical works of an artist, Maleke Idowu Moye without his consent and authorisation. The…

FOUR people have lost their lives in a stampede during an almsgiving zakat exercise for the poor in Bauchi State. The stampede occurred at the Shafa Holdings Company plc headquarters along Jos Road, on Sunday at about 12pm. Another individual, 17-year-old Naima Abdullahi, is currently receiving medical treatment at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital in Bauchi. The police Public Relations Officer, Ahmed Wakili, confirmed the incident to News Point Nigeria and guaranteed that the situation is currently stable. He stated that the police acted swiftly upon hearing the news, and the police commissioner encouraged the public to stay…

FOUR persons have lost their lives in a fatal road accident in Bauchi State, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has said. The accident which occurred on Saturday in Rinji, Toro Local Government Area of the North-Eastern State, involved eight passengers. FRSC Corps Public Education Officer, Jonas Agwu, in a statement, said the “crash involved a Mercedes Benz with registration number AK808AA and a Volkswagen Opel Vectra also with registration number TFB675RC.” Agwu, also said the corps’ rescue team recovered N1.5 million belonging to the victims. “Out of the eight persons in the vehicles, four victims, comprising one female adult…

THE police in the Federal Capital Territory Police have arrested a pregnant married woman, Rosemary Ubah, for allegedly faking her own kidnap and eventually sharing the ransom paid by her husband with her boyfriend. According to a statement by the Federal Capital Territory Police Command on Saturday, the woman’s husband, one Chiedozie Ubah, reported her disappearance after leaving home for a scan on March 11, 2024, to the Gwa Gwa Police Division. Mr Edozie told the police that he later received a call informing him that his pregnant wife was kidnapped and he needed to pay the sum of N2…

NIGER Republic has reopened its border with Nigeria in the regions of Diffa, Tahoua, Maradi and Dosso. The land border between the two neighbors was closed following the coup d’état of July 26 and the ECOWAS sanctions that followed. In a radio message broadcast on social networks, on Thursday, the Nigerien Ministry of Interior instructed the governors of these border regions to reauthorize the reopening at exactly 12:00 midnight. The ministry also directed the affected governors to strengthen controls and security along the 1,500 kilometers stretch land demarcation. Nigeria’s border was opened weeks ago after the lifting of ECOWAS sanctions…

THE naira maintained a steady appreciation against the United States dollar on Thursday, gaining N18 to close 1,382/$ at the official market. This came as Presidency warned currency speculators to desist from unpatriotic act against the national currency, saying racketeers would have their fingers burnt. The naira gain came a day after the local currency recorded major gains at both the official and parallel foreign exchange markets. It closed at the black market at N1,400/dollar on Wednesday. The summary of the FX trading auction revealed that naira appreciated by 1.3 percent following increased dollar supply at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign…

NIGERIAN creators can now monetise their content starting from June 2024, according to Meta. Meta, the parent company of social media platforms Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook, said this on Thursday. Meta’s President of Global Affairs Sir Nick Clegg spoke about this when he led a delegation of Meta Platforms Incorporated to visit President Bola Tinubu at the State House in Abuja. “Sir Clegg also said Meta will introduce in June 2024 a feature on its Instagram app that will allow Nigerian creators to monetize their content to enable them to earn a living using the app,” presidential spokesman Ajuri Ngelale…

OPERATIVES of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested one Kayode Cole for issuing a death threat against the Chairman of the Commission, Ola Olukoyede. Cole, according to EFCC’s Spokesman, Dele Oyewale, was arrested at the Lugbe axis of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. The suspect made the death threat through his Instagram page handle: “1billionsecretss”, while commenting on a story posted by a popular Instagram blogger, Instablog9ja on February 1, 2024. Instablog9ja had posted a story with a caption: “A Religious Sect Is Laundering Money for Terrorists. We Traced N7 Billion Fraud Proceeds to another Religious…

THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that all valid foreign exchange backlogs of s$7 billion have now been settled, fulfilling a key pledge of its Governor, Mr. Olayemi Cardosoo. In a statement on Wednesday, the apex bank’s Acting Director, Corporate Communications, Mrs Hakama Sidi Ali, in Abuja confirmed that independent auditors from Deloitte Consulting meticulously assessed these transactions, ensuring that only legitimate claims were honoured. She said that the CBN recently concluded the payment of $1.5 billion to settle obligations to bank customers, effectively settling the residual balance of the FX backlog. At a recent meeting, Governor Cardoso…

THE Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) last month, announced the distribution of N1.15trn in revenue to the three tiers of government in February 2024, marking an N20bn increase (1.77 per cent) from the N1.13trn allocated in January 2024. The increase reflected a positive shift in the nation’s revenue streams, as detailed by the Director of Press and Public Relations, Bawa Mokwa,  at the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation. The FAAC is responsible for reviewing and adopting the allocation of funds to States of the Federal government of Nigeria. See the full list of allocation to every state…

A GRADE 1 Area Court sitting at Lugbe, Abuja, on Tuesday, sentenced a labourer, Terkaa Akishi (36) to 15 months in prison for stealing two Qurans and a cell phone from a Mosque in Asokoro area of Abuja. The Judge, Malam Aliyu Kagarko, sentenced Akishi, who pleaded guilty. Kagarko, however, gave him an option of N40,000 fine. Akishi was charged with trespass and theft. The prosecutor, Mr Emeka Ezeganya, had told the court that the case was reported at the Asokoro Police Station by Mr Isah Balikisu of Guards Brigade, Nigeria Army, Asokoro, Abuja, on March 14. He said that…

GOVERNOR Uba Sani of Kaduna State says vigilantes are poorly equipped to face bandits who carry “sophisticated weapons”. ‘ Kaduna is one of the hotbeds of banditry and kidnapping in Nigeria with hundreds of schoolchildren recently abducted (and still in captivity). Although the state government had set up local vigilantes as part of measures to tame the raging insecurity sweeping across Kaduna and in some parts of the country, the situation remains worrisome. Governor Sani has attributed this to the ill-equipment of the local vigilantes. “Vigilance service cannot hold anything more than pump actions and these bandits, they come around…

THE Defence Headquarters has released the list of 17 military personnel killed in an attack in Delta State. The military personnel were killed last week in Okuama, a community in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State after a peace mission. Days after the gruesome murder, the Defence Headquarters said 17 personnel including the Commanding Officer of 181 Amphibious Battalion, two majors, one captain, and 12 personnel of the battalion were among those killed. “May The Souls of the Departed Rest In Peace,” the Nigerian Army wrote on its X handle alongside a photo collage of the personnel on…

PARENTS of the abducted students of the Federal University Gusau, Zamfara State on Sunday said they were not aware of their release from captivity. At least 21 students were abducted last September when terrorists stormed an off-campus hostel in Sabon Gida, a community opposite the university in the Zamfara State capital. A few hours later, some of the victims were rescued by security officials. However, several media platforms reported yesterday that nine students had been released by their captors and handed over to security agencies. But the parents of the abducted students, the school authorities and the police command in…

THE Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has embarked on a seven-day warning strike, effective Monday. This follows the refusal of the Federal Government to meet the demands of the Association. This newspaper reports that part of the issues that called for the strike action are re-negotiation of the 2009 agreement – the issue of 25/35 per cent of salary increment, minimum wage areas and the issue of the N50 billion the government has promised to give as earned allowances. Speaking with this newspaper, Chairman, Bayero University Kano (BUK) branch of the union, Mustapha Aminu, said at an emergency…

THE National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 20-year-old hair stylist, Josephine Odunu and a 30-yeard-old dispatch rider, Edesemi Ikporo, for allegedly selling and distributing illicit drug-laced chin-chin to school students and at social parties in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. The NDLEA Spokesperson, Femi Bbafemi, in a statement on Sunday, said officers of the Agency on patrol around Opolo area of Yenagoa intercepted the motorcycle dispatch rider, Edesemi and recovered 200 grams of chin-chin produced with cannabis sativa, which he was on a mission to deliver to a buyer on Sunday 10th March 2024. He said that a swift…

THE Emir of Kano, His Highness, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, CFR, CNOL, JP has left Nigeria for Morocco to attend the Annual Ramadan Hassaniya Lectures on the invitation of the King Of Morocco, King Mohammed VI. Acccording to a statement by the Emir’s Private Secretary, Abdullahi Haruna Kwaru made available to News Point Nigeria on Saturday, the Kano Monarch departed on Wednesday and was accompanied by the Dan Iyan Kano, Alhaji Ahmad Ado Bayero. Others are; the District Head Of Kumbotso, Ambassador Ahmad Umar OON; the Dan Malikin Kano, Alhaji Isa Sanusi Bayero and the Malam Awaisu Abbas Sanusi amongst…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Brigadier-General Lawal Isa (retd.) as Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education. Isa replaces Sha’aban Sharada, who served as the commission’s pioneer leader since its creation in May 2023. His appointment was announced in a statement signed by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, titled, ‘President Tinubu appoints Executive Secretary of National Commission for Almajiri Education and aide on Chieftaincy Matters.’ On May 28, 2023, former President Muhammadu Buhari assented to the National Commission for Almajiri and Out of School Children Education Bill…

THE popular Wuse market in Abuja has reopened for business three days after shutting down. This newspaper had reported how the market was sealed by the authorities on Tuesday following a violence triggered by killing of a hawker. It resulted in the burning of about 10 shops owned by traders, as well as 8 vehicles that included a police van and that of a correctional facility among some other staff of the market, before it was shut down. The Public Relation Officer PRO of the Abuja Market Management Limited AMML, Innocent Obiechina, confirmed that the market was reopened around 12…

Ali Bello, Suleman Refute EFCC’s Allegation In Amended Charges THERE was confusion on Thursday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, following amended charges filed against Alli Bello and Daudu Suleiman, including the immediate past Governor of Kogi State, in which the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission claimed they allegedly diverted about N100 billion belonging to the state government in September 2015, months before former Governor Bello assumed office as Governor. Governor Bello was not a defendant in the original suit, and was not in court. However, Ali Bello, currently Chief of Staff to Kogi State Governor and  Dauda Suleman…