Friday
California hospitals overrun even as vaccine is rolled out
Even as high profile figures like U.S. Vice President Mike Pence rolled up their sleeves for COVID-19 vaccinations, patients already ill with the disease crowded emergency rooms and overran intensive care units in California, now a worldwide epicenter. Another 41,000 people tested positive in the most populous U.S. state on Thursday, and 300 died, state public health officials said. In a state with 40 million residents, only about 1,200 intensive care beds remained available by Friday – just 2.1% of the total, the California Department of Public Health said. “We anticipated a surge, but I’m not sure if anyone imagined it would be as bad as it has been,” said Adam Blackstone, a spokesman for the Hospital Association of Southern California. Hospitals are strained under the press of patients,...
Gunmen kill seven, burn 13 houses in Kaduna community
Seven people have been killed by gunmen in Gora Gan community, Zangon-Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna state. One person was also injured, while 13 houses and two shops were burnt by the bandits. The incident occurred on Thursday night when the gunmen invaded the community and opened fire on residents. It was learnt that the bandits surrounded the community and shot sporadically as residents scampered to safety. The Kaduna state commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Mr. Samuel Aruwan confirmed the incident in a statement on Friday in Kaduna. “The security agencies carrying out internal security operations in parts of southern Kaduna State have reported that Gora Gan community in Zangon Kataf Local Government came under attack on Thursday night”, Aruwan said. According t...
NIMC insists on deadline for linking of NIN to mobile numbers
File Photo Despite criticisms from many Nigerians of the two-week ultimatum for the registration and linking of National Identity Number (NIN) to mobile numbers, the federal government has insisted on the deadline. The director-general of the National Identity Management Commission, (NIMC), Aliyu Abubakar, in an interview with newsmen on Friday said there was no extension for the announced deadline. “Right now, the way it is, there is no extension. We should not be complaining, rather we should see how it can be done,” he said. “It is until after 10 to 12 days then we will see how far it has gone before we beg the government for anything.” When the agency issued a two-week ultimatum for the enrolment, Nigerians took to social media platforms to kick against such a deadline. “In the whole o...
Gombe governor declares Friday work-free day ahead of council poll
The Gombe State Governor, Inuwa Yahaya, has declared today (Friday) a work-free day to enable eligible voters to travel to their respective areas to exercise their franchise in Saturday’s local government election in the state. Yahaya disclosed this during a state-wide broadcast to highlight his administration’s preparedness to conduct free, fair and credible local government election in the state, adding that the election was not a do or die affair. He said, “As part of the measures to ensure a peaceful and successful election, government has declared Friday a work-free day in order to enable our people return to their various local government areas for the election. We are also putting restrictions on all non-essential movements on the election day in order to ensure enhanced security an...
Governor Masari: Kidnapped Katsina schoolboys moved to Zamfara
Katsina State governor, Aminu Bello Masari, says the schoolboys kidnapped last week have been moved by their captors to a forest in neighbouring Zamfara State. Gunmen invaded the Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, on Friday, December 11, 2020, with over 300 students unaccounted a week later. In an interview with BBC Hausa on Wednesday, December 16, 2020, Masari said most of the abducted students are believed to be in the forest in Zamfara. “Right now the security forces have surrounded all these places where the children are thought to be,” he said. Masari had said earlier this week that the government has already commenced negotiations with the kidnappers. He reiterated on Wednesday that this was to ensure the students are returned unhurt. He also disclosed that 400 students ar...
CAN: Nigeria almost becoming a failed nation
File Photo The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has condemned the abduction of 333 students of Government Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State. CAN also said that the worsening security situation across the country shows that Nigeria is “almost becoming a failed nation.” The group’s statement by Adebayo Oladeji, Special Assistant (Media and Communications) to the CAN President, described the incident as another tragic chapter in the history of the country. Newsmen reported how 333 schoolboys of the school were abducted on Friday by the gunmen. A terrorist group, Boko Haram, has claimed responsibility for the raid. The federal government said security operatives have already located where the abducted students were taken to and they “would soon be rescued”. CAN expressed its sadne...
Families of kidnapped Katsina schoolboys fear time running out
Families of more than 300 kidnapped Nigerian schoolboys worried they may be brainwashed or held for years as security forces combed a vast forest on Wednesday for armed captors possibly from the jihadist Boko Haram movement. According to an unverified audio clip, the Islamist group – whose name means “Western education is forbidden” – was responsible for last week’s raid on an all-boys school in the town of Kankara in northwestern Katsina state. Parents fear time may be running out: Boko Haram has a history of turning captives into jihadist fighters. “They will radicalise our children if the government does not act fast to help us rescue them,” said trader Shuaibu Kankara, crying as he spoke from home. His 13-year-old son Annas was among those abducted from the Government Science school on...
First Americans vaccinated as U.S. death toll passes 300,000
An intensive care unit nurse became the first person in the United States to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Monday, calling it a sign that “healing is coming,” as the U.S. coronavirus death toll crossed a staggering 300,000 lives lost. Sandra Lindsay, who has treated some of the sickest COVID-19 patients for months, was given the vaccine at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in the New York City borough of Queens, an early epicenter of the country’s COVID-19 outbreak, receiving applause on a livestream with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. “It didn’t feel any different from taking any other vaccine,” Lindsay said. “I feel hopeful today, relieved. I feel like healing is coming. I hope this marks the beginning of the end of a very painful time in our history. “I want to instil...
Lagos governor responding to treatment – commissioner
Lagos State Health Commissioner, Akin Abayomi, says Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is responding well to home-based care and treatment for COVID-19. “Governor of Lagos, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, is responding well to COVID-19 home-based care and treatment. He is in high spirit and very appreciative of all your prayers and well wishes. “I will be keeping the public informed regularly of Mr Governor’s recovery and wellbeing,” Abayomi stated in a two-part-tweet update on Sunday night. The commissioner had announced last night that the governor tested positive for coronavirus and has been in isolation since on Friday following contact with persons infected with the virus. Lagos is a major entry point in Nigeria with over 60% of incoming passenger traffic going through the Murtala Muhammed International...
Lagos anti-one way squad impounds 42 vehicles
Three police officers and a naval rating are part of the offenders whose vehicles were impounded on Friday in an enforcement carried out by the Anti-One way and Other Traffic Offences Squad of the Lagos State Government. The traffic offenders met their Waterloo during the Squad’s operations along Apapa-Oshodi Expressway and Mile 2 area of the State. No fewer than 42 vehicles, including two articulated trucks and commercial tricycles, driving against the traffic were arrested by the Squad led by the Commander of policemen in Governor’s Monitoring Team (GMT), Shola Jejeloye, a Superintendent of Police (SP). The Friday enforcement was jointly carried out by the Squad and men of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA). The Squad was specially created, last Monday, by the Commissi...
Lagos governor goes into isolation after close aide tests positive for coronavirus
After one of his closest aides tested positive for COVID-19, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has gone into self-isolation immediately. Professor Akin Abayomi, the state’s Commissioner for Health, in a statement Friday, said: “Mr. Governor and other members of his team will be tested by the Lagos State biobank today but will remain in isolation until the results of the tests are available. “We are seeing slightly increasing number of COVID-19 positive cases in clusters in Lagos and all Lagosians should adhere to the prescribed advisories of safe distancing, good hand and respiratory hygiene and avoidance of unnecessary gatherings.” He stressed that “this is not the first time Mr. Governor is having the COVID-19 test. He has had at least three since May when he announced that 1...
President Akufo-Addo: Sustenance of Ghana’s peace is a shared responsibility
President Akufo-Addo says the sustenance of the country’s peace is a shared responsibility for all Ghanaians and has therefore entreated citizens to play their part in keeping the country united even after a fiercely contested election. The President’s comment comes after pockets of violent clashes and vandalism by some elements who feel aggrieved following the declaration of the election results by the chairperson of the Electoral Commission led to a few deaths across the country. Addressing the Muslim community at a thanksgiving service at the Central Mosque in Accra Friday, President Akufo-Addo expressed hope that the Ghanaian people will find a way to come together as one people. “I’m confident that the good sense of the Ghanaian people will make sure that the peace and stability of ou...
