In the last 24 hours, 561 new cases of COVID19 were reported in Nigeria; Lagos-200, Edo-119, Kaduna-52, FCT-52, Niger-32, Ogun-19, Ondo-16, Imo-14, Plateau-11, Abia-8, Oyo-8, Bayelsa-7, Katsina-6, Kano-5, Bauchi-3, Osun-3, Kebbi-3, Borno-2, Jigawa-1.
A total of 25,694 confirmed cases in Nigeria. The breakdown;
A young single mother has tragically woken up on the morning of her 30th birthday to find her one-year-old daughter had suddenly died in her cot.
Elle Wilkinson discovered her youngest child Lola lying face down in her bed at their home in Caringbah in Sydney's south on June 17.
Ms Wilkinson - who still does not know what caused her daughter's sudden death - only made the discovery when she noticed Lola had slept in later than normal.
Her friend Chloe said when the 30-year-old picked up the youngster she noticed the colour of her skin was different and there was vomit lying next to her.
The distraught mother's son Ruben, eight, ran for help and neighbours tried desperately to revive Lola through CPR.
Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene - leaving the young family 'broken with no words', according to the friend.
The young girl did not show any signs of being unwell prior to her sudden death and had the day before enjoyed a trip to the park with her mother, her brother and Chloe.
'She was happy and healthy and running around the park,' the friend told Yahoo News Australia.
Tests are being carried out on a lesion on Lola's lung to uncover the cause of her death - which happened 12 days before her second birthday.
Chloe added Ms Wilkinson was still 'very, very traumatised' and unable to talk about her devastating loss.
Lola's older brother is staying with his father, while Ms Wilkinson is staying in a hotel while her friend raises funds to help her move into a new home.
Chloe said the mother could not bring herself to keep living in the home after what happened and needed a new start.
A GoFundMe page set up by the friend said Ms Wilkinson works as a sole trader from home and is suffering a loss of income while she stays in the hotel.
'Our hearts are beyond broken with no words to describe this terrible situation,' the fundraiser reads.
'Elle has lost her beautiful baby girl and Ruben is missing his only sibling Lola.'
The fundraiser has raised more than $16,500 as of Sunday morning towards its $20,000 goal.
Mask-wearing pupils catching up with friends at one Bangkok high school were quickly told to spread out as they headed back to lessons on Wednesday after months of distance learning due to coronavirus restrictions.
The teenagers, resuming classes along with all other public school students in the kingdom, chatted animatedly before being called to sit in widely spaced rows for the opening session.
The school principal, Arwuth Meekhanphet, warned them all to closely follow new hygiene rules, which included the face coverings and social distancing.
“You never know whether you or your friend has it,” he said into an intercom.
Thailand has recorded more than 3,100 coronavirus cases and 58 deaths – a low toll considering it became the first country outside China to detect an infection, in mid-January.
Ahead of Wednesday’s nationwide resumption of classes, authorities recommended that class sizes be restricted to 20-25 students while doorknobs, desks and other areas at risk of spreading infection be sanitised frequently throughout the day.
Student Parichat Klanpumisri said she was not concerned about catching the virus, but reported feeling nervous about meeting up with classmates again after isolating for so long.
“I haven’t met anyone for a long time and the atmosphere of the classroom and internet learning is so different,” the 17-year-old said.
The country’s nightlife will also come back to life Wednesday, with bars, clubs and massage parlours, which are sometimes fronts for brothels, expected to reopen in the evening.
However, authorities have said there should be “no sex trade”, while extremely strict limits on social situations should be observed – such as bar patrons standing a metre apart.
Despite the push for normality in daily life, the kingdom’s cabinet on Tuesday extended its state of emergency for another month.
Authorities insist the emergency laws — which critics say could be used to target political dissent and censor the press – are necessary as they prepare to receive certain travellers such as businesspeople and medical tourists.
Premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha defended the decision earlier this week, saying the laws were not meant to curb freedoms.
Criticism of his administration has been constant throughout the pandemic, as Thailand’s already flagging economy lurched into a recession.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has declared a former staff of the anti-graft agency identified as Gloria Obioma Elih for fraudulent practices.
The former staff, Elih was accused of allegedly demanding and receiving gratification from officials of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources who were being investigated.
According to the commission, she was declared wanted because all efforts to serve her and procure her attendance in court have proved abortive.
Tweets shared on ICPC’s official Twitter handle read;
“The person whose picture appears above, Gloria Obioma Elih, is hereby declared WANTED by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC).
“Criminal charges were filed by ICPC against Elih, a former staff of the Commission, before an FCT High Court presided over by Hon. Justice Adeniyi for allegedly demanding and receiving gratification from officials of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources who were being investigated.
“She is declared wanted as all efforts to serve her and procure her attendance in court have proved abortive.
“Elih is an indigene of Anambra State and speaks English and Igbo languages fluently. She is 44 years old and dark in complexion.
“Her last known address is El-Salem Estate in Lugbe, Abuja.
“Anyone who has useful information on her whereabouts should report to ICPC Headquarters Abuja, any of the ICPC State offices or the nearest police station.”
Men of the Ogun State Police Command have arrested a self-acclaimed lawyer, Elijah Ojo, for allegedly duping a client into parting with N300,000.
Ojo was reported to have collected the money from a client to perfect her bail condition, but bolted afterwards.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Abimbola Oyeyemi, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.
Oyeyemi said Ojo was arrested on Sunday for parading himself as a legal practitioner and swindling several people out of huge sums of money.
The PPRO added that the suspect was arrested following a petition written to the Divisional Police Officer, Ajuwon, by a legal practitioner.
Oyeyemi said the petitioner reported the suspect for parading himself as a lawyer and extorting money from unsuspecting members of the public.
The PPRO stated that the petitioner told the police that the suspect had never been to the Law School and therefore was not qualified to be addressed as a lawyer.
Oyeyemi added, “Upon the petition, the DPO, Ajuwon Division, SP Andrew Akinseye, and his team of detectives embarked on a painstaking intelligence investigation about the self-acclaimed lawyer.
“In the process of their investigation, they came across a woman, who was charged defrauded an offence, but was defrauded by the suspect, who collected N300,000 from her to perfect her bail condition, but never showed up in court.
“The suspect was subsequently arrested after much evidence had been gathered against him.
“On interrogation, he confessed that though he gained admission to study Law at the Ekiti State University, he did not finish the course and did not attend the Law School.”
The PPRO added that the Commissioner of Police, Kenneth Ebrimson, had ordered the immediate transfer of the suspect to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for further investigation and diligent prosecution.
Justice Sikiru Oyinloye of Kwara State High Court, Ilorin, on Tuesday convicted and sentenced 19-year-old Chemistry undergraduate of University of Ilorin, Ajayi Joshua Oluwatobi to nine months imprisonment for defrauding three fellow students who were seeking accommodation.
The convict was prosecuted on three count-charges by the Ilorin Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC).
One of the charges read: “That you, Ajayi Joshua Oluwatobiloba, in the month of November 2019, in Ilorin, within the jurisdiction of this honorable court, did cheat by deceiving one Anjorin Oluwabukolami Eniola, a University of Ilorin student when you fraudulently induced her to pay N45,000.00 (Forty-five Thousand Naira) into the GTbank account 045262140 of one Hassan Adefemi Daniel for hostel accommodation, a representation you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 320 of the Penal Code and punishable under Section 322 of the same Law.”
Justice Oyinloye found Oluwatobi guilty of all the three-count charges and aside the prison term, additionally ordered him to pay the sum N105,000 (One Hundred and Five Thousand Naira) fine so as to serve as deterrent to others, nursing such a crime.
“This honourable court is of the view that the prosecution has proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, the court hereby finds you, Ajayi Joshua Oluwatobi guilty of Count 1, 2 and 3. You are hereby convicted for the offence,” he said.
Each count attracts three months imprisonment, which runs concurrently.
The convict ran into trouble when the University of Ilorin reported a case of defrauding three accommodation- seeking students to the EFCC.
The Federal Government has disclosed plans to force the Digital Satellite Television, owned by MultiChoice, a South Africa-based cable service provider, to provide pay-per-view options to Nigerian subscribers.
The government also said it has amended Nigeria’s broadcasting code to prevent DSTV from monopolising its channels and contents.
This is just as the House of Representatives ordered the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission to ask DSTV to reverse its subscription rates introduced on June 1, 2020.
The House has been probing DSTV for allegedly cheating its Nigerian subscribers by restricting them to prepaid plans.
The Federal Government has said it facilitated the release of 39 Nigerians arrested for illegally entering Ghana.
It said the citizens would be repatriated home during the next evacuation exercise.
The Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission, in a post on its Twitter handle on Tuesday, said the citizens were arrested at Aflao border trying to enter Ghana illegally.
It stated, “About a month ago, the Nigerian mission in Ghana got a call on the arrest of six Nigerians who were caught at Aflao border trying to enter Ghana.
“The Nigerian consular team was dispatched by the High Commission to intervene immediately, and on getting there, they met with about 30 more Nigerians who were arrested for also trying to enter Ghana through illegal routes due to the border closure.”
The consular team was said to have appealed to the immigration officials not to prosecute the culprits.
“The officials agreed and allowed the team to get their details to secure approval from the appropriate authorities for them to be evacuated along with stranded Nigerians, as the Ghanaian immigration would not permit them to proceed into Ghana because of the border closure,” the statement said.
The NiDCOM further explained that the mission staff paid two visits to the detainees before they were released, adding that they will be required to take COVID-19 tests before evacuation.
It further said that the citizens would be brought back to Nigeria after taking the test in line with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control protocols.
The statement read, “There are in total about 50 Nigerians detained by the Ghanaian immigration authorities because some were moved away from Aflao and kept somewhere else.
“As instructed by the NCDC, they need to do their COVID-19 tests before returning to Nigeria.
“As soon as this is done they will return with the next set of returnees.
“However, it should be noted that 11 of the detainees have escaped, according to Ghanaian immigration.”
Fire has gutted the popular Ajao market in the Ajao area of Lagos State.
The punch gathered that the incident started around 1am on Wednesday.
Although the cause of the fire incident was yet to be ascertained, our correspondent learnt that the inferno started around a shopping mall close to the market and had extended into the main Ajao market.
Properties worth millions of naira were said to have been destroyed as the fire had affected some adjoining buildings and made residents flee for safety.
Emergency responders, including the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Lagos State Fire Service, and men of the Nigeria Police Force are on ground to manage the situation.
LASEMA spokesperson, Nosa Okunbor, while confirming the incident, said no casualty was yet to be recorded.
He said, “There is a fire outbreak there. It started around 1am but we are there already. From all indications, the Ajao Main Market has a small shopping mall and from what we gathered, the fire started from the shopping mall and extended to the main market and affected some adjoining buildings.
“But the LASEMA Response Team and other stakeholders, including the Lagos State Fire Service and the police are already on ground to quell the fire. No casualty has been recorded for now.”
President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, on Tuesday asked the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to widen the tax net rather than overburden the people and business concerns.
Ola Awoniyi, his Special Adviser on Media in a statement in Abuja noted that Ahmad Lawan was the Guest Speaker at the inauguration of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on the Audit and Recovery of back years Stamp Duties.
The event was also Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS), formal launching of adhesive Stamp for Stamp Duties collection in Nigeria.
“We should rather expand the tax net. Let’s not over burden our businesses or our citizens,” Lawan said at the event which took place in Abuja.
The President of the Senate said that there were many people who were supposed to pay taxes but were not captured in the tax net.
“Let’s expand the tax net and ensure that we have in the net many more Nigerians who are supposed to pay taxes, and you have our support at all times,” Lawan said.
He said the Senate was aware of the various challenges against the efforts of the FIRS to rejig tax administration in the country especially the global challenge posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A murder suspect has narrated how he killed his 30-year-old girlfriend, Happiness Winifred, and dumped her body in a well.
Shagbada Erigga made the confession on Tuesday when he was paraded alongside 32 other suspects for various criminal offences at the Oyo State Police Command headquarters, Eleyele, Ibadan.
He said he attacked Happiness because she denied him s.e.x.
The incident, according to him, occurred during a visit by the deceased to his house in Oritoke area of Ojoo, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
“She came to my house on Sunday around 7 p.m. After we took our bath, I demanded for s.e.x but she refused and that was what led to the misunderstanding. I told her that every time I wanted to have s.e.x with her would I be begging her? I slapped her and she slapped me back.
“I later gave her three blows on her neck and she fell down and started bleeding. After she died, I took her body and dumped it inside a well. I was caught after one of my neighbours came back from work in the night and wanted to fetched water from the well,
“My neighbour now discovered that the water had been polluted and bringing bad odour, the water was traced and that was how it was discovered that a lady was thrown inside the well. I was later arrested after the case was reported to the police,” the suspects told journalists.
The police said exhibits recovered from the suspects include one cell phone, a wristwatch, chain, hand bag, undies, door key, and a sandal.
Fatima Ganduje-Ajimobi, who is married to late Isiaka Ajimobi’s son, Idris has taken a swipe at Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde.
According to the daughter of Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State, Seyi Makinde can never surpass the achievements of the late ex-Governor Ajimobi.
Fatima, who is SA to Speaker Gbajabiamila, said this in a tweet in response to a post by Nigerian activist Segun Awosanya aka Segalink on Tuesday.
Awosanya had tweeted, “I don’t know how many people are glad to know that Seyi Makinde, the Governor of Oyo State cannot be guilt-tripped into endorsing a heist wrapped in emotions at the expense of the beleaguered people of Oyo State. I’m personally happy he saw through the shenanigans.”
In her response, however, Fatima tweeted, “Lol. Face with tears of joy half-truth is dangerous sha! SM can never ever ever come close to Ajimobi. Not your mate!!!”
The Ajimobi family has been engaged in a feud with the governor since the death of their patriarch last week.
I don’t know how many people are glad to know that HE @seyiamakinde the Governor of Oyo State can not be guilt tripped into endorsing a heist wrapped in emotions at the expense of the beleaguered people of Oyo State? I’m personally happy he saw through the shenanigans. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Q3fArqOBpi
Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State on Tuesday supervised the destruction of illicit drugs, expired and adulterated packaged foods worth over N380 million.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the items were intercepted at various places within Kano City by the state Task Force on Drugs.
The drugs were destroyed at the premises of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agents (NDLEA) in Kano.
Ganduje described the exercise as a breakthrough in the state government’s war against the sale and consumption of illicit drugs in the state.
He said that his administration attached importance to the fight against drug abuse.
“That was why I directed that all political appointees must go through drug test. All my Commissioners, Permanent Secretaries, Advisers, Heads of Agencies, among others, were tested. NDLEA is here to testify that.
“Because we are determined in this fight, that is why we said we must institutionalise the effort. A bill is before the state assembly on Drug Administration Agency.
“We want to have a strong institution for that. But then, we are not usurping the responsibilities of other federal agencies saddled with this responsibility.
“We are only complementing their efforts. That is why, when established, the agency would work hand in hand with the federal agencies to achieve drug-free society,” Ganduje said.
Nollywood actor, Afeez Owo, has denied welcoming twins with his wife, Mide Martins, even though he wishes to have one day.
The movie star said this in a video he shared on Tuesday introducing the real parents of the newborn twins he had joked were his, on Instagram.
Afeez had on Monday shared a picture of himself carrying two babies and jokingly congratulated himself on the birth of his twins.
Fellow Nollywood stars, Mercy Aigbe, Doris Simeon, and even his wife, Mide, also congratulated him in the comments section of his post.
But he has now come out to introduce the real parents of the babies but made it clear that he hopes to have twins of his own one day.
“Let me finally introduce to you, here is the original latest daddy & mummy of the twins. Mine is just borrow post.
“Seriously, I love twins and I so much believe you all going to celebrate with me and my wife soon Insha Allahu Amin. Thanks for the congratulations messages, DM, calls, etc Ohun rere lama barawa se. Amin, ” he prayed.
A French court has sentenced former French prime minister, François Fillon and his Welsh wife, Penelope, to jail for embezzling public funds.
Francois was found guilty of creating a fake job for his wife, using taxpayer money.
The 66- year-old was accused of creating a position that paid his wife over €1 million ($1.13 million) in public funds, a charge that cost him his 2017 presidential bid. His wife, Penelope, was also found guilty of being complicit in the case.
He was additionally accused of getting the millionaire owner of a literary magazine to pay his wife €135,000 for “consulting work.”
Mr Fillon was sentenced to five years in prison, three of which were suspended, as well as a €375,000 fine. Fillon was also banned from running for elected office for 10 years.
His wife was handed a three year suspended sentence and fined the same amount.
Mrs Fillon was found guilty of having a “fake” job at a French-language monthly literary, cultural, and political affairs magazine, Revue des Deux Mondes, run by one of her husband’s friends.
The court said Mrs Fillon, 64, was paid “the maximum possible” and that the sums were “out of proportion to her activities”.
“Nothing could have justified the remuneration she received,” said Nathalie Gavarino, the leading judge.
The couple, who have five children, were additionally convicted of employing their two eldest, Marie and Charles, between 2005 and 2007, paying them a combined €117,000.
A third accused, Marc Jouland, who took over Fillon’s constituency as MP in the Assemblée Nationale while he was prime minister was given a three-year suspended sentence and fined €20,000.
François Fillon previously served as prime minister in Nicolas Sarkozy’s centre-right government between 2007 and 2012.
This is quite sad. A 22-year-old lady has died two months after making a post about death on Facebook.
Sandra Chinenye Obioha Ihekwereme wrote on Facebook on April 4: "If I die in this lockdown no need for autopsy. Na yam and red oil and garri with salt kill me."
Her family said Sandra died on the 12th of June, 2020, after a brief illness.
A baby girl born without all four limbs due to a rare genetic disorder has left doctors and family members baffled in India.
A woman, who local media report is 28 years old, gave birth to the child in the Sakla village of Sironj Tehsil in the Vidisha district yesterday.
According to reports, the baby was born with an autosomal recessive congenital disorder - Tetra-Amelia - which is characterised by the absence of all four limbs.
Footage shows a woman holding the baby which is missing both its arms and legs and is wrapped in a blanket.
Dr Suresh Aggarwal, a paediatrician at Rajiv Gandhi Smriti Hospital, Sironj, said the baby is perfectly healthy.
Doctors suggest the baby will be taken in for further assessments to check if her internal organs have developed properly.
Tetra-Amelia syndrome is a genetic disorder caused by mutations in the WNT3 gene and is extremely rare.
According to Bhopal CMHO and paediatrician Dr Prabhakar Tiwari, the syndrome affects one in 100,000 newborns. He said this is the first such case of his career.
A 2011 study by Dr Eva Bermejo-Sanchez of the Research Centre on Congenital Anomalies (CIAC) at the Instituto de Salud Carlos III in Spain shows that the disorder occurs in around one out of every 71,000 pregnancies.
There have been several cases of the syndrome over the years, including RJ Wilson from Florence, South Carolina.
His mother Jasmine Self was five months pregnant when an ultrasound scan revealed her little one's limbs were not developing.
After being advised to terminate her pregnancy, Ms Self and her boyfriend Rondell Wilson decided to not to give up on their baby.
Another inspiration case is Nicholas James Vujicic, born in 1982, who was also born with the syndrome.
The Australian father-of-four is now a renowned motivational speaker and author of several books.
He has travelled to more than 44 countries to advocate positivity and motivation despite his circumstances.
He offers his guidance and sharing his story with school students, prison inmates and community groups.
Speaking to 60 Minutes in an interview last year alongside his wife, Kanae, he revealed that schoolyard bullies were often cruel and by age 10 he had attempted to take his own life.