Residents
Anambra introduces coronavirus mobile testing
The Commissioner for Health in Anambra State, Vincent Okpala, said on Thursday that the government, through its Ministry of Health, has introduced more aggressive measures, including mobile testing, in order to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the state. Mr Okpala, a medical doctor, told newsmen in Awka that the ministry has introduced a drive-through COVID-19 testing where samples would be collected while the residents go about their normal businesses. The commissioner said a mobile truck with medical officers would drive through the streets to collect samples from the people voluntarily. He appealed to the public to avail themselves of this opportunity and go out for free and voluntary testing. The mobile team would also visit churches in the state to counsel the people on the need to go f...
Oyo governor to declare Hijrah holiday from next year
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, on Wednesday, declared that starting from next year, the government would declare Hijrah holiday in line with the yearnings of the Muslim community in the state. Makinde, who made the declaration during the celebration of 2021 Mawlud Nabiyy, held at the Remembrance Arcade of the Government House, Agodi, Ibadan, stressed the need for the Muslim faithful and non-Muslims as well to continue to peacefully coexist. A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, indicated that the governor equally declared that the state will always rise above the antics of perpetrators of evil, whom he said had tried all they could to plunge the state into chaos. According to Governor Makinde, only peaceful and harmonious coexistence would lead the...
Australia premier vaccinated as rollout begins
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has received the coronavirus vaccine as the country prepares to start inoculations this week. His jab was televised on Sunday in order to help boost confidence in the vaccine rollout across Australia. Vaccinations officially begin on Monday and at least 60,000 doses are expected to be administered next week. On Saturday, small crowds of anti-vaccination demonstrators gathered to protest against the launch. Mr Morrison was part of a small group of people vaccinated on Sunday along with some frontline health workers and care home residents. Australia’s chief nurse Professor Alison McMillan and Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly were also immunised. Speaking at ahead of his vaccination, Mr Morrison said: “Tomorrow our vaccination programme star...
French village rejects Elon Musk’s space-age internet
To realise his dream of satellite-powered internet, tech billionaire, Elon Musk, needs to install antennas around the world. In northern France, a village hopes he’ll decide to keep those antennas far away. Saint-Senier-de-Beuvron, population 350, is none too thrilled to have been picked as a ground station for Musk’s Starlink project for broadband from space. “This project is totally new. We don’t have any idea of the impact of these signals,” said Noemie Brault, a 34-year-old deputy mayor of the village just 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the majestic Mont Saint-Michel abbey on the English Channel. “As a precaution, the municipal council said no,” she explained. Musk, founder of SpaceX and electric carmaker Tesla, plans to deploy thousands of satellites to provide fast internet for remote...
French village rejects Elon Musk’s space-age internet
To realise his dream of satellite-powered internet, tech billionaire, Elon Musk, needs to install antennas around the world. In northern France, a village hopes he’ll decide to keep those antennas far away. Saint-Senier-de-Beuvron, population 350, is none too thrilled to have been picked as a ground station for Musk’s Starlink project for broadband from space. “This project is totally new. We don’t have any idea of the impact of these signals,” said Noemie Brault, a 34-year-old deputy mayor of the village just 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the majestic Mont Saint-Michel abbey on the English Channel. “As a precaution, the municipal council said no,” she explained. Musk, founder of SpaceX and electric carmaker Tesla, plans to deploy thousands of satellites to provide fast internet for remote...
Hundreds of thousands protest in Myanmar as army faces crippling mass strike
Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Myanmar for a ninth day of anti-coup demonstrations on Sunday, as the new army rulers grappled to contain a strike by government workers that could cripple their ability to run the country. People surround a police vehicle as they protest against the military coup, in Yangon, Myanmar February 12, 2021 in this still grab obtained by Reuters from a video on February 13, 2021. Trains in parts of the country stopped running after staff refused to go to work, local media reported, while the military deployed soldiers to power plants only to be confronted by angry crowds. A civil disobedience movement to protest against the Feb. 1 coup that deposed the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi started with doctors. It now affects a swa...
Security forces burst arms stockpile in Ebonyi
Nigerian security forces have burst arms stockpiles at Effium in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State after a joint security operation. An intelligence source told PRNigeria that a combined team of security forces recorded the huge success in a major sting operation carried out by the Department of State Services (DSS) in collaboration with the Nigerian Army in the early hours of 12th February, 2021 at Effium. Items recovered during the operation included: an AK-47 rifle; One (1) G3 rifle; a pump action rifle; double barreled Dane gun; five single barreled Dane guns; two locally made pistols; locally made revolver pistol and 592 different calibers of ammunition including those for General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG) and AK-47 rifles. Though the DSS Spokesperson, Peter Afunanya, whe...
Oyo governor imposes curfew on Sasa over killings
Following the over 48 hours of killing and destruction of property at Sasa market, in Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State, Governor Seyi Makinde has imposed a curfew on the area. Sunday Vanguard also learnt that the governor has shut the market indefinitely. A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Seyi Makinde, Mr Taiwo Adisa, on Saturday, indicated that the governor gave the order to forestall breakdown of law and order in the area. The curfew is to run from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. The statement warned residents of the affected area to go about their legitimate businesses peacefully, stating that anyone caught perpetrating violence will face the wrath of the law. The statement read: “His Excellency, Governor Seyi Makinde has directed the immediate closure of Shasha market in...
How bandits made woman widow barely a month after marriage
A housewife Ramatu Idris of Unguwar Malam Lamu, Tankarau, Dutsen Abba Ward in Zaria Local Government Area (LGA), has narrated how bandits made her a widow barely a month after her marriage with late Yusuf Suleiman. Idris told newsmen, on Thursday that the incident happened on Feb. 4, at about 12.45 p.m., 28 days after her wedding to Suleiman. “There were about seven of them (bandits). They forced themselves into our home holding guns and a stick. “My husband and I went to find out what was happening on hearing noises and shouts for help,but he was shot on the neck in my presence and he died on the spot. Idris, who has been traumatised by the incident, claimed those who killed her husband were the same criminals that raided the residence of Alhaji Abdulaziz Sani, Councilor representing Duts...
Nigeria, UN partner on food availability, safety
To check the growing inequality in food systems in Nigeria and to meet certain components of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Federal Government is partnering with the UN to hold a food systems dialogue. The Nigeria National Food Systems Dialogue (NNFSD) 2021is preparatory to the Food Systems Summit scheduled to hold in September, the National Coordinator of the Dialogue and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, Mrs Olusola Idowu said on Thursday. Speaking at a webinar to draw the attention of stakeholders to issues relating to food systems, Idowu said that convening the Food Systems Summit was part of the Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. “The Summit is aimed at launching a bold new action to deliver p...
Kano arrests, fines 200 for violating coronavirus protocols
About 200 people have been arrested, fined or incarcerated for violating safety protocols as the joint team of security agencies, mobile courts and COVID-19 marshals continue to sensitize and enforce safety protocols in the state. This was announced in Monday by the Kano state commissioner for Information, Malam Muhammad Garba, while addressing newsmen. “Of the total figure of the violators, 102 were fined N5,000 each, while 25 others have been remanded in prison by the 21 Mobile Courts set up to deal with non-compliance to safety protocols which had been identified as a huge challenge to curbing the spread of the virus. “The enforcement measure became necessary to preserve public safety and ensure full compliance with the Coronavirus prevention protocols, particularly the use of a face ma...
Woman sets sister, three others on fire over inheritance
A woman identified simply as Imole, allegedly set an apartment in Idimu area of Lagos, occupied by her sister and members of her family on fire, over an argument over her share of their late father’s four rooms apartment. Doctors at Alimosho General Hospital were still battling to save the lives of the victims, weekend. Information at newsmen’s disposal had it that Imole visited her elder sister on Dupeolu Street, Pipeline area of Idimu, last Friday, to demand that the four rooms be shared equally between them. But her sister was said to have declined, offering her one room, as she explained that their father had other wives whose children were also beneficiaries. A heated argument according to eyewitnesses ensued between the siblings, at the end of which Imole was pacified. However, at mi...
