Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Sunday 30th August 2020
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 30/08/20
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Newly Promoted Assistant Inspector-General Of Police, Yusuf, Is Dead
A serving Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of the newly created Zone 14 comprising of Katsina and Kaduna State, Rabiu Yusuf, is dead.
Yusuf died on Saturday after a brief illness at an Abuja hospital, according to katsinapost.com.ng.
He served as Commissioner of Police in Kano State before he was promoted to Assistant Inspector-General of Police in 2020.
“Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Rabi’u Yusuf, in charge of newly established Zone 14 headquarters in Katsina is dead.
“May Jannatul Firdausi be his final resting place. Amin,” a police source told SaharaReporters.
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BREAKING: Lagos Announces Reopening Of Tertiary Institutions
Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu
The Lagos State Government has directed all state-owned tertiary institutions to resume on September 14.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu disclosed this on Saturday.
“This decision is not cast on stone and is subject to review of our ongoing modelling and what procedure comes out from the Ministry of Health,” Sanwo-Olu said.
PUBLIC HEALTH
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E2%80%99s-plea-joe-biden-and-kamala-harris-steve-ogah Obama’s Plea For Joe Biden And Kamala Harris By Steve Ogah
Kamala Harris and Joe Biden
Barack Obama’s plea for his friend and her running mate was contained in a recent tweet. But what’s the point in Barack Obama pleading for his friend, Joe Biden and her running mate, Kamala Harris? Is such a plea even necessary? Will it influence the choice of Americans in the incoming November presidential elections? Was the plea made because the former president decoded that his former vice president was starting the race to the White House on bad footing? All of these questions can be answered.
It is the bond of friendship between the former president and his vice that informed his recent tweet in which he called on American voters to ensure that the democratic party wins the incoming elections. It is also a sense of patriotism which gave birth to that plea. Obama has come to the realization that Donald trump, the current president, is deficient in certain qualities. Therefore, it behooves patriots like Obama to call American electorates to the high altar of reason. Obama doesn’t want Americans to make the same mistake twice, because if that happens, it would cease to be an error at the pools, but a case of outright blindness. Most democrats are of the opinion that America’s current president has bungled all chances he had to convert his detractors and advance the glowing arguments of those who had rooted ecstatically for him, when he first ruptured onto the political marketplace, with no outright qualities in politics. Donald Trump’s most visible talent was an intimidating credential as a successful real estate developer.
Kamala Harris and Joe Biden
The American Bazaar
Barack Hussein Obama owes it a duty to his friend to campaign for him since he believes he is the right man to “make America great again.” Former vice president Joe Biden, comes into the presidential race with values that can make a difference in how America handles the world. Having served in the white house for eight good years, he must have learnt a thing or two about foreign policy and how governments work for the people. Additionally for the former VP, he left office without any blemish of note. But he has other demons that he has to contend with.
His son, Hunter Biden, and his business interests at Burisma natural gas company have been subjects of interests to Donald Trump’s lawyers and other members of his inner circle. While not yet proven guilty by any competent court, Hunter’s transactions in Ukraine have raised points of concern which Trump wants the Ukrainian president Volodymr Zelensky to clarify for him. Donald Trump seems prepared to destroy Biden with epistles from Ukraine. However, Trump has failed to prove that Joe Biden is guilty of wrong doing by simply being the father of a son who has business interests in Ukraine. To make things easy for himself, and afford his critics nothing to rumble over; Joe Biden just has to distinguish between Joe Biden the father, Joe Biden the politician and Joe Biden the man linked to another Biden who is allegedly using his father’s huge influence to do businesses across the globe. This sort of clarification will engender confidence from the electorate, despite the fact all three personalities are held together by one being.
Barack Obama must reckon himself as a great influence on voters to have tweeted: “As Michelle said, we’ve got to do everything we can to elect @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris. So make sure you have a plan to vote. Vote early. And tell everybody you know to register to vote at iwillvote.com.” The tweet is a heartfelt plea for a friend and one who has America and all her friends at heart. But the complex issues of power and votes cannot be reduced to bird sounds. It transcends that social media noise and goes deep into the what the people want and the issues hurting them at the moment.
Unemployment is a disturbing issue in America at the moment, just as the gruesome murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests have since opened up the rear flanks of Donald Trump. Tweets will not decide this historic election in which for the first time, a black woman will be standing for the office of vice president on the ticket of a major political party. It is the approach of Biden and Harris to black and marginalized lives, covid-19, and unemployment and livelihoods which will determine who gets the most votes. Positions on abortion, homeland security, foreign policy, immigrants and housing policies will also be deciding factors in how the pendulum of votes swings. To simply urge people to vote using a tweet, will not be enough to do the magic. The democratic party has got to convince Americans that she can be great again or that indeed, she was once great. This is the position taken by George Flyod’s niece at his funeral service, where she wondered if America had ever attained greatness before.
Obama’s tweet is a bid to untangle Biden from certain webs. He wants to convince the electorate that his is solidly behind his friend and a man whom he believes possesses the necessary credentials to rebuild bridges across racial divides. His tweet has freed Biden from webs of doubts about whether his former boss believes he can unite America once again. Obama’s tweet seeks to align with Michelle’s speech at the Democratic national convention. This further illustrates that the president is simply trying to join forces with his wife to trounce Trump. Obama finds Trump beatable, but wouldn’t want to take chances. His tweet is an attempt to tie up loose ends.
The plea in Barack Obama’s tweet must be read in the context of one friend rooting for another. It can also be interpreted as an attempt to close all openings which Trump may sneak through to remain in the White House. Obama once told us “yes we can,” his pleading bird sound is a reminder that Americans can indeed dislodge Donald Trump from the White House if they so desire. His tweet is an endorsement and a reiteration of friendship. It is left to be seen if America’s incoming presidential election will be greatly influenced by the personality of Barack Obama and his cordial twitter pleas; and whether Hunter Biden’s business engagements in Ukraine will end up hobbling his father’s presidential ambitions. We will not be waiting for too long to find out.
P:S: Steve Ogah is a creative writer whose writings have appeared across print and online platforms.
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BREAKING: Many Feared Dead In Ondo Accident
Many persons are feared dead while scores more are left terribly injured following an accident of a diesel truck that lost control and rammed into a commercial area in Oloko Street, Ikare Akoko, Ondo State.
An eyewitness told SaharaReporters that the accident occurred around 4:30pm on Saturday.
He said the truck driver lost control and rammed into shops within the area.
Another witness said the injured victims have been taken to the state’s Specialist Hospital in the town and Federal Medical Centre, Owo.
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E2%80%99-den Residents Cry Out As Abandoned Air Force Base In Edo Turns Kidnappers’ Den
Abandoned Nigerian Air Force building in Edo State
Abandoned Nigerian Air Force building in Edo State
An uncompleted and uninhibited Nigerian Air Force Base in Benin, Edo State, has been converted to kidnappers’ den after years of abandonment by the authorities.
The building has also been used as a meeting point by oil bunkerers in the region, SaharaReporters gathered.
Abandoned Nigerian Air Force building in Edo State
Residents of the host community in Egor Local Government Area are now lamenting the abandonment of the building and how kidnappers and robbers tormenting the area use the place as hideout.
The Enogie of Egor Dukedom, HRH Tony Aigberowman ll, said letters had been written to the Nigerian military on the issue but nothing has been done.
“The Nigerian Air Force came and we accommodated them by giving them a big hectare of our reservoir land to them to establish Air Force base.
“When we discovered what the place has been turned into, we wrote the military base to come and renovate or remove their structure so we can make use of our lands in a way that these people perpetrating these acts will be ejected.
“They promised to come back but up till now we have not heard anything from them and the place it is still left abandoned.
“Our lives are no longer secure because of the bandits that have taken over the place.
“We are raising this alarm to save the lives of our people from looming danger in the community,” Prince Austine Orhue Ogiegor said while speaking for the king.
Abandoned Nigerian Air Force building in Edo State
Another resident of Egor community, who does not want to be named, stated that the neglect of the building poses a great risk for the people.
He also urged the Air Force to take a clear position on whether to continue the development of the building or allow the people to reclaim their land.
“The entire land belongs to the Royal family of Ogiegor. For over 30 years now, the place has been there fallow and forest has taken over the land
“For couple of years now, the building has become an avenue for kidnappers, armed robbers, drug dealers and people who do different criminal acts.
“We recently saw that there is an illegal refinery at the back of the land and some government officials are collecting money from these bunkerers.
“The Air Force should let us know if they are no more interested in the land because our minds are not at rest and very soon, if action is not taken, this place will become a killing zone,” the resident said.
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DSS Releases Abia-based Lawyer After Four Months In Unlawful Detention
Emperor Gabriel Ogbonna
Gabriel Ogbonna, an Abia-based lawyer, who has spent four months in its custody despite multiple court judgments ordering his release.
The lawyer was arrested for posting articles criticising Governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s government in Abia State via his social media page in March.
Shortly after the arrest, he was arraigned alongside another person for alleged cybercrime and publishing false and threatening messages against Governor Ikpeazu at a magistrate court in Umuahia.
Emperor Gabriel Ogbonna
However, because the magistrate court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case, he was remanded at a correctional facility in the state capital until April 28 when he was arraigned before the Federal High Court in Umuahia and was granted bail.
Ogbonna was rearrested by the DSS on his way out of the correctional facility in Umuahia on the same day.
This was after he had perfected the bail conditions.
He was subsequently moved to Abuja where he was in custody without any charges until his release.
Uzoma Ogbonna, his spouse, confirmed the release while speaking with PREMIUM TIMES on Friday night.
She, however, noted that Ogbonna will be in Abuja for a while.
“I spoke with him this evening after he was released. He used one of the phones of the lawyers. I’m very happy. He is still in Abuja.” Mrs Ogbonna said.
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Security Operatives At Nigerian Borders Lament Six-month Unpaid Allowances
Security operatives involved in the Exercise Swift Response along Nigerian borders are currently groaning under heavy debts as a result of the stoppage of their special allowances.
SaharaReporters recalled that the Exercise Swift Response being coordinated by the Office of the National Security Adviser.was launched in August 2019 when Nigerian borders were closed by President Muhammadu Buhari reportedly against smuggling and for national security.
The security officers include those of the Nigerian Army, Nigeria Police, Department of State Services, Immigration Service, Custom Service and others.
Lamenting over the situation, some of them told SaharaReporters that they were yet to receive their allowances for the past six months.
They said despite the fact that their allowances were not being paid, the NSA keeps introducing new security measures to be implemented routinely.
A police officer, who spoke with SaharaReporters, said hoteliers around border communities had driven most of them out of their hotels due to their inability to settle their bills.
He the situation was so bad that if not addressed, may degenerate into a security breach.
“It is very pathetic to hear that we were all transferred here without any arrangement for our accommodation at all, yet our allowances are not paid.
“We cannot continue operating under such poor and insecure conditions, those in authorities should know that when those providing security suffer, the country as a whole suffers,” he said.
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17 Dead, Many Injured As Restaurant Collapses In China
At least 17 people were killed in China after a two-storey restaurant collapsed during a gathering on Saturday morning, state media said.
The restaurant was in Shanxi province’s Xiangfen county, about 630 kilometers (400 miles) South-West of Beijing.
ANews
Xinhua news agency reported that “45 people have been brought out, of which 17 were dead, seven seriously injured and 21 slightly injured”.
Rescuers in orange overalls and hard hats combed the crumbled ruin of the building, images on the CGTN website showed, with a decorative painting seen on one of the few walls still intact.
Seven hundred people were involved in the rescue operation, CGTN said.
While the cause of the disaster was not immediately clear, China is no stranger to building collapses and deadly construction accidents.
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Three Persons Die In Boat Accident In Adamawa State
A boat accident has killed three persons in Adamawa State, SaharaReporters can confirm.
The victims, two males and one female, reportedly drown on their way to attend a burial in the Lamurde Local Government Area of the state after the boat capsized.
Chairman of Lamurde Local Government Area, Burto Williams, who confirmed the accident, described it as an unfortunate tragedy.
He said, “The accident is a very unfortunate tragedy that requires government to come to the aid of the people of the area who are constantly being ravaged by cascading water.
“Lamurde LG is making efforts to provide medical treatment for the survivors while the council will also foot the bill of the burial arrangements of the three deceased,” he said.
Names of the deceased were given as Melody M (female), Isaac G. and James S.
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Outrage Over Eviction Of Stall Owners At Lagos Airport
Owners of stalls at Lagos Airport terminal have bemoaned what they call ‘forceful eviction’ by management of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria.
FAAN had in a letter to some selected stall owners directed them to leave the place owing to new operational guidelines at the airport.
In the letter dated 19th of August 2020, FAAN said the space of the evicted stall owners would be converted to self-check kiosks for passengers.
“We wish to inform you that as a result, the new normal of physical distancing of COVID-19 protocols, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has directed that airline ticket sales and other ticketing processes be done outside the terminal building.
“Consequently, you are hereby notified to vacate the space you currently occupy at the departure lobby within the next seven days to create space for the installation of self-check kiosks for passengers.
“We regret any inconveniences this directive may cause you while praying that situation returns to normal soon to enable us to go back to operations as usual,” the letter signed by O. Umar for Regional General Manager (S/W), reads.
However, the evicted owners, speaking with SaharaReporters, disagreed with FAAN, saying the airport management tactically evicted them to give their cronies the space.
They also said the COVID-19 reason cited by FAAN was merely an excuse to kick them out.
“They are only using the COVID as an excuse to get people out of the airport.
“What they plan is to kick us out and later sublet the space back to their friends and family.
“Over 20 of us have been ejected now and our businesses have been shut down,” the stall owners lamented.
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