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Not fewer than 262 Nigerians were on Wednesday returned from Libya .

They distraught Nigerians were brought back aboard a chartered Libyan Airlines aircraft with registration number 5A-LAR.

The aircraft landed at 10 pm at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

The returnees consists 108 males, 135 females, eight children and 11 infants.



They were brought back by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the Nigerian Embassy in Libya.

The returnees were received by officers of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) , the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and the Police.

Also on ground to receive them were officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

Addressing newsmen, Alhaji Mustapha Maihaja, the Director General, NEMA, said the agency in collaboration with the IOM was working to ensure that Nigerians stranded in Libya are brought back home.

The Director General who was represented by Mr Suleiman Yakubu, Zonal Coordinator, South West, NEMA, said both the federal government and state governments had initiated various programmes to rehabilitate and reintegrate the returnees into the society.

He further advised Nigerians, especially the youths not to be lured into the quest for greener pastures, adding that there was enough opportunities in the country

The Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, on Thursday regretted that the nation’s troops fighting the Boko Haram sect cannot dominate the environment in rainy season like they were doing during dry season.

Notwithstanding the challenge, Dan-Ali said efforts were ongoing to stop the ambushes being experienced regularly.

The minister spoke with State House correspondents after a meeting the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, had with security chiefs at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.



He said the service chiefs were directed to move back to the Command Centre in order to be abreast of what is happening there.

He said it was also resolved at the meeting that the government should procure more surveillance devices that will be able to see potential attackers from far distance. 

Dan-Ali said, “We just finished a meeting with the Acting President and the three Service Chiefs. We agreed that they should move back to the Command Centre again and see what are the things happening there. 

“We have also agreed that we should get more surveillance devices, cameras that will be able to see distant attackers coming to the position of our troops. 

“Also, the period of the raining season is a difficult moment for us. We cannot dominate the environment like what we did during the dry season but effort is geared towards regaining back our areas.

“We assure Nigerians that all these ambushes that are happening regularly would be stopped.”

The Nigerian Law School, Bwari, Abuja, has expelled a student, Kayode Bello, after he allegedly had an argument with a fellow student, identified simply as Chidima, over seat reservation in a lecture room.

The graduate of University of Ibadan, Oyo State, was reportedly bundled out of the school’s library by law school officials and policemen attached to the Bwari Police Station on the day he was expelled.

His issue with the school management started shortly after he gained admission into the institution in November 2016.

It was gathered that he complained to the Secretary to the Council of Legal Education, Mrs. Elizabeth Max-Uba, over the leakage of the sewage pipe in his room’s toilet.

He said he also reported to the secretary that the water system in rooms in the hostel was not functioning, adding that his complaints were not attended to.

The 34-year-old told our correspondent that the events that led to his expulsion started on March 15, 2017, when he went to the class for a morning lecture.

The class is usually overcrowded. There are no enough chairs in the lecture room and we have issues over seat reservation. At a point, the Head Marshal, Mr. Akinyemi, announced publicly that there should not be seat reservation again because it was causing problems.

That day, I met Chidima and other persons sitting on some chairs. There was a book on a vacant chair. As I made to sit on the vacant chair, Chidima said she was keeping the seat for a student. I said I would leave when the person came.

When the lady came 20 minutes later, Chidima angrily told me to vacate the seat. I told her that her approach was wrong. In the process, a marshal came and took both of us to Mr. Akinyemi’s office. He asked me to look for another seat. I made him to realise that he was the one that gave an order on seat reservation, but he ignored me.

I went to report the matter to the school’s Chief Security Officer, Mr. Ogunboyan, but he was not in the office. I called him on the telephone and he asked me to be patient, saying he would address it when he came back.

Bello said the CSO took him to Akinyemi later that day and the Head Marshal complained that he (Bello) was rude.

I said I was not rude, but was trying to let him (Akinyemi) realise that he didn’t do justice to the matter brought before him, he added.

Bello said both officials flared up at that point and Akinyemi threatened him with a query. He stated that he immediately submitted a petition on the issue at the secretary’s office, adding that she did not acknowledge it.

He said he also sent the same petition to the email of the Nigerian Law School without getting a reply.

He said Akinyemi announced the query in the class the following day and gave him a copy, which he replied to.

I also made my response known to the class. He issued the query and signed it on behalf of the Dean of Students’ Affairs, which is wrong, Bello said.

He said the officials suddenly turned the matter against him, accusing him of inciting students against the school management, adding that his room was inspected on March 20, but nothing incriminating was found.

Bello explained that the Students’ Representative Council was also influenced to issue a disclaimer against him.

On March 21, the CSO and the Head of Academic Affairs, Mr. Osamolu, came to my room in the midnight and forcefully evicted me. I paid over N300,000 as school fee, of which N60,000 was for hostel accommodation. They handed me over to policemen at the school’s police post. When I explained what happened to a policeman, he was surprised. He gave me a space to pass the night.

When I returned to the hostel the following day, I met the door of my room broken, while my bed had been taken away. I reported at the Bwari Police Station, but a policewoman I met there requested money to buy a case file, which I declined to provide.

My lawyer wrote to the secretary about my victimisation, but she didn’t reply. I also petitioned the Public Complaints Commission, which wrote to the Nigerian Law School.

The SRC later withdrew the disclaimer privately, but they had endangered my life and allowed the school management to capitalise on it. I said the SRC chairman should resign as a punitive measure for the disclaimer, while a fresh committee be set up to look into my case. They said it was not possible for the chairman to resign.

He said he kept sleeping in the open room until they went for externship (attachment to law firms and courts) in April 24, adding that his application for hostel accommodation during the programme was rejected by the school.

He said, we returned from externship on July 12. I was in the library on July 17 preparing for Portfolio Assessment which started the next day when the CSO led some people to give me a letter of expulsion to sign. I rejected it. They called for reinforcement and I was dragged out of the library and taken to the Bwari Police Station, where I had earlier lodged a complaint against the school without any action.

They said they would charge me to court; I was happy. I was detained. They later released me after I signed an undertaking that there would be peace.

The representative of UI graduates in the SRC, Patrick Oyakhare, confirmed to our correspondent that the SRC regretted issuing the disclaimer.

I met with Kayode (Bello) to tell me what he wanted. He said the committee that sat on his matter should be reconstituted while the chairman should resign. I presented it at a meeting. The first condition was agreed to, but it is not possible for the chairman to resign. It is only the school that can comment on his expulsion, he added.

Some students, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Bello was expelled because the school authorities saw him as a threat.

A student said, Kayode is 100 per cent right about his complaints over the poor state of the facilities in the school. All the students are aware, but no one has the confidence to challenge the school. It is just unfortunate that Nigeria is a country where it is difficult to fight an institution and win.

Another student described the fate of students in the institution as a baby that is being spanked, but dares not cry.

You can come to the school to see the state of the facilities yourself. Bello may be blamed for challenging the school authorities, but he was fighting for a right course, he added.

When contacted on the telephone, the CSO directed our correspondent to the Secretary to the Council of Legal Education.

Asked what actually led to Bello’s expulsion, the Secretary, Max-Uba, said the management would issue a statement on the issue on Monday (today).

An official of Public Complaint Commission, who did not want his name in print because he was not authorised to speak to the press, said the commission wrote to the Nigerian Law School over a month ago, adding that he and his team visited the school when there was no reply to the letter.

We went there on a Friday, a day after the school had its call-to-bar ceremony. We waited for about 15 minutes, but could not see either the Director-General of the law school, the secretary or the Dean, Students’ Affairs. He has told me about the expulsion. We will go back by Wednesday, he added.

The Police Public Relations Officer for the Abuja Police Command, Anjuguri Mensah, promised to make enquiries from the Bwari division and get back with comments.

He had, however, yet to get back as of press time.

The Kwara State Government has described as completely untrue and an attempt to misinform the public, a story making the rounds on social media platforms about an alleged plan to shutdown Kwara Radio (A.M).

The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Media and Communications, Dr Muideen Akorede in a statement on Monday in Ilorin said that this was contrary to the ongoing reform in the state owned media houses.

He said that contrary to the fake news being peddled on social media, the government was actually planning to upgrade Radio Kwara and Midland FM.

Akorede assured that, there is no truth whatsoever in the second leg of the said piece which alleged that the government is planning to sell the land on which the Radio Kwara transmitters are located.

The Ahmed administration has never thought of shutting down Radio Kwara and it has no intention of selling the land on which the station’s transmitters are located, he said.

Describing as most unfortunate the peddling of such falsehood, Akorede disclosed that Radio Kwara and Midland FM stations were receiving the necessary attention from the state government.

We are actually in the process of digitising both Radio Kwara and Midland FM with ultra-modern equipment in keeping with modern trends in radio broadcasting all over the world, he explained.

Akorede assured that, plans were afoot to ensure that necessary upgrades and changes were implemented on the equipment of the two media outfits to enhance their effectiveness.

He said that the state-owned television station, KWTV had already received ample attention with the purchase and installation of modern equipment to enhance the quality and reach of its signals, while its contents are also being turned around in readiness for the digital switch-over.

As you know, we have a repositioning programme in place for the Herald, Kwara Television, and Radio Kwara.

The driving purpose is to make them function among the best in the country and be able provide to better serve to the people within their coverage areas.

The Herald is making progress with its positioning as the newspaper of the critical North Central Nigeria with a strong digital footprint.

We intend to make sure that very soon, it will have effective bureaus for its news and marketing operations in each of the North Central States and some key centres in the South-West, Akorede said

BY PREMIUM TIMESJUL 25, 2017 

Six governors are set to travel to London to visit Nigeria’s ailing President, Muhammadu Buhari, on Wednesday.

This was disclosed by three presidential spokespersons, Femi Adesina, Garba Shehu and Laolu Akande, at a media briefing in Abuja.

The governors are to be led by Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara and include governors of Ebonyi, Kano, Benue, Akwa Ibom, and Oyo.

The visit comes a few days after some APC leaders and governors visited the president on Sunday.

Mr. Buhari had on that July 23 met with the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and some governors elected on the party’s platform.

A statement by the presidency, which provided a photograph of the event, gave the names of those who met with the president to include Governors Rochas Okorocha of Imo, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa, Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna, Yahaya Bello of Kogi, and the APC National Chairman, John Oyegun.

Femi Adesina, the special adviser to the president on media and publicity, later quoted Governor Okorocha as describing Mr. Buhari as cheerful and humorous during the meeting held at Nigeria House in London.

Mr. Adesina also quoted the Imo governor as saying, “By our visit to London today, the merchants of lies have been put out of business and Nigerians will not buy the garbage they have been selling.

“All those who look up to fake news can find better use for their time.”

Mr. Buhari, whose real medical condition is unknown, has been in London for over 70 days for medical treatment.

His deputy, Yemi Osinbajo, recently visited him in the British capital, reporting back to Nigerians that the nation’s number one man was recuperating fast and would return soon.