Rivers and four other states under the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Plc may be plunged into darkness following an industrial dispute that greeted the alleged sacking of 60 workers of the electricity company.
This followed a resolution by the Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies Union, which insisted that the retrenchment did not follow due process.
Punch correspondent reports that the other three states are Bayelsa, Cross River and Akwa Ibom.
The Assistant General Secretary of the association, Innocent Douglas, while speaking to journalists in Port Harcourt on Thursday, said the sacking affected workers in the four states.
He said, “It is injurious to labour. We don’t accept what is happening. This is mass sacking; sacking of over 60 persons at a time. Mass sacking is against the labour movement.”
Douglas said the association had demanded that the company reverse its decision or face an industrial action.
Men of the Ogun State Police Command have arrested a former security guard at the Grace Nations Church, aka Liberation City, Mela Samaila, for allegedly breaking into the church auditorium.
Samaila, who reportedly stole the offering box containing an undisclosed amount of money, was arrested shortly after he broke into the church located at Ojodu Abiodun in the Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, disclosed these on Thursday in a statement.
Oyeyemi said the suspect was arrested following a distress call received by the police at the Ojodu Abiodun divisional headquarters from security men on duty at the church.
He said the suspect broke into the church around 4am on Thursday.
According to him, the guards told the police that a thief scaled the fence of the church, broke into the main auditorium and made away with the church’s offering box.
He said, “Upon the distress call, the DPO Ojodu Abiodun division, CSP Eyitayo Akinluwade, quickly mobilised his patrol team to the scene, combed the area and succeeded in arresting the suspect with the help of the security men of the church and the offering box was recovered from him.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect was once a security man in the church, but was relieved of his duty due to some untoward behaviour.”
The PPRO said the state Commissioner of Police, Edward Ajogun, had directed that the suspect be charged to court.
A Baghdad court has issued an arrest warrant for US President Donald Trump as part of its investigation into the killing of top Iraqi paramilitary commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis last year.
Al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of the Popular Mobilisation Forces in Iraq, was killed in the same US drone strike as top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani near Baghdad airport on January 3, 2020.
The attack on their motorcade was ordered by Trump, who later boasted it had taken out “two for the price of one”.
The UN special rapporteur for extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Agnes Callamard, has described the twin killings as “arbitrary” and “illegal”.
The court for east Baghdad issued the warrant for Trump’s arrest under Article 406 of the penal code, which provides for the death penalty in all cases of premeditated murder, the judiciary said.
The court said “the warrant was made after the judge recorded the statements of the personal claimants from the family of Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis”.
It added the preliminary inquiry had been completed but “investigations are continuing in order to unmask the other culprits in this crime, be they Iraqis or foreigners”.
In the run-up to Sunday’s anniversary of the killings, pro-Iran factions stepped up their rhetoric against Washington and Iraqi officials deemed to have colluded with it.
Comedian Oluwadamilola Adekoya popularly known as Princess, has said her marriage was never meant to happen it it's the reason it lasted for just two weeks.
Princess made this known today, January 7, on TVC where she was a guest.
Princess and actor/movie producer, Jeremiah Adeshola tied the knot in 2013 and the marriage lasted for just two weeks.
Princess and Adeshola held a quiet wedding at the Federal Marriage Registry in Ikoyi, Lagos, on May 8, 2013, followed by a lavish ceremony held at Balmoral Events Centre, Oregun, Lagos.
On the show, Princess said she blames herself for the failure of the marriage because it shouldn't have happened in the first place.
I take the blame for the failure because it shouldn't have happened. I was stupid, plain and simple.''
You know I am a romantic. Love is not enough. A counsellor said to us it is better to have a broken engagement than to have a broken marriage. Automatically I said we have given out IVs..How are we going to do that?
When it happened, the first thought that came to my head was that we should have just cancelled since that was my birthday'' she said.
She also explained she stayed down for so long after her marriage crashed and it was especially hard for her because she also lost a baby in the process. She said she was so sad that she even prayed for an accident to happen that will claim her life.
She appealed to anyone going through a rough time to stand back fast.
Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday the social media giant is banning President Trump indefinitely, marking a dramatic escalation of the conflict between Silicon Valley and the White House after Trump weaponized the web to help stoke a riot at the U.S. Capitol.
“We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great,” Zuckerberg wrote. “Therefore, we are extending the block we have placed on his Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete.”
Facebook’s suspension marked the most aggressive penalty that any social media company has meted out to Trump over his four-year term, a period in which he has repeatedly peddled falsehoods, attacked critics and spread divisive rhetoric online. Twitter on Wednesday evening also suspended Trump for 12 hours for the first time, but the company’s blockade lifted Thursday morning and the president had not yet tweeted.
The tech giants each took the rare aggressive steps after a violent mob stormed the House and Senate Wednesday, forcing lawmakers into a lockdown and briefly interrupting their formal process to certify Joseph Biden as the next president of the United States. In failing to act until after the deadly riot occurred, Facebook, Twitter and Google-owned YouTube have faced sharp criticism saying they should have done more, and sooner, to stop Trump from helping provoke the situation.
“While I’m pleased to see social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube take long-belated steps to address the President’s sustained misuse of their platforms to sow discord and violence, these isolated actions are both too late and not nearly enough,” said Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), in a statement. “Disinformation and extremism researchers have for years pointed to broader network-based exploitation of these platforms.”
A UK-based pastor has been accused of assaulting his wife and abandoning their 4 children to travel to Nigeria to take a new wife.
Rev. Prince Dom Odoemena was ordained a pastor in the Anglican Diocese of Orlu Imo state, and now works as an Assistant Curate at Emmanuel Church in Forest Gate, East London, and the Vocations Officer (vocations Enabler ) with the Church of England.
Odoemena and his wife, Genevieve both from Imo state, have been married for 10 years.
They live in the UK with their 4 children.
According to reports, Odoemena assaulted his wife leaving her with a bump on her head and blood oozing from her lower lip. The report also says during their 10-year marriage, his family have also one way or the other abused Genevieve.
Rev. Prince Odoemena is now married to someone else despite still legally married to his first wife. The marriage reportedly took place this month.
In order to justify his actions, he allegedly told everyone that his wife Genevieve has been cheating on him. He also allegedly falsely claimed he's been financially responsible for her and their kids even though he's left no longer with her.
The report further alleged that Genevieve was the one who helped Prince Odoemena to get a British citizenship and supported him through his studies before he finally got established in the UK.
A letter addressed to the Church of England to report the actions of Odoemena to the Church is currently making the rounds on social media.
Members of staff of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) in Lagos State have gone on strike.
The NIMC office located on the premises of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) office in Alausa, this morning were also not functioning.
While hundreds of residents were seen as early as 8am, NIMC workers there said they had downed tools.
Below is also a statement to that effect.... Oppor o!!!
Ahead of the January 16 local government polls in Kano State, the state’s Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC) on Wednesday said it disqualified six candidates over their failure to pass its drug test.
Daily Trust reports that KAINSEC said it introduced the compulsory drug test for all candidates vying for Chairmanship and Councillorship positions in the forthcoming local government elections because of the prevalence of drug abuse in the state.
The Chairman of the commission, Professor Garba Ibrahim Sheka, who confirmed this while speaking to Daily Trust on his commission’s preparations for the election, said they have detected six drug addicts among the candidates.
He said, “After the compulsory drug test run by National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on on all the candidates vying for the 44 Chairmen and 484 Councillors, six candidates have been confirmed drug addicts and were disqualified from the race.
“All the confirmed addicts were contesting for councillorship slots. None is going for chairmanship.
“Their parties are lucky to have this week as a window period for them to substitute their replacements as we won’t allow any of them to contest,” Sheka said.
An unknown Nigerian mother has dumped her newborn baby at a refuse dump in Ebonyi State.
According to reports, the baby was said to be found in a sack on Wednesday at Igweogbuofia Street, Kpirikpiri in Abakaliki metropolis of the state.
Speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abakaliki, an eye witness, Mrs Chinwe Madu, claimed that the act was not committed in the area.Mrs Chinwe insisted that the mother of the child must have committed the act somewhere and dumped the body in the street to avoid being identified.
“This evil was not committed in this area rather the perpetrator chose to dump the baby’s body here to cover up his or her act,” Madu said.
In reaction to the development, the Environmental Health Officer, State Ministry of Environment, Mr Sunday Nwonu, said that the ministry would collaborate with the Police Command to evacuate the body of the newborn.
Nollywood actress, Sola Kosoko- Abina is a year older today.
To celebrate herself, the actress shared beautiful new photos of herself on Instagram.
Captioning one of the photos, she wrote;
''I want to seize this opportunity to thank God for the gift of life, for His protection, for His special grace, for His faithfulness, for His unfailing love, for the peace of mind He has given me and for adding another beautiful year to my amazing age. Glory be to God in the highest. My sweet God, may your name be thy exalted
A violent mob loyal to President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday and forced lawmakers into hiding, in a stunning attempt to overturn America’s presidential election, undercut the nation’s democracy and keep Democrat Joe Biden from replacing Trump in the White House.
The nation’s elected representatives scrambled to crouch under desks and don gas marks, while police futilely tried to barricade the building, one of the most jarring scenes ever to unfold in a seat of American political power.
A woman was shot and killed inside the Capitol, and Washington’s mayor instituted an evening curfew in an attempt to contain the violence.
The rioters were egged on by Trump, who has spent weeks falsely attacking the integrity of the election and had urged his supporters to descend on Washington to protest Congress’ formal approval of Biden’s victory. Some Republican lawmakers were in the midst of raising objections to the results on his behalf when the proceedings were abruptly halted by the mob.
Together, the protests and the GOP election objections amounted to an almost unthinkable challenge to American democracy and exposed the depths of the divisions that have coursed through the country during Trump’s four years in office. Though the efforts to block Biden from being sworn in on Jan. 20 were sure to fail, the support Trump has received for his efforts to overturn the election results have badly strained the nation’s democratic guardrails.
Kwara State Police command has arrested a 24-year-old Medinat Ibrahim, who allegedly faked her own kidnapping in connivance with two other persons.
Parading the three suspects in Ilorin on Wednesday, the state Commissioner of Police, Muhammed Bagega, represented by the command’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ajayi Okasanmi, said that Medinat conspired with her older sister, Amudalat Wahab and one Hammed Lekan to arrange her kidnap.
The Police commissioner, who said that one Nurudeen Sholagberu reported the kidnap of Medinat at Oko-Olowo area of Ilorin through the command’s emergency telephone line, added that a bank account, belonging to one Hammed Lekan, was used to cash the ransom of N250,000.
The Commissioner noted that during interrogation the said Medinat Ibrahim confessed to having faked her own kidnap to enable her to get money from her father.
During an interview by journalists, Medinat said she decided to fake her own kidnap to enable her to get money to offset debts she incurred during COVID-19 lockdown.
She said her business had collapsed, adding that the private school, where she taught as a teacher, had not paid her salary for several months.
Medinat Ibrahim also attributed her predicament to the maltreatment she received from her stepmother since she lost her mother.
“On 02/01/2021, at about 1750hrs, an information was received from one Nurudeen Solagberu ‘m’ of Oko-Olowo area Ilorin through the Command’s emergency telephone line to the effect that, one Ibrahim Medinat ‘f’ of Olude Oke-Fomo area Ilorin was kidnapped by unknown persons. On the strength of the information, the complainant was directed to make a formal report at Oloje Police Division that has jurisdiction over the area.
“Preliminary investigation revealed a conspiracy theory, hence the Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Lawal Bagega, psc, directed the newly constituted state anti-kidnapping to take over the investigation.
“It was, however, revealed in the course of an investigation that the said Medinat Ibrahim ‘f’ conspired with one Amudalat Wahab ‘f’ her older sister to arrange for her kidnap and a GTB bank account No. 0116404467 belonging to one Hammed Lekan ‘m’ was used to cash the ransom of ₦250,000.00 from the father of Medinat Ibrahim.
“The suspect later confessed that she needed money for something hence she devised the fake kidnap. All the suspects have been arrested, exhibit recovered and a case under investigation.
“In line with the Commissioner of Police stand, that is not going to be business as usual, criminal are warned for the umpteenth time to pack their loads and relocate from Kwara as the command will stop at nothing to deal with any criminal arrested no matter how highly or lowly placed”, he said.
The Kano State Hisbah Board has arrested 53 teenagers over alleged involvement in immoral acts in Kano City.
Malam Lawal Ibrahim, the board’s Public Relations Officer, who disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday in Kano, said they were arrested on a tip-off.
According to him, the suspects were apprehended on Tuesday night at Lamido Crescent in Nassarawa Local Government Area of the state for selling hard drugs and intoxicants.
“The suspects comprise 27 males and 26 females, all of whom are between the ages of 17 and 19.
“Our men went there around 10.00 pm and arrested 53 suspects,” he said.
Ibrahim, who added that the suspects were screened correctly, said, “We found out that all of them were first-time offenders. They were counselled and handed over to their parents.”
He said the Commander-General of the board, Harun Ibn-Sina, had warned youths in the state to desist from wayward lifestyle and be good citizens.
The Federal Government will need about N2.44tn for the vaccination of 164.8 million Nigerians, who will not have access to free vaccines the country is expecting from the international community.
Currently, coronavirus vaccines available globally include those discovered by Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Oxford and Novavax.
Recall that the Executive Director of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Faisal Shuaib, at a press conference of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Abuja on Tuesday, said 100,000 doses of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine would be received by the country at the end of this month.
He also said Nigeria would secure free delivery of 42 million doses of vaccines, which would be a combination of all the available and approved vaccines currently in the market.
According to him, the 42 million doses of the vaccines will only cover 20 per cent of the country’s population, which the National Population Commission, recently put at 206 million.
Shuaib added that the NPHCDA, the PTF and the Federal Ministry of Health were working on financial requirements for procuring more vaccines.
He, however, said the country needed to cover only 70 per cent of its population with vaccination to battle the virus.
But based on his statement that the 42 million doses of vaccines, which Nigeria would get free of charge, would cover 20 per cent of Nigeria’s population, it means 41.2 million Nigerians would vaccinated against COVID-19, leaving 164.8 million others unprotected.
Although there are various vaccines, www.healthline.com states that Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine costs $19.5 per dose ( $39 per two doses).
The United States’ Food and Drug Administration Agency had last month said Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is administered as a two-dose series, three weeks apart.
Based on the two-dose requirement for each of the 164.8 million Nigerians, it means the country will need $6.43bn or N2.44tn (using CBN official exchange rate of N379/$1) to procure the vaccine for them.
A professor of virologist, Oyewale Tomori, in an interview with The PUNCH on Wednesday, gave the costs of other vaccines
According to him, Moderna vaccine is between $10 and $50, Johnson & Johnson, $10 and Oxford, $3 to $4 per dose.
He, however, advised the Federal Government to not procure vaccines that the country lacked the facility to store.
Tomori said procuring a vaccine that would be difficult to store in Nigeria would be like adding to the problem of the pandemic in the country.
He said, “There are three or four different types of vaccines at the moment; there is the one from Pfizer that must be stored at -70°C; Moderna vaccine must be stored at -20°C and there are others that can be stored at fridge temperature.”
Donald Trump's Twitter and Facebook accounts have been suspended after he published posts deemed to incite violence amid the deadly Capitol riots.
The US President's Twitter account is locked for 12 hours and the social media platform told him to remove three posts related to the unrest.
It also threatened to permanently ban the Republican leader if there are any future violations.
Facebook then followed suit, locking the President from posting for 24 hours, citing "two policy violations".
It came after the billionaire businessman turned politician posted a series of mixed messages as supporters stormed the US Capitol building on Wednesday evening - with one woman shot dead.
His final tweet falsely claimed his "landslide victory" over Democratic rival Joe Biden had been "unceremoniously & viciously stripped away".
In reality, Biden won the Electoral College while gaining seven million more votes than Trump on his way to receiving the most ballots of any US President-elect ever.
