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#EndSARS: Police parade two minors, four others for arson
Two minors and four other suspects were paraded on Monday by police in Ekiti State in connection with arson attacks on three police stations in the State. Suspected hoodlums had last week attacked two Divisional Police Stations and the Area Command office in Ikere Ekiti, Ikere Ekiti Local Government Area in the wake of the #EndSARS protests. The suspects include Odeyemi Sina (12), Ayomide Akomolafe (13), Alao Emmanuel, Ojuko Tobi, Sunday Salihu and Kosedake Olamilekan. Parading the suspects in Ado-Ekiti, on Monday, the police spokesman Mr Sunday Abutu said the minors were arrested at the scene of the incident. ‘When the #EndSARS protest started, everything was done peacefully until the 20th of October when some hoodlums stormed our Area Command in Ikere Divisional Police Station and burnt ...
CACOVID: Looted palliatives awaiting distribution
Most of the looted palliatives in warehouses across the nation were awaiting distribution to over 2 million vulnerable households, the private sector-led Coalition Against COVID (CACOVID) has explained. In a statement on Monday night, CACOVID said: “The sheer scale of this nationwide food programme and the timing of the orders and deliveries, which coincided with the lockdowns and reduced movement across the country, compelled CACOVID to roll out distribution in a staggered manner”. CACOVID maintained: “The very large size of the order, and the production cycle required to meet the demand, caused delays in delivering the food items to the States in an expeditious manner; hence the resultant delay in delivery of the food palliatives by the State Governors”. For instance, “rice had to be mil...
England Women cancel Germany friendly after positive test
England Women have cancelled Tuesday’s friendly in Germany following a positive coronavirus test. The fixture, which was due to take place behind closed doors at the Brita-Arena in Wiesbaden, was to be England’s first competitive fixture since the SheBelieves Cup in March. Phil Neville and the squad met up for a training camp at St George’s Park this week are were set to fly to Germany on Sunday but those plans have been shelved at the last minute. As hosts of the delayed 2021 European Championships, which will now take place in July 2022, England have not had any qualifying games to play. England have been set a target of winning the World Cup or European Championship by 2024 and have been keen to return to competitive action. Neville’s side disappointed at the SheBelieves Cup earlier thi...
CSCS sensitizes financial market stakeholders on cyber-security
Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, Nigeria’s capital market infrastructure, is ramping up its cyber-security advocacy as it sensitizes financial market participants on rising rate of cybercrime. In a webinar organized by CSCS, financial market stakeholders, including bankers and capital market operators dialogued on innovative measures for preventing cybercrimes, dire need for increased campaign and exigency of collaborative investments to reign in the rising rate of cybercrime. The online event themed “Cyber Security and Information During the Pandemic” was lauded for its timeliness, as COVID-19 pandemic and attendant remote connections may have increased cyber-security risks in many organizations, particularly as the crime rate surges globally, with rising exposure of financi...
Plateau government denies taking $359 million loan from AfDB
Plateau State government has denied the allegation of taking $350m African Development Bank, AfDB loan saying such allegation is frivolous as the government only took $11.2 million of which, 70% of the amount is being committed to infrastructure, 20% to capacity building and 10% for project management. A former Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, last Thursday at a webinar discussing why Plateau State lost its relevance at the national stage, accused the Governor, Simon Lalong of non-performance despite taking loans that have no impact on the lives of citizens. Dalung said, “$350 million (N140 billion) was approved for the Plateau State governemnt by the Federal Executive Council for the purpose of the potato value chain. I was a serving Minister at the time, so I was part of tha...
PTF warns against neglect of virus protocols
The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 has warned against perceived neglect of the non-pharmaceutical protocols and other measures aimed at tackling the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the country. The PTF chairman and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha, gave the warning at the daily briefing by the PTF on Monday in Abuja. He said that there was increasing disregard for basic non-pharmaceutical measures that have proven to be very successful. He said face masks have now been turned into chin masks, social distancing and gatherings are returning to the pre-COVID era. Mustapha, however, called for vigilance in order to forestall any danger of second wave of the pandemic as the countries in Europe were currently facing. According to him, th...
Britain secures early access to promising vaccine candidates
The British government on Friday announced that it had secured early access to 90 million doses of two new promising vaccine candidates. British citizens will receive early access to 90 million doses of the two COVID-19 vaccine candidates should they prove safe and effective. By far, the British government has secured access to six different vaccine candidates as part of the government’s strategy to build a portfolio of promising new vaccines should any be found to be safe and effective. The government has also agreed in principle to co-fund a global clinical trial with the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson and Johnson to establish how effective their vaccine could be in providing long-term immunity against COVID-19. The next phase of Janssen’s clinical trials is expected to begi...
Delta workers accept salary review as monthly wage bill hits N7 billion
With over N7 billion monthly wage bill to 48,000 workers in Delta, the State Chairman of Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Martin Bolum, has said that the decision of the state government to review the salary of political appointees and workers on salary grade level seven was one of the ways to keep the state afloat in this period of Coronavirus pandemic. The salary cut takes effect from July 2020 is for six months. According to him, the state was one of the first states to implement the new minimum wage, stressing that the present salary review was for a while. At a press conference by the secretary to the state government Barr. Chiedu Ebie to explain the interim fiscal measures adopted by the government, the Head of Service, Mr Reginald Bayoko also appealed to workers to see the develo...
Midnight fire guts over 220 shops, several vehicles in Lagos market
Tragedy occurred in the early hours of Saturday, May 30, 2020, when fire gutted Olaleye Market in Somolu, Bariga area of Lagos State in which several items and properties worth billions of naira were destroyed. Director-General, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, said the raging fire which occurred at about 12.15 am, Saturday, razed the market to rubble. According to Oke-Osanyintolu, after enumeration, 227 identified lockup shops, and several number of vehicles were destroyed in the process. He said though, no life loss, nor injuries recorded in the disaster, efforts were deployed by emergency responders to ensure that the fire did not cause further havoc as well as curtail it’s spread to proximal buildings. Oke-Osanyintolu estimated the damaged prop...
