Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Thursday 7th January 2021
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 07/01/21
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BREAKING: Vice President Pence Whisked Away As Pro-Trump Protesters Invade US Congress Session
The US Senate suddenly recessed on Wednesday after protesters incited by President Donald Trump invaded the Capitol.
According to NBC, Vice President Mike Pence was ushered quickly out of the Senate chamber as it recessed and the debate between senators had to stop mid-speech. The House also recessed.
Pro-Trump demonstrators breached the barricades and crowded on the Capitol steps, which is normally only accessible to lawmakers. People jumped the barricades surrounding the Capitol and police began running around the hallways and telling people to get away from the windows.A police officer on the third floor began shouting that protesters had got inside the building and that people should take shelter. Senators were locked inside their chamber on the second floor of the Capitol building and protesters wearing Trump “Make America Great Again” hats and carrying flags were seen gathering outside the chamber doors. “Immediately seek shelter in the closest office,” an announcement over a loudspeaker said across the Capitol, which told people to lock doors as well. “Remain quiet and await further directions.”
Earlier on Wednesday, President Trump told a rally of his supporters outside the White House that he would never concede that he lost the election, as Congress readied to certify Joe Biden’s victory.
“I will never give up. We will never concede,” Trump told the cheering crowd. “We will stop the steal.”
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BREAKING: Boko Haram Currently Attacking Yobe Community
Boko Haram terrorists in several gun trucks are presently attacking Geidam community in Yobe State, forcing many residents to flee for safety into nearby bushes.
A source told SaharaReporters on Wednesday that the insurgents attacked the community around 6:00pm and began to fire sporadically at anything within sight.
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The source said they were still there till when our correspondent filed the report.
He added that the people were presently running into nearby bushes to avoid being killed or kidnapped.
“Geidam is currently under Boko Haram attack, when they came into the town around 2pm, we called the security operatives about sighting them but no action was taken, exactly 6pm, they started shooting sporadically and they are still around till now,” the source said.Geidam is about 200km from Damaturu, the Yobe State capital.
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Nigerian Government To Start COVID-19 Vaccination Before March Ending
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The Nigerian government has said it is planning to start administering the COVID-19 vaccine on Nigerians before the end of March.
Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency NPHCDA, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, disclosed this in a letter sent to media executives, inviting them to a sensitisation meeting on the COVID-19 vaccines.
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According to Vanguard, the letter reads, “The management of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency NPHCDA wishes to express profound gratitude for your unflinching support to the ongoing effort to stop COVID-19 transmission in Nigeria.
“The Federal Government of Nigeria, through the National Primary Health Care Development Agency NPHCDA with the support of our development partners, is planning to introduce COVID-19 Vaccine from the 1st quarter of 2021, to protect the citizens and stop further spread of the virus in the country.
“This is to inform you that as part of the preparatory activities, NPHCDA has scheduled a sensitisation meeting with media gatekeepers as critical stakeholders in this plan.”
The meeting, which would be done via Zoom, is slated for this Friday.
Shuaib had at a briefing of the Presidential Taskforce (PTF) on COVID-19 on Tuesday said Nigeria would take delivery of 100,000 doses of the Pfizer and BioNTech approved COVID-19 vaccines by the end of January.
He said; “In the first phase through the COVAX facility, we expect to receive approximately 100,000 doses of the Pfizer and bioNtech vaccine by the end of January”.
According to him, Nigeria expects to receive free 42 million doses of vaccines in the second phase through the COVAX facility being administered by 10 Global Vaccines Alliance, GAVI.
“The second phase will be a combination of all the available approved vaccines currently in the market but this will cover only about 20 percent of Nigeria’s population,” he said.
Shuaib also disclosed that to completely eradicate the pandemic, about 70 per cent of the total population needs to receive the vaccines, adding that only about 40 per cent will be vaccinated in 2021, while the remaining 30 per cent will be covered in 2022.
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China Blocks WHO Team From Entering Country To Study COVID-19 Origin
Director-General of the World Health Organization Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
The World Health Organisation has stated that China blocked its team investigating the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, from entering the country.
WHO Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, made the announcement on Wednesday, January 6, saying two scientists on the United Nations team had already left their home countries for Wuhan.
Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
But they were told that the Chinese government had not approved the necessary permissions required for them to enter the country.
WHO said the arrangements had been jointly agreed with China in advance.
“I am very disappointed with this news,” Tedros told a news conference in Geneva.
“I have been in contact with senior Chinese officials and I have once again made it clear that the mission is a priority for WHO and the international team.”
Tedros said WHO was “eager to get the mission underway as soon as possible” and that he had been given assurances that Beijing was speeding up the internal procedure for “the earliest possible deployment.”
Dr. Michael Ryan, executive director of WHO’s health emergencies programme said one team member had already returned home while the other was waiting in transit in a third country.
Ryan said the team hoped it was “just a logistical and bureaucratic issue” that could be resolved in “good faith in the coming hours and recommence the deployment of the team as soon as possible.”
WHO said it wanted its team of global scientists to have access to key sites to investigate the origin of the virus, first detected in Wuhan in December 2019, and its likely jump from an unidentified host species to humans.
In May, WHO agreed to hold an inquiry into the pandemic after more than 100 countries signed a resolution calling for an independent probe.
In a press briefing on Wednesday January 6, spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hua Chunying, said China had “always held an open, transparent and responsible attitude” on tracing the origin of the virus.
Hua said that China had previously welcomed WHO experts into the country and said that the UN investigation team and Chinese experts have “maintained frequent interactions” including four video meetings between October and December.
“In order to ensure that the international expert group that comes to China can work smoothly, it is needed to fulfill the necessary procedures and make relevant specific arrangements. The two sides are still negotiating about this,” said Hua.
US President, Donald Trump has repeatedly blamed China for the global pandemic and announced that the US would terminate its relationship with WHO, saying that China had not properly reported information it had about the coronavirus and had pressured WHO to “mislead the world.”
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E2%80%99s-christmas-message-calculated-attempt-insult-islam-%E2%80%93-jni Kukah’s Christmas Message, A Calculated Attempt To Insult Islam – JNI
Khalid Abubakar Aliyu
An umbrella group for the Nigerian Muslim Community, the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), has criticised the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah, for his Christmas message in which he lambasted President Muhammadu Buhari for his leadership style.
The JNI, in a statement signed by Dr. Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, Secretary-General, and issued to journalists in Kaduna on Wednesday, described Kukah’s message as a veiled attack on Muslims and Islam and “an irresponsible and seditious Christmas message”.
Khalid Abubakar Aliyu
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The statement said, “Though the message is disguised as political hogwash to deceive the innocent, there is no doubt that it was a poisoned arrow fired at the heart of Islam and Muslims in Nigeria, hence the need for this intervention.” The Muslim organization said the Bishop’s statement was a prepared address considering the occasion and the audience, “one cannot but agree that it was a calculated attempt to insult Islam which is typical of him. His veiled insinuation that Muslims have a pool of violence to draw from, is disgusting, disheartening, as well as condemnable.”
JNI argued that responsibly, Christmas homilies should come with messages of hope, unity, mercy, the forgiveness of the Supreme Being, and resilience through prayers, especially in this trying time.
The statement further read, “The Bishop’s message was however a clear deviation from the well-established norm across the globe. Kukah is the Bishop of the Sokoto diocese located at the seat of the Caliphate and the heart of Islam and Islamic scholarship, culture, and practices in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite the status of Sokoto to the Muslims and Islamic history, Bishop Kukah was warmly welcomed, accepted, accommodated, and accorded respect deserving of his position as a religious leader.
“Across the length and breadth of Northern Nigeria, Kukah has friends and associates among the Muslim society. Without fear of any contradiction, he is most accepted and accommodated Christian clergy to the leaders of the Muslims in the north. They accorded him all the support he needed, despite some reservations from some quarters about his tendencies to bite the fingers that feed him. Despite the liberality, congeniality, and the camaraderie extended to Bishop Kukah in Sokoto and all over the Muslim north, he throws all sense of decorum and common sense to the wind and fired invective salvos on the Muslims and Islam without any justification.
“By this and his several similar inane attacks against Islam and the Muslims, the Bishop has lost the friendship and the hospitality of the entire Muslim populace. How can the Muslims ever trust a man who smiles at their faces in the day and holds a dagger against them in the night? How can the Muslims continue to be hospitable to the one who proves to be ingrate many times over? How can the Muslims be comfortable in associating with a bitterly vindictive person disguised in the garb of religious clergy?”
The organisation described Kukah’s message as a veiled attack on Islam, made to look like an attack on President Muhammadu Buhari.
It said, “The Bishop cannot pretend to be attacking President Buhari and end up punching Islam and the Muslims. We will never accept to be used as a punching bag of the vindictive Bishop. It is mind-boggling to imagine why Bishop Kukah is always keen on pushing at the National fault lines; religion, tribe, and north-south divide?
“His fiery and equally violent inciting speech at the burial of the late Governor Yakowa of Kaduna State is still fresh in our memories. That speech which was aimed at electrifying the atmosphere drew the eerie of many reasonable Nigerians across religious and regional divides. The late Abubakar Gimba of blessed memory wrote thus: However, the atmospherics of his speech at Yakowa’s burial sounded differently.
“The many references to religious bigots, dubious religious manipulations, members of the nefarious Mafia whose selfishness hindered the development of Kaduna State in particular and the North in general, one of the worst shows of selfishness by an unproductive and selfish cabal who have deployed religion to hide their goal, and those who have projected Islam as a basis for power, created the condition that now threatens the foundation of our society, are all tailored for, and directly targeted at Muslims, to make them fit for the gallows of culpability, and painting them as unquestionable candidates for the hangman’s noose.
“In my great respect for the Bishop, I still do not believe he would come down from his episcopal ladder to the level of the young dentist of India. Yet, I see this erudite clergyman, whose wisdom I admire, in a double attire: beneath the adornment of his clericals.
“The above depicted the Bishop as a person with the habit of inciting violence, an action that is clearly against his calling as Priest as his fellow Christian Dr. Uche Diala puts it in his article. The Priest, especially the Catholic Priest and indeed the High Priest as the Bishop represents is an eternal conciliator and reconciliation. A messenger of peace. His words must always portray to engender love, peace, forgiveness, reconciliation, and unity.
“The Priest must always be seen to be on the side of the truth, never to take sides, except to side the downtrodden, weak, and helpless. He must speak truth to power just like Christ did… but must not play to the gallery or be tempted to become populist. Bishop Kukah should not take Muslims kindness for timidity or foolishness. In being accommodative and kind, the Muslims are adhering to the teaching of the Glorious Quran that even in times of war the Muslims should offer assistance to those who seek their protection. Quran chapter 9 verse 6 is categorical on this.
“And if one of the Mushrikun (disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah) seeks your protection, then grant him protection so that he may hear the Word of Allah (the Quran), and then escort him to where he can be secure, that is because they are men who know not. Quran 9:6.”
It said “the Muslims kind nature should not be taken for granted, because our Prophet (Peace be upon him) has warned that a Muslim should not allow himself to be ridiculed where he said believer should not be stung twice in the same hole {Hadith}. Kukah and his likes who enjoys the pleasure of denigrating Islam and Muslims at any slightest opportunity should have lowered their gourd, to have some peace of mind because the spark which Islam kindles can never be extinguished. Authorities more ferocious, more organized, and more persistent than Kukah, have all tried to denigrate Islam but alas Islam and Muslims have remained consistently triumphant – Alhamdulillah.
“Vituperations such as Kukah’s is what is making Islam waxing stronger globally, that today it is the fastest-growing religion, the world over. Can’t the Kukah and his cohorts ponder over this? Can’t they see that despite ganging, blackmailing, stigmatisation, and excessive campaign of calumny against Islam, the religion is making waves into areas where other ideologies and beliefs are rejected?
“To this end, we call on all Muslims to continue to remain calm in the face of these provocations to deny conflict entrepreneurs disguised as clergies the avenue to market their stock. Muslims are enjoined to continuously uphold the teachings of Islam, especially in regards to accommodativeness, conviviality, and hospitality. Let’s continue to relate well with our peace-loving Christian neighbors and colleagues regardless of the vituperations of some misguided elements among them. We beseech Allah to protect us, secure our environments and make peace to reign and radiate right from our hearts till it encompasses all aspects of our lives and our societies.”
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Kano Hisbah Arrests 53 Teenagers For Immoral Acts
Kano Hisbah corps
The Kano State Hisbah Board has arrested 53 teenagers over alleged involvement in immoral acts in Kano City.
Malam Lawal Ibrahim, the board’s Public Relations Officer, who disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday in Kano, said they were arrested on a tip-off.
Kano Hisbah corps
According to him, the suspects were apprehended on Tuesday night at Lamido Crescent in Nassarawa Local Government Area of the state for selling hard drugs and intoxicants.“The suspects comprise 27 males and 26 females, all of whom are between the ages of 17 and 19.“Our men went there around 10.00 pm and arrested 53 suspects,” he said.Ibrahim, who added that the suspects were screened correctly, said, “We found out that all of them were first-time offenders. They were counselled and handed over to their parents.”He said the Commander-General of the board, Harun Ibn-Sina, had warned youths in the state to desist from wayward lifestyle and be good citizens.The News Agency of Nigeria reports that “immoral acts” are prohibited under Sharia Law operating in Kano state.
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BREAKING: I Will Never Concede, Trump Tells Supporters
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump told a rally of his supporters outside the White House that he would never concede that he lost the election, as Congress readied to certify Joe Biden’s victory.
“I will never give up. We will never concede,” Trump told the cheering crowd. “We will stop the steal.”
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E2%80%99s-plan-again-elongate-ceos-tenures Tension In Immigration, NSCDC, NCS Over Buhari’s Plan To Again Elongate CEOs’ Tenures
There is anxiety in the Nigerian Immigration Service, Nigeria Security Civil and Defence Corps, and Nigerian Correctional Service as the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration is planning another tenure elongation for the heads of the paramilitary agencies.
SaharaReporters learnt that the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, is at the heart of the plan to keep the leaders of the agencies in power, despite the initial elongation given to them in 2019 and 2020.
The Comptroller-General of NIS, Muhammad Babandede, is currently the longest-serving top officer of the agency, after joining the service in June 1985.
He has already spent 35 years in service and hails from Jigawa State.
While for the Controller-General of Nigeria Correctional Service, Jaafaru Ahmed, his tenure was already extended by one year from July 21, 2019 to July 21, 2020, a decision which caused some displeasure among the top officers of the service.
Ahmed turned 60 in 2019, and has also reached the mandatory 35 years in service in 2020. After the one year, Ahmed’s tenure was again extended by the Minister of Interior, Aregbesola, for an additional six months.
For the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Abdullahi Gana was appointed as the Commandant–General in July 2015. His tenure expired in July 2020, and was granted a six-month extension, which should end in January 2021.
It was learnt that there is no move at the moment by the Ministry of Interior to get Gana’s replacement.
“The continuous tenure elongation is not ideal for our services. The top officers cannot aspire and there is no fresh idea or fresh blood to take charge of affairs. It is not good for career development. This government has stagnated the career development of well-meaning and innovative officers,” a source lamented.
“The Chief Executive Officers have exceeded the mandatory ages and years in the services and they had their tenures extended last year by the Minister of Interior. They are likely to have another extension unless there is pressure,” another source added.
SaharaReporters learnt that Aregbesola, who is the Chairman of the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board, is planning to recommend a further extension of the tenures of the officers, a move which is causing disquiet and tension in the agencies.
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E2%80%94-doctors More Nigerians Coming For DNA Tests To Determine Paternity Of Their Children — Doctors
Some medical doctors in the country have said there has been a significant increase in the number of people coming for DNA (paternity) testing to establish the paternity of their child.
However, the doctors said the increase preceded the ongoing paternity scandal involving the Managing Director of First City Monument Bank (FCMB), Adam Nuru, and a former employee of the bank, Moyo Thomas.
On social media, the scandal has generated conversations and questions around the prevalence of paternity fraud in marriage and the need for paternity testing to establish who the real father of a child is.
Nuru was alleged to have had a romantic affair with Moyo, and fathered her two children, while the latter was still married to Tunde Thomas, who died on December 16, 2020.
Friends of the deceased had in a petition claimed that Tunde died as a result of depression after discovering his two supposed children with Moyo belong to the FCMB MD.
Speaking with SaharaReporters, a medical doctor at the National Hospital, Abuja, said there has been an increase in the rate at which people come for DNA testing at the facility.
He, however, added that the surge preceded the FCMB MD’s marriage scandal.
He said: “There is an increase in the number of people taking paternity tests because of the awareness, even privately some people call and say they want to do a paternity test, how do they go about it? Some say their friends need to take the test, so there has been an increase.”
The doctor attributed the development to several factors, including the seemingly rising cases of infidelity in marriages and the need to establish paternity as a requirement during processing for migration.
He said: “A factor could be the increase in migration; a lot of people travel out, and relocate. Some of the countries they go to like the US, Canada, and so on request for DNA tests.
“Not all of these countries but some ask for it so generally it’s (paternity testing has) been on the increase. Once in a while you get calls that people want to do a test and it was not like that two to three years ago.
“People are taking paternity testing now due to the increase in infidelity among partners. Some girls, even outside wedlock, might want to pin a pregnancy on a man and even when the child is born. So, a DNA test is conducted so the man will know if the child is actually his.
“Another form of DNA test can be done when the baby is in the womb, it’s not necessarily only when the child is born that it can be done.
“Anytime an issue like this comes up, people tend to take action more because of the high rate of infidelity amongst Nigerians. There’s a high rate of infidelity in Nigeria, we don’t just like talking about it.”
Also speaking, another medical doctor, Segun Bankole, noted: “Paternity testing has been on the increase for more than three years. People have been requesting for paternity testing for a very long time, especially those who have divorce issues.”
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E2%80%99s-behind-fcmb-md-paternity-snag-and-nigerians%E2%80%99-lust-scandals-fredrick-nwabufo Dangote’s Behind, FCMB MD Paternity Snag And Nigerians’ Lust For Scandals, By Fredrick Nwabufo
We love scandals. By ‘’we’’ I mean both the dramatis personae in a scandal and the spectators sitting in judgment. Why would a superior at a workplace get entangled in a sexual congress with a subordinate if not driven by depravity and adrenaline rush from eating a forbidden fruit? It is predatory for anyone in authority or in a higher position to get in the hay with a subordinate. It is classical animal predation.
I once worked in a financial institution. I regard that experience as an ‘’incident of the past’’ I do not want to relish. It is suspended in the past. Let’s just say I witnessed the transactional potential and perils of s** in the workplace. I have also worked in places where the MD serially exercised his manhood on female staff without care that his sexual exploits and libido are stuff of office gossip. I have seen things.
When the sordid details of an alleged affair between Adam Nuru, managing director of First City Monument Bank (FCMB), and Moyo Thomas, a former member of his staff, rippled on social media, I sighed to myself: ‘’another one’’. Nuru was alleged to have sired two children with Moyo while she worked at the bank. Moyo’s husband, Tunde Thomas reportedly died of trauma after he discovered the children did not come from his loins. There is another version of the tale which says Moyo revealed to Tunde that the kids were not his after she moved to the US and that the deceased had strayed into the arms of another woman before his death.
The ‘’facts’’ we have at the moment are mere conjectures and social media tittle-tattle. The characters in this alleged star-crossed affair have not given their own side of the story. ‘’We all need to hear both sides of the story’’ – the song by Phil Collins is my buffer. So, it is safe not to apportion blame or sit in judgment on this matter – not until all sides have their say.
FCMB says it is investigating the alleged affair and Nuru has been put on leave. This is a quick-witted response to an issue that could cause the bank loss of goodwill. Already, there is an avalanche of memes hitting at the moral fabric of the bank. Really, there is nothing more that chips away at brand perception than sexual scandals. In the eye of the public, any bank caught in the undertow of a sexual scandal is a whorehouse.
I think this incident is a clarion call to all corporate organisations, institutions and agencies; in fact, every workplace to check office relationships, particularly when they involve staff of their different cadre. There is an epidemic of ‘’office husband’’ and ‘’office wife’’ in workplaces. I have heard of cases where an ‘’office husband’’ eventually ended up sexually ravaging an ‘’office wife’’ who is married and has kids, destroying her home. I have also heard of cases where an ‘’office husband’’ conspired with his buddies at the workplace and took a married ‘’office wife’’ on an official trip to Dubai, sexually invading her in a hotel.
These office ‘’sexcapades’’ are rife. They have become an abnormal normality in our work culture. We do not need to pretend about it; rather we should take back our workplaces from red-light avenues. The office is not a place for sexual relationships. Office romance complicates work relationship. It damages cohesion and trust. It creates room for animosity and vicious gossip. A situation where a superior is sexually involved with a subordinate fouls the sanctity of the workplace.
Also, considering that most people spend more time in their workplaces with colleagues than with their spouses and families, it is the more reason there should be strict enforcement of moral codes. Really, there is a tendency for the so-called ‘’office husband—office wife’’ relationship to snowball into a passionate and deadly affair that can cost a business gravely. Families and lives should not be destroyed in the corner office.
The workplace is a temple that should not be defied with sexual impurity. It is a workplace, not a red-light district.
On Aliko Dangote, a video of him in his mortal moments poppled on social media a few days ago – with some alleged consorts fighting over a right to his access. Well, Dangote being a billionaire does not make him a moralist or puritan. He is not a preacher or an Imam, and he never made pretensions of being celibate. Most importantly, he is not married. As they say, he is single and free to mingle. But I cannot get that image off my head though.
Fredrick Nwabufo is a writer and journalist
Twitter @FredrickNwabufo
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