News & Announcements

In the Republic of Sudan, where a brutal military conflict between the Sudanese armed forces and the paramilitary group, Rapid Support Force, has killed 330 lives and injured 3,200, Nigerian students are abandoning their homes for safety.

As the violence that started on April 8 entered its 13th day on Friday, thousands of civilians had also been forced to flee the capital, Khartoum, as a result of the clashes. These countries included Tanzania, Uganda, and Japan.

The RSF paramilitary group and the Sudanese Armed Forces, both commanded by General Mohamed Dagalo, were previously partners.

1,262 or more Nigerian students have requested that the Federal Government relocate them from Sudan.

The Federal Government announced on Thursday that it has applied for permission to evacuate Nigerians caught in the violent conflict, particularly students.

It reaffirmed the need for a cease-fire so that foreign nationals may be evacuated.

On the other hand, Umar Abubakar, the president of the Jigawa State Students Association in Sudan, who resided in Mujahideen, sent our correspondent a voice message on Friday with the sound of gunfire in the background.

Abubakar said, “After prayer this morning, we are running for our lives. The situation is very serious. As you can hear the gunshots in the background, please pray for us.”

Gbenga Ogunfadeke, 45, was detained after it was claimed that he had chained his two children and kept them in solitary confinement until they died.

The suspect was reportedly apprehended on Tuesday by members of the State Security Network, also known as the Amotekun Corps, in Ibiade, Ogun Waterside Local Government Area of Ogun State.

In a statement published Wednesday in Abeokuta, the state capital, the corps’ State Commander, David Akinremi, confirmed the suspect’s detention.

The guy, a father of three, allegedly accused his children of stealing, according to reports.

He is said to have kept the kids chained and sequestered for more than three months without providing them with food or water.

Two of the kids apparently died as a result of the circumstance.

More information revealed that the suspect had been abusing the three kids, who were 16 years old, 17 years old, and 18 years old since he acquired custody of them when his marriage to the kids’ mother, Busola Otusegun, fell apart.

Akinremi said the suspect was arrested following a complaint by his ex-wife.

He said, “One of the three children came across his aunt in Ibiade where he currently lives with his father (suspect) and narrated their experience with their father which led to the death of his two elder siblings – Yusuf Ogunfadeke (18) and Dasola Ogunfadeke (17) between April and June 2022 in Ijebu-Ode where they were all living with the suspect until he relocated back to Ibiade.

“According to him (the child), their father chained and locked them in solitary confinement without food and water for over three months which led to the death of the two siblings but he miraculously survived the ordeal.”

The suspect was allegedly keeping the kids in captivity for months, according to the Amotekun commandant, although he denied starving them or being to blame for their deaths during questioning.

According to the suspect, his behavior was motivated by the children’s involvement in theft and the need to prevent them from continuing to do so.

In addition, the suspect claimed that his two deceased children were admitted to the hospital for treatment at various points after becoming ill, but tragically perished during the procedure.

He added, “What is however curious about his defence is that the hospital where he claimed the two children died in Ijebu Ode could neither be located.

“Where he allegedly buried them behind a rented apartment he lived in Ijebu-Ode before relocating to his present abode in Ibiade with the third child could also not be traced for possible exhumation.

“The fact that he refused to make the incidents known to any member of the family also gives course for concern more so when the suspect is a herbalist, thus further fuelling the suspicion of having killed the deceased for possible rituals.

“Consequently, the case is being transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation to establish further facts that will facilitate his prosecution.”

A 14-year-old boy who is accused of defiling a 22-month-old baby was ordered on Thursday by a family court in Iyaganku, Oyo State, to be held in the Agodi Correctional facility.

The child, who was underage, was accused of defiling by the police.

The minor’s plea of lack of jurisdiction was rejected by Chief Magistrate P. O. Adetuyibi.

For legal counsel, Adetuyibi instructed the police to refer the case to the Oyo State Directorate of Public Prosecution.

She postponed discussion of the subject until July 20.

Earlier, Insp. Oluwakemi Arowosaye, the prosecution’s attorney, informed the court that the boy lives with his parents at No. 4 Salawu Street in Ibadan.

According to Arowosaye, the baby was defiled between March 31 and April 3.

She claimed that her sister was left in charge of the baby, an orphan.

According to her, the offense violates Section 34 of the 2006 Child’s Right Law.

The Oyo State Child Welfare Department of the Ministry for Women Affairs has taken custody of the infant.

Dr. Ugochukwu Chukwulobelu, the program manager for Anambra State’s management of tuberculosis, leprosy, and buruli ulcers, claims that the state is responsible for the majority of Nigeria’s cases of childhood tuberculosis.

At the ongoing stakeholders’ engagement, which was held by the Federal Ministry of Health on Thursday in Awka in collaboration with the KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation and Breakthrough Action Nigeria, Chukwulobelu made the statement.

He described tuberculosis as an airborne illness brought on by the bacterium “Mycobacterium tuberculosis,” which often attacks the lungs but can potentially harm other body organs.

The program manager claimed that when a person with tuberculosis of the lungs or throat coughs, sneezes, or talks, the disease is disseminated through the air.

“According to statistics on TB burden, Nigeria ranks number six in the world and number one in Africa, with every local government having TB cases.

“Anambra has the highest burden of TB drug resistance cases and childhood TB contribution in the South-East and Nigeria. This is not a good thing for the state.

“To reduce the high burden of TB, the state government, in collaboration with the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme and other partners, set up 14 laboratories with gene Xpert machines for diagnoses.

“We have about 800 Directly Observed Treatments Centres for TB, but the major problem is lack of awareness among residents about TB, its diagnosis and treatment,” he said.

Chukwulobelu asked the media to focus their reporting on the impact and symptoms of the illness as well as the availability of medical care for sufferers.

“Persistent cough for two weeks or more, fever, unexplainable weight loss and drenching night sweats are signs used to screen patients.

“Residents should report suspected cases of TB within their communities.

“TB patients should also adhere to their treatments to prevent drug-resistant TB cases which are even more dangerous.

“Everyone has a role to play to reduce the burden of the disease,” the programme manager said.

Also, according to Dr. Chijioke Oke of KNCV-Nigeria, children who are HIV positive, underweight children, and children who live with adults who have TB are all at risk of contracting the disease.

Oke said that some of the difficulties with the disease’s control in the state include low kid TB awareness, stigma, low funding for childhood TB, and low index suspicion for childhood TB by healthcare providers.

He claimed that as children do not know how to properly spit out sputum after coughing, but instead swallow it, children’s stool must be used to test them for TB.

“Our major challenge with Childhood TB control in the state is that parents are scared and do not allow doctors to take their children’s stool for tests.

“Some of them think the medical personnel want to use their children’s stool for ‘juju’.

“It shows the level of ignorance and lack of awareness among residents,” Oke said.

Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the president-elect of Nigeria, has received congratulations from Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, for winning the election.

At the same time, Zelensky extended an official invitation for him to travel to his war-torn nation of Ukraine.

The award comes two months after the disputed presidential election was pronounced the former Lagos governor the victor.

Zelenskyy praised Tinubu for winning in his letter of congratulations and added that his war-torn nation is determined to further strengthen its relationship with Nigeria.

The president of Ukraine also took advantage of the occasion to invite the president-elect to pay a state visit to his country following his inauguration on May 29.

The letter read, “Please accept my sincere congratulations on your election as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“Despite extremely difficult testing times, caused by the full-scale armed aggression of Russia against our state, Ukraine is determined to further strengthen cooperation with Nigeria at the bilateral level and within the framework of international organizations.

“We are grateful for your country’s support of the Resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations Organization “Principles of the UN Charter underlying a comprehensive, just and sustainable peace in Ukraine.

“I count on the active participation of Nigeria in its practical implementation. We see the further provision of global food security, of which Ukraine was and remains a reliable guarantor at the global level, as an important direction of cooperation. 

“The fulfilment of this task will be facilitated by the successful implementation of the Ukrainian initiative “Grain from Ukraine”, which is designed to significantly increase the supply of grain to African countries in order to prevent famine.

“Taking this opportunity, I invite you to pay an official visit to Ukraine at a time convenient for you.

“I am confident that your visit will strengthen the dialogue between our countries and contribute to further consolidation of joint efforts of the international community aimed at solving the urgent challenges of today, in particular the crisis situation caused by Russia regarding the guarantee of world food security.”

The arrest of 42 suspected cult members in connection with a string of crimes in the state’s Ijora, Orile, Ebute Meta, and Ikorodu districts was verified by the Lagos State Police Command on Wednesday.

Idowu Owohunwa, the state’s commissioner of police, classified cultism as a crime that is evolving and poses a threat to the state’s internal security while presenting the suspects at the command center in the Ikeja district of the state.

He said, “I laid out a new set of operational plans to frontally address the emerging threat. I reorganised the special unit of the command, zoned the state and with the support of the Inspector-General of Police, we fully equipped and gave a new orientation to the different special units.

 “We sent them to our Area Commands, equip them and charge them to operate optimally not just to identify these cultists but to undertake intelligence-led operations such that the battle will be taken to the doorsteps of these so-called cultists.

 “I am delighted to note that in the course of the intelligence-led anti-cultism operations, we have, as of today, arrested a total of 42 suspected cultists in operations carried out at Ijora, Orile, Ebute Meta, and Ikorodu.

 “In the course of these operations, a total of 10 firearms of various descriptions, including six locally-made short guns, three locally-fabricated semi-automatic pistols, and one English-made pistol, three battle axes used in hacking down innocent citizens or their rivals, three cutlasses, three daggers, three knives, 13 live cartridges, multiple charms, were recovered from the cultists.”

According to Owohunwa, the command will deploy all operational resources and the leadership necessary for the special unit of the command to continue the fight against cultists determined to endanger the state’s internal security.

He added, “The command, under my watch, will deny them the space in a forceful manner to operate and threaten the peace that an average Lagosians so yearn for.

“Secondly, is to reassure Lagosians that the battle to rid Lagos State of cultists and other criminals has started and we will not relent until we restore order across the state.

“So, the cultists or any criminals that operate under whatever guise should take this as a clear and fair warning. They have an option, you either change for the better and opt for a legitimate means of livelihood or you have the police in Lagos State and the law to contend with.”

The CP stated that a united front must be created in order to suppress cultists in the state, while also requesting the assistance of the populace through information and cooperation.

A mob killed a tricycle driver on Wednesday in the Bayelsa State city of Yenagoa’s Kpansia neighborhood.

Following the suspected murder of a young man by the tricycle driver, popularly known as Keke, the mob reacted violently.

After a dispute over N50 change, the Keke rider is alleged to have fatally killed the unnamed young man. The victim passed away instantly.

Residents nearby attacked the Keke rider with stones after becoming enraged by what he had done.

As at the time this report was filed, it was impossible to determine the identities of the deceased men.

The incidents have been confirmed by the Bayelsa State Police Command in the interim.

The command also denounced the lynching of the youth and his murder by the Keke rider in a statement released by its spokesperson, Asinim Butswat.

He said, “The Bayelsa State Police Command has deployed an anti-riot squad to restore normalcy at Kpansia and environs, over the unfortunate murder of a community youth by a tricycle rider.

“The youth was allegedly stabbed to death by the tricycle rider over a minor disagreement.

“The Command condemns the action of the tricycle rider, who was also lynched to death by irate youths and appeal to members of the community to be calm.”

For this year’s Eid al-Fitr festival, the Federal Government has designated Friday, April 21, and Monday, April 24, as public holidays.

Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the Minister, made the proclamation on behalf of the government yesterday, according to a statement signed by Shuiab Belgore, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Interior.

Aregbesola encouraged Muslims to “imbibe and practice the characteristics of kindness, love, tolerance, peace, self-denial, sacrifice and good neighborliness, as exhibited by the Holy Prophet Muhammad” while congratulating all Muslims on successfully completing Ramadan (Peace be upon Him).

“The self-restraint, self-denial, sacrifice and deep spiritual consciousness that accompanied the fasting period should not end but be maintained and improved upon in order to be a better person and true worshipper.

Aregbesola said that following successful elections, President Muhammadu Buhari was completely committed to a peaceful transfer of power.

He continued by saying that the government’s commitment to ensuring the protection of every citizen’s life and property as well as that of any visitors to the nation remained unwavering.

“He urges Nigerians to be part of the nation’s security architecture by being vigilant and report suspicious individuals and activities to law enforcement agencies nearest to them.

”He noted that security is everybody’s responsibility; he admonishes Nigerians also to report suspicious activities and persons to the N-Alert application,” the statement added.

Former Mayor of Freetown, Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr who is up for re-election in two months, has been speaking about her five years in office which she describes as challenging, but with so much more left to be done for the development of Freetown as well as improving the lives of the City’s over two million people.

“My first term was marked by significant achievements as well as unprecedented challenges. As I share a brief video highlighting a few of those achievements, I am excited about what we will achieve together in my next term,” she said.

Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr OBE is the first elected female Mayor of Freetown and the first woman to lead the city after almost 40 years. Her election as Mayor of the country’s capital city and her inclusive, people-centered approach to leadership have inspired and continue to inspire many young girls and women in Freetown and across the country.

Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr established the YAS Girls Leadership Foundation in January 2022 because of her passion, commitment, and desire to be deliberate and targeted in inspiring future female leaders and supporting them as they seek to navigate the challenges they face.

Sierra Leone ranks 155th of 162 countries in the 2019 Gender Inequality Index. According to UNICEF, females continue to fall significantly behind males in literacy rates. 43% of girls in Sierra Leone are married by the age of 18.

Adolescent girls in Sierra Leone face numerous challenges as they begin the transition to adulthood.

Decisions on their education and their future can become a burden; making these life-changing decisions are even more difficult due to the lack of female role models for girls to speak with and learn from.

The three ‘’Wings’’ needed to allow girls to fly in accordance with the values of the YAS Girls Leadership Foundation are: Prioritizing education; Persevering through challenges; and Self-belief.

The ultimate goal of the YAS Girl’s Leadership Foundation is to ensure that the women and girls who make up 51% of Sierra Leone’s population, can truly fulfill their potential and positively impact the development of Sierra Leone.

US reporter Evan Gershkovich appeared at a Moscow court on Tuesday, in the first partly open hearing since his arrest for alleged espionage, in a case that has drawn international condemnation.

Wearing jeans and a blue checkered shirt, Gershkovich crossed his arms and smiled before starting the appeal hearing against his pre-trial detention.

US ambassador to Moscow, Lynne Tracy was also in the courtroom, but she was ushered out along with the press during the hearing itself.

The press will only be allowed back in to hear the decision at the end of the hearing.

No questions were allowed during the brief media appearance and Gershkovich did not speak from inside the glass defendant’s cage.

There is little chance he will be released before his trial, which could be months away.

The Wall Street Journal reporter, a US-born son of Soviet Jewish emigres, was arrested last month by Russia’s FSB security service during a reporting trip in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.

The FSB said the 31-year-old tried to obtain classified defense information for the US government, but the case details have been kept top secret.

Gershkovich has firmly rejected the charges, which carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

– ‘Remains strong’ –Gershkovich, who has also worked for AFP, is the first foreign journalist arrested on spying allegations since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Since his arrest on March 29, Gershkovich has appeared in court only once before — at a closed custody hearing on March 30.

He was remanded in custody until May 29 and is being held at the Lefortovo prison in Moscow, where many high-profile prisoners accused of treason and espionage have been held.

“He is in good health and remains strong,” US Ambassador Tracy was quoted by the US embassy as saying after visiting him on Monday.

In his first contact with the outside world, Gershkovich wrote a handwritten letter to his parents in Russian. “I am not losing hope,” it read.

His mother Ella Milman said he “felt it was his duty to report” from Russia.

“He loves Russian people,” she said in a video interview with the Wall Street Journal.

US President Joe Biden has called his imprisonment “totally illegal”.

More than three dozen news organizations have also signed a letter to the Russian Ambassador in the United States, denouncing “unfounded espionage charges”.

“Gershkovich’s unwarranted and unjust arrest is a significant escalation in your government’s anti-press actions,” the letter released by the Committee to Protect Journalists said.

“Gershkovich is a journalist, not a spy, and should be released immediately and without conditions,” it added.

The arrest has raised speculation that Russia may want a prisoner swap like the one last year in which Russia released US basketball star, Brittney Griner, who had been arrested over traces of cannabis found in her possession.

She was exchanged for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer imprisoned in the United States.