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Again, Reuters claim Nigerian soldiers massacred children fathered by insurgents in fresh report

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The Nigerian Army has been accused of killing children fathered by insurgents.

In the report published on Monday, Reuters reported that top army commanders allegedly ordered soldiers to “delete” children born to insurgents.

According to the report, the directive was issued “because the children were assumed to be collaborating with militants in Boko Haram or its Islamic State offshoot, or to have inherited the tainted blood of insurgent fathers”.

The international news agency said more than 40 soldiers and civilians interviewed for the investigation said they witnessed officers of the Nigerian military “kill children or saw children’s corpses after a military operation”.

“Intentional killings of children have occurred with a blurring frequency across the region during the war, according to witnesses interviewed by Reuters,” the investigation reads in part.

“More than 40 sources said they saw the Nigerian military target and kill children or saw the dead bodies of children after a military operation.

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“These sources included both parents and other civilian witnesses, as well as soldiers who said they participated in

Reuters said it could not independently verify the estimate that thousands of children were killed during military operations against insurgency.

But the news agency said six specific incidents investigated by reporters indicated that at least 60 children were killed in those incidents.

In the investigation, Yagana Bukar, a mother of twins, narrated how soldiers “smothered” her four-month-old twin boys after she and a group of other women and children escaped from Boko Haram fighters.

“The soldiers said they killed those children because they are children of Boko Haram — they are not human beings,” Bukar said.

“They threatened me that if I wasn’t careful and didn’t keep quiet, they would kill me as well.”

In another witness’ testimony, a soldier reportedly said he enjoys killing children who were suspected to be fathered by insurgents due to the belief that they may grow up to become insurgents.

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“Soldiers often cited as a reason for killing children the belief that if their fathers were insurgents, then they would grow up to be the same,” the report reads.

“The killing was also a way for some officers to avenge heavy losses in fighting with Islamist insurgents, or for soldiers to vent their anger over the deaths of their comrades.

“Other soldiers said they had adopted a kill-or-be-killed attitude toward children because insurgents used them as fighters, informants and suicide bombers.”

On December 7, an investigation published by Reuters accused the Nigerian Army of carrying out illegal abortions on victims of insurgency in the north-east.

However, the Defence Headquarters had said the Nigerian Army has never forced rescued women and girls to abort pregnancies.

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Tribunal stops MultiChoice from increasing DStv, Gotv subscription rates

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A competition and consumer protection tribunal (CCPT) in Abuja has stopped Multi-Choice Nigeria Limited from increasing its tariffs and cost of products and services scheduled to begin on May 1.

 

A three-member tribunal led by Saratu Shafii gave the interim order following an ex-parte motion moved by Ejiro Awaritoma, counsel to Festus Onifade, the applicant.

 

The tribunal, in the ruling, restrained Multi-Choice from going ahead with the impending price increase pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice filed before it.

 

“The 1st defendant is hereby restrained from taking any step(s) that may negatively affect the rights of the claimant and other consumers in respect of the suit pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice,” Shafii ruled.

Shafii also directed all parties in the suit to appear before the tribunal at 10 a.m. on May 7 for the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.

 

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Onifade, a legal practitioner, filed the suit marked CCPT/OP/2/2024, against Multi-Choice Nigeria Ltd and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) on Monday.

 

On April 24, Multichoice Nigeria announced an increase in the cost of subscriptions for its DStv and GOtv packages.

The pay-TV firm cited the rise in the cost of business operations as the rationale behind the price increase.

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How to check 2024 JAMB UTME results

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The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has released modalities for the checking of the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) results via SMS.

For candidates who took part in the 2024 UTME organised by JAMB, the examination body said the results of the exercise can be checked following some simple steps.

 

“Candidates are advised to use the phone numbers they used to register to text UTMERESULT to 55019/66019. There is no need to approach any CBT centre or cybercafé to check results,” JAMB said.

 

“The following are the responses to be expected hence, a candidate with a result will receive the message: ‘Dear ‘Candidate X’, your result is as follows (and the details will be provided).’”

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JAMB releases 2024 UTME results, 8,401 score 300 and above

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The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has released the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) results.

 

JAMB’s Registrar Ishaq Oloyede announced the release of the UTME results in a press conference held at the board’s headquarters in Bwari on the outskirts of Abuja.

 

According to Oloyede, over 1.94 million candidates registered and sat for the examination in 118 towns and over 700 centres across the country.

 

The examination which began on Friday the 19th of April ended on Monday the 29th of April. Out of the 1,989,668 registered candidates, 80, 810 were absent. A total of 1, 904, 189 sat the UTME within the six days of the examination.

“Out of the 1,842,464 released results, a paltry 0.4% scored above 300 while 24% scored 50% (200/400) and above,” the JAMB chief said.

 

He said 1,1,402,490, which is 76 per cent of the candidates got below 200. JAMB, however, re-echoed its resolve not to publish the name of the highest-scoring candidate.

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“It is common knowledge that the Board has, at various fora, restated its unwillingness to publish the names of its best-performing candidates, as it considers its UTME as only a ranking examination on account of the other parameters that would constitute what would later be considered the minimum admissible score for candidates seeking admission to tertiary institutions,” Oloyede noted.

 

More Female Enrolees
A further breakdown of the number of candidates who sat for the examination showed that the females were more than males.

The JAMB registrar said 982,393 males representing 49.4 per cent enrolled for the 2024 UTME as against 1,007,275 females which is 50.6 per cent.

 

Oloyede said “it is evident that there is a significant improvement in the enrolment of females, with over one million girls registering for the examination.

 

“This is the first time in three years that the number of females will be more than that of their male counterparts.

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“Out of the total registration, 3,164 were persons living with disabilities.”

 

“There is a 36.2% increase in the enrolment of PLWDs as compared to the last year,” the JAMB boss told the gathering.

 

 

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