No resumption without meeting our demands, ASUU tells FG – Newstrends
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No resumption without meeting our demands, ASUU tells FG

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The Academic Staff Union of Universities, Abuja zone says there will be no resumption in public universities until the renegotiated 2009 agreement is signed, implemented and the University Transparency and Accountability Solution deployed.

The ASUU zonal coordinator, Dr Salawu Lawal, made this known during a press conference at the University of Abuja in Gwagwalada on Monday.

According to him, members are ready to return to their duty posts as soon as their demands are met by the Federal Government.

He said, “You would recall that the Academic Staff Union of Universities declared a four-week rolling strike at the University of Lagos National Executive Council meeting held on February 14.

“Owing to the failure of the Federal Government to act within that period, the national action was rolled over for another eight weeks following the resolution taken at an emergency NEC meeting at the Festus Iyayi National Secretariat on March 14.

“The action, as you are probably aware is to, among other things, compel the Federal Government to sign and implement the draft renegotiated 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement submitted to it by the Prof. Munzali Committee in May 2021.

“Deploy for use in the Nigerian university system, was the home-grown payment and personnel solution called UTAS developed by ASUU as replacement for the failed IPPIS.

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“As usual, the Federal Government has ignored ASUU’s call for full implementation of that famous agreement and other memoranda signed with the union.

“No meeting has been held between the two parties since the commencement of the ongoing strike. The only exception is our union’s re-submission of UTAS for a retest.

“The summary is that unless and until the renegotiated 2009 agreement is signed and implemented and UTAS deployed, there will be no work in public universities.”

 ASUU, Benin Zone, also on Monday pleaded with Nigerians to join the union in rescuing what it described as dying university system. The union’s Zonal Coordinator, Prof Fred Esumeh, in a press briefing at the ASUU Secretariat, University of Benin, Edo State, said the union called on well-meaning Nigerians to rise up and join it in repositioning the nation’s universities to a globally competitive level that would be able to produce the manpower required to jump-start the re-emergence of a country driven by technology.

He said, “We call on all well-meaning Nigerians, students, workers, civil society organisations to wake up and join ASUU to rescue the dying university system.

“It will help reposition the universities to be globally competitive and able to produce the manpower required to jump-start the re-emergence of the country.”

Also on Monday in Ibadan, ASUU flayed the Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, over what it described as a reckless comment that the union is “mean and wicked for shutting down universities.”

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ASUU chairman in the University of Ibadan, Prof. Ayo Akinwole, in a statement said lecturers in Nigeria had  sacrificed their labour, sweat and health “only for parasites in government to come and destroy common heritage and collective patrimony.”

Akinwole said, “The Minister of State for Education represents one of the deceptive and insincere characters of the Buhari administration.

“It is a sign of acceptance of failure for a minister to admit that they have consistently been irresponsible by pleading with a union to bury the welfare of its members and not fight for infrastructure face-lift for the children of the masses and new salary for the welfare of her members.”

The ASUU boss, who challenged the minister to make public his salaries and allowances, also asked him to tell Nigerians how much he is being owed by government since he became minister.

Akinwole said lecturers have been considerate of the plight of the students and the society and this is why it has taken the union members’ show understanding with government owing her members 12 years of earned academic allowances and 13 years on old salary when the  likes of  ministers and cabinet members in the government enjoy periodic review of allowances and salaries.

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Police nab lovers for faking kidnap

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Police nab lovers for faking kidnap

Officers from the Akwa Ibom Police Command apprehended Imaobong Sampson, a self-kidnapping suspect, and her boyfriend, Beltus Ebong, in Mbierebe Obio village, Ibesikpo Asutan Area, the state.

Odiko Macdon, the state police command’s spokeswoman, confirmed this on Monday.

Macdon said the suspects were apprehended in their hideout by agents of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad after the case of kidnapping was reported by someone who described herself as a relative last Monday.

“On 11/3/2024 at about 10:00hrs, a report was received from one Enobong Sampson ‘F’ of Nung Oku Village in Ibesikpo Asutan L.G.A that her sister, one Imaobong Francis Sampson, was kidnapped and that the kidnappers were demanding for a ransom of four million naira.

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“As a result, operatives of Anti-Kidnapping Squad of the command embarked on an intense and intelligence-driven investigation so as to track down the perpetrators and rescue the victim. On 12/3/2024 at about 23:15hrs, the said purported victim, one Imaobong Sampson ‘M’, and her boyfriend, Beltus Ebong ‘M’, were arrested in their hideout at Mbierebe Obio Village, Ibesikpo Asutan L.G.A,” he stated.

Macdon said the suspect, Imaobong, confessed that the kidnap was staged between her and her syndicate for the purpose of extorting money from her aunt.

“She confessed to having conspired with her boyfriend, one Beltus Ebong ‘M’, Dominic Friday Charlie ‘M’, her sister, Enobong Sampson ‘F’, and Inyene Ime Akpan now at large to proclaim her kidnap in order to raise money from her aunty who is based abroad,” he concluded.

It was earlier reported that the Ogun State Police Command arrested one Olumide Openaike, a staff member of a Microfinance Bank, Kemta Oloko, who was reported missing. He staged his abduction over a N1.7m debt and was found in Mokwa, Niger State.

Police nab lovers for faking kidnap

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Troops rescue 16 abducted victims in Kaduna

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Troops rescue 16 abducted victims in Kaduna

Troops from the Nigerian Army’s 1 Division in Kaduna State have successfully recovered 16 abducted victims from the hands of violent extremists and terrorists in Tantatu Community, Kajuru Local Government Area.

Responding to actionable intelligence, the forces quickly traced the militants who had earlier invaded the community in large numbers and captured several of the residents as captives on March 17, 2024, at around 10:30pm.

A statement by Army headquarters said, “On arriving the scene of the incident, the troops tenaciously pursued the insurgents, engaging them in a ferocious exchange of fire and consequently rescuing 16 kidnapped victims.

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“The troops are still exploiting the bushes in continuation of the search and rescue operations to extricate other victims and balk the nefarious activities of the insurgents.

“The Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Taoreed Abiodun Lagbaja has commended the troops for the successful rescue of the kidnap victims.

He charged them to remain vigilant as they conduct ongoing counter insurgency operations to liberate all troubled areas in the country.

Troops rescue 16 abducted victims in Kaduna

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Driver arrested for killing couple, toddler at bus stop

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Driver arrested for killing couple, toddler at bus stop

The driver who ran her SUV into a San Francisco bus stop and killed a couple and their toddler on their way to the zoo has been arrested.

Mary Fong Lau, 78, was arrested Sunday on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, driving the wrong way, driving at an unsafe speed and reckless driving.

On Saturday, three family members, Diego, 40, Matilde, 38, and their one-year-old child died after Lau rammed her Mercedes SUV into the West Portal Muni bus stop. Friends identified the victims, but declined to reveal their last names.

The couple’s other child, an infant, was with them at the time of the fatal crash as the four of them waited to board the bus and head to the zoo. The baby is in critical condition following the horror crash.

‘A lot of things I know about love, I learned from them. They were an amazing couple. They had no issues with anything. It was love, love, love. They took care of the kids and were going to the zoo for a nice day at the park,’ Rogerio Falerio, a close friend of the family, said.

Some witnesses said Lau suffered a medical incident before the crash. Other said she got out of the car yelling ‘What have I done?’ Police have not released details on what led to the horror crash.

Lau was initially taken to the hospital for injuries and it remains unclear what caused her car to hop the curb, crash into a fire hydrant, pole and side of the local library.

Matilde was taken to the hospital after the crash, while her husband and child died at the scene. She died on Sunday in the hospital.

Other people waiting for the bus to arrive were also injured from the crash and received medical attention.

Friends of the family told CBS News the surviving child is about two-months-old and suffered life-threatening injuries.

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They lived in the Mission District, a neighborhood in the Bay Area, and planned to spend a day at the zoo together for Diego and Matilde’s wedding anniversary, friends said.

Falerio said that Diego was from Brazil and his wife was from Portugal.

The crash site has since been covered with stuffed animals, flowers, candles, and a stroller with a heart-shaped cutout that reads: : ‘Remembering the precious lives lost on March 16, 2024.’

Advocates from Walk San Francisco added three pairs of shoes in honor of the mother, father and child who were tragically lost.

Witnesses said that the toddler went flying in the air from the impact of the crash.

Another witness, Nikki Mashburn, told The San Francisco Chronicle that she heard the crash and that is sounded like ‘an explosion.’ She said that the victims suffered head injuries.

‘When the paramedics showed up, you could tell … they didn’t know what to do first,’ Mashburn said.

‘The stroller was clearly destroyed. Yeah, so he was still strapped in there,’ Johanna Dimayuga, a resident in the area told CBS News.

Gabriel Cinquepalm, another witness, said that he saw Lau after the crash as she got out of her vehicle with a look as if to say: ‘What have I done?’ and that she was screaming at the sky.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency said Saturday it was investigating the cause of the crash in collaboration with the San Francisco Police Department.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed said on X, formerly Twitter, that she had visited the scene of the collision on Saturday. She called it ‘heartbreaking.’

Walk San Francisco has planned a memorial for the family at 5pm on Monday at the crash site.

‘We are heartbroken and heartsick and horrified,’ Jodie Medeiros, the executive director of the advocacy group said.

‘This is one of the worst pedestrian tragedies to ever occur on San Francisco streets. It is almost beyond comprehension.’

Following the tragedy, the group and locals have voiced their concerns about the intersection of Ulloa Street and West Portal Avenue where the bus stop is located.

The group noted that around the intersection, there are multiple places where families and children frequent, like a library, schools and train stations.

‘It’s time to fundamentally rethink areas like where this crash occurred, where thousands of people walk and cross and wait every day,’ Medeiros said.

This was the second child killed in the city in less than a year, as deadly crashes like these have surged and left residents uneasy.

Driver arrested for killing couple, toddler at bus stop

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