JAMB, 19-year-old candidate disagree over result, board vows prosecution

JAMB’s Registrar, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, who briefed journalists at JAMB’s headquarters in Abuja on Friday on the development, said exam body also handed over a 19-year-old candidate, Chinedu John, to the police over alleged result tampering.

According to Oloyede, John claimed he scored 380 in the examination conducted in June and was surprised to receive 265 from the board after the results were released.

According to Oloyede, the candidate claimed that his UTME scores from 2019 till 2021 were “altered” by the board, thereby denying him the opportunity to study his desired course – medicine.

The JAMB Registrar said, “Initially, the boy was given few minutes to come clean in a closed session with his father and lawyers about the results he was parading but he insisted that his original score from the examination was 380.

“At the Friday meeting, documentary evidence tendered by the board showed that John scored 265 and not the 380 he had claimed.”

“There was never any communication of 380 with this boy. Because this boy has accused JAMB, we are going to withhold his result until the investigation is concluded. We are going to request that our interactions with him be subjected to the public.”

Earlier, John had said, “The result I have been receiving is not the result I am entitled to. I wrote the first JAMB in 2019.

“In 2020, the same thing happened. I scored 343, but by the time I went to the portal to print, I saw 306. I used the 306 and it gave me admission to UI. But because I didn’t have Further Mathematics, I had to forfeit it.

“I decided to leave Medicine and Surgery for them in 2021, so I picked Petroleum Engineering. In 2021, JAMB issued me two results. I saw 380 the first time I checked and then the second time, I saw 265.”

But the board’s Public Relations Officer, Fabian Benjamin, claimed that the candidate confessed to the crime.

He said, “The candidate who was paraded for forging the board’s result has confessed after the board discovered that he saved his sister’s number on his phone as 55019 and used the phone to send the fake result to his phone.

“When he sends such results, they come as 55019.

“He pleaded for mercy that he had to do that when the result he got was not up to what could give him his desired programme.”

#jamb #student #score #medicine

DSS frees two more Igboho’s aides, holds female detainee (Lady K), another

The Department of State Services has released two more aides of Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, alias Sunday Igboho, who have been in custody since July 1.

The DSS had during a midnight invasion of Igboho’s Soka house in Ibadan, Oyo State, arrested 12 of the activist’s allies and whisked them away to Abuja, where they had been kept in detention.

After a long dilly-dally, the secret police, in compliance with a court order, first released eight of the 12 detainees on Monday, August 30, 2021, holding onto the remaining four.

Those earlier released were Abideen Shittu, Abdullateef Onaolapo, Ayobami Donald, Olakunle Oluwapelumi, Dikeola Ademola, Bamidele Sunday, Raji Kazeem, and Taiwo Tajudeen.

The additional two freed on Friday are Tajudeen rinloye and Uthman Adelabu.

Those still in detention are Amudat Babatunde (female) and Jamiu Oyetunji.

The detainees’ lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi, confirmed their release on Friday.

Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja had on August 4, 2021, granted bail to the 12 detainees.

They had met their bail conditions, including the provision of 24 sureties, but the DSS lawyer, Idowu Awo, had kicked against the bail granted by Justice Egwuatu to four of them, claiming that they were heavily involved in the alleged offence of arms stockpiling and other criminal activities of their boss, Igboho.

But three Senior Advocates of Nigeria – Femi Falana, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa and Ifedayo Adedipe – had said that the DSS was inviting anarchy and lawlessness into the country by not obeying the order for the release of the 12 detainees.

#igboho #detained #yorubanation #dss #released

Tears As Gunmen Kill Sowore In Edo

Suspected herdsmen have killed Olajide Sowore, the younger brother of Sahara Reporters’ publisher Omoyele, the activist said in a statement. 

Omoyele Sowore said his brother was killed by armed men suspected by witnessed to be herdsmen while travelling between Benin and Ondo on Saturday morning. 

He was studying pharmacy at Igbinedion University, Mr Sowore said, decrying his brother’s loss as a huge one for his family and friends. 

A spokesman for the police in Akure did not immediately return a request seeking comments from Peoples Gazette on Saturday morning. 

The development came as southerners are pushing to restrict herdsmen activities across the region. 

On Thursday, Ondo became the latest state to adopt a law against open grazing when Governor Rotimi Akeredolu signed the state’s anti-open grazing bill into law. 

The state has witnessed repeated deadly attacks linked to herdsmen. 

In 2019, Funke Olakunrin, daughter of Afenifere leader Reuben Fasoranti, was killed by suspected herdsmen along the same route where Mr Sowore was killed today. 

The police said they had made arrests in connection to Mrs Olakunrin’s death, both no suspect has been convicted to date. 

Mr Sowore described his late brother as selfless and industrious, saying his demise would leave a void in the prominent Ondo family. 

“You lived your life so that everyone could be alright but now assassinated by everything that’s not alright!” the publisher said.

BREAKING: Kidnappers shot dead my brother in Edo, Sowore mourns

Sahara Reporters Publisher and ex-presidential candidate has narrated how kidnappers shot dead his brother in the Okada area of Edo State on Saturday.

According to him, Olajide was killed in the early hours of Saturday on his way from Igbinedion University where he was studying Pharmacy.

Sowore, in a tribute on his Facebook page, described his deceased brother who almost clocked 50 as an “out-of-the-box thinker”

Details later…

FG knocks Amnesty International over stand on IPOB, others

The Presidency on Wednesday knocked the global human rights advocacy group, Amnesty International, accusing it of playing ‘domestic politics.’

This is as it said the organisation has no legal rights to operate in Nigeria, accusing it of allegedly legitimising the cause of the proscribed group, the Indigenous People of Biafra, and its leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

This was contained in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, titled, ‘Why Amnesty’s Entreaties Should Be Ignored, by Presidency.’

The statement read in part, “Despite Amnesty’s self-proclaimed mandate to impartially transcend borders, unfortunately in Nigeria, they play only domestic politics.

“The international NGO is being used as cover for the organisation’s local leaders to pursue their self-interests. Regrettably, this is not uncommon in Africa. There is nothing wrong with an activist stance; there are claims of neutrality when all facts point to the opposite.

“Amnesty International has no legal right to exist in Nigeria. It must open a formal investigation into the personnel that occupies their Nigerian offices. They should reject the outrageously tendentious misinformation they receive and bring some semblance of due diligence to the sources they base their claims on. Currently, we see none.”

The presidency asserted that “the Nigerian government will fight terrorism with all the means at its disposal. We will ignore Amnesty’s rantings. Especially when it comes from an organisation that does not hold itself to the same standards it demands of others.”

It also said Amnesty International had decided to “side with terrorists, before the liberty of those they injure, displace and murder.”

It accused the human rights organisation of speaking the language of universal human rights while deploying it only in defence – even outright promotion – of those that violently oppose the Federal Government of Nigeria.

New COVID-19 variant may be resistant to vaccine – WHO

The World Health Organisation has identified a new variant of the COVID-19 — labelled as ‘Mu’ — saying it may be resistant to vaccines.

The world health body, in its epidemiological update published on Tuesday, noted that the variant had shown some resistance to the COVID-19 vaccines, but said more studies were required to make an informed conclusion.

While the Mu variant has not been recorded in Africa, it had been identified in cases across South America and Europe.

The WHO report read, “Based on the latest round of assessments, B.1.621 was classified as a VOI on 30 August 2021 and given the WHO label “Mu”. This includes the descendent Pango lineage B.1.621.1. This variant is known as 21H in Nextstrain nomenclature.

“The Mu variant has a constellation of mutations that indicate potential properties of immune escape. Preliminary data presented to the Virus Evolution Working Group show a reduction in neutralisation capacity of convalescent and vaccinee sera similar to that seen for the Beta variant, but this needs to be confirmed by further studies.

“Since its first identification in Colombia in January 2021, there have been a few sporadic reports of cases of the Mu variant and some larger outbreaks have been reported from other countries in South America and in Europe.

“As of 29 August, over 4500 sequences (3794 sequences of B.1.621 and 856 sequences of B.1.621.1) have been uploaded to GISAID from 39 countries. Although the global prevalence of the Mu variant among sequenced cases has declined and is currently below 0.1 per cent, the prevalence in Colombia (39 per cent) and Ecuador (13 per cent) has consistently increased.

“The reported prevalence should be interpreted with due consideration of sequencing capacities and timeliness of sharing of sequences, both of which vary between countries. More studies are required to understand the phenotypic and clinical characteristics of this variant. The epidemiology of the Mu variant in South America, particularly with the co-circulation of the Delta variant, will be monitored for changes.”

The Mu variant is the fifth identified by the WHO — others are Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta.

Gunmen shoot Edo DPO in the eye, stomach

The  Divisional Police Officer of Igarra Police Station in the Akoko-Edo Local Government Area of Edo State, Suleiman Muhammed, has been reportedly shot by suspected kidnappers on the Auchi-Igarra-Ibillo Road.

The incident, which happened on Tuesday around 7pm, led to commuters becoming stranded until a local vigilance group rescued the officer, who was left for dead.

A member of the vigilance group, who spoke to PUNCH Metro on condition of anonymity, said the DPO was shot in the eye, arm and stomach.

He added that his team recovered bullets and other cartridges from the scene of the attack.

The source said, “The DPO called us in the morning to go to a place where some suspected Yahoo boys had constituted a nuisance. Later, around 3pm, he told us that some suspected kidnappers were blocking a road, so we went there and chased them away.

“I was told that after inspecting the change of guard in the evening, the DPO left for Auchi where his family resides. The people laid an ambush for him after the MTN mast near Sasaro, and shot him several times. I believe they thought he was dead, so they abandoned him.

“Their gunshots made motorists going to and coming from Auchi to stop until we arrived at the scene in company of the police and rushed the DPO to the hospital. He was bleeding profusely because he was shot in the eye, arm and stomach. After stabilising him, he was rushed to the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital.

“On Wednesday morning, my boys and I went back to the scene and we recovered used bullets and cartridges.”

Another member of the team confirmed the incident and lamented the rising presence of kidnappers in the area.

The Edo State Police Public Relations Officer, Kontongs Bello, was said to be on an official assignment outside the state.

However, sources at the command said the police were awaiting official details of the incident.