COVID-19: Nigeria records 1,430 new infections

 

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), has reported 1,430 new coronavirus infections in the country.

The health agency disclosed this via its verified Twitter account on Monday night.

The centre also confirmed the nation’s death toll now stands at 1,507.

The NCDC stated that so far, 98,359 patients have been discharged from treatment centers across the country after showing full recovery from the virus.

It disclosed that Lagos recorded the highest toll with 744 cases, followed by Plateau 100.

NCDC tweeted, 1,430 new cases of COVID-19 in Nigeria:

Lagos-744
Plateau-100
Oyo-77
FCT-75
Nasarawa-74
Katsina-48
Edo-42
Kano-41
Enugu-37
Rivers-34
Ogun-33
Kwara-32
Niger-28
Ebonyi-27
Kaduna-26
Borno-12
Yobe-10
Ekiti-5
Gombe-1

“112,996 confirmed
98,359 discharged
1,507 deaths.”

- DAILY POST

Chelsea sack Frank Lampard after 18 months in charge

 

Chelsea Football Club have announced the dismissal of Frank Lampard after 18 months as head coach.

The London-based football team broke the news in a statement on Monday. It added that the decision became necessary to give the “club time to improve performances and results this season.”

Lampard was sacked barely a few hours after the Blues defeated Luton Town 3-1 in the FA Cup fourth round. The result was, however, not enough for the former English midfielder to keep his job.

“Chelsea Football Club have today parted company with Head Coach Frank Lampard,” the statement read.

“This has been a very difficult decision, and not one that the owner and the Board have taken lightly.

“We are grateful to Frank for what he has achieved in his time as Head Coach of the Club. However, recent results and performances have not met the Club’s expectations, leaving the Club mid-table without any clear path to sustained improvement.

“There can never be a good time to part ways with a club legend such as Frank, but after lengthy deliberation and consideration it was decided a change is needed now to give the Club time to improve performances and results this season.”

The former Derby County manager was appointed head coach at Stamford Bridge in July 2019. During his first season, he guided the club to Champions League qualification and the FA Cup final.

He was thereafter given the necessary backing by Roman Abramovich, the club’s owner, in the summer transfer market as Chelsea spent more than £200m on seven new signings, including Kai Havertz and Timo Werner.

Chelsea have flattered to deceive in recent weeks after embarking on a 17-game unbeaten run in all competitions earlier this season.

Commenting on Lampard’s dismissal, Abramovich said the decision was very difficult and that the 42-year-old will always remain an important icon at the club.

“This was a very difficult decision for the Club, not least because I have an excellent personal relationship with Frank and I have the utmost respect for him,” he said.

“He is a man of great integrity and has the highest of work ethics. However, under current circumstances, we believe it is best to change managers.

“On behalf of everyone at the Club, the Board and personally, I would like to thank Frank for his work as Head Coach and wish him every success in the future. He is an important icon of this great club and his status here remains undiminished. He will always be warmly welcomed back at Stamford Bridge.”

- THECABLE

Insecurity: Lai Mohammed minister of misinformation, Buhari govt has failed – Fayose

 

Ayodele Fayose, former Ekiti State Governor, has rebuked Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and culture over his remark on Nigeria’s security situation.

Fayose described as “evil” Mohammed’s comparison of insecurity now and what was obtainable in 2015.

Speaking yesterday, the Minister had boasted that the security situation in Nigeria had improved under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari than what it met in 2015.

Faulting Mohammed’s remark, Fayose lamented that the All Progressives Congress, APC, government had failed to protect Nigerians.

In a series of tweets, the former governor wrote: “As Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed has lost his moral obligation to Nigeria and its people. He is no doubt a Minister of Misinformation. He is not only a lying Mohammed, he is evil Mohammed.

“At 69 years, it is a shame that he carries evil in his brain and vomit evil words through his septic-tank-like-mouth. It is a regret that at 69, that Evil Mohammed can open his mouth to defend insecurity in the country, comparing the situation now with what was obtainable in 2015.

“Unfortunately, this present APC govt has failed to secure Nigerians, with Aso Rock Villa fast becoming the only secured place in the country.

“Nigerians are not interested in comparing what happened before 2015 with what is happening now. Rather, they are interested in a secured country where they can carry out their daily activities without fear of being killed or kidnapped.”

- DAILY POST

Sunday Igboho speaks on his razed house

 Sunday Igboho has reacted to the fire that gutted his old house in Ibadan early today, saying he was not going to blame anyone, until an investigation has been concluded.

Igboho said he was not in a hurry to blame any individual or group for the suspected arson.

He said he would allow authorities to conduct investigation into the incident.

“I cannot blame anyone right now for the attack, not even Fulani people,” he said by telephone hours after the attack.

“We have to thank God that nobody was killed, it is more important,” he told the Peoples Gazette.

Igboho’s property in Soka, Ibadan was gutted by fire at about 3am today.

He said he moved out of the property about a year ago to a new property also in Soka.

Igboho, real name Sunday Adeyemo, zoomed to national attention after he gave a quit notice to Fulani herdsmen in Igangan, Ibarapa.

The notice followed a series of kidnapping and killing linked to the herdsmen.

Governor Seyi Makinde ordered his arrest.

A spokesman of President Buhari said the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has also ordered his arrest.

The arrest threat, so far, has not been carried out, even after Adeyemo met with the new police commissioner in Oyo State, Ngozi Onadeko.

- PM NEWS

‘You are a liar’ — Sunday Igboho blasts Ojudu

 

Sunday Adeyemo, a youth leader better known as Sunday Igboho, has described Babafemi Ojudu, a presidential aide, as a liar.

Speaking with TheCable and some other news outlets at his residence in Ibadan, Oyo state capital, on Tuesday morning, Igboho said he never had any meeting with Ojudu over the 2009 rerun election in Ekiti state.

In a piece, Ojudu had said he and Bola Tinubu, a national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), met with Igboho ahead of the rerun election.

The presidential aide also said Igboho agreed to meet with them on the condition that Lamidi Adedibu, the strongman of Ibadan politics, who is now late, must not know about the meeting.

But Igboho wondered how Adedibu, who died in 2008, could be an issue in an election which held in 2009.

He also said aside Lam Adesina and Rasheed Ladoja, former governors of Oyo state, he did not associate with other politicians in the state.

- THECABLE

Abuja under siege by bandits as DSS, army hunt agitators in South-east

 

By Fredrick Nwabufo

Abuja is under siege. Terror lives and breathes here. Citizens are kidnapped every day from their homes but sadly, some of these tragedies escape outrage and alarm. There is a false sense of security in the federal capital territory (FCT) – the flawed assumption of safety – which has enabled the atrocities of bandits in the nation’s capital to persist without hysteria.

Security agencies – all with headquarters in Abuja – get away with non-performance as regards the FCT largely because of this false sense of security by residents. No one calls them out. Kidnappings happen and everyone carries on in the invalid hope that banditry cannot get much worse in the FCT. But these bandits have become bolder and more daring. They are inching into the heart of the city. Must we wait until Abuja and its orbiting communities become another Sambisa before the security agencies act?

As a matter of fact, these criminal onslaughts have been happening on the fringes of the city. But owing to a lack of response by security agencies; they have now metastasised like end-stage cancer. Abuja appears to be encircled by deadly outlaws who do not only steal but also extract blood from their victims to quench their vampiric thirst.

These abnormalities – banditry, kidnapping and armed robbery – have become a daily normal; more like the quotidian corollaries of city life. No one knows who the next victim will be. We are all like sitting ducks waiting for certain blitz. Abuja has never been this unsafe. The occurrences sound bizarre. Really, it is unsettling this is happening in the FCT. Bandits would go as far as Kubwa break into the house of their victim in the dead of night, kidnap them; march them all the way into the forest and demand ransom.

Some months ago, these brigands besieged the inner road of Life Camp – at the centre of Abuja! They shot at commuters and kidnapped some persons. And just a few days ago, the freebooters reigned unchecked for about three hours in an operation at Ushafa, Usman Dam area. They kidnapped at least two persons in that raid.

Last Saturday, the marauders attacked an orphanage in the nation’s capital in the cover of darkness, kidnapping seven children – all orphans. Such a painful tragedy. Who kidnaps orphans – who have no mother or father and who are all alone in this cruel world? I cannot imagine how traumatised those kids will be – the torture and the agony! And this is all because of a failed government. Yet again, no alarm, no outrage – because it happened in the FCT ‘’and all is well.’’

Last Friday, Abdullahi Sule, governor of Nasarawa, met with President Buhari. The distraught governor let out a bellow over Boko Haram’s incursion in his state. He said the terrorists were camping in Nasarawa, and that the group was using his state as a springboard to launch attacks. Nasarawa is the closest state to Abuja. In fact, much of Abuja is in Nasarawa and much of Nasarawa is in Abuja. That is how contiguous the two areas are. So, if terrorists are in Nasarawa, they are already at Abuja’s doors.

But what are the security agencies doing? Why did we allow things to deteriorate this far? Really, what is happening in the FCT calls for drastic measures. It is an emergency. Abuja is under siege. Why is the DSS which is dutiful in clamping down on protesters and agitators not alive in tackling the menace of banditry in the FCT? Why are the army and the police going after agitators in the south-east not as potent in dealing with bandits in Abuja? What is going on?

The south-east is reputed to be the most peaceful and safest region in Nigeria. In fact, it is rated to be the safest place to live in — in all of Nigeria — by the United Nations. But it is the same region that is being garrisoned by the military, the police and the DSS. Why the fixation on the south-east?

On Monday, there was a reported collision between soldiers and some agitators in Orlu, Imo state. The facts of the brush are still inchoate so I will refrain from passing judgment. But the loss of lives and property to violence stands condemned. However, I must say, the south-east has always been treated as a region that is at war – while it is not – by the Buhari administration. Security checkpoints everywhere; this is provocative. While in the suburbs of the FCT where there are enduring criminal attacks there is no security presence. What is really going on?

The security agencies should refocus their energy where it is exigently needed. Abuja is under siege.

*Fredrick Nwabufo is a writer and journalist. Twitter @FredrickNwabufo

Nnamdi Kanu releases names of 62 prominent Nigerians ‘responsible for Nigeria’s current woes’

 Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has released a list of 62 prominent Nigerians to be blamed for the current state of the nation.

He made the claim in a post on his Facebook page.

“Let us not forget former US President Barrack Obama and former UK Prime Minister David Cameron and all members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God,” Kanu’s Facebook post read.

According to him, those people take the full responsibility of what Nigeria has turned into today, owing to the roles they played in kicking out former President Goodluck Jonathan and installing President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015.

Top on Kanu’s 62-man list are: Former Minister of Education, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili; former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar; Publisher of SaharaReporters, Omoyele Sowore; Rev. Father Ejike Mbaka of the Adoration Ministries, Enugu, and former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The IPOB leader said that those whose villages, cities, or town are currently under siege by Fulani herdsmen should hold these people responsible.

His list also has the likes of Fela Durotoye, Donald Duke, Professor Charles Soludo, Pastor Tunde Bakare, Pastor Sunday Adelaja, Professor Yemi Osibanjo, Professor Tam David West, Professor Wole Soyinka, Rev. Chris Okotie, Professor Pat Utomi and Nasir El-Rufai.

Others in his list include, Dino Melaye, former Senator, Lai Mohammed, Rochas Okorocha, Rotimi Amaechi, Adams Oshiomhole, Dr. Bukola Saraki, Aminu Tambuwal, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Raji Fashola, Dr. Chris Ngige, Rabiu Kwankwaso, Ibikunle Amosun, Rauf Aregbesola, Kayode Fayemi, Sanusi Lamido, Deacon Femi Adesina, Pastor E.A Adeboye, Pastor W.F Kumuyi, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, Kenny Ogungbe, Dato Adeneye, Magnus Abbey, and former Rivers State governorship aspirant, Dakuku Peterside.

Also in the list are Nigerian musician, 9ice, Kenny St. Ogungbe Brown, Tunde Disu, John Momoh, Maupe Ogun, Chamberlain Usoh, Suleiman Aleide, Monday Onyekachi Ubani, Iffy Ubani, Labourous Osuoma, Citizen Useni Jones (Radio continental 102.3FM), Joe Igbokwe, Dele Momodu, Abike Dabiri,
Professor Attahiru Muhammadu Jega, Muazu, Emeka Ojukwu Jnr., Timpre Silva etc., Victor Umeh, Wasiu Ayinde (Kwam 1), T.Y Danjuma, Lauretta Onochie and actor, Jide Kosoko.

Continuing, Kanu said, “These people went to school [they claim they are educated], many if them are professors. Some claimed to have direct access to God. Some are gifted with ‘prophesies.’

“They read history. They understood international relations. They understood how societies work or so we thought.

“They were more than 20 years old in 1983 when Buhari shot himself to power. They saw Buhari destroy the economy in 1983. They saw the role Buhari played in Abacha’s government.

“They read all the threats of violence by Buhari against the nation. They saw Buhari harass Lam Adesina the Oyo State Governor due to Fulani herdsmen conflicts with locals in Oyo State.

“They saw Buhari lead the sharia protest that claimed the lives of innocent Nigerians in 2001.

“They saw Buhari and his minions open the gate of hell on innocent Nigerians when he lost the presidential election in 2011.

“If Buhari was not speaking and defending his Fulani heritage he would be fighting to defend his religious heritage.

“Never for once did he defend Nigeria or gave interview on how to rebuild the economy, education, power, health, etc.

“They saw everything this man did. They knew him too well to miss the little details of his violent life.

“But they were united in hatred.

“Hatred for Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. One among the few Nigeria leaders that actually wanted Nigeria to work.

“Hatred became a unifying force to push forward a false narrative. They exploited his humility. They exploited his kindness.They exploited his humanity

“They danced and made merry in Ojota. They ate, drank and danced away the destiny of a nation.

“Saints Tinubu, Amaechi, Fashola etc led the chorus against ‘corrupt’ Goodluck Jonathan.

“Tinubu a private jet owner and owner of Lagos, Amaechi a private jet owner and funder of Buhari campaign, Atiku a University owner paid with his civil service allowance etc wanted ‘corrupt’ Goodluck Jonathan out.

“But the people did not see the moral paradox because you see – hate is a unifying factor.

“They mobilised thugs to stone a sitting President.They harassed his family wherever they went. Because they are from the hated minority who must NOT be king.

“For Kings must come from the Fulani lineage. Jonathan is Ijaw. Ijaws should not be Kings. Jonathan must not loot also. For looters must come from enablers of evil.

“These are intellectuals. Amongst whom are Pastors and Prophets. Wisdom failed. Prophesies failed.

“WAEC issued a fake WAEC attestation to Buhari. It is possible many Nigerian ‘intellectuals’ are working with fake certificates.”

Fulani herdsmen have on many occasions been accused of causing crisis in their host communities in the country.

For instance, following the high rate of criminalities which come in form of kidnappings, raping of women and killings allegedly committed by the herdsmen hiding in forests across Ondo State, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu had recently given herdsmen a seven-day ultimatum to vacate the areas.

Also a Yoruba activist, Sunday Igboho had issued ultimatum to Fulani in Igangan, a town in Ibarapa North Local Government of Oyo State.

He vowed that Fulani herdsmen must be chased out of Yoruba land.

And a week later, he made good his threat when he and his supporters stormed the area, insisting that the Fulani must leave the town.

- DAILY POST