Monday
Governor Sanwo-Olu still recovering from coronavirus infection
Over one week after testing positive for COVID-19, Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, is yet to make a complete recovery. The governor tested positive for the novel disease on December 11, 2020 after he was in close contact with an infected aide. The Lagos government reported that the governor was displaying mild symptoms and fatigue and was receiving treatment at home. While providing an update on the governor’s health on Monday, December 21, Lagos Commissioner for Health, Akin Abayomi, said Sanwo-Olu is doing much better. However, he said the 55-year-old remains in isolation and receiving home based care. “We are waiting for a complete clearance of the virus so that Mr Governor can resume public activities,” he said. Abayomi urged members of the public to adhere to safety measures...
Ex-IGP: Amotekun corps not permitted to carry arms
A retired Inspector General of Police, Sunday Ehindero has appealed to operatives of the South West Security Network (Amotekun corps) to strictly adhere to the country’s constitution that forbids them from bearing fire-arm in the course of their operation. Ehindero said the regional Corps was to be an information and intelligence gathering outfit rather than an arm carrying one, stressing that the law that established the outfit doesn’t make provision for it to be arm-bearing. The former IGP advised that the Corps should key into the community policing and work in synergy with the Special Constables and the Police Force in order to combat insecurity at the grassroots. The former IGP spoke at the Community Policing Sensitisation and Awareness Campaign held in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capita...
Imo governor orders workers to stay home over spike in coronavirus
Imo state governor, Hope Uzodimma, yesterday ordered the workers in the state, to stay home from Monday next week till further notice, ahead of the festive period. The governor in his state-wide broadcast to Imo people in Owerri, said that the reason was that due to the expected influx of people coming home for Christmas that there could be a surge in the cases of covid -19. Uzodimma while wishing his people fruitful Christmas celebration noted that the wearing of facemask would be compulsory and that mobile courts would be deployed to within the state, to enforce the order. He continued: “My dear good people of Imo State, it is with a great sense responsibility that I address you on this auspicious season of Christmas.In normal times, with just a few days to Christmas, I should be saying ...
Moderna, McKesson, U.S. Army general begin rolling out new coronavirus vaccine
Distribution of Moderna Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine to more than 3,700 locations in the United States has begun, vastly widening the rollout started last week by Pfizer Inc, U.S Army General Gustave Perna said on Saturday. Moderna has already moved vaccines from its manufacturing plants to warehouses operated by distributor McKesson Corp where they are being packed into containers and loaded on to trucks on Saturday, Perna said during a news conference. Trucks will set out on Sunday and shipments will start reaching healthcare providers as soon as Monday, he said. The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved an emergency use authorization for Moderna’s vaccine, the second COVID-19 vaccine to be approved. The jab developed by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech SE was approved Dec. 11....
Police ordered to arraign suspect detained for one year
The Independent Investigative Panel probing police brutality in Abuja, on Thursday, gave the police a six-day ultimatum to arraign a suspect, Raphael Toona, who has been in detention for about one year. The Chairman of the panel, Justice Suleiman Galadima (retd.), ordered that Toona should be arraigned on or before December 23. Justice Galadima gave the order following an application by Toona’s lawyer, N. T. Utasha, urging the panel to order the police to either release the suspect or arraign him in court. “The first complaint (Toona) should be taken to Benue State to be arraigned before a court of competent jurisdiction on or before December 23, 2020 where his bail should be considered, considering the fact that he has been in detention for more than a year,” Justice Galadima ordered. Too...
US Senate Republican leader congratulates Joe Biden
Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell congratulated President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday, dealing a blow to any lingering hopes Donald Trump may have had of reversing his election defeat. “The Electoral College has spoken,” the powerful senator from Kentucky said in a speech on the Senate floor. “So today I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden.” McConnell also congratulated California Senator Kamala Harris on her election as Vice President. “Beyond our differences, all Americans can take pride that our nation has a female Vice President-elect for the first time,” McConnell said. Members of the Electoral College met around the country on Monday and delivered 306 votes to Biden and 232 to Trump, who has refused to concede the November 3 election and claimed falsely that...
House of Reps demand immediate reinstatement of official sacked by President Buhari
The House of Representatives has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately reinstate the sacked Director-General of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Nasir Argungu. The lawmakers made the call on Tuesday while adopting a motion brought under matters of urgent national importance by Olajide Olatunbosun. The motion focussed on the 774,000 temporary jobs to be created in public works, initiated by the Buhari administration. The jobs led to a disagreement between the lawmakers and the minister of state for labour, Festus Keyamo. Mr Argungu is believed to have sided with the lawmakers. The lawmakers condemned the sack of the DG whom they described as a man that stood up for the right thing to be done. President Muhammadu Buhari had last week, through his spokesperson, anno...
U.S. sanctions Turkey over purchase of Russian defense system
The United States imposed long-anticipated sanctions on Turkey on Monday over Ankara’s acquisition of the Russian S-400 air defense systems, further complicating already strained ties between the two NATO allies. Turkey condemned the sanctions as a “grave mistake” and urged Washington to revise its “unjust decision.” Senior U.S. officials said in a call with reporters that Ankara’s purchase of the S-400s and its refusal to reverse its decision left the United States with no other choice. The sanctions, first reported by Reuters last week, target Turkey’s top defence procurement and development body Presidency of Defence Industries, its chairman Ismail Demir and three other employees. While limited to one company, they are still likely to weigh on the Turkish economy, analysts said, at a ti...
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...
Hillary Clinton renews call for abolition of U.S. Electoral College
The former U.S. First Lady and Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, on Monday renewed her call for the abolition of the country’s Electoral College. She made the call in a tweet shortly after voting as an elector alongside her husband and former President Bill Clinton in New York. “I believe we should abolish the Electoral College and elect our president by the winner of the popular vote, the same as every other office. “But while it still exists, I was proud to cast my vote in New York for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,” the tweet reads. Recalls that Hilary lost the 2016 presidential election to Donald Trump despite winning the popular votes. Get more stories like this on Twitter You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. ...
Police recruit 503 special constables in Nasarawa
The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has engaged 503 Special Constables (SCP) for community policing in Nasarawa State, to enhance intelligence gathering in tackling insecurity and crime. Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 4, Mr. Jonah John, made the disclosure on Monday in Lafia, at a one-day sensitisation campaign on community policing in Nasarawa. According to him, 49 of the 503 recruited SCP have successfully undergone training and posted to their various communities in the state to serve. The AIG added that 454 of the recruited SCP were currently undergoing training at the police Zone 4 Headquarters in Makurdi, Benue State. Speaking at the event, Peter Yisa-Gana, Inspector-General of Police (IGP’s) Special Rapporteur on Community Policing for Nasarawa, Benue and P...
Lagos assembly tasks governor on second wave of coronavirus
Following the ravaging effect of the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, the Lagos State House of Assembly, yesterday, called on the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to direct the Commissioner for Information, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso, to intensify public enlightenment campaigns to curtail its spread among Lagosians. Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa, who presented the matter during plenary on Tuesday, also said it was important for the House to invite the Commissioner for Health, Professor Tunji Abayomi, to brief the House on the state government’s efforts to prevent the spread of the disease in the state. He stressed that there was an urgent need to ensure that all the COVID-19 protocols were strictly observed, even as he the government to ensure that enforcement was total as the most rel...