FG debunks reports of new COVID-19 restrictions

The Federal Government on Tuesday denied media reports that it has “introduced or re-introduced’’ new restrictions on COVID-19.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed made the rebuttal at a meeting with Online Publishers in Lagos.

Mohammed said there were no new restrictions, adding that the Presidential Steering Committee on Covid-19 only reiterated existing regulations to control the spread of the disease.

The minister, a member of the steering committee, said the committee’s national incident manager Mukhtar Mohammed was quoted out of context during the briefing of the committee on Monday in Abuja.

He said the only thing that was newly introduced was that anyone, including Nigerians travelling from Brazil, Turkey or India, must go through compulsory quarantine.

“What we did was the need to remind people of the existing extant regulations on Covid-19.

“Government has not introduced anything new. You can still travel by air or road or any other means but ensure you wear your face mask.

“We have not opened night clubs, the regulations on social distancing, social and religious gatherings, use of face mask are still in place.

“The curfew between 12 a.m. and 4 a.m. is still on and we are saying people must obey the existing protocols,’’ he said.

The minister said the emphasis became imperative because Nigerians were taking things for granted and behaving as if COVID-19 had gone.

He said India made the same mistake and they were paying dearly for it at the moment

“This is the mistake that India made when they actually boasted they had conquered Covid-19.

“They were holding political campaigns and religious festivals when a new variant of COVID -19 surfaced.

“Today, they are recording more than 400,000 case per day and about 4,000 lives lost daily.

“This is why every citizen must know where we are going,’’ he said.

Mohammed said Nigeria had been fortunate not to record a high rate of infection that it would not have the health infrastructure to handle.

FG To Prosecute 400 Suspects For Funding Terrorism – Lai Mohammed

The Federal Government is set to prosecute 400 suspects arrested for allegedly funding terrorism in the country.

This is according to the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, who stated this on Tuesday during a press conference in Lagos.

He also reiterated the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in tackling the menace of insurgency, banditry and other security threats across the country.

“The Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has announced that the Federal Government is set to prosecute 400 suspects arrested for allegedly funding terrorism,” he said.

“This is unprecedented and its a testament to the government’s determination to decisively tackle terrorism and other violent crimes.”

The Minister also appealed to Nigerians to support security agencies, who face the added task of having to watch their backs while working to protect others.

Mohammed also described attacks on security formations as a declaration of war against the country, condemning the assault on security operatives.

He added, “While the government continues with these efforts to restore peace and security continues, I want to appeal to all of us to play our part in lowering the palpable tension in the polity as a result of the security challenges. The first step is to tone down the rhetoric.

“Now, there is a growing dangerous trend which I will like to comment on. It is the practice of launching deadly attacks against the nation’s security personnel. Soldiers as well as police, customs, and other security agents have been killed and maimed in some parts of the country in this growing trend of targeting security forces.

“I want to say, unequivocally, that any attack on our security men and women is an attack on the state and a declaration of war against the nation. It follows, therefore, that this will be countered with overwhelming force.”

Nigeria has been experiencing a series of security threats ranging from terrorism, banditry, militancy, cultism among others in several parts of the country.

The country has been battling terrorism for more than a decade which has killed 36,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands in the northeast.

Police Arrest Suspected Armed Robbers, Recover Ammunition In Imo

The Police have arrested suspected armed robbers and recovered ammunition in Imo State.

The suspects were said to be a part of the robbery gang that has been terrorising Nekede and its environs.

In a statement by the spokesman of the command, SP Ikeokwu Orlando, the suspects, Godwin Danladi and Bamaiyi Gada were arrested at Eziobodo in Owerri West LGA of Imo State.

“At the point of arrest, one AK47 rifle, two magazines, two live ammunition, one Military Camouflage, and some other Military Accouterments were recovered from them”.

Read Full Statement Below

On 11/05/21, operatives of the Divisional Police Hqrs, Nekede/Ihiagwa, acting on a report of Armed robbery stormed a criminal hideout at Eziobodo, Owerri West LGA, and arrested the following:-

– GODWIN DANLADI “M” 20 yrs old

– BAMAIYI GADA “M” yrs old

At the point of arrest, one AK47 rifle, two magazines, two live ammunition, one Military Camouflage, and some other Military Accouterments were recovered from them.

They confessed to being part of the Armed Robbery gang that has been terrorising Nekede and the environs.

They are strongly believed to be part of the prison inmates that escaped from the Correctional Service on 5/04/21. Efforts are ongoing to arrest other members of the gang.

SP IKEOKWU GODSON ORLANDO
POLICE PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER
FOR: COMMISSIONER OF POLICE
IMO STATE

Culled from Channels TV.

Queen Elizabeth returns to public stage detailing UK govt’s new agenda

Queen Elizabeth II opened a new session of parliament on Tuesday, in her first public appearance since the funeral of her late husband Prince Philip, as she revealed the Conservative government’s post-pandemic legislative agenda.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, buoyant after his party’s triumph in local and regional elections in England last week, is vowing to deliver on his mantra to “build back better” with a wide-ranging raft of policies.

But he faces renewed questions over the UK’s cohesion after pro-independence forces won a majority in elections to the Scottish parliament with pledges to hold another referendum on breaking away from the centuries-old union.

Johnson’s government, after rolling out a successful coronavirus vaccination drive, is intent on reopening the economy and refocusing on long-term promises to “level up” prosperity across Britain.

“My government’s priority is to deliver a national recovery from the pandemic that makes the United Kingdom stronger, healthier and more prosperous than before,” the 95-year-old monarch said in a speech from a gilded throne in the upper House of Lords.

Borders focus
The Queen said the government would introduce an environment bill to set legally binding emissions targets as Britain prepares to host the UN’s COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in November.

A “counter-state threats bill”, meanwhile, will provide the security services with tools to tackle hostile activity by foreign states and foreign actors.

New measures will also aim to strengthen Britain’s borders and deter “criminals who facilitate dangerous and illegal journeys”, after rising numbers of asylum-seekers coming on boats across the Channel from France.

Tightening immigration rules and securing borders were vote-winning promises of Johnson’s campaign for leaving the European Union in Britain’s 2016 Brexit referendum, as well as in securing his thumping 2019 election win.

But by differentiating between asylum-seekers who enter by legal channels and those who enter Britain from “safe” destinations like France, the government has provoked anger among refugee groups.

The UN refugee agency UNHCR has said the proposals could breach international law and be “expensive and hard to implement”.

But Johnson’s spokesman has insisted the plans comply with all laws.

Meanwhile, ministers will legislate to address racial and ethnic disparities, ban gay conversion therapy, enhance animal rights and help more people to own their own home.

The government will also implement the fastest-ever increase in public funding for research and development and establish an advanced research agency.

‘Historic opportunity’
Normally an annual event replete with five centuries of tradition and pageantry, which last occurred in late 2019 amid political acrimony over Brexit, the monarch’s state opening of parliament was scaled back this year due to the pandemic.

This meant far fewer attendees and the Queen travelled to Westminster by car instead of in a horse-drawn carriage. She also wore a powder-blue day dress and feathered hat instead of robes and a crown.

Only a select few from parliament’s two chambers were allowed to attend to maintain social distancing, and those present needed to have tested negative for Covid.

The Queen — Britain’s longest-serving monarch — was accompanied by her 72-year-old son and heir, Prince Charles, as she returned to public duties three weeks after the Duke of Edinburgh was laid to rest. He died last month, aged 99.

Johnson said separately that countering coronavirus remained the “number one priority” but insisted the recovery provided a “historic opportunity to change things for the better”.

“As the United Kingdom gets back on its feet, we will turbo-charge our economic recovery in every part of our country, increasing and spreading opportunity,” he added.

Union future
In her speech, written by the government, the Queen also detailed plans to “strengthen the economic ties across the union”, in part by improving national infrastructure.

The monarch’s role is to stay above the political fray but the future of her kingdom could be at stake after the election results north of the border gave new impetus to the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP).

When Scots last voted on the question of quitting the UK in 2014, Queen Elizabeth issued a guarded remark for voters to “think very carefully about the future”.

They opted against independence then, and Johnson’s flat rejection of SNP demands for a fresh referendum threatens to open a new constitutional crisis in the queen’s post-Brexit realm.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said on Sunday that it would be “absurd and completely outrageous” for the UK Supreme Court to have to step in and adjudicate on any referendum’s legality.

Okorocha urges FG to reduce hunger, says Nigerians are angry

Former Imo State governor, Senator Rochas Okorocha, has urged the Nigerian government to change its approach in the fight against insecurity and economic problems.

Okorocha identified injustice and poverty as the main factors responsible for the current level of insecurity in Nigeria.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Senator said if the government hopes to lower the level of anger in the land, it must begin to tackle every sense of injustice and do all that is possible to make the people happy.

Okorocha made this statement when he joined the Ona of Abaji and hundreds of other Muslim faithful especially the needy and less privileged in the breaking of their Ramadan fast on Monday in Abuja.

The former Imo State governor said over 75% of Nigerian citizens are angry at the turn of events in the country, adding that nothing useful can come out of a country with so much bitterness and anger.

“You can’t solve a problem unless you know the causative. The cause of our Nigerian problem lies in injustice and poverty and the quicker the government moves to address the issue of injustice, the better it is for our nation to reduce the level of anger on the nation,” Okorocha said.

“Yes, things are not okay with our nation. Yes, we have big challenges but we must never give up on this nation called Nigeria and I believe a new Nigeria will soon be born.”

He said what the country needs to find is a new approach to the situation that will replace anger with love.

“If abuses and anger could have helped this nation; I’m sure by now we would have solved this problem,” Okorocha said. “So we must change our style as a nation, imbibe the spirit of brotherhood, prayers and love.”

Okorocha advised the government to apply more dialogue than the use of deadly weapons against insurgents and bandits in the country.

“I appeal that the Nigerian government must change our style. It appears the old style of force and use of modern equipment to fight our insurgents have not helped us. It is increasing rather in geometric proportion despite the efforts of government,” Okorocha said.

PHOTOS: Bishop Oyedepo, others present as Pastor Dare Adeboye is laid to rest

 

Pastor Dare Adeboye, the third son of Pastor Enoch Adeboye has been laid to rest. Dare died in his sleep on May 4, 2021, in Eket, Akwa Ibom State, South-South Nigeria.

His funeral mass which held at the Redemption Camp was officiated by Bishop David Oyedepo, the General Overseer of the Living Faith Church Worldwide.

Pastor Dare left behind a wife and children.

See more photos below:

Distracted nurse gives woman six doses of Covid-19 vaccine in a single shot

 A 23-year-old Italian woman who was mistakenly given six doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine all at once was released from a hospital on Monday, 10 May, without having suffered any apparent adverse reactions, local health authorities said. The incident occurred on Sunday morning at the Noa Hospital in Massa, in Tuscany.

According to CBS News, the patient was kept under observation for approximately 24 hours in the hospital’s emergency room. Doctors said she was given fluids and anti-inflammatory and fever medications as preventative measures.

“This person at this time will certainly not have side effects,” said Dr. Antonella Vicenti, director of infectious diseases at Noa Hospital. She said Pfizer studies had shown that people who receive up to 5-times the normal dosage did not suffer any consequences. She also said that patients in Israel and Germany who had accidentally been given 5-times the usual dosage also showed no adverse reactions.

“The patient did not have a fever and did not have any pain except for pain at the inoculation site, nor any other manifestations,” said Vincenti. “She was a bit frightened, thus we preferred to keep her here until this morning.”

Vincenti said it remained to be seen what long-term effects if any, the overdose might have on the young woman’s antibody levels, and thus her immune response to the coronavirus. She said the hospital would test her blood regularly to monitor her immune response and determine whether she should still get the scheduled second dose after a number of weeks.

Dr. Tommaso Bellandi, director of patient security for the northwest Tuscany health authority, said the accident occurred because the nurse had an attention lapse.

“This is something that should never happen,” he said. “Unfortunately, due to our limits as human beings, as well as organizational limits, these things can happen.”

He said the hospital had launched an investigation to review safety procedures.

Bellandi explained that each vial of the Pfizer vaccine contains six doses, which must be individually extracted and placed in separate vials, where they are then diluted. The nurse administering the vaccine on Sunday mistakenly injected all of the liquid from an undiluted vial.

“She thought that the dilution had taken place,” said Bellandi. “They are both transparent liquids of the same density. Unfortunately, this contributed to the error,” he said.

The nurse immediately realized her error and alerted the patient as well as the attending physician, who at once began monitoring the young woman for adverse reactions. Local health authorities and the patient’s family were immediately notified, too.

Bellandi said the incident occurred on an extremely busy day, during a period in which health workers were trying to administer as many vaccine doses as possible.

“I’m not trying to justify something that we hoped would never happen,” he said. “We are extremely regretful, especially towards the young woman.”

Bellandi said the nurse and the attending doctor were “heartbroken” at what had occurred, and a psychologist described them as “traumatized” by the event.

Insecurity: Police ban personnel from escorting principals to South-East states

Owing to the incessant attacks on police and other security formations in the South-East, the Nigerian Police Force (Delta State Command) has issued a red alert, urging its personnel to refrain from escorting their principals to states in the region.

According to a wireless message sighted by The Street Journal, the police accused the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its security outfit of being behind the frequent attacks on security operatives.

The message which originated from the Delta Police Command and addressed to the Chief Security Officer of the Delta State Government House, Chief Superintendents of Police and other line officers, partly read:

“Sequel to the incessant attacks and snatching of arms and ammunition by the proscribed IPOB and ESN elements in the eastern states of Anambra, Abia, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo and Rivers States, the COMPOL DOPS directs you warn personnel of yours that escort of their principals to the six (6) eastern states is suspended forthwith until the security situation improves.

“Ensure strict compliance, please.”

The security situation in the South-East has deteriorated over the last few months with several policemen and operatives of the Nigerian Military being killed and their weapons carted away.

Both IPOB and ESN have continued to claim innocent despite the federal government pointing accusing fingers at them.

Similarly, several police stations across the South-East, including Nsukka, Nnewi, Obosi, Orlu, Onitsha, Aba and many others have come under attacks, a development that has led to the death of many police officers and vandalization of security facilities.

Yoruba actor, Olumide Olajide arrested for defrauding traders with fake bank alerts

One Olumide Olajide who claims to be a Yoruba film actor has been arrested for allegedly defrauding traders with fake bank alerts in Ibadan, Oyo state.

Olajide was paraded at the Police Command Headquarters alongside his partner, Wemimo Adeyanju, a Higher National Diploma student in one of the polytechnics in the South-West.

Speaking on how he was able to generate fake bank alerts, Olajide said he would ask for the account numbers and names of the sellers after buying goods from them, after which he would use the information to generate their details by dialing the USSD code of his bank.

After generating the recipient’s name, he said he would alter the old bank alert sent to him by his bank and change the date and the amount, and resend the same to the recipient. According to him, the fake alert sent will show on the recipient’s phone as a genuine alert from his bank.

“I did it just three times before I was arrested. After seeing the alert, they would allow me to go away with the goods paid for with the fake bank alert. I went to another shop and a woman recognized me through the display photograph on my WhatsApp and raised the alarm,” PUNCH quoted Olajide as saying.

Police sources told the publication that Olajide had an app on his phone through which he was generating fake bank alerts to defraud traders.

Wemimo added that he went out with the prime suspect. He admitted that Olajide used the fake bank alert to purchase some items on an occasion that he accompanied him.

“He did it once. He was the one who did it, but I followed him that day,” Wemimo Adeyanju stated.

Soldier shoots fruit seller dead after refusing to pay for banana

 

The family of a fruit seller identified as Abdulkadir Musa has been thrown into mourning after he was shot dead by a soldier in Gusau, the Zamfara State capital.

According to PUNCH, the unidentified soldier shot the fruit seller for refusing him to go away with his bunch of bananas without paying for them.

The father of the deceased, Alhaji Mustafa Musa, told the publication that two soldiers went to his son’s fruit stand on Sunday and purchased a bunch of bananas.

According to Alhaji Mustapha, when the soldiers paid for the bunch, they tried to collect another one for free and this led to a squabble.

“They bought a bunch of banana for N300 and instead of them taking the one they paid for, they also took another one and wanted to go with it, but my son did not allow them to do so.

“When they insisted that they must go with the bunch of bananas, the fruit vendor rushed to the police station, which was very close to the scene of the incident, and reported the case, and the two soldiers were arrested, but they were released shortly after,” the fruit seller’s father said.

Mustafa added that immediately the soldiers were released, one of them went home, fetched a gun and returned to the scene, and shot the fruit vendor.

“My son was shot in the back and we took him to the Yariman Bakura Specialist Hospital, but unfortunately, he lost his life,” Mustafa said.

The father added that he reported the issue to all relevant authorities, including the Human Rights Commission, so that action could be taken against the soldier, who killed his son.