It said rather, the issue was still being looked into with a view to taking a stand on it.

In a statement on Monday by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Lateef Ibirogba, the government said it was still making wide consultations on the issue.

Ibirogba added that the government would come up with a position after exhausting all the avenues that would allow for a peaceful resolution of the matter.

He said, “To avoid a needless heightening of tension, Lagosians, particularly the Muslim faithful, are advised not to allow people with diabolic intentions to trivialise the issue of sustaining the peaceful coexistence among diverse groups in the state.

“Contrary to reports, government was still meeting with the stakeholders on the issue as explained by the Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye, and has, thus, not banned or disallowed Hijab in public schools.

“What Olayinka explained at the briefing was that the government had held meetings with some key stakeholders and would still consult widely before taking a position.”

-Punch

It added that usage of other appendages, including Hijab, a head scarf for Muslim women, would not be allowed.

The Commissioner for Education Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye, said this on Tuesday at a press briefing in Ikeja, adding that usage of Hijab and other religious materials in public schools was against government’s policy.

She said, “I summoned a stakeholder’s meeting that was chaired by the Commissioner for Home Affairs and Culture, Alhaji Oyinlomo Danmole. The Muslim students were represented at the meeting, Lawyers were represented. We discussed the issue at length and we reached certain agreement.

“We agreed that students could only use their Hijab when they want to go for prayers, when they want to read Qur’an, and when they are going for Jumat prayer on Fridays.

“It was agreed that no student should wear Hijab on her uniform. Doing so will cause confusion and break down of the law.

“Whoever wish that his daughter should be wearing Hijab while going to school and within the school should send such child to a private Muslim school,”

The commissioner, who said the government was committed to overhauling the education sector, added that the administration had spent over N7bn in upgrading the Lagos State University.

Oladunjoye added that the government would continue to provide qualitative education “by all means”.

She said various educational development programmes like Eko Project, Support Our Schools Initiative, and specialised development programmes for teachers and administrators in 20 specialised areas, were parts of government programmed to boost education.

She said, “For theteachers and administrators, we are boosting their capacities in areas such as subject mastery, leadership, classroom management, assessment and evaluation, ICT, Basic Accounting and many others.”

-Punch

It says the water is merely flash flood recorded during the rains, which will only be temporary and will disappear as soon as the rain stops.

The government added that it had invested a lot in clearing primary and secondary drainage channels across the state in preparation for this year’s rains, and as such, did not expect any flooding.

Commissioner for the Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello, said this on Saturday while monitoring the cleaning programme in Lagos Island, Mainland and Victoria Island areas.

Bello said, “The government will sustain its year-round maintenance and cleaning programmes to ensure that our major canals and channels are kept clean to allow free flow and discharge of storm water whenever it rains.

“The government had earlier alerted Lagosians earlier in the year to the possibility of rains of high intensity with accompanied thunderstorms. As a responsible and proactive government, we have put in place deliberate preventive plans and programmes to ensure that the incidence of flooding is reduced to the barest minimum.

“Lagosians who reside along the coast lines, lagoons, low line areas like Kuramo Beach, Alpha Beach, Okun Mapo, Owode Elede, Ikorodu, Badia, ijora, Ajegunle should relocate when there is intensity of the rains. Lagos State is not ready for any casualty during the rainy period.”

The commissioner further advised residents to relate more with resident engineers and drainage maintenance officers in their areas to meet unexpected flooding challenges.

He urged the general public to desist from dumping waste into canals or building along drainage paths.

He explained that whatever was dumped along drainage path would aid flooding.

-Punch

Issachar, who resides at No 35, Mafoluku St., Mafoluku, Oshodi, Lagos, appeared before an Oshodi Magistrates’ Court in Lagos, on a two-count charge of breach of public peace and stealing.

The prosecutor, Cpl. Kehinde Olatunde told the court that the accused committed the offences on April 12 at Mafoluku, Oshodi.

He said that the accused stole two pants, one bra and a cash sum of N10,000 belonging to Mrs Gift Bassey.

“The accused, a pastor of All Nations Evangelical Church, Oshodi, was invited to a programme at the headquarters of the church, which was the complainant’s church.

“The complainant and her husband accommodated him (pastor) in their house for three nights to conduct a special prayer session related to her husband’s business,” he said.

Olatunde said that after the accused had left their house, the complaint discovered that two of her pants, (her only black and white pants), one black brassier and the sum of N10,000 were missing.

“In the process of finding, it was discovered that the said underwear were taken by the accused without the complainant’s consent..

“At first, the accused denied taking those underwears but later confessed that he actually took them. He said that he wanted to use them to pray for her, but denied taking the money,” the prosecutor said.

Olatunde said that after the underwear was recovered from the accused, he had been sending series of threat text messages to the complainant.

“The accused always send her text messages, threatening to eliminate her on or before August ending,” he said.

Olatunde said that the offences committed contravened Sections 166 and 285 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2011. The Section provides that if convicted of stealing, the accused is liable to three years imprisonment.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The magistrate, Mr Akeem Fashola, granted the accused bail in the sum of N50,000, with one surety in like sum, and adjourned the case till May 8 for mention.(NAN)

-Vanguard

The operatives, acting on a tip off, were said to have raced to the area around 4am and intercepted a Volkswagen Golf, primed with explosives, which some terrorists had wanted to use and wreck havoc during the Easter celebration in the city.

Residents of the area said the soldiers thereafter invaded a compound housing the suspected terrorists but were greeted with explosions.They added that the operatives who were not deterred exchanged gunfire with the terrorists for about four hours.

The spokesperson of JTF in Kano, Ikedi Iweha, was quoted as saying that the task force killed 14 Boko Haram suspects in the raid.

One of the residents said it was unclear if most of the terrorists were killed by the Improvised Explosive Devices detonated by them or by the operatives.

He added that bodies were seen being carried out of one of the buildings in the compound raided by the operatives while 14 AK 47 rifles, 10 peak milk-size IEDs, four drums of 50- litre primed explosives and 51 other items in small drums were recovered.

The houses were thereafter demolished while the corpses were taken to a morgue.

Security operatives said that one of the terrorists’ top commanders whose name was not given was later arrested .

The Brigade Commander 3 motorised Brigade, Bukavu Barracks, Kano, Brig.-Gen.Iliyasu Abba, confirmed the incident.

“My men on search operations in the wee hours of this(Sunday) morning at Layin Yan’awaki, Ungwa –Uku general area suddenly came under fire from terrorists that triggered a gunfire,” he said while conducting journalists round the scene.

“It was an opportunity to demonstrate our superior fire power, and the gallant officers and men gave a good account of themselves but unfortuanately we lost one of our soldiers and another one was injured.”

As of 4pm on Sunday, the area was still cordoned off by security operatives.

Many panic-stricken Christians could not summon courage to attend Easter service in their churches despite the high presence of security operatives in the metropolis

Churches like Our Lady of Fatima, St Louis, St Thomases’, St Stephen’s, St

Georges and Holy Trinity had low turn out of worshippers while those in Hotoro, Mariri and Badawa areas did not open.

Before the raid, JTF operatives and policemen had been deployed in strategic locations in the city. Armoured Personnel Carriers were also seen patrolling the flash points.

In Jos, Plateau State, the much-advertised rally to mark the end of the Easter festivities did not hold as church leaders advised their followers to go back to their homes and celebrate quietly.

Many of them had gathered in front of the headquarters of the Church Of Christ In Nigeria to begin the procession that would have terminated at the Rwang Pam Stadium when they were given the advice.

The rally, which was organised by the state branch of the Christian Association of Nigeria, was abandoned after the police warned against it.

There had been clashes in the suburbs of the city , which had necessitated a high security alert.

However, in his Sunday Easter message at the Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, Archbishop of Jos, Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama, urged Christians not to see the end of the Lenten period as a time to go back to their old ways, but to continue to allow the spirit of Christ to be in them.

He admonished them to imbibe the spirit of forgiveness, which the period signifies.

“All the troubles we have in Nigeria is because we have not allowed the spirit of Christ to take charge of our lives. Therefore, as we celebrate Easter, we should look up at that Cross of Calvary, where Christ hung more than 2,000 years ago and reflect on the essence of that sacrifice,” the cleric said.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Chris Olakpe, has called on warring parties to shun hatred and to come out for genuine dialogue in order to curb the growing insecurity in the state.

Olakpe stated this on Sunday in Jos when Isoko people living in Jos hosted him.

Earlier,the President of Isoko Development Union in Plateau State, Mr. Ezekiel Udubrae, had said the Isoko would avail the commissioner with any information that would enable him succeed in the state.

-Punch

Power supply to the church auditorium went off about six minutes into the President’s speech and lasted till he ended the message.

The President used battery-powered microphone to continue his speech which lasted for nine minutes, 40 seconds.

The service which ex-Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, also attended had earlier been interrupted by an outage for few minutes before the President mounted the podium to deliver his message.

Jonathan, however, made a joke of the situation, saying the power was deliberately put out in order to remind him of the urgent need to tackle the problem in the country.

“They know that I’m here; that’s why they took light, at least to remind me that I must not sleep until we stabilise power. God willing, next year they will not take light,” Jonathan said.

The President assured Nigerians that the country would survive the incessant terrorists’ attacks and other challenges facing it.

He thanked Christians for their prayers which he said had helped to keep Nigeria united as a nation.

Jonathan said, “I sincerely thank all of you and all the Christians in Nigeria for your prayers. It would have been worse if you have not been praying. This country has passed through a lot. I know all those last days of military transition to the regime that handed over power to Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo at the time the country was drifting, it didn’t know where it was going.

“We had political environments that we didn’t even know where we were transiting to. But with the persistent prayers by you, Christians, God stabilised the country. God will continue to stabilise this country. God will continue to keep us together. I promise you as a mortal, I will do my best.”

He urged Nigerians to “live within peace and love,” while reiterating Gowon’s famous civil war quote, saying “to keep Nigeria as one is a task that must be done.”

He said the deluge of terrorists’ attacks facing the country would not divide it, adding that his government was working tirelessly to overcome the challenges.

Jonathan said, “We have our challenges as a nation in these days of terrorism. It’s quite sad. I can assure you that we are working very hard and we will continue to work very hard and God willing terror attacks will not divide this country.

“We have our challenges as a nation but we must go to where we want to go. As the president, by the grace of God and your good will, I promise, I will do my best. I will not disappoint Nigerians within limitations of our resources. We will fix our infrastructure.”

Speaking to journalists after the service, Gowon urged Nigerians to continue to live in peace. Gowon backed Jonathan’s stand on not granting amnesty to Boko Haram members.

He said, “If it is something that can bring about the peace and understanding, then why don’t we pursue it. It is an opportunity, but as Mr. President says, let us know who are the leaders that will come out to accept the amnesty on behalf of other people.”

-Via Punch

The PUNCH learnt that the arrest took place at the Berger area, which is a boundary spot between Lagos and Ogun states.

According to sources, the SSS arrested the occupants of the vehicle but released those who were later identified as being from northern Nigeria, while the illegal immigrants among them were transferred to the Nigerian Immigration Service.

A source at the NIS, who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, said, “The SSS transferred some suspected illegal immigrants to our custody today (yesterday), most of whom are from Niger Republic.

“Ever since a terror plot was uncovered last week, all security agents in the state have been arresting illegal immigrants and the Lagos borders are of utmost importance now in view of the strategic position of Lagos.”

However, it was learnt on Tuesday that the Malian illegal immigrants might not be deported due to the ongoing crisis in the West African country.

The Comptroller of the NIS, Lagos State Command, Rasheed Odupeyin, told The PUNCH that illegal Malians resident in Nigeria would be handed over to the United Nations Refugee Agency, where they will be registered.

He said while parading 92 suspected illegal aliens in Lagos, “The Malians may not be deported because of the ongoing crisis in their country, so that it will not seem as if we are sending them to their grave. They will be adjudged as refugees.”

A senior immigration officer told our correspondent that as at Tuesday evening, 18 Malians had been transferred to the UNHCR.

Also, our correspondent learnt that policemen had set up a new surveillance team at the Berger area.

A reliable source told our correspondent that the team would begin operation on Wednesday (today).

“The new unit will be different from the checkpoint that used to be there. Our major aim there is to accost suspicious vehicles, especially illegal immigrants”, the source said.

The state Director, SSS, Achu Olayi, confirmed the arrests to our correspondent on the telephone. He said the agency had noticed the influx of illegal immigrants into the state through Berger in recent times.

Meanwhile, the authorities of the Nigerian Army have handed over the terror suspects arrested at Ijora, a suburb of Lagos, on Thursday to the authorities of the SSS in Abuja.

Although, reports from the incident indicated that five of the suspects were arrested in the raid, the security agencies were silent on the number of those handed over to the SSS.

Investigations revealed that the terror suspects, who were rounded up by a team of soldiers under a special military task force in the city, Operation MESA, were immediately flown to Abuja on the directive of the Nigerian Army authorities.

-Punch

The Hausa leaders made the promise on Monday during their solidarity visit to the Ojora of Ijora, Oba Fatai Aromire, over the incident in his domain last week.

No fewer than 100 soldiers, assisted by men of the State Security Service, had stormed the predominantly Hausa settlement in Ijora in search of suspects said to be members of an Islamic fundamentalist sect, Boko Haram.

Their search yielded fruits when five persons – two persons from Aromire Street and three at a location in an adjacent street, were arrested during the raid.

The soldiers, after ransacking the building at Aromire Street where one of the arrested persons, Ibrahim Musa, occupies five rooms, recovered a bomb kept in a cooler and hidden inside the ceiling of one of the rooms.

Musa, who a security source described as an illegal alien from Chad, was said to be the leader of the suspects.

Other items found were AK-47 riffles, live cartridges and daggers.

Addressing the Ojora on behalf of the Arewa leaders in Lagos, the Sarkin Hausawa Lagos, Alhaji Sani Kabir, urged all the Hausa leaders (Sarkins) to be vigilant.

He reiterated the need for security to be strengthened by both the federal and state governments.

Kabir said, “We are here (Ojora palace) to show our concern over the discovery of bomb and pledge our support for all efforts to rid Lagos of any incursion of terrorists.

“We are a part and parcel of Lagos and this community. We will not allow anybody to destroy the state. Therefore, all the Arewa leaders in Lagos have resolved to be vigilant. If we notice strange faces, we will report them to the nearest police station.”

The Hausa leader also appealed to all the ethnic nationalities to be peace-loving, remain calm and go about their lawful businesses.

In his reaction, Oba Aromire said the incident of last Thursday was a sad event “we did not pray for.”

He said it was only God that saved Lagosians, stressing that if the bomb had detonated, it would have wreaked havoc.

Aromire said, “During the meeting, we warned all the Arewa leaders in the state to call their people to order.

“Please talk to your Sarkins. Talk to your men. If it happens, it will affect all of us.

“Since 1994 that your people have been living with us, this kind of thing has not happened.

“Why do you want to bomb Lagos? What are we dragging? If they (Boko Haram members) still remain here, I will flush all of them out. They should leave my domain. My domain is not for criminals.”

Hausa Leader, Ajeremi Ifelodun, Alhaji Adamu Abubakar, said though the people arrested were not Hausa, they had come to show solidarity with the Ojora.

He said, “Today’s meeting is a kind of press conference in respect of what happened in Ijora within the domain of Oba Fatai Aromire. We came to tell him that we Northerners, especially Arewa, that we are not happy with what happened.

“Although, the man whose apartment the bomb was found is not a Nigerian, we came to prove to him that no Nigerian; no northerner will carry do such a nasty thing within Lagos State and by the grace of God, we pray it will never happen again.”

-punch

The Nation

He said the projects would boost government’s plan to transform the state and turn it into “Africa’s modern” mega city.

The governor said this on Tuesday during the inspection of ongoing projects in Lekki and Victoria Island in Lagos.

Fashola said, ”Currently we are executing about 1,966 projects across the state. The projects we have visited really are the ones that have problems. We have been going round to see what the problems are instead of just reading reports.

“Now we are having a feel of the challenges and see whose ministry is responsible and what we can do to ensure that the ministries and contractors are communicating. These inspections are to ensure that we get many of those projects completed.”

Fashola insisted that on completion, the projects would further endear the Action Congress of Nigeria to the electorate.

He said the party would beat the opposition with a wide margin during the 2015 general elections in the state.

He assured the residents that the Ikoyi-Lekki Link Bridge would soon be inaugurated, saying the bridge required finishing work and toll plaza.

The governor, who also flayed the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku’s assertion that the ongoing national good governance tour was muted at the Governors’ Forum, said it did not mean all the governors supported the initiative.

He said, “The question I asked then was of what purpose is the tour? Do the people of Nigeria need a tour to know that they are being well governed? What is the tour supposed to achieve? Are they resolving problems at project sites? Where are their projects? What is the value of tour when you can’t implement a budget? I can go on tour of projects because my budget performed 89 per cent last year.

“I am not on a good governance tour. I am on a project inspection tour trying to solve problems at project sites.”

Fashola argued that the yardstick for measuring good governance could only be done by those who know, adding that the economy of Lagos is now rated ahead of Ghana and the United Kingdom.

The governor said, “Currently, the Lagos State economy is being upgraded from stable to positive, that’s good governance, you don’t need any campaign to do that.”

-Punch