Nigerians
NEMA receives 109 Nigerians repatriated from Mali
Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Tuesday received 109 stranded Nigerians repatriated from Mali at the International Wing of Murtala Muhammed International Airport Ikeja in Lagos. The Director General of NEMA, Muhammed Muhammadu, who received the returnees, said that they would be isolated for 14 days in Ikeja before they would be free to reunite with their families. Newsmen reports that the returnees, who were received at 3.15am, comprise 11 male adults, 89 female adults, with 4 male children and 5 female children. Muhammadu said that the returnees were assisted back into the country by the International Organization of Migration (IOM). He enjoined the returnees to be careful with those that promise greener pastures outside the country. The NEMA...
Nigerian government extends Phase 2 lockdown by 1 week
The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 has extended the phase two lockdown by one week from the initial one month extension. The Secretary to the Government of the Federation and chairman of the PTF-COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, revealed this at the daily briefing on COVID-19 on Monday in Abuja. “The PTF has continued to evaluate the developments as well as the level of compliance nationwide. “(It) has regrettably come to the inevitable conclusion that majority of Nigerians irrespective of status, creed and level of education continue to live in denial on the virulent nature of the virus and consistently breach the guidelines and non-pharmaceutical measures put in place. “We informed you two weeks ago that the process of submitting the 6th Interim Report and recommendations for next step...
NIDCOM: More Nigerians stranded in Europe set to return home
The Federal Government has revealed that more Nigerians stranded in France and other European countries, due to the COVID-19 pandemic ravaging the world, are being evacuated to the country. This was disclosed on Sunday by the Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa via Twitter. Dabiri-Erewa explained that the citizens, who have departed Citizen Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, are expected back soon and will arrive at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja, the nation’s capital. The evacuation exercise was coordinated by the Nigerian Mission in France under Ambassador Modupe Irele and monitored by the commission. Upon arrival, the Nigerian returnees are expected to proceed on a 14-day self-isolation as mandated by the Presidential Task Force on C...
Boko Haram: 601 ex-insurgents finish de-radicalisation programme in Gombe
The Nigerian Army on Saturday released 601 ex-Boko Haram members after undergoing six months de-radicalisation, rehabilitation and reintegration (DRR) programme in Gombe State. The graduation ceremony of the ex-insurgents took place on Saturday at Malam Sidi community in Kwami Local Government Area of the state. Speaking during the event, Bamidele Shafa, the Coordinator of Operation Safe Corridor (OSC), said the ex-insurgents were ready to be re-integrated into the society. Shafa, a major-general, said the graduating batch four clients were admitted in December 2019 and within the six months undertook a comprehensive medical test to ascertain their health status that enabled their proper care. According to him, out of the 606 clients received into the camp; 601 were graduating, three died,...
President Buhari urges Nigerians abroad to support economic recovery
President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday appealed to Nigerians in the diaspora to actively participate in the country’s post-COVID-19 economic recovery efforts. According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the President made the call in a video message to commemorate this year’s Diaspora Day which is being observed on July 25 of every year. The statement was titled “COVID-19: President Buhari urges Nigerians in Diaspora to play active role in economic recovery as remittances inflow hit $25bn”. Adesina said the President appealed to his compatriots, whose home remittances exceeded $25bn annually in three years, not to abandon their fatherland in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The statement quoted Buhari as saying, ”Over the past three years, Nigeri...
IGP launches N450 million NDDC coronavirus medical equipment
The Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has unveiled the N450 million COVID-19 pandemic medical equipment donated by the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, for the protection of men of the Nigeria Police Force in the Niger Delta region. Launching the equipment, which included Intelligent Disinfection Doors, at the Delta State Police Headquarters in Asaba, the police IG said that they would go a long way in assisting the police to serve the public better. In a Press Statement by Charles Obi Odili, Director, Corporate Affairs said Adamu, who was represented by of the Delta State Commissioner of Police, Hafiz Mohammed Inuwa, thanked the NDDC for the gesture, noting: “In our detention facilities we have other members of the society, who for one reason or the other find themselv...
Three foreigners, six Nigerians arraigned over hijack of vessel
The Federal Government on Thursday arraigned three foreign nationals and six Nigerians for their alleged roles in the hijack of Equatorial Guinean Vessel, MV Elobey VI. The suspects and employees of Pilgrim Africa Limited were arrested by the Nigerian Navy in Port Harcourt following allegations that they conspired and paid 200,000 dollars to a gang of pirates who abducted three sailors. They were accused of facilitating to pay the ransom to the pirates for the release of two Moroccan nationals, Abaamrane Hamid and Chalabi Abdelaziz, and an Equatorial Guinean, Santos Ndong. The defendants were also accused of conveying the hostages to Calabar, Cross River, for onward hand over to the Equatorial Guinean Consul after payment was confirmed by the pirates. They are facing a seven-count charge o...
House of Reps probes immigration documents of Chinese in Nigeria
The investigation which began on July 20 in Abuja, is being conducted by the joint house committees on Interior, Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring and Commerce. The Speaker of the house, Rep. Femi Gbajabimila, recalled that in April, photos and videos which went viral on the social media allegedly depicted institutionalised racial discrimination, maltreatment of Nigerians in China. He said it also showed xenophobic assaults, embarrassments, illegal detentions and forceful evictions of Nigerians and other Africans living in Guangzhou, China. Gbajabimila said that he summoned the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Zhou Pingjian precisely on April, 10 to register Nigeria’s displeasure with the incident. “Subsequently, the House of Representatives on Tuesday, April 28, issued a strong...
NITDA warns Nigerians on fake news
Commonwealth of Nations In line with its efforts at enlightening Nigerians on the nefarious actions of cybercriminals exploiting the COVID-19 Pandemic to mislead and defraud unsuspecting victims, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has warned the general public on the recent fake news in circulation. A statement by the Head, Corporate Affairs & External Relations Corporate at NITDA, Mrs Hadiza Umar, said that the fake news tagged “Argentina Is Doing It”, being circulated over social media, particularly on WhatsApp, is aimed at causing panic and inducing terror in individuals. According to the statement, the message warns the recipient not to open a video file called ”Argentina Is Doing It” as it will hack their phone in 10 seconds. In order to lend credibili...
NCDC: Coronavirus presents malaria symptoms but it’s not
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says though Coronavirus (COVID-19) presents symptoms similar to malaria such as fever, both diseases are caused by different organisms and differ in mode of transmission. The NCDC made this known on its official twitter handle, while warning Nigerians against taking COVID-19 and malaria as the same infection. The health agency also identified 12 symptoms that could point to the existence of COVID-19 in the human body. According to NCDC, the listed symptoms will help Nigerians “take responsibility” by quickly calling the available holtines if they experienced a combination of this symptoms. The NCDC urged Nigerians to alert its officials, “If you have COUGH or FEVER and one of these symptoms: Loss of Taste; Loss of Smell, Difficulty Breathing, D...
Nigerian government threatens sanctions over violation of airport coronavirus protocols
The Federal Government is probing reported violations of COVID-19 safety protocols by some high profile Nigerians accessing some of the newly-reopened airports in the country. The probe, government said, involving Adamawa State governor, Ahmadu Fintiri and the former governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, is with a view to sanctioning violators if it is established that they indeed violated the rules, or apologise to them should the result of the investigations exonerate them. Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, PTF, and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Mr. Boss Mustapha, who did not mention the names of alleged violators of safety protocols, urged them to desist from flouting the guidelines. He said: “You will all recall that the aviation sector reo...
Oil marketers condemn planned protest, shutdown over fuel price hike
AHA Taxis Oil marketers, under the aegis of Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), yesterday, kicked against attempts by some labour groups and trade associations to stage a protest march in opposition to the recent hike in the price of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), United Labour Congress (ULC) and some other oil marketing groups had threatened to embark on a nationwide strike over the hike in petrol price, while they called on the government to revert to the previous price. In a statement in Abuja, National President of PETROAN, Dr. Billy Gillis-Harry, stated that while its members are not happy with the way certain things are in the downstream petroleum industry at the moment, they do not think any stree...
