FG: We don’t have resources to bring back all the Nigerians seeking to return home over COVID-19

Geoffrey Onyeama, minister of foreign affairs, says it is regretful that the federal government cannot bring back all the Nigerians willing to come back to the country over coronavirus.

Speaking at the daily briefing of the presidential task force on COVID-19 in Abuja on Wednesday, Onyeama said the priority of the government now is to bring back some students stuck in Khartoum, Sudan.

The minister said the government had to “bend over backwards” to put in place a plan to get them out of the country.

“The financial aspect of this is one that we are very mindful of. We have some students who are stuck in Khartoum in Sudan, we have to bend over backwards because they are our young children to find the resources to pay for their return and also pay for their two-week isolation but unfortunately for all the others, we just don’t have the financial resources,” he said.

“As you can see, the huge amounts of money we have to pay for the challenge, so unfortunately, it is a source of great regret for the government that we are not in a position to pay – we will be more than happy to pay for everyone free of charge, to pay for their stay in isolation centre for two weeks but the reality is that we don’t just – and that’s the situation for now.”

He added that there are not enough facilities for Nigerians willing to come back home.

“We took medical advice and we asked the medical people what was possible and the figure we were given was 200 in Lagos and 200 in Abuja,” he said.

“This is much less than the numbers waiting to come back. We are just constrained by the facilities that are available.

“Unfortunately, we have internal challenges, as you can see the figures are going up all the time and we have a great responsibility to show that these facilities are also there to deal with the immediate challenges.”

- THECABLE

Yobo names best Super Eagles team-mate

Former Super Eagles captain, Joseph Yobo, has named Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha, as the best team-mate he had in the national team.

Yobo, who burst onto the scene early, played with different generations of Nigerian players.

His first major tournament was the 2002 Africa Cup of Nations, where he lined up along with Okocha, Finidi George, Sunday Oliseh and Kanu Nwankwo.

Yobo was also part of the squad that had John Mikel Obi and Victor Moses and won the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.

“I was blessed and privileged to play with the older ones, the golden generation of Sunday Oliseh and Finidi George, and everybody that was in that set up, in the 2002 Nations Cup.

“But unfortunately they couldn’t make it to the World Cup, so there was a missing link.

“Overall one player that was very key and I still think is irreplaceable in the team with his quality is Jay-Jay Okocha because he’s a playmaker. He’s somebody that on his good day can win you a game on his own.

“As my teammate, the things that I saw him do in training, some people didn’t see that in the game, he’s unique, he’s phenomenal,” Yobo told Nigeria Info FM Port Harcourt.

- DAILY POST

COVID-19: Lagos Bishop, two others docked for violating lockdown order

The General Overseer, Resurrection Praise Ministries for Africa, Bishop Samson Benjamin, was on Wednesday charged with violating the Presidential Lockdown Order before an Igbosere Magistrates’ Court.

Benjamin was arrested on Tuesday in front of the Chinese Embassy in Lagos, where he allegedly led some unspecified number of people to protest the alleged mistreatment of Nigerians in China,” NAN reports.

He was arraigned alongside Jerry Abel and Samson Mustapha on a three-count charge of violating the ‘stay-at-home’ order and conduct likely to cause a breach of peace.

Benjamin had said the Chinese were operating freely in Nigeria even though COVID-19 started in their country but chose to mistreat Nigerians and other blacks resident in China.

Officials of the Chinese Embassy supposedly sent a video clip of the alleged invasion to the police, which prompted the arrest of the defendants by officers of the Victoria Island Division of the Nigeria Police.

The defendants were afterward taken to the Force Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Panti, Yaba Lagos.

During proceedings on Wednesday, Dr. Jide Martins, a Director in the Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecution, told the court that the defendants had on April 21, led a protest to the Chinese Embassy located at No. 161A, Idejo St., Victoria Island Lagos.

Martins said the defendants’ actions contravened the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Regulation and are punishable under Section 5 Quarantine Act and Section 122 of the Criminal Law of Lagos, 2015.

“The defendants’ conduct was also likely to cause a breach of the peace which violates Section 168 of the Criminal Law of Lagos 2015.”

The Magistrate, Mrs. Yewande Oshin, granted Abel and Mustapha bail in the sum of N500,000 each with two sureties each in like sum, while Benjamin was granted N1million bail with two sureties in like sum.

Oshin also ordered that one of the sureties must be a cleric of a church with a minimum of three branches.

She adjourned the case until May 5, for mention.

Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 cases in Lagos has increased to 438, according to NCDC.

- DAILY POST

COVID-19: NLC writes Buhari on extension of lockdown

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has warned President Muhammadu Buhari against extension of lockdown despite increase in cases of Coronavirus in the country.

NLC in a letter signed by its President, Mr. Ayuba Wabba, said there would likely be social unrest if the current lockdown imposed on some states is extended.

Wabba urged Buhari to consider the welfare of Nigerians, as well as insecurity before making any decision.

NLC warned that Nigeria’s economy might relapse into prolonged coma if the lockdown is extended beyond April 27.

The letter read in part: “While we understand the public health imperatives for extending the lockdown in some parts of the country, it is also very important to underscore the fact that the states currently under total lockdown are the economic and administrative nerve centres of Nigeria.

“This is very dicey. As much as it is important to keep many Nigerians from dying in the hands of coronavirus, loss of income and the accompanying destitution can also be a pathfinder for numerous other sicknesses and deaths. This is the time to play the balancing game.

“The prolonged lockdowns are best effective in the short-term, while with the medium to long-term, the human instinct to survive would kick in and restraint might lead to the collapse of law and order.

“No one is sure how long this dam would hold. We fear that the situation will get out of hand if the lockdown exceeds one month.

“Beyond the threat of COVID-19 to health and life, there are also very real threats to livelihood.

“Jobs are under threat. Many employees are finding it difficult to source money to keep workers at work and sustain the production lines. It has been projected that the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 would ripple on, at least, for the next two years.”

- DAILY POST

Coronavirus is here to stay, may become airborne disease – Primate Ayodele

The Spiritual leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele, has declared that the dreaded novel Coronavirus disease is here to stay.

The COVID-19 which has since become a pandemic, started like a joke in the Chinese city of Wuhan, but has led to the death of over 170,000 people globally.
Nigeria has recorded 25 Coronavirus related deaths, with over 780 confirmed cases, while 192 persons have been discharged.

And Ayodele, in a series of prophecies he released to media houses, said the deadly disease is not ending soon.
According to him, “Coronavirus is here to stay. It is not going anytime soon.
“I see it becoming an airborne disease.

“WHO (World Health Organisation and United Nations need to look into this.
“Government should start doing things to make the economy look better. I see social distancing persisting till next year.
“COVID-19 will cause serious hunger in the world, especially Africa. There should be three days prayer to avert more COVID-19 deaths.”

- DAILY POST

More danger for Lagos: Coronavirus infections surpass 500

There is more danger in Lagos as the state’s Coronavirus infections hit 504, after 74 new cases on Wednesday.

The 74 new cases have been the highest the state has recorded.
On Sunday, the state recorded 70 cases and on Tuesday, it recorded 59 infections.

Lagos has discharged 107 Coronavirus survivors so far, but it keeps receiving more cases in extremely huge number, making a mockery of its discharge.

Active cases the state now has deal with is 379.
Total number of Coronavirus deaths in the state have been put at 16.
Right now, Lagos has more than half of the entire Coronavirus infections rate in the country.

Lagos-504
FCT-119
Kano-73
Ogun-24
Katsina-21
Osun-20
Oyo-17
Edo-17
Kwara-10
Kaduna-9
Akwa Ibom-9
Borno-9
Bauchi-8
Delta-6
Gombe-5
Ekiti-4
Ondo-3
Rivers-3
Jigawa-2
Enugu-2
Niger-2
Abia-2
Benue-1
Anambra-1
Sokoto-1
Adamawa-1

- PM NEWS

Another 91 new Coronavirus cases hit Nigeria

Another 91 new Coronavirus cases have hit Nigeria, taking the total figures to 873.

Of the 91 new cases, Lagos has a whopping 74 fresh infections, with Kaduna having five, Ogun, four; Delta, two; Edo, two; while Kwara, Oyo, Abuja and Adamawa have one each.

So far, 197 Coronavirus survivors have been discharged while the nation has recorded 28 deaths.

“91 new cases of #COVID19 have been reported; 74 in Lagos, 5 in Katsina. 4 in Ogun, 2 in Delta, 2 in Edo, 1 in Kwara, 1 in Oyo, 1 in FCT and 1 in Adamawa.

“As at 11:25 pm 22nd April there are 873 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria. Discharged: 197; Deaths: 28,” NCDC said on its twitter handle.

How States Stand

Lagos-504

FCT-119

Kano-73

Ogun-24

Katsina-21

Osun-20

Oyo-17

Edo-17

Kwara-10

Kaduna-9

Akwa Ibom-9

Borno-9

Bauchi-8

Delta-6

Gombe-5

Ekiti-4

Ondo-3

Rivers-3

Jigawa-2

Enugu-2

Niger-2

Abia-2

Benue-1

Anambra-1

Sokoto-1

Adamawa-1

- PM NEWS