Nigeria seals visa centres of France, Belgium, Italy over alleged unfair practices

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC,), has sealed off France, Belgium and Italy visa centres located at the Mukhtar El-Yakub House, Central Business District, Abuja.

The office was sealed with the combined efforts of operatives from the FCCPC, Nigerian Police Force (NPF) and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps as staff of the centre resisted the sealing.

Sealing off the centre on Thursday, Mrs Boladale Adeyinka, the Director, Surveillance and Investigations Department of FCCPC, said the move was due to failure of the centre to receive a letter of the Commission to investigate a consumer complaint.

Adeyinka said the centre was also sealed due to obstruction of investigation or inquiry and conducting services considered upon reasonable suspicion to be inimical to consumers’ welfare.

Isheu Ibrahim Jadda, a vocal critic of Nigeria’s former Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, was arrested in Gashua, Yobe State, on Friday and detained overnight before being transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Damaturu on Saturday morning. His arrest is allegedly linked to his comments regarding a controversial ₦5,730,000,000 (five billion, seven hundred thirty million Naira) water project in Gashua.

The Federal Executive Council had approved ₦3,510,000,000 (three billion, five hundred ten million Naira) for two water projects in Gashua, aimed at extending water supply services and upgrading existing water works. These projects were deemed urgently needed due to a surge in kidney-related diseases among the local population.

However, investigations have revealed that despite full payments to contractors, many of these water projects remain incomplete or non-functional, leaving residents without access to potable water. For instance, a ₦492,000,000 (four hundred ninety-two million Naira) water supply project in Gashua was found abandoned, with the site overtaken by weeds and no evidence of ongoing work.

Further investigations uncovered that over ₦350,000,000 (three hundred fifty million Naira) allocated for constructing solar-powered and hand pump boreholes in Yobe North Senatorial District were mismanaged. Contracts were awarded to companies that failed to execute the projects, denying communities access to clean water.

The arrest of Jadda has raised concerns about the suppression of dissent and the lack of accountability in public project execution. Residents and activists are calling for transparency and proper utilization of funds to address the pressing water needs in the region.

📺: via @saharareporters

Roughly two dozen states filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Trump administration over sweeping cuts to AmeriCorps, the federal volunteer service program established in 1993. ⁠
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The suit accuses the Department of Government Efficiency of unlawfully gutting the agency and terminating hundreds of millions in congressionally approved grants. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said the administration made “abrupt and drastic cuts to staff and volunteers and terminated grants.”⁠
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AmeriCorps programs support more than 200,000 members annually, many of whom receive stipends and education benefits while working in community organizations, disaster relief, and public service projects.⁠
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According to the complaint, at least 85% of staff were placed on administrative leave this month, and some 2,000 members of the National Civilian Community Corps were informed they would be dismissed early. Notices sent to grantees cited a shift in agency priorities.⁠
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The White House defended the move by citing $40 million in improper payments attributed to documentation and coding errors. “President Trump has the legal right to restore accountability to the entire Executive Branch,” said Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly. ⁠
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The University of Pennsylvania will prohibit transgender athletes from competing on women’s sports teams and remove records set by Lia Thomas as part of a federal agreement, the Department of Education announced Tuesday. Thomas, a transgender woman and UPenn graduate, won the 2022 NCAA title in the women’s 500-yard freestyle.⁠
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The Department’s Office for Civil Rights said UPenn violated Title IX by “permitting males to compete in women’s intercollegiate athletics and to occupy women-only intimate facilities.” Title IX bars sex-based discrimination at institutions receiving federal funds. “This is a complex issue, and I am pleased that we were able to reach a resolution through the standard OCR process for concluding Title IX investigations,” UPenn President J. Larry Jameson said in a statement.⁠
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Jameson added that the university “will review and update the Penn women’s swimming records set during that season to indicate who would now hold the records under current eligibility guidelines.” The agreement requires the university to revise record books and team eligibility policies in line with federal directives.⁠
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