News & Announcements

Some of the victims of Wednesday night’s building collapse in Abuja have described how they almost avoided death by a whisker.

This came when they appealed to the government and well-meaning citizens for assistance.

About 31 people who were rescued and sent to various hospitals for treatment have been discharged after the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, waived off their medical fees.

However, officials of the FCT Health and Human Services Secretariat, who visited the victims, said four victims were still receiving treatment.

They said their visit was to ascertain the level of compliance with the ministerial directive to give the injured persons free treatment.

The team led by the Acting Secretary, Health and Human Services Secretariat, HHSS, Malan Noel Haruna, said: “We are here in compliance with his directive. We have gone around some of the hospitals and we have seen their conditions.

“So far, four victims are still receiving treatment in hospitals, 31 have been treated and discharged, while two have died.

“We have directed the victims to write the bills and forward them through the FCT Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, to the health secretariat for onward submission to the Permanent Secretary.”

At the Asokoro General Hospital where eight patients were taken to, seven had been discharged and one, Abdulsalami Modibbo, was still on treatment.

Narrating his experience, Modibbo said: “I was in my room on the first floor when the building collapsed. I was trying to help myself when a boulder fell on my leg, causing a fracture.”The Chief Nursing Officer at the hospital, Mrs Aishatu Tenebe, said eight victims were brought to the facility and that seven were treated and discharged.

At Cedar Crest Hospital in Gwarinpa, a victim, Mr. Garba Nagoma, was elated when he learned that his hospital bills would be settled by the FCT Minister. Nagoma said his brother had already paid N500,000 to the hospital as an initial deposit
The victim said he visited his friend who resides on the first floor of the building when it caved in.

“We were having a conversation when one of our friends alerted us that the building was about to collapse.

“We dashed to escape but we were late. The building collapsed with us while we were still on the first floor, and I survived with a fracture,” he added.

The Nigerien Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation, and Nigeriens Abroad has said it never ordered the envoys of Nigeria, the United States and Germany out of Niger.

In a statement issued in Niamey, Niger, and dated August 25, 2023, the ministry said: “Contrary to the information distilled and purpose on social networks which report a decision by the Nigerien authorities ordering the Ambassadors of Germany, Nigeria and the United States of America to leave Nigerien territory within 48 hours, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Nigeriens Abroad specifies that the said information is false and that only the Ambassador of France in Niger is declared persona non grata.”

The Nigerien Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation, and Nigeriens Abroad also reminded those who are agitated and still doubt the expression of its sovereign will that Niger does not need authorization or an interpretation of the Vienna Convention of 1961, to exercise its prerogatives and has an Ambassador Sylvain Itte leave, after the 48-hour period ultimatum.

News of an ultimatum given to envoys of the United States, France, and Nigeria by the Nigerien military junta to leave the country earlier surfaced in the media on August 4, 2023.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Adamu Ibrahim Lamuwa, while reacting to the report, said Nigeria was not aware of such development.

Niger, it would be recalled, has been grappling with a political crisis and uncertainties since July 26, 2023, when members of the Presidential Guard and the Armed Forces led by General Abdourahamane Tchiani, overthrew Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum from office.

The action which has received both local and international attention, witnessed the convening of various sessions by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Authority of Heads of State and Government and the ECOWAS Committee of Chiefs of Defence Staff.

Having earlier imposed sanctions on Niger as a result of the change of government, the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government is presently battling with the option of military intervention in the Francophone country.

Emmerson Mnangagwa has been reelected as the President of Zimbabwe.

The electoral commission, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) said Mnangagwa polled 52.6% of the votes cast.

Nicknamed “The Crocodile” for his ruthlessness, Mnangagwa is Zimbabwe’s third president.

He became leader after a 2017 coup that ousted Robert Mugabe who had ruled the southern African nation for 37 years.

According to ZEC, the candidate of the Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC), Nelson Chamisa secured 44% of the vote.

Mnangagwa received more than 2.3 million votes, while Chamisa garnered 1.9 million, ZEC said.

Voter turnout in the country of almost 16 million was 69%.

The constitutional court has upheld the result of the election, amid claims of rigging from the opposition.

Promise Mkwananzi, a spokesman for the Chamisa’s Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) said the party had not signed the final tally, which he described as “false”.

While speaking with newsmen, he said, “We cannot accept the results,” adding the party would soon announce its next move.

Two women, Felicia Nwosu and Chinenye Nwosu, both from Ndiowu in the Anambra State’s Orumba North Local Government Area, have been taken before the State Criminal Investigation Department in Awka for kidnapping two underage children that belong to widow Sharon Nwosu.

According to reports, the widow’s mother-in-law and sister-in-law, who are believed to be the perpetrators, stole the widow’s children after her husband passed away and accused her of killing him.

They were detained after the widow reported to the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare on Friday, according to a relative of the dead who verified the development to press on Saturday.

According to Sharon, who is from Enubom Ndiowu in the Orumba Local Government Area, her difficulties with her in-laws began when she refused to give her late husband’s younger brother the laptop and phone when he insisted on having ownership of the items.

She said, “After forcefully taking custody of my two children and accusing me of killing my husband, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law asked me to hand over my late husband’s laptop and telephone to his junior brother who demanded to take possession of the said properties.

“I was shocked that such a request was made a few days after my late husband’s demise. They asked me to hand over the laptop so that the junior brother could take over the contract my late husband who was an architect, had just secured warning me not to tell anyone.

“I was still dealing with her husband’s demise only to find out that my mother had also died the same day I lost my husband.

“The worst of the situation was days before they took my children, they consistently told my kids that, I was responsible for their father’s death and they broke into my room after my husband’s funeral to cart away all the money sympathisers gave to me.”

Ify Obinabo, the commissioner for women and social welfare, responded by expressing her disapproval with the situation and promising the widow that she will be able to reclaim her children from her in-laws.

Obinabo urged everyone to refrain from adding to widows’ issues and instead always give them breathing room to mourn their loved ones.

A letter ordering the alleged offenders to appear before the ministry on Tuesday with all parties engaged in the case for further investigation was later delivered to the suspects.

Following his discovery with a fresh male corpse in the state’s Ado-Odo Ota region, Babatunde Kolawole, a self-described native doctor, was detained, according to the Ogun State Police Command.

The Amotekun Corps caught the suspect, who claimed he was trying to resurrect the dead, on Sunday, according to the command’s spokeswoman, SP Omolola Odutola.

The statement partly read, “The Divisional Police Officer of Ota Police Station, CSP Saleh Dahiru, has received a report and taken into custody one Babatunde Kolawole, who was caught by members of the Amotekun Corps in Ado-Odo Ota with a fresh male human corpse.

“Preliminary investigations have commenced, and although the suspect did not deny the incident, he claims to be a native doctor who was attempting to revive the deceased. However, it remains unclear how the suspect obtained the fresh corpse during the late hours of the night.

“So far, no one has come forward to claim the body, and the suspect has not revealed any information about the origin of the corpse. In order to gather more information and solve the case, the corpse was transported to the Ifo General Hospital for an autopsy.

“The Sango Ota Divisional Police Officer is urging members of the community to provide any useful information related to the incident by volunteering information.

“The community members can assist the police in their investigation and help shed light on this disturbing occurrence.”

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency’s Kaduna State Command reports that its agents have detained 84 people and seized 451.976kg of illegal substances in Kaduna.

The arrest and the seizure were made in July, according to Mr. Ibrahim Braji, the state commander of the NDLEA, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Kaduna.

According to Braji, the command obtained six convictions of offenders within the time period under consideration.

The commander reported that Indian Hemp, Cocaine, Methamphetamine, Tramadol, and other Psychotropic substances were among the different drugs collected.

“Grand total weight of drug seized within the period under review is 451.976kg.

The commander also revealed that its troops found 90 live rounds of 7.62mm ammunition as well as a brand-new Jojef pump action rifle with the serial number 23-0174.

“Within the month under review, 18 illicit drug joints have been dismantled across the state which included Kantin Agah, Hayin Dan-mani, Mando, Anguwan Dosa, Mararabar Rido, Tukur-Tukur and Sabon Gari.

The others include Ghana Road, Television, Unguwar Ma’azu, Kudenden, Mekera, Rigasa, Dan Daura, Karji, Unguwar Doki, and Unguwar Doki.

Braji urged parents to constantly keep an eye on their kids and be aware of the types of friends they hang out with.

He advised illegal drug traffickers to seek out better employment, adding that the agency would pursue them and make sure they faced the full force of the law if they refused.

The United Kingdom’s Minister of State for the Armed Forces, James Heappey MP, has met with top defence leaders and military chiefs in Nigeria to deepen defence cooperation between both countries and discuss the situation in Niger.

During his visit, Heappey met top brass today within the Nigerian Ministry of Defence, as well as the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa; and Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, reports Channels TV.

The UK defence chief also met with Nigeria’s Minister of Defence, Abubakar Badaru; and the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle.

He also met with the President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, Omar Touray, and he reiterated the UK’s support for ECOWAS’ ongoing diplomatic efforts to ensure a peaceful return to democracy in Niger Republic.

Heappey said, “I’m delighted to return to Nigeria for the third time in three years.

“The UK and Nigerian armed forces have a longstanding partnership through which we continue to tackle violent extremism and other security threats in West Africa and the Gulf of Guinea.

“The UK supports ECOWAS in calling for the peaceful restoration of constitutional order and democracy in Niger and we’ll work with both ECOWAS and our partners across West Africa to support them in that aim.”

He said the UK recognised Nigeria’s diplomatic mediation efforts to peacefully restore democracy in Niger, through its membership of ECOWAS, and condemns in the strongest possible terms the ongoing coup against Niger’s elected-leadership.

“We stand with ECOWAS in condemnation of the illegal detention of President Mohamed Bazoum, his family, and members of the government, as well as the unacceptable conditions under which they are being held, and call for their immediate release,” he said.

‘Diplomacy Won’t Fail’

Yesterday, former Nigerian Head of State, Abdulsalami Abubakar, said that his delegation’s meeting with Niger Republic coup leaders over the weekend was fruitful.

The ECOWAS special envoy said diplomacy won’t fail to restore the democratically elected government of the deposed President.

The coup leader, Abdourahamane Tiani, had said the junta will return to civilian rule within three years but ECOWAS rejected the move.

Meanwhile, the African Union has suspended Niger Republic over the ongoing situation.

Army officers toppled Bazoum on July 26, prompting the West African regional bloc ECOWAS to threaten to use force to reinstate him.

ECOWAS agreed to activate a “standby force” as a last resort to restore democracy in Niger.

It has said it is ready to act, even as it continues to pursue hopes for a diplomatic solution.

The coup has heightened international worries over the Sahel, which faces growing jihadist insurgencies linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.

Niger is the fourth nation in West Africa since 2020 to suffer a coup, following Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali.

The juntas in Burkina Faso and Mali have said that any military intervention in their neighbour would be considered a “declaration of war” against their countries.

The coup is the fifth in Niger’s history since the impoverished landlocked state gained independence from France in 1960.

Bazoum’s election in 2021 was a landmark, opening the way to the country’s first peaceful transition of power.

He has been held with his family at the president’s official residence since the coup, with growing international concern over his conditions in detention.

A two-storey plaza located at Lagos street, Garki Village in the Garki District of the nation’s capital, Abuja has collapsed.

It was gathered that the building collapsed late last night amid heavy downpour.

So far, 37 people have been rescued, with two of them “fatally injured,” emergency officials said.

They said rescue operations had been slow over the night as there was no immediate access to an excavator and rescue efforts were purely manual.

Confirming the development, Director General of FCT Emergency Management Agency FEMA, Dr Abbas Idriss said 37 persons had so far been rescued at the scene of the collapsed structure.

He said the victims have been evacuated to various medical facilities in Abuja.

“Thirty seven persons have so far been rescued and evacuated to hospital, others reportedly still trapped. Rescue team and others are on ground.

Rescue operations on but slowly due to ongoing rain”. They are making frantic efforts at getting an excavator to remove people from the rubble”, he added.

The DG commended the efforts of all stakeholders working hard manually to rescue trapped persons, including members of the community.

He revealed that rescue mission continues while they await the arrival of equipment to enhance the operations.

Child gun deaths in the United States have hit a record high, according to a new study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s mortality database, the study published on Monday in the AAP’s journal Pediatrics found that 4,752 children died from gun-related injuries in 2021, the latest year for which data was available, up from 4,368 in 2020 and 3,390 in 2019.

Gun violence has been the number one cause of death for children in the United States since 2020.

The study was published as Tennessee lawmakers opened a special session on public safety after a Nashville school shooting earlier this year that killed three children and three teachers.

Annie Andrews, a South Carolina pediatrician and gun violence prevention researcher who was not involved in the study, said that when she became a doctor, “I never imagined I would take care of so many children with bullet holes in them.

“But the fact of the matter is, in every children’s hospital across this country, there are children in the pediatric intensive care units suffering from firearm injuries.”

The study further showed that Black children accounted for around 67% of firearm homicides while white children made up about 78% of gun-assisted suicides.

Iman Omer, a junior at Vanderbilt University in Nashville and an anti-gun violence advocate with Students Demand Action, said the study’s findings were devastating but unsurprising.

Every year, I know that 128 children and teens in Tennessee die by guns,” Omer said as she headed to the state’s capitol Tuesday to join protesters who have been demanding tougher gun laws.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, who knew two of the teachers killed in the Nashville shooting, had asked lawmakers in the special session to bolster so called red flag laws aimed at keeping firearms out of the hands of people deemed to be a threat. He has faced resistance from his fellow Republicans, who control the statehouse.

In a statement Tuesday, the Tennessee Firearms Association expressed concern that “while some Republican legislators have said that no Red Flag laws will pass, far fewer have stated that no laws that would have any negative impact on 2nd Amendment protected rights would pass.”

Ten people have been killed in a private jet crash north of Moscow – with the Russian Civil Aviation Authority saying Yevgeny Prigozhin was on the passenger list.

Seven passengers and three crew were on board the Embraer aircraft, which was en route from Moscow to St Petersburg, TASS news agency reported.

The jet is said to have crashed in the Tver region, north of Moscow.

Multiple videos posted on social appear to show the jet crashing.

“An investigation has been launched into the Embraer plane crash that occurred tonight in the Tver region. According to the passenger list, among them is the name and surname of Yevgeny Prigozhin,” Rosaviatsia said.

Prigozhin, who is believed to have been on board the flight, shared his first video address since his aborted June mutiny just two days ago.

The Wagner Group boss – who was sent to Belarus in the aftermath of his march on Moscow – released footage of himself speaking while wearing camouflage and holding a rifle.

Prigozhin appeared to be in Africa in the video, and he also spoke about Russia making the continent “free”.

Everything to do with Yevgeny Prigozhin has been extremely murky and, of course, ever since his march on Moscow, there have been questions on whether he can survive.

It’s very convenient for the Kremlin and for Russia to declare him dead. I suppose a lot of people have been wondering whether this would happen.

If this is the case… then that certainly serves the Kremlin – he was not part useful having caused the biggest problem for the Kremlin that I can remember since Putin has been in power.

Take it with a pinch of salt – we need more confirmation of that. It’s pretty extraordinary. It’s pretty convenient for the Kremlin. It’s interesting how he survived. He was seemingly allowed to get off scot-free.

If this is a coincidence that Prigozhin was on a plane that crashed outside Moscow then that’s pretty extraordinary – but there are lots of extraordinary things happening in Russia at the moment.

He called off the mutiny and his mercenaries pulled back after Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko helped broker a “deal”, which would supposedly see the businessman move to the Russian-allied country and his forces absorbed into the military.

Once a close confidant of Vladimir Putin, Prigozhin had often lambasted the likes of defence minister Sergei Shoigu and top general Valery Gerasimov in public addresses over their handling of the Ukraine invasion.