News & Announcements

Big Brother Naija All Stars housemate, Terseer Waya, aka Kiddwaya, has claimed that none of the female housemates has been able to exhibit any “wife material” characteristic in the reality show.

KidWaya also added that “My girl is a million times better than all of the female housemates”.

In a chat with Pere on Monday morning, KiddWaya, who is the Head of House lamented that none of his female colleagues has cooked or cleaned in the house.

“I don’t want to even try and get into any entanglement [in Biggie’s house]. I have got a girl [outside] anyway. 

My girl is a million times better than all of them here. I haven’t seen anyone clean, I haven’t seen anyone cook. I haven’t seen anyone even show any wife material characteristics,” KiddWaya said.

In light of an investigation into the tragic death of Dr Diaso Vwaere from an elevator crash at General Hospital Odan, the Lagos State Government says it has sacked and blacklisted the facility managers responsible and suspended the General Manager of the Lagos State Infrastructure and Asset Management Agency (LASIAMA).

Vwaere’s death last Tuesday was met with outrage following reports of her death resulting from an elevator that plunged several floors at the house officers’ quarters of the hospital and unsuccessful efforts to revive her.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Olumide Sogunle, in a statement on Sunday, revealed the initial findings of its panel of inquiry, saying the state government had taken several actions.

In addition to the sacking and blacklisting of the facility managers, and the LASIAMA boss’s immediate suspension, Sogunle disclosed that the operations and line of reporting of the facility managers had been restructured to involve the hospital management directly.

“We have handed the installation and maintenance contractors to the police for further investigation and likely prosecution if they are found culpable. The police will also investigate anyone else that might have been found to be negligent,” the statement said.

PRESS STATEMENT ON AUGUST 1st ELEVATOR ACCIDENT AT GENERAL HOSPITAL, ODAN, LAGOS

The Lagos State Government would like to, once again, acknowledge with deep regret the unfortunate elevator accident of Tuesday, 1st August 2023 at the House Officer’s residence of the General Hospital, Odan, which resulted in the death of Dr. Vwaere Diaso, a vibrant young house officer.

We commiserate with her family and her colleagues and pray for the repose of her soul. As a Government, we feel the pain of this irreparable loss. May The Almighty console them and give them the strength to go through this difficult time.

The Lagos State Government, in recognition of the importance of providing functional and comfortable accommodation for health workers, outsourced the management of the House Officers Quarters to a facility management company.

The Lagos State Infrastructure and Asset Management Agency (LASIAMA) oversees the activities of the facility management company.

Following the incident, we immediately set up a panel to look into its likely causes, identify persons who might be culpable, and suggest ways of preventing any future occurrence.

For transparency, the membership of the panel included representatives of the Medical Guild and six representatives of House Officers.

The panel has now concluded its deliberations and submitted its report.

According to its findings, the incident happened around 6.50 pm. Due to the impact, the elevator doors were damaged and needed to be forced open to rescue the trapped house officer. She was extracted at about 7.50 pm and resuscitation commenced immediately. She was wheeled to the emergency room and was immediately attended to by a medical team led by a highly experienced consultant orthopaedic and trauma surgeon.

The team was assisted by all house officers who were present at the time. The initial objectives were to ensure a clear airway, maintain breathing, and establish circulation. The team was also joined by two consultant anaesthetists, including the Medical Director, who intubated the patient. Despite all the efforts, she stopped breathing around 8.13pm and Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) commenced. This went on until 8.59pm when she was pronounced dead.

It is important to state that blood samples for cross-matching had not been taken and there had not been a request for blood at the time CPR commenced; it is not true that blood was not available.

The State has a strong network of screening centres where blood is available. Besides, there is a register of voluntary donors who can be mobilised at very short notice.
It is also important to state that the elevator that crashed was installed brand new in 2021.

Elevator experts working with the Lagos Safety Commission have carried out an initial inspection and will be removing the elevator for further mechanical examination to determine why the safety features that should prevent this kind of accident did not work. Their findings will determine if we have a case with the elevator installer.

Based on our initial findings the Lagos State Government has taken the following actions:

◦ We have sacked and blacklisted the Facility Managers

◦ The GM of Lagos State Infrastructure and Asset Management Agency is to immediately proceed on suspension

◦ The operations and line of reporting of the facility managers have been restructured to involve the hospital management directly

◦ We have handed the installation and maintenance contractors to the police for further investigation and likely prosecution if they are found culpable. The police will also investigate anyone else that might are negligent

◦ Engineers are working to unravel why all the safety devices of the elevator failed at the same time

◦ All our staff are fully insured. We have informed our life insurance providers about this incident.

◦ The Lagos Safety Commission has been directed to immediately carry out an audit of all elevators in public offices. This is besides the usual safety arrangements that have always existed.
Olumide SogunlePermanent Secretary,Ministry of Information and Strategy.

Police at Central Police Station in Lusaka have detained Apostle Christopher Kunda, aged 45 of Plot 168 Chalala and Church Leader for Presence of God Life Ministries International.

Kunda was allegedly detained for ‘assault occasioning actual bodily harm (OABH)’.

He was alleged to have assaulted Reverend Nelson Mhango, aged 62 of House Number 4199B Matero, who is a member of Bumper Harvest Church.

The incident occurred on Monday, 31 July 2023  at Society Business Park between Cairo Road and Cha-Cha-Cha Road.

The incident occurred when Reverend Mhango advised the suspect against having a love affair with a female member of his Church.

The wife of the accused had invited Reverend Nelson Mhango to counsel the couple in Chilenje and when the accused was taking the elderly Pastor back to Matero they made a stopover to buy some food.

Reverend Mhango continued his admonition for which he was hit by Apostle Kunda.

The suspect was subsequently arrested and charged with the offense of Assault OABH. He has been released on Police bond and will appear in court soon.

A 74-year-old former teacher, Anne N. Nelson-Koch,  has been sentenced to  600 years jail term after she repeatedly sexually abused a teenage boy at a private school in Wisconsin reports The Daily Mail.

Monroe County Court convicted Nelson-Koch on 25 counts linked to the attacks which took place in the 2016-2017 school year.

She would take the boy down to the unnamed school’s basement to abuse him.

Nelson-Koch was 67 at the time and the boy was 14.

Prosecutors asked that Nelson-Koch be immediately remanded in custody ahead of sentencing on October 27.

Judge Richard Radcliffe instead granted bail with a GPS monitor ahead of the hearing.

Assistant District Attorney Sarah Skiles, the prosecutor in the case, added: ‘The victim of these crimes is an incredibly brave young man.
“He spoke the truth, and the jury heard him loud and clear. We are so grateful to the jury for their dedication to finding the truth”.

Skiles also praised Paul Sloan of the Tomah Police Department, who led the investigation.

“We could not have achieved this outcome without the victim’s strength and Investigator Sloan’s dedication and thorough investigation,” she said.

Adeniyi Sanni, an aide to Solomon Adeola, senator representing Ogun West, has been shot dead in Lagos.

Kayode Odunaro, the media adviser to Adeola, said Sanni was killed under questionable circumstances in the early hours of Saturday.

Odunaro said the deceased was stopped at a checkpoint in Lagos and was questioned about his vehicle’s papers.

He added that Sanni reached out to his wife to send the documents through Whatsapp, after which he suddenly went incommunicado.

“Information available to the bereaved senator in Abuja indicates that Mr Sanni was stopped at a checkpoint around Berger area of Lagos on his way to his home at Isheri by security agents,” Odunaro said in a statement.

“He was asked to provide the documents of the car he was driving, which he did through his wife who sent all the documents to his phone via WhatsApp.

“It was gathered that the wife called a while later and the late Mr. Sanni told him they are still checking the vehicle’s papers. His apprehensive wife later called on Mr Sanni’s associates to say she could no longer reach her husband on the phone necessitating the mobilisation of a search party.”

The statement added that Sanni’s wife was later called by passersby through the “next of kin” phone number available on her husband’s driver’s license and was told that Sanni’s body had been found with a gunshot wound around the Toyota bus stop in Oshodi.

“Senator Adeola who is involved in the ongoing ministerial screening at the senate is shocked beyond words and devastated by the news of this sad incident, as Mr Sanni was his close aide for over two decades,” Odunaro said.

“The Nigeria Police Force are investigating the killing.”

Maryam Shetty, a ministerial nominee whose nomination was withdrawn by President Bola Tinubu, on Friday hours before her screening has  said her nomination and withdrawal from the list is a divine will.

Shetty, APC  chieftain  from Kano State, was one of the nominees in the supplementary ministerial list for confirmation but in a twist of events, just before her screening before the red chamber on Friday, the President removed her name and replaced her with two others — Festus Keyamo and Mariya Mahmoud.

In her statement posted on her verified Facebook page, Shetty said she felt “sheer joy and pride” at my nomination as it was “a validation of my capabilities, a nod to my vision, and a sign that our great nation was ready to embrace a future where young women like me, even from the most traditional parts of Nigeria, can hold positions of influence and power”.

“Yet, life, with its characteristic unpredictability, led to the withdrawal of my nomination. To some, this could seem like a setback, but my faith as a devout Muslim guided my understanding. I saw it as the divine will of Allah, who I believe grants power as He wishes when He wishes. His plans are always superior to ours.

“Even with this unexpected twist, my gratitude to President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for considering me for such an esteemed position remains undiminished. The journey doesn’t end here; I believe this is a mere stepping stone, and the best is yet to come. My resolve to serve my beloved country, Nigeria, in any capacity I can, is stronger than ever.

“I would like to assure my incredible supporters that this is not an end, it is the dawn of a new era I urge all of us to continue praying for our nation and to stand behind our President as he strives to better Nigeria.

“My nomination may have been withdrawn, but my hope is unwavering. As I have often stated, “Hope is not lost; maybe I will come back again.”

Niger’s military rulers announced Sunday that they had closed the country’s airspace, warning that any attempt to violate it would meet with an “energetic and immediate response.”

“Faced with the threat of intervention, which is becoming clearer through the preparation of neighbouring countries, Niger’s airspace is closed from this day on Sunday… for all aircraft until further notice,” the country’s new rulers said in a statement.

The announcement came as the deadline from the West African bloc ECOWAS for them to hand back power to the democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum was due to expire.

ECOWAS last Sunday issued Niger’s new military rulers with an ultimatum to stand down within the week or face possible military intervention.

Bazoum was overthrown on July 26 when members of his own guard detained him at the presidency.

Mr Babatunde Fashola SAN, the immediate past Minister of Works and Housing, has disputed the false and malicious claim that he was involved in crafting the judgment for the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT) Judges.

Fashola voiced his concern with the propagation of misleading information on social media platforms in a statement signed by his Special Adviser, Media, Hakeem Bello.

The former minister urged security services to take action against people who promote fake news.

In reaction to the charge, Fashola stated that he has been out of the country for an extended length of time, rendering the claims completely untrue.

He denounced the individuals behind these harmful charges, referring to them as destabilization agents.

Fashola has begun the process of filing legal petitions with the administrators of the microblogging site, X (previously known as Twitter), and the National Communications Commission (NCC) in response to the insulting tweets and online publications.

He encouraged the relevant security services to take this matter seriously since it goes to the essence of judicial independence.

The former Minister feels that these claims are part of a larger campaign to discredit the judiciary by individuals seeking to use the institution.

He underlined the need of identifying the criminals and their sponsors and holding them accountable through legal means.

He advised the people to dismiss these bogus charges and to report anyone involved in disseminating such dangerous fabrications to the appropriate security agencies.

The Lagos State Police Command arraigned two individuals, Nelson Godwin and Adigun Sobowale, on Friday for allegedly uttering derogatory allegations about the Oduduwa University in Ipetumodu, Osun State, on a live broadcast studio.

Godwin and Sobowale were charged with four charges of defamation and breach of peace in the Yaba Magistrates’ Court, presided over by Magistrate Patrick Nwaka.

According to the prosecutor, Thomas Nurudeen, the defendants made defamatory claims in a video on YouTube and a broadcast station, WOTV, claiming that the institution was notorious for killing people and collecting unlawful tickets from students and instructors.

Nurudeen alleged that they committed the offence on July 6 and 7, 2023, at around 10 and 11 a.m., at the WO Ibile/WOTV headquarters in Gowon Estate, Egbeda, Lagos.

He claims that the offense committed violates and is punished by Sections 516,373, 374(1) a b (2)(3) and 375 and 249(d) of the Criminal Code chapter ‘C38’ Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

The defendants, on the other hand, pleaded not guilty to the allegations brought against them.

Mr Omotosho and S.V Ogunbiyi, the defendants’ lawyers, pleaded with the court to give them bail on the simplest terms possible.

Following their not-guilty plea and with no opposition from the prosecuting counsel, Nwaka granted them bail in the sum of N200,000 apiece, with two sureties in the same sum.

Nwaka postponed the case to December 4, 2023, for further consideration.

The Enugu State government placed a ban on the usage of unlicensed automobiles with tinted glasses in the state on Monday.

The prohibition, which is set to take effect on September 4, 2023, was announced by the government as part of the Governor Peter Mbah administration’s stated determination and commitment to combating the nefarious activities of kidnappers and other criminal groups in the state.

Prof Chidiebere Onyia, Secretary to the State Government, issued the restriction in a public service announcement on Monday.

The statement partly read, “The ban shall take effect after four weeks of this notice, with consequent enforcement starting on Monday, September 4, 2023.

“This is to give owners of vehicles with tinted glasses, who did not obtain Police Tinted Permits before the suspension of its issuance by the Nigeria Police Force on June 7, 2021, sufficient time to have them removed or replaced if they are factory fitted, by the provisions of the law.”

It, however, warned that defaulting vehicles “shall be impounded by the enforcement taskforce and shall not be released to their owners until the tinted glasses are removed or replaced and the specified fines paid.

“It is important to reiterate that the ban is primarily aimed at curtailing the activities of criminals and to generally enhance the security and safety of the good people and residents of Enugu State.

“We, therefore, solicit the understanding and cooperation of the general public in this regard.”