TOP 010521 NEWS ROUND-UP

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE: Set Up Committee To Look Into The Plight Of Workers In Kogi, NLC Tells Bello

The Kogi State Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Onu Edoka has called on the state government to set up a committee to look into the plight of workers in the state.

Speaking on Saturday during this year Workers Day celebration which took place at the Confluence Stadium Lokoja, he said the issue of percentage salary to primary school teachers and workers at the local government councils is unacceptable.

He added that workers in the state are facing serious hardship because of the situation they find themselves in.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE: Terrorism: Press Akpabio To Name Sponsors, PDP Urges DSS

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has charged the Department of State Services (DSS) and other security agencies to immediately invite the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, to name politicians in the All Progressives Congress (APC) that are behind the acts of terrorism and banditry in the country.

In a statement issued by Kola Ologbondiyan, National Publicity Secretary of the PDP on Friday, the party pointed out that there is “a self-professed evidence that Senator Akpabio is privy to certain terrorism related information which he must be made to share with the DSS as well as other security agencies.”

The main opposition party said its position is predicated on comments made by Akpabio at the APC national secretariat in Abuja on Thursday that the acts of terrorism in our country are “politically motivated” and that they are handiwork of infiltrators from neigbouring countries. 

LEADERSHIP: Minister Dissolves Board Of Sports Federation, Set Up Caretaker Committees

Barely three months to Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the Minister of youth and sports federation, Chief Sunday Dare has dissolved all the boards of 31 National Sports Federations and set up caretaker committees to run the fairs of the federation.

This was disclosed in a press statement on Friday in Abuja.

Minister said the dissolution of boards of Federations was inline with the Olympic Charter which stipulates a four year tenure for all Sports Federations Boards.

LEADERSHIP: Lagos Creates 30, 000 Jobs Through Waste Management

Lagos State Government yesterday revealed that efforts of the present administration to revamp the operations of Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) provided employment to over 30,000 residents.

The state’s Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Mr. Tunji Bello disclosed this at the annual ministerial briefing to mark Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s second year in office.

The commissioner said LAWMA has successfully increased the number of trips completed daily in evacuating waste to landfill from 357 to 850 on the average.

PUNCH: BREAKING: US mission to prioritise student visa applications for Nigerians

The United States Mission in Nigeria says it will prioritise visa applications by Nigerians students who hope to resume academic studies in the States by September 2021.

This was contained in a statement on Friday signed by Temitayo Famutimi of the Public Affairs Section of the US Consulate General.

According to the statement titled, ‘US Announces Priority Appointments for Student Visa Applicants’, the Mission said it would prioritise visa interview appointments for Nigerian students well in advance of their programme start date.

PUNCH: Sexual assault: Lagos lists possible charges against Baba Ijesha

The Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team has waded into the sexual assault allegation against Nollywood actor, Olanrewaju James, also known as Baba Ijesha.

Baba Ijesha who is currently in police custody is accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.

In a statement shared by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Lagos, Gboyega Akosile, the LSDSVRT revealed the possible charges Baba Ijesha could face if legal action is carried out against him.

The statement read, “This is to inform members of the public that the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Team is actively following up on the Baba ljesha’s case, we are also in direct contact with the complainant with a view to providing the necessary support.

PUNCH: Painter impersonates Oba Elegushi, defrauds Facebook lover of N51m

The Lagos State Police Command, on Thursday, paraded a painter, Moses Olaitan, and his accomplice, Segun Omoshola, for allegedly impersonating the Elegushi of Ikate land, Oba Saheed Elegushi, and using his image to defraud a woman they met on Facebook of N51m.

The state Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, while parading the suspects at the command headquarters in Ikeja, said after a report was made, detectives tracked down and arrested Olaitan and Segun three months after perpetrating the crime.

“She told me to send my account number, but because I didn’t have an account number, I contacted Segun, who provided the account used for collecting the money.

PUNCH: Woman collapses in church while fasting, dies in Lagos hospital

The family of a woman, Joy Owoyele, is in grief after she died during a 14-day fasting in the Isheri Olofin area of Lagos State.

PUNCH Metro gathered that Owoyele had sought spiritual help regarding her matrimonial challenges at the Christ Apostolic Church, Ori-Oke Gbogunmi, aka Ajanpelenbe Mountain, located on Pipeline Road, Isheri Olofin.

She was said to have been placed on 14-day fasting and prayer, but on the 10th day, things took a tragic turn as she suddenly collapsed after the morning prayers inside the church.

PUNCH: God has directed me to prophesy against Buhari, Uzodinma – Mbaka

The Catholic Priest and Spiritual Director of Adoration Ministry, Enugu, Fr Ejike Mbaka, has blessed the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, for championing the cause of his people.

“Up till today, I don’t know who Nnamdi Kanu is. I have never seen him face to face. Look at my hand on the altar. But I want to tell you something. Wherever he is, may God bless him. Because if somebody has risen to shout that his brothers are suffering, is it a crime? May the lord bless his courage,” Mbaka said in a recent sermon at his church.

Mbaka also stated that God had asked him to withdraw his support for the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), and Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma, and to prophesy against them.

VANGURAD: How to end illegal migration, neo-slavery in Nigeria – Justice Nweze

Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Centus Nweze, has recommended for total revamping of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, to end illegal migration and neo-slavery in Nigeria.

Justice Nweze, made the remarks while presenting his keynote address during the 2nd edition of  the Grace Uzoma Okonkwo Foundation’s international conference tagged  ‘Migration and Neo-slavery as Significant Features of the 21st Century’ at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, UNN on Wednesday.

The legal luminary who was represented by the chairman of the occasion, Justice  C. A Ogbuabor  during the conference organised by the aforementioned Foundation in collaboration with the Institute of African Studies, and the Department of English and Literary Studies, UNN, also said that the agency seems overwhelmed by the enormity of challenges bedeviling adequate checking of illegal human trafficking in Nigeria.

VANGURAD: Breaking: NAFDAC approves Pfizer-BioTech  COVID-19 vaccine for use in Nigeria

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, on Friday approved the use of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in Nigeria.

This is coming few months after it gave authorisation for the use of the Oxford-Astrazeneca jabs in the country.

Announcing this at a press conference in Lagos, the Director-General of NAFDAC, Mojisola Adeyeye  explained that the pfizer-Bio Tech vaccine was for emergency use only.