Friday
#EndSARS: 15 policemen arrested protester in Lagos – sister
No fewer than 15 armed policemen arrested a promoter of the #EndSARS protest, Eromosele Adene, after invading his apartment on Adeleke Street, in the Allen area of Ikeja, Lagos State, on Saturday. PUNCH Metro gathered that a protest had been slated to hold at the Allen Junction in Ikeja when the policemen besieged Eromosele’s house and whisked him away. His sister, Florence, who spoke to newsmen on Sunday, said one of the policemen deceived her by claiming that he had a parcel to deliver to their father around 7am on Saturday. “When I met them, they told me that they were actually looking for my brother and instructed me to take them to our house, but I refused. They said they did a business with him and sent money to his Zenith Bank’s account but the commodity was not delivered. I told th...
Senator Mitt Romney congratulates Joe Biden, Kamala Harris
A Republican Senator and former presidential candidate in the United States, Mitt Romney, on Saturday night, congratulated president-elect, Joe Biden, and the vice president-elect, Kamala Harris. Romney has always been a critic of President Donald Trump and on Friday disagreed with him over Trump’s claim of election fraud, saying the president’s claim was reckless. Senator Romney, in a one-paragraph tweet congratulating Biden and Harris, described them as both of them as people of goodwill and admirable character. According to his Tweet: “Ann and I extend our congratulations to President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. We know both of them as people of goodwill and admirable character. We pray that God may bless them in the days and years ahead.” Get more stories li...
NIPOST, WAEC collaborate on delivery of examination documents
File Photo The Nigeria Postal Services and the West African Examination Council have declared their readiness to collaborate on the delivery of examination documents across the country. Both agencies made their intentions known when the Head of National Office, WAEC, Patrick Areghan, visited the Postmaster-General of the Federation, NIPOST, Adebayo Adewusi, in Abuja. The General Manager, Corporation Communications, NIPOST, Franklin Alao, said in a statement on Friday that the WAEC official told his host that the purpose of his visit was to collaborate with NIPOST in the area of logistics. Areghan said such logistics would mean using NIPOST locked up vans to deliver WAEC documents, as he also spoke on collaborating with postal agency for the delivery of certificates. This, according to the ...
NRC generates N1.4 billion IGR, remits N245 million to TSA in 2020
The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) on Friday said its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) as at Sept. 30 stood at N1.4billion as against N4.4billion projection for 2020. Mr Fidets Okhiria, Managing Director of NRC, in a statement said the sum of N245million was remitted to the TSA as at Oct.31. Okhiria said this at the 2021 Budget Defence to the Joint Committee of Land and Marine transport at the National Assembly in Abuja. He said that the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic affected its operations as train services were stopped during its peak, thus affecting the IGR projection for the year. “The Joint Committee should also note that for the year 2020, the Corporation presented a separate Internally Generated Revenue & Expenditure Budget. “The sum of N1.4billion has been generated as ...
Abuja court remands six protesters in custody
File Photo A magistrate in Abuja has remanded six detained protesters in custody on ‘trumped up charges,’ according to their lawyer. Newmen earlier reported that a small group of protesters were attacked by security forces at the National Assembly as they were rounding off their protest demanding widespread governmental reforms. Six protesters were arrested, including five males and one female. Human rights lawyer Tope Akinyode, who is defending the accused, told newsmen that the protesters were being held on “allegations of unlawful assembly and wanting to distort the societal peace.” “Of course, those are clearly trumped up charges because the protesters protested in accordance with the law,” he said. The magistrate in charge of their case decided to strike out the lawyer’s oral applicat...
Osun PDP embattled chairman takes over secretariat
The embattled chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) Osun State, Hon Soji Adagunodo, on Friday took over the party secretariat in the Osogbo capital of the state. Newsmen report that an Osun State High Court sitting in Ikirun on Tuesday, November 3 reinstated Hon. Soji Adajunodo as the chairman of the People Democratic Party (PDP) following a motion Exparte by the Adagunodo’s counsel, Edmund Biriomoni, in suit number HIK/25/2020 filed before Justice Saka Falola sought for seven reliefs from the respondents four respondent including the substantive chairman, Mr Sunday Bisi. Adagunodo in the company of his supporters stormed the party secretariat around 1:30 PM on Friday greeted party members that were inside the premises. Addressing journalists after he took over the secretariat, Hon A...
INEC admits challenges in deployment of technology in 2019 elections
File Photo The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confessed that the deployment of technology in the electoral process especially during the 2019 general elections came with challenges. The Commission made the disclosure in the review of the 2019 general elections, a report of the Commission’s retreats and stakeholder engagement, presented during a press briefing in Abuja on Friday. INEC also claimed in the review that the delay in investigation and transmission of case files to the Commission for further action by the police has hindered the successful prosecution of electoral offenders. Making recommendation on ICT, SCRs, DDCMs, CVR and Internet services, the Commission noted: “The growing use of technology in the planning of elections became a feature in our elections ...
Official: Vladimir Putin not resigning
Agence France-Presse Spokesman to Russian President, Dmitry Peskov, has debunked a report that Vladimir Putin is planning to resign due to health issues. Citing a connected Russian political scientist Valery Solovei, The Sun on Friday reported that Mr. Putin is considering to step down due to health issues. The tabloid said there have been claims that Mr. Putin has been nursing Parkinson’s disease and his daughters and 37-year-old wife are prevailing on him to stand down. However, Mr. Peskov on Friday said that Putin, who is serving a six-year term that will elapse by 2024, is in good health. “No, he is in excellent health,” Peskov told TASS, a Russian newspaper, when asked to react to report that his principal is planning to step down. “There isn’t much to comment on here. “This is pure n...
Ohanaeze warns Rivers governor to treat Oyigbo unrest with caution
Ohanaeze Ndigbo youths have urged the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, and security agencies to treat the unrest in Oyigbo local government area of the state with caution in order not to give the peaceful #EndSARS protest an ethnic coloration and endanger the lives of innocent Igbo people. The South South Coordinator of Ohanaeze Youth Wing, Chief Chinedu Arthur-Ugwa, gave the warning while speaking with newsmen in Yenagoa on Friday over the crisis in the area arising from EndSARS peaceful protest. He however condemned the alleged attacked on the Igbos in the area, saying the EndSARS protest was not a tribal affair but genuine agitation by Nigerian youths. Arthur-Ugwa who also decried the vandalization of state and privately owned properties in Rivers State, regretting that the peaceful ...
Two NSCDC officials killed in road accident in Ondo
At least two officials of the Ondo State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) lost their lives while one other was injured in a motor accident on Friday along the Ondo-Ore Road in Ondo State. The officers were said to be coming from a burial function in Okitipupa area of the state when the ugly incident happened According to an eyewitness who explained that the vehicle the officers were travelling with, skidded off the road and somersaulted. The State Commandant, Mr Okoro Eweka, who confirmed the incident while speaking through the command’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), ASC. Olufemi Omole, described the incident as unfortunate. Eweka said that the command lost the two officers to the accident and said their remains had been deposited at the morgue while the in...
Journalist murdered in Mexico, sixth in 2020
A journalist has been shot dead in crime-ridden northern Mexico, authorities said Friday, the sixth such murder this year in one of the world’s most dangerous countries for reporters. Chihuahua state governor Javier Corral condemned the “cowardly” killing of Arturo Alba Medina in Ciudad Juarez near the US border. Corral said on Twitter that he had told prosecutors to ensure the perpetrators are punished, adding: “Justice will be done.” The 49-year-old journalist and television news show host was assassinated a few minutes after the end of his program on Thursday night, according to media watchdog Reporters Without Borders. “This was clearly an execution and his media colleagues where he worked are afraid and don’t know the reason for the crime,” Balbina Flores, RSF representative in Mexico...
Minister condemns destruction of medical equipment in Kogi
The FCT Minister of State, Dr Ramatu Aliyu, has condemned the destruction by hoodlums of medical equipment worth billions of naira at the Central Medical Store in Kogi. Aliyu, in a statement signed by her Special Assistant on Media, Mr Austine Elemue, on Friday in Abuja, described the hoodlums as “enemies of the state”. She called on the state government to remain resolute and not be deterred by the unfortunate incident. “Government must remain resolute and be focused on repositioning the health sector for efficient service delivery,” she said. While acknowledging that the destruction was enormous, she expressed the hope that the state would bounce back better and stronger. “My heart broke when I saw the wanton destruction on our essential drugs warehouse by hoodlums. “I was particularly p...
