Nigeria has started the vaccination of its citizens against the COVID-19 virus on Friday in Abuja. The vaccine, after undergoing assessment by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDC), was confirmed to have positive results. Dr Cyprian Ngon, the Family Physician, National Hospital, Abuja, was the first person to receive the COVID-19 vaccine immunisation, while the second person was Dr Tahir Yunusa, a Pathologist with University of Abuja Teaching Hospital. Ngon had been the Head of the COVID-19 Isolation Centre at National Hospital Abuja since February 2020…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has announced 12 deaths and 708 new cases of COVID-19, taking the total number of 1,951 fatalities and 157,671 infected people in the country. The NCDC disclosed this on its official Twitter handle on Thursday. The additional 708 new cases make it the first time since February 26, 2021 that daily counts had surpassed 500. The health agency stated that the new infections were registered in 20 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the last 24 hours. According to it, Adamawa recorded 180 new infections, Lagos confirmed 141, Ondo reported 60…
The Nigerian Army on Thursday dismissed reports that over 100 officers and soldiers had deserted the army during encounters with insurgents in parts of Borno recently. Media reports earlier on Thursday said officers and soldiers deserted war front in Marte. However, the Director, Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Yerima in a statement, debunked the report saying the publication was false, unfounded and an attempt to malign the image and character of the Nigerian Army. “For the records, in the fog of war, it is a routine that head count is conducted to determine the number of men and equipment holding…
By Lizzy Carr, Bauchi The Northeast governors’s forum has noted that the zone remained short-changed in 2021 capital appropriation and asked the federal government to make provision for more. This was contained in a communique issued at the end of the 4th meeting of the forum’s meeting held in Bauchi. The forum said even though the 2021 budget was already signed into law, the zone was in precarious situation that required aggressive infrastural intervention to defeat insurgency and build resilience of the communities. The governors stressed the need for adequate allocation for capital projects for the sub region in the…
Ghana’s Supreme Court has unanimously upheld the victory of President Nana Addo Dankwa AKufo-Addo in the 7 December, 2020, general election. The seven-member panel dismissed the petition filed by the presidential candidate of the main opposition candidate, former president John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). The court, presided over by Chief Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, said the petition of Mr. Mahama had no merit. He said Mr. Mahama did not satisfy all issues outlined by the court to determine the case. “We therefore have no reason to order a re-run as pleaded by the petitioner (Mahama). We accordingly…
Bandits in the early hours of Thursday attacked Saketa village, near Dingyadi, the Minister of Police Affairs’ village in Bodinga local government area of Sokoto. A source, Yusuf Abubakar told ASHENEWS that the bandits attacked the village in large numbers, killed his brother in-law, Bello Magaji and abducted his mother in-law, Hajiya Innawuro. “After abducting the lady in question, Hajiya Innawuro, wife of late village head, they matcheted her son, Malam Bello Magaji who is a staff of Sokoto state government. He died on the way to the hospital around 2:00 am “Recently, the attacked have become rampant in the…
Women account for a slightly smaller proportion of COVID-19 infections and deaths compared with men, a preliminary analysis by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 28 African countries shows. WHO Regional Office for Africa said this in a statement issued from its headquarters in Brazzaville, Congo on Thursday. According to the statement, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, reported the findings of the analysis at a virtual press conference on COVID-19. Moeti said the analysis was based on COVID-19 gender specific epidemiological data provided by countries. “The data found that although women account for around 41 per cent…
The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, QU Dongyu says a comprehensive transformation of the global agri-food system could significantly contribute to attaining worldwide targets including ending hunger by 2030. He stated this during a virtual keynote lecture at Italy’s Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. “Agri-food systems are the world’s largest economic system, measured in terms of employment, livelihoods, and planetary impact,” Qu said He emphasized that four billion individuals are directly and indirectly in food systems, wherein poverty and hunger are rampant. He further promoted “system thinking”, to be applied in a wide array of…
The North East Governors Forum (NEGF) on Thursday said it would establish a North East Airline and Bank to alleviate suffering and boost economy of the region. The NEGF consists of governors of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe States, respectively. Prof. Babagana Zulum, the Chairman of the forum and governor of Borno, disclosed this at the ground breaking ceremony for the reconstruction and upgrade of Bauchi government House in Bauchi. Zulum said the region had suffered decay of infrastructures as a result of insurgency. He also lamented that the country in the past, suffered poor governance and corruption…
…reports on troops desertion from the Army exaggerated, malicious The Nigerian troops yesterday evening foiled another Boko Haram attack on Marte town, in Borno state. This is just as military sources have described as ‘malicious’ reports that soldiers deserted the military after recent attacks on Dikwa and Marte. The special forces successfully ambushed and attacked the insurgents, who rode on motorcycles and gun trucks. A military intelligence officer said no casualty was recorded on the troops’ side. “Troops of 134 Special Forces Battalion, who were on patrol around Ala, a community five kilometers away from Marte, responded…