The FCT, Abuja health services have already taken into quarantine, some of those present at the burial of the chief of staff to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari.
The conducts of a lot of them was against protocol...
Abia State government has arrested the suspected COVID-19 patient, Vincent Prosper, who absconded and was declared wanted yesterday.
The Commissioner for Information in the state, Chief John Okiyi-Kalu revealed that Prosper, who had disappeared after alerting NCDC of manifesting symptoms of COVID-19, was apprehended on Saturday morning in Aba.
According to Kalu: “Prosper called to report that he was manifesting symptoms of the virus and recently had contacts with a confirmed patient in Akwa Ibom state in addition to recently returning from Lagos.
But when our team arrived at his given location, he disappeared and later confessed that he saw the ambulance and the fully kitted RR-team, lost courage, detested the possibility of being locked down and decided to switch off his phone and disappear into thin air.
We continued to look for him quietly and at some point got him again on the phone and he gave us a wrong address at Azikiwe Road and a team was immediately dispatched to the location but did not find him there.
At that point, we decided to enlist the services of a top security agency in the state to find him and also alerted members of the public yesterday regarding the situation in the hope that he would voluntarily come forward. He never did!
But late last night, the security agency pinned his location down and this morning our RR-team stormed the location with security agents and took him into custody at our isolation facility where we have now collected samples from him for testing.”
Speaking exclusively to Daily Independent, Mallam Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on Media and Publicity said they never invited the public to the funeral of Abba Kyari and couldn’t have invited soldiers to flog those who have come to pay their last respect to deceased.
He added that in their bid to ensure crowd control and social distancing, the burial was delayed and they had to proceed as more people kept trooping to the cemetery.
“Was there any invitation for the public to come for the burial? Go back to my Twitter handle and read what I posted. From 10am, when we picked up the body at the airport, we sent a message out that the funeral will be private and that the public should please go and pray for Abba Kyari”.
“We also said no condolence visits to the President and family. What can we do? Are we going to invite soldiers to flog people who came to pay their last respect to the man?”
“We didn’t invite people. We were trying to move people back and observe social distancing and it was delaying the funeral. We just have to do it because people are not ready to leave. What are we going to do?” he asked.
A group of 44 suspected members of Boko Haram, arrested during a recent operation against the terrorist group, have been found dead in their prison cell, Chad’s chief prosecutor announced today.
Speaking on national television, Youssouf Tom said the 44 prisoners had been found dead in their cell on Thursday.
They were among a group of 58 suspects jailed during a recent army operation in the Lake Chad zone, he added.
“Following the fighting around Lake Chad, 58 members of Boko Haram had been taken prisoner and sent to Ndjamena for the purposes of the investigation,” he said.
“On Thursday morning, their jailers told us that 44 prisoners had been found dead in their cell,” Tom said, adding that he had attended the scene.
An investigation was ongoing to determine how the prisoners had died, he said. “We have buried 40 bodies and sent four bodies to the medical examiner for autopsy."
Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, on Saturday, revealed that a 29-year-old woman from Lagos, is the third case of COVID-19 recorded in the state.
The governor also regretted the alleged compromise of security agencies at the borders, which he said was responsible for why the woman gained access to Ekiti during a lockdown.
Fayemi gave the startling revelation, on Saturday, while updating the state on the spread and challenge of COVID-19 and how far his government has gone in tackling the menace.
The governor stated that the new case, is a pregnant 29-year-old female Community Health Worker with Lagos State, who sneaked into Ekiti in spite of the lockdown.
“She presented herself at a State Comprehensive Primary Healthcare facility in active labour on Monday April 13, 2020. After a prolonged labour with fatal distress, she was referred to a teaching hospital but decided to go to a private hospital instead.
“A caesarean section was performed on the patient and the baby was delivered safely. However, she suffered a cardiac arrest and was referred to the Federal Teaching Hospital Ido Ekiti where she is currently unconscious.
” The suspicion of COVID-19 infection and subsequent testing was at the Federal Tertiary institution. The Ekiti State COVID-19 Taskforce has already commenced contact tracing of the new case as at this morning, we have over 30 primary contacts on our list already.
“The baby is alive and under surveillance while the private clinic has been sealed off and medical personnel who interacted with this case during her obstetrics and gynaecology emergency have been contacted and put in self isolation."
The Nigerian Navy on Friday night invaded an Ebonyi Community where a naval officer had gone missing last month.
The invasion followed a painstaking investigation into the missing of the naval officer who went missing in Umuogodoakpu Mgbo in Ohaukwu local government area.
The state governor, David Umahi, stated this during his weekly live broadcast briefing to the people of the state on COVID-19.
He said investigations revealed that the naval officer was killed and used for rituals by the people of the area with his head taken away by one of his killers.
Mr Umahi said the military, during the invasion, located and exhumed the remaining body of the naval officer.
He said all those involved have been arrested following the raid by the military.
He vowed that they would all be charged to court to answer for their crimes.
According to him, one of the killers took the skull away after the rituals they allegedly performed with it.
He warned that his government would not tolerate the murder of anybody.
“This is not an animal. This is not an ordinary person, we are talking about a naval officer, our people must begin to have respect for the sanctity of human life,” he said.
After denying knowledge of his whereabout in the state, Lagos Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, has confirmed that the late Chief of Staff to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari, died at the First Consultant Cardiologists Hospital in Lagos.
Abayomi had at a briefing denied knowing the whereabouts of the late Chief of Staff to the President.
But on Saturday, via his Twitter handle, @ProfAkinAbayomi, he said, “Following enquiries on the passing away of the Chief of Staff to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Mallam Abba Kyari on Friday 17th April, 2020, the Lagos State Government states that:
"Mallam Abba Kyari died from complications of #COVID-19 infection at First Cardiology Consultants in Lagos.
“This hospital is a Lagos State designated high care, biosecurity-compliant, #COVID19 facility, accredited by the Health Facility Management and Accreditation Agency.
“As a basis for accreditation, First Cardiology Consultants established a separate specialist wing with staff dedicated to the treatment of complicated cases of #COVID-19, under the supervision of the Lagos State #COVID19 emergency response team.”
When Jencik became seriously ill, her kids - some of whom are adopted - started to show symptoms.
She said the deadly virus was "like a freight train" hitting her family. "It was terrifying," Jencik told WHAM. "I was a little ahead of them in the timing of it all."
"I was as afraid of my life as I had ever been, and not much scares me."
The mom-of-eighteen doesn't know how she contracted coronavirus.
"I was extremely concerned that I was never going to be the same," Jencik said of her battle with the disease that has infected millions and killed over 30,000 Americans.
The Jenciks are finally on the road to recovery after weeks of isolation and the busy mom asked her friend, Matt Moreno, the CEO of Purify Global, to sanitize her home.
Moreno brought in a team of 12 to scrub down her upstate abode for two hours, wearing hazmat suits for protection while Jencik's family waited outside.
"We put on commercial grade gas masks with a cartridge that's meant to withstand a nuclear attack," he said.
Jencik said it was necessary because she "needed to know from my mama heart that I was protecting the people I love to the best extent I possibly could."
Some top aides of President Muhammadu Buhari have been denied access into the Presidential Villa in Abuja after returning from the burial of late Chief of Staff to Buhari, Abba Kyari, on Saturday.
The burial at Gudu Cemetery was attended by a large crowd – most of whom had no nose mask or hand gloves on them for protection against Coronavirus.
This development violated the social distancing rule put in place by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and exposed attendees including the Presidential aides to the risk of contracting the highly contagious and deadly disease, which claimed the life of Kyari.
According to findings by SaharaReporters, some of the Presidency aides refused access into Aso Villa after returning from the burial include State House Chief Protocol Officer, Ambassador Lawal Kazaure, Special Assistant to the President, Yusuf Sabiu, a nephew to the President, Musa Haro Daura, and Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the, Garba Shehu.
Others are National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, Director-General of National Intelligence Agency, Mr Ahmad Rufai, and Personal Assistant on New Media to President Buhari, Bashir Ahmed, among several morepersons.
The burial ceremony was aired on several television stations across Nigeria and the large gathering, against government’s order, was seen by all violating the rule.
“Security personnel at the Villa turned back the aides of President Muhammadu Buhari after attending the burial ceremony of Mallam Kyari and coming in contact with several persons against the rule of the NCDC.
“President Buhari is not happy that the aides decided to violate clear protocols and guidelines of the NCDC and he directed that they should keep off the Presidential Villa to undergo self-isolation,” a Presidency official told SaharaReporters on Saturday.
Kyari’s death was announced on Friday by the Presidency after weeks of battling with Coronavirus.
Angry youths in Ohafia, Abia State, have set ablaze three police vans, a police barracks and a magistrates’ court to protest against the killing of an indigene, Friday Arunsi, by a police corporal.
The policeman reportedly shot Arunsi dead on Friday along Ebem Ohafia Road.
The incident made it the third extrajudicial killing in the state within two weeks as confirmed by the state Commissioner of Police, Ene Okon.
Confirming the incident, the police boss said the corporal, who was not on duty, was on his way from a drinking spree in company with two others; an assistant superintendent of police, and a sergeant.
Okon said the vehicle the policemen were in hit a stationary truck offloading goods and they alighted to confront the truck driver.
The CP said while the driver was querying the action of the policemen, there was shooting during which ‘someone was killed.’
He said the three policemen were already in detention, adding that investigation was ongoing.
“Nobody can tell could where the shooting came from as the youths were armed too and equally shooting. I have called the area commander and SARS. They said no one shot anybody,” Okon added.
According to eyewitness accounts in Ohafia, the tragedy happened on Eni Njoku Road, Ebem Ohafia, few metres away from a police barracks, while the victim died at the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia. Another person reportedly sustained bullet injuries in the leg.
Meanwhile, the Ohafia youths took to the streets to demand justice, burning three police patrol vans, the Ohafia Magistrates’ Court, a high court, DPO’s Quarters and part of the Ohafia barracks.
The member representing Arochukwu/Ohafia at the House of Representatives, Uko Nkole, described the incident as ‘unfortunate,’ calling on the police to launch full investigation into the matter. He also urged the angry youths to maintain peace.
The Federal Government has declared war against university lecturers using the biting hunger over COVID-19, the Academic Staff Union of Universities has said.
The union said if the government used the decisiveness and determination with which it was addressing the current health sector crisis, the ongoing strike would not last long.
Punch correspondent reported that the warning strike by ASUU snowballed into a full blown strike on March 23, 2020.
Nigerians have been complaining of hunger and hardship occasioned by the nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus in the country.
The National President of ASUU, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, in an interview with Sunday Punch, said if the government used same determination and commitment to address the problem in the education sector, the strike would not linger at all after the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.
He said, “The government has compounded the issue. In the last two months, our members in the federal universities have not been paid. You withheld people’s salaries and think such people would gladly go back?
“At a time you’re talking of palliatives, you are denying thousands of families their sources of livelihood and you think you’re solving a problem, you’ve declared war against your intellectuals.’’
“So, it’s like the government of the day has declared war against ASUU and members. Nobody is talking of the welfare of these families that have been thrown into disarray in the face of lockdo wn. People are helpless and can’t go anywhere, and you’re using hunger as a weapon of war against them, it is genocide.
“We believe that now that there is emergency in the health sector, there is also an emergency in the education sector. So when we finish with the health sector, we will come back to the education sector. But if we had told them that there was no problem, it means that everybody can go to sleep after addressing the emergency in the health sector.
“So we have put it on the table so that government, parents and all other stakeholders, including our students, would know that after solving the current issue in the health sector, we should also come together and address the problem in the education sector. So that is the sense in that strike action.
“Returning to class is not a big issue at all given the decisiveness and determination with which we address the current health sector crisis.”
Hundreds of people have been added to Egypt’s terrorism list in recent years
The decision, published in the official gazette, stated that their “placement on the terrorism list will be for a period of five years”.
Elaimy — a key figure of Egypt’s 2011 popular uprising that toppled longtime president Hosni Mubarak — was arrested in June 2019.
Also put on the list was Ramy Shaath, a prominent activist and the son of veteran Palestinian politician Nabil Shaath, who holds Egyptian citizenship and was arrested two months after Elaimy.
Since their arrest, the pair have been charged with joining a “terrorist group” — namely the Brotherhood which has been outlawed following the 2013 overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.
In its ruling Saturday, the court said that Brotherhood members had tasked “other members of the group… including Ramy Shaath and Zyad al-Elaimy” with carrying out activities against the state.
Hundreds of people have been added to Egypt’s terrorism list in recent years, including fugitives and people detained by authorities.
The measure authorizes the authorities to freeze their assets while those who are not behind bars are banned from travel.
Authorities have arrested thousands of Morsi supporters since his ouster, as well as secular activists, journalists, lawyers and academics.
Vanessa Bryant celebrated the 19th anniversary of her wedding to her late husband Kobe Bryant on Saturday with a touching Instagram post.
“My king, my heart, my best friend. Happy 19th wedding anniversary. I miss you so much. I wish you were here to hold me in your arms. I love you,” she wrote, posting a picture of the couple.
Five-time NBA champion Bryant and the couple’s 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, were among nine people killed in a helicopter crash in Los Angeles on January 26.
Gianna, along with her basketball teammates Payton Chester and Alyssa Altobelli, who also died in the crash, were honored at Friday’s WNBA draft as honorary selections.
Vanessa Bryant recorded an emotional message for the draft broadcast, saying being drafted into the women’s league “would have been a dream come true” for Gianna.
After the conclusion of the draft on Friday night, the WNBA announced the creation of the Kobe & Gigi Bryant WNBA Advocacy Award, given to “an individual or group who has made significant contributions to the visibility, perception and advancement of women’s and girls’ basketball at all levels.”
According to online reports, the Woman sat in front of her house with some older women and a Police officer (Sergent Iku Esan), asked what she was doing in front of the house. The woman replied, "is there anything bad in staying in front of my house?"
Suddenly he started flogging her and the woman kept saying don’t flog me.
Within minutes other policemen came and joined hands in flogging her, until a man intervened.
The actions of many educated men present at the Gudu Cemetery in Abuja is quiet worrisome, to say the least.
Some top aides of President Muhammadu Buhari have been denied access into the Aso Rock Presidential Villa after returning from the burial of late Chief of Staff to Buhari, Abba Kyari,l.
The burial at Gudu Cemetery on Saturday was attended by a large crowd – most of whom had no nose mask or hand gloves on them for protection against Coronavirus.
This development violated the social distancing rule put in place by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and exposed attendees including the Presidential aides to the risk of contracting the highly contagious and deadly disease, which claimed the life of Kyari.
According to findings by SR, some of the Presidency aides refused access into Aso Villa after returning from the burial include State House Chief Protocol Officer, Ambassador Lawal Kazaure, Special Assistant to the President, Yusuf Sabiu, a nephew to the President, Musa Haro Daura, and Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the, Garba Shehu.
Others are National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, Director-General of National Intelligence Agency, Mr Ahmad Rufai, and Personal Assistant on New Media to President Buhari, Bashir Ahmed, among several more persons.
The burial ceremony was aired on several television stations across Nigeria and the large gathering, against government’s order, was seen by all violating the rule.
“Security personnel at the Villa turned back the aides of President Muhammadu Buhari after attending the burial ceremony of Mallam Kyari and coming in contact with several persons against the rule of the NCDC.
“President Buhari is not happy that the aides decided to violate clear protocols and guidelines of the NCDC and he directed that they should keep off the Presidential Villa to undergo self-isolation,” a Presidency official said.
North Korean authorities have revealed to citizens in public lectures that there were confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the country as early as the end of March.
The news comes following initial denials by the secretive state, who in official statements from the capital Pyongyang claimed that it has not had any confirmed COVID-19. cases.
Radio Free Asia reported the latest news on late Friday, in which it was detailed how lecturers, speaking to organisations and neighbourhood watch groups, said there were cases within the country, without giving any numbers - citing two sources; one in Pyongyang and one in Ryanggang province.
The lecturers said the confirmed cases were in Pyongyang, South Hwanghae province and North Hamgyong province, RFA reported, and follows on from early denials by leader Kim Jong-un.
North Hamgyong is in the northeast region of the country, while South Hwanghae is in the southwest, showing the scale in distance which the virus has travelled.
Pyongyang had previously reinforced border checks and ordered foreigners from any country that has reported a case of COVID-19 to spend 30 days in quarantine, flying dozens of diplomats out of the country in early March.
North Korean authorities are 'looking into whether there is still any space for infectious diseases to enter, in line with the complete blockade of borders, airspace and territorial waters' until the global virus pandemic is under control, state media KCNA said on Saturday.
As reported by Mail Online, the secretive state had been working 'day and night' to build a new hospital 'faster and better' than planned, despite continuing to deny that COVID-19 had entered its borders.
Work on the new Pyongyang General Hospital began suddenly just under a month ago, with Kim Jong-un setting an ambitious 200-day deadline for completion.
However, he appeared to downplay any link to the ongoing pandemic at the time, making no reference to it at a groundbreaking ceremony and instead linking completion to a national holiday.
Amid the pandemic, North Korea has still been the cause of rising tensions after firing several suspected cruise missiles off its east coast on Tuesday.
