Thursday
NLC demands end to medical tourism by government officials
The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, on Thursday called for an end to all forms of medical tourism especially by elected and appointed government officials. The NLC also said that with the quantum of resources available to government, Nigeria can afford to build and effectively equip some of the best hospitals in the world, with global best practices and personnel. President of the NLC, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, stated this in Abuja in his address on this year’s Global Day of Action on Care. Briefing, Wabba reiterated that the government must be ready to invest heavily in the health sector, saying no country survives without effective health care. He lamented that apart from the open fact that the country’s health care sector has been neglected for too long, health care workers have been subjected...
Osun government says 14 local councils affected by looting
Osun State Government on Thursday said looting of government and private property in the state cut across 14 Local Government Areas, as it commenced return of the looted property items to owners who can identify their property Governor Adegboyega Oyetola had granted 72-hour amnesty period to the looters to return the stolen items which expired on Wednesday, during which some of the looted materials were returned. Supervising the return of the looted items at the Parking lot of the Government House in Osogbo, Secretary of the ad-hoc committee on recovery of stolen items, Mr Samson Owoyokun, said the looting affected fourteen local governments areas of the state. The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Special Duties added that most of the looters dropped the items at either roadside...
Oil prices slide in lockdown-driven rout
Oil prices dived Thursday on demand fears as more nations go into lockdown to staunch the spread of the coronavirus, while stock prices attempted a modest rebound. Both main oil contracts fell five percent for part of the day before clawing back some of their losses, extending this week’s meltdown to plumb four-month lows on virus-driven demand fears. “The new lockdowns have since yesterday caused a carnage in the oil market,” said Bjornar Tonhaugen, head of oil markets at Rystad Energy. “Oil demand will lose ground as a result of the new lockdowns… Prices now naturally decline on this grim prospect,” he added. The drop in oil prices will increase the pain on oil companies. Exxon Mobil announced Thursday it was eliminating 1,900 US jobs as part of a cost-cutting drive necessitated in part ...
Saudi wounds guard at French consulate in knife attack
A Saudi citizen has wounded a guard in a knife attack at the French consulate in Jeddah on Thursday, state media and the French embassy said. “The assailant was apprehended by Saudi security forces immediately after the attack. The guard was taken to hospital and his life is not in danger,” the embassy said in a statement. Police in Mecca province, where Jeddah is situated, said the attacker was a Saudi, but it did not give the nationality of the guard, who they said had sustained minor injuries. The French embassy in Riyadh strongly condemned the attack and urged its nationals in Saudi Arabia to exercise “extreme vigilance”. Neither the Saudi authorities nor the French embassy gave any indication of the motivation for the attack. The assault came after a suspect in France, also armed with...
President Buhari, General Danjuma meet at Aso Rock
President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday met with a former Minister of Defence, Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (retd.). The meeting held behind closed doors at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, took place after the weekly meeting of the Federal Executive Council presided over by the President. The agenda of the meeting between the two leaders was not made public. Danjuma did not speak with State House correspondents at the end of the meeting. President Muhammadu Buhari meets with former Minister of Defence, Gen. TY Danjuma (rtd) earlier at the State House, Abuja. pic.twitter.com/eCOM8qhqze — Bashir Ahmad (@BashirAhmaad) October 28, 2020 The Presidency has yet to release a statement on the meeting as of the time of filing this report. The meeting was however held about two days after the National Chri...
#EndSARS: Troops take over Oyigbo as fresh mob attacks hit Rivers
File Photo Troops of the Nigerian Army and the policemen have taken over the Oyigbo Local Government Area in Rivers State following fresh mob attacks in the area. The State Police Command had said members of the Indigenous People of Biafra were responsible for killing two of its operatives and burning of two police stations in the area on Wednesday. Gunshots rent the area from Thursday night till Friday morning as soldiers repel the hoodlums but there were still flashes of violence in Oyigbo. Governor Nyesom Wike had placed a 24-hour curfew on the local government but residents said they could not sleep because of the shootings. Chairman of Oyigbo LGA, Gerald Aforji, while reacting to the incident on Friday morning, said soldiers had intervened to restore calm in the area. Get more stories...
#EndSARS: Institute invites protesters for dialogue
The Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) has invited the youths currently protesting against police brutality with the hashtag, #ENDSARS for a dialogue with officials of the institute. The Director-General of the institute, Dr Bakut Bakut, who planned the dialogue spoke in a statement signed by IPCR Head of Media, Mr Musa Mato on Thursday in Abuja. Bakut said that the invitation was extended to the protesters to engage them in discussions with a view to ending the social unrest by youths in the country. ‘’The institute is willing and ready to facilitate a dialogue between all stakeholders to restore peace in the country and move the society forward. ”No conflict has actually come to an end without dialogue. Therefore, let us stop the violent protests and dialogue for the sake...
#EndSARS: President Buhari urged to probe Lekki shootings
A coalition of women groups, Mothers United and Mobilised (MUM), has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to constitute a transparent panel of inquiry into alleged shooting of unarmed EndSARS protesters in Lekki on Tuesday. The coalition made the call in a statement issued on Thursday by its Convener and Co-convener, Dr Boluwaji Onabolu and Mrs Sonye Allanah, respectively. MUM is a group of Nigerian mothers from all walks of life, ethnic and religious groups, based in Nigeria and in Diaspora. The Mothers United and Mobilised said that the probe should unravel “who ordered the shootings, who carried it out and how are they being held accountable.” “We call on President Muhammadu Buhari as Father of the Nation to cease and desist from the use of live bullets and teargas against our children,...
#EndSARS: Police confirm attack on station in Ebonyi
The Police Command in Ebonyi has confirmed Thursday’s attack on Uburu Police Station in Ohaozara Local Government Area of the state by suspected hoodlums. The Commissioner of Police in Ebonyi, Mr Philip Maku, said suspected hoodlums attacked some police officers on duty, after which they razed the station down. According to him, some of the police officers sustained several degrees of injuries while trying to manage the situation. Newsmen report that the burnt police station is located at the back of the house of the Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonaya Onu, in Uburu Community. The CP, however, condemned the attack and urged officers and men of the command to remain calm and continue to manage the situation professionally. Newsmen recall that some suspected hoodlums, under the guis...
Tension as traders desert Gudu market
The police have mobilised to the Gudu Market following reports of the killing of an unnamed man in the market on Thursday. It was gathered that traders have deserted the market located in the Gudu District of Abuja. A trader, Madu told newsmen that “everyone left the market in fear after the corpse of a man was found in the vicinity.” “Because of the attack by thugs on Tuesday, everyone was afraid that the violence may spread to the market. So, we all locked our shops and ran. I don’t know the circumstances surrounding the man’s death but the market has been shut down”, Madu said on the phone. Spokesperson of the FCT Police Command, ASP Mariam Yusuf, confirmed the incident. Yusuf said operatives had been deployed to provide security at the facility. Get more stories like this on Twitter Yo...
#EndSARS: HURIWA charges President Buhari to set up assets recovery panel
Foremost rights advocacy group, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has condemned what it called the silence of President Muhammadu Buhari over protests against operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, a unit of the Nigeria Police Force, in the past two weeks. The group in a statement issued by its national coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, on Thursday, claimed that “certain ethno-religious extremists have been paid by some government officials to stoke the embers of ethno–religious division to graphically paint the #EndSARS movements with ethnic and religious colourations.” The statement noted that youths of the country are angry “because the elders who have had access to public offices and those wielding political powers have continuously feasted on the comm...
NSA: President Buhari to announce critical solution to #EndSARS protest in hours
The National Security Adviser (NSA) to the President, retired Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno, says President Muhammadu Buhari is to announce a critical solution to the #EndSARS protest in a couple of hours. Monguno, who made this known at the end of the fourth National Security Council meeting, presided by the president in Abuja on Thursday said Buhari also directed all security agencies to always operate within the confine of legitimacy and legality. He said the president also urged the security agencies to always avoid anything that would aggravate the nation’s security challenges. He also stated that the president would soon come up with certain solutions to address the security challenges in the country, saying the president directed that government would also do all it could to arrive at ...
