Benue Varsity Shut Down Indefinitely – TheNigerialawyer

The Benue State University, Makurdi, has been shut down
indefinitely.

The management of the institution, while announcing the closure
on Monday, in a statement signed by its Registrar, Dr. Mrs. Mfaga
Modom, said the decision was not unconnected to the closure of
entry gates of the university by the students on Monday
morning.

“Following the closure of all the university entry gates by
students on Monday, 2nd September 2019 despite all entreaties by
the University Management, the Vice-Chancellor/Chairman of Senate
on behalf of the Senate of the Benue State University, Makurdi has
approved the closure of the University with immediate effect”, the
statement said.

Though the cause of the students’ action was not known to this
newspaper, but the management said its swift decision to shut down
the university, was “to avoid further breakdown of law and order in
and around the University campus”.

The statement also directed all students to “vacate the campus
latest 4.00 p.m. today, Monday, 2nd September 2019”.

Daily Trust Appoints New Editors
The Board of Directors, Media Trust Limited, publishers of the
Daily Trust newspapers, has announced five new appointments.

The appointments were contained in a statement by the company’s
Chief Executive Officer/ Editor-in-Chief, Mannir Dan Ali.

Among the changes is the promotion of Hamza Idris to the
position of Editor of the Daily Trust. He was until the appointment
the newspaper’s Politics Editor. He succeeds Nasiru L. Abubakar,
who has been elevated to the position Managing Editor.

Abubakar is to be assisted by Nasir Imam, who holds the position
of Deputy Managing Editor.
The Deputy Editor of the Daily Trust is now Stella Iyaji, who,
until this appointment, was the Deputy Editor of the Daily Trust on
Sunday.

Furthermore, the Editor of the Daily Trust on Sunday, Lawan
Danjuma Adamu, is now to function as Editor of both Weekend Titles,
Daily Trust on Saturday and Daily Trust on Sunday.

The erstwhile editor of the Daily Trust on Saturday Abdulkareem
Baba Aminu is now to serve as the Secretary of the Trust Television
implementation committee that is to actualize the national
television license of Media Trust Limited.

Amina Alhassan has also been elevated to the position of Deputy
Editor of the Weekend Titles.
Hamza Idris holds a Bachelor of Arts (B.A) in Mass Communication
from the University of Maiduguri and a Master of Science (M.Sc) in
the same field from the National Open University of Nigeria
(NOUN).

He joined the services of Media Trust Limited in September 2005
as a Reporter/Researcher, and served as a correspondent of the
newspaper in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states. In 2010, he became the
North East Bureau Chief of the newspaper and operated from Daily
Trust’s regional office in Maiduguri. In 2015, he was transferred
to the headquarters in Abuja as Group Politics Editor, a position
he held until his recent appointment.

Hamza is also a member of the Daily Trust Editorial Board, a
Fellow of the International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ, 2013),
Alumnus of Professional Fellows Programme (Washington D.C., 2013),
and Member, Swiss Peace (Switzerland, 2015).

On his part, Nasiru Abubakar was appointed substantive Editor of
Daily Trust in January 2016. Before then he was the Acting Editor
of the paper. He also worked as Deputy Editor and served in various
capacities, including Acting Editor of the Weekly Trust and Deputy
News Editor.

He studied Mass Communication at the Kaduna Polytechnic and
Bayero University, Kano. He commenced his Journalism career as a
stringer with Weekly Trust in 2000, before he was appointed as a
permanent staff on Reporter cadre in 2004.
Abdulkareem Baba Aminu joined the Weekly Trust (now Daily Trust on
Saturday) as a full time reporter in 2003. After a stint as a
reporter, he became the Entertainment Editor and eventually the
editor of the magazine section of the paper.

Baba Aminu became Acting Editor of the paper from late 2008 and
was made substantive Editor in July 2010.

In 2012, he was appointed Creative Editor overseeing all Media
Trust publications, before returning to the Daily Trust on Saturday
as editor in 2014.

Lawan Danjuma Adamu joined the services of Media Trust Limited
in 2009 as a correspondent in Kano. And in 2011, he was posted to
Zamfara State as state correspondent.

He worked there until he was redeployed to Kano as Acting
Regional Editor, to take charge of the Kano Chronicle title and
oversee editorial matters in the North-West.

In 2013, Adamu was appointed Acting Deputy Editor, Sunday Trust,
and in 2016, he was appointed the Editor of Daily Trust on
Sunday.

Adamu graduated with a Second Class (Upper Division) in
Political Science from the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto in
2002. Before joining Media Trust Limited, he spent eight years in
the Directorate of Army Public Relations (1996 – 2004). He also had
a stint in the National Review magazine as a Senior Staff
Writer.

Miss Iyaji holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in English
Language from the University of Maiduguri and University of Abuja
respectively. After graduating, she served at the Imo Broadcasting
Corporation, Owerri for her NYSC scheme.

She later joined the services of DBN Television, Abuja where she
worked as a Reporter, News Editor and Producer. She also reported
the Police, Judiciary and the Senate. She joined Media Trust
Limited as an Assistant News Editor (States and Regions).

In 2016, she was appointed as Deputy Editor of the Daily Trust
on Sunday, a position she held until her elevation.

Miss Iyaji is also a member of the Daily Trust Editorial
Board.

Amina Alhassan is a graduate of Mass communication from the
Ahmadu Bello University Zaria. She is currently undergoing a
Master’s programme in Conflict, Peace and Strategic Studies at the
Nile University, Abuja. Amina was also a 2010 Journalist of the
Year nominee for the Future Nigeria Awards. She is a 2017 Fellow of
the Wole Soyinka Center for Investigative Journalism Female
Reporters Leadership Programme (FRLP) and a Co-Chair of its alumni.
She is currently the Editor of Tambari Magazine, a Daily Trust
weekly special publication.

The appointments are with immediate effect.

By PRNigeria^[1]