The equities market declined on Friday, with profit-taking

in stocks such as Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), Wema Bank, Nigerian Breweries, and Nestle Nigeria, among others.

Following a flip-flop trading session, the market capitalisation which opened at N55,520 trillion, lost N9 billion or 0.

02 per cent, to close at N55. 511 trillion.

The All-Share Index also dropped 0.

02 per cent or 16.4 points, to close at 98,152.91, in contrast to 98,169.30 recorded on Thursday.

Consequently, the Year-To-Date (YTD) return on the index slipped to 31.27 per cent, while the market breadth closed negative with 19 losers and 18 gainers.

Meanwhile, Sovereign Trust Insurance led the losers’ log by 10 per cent to close at 36k, Regency Alliance Insurance trailed closely by 9.

76 per cent to close at 37k per share.

Unity Bank lost 7.65 per cent to close at N1.69, Japaul Gold Group declined by 6.83 per cent to close at N1.91 and Wema Bank shed 6.72 per cent to close at N6.25 per share.

Conversely, FBN Holdings, Stanbic, NGX Group led the gainers’ log by 10 per cent each to close at N20.35, N49.50, N23.10 per share respectively.

Livestock Feed followed closely by 9.93 per cent to close at N1.66, while Vitafoam Nigeria rose by 9.91 per cent to close at N18.85 per share.

Analysis of the market activities showed trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions down by 22.92 per cent.

A total of 265.07 million shares valued at N5.02 billion were exchanged in 6,582 deals, as against 297.20 million shares valued at N6.52 billion exchanged in 7,417 deals posted in the previous session.

UBA led the activity chart in volume and value with 42.35 million shares traded in deals worth N980 million, followed by Access Corporation with 28.55 million shares worth N473.11 million.

The Initiative Plc sold 26.55 million shares worth N48.02 million, Zenith Bank traded 23.94 million shares valued at N788.67 million and GTCO transacted 16.55 million shares worth N592.20 million. (NAN)

The Agege Local Government in Lagos State on Friday gave traders, scavengers and illegal occupants of railway lines, five days to vacate the area.

Alhaji Ganiyu Egunjobi, its Executive Chairman, gave the ultimatum at a public enlightenment on the ultimatum.

Reports says that the Lagos State Government and the council had earlier warned beggars and those traders on the rail tracks along Agege corridor to vacate the area within five days.

The warning came as the council held an enlarged stakeholders’ meeting with some community members on March 17, ahead of the planned demolition of illegal structures in the area.

According to Egunjobi, efforts have been made to create enough awareness for the illegal occupants of railway lines.

He said the Council was embarking on demolition of shanties in the area to ensure security of lives and property within the community.

“It has always come to our notice that hoodlums are using the avenue to attack and rob passers by of their phones and personal belongings.

“We are not on a witchhunt that’s why we are creating time and avenue to reach out to the people concerned to evacuate the premises before enforcement and demolitions,” he said.

Also, Mr Taofeek Bankole, the council’s Deputy Director, Health, charged beggars, traders and miscreants to evacuate the railway line before the enforcement of the order.

Bankole advised them to hearken to the government directive to avoid stiffer punishment.

“We have created and organised enough enlightenment to educate the people involved about the security challenges we are facing along the rail corridor.

“We are sanitising the area from the miscreants and hoodlums who pose a threat to the residents.

“We have given them five days to leave the area no matter what business transactions they are into; after the deadline, anyone arrested will face the wrath of the law,” he said.

Mr Afolabi Ayantayo, the Lagos State Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pension had, during the stakeholders meeting, said that information had been received on various criminal activities along the rail corridor.

He said that shanties were harbouring criminals who were attacking passers by and residents at night.

”Government has invested a lot of money on the rail project and we don’t want anybody to sabotage our efforts or deface the infrastructure,” he said.

The enlightenment was carried out by security personnel from the Police Rapid Response Squad (RRS), the state ‘Kick Against Indiscipline’ (KAI) and other local security outfits. (NAN)

The Kaduna State Government (KDSG), in collaboration with UNICEF and the European Union (EU), has trained lawyers and other stakeholders in the legal system on representing children in contact or in conflict with the law.

At the opening of the two-day training on Friday in Kaduna, UNICEF’s Child Protection Specialist, Dr.

Wilfred Mamah, said the training was to bring lawyers and other stakeholders to form a group to be known as the ‘multi-tier legal aid group’.

He said UNICEF is collaborating with the Kaduna Ministry of Justice, to train the group on the elementary parts of the Child Welfare and Protection Law so that children could get representation by lawyers when they come in conflict or contact with the law.

Mamah, however, lamented that representation of children by lawyers is not easy because they are not paid, making it difficult for children to get legal representation.

He, therefore, said UNICEF felt the need to train lawyers who are passionate about justice for children on the rudiments of the law and to create a forum that would enable them represent the children either in conflict or contact with the law.

Describing the Child Welfare and Protection Law as special, Mamah said ithe subject was not taught in any law school.

He said it was a new law and is five years old in Kaduna state.

“Lawyers need to understand the underlying philosophy of care inherent in the law. They need to know that even when children commit offences they need care/therapy and not punishment.

“No matter how serious their offence is, the lawyers need to apply the principles of the best interest of the child and ask the underlying questions of why they committed the offence, where were his/her parents and what is needed to be done to recapture the child.

“There are children who are also victims of abuses especially rape whose parents are shut down by the perpetrators because of their influence or wealth, we want the lawyers to also stand up for such families and ensure justice,” he said.

Speaking further, Mamah said such type of children representation is not for profit making, but probono or done for the society where the need for the group of lawyers arose to stand for the children.

He lamented that a lot of children are in prison and other institutions of punishment where the law says they should not be.

“The law said detention should be a measure of last resort. They are therefore in prison because they don’t have anybody to stand for them. We are hopeful that this training will change the narrative and on our part we will support them financially in doing that,” he said.

Earlier, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Kaduna, Sule Shuaibu, said that at the Federal level, the child rights acts exist and were domesticated in all the states of the Federation.

He said the Childs Right Act in Kaduna was domesticated after a long process and signed as a law with the name Child Welfare and Protection Law with the same content as the Federal version of the law

Sule added that, importantly, courts were designated to take care of offences committed by children in Kaduna state.

He, therefore, said the training was important to those lawyers who are expected to take part in either  prosecution or defence of cases involving children.

Speaking further, the Commissioner said “Children are always children, when it comes to offences they commit, the law always want to give them protection because of their state of mind, level, age and of course what matters in crime is the intent.

“In most situations, the children maybe engaged in crime or offences without actually knowing the intent or result of what ever they committed will result in.

“This is where the childs welfare and protection law comes in to give them a kind of protection in such a way that even if they have to go through the process of the law, the end result will be to get them reformed and back into the society better than they were at time the offences were committed,” he said.

The participants cut across lawyers from the ministry of justice, private practice, social workers from the Ministry of Human Services and Social Development, among others. (NAN)