A federal high court in Kano has issued an order restraining the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and the Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) from implementing the new electricity tariff for Band A consumers.

Ruling on an ex parte motion on Thursday, Abdullahi Liman, presiding judge, made an interim order restraining NERC and KEDCO from going ahead with the impending tariff pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice before it.

The order also restrained the defendant from intimidating and threatening to disconnect the applicants’ electricity supply for non-acceptance of the new increased tariff.

The suit marked FHC/KN/CS/144/2024 was filed by Super Sack Company Limited and BBY Sacks Limited.

Others are Mama Sannu Industries Limited, Dala Foods Nigeria Limited, Tofa Textile Limited and Manufacturers Association of Nigeria Limited (MAN).

The motion ex-parte was moved by Abubakar Mahmoud, counsel to the plaintiffs.

On April 3, NERC approved an increase in electricity tariff for customers under the Band A classification.

The commission said customers under the category, who receive 20 hours of electricity supply daily, would begin to pay N225 per kilowatt (kW) from April 3 — up from N66.

The sudden hike has been criticised by the house of representatives and other stakeholders who have asked NERC to suspend the implementation of the new tariff.

A 19-year-old kidnapper, identified as Mohammed Abdullahi, in Gujba local government area of Yobe State, has kidnapped an 11-year son of a neighbour, demanded ₦600,000 in ransom, killed the victim with a substance drug, and later buried him.

The Commissioner of Police in Yobe state, CP Ahmed Garba, paraded the suspect and 17 others at the Police Command headquarters in Damaturu and expressed concern over the reemerging criminal activities in the state.

“Mohammed Abdullahi, a 19-year-old suspect from Buniyadi, abducted the son of their neighbour’s 11-year-old and later demanded a ransom of 600,000 naira. When the parents of the victim could not meet his demand, he later bought drugs and administered them to the victim to sleep and the victim later died. The suspect later buried the corpse in their house while his parents were away and was later apprehended by the police,” he said.

Another suspect, Sani Musa, aged 22 years, who stabbed his victim, Sheba Simon, with a knife and snatched her cell phone, was also trailed, arrested and paraded by the police.

In an interview with Channels Television, the suspect, Sani Musa, admitted to committing the crime, saying his intention was not to kill her but to collect the cell phone.

Other suspects paraded were transformer vandals at the Pompomari community of the state capital, and house burglars among other crimes, ranging from rape and armed robbery where 3 AK47 rifles and live ammunition were recovered.

The CP who expressed worry over the insecurity, urged the Yobe State government, to provide empowerment and skills acquisition for the teaming youths in the state, to keep them busy instead of roaming about, taking unwanted drugs, and causing mayhem to communities.

Former prime minister of the UK, Boris Johnson, was turned away from his local polling station after forgetting to bring the required photo identity.

Johnson had joined locals in South Oxfordshire on Thursday to vote in the police and crime commissioner election.

Polling officials however told him he would not be allowed to vote without providing his identity.

There are 22 acceptable forms of ID in the UK including passports, driving licences, blue badges, and certain local travel cards.

As prime minister in 2022, Johnson introduced the Elections Act which requires photo ID — a development that sparked intense criticisms from Britons.

Last year, the Electoral Commission warned that the new law could exclude hundreds of thousands of people, including minorities and those with disabilities.

A spokesperson for Johnson confirmed he had forgotten the photo ID, but that he was able to cast his ballot after he returned with a valid ID.

“Mr Johnson voted Conservative,” Sky News quoted the spokesperson as saying.

Downing Street said it would “look into” changing the controversial rules which require photo ID in order to vote, so that ID cards of veterans can be added to the list of valid identification.