innosreport

(Nigeria) The Edo State House of Assembly on Tuesday in Benin passed a bill for a law to amend the law prohibiting the act of kidnapping in Edo. The passage of the bill followed a clause by clause consideration of the report of the house Committee on Judiciary on a bill to prohibit the act of kidnapping in the state. During the clause by clause consideration of the bill, the house resolved that any person who contravened section 2(1) and 2 of the principal law shall on conviction be sentenced to death. The house also resolved that any person or persons who aids or abets another to commit the act of kidnapping or abduction under the law commits an offence and shall be liable to live in imprisonment without an option of fine. The law further provides that any person who puts forward him/herself whether overtly or covertly to another to be kidnapped for the purpose of extracting money commits an offence and shall be liable to live imprisonment upon conviction. The proper

(Nigeria) Human rights groups, under the aegis of Coalition of Civil Society, CCS, on Tuesday in Lagos staged what they called a ``Save Our Democracy’’ protest. The protesters, in their dozens,  kicked off their ``democracy walk’’ from the Testing Ground Bus Stop, Ikeja, on Obafemi Awolowo Road, before massing at the Governor's Office, Alausa. The protesters, including women, chanted songs warning those they referred to as political jobbers against truncating the nation's fledgling democracy. The coordinator of the group, Mr Raji-Rasheed Oyewumi, said the protest was called to sensitise Nigerians, particularly politicians, on the need to protect the nation's hard-earned democracy. He said the group was worried about political activities that had heated up the polity. ``We want to warn those in power to be careful and also to sensitise Nigerians on the need for them to participate actively in the polity. ``We need a democracy that will benefit all and not

At least one person was killed and hundreds more injured at Haiti's three-day summer "Carnival of Flowers," which wraps up Tuesday, police and medical sources said. Police said the death occurred Sunday, when a man in his thirties fell off a float. And over the three days, some 800 people, including four young children, were treated by emergency services on Sunday and Monday for illness, accidents and knife injuries, according to emergency services. The generally noncritical injuries were largely due to altercations and the influence of alcohol, they said. "What's alarming is the many young people, mostly girls, found inebriated. They've consumed alcohol and taken drugs," a medical source said. Tens of thousands of people participated in the first two days of the carnival, joined by President Michel Martelly, a former singer who has previously presided over the summer festival. The festivities took place in a large public square near the pr

(Nigeria) Some prominent lawyers on Tuesday differed on the prosecution of Acting Chief Judge of Abia State, Justice Shadrack Nwanosike, who was found guilty of falsifying his age. The National Judicial Council, NJC, had at its 63rd Meeting, held on July 17 and 18, 2013, recommended Nwanosike for compulsory retirement. The lawyers, in interviews with NAN in Lagos, unanimously commended the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Mukhtar,  for her efforts in sanitising the nation’s judiciary. Mr Onyekachi Ubani, Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Ikeja branch, said the issue of a judge falsifying his age was disgraceful. ``What the NJC is doing now is praise worthy. It shows that there is hope in this country. The beauty about it is that somebody is being punished for it, which was not the case in the past. However, it is not sufficient to just dismiss him, he should be prosecuted,” Ubani said. A lawyer and activist, Mr Fred Agbaje , said Nwanosike’s involvement in fo

(Nigeria) The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, in the South East Zone said it would continue with its ongoing strike until Government implemented its demands. The union announced this position in Awka on Tuesday when it addressed newsmen. ``Only the implementation of the agreement reached between the Federal Government and the union would make the lecturers resume work.’’ Dr Chidi Osuagwu, the Zonal Coordinator of the union, said it was embarrassed to hear from some quarter that the ongoing strike would be called off on August 1.       ``This is very unacceptable to the union and its members. We will not call off the strike until the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement is fully implemented’’, he said. He appealed to students, parents and guardians to bear with the union, pointing out that it was pursuing a worthy course to improve the university system in the country. He recalled that ASUU embarked on the strike due to federal government’s failure to implement the agreem

(Nigeria) Wikki Tourist FC of Bauchi on Tuesday said seven suspects had been arrested for their alleged role on invasion of the pitch during a league match against visiting El Kanemi FC of Maiduguri. The club’s Chairman, Sule Chindo, told News Agency of Nigeria that the suspects were arrested by security personnel in Bauchi. Chindo added that investigations were ongoing to ascertain the roles played by each of them in disrupting the Globacom Premier League, GPL, match. He said that the match, played on July 21, was interrupted because of a pitch invasion by some supporters of Wikki Tourist, after they alleged that the referee was biased. The chairman warned that, henceforth, any supporter or fan that disrupted a match would not be spared, noting that some of the people were being used by the club's detractors. ``Henceforth we will not allow any so called supporter or fan to cause problem for us. ``We realised that some enemies of the club are using some irresponsibl

(Nigeria)  The Edo State Government, through its Inland Revenue Services, has shut  the Benin Airport, over evasion of taxes by airport workers. However, in a shift reaction, the spokesperson, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, Mr Yakubu Dati, described the development as an ``invasion``. Dati said this in a news release made available to aviation correspondents at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja. ``We learnt early this morning that some people belonging to the Edo State Inland Revenue Service shut the Benin Airport over what our staff described as non-payment of taxes.  ``This is coming to us as a rude shock, because they could have explored all lines of dialogue, instead of just taking the laws into their hands.  ``To close Benin Airport is not good for the security and safety of the airport environment, `` he said. Flight and commercial activities at the airport were grounded for several hours on Tuesday. Dati explained that the laws se