The owner of Prudent Hotel demolished by the Rivers State Government, Promise Gogorodari, has denied violating any law to warrant the demolition of his structure.
Gogorodari said the state government should have carried out proper investigation before demolishing his hotel.
He explained that apart from employment to other persons, the hotel, he had been able to help his family and other relatives.
The Lagos-based hotelier said that the demolition of two hotels would be a setback to the state in terms of investment, adding that the development was not good for investors in the state.
“I am based in Lagos, but I am not in a right frame of mind to speak now. There is nobody who will not feel bad about this. It is a hotel that I built for the past seven years. The demolition of hotels is a setback to the state in terms of investment."
Deposed Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has welcomed a baby girl with his 4th wife Saadatu.
Sanusi's son, Ashraf who confirmed the birth of his step-sister on Instagram said the deposed Emir's second wife's plea made Sanusi name the baby girl after his first wife, who took care of Saadatu while she was pregnant.
Ashraf gave off the name of the baby girl as Halimatu Saadiyya, and further stated that the spirit of family and peace in their household makes him happy.
The Dan Iyan of Kano who is the district head of Dawakin kudu, Yusuf Bayero, has died in the early hours of Sunday.
Yusuf was said to have died after a protracted illness. A source in the Kano emirate confirmed his death. He is a younger brother to late emir of Kano, Ado Bayero and an uncle to current emir of Kano Aminu Ado Bayero.
The late Dan Iyan Kano had held various positions with the then Kano Native Authority (NA) and he was a onetime parliamentary secretary in charge of Kaduna affairs.
Yusuf was turbaned in 1993 as Dan Iyan Kano by the the late emir of Kano Ado Bayero.
Yusuf has been buried in Kano state according to Islamic rites.
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state has given reasons why he demolished Prodest Hotel in Alode and Etemeteh Hotel in Onne, both in Eleme Local Government Area of the state.
Wike said the hotels were demolished after it violated an Executive Order on COVID 19, despite warnings from the State government.
The Governor said that the focus on hotels was because one of the coronavirus cases in the state spread the virus from a hotel.
Wike who monitored the demolition of Prodest Hotel, Alode, Eleme said his action was in line with the Rivers State Government Executive Order 6, which banned the operation of hotels across the 23 Local Government Areas of the State.
Governor Wike told newsmen at the demolition scene that the law must be obeyed, hence the State Government’s decision to enforce it.
A sixty-year-old US citizen, Babra Laurilliard has been reported dead in Warri, Delta State.
Babra Laurilliard reportedly died at a hotel with her alleged boyfriend in Okuokoko in Okpe Local Government Area of Delta State.
The deceased came into Nigeria on the invitation of her boyfriend who kept her in a hotel in Warri before transferring her to another hotel where she died.
It was gathered by Daily Post that before the deceased’s death she coughed profusely and had difficulty in breathing and stooling.
She was rushed to an undisclosed hospital but her condition deteriorated just as she gave up the ghost.
The Police have arrested the said online boyfriend who is suspected internet fraudster.
When contacted for comments, the Delta State Commissioner of Police, CP Mohammed Hafiz Inuwa confirmed the report in a telephone chat with Our Correspondent in Warri.
CP Inuwa said, “She’s a US Citizen. She came to Nigeria. She’s over 60years. She’s a friend to one of the Nigerian boys. She visited him in Nigeria. He kept her in a hotel in Warri before transferring her to that hotel around Orerokpe side.
“While they were together for about a week, the woman was coughing and having difficulty in breathing as well as having difficulty in stooling.
"So, they took her to the hospital yesterday where her condition became worse and eventually, she gave up. That her so-called boyfriend is now with the police in Orerokpe.”
While noting that he called the Commissioner for Health in Delta State to contact the NCDC given the symptoms the deceased gave before she died, CP Inuwa, however, warned Policemen to be very careful with the manner they deal with the said boyfriend so as not to fall victims and get infected with the dreaded Coronavirus.
Barring any last-minute changes, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, who was released from a correctional facility in Kuje, Abuja on Friday is set to resume at the Senate tomorrow.
It could be recalled that the former Abia State governor was jailed in December 2019 over allegation of misappropriation of Abia’s state funds to the tune of N7.6 billion during his tenure; between 1999 and 2007.
He pleaded not guilty. The lawmaker, who represents Abia North in the Senate under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), heaved a sigh of relief when the Supreme Court, last Friday, quashed the judgement of the lower court that convicted him to a 12-year jail term.
Kalu and co-defendants, Slok Nigeria Ltd and a former Director of Finance of the Abia State Government House, Jones Udeogu, had challenged the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court in Lagos to conduct the trial after the presiding judge, Justice Mohammed Idris, who was elevated to the Court of Appeal, returned to conclude the proceedings.
At the Supreme Court, the justices held that the judge had no jurisdiction when he convicted Kalu as the fiat he was given to conclude the trial was inconsistent with the provision of the constitution that a judge of the court of appeal cannot “descend” to also be a judge of the Federal High Court. After his conviction, Kalu, who is the Senate Chief Whip, continued to enjoy all his entitlements, including salaries while in prison even without performing any legislative duty.
The Red Chamber had said that despite his conviction, Kalu remained a serving lawmaker until he has exhausted all legal options available to prove his innocence of the case. “There is no provision in the constitution that says the seat of any senator facing prosecution or convicted at a lower court should be declared vacant,” the former Senate spokesman, Senator Godiya Akwashiki, had said.
In Kalu’s absence, Senator Aliyu Abdullahi Sabi (APC, Niger), the Deputy Chief Whip, held sway. A source close to Kalu said the lawmaker is most likely to resume at the Senate on Tuesday, “since he has been released from prison.”
Kalu had said, immediately after the apex court pronouncement, that he looked “forward to rejoining my colleagues in the Senate as soon as possible” after a five-month incarceration at a correctional centre.
The lawmaker, in a statement he signed, said his stay in prison had taught him invaluable lessons about the country, its people, the justice system and the true meaning of love.
He vowed to fight for the correction of Nigeria’s criminal justice system where over 70% of the prison inmates’ population was made up of people awaiting trial.
The Republic of Madagascar has offered its herbal drug – COVID Organics (COV) – to Nigeria and other African countries.
The drug is for prevention and cure of the dreaded Coronavirus.
Nigeria’s consignment has been sent to Equatorial Guinea from where it will be airlifted to Abuja.
For ease of transportation, African countries were divided into zones leading to the freighting of Nigeria’s consignments to Equatorial Guinea.
Nigeria’s COVID-19 positive tally moved to 4,399 last night with 248 new cases announced by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
Lagos recorded 81 cases, followed by Jigawa State 35 and Borno 26 cases to top the chart. Kano recorded 26 cases, followed by Bauchi with 20 cases.
There is pressure on the Federal Government by different medical and scientific organizations to allow the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD) and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to subject the drug to further analysis.
Some others are pushing for clinical trial of Covid Organics before being used in the country.
The Federal Government was yet to take a position as of weekend because the AU has mandated its Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to review the scientific data gathered so far on the safety and efficacy of the COVID Organics.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) last week insisted that the efficacy of the drug was unproven. But people are taking it in the country and they are recovering from Coronavirus.
In the last 24 hours, 248 new cases of COVID19 have been reported in Nigeria; 81-Lagos, 35-Jigawa, 26-Borno, 26-Kano, 20-Bauchi, 13-FCT, 12-Edo, 10-Sokoto, 7-Zamfara, 4-Kwara, 4-Kebbi, 2-Gombe, 2-Taraba, 2-Ogun, 2-Ekiti, 1-Osun, 1-Bayelsa.
A total of 4399 cases of COVID19 in Nigeria. The breakdown;
GOVERNMENT SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
Prudent Hotel, Alode, Eleme and Etemeteh Hotel, Onne are to be demolished for flouting Government directive on the closure of hotels in the State.
Paulinus Nsirim
Commissioner for Information and Communications
May 9, 2020
About 160 Nigerians, who indicated interest to return to the country following the outbreak of Coronavirus in the world, have arrived Abuja from the United States of America.
The evacuated Nigerians, who touched down at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, would be tested for COVID-19 and immediately quarantined for 14 days.
A British Airways Boeing 747 aircraft had evacuated 253 Nigerians from the United Kingdom on Friday while some others were brought in from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The first batch of Nigerians stranded in the United States due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is on their way back home.
It is the third batch of Nigerians to have been evacuated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The second batch of 253 Nigerians evacuated from the United Kingdom arrived the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos on May 8.
It came 48 hours after the first batch from Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) were brought into the country by Emirates Airlines.
Also, around to bid the evacuees farewell was Amb. Tijani Muhammad-Bande, President of the United Nations General Assembly and Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the UN.
He was joined by Amb. Samson Itegboje, the Deputy Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the UN, among others.
Speaking to newsmen, Okoyen lauded the evacuees for their cooperation and orderly conduct throughout the process.
“It was successful and we are happy that everything was orderly. As you must have observed, the boarding was also orderly,” he said.
Some of the passengers, who spoke to NAN, expressed gratitude to the Federal Government for the special flight arrangement.
Another traditional ruler in the ancient city of Kano, the Dan Iyan of Kano, Alhaji Yusuf Bayero is dead.
According to the Nation, Bayero who died on Saturday was the district head of Dawakin Kudu Local Government Area.
The monarch was said to be the first district head Ajingi Local Government Area.
The cause of his death is still unknown.
“Sarkin Kano Alhaji Ado Bayero appointed his younger brother Yusuf Bayero, Dan Iyan Kano in 1993. He was born in 1933.
He attended Kofar Kudu Elementary School and Kano Judicial School. He was a scribe in the Kano Native Authority and he served in sub-district offices of the city. He was a Member of the Northern Region House of Assembly where he became Parliamentary Secretary Ministry of Kaduna Affairs.
He returned to Kano after the Military Coup of 1966 and he was appointed Dan Ruwata and the first District Head of Ajingi. He was retired by the PRP Government of Alhaji Muhammadu Abubakar Rimi in 1981 but Sarkin Kano Alhaji Ado Bayero reinstated him in 1983 as the Dan Ruwata and the District Head of Bichi.
He was subsequently promoted to Dan Isa, then Dan Buram and then Barde but all in Bichi until he was promoted to Dan Iya in 1993 and was transferred to Dawakin Kudu.
Fire on Saturday gutted a Moscow hospital treating patients infected with coronavirus, killing one.
According to Daily Mail, hospital officials said the inferno started from a patient’s room, adding that the fire has since been put out.
Sergei Sobyanin, the Mayor of Moscow, who confirmed the development on Twitter, said that all patients had been evacuated and would be transferred to other hospitals.
“The causes of this incident will be thoroughly investigated,’’ Sobyanin added.
COVID-19 has so far infected nearly 200,000 people and caused more than 1,800 deaths in Russia.
More than half of the country’s cases and deaths have been recorded in Moscow, a sprawling city of 12.7 million.
Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has told the alleged COVID-19 index case in the state, Mrs Susan Okpe, that he is not the architect of her woes.
United Kingdom-based Okpe, who was in the state in March for a burial, has accused the federal and state governments of keeping her in an isolation centre after claiming she was coronavirus positive and named as Benue’s index case.
In a viral video, Okpe claimed she had not taken any medication in her 43 days in isolation and had not developed COVID-19 symptoms.
She accused Ortom of stigmatisation by disclosing her identity and not forwarding the results of the tests to her.
But the governor denied her accusation, saying it was the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control that carried out the COVID-19 test on her.
In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase, on Saturday, Ortom said he had no regrets in revealing Okpe’s identity.
He said, “The decision was made in the best interest of the people of the state who have continued to appreciate the governor for the proactive approach to contain the pandemic. With the identity of the index case known, tracing and isolating all who came in contact with her became easy.
“It is the constitutional duty of the governor to ensure safety and wellbeing of his people. Section 26 (2) (e) of the National Health Act 2014 gives the government the powers to disclose information relating to a person if ‘non-disclosure of the information represents a serious threat to public health’.”
He added, “Even in the United Kingdom where she left for Nigeria, the Prime Minister tested positive for COVID-19 and went public to say that he had contracted the disease. He was treated and later discharged.
“But here, Mrs Okpe has refused treatment and taken to the daily production of videos to castigate all medical personnel who attempt to attend to her, government officials and anyone who holds a contrary opinion regarding her case.”
“It is important to state that Ortom is not the architect of Mrs Okpe’s problems. If there is anyone who promotes unity and shows love to the various ethnic groups in Benue State, that person is Ortom.
“She claimed not to have seen her COVID-19 test results, and in another breath described the same results as fake. How was she able to know that the results are fake without seeing them?
Rats have been infecting humans with a new strain of hepatitis E, scientists believe.
A series of cases - most of them in Hong Kong - has baffled infectious disease experts who do not know how the disease is being transmitted, CNN reports.
Hepatitis E, an illness of the liver, is normally spread through water contaminated with the faeces of an infected person.
There are four known strains, only one of which has previously been thought to infect humans.
But since 2018, 11 Hong Kong residents have tested positive for a strain of hepatitis E which was thought to only affect rats.
The most recent case, that of a 61-year-old man, was discovered just a week ago on April 30 by researchers at the University of Hong Kong.
Microbiologist Dr Siddharth Sridhar, who has been studying the unprecedented cases, believes there could be hundreds more people unwittingly infected.
"What we know is the rats in Hong Kong carry the virus, and we test the humans and find the virus," he explains.
"But how exactly it jumps between them - whether the rats contaminate our food, or there's another animal involved, we don't know. That's the missing link."
Although many patients with the human strain of hepatitis E only report mild symptoms, the World Health Organisation estimates the virus killed 44,000 people in 2015.
The illness, which can also cause fever, jaundice, and long-term liver damage, is particularly dangerous for patients with weakened immune systems.
Dr Sridhar and his team are now trying to unpick this worrying new trend, and solve the mystery of how the virus is jumping from rats to humans.
"This should not be happening. We need ongoing vigilance in the public to control this unusual infection," he continued.
In addition to the Hong Kong cases, a report from February 2019 suggests that a man in Canada has also tested for rat hepatitis E.
Dr Sridhar believes it could be a global problem, masked by the fact that testing for the rat variant among humans is uncommon.
Worryingly, the medication which is used to treat the human strain of hepatitis E is less effective on the new strain.
Scientists are now working to find more effective treatments, as well as testing rat populations to try and find clusters of the disease before it spreads.
Austrian city of Vienna tops list of best places in the world to live.
The homes of Chelsea boss Frank Lampard and late Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha have been raided by thieves for the fourth time.
Lampard who has a £12million home in Chelsea has been targeted by burglars, report The Sun.
Around £60,000 of jewellery and watches belonging to the Blues legend and wife Christine were allegedly taken.
More than £1million of valuables from Vichai's home were reportedly taken, leaving his Thai family - who still own Leicester - devastated.
His home in Knightsbridge, West London had remained untouched following his passing in a tragic helicopter crash in October 2018.
Detectives are studying CCTV footage of both heists, with a source telling The Sun they could have been carried out by the same group of thieves.
"The family of Vichai are understandably very upset. His house was totally ransacked and a lot of precious and sentimental items were taken.
“The thieves have effectively desecrated his spirit. None of the items stolen during either of the burglaries have been recovered.
"Police are apparently working on the assumption that Vichai’s house and the Lampards were both deliberately targeted.”
Lampard's home was previously targeted in 2018 and the details of neither that or the most recent burglary - in December - have been made public by police.
It follows incidents in 2005 and 2008 at his previous home where cars including an Aston Martin and a Mercedes were taken.
The family of Mr. Okpanachi John is currently mourning after their son committed suicide over his marriage crashed two months after his wedding.
John works in one of the new generational banks in the Kaduna branch and is 37 years of age.
His elder brother Michael Okpanach, said, a note found beside his corpse inside his sitting room reveals he committed suicide over his marriage crash. He, however, added that the deceased borrowed over N3 million from a bank for his wedding.
John, who lives at the Sabo area along the refinery road in Kaduna, married a lady from the Ankpa area of Kogi state while he comes from Ofu local government in the same state with his wife.
Michael said John’s marriage hit a rock as soon as they wedded, narrating how his brother had on many occasions called him to report how the wife was trying to turn him into a house boy, an attempt he said his brother resisted.
He disclosed that the marriage finally came to an ended when John’s ex-wife pulled him out of a car he was driving on a busy street of Kaduna, on the ground that the car is a wedding gift from her father, claiming her husband has no right to drive the car without her approval.
Michael told W.A.R., angry with the development, his younger brother; John terminated the marriage, two months after the wedding and did not come out of the trauma until he committed suicide.
John who committed suicide on Tuesday morning according to the elder brother drank a poisonous chemical suspected to be a sniper and was seen when his neighbours forced open his door when they did not see him until 1:00 pm.
He, however, added that his dead body has been deposited in a mortuary while the family is preparing to take him back to Ofu for burial.
There are about 147 Nigerians stranded in South Africa due to the global covid-19 pandemic awaiting evacuation, it has been learnt.
This number is beside others who had signified interest to return to Nigeria.
The stranded Nigerians in South Africa comprises of students research work, those who went for conferences, holiday, medicals and business but for the global lockdown they are still there and are eager to return home.
Nigeria High Commissioner to South Africa, Mr. Kabiru Bala who confirmed this, said the commission is already in talks with the South African and Ethiopian airlines.
Bala said the High Commission is also in contact with the government of South Africa on the evacuation process.
He said, “We have about 147 Nigerians stranded and others who have registered with the High Commission and consulate in Pretoria and Johannesburg.
“We are in talks with SAA and ET airlines on cost, modalities, dates… we are also in contact with South African authorities in regard to the evacuation.”
South Africa is Africa worst hit by the pandemic with over 8,895 confirmed cases and about 200 deaths.
