Sokoto state government says it is on course on l the distribution of COVID-19 palliatives to the people of the state. A statement by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Public Affairs, Abubakar Shekara made available to ASHENEWS on Sunday also debunked a recent media report, alleging that the state began the distribution of Covid-19 palliatives in order to avoid looting, as is being experienced in some states. “The story is false and misleading and deliberate mischief, aimed at disparaging Sokoto as a state and casting aspersions on the image of the State Government, obviously at the bidding of…
Author: Editor
Pope Francis said Sunday he will create 13 new Catholic cardinals next month, including the first African-American “prince of the church” and a Franciscan preacher to the papal household. Francis made the surprise announcement from his window overlooking Saint Peter’s Square at the end of his weekly Angelus, and said they would be appointed on November 28. It will be “an unusual and possibly unprecedented ceremony, held during the midst of a continuing global pandemic”, Vatican expert Joshua McElwee said in the National Catholic Reporter. The Vatican has been on high alert over the health of the pope, 83, after…
By Kayode Olaitan Unarguably, fake news has resulted in stampeding the uninformed public to unpatriotic and destructive actions, especially as it happens in the protest against the alleged police brutality known as #EndSARS. On October 3, #EndSARS protest began with a viral message broadcast on social media. The message suggested that men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) gunned down a Nigerian youth, snatched his car and ran away with it. The video spread on social media and the #ENDSARS started to gain prominence as more young people demanded an end to police brutality. Dimensions to the report began to…
By Mufutau Ojo It started somewhat as a whimper of protest against the excesses of the police. Today, the simmering #EndSARS protest has veered out of control and has assumed a life of its own, having been infiltrated by hordes of street urchins and hoodlums who set fire to critical public assets as well as private property. Many states now are under one form of curfew or the other as rampaging youths pillage ware houses, shopping malls, markets and even private residences. How did a largely peaceful protest by motley groups of youths turn to a national orgy of violence,…
One of the daughters of President Muhammadu Buhari, Zahra Buhari-Indimi has posited that her father is not Nigeria’s problem, as some people are wont to portray. As a result of #EndSARS protests, hoodlums are reported to have hijacked the process and embarked on looting COVID-19 palliatives stored in various warehouses in states. States in which the hoodlums have so far looted CACOVID palliatives include Lagos, Plateau, Osun, Kwara, Taraba, Adamawa, etc. Zahra in a post on her Instagram page mrs_zmbi on Sunday, said for poor Nigerians to have discovered COVID-19 palliatives in several warehouses across the country, means her father…
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP has petitioned the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, to investigate alleged hoarding of COVID-19 palliatives in warehouses in several states. In the current wave of #EndSARS protests across the country, hoodlums have stormed warehouses where COVID-19 palliatives were stored for distribution to poor Nigerians and carted away foodstuffs. The petition dated 24 October 2020 and signed by SERAP Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare was addressed to the Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye and copied to the Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof. Itse Sagay. “Some people…
By Tina George, Minna The National Examinations Council, NECO, has announced the indefinite postponement of the ongoing 2020 internal Secondary School Certificate Examinations, SSCE. ASHENEWS recalls that the Council had earlier rescheduled some papers in the ongoing examination on the 21st of October. In a statement by the Council’s Spokesperson, Azeez Sani and made available to ASHENEWS on Sunday, said the decision was taken to maintain the integrity and security of the Council’s examination procedures, as well as the current security challenges rising from the #EndSARS protests. “The postponement is because some states have imposed curfew due to…
The FCT Minister of State, Dr Ramatu Aliyu says the the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, has disbursed N2.495 billion to the six area councils and other stakeholders for the month of September. Aliyu stated this in a statement issued on Sunday by her media aide, Mr Austine Elemue and made available to newsmen. She said the money was disbursed at the 146th FCT Joint Area Councils Allocation Committee (JAAC) meeting. The minister said that the sum of N867.9 million was given to the six area councils while other stakeholders got the sum of N1.268 billion. “Abuja Municipal Area Council…
Some hoodlums have vandalised the Plateau State Secretariat, the Plateau Publishing Company (PPC), publishers of the Nigerian Standard Newspaper, and the State Water Board, all located in Jos. Mr Tanimola Obasa, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), confirmed the incident on Sunday in Jos. According to Obasa, the hoodlums, who perpetrated the unlawful act on Saturday, also vandalised the warehouses of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and that of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), and looted foodstuff and other items stored there. He said the looters, who broke into the…
The NBA, which was the first pro league to suspend play amid the COVID-19 pandemic, made $1.5 billion less than it projected last season due to the pandemic and other factors, according to an Associated Press report. The league shut down March 11, then returned to finish a shortened season at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando. That restricted access, all-inclusive bubble, which was run at an estimated cost of $200 million, was one of the factors that hit the NBA’s bottom line. Other factors were the initial shutdown, the loss of 171 regular-season games, the lack…