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NALDA empowers 500 Kano ex-drug addicts with goats, cows
NALDA empowers 500 Kano ex-drug addicts with goats, cows
The National Agriculture Land Development Authority (NALDA) is empowering 500 rehabilitated male and female drug addicts in Kano State by giving them livestock.
Its Executive Secretary, Prince Paul Ikonne, said in a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday that 200 males and 300 females rehabilitated from drug addiction would get goats and cows.
The first phase of the empowerment, he said, would be completed in March, adding that 100 women already got three goats each while 200 youths got a cow per two persons.
The beneficiaries would be trained in animal husbandry and financial capacity building to enhance their ability to manage their businesses, he stated.
Ikonne explained that NALDA was collaborating with the NDLEA and an NGO, Salamah Youth Empowerment and Enlightenment Initiative to execute the empowerment.
“If beneficiaries are left without empowerment, they will revert to drug abuse.
“This is a way of keeping them out of drugs and engaging them meaningfully.
“We have empowered the first 300 beneficiaries; the remaining 200 beneficiaries will get the empowerment by March,’’ Iknone stated.
He appealed to other organisations to reach out to drug addicts to rehabilitate them while assuring that NALDA would engage them in meaningful means of income through agricultural value chains.
He explained also that those who got cows would sell them in three months and keep the profit while the capital is re-invested in buying new cows for them.
He added that monitoring of the beneficiaries would be easy as they’d transact the business of selling the cows at abattoirs under the supervision of the abattoirs’ associations.
Ikonne stated also that as the fund revolved, it would be easier to empower more people and get many more off hard substances, adding that NALDA’s primary target is abattoir-based drug-addicted youths.
“Women who got goats would rear them for between six months and one year depending on the size,’’ he said.
Ikonne added in the statement that the initiator of the NGO, Sen. Naja’tu Muhammed, Kano Central, said the intervention was the best any parastatal agency had ever done in Kano State.
“I initiated this programme with the NDLEA to rehabilitate our youths who are drug addicts.
“We realised that if we must give them hope, we must show them that there is light at the end of the tunnel by engaging them meaningfully,’’ Ikonne quoted Muhammed as having said.
Two suspected criminals arrested during patrol in Plateau
By: Zagazola Makama
Troops of Sector 1 under Operation Enduring Peace have arrested two suspected criminals during a routine patrol in Jos East Local Government Area of Plateau.
Security sources disclosed that the suspects, identified as Azi Ezekiel, 21, and Ajiji Emmanuel, 19, were apprehended at about 10:30 a.m. on Saturday along the road leading to Forbur Village.
The sources said the suspects were intercepted by troops of Sector 1, Sub-Sector 12, while conducting a routine patrol in the area.
According to the sources, the two suspects have been handed over to the Keystone Police Station in Forbur for further investigation and possible prosecution.
The arrest forms part of ongoing security operations aimed at combating criminal activities and enhancing safety across Plateau State.
Two suspected criminals arrested during patrol in Plateau
Troops arrest suspected kidnapper in Plateau community
By: Zagazola Makama
Troops of Sector 4 of Operation Enduring Peace have arrested a suspected kidnapper during a security operation in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau.
Security sources said the suspect, identified as Mohamdu Surajo, 29, was arrested at about 6:45 p.m. on Friday at Sabon Layi Village following sustained security operations in the area.
The sources disclosed that the suspect is currently in military custody and is undergoing preliminary interrogation to aid ongoing investigations.
They added that the arrest is part of continued efforts by security forces to dismantle criminal networks and enhance security across Plateau State.
Troops arrest suspected kidnapper in Plateau community
Venezuela Solidarity Group Urges U.S. to Lift Sanctions After Deadly Earthquakes
By: Michael Mike
The Venezuela Solidarity Campaign in Nigeria (VSCN) has called for the immediate and unconditional lifting of United States sanctions on Venezuela, arguing that the restrictions are hampering humanitarian relief and reconstruction efforts following devastating twin earthquakes that reportedly killed more than 2,000 people and displaced over 50,000 others.
In a statement issued on Sunday and signed by its coordinator, Comrade Dimeji Macaulay, the group expressed solidarity with the Venezuelan people and the Bolivarian Government, describing the earthquakes as a humanitarian tragedy that has left widespread destruction of homes, hospitals, schools, roads and other critical infrastructure.
The organisation extended condolences to families of the victims and praised what it described as the resilience of the Venezuelan people in confronting the disaster despite years of economic hardship.
According to the VSCN, the U.S. sanctions have weakened Venezuela’s capacity to respond effectively to the emergency by limiting access to financial resources and restricting the importation of medicines, equipment, technology and other essential materials.
The group maintained that maintaining the sanctions during a humanitarian crisis amounts to collective punishment against ordinary citizens and called for their permanent removal to facilitate relief operations and long-term reconstruction.
“There can be no moral or legal justification for maintaining an economic blockade against a country struggling to save lives and rebuild after a devastating natural disaster,” the statement said, adding that every day the sanctions remain in force prolongs the suffering of the Venezuelan people.
The campaign also urged the Federal Government of Nigeria to publicly support the removal of the sanctions, strengthen diplomatic relations with Venezuela and contribute to international humanitarian efforts for victims of the disaster.
It further appealed to the African Union to reject unilateral coercive measures, describing them as violations of international law, while calling on African countries to support Venezuela’s recovery.
The group equally called on the United Nations to intensify humanitarian assistance and ensure that sanctions do not obstruct emergency relief operations or reconstruction programmes.
Beyond governments and international organisations, the VSCN appealed to trade unions, youth organisations, civil society groups and progressive political movements across Africa and the wider international community to demonstrate solidarity with Venezuela by opposing what it described as economic warfare and supporting the country’s right to determine its future without external interference.
Reaffirming its commitment to the Venezuelan cause, the organisation said it would continue campaigning until the sanctions are lifted, insisting that Venezuela’s recovery should not be hindered by external political considerations
Venezuela Solidarity Group Urges U.S. to Lift Sanctions After Deadly Earthquakes
Troops Arrest Two Suspected Berom Militia Linked to NIPSS Attack as Security Sources Say Investigation Supports Earlier Leads
Two suspected criminals arrested during patrol in Plateau
Troops arrest suspected kidnapper in Plateau community
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