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Bandits kill kidnapped Niger village head
The village head of Madaka, Alhaji Zakari Yau, in Niger State who was kidnapped last week has reportedly been murdered by bandits. Yau who was first kidnapped three months ago before being released and again taken into the custody of bandits was reportedly killed on Christmas day. The murder of the traditional ruler brings the number of people killed by bandits in Madaka to four. The bandits during the December 20 raid first killed the local head of the vigilante in the town, Ishyaku Alhassan, his son Abdulhamid Ishyaku and one other person. Reports from freed victims said that the village head was killed after being tortured by bandits who sometimes sat on him while smoking Indian hemp. It was gathered that the monarch was even forced by the bandits to smoke the weeds. The Chief of Staff ...
George Moghalu: Igbo presidency not by mouth
YouTube The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of National Inland Water Ways (NIWA), Chief George Moghalu has told the Igbo to widen their horizon to convince other ethnic nationalities, if a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction must be realized. The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant for Anambra 2021 election, Chief Moghalu said this during an interactive session with journalists in Nnewi on Saturday. He noted that the Igbo known for work hard should apply same and traverse the width and breadth of Nigeria to garner support for the 2023 presidency project and not to sit down at one place nursing self-pity. He declared that power could only be taken, not given. “Since it’s a democratic dispensation where number matters, there is need for Ndigbo to sit down an...
France reports sharp decrease in new daily coronavirus cases before vaccine roll out
French health authorities reported 3,093 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours on Saturday, sharply down from the 20,000+ figure recorded over the two days before Christmas Day (Dec. 25) But the number of people hospitalised for the disease increased by 85, at 24,477, the first increase in six days. France will launch its vaccination campaign on Sunday along with most other EU countries. Its COVID-19 death toll increased by 146 versus Friday, to 62,573, the seventh-highest globally. 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. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blog...
Germany starts coronavirus vaccines a day early
A 101-year-old woman in an elderly care home became the first person in Germany to be inoculated against coronavirus on Saturday, a day before the official vaccination campaign was scheduled to get under way in both Germany and the EU. Edith Kwoizalla was one of around 40 residents and 10 staff in a care home in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt to receive a jab of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the home’s manager Tobias Krueger told AFP. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine became the first to get the go-ahead for use in the West, when Britain gave its approval on December 2. As other nations from the United States to Saudi Arabia to Singapore followed suit, Germany impatiently prodded the EU’s drugs regulator, the European Medicines Agency, to bring forward its decision from December 29. The EMA f...
Ever-present Boko Haram threat casts shadow in Niger
Seven years after the first Boko Haram attacks in southeastern Niger, people in the city of Diffa, dare not even speak the group’s name. Residents live in a state of siege, frightened and struggling with the economic impact of the Islamist threat. For fear of reprisals, people speak of “insecurity”, of the “problems” or the “current situation”. The fear is well-founded, according to one security source who says Boko Haram sympathisers in the city pass on information to the group. Among the poorest countries in the world, Niger, which is holding presidential elections on Sunday, faces jihadist groups from the Sahel in the west and Boko Haram in the east. “I don’t have 1,000 CFA francs (1.5 euros) in my pocket. I have been unemployed for four years,” says Abdou Maman, 46, who has two wives a...
World Bank: Pandemic to push over 115 million people into extreme poverty
A report by the World Bank has noted that over the past 12 months, the Covid-19 pandemic has harmed the poor and vulnerable the most, and it is threatening to push millions more into poverty. This year, the World Bank said, after decades of steady progress in reducing the number of people living on less than $1.90/day, COVID-19 will usher in the first reversal in the fight against extreme poverty in a generation. The report said the latest analysis warns that COVID-19 has pushed an additional 88 million people into extreme poverty this year – and that figure is just a baseline. “In a worst-case scenario, the figure could be as high as 115 million. The World Bank Group forecasts that the largest share of the ‘new poor will be in South Asia, with Sub-Saharan Africa close behind. ddAccording ...
Italy reports 459 coronavirus deaths on Friday – ministry
Italy reported 459 coronavirus-related deaths on Friday against 505 the day before, the health ministry said. The daily tally of new infections increased by 19,037 from 18,040 the day before, taking the total number of cases since Italy’s epidemic began to 2.02 million. Italy on Thursday became the eighth country in the world to exceed 2 million officially recorded cases. The number of swab tests carried out in the past day was 152,334 from a previous 193,777, the health ministry said. The first Western country hit by the virus, Italy has reported 71,359 deaths since its outbreak came to light on Feb. 21, the highest toll in Europe and the fifth highest in the world. Patients in hospital with COVID-19 stood at 23,402, down by 668 from the day before. The current number of intensive care pa...
Coronavirus: Nigerian government rolls out measures for UK, South African returnees
The Federal Government has rolled out new containment measures against the importation of COVID-19 particularly from the United Kingdom and South Africa, saying returnees from both countries are required to present two documents before boarding. National Coordinator of the Presidential Taskforce PTF on COVID-19, Dr Sani Aliyu, disclosed this during Thursday’s briefing of the Taskforce. He said; “In particular, international travellers must register with the Nigeria international travel portal. “We are concerned a out the emergence of the new variant of COVID-19 in the UK and an additional mutant in South Africa. Our protocol to ensure the safety of our citizens and prevent the importation of cases into the country is one of the most strict. “Specifically, for the UK and South Africa, the P...
Coronavirus: President Buhari extends tenure, mandate of PTF
President Muhammadu Buhari has extended the mandate of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 “for a further period till the end of March, 2021 bearing in mind the new surge in the number of cases and the bid for vaccines.” The president disclosed this Tuesday in Abuja while receiving the End-of-Year Report of the task force. He said: “Recent reports reaching me indicate that Nigeria is now facing a rise in confirmed COVID-19 cases nationwide which is similar to the second wave of infections occurring in other countries across the world. “New epicentres have been identified and the nation cannot afford to lose the gains of the last nine months. ”I have critically evaluated the situation and remain convinced that urgent measures have to be taken to halt the spread and the attendant f...
NHIS recovers N2 billion debts from HMO’s
File Photo The National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS, on Tuesday says it has recovered the sum of N2 billion debts from Health Maintenance Organizations, HMOs, and unpaid bills to Health care facilities. NHIS General Manager, Enforcement Department, Pharmacist Mohammad Ghali, disclosed this during a stakeholders sensitization workshop held in Kano to strengthen effective operations of the scheme. Ghali said it received complaints from the health care providers over HMO’s non-payment of services rendered to enrollees and to that effect, the scheme came up with a principle of reconciliation between the HMO’s and healthcare facilities leading to the recovery of the monies, N2 billion, which was later paid to the healthcare facilities. According to him, “over some period, what the NHIS witnes...
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 ...
UK says new coronavirus strain ‘out of control’
British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Sunday that the government has imposed a strict Christmas lockdown in London and southeast England because a new strain of the coronavirus was “out of control”. Hancock warned that the strict measures could stay in place until the virus vaccine is fully rolled out. “We acted very quickly and decisively,” Hancock told Sky News, justifying the “stay at home” order and closure of non-essential shops affecting around a third of England’s population. “Unfortunately the new strain was out of control. We have got to get it under control.” Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Saturday that millions must cancel Christmas plans and stay home because the new strain was spreading far more quickly. Hancock told Sky News that the situation was “deadly seri...
