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Olaide Adekunle, a 33-year-old lady, reportedly sold her 18-month-old child for N600,000 to pay off a bank loan.

The suspect, who purportedly hails from Sango in Ogun State’s Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area, reportedly left her home for Lagos, where she sold the infant to an unnamed bidder.

Following a complaint made by the suspect’s husband, Nureni Rasaq, at the Sango divisional headquarters, men from the Ogun State Police Command detained the suspect.

This was revealed in a statement on Monday by SP Abimbola Oyeyemi, the state’s police public relations officer.

The PPRO further stated that the husband claimed his wife had departed for Lagos with their infant daughter, Moridiat Rasaq, on March 15, 2023, but had since returned without the child.

Oyeyemi claims that the spouse further indicated that the mother was unable to provide any reasonable explanation for the whereabouts of the aforementioned infant, making all efforts to learn what happened to the child futile.

He said, “Upon the report, the DPO Sango division, CSP Dahiru Saleh, detailed his detectives to go after the said woman, and she was promptly arrested.

“On interrogation, the suspect confessed that she had sold the baby to someone in Lagos at the rate of N600,000.

“When asked the reason for her action, she stated that she borrowed money from a microfinance bank, and when she was unable to pay back the money, the bank agents started dragging her and threatened to deal decisively with her.

“It was consequent upon this that she ran to Lagos and started hawking sachet water.

“It was while hawking that she met a man who introduced her to the woman that eventually bought the child in Lagos.”

The PPRO, however, claimed that DCP Babakura Muhammad, the acting commissioner of police, had ordered the suspect’s transfer to the state criminal investigation department for additional inquiry and potential baby retrieval.

The R21 malaria vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India has received approval from the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control.

This information was provided on Monday during a news conference in Abuja by Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, Director General of NAFDAC.

Nigeria now joins Ghana as the second nation to accept the novel malaria vaccine created by the University of Oxford.

According to Prof. Adeyeye, the vaccine is recommended for use in children between the ages of 5 and 36 months to prevent the development of clinical malaria.

She stated that before the market authorization will begin making further arrangements with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, the nation anticipates receiving at least 100,000 doses of the vaccine in contributions shortly.

Adeyeye said “NAFDAC in exercising its mandate as stipulated by its enabling law, NAFDAC Act CapN1, LFN 2004 is granting registration approval for R21 Malaria Vaccine (Recombinant, Adjuvanted) manufactured by Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd.

“The Marketing Authorization Holder is Fidson Healthcare Ltd in line with the Agency’s Drug and Related Products Registration Regulation 2021.

“The R21 Malaria vaccine is an adjuvanted protein vaccine presented as a sterile solution. A dose which is 0.5ml is composed of R21 Malaria antigen 5µg and Matrix-M1 50µg as an adjuvant filled in a vial as a ready-to-use liquid formulation for intramuscular injection.

“The vaccine is indicated for the prevention of clinical malaria in children from 5 months to 36 months of age. The storage temperature of the vaccine is 2-8 °C.”

She claimed that the vaccine’s dossier underwent two levels of independent assessment.

She stated that the NAFDAC Vaccine Advisory Committee independently reviewed the dossier using standards set by the World Health Organization across pertinent domains, in addition to the International Council for Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use, European Medicines Agency, scientific rigor regarding the vaccine and the context of malaria in general and Nigeria in particular, and best research and manufacturing governance.

“NEVAC members reviewed all sections independently using best review practices and met physically in plenary to assess and debate the reviews by sections, raised queries, and made recommendations accordingly.

“Overall, the assessment was scored as adequate -fully compliant with standards, and the report was submitted to the Director General.

“The review of NAFDAC’s Committee has always been guided by the same international standards and best practices with the same modality of an independent review by members followed by long hours of plenary where a rigorous assessment of each review took place. The Committee also independently scored the assessment as satisfactory and forwarded it to the Director General.”

She claimed that the R21 malaria vaccine dossier substantially conformed with the highest international criteria against which it was bench-marked.

She claimed that the Joint Review Committee found the R21 malaria vaccine data to be reliable and to meet the standards for efficacy, safety, and quality.

Also, it was determined that the vaccine’s known and potential advantages outweigh its known and possible drawbacks, justifying the manufacturer’s advised use.

“The Joint Review Committee recognised the importance of an effective malaria vaccine (with 75 per cent protection) as an additional interventional tool, as a critical need in Nigeria with the highest malaria burden.

“The Joint Review Committee also recommended additional phase four clinical trial, pharmacovigilance study in-country in the implementation given the peculiarity and heterogeneous nature of malaria in Nigeria.

“The Joint Review Committee was also interested in reviewing data of the human-malaria parasite dynamics of the 25 per cent not covered to understand issues bothering on non-protection that could inform further research.

“A provisional approval of the R21 Malaria Vaccine was recommended and this shall be done in line with the WHO’s Malaria Vaccine Implementation Guideline,” she noted.

According to reports, deaths from malaria occurred in four African nations: Nigeria (31.3%), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (12.6%), the United Republic of Tanzania (4.1%), and Niger (3.9%).

97% of people in Nigeria are at risk of contracting malaria.

In the supplementary election held in Mbaitoli/Ikeduru federal of Imo state on Saturday, candidates for three political parties—the Labour Party, the African Democratic Party, and the Peoples Democratic Party—rejected the announcement of the All Progressives Congress candidate, Akarachi Amadi, as the victor.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, according to ADC candidate Chinonso Uba, rigged the election in favor of the APC candidate.

According to Uba, security personnel and thugs who were purportedly hired by the APC to manipulate the poll helped INEC officials.

Uba proclaimed himself the true “hero” of the election, claiming that despite not having a godfather, he was able to “fight” all the way to the finish line.

He admitted that the numbers released by the INEC did not accurately reflect the votes cast by the voters.

Also, the candidate for the Labour Party, Uche Ogbuagu, charged INEC with cheating the Bi-Modal Voters Accreditation Machine System and giving the APC candidate more votes.

Prior to the extra poll, Ogbuagu, who had a lead of 5,058 votes, claimed that the APC candidate was using security agents to sabotage the INEC officials and electoral materials.

He said “I am rejecting everything that will be done about this election that would not stem from the BVAS because today, I witnessed total deviance and bypass of the BVAS.

“Most worrisome was the way and manner the electoral officers of both Mbaitoli and Ikeduru were totally compromised and went ahead to collate results In neglect to the BVAS.

“I hereby request for the review of the results of the six polling in Ikeduru and 52 polling units in Mbaitoli, totalling 58 with BVAS just as it was done on February 25, 2023.”

The PDP candidate stated that he intended to appeal the election results to the Tribunal.

TUkanacho said, “We are not accepting the outcome of the election. It was massively rigged in favour of the APC candidate. We are heading to the Tribunal.”

The APC candidate received the most votes, 21,372, according to the election’s returning officer, Prof. Boniface Okoro, who announced his decision on Sunday night. His next competitor, Ogbuagu of the LP, received 18,296 votes.

Miriam Nabantahzi started having children at the age of 12 after her father forced her to marry a man in her village.

For her first pregnancy at a such tender age, she delivered a triplet. For her second pregnancy, she had quadruplets. 

Before the age of 15, she has given birth to eight children. 

“I had no option but to go for family planning. The doctors on examining me said I still have a lot of eggs and hence advised me against going for the family planning because it will have a positive effect on me,” she narrated.

Thus she continued to have children in droves for the same man and when her last pregnancy resulted in quadruplets, the man had no other option than to run away leaving Nabantahzi to cater for the 44 children alone.

In her community, many don’t even remember her real name anymore, they prefer to call her Mama Uganda! 

For her 44 children, Mama Uganda had: twins on six occasions; she had triplets from five different pregnancies while she had quadruplets from five different pregnancies.

Wait for it, they could have been more! “I had miscarriages on two occasions, only God knows how many they could have been,” she said.

Five migrants and a Greek motorist were killed in a car crash on a highway near the border between Greece and Turkey on Saturday, police told AFP.

The car, carrying 10 migrants, was traveling at a high speed on the wrong side to avoid a police checkpoint and slammed into a four-wheel drive, the 46-year-old driver of which was also killed, the police said.

The other five migrants — whose nationalities were not immediately clear — and the driver of their vehicle were taken to hospital after sustaining injuries, the police added.

Thousands of migrants have in recent years transited into Greece from Turkey in the hope of making it to Western Europe.

With the stepping up of patrols in the Aegean Sea making it harder for migrants to reach Greek islands more are taking their chances by crossing the River Evros, a natural mainland border, and having traffickers take them from there by road.

Recently there have been an increasing number of accidents similar to Saturdays.

NGOs have meanwhile been accusing Greece of illegal pushbacks — which Athens denies — of asylum seekers who make it across the river.

In an effort to reduce the flow of migrants, conservative Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis two weeks ago called on the European Union to “seriously consider” providing financial aid to help extend an anti-migrant steel fence along the border with Turkey.

Athens has decided to extend by 35 kilometers (22 miles) a five-meter high steel fence that runs along the river.

The fence is currently 38 kilometers long, and Athens aims to carry out the extension within a year, adding a total of 100 kilometers by 2026.

The United Nations Children’s Fund has said urgent actions are needed to protect the children suffering from the impacts of the conflicts in north-east Nigeria.

In a statement on Friday, UNICEF said 96 out of 276 girls abducted from Government Girls Secondary School Chibok in Borno are still in captivity nine years after the abduction.

Speaking on the impact of the conflict on children, Cristian Munduate, UNICEF representative in Nigeria, said thousands of children continue to experience killings and kidnapping including forced recruitment into armed groups.

“The statistics are disturbing; the reality is devastating. It has been nine years since the horrendous abduction of the Chibok girls, yet the nightmare continues as children are still being kidnapped, forcibly recruited, killed, and injured– their futures are torn away.

“We cannot turn a blind eye to the suffering of Nigeria’s children. We must do everything in our power to ensure they grow up in safety, with access to education and the opportunity to fulfill their potential.

“Since 2014, there have been over 2,400 incidents of grave violations verified, affecting over 6,800 children in the north-east. The most common violations are recruitment or use of children by armed groups with 700 verified cases, followed by abductions of children, with 693 incidents, and killing and maiming, with 675 incidents.

“The impact of the conflict on education is alarming, with repercussions that will likely affect generations. The Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria (TCN) reports that, between 2009 and 2022, around 2,295 teachers were reportedly killed in attacks, over 19,000 teachers were displaced, more than 1,500 schools closed because of insecurity, and 910 schools were destroyed,” the statement reads.

Munduate commended the government for signing the UNICEF-supported handover protocol and investing N144.8 billion ($314.5 Million) toward the safe schools financing plan in 2022.

She said the organisation would continue to support the government in ensuring that children encountered in the course of armed conflict or released from armed groups are immediately reunited and engaged in reintegration programmes.

“UNICEF Nigeria calls on all parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law and human rights law and protect the rights and well-being of children.

“UNICEF Nigeria stands committed to working with the government and partners to ensure that every child in Nigeria can enjoy their rights and live in a peaceful and prosperous society,” she added.

The Adamawa Resident Electoral Commissioner, Barrister Hudu Yunusa, has been invited by the Independent National Electoral Commission about the declaration of the election that took place on Saturday.

This was announced by the commission on Sunday via its Twitter account.

It was mentioned that it was evidently not finished when he made the announcement.

“The attention of the Commission has been drawn to a purported declaration of winner in the Adamawa Governorship election by the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) even when the process has clearly not been concluded.

“The action of the REC is a usurpation of the power of the Returning Officer. It is null, void and of no effect. Consequently, the collation of results of the supplementary election is hereby suspended.

“The REC, Returning Officer and all involved are hereby invited to the Commission’s Headquarters in Abuja immediately. Detailed statement to follow shortly.”

Sen. Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed of the All Progressives Congress was declared the victor of the governorship election by the Adamawa State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Yunusa Hudu Ari, in the wee hours of Sunday.

Prior to her announcement, the Independent National Electoral Commission’s official results showed that Binani was in second place behind Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, who had a lead of 31,249 votes. Fintiri defeated Binani with 421, 524 votes, but the state returning officer, Professor Mohammed Mele, a professor of English and linguistics at the University of Maiduguri, could not count the votes because the margin of victory was not greater than the number of invalid votes in 69 polling places with a total of 37,016 Permanent Voter Cards collected.

The Adamawa REC, who had abruptly suspended the collation exercise until 11 am on Sunday, sneaked into the collation center at 9:00 am to declare Binani the winner.

This led to a minor drama when the collation of results from the supplementary polls, which were held across the state on Saturday, was resumed.

According to results from 10 councils that have been announced in the supplemental polls so far, it was reported that Fintiri is in the lead.

As of the time this report was filed, results from the 10 councils had been tallied, and Fintiri had increased his lead of 31,249 with victories in the Demsa, Lamurde, Jada, Ganye, Song, Maiha, Hong, and Shelleng councils. By contrast, Binani had only won in the Yola North and Yola South councils out of the 10 council areas that had been announced thus far.

The Adamawa REC is accused of usurping the authority of the Returning Officer, Professor Mohammed Mele, and INEC has asked Nigerians to disregard this action in a tweet on its official Twitter account. INEC then went on to announce the results of the elections that had not yet been totaled and concluded.

Germany’s final three nuclear power plants close their doors on Saturday, marking the end of the country’s nuclear era that has spanned more than six decades.

CNN reports that Nuclear power has long been contentious in Germany.

There are those who want to end reliance on a technology they view as unsustainable, dangerous, and a distraction from speeding up renewable energy.

But for others, closing down nuclear plants is short-sighted. They see it as turning off the tap on a reliable source of low-carbon energy at a time when drastic cuts to planet-heating pollution are needed.

Even as these debates rumble on, the German government has been steadfast despite last-minute calls to keep the plants online amid an energy crisis.

“The position of the German government is clear: nuclear power is not green. Nor is it sustainable,” Steffi Lemke, Germany’s Federal Minister for the Environment and Consumer Protection and a Green Party member told CNN.

“We are embarking on a new era of energy production,” she said.

The closure of the three plants – Emsland, Isar 2, and Neckarwestheim – represents the culmination of a plan set in motion over 20 years ago. But its roots are even older.

A 56-year-old pastor, Emmanuel Adebayo, was on Thursday, April 13 remanded in a correctional center by an Akure Magistrate’s Court over the alleged murder of a 50-year-old woman, identified as Toyin Olatunji.

The defendant said to be a pastor in a Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), was arrested in his residence by the police in connection with the death of the woman, who was his tenant.

The prosecutor, Abdulateef Suliaman, told the court that the defendant committed the offense on April 4, 2023, at about 3 pm at No.14 Moferere Street Owe-Akala, Akure.

Suliaman said that a quarrel ensued between the duo and out of annoyance, the defendant unlawfully killed the woman by pushing her to the floor.

According to the prosecutor, the defendant’s action led to the woman being unconscious and resulted in her death.

He added that the offense contravened Sections 316 and 310 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Ondo, 2006.

The prosecutor, through an application, urged the court to remand the defendant in correctional custody pending the issuance of advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions(DPP).

The defense counsel prayed to the court for an adjournment to enable his client to file a counter affidavit to the application sought by the prosecutor.

Magistrate Tope Aladejana then ordered the remand of the defendant in Olokuta Correctional Centre and adjourned the case till April 27 for a ruling.