Fear
US state bans transgender athletes from women’s sports
Mississippi became the first US state on Thursday to ban transgender athletes from competing on girls or women’s sports teams, a move denounced as discriminatory by LGBTQ groups and likely to face legal challenges. Governor Tate Reeves said the “Mississippi Fairness Act” would “ensure young girls are not forced to compete against biological males.” The bill requires public schools in the conservative southern state to designate sports teams based on biological sex as for “Males,” “Females” or “Coed.” “Athletic teams or sports designated for ‘females,’ ‘women,’ or ‘girls,’ shall not be open to students of the male sex,” it states. Human Rights Campaign (HRC), a group which defends LGBTQ rights, described the bill as “discriminatory anti-transgender legislation” and said it would be challeng...
CDS Irabor: Nigeria will have peace again
Chief of Defense Staff General Lucky Irabor has said that the Nigerian Armed Forces will never in any way leave the peace and security of the nation in the hands of the terrorists. General Irabor, who spoke with State House correspondents after being decorated with his new rank by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja said the Armed Forces will determine the peace and will not leave it in the hands of the terrorists. He was before his appointment as CDS a Major General. Fielding question on the role played by the Nigerian military in the recent negotiations that led to the release of the school children from their abductors, he said that the security agencies built bridges across various divides. According to him, “Peace and security is not just the s...
Anambra Assembly expresses worry over spike in criminal activities
The Anambra House of Assembly has expressed worry over the increasing rate of crimes in the state and called for urgent measures to address the menace. Mr Noble Igwe, representing Ogbaru 1 Constituency, while speaking on a matter of urgent public importance, on Tuesday, lamented that the rate of crime had triggered fear among the residents. Igwe said there were recent reports of residents who had been victims of a wide range of violent crimes, including armed robbery, assault, burglary, carjacking, kidnapping and extortion. “Aware that security of lives and property is the primary function of the state government as enshrined in the constitution, there is the need to intensify efforts at taming the resurgence of crimes in some parts of the state, especially on theOnitsha-Owerri Road where ...
Victor Osimhen likens his unconscious 30 minutes to a brain reset
Super Eagles and Napoli forward Victor Osimhen has said his 30 minutes of unconsciousness Sunday, ‘felt like a brain reset’ Osimhen was discharged to return to Naples on Monday after spending the night under observation at a hospital in Bergamo following an alarming collapse towards the end of the club’s 4-2 Serie A defeat by Atalanta on Sunday. Osimhen was knocked unconscious in a scary incident during the final minutes of the game after a challenge with Cristian Romero; he was stretchered off the pitch and taken directly to hospital. A close adviser to the player told ESPN that a disoriented Osimhen was shocked when he saw the video of the incident. “He could not believe it when they showed him the video from the incident,” the adviser said. “He said it felt like a brain reset.” Multiple...
Abia government reacts to attack on police station, places N1 million bounty on information leading to recovery of arms
Abia State Government has reacted to yesterday’s attack on Abayi police station in which two policemen were killed and arms carted away by gunmen. The state government is also placing a N1m bounty on anybody who will give infornation to the recovery of arms looted by the hoodlums. To further checkmate criminal activities in the state, Government imposes a ban on Keke/Okada operations between 7pm and 7am in all major cities of the state starting from yesterday. A statement by the commissioner for Information, Chief John Okiyi-Kalu said her attention was “drawn to a mindless and cowardly attack on a police station in Aba by yet to be identified armed hoodlums in the early hours of today (Tuesday), leading to loss of precious lives and carting away of arms and ammunition. “We wish to assure m...
Hundreds of thousands protest in Myanmar as army faces crippling mass strike
Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Myanmar for a ninth day of anti-coup demonstrations on Sunday, as the new army rulers grappled to contain a strike by government workers that could cripple their ability to run the country. People surround a police vehicle as they protest against the military coup, in Yangon, Myanmar February 12, 2021 in this still grab obtained by Reuters from a video on February 13, 2021. Trains in parts of the country stopped running after staff refused to go to work, local media reported, while the military deployed soldiers to power plants only to be confronted by angry crowds. A civil disobedience movement to protest against the Feb. 1 coup that deposed the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi started with doctors. It now affects a swa...
ICC ruling brings hope for Palestinians, dismay for Israelis
Many Palestinians see a ruling by the International Criminal Court that it has jurisdiction over the Palestinian territories as a belated chance of justice for victims of Israeli attacks. But for many Israelis, Friday’s ruling is worrying because they say they are the “good guys” defending themselves against Palestinian violence. The ruling, delivered by a pre-trial chamber of three ICC judges, could lead to criminal investigations of Israel and Palestinian militant groups including Hamas. No probe was expected in the near future, however. ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said she would now examine the decision and pointed to the 2014 Gaza war between Israel and militant groups in Hamas-controlled Gaza, the 2018 Gaza border protests and Israeli settlements in occupied territory. In Khan Youni...
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...
House of Reps allays fear of possible spread of coronavirus inside NYSC orientation camps
The House of Representatives Committee on Youths Development on Tuesday allayed the fear of the possible spread of COVID-19 in the orientation camps of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) currently in progress across the country. The Chairman of the Committee, Hon Yemi Adaramodu, while speaking with newsmen shortly after the oversight visit of the committee to the Nasarawa State NYSC camp at Keffi declared that there was no cause for concern as being envisaged in some quarters. The member representing Ekiti South Federal Constituency 1, Ekiti State under the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC) stated that the committee was convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that there was no need to entertain any fear of the possible spread of COVID-19 at the orientation camps based on th...
Rivers governor seeks end to external influence on NDDC
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has regretted the continuous interference of external forces who are not from the oil-rich region on the activities of Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, noting that the act frustrates programmes of the commission. Wike, however, condemned the posture of some ethnic groups in the region that behave as if the commission belongs to them, clarifying that NDDC was set up to cater for needs of the states of the region. The governor disclosed this in a statement signed by his Special Assistant, Media, Kelvin Ebiri, after the visit of the Interim Management Committee of NDDC to Government House, Port Harcourt, yesterday. The governor said people are abusing the entire region because the commission has wasted trillions of Dollars without lifting the mass...
Atiku Abubakar: Nigeria needs urgent rescue
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has declared Nigeria is in dire need of urgent rescue. Nigeria, he said, has been badly damaged and broken. He decried the unbearable and alarming conditions Nigerians are living with, lamenting hunger was ravaging as farmers have deserted their farms for fear of being killed. These were contained in a statement in Abuja on Sunday by Hon. Oladimeji Fabiyi, who stood in for the Waziri Adamawa at the weekend in Gombe State during the inauguration of the leadership of the North-east zone of the Nigeria Youth Congress for Atiku. “The hunger in the Northern Nigeria and indeed the entire country is getting to an unbearable and alarming rate as our farmers, fathers and mothers can no longer go to farm. “Agriculture is one of the comparative advantages the Nort...
Abia governor condemns sudden rise in violent crime
File Photo Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State has strongly condemned the sudden rise in violent crime around a bad spot before Akara Junction in Isuikwuato LGA of the State. The Governor in a statement released via his Twitter account on Saturday also lamented the recent spike in attacks on POS vendors in Aba. Ikpeazu, who condemned seriously the turn of events in the state, charged the law enforcement agencies to dominate all affected spaces around Isuikwuato axis and decisively combat the rising surge of crime there. He, however, expressed confidence that the law enforcement agencies will apprehend the culprits and ensure the concerned localities are rid of crime. “I acknowledge with sadness the sudden rise in violent crime around a bad spot before Akara Junction in Isuikwuato LGA of ...
