News & Announcements

Four abducted victims were freed by police officers working for the Enugu State Police Command’s Iwollo Division in a forest at Akama-Oghe in the state’s Ezeagu Local Government.

This was said in a statement made by DSP Daniel Ndukwe, the command’s spokesman, on Sunday in Enugu.

Ndukwe claimed that at around 10 a.m. on December 24, members of Neighborhood Watch and Forest Guards collaborated to accomplish the accomplishment.

He stated that “Those rescued in the hands of kidnappers in a forest at Akama-Oghe in Ezeagu Local Government Area were three males and one female, reported to have been kidnapped along 9th-Mile/Eke/Akama-Oghe Road on Friday at about 8pm.

“The police operatives also recovered a black-coloured Mercedes Benz car belonging to one of the victims, while all the victims have been debriefed and reunited with their families.”

The police spokesman reported that Mr. Ahmed Ammani, the state’s commissioner of police, had given tactical operatives of the command instructions to continue the quest for the evading kidnapping suspects.

He continued by saying that the suspects fled after being put under tremendous pressure by the team of security professionals to save the victims and capture them.

The governor of Ondo State, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, came under fire from the pan-Yoruba sociopolitical group Afenifere on Saturday for his remarks regarding the Yoruba Nation’s unrest.

The Yoruba Nation’s supporters, according to Akeredolu, the chairman of the Southern Governors’ Forum, are enemies of the state.

The announcement was made by Akeredolu on Friday in Akure, the state capital, at the launch of the emblem appeal to kick off the 2023 Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebrations.

Sola Ebiseni, the Afenifere Secretary General, criticized Akeredolu’s stance on the local unrest in a statement, saying the governor was pandering to the crowd. The statement has the heading “Akeredolu: Between Equity and Opportunism.”

The statement read, “The statement credited to Governor Akeredolu of Ondo State at the launching of an emblem appeal to flag off the 2023 Armed Forces Remembrance Day, unfortunately, confirmed the scarcity of statesmanship in our clime particularly faced with the lust for political power.

“We have no problem with the governor playing to the gallery, as a glorified Chief Security Officer, urging that security forces clamp down on any person or group whose activities he interpreted as capable of disintegrating the Nigerian State because we are no less patriotic and committed to its continuing corporate existence.

“We are also in the same boat with him that ‘this country is very important to some of us’ and the recognition that agitation and protests are rights protected in a democratic society.

“Our worry, however, is that Akeredolu, even as the Chairman of the Southern Governors Forum, would not, in deference to that high pedestal, wean himself from petty politicking which sacrifices equity needed for national peace and cohesion in preference of crass opportunism. In short, his vituperation on that occasion was most disastrously bereft of statesmanship and national conciliation.”

The statement added, “Truth be told, there is no region of Nigeria where the elite including the ruling class in government has been able to determine the methods adopted by agitators or succeeded in checkmating the effects thereof.

“So, let Akeredolu not boast of any capacity to dictate the method adopted by the Yoruba agitators or seek to set the rest of Nigeria against his  Ndigbo colleagues or the entire South East in his unhidden separatist agenda of securing undue advantage for his party and region in the quest for the Nigerian President of Southern extraction.

“We state for the umpteenth time, that the true and real recipe for peace and continued corporate existence of Nigeria, is an arrangement that will guarantee regional equity and not an ‘emi lo kan’ philosophy in the mode of King Louis’s l’état c’est moi.

“Incidentally, those who fought the civil war truly shed their youthful blood and have seen all about Nigeria,  are now in the vanguard of the national movement not only for Southern but in the quest for the requisite equity are in the queue for the Nigerian President of South East extraction.

“There lies the solution to separatist agitations and not self-serving sanctimonious pontifications.”

Pensioners in Delta State have complained that the state government has not paid their arrears on their pensions.

In order to celebrate the season, the pensioners pleaded with governor Ifeanyi Okowa to release their pension arrears; however, if their requests were not met, they vowed to organize another round of protests against the Delta State Government.

The retirees reported that the state refused to pay the 33% pension increase that was granted to all pensioners after their meeting at the Labour House in Asaba.

Silver Savede spoke on behalf of the retirees and voiced dissatisfaction with the government’s approach to the payment of their pension.

He said, “We, the defined benefits scheme pensioners, with utmost dismay how the Delta State Government treats the pensioners.

He stated, “We, the defined benefits scheme pensioners, with utmost dismay how the Delta State Government treats the pensioners.

“For almost four years now, the Defined Benefits Scheme Pensioners have been demanding in writing to meet with Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to discuss the issues affecting us.

“Non of this letters were replied. This issues that are agitating the minds of pensioners. Okowa should pay us the outstanding arrears of 99 months.

“Okowa should implement the payment of arrears consequential adjustment of pension of monthly pay occasioned the N30,000 minimum wage.

“Tomorrow is Christmas, no payment, how do they want us to eat? Our people are dying.”

Governor Okowa was given a two-week deadline by the pensioners to comply with their demands or face more protests.

It has been revealed that Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retired), the president, lost two of his children to sickle cell anemia.

At a private dinner organized in his honor on Friday night at the State House Banquet Hall to commemorate his 80th birthday, Buhari made this revelation in a documentary that was screened.

When questioned about his personal life, the President acknowledged that two of his children from his marriage to the late Safinatu were killed by sickle cell anemia.

This explains why, when he married Aisha Buhari, the first lady, he insisted that his second wife have an AA genotype in order to prevent his children from inheriting the S from his AS genotype.

Buhari replied to the allegations made by certain Nigerians that he had been dead for a while and had been replaced by a body double known as “Jibril of Sudan” as “not a funny joke.”

The President claims that those disseminating the nasty rumor are purposefully uninformed individuals who like causing difficulty for other people.

President Buhari responded when asked about the rumor during the documentary interview by saying,  “Yes! People have made the assumption that I am from Sudan. I didn’t put much effort into coming up with a name. Nigerians are known for their crafty approaches of describing who they are.

He said, “No, when asked if he finds jokes with such allusions funny.

“The persons who made those statements were merely attempting to be cheeky, thus it is not funny.

“They urge people to focus on something other than the primary concern. The construction of the necessary infrastructure and educating the populace about the importance of putting in long hours of labour in order to enjoy a healthy lifestyle are our top priorities.”

“They just want to be able to relax and take it easy without having to worry about winning the respect of their peers, etc.”

The Ghanaian government has instituted visa-on-arrival for visitors arriving during the Christmas season, beginning on December 22, 2022, and ending on January 15, 2023.

According to Business Ghana, Ghana’s transport ministry announced this on Thursday, announcing the implementation of a visa-on-arrival policy for visitors to the country as part of the “Beyond the Return” drive to draw in more foreigners.

All of the nation’s airlines were advised by the transport minister, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, that visitors to Ghana are not required to obtain a visa before entering the country.

The decision was made after discussions with the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Interior, and Tourism, as well as the Ghana Immigration Service and the Ghana Tourism Authority, the Ministry stated in a communiqué to all airlines.

“Following consultation between the ministry of foreign affairs, the ministry of interior, the ministry of tourism, art and culture, Ghana immigration service and the Ghana tourism authority, approval has been given for passengers travelling to Ghana to opt for visa-on-arrival waiving the requirement for prior approval.”

“Consequently, it would be appreciated if systems are updated to reflect this new arrangement and those responsible for checking-in passengers travelling to Ghana advised not to insist on entry visas prior to their boarding”, the communiqué added.

A follow-up to the Year of Return project, which celebrated the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first documented enslaved Africans in Virginia in 1619, is the “Beyond the Return” Initiative, a 10-year plan designed to capitalize on the momentum of the “Year of Return.”

Its seven pillars, which are based on the theme “A decade of African Renaissance (2020-2030),” are designed to highlight the nation’s investment potential and strengthen its diaspora involvement initiatives.

Africans in the Diaspora have shown a great deal of interest in the program, and many of them have since been to Ghana or moved there since 2019.

There are fears that the issue of flight delays and cancellations bedeviling the aviation sector might not be over soon.

Delays are still being experienced in the country’s aviation sector despite the high cost of flight tickets, the security challenges in the country as well as increased economic activities have boosted passengers’ turnout at most airports in the country, even as new airlines are entering the sector and others opening more routes.

The Acting Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, Engr. Mathew Pwajok, recently declared that insecurity, expansion in the economy, and the upsurge in political activities in the country account for the increase in demand for air travel.

It was gathered that the departure halls at major airports are now constantly filled with passengers arriving or preparing for departure ahead of the yuletide period.

But ahead of the festive season, the airlines said they anticipate increased passenger movement as more people are expected to arrive in the country while more domestic passengers would be recorded across major routes.

Checks by Daily Trust showed that most flights from December 20 to 23 are either fully booked or have only a few seats left, while the fares have also gone up.

Lagos-Enugu flight on Air Peace is sold for N100,000 for one way as against the N75,000 being the minimum price.

The Ibom Air flight to Port Harcourt costs N88,000 for Friday, December 23, as of the time of filing this report, while an Owerri flight ticket now costs more than N90,000 on most of airlines.

Amidst the rush in the yuletide booking by passengers, there are fears of flight disruption occasioned by the declining airport infrastructure, and the harmattan haze, among other factors.

Already, passengers across the airports are complaining about missing their flights or experiencing delays.

A passenger, Engr Epkema, travelling to Uyo, said, “I missed my flight because of the hold-up on my way to the airport, especially the few kilometers to the tollgate and between the tollgate and the terminal building area.

“I spent over 20 minutes between the tollgates coming to the terminal building. I had to alight from the vehicle to trek because it was faster trekking, but I wasn’t early enough, so I missed my flight.

“However, I’m happy because the flight left as scheduled. So it was my fault I missed the flight. As per the pressure, you can see a large crowd.

“Although at the Ibom Air counter, there was no delay, you can see the pressure at the other airlines’ counters. It is chaotic there with the crowd. I guess it is because of the season.”

Another passenger, Yasir Abubakar, also complained about having to spend too much time in the queue at the terminal of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.

“You will have to be here on time because the airport is really busy. This is the holiday season and a lot of people are traveling, so I can understand the pressure. I have a long queue in front of me now. But it’s moving gradually. It’s quite stressful.”

An Abuja-Uyo bound passenger, Miss Joy, lamented that her flight was shifted by Air Peace for one hour.

“Air Peace shifted my flight to Uyo by an hour and there was no message until I got to the airport to manage my flight. Imagine if I had a scheduled meeting, I would have missed it.”

“Deceased, deceased,” a staffer in full protective gear shouted as she handed a nurse a death certificate, their hospital in central China overflowing with Covid patients.

China is battling a wave of infections that have hit the elderly hard but has officially logged only a handful of deaths from the coronavirus after the government redefined the criteria by which Covid deaths are counted.

At No. 5 People’s Hospital in Chongqing, the main entrance lobby had been converted into a makeshift Covid ward when AFP visited on Friday.

In the vast atrium, about a dozen beds occupied by mainly elderly patients on IV drips were cordoned off with red and white tape.

In a nearby room, about 40 mostly elderly and middle-aged patients sat on sofas and lay on beds receiving IV drips, some coughing.

A nurse said they all had Covid.

In an intensive care unit next door, three people lay on beds attached to respirators and heart monitoring equipment.

An elderly man was wheeled in on a stretcher, coughing and struggling to breathe.

At the emergency department, around 50 people queued for triage, including Covid patients, with one person at the front of the queue telling AFP they had waited for more than an hour.

The emergency room at another medium-sized hospital in downtown Chongqing was also overrun, with around 30 elderly people attached to IV drips, squeezed among beds and chairs.

Several were breathing through respirators and a few had pulse oximeters attached to their fingers.

A cleaner and a nurse at the first hospital told AFP there were several deaths per day since the government’s sudden decision at the beginning of the month to lift health restrictions and end mass testing.

It was not clear if all of the deaths were related to the virus.

– ‘Died too quickly’ –On Thursday evening, AFP visited a crematorium in the city’s south and witnessed 40 bodies being unloaded in two hours.

The relatives of several of the deceased said the deaths were due to Covid.

One woman said her elderly relative, who was suffering from cold symptoms, had tested negative but died after they could not get an ambulance in time.

A woman in her 20s told AFP she suspected her father had died of Covid, though he had not been tested.

“He died too quickly, while on the way to the hospital,” she sobbed. “He had lung issues to begin with… He was only 69.”

Under China’s new definition of Covid deaths, only those who die of respiratory failure — and not pre-existing conditions exacerbated by the virus — are counted.

That means many of the dead in Chongqing — and across the country — is no longer even being registered as coronavirus victims.

At the first hospital’s ICU on Friday, the cleaner told AFP it was mostly elderly people who were dying.

Gesturing to a space where a bed had been a little while before, he said: “Look, that old man in there died just now.”

After defeating Sumaiya Ismail and Al-Mustapha Umar, 14-year-old Fadila Sani, a JSS 3 student at Government Girls Secondary School Sandamu, was chosen as the new speaker for the 5th Assembly of the Katsina State Children Parliament.

Fadila, who is the first girl to be chosen as speaker of the Katsina Children Parliament, was also chosen by Save the Children Worldwide (SCI) as the state’s “Girls’ Champion” and would represent it whenever necessary for national and international assignments.

After they were sworn in, Fadila spoke, promising that the Katsina Children’s Parliament would “work rigourously to bring to the forefront child sensitive issues as well as support all efforts by diverse stakeholders to make Katsina State the safest place to be a child in accordance with the Geneva Declaration on the Rights of the Child and the provisions of the Child Rights Acts 2003.”

The newly appointed speaker further pledged that the 5th Assembly of the Katsina State Children’s Parliament “shall advocate, sensitize, campaign, and pool all resources within its powers at every given opportunity towards the attainment of laudable reforms particularly as it affects children in the state.”

Fadila stated that the 5th Assembly of the Katsina Children Parliament will seek to implement the Katsina Child Protection Bill as well as review and implement all current child-related and child-sensitive policies, laws, and programs on education, health, as well as others, making sure that they are given top priority and not treated as a second choice.

The State House of Assembly is to be more child-inclusive by providing enough resources for the conduct of their legislative sittings at least twice a year, as stipulated in their constitution and standing order, which is another request made by the 5th assembly of the Katsina Children Parliament.

Additionally, they prayed for the creation of a House Committee on Children Affairs and structural changes to the Katsina State House of Assembly.

Other principal officers elected into the 5th Assembly of the Katsina Children Parliament to run its affairs for the next three years include: Sadiq Sani Garba as Deputy Speaker, Muhammed Aminu as House Leader, Fatima Abdullahi as Deputy House Leader, Aisha Bashir as House Clark, Abdulhakeem Yakubu as Deputy Clark, Al-Mustapha Umar as Chief Whip, Aminu Aliyu as Deputy Chief Whip, and David Henry Ola as the Mace Bearer.

On behalf of the speaker of the Katsina State House of Assembly, Hon. Tasiu Maigari, the chairman of the House Committee on Information, Hon. Abubakar Alibaba, administered the oath of office to the new Katsina Children Parliament leaders.

Fadila expressed her gratitude to the former lawmakers for working to ensure that the child right act was passed into law while they were in office. Additionally, she applauded the Katsina State House of Assembly for establishing a committee to examine the child right legislation before it was passed into law. She also expressed her gratitude to Governor Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State for his support of the law.

The new speaker also praised Save the Children International in collaboration with the Cuppy Foundation, INEC, the Department of Girl Child Education, and Child Development for their guidance and cooperation in making sure that they are well coordinated as development partners of the Children Parliament.

A project of Save the Children International (SCI), with assistance financing from the Cuppy foundation, the Nigeria Children Parliament calls for the protection of children and the execution of the Child Rights Act.

The Director-General of the Labour Party (LP) Presidential candidate, Doyin Okupe, has resigned from his position to lead Peter Obi’s campaign for the upcoming general election, barely 24 hours after paying a N13 million fine to escape from spending two years behind the bars in the country.

Okupe, who was found guilty of money laundering under President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, said that his decision was to avoid distractions that could affect Obi’s dream of leading the country to a destination Nigerians were currently yearning for.

The former Presidential aide announced his decision to step down on Tuesday through a letter written to the LP, Presidential candidate, stating reasons for his actions.

In a letter, signed by the former Campaign Director, he noted that it was better not to allow his personal interest to distract Obi’s campaign and that of the party, hence his decision to step aside.

According to the letter, Dear Peter, you will recall that I briefed you yesterday about my travails in seeking justice and clearing my name using the Nigerian Legal System to pursue same,” the letter read in part.

“I have invested too much in your campaign to allow my personal travails to become a source of distraction. In the circumstances, I have opted to step aside and plead that you appoint a new Campaign DG who can continue the assignment with zero distractions. God bless you and your family.”

This followed a judgment by the Federal High Court in Abuja which found the embattled LP presidential campaign DG guilty of receiving over N200 million cash from former National Security Adviser (NSA) Sambo Dasuki.

Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu in her ruling yesterday held that the action of Okupe, who is the first defendant in the suit filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), violated the Money Laundering Act.

The court consequently held that the first defendant, Dr Okupe was guilty in counts 34, 35, 36, and 59.

Shortly after his conviction, Okupe had taken to Twitter to blame his “enemies” for his legal travails.

“God is not man. The enemies have tried in so many ways but kept on failing. Victory is of God.”.

Prof. Joseph Albasu Kunini, the Speaker of the Taraba State House of Assembly, has resigned from his job for personal reasons.

His letter of resignation was delivered to the Lawmakers on Wednesday, and the Deputy Speaker, Hammanadama Ibn-Abdullahi, who presided as Speaker pro tempore during the meeting, read it.

The new speaker was chosen by all of the legislators to be John Kizito Bonzena, the Chief Whip of the Assembly and representative of Zing State Constituency.