The Saudi-led military coalition said on Tuesday it intercepted and destroyed drones and missiles launched against the kingdom by Houthi rebels in Yemen, including one fired towards the capital Riyadh. The Iran-aligned Houthis said they would announce details of a “major attack” on Saudi Arabia on their Al Masirah TV, amid ongoing fighting in Yemen where the rebels took control of the northern province of Al-Jawf earlier this year. “The joint coalition forces managed … to intercept and destroy a ballistic missile launched by the terrorist Houthi militia from Sanaa towards Riyadh in a deliberate hostile operation,” coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said on state media. The Saudi military said it also brought down “eight booby-trapped unmanned aircraft to target civilian objects and civili...
Virgin Atlantic has announced its intention to resume flights from Lagos to London Heathrow from August 24, 2020 saying the international flight will be operated on its new A350-1000 aircraft and will provide connections to a range of US destinations. The Chief Commercial Officer of Virgin Atlantic, Juha Jarvinen, made this known as the airline promised to resume flying to 16 additional destinations around the world. “As countries around the world begin to relax travel restrictions, we look forward to welcoming our customers back onboard and flying them safely to many destinations across our network. “From 20th July we will resume services to New York, Los Angeles and Hong Kong; then from 1st August onwards, we will resume passenger flying to 17 additional destinations around the world inc...
Some hoodlums on Sunday evening reportedly attacked the supporters of Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, during a meeting in his hometown, Igboroko, the headquarters of Owo Local Government Area of the state. The suspected political thugs stormed the venue of the meeting shooting sporadically and also destroyed vehicles branded with the inscription “Akeredolu for second term.” One of Akeredolu’s supporters who witnessed the attack, Ramoni Ayeni, said the meeting was aimed at strengthening support for the governor’s second term bid under the banner of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). “The thugs were more than 20. They came with guns and started shooting sporadically at us and some people were hit by stray bullets,” he alleged. He said the incident disrupted the meeting as peo...
The Oyo State Head of Service, Mrs Ololade Agboola, has called on civil and public servants in the state to comply strictly with the COVID-19 guidelines, as they resumed work on Monday. Agboola, in a statement issued on Monday in Ibadan by her Media Officer, Mr Abiodun Atilola, listed wearing of facemasks, regular washing of hands/use of sanitisers and observance of social distancing as some of the precautionary measures. She further stated that the workers were restricted from moving from one office to another, except for very important official purposes. Newsmen report that workers from grade level 12 downward resumed duties on Monday to join their counterparts on grade level 13 and above who had resumed work after the March 27 closure of the secretariat due to coronavirus. Agboola furth...
Stakeholders in the aviation industry on Monday kicked against the continuous use of foreign airlines by the Federal Government for the evacuation of Nigerians in spite of domestic capacity to carry out the exercise. They expressed their displeasure in a chat with the Aviation Correspondents in Lagos, saying the situation was creating wrong impression about Nigeria and safety of its carriers. Speaking, Capt. Nogie Meggison, Executive Chairman, Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), said the continuous use of foreign airlines to evacuate Nigerians by the government was contrary to its own directive that only indigenous carriers should be used. Meggison said that the onus still lies on the government to do the right thing by protecting its own carriers, as COVID-19 fears had forced government t...
Persons Living with Sickle Cell Disease (PLWSCD), are at a higher risk of getting infected with COVID-19, Kenya’s Health Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS), Dr Rashid Aman says. The CAS noted that PLWSCD are more likely to get severe illness if they get infected due to their impaired immunity resulting from the blood disorder and urged them to strictly observe the precautionary preventive measures for COVID-19. “During this period of Coronavirus pandemic, persons living with sickle cell disease are advised, to ensure they keep a minimum of a one-month supply of medication at all times. In addition, they should consult their healthcare providers should they experience COVID-19 symptoms,” he notes. Sickle Cell is a genetic disease characterized by a change in the shape of a red blood cell,...
The House of Representatives on Monday expressed displeasure over the failure of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCRMIDP) to provide relevant documents on the utilisation of N25 billion appropriated between 2015 and 2019 fiscal years. Chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts, Hon. Wole Oke, who presided over the investigative hearing into the 2015 to 2019 audit queries issued by the office of the Auditor General of the Federation (oAuGF), stressed the need to investigate the efficiency of Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) with a view to stopping the menace of ghost workers in all the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). According to the documents presented by the Commission to the Committee, from the tot...
Edda Professionals’ League (EPL), a body of eminent experts and professionals of Edda extraction, has vowed to resist any plan aimed at humiliating Chief Abia Onyike, former Commissioner for Information and State Orientation in Ebonyi. EPL announced its plan to scuttle such humiliation in a statement signed by its National Secretary, Mr Ikenna Emewu, on Monday in Abakaliki. The group described the former commissioner as one the community’ most illustrious sons, that had contributed immensely to the development of Edda land, describing those behind the plot as “busy bodies.” The statement noted that some government functionaries, leaders of interest groups and traditional rulers from Edda in Afikpo South Local Government Area of the state, were forced to sign a document, where they were plo...