The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Katsina State Command, said it has succeeded in arresting two suspected human traffickers and rescued 18 victims, including a 3-year-old baby. The NIS Comptroller, Mr Muazu AbdulRazaq, disclosed this on Tuesday in Katsina during a press briefing. He said that the suspects were arrested by NIS operatives attached to Charanchi patrol base, following an intelligence report. AbdulRazaq said that the operatives were able to arrest the two suspected traffickers, while one other suspect escaped, abandoning his vehicle. According to him, the two suspects, “mischievously arranged a fake marriage to enable them traffic two minors who…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, have introduced new charges on customers for the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data, USSD, services, effective March 16. This is contained in a joint statement issued on Tuesday by the CBN and the NCC on pricing of USSD services posted on the apex bank website. The joint statement was signed by the CBN’s acting Director, Corporate Communications, Mr Osita Nwanisobi, and NCC Director, Public Affairs, Mr Ikechukwu Adinde. It said effective March 16, USSD services for financial transactions conducted at Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and all CBN-licenced institutions would…
President Muhammadu Buhari met behind closed doors with the outgoing President Mahamadou Issoufou of the Republic of Niger at the State House, Abuja on Tuesday. The Nigerien leader, who arrived at the Presidential Villa at about 11.45 a.m. was welcomed by the president at the forecourt of the villa. The two West African leaders would deliberate on sub-regional issues including security challenges occasioned by the activities of Boko Haram insurgents. Issoufou, it was gathered, would use the opportunity of the meeting to thank President Buhari for the support and assistance rendered to his country during his first and second terms…
The Federal government has described the reported formation of Biafra Customary Government by Asari Dokubo as a “theatre of the absurd by a joker seeking attention’’. Speaking on the development in Lagos on Monday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration will not be distracted by the absurdity. “I am sure you have heard of the theatre of the absurd, that is the best way I can describe it. “If Asari Dokubo wants to form and run a fathom government, I think he is free to do so. “This administration will not…
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says health officials from United Nations (UN) and European Union (EU) will meet on March 17, on the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine after many countries suspended its use. The WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, announced this at the bi-weekly news briefing on COVID-19 at WHO headquarters in Geneva. In his speech posted on WHO’s website, Ghebreyesus said many countries had suspended the use of AstraZeneca vaccines. Germany, France, Italy and Spain have become the latest countries to temporarily halt the use of the shot, following reports of blood clots in people who received the vaccine. He…
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says the agency is aware that a small fraction of people – around one person in every one million people vaccinated— may have severe allergic reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine, known as anaphylaxis. WHO, in a statement posted on its website on Tuesday, stated that just like the way people react to other vaccines or drugs, they could also react to COVID-19 vaccine. The organisation stated that “some people could react to the vaccine, especially those with history of anaphylaxis to one of the vaccine constituents which may have higher risk of reaction following COVID-19…
Venezuela will not authorise the COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca due to “adverse effects’’ around the globe, the Foreign Ministry cited Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said. “Venezuela will not grant a license to use the AstraZeneca vaccine due to adverse results [on people who received the vaccine] around the world,’’ Rodriguez was cited by the ministry as saying. A number of countries have temporarily suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine over blood clot concerns, even as the company and major health agencies maintained it was safe to use. The vice president said that the Caracas Government was negotiating with vaccine…
The Presidential Tasks Force (PTF) on COVID-19 has insisted that Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is safe for Nigerians despite the growing global concerns over possible side effects. The National Incident Manager (NIM) of the PTF on COVID-19, Dr. Mukhtar Muhammad, made this known on Monday in Abuja at the joint national briefing of the taskforce. According to Muhammad, the clinical trials had shown that the side effects are “generally mild’’. He said that the WHO had in the last three days, through a series of briefings, vouched for the vaccine’s safety and efficacy, and that it had been proven that it…
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, announced that it recorded three deaths and 238 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday. It also said it discharged 353 people after treatment from various isolation centers across the country, bringing the total number of discharged cases to 145,752. The NCDC disclosed this on its official Twitter handle on Monday. The country have also tested 1,684,305 people since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 pandemic was announced on Feb.27, 2020. The public health agency said some of the discharged included 120 community recoveries registered in Lagos State and 34 in the Federal Capital…
The Presidency has described leaders of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo General Assembly Worldwide as “the wise men from the East.” The leadership of the Igbo socio-cultural group, paid courtesy visit to the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina in the State House on Monday. Adesina, on his official Facebook page, disclosed that the Ohanaeze leaders were at the State House to commend Buhari for the good work he’s doing in the South East. “And again, the wise men came from the East. Chieftains of Ohanaeze Ndigbo General Assembly Worldwide were at State House, Abuja, on…