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Unknown writers threaten Delta with mayhem for banning open grazing
A group of unidentified persons on Sunday threatened to attack Asaba and Agbor in Delta State should Governor Ifeanyi Okowa fail to withdraw his support for the ban on open grazing within 72 hours. An unsigned letter containing the threat was pasted at strategic locations in Asaba, including the fence of the Living Faith Church, aka Winners Chapel along Infant Jesus road. The letter, titled, ‘Fulani jihadist warning: An open message to Delta State,’ was dated June 13, 2021. It read, “This is to inform Delta State that the Fulani of Usman Dan Fodio leadership shall do everything it can to uphold the legacy of our heritage of open grazing; for we are nomadic people from origination and shall never negotiate the ownership of Nigeria, West Africa and Sub-Sahara. “We hereby demand the Governor ...
UK: Some countries are using coronavirus vaccines as a geopolitical tool
British foreign minister Dominic Raab said on Friday there was no doubt some countries were using vaccines as a diplomatic tool to secure influence but Britain did not support so-called vaccine diplomacy. Raab was speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of a G7 summit in Cornwall, southwestern England, that was likely to be dominated by the West’s attempts to reassert its influence as the world looks to rebuild from the COVID-19 pandemic. Western diplomats fear Russia and China are using their vaccines to gain influence across the world, especially in poorer countries that do not have their own production or the means to buy shots on the international market. Asked whether he was concerned that China and Russia could use vaccines in exchange for influence, Raab said: “There’s no doubt there’s...
ITF chief: President Buhari providing quality leadership skills
Industrial Training Fund The Director General of Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Joseph Ari, said President Muhammadu Buhari has provided quality leadership through Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Richard Adeniyi Adebayo and his counterpart, Amb. Mariam Yalwaji Katagum which has unleashed innovations and creativity of various agencies under their control. Ari in a press statement signed by Director, Public Affairs Department, Suleyol Fred Chagu, in Jos on Friday after the formal presentation of the ITF Mobile Android GSM smart phone to President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, credited the achievement to the inspirational leadership and support to the Ministers. He said the ITF mobile phone, which was comparable in quality to any other brand of Android...
Africa on cusp of the third wave of coronavirus facing a vaccine shortage
Africa is heading into a third wave of coronavirus infections as the least-inoculated continent faces a shortage of vaccines. African nations reported 94,000 new cases in the week through June 6, a 26% increase. South Africa announced the most new cases, followed by Tunisia, Africa Centres for Disease Control & Prevention Director John Nkengasong said in an online briefing Thursday. “Fourteen or so of our member states are now heading toward the third wave, and aggressively so,” he said. “It really highlights the need for us to roll out vaccines at speed and at scale.” Only 2.8% of Africa’s population is inoculated, compared with a global average of 14.5%, according to Africa CDC and Bloomberg Economics data. The program has slowed because of interruptions to supply from India, where m...
Lagos governor asks security agencies to crush criminals
Lagos State Government has tightened the noose on criminal elements, as Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu fortifies the armoury of the State Police Command with new hardware and gadgets. One hundred and fifty units of double cabin vehicles, 30 patrol saloon cars, four high-capacity troop carriers and two anti-riot water cannon vehicles are part of the crime-fighting equipment donated to the police, yesterday, by the Lagos Government to strengthen security responses across the state. President Muhammadu Buhari took inventory and inaugurated the security equipment before Governor Sanwo-Olu handed over the gears to the Inspector-General of Police (IG), Mr. Alkali Usman, for the use of Lagos Police Command. The equipment and gadgets were procured through the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF) –...
President Buhari inaugurates police equipment in Lagos
President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday inaugurated security equipment for the police and other security agencies in Lagos State. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos officially handed over the patrol vehicles and various security equipment to the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba. The security equipment include 150 double cabin vehicles, 30 saloon patrol vehicles, 1000 ballistic vests, 1000 ballistic helmets, 1000 handheld police radios/walkie talkies and 100 security patrol bikes. Others are two Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs), four high capacity troop carriers, two anti-riot water cannon vehicles, office/command furniture and other ancillary support resources. Speaking at the handing over ceremony, Sanwo-Olu said that the state, local governments and corporate organisations contr...
Nigerian minister accuses entertainers of promoting abuse of women’s bodies
The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Pauline Tallen, has accused entertainers of promoting abuse of women’s bodies by employing vulgar lyrics and depicting female dancers in a most disdainful manner. Tallen said this while speaking on the theme “My Body is My Own: Claiming the Right to Autonomy and Self-Determination,” at the launch of the State of the World Population 2021 report in Abuja on Tuesday. According to Tallen, entertainers are frustrating the government’s efforts which include tackling the fear and stigma of survivors of violence, weak community and facility referral systems, lack of counselling services for women and girls and the communities as well as seeking justice for victims. “It is almost disheartening to note that while we are confronting these obstacl...
2023: Delta governor cautions political office holders against distractions
Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, has cautioned those who hold political appointments in his government against all forms of complacency or dereliction of duty because of their vested interest in the 2023 general election in the country. In a veiled reference to why he dissolved the state executive council and numerous senior political appointees, Okowa stressed that they should rather be preoccupied by the desire to redouble their efforts in contributing to the administration to enable it deliver on his electoral promises and finish strongly. The governor gave the charge yesterday at the Government House in Asaba while swearing in the new Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Chief Patrick Ukah, as well as eight special advisers whose appointments were announced last week. He ca...
Nigeria orders broadcasters not to use Twitter to gather information
Nigerian television and radio stations should not use Twitter to gather information and have to de-activate their accounts, the broadcast authority said following the move to suspend the US social media giant in Africa’s most populous country. Nigeria’s government on Friday said it had suspended Twitter’s activities, two days after the platform removed a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari that threatened to punish secessionists. Nigerian telecoms firms have since blocked access to Twitter. International diplomats responded with a joint statement in support of “free expression and access to information as a pillar of democracy in Nigeria”. Buhari, who was Nigeria’s military ruler in the 1980s, has previously been accused of cracking down on freedom of expression, though his government has ...
Troops foil another attack on Imo police command, neutralise five assailants
The Nigerian Army (NA) says its troops operating in Owerri, Imo State capital, on Sunday, foiled an early morning attack on the Imo State Police Command, killing six assailants. The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Yerima, disclosed in a statement on Sunday in Abuja. Yerima said that the troops, assisted by the Police Special Forces eliminated a top IPOB/ESN operational commander, Joseph Nnachi, alias King of Dragons. He said that Dragon had been orchestrating attacks against security agencies and government establishments in the South Eastern States. According to him, Dragon has been at the centre of several heinous attacks since the death of Ikonso, who gave up the ghost, during an encounter with security forces on April 24, at Awomama Village of Orlu East Local Gover...
NAF chief: Armed forces committed to end insecurity
The Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Oladayo Amao, yesterday declared that the Armed Forces remained committed to ending the crisis of insecurity ravaging the nation. He said the expected delivery of six A-29 Super Tucano fighter jets by the United States in July and two drones from China, would be a “game changer” in the war against insurgency. The position of the air force chief is coming on a day the Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, sought the assistance of the Chief of Army Staff, Maj. Gen. Farouk Yahaya, to provide security for train stations and railway construction sites across the country. Speaking at the graduation ceremony of 1,031 recruits of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), Basic Military Training Course 41/2020, Amao affirmed that “the NAF in consonance w...
German foreign minister: EU veto ‘hostage’-taking on foreign policy must end
Germany’s foreign minister said on Monday the European Union should abolish the right of individual member states to veto foreign policy measures as the 27-nation bloc could not allow itself to be “held hostage”. His comments, which came days after a more junior official criticised Hungary by name, reflect growing frustration in Berlin at the way in which EU member countries can prevent the bloc from acting in matters on which almost all members agree. “We can’t let ourselves be held hostage by the people who hobble European foreign policy with their vetoes,” Heiko Maas told a conference of Germany’s ambassadors in Berlin. “If you do that then sooner or later you are risking the cohesion of Europe. The veto has to go, even if that means we can be outvoted.” His remarks amount to a highly u...