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President of the Senate, Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, has said that the National Assembly is open to suggestions from Nigerians on the best ways to tackle the menace of hate speech and fake news. Lawan stated this on Monday in an address delivered to declare open a Town-hall meeting on the Hate Speech and Social Media bills organized by the Daar Communications in Abuja. The Senate President said there is need to address the challenge of hate speech and fake news in Nigerian society. “We are here today because of some of these challenges, which is the challenge of hate speech…

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has said his ministry will this month convene a stakeholders’ meeting as part of efforts to design a framework for the sanitization of the social media. The Minister stated this in Abuja on Monday when he received the Finnish Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Jyrki Pulkkinen, and the Ambassador of Innovation of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Finland, Mr. Jarmo Sareva, who were on an advocacy visit to promote the ideals of the Freedom Online Coalition. He said the government’s response to the irresponsible use of social media to promote fake news and…

The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Oyo State, Professor Oyelowo Oyewo, on Monday, stated that the intervention of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, on the dissolution of local government leadership in Oyo State was selective and as a result of lack of proper briefing. Oyewo, who stated this while appearing on a Channels TV programme, Sunrise Daily, maintained that the AGF was not properly briefed on the local government situation in Oyo State. According to him, the dissolved council chairmen were not properly constituted, having emerged from an election that was held in disobedience…

The Kaduna State Police Command, on Sunday, arrested a suspect with improvised explosive devices (IED) at the Living Faith Church, Sabon Tasha, Chickun Local Government area of Kaduna State. The command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Yakubu Sabo, confirmed the arrest to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna. Sabo said that the suspect, a middle-aged man, identified as Nathaniel Samuel, was arrested with items suspected to be IEDs. He said that the command had commenced investigation to ascertain the suspect’s mission. The PPRO said that only investigation could reveal Samuel’s agenda with the devices. Sabo promised to give details…

The Lagos State Government has directed the management of Lagos Bus Services Limited (LBSL) to deploy a fleet of 65 buses to join some major routes as from Monday to ease commuters’ pain. The Public Affairs Officer of the LBSL, Mr Afolabi Olawale, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday in Lagos. Olawale said that the step was part of the ways of providing succor and ameliorating the hardship that the commuting public might be facing as a result of the restriction order on the operators of motorcycles and tricycles in some parts of the State. He stated that the…

The Police Command in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) says it has rescued and reunited a kidnapped student, Gift Abikor, 17 of the Federal Government College, Rubochi, with his family. A statement by DSP Anjuguri Manzah, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the FCT on Sunday in Abuja said that the student was rescued on Jan. 31 unhurt. He said that the student was abducted on Jan. 28 and that his rescue followed an order to commence investigation into the abduction by the Commissioner of Police in charge of FCT, Mr Bala Ciroma. Manzah pledged the commitment of the…

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Cross Rivers has described as untrue the social media publication stating that a JSS 2 student impregnated a serving corps member in the state. In a statement signed by Mr Abdullahi Yuguda, Head, Press and Public Relations Unit of NYSC in the state, the scheme described the report as `fake and untrue.’ “The attention of the NYSC in Cross River has been drawn to a malicious publication making the rounds in the social media, alleging that a female corps member was impregnated by a teenage boy (student) in the state. “To put the…

The Police in Ekiti State says it has set in motion the process of recruiting 800 Special Constables that will work with the conventional police to tackle the rising level of insecurity in the country. In a statement by the Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Sunday Abutu on Sunday, the Commissioner of Police in Ekiti, Mr Asuquo Amba, said that forms for the special recruitment had been distributed to all police stations across the state. He urged interested applicants to obtain the forms before presenting themselves for screening at a date to be announced later. “This is to inform the…

By Tony Obiechina,  Abuja  Jaiz Bank Plc. Nigeria’s premier non-interest bank has been rated positively by the Islamic International Rating Agency (IIRA). This is the first rating for the Bank as the first Sharia-compliant bank in the country. The Bank got an investment grade rating of BBB (Triple B) for the medium to long-term and A2 in the short-term (A Two) on the national scale, as the IIRA concluded its most recent assessment of the Bank. The IIRA also assigned to the Bank a foreign currency rating of B-/B (Single B Minus/B) and local currency rating of B/B (Single B/B)…

No fewer than 102, 761 malnourished children have received treatment in Kebbi State between 2015 and 2019, the State Nutrition Officer, Mrs Beatrice Kwere has said. Kwere told newsmen in Birnin Kebbi, on Sunday, that 77, 757 malnourished children were treated between 2015 and 2017 while 25, 004 were treated between 2018 and 2019, respectively. She said that the number of malnourished children had decreased since the implementation of the Maternal, New-born, Child Health and Nutrition (MNCHN) project executed by the UNICEF and European Union (EU) in the state. Kwere noted that the MNCHN project enhanced access to preventive services…