Author: oduduwanews

The Federation of Muslim Women’s Associations in Nigeria, FOMWAN Oyo State chapter has felicitated with Muslims in Nigeria on the celebration of the noble birth of Prophet Muhammad, SAW and has urged Nigerians to be of good and sublime character always.

The Oyo State FOMWAN Amirah, Alhaja(Dr) B.B Oloso gave the advice in Ibadan in her 2021 Eid-ul-Maulud message to the Muslims and the country at large.

Alhaja Oloso said Prophet Muhammad was described by Allah in the Quran as having the best of character adding that he was known throughout Makkah as a truthful and honest person even before he was commissioned a Prophet .

She therefore condemned the level of moral decadence in Nigeria and said that for the Nation to experience greatness, peace and accelerated development the leaders and the led must exhibit and imbibe good moral character and avoid bad behaviors always.

” In Quran Chapter 68 verse 4, Allah says Prophet Muhammad is surely on an exalted and sublime character. This shows that perfection of noble and moral character is one of the objectives of the divine mission of Prophet Muhammad, SAW. No nation will progress if it citizens continue to engage in illicit and immoral behavior. The level of social vices across the Country is alarmingly disturbing. It is time for us to purify our souls and desist from all inglorious activities” She said

The Oyo State FOMWAN Amirah urged Nigerians to show love and kindness to themselves and tolerate and accommodate one another regardless of differences in tribe, religion and political affiliation.

This is just as she quoted Quran chapter 5 verse 8 where Allah says ” Do not let the hatred of others make you to wrong them and depart from justice. Be just that’s next to piety”

” We should use this year’s Maulud Nabiy to retrace our steps and engage more in righteous deeds. Let us say No to corruption at all levels. We must rise up to condemn kidnappings, armed robberies, banditry and all other forms of social vices. The rise in ritual killings and money making under the guise of the popular Yahoo should be condemned and addressed. Prostitution, fornication, abortion, child abuse, drug abuse, certificate forgery, lying, injustice, betrayal, treachery, indecent dressing, smoking, and all forms of cheatings and fraudulent activities should end in our midst. As giant of Africa,we must uphold high moral and ethical standards and principles at all times” She counselled

Alhaja Oloso who congratulated all Muslim Women across the Country on the celebration of the birth of Prophet Muhammad, SAW charged them to do more in instilling discipline and morals in their children right from childhood.

” Our Prophet Muhammad, SAW said in one of his Hadith that I have been sent to perfect noble character” hence as parents we must train our children to be pious and responsible individuals when they grow old”

The Acting Comptroller-General of Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Isa Jere Idris, on Monday, disguised as an applicant for an international passport at the Lagos State Command, Ikoyi, where he alleged that some officers of the service offered to engage in shady deals with him.

Mr Idris, in an exclusive interview with PREMIUM TIMES on the phone, said he decided to walk in unannounced in order to gain firsthand experience of what Nigerians are going through “in the hands of unscrupulous officers of NIS.”

He said his unscheduled visit to Ikoyi on Monday was to confirm the allegations against officers of the immigration offices in Lagos State including Ikoyi, Ikeja and FESTAC town.

Ikoyi experience
He said when he approached the officers at the Ikoyi command, he was given various high prices for the different categories of passports.

“When I approached the officers, they offered me the menu without recognising me. They said 32 pages of the international passport for five years would cost me N45,000 instead of N27,000. They said 64 pages for five year would cost me N55,000 instead of N37,000, and N95,000 for 64 pages for 10 years instead of N72,000.

“I was asked where I was from and I said Niger State. They also asked me if I had a letter of indigeneship and other documents and I said I didn’t have any one. So they said they would collect N3,500 to provide all the documents for me,” he said.

The immigration boss said as of the time of speaking to our reporter on the phone, the officers were yet to know who he was, and that the Comptroller for Lagos Command of the service, Bauchi Aliyu, was surprised when he eventually showed up in his office.

“You know he just returned to Lagos from Abuja. He didn’t know that I was coming to town. So he is still shocked as I am talking to you,” he said.

What next?
Mr Idris said the lesson will help the service to strengthen the passport issuance process, saying having an international passport of a country confers nationality on its holder and so it must have integrity.

“So with what I have experienced firsthand today, it simply means that anybody can come in from anywhere and obtain our passport. This is unacceptable. So I can assure you that the Immigration Service under our watch will strengthen the issuance process and the integrity of the document,” the acting CG said.

Launch of appointment platform

Mr Idris said in the next two weeks the service with the support of the Interior Minister, Rauf Aregbesola, will launch an appointment platform for applicants, saying the idea of anybody approaching passport offices anytime for issuance cannot continue.

He said: “The document has integrity and so the processes of issuing it must have integrity. We must verify attached relevant documents because with what I saw this morning anybody can claim to be who he or she is not.

“So within a maximum of three weeks passport renewal must be done, but we must also ensure relevant background checks on the applicants especially based on their letters of indigeneship and birth certificates. What they do with these documents by the syndicates is to backdate them.”

He said except in some exceptional cases, there is nowhere in the world where passports are produced in one day, saying Nigeria must adopt global best practices in order to ensure the integrity of our documents and their sanctity.

“If you claim you are from Kano or Rivers we must find out if your claims are true or not,” he added.

He said the officers caught in the act during his unscheduled visit have been documented and that they would be disciplined accordingly.

The laws are there, and so they will be made to face the law. There are about three of them but we are very sure that it is an organised crime. They are not alone but further investigations would reveal that,” he said.

The acting comptroller-general said the interior minister is working hard towards achieving his mandates of securing the nation’s border lines through the agencies under him including the immigration service and that the difficulties being experienced by Nigerians in procuring passports would soon become a thing of the past.

Mr Idris said he was committed to addressing the challenge of corruption in the service

The Aare Tayese of Iwoland, Chief Dele Momodu, has called out the Fuji musician, King Wasiu Ayinde popularly known as ‘K1 De Ultimate’ for lying and disrespecting the Oluwo of Iwoland.

The Publisher of Ovation Magazine and also the Aare Tayese of Iwoland said K1 De Ultimate deserves open condemnations for being rude to a royal father and addressing a first king in Yoruba land like a common street guy.

Kwam1 faulted the monarch for not telling Dele Momodu to call him for the event.

Reacting to this, Dele Momodu described the video as a total open disrespect to the monarch and narrated what transpired between him and Kwam1.
According to Dele Momondu, he had invited Kwam to perform at the ceremony on 2nd October 2021 for an agreed fee, but the singer never responded to attending the event.

Dele Momodu added that he invited Kwam1’s manager for breakfast and asked him to speak to the singer and confirm performance modalities, but he never received feedback.

Displeased with Kwam1’s action in the video, Dele Momodu described it as very unfortunate and deserved open condemnation.

He wrote: A friend in Abuja has just sent this video to me and I’m absolutely horrified, to say the least, at the total OPEN disrespect of the Oluwo of Iwoland Oba Abudulrashed Adewale Akanbi by King Wasui Ayinde, a great musician I endlessly adore and hold in the highest esteem.
Alhaji, I personally invited you and pleaded with you to perform at the ceremony on October 2, 2021 for an agreed fee, but you neither said yes or no but said you are likely to travel.

Again I hosted your manager, Mr Kunle Rasheed to breakfast and asked him to speak to you and confirm modalities for your performance… Egbon, what happened in this video is very unfortunate and deserves open condemnation.

A fake police officer and a soldier suspected to be fake also as well as a youth corps member are among 663 drug traffickers and users arrested when operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency raided notorious drug joints in Lagos, Abuja, Benue and other parts of the country during which assorted illicit drugs weighing over 153, 256.876 kilograms were either destroyed or seized in the past week.

In Lagos, the notorious drug haven, Akala in Mushin area of the state was on Friday 15th October raided by a combined team of 70 NDLEA operatives and 30 soldiers in a joint operation code named ‘ Operation Still Waters.’ No less that 27 suspects were arrested while various drugs such as Cocaine, Heroin, Tramadol, Rohypnol and Cannabis, with a cumulative weight of 2,463.876 Kg were seized.

A day earlier, operatives also raided drug joints in Ojo and Maryland areas of the state where six persons were arrested and different quantities of drugs seized. This followed another raid of Alhaji Lasisi street, Idioro, Mushin as well as Okota in Oshodi-Isolo area of the state during which 12 suspects were arrested and over 165kg of assorted illicit drugs recovered.

In Ogun state, operatives on Friday 15th October intercepted one Williams Esuabom along Ore- Shagamu expressway with 562.5kg Cannabis being conveyed in a Toyota sienna bus, while in Benue state, narcotic officers in a joint operation with soldiers raided Lafia park where six suspects including a youth corps member, Paul Ndubuisi were arrested with different quantities of drugs. This came on the heels of the arrest of a suspected fake soldier, Abel John along Apir- Makurdi-Aliade road with 3.5kg Cannabis on Wednesday 13th October.

In Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, a suspected fake Assistant Superintendent of Police, Joshua Yusuf who claimed to be serving in Kano was arrested along Gwagwalada expressway while conveying 45.5kg of Cannabis.

Three suspects were arrested during raids in Dabba and Luku village, Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State where over 64kg drugs were recovered on Wednesday 13th October.

In Ekiti state, NDLEA operatives in their numbers stormed the forest reserve along Uso Road, Ise-Orun LGA, where they destroyed over 150,000 kilograms of cannabis being harvested on 40 hectares of land during an operation that lasted more than three days. The operation, which began on Tuesday continued till Sunday 17th October.
In raids across other states in the country, no fewer than 615 suspects were arrested and illicit drugs with a total weight of 3394.2031 kilograms recovered.

While commending officers and men of the Lagos state Command and their counterparts in Benue, FCT, Ogun, Ekiti and other parts of the country for their resilience and commitment to the war against illicit substances, Chairman/Chief Executive of the Agency, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) charged them not to rest on their oars. He called for continued collaboration between the Agency and other stakeholders especially the armed forces and other law enforcement agencies.