people
Lagos deputy governor: Nigeria must not disintegrate
Dr Obafemi Hamzat, Lagos State Deputy Governor on Tuesday urged religious leaders to propagate peace and morals so as to avoid disintegration but engender unity among Nigerians. Hamzat made the appeal during the 40-day Fidau prayer for late Alhaji Lateef Jakande, former governor of the state. He said that religion, being the strongest pillar in Nigeria, had the people’s heart and respect. He charged the clerics to help the citizens to act in accordance with the norms of the society and shun all anti-social vices. The deputy-governor also implored the clergymen to propagate the gospel of a better use of Lagos roads by urging motorist to avoid driving against traffic. “People respect their religious leaders and they do listen to them. “So, please do not leave the preaching of moral values to...
10 including police officer killed in Colorado mass shooting
Ten people including a police officer were killed on Monday in a mass shooting at a grocery store in Boulder, near the Rocky Mountains in northern Colorado. Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold said that the 51-year-old officer, Eric Talley, was one of the first responders at the scene. She called his actions heroic. Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said that the alleged shooter was injured and in custody. Herold said that police began receiving calls about shots fired and a call about a person with a “patrol rifle’’ at 2:30 p.m. Talley was one of the first officers at the scene and was fatally shot. “This is a very complex investigation that will take no less than five days to complete,’’ Herold said at a news conference. CNN cited an unnamed senior law enforcement source a...
Kaduna assemblyman condemns bandits’ attack on Kauru
Dr Isaac Auta, Deputy Speaker, Kaduna State House of Assembly, has condemned recent attacks by bandits on some communities in Kauru Local Government Area. Auta told newsmen in Kaduna on Tuesday that the attack on Kizachi Dawai community in Chawai chiefdom was inhuman, unreasonable and barbaric. The deputy speaker who represents Kauru-Chaiwai constituency in the assembly, said that the attack had left the people hugely devastated. “People died during the attack, property and sources of livelihood were destroyed, this is unreasonable and barbaric. “It is unfortunate that people still indulge in criminal and violent activities irrespective of government’s effort to enthrone sanity,” he said. The lawmaker urged the people not to be dismayed by the activities of a few lawless persons, saying, “...
Benue governor: Do not politicize attempt on my life
Governor Samuel Ortom Monday cautioned against anyone politicizing last Saturday’s attempt on his life by gunmen at Tyo-Mu community in the outskirts of Makurdi town along Makurdi-Gboko road. He stressed that the level of insecurity in the country was a clear indication that Nigeria was sitting on a gun powder and everyone must be conscious to avert an implosion. The Governor who spoke at the end of an emergency State Security Council meeting held in Makurdi, appealed to Benue people to be calm and await the outcome of the investigation being carried out by the Police as directed by the Inspector General of Police, IGP. The Governor who said he was still in shock, lauded the Presidency, the Inspector -General of Police, IGP, as well as the array of groups including Nigeria Govenors’ Forum,...
UN official highlights values of water in fighting coronavirus pandemic
Water has many values that are just not priced, Sasha Koo-Oshima, the Deputy Director, Land and Water Division, UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), told Xinhua ahead of the World Water Day on March 29. The official highlighted that with the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, a large part of the world population still lacks access to handwashing facilities at home. “This is the first line of defence against this virus and the value of water is very evident in this progression. “The first thing we realised is handwashing. Many countries just don’t have clean water to even just wash hands,” she said. The UN on Monday warned that more than two billion people do not have direct access to water, the “blue gold” which is essential in defeating the pandemic. In its World Water Development Re...
Niger Delta agitators urges South South governors to work with Senator Akpabio to develop region
A coalition of Niger Delta agitators, weekend, called on governors of South South to work with Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, to develop Niger Delta region and its people. The group meanwhile, called out governors of Niger Delta states, saying recent revelation by Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, that they (governors) collected N100 million each as Covid-19 palliative has exposed their hypocrisy. Chairman, Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, Senator Patrick Ayo Akinyelure, last week, told reporters in Abuja that NDDC officials told the committee that each of the nine governors of the Niger Delta states got N100 million as Covid-19 palliatives. Coordinator of the 21st Century Youths of Niger Delta and Agitators with Conscience, 2...
Ebonyi governor: South East benefited more from APC government than PDP’s 16 years
Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State and Chairman of South East Governors’ Forum weekend, said the South East benefitted more from the Buhari-led All Progressives Congress, APC, federal government than from Peoples Democratic Party’s sixteen years of governance. Speaking to newsmen in Lagos through his Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Barr. Orji Uchenna Orji, Umahi said the Igbo have had a fair-play under Buhari’s administration in terms of economic and infrastructure development. According to him, the N10Billion Airport rehabilitation, the 2nd Niger Bridge, the Enugu-Port-Harcourt Expressway and other infrastructures are pointers to the benefits the South East States are getting from the Buhari administration. “These are indications that this administration is helping t...
CDS hailed over free medical treatment in Kano
The Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Leo Irabor, has received commendation for the recently concluded two-day free medical treatment in Bichi Local Government Area of Kano State. About 1000 persons benefitted from the programme which had as theme: “The Role of Diet in the Management of Hypertension and Diabetes.” Commending the CDS for the Initiative, the Nigeria Youth Alliance (NYA), said the programme was designed to sensitise communities on preventive and curative measures of the diseases. The CDS who was represented by Col. Vincent Abu, the Commandant, Armed Forces Specialist Hospital, Kano, at the inauguration of the programme, said that the exercise was aimed at improving the health status of people at the grassroots. NYA in a press release signed by the President, Atanda Mojeed and Secr...
Ekiti by-election: Shot policewoman recuperating – CP
Contrary to the news making the rounds, that a policewoman lost her life during Saturday’s bloody poll, in Ekiti East Constituency 1, the Ekiti State Police Commissioner, Mr Babatunde Mobayo, has clarified that she is alive and responding to treatment. Mobayo said the Policewoman who was shot during Saturday’s House of Assembly bye-election, only sustained gunshot wounds and was immediately rushed to the hospital for medicare. Three persons were on Saturday shot dead by suspected party thugs while five others sustained gunshot wounds during the House of Assembly bye-election conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the state constituency. Speaking with journalists via telephone in Ado Ekiti, on Sunday, Mobayo, who responded through the Command’s spokesman, ASP S...
Polls open in Congo as main opposition party boycotts election
Polls have opened in the Republic of Congo’s presidential election that is boycotted by the main opposition party and attacked by critics as tilted toward veteran leader Denis Sassou Nguesso. Voting centres opened at 07:00 (06:00 GMT) and will close at 17:00 (16:00 GMT). More than 2.5 million voters have registered to take part in the election which Nguesso, 77, is widely expected to win against six contenders. The list of contenders is led by economist and 2016 presidential runner-up Guy-Brice Parfait Kolelas, who was hospitalised on Saturday. Kolelas’ campaign did not say what illness had struck the 60-year-old but a family member told the Associated Press he had been diagnosed with coronavirus. Nguesso, a former paratrooper, first rose to power in 1979 and has since accumulated 36 years...
Femi Falana: EFCC can mandate bank MDs, executives to declare assets
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is charged with the responsibility of enforcing the provisions of all laws relating to economic and financial crimes, Africa’s leading human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) has said. Consequently, according to the senior advocate, the anti-graft commission is empowered to cause investigations to be conducted into the properties of any person as stipulated under Section 7 (1) (b) of the EFCC Act, 2004. Also yesterday, Transparency International (TI) argued that if the provisions of the Bank Employees, etc. (Declaration of Assets) Act, 1986 were effectively enforced, Nigeria could save between $15 billion and $18 billion illicit financial flows (IFFs) annually. Falana clarified the roles of the EFCC in a response to inquiries on whethe...
Chelsea owner takes legal action over ‘Putin’s People’ book
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has launched legal action for defamation over the book Putin’s People. The Blues owner’s case relates to “a number of false and defamatory claims made about our client in the book published by HarperCollins.” The book was written by author Caterine Belton and contains a number of claims about Abramovich and others close to Russia president Vladimir Putin. Abramovich’s statement, published on Chelsea’s club website, says: “Today my legal representatives have issued legal proceedings in England in relation to a book that was published in the UK. The book contains a number of false and defamatory statements about me, including about my purchase, and the activities, of Chelsea Football Club. “Today’s action was not taken lightly. It has never been my ambition to ...