Author: darelasisi@gmail.com

Gov. Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi State has joined hundreds of sympathizers to extinguished a midnight fire at the state’s Malaria Control Unit Central Store, Birnin Kebbi. Bagudu alongside some cabinet members, top government functionaries and residents participated in a joint effort to successfully put out the fire on Thursday. Alhaji Abubakar Dakingari, Chief Press Secretary to Kebbi State Government, confirmed the incident in a statement on Friday in Birnin Kebbi. Dakingari disclosed that a large consignment of drugs has been salvaged from the central medical store which was gutted by fire. “The cause of the fire is yet to be…

Some angry youths in Lugbe, a satellite town in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Thursday, vandalized a truck containing food items meant to be given as palliative by a philanthropist. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some of the youths descended on the vehicle which was carrying items which include rice, noodles, Maggi and vegetable oil. NAN discovered that the food items were brought by a philanthropist in collaboration with a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) for the residents of the area to cushion the effects of the lockdown by the federal government. The vehicle with registration number LG…

The Nigerian Military says it has provided two laboratories to carry out tests for COVID-19 cases. The Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. John Enenche, said this on Friday at a news conference in Abuja while giving updates on the preparedness of the armed forces to combat COVID-19. Enenche said that the two laboratories were the Defence Reference Laboratory in Abuja and Nigerian Air Force Reference Laboratory in Lagos. He said that the laboratories were to support Federal Government efforts toward tackling the Coronavirus pandemic. ” The armed forces, hereby, encourages the general public to abide by the guidelines provided by…

The Nigerian Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (NIEEE) says the 5G technology has the potential to accelerate global industrial and environmental advancement without health implications. Mr Kings Adeyemi, NIEEE’s National Chairman, said in a statement on Friday in Lagos that the evolution of every stage from 1G to the 4G technologies came with speculations and fears that never happened. He stated that 5G technology had no link to COVID-19. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the acronym 5G stands for the fifth generation of mobile networks. Available statistics showed that the new mobile technologies were launched after…

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) sustained a bullish trend on Friday with the market capitalization rising further by N191 billion due to Nestle gain. Specifically, the market capitalization which opened at N11.754 trillion rose by N191 billion to close at N11.945 trillion. Also, the All-Share Index which opened at 22,554.84 grew by 366.75 points or 1.63 per cent to close at 22,921.59. Market watchers attributed the persistent four-day rally to activities of institutional investors who were taking advantage of the low price of stocks to increase their stake in the market. Nestle Nigeria dominated the gainers’ table with a gain…

By Tony Obiechina, Abuja A total of N25.9 billion has so far been raked into the coffers of the Nigerian Private Sector Coalition Against COVID-19 Relief Fund (COCAVID), to fight the novel coronavirus pandemic. Of the 107 private individuals and organizations that made donations to the Fund as of Friday, 17th April 2020, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and Aliko Dangote top the list with N2 billion each. A statement by the CBN Director of Corporate Communication, Mr Isaac Okorafor on behalf of the Coalition on Friday, expressed gratitude to all the institutions and individuals that have generously donated…

The FCT Minister of State, Dr Ramatu Aliyu, has begun the distribution of palliative materials to the six area councils of the territory to cushion the effect of stay-at-home order among the vulnerable ones. Aliyu said the first batch of the palliative would commence in Abaji area council of the territory. She said that a truckload of 25,000 condiments and 25,000 bags of rice would be taken to Abaji for onward distribution to the vulnerable in rural communities. The Minister appealed to residents to support the government to ensure that the exercise succeeds, just as she called on residents to…

Abia government on Friday announced the indefinite extension of the ongoing lockdown in the state, which will commence from April 20, as part of its effort to prevent the COVID-19 outbreak in Abia. This was contained in a statement signed by Chief John Okiyi-Kalu, the Commissioner for Information, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Umuahia. Okiyi-Kalu said that the Abia government had directed that the initial lockdown directive would be relaxed on April 18 and 19 to enable residents to restock on their food and essential supplies. He said that the decision to extend the…

President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has commiserated with the victims of the fire incident that occurred on Thursday at a camp housing Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Ngala, Borno State. Lawan mourned the 14 who lost their lives and sympathized with those injured in the inferno. The Senate President commiserated with the Government and people of Borno State over the tragic incident. Lawan called on relevant authorities to investigate the incident with a view to averting a re-occurrence. In another development, the Senate President condemned in strong term the cases of extra-judicial killings by security agents as reported by…

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that the Friday fire incident at its headquarters would not affect the administrative or technical operations of the Commission in any way. The commission disclosed this in a statement issued by its National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye in Abuja. Okoye said that the fire did not cause any substantial damage to the building. According to Okoye, at 11.30 a.m on Friday, a fire outbreak occurred at a section of the building housing the Election and Party Monitoring Department and the Media Centre. The building is an…