Former Minister of State for Education, Senator Iyabo Anisulowo, who was kidnapped on Wednesday last week, has recounted how she had stayed with her captors without eating food up to the time she was let off the hook yesterday.

Anisulowo, who arrived at the Government House at Isale-Igbehin in Ogun state at about 10pm in the company of the state Commissioner of Police, Abdulmajid Ali, said she had not eaten since Wednesday and that she lived only on water.
The former minister, who was rescued by the police on Tuesday at about 7pm at Gbegbelawo village near Olorunda town in Abeokuta North Local Government Area, described her experience as “terrible and dehumanizing.”
Anisulowo, who was also an ex senator said that she knew that security agents were searching for her, which she said gave her strength and hope that she would survive the incident.
Governor Ibikunle Amosun, on his part, commended the security agencies which deployed their personnel and equipment in the rescue effort. Amosun said that though the abductors demanded a ransom of N200 million, nothing was eventually paid.
The governor expressed confidence in the ability of the police to provide security and therefore called on the Federal Government to adequately equip the Force.
Also speaking, Ali told newsmen that the ring leader of the gang behind the abduction had been arrested, adding that the command would make the state uncomfortable for criminals.
NAN. [myad]

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has decried the high cost of rent that has deprived small civil servants access to accommodation in the capital city.

The minister said that there are so many big houses built in Abuja that are unoccupied because of the exorbitant rent charged by landlords. This is even as he made it clear that his government is looking into low cost housing for such civil servants.

“We have too many highbrow houses in Abuja which have remained vacant despite the housing deficit the workers are experiencing in the city.”

Muhammad Bello spoke today, Wednesday, when he received a delegation of the Federal Mortgage Bank led by its Acting Managing Director, Mr. Richard Esien that in his office.

“What we need today in Abuja are low income houses which low income earners can afford and that is what my Administration would further encourage to take care of the less privileged people in the society.”

The Minister promised that his Administration is prepared to enhance the relationship between the FCT Administration and the Federal Mortgage Bank for the mutual benefit of the two organizations.

 He said also decried a situation where estates were built in the past without provision of recreational facilities, children play ground as well as conversion of green areas to build houses, he directed that henceforth, all new estates must make provision for such essential facilities.

The Minister directed that a green area be made available for the Federal Mortgage Bank to develop into a befitting Public Park for usage at weekends by the residents free of charge; adding that such gesture should be the Bank’s corporate social responsibility to the immediate society it is operating in.

Speaking earlier, the Acting Managing Director of the Federal Mortgage Bank, Mr. Richard Esien sought for plots of land to deliver houses to Nigerians in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s mandate of 5,000 houses yearly.

He said that it is only Bwari Area Council out of the six Area Councils in the FCT that has complied with the FMBN Act of contributing two and half percent of all workers earning and therefore appealed to the Minister to prevail on the remaining five Area Councils to make their contributions according to the law.  [myad]

Nigerian senate has unanimously adopted death penalty for anyone involved in kidnapping, which is a rising crime the country’s southern region where victims have included senators and schoolchildren.

The lawmakers unanimously adopted the report of the Senate Joint Committee on police affairs, national security and intelligence after which Senator Ben Murray-Bruce said: “Kidnapping is a very serious problem with grave implications in several areas of the economy.”

The committee recommended that a law prescribing death penalty for abduction be enacted as a national response for the phenomenon.

Senators took turns to describe their experiences as they shared how their own relatives got kidnapped and demands were made for ransom.

Senator Adamu Aliero of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) recounted the ordeals of abductees and what their families go through during such experience.

“Anyone convicted of kidnapping should be sentenced to death,” Aliero said.

The adoption of the committees’ report came a day after police rescued a former Senator Iyabo Anisulowo, who had been abducted last Wednesday in southwestern Ogun State. Her abductor had demanded two million naira ($10,152) in return for her freedom.

Incumbent Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu recalled how he was abducted on September 10, 2000, and kept for two days before he was released.

Nigeria’s most prominent abduction was the April 14, 2014, ferrying away of some 276 schoolchildren by Boko Haram militants.

Only 57 of those girls have so far been accounted for, with 219 still believed to be held in captivity. [myad]