Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Wednesday 8th April 2020
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 08/04/20
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BREAKING: Nigeria Records 16 New Coronavirus Cases As Toll Rises To 254
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Nigeria has recorded 16 new Coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 254.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control disclosed this in a post on Twitter on Tuesday evening.
The new cases are spread across Lagos, Delta, Oyo, Kastina and the Federal Capital Territory.
It said, “Sixteen new cases of ?#COVID19? have been reported in Nigeria: 10 in Lagos, two in the FCT, two in Oyo, one in Delta and one in Katsina.
“As at 9:30pm 7th April, there are 254 confirmed cases of ?#COVID19? reported in Nigeria. Fourty-four have been discharged with six deaths.”
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Lawan, Gbajabiamila Fault Social Investment Programme Implementation, Want Scheme Backed By Law
The leadership of the National Assembly has faulted the way the Social Investment Programme of the Nigerian Government was being implemented and called for an enabling legislation in line with global best practices.
President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, made their reservations about the scheme at a meeting on Tuesday with Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Umar Farouq, and top officials of the ministry.
Lawan and Gbajabiamila made it clear that the Social Investment Programme established in 2016 under the Presidency but which is now under the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, needed a reform to make it more efficient and effective.
In his opening remarks, Lawan said the National Assembly was interested in the current Intervention initiatives of the ministry particularly with respect to the disbursement aimed at assuaging the plight of poor Nigerians against COVID-19.
He said, “We feel that we need to work together with you to ensure that there is effectiveness, there is efficiency, that those who are supposed to benefit, benefit directly.
“I want to tell you that the majority of those who are supposed to benefit have no access to power. They have no access to Internet. They have no bank account, so no BVN.
“In fact, many of them don’t even have phones and these are the poorest of the poor. Yet, some of the conditions or guidelines which you set inadvertently leave them out.
“We believe that when we work together, the executive side of government and the National Assembly as representatives of the people, we will be able to reach more of these people who are in serious distress even before Coronavirus.”
Adding his voice to the issue, Gbajabiamila urged the minister to talk with the relevant committees and the National Assembly leadership on the best way to codify the scheme.
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Oyo Records Two New Coronavirus Cases
Oyo has confirmed two new cases of Coronavirus in the state.
This was confirmed by Governor Seyi Makinde, who recently recovered from the virus.
The governor, in a tweet on Tuesday, said one of the cases was a woman, who returned to the state from the United Arab Emirates.
He said, “The COVID-19 confirmation test for two suspected cases came back positive, today.
“One of the new cases is a 28-year-old woman who returned to the country from the United Arab Emirates on March 22, 2020.
“The isolation process has been initiated, contact tracing and collection of samples have commenced.
“This brings the number of confirmed cases in Oyo State to 11. Two cases have been discharged. So, there are nine active cases.”
He urged residents of the state to follow the directives of the Oyo State COVID-19 Task Force and always wash their hands with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitiser regularly.
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Visa Foundation Donates $210m As Support For Small And Micro Enterprises
Visa Foundation has announced a donation of $210m to support small and micro businesses, aligning with the foundation’s long-term focus on women’s economic advancement and inclusive economic development.
The first program of $10m is designated for immediate emergency relief to support charitable organisations on the frontlines responding to the COVID-19 pandemic such as public health and food relief in each of the five geographic regions in which Visa operates.
“As COVID-19 continues to unfold, communities are feeling the effects and need our immediate support,” said Al Kelly, CEO and Chairman of Visa.
“As a global company that operates a very local business, we recognise this need.
We’re also committed to the long-term recovery and will continue to explore ways we can accelerate economic activity in line with our mission to help individuals, businesses and economies thrive,” Kelly added.
The second program is a five-year, strategic $200m commitment to support small and micro-businesses around the world, with a focus on fostering women’s economic advancement.
The funds from Visa Foundation will provide capital to non-government organisations and investment partners supporting small and micro-businesses.
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BREAKING: Coronavirus Kills 60-year-old Doctor In President Buhari’s Hometown, Daura
A doctor named Aliyu Yakubu, who works in Kastina State, has died of Coronavirus.
SaharaReporters learnt that the doctor died of the virus in Daura, hometown of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Governor of Katsina State, Aminu Masari, said the doctor was 60-year-old and died at the Nigeria Air Force Reference Hospital in Daura three days ago.
The governor said the deceased owned a private hospital in Daura and had visited Kogi where he hailed from and later travelled to Lagos.
Speaking further, Masari said, the deceased’s samples were taken to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control for diagnosis before his death, and that he was confirmed positive for Coronavirus.
He said, “We have received a bad news of COVID-19. The deceased’s samples showed COVID-19 positive.
“Before his death, he was also diagnosed with hepatitis and hypertension three years ago.”
Masari said the state medical response team was in Daura taking samples of all those, who had contact with the doctor before his death.
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COVID-19: NCDC Urged To Increase Transparency Around Number Of Tests Conducted
The Nigeria Center for Disease Control has been urged to make public the daily number of Nigerians screened for Coronavirus.
A coalition of civil society groups led by Civic Media Lab said the figures will help Nigerians and the world know the true state of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
“The fight against Coronavirus is a common fight in which all Nigerians are enlisted.
“However, as stakeholders in the fight against Coronavirus this disease, we request to have this critical piece of the puzzle so that we would know how far along we are in securing a victory,” CML Director, Oluwaseun Akinfolarin, said in a statement on Tuesday.
Akinfolarin said the strategy that has worked in places that have seen significant reduction in the number of cases has been due to four factors namely: testing, isolation, treatment and tracing.
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Civic Media Lab Calls For Transparency In NCDC Testing Figures
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“Testing is the most critical of these four critical success factors, without testing, it is difficult to know who has been infected and stopping the spread through innocent infection of others is not feasible. “While not trying to second guess the knowledge and wisdom of the professionals in NCDC, we can follow the simple logic that we cannot control what you cannot see and the simple way of seeing is by doing these tests,” Akinfolarin said.
According to the World Health Organisation, diagnostic testing for COVID-19 is critical in helping to track the virus, understand the epidemiology, inform case management, and to suppress transmission.
Akinfolarin explained that the countries that are successfully managing this crisis tested thousands of citizens daily at the outset.
Nigeria is falling behind when compared to other countries, according to him.
He said the coalition will support the Federal Government and NCDC in every way possible during this crisis but wishes to demand cooperation, transparency, accountability and proactive disclosure of information from all those concerned.
Other members of the coalition are The Interactive Initiative for Social Impact, HEDA Resource Centre, Civil Society Network against Corruption, Reboot, Centre for Advocacy, Transparency and Accountability Initiative, and PARE.
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UPDATE: Magistrate Court Remands Two Pilots In Prison Custody For Violating Rivers Movement Ban
Samuel Ugorji and Samuel Buhari, pilots working with Carveton Helicopters, were on Tuesday remanded in prison custody for violating a movement restriction put in place by the Rivers State Government to curb the spread of Coronavirus in the state.
A magistrate court sitting in Port Harcourt, the state capital, handed down the ruling.
Presiding Chief Magistrate, D.D Ihua-Maduenyi, remanded the two pilots at the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre until May 19, 2020 when their trial will commence.
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Rivers Governor, Wike, Storms Caverton Helicopters Office Over Violation Of Movement Restriction
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The magistrate ruled that COVID-19 tests should be carried out on the two pilots to ascertain their status.
The state’s legal team said the act of the two pilots was capable of putting the entire city in danger of contracting Coronavirus.
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Armed Conflicts, State Repression Causing Human Rights Abuses In Africa, Says Amnesty International
Amnesty International has said that armed conflicts and state repression were causes of human rights abuses in Africa.
The organisation in its annual review of human rights in the region on Tuesday said rights defenders in Africa were persecuted and harassed for standing up and speaking out against governments.
According to the report, there are major developments from the past year, which include the deposition of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, Zimbabwean Government’s response to mass protests, and increasing attacks on civilians in Mozambique and Mali.
“In 2019, we saw incredible people power in mass protests which swept across Sub-Saharan Africa. From Sudan to Zimbabwe, and Democratic Republic of Congo to Guinea, people braved brutal crackdowns to stand up for their rights,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s East and Southern Africa Director.
“In some cases, these protests led to major changes, following the toppling of Sudan’s long-time leader, Omar al-Bashir, the new authorities promised human rights friendly reforms and following protest a raft package of human rights reforms was introduced by the Ethiopian Government.
“Sadly, other changes needed are being blocked by repressive governments, who continue to carry out violations with impunity.
“In Sudan’s Darfur region, government forces continued to commit possible war crimes and other serious human rights violations including unlawful killings, sexual violence, systematic looting and forced displacement.
“In DRC, dozens of local and foreign armed groups together with the country’s security forces continued to carry out human rights abuses resulting in more than 2000 civilian deaths and at least one million were forcibly displaced in the course of 2019.
“In Somalia, civilians continued to live with attacks from the armed group Al-Shabaab, while government and allied international forces failed to take sufficient precautions to spare civilians from their attacks targeted at Al-Shabaab.
“Armed groups carried out attacks directed against civilians in Cameroon, Central African Republic and Burkina Faso, while governments failed to protect civilians,” he added.
The organisation said access to healthcare remains a major concern for people across the region, with underfunded health budgets leading to shortages of beds and drugs in hospitals.
It said, “Governments from Angola to Zimbabwe, Burundi to Cameroon have failed to respect the right to health, and conflicts have exacerbated the situation.
“With the COVID-19 pandemic looming, there is no time to waste in addressing the inequalities and human rights violations which make healthcare inaccessible for so many.”
The organisation also condemned the persecution and harassment of human rights defenders for standing up and speaking out against governments.
It said Burundi, Malawi, Mozambique, Eswatini, Zambia and Equatorial Guinea all saw surging crackdowns on activism in 2019.
“In 17 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, journalists were arbitrarily arrested and detained in 2019. In Nigeria for example, 19 cases of assault, arbitrary arrest, and detention of journalists were recorded, with many facing trumped up charges.
“In Burundi, authorities continued to crack down on the work of human rights defenders and civil society organisations including by subjecting them to prosecution and lengthy prison terms.
“Human rights violations forced hundreds of thousands of people in the region to flee their homes in search of protection. There were about 600,000 internally displaced people in CAR; more than 222,000 people in Chad, and over half a million in Burkina Faso,” the report added.
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E2%80%99-story-being-reinstated EXCLUSIVE: Ondo Government Asks Sacked Nurses To Deny SaharaReporters’ Story Before Being Reinstated Into Service
Following several stories by SaharaReporters on the unjust sacking of six nurses attached to the University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital, Ondo State, the state government has now told the affected persons to deny the reports by the online news publication before being reinstated into service.
In a letter signed by Adeeyo Babatunde, Director of Administration for the Chief Medical Director, Dr Oluwole Ige, and seen by SaharaReporters, the management of the hospital gave a number of other stringent conditions to five of the affected individuals before they are to be reinstated.
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EXCLUSIVE: Ondo Government Sacks Nurses For Demanding Payment Of Accumulated Salaries
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The letter reads, “The management of the teaching hospital has considered your letter of apology on the matter and has approved your re-absorption into the services of the teaching hospital on the following conditions:
“That you submit two letters from two guarantors that are not less than the grade of a director in the state public service.
“That you submit a letter that you would be of a good conduct while in the service of the teaching hospital.
“That you should show evidence of your rebuttal of the malicious publications currently circulating in an online news media.
“Please note that the effective date of your re-absorption shall be the date you resume duty in your department and the period of your absence will be treated as leave without pay.
“By this letter, you are hereby instructed to report back to your department after complying with the above stated conditions.”
Recall that after forcefully removing them from service for protesting the non-payment of their salaries, the hospital’s management also coerced them into writing letters of apology after SaharaReporters exposed the injustice and victimisation of the affected nurses.
The latest twist is however, another way the hospital’s management intends to put fear into the affected nurses to prevent them from demanding their rights while still in the employ of the state government.
A source on Tuesday confirmed to SaharaReporters that the nurses were summoned to the office of the CMD a few days ago where the letters containing the new conditions were listed.
“Although, I cannot really state the outcome of the meeting between the sacked nurses and the management last week, but I am sure it was because of the story over their (affected nurses) sack by the hospital. The management was not really happy about it especially the bashing from the public.
“Out of the six nurses that were sacked by the management, the hospital still refused to reinstate one of the guys among identified as Peace.
“He is one of the best hands in his department at the hospital but he is being victimised to leading others to demand for their rights.
“The hospital’s management is committing this evil despite an order from Governor Rotimi Akeredolu for the nurses to be unconditionally reinstated.”
One of the affected nurses, who spoke with our correspondent, said he has rejected the conditions attached to the reinstatement.
He said, “They gave five of us the letters and left one person out but as for me, I see those conditions as a way to further punish us for demanding for our rights.”
CMD of the hospital, Dr Ige, did not respond to calls or text messages sent to him when contacted by SaharaReporters to react to the issue.
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BREAKING: Boko Haram Currently Attacking Borno Community
Boko Haram terrorists are currently attacking Ngala in Borno State, SaharaReporters can confirm.
The attack comes less than 24 hours after the insurgents pounced on Kirchinga under Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa State on Monday night, razing no fewer than five houses.
The insurgents launched the attack after they emerged from Rann near the border with Cameroon in Northern Borno State.
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