Sunday 6 October 2013

Oct.15 Is Eid-el-Kabir

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa'ad Abubakar, on Sunday announced Tuesday Oct. 15 as Eid-el-Kabir.

A statement issued in Sokoto by Prof. Sambo Wali, the Chairman of Sokoto Sultanate Advisory Committee on Religious Affairs, said this followed the sighting of the crescent from across the country on Saturday.

"This is sequel to the declaration of Sunday, Oct. 6, 2013, as the first day of Zul-Hijja, 1434 AH, by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa'ad Abubakar III.

"The sultanate advisory committee on religious affairs at its meeting on Saturday, Oct. 5, received reports from various moon sighting committees across the country confirming the sighting of the new Moon of Zul-Hijja,1434 AH, on Saturday, which was the 29th day of ZulKi'ida,1434 AH,'' the statement said.

NAN reports that Eid-el-Kabir is celebrated world wide on the 10th of Zul-Hijja, the 12th month of the Islamic calendar, and is marked by the slaughtering of ram after a special morning prayer.

It comes a day after pilgrims from across the globe converge on mount Arafat in Saudi Arabia for the annual Hajj.(NAN)

Mother Sentenced To 15yrs In Jail For Starving 4yr Old Son To Death

An alcoholic British mother who let her 4-year-old son starve to death and left his body in a cot for almost two years was sentenced Friday to 15 years in jail.

Judge Roger Thomas said Amanda Hutton had failed "to fulfill the most basic responsibilities that you, as a mother, should have fulfilled."

The mummified body of Hutton's son, Hamzah Khan, was found by police at the family's home in Bradford, northern England, in September 2011. He had died in December 2009.

The judge said the boy was wearing clothing made for a 6- to 9-month-old child.

"Although it beggars belief that such a thing can happen, it has, of course, happened here," the judge said.

He told Hutton: "It has done so through your purposeful, persistent and gross conduct in failing in that most basic and fundamental requirement that is upon every parent, to feed her child adequately."

Hutton was convicted of manslaughter Thursday at Bradford Crown Court.

The judge said the 43-year-old mother of eight had an alcohol problem and that "you placed your own selfish addiction to drink well before your responsibilities to your many children."

The judge said Hamzah's body was only discovered after a rookie police support officer visited the house following complaints from neighbors about dirty diapers being thrown into their yard. The officer became concerned that something was seriously wrong.

Source: Huffingtonpost

Aviation Crisis: FG Suspends Dana Air Licence Again

Three days after a tragic crash involving an Associated Airlines plane killed 14 people in Lagos, the Federal Government, through the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority on Sunday night, announced the suspension of Dana Air's operations nationwide.

The decision to suspend Dana's operations came 24 hours after the NCAA grounded the operations of Associated Airlines, whose Embraer 120 plane crashed near a fuel depot two minutes after takeoff at the Lagos airport, leaving only six survivors.

The charter plane was conveying the remains of a former Governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Agagu, to Akure for interment. It also had on board 20 people, including officials of the state government, family members and friends of Agagu.

Also, 24 hours after the Associated Airlines crash, another major air disaster was averted when a Kabo Airlines' Boeing 747 plane carrying 512 pilgrims had a near-crash at the Sokoto airport with deflated tyres, damaging the airport's Instrument Landing System.

The Coordinating General Manager, Corporate Communications, Aviation Parastatals, Mr. Yakubu Dati, confirmed to our correspondent on Sunday night that the government had suspended the operations of Dana Air nationwide.

Dati said the decision was to allow the regulatory agency "conduct an operational audit" on the carrier and its planes.

The latest suspension of Dana's operations made it the third time the NCAA would be grounding the carrier over safety and other related issues.

On March 17, 2013, the government suspended the operations of Dana in order to "resolve certain safety issues," according to the NCAA.

Some days later, the government lifted the suspension thus clearing the carrier to resume operations.

The March 17 suspension came nearly three months after the airline resumed operations following a seven-month suspension after its Boeing MD-83 crashed in Lagos, killing 163 people

The government had on June 5, 2012 revoked the operational licence of Dana, two days after the crash in Iju-Ishaga, Lagos.

The government had also at a time directed Dana to pay compensations to the families of all the victims of the June 3, 2012 crash or risk severe sanctions.

It is unclear whether the latest suspension of the airline's operation is related to the issue of payment of compensation or whether the NCAA is having issues with it on the safety condition of its planes.

The Associated Airlines' crash in Lagos and the Kabo Airlines' averted crash in Sokoto have combined to raise tension in the sector as industry observers are beginning to raise doubts about the operational condition of planes flying in the country.

The flying public is also worried that the regulatory authority is not living up to its task.

Meanwhile, the Accident Investigation and Prevention Bureau has announced the commencement of investigations into the causes of the crash of an Associated Airlines flight on Thursday, and the near-crash of a Kabo Air plane on Saturday.

A statement from the agency on Sunday confirmed that the readout of the recordings of the Associated Airlines' flight recorders had started.

The statement signed by the Commissioner, AIB, Capt. Muktar Usman, said, "We have commenced investigation into the crash of the Embraer 120 ER aircraft marked 5N-BJY belonging to Associated Aviation Limited.

"Flight recorders of the ill-fated aircraft have been recovered and will be downloaded at the Bureau's newly installed flight laboratory at its Abuja headquarters. The readout of the recorders has commenced."

The statement added that of the 20 passengers on board the aircraft, there were only six survivors as of Saturday.

Associated Aviation Limited is a Nigerian registered domestic airline, which operates chartered and scheduled flights in the country.

In a separate statement, the AIB also said investigations had commenced into the incident involving a Kabo Air B747 plane, which occurred in Sokoto on Friday.

The aircraft, carrying Saudi Arabia-bound pilgrims, was believed to have burst tyres on landing.

"The AIB investigators have been dispatched to conduct an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident to determine the probable cause. The investigation is not to apportion blame or liability, but to prevent future re-currence of similar incidents and improve air safety through safety recommendations," the statement explained.

It added that the AIB was charged with the responsibility of investigating aircraft accidents and serious incidents within the country, and where Nigeria's interest was represented.

20 Killed In Fresh Boko Haram Attack In Borno

At least 20 people were killed when Islamist group Boko Haram attacked a town in northeast Nigeria, triggering clashes with troops stationed there, the military said on Sunday.

Reuters reported that a spokesman for Nigerian forces in northeastern Borno State, which lies at the heart of a four-year-old Islamist insurgency, said the Islamists crept into the town of Damboa in the early hours of Saturday.

They killed five worshippers at a mosque as they said their morning prayers, he said.

"While they were unleashing their mayhem, troops … engaged the terrorists, killing 15 in the process while others fled," the military spokesman, Captain Aliyu Danja, said in a statement obtained by Reuters.

The military often gives significantly higher casualty figures for insurgents than for its own men, and it is usually not possible to verify them independently.

Despite a concerted military offensive meant to crush Boko Haram since May, it remains the biggest security threat to Africa's top energy producer.

Its targets have traditionally been security forces, Christians or Muslim clerics who speak out against it, but its fighters have increasingly turned their sights on civilians in the past few months – massacring hundreds in roadside attacks or assaults on Western-style schools they consider sacrilegious.

Nigerian fighter jets last week bombed camps belonging to suspected Islamist militants in northeast Nigeria in response to a massacre of students at an agricultural college that killed at least 41.

Missing Female Lawyer’s Body Found Mutilated In Her Office

Police in Abuja are investigating the suspected murder of a female lawyer, Mrs. Ijeoma Micah, whose lifeless body was found mutilated, yesterday, in her chambers in the highbrow Maitama area of Abuja.

Ijeoma, the owner of Micah and Micah Chambers, was found dead in her office three days after she was said to have gone missing.

Her husband, who it was learnt, arrived from London on Sunday morning, rushed to her office, as it was gathered that he had not heard from her for three days, only to discover her lifeless body.

He reported the matter to Area Command of the police in Maitama.

Contacted on the development, Commissioner of Police FCT, Femi Ogunbayode, said that from investigations, it was discovered that some men had called Ijeoma to her office for some business, which she went for and afterwards, nothing was heard from her.

Ogunbayode told Vanguard that as a result of the killing, a security detail that was attached to Ifeoma was arrested and was being interrogated for alleged complicity.

He said that since the security detail did not report the case to the police until her husband came back from abroad and discovered her body, he was therefore a suspect.

He added that the Forensic Investigation Unit at the FCT Command was already at the office, where she was allegedly killed and had commenced investigation into the matter.

Sympathisers in the area said that the Ifeoma's husband broke the door of her office and on seeing the lifeless body of his wife, almost killed himself while crying.

It was also gathered that Ijeoma's car had been missing from the usual parking spot in front of her office building.

ASUU: NUPENG Threatens Solidarity Strike

Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, weekend, threatened stop distribution of petroleum products across the country if the Federal Government failed to implement the agreement reached with the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU.

Though no specific date was fixed for the commencement of the soliarity strike, the union said the strike became necessary in view of the lingering ASUU crisis which the government had failed to resolve in the last three months.

NUPENG President, Igwe Achese, who spoke at the union's National Administrative Council, NAC, meeting, weekend in Lagos, said NUPENG was not happy at the crisis facing public university system in the country.
He blamed the crisis on government's failure to honour agreements, lamenting that this had led to the proliferation of strikes in nearly all sectors of the economy since the beginning of the year.

According to him: "We appeal to government to implement agreement reached with ASUU so that students can go back to school. If the crisis in the sector is not resolved, we will soon direct our members to embark on solidarity strike."
Achese blamed the Ministry of Labour for failing in its responsibility to check the break-down and abuse of laws governing industrial relations practice in the country by employers including government.

"The Ministry of Labour needs to be proactive if we must get these issues nipped in the bud. The ministry also needs to make sure that agreements reached or communiqué signed are implemented.

"The ministry has a big role to play to avert strikes in the country. When unions begin to lose faith in the ministry that is when we have this kind of crisis. The labour minister should be firm in making sure that the right decisions are taken.

"As it is now, every activity in the Ministry of Labour is in the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, which ought not to be so. The role of the SGF should be to intervene only when the need arises."

It would be recalled that the NUT last week gave the Federal Government two weeks ultimatum to honour the agreement it reached with ASUU or face total shut-down of the education sector in the country.

ASUU: NUPENG Threatens Solidarity Strike
Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, weekend, threatened stop distribution of petroleum products across the country if the Federal Government failed to implement the agreement reached with the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU.

Though no specific date was fixed for the commencement of the soliarity strike, the union said the strike became necessary in view of the lingering ASUU crisis which the government had failed to resolve in the last three months.

NUPENG President, Igwe Achese, who spoke at the union's National Administrative Council, NAC, meeting, weekend in Lagos, said NUPENG was not happy at the crisis facing public university system in the country.
He blamed the crisis on government's failure to honour agreements, lamenting that this had led to the proliferation of strikes in nearly all sectors of the economy since the beginning of the year.

According to him: "We appeal to government to implement agreement reached with ASUU so that students can go back to school. If the crisis in the sector is not resolved, we will soon direct our members to embark on solidarity strike."
Achese blamed the Ministry of Labour for failing in its responsibility to check the break-down and abuse of laws governing industrial relations practice in the country by employers including government.

"The Ministry of Labour needs to be proactive if we must get these issues nipped in the bud. The ministry also needs to make sure that agreements reached or communiqué signed are implemented.

"The ministry has a big role to play to avert strikes in the country. When unions begin to lose faith in the ministry that is when we have this kind of crisis. The labour minister should be firm in making sure that the right decisions are taken.

"As it is now, every activity in the Ministry of Labour is in the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, which ought not to be so. The role of the SGF should be to intervene only when the need arises."

It would be recalled that the NUT last week gave the Federal Government two weeks ultimatum to honour the agreement it reached with ASUU or face total shut-down of the education sector in the country.

Sex Workers Take Over Lagos Banks At Nights



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 Hello handsome. My name is Ella – Emmanuela. I’ll give you a memorable night. If you can’t afford an all night, we can have a ‘short time’ somewhere around. It’ll cost you much less. Just pay the security man there (pointing to a bank opposite) and it’s as good as done,” a call girl on Allen Avenue tells one of our correspondents.
A bank? Yes. By 4pm on any business day, the doors of banks in Lagos State, like in every other part of the country, are shut to customers. But by 10pm, many of these banks play host to another set of customers.
Saturday PUNCH investigation reveals that the numerous commercial sex workers who throng the Allen Avenue-Opebi and GRA Ikeja business districts in Lagos, make use of bank premises to service their customers.
The Allen Avenue and Opebi axis is known as a hub for commercial sex workers in Lagos mainland.
It is not strange to see scantily-dressed young women of all shapes and sizes parading both sides of the road at the Opebi Roundabout around 10pm every night.
As a man passes by in a car, some of them, with heavy make-up and brightly coloured glossy lips, will wave through the window, calling out to such prospective customer, with endearing words like “Hey gorgeous!” or “Hi handsome!”
Every night, this area is always a beehive of activities for these night workers and their patrons.
During a visit to a popular club in Opebi, where many of these commercial sex workers station themselves, Saturday PUNCH had a chat with a young man who confirmed that he had used the premises of a bank for ‘short time’ purpose.
Uche (not real name), 29, is a frequent patron of the Opebi club.
He tells Saturday PUNCH that no matter how tired he is after closing for the day in the insurance company where he works, he likes to visit the clubs in the area.
He says, “I was going home after visiting some clubs in Opebi one Friday night and I was bored. While driving through Allen, I saw a girl that caught my fancy and I stopped to talk to her. I knew I could not take her home. So, I asked where we could do a ‘short time’ and she pointed to a bank.
“I did not understand what she meant. There was an ATM at the front of the bank, so I thought she meant that I had to withdraw money and pay her first.
“But before I could say anything, she said I should go and talk to the security man at the bank and give him N500. She told me the guard would watch over my car as well. After we were done, I gave the girl N1,500. That was a funny time because we even broke the security man’s bench and had to leave in a hurry before he noticed.”
It was indeed a funny story. Saturday PUNCH decided to find out if the premises of some other banks in the area were being used this way. It turned out to be true.
Around 11 pm on a Friday, Saturday PUNCH correspondents posed as patrons of these sex workers.
At Allen Avenue, one of our correspondents signalled to a young woman who stood on the side of the road.
Saturday PUNCH observed that she she was putting on a silky top that was so short that it revealed her belly button. The shorts she wore was outrageously short as well.
She was Ella – Emmanuela. There was no doubt that that was not her real name. The young woman was very fair in complexion.
The discussion switched immediately to how much she wanted for her service.
Ella said, “I just came out and if I have to go home with any customer, I won’t collect less than N15,000 because that means I will be losing other customers. But we can use any of these places around for a ‘short time’.
“The bank?”
“Yes, we use them as well. That will be just N2,500,” she said.
Pretending that she was too expensive, Ella was dismissed.
But one of our correspondents approached the guard who sat on a plastic chair in the front of a new generation bank in the area and asked if he could use the premises for a short time.
“No problem bros,” he said, without any hesitation.
Asked how much it will cost, the guard says N500.
“What will happen if another person comes and wants to do the same here?”
“The person will have to wait now. Unless you don’t mind them doing theirs while you are still there,” the young man said.
Saturday PUNCH visited another bank in the area with similar request.
It turned out that if the price was right, the security guard there too would be willing to ‘let out’ the bank premises for the short service.
“Why didn’t you use your car if you cannot pay N1,000? The security guard, who wore no uniform, said.
When told that the car would not be comfortable enough, he seemed to agree.
He said he will accept N500 but he won’t provide a bench.
At one of the banks on Allen Avenue, however, a guard told Saturday PUNCH that one of the employees of the bank is a regular patron of a club around the area and he could not risk being discovered.
The young man, who identified himself simply as Joseph, said the part of the bank that he could have allowed one of our correspondents to use was not properly concealed from prying eyes passing by on the road.
Saturday PUNCH also had another encounter with a commercial sex worker who said her name was Sade.
At first, Sade said the ‘short time’ would be done somewhere at Ikeja Under-bridge but when she realised that our correspondent did not like the idea, she suggested the premises of a bank.
“We could go to the bank over there. I would give you value for your money,” she says, trying as much as she can to lure our correspondent.
But another commercial sex worker who was nearby had eavesdropped on the conversation.
She walked up to our correspondent and introduced herself as Jennifer after Sade had left.
Jennifer magnanimously advises that going to secluded areas with commercial sex workers was trouble.
She told Saturday PUNCH that some girls connived with street boys to rob their clients before, during or after sex.
Some commercial sex workers are also said to be adept at picking their clients’ pockets.
Jennifer said, “It is a good thing you did not go with her. When you go to somewhere scanty, some of these girls have area boys as friends who protect them.
“What they do is lure men to a secluded place and these men rob them. Sometimes, while having sex, they also pick pockets. I don’t do that.”
Jenifer confirmed that the sex workers had sex with men in the premises of banks around Allen and Opebi.
She said she had taken her clients to bank premises before.
“But most times, it depends on the security guard. They make money from it. Some of the guards make much more than their salary in a week,” she said.
At about 10pm on Monday, our correspondents also visited Isaac John, a popular area for night clubbing in Ikeja GRA.
There, they met some commercial sex workers waiting for customers.
Thinking she had spotted a potential client, a young dark-skinned lady probably in her early 20s walked up to the car.
She introduced herself to one of our correspondents as Ronke. For the night, Ronke said she would accept N10,000. After much debate and when she realised it will be ‘short-time’, she said she would settle for N3,000.
The venue was to a newly acquired property by a bank opposite a fast food joint.
Ronke said, “If we were to go home, it would have been N10,000 but since it is short-time, I will take you somewhere but you will pay me N3,000.
“I can also perform orals, but if you don’t want that, I can collect N2,000 and the gateman will collect N500. I can ask him to collect N300. He would watch the gate for us.
“The place was just bought by a bank. We use the place well so I am sure the man will cooperate.”
Ronke is not so pleased when her ‘potential customer’ promised to call her later that night.
On the same street, Emem, a fair and busty commercial sex worker corroborated Ronke’s claims that the security man will take home at least N3,000 a night.
She stated that they pay him between N300 and N500.
“If you are close to them you go in free at times or at a cheaper rate,” she said.
Emem is not sure if the security men of the banks patronise the sex workers as she said none of them had sought her service before.
However, the activities of the commercial sex workers at the Allen Avenue-Opebi business district seem to be under a heavy police protection.
This is why the commercial sex workers operate without fear in the area.
Saturday PUNCH noticed, on three different nights, that at least three police patrol vans would stationed in the vicinity of the roundabout where the sex workers paraded regularly.
On Monday night alone, there were five police vans in the area.
A young woman, who once visited a club in the area, told our correspondent about how the policemen threatened her with arrest because they thought she was a prostitute who had come there to operate without approval.
The young woman, who pleaded anonymity, told Saturday PUNCH, “I was going to a club in the area with a friend on a Thursday night and just a few metres from where some prostitutes stood on the sides of the road, some policemen stopped us.
“They asked who I was and what kind of job I was doing. I told them I was a student but they said I was a prostitute and will arrest me. I was confused because there were so many prostitutes around there whom they did not arrest. But because I was not known there, they wanted to arrest me.
“We had to go and call one of the managers of the club to convince them I was not there as a prostitute but was there with my friend to relax.
“The club man (manager) who came to my rescue said all the girls around there are protected. But a new girl who comes there to operate will be arrested. Such girls will either bail themselves out with money or with sex.”
Saturday PUNCH notices that the policemen were obviously well-known to the sex workers because of the way they related with them.
Whenever a vehicle passed by, they shone their flashlights into it to see who its occupants were.
But the Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Police Command, Mr. Damasus Ozoani, said policemen in places believed to be the hub of prostitution in Lagos were only doing their legal duty.
“Of course, prostitution is still illegal in the state. But how do you prove those ladies you see standing on the sides of the road at that time of the night are prostitutes?
“Gone are those days when you could arrest people merely for wandering in the night. Policemen conduct searches in areas like that when they have genuine reason to believe that some people who have criminal intent may come there to operate.
“Those same ladies you see have the same legal rights to be protected by the police as you and I have. Unless the ladies are caught in sexual acts in a public place, one cannot conclude that they are prostitutes.”
Ozoani said patrol was usually intensified in places like the Allen Avenue-Opebi business district at that time of the night because of the tendency of criminals to operate there.

SHOCKING: Access Bank demands N1million for employment; GTB asks trainees to write own obituaries

Culled From Premium Times

Having spent almost two unproductive years at home after graduation, Evelyn was badly in need of a job. After passing the aptitude test and first interview, she was pretty confident as she walked out of her second interview for a management trainee position at Access Bank.

But her confidence immediately atrophies like an ice cube thrown into a burning fire when she was told, over the telephone, by an official of the bank that she needed to source a total of N1 million from at least 10 new customers within a week as a prerequisite for being employed.

Her parents immediately kicked against her continuing with the recruitment process saying it was exploitative.  But the thought of having to sit at home for an indefinite period in search of another job was far scarier for Evelyn. She was determined to meet the bank's demand.

Hard as she tried, she could only get eight people to open new accounts with the bank. Two days later she got a call from the bank telling her she didn't make the cut.

"In Access Bank it has to be ten over ten or nothing," the voice at the other end of the phone said.

Evelyn was devastated. She felt used and dumped.

"After the second interview, I thought I already had the job," she said.

In fact she was called for the third interview, which is usually a formality, according to an Access Bank source.

John, another applicant, said he didn't feel comfortable raising N1 million as a prerequisite for employment.

"I remembered telling myself this was nonsense. Why would they ask me to get N1 million before I was employed? I didn't even bother to try."
Some of applicants who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES said the bank gave them ten account-opening booklets each carrying Access Bank employee numbers for this purpose.

"When I say the employee numbers on the account-opening booklet, I was confused. Does it mean that I'm running around for someone else to take the credit," wondered another applicant who raised N900,000.00 and was not employed.

Evelyn, who said she is now doing what she described as her dream job, told PREMIUM TIMES one of those who opened an account with her went through a lot of hassles when she tried to withdraw the money she deposited.

"She wasn't given a debit card or chequebook. They kept telling her at the branch that they have issues with her account when she when to withdraw the money she deposited. After paying several visits to the branch over three months she could only manage to withdraw part of the money she deposited."

Access Bank says the practise of asking applicants to generate N1 million within one week is to prepare them for "the rigour of the highly competitive market."

The bank's Head of Corporate Affairs, Segun Fafore, says only candidates that have passed the entry requirement are asked to raise this amount.

"It is part of the training. It is part of the recruitment process. This person will certainly go to the training school. It is just the practical aspect before you go for the four months training programme," he said.

However, none of those we spoke to this paper were called to resume at the bank's training school. Despite excelling at all the pre-recruitment evaluations, they were specifically rejected because they raised less than the N1 million asked by the bank.

Employment bond

Access Bank has been courting controversies for some time now due to some of its recruitment practices. In what is a blatant disregard of the country's labour laws, the bank makes new employees sign bonds that force them to stay in the bank's employ willy-nilly for at least two years.

Access Bank says it does this to protect the "heavy investment" it makes in training its staff. It says due to the quality of training its staff get they are usually poached by both local and international firms.

"The bank invest heavily in building the competence and capacity of its staff to a level of admiration that matches what is available in the global financial community," Mr Fafore says.

"Following market tendencies, it is not surprising that with this kind of investment in its people other institutions, financial and non-financial, within and outside Nigeria encroach on the bank's School of Banking Excellence."

Mr Fafore says the bank designed its employment contract to "stem the tide" of employee poaching.
Alarmed, Lagos lawyer and frontline human rights advocate, Jiti Ogunye, describes the practice as "shady, irresponsible and illegal."

"From employment and banking perspective it was illegal for the bank to compel people who are not employees of the bank to discharge banking duties," he said.

"Having compelled these applicants to go and be scouting for customers for them as a condition of being offered employment, a relationship of implied agency has crystallised between the bank on one hand and those prospective employees. So the bank has made them her agent by sending them out to go and bring customers so the question there is if the bank had made these people her agent how did the bank remunerate them at the end of the day?

It flies in the face of constitutionally guaranteed rights of citizens. A bank is expected to be a repository of integrity. This is nothing but obtaining property by false pretence. This is nothing but fraud."

Obituaries and epitaphs
Allegations of malpractices and abuses have dogged recruitment processes and staff training in the Nigerian banking sector. For instance in 2011, a group of Guaranty Trust Bank's entry level trainees were expelled on the last day of training for what the bank described as  "[contravening] several basic programme rules that include professional conduct."

But several members of Sapphire, as the class was nicknamed, said the consultant instructor during the training, Tutu Sholeye of Learners and Trainers, traumatised the group with an unending string of vile comments, verbal abuse and attack on their self-esteem.

They told this paper that they were asked to write their obituaries and epitaphs as part of the training regime.

"We were shocked when she told us to write our obituaries and epitaphs. And it didn't end there; whatever you wrote will be used as an excuse to rain more insults on you," said Taye, still visibly angry two years after the experience.

For instance, a trainee who smokes and had indicated to live up to 85 years in his obituary was told by the trainer: "how do you expect to live that long with the worthless life you're living?"

Learners and Trainers website says it focuses on the "attitude training and personal development" rather than focus on "skills and knowledge training."

Ms Sholeye declined to speak with PREMIUM TIMES. She said as a consultant, it was unprofessional for her to speak about what happened during the training.

Peter Ogunnubi, a psychiatrist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, says this style of training is "archaic and barbaric."

"It is a form of mental torture that can lead to post-traumatic and personality disorder." He says this is even more so because the trainees didn't get the job.

Guaranty Trust Bank says this approach to staff training has brought out the best in its employees.

"The curriculum adopted for the training programme which all employees must undertake, has been in use for the same period and you will no doubt agree with me that our Bank has the finest, most professional and knowledgeable human capital in the country today," says Pascal Or, the bank's official in charge of Brand Management.
Regulatory laxity

Those wronged by unfair recruitment may have to look further from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, if they hoped to get succour for the wrong done to them.

CBN Director of Corporate Communications, Ugochukwu Okoroafor, says the CBN cannot act on hearsay.

"Please note that the allegations have not come to our attention with concrete evidence. This is necessary to enable us take action," he said.

"There is nothing the CBN can do on the basis of mere hearsay, other than moral suasion," he added.

Mr Okoroafor, says the CBN prohibits profit and liability targeting by banks and other unethical practices.

"Unfortunately, these are not things you can pick up from financial records when conducting bank examinations. Neither can interviews with Bank Management or staff reveal them."

However Mr Okoroafor said the bank encourages whistleblowers to come with names, dates and evidence of malpractices.

*** The names of the bank informants in this story have been changed to protect their identities. All of them still work with different banks in the country and fear they might be victimised by their employers. 

"I Lost My Virginty At 8 Years Old - Chris Brown Reveals

In this interview with the Guardian, R & B artiste Chris Brown talks of how he lost his virginity when he was eight years old, to a local girl who was 14 or 15. I'm thinking probably that is one of the reasons behind his anger issues. Chris said :
"Yeah, really. Uh-huh." He grins and chuckles. "It's different in the country." Brown grew up with a great gang of boy cousins, and they watched so much porn that he was raring to go. "By that point, we were already kind of like hot to trot, you know what I'm saying? Like, girls, we weren't afraid to talk to them; I wasn't afraid. So, at eight, being able to do it, it kind of preps you for the long run, so you can be a beast at it. You can be the best at it." (Now 24, he doesn't want to say how many women he's slept with: "But you know how Prince had a lot of girls back in the day? Prince was, like, the guy. I'm just that, today. But most women won't have any complaints if they've been with me. They can't really complain. It's all good."

Lagos plane crash: Another survivor dies, death toll now 15

One of the survivors of the Associated Airlines plane that crash in Lagos on Thursday died yesterday, after all efforts to save his life failed.

Identified as Samson Hassan, he is one of the six survivors of the accident that killed 13 instantly.

The plane with 20 passengers on board was conveying the remains of former Ondo State governor, Olusegun Agagu to his state for burial when it crashed few minutes after take-off in the local wing of the Lagos Airport.

Earlier, another survivor, Taiwo Akintunde, also gave up the ghost after several efforts to save his life failed.

Hassan was kept at the highly sterilised Intensive Care Unit of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja before he was confirmed dead.

DailyPost gathered that both men were hooked up to sophisticated electronic monitors to help check their blood pressures and general health conditions.


His death was later confirmed in a release issued by one Mrs Bolanle Okusanya- Feyita, who spoke on behalf of the Magbamawo Industrial Company (MIC) Royal Ltd, where Hassan was a staff.

The company lost its Chief Executive, Mr. Olatunji Okusanya, his son, Mr Olatunji Okusanya Jnr. and four members of staff – Mr Akeem Akintunde, Mr Chijioke Duru, Mr Kingsley Amaechi and now Hassan, in the crash.

The only female survivor at LASUTH, Toyin Samson, who was at the Recuperating Ward of the Surgical Emergency ward was still stable, same as the duo of Feyi Agagu and Femi Akinsanya.

Meanwhile, the Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) test process finally kicked off after the families of the deceased persons stormed the morgue for the test.

The process was witnessed by officials of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Lagos State Commissioner for Special Duties, Dr. Wale Ahmed.

The result of the DNA process is expected to be out within the next one month.