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<h1>Six persons, all males, sustained various degrees of injury on Monday morning, in a lone accident involving a 911 DAF truck on the busy Abuja-Keffi highway.</h1>

The truck with registration number ANC 312, which was carrying sacks of onions to the Orange market near Masaka in Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, crashed into a deep gully at Sharp Corner u-turn after its rear axle and tyre broke off.

An eyewitness told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the breaking off of the truck’s axle coupled with the momentum of the vehicle, caused the driver to lose control.

Another eyewitness, Mr John Idika, a commercial motorcyclist, blamed the accident on the driver’s over-speeding and dangerous driving.

He added that the driver over-sped because traffic on that part of the highway was light but the deep potholes there put so much pressure on the vehicle’s suspension that the axle (complete with the rear tyres) had to break off.

Idika further said that he was convinced that it was in order to avoid ramming into commercial motorcyclists stationed at a close-by junction that the driver of the truck decided to crash the vehicle into the gully.

Another eye witness said on condition of anonymity that a mechanical fault could have been responsible for the accident.

He said that before the crash and from the way the vehicle kept swerving from one side of the road to the other, it was obvious that the driver had lost control.

“If the vehicle was not faulty, why did the rear tyres and the rear axle pull out and part of the body fell off?

“I think the road safety and other relevant agencies should show more seriousness about the issue of road worthiness of vehicles,’’ he said.

Mr Lede Maxwell, the Unit Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Nyanya, confirmed the number of casualties in the accident to NAN.

“A total of 6 persons were involved in the accident – all male – and two of the casualties were seriously injured and they have been transferred to the hospital, while the other four had minor injuries.

“Four of the casualties were passengers on the lorry, while the other two were okada riders at the junction, where the accident occurred."

He said that the two that were seriously injured were transferred to Nyanya General Hospital for treatment.

Maxwell said that the hospital was able to admit one of the injured persons, while the second person was referred to the “Trauma Centre at the National Hospital, Abuja.

“The hospital officials said they cannot manage him, so he was referred to the National Hospital.

According to the unit commander, a confirmed member of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) has claimed that the truck involved in the accident was known to operators of such vehicles at the Orange Market.

He said that investigation would continue as the man, who spoke on condition of anonymity, promised to visit the FRSC office in Nyanya along with the union’s chairman and the driver of the vehicle.

About 70 people perished in an accident involving a Metro Mass bus and a cargo truck

An eyewitness told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the breaking off of the truck’s axle coupled with the momentum of the vehicle, caused the driver to lose control.

6 injured as truck loses rear axle, tyres along Abuja-Keffi highway

<h1>The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has pledged to increase the funding of the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) due to the success of the programme in the North East.</h1>

Mr Edwin Ezelu, CBN Deputy Director of Development and Finance, made the promise on Tuesday in Yola at a formal ceremony marking the repayment of the ABP loan given to the North East Commodity Association (NECAS).

"This is in light of the success of the ABP, with the repayment of N1.5 billion and the cultivation of 37,904 100kg. bags of maize, sorghum, rice and soybeans, which is equivalent to 3,709 tonnes, by farmers under NECAS," he said.

Ezelu reiterated the commitment of the CBN in ensuring the timely release of funds to farmers, particularly those who had proved their worth, adding that the banks resolve was aimed at facilitating the achievement of the Federal Governments plans to boost the country's food security and agricultural value chain.

Since 1977, CBN has been carrying out interventions in the agricultural development of Nigeria.

"As part of efforts to tackle the challenges confronting agriculture, agribusiness and smallholder farmers, who are the drivers of the nations agricultural value chain, the Anchor Borrowers Programme was born," he said.

Ezelu stressed that the CBN would not relent in its efforts to support the country's farmers, saying that ABP was part of banks strategies aimed at creating scientific solutions to the challenges facing Nigeria's food security.

He said that the North East success story would serve as an eye-opener to farmers, while encouraging them to embrace the programme in efforts to expand their farming activities and boost food production.

"It has become imperative because it is aimed at creating economic linkages between smallholder farmers and reputable large-scale processors, with a view to increasing agricultural output and significantly improving capacity utilisation of integrated mills, he" said.

Also speaking, Mr Ameh Owoicho, Executive Director, Credit and Empowerment (North-Central), Bank of Agriculture (BOA), said that the main goal of BOA was to assist farmers in their efforts to ensure food security and feed a rising population.

He added that the bank also wanted to improve the income of smallholder farmers, who comprised the largest segment of the country's farmers.

Owoicho, therefore, expressed the banks commitment to disbursing ABP funds or any other agricultural funds approved by the CBN, within five days of receipt of applications from the apex bank.

"I assure the farmers, who are under the BOA window of ABP programmes, that they would have access to their funds without any delay once the drawdown conditions have been met.

"BOA is concerned with the timely disbursement of funds to farmers very seriously, as this helps to ensure timely repayment of loans, which is also a critical component of its mandate," he said.

Alhaji Sadiq Deware, the National President of NECAS, said that the N1.5 billion loan repayment was part of the N8.9 billion ABP loan granted to NECAS in 2018 for one year at nine per cent interest rate.

He said that that the money was paid to NECAS the loan guarantor for the farmers which then deposited it at Bank of Agriculture and later forwarded it to the CBN.

Deware commended CBN and BOA for creating the cashless programme which had significantly improved agricultural production in the North East, while encouraging more youths to engage in farming.

He said that under the first phase of the programme, the farmers produced 26,238 bags of maize, 7,561 bags of sorghum, 2,647 bags of rice and 1,458 bags of soybeans, totalling 37,904 100kg. bags.

Deware noted that the programme had appreciably improved the livelihoods of the people in the North East, adding that in some states, some Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) were employed to remove impurities from grains and bag them.

He said that each of the IDPs that were engaged received over N3,000 per day as wages, not including the perks.

Deware said that Borno was not included in the first phase of the programme because of the insecurity in the state.

"Now that there is relative peace, the service providers are mapping farmlands for farmers to enable them to participate in the dry season farming," he said.

He said that ABP had recorded many achievements, adding that in Adamawa, for instance, more than 5,000 persons had benefitted from the programme; while over N2 billion had been spent on its projects.

The ABP, which was launched by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, aims at creating linkages between companies, which are involved in crop processing, and smallholder farmers in certain agricultural commodities.

Commenting on the programme, the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, once said: "As at October 2018, a total of 862,069 farmers cultivating about 835,239 hectares, across 16 different commodities, have so far benefited from the Anchor Borrowers Programme, which has generated over 2.5 million jobs across the country."

Mr Edwin Ezelu, CBN Deputy Director of Development and Finance, made the promise on Tuesday in Yola at a formal ceremony marking the repayment of the ABP loan given to the North East Commodity Association (NECAS).

CBN pledges more funding for Anchor Borrowers Programme

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6 injured as truck loses rear axle, tyres along Abuja-Keffi highway

CBN pledges more funding for Anchor Borrowers Programme