Tag: Hot News - Page 185 - African News Today

#EndSARS Protests: Gov. Ugwuanyi Appeals to Police Officers to Return to Duty Posts

4Nov

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

News, Nigeria, Security

#EndSARS Protests: Gov. Ugwuanyi Appeals to Police Officers to Return to Duty Posts

Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, on Wednesday, passionately appealed to men and officers of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to fully renew their ultimate commitment towards the provision of security of lives and property by returning to their duty posts across the state. Gov. Ugwuanyi made the appeal when he visited the Senior Police Officers Mess, Agbani Road, Enugu, to address and commiserate with the members of the Enugu State Police Command, over loss of lives of private citizens and security personnel, grievous bodily injuries as well as destruction of private and public properties including security infrastructure. The governor who described the mayhem unleashed by miscreants and hoodlums that hijacked the hitherto peaceful #EndSARS protests as “an unusual and challengi...

#EndSARS Looting: WAEC Relocates Calabar Office to Uyo

4Nov

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Education, News, Nigeria

#EndSARS Looting: WAEC Relocates Calabar Office to Uyo

Following the vandalisation and looting of its office on October 24 as a fallout of the nationwide #EndSARS protest, the West African Examination Council, WAEC, has announced the relocation of its branch office in Calabar, Cross River state, to Uyo, Akwa Ibom state. In a statement issued on Tuesday by the acting head of Corporate Affairs of WAEC, Demianus Ojijeogu, the office relocation is “temporary”. “The relocation, which is an interim measure, is to enable the Council to carry out its operations and render services to Nigerian child and other stakeholders. “We wish to assure all our stakeholders and the general public that normal operations would resume in Calabar branch office once the status quo ante is restored,” the statement said. WAEC in the statement further apologis...

Judicial Panel Turns Down LCC’s Request to Assume Control of Lekki Tollgate

3Nov

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Judiciary, Lagos News, News, Nigeria

Judicial Panel Turns Down LCC’s Request to Assume Control of Lekki Tollgate

The Judicial Panel of Inquiry setup to unravel the incidence that took place at Lekki toll gate area of Lagos State on October 20, 2020 has refused the request by operators of the tollgate, Lekki Concession Company (LCC), to resume activities at the tollgate. In a brief ruling on Tuesday, retired Justice Doris Okuwobi, Chairman of the panel, said the tollgate plaza would remain shut down. According to the judge, the panel might need to pay subsequent visits to the tollgate plaza after watching the video footage obtained from a surveillance camera turned in by the LCC on Tuesday. The decision followed the plea by Rotimi Seriki, counsel for LCC, for the company to take possession of the tollgate plaza to enable an evaluation of the level of damage done to the facility for the purpos...

NCC Approves e-SIM Trial for MTN, 9mobile

2Nov

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Communication, Information Technology, Nigeria

NCC Approves e-SIM Trial for MTN, 9mobile

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says it has granted approval for two mobile network operators (MNOs), MTN Nigeria and 9Mobile, to carry out trial on the workability of embedded Subscriber Identification Modules (e-SIM) Service in Nigeria. The regulatory body added that the trial would run for a period of one year, noting that it would involve testing 5,000 e-SIMs by the two networks. A statement by the Public Affairs Director of NCC, Dr Ikechukwu Adinde said the trial is subject to compliance with a number of regulatory conditions. Dr Adinde announced that the conditions include full compliance by the MNOs with the Registration of Telecoms Subscribers Regulations 2011; the Mobile Number Portability Regulations and Business Rules 2015. He added that guidelines on SI...

Opinion: The “Terrorists” of IPOB – Femi Fani-Kayode

2Nov

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

News, Nigeria

Opinion: The “Terrorists” of IPOB – Femi Fani-Kayode

I watched my brother Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s interview with my brother Chief Dele Momodu on Thursday evening and I was inspired and encouraged. Nnamdi spoke with such eloquence, passion, courage and strength. He is brilliant and irrepressible. He cannot be underestimated or ignored. Every African should listen to that interview. He cleared a lot of misconceptions about himself and made his position clear on so many issues. Most important of all is the fact that he had the decency and humility to tender his regrets and apologies where he may have got things wrong. That is the mark of a great leader. President Muhammadu Buhari I have loved and trusted him dearly ever since the first day we met and spoke for 3 hours when we were both incarcerated at Kuje prison in 2016. From the firs...

#EndSARS: ‘We Had Option to Shutdown Social Media’ – Minister Says as He Advocates Cyberspace Regulation

2Nov

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

News, Nigeria, Youths

#EndSARS: ‘We Had Option to Shutdown Social Media’ – Minister Says as He Advocates Cyberspace Regulation

Sunday Dare, Minister of Youth and Sports Development said that even though the Federal Government had the option to shut down the social media space to quell the #EndSARS protests that took place last month, it chose to allow the freedom of expression. The minister who disclosed this while featuring on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme said there was need to ensure control of the cyberspace. Dare said other nations had undertaken measures to assert some level of limitation over the social media space but Nigeria remained an exception. The minister while admitting that the social media have enormous benefits, said that as a country, we must start to think of how to curtail fake news. There must be some level of responsibility and some level of punishment to those that...

Youth Investment Fund: Beneficiaries to be Given N250,000 – N5m – Finance Minister

2Nov

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Finance, News, Nigeria, Youths

Youth Investment Fund: Beneficiaries to be Given N250,000 – N5m – Finance Minister

The Federal Government has said that beneficiaries of the N75bn Nigeria Youth Intervention Fund (NYIF) will be given between N250,000 to N5m. This was disclosed by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed on Saturday. Ahmed had previously noted that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration created a youth fund of N25bn as part of measures to tackle the #EndSARS protests and other related youth agitations in the country. The minister stated that the Federal Government would increase the fund to N75bn within a three years period. Ahmed at a meeting with the 77 District Heads and religious leaders, at Kaduna State University on Saturday said that each youth that benefits from the fund would receive between N250,000 to N5m. She who said the am...

Governors Didn’t Hoard COVID-19 Palliatives – Akeredolu

1Nov

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Cost of Living, Covid-19, Nigeria

Governors Didn’t Hoard COVID-19 Palliatives – Akeredolu

The Ondo State Governor, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, on Sunday,explained that his colleagues did not deliberately hoard palliatives made for their states. Akeredolu, who is also the Chairman of South-West Governors’ Forum, said the insistence on official flag-off ceremony by the Coalition Against COVID-19 before the distribution was largely responsible for the delay in distributing the items to the people of the states. The governor stated this while speaking at the church service marking the 3rd anniversary of enthronement of the Bishop of Owo Diocese, the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Dr. Stephen Fagbemi, held at the All Saints Church Idasen Owo, Ondo State. He said, “Those states where the palliatives were warehoused, were also waiting for the donation of the remaining items ...

Lekki Tollgate Shooting: Why We Won’t Disclose Identity of Soldiers Deployed – Army

1Nov

By Obiajulu Joel NwoluNo Comments

Crime, Lagos News, News, Nigeria, Security, Violence

Lekki Tollgate Shooting: Why We Won’t Disclose Identity of Soldiers Deployed – Army

The Nigerian Army has said that it will reveal the identities of its personnel who were deployed in Lekki toll gate on October 20, 2020. This was disclosed by acting Deputy Director, Army Public Relations and 81 Division’s spokesperson, Major Osoba Olaniyi. Amnesty international and other groups have claimed varied number of casualties resulting from the Lekki toll gate area shooting though the Lagos State government claim only one person was killed. The admission followed an earlier statement that no life was lost in the shooting. The Nigerian army had initially denied involvement in the shootings through a series of tweets. However, the army later stated that its personnel were the ones who carried out the operation, noting that the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State ...

US Forces Rescue Kidnapped American in Nigeria

31Oct

By Chinedu IbeakanmaNo Comments

Africa, Armed Forces, Nigeria, Safety, Security, Terrorism, United States of America

US Forces Rescue Kidnapped American in Nigeria

US military forces has rescued an American citizen in Nigeria, the Pentagon stated on Saturday, days after he was kidnapped by gunmen in the south of neighbouring Niger and apparently taken across the border. The hostage, Philip Walton, was kidnapped on Monday night at Massalata, a village about 10 kilometres (six miles) from the border with Nigeria. Walton is safe and in the care of the US State Department, the Pentagon said in a statement released on Saturday. US forces did not suffer any casualties in the rescue operation, it added. “The United States is committed to the safe return of all US citizens taken captive,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a separate statement. “We delivered on that commitment late last night in Nigeria, where some of our bravest and most ski...