government
Taraba governor launches 100-bed capacity isolation centre
Gov. Darius Ishaku of Taraba on Monday launched a 100-bed capacity isolation and treatment centre at the state NYSC Orientation Camp in Jalingo. He said that the establishment of the centre was part of measures to tackle the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Taraba. Represented by his Deputy, Haruna Manu, the governor said “there is currently no single case of COVID-19 in Taraba.” He explained that the move was, however, aimed at taking precautionary measures toward checking any spread in the event of an emergency. He commended the management of Access Bank PLC for donating beds for the centre and urged other well spirited individuals and groups to support government efforts at ensuring that the state remained COVID-19 free. Ishaku further urged the people to abide by the best global hygi...
Aviation stakeholders decry use of foreign airlines to evacuate Nigerians
Stakeholders in the aviation industry on Monday kicked against the continuous use of foreign airlines by the Federal Government for the evacuation of Nigerians in spite of domestic capacity to carry out the exercise. They expressed their displeasure in a chat with the Aviation Correspondents in Lagos, saying the situation was creating wrong impression about Nigeria and safety of its carriers. Speaking, Capt. Nogie Meggison, Executive Chairman, Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), said the continuous use of foreign airlines to evacuate Nigerians by the government was contrary to its own directive that only indigenous carriers should be used. Meggison said that the onus still lies on the government to do the right thing by protecting its own carriers, as COVID-19 fears had forced government t...
Group faults community’s plan to disown former Ebonyi commissioner
Edda Professionals’ League (EPL), a body of eminent experts and professionals of Edda extraction, has vowed to resist any plan aimed at humiliating Chief Abia Onyike, former Commissioner for Information and State Orientation in Ebonyi. EPL announced its plan to scuttle such humiliation in a statement signed by its National Secretary, Mr Ikenna Emewu, on Monday in Abakaliki. The group described the former commissioner as one the community’ most illustrious sons, that had contributed immensely to the development of Edda land, describing those behind the plot as “busy bodies.” The statement noted that some government functionaries, leaders of interest groups and traditional rulers from Edda in Afikpo South Local Government Area of the state, were forced to sign a document, where they were plo...
Five Red Star Belgrade players test positive for coronavirus
Five players from Serbian club Red Star Belgrade have tested positive for coronavirus after playing a match attended by 16,000 people, the club said Monday. The announcement came 12 days after Red Star faced city rivals Partizan Belgrade in front of a crowd of around 16,000 people, the largest gathering of that kind in Europe since the beginning of the pandemic. The Serbian government has been loosening lockdown rules and earlier this month it announced that open-air gatherings with an unlimited amount of people would be allowed. But coverage from television channel RTS appeared to show little sign of health guidelines in place in the match with Partizan as well as at other league matches. Following the final match of the season against Proleter on Saturday, Red Star Belgrade celebrated wi...
Gunmen attack Borno villages, kill five
Gunmen, believed to be either Boko Haram or ISWAP, on Saturday, attacked three communities in Borno State, killing five herdsmen and stealing 480 cows, a government official has said. Sources said the insurgents, who were all armed with assault rifles, attacked three villages – Moduri, Kelewa and Ngudori in Magumeri Local Government Area around 6.30 pm on Saturday. Magumeri is one of the local government areas that share conventional boundaries with Gubio and Monguno where ISWAP staged coordinated repeated attacks that claimed the lives of over 120 persons. The local government is listed among the unsafe communities of Borno State by both the state government and the United Nations. A local vigilante operative, Bunu Malam, confirmed the attack, saying “it was yet another sad day for our pe...
Zamfara: Our peace, reconciliation initiative, best way to address armed banditry
The Zamfara State government has described its peace and reconciliation initiative as the best way to address armed banditry in the state. This was contained in a statement issued by Mr Zailani Bappa, Special Adviser to the Governor on Public Enlightenment, Media and Communications, in Gusau on Sunday. He dismissed the allegation that the state government was giving more attention to bandits as a result of the peace process, saying this was unfounded and mere fabrications by mischief-makers. According to him, a lot has been achieved by security operatives in the fight against unrepentant bandits, who have continued to terrorise innocent citizens in the state and other parts of the north-western states. Bappa said, “The position of the Gov. Bello Matawalle-led administration is very clear, ...
Ekiti opens sexual assault referral centre for victims
The Ekiti State Government has established a Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) where victims of rape and other molestations will receive medical and psychological attention, rather than being abandoned to suffer. The government also assured that it will strengthen the adopted policy of naming and shaming of perpetrators of rape, by publishing their photographs on the state’s website and pasting in public palaces. The wife of the state governor, Mrs Bisi Fayemi gave the revelation on Friday while making a presentation on the floor of the Assembly during an advocacy visit to expand the frontiers of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) prevention in the state. She stated that the referral centre, located within the premises of the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Ado Ekiti will provide we...
Anambra should put donations for coronavirus to work – doctors
As resident doctors at Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital (COOUTH), Amaku, Awka, the Anambra State capital, embarked on a strike on Monday, they have advised the Anambra State Government to put donations made by philanthropists for COVID-19 to the purpose they were meant. The chapter President of the body Dr Obinna Aniagboso, told newsmen on Tuesday as he ran round to mobilise members for the strike that apart from the fact that his members are not paid hazard allowance as approved by the Federal Government, there were other outstanding issues the resident doctors are yet to thrash out with the State Government. Aniagboso said: “Throughout this period we work every day exposing ourselves to danger and you know the situation in Anambra state. There is increasing number...
Lagos seals 56 illegal structures in Ikoyi, Banana Island
The Lagos State Government has asked 56 property owners sealed in Ikoyi and on the Banana Island axis to produce their building plan permits and evidence of stage certification. The Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Idris Salako, said this in a statement released to newsmen by Mr. Mukaila Sanusi, the spokesman of the ministry on Sunday. Salako had during an ongoing Special Enforcement Operations, said that the government was alarmed at the rate of unapproved and illegal structures springing up in Ikoyi and on Banana Island of the state. “The exercise continues to send strong signals of government’s determination to guard the State Operative Development Plans. “Also, it is meant to curb illegal physical developments as the buildings/building construction sites se...
Delta medical practitioners declare two-day warning strike over kidnap of colleague
Medical doctors in Delta have declared a two-day warning strike to protest the kidnap of a Principal Medical Officer Dr. Wisdom Iboyitete, who was kidnapped at the General Hospital, Ojobo, in Burutu Local Government Area of the state on Monday. The warning strike, it was learñt took effect this morning, Tuesday, June 2, 2020. Iboyitete was whisked away by arms-wielding gunmen who pretended to be patients in the wee hours of Monday and reportedly whisked him to unknown location through the creeks in the Ijaw riverine community. The two-day warning strike was declared on Monday night by the state branch of the National Association of Government General Medical and Dental Practitioners (NAGGMDP) at the end of an emergency meeting of the body. In a statement obtained by newsmen on Tuesday, the...
Pupils return to school in Singapore
Pupils wearing face masks returned to school in Singapore on Tuesday and some workplaces re-opened as coronavirus restrictions were eased in the hard-hit city-state. Singapore initially kept infections low through a strict regime of testing and contact-tracing, only for major outbreaks to emerge from crowded dormitories housing low-paid foreign workers. The country has recorded over 35,000 cases – the highest official tally in Southeast Asia – with the vast majority among workers from the dorms. The death toll stands at 24. Authorities imposed a partial lockdown in early April, with schools and most workplaces told to close, and people only allowed to leave home for essential purposes. But with new infections slowing and no major outbreaks outside dorms, the government began easing measure...
Nigerian government receives coaches, locomotives for Lagos-Ibadan, Abuja-Kaduna railways
The Federal Government on Monday announced that it had received some coaches and locomotives to be deployed on key rail lines in Nigeria. It said the coaches were the last set which were ordered in March. It was also gathered that the locomotives and coaches, which arrived Nigeria from China, would be deployed once operations begin. The government disclosed this via a tweet by the Nigerian Railway Corporation through its official Twitter handle, which was also confirmed to our correspondent by the NRC’s spokesperson, Yakub Mahmood. The corporation said, “Some days ago, Nigeria took delivery of the last dozens of train coaches ordered in the month of March. “The coaches have been transported to Nigerian train base in Papalanto, Ogun State and will be used on the Lagos-Ibadan railway when op...
