13-YEAR-OLD STUDENT DROWNS IN KUBWA RIVER

A 13-year-old boy has reportedly died while swimming in a river behind a petrol station along the Abuja-Kubwa expressway.

City News gathered that the deceased, Kayode Busari, a student of Junior Secondary School, Kubwa, had gone to swim at the river with five of his friends where he met his death.
The source said he was one of the candidates sitting for the ongoing junior West African Examination Council (WAEC) exams and had just finished writing a paper when he left for the stream with his classmates.
“It was a farmer working in his farm close to the stream that saw the boy drowning and tried to rescue him but did not succeed,” the source added.
According to the source, the farmer alerted the police who arrived the scene and carried the corpse to the hospital.
It further revealed that the incident was not the first time students had gone to the stream, adding that they even go with food in some occasions. 
City News learnt that the mother of the deceased collapsed when the news got to her, as he was said to be one of only two children she has.
When contacted, the Kubwa Divisional Police Officer, Chief Superintendent Nurrudeen Sabo, said the body was taken to the Kubwa General Hospital where it was certified dead and deposited at the mortuary.
He described the incident as tragic, urging parents to be more concerned about the whereabouts of their children.

DailyTrust 

CLERIC NABBED FOR SLEEPING WITH VIGILANTE’S WIFE AT MADALLA

A middle-aged cleric has been arrested by members of the vigilante group for allegedly sleeping with the wife of one of the vigilante leaders in Madalla, Niger State.

The cleric, City News learnt, was picked by the vigilantes at Area 1, Garki in the Federal Capital Territory.
A vigilant source told City News that the cleric allegedly used charm to whisk the woman away from her matrimonial home after the husband had travelled out.
In another incident, two men were on Saturday morning arrested by members of the vigilante group for allegedly raping a six year-old girl at Ugnuwar T-junction at Zuba, an Abuja suburb.
A witness, who gave the names of the two suspects as Ismaila and Mahdi, said the incident happened around 8:12 p.m. after the suspects lured the girl into a room and defiled her.
He said the girl, a hawker,was invited by the suspects into a room, saying they detained her after buying the Soya beans, she was hawking till around 8p.m. before they raped her.
According to him, members of her family went in search of her when she failed to return home not until 9:13 p.m.
“The following day, her mother noticed the way she was walking with blood coming out from her body and she became suspicious. She later confessed that the suspects raped her. Members of the vigilante group in the area were immediately invited,” he said.
He said the vigilante group immediately swung into action to arrest the two suspects.
The witness further disclosed that the victim was later taken to a private hospital for treatment, while the two suspects were handed over to the police outpost opposite Zuba Motor Park.
Efforts to get reaction of the Zuba Divisional Police Officer (DPO) were not successful, but a police officer confirmed the arrest of two persons in Zuba for defiling a girl.
“Actually, two men were arrested in connection with raping of a six-year-old girl as they confessed to the crime and were charged to court, while they have been sentenced to two years imprisonment each,” he said.
It would also be recalled that early last month; two men were arrested by vigilante members for allegedly defiling an under-aged girl in the area.

DailyTrust 

RAINFALL, PEST ATTACK RAISE TOMATO PRICE IN KATSINA

As the price of fresh tomato continues to soar across the country, irrigation farmers in Katsina State have attributed the development to the declining irrigation activities at the eve of raining season in the North.

Irrigation farming used to commence in late October or early November and continue all through the months till the end of April when majority of the farmers will switch over to their conventional farming in the raining season.
The Secretary of Dantankari Irrigation Farmers Association, Alhaji Haruna Yakubu, at Dandume village, said: “The risk involved in farming tomato in this season is very high as the crop is easily destroyed by rainfalls which generate heat from soil to suffocate the crop. Few of us that are taking the risk are the ones reaping huge profit from it as a basket costs up to N10, 000 now.
“The true picture of the situation is that the chances of losing everything you invested in now is higher than that of making any profit you may think of gaining.”
Another tomato farmer, Ibrahim Mika Dandume, said besides the danger associated with tomato farming in raining season, a pest attack locally called ‘ebola’ has drastically reduced the volume of tomato this year, making its price to go high.
“Many large scale tomato farmers have lost millions of naira due to the worm attack that we are yet to get its remedy. We tried many types of pesticides and local concoctions against it but all in vain.”
 Mika said that the worm first attacks the leaves of the crop before it descends on the tomato fruit and damage it.
He called on agricultural research institutions and agencies to conduct a thorough study of the strange pest in order to get a reliable pesticide that can eliminate it.

DailyTrust