February
Police arrest ‘civil defence’ robber in Ogun
Officers Ogun Police Command have arrested an armed robbery suspect, Adeolu Bankole, operating in Ayetoro area of the state with a stolen uniform of an officer of Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps. The Command, in a press release was apprehended on the 5th of February 2021 following a complaint by some students of Olabisi Onabanjo University that they were robbed of their belonging at a gunpoint. The students told the police that the armed robber who broke into their apartment was dressed in Civil Defense uniform and dispossessed them of their phones and laptop. According to the statement, upon the report, the Area Commander of Ayetoro, ACP Anthony Haruna, detailed his detectives to go after the hoodlum. After hours of painstaking investigation, the detectives received information ...
Sudan announces new cabinet with ex-rebels as ministers
Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok announced Monday a new cabinet bringing in seven ex-rebel chiefs as ministers, following a peace deal in October aimed to end decades of war. Veteran rebel leader and economist Gibril Ibrahim, of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) – which played a major role in the Darfur conflict – was appointed as Sudan’s new finance minister. “We have reached consensus on over 25 ministries,” Hamdok said, during a press conference in Khartoum. “This line up aims to preserve this country from collapse… we know there will be challenges but we are certain that we will move forward.” Hamdok dissolved the previous cabinet on Sunday to make way for a more inclusive line up in government. Two ministers were selected from the military, with the remaining coming from th...
Somali opposition leaders ‘no longer recognise president’
Jack Hill/Reuters Somalia’s opposition leaders have announced that they no longer recognise President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, after his term expired without a political agreement on a path toward elections to replace him. The Horn of Africa nation was supposed to hold indirect elections before February 8 but the deadline was missed as the central government and federal states failed to break a deadlock over how to proceed with a vote. It now confronts a political crisis alongside a violent Islamist insurgency, a locust invasion and serious food shortages. A coalition of opposition candidates urged the president, better known by his nickname Farmajo, to “respect the constitution” and ensure a peaceful transfer of power in the fragile country. “Starting from 8th February 2021, the council...
Iran won’t resume nuclear commitments until US lifts sanctions – supreme leader
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Sunday the US must “completely lift” sanctions first, followed by verification by Tehran, before the Islamic republic returns to its nuclear deal commitments. “If they want Iran to return to its commitments … America must completely lift sanctions, and not just in words or on paper,” Khamenei said in a televised speech to air force commanders. “They must be lifted in action, and then we will verify and see if they have been properly lifted, and then return,” he added. The 2015 landmark deal has been hanging by a thread since US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from it in 2018 and reimpose sanctions on Tehran. Tehran a year later suspended its compliance with most key nuclear commitments to the deal. The new administration of ...
China joins calls for IWF to publish list of election candidates
Nations from around the world have written to the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) to express their dismay at the governing body’s failure to publish the list of candidates for forthcoming elections. There have been complaints of poor governance, a lack of transparency, and giving an unfair advantage to certain candidates on the current IWF Executive Board who have the information that is denied to others. For the last elections in 2017 the list was published five days after the nominations deadline. This year, eight days have passed already and there is no sign of the IWF naming the candidates for President, first vice-president, vice-president, and a place on the Executive Board. The IWF is entitled, under current regulations, to wait until 30 days before the elections – Febr...
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...
Nigeria expects 41 million coronavirus vaccine doses from African Union
Nigeria expects to receive 41 million Covid-19 vaccine doses from the African Union, the head of the country’s primary healthcare agency said on Monday, while the health minister said vaccines from Russia and India were being considered. Authorities in Africa’s most populous country, which has 200 million people, plan to inoculate 40% of the population this year and another 30% in 2022. The African Union initially secured 270 million Covid-19 vaccine doses from manufacturers for member states. Last week it was announced that the bloc would receive another 400 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Faisal Shuaib, who heads the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, said Nigeria’s previous request for 10 million doses through the AU had been increased four-fold. “We have applied...
Myanmar military to hold new elections after one-year state of emergency
The Myanmar military said on Monday that it will rerun the multi-party general elections after a one-year state of emergency declared earlier in the day. The Union Election Commission will be reformed and the electoral process in the parliamentary elections held in November 2020 will be reviewed in accordance with the laws, the military said in a televised statement. “After the state of emergency period, free and fair multi-party general elections will be rerun and the state power will be handed over to an elected party which meets the democratic standards,’’ it said. The statement came after the President’s Office declared a state of emergency which will last for one year in the country. The declaration of emergency, signed by First Vice President U Myint Swe, who is serving as the acting...
PTF: Nigeria records four cases of UK coronavirus variant strain
Mr Boss Mustapha, Chairman, Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, said Nigeria recorded four cases of COVID-19, B117 variant strain, first reported in the UK. The PTF chairman made the disclosure at national briefing on Monday in Abuja. Mustapha said; “over the last few weeks, the PTF had been closely following the rising number of infections reported daily in Nigeria and in other jurisdictions. “Similarly, our scientists have been sequencing the variants of the virus. “There have been reports of cases with the B117 variant strain first reported in the UK, found in Nigeria. Three of these were in travelers out of Nigeria and one in a resident,”. He also stated that the daily statistics for Nigeria as at January 24, 2020 showed that cas...
Rivers United defeat Bloemfontein Celtics in CAF Confederation qualifier
Rivers United are through to the final playoff round of the CAF Confederation Cup after they again defeated South Africa’s Bloemfontein Celtics on Saturday. Despite playing at a neutral ground, at the Charles De Gaulles Stadium in Port Novo, Benin Republic, Rivers United posted a 3-0 win over Celtics to progress on 5-0 aggregate scoreline. The Pride of Rivers had registered a 2-0 win when they played the first leg in South Africa in December and despite the uncertainties that postponed and rescheduled the second leg, Stanley Eguma’s men delivered yet another flawless performance. Just as it was in the first leg, the duo of Fortune Omoniwari and Godwin Aguda were again the goal scorers for Rivers United on Saturday with the latter scoring twice this time. Rivers United now have their work w...
Donald Trump impeachment to be sent to Senate Monday – top lawmakers
Donald Trump will go on trial in the US Senate soon after an impeachment case against the former president is transmitted by the House of Representatives on Monday, top lawmakers announced. The House impeached the Republican leader for a historic second time on January 13, just one week before he left office, but Speaker Nancy Pelosi has yet to send the article of impeachment to the Senate. The step is necessary in order to launch the trial process. “I have spoken to Speaker Pelosi who informed me that the article will be delivered to the Senate on Monday,” Chuck Schumer, the new Democratic Senate majority leader, said in a floor speech Friday. “A trial will be held in the United States Senate and there will be a vote whether to convict the president,” Schumer told his colleagues. Trump wa...
Nigerian university staff to embark on indefinite strike
File Photo The Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) have disclosed that they will be embarking on “an indefinite, comprehensive and total strike” from February 5th. The Joint Action Committee of both unions, disclosed this while addressing reporters in a press conference on Friday. The committee explained that it is giving the Government two weeks till February 5th to address its demands, else the industrial action will commence. The unions had embarked on a fourteen day warning strike between 5th and 19th of October 2020 in protest of a number of issues bordering on the welfare of their members. The warning strike culminated the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the 20t...
