Circumstances
Minister confirms new date for National Sports Festival
The ministers of youths and sports development, Sunday Dare, yesterday confirmed April 2nd to April 14th as the new date for the 20th National Sports Festival to kick-off. He made the announcement during a visit to the Edo State Government House in Benin City, the Edo State capital. He also announced that Edo State will be used for the National Camp in preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games taking place later this year. Dare said further that the Federal Government is determined to go ahead with the Unity Games which is the sequel to participation at the Tokyo Games. However, he noted that due to logistics under the circumstances occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of athletes has been reduced from 14,000 to 8,000 athletes. Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki in response as...
Bayelsa governor promises to investigate youth’s ‘death’ during police operation
The governor of Bayelsa, Douye Diri, has ordered an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of a youth on Thursday, in Ovom community, Yenagoa Local Government Area (LGA), of the state. Newsmen gathered from residents of the area that the young man was allegedly shot by a policeman, at Ovom surburb. Mr Diri gave the directive on Thursday, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, after being briefed about the incident in Uyo, where he is attending a state cabinet retreat. He also directed that an autopsy be carried out to determine the cause of death. The governor promised that the government would ensure perpetrators of the dastardly act are uncovered and brought to book. “Human life is sacred. As a responsible government, we would not shy away from o...
Former England skipper wants brain tested for dementia signs
Former England striker Gary Lineker says he will get extra checks on his brain for signs of dementia. Research has found that former professional footballers are three and a half times more likely to die from a brain disorder than the general population. Already, an inquiry was launched by the UK parliament this month into sport’s link to dementia. Lineker, who has previously suggested a complete ban on heading in training, joined a radio programme for a Dementia in Football documentary. He revealed he and colleagues Alan Shearer and Ian Wright fear they could end up with a brain disorder. “I’ve had conversations with Alan Shearer and Ian Wright and others about the worry that, come 10, 15 years, that it might happen to one of us,” said the 60-year-old former England captain turned broadca...
Senate advocates stiffer penalties for employers involved in ill treatment of employees, child labour, others
The Senate on Tuesday, passed for second reading, a Bill which seeks to review the Labour Act to provide stiffer penalties for various offences ranging from ill treatment of workers by employers, modern slavery, child labour to discrimination against women in the work place. The legislation titled ‘A Bill for an Act to amend the labour Act Cap L1, LFN, 2004 to review labour fine and other related matters, 2021,’ is sponsored by Senator Francis Onyewuchi (Imo East). According to the draft Bill, Section 21 proposed a fine of N500,000 and N1,000,000 from the present fine of N800 and N500 for first and second offences relating to “Breach of terms and conditions of employment”, as it relates to the wage hour, nature of employment, leave and contracts of employment, among others. Section 46 also...
Energy firms’ bank debts rise to N5.94 trillion
The debts owed to Nigerian banks by oil and gas operators as well as power companies in the country rose to N5.94tn at the end of 2020 from N5.25tn in December 2019. The N5.94tn represents 29.16 per cent of the N20.37tn loans advanced to the private sector by the banks as of December, according to the sectoral analysis of banks’ credit by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Oil and gas firms, which received the biggest share of the credit from the banks, increased their debt by N600bn to N5.18tn in December 2020 from N4.58tn in December 2019. The debt owed by power firms to the banks rose to N763.22bn in December 2020 from N671.45bn in December 2019, the CBN data showed. Oil firms operating in the downstream, natural gas and crude oil refining subsectors owed N393tn as of December, up from N3.42t...
Wolves boss ‘confident’ Raul Jimenez will return this season
Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo is “totally confident” Mexico striker Raul Jimenez will be back from his fractured skull before the end of this season. Jimenez has been out of action since he suffered the horrific injury in a clash of heads with Arsenal’s David Luiz during Wolves’ Premier League win at the Emirates Stadium in November. The 29-year-old has now returned to light training and Nuno expects his star forward to feature before the season ends on May 23. “Totally confident, for sure,” Nuno said on Friday when asked about a likely return for the player this season. Jimenez scored 27 goals in all competitions for Wolves last season and has netted seven times in 15 appearances for club and country during the current campaign. Following Jimenez’s injury, Wolves won only one of thei...
Investigations set to begin in DR Congo following the death of Italian envoy
Congolese investigators arrived in Goma on Thursday to try to clarify the circumstances in which the Italian ambassador, his guard – a carabinieri – and a driver working for the World Food Program were killed earlier this week. The authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo also sent a delegation to the region to meet with members of the United Nations and other NGOs acting in the east of the country where the attack against the UN convoy took place. “The purpose of today’s meeting with the humanitarian workers based in Goma was to plan what to do next,” Christian Bushiri, Senior Advisor of the DRC presidency, told journalists. “It’s necessary to have a close collaboration between humanitarians and officials, between the State and NGOs,” he said, According to Bushiri, the government h...
Sheikh Gumi: Fulani herdsmen were pushed into criminality
Islamic Cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has maintained his position that some Fulani herdsmen were forced into criminality because they were victims of cattle rustling. Sheikh Gumi restated his position during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday. Sheikh Gumi said: “When I listened to them, I found out that it is a simple case of criminality which turned into banditry, which turned into ethnic war, and some genocide too behind the scene; people don’t know.” The cleric said that while “there is no excuse for any crime; nothing can justify crime, and they are committing crime,” the bandits were forced into criminality. “I think it is a population that is pushed by circumstances into criminality,” he said. “And this is what we should look, let’s remove the pressure, let’s...
Sheikh Gumi: Fulani herdsmen were pushed into criminality
Islamic Cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has maintained his position that some Fulani herdsmen were forced into criminality because they were victims of cattle rustling. Sheikh Gumi restated his position during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday. Sheikh Gumi said: “When I listened to them, I found out that it is a simple case of criminality which turned into banditry, which turned into ethnic war, and some genocide too behind the scene; people don’t know.” The cleric said that while “there is no excuse for any crime; nothing can justify crime, and they are committing crime,” the bandits were forced into criminality. “I think it is a population that is pushed by circumstances into criminality,” he said. “And this is what we should look, let’s remove the pressure, let’s...
Ekiti panel recommends N500,000 compensation for widow of slain SARS officer
The Ekiti State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Human Rights Violations has recommended payment of N500,000 as compensation to Mrs Ogunleye Ajayi, wife of a murdered officer in the disbanded police Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). The panel, presided over by its chairman, Justice Cornelius Akintayo (Rtd), recommended the payment of the amount at its resumed sitting in Ado-Ekiti on Thursday. Newsmen report that the deceased, Sgt. Musiliu Ajaiyi, was murdered by unknown persons sometime in 2019. Akintayo said the panel established the facts of the case and made appropriate recommendations from the oral and documentary evidence of the complainants, produced through exhibits tendered as well as visits to the scene of the murder. He, therefore, ordered the Nigerian Police Force to investigate th...
IGP sues Sahara Reporters, publisher over tenure extension bribe report
The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has instructed his team of lawyers to commence legal action against the publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, over a report by the medium wherein the IGP was alleged to have expended N2 billion on his purported quest to get a one-year tenure extension at the helms of the Nigeria Police Force, spokesman, Frank Mba said on Monday. Adamu was due to retire from the service on February 1 but his tenure has now been extended by President Muhammadu Buhari, albeit under controversial circumstances. Mba, in a statement in Abuja said the three-month extension of tenure of the Inspector General of Police (I-G), Mohammed Adamu, is strictly the prerogative of the President which needed no bribe to effect. He said the reports in some sections of ...
Archbishop Kaigama: Why Nigerians are afraid to accept coronavirus vaccine
File Photo Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, His Grace Most Revd. Ignatius Kaigama, on Sunday, said many Nigerians are afraid to accept the COVID-19 vaccine because they believe that the health crisis was being manipulated by some people. Kaigama, who stated this in Abuja during his homily at St. Jude’s Parish Zuba, however, urged Nigerians to disregard insinuations that the vaccine was not medically safe and affordable. He said, “Even though many today will seriously question facts about COVID-19 and fear that there is manipulation by some people, we know that the disease is real. “People very dear to us have died of coronavirus disease. There is no doubt that our world is currently sick, ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic. “The fear today is that the menace of Coronavirus will continue to be w...
