A popular On Air Personality (OAP) with the NTA in Akure, Olubunmi Oke has been kidnapped.

Reports by citizen reporters in town this night says the female journalist with the NTA was kidnapped by unknown persons on Oba-ile road, Akure.

Her whereabouts remained unknown as at the time of this report.

Bunmi, an easy going and jovial broadcaster is the latest victim of the state of insecurity that has pervaded the nation since Goodluck Jonathan took over as President.

We at the Liberty Report call upon the police to swing into action and ensure the release of Bunmi.

Journalists do not have money and they should be spared the gory of kidnapping that failed leadership has wrought upon the land.

By SaharaReporters, New York

Popular Nigerian televangelist, Pastor Timothy Oluwole Obadare, is dead.

Obadare, the leader of Christ Apostolic Church and later founder of the breakaway World Soul-Winning Evangelistic Ministries (WOSEM) ministry, died at home in Nigeria, according to his New York-based son, Pastor Abraham Obadare Jnr.
The legally blind prophet, who once commanded thousands of worshippers, was aged 83.

By Hassan Abdul

A Polish company, Pietrucha Group says it is ready to introduce a new product capable of helping Nigeria’s efforts at flood control.

Speaking to journalists, CEO of the company, Jerzy Pietrucha said the company, using thermoplastic and geosynthetic materials, can provide "complete designs of flood protection walls and other rearrangements of rivers to help Nigeria overcome this problem."

Many Nigerian towns and cities were submerged under flood waters in 2012 and the Nigeria Meteorological Agency has issued flood warnings again for the 2013 rainy season.

"We are a plastic processing group with plants in Asia and in Europe.

We manufacture plastic products and building materials for civil engineering application such as road constructions, dam rehabilitation, excavations, as well as for water engineering such as embankments, flood protection walls or regulation of rivers as well as cut off barriers that restrict ground water filtration," he said.

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These are bad times for plagiarisers in the academic community as not less than 123 Nigerian universities are uniting forces to deploy a top anti-plagiarism software to check the integrity of academic work.

Nigeria is the first African country to introduce the plagiarism detection software by Turnitin on a nationwide basis.

The deal is costing the universities N480 million for the first three years of the agreement.

Negotiations between Turnitin and the universities began in February. Right now, staff of the various universities are undergoing training and testing of the software which would become fully operational from May.

Turnitin is working in partnership with the Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVC) to roll out the technology across the country.

CVC Secretary General Mike Fabarode who spoke to Daily Trust said plagiarism in Nigerian universities is "becoming a major problem" and vice chancellors had to swiftly tackle it "before it spreads like wildfire."

He said the committee wants to preserve the integrity of the Nigerian academic enterprise which could be destroyed by continuous plagiarism.

Worldwide, Turnitin is used by more than 10,000 institutions in 126 countries. In the UK alone, 98% of the country’s higher institutions use the software to check for academic originality and authenticity, save instructors time and provide valuable feedback to students.

This is how the software works: Students submit their assignments to Turnitin electronically and the system compares the content to a huge database of content from online resources, journals and student papers. It then flags up any references which match content on the database, that is, anything that could potentially have been plagiarised or not referenced correctly. It will highlight these sections so that the tutor can take a closer look.

Turnitin Vice President International, Will Murray, in a statement said Nigeria is following the example of UK, Pakistan, Turkey and several other countries to ensure the integrity of its scholarly work on a national basis.

"This move highlights the determination of Nigerian higher education institutions to address the issue of plagiarism and promote academic integrity and authenticity as well as enhance their reputations on an international level.

"We’re delighted to be assisting the CVC in establishing a national model for academic integrity in Nigeria and onsite training has already begun."

The National Leader of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu,has urged the federal government to include negotiation and amnesty in its move to address the Boko Haram insurgency.

Mr. Tinubu who said that the application of force alone will only made the situation worse has disagreed with President Jonathan’s stance on amnesty for the fundamentalists, saying that amnesty must be based on justice, particularly for those with no blood stains on their hands.

The former governor of Lagos state made this known during his visit to the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, to commiserate the failed attack on him earlier in the year.

In a recent visit to Borno state, President Jonathan had declared no amnesty for the religious extremists who he described as ‘ghosts.’

“I support the granting of amnesty to the sect but with some conditions, which include justice for those people with blood in their hands because it would go a long way in discouraging such dastardly acts in future” he added.

“For the innocent ones among them, there must be amnesty. We cannot fight a war in our own country against minor crimes and minor people. We would only end up multiplying these people by trying to use force against our own citizens.”

“I therefore disagree with the President; they are not ghosts” he said.

He however said that members of the insurgent group who engage in criminal activities should be brought to justice.

He further noted that granting amnesty to the sect is inevitable if the country is to avoid a devastating war, stating that “we cannot afford to fight another war in our own country.”

Mr Tinubu also blamed the security challenges of the country on the duplication of ministries related to the Police affairs which he says has rendered efforts of the Inspector General of Police, M.D. Abubakar ineffective.

“It is the responsibility of the president to protect lives and properties of Nigerians and ensure stability of the country. If he is not capable of doing this, then he should resign as president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“President Jonathan cannot continue to blame one Inspector General of Police, after another. It is the responsibility of the President to ensure that unity and peace prevail in the country and that we are not divided by tribal and religion differences,” Tinubu said.

“Again, we‘ll equally look at the police to see if for every action taken there is justification and punishment for those who committed crimes against humanity.”

The former governor said it is regrettable that some Nigerians are feeding on the conflict, claiming that it gives them unhindered access to country’s security vote, hence they would ensure that there was no end to it.

“I am convinced that the Boko Haram conflict is sponsored and promoted by some highly placed people for economic reasons, while others try to polarise it along political divides” he stated.

source: channeltv