BY KELECHUKWU IRUOMAIn Sokoto state, there are 2,000 shoeless boys roaming the streets in tattered clothes. With bowls and dirty ropes suspended around their necks, they move in groups begging for alms. Their teachers, popularly known as mallams, supported by parents and cultural beliefs, encourage them to beg. This does not only deprive them the opportunity of an education, they [...]
In the beginning of June, Plateau State Polytechnic was full of life; students and lecturers went about their normal businesses while academic and non-academic activities went on smoothly.Fast forward to Friday, June 29, the institution had turned a ghost of itself. There was no sign of life in virtually all parts of the school when TheCable visited. It was a similar [...]
The national assembly slashed the allocation for security infrastructure in the 104 Unity Schools across the country by N3 billion -- despite the security challenge plaguing these schools.Schools, particularly in the northern part of the country, have been attacked by Boko Haram insurgents, with students killed and kidnapped.On February 25, 2014, suspected Boko Haram insurgents invaded Federal Government College, Buni [...]
In December, TheCable published an undercover investigation exposing how children are used as cheap labour in stone crushing sites and lead mines in Ebonyi.The children, hired by artisanal miners, work during school hours.By virtue of the hazardous substances they are exposed to, the children become susceptible to tuberculosis, kidney disease, and lung cancer.Six months after the report and despite assurances given [...]
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it has paid over N24bn to gas suppliers and released another fund to electricity distribution companies (DisCos) for the purchase of 704,928 electricity meters.The apex bank said it also purchased and installed over 500 transformers to enhance the distribution networks, and over 2,000km of 11kV lines and 130km of 0.45kV lines were [...]
Four years ago, Boko Haram attacked Chibok, a town in Borno, north-east Nigeria, raiding it and abducting 276 girls who were writing their final high school exams at the Government Girls Secondary School. 57 escaped, a total of 103 were released (two years after) through negotiation, while 112 girls are missing up till now. TheCable was in Chibok to speak [...]
Mercy Solomon is an indigene of Chibok, Borno state, a town that has come to be famous for the kidnap of 276 school girls on April 14, 2014. She sits on a white chair, dressing the hair of one of her children who she says has not been to school since the beginning of this year. Mary is reluctant to [...]
Lydia Joshua, one of the 276 girls kidnapped at Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno state, on April 14, 2014, has disclosed that during the three years she spent in the captivity, she only drank water when it rained.Joshua was among the captives released through a negotiation with the Boko Haram sect in 2017. She is now trying to adjust to [...]
The house of representatives has set up an ad-hoc panel to probe the attempt to pay dubious fees amounting to $17 million to two lawyers for the recovery of $321 million, stolen by Sani Abacha, former military ruler.They also asked President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene in the matter.TheCable had reported that Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice, [...]
More teachers have been deployed to the school located in the camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) at Gubio, Maiduguri, Borno state, TheCable understands.TheCable had reported that the camp, which hosts an estimated 20,500 persons displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency, is besieged with the problems of insufficient and poorly incentivised teachers as well as lack of writing and instructional materials.The [...]
