Watch Signature TV News Update : CBN worries over the low participation of the SouthEast in its intervention programmes.

Troops of 8 Division, Nigerian Army operating in Zamfara and adjoining States say they have made tremendous progress in the ongoing fight against banditry and other violent crimes in the North West.

 

The troops in a statement signed by Brigadier General Mohammed Yerima, the Director Army Public Relations said they successfully cleared many bandits’ camps in Jaya, Kadaya, and Bayan Ruwa amongst several others and successfully neutralised 48 bandits.

They added that the bandits’ leader in the area Jummo sustained a gunshot wound to his leg and the troops rescued 18 kidnap victims from the bandits’ enclave.

Moreover, eight AK-47 rifles and one G3 rifle, as well as one PKT and a Machine Gun were recovered from the Bandits.

 

The Division had earlier launched Operation Tsare Mutane following the directives of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru for the Division to stabilise the area in order to facilitate the return of socio-economic activities. #

 

 

The Federal Road Safety Corps has commenced massive mobilisation of its personnel and operational equipment for the Sallah special patrol aimed at ensuring a safer road environment following the declaration of Thursday, May 13, 2021, Eid el Fitr in Nigeria

Corps Public Education Officer, Bisi Kazeem, disclosed this, saying no fewer than 35,000 of the FRSC Regular, Special Marshals, and Road Safety Club Members, about 750 patrol vehicles, 120 ambulances, 25 tow trucks, and over 200 bikes would be on the road during the special operation that would commence from 11th to 17th May 2021.

Kazeem stated that the Corps is embarking on the special patrol operation to ensure that motorists and other road users have a hitch-free celebration, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and security challenges in the country. #

 

 

 

The Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) says that mock examination slips for its Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) can now be printed out in preparation for the exercise.

JAMB made this known in its Weekly Bulletin made available on Monday in Abuja.

The board added that the slip contained candidates’ details such as registration number and the centre to which they are to sit for the examination within their chosen examination town.

JAMB also said that a total of 845,517 candidates have so far registered for the 2021 UTME and a total of 38,886 candidates have registered for Direct Entry as of Sunday, May 9th.

Registration commenced on April 8th, to end on May 15, while the examination is scheduled to commence from June 5th to June 19th. #

 

 

 

IN BUSINESS

 

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has decried the low participation of the South-East in its economic intervention policies and programmes.

The acting director, Corporate Communications Department of the bank, Mr Osita Nwanisobi, disclosed this on Sunday during the CBN Fair in Enugu.

Nwanisobi said that the CBN intervention programmes were meant to create jobs, engender financial inclusion and make the people have access to finance.

He said Nigerians need to leverage the intervention programmes of the apex bank for a better living at a time when inflation was spiking and prices of food items souring.

Nwanisobi said the aims of the CBN intervention in the real economy were to create jobs, bring down food prices, financially include the excluded and engender inclusive growth.

He said that the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, was very passionate about the 37 interventions of the apex bank, adding that the South-East could do much better in accessing them.

In a goodwill message, the Enugu State commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Martins Idu, appealed to the CBN to domesticate some of its intervention programmes to enable more people to participate. #

 

 

After the Federal Government of Nigeria declared Monday 3rd May 2021 a Public Holiday to mark the Workers Day Anniversary, the market traded for Four days last week. The market recorded a total turnover of One Point Four-One-Nine Billion shares worth Fifteen Point Nine Billion in Eighteen Thousand, Four Hundred and Fifty-Nine deals traded last week by investors on the floor of the Exchange.

This was in contrast to a total of One Point Four- Four-One Billion shares valued at Ten Point Eight-Eight Billion Naira that exchanged hands in the previous week. The Financial Services Industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with One Billion shares, a Seventy-Five Point Three-Four of the total volume traded last week, which was valued at Nine Point Five-Three Billion naira traded in Ten Thousand Nine Hundred and Seven deals. The Industrial Goods Industry followed with Sixty Point-Seven Million shares worth Two Billion in One Thousand Seventy deals. Trading in the top three equities namely Access Bank Plc, FBN Holdings Plc and Zenith Bank Plc accounted for Six Hundred and Nine Point Nine-Eight-Eight Million shares worth Six Point Five-Nine Billion in Four Thousand Eight Hundred and Seventy deals, a Forty-One Point Four -Two percent contribution to the total equity turnover in value.

The NSE All-Share Index depreciated by One Point Six percent, closing at Thirty-Nine Thousand One Hundred and Ninety-Eight Point Seven-Five points, from Thirty-Nine Thousand, Eight Hundred and Thirty-Two Point Six-One points at the beginning of the week.

The Market Capitalization likewise depreciated by one point Nine-Nine percent to close the week at twenty point Four-Three Trillion. Thirty-one equities appreciated in price during the week, lower than Thirty-Six in the previous week.

However, thirty-seven equities depreciated in price lower than Forty-One equities in the previous week, while Ninety-Two equities remained unchanged, higher than Eighty-Five equities recorded in the previous week. #

 

ON THE FOREIGN SCENE

More than 300 people were wounded on Monday in renewed clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police in Jerusalem, Palestinian medics said, as an Israeli celebration of its 1967 takeover of the holy city threatened to further inflame tensions.

It was gathered that Palestinians hurled rocks at Israeli officers in riot gear who fired rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear gas on the esplanade of the revered Al-Aqsa mosque.

Loud booms and angry screams echoed from the ancient stone walls of the compound, revered by both Jews and Muslims, where tear gas filled the air and the ground was littered with rocks, stun grenade fragments and other debris.

The violence was the latest in days of the worst such disturbances in Jerusalem since 2017, fuelled by a long-running bid by Jewish settlers to take over nearby Palestinian homes in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.

Despite mounting international condemnation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he supported the Israeli police force’s “just struggle” amid the Jerusalem clashes. #

 

In sports

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, pressure is mounting for the venue of the Champions League final to be changed.

The Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul is due to host the Champions League final on May 29 but the venue might be changed after the UK government urged fans not to travel for the fixture later this month and placed Turkey on its ‘red’ list of at-risk countries.

 

Wembley will be the most likely venue for the final if the fixture between Chelsea and Manchester City is moved to England.

 

A decision is expected to be made by Tuesday on whether the match will take place at the Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul as originally planned or at a different location. #

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Before we end the news, a recap of our major stories

 

Troops of 8 Division, Nigerian Army operating in Zamfara Neutralised 48 Bandits, Recover Rounds of Ammunition.

 

Federal Road Safety Corps deployed equipment, officers in FCT, other states ahead of Sallah.

 

Central Bank of Nigeria worried over the low participation of the southeast in its intervention programmes.