Trendingonline24

Justin Trudeau1 Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a news conference on COVID-19 situation in Canada from his residence on March 16, 2020 in Ottawa, Canada. Amid the growing concerns over the Omicron variant of COVID-19, Canada has added Egypt, Malawi, and Nigeria to the ‘travel ban’ list. “We are adding three countries to the list of these countries that we talked about last Friday, these are Malawi, Egypt and Nigeria,” Canadian Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos was quoted as saying by Sputnik news agency. Duclos added that all travellers coming from outside Canada, apart from the United States, would now be tested at Canadian airports for the novel coronavirus disease, regardless of vaccination status. This came after the World Health Organization on Tuesday called for countries to keep calm and take “rational” measures in response to the new COVID variant, Omicron. “We call on all member states to take rational, proportional risk-reduction measures,” WHO...

 Buhari Writes Electoral Body, INEC Before Assenting To Electoral Amendment Bill The development, however, sparked outrage with some governors and lawmakers sharing different views on the matter. President Muhammadu Buhari has written the Independent National Electoral Commission's Chairman, Mahmoud Yakubu, seeking advice over the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2021. Buhari, in the letter, sought comments on the controversial sole adoption of direct primary option for parties to produce candidates for elections among other key issues ahead of 2023 general elections. President Buhari The Senate had recently passed the Electoral Act Amendment Bill and approved that all political parties must use the direct primary mode in picking candidates. It also gave approval on the electronic transmission of results. The development, however, sparked outrage with some governors and lawmakers sharing different views on the matter. Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, had earlier said the expe...

Fast-rising singer, Akinbiyi Ahmed, popularly known as Bella Shmurda, made his debut at the O2 Arena, London on Monday night. His performance was one of the high points at the day 2 of Wizkid’s Made in Lagos concert. Expressing his excitement for this opportunity, Bella Shmurda took to his Twitter page to thank Ayo Balogun, popularly known as Wizkid, for the opportunity. He wrote, “Maybe it wasn’t just Vision 2020. Up and beyond from here! Thank you Mr Balo @wizkidayo.” Bella Shmurda broke into the music industry with the release of his song, “Vision 2020”, and his hit track, “Cash App”, gained him more prominence. Therefore, it was no surprise that the singer performed “Cash App” at his O2 Arena debut performance. The buzzing crowd sang along as the excited Bella Shmurda made an energetic performance. Sharing the video of his performance on Tuesday, Bella Shmurda said, “Today, I realise this thing ain’t thug of war. @wizkidayo I will never forget this.

The Nigerian Communications Commission says it is set for the second trial of 5G in Nigeria. According to the commission, the trial which is scheduled to hold on Thursday is necessary in order to validate the national policy on 5G for the digital economy. The commission added that the supervised trial would be conducted by Airtel Networks Limited and its Original Equipment Manufacturer on Thursday. MTN Nigeria Communications had held the first 5G trial in Nigeria in 2019. In its ‘Draft Consultation Document for Deployment of Fifth Generation (5G) Mobile Technology in Nigeria’, the NCC disclosed that six locations across the nation were selected for this trial. The locations included, Abuja, Calabar, Lagos, Kano, Abeokuta, and Ibadan. According to the NCC, the key parameters it was looking out for included: Throughput, latency and jitter measurements; Co-channel interference impact on QoS; Handover performance between access points (as applicable); Type/models of 5G terminal...

China’s president pledged to offer Africa one billion Covid vaccine doses on Monday, with the continent struggling to acquire enough jabs to immunise against the disease. In a speech made via videolink to a China-Africa summit near Senegal’s capital Dakar, President Xi Jinping said his country would donate 600 million doses directly. A further 400 million doses would come from other sources, such as investments in production sites, which are sorely lacking across much of Africa. Xi’s promise comes as part of a forum between China and African states with an emphasis on trade and security, among other issues, held in the city of Diamniadio near Senegal’s seaside capital. China invests heavily in Africa, and is the continent’s largest trading partner with direct trade worth over $200 billion in 2019, according to the Chinese embassy in Dakar. Beijing has also donated millions of doses of its home-produced Sinopharm vaccine to poor African countries since the start of the pande...

The Indigenous peoples of Biafra IPOB said that they  want Biafra and nothing less. IPOB revealed these through its spokesman, Emma Powerful during an interview with Vanguard on Saturday. “We don't have any position on that. We are waiting for the unconditional release of our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu because he committed nothing to deserve his current ordeals and inhuman treatments.   “IPOB members and indeed Biafrans and friends of Biafra will be happy and thank our God, Chukwu Okike Abiama (when Nnamdi Kanu regains freedom).”   Speaking on some people still enforcing sit-at-home, Powerful said, “We have issued warnings to those enforcing sit at home and also warned those attacking and snatching vehicles from our people in the name of unknown gunmen. IPOB will never allow them have breathing space to humiliate and intimidate our people because IPOB is a peaceful movement and our sole purpose is to achieve Biafra freedom, not intimidate our people.   “We know tha...

The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, has stated that the microblogging website, Twitter, has agreed to all the demands laid down by the Federal Government of Nigeria. Twitter was banned indefinitely in Nigeria after the website took down a post by the President, Major Gen Muhammadu Buhari, on his official handle, which it claims violated its community policy. Speaking on Channels TV on Monday, Keyamo said twitter reached out to the FG to iron out issues that led to the ban. He said, “It was Twitter that reached out to the federal government to say they want to know what and what they can do to straighten up the relationship with the federal government and so, we have gone far but I may not, at this forum, let out a lot but we gave them a lot of conditions and they have agreed to all the conditions.” The FG had alleged that the social media platform was acting against the interest of the country hence its suspension of access from Nigerian internet...

The Nigeria Police Force on Monday opened the online application portal for its 2021 recruitment exercise. This was announced in a statement signed by the Police Headquarters Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba. In the statement titled, ‘2021 recruitment into the Nigeria Police Force’, the force announced that successful applicants would be enlisted as Police Constables (recruits). The online application portal would be open for a period of six weeks starting from Monday, November 29, 2021 to Monday, January 10, 2021. Upon completion of the application, successful applicants would be invited for physical screening from January 10-24, 2021.

Chaos broke out on Sunday on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway after the Julius Berger Nigeria Plc partially shut down Magboro and Warewa, Ogun State ends of the highway. Thousands of travellers moving inwards Lagos State and those bound for Ogun State were trapped at the various bottlenecks. For several hours, traffic was at a standstill. While many motorists struggled to wriggle their way out of the logjam, officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps, whose office was at the MFM, Magboro end of the road, stood aloof. The situation emboldened some commercial drivers and motorists to drive against traffic, which further compounded the gridlock. Due to the traffic, some vehicles developed mechanical faults and broke down, further worsening the situation. We observed as wearied commuters disembarked from their vehicles to board motorcycles, while others trekked.   Some motorists were seen making U-turns as they aborted their trips. Motorists who favoured the untarred road beside...

The World Bank says the Nigerian government’s exchange rate management policies are discouraging investments and fuelling inflation in the country The bank disclosed this in the November edition of its Nigeria Development Update. While highlighting the role of the Central Bank of Nigeria in exchange rate stability, the World Bank said there had been intense pressure on the naira, with the CBN constantly raising the nominal official exchange rate. It added that the CBN’s foreign exchange management system was too rigid, with the system driving inflation in the country. The report read in part, “The government’s exchange rate management policies continue to discourage investment and fuel inflation. Exchange rate stability is a key CBN policy objective, and to preserve its external reserves the CBN continues to manage FX demand and limit the supply of FX to the market. “Pressure on the naira remains intense, and while the CBN has raised the nominal official exchange rate three...

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has said Nigerian parents and guardians must uphold family values in order to rebuild society. Buhari said this at the wedding of Mr. Jachimike Ikpeazu, son of Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, in Umuahia, Abia State, on Sunday. Represented by the Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Uche Ogah, at the occasion, the President attributed the problems facing the nation to the diminishing emphasis on the importance of family values. Buhari lamented that parents and guardians who should inculcate good character in their wards have abdicated their responsibility. He said, “Marriage is family value, character. The reason why there are issues in society today is because families are broken. When values are enshrined in families, the entire society will be good.” Buhari charged the couple to build their family on the word of God, have a regular family altar of prayers, and give attention to building enduring ...

Two teenage girls between the ages of 17 and 19 years have reportedly drowned in a river at Sabon Gida Takai village, in Gassol local government area of Taraba state. The girls were said to have travelled from Mutumbiyu to the village for an annual Church congress when they met their end.  It was gathered that five girls including the two deceased who attended the congress went to the river to wash and decided to swim. The deceased who were oblivious of the nature of the river swam to the deep part where their bodies were later recovered from. The resident pastor of the NKST Sabon Gida Takai, Dominic Nom, confirmed the incident to newsmen via telephone. According to him, “they were five that went to the stream, and the two girls while swimming mistakenly veered to the deep part. “The other three girls after trying to save them could not run to the village and call the helpers. By the way they helpers came, they've died and only their death bodies discovered from the riv...

Unknown Gunmen attack Nigerian correctional service in Jos in the early hours on Sunday. Report reaching us that there was  heavy gunfire  heard in  the area. However, details were still sketchy as of the time of filing this report so it was not clear if there were casualties. Some gunmen on Monday, October 18 attacked the Oko Medium Security Centre in Edo State and freed the inmates. The gunmen overpowered the armed guards at the facility and looted shops along the road to the facility, Also in October, gunmen attacked one of the facilities of the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCS), in Oyo State. The facility christened Abolongo correctional facility, was attacked by the gunmen on the evening of Friday, October 22. It was gathered that the gunmen set all the prisoners at the facility free during the attack. It was gathered that the attackers used grenades to gain access and set prisoners free. Spokesman for the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) in the state...

Director-General of the Voice of Nigeria, Osita Okechukwu, has said Nigerians will be making a grave error by returning the opposition Peoples Democratic Party back to power in 2023. He explained that the PDP cannot be trusted to rescue Nigeria because promoters of the party have an incurable appetite for corruption and a history of mismanaging the economy. Okechukwu said this in an interview in Abuja, on Sunday. He was reacting to a rescue plan the PDP said it was putting in place in order to rid Nigeria of the socio-economic woes which it said the All Progressive Congress regime; has plunged the nation into. He said, “How can Nigerians trust our sister political party, the PDP, given their antecedents riddled with trust deficit? We know that times are hard; I think it is better to allow APC to fix Nigeria. Where does one start from?” The VON DG who is an Enugu State chieftain of the APC, noted that Nigeria was yet to fully recover from the assault on its economy by the re...

The Senate has declared that the National Assembly lacked the powers to stop the federal ministries and agencies from repeating similar items in their annual budgets. There have been widespread condemnations against the budgets of government ministries and agencies, which always made provision for computers, furniture and other sundry items in their annual fiscal proposals. But reacting to the development in an interview with our correspondent on Friday, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Barau Jibrin, said the Parliament could not stop such practice. He said the federal lawmakers could only reduce the practice through aggressive oversight. Barau said, “It is a delicate issue. There have been some suggestions and lamentations from different quarters about the recurrence of items of expenditure every year. “The best way to go about it is through proper oversight on the side of the National Assembly members as well as putting in place certain mechanisms ...

Some agencies of the Federal Government have proposed to spend N12.2bn on sewage, cleaning and fumigation in the 2022 fiscal year, data obtained from the budget proposal have shown. The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has in October presented to the joint section of the National Assembly a budget of N16.39tn. The State House, Lagos Liaison, budgeted N4.4m for sewage and N2.7m for fumigation and cleaning. The National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, would require N3.7m for sewage while N1.6m was proposed for fumigation and cleaning. The National Emergency Management Agency said it would need N26.8m for fumigation and cleaning and N34.6m for sewage while the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission budgeted N23.5m for fumigation and sewage. The Defence Headquarters proposed N37.7m for fumigation and clearing of its waste, while the Ministry of Interior proposed N15.7m. The Nigeria Immigration Service budgeted N37.6m for fumigation and sewa...

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project and 116 concerned Nigerians have filed a lawsuit asking the Federal High Court in Abuja to “direct and compel President Muhammadu Buhari to take immediate steps to ensure the arrest of soldiers and police officers indicted by the Lagos #EndSARS panel report for the shooting of peaceful protesters at the Lekki toll-gate, and police brutality cases.” In the suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1482/2021 filed last Friday, SERAP is also asking the court to “direct and compel President Buhari to bring to justice anyone suspected to be responsible for the shooting of peaceful protesters, and to ensure access to justice and effective remedies for victims, including adequate compensation.” SERAP argues that “It is in the interest of justice to grant this application, as it would improve respect for Nigerians’ rights, the rule of law, and public confidence in government institutions, as well as reduce the growing culture of impunity of perpetrator...

A few days ago, ace comic actor, John Okafor fondly referred to as Mr Ibu by his admirers was reported to have thrown his weight behind the All Progressives Congress leader, Bola Tinubu, in his quest to become the next president of Nigeria in 2023 presidential election. In a video that went viral, the funnyman was seen alongside other Nollywood actors ‘pledging alliance’ to the APC leader. However, in a twist of event, the actor took to his verified Instagram page to make a video to clear the air. Reacting to the viral video, Mr Ibu said, “I do not know why this thing is going on like this.” Mr Ibu said that Atiku has been like a father to him and the former Vice-President got him a house to ‘use for the main time’. Okafor noted that his presidential candidate in the 2023 election is Atiku Abubakar. Part of his speech in the video stated, “People approached me about Tinubu’s involvement to contest for the next president of Nigeria. I am a completely independent person; in t...

The have been speculations and veiled indications that Tinubu might be interested in the presidential seat but the former Lagos State governor, with several hanging corruption cases on his neck, is yet to formally declare his intention. Yakasai said, “He (Tinubu) just came to visit me but actually I have two of them (presidential aspirants) that I have earmarked right from the beginning and I made a vow that anyone of them who came to ask for my support first is the person I would support. Tinubu is the first person.” Yakassai further said that Tinubu did tell him about the Presidential ambition and as well sought his support during the election. Furthermore, Yakasai said interested aspirants must first scale the hurdles of primary elections in their various political parties “then we will begin to compare them.” SaharaReporters had in October reported that Tinubu, amidst his ambition for the 2023 presidential race, spent over four months patronising hospitals in France, Un...

Ghana’s parliament on Friday rejected the government’s 2022 budget proposal due to concerns over an electronic banking levy. It was the first time the national budget has been rejected since 1981 in the West African country. Ghana’s parliament is split between the two main parties following an election a year ago, increasing the risk of gridlock as the country struggles to rebound from the impact of the global pandemic and a heavy debt burden. Friday’s setback came after the government introduced a proposed new levy on electronic bank transactions, including popular mobile phone money apps. Ruling New Patriotic Party lawmakers walked out after accusing the house speaker of bias because he said the finance minister should not be present during the vote. The opposition MPs then voted down the proposal. “The 2022 budget has been rejected by Parliament,” opposition lawmaker Sam George wrote in a Tweet. “We as a minority took a stand with the people of Ghana to reject a budget t...

Italian authorities said the criminal network forced 41 Nigerian women into prostitution while nine were forced to beg for money on the streets. The exploitation stretched outside Italy into Germany and Libya, according to dw.com The gang lured dozens of Nigerian women to Italy where it then forced them into prostitution and kept them in a cycle of ‘physical-psychological coercion’ Italian police on Monday announced that they had broken up a Nigerian crime ring operating across the country with the arrest of some 40 suspects. The suspects have been charged with money laundering, facilitating illegal immigration, human trafficking, forced prostitution and slavery, according to a police statement. Authorities say the network was active in Cagliari, Sardinia; Turin in Piedmont; and Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region. Beyond Italy, the network stretched from Nigeria via Libya and up to Germany as well. Police say dozens of other individuals are currently under investigation. ...

The court asked the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to publish the proscription order in the official gazette and two national dailies. Justice Taiwo Taiwo in a ruling on Friday declared the activities of the “Yan Bindiga Group” and the “Yan Ta’adda Group” and other similar groups in any part of the country, especially in the North-West and North-Central geopolitical zones, as “acts of terrorism and illegality.” "The terrorism activities include, but not limited to banditry, kidnappings for ransom, kidnapping for marriage, mass abductions of school children and other citizens, cattle rustling, enslavement, imprisonment, severe deprivation of physical liberty, torture, rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, other forms of sexual violence, attacks and killings in communities and commuters and wanton destruction of lives and properties in Nigeria,” he said. The ruling was given after an argument by Aminu Kayode Alilu, from the Federal...

The police have killed in a gun duel the leader of the bandits who coordinated attacks in which an unspecified number of persons lost their lives and others kidnapped on Abuja-Kaduna highway on Sunday.   Reports have it that a former governorship aspirant also got killed in the incident. The bandits attacked several motorists on the highway and killed a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who was a governorship aspirant in Zamfara State, Alhaji Sagir Hamidu. There are reports that bandits operated along the Kaduna-Abuja Road for four consecutive days. However, the leader of the gang of bandits who led Sunday's attack, identified as Yellow Baba Arusa, has been killed, according to Daily Trust.  It was learnt that a motorcycle and a rifle were recovered from the gang.  Security agents were said to have waylaid five bandits around Kaduna South Local Government Area where the bandits had gone to buy alcohol and pentazocine; an opioid pain medica...

One of the remaining four Bethel Baptist High school students in Kaduna has been freed after over 150 days in captivity. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) had in October raised an alarm that four students of Bethel Baptist College in Kaduna had spent 120 days in the den of bandits after their abduction in July. The organisation, therefore, called on the government to double its efforts to end criminality in the country. This was made known by the Vice President of CAN (19 Northern States and Abuja) and its chairman in Kaduna State, Rev. Joseph John Hayab in a statement titled ‘Four Baptist High School Kaduna students still with bandits over 120 days today.”   The statement read, “It is sad to again remind us that despite different security measures put forward by the government in Kaduna State, our children in Bethel Baptist High School who were kidnapped since July 5, 2021, on the school premises in Damishi, Kaduna have not all yet been released. “Parents, sch...

The young men were accused of wasting their time playing the card game instead of using their time for a productive venture. The board, therefore, shared some chapters of the Qur’an with them and ordered them to recite. “The Warawa division, under the general command of the Commander-General of Hisbah Dr Muhammad Haroon Ibn Sina, has arrested some youths for wasting their time to play Whot. “The divisional office, therefore, shared some chapters of the Holy Qur’an to them to recite for them to utilize their time,” said a terse statement posted on the Hisbah Facebook page. Hisbah came under intense pressure to act on some pictures of the daughter of the Emir of Bichi who got married to President Muhammadu Buhari’s only son, Yusuf, in August. A video of the wedding party shows Nigerian singer, Mayorkun singing and some of the party attendees spotting Afro, Mohawk or any of the hairstyles Kano State Hisbah has labelled as “unIslamic” and an insult to Islam. Also, secular songs...

The Governor of Cross River State, Prof. Ben Ayade, has expressed the state’s willingness to partner with Britain in various areas of development. Ayade spoke on Wednesday evening at the State Executive Council Chamber of the Governor’s Office, Calabar, while hosting the British Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Gill Atkinson. He said, “In the course of my stay in office as governor, I have seen that there has been very little deliberate effort from your embassy to get close to the grassroots. Perhaps, you are the first to visit us as an official of the British Embassy, and to us, this is very exciting. “We have had relationships with other countries in different sectors including agriculture and maritime business but this is not the case with Britain. And this ought not to be so, given Nigeria’s history with Britain as our colonial master.” He added, “So, your visit, therefore, should open up the opportunity for greater collaboration between Cross River State and the Un...

Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, has reacted to the early morning attacks in Te’egbe Community by gunmen in which over ten persons including children lost their lives on Friday while several houses were set ablaze. In a statement on Friday by his Director of Press and Public Affairs, Macham Makut,the Governor described the attack as “another sad incident which is clearly the handiwork of criminals that are bent on instilling fear, pain and sorrow among the people with a view to destabilising the State and making fortune from their criminality as well as rupturing the substantial peace attained.” The statement partly read, “The Governor totally condemns the attack and says there is no explanation that can justify it. He therefore directs security agencies to take immediate and drastic steps to apprehend the perpetrators and ensure that they pay for their crimes.” It further quoted the Governor as saying “The persistent attacks in this general area remains condemnable...

A housewife identified as Sule Nana has been arrested by the Ekiti State Police Command for allegedly faking her own kidnap and demanding a ransom from her husband. ASP Sunday Abutu, spokesperson of the command, who paraded her alongside other suspects, said she was arrested by men of the Rapid Respond Squad after thorough and intensive investigation. According to the PPRO, the incident happened on Saturday. He said the the RRS operatives got a distress call from Nana that she was kidnapped by unknown gunmen along Ifaki-Oye-Ekiti road. He said, “On 20/11/2021 at about 1030hrs, a distress call was received from one Sule Nana ‘f’ that she was kidnapped by unknown gunmen along Ifaki/Oye-Ekiti road alongside other passengers. “She called her husband that the kidnappers were demanding for a sum of fifty thousand naira (#50,000:00) ransom before she could be released. The RRS Operatives, upon the receipt of the complaint, swung into action by combing the bush along Ifaki/Oye-Ekit...

The Senate on, Wednesday, urged the Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited to accelerate environmental action towards ensuring remedy for the Ogboinbiri community affected by crude oil spill in the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State within the next 90 days. This was just as the chamber commended the oil company for providing some monetary compensation to the affected community as consolation for the hardship caused by the spill. The call by the upper chamber was contained in recommendations adopted by the Senate after it considered a report by the Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions over the alleged failure by Agip Oil Company to pay compensation to the community affected by crude oil spillage. Chairman of the Committee, Patrick Akinyelure, in his presentation, said the panel received a petition from Dunobene Perekeme on behalf of Ogboinbiri community. According to him, the Committee in its findings observed that the incident of oil spill occur...

Men of the Nigeria Customs Service, Ogun Area Command, have intercepted 7,311 50 kilogramme bags of foreign parboiled rice loaded in 12 trailers. Also recovered were 124 packs and 164 wraps of cannabis sativa, weighing 167kg. The Area Controller, Dera Nnadi, disclosed this on Wednesday at a press briefing at the NCS office in Abeokuta, the state capital. The controller explained that the command arrested two suspects who were conveying some of the seized hard drugs in Ijebu-Ode en route to the South East. The NCS boss said some other hard drugs were intercepted at a border community in the state. Nnadi said his command also seized 300 litres of vegetable oil, four bales of used clothes, 26 sacks of used shoes and four sacks of used toys. According to him, other seized items are two bundles and four pieces of used tyres with rims, 810 cartons of frozen poultry, 20,775 litres of petrol in 831 kegs, among others.   The NCS also impounded 20 vehicles and two motorcycles use...

The United States District Court Chief Judge, Matthew Brann, on Wednesday, sentenced a 36-year-old Nigerian man, Jabin Godspower Okpako to 87 months in prison for his involvement in the laundering of $1.89 million (approximately N1 billion at N560 to $1 parallel market rate), found to be proceeds of fraud.  Okpako and his wife, Christine received $1,898,046 through their devised multiple fraud schemes to swindle females in the US through social media platforms and transferred their ill-gotten funds from their victims to three Nigerian banks. The United States Attorney’s office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania disclosed this in a Press Release on Wednesday.   The statement read, “The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Jabin Godspower Okpako, aged 36, was sentenced on November 23, 2021, to 87 months’ imprisonment by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Matthew W. Brann for conspiring to launder approximately $1.89...