Day: October 2, 2023

The Department of Development Control, Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has warned former owners of 165 revoked lands in the FCT to stay clear of the properties or be prosecuted.

The Director, Mr Mukhtar Galadima, gave the warning in Abuja, when his team foiled an attempt by some of the owners of the revoked lands in Maitama, Abuja to continue development on the sites.

This, he described as “worrisome” , in spite of the revocation order placed on the lands

Accompanied by some security personnel, the development control officials confiscated building equipment found on the sites, arrested some of the workers for profiling and chased others out of the sites.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Minister of the FCT, Mr Nyesom Wike, had revoked 165 plots of land in the FCT for non-development of the properties.

The revocation, according to the minister, is due to the continuous contravention of the terms of agreements as contained in section 28(5) (a) and(b) of the Land Use Act.

“The FCTA minister has revoked some plots for non – development and also gave last warning on abandoned buildings since December 2022.

“It is unfortunate that those revoked properties, some people are trying to come back and work on them, particularly on weekend.

“We got information that some owners of the revoked lands are moving to site in violation of the order.

“We are on this operation to ensure that nobody go back to all the revoked plots to work on them.

“We also want to use this opportunity to warn the public that any revoked property that somebody is trying to work on, the FCTA will not only remove such structures but will ensure prosecution of the person involve,” he assured.

When asked if any of the affected owners of the plots had gone to Court to seek redress, Galadima said, “I am not aware of anything like that.

“But if at all, someone has gone to the Court, then I will live it to the Court to decide, but for now I am not aware of such.”

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Dr Halilu Shaba, Director-General, National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), on Sunday said that Nigeria’s space industry could be valued at 1billon dollars.

In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, Shaba explained that the agency had developed the critical mass required for the sector to thrive.

Another factor he explained that determined the value of the sector, he said, was the position of Nigeria at the equator which gave it an advantage over some other countries.

“ The value of Nigeria space industry should be worth one billion dollars because we have developed the critical mass, we already have a design of what our next satellite will look like, but we need funds.

“ Again, because we are sitting at the equator, all our communications satellites used to have very wide coverage, they are more than any other country.

“ Angola launched but the footage is not all over Africa but our satellites will always have footage all over Africa, not only for West Africa and that gives us the market.

“ We value ourselves as the only operators at the equator and because of that we imagine our reach, that alone gives us a unique position,’’ Shaba said.

The D-G further said that the agency was putting measures in place to liberalise space technology and engage more Nigerians to be more aware to ensure transparency in its service delivery.

Shaba said: “A lot of people use this technology without knowing, they use Global Positioning System (GPS), hand-held phones and they don’t even know that these are space technology.

“ In everything we do these days, technology is being used but the common man is not even aware that this same technology is brought to fur.

“ We are talking to the people who will break it down to the citizens through the relevant institutions.”

He added that the agency had overtime strengthened partnerships with universities to transform the culture of research.

He explained that the issue of security had been a setback to achieving a 24-hour research culture.

“ We are working to change the culture of research because you must have security.

“Comparing with some other countries that are into space science technology, you see that they have about a 24-hour research culture but in the case of Nigeria, we just have about eight hours and yet we are competing.

“ We have been consistently trying to see how our centres and campuses located sometimes in the outskirts of town can improve on research by having 24 hours, ” he said.

Shaba said the agency had also been encouraging its researchers to further their studies by undertaking Masters and Doctorate Degree programmes for more in-depth knowledge, hence the critical mass.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

A 58-year-old South African man, who was on the run from South African authorities over a conviction on fraud charges, was arrested at the Hosea Kutako International Airport on Saturday upon arrival from Angola.

According to the Namibian Police Force (NamPol)’s crime report, the suspect is a fugitive who is wanted by the South African authorities on charges of fraud. It is alleged that the culprit’s passport was scanned by the immigration officials and created a hit alarm, indicating that the subject is an interpol red fugitive.

“Further records alleged that the subject defrauded his employer over a period and stole funds to the value of thousands of South African rand. The subject was prosecuted in George Regional Court, and on 22 August 2003 he was convicted on 210 counts of fraud and sentenced to six years imprisonment,” the crime report read.

The subject then lodged an appeal against the conviction, but the appeal was struck off the court roll. He was instructed to undergo and serve the sentence, but failed to report to prison. On 23 August 2011, an order for his apprehension was issued by George Magistrate’s Court.

Currently, the fugitive was detained at SEEIS Police station under sec. 40(K) of the Namibian Criminal Procedure Act and will appear in court on Monday, 02 October 2023, while awaiting administrative aspects from the South African authorities.

In an unrelated event, it is alleged that a Toyota Corolla vehicle was stolen at the Oshakati Service Station in Windhoek’s Wanaheda residential area on Saturday at about 03h00.

According to the NamPol report, it is alleged that the suspect took the car where it was parked and drove it away without the owner’s consent.

The value of the vehicle is estimated at N.dollars 70 000.

No arrest or recovery was made in the matter.

In a similar incident, it is alleged that unknown suspects broke into a house in Otjomuise residential area and stole items valued at N.dollars 28 000.

The incident, according to the crime report, happened between Friday and Saturday.

“The items stolen includes; one Hisense 65-inch smart television set, one sound bar, nine pair of shoes, one watch, and two travelling bags.

No arrests or recoveries have been made in the matter.

Police investigations continue.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency

Six people died in a motor vehicle accident some 30 kilometres east of the Chetto settlement on the Trans-Caprivi Highway (B8 road) in the Zambezi Region on Sunday.

According to Namibian Police Force (NamPol) spokesperson, Inspector Raimbert Muronga, it is alleged that a sports utility vehicle (SUV) travelling from Kongola to Divundu and a Nissan Note, traveling in the opposite direction, collided head-on while one of the vehicles was overtaking.

The names of the deceased are known but are being withheld as their next of kin have not yet been informed of their deaths.

Police investigations continue.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency