Osogbo—Wife of the Governor of Osun State, Mrs Sherifat Aregbesola has vowed to commence community-to-community campaign to stop the practice of female circumcision or Female Genital Mutilation, FGM, in the state, using her development foundation, the Sheri Care Foundation, SCARF.

With more than 40 million Nigerians as healthy carriers of sickle cell gene (Hb AS) and over 150,000 babies born each year in Nigeria with sickle cell anaemia (Hb SS), the country is believed to have the largest burden of the disorder in the world. Due to ignorance, lack of access to correct diagnosis/proper care and funding for research, most of these children will die in childhood.

Peoples Development Initiative, IPDI, said, yesterday, that an Ijaw leader and chieftain of All Progressives Congress, APC, has threatened the spokesperson of the group, Mr. Ezekiel Daniel, for exposing the identity of the persons who led soldiers to arrest two Ijaw youths alleged to be connected to ex-militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, on Tuesday.

ABUJA — THE Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki,yesterday, in a surprised move, reshuffled Senate committees, with spokesman of the Senate Unity Forum, Kabir Marafa, taking over the chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), while Senator Oluremi Tinubu, wife of APC national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, took over the headship of the Senate Committee on Environment.

A 28-year-old driver, Nnamdi Ikunor, has been docked before a Lagos state Magistrates Court sitting in Ikeja over unlawfully and indecently assaulting one 8-year old girl name (withheld) by fingering her vagina.

Oil–producing communities in the country, under the aegis of Host Communities of Nigeria, (Producing Oil and Gas), HOSTCOM, yesterday, lamented the Federal Government’s neglect of the Niger Delta region, accusing political leaders in the region of misappropriating over N10 trillion earmarked for the region over the years.

Earlier on this week, the Right Honourable Yakubu Dogara, Speaker of the House of Representatives, addressed a National Stakeholders Summit on Petroleum Industry Reforms in Abuja. Here are some excerpts from his speech:

It was shocking when the survivors of human trafficking spoke on their ordeal, cataloguing their tales of woe while being hold as slaves in their fatherland. What shocked many people was the disclosure made by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic In Persons that many Nigerian victims have either lost their lives or sensitive organs to their masters abroad.

ABUJA—THE Senate has urged the Petroleum Technology Development Fund, PTDF, to cover the six geo-political zones in the country in project execution. According to the Senate, this is to prevent a situation where some zones are short-changed in the scheme of things.

ABUJA——THE House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions, yesterday, directed the Nigeria Police to make available an autopsy report to the family of the late undergraduate of the University of Port Harcourt, Peter Chibuzor Ofurum, who was allegedly killed by a policeman during a protest over fees hike in the university.

Newly named Spain coach Julen Lopetegui, who led Spain’s youth teams to international success, vowed Thursday to build upon the groundwork already laid by outgoing manager Vicente del Bosque as he took over the squad.

A chieftain of the PDP, Chief Olabode George, said in Lagos on Thursday that appointing a credible person as national chairman of the party would determine the performance of the party in the 2019 presidential elections.

University of Port Harcourt has began preparations to host the West African University Games (WAUG), billed for November 22 to December 4, 2016 in Port Harcourt.

For the first time in the 2016 fiscal period, the federal, states and local governments got monthly allocation from the Federation Account of N559.03 billion.

Prof. Anthony Adebolu Elujoba, Professor of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, has been appointed by the Senate as the Acting Vice-Chancellor of the University.