Authorities
NOA advises Nigerians to disregard conspiracy theories about coronavirus vaccine
File Photo The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has advised Nigerians to disregard conspiracy theories about COVID-19 vaccines and the various rumours being attributed to them. Director-General of NOA, Garba Abari, gave the advice in a statement, made available to newsmen in Abuja on Monday. Abari, while responding to insinuations of the possible use of the vaccines as population control and DNA altering measure, debunked the idea. He said that no vaccine would be allowed into Nigeria or administered to Nigerians without the approval of appropriate authorities. “Whatever vaccine coming into the country must be thoroughly tested and approved by relevant Nigerian authorities,’’ he said. He said the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) as the agency responsib...
Ebonyi governor vows to prosecute officials linked to communal crisis
Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State has vowed to arrest and prosecute people, including government officials, linked to the communal crisis involving Effium and Ezza Effium indigenes of Ohaukwu Local Government Area of the state. Over 60 people have been arrested, according to newsmen. The police have confirmed that eight people died, while several houses have been razed in the crisis caused by a leadership dispute at a local motor park, newsmen reported. Even government officials involved in the carnage would not be spared, Mr Umahi said on Monday during a tour of the affected community. “All political appointments and developmental projects being executed in the crisis area should be suspended until permanent peace returns to the area,” the governor said, adding that a judicial panel of...
Mob sets robbery suspect ablaze in Benue
The Police in Benue on Sunday said a robbery suspect was set ablaze by an angry mob while attempting to steal a motorcycle in Makurdi. The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, DSP Catherine Anene, disclosed this to newsmen in Makurdi through a text message. Anene said that the command received a piece of information that a young man, while attempting to snatch a motorcycle from its rider, was arrested by the mob and immediately set ablaze. She, however, appealed to the public to stop taking laws into their hands, and rather report all cases to appropriate authorities for action. “Information was received at Wurukum area that a young man attempted to snatch a motorcycle from a cyclist and was arrested by a mob. “On reaching the scene, it was discovered that the suspect had b...
ACF: Attack on Fulani a social upheaval that may destabilise Nigeria
The Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, has condemned the attack on a Fulani community in the southwest, insisting that such an act was a social upheaval that may destabilize the country. ACF also alleged that security agents did nothing when the attack was carried out. Emmanuel Yawe, National Publicity Secretary, Arewa Consultative Forum, in a statement on Saturday entitled “STOP THE DRIFT IN THE SOUTHWEST”, recalled that the civil war in the 1960’s started with attacks and counter-attacks like the Oyo attack on Fulani. He stated that “this morning, we received reports of an attack by Yoruba Youths on Alhaji Saliu Abdulkadir, the Serki Fulani in Oyo State. In the reports, he was attacked and driven out of his house, eleven cars and his house burnt with his family members now living in the bush...
Thousands of US-bound Honduran migrants cross border into Guatemala
<img width="696" height="391" class="entry-thumb" src="https://www.today.ng/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/16201205-696×391.jpg" srcset="https://www.today.ng/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/16201205-696×391.jpg 696w, https://www.today.ng/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/16201205-300×169.jpg 300w, https://www.today.ng/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/16201205.jpg 699w" sizes="(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px" alt="Thousands of Honduran migrants push through the police fence as they attempt to cross the border at El Florido in Guatemala forming the first migrant caravan of the year on it’s way to the United States on January 15, 2021. – Some 3,000 people left Honduras on foot January 15 in the latest migrant caravan hoping to find ...
NHIS: Sokoto received N518 million Health Intervention Fund
Nasir Sambo, the Executive Secretary, National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) said the Buhari administration has disbursed N518 million to Sokoto State Government in 2020 as National Healthcare Intervention Fund aimed at enhancing the lives of vulnerable persons in the society. Speaking to newsmen on the sidelines of the official commencement of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF), Mr. Sambo said the federal government remained committed to attainment of mandatory Universal Health Coverage (UHC) toward ensuring improved healthcare to citizens. He stressed that the federal authorities was committed to achieving the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The executive secretary noted that the National Health Act enshrined one percent from accrued consolidated national revenue f...
Rights group urges lifting Ugandan social media ban
Amnesty International is calling for Ugandan officials to lift bans on social media imposed ahead of Thursday’s election. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni announced on Tuesday that the government had shut down social media. On Jan. 9, Facebook deleted dozens of pro-Ugandan government accounts, saying they were “fake.” Museveni characterized Facebook’s action as arrogant. “It is alarming that the Ugandan authorities have suspended social media networks including Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp and restricted people’s right to freedom of expression and access to information,” said Sarah Jackson, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes, in a press release. Amnesty International said the move was intended to silence journalists, election o...
Iran’s smog, blackouts made worse by power-sapping crypto mining
Outages have been compounded by cryptocurrency mining, which uses banks of high-powered computers. Cities across Iran have been cloaked in thick layers of toxic smog and darkened by blackouts, as the alleged use of low-quality fuel and power-sucking cryptocurrency mining deepen the country’s hardships. Tehran’s Hamshahri newspaper, the country’s most-read daily, ran the headline, “20 Days Living in Smoke,” on Wednesday over a photo of the capital covered in smog. Power plants have been forced to switch to burning low-grade fuel oils to generate electricity because high levels of domestic consumption have led to natural-gas shortages, the semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency reported. Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh denied earlier this week that any of Iran’s power stations are us...
Uganda election: Will Bobi Wine derail Yoweri Museveni’s sixth term bid?
As millions of Ugandans prepare to pick the country’s president this week, the stakes could not be higher. The run-up to Thursday’s vote has been marred by restrictions on campaigning, arrests of opposition figures and deadly violence. At least 54 people were killed in November as security forces put down protests by opposition supporters. Longtime President Yoweri Museveni, 76, is facing a strong challenge from popular musician-turned-politician Bobi Wine in his bid to secure a sixth, five-year term in office. Bobi Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, was just four years old when Museveni, a former rebel leader, came to power in 1986. In 2005, Uganda’s ruling-party-dominated parliament removed presidential term limits. And in 2017, lawmakers scrapped the age limit of 75 fo...
2021: Banks to walk a tightrope amid low revenue environment
Nigeria’s deposit money banks (DMBs) must brace up for the challenge of 2021 that might tax their resolve to remain in business. Reason: the industry is faced with a tougher operating environment that could threaten the operators’ ability to meet their stakeholders’ needs and expectations yet perform meaningful corporate social responsibility roles. Their valuable customers such as high net-worth individuals, corporate bodies and other institutions are equally challenged. In his book, Business Stripped Bare, celebrated iconic entrepreneur and founder of the Virgin Group, Richard Branson, says, “without trustworthy banks, there can be no business, no employment, no money. According to Branson, “People have got to be able to go to bed at night secure in the knowledge that the money they depo...
Indonesian plane crashes after take-off with 62 aboard
A Sriwijaya Air plane crashed into the sea on Saturday minutes after taking off from Indonesia’s capital Jakarta. The plane was on a domestic flight with 62 people on board and their fate was not known. The Boeing 737-500, en route to Pontianak in West Kalimantan, disappeared from radar screens after taking off just after 2.30 p.m. (0730 GMT) – 30 minutes after the scheduled time because of heavy rain. Indonesian Transport Minister, Budi Karya, told a news conference that 62 people had been aboard Flight SJ 182, including 12 crew. The detik.com website quoted him as saying the plane crashed near Laki Island, some 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the airport. Rescue agency Basarnas said in a statement it would send a team to the Thousand Islands area to help in the search for victims “after th...
Coronavirus: Nigeria now at tipping point – PTF
The Federal Government, yesterday, took stock of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic vis-a-vis the attitude of Nigerians to embracing safety precautions, and concluded that the country was now at a tipping point. This came as government announced its decision to establish oxygen plants in all states of the federation as part of measures to resolve the “oxygen crisis” that had engulfed some of the isolation and treatment centres in the country. Meanwhile, Edo State has recorded 28 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the state to 270, as the state government cautions residents to abide by the precautionary health and safety guidelines. Vanguard, meanwhile, gathered that former vice-chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof. Oyewusi Ibidapo-Obe and th...
