Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Tuesday 3rd March 2020

Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Tuesday 3rd March 2020

Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 03/03/20

Samuel Ogundipe: The Bone Is Not Guilty When You Get Cut From Chewing It By Jonathan Abang-Ugbal

“Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.” – Thomas Jefferson.
The history of the press in Nigeria is one that can be incorporated as a course for study in the country’s tertiary institutions due to the fact that it has been hailed, abused, encouraged and oppressed by the clergy, nobility and commoners in all strata of the society.
The recent years when subjected to an analysis of what is taught in classrooms – the normative theories will definitely leave a journalism student scratching her or his scalp to answer.
This piece is not intended for that educational purpose, it is rather, an attempt by the writer to question the way of reasoning of not just public office holders in our beloved country, but, their enablers, apologists, supporters and whatever term is used to describe suit and agbada wearing sycophants who keep praising the woes that have befallen us and those that would betide.
My focus narrows to the recent happenings especially as it concerns Mr Samuel Ogundipe, a reporter with Premium Times.
I woke to reports that he has been marked to be the next star of the irregular but consistent series; “The Crime Called Journalism” with the regular producers remaining the federal government due to his decision to ‘obey the law’ and exercise a fundamental right enshrined in section 39 of the 1999 constitution of our dear federal republic (yes, as amended).
These laughable, despicable and heinous actions of public office holders which their mouthpiece, the government owned broadcaster reported was false should leave every Nigerian worried.
The attempts to liken his situation to that of Edward Snowden is a dangerous narrative we must nip at the bud. While Snowden had worked for the American government and leaked documents to Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras, Mr Ogundipe works for a private media outfit and reported on leaked documents. He is duty bound to protect his sources.
The Americans never laid siege on either Der Spiegel or the New York Times, the Central Intelligence Agency investigated and found the leaks were carried out by Snowden. But, in my dear country, a siege is laid on a media house, the editor’s residence is visited by strange looking fellows and a stake out is been done on the house of Mr Ogundipe. The government must be concerned about the security of these journalists!
It is disturbing that neither the contents of Mr Ogundipe reportage on the feud between the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, a former commander of the Guards Brigade and Chief of Defense intelligence with (like the military puts it) ‘a bloody civilian’ Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari have been denied nor have they generated a serious debate about those whom taxpaying Nigerians entrust governance and the security of lives and properties in their hands!
What is wrong with us?
The next reportage was on the decision of the Chief of Army Staff to transfer over two dozen top military personnel from the office or the national security adviser without replacements. Haba! We can’t pretend these actions are detrimental to the war against terrorism or is it insurgency? (whatever name it is called now), banditry, kidnapping, daredevil robberies; the list is endless. The impact of that on foreign direct investments, investors’ perception – you name it!
We cannot allow the question of whether Mr. Ogundipe broke the law or not to dominate public discourse. We should rather commend him for having the courage to go against all odds and report on such sensitive issues that affect the lives of every Nigerian and those resident in the country.
The actions of the law enforcement agencies are clearly deliberate acts by a privileged few to oppress, shrink the civic space and instil fear in the minds of journalists to desist from reporting on actions that beat suggest excesses of individuals who hide under the auspices of policies to achieve personal goals.
If the leaders are uncomfortable, they should not carry out acts that when reported, will go viral and are perceived negative. If that happens, they should take it in good faith and do the right thing instead of chasing after shadows.
The case of Mr Ogundipe is clear. The government chewed a bone and got cut, now it is accusing the bone of being guilty of assault.
It was Farida Waziri, a former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission who at a workshop in Kaduna in 2009 averred that: “Having dealt with many corruption cases, I am inclined to suggest that public officers should be subjected to some form of psychiatric evaluation to determine their suitability for public office.”
With the increasing attempts to gag the press, it is only fitting we ask whether the enablers, supporters and apologists of the government who have in the past 48 hours supported the siege on Premium Times and the attempt to bundle Mr Ogundipe into detention, have the mental ability to understand the issues at stake.
However they understand it, it should be noted also that, when a child stools consistently, the adult does not get mad and beats the child, but examines, treats and takes steps to prevent the stooling.
I will leave you with the words of Ahmet Sik, recipient of the 2014 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano world press freedom prize. He said, “To silence journalists is equivalent to silencing the people as a whole.”
Dear ‘Federal Government of Nigeria,’ journalism is not a crime; leave Samuel Ogundipe alone!
Jonathan Abang-Ugbal is a journalist and writes from Cross River State.
He tweets via @NaijaJonathan

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Groups Demand Dismissal Of FIIRO Ex-Chairman, Chima Igwe, Over Certificate Forgery, Lying Under Oath

The Academic Staff Union of Research Institution, Senior Staff Association of Universities Teaching Hospitals Research Institutes and Associated Institutions, and Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions of the Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi, Lagos, have called for the dismissal of Chima Igwe from public service over certificate forgery.
The groups, under the umbrella of Joint Action Committee, FIIRO branch, in a letter to the Committee on Establishment of FIIRO Board, stated that Igwe should be dismissed from service in line with the extant Public Service Rule and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The groups stated that the penalty for dismissal should apply as stated in PSR 030407, adding that dismissal as stipulated by the PSR is the only acceptable disciplinary action for serious misconduct.
“The ICPC report is a public document today and as at February 9, 2020, he did not possess a PhD. Subsequent upon that, he should be prosecuted for forgery as a crime against the state.
“He should be tried for forgery and impersonation referred to as gross misconduct according to PSR 030407.

Nigerian Institute Claims Discovery Of Drug For Coronavirus Treatment

The Bio-Resources Institute of Nigeria said it has come up with a drug for the possible treatment of Coronavirus.
This was revealed by Nigeria’s Minister of State for Science and Technology, Mohammed Abdullahi, who said that the discovery had been sent to the Special Committee on the Nigerian Academy of Sciences.
He said, “As part of the ongoing conversation on Coronavirus (COVID-19), the FMSTNG hosted Prof Maurice Iwu, who intimated us of his drug discovery project with a potential as a treatment agent for COVID-19.
“FMSTNG referred the discovery to its special committee set up to asses such claims.
“President of Nigerian Academy of Sciences will chair the special committee to verify these claims.”
The first case of Coronavirus outbreak in Nigeria was announced on Friday by the Ministry of Health.
The Italian, who brought in the virus to the country, has since been placed under strict observation in Lagos while all those that had contact with him have been quarantined.

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ICPC Arrests Two Sri-Lankans With Malaysian Passports At Abuja Airport

Officials of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission on Sunday arrested two Sri-Lankans at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, with Malaysian passports.
An airport official told SaharaReporters that it was the second time in 2020 that Sri-Lankans would be arrested for the same offence at the airport.
According to the source, the two suspects were with the Malaysian passports and equally holding one-way tickets to London Heathrow.
The suspects were identified as Vinith Ukantharaba with passport number A33807225 and Satithinyara Kantharasa with passport number A532343523.
It was however, gathered that the suspects connived with some officials of the Nigeria Immigration Service at the airport to travel out of the country with invalid documents.
The source gave the name of one of the alleged immigration officers arrested alongside the suspects as Babatunde Ahmed.
It was gathered that all suspects were still in detention of ICPC and were making confessional statements.
Efforts to get more information from the Public Relations Officer of NIS, Mr Sunday James, proved abortive as he didn’t respond to calls made to his phone by our correspondent.

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Bet Shop Owner Killed While Settling Brawl

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Sulaiman Olamilekan Bakare, a sports betting agent, has been killed after he was thrown from the top of a building in Lagos on Monday.
Bakare, according to eyewitnesses, was trying to settle a brawl between two of his customers when he was thrown from the balcony of the building.
The eyewitness, who asked not to be named, said that Bakare and a yet to be identified person, were thrown down from the balcony.
“Two people were fighting in front of Bakare’s shop. The shop is on the first floor of the building.
“Bakare went to settle the fight but unknown to him one of the two persons fighting came with some boys, four of them.
“The five boys threw him and the other person down from the balcony and they both landed on their backs, leaving them in critical conditions,” the witness said.
He added that both Bakare and the other victim were rushed to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital where the bet shop agent eventually died.
“He was rushed to Igando General Hospital but because of poor facilities, he was rejected and referred to LUTH.
“He was abandoned for over two hours unattended to before he gave up the ghost.
“We had to rush the second victim to Lagos State University Teaching Hospital.
“The police have arrested three of the persons involved while two others are on the run,” the eyewitness added.
The three arrested suspects are currently being detained and interrogated at Ayetoro Itele Police Station.

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Decongestion Of Correctional Centres: The Ogun Example By Ademola Orunbon

Prisons are public correctional institutions established by government where inmates — suspects and convicts — are detained. Concerned citizens observe that over the years, the situation in Nigerian prison cells across the country has become miserable where many inmates who are awaiting trial languish. They observe that some of the inmates have even spent more years in prison than the actual years required if they had been convicted. On Wednesday, August 19, 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari signed a bill into law. This bill is chiefly geared towards changing the name of the Nigeria Prisons Service into the Nigeria Correctional Service. This development is very significant given that it bothers on a salient aspect of social existence and intercourse: crime, as argued by many scholars, is an inevitable reality in the society. To put it differently, there is no crime-free society.
What is obtainable is that the rate of crime incidence could vary from one society to another. The correctional facilities play a vital role in determining this variance. There is consensus among criminologists that there are three important aspects of the criminal justice system. They are: the police, the trial court and the correctional home (see Dambazau’s “Criminology and Criminal Justice”). Thus, correction occupies an important place in crime discourses, specifically crime prevention and control. The prison is an aspect of correction. Correction is broader in that it goes beyond ostracizing the offender only as in the case of prison, it also sees to his rehabilitation, restitution and re-socialisation.
Therefore, the move to change the Nigeria Prisons Service to the Nigeria Correctional Service is indeed a commendable one; especially as it is against the background that there are many things wrong with the Nigeria Prisons Service. Moving forward, I dare say that the semantic transformation alone is not enough, there are more to do if truly rehabilitation and not punishment is the watchword here. Modern correctional facilities are fast leaving Nigeria’s behind given that no substantial restructuring has been accorded to it. This explains why the rate of criminal activities is high in Nigeria. In saner climes, prisons are for reformatory activities. But in Nigeria, prisons harden inmates the more due to the level of punishment meted to them. This is against the submission of Michael Foucault that discipline is not about capital punishment but ‘space’ which enhances reformation. Zaynab Aliyu who was accused of trafficking drug by the Saudi Arabia authority and therefore remanded was reported to have learnt pure Arabic and committed half of the Quran to heart during her sojourn in a Saudi dungeon.
This is a country where the prison system works. The opposite is the case in Nigeria, no value is added to offenders; rather they are devalued. Inmates are also human beings. By virtue of that, ‘some of their fundamental human rights’ should be well guaranteed. They should be given the freedom to study, learn vocational skills and advance personally. The Nigeria Prisons Service has failed the Nigerian society in its entirety. This is evident in the level of recidivism that stares most Nigerian prisons in the face. The chance at which ex-inmates would be re-admitted into the jail is very high. The Nigerian prison system breeds the criminal tendencies in an individual-offender. A petty criminal may come out of the system to become a die-hard criminal.
The modus operandi in Nigerian prisons does not support the rehabilitation of offenders. In most cases, petty criminals are put together with hardened criminals, paving the way for the further mal-socialisation and criminalisation of the former. Living condition in Nigerian prisons is very harsh which could toughen inmates the more. The problem of overcrowding is another with many of the inmates awaiting trials. No genuine rehabilitation programmes for inmates. Rather, they are given demanding tasks and exposed to capital punishments which can only harden them the more. To this day, there are still insinuations that in Nigerian prisons a new inmate is given the beating of his life to serve as a ‘welcome party’. So, how does an offender come out of this shambolic system re-socialized?
The phenomenon of stratification is another major problem in the Nigerian prison system. Some prisoners are more equal than others. While some ‘big prisoners’ spend their jail terms in a well-conducive environment; common prisoners continue to languish in deteriorated blocks in prison. This is why Marxists and most conflict theorists hold that the prison is also a haven of social inequality. Nothing could attest to this than the state of the Nigerian prison system. Should some inmates be more equal than the others? In the light of all these, it is thus re-assuring that the presidency had deemed it fit to right many of the wrongs in the Nigerian prisons by assenting to the bill. In the same token, kudos must be given to the eight assembly for initiating this bill, and to the ninth assembly for not discarding it on political grounds.
However, it is not over until it is over. It is hoped that this development will not just exist on paper. Indeed, if the problem of rehabilitation, overcrowding, structure, inequality could be addressed in the prisons, the rate at which criminal activities occur would reduce drastically. In Nigeria, there are several prisons, just like any other country in the whole world, but, unlike some of the countries, Nigeria prisons are seriously congested, choked up with prisoners. There are some persons there within the confines of the prisons that have not yet been charged with the commission of any offence, those that are there on an awaiting trial basis, and those that are there because their families have simply decided to allow them to rot away there in the prison in one part of the country or the other. They are brought into the prisons and then many of them are forgotten there, some of them for several years due to the fact that there is no one out there to help them get back out into the society.
There is now the question that is being rippled through the walls of the judiciary: how can the judiciary go about decongesting the Nigerian prison system so that there will be space there? How can they cut down the number of the inmates that are being thrown into the jails and then left there to rot? And some of them are just there because of very simple offences that other people commit every day and then end up getting away with either because of the fact that they have the clout to do so or because of the fact that there is no one out there to prosecute them. It is a truthful fact that sometimes, the judges do go around the prisons, looking into matters concerning the prisoners and seeking for ways to have them released if there is a way for that to be done, or else, for their matters to be taken to the courts of law so that the justice system can dispense with them.
But the point to be made here is that these efforts are not enough, because there are too many prisoners. And yes, the Nigerian system has the legal aid, but that is not enough. Many, not all of them, do not really expend the necessary energy into the work of the prisoners they are handling. But then, in all fairness to them, there is no way for them to be able to get it done because of the fact that they are not paid well, prisoners can be such seasoned liars, there are too many prisoners in the police holding cells and in the federal prisons; etc.
I remember the time I had gone to the four prison formations with the Chief Judge of Ogun State, Justice Mosunmola Dipeolu at the three Senatorial districts of the state, she also lamented the congestion of the prisons across the state but admitting that it was beyond the state government capacity to decongest the Nigeria Correctional Centres, promising to do her best within the armpit of the law to make sure those prison formations receive necessary attention, indeed she was passionately forced to release 21 inmates unconditional during the quarterly jail delivery exercise, which is in line with the Nigerian constitution. Though, she admitted that the objectives of the exercise was to decongest the correctional service in the state, as well as ensure justice, but admonished the released prisoners to endeavour to reform themselves and refrain from crime and criminality.
Though, if the government at the federal level could also embark on the touring of the Nigeria Correctional Centres across the country and release or pardon those inmates who are pardonable, then, the prison formations across the country will minimally decongested. Those in these prisons custody are not even meant to be kept them; some has no case to answer while some were detained there with no reasonable offences. Indeed, during that tour, it was observed that some were detained at the prison custody on the order of the court, what does that mean? Even, the Ogun State Chief Judge, queried that detention of that persons. It was even learnt that some file cases of the detainees had got lost in the process, and they had been there for up to eight to nine years without giving them any trial.
According to the State Controller of Correctional Centre, Mr. Victor Abolade Benson, which was represented by his Deputy in charge of Ibara Correctional Service, Mr. Onokhowomomo Godwin called on government to build more correctional centres with modern equipment so as to decongest the centres across the state and teach them on how to fish or vend for themselves if eventually they were released from those prisons custody. He added that Correctional centre of 510 capacities, now in used for 1,189 inmates, that was of Ibara Correctional Centre, but he said that of Ilaro Correctional centre has grown over the years from an initial capacity of 126 inmates to an all-time high at 532 inmates this month, noted that out of 526 inmates, only 167 are convicted persons while the remaining 359 are Awaiting Trial Persons (ATPs) from 17 different courts scattered across seven Local Government Areas of the state.
And the above scenario presents one of the classic situations of the Nigerian prisons being overly congested with prisoners, some of them persons who are not really meant to be there. But then you can trust the decaying monolith of the fabric of the Nigerian societal living and all the crumbling, disintegrating social stratagems involved to be nothing to alleviate all these. Nobody cares; the judiciary that should be doing something is trying the best they can, but the point is that there are too many cases on the case dockets in the courts; there are too few judges and magistrates to handle the plethora of cases that there in the judiciary. They can only do so much.
The prisoners too are flooding the prisons and so many of them do not have the money necessary to have their matters dispensed with. So, what should be the next step? Because, as it stands, the prisons have to be decongested; there are no two ways about it. They cost a lot of money to run. What can the government do to have the prisons less conglomerated with criminal minds and even the non-criminals who are fused together in that system? Yes, by the non-criminals there is to be included those that are the maggi-stealers, the pick-pockets, small-time thieves struggling to put food on their table and a little change in their pockets_ in my opinion, those are not thieves, but rather, they are the victims of the circumstances foisted upon them by the decaying system they have found themselves in. So, if they are not criminals in the real sense of the word, why then are they in the prisons? Why not look for ways to rehabilitate them rather than have them decaying there in the prisons and forestalling the development of their full potential? And when they have spent these years in the prison simply because of their commission of one inconsequential crime or the other, they are then hardened into something bitter, filled with the auspices of hatred for the society that had wrung them dry, and then they become the real criminals of the time.
And some of them are just young, misled individuals that would have been in need of proper guidance, rather than the choking claustrophobic integration into the congested, flea-infested prison yard. If they had not gone to those prisons in the first place, then they may not have turned out for the worse. They might have had a fighting chance to become better persons in the fabric of the society. So, the government should have to do something about this. Lawyers, who are seen as the mouthpiece of those that cannot speak for themselves, should also fall in and join the fray to help decongest the prisons. How can the latter do this? They can work in conjunction with the Legal Aid Council; they can also take on pro bono cases for the less privileged, or they can even go on active campaigns to help some of the prisoners who are really looking for the help they cannot afford. It might not mean much in the short term, but in the long run, it can be a great help towards achieving a better society. For, it is to be said that it is only the person wearing the shoes that know where it is pinching him (as the proverb says). It is the prisoners that can tell you what they are undergoing.
Orunbon, a journalist and public affairs analyst, writes in from Abeokuta, Ogun State, and can be reached via: orunbonibrahimademola@gmail.com

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Sirens, Convoys And The Madding Crowd By Mariam Mohammed Maktoub

There is a certain apprehension when one encounters the many wailing convoys of the ‘big men’, especially those of governors in this country. It leaves you with gut-wrenching anger, powerlessness and, or awe if you are the pliant and vainglorious type. It seems, despite several avowals by the police and Federal Road Safety Corps that the bawling of the meaningless long windy convoys of the ‘big men’ authorised or otherwise, will be long in stopping. There is not an hour that goes by that one is not rudely assaulted by the blaring sirens of a convoy somewhere in the capital city of Abuja.
Early in the year, in what has become a ritual of sort, the road safety corps sounded its intent to clampdown on the reckless use of sirens by the Nigerian ‘big man.’ The corps observed and lamented; “We have seen a lot of people abusing the use of convoys and we have taken it up with the appropriate authority; this year, we would take more drastic actions.”
The lamentation of the FRSC, like the Biblical Book of Lamentations by the Prophet Jeremiah on the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 586 BC, with the subsequent Babylonian Exile, seems to be without any hope and redemption. I will return to this presently.
Last Thursday, February 27, 2020 was one of those days of convoys and howling sirens as the governors made their way to the National Economic Council meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The noise was incessant, the convoys vexatious and the police escorts unruly, and speeding like demons on the chase, ignoring traffic stops and oblivious of other road users. Sheer lawlessness!
One would imagine that as servant-leaders, daydream I presume, those ensconced in the posh SUVs and sedans will urge caution and responsibility from those chauffeuring them, but it is akin to being on a ‘long thing,’ as said in street lingo.
As the governors waltzed their way into the villa menacingly on this day as is now the norm, other poor road users had to embrace road shoulders where there exist, or simply squeeze themselves off the road for their Excellences, their Feudal Masters. It is only those given to feudal tendencies, people who believe they are next to God for simply being governors, act the way they do. If they cared about the nuisance they rack up, they would not act so cavalierly and put other road users at risk.
Over seven years ago, the World Health Organisation noted that at 162 deaths per 100, 000kms, Nigeria ranks amongst the countries with highest road accidents and part of the factor responsible is the rate of road accidents involving convoys of top government officials, which have claimed scores of lives. Notwithstanding how embarrassing the situation is, governors remain the worst culprits.
Only a few days back, a former governor of Anambra state, Mr Peter Obi, had cause to express his amazement that when he was the helmsman of the state, he had a 30-car convoy, and most of the fuel/diesel guzzling SUVs and trucks were practically always empty. It is to his credit that he pruned down the apparently wasteful venture and is today celebrated for his parsimony.
Besides the social nuisance of these offensive siren-shrieking convoys, the sheer public expenditure is mindboggling. For a country with almost 100 million facing extreme poverty, cutting down cost of a convoy without a doubt will build over 10 boreholes every month in our rural communities in each of the 36 states. But if these governors were to reduce the number of the vehicles in their convoy, how would mere mortals on the road know that an overlord is passing?
While one maybe righteously angry over the wanton siren use in their states, it beggars indignation that even Abuja is not spared the wanton anomaly. You are not the governor of Abuja; you are not the minister of Abuja to exhibit such temerity. In case these ones are unaware, the Minister of the FCT, the landlord himself, Mallam Muhammad Musa Bello, uses just a three-vehicle convoy without sirens blaring. If the minister of the territory does not live the pretentions of the ‘big man’ of siren wailing, why should you a visitor like every other Nigerian who does not reside in Abuja upend the peace of the tranquil city? Why must you for the sake of being a governor engage in such malicious rascality? To fully understand the import of my angst, you have to live in the Asokoro axis of the city that leads to the Pilot Gate of the Villa or along Airport Road.
The unceasing whining of the sirens and the dangerous manoeuvres are not only migraine-inducing but recipes for psychological torture by people who ordinarily ought to be role models to other road users.
As terrible as the situation is, it is gratifying to note that Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State stands as a testament to decency and hope that all cannot be hopeless. He is one governor that is without the airs of sirens and convoys not just in Abuja, but in Ilorin where he holds sway. That should be the norm and not the exception.
It has become urgent and imperative that the police and the lead safety agency, FRSC, take seriously the National Road Traffic Regulation (NRTR) 2012. The guideline is aimed at eradicating road abuses such as the use of sirens. For the avoidance of doubt, while Section 154 (Part XIV), lists 79 Nigerians as being entitled to the use of sirens. Besides the President, his deputy, the Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and their deputies, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the 36 state governors and their deputies as those permitted to use sirens, it does not envisage the madding crowd that is obtainable today, therefore, like will wish to be Far From The Madding Crowd, apologies to Thomas Hardy.
Besides the siren abuse by governors, the institutional decay has assumed a Frankenstein dimension as Ministers, Service Chiefs, heads of MDAs, commissioners, police chiefs, top government officials, religious leaders, traditional rulers and even bank chiefs have all joined the unwieldy siren choir. What this simply means is that the NRTR is of no consequence, therefore should be consigned to the waste bin.
But it cannot be all doom and gloom if the relevant authorities take up the gauntlet and leverage on the graces of the president to bring an end to this terrifying medley that Nigerians are subjected to by governors and their likes.
It beggars belief that many a Nigerian has to endure threats of harassment, intimidation, vandalism, brutality and even death in the hands of elected and non-elected fellow countrymen who rather than be exemplary are mere egos walk on wheels. Enough is enough!
Ms Maktoub is Publisher, Maktoub Magazine/Political PR Consultant

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Doctor, Woman Contracts Coronavirus In Australia

Australian Health Officials have confirmed that a male doctor and a woman have contracted Coronavirus, becoming the first case of the disease in the country.
New South Wales Minister of Health, Brad Hazzard, on Monday said the 31-year old doctor had tested positive for Coronavirus, adding that “though it is not clear whom he contracted the virus from”.
The state government said a 41-year-old woman was tested after her brother returned to Australia from Iran, according to Reuters.
While Australia has moved to stop the spread of the virus by restricting entry into the country for some nationalities, Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, suggested that a global pandemic was likely.

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JUST IN: Saudi Arabia Records First Coronavirus Case

Saudi Arabia announced on Monday the detection of the first Coronavirus case in the country, according to AFP.
The country said the patient was a Saudi national travelling from Iran to the Kingdom through Bahrain.
The death toll from the new virus surpassed 3,000 on Monday as more people died in China and Iran.
Meanwhile, European Union President, Ursula von der Leyen, said the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control had increased its risk assessment for Europeans after Italy’s outbreak doubled in 48 hours.

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Pastor In Police Custody Over Disappearance Of 29-year-old Man

The police have arrested an acclaimed pastor over the disappearance of one Olatunfe Anthony Oluwafemi.
According to the Lagos State Police Command, the pastor, Ejiro Olagonla, was the last person, who saw Anthony, adding that the missing person’s belongings were also found in his possession.
Spokesperson for the police in Lagos, Bala Elkana, said the family of Oluwafemi had reported a missing person’s case to the law enforcement agency on December 12, 2019.
He said, “All efforts made by his family members to trace him were unsuccessful.
“The phone of the missing person was electronically analysed by police forensic experts and that led to the arrest of the user of the phone, one Monsurat Gbadegeshin, a 23-year-old female.”
On interrogation, Gbadegeshin said her fiancé, Abiodun Abiola, gave her the phone.
The police arrested Abiola, who also claimed to have bought the phone from one Tolu Olurotimi later arrested.
Bala added, “Tolu Olurotimi said he bought the phone from one Pastor Ejiro Ologonla from Delta State but based in Lagos.
“During questioning, Pastor Olagonla said he was at Oniru Beach for spiritual cleansing on that fateful day when he met Oluwafemi. He stated that while he was at the beach, the missing person who appeared drunk, came in and started chasing people around.
“At a point, he saw him climbing a boat. Later he saw the missing person pulling off his clothes, shoes, dropped his phones and jumped into the sea. He claimed that he informed the security men on guard at the beach and also called a police officer as well as one Princess Arike Oniru on phone to intimate them of the incident.
“He said that he finally picked up the victims clothes, shoes and phone and sold the phone to one Tolu Olurotimi for N1,500.”
The police traced the named persons and brought them in for questioning.
Commissioner of Police in Lagos, Hakeem Odumosu, has ordered the immediate transfer of the case to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba, for further investigation.

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Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Tuesday 3rd March 2020

Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Tuesday 3rd March 2020

Samuel Ogundipe: The Bone Is Not Guilty When You Get Cut From Chewing It By Jonathan Abang-Ugbal

Groups Demand Dismissal Of FIIRO Ex-Chairman, Chima Igwe, Over Certificate Forgery, Lying Under Oath

Nigerian Institute Claims Discovery Of Drug For Coronavirus Treatment

ICPC Arrests Two Sri-Lankans With Malaysian Passports At Abuja Airport

Bet Shop Owner Killed While Settling Brawl

Decongestion Of Correctional Centres: The Ogun Example By Ademola Orunbon

Sirens, Convoys And The Madding Crowd By Mariam Mohammed Maktoub

Doctor, Woman Contracts Coronavirus In Australia

JUST IN: Saudi Arabia Records First Coronavirus Case

Pastor In Police Custody Over Disappearance Of 29-year-old Man