Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Wednesday 22nd June 2022
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 22/06/22
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Late Gospel Singer, Osinachi To Be Buried In Abia Saturday
The remains of the late gospel singer, Osinachi Nwachukwu, will be buried on Saturday, June 25, 2022, in Abia State.This was disclosed in a flyer containing details of her burial rites and seen by SaharaReporters.
According to the flyer, there will be a praise night on Tuesday (today) at Michael Okpara Square in Enugu by 7 pm.Osinachi, who sang the popular song ‘Ekwueme’, died on April 8, 2022, amid widespread allegations by her children, family, and colleagues that she was battered to death.Her husband, Peter Nwachukwu claimed she died of lung cancer but there are also reports that she died after being kicked in the chest by her husband.The Nigerian Government has since filed charges Peter Nwachukwu for allegedly causing the death of his wife.The 23 counts filed against Peter Nwachukwu border on culpable homicide under Sections 104 and 379 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 and Section 221 of the Penal Code, and the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act (VAPP).The charges were filed by the Federal Ministry of Justice before the FCT High Court.Though Nwachukwu denied brutalising Osinachi to death, the High Court remanded him in Kuje Correctional Facility.
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Ohanaeze Denies Dumping Peter Obi To Endorse Tinubu For President, Says Such Claims Are ‘From Pit Of Hell’
The apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo has debunked reports that it endorsed the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Ahmed Tinubu.It described such reports as a lie from the pit of hell that is meant to serve private interests.
Some media platforms earlier reported that the Igbo apex body had dumped Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate and declared support for Tinubu.The report was credited to the immediate past president of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Lagos State Chapter, Chief Solomon Aguene.He was quoted to have said, “since the group was in support of a second term for Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, there was nothing wrong in supporting his (Sanwo-Olu) presidential candidate”. But Ohanaeze in a statement on Tuesday, called on the general public to disregard the report, saying Aguene has no authority to speak for Ohanaeze Ndigbo Lagos.The statement signed by Ohanaeze spokesman, Dr Alex Ogbonnia is titled “Ohanaeze Debunks Endorsement To Tinubu”.The statement reads, “For purpose of clarity, Chief Solomon Ogbonna Aguene was elected the President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Lagos state chapter in June 2018 for a four-year tenure, in line with the constitution of Ohanaeze Ndigbo. Towards the end of 2021, information reached the National headquarters of Ohanaeze that Aguene was plotting a tenure elongation.“Several eminent Igbo dignitaries urged Aguene to rescind the contemplation for obnoxious tenure elongation and rather lend support for a fresh election for a new executive.”In line with the constitution of the apex Igbo socio-cultural body, an electoral panel headed by a seasoned technocrat in the person of Nze Ozichukwu Chukwu was constituted by the President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Ambassador Professor George Obiozor, with a mandate to conduct a fresh election for the Lagos state chapter.”Subsequently, on June 15, 2022, an election was held in which over 750 delegates from seven Ohanaeze states participated. The election was observed by the Secretary-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Ambassador Okey Emuchay, MFR; Prince Gary Igariwey, the former President General; the Chairman of the electoral panel, Nze Ozichukwu Chukwu, Comrade Okey Nwankwo, the President of Abia State Chapter of Ohanaeze, among others. “At the end of the stiffly contested election, Chief Sunday Ossai was declared the winner with 380 votes, while the runner-up, Chief Evaristus Ozonweke scored 339 votes.”It added, “Information reaching Ohanaeze Ndigbo indicates that Aguene has secured a tenure elongation from a Lagos court. This is, to say the least, very deplorable.”Ohanaeze Ndigbo, therefore, informs the general public that the current president of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Lagos State Chapter is Chief Sunday Ossai and only the Chapter President or an authorised officer of the current Lagos state executive has the right to speak on behalf of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Lagos State Chapter. “The general public is requested to disregard reckless statements by impostors, charlatans, unscrupulous social climbers and pretenders whose major objective is both mischievous and shady.”Ohanaeze believes that any person with a democracy credential will dissociate self with a person whose public conduct is at variance with democratic norms; and that the Aguene endorsement to a presidential candidate is hollow.”It is therefore emphasized that the person who has the right and mandate to make statements on behalf of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in Lagos is the President, Chief Sunday Ossai.”For the avoidance of doubt, the misleading impression that ‘Ohanaeze dumps Obi’ is from the pit of hell and meant to serve private interest. Such a statement is hereby vehemently debunked.”
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E2%80%99s-1224m-investment-anambra-international-breweries-now-worth-54m Peter Obi Administration’s $12.24m Investment For Anambra In International Breweries Now Worth $5.4m, State Government Reveals
An investment of $12.24 million made by Peter Obi as Anambra State governor on behalf of the state government in International Breweries is now down to $5.38 million.
Peter Obi had claimed in an interview with Arise TV in 2018 that he invested over $20 million in International Breweries on behalf of Anambra state as a governor, and that the investment was worth almost $100 million at the time.
In the interview, Obi said, “Tomorrow, they are commissioning a facility in Sagamu, International Breweries, the biggest brewery in Africa. Anambra state is the single highest shareholder in that facility, I invested in it – over 20-something-million dollars. It is worth almost $100 m today, that’s what governments should do.”
This has been debunked by the governor of Anambra, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo.
On Monday, Soludo debunked reports that a ‘$20 million investment’ made by a former governor of the state, Peter Obi, was now worth $100 million. Obi is the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general elections.
A Facebook user had also credited a statement to Soludo alleging that the $20 million which Obi allegedly invested on behalf of the state in the company is now worth $100 million. “Mr Peter Obi’s $20 million investment in Anambra worth $100 million today – Charles Chukwuma Soludo,” the Facebook user had said. Reacting to the claim on his verified Facebook page, Soludo said, “Where did you read or hear me make such false statement? This fake news has been roundly debunked by my team. “We can carry on with campaigning for our preferred candidates without consciously misleading the reading public. The report is fake and never emanated from me. Thank you.” International Breweries (IB) Plc is a subsidiary of the world’s largest brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) — a multinational drink and brewing giant based in Leuven, Belgium. In its 2021 audited financial statement, the company said it holds 43 percent economic interest in International Breweries Plc, a publicly listed company in Nigeria. According to a report by The Nation, AB InBev merged its Nigerian operations under a single corporate entity in 2017. It had three indirect Nigerian subsidiaries — International Breweries Plc, Intafact Beverages Limited and Pabod Breweries Limited. SABMiller Nigeria Holdings BV — another subsidiary of AB InBev — was also a major stakeholder in Intafact and Pabod. However, in a statement obtained by TheCable on Tuesday, Ifeatu Onejeme, Anambra’s finance commissioner, said Peter Obi’s administration invested the sum of N1,955,535,247.00 (an equivalent of approximately $12,616,356.43 at the then average CBN exchange rate of N155.00/$1) in Intafact Beverages Limited, a green-field brewery set up in Onitsha by SABMiller Breweries of South Africa in 2012. According to Olojeme, the state government still holds 407,321,264 ordinary shares of International Breweries Plc in exchange for the Intafact Beverages Limited investment. “Based on the NGX closing price of N5.50 as of 20/6/22, these shares were valued at N2,240,266,952 on that date,” the statement reads in part. “Based on the Central Bank of Nigeria I&E exchange rate of N415.75/US$1.00 on same June 20, 2022, this investment was valued at an equivalent of approximately US$5,388,495.37 (and at N604/$1.00 parallel market rate, only US$3,709,051.24).” TheCable reports that International Breweries has two major shareholders with stakes above 5 percent. The highest shareholder is AB INBEV Nigeria Holdings BV with 72.03 percent followed by Brauhaase International Management GMBH with 8.85 percent, as contained in the company’s financial report dated March 2022. AB INBEV NIGERIA HOLDINGS BV – 78.44%BRAUHAASE INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT GMBH – 8.85%FREE FLOAT – 11.03%.
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Russian Defence Ministry Claims 38 Nigerian Fighters Killed In Ukraine Since Start Of War
At least 38 Nigerian mercenaries fighting in Ukraine, have been eliminated, according to information from the Russian Ministry of Defence. According to the data, Russia says Kiev’s claim of 20,000 foreign mercenaries holding its defence is a lie, adding that it monitors and records the presence in Ukraine of every representative of countries who moved to the country as a mercenary or trainee.
The total number of foreign mercenaries that have moved to Ukraine, according to the report is 6,956 out of which 1,956 have been killed while 1,779 fled back to their home countries. Only 3,221 of the foreign mercenaries, who migrated from 64 countries are left, as of June 17, 2022. Of this number, a total of 85 Nigerians were part of the foreign mercenaries, 38 have been killed while 35 returned to their home country. It said only 12 of this number remain in the country. A statement from the Russian Defence Ministry noted, “Against the backdrop of the Kiev regime’s mounting military failures and massive daily losses in manpower and equipment, the flow of foreign mercenaries to Ukraine has not only decreased, but is actually turning in the opposite direction. “Despite the Kiev regime’s efforts and increased payments, the process of mercenaries leaving to the “other world” or back to their countries of residence has not been stopped by the Kiev leadership. “Recent empty statements about almost “20,000” foreigners “fighting” against the Russian Armed Forces are just plain lies. “As we have already noted, the Russian Defence Ministry monitors and records the presence in Ukraine of every representative of this international gathering of “headless horsemen”. “Moreover, it is not only mercenaries directly involved in combat operations as part of Ukrainian units that are now included in our databases. We also take into account the trainers who have come to train, assist in the operation and repair of Western weapons supplied to Ukraine. “We will publish these statistics today. “For example, among European countries, Poland is the undisputed leader in terms of the number of mercenaries both arriving and dying. “Since the beginning of the special military operation, 1,831 people have arrived in Ukraine, of whom 378 have already been killed and 272 mercenaries have departed for their homeland. “It is followed by Romania with 504 arrivals, 102 deaths and 98 departures. The UK is in third place: 422 arrivals, 101 deaths, 95 departures. “Among the Americas, Canada leads the way: 601 arrivals, 162 deaths, 169 departures. The USA comes second: 530 arrivals, 214 deaths, 227 departures. “From the Middle East, Transcaucasus and Asia the largest number, 355 mercenaries, came from Georgia, of whom 120 died and 90 left Ukraine. Then there are 200 terrorist fighters redeployed from the US-controlled areas of Jazira region in Syria. To date, 80 have been eliminated and 66 have left Ukraine. “In total, our lists as at June 17, 2022, include mercenaries and weapons operating specialists from 64 countries. Since the beginning of the special military operation, 6,956 people have arrived in Ukraine, 1,956 have already been eliminated and 1,779 have left. “As long as 3,321 mercenaries are alive, not yet captured, or have not yet escaped to the Ukrainian border.”
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Commuters Stranded As UK Hit By Biggest Rail Strike In Over 30 Years
Travel across British railway stations ground to a halt Tuesday as the country was hit by its biggest strike action in more than 30 years.
The strike action left many commuters stranded and persuaded many to stay at home.
According to the RMT rail union, the strikes are necessary as wages have failed to keep up with the inflation rate in the UK.
The inflation rate in the UK hit a 40-year high and is on course to keep rising, news.com.au reports. But negotiations will resume Wednesday, the RMT announced. Network Rail, which looks after the country’s rail tracks, told AFP discussions would begin at 10:00 am (0900 GMT). Passengers were warned not to travel all week, with two more days of strike action scheduled for Thursday and Saturday playing havoc with schedules. Long queues formed at bus stops on the outskirts of London shortly after 6:00 am (0500 GMT), but many gave up as services carried on without stopping, already full. “Everything is kind of going tits up at the moment – planes, trains, everything. The country appeared divided over the strikes, with 37 percent in favour this week compared with 45 percent against, according to a snap YouGov survey. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said he “deplored” the strikes, which he said evoked the “bad old days of the 1970s” when industrial action was far more common. The country needed to “stay the course”, defending reforms to the rail network as needed and in the public interest. The walkouts risk causing significant disruption to major events including the Glastonbury music festival. The strikes are the biggest dispute on Britain’s railway network since 1989, according to the RMT. And rail operators warn of disruption throughout the week. And as well as the above-ground rail strike, RMT members on the London Underground are staging a 24-hour Tube train stoppage Tuesday.
Unions also warn railway jobs are at risk, with passenger traffic yet to fully recover after the lifting of coronavirus pandemic lockdowns.
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E2%80%99s-richest-man-elon-musk-cuts-ties-father-applies-change-name Daughter Of World’s Richest Man, Elon Musk Cuts Ties With Father, Applies To Change Name
The transgender daughter of Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, has applied to legally change her name and gender, saying she no longer wants to “be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form”.
The 18-year-old was known as Xavier Alexander Musk but has asked to be recognised as female and known as Vivian Jenna Wilson.
The petition to have the name change and get a new birth certificate was filed with the Los Angeles County Superior Court in Santa Monica, BBC reports. Her request is set out in court documents filed in April, which have only recently come to light. There was no further detail of the apparent rift between Mr Musk’s daughter and her father.Musk has yet to comment. The Tesla and SpaceX entrepreneur was married to Vivian’s mother, Canadian author Justine Wilson, from 2000 until they divorced in 2008. Their first son, Nevada, was born in 2002 but died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) at 10 weeks. Musk and Justine went on to have twin sons called Xavier and Griffin and triplet boys – Damian, Kai and Saxon. He has two other children, X Æ A-Xii and Exa Dark Sideræl – who goes by Y – with singer Grimes, with whom he has had an on-off relationship. His children have kept a relatively low profile despite their father’s fame. On Father’s Day, the entrepreneur tweeted, “I love all my kids so much”There has been no comment from Mr Musk about his daughter’s decision to distance herself from him. He has been vocal on various transgender issues, and has been branded anti-gay in several rows. Last year he complained about people using their own pronouns. The court document for his daughter’s name and gender change was filed a month before he publicly declared his support for the Republican Party, having previously voted Democrat. He has also said he is a fan of Ron DeSantis, the Republican Florida governor who introduced the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill. This controversial piece of legislation restricts schools from teaching students about sexual orientation and gender issues, with teachers opening themselves up to lawsuits should they fail to comply. In 2020, Musk wrote on Twitter “Pronouns suck” before deleting it. He then said: “I absolutely support trans, but all these pronouns are an aesthetic nightmare.”
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E2%80%93minister Three Million Passports Issued To Nigerians In 3 Years; Lagos, Edo Top Demand List –Minister
Rauf Aregbesola
The Minister of Interior Affairs, Rauf Aregbesola, Tuesday, disclosed that the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) issued 3 million passports to Nigerians within three years.
He said the 3 million passports were issued to Nigerians between 2019 and 2022.
Rauf Aregbesola
Aregbesola, however, warned NIS personnel against extorting Nigerians and hoarding passports to create an undue scarcity in the system.
The minister spoke at the launch of the enhanced e-Passport in Benin, Asaba and Warri passport offices and the inauguration of the passport production centre at the Benin Passport Office, Edo State command, according to Daily Sun.
He stated, “It will interest you to know that between 2019 and now, as difficult as that era, the Nigeria Immigration Service has issued over 3 million passports to Nigerians. It is unprecedented in the history of Nigeria. “Last year alone, 1.3 million passports were issued. Also, last time I checked, over 250,000 passports remained uncollected by applicants.” He assured Nigerians that the era of exploiting applicants seeking to get passports was over, warning that any officer caught doing that will be made to face the music. “Whoever disregards any Nigerian, whoever exploits any Nigerian in their quest to get this document will be dealt with personally by me. This is the last time I am going to warn,” he said. He said President Muhammadu Buhari is not happy about how Nigerians are being denied passports, stressing that with the enhanced e-Passport, the situation will greatly improve.
Aregbesola explained that setting up the office in Benin City is due to the high demand for the passports in Edo and Delta states, maintaining that Edo ranks next to Lagos State in terms of demands.
Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki, thanked the federal government for setting up the office in the state, adding that it will ease the stress of getting passports in the state.
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E2%80%93governor-obaseki Nigerians Looking For Alternatives To PDP, APC, We Must Curb It –Governor Obaseki
The Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, on Tuesday stated that the future of politics in the country is changing along with the fortunes of the All Progressives Congress and Peoples Democratic Party.According to Obaseki, Nigerians are no longer looking in the direction of the APC and the PDP.
He said many Nigerians are looking for an alternative to the two parties.Obaseki made this observation during an interview with African Independent Television on the just concluded Ekiti governorship election.He, therefore, urged the leadership of his party, PDP, to work towards curbing the trend by making their party attractive to Nigerians again.He said, “How can PDP, the party; not win? They were not even number two. So, you can see that something is going on and we do not want this to be a trend. The future of our politics in this country is changing.“I do not know whether you are closely watching what is going on; the level of disenchantment within the parties.“I am sure in all of our homes now, we have so many people now who call themselves ‘Obidients’. I don’t know whether you have them in your house. Just ask them, ‘Which party are you?’. They say ‘Obidients’, you understand.“They do not want us; they are not talking about PDP or APC. They are looking for alternatives and they are many. You see all of them queuing for their PVCs (Permanent Voter Cards) now. They are not looking at the direction of PDP or APC now. They are looking for alternatives.“If we do not curb this, if we do not make our party attractive, I do not know what will happen in the next elections.”People who call themselves ‘Obedients’ are supporters of the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
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**-posts-within-24-hours Twitter, Instagram Defy Order By Buhari Government To Delete P*** Posts Within 24 Hours
United States-based social networking sites, Twitter and Instagram, have defied the order given by the Nigerian government to delete p*** posts within 24 hours, SaharaReportors’ findings revealed.On Monday, June 13, the Nigerian Government issued a code of practice for all online platforms operating in Nigeria including social media interactive platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and TikTok.
Muhammadu Buhari’s government ordered them to remove, disable or block access to any non-consensual content, which parades partial or full nudity, sexual acts, deep fake or revenge p*** within 24 hours of user’s posting. The order was contained in the recently released Code of Practice for Interactive Computer Service Platforms/Internet Intermediaries (online platforms).According to the document, these online platforms have to “act expeditiously to remove, disable, or block access to non-consensual content that exposes a person’s private areas, full or partial nudity, sexual act, or revenge p***, where such content is targeted to harass, disrepute, or intimidate an individual. “A platform must acknowledge the receipt of the complaint and take down the content within 24 hours.” The Code of Practice also instructs these platforms to take down any unlawful content upon receiving a notice from a user, or an authorised government agency.However, SaharaReporters’ investigations revealed that six days (144 hours) after this directive, p*** content can still be accessed on both Twitter and Instagram by Nigerian users.Many Twitter users in Nigeria still have posts that involve nudity. Many of such posts were found to be subsisting despite the anti-p*** post directive given by the Nigerian government.Similarly, SaharaReporters’ findings showed that Nigerian users can still access p*** content on Instagram also but the newspaper chose not to post the links in order not to encourage pornography.
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E2%80%94-police Anyone Who Commits Abortion In Nigeria Is Liable To Imprisonment — Police
Aliyu Giwa, a police officer in the Force Public Relations Office (FPRO), has said Nigerian law prohibits anyone from carrying out abortion either on themselves or on others.He said this is in a Twitter post on Tuesday where he cited sections of the constitution that prohibit such abortion and other related offences.
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According to him, anyone directly or indirectly involved in the process that leads to miscarriage is liable to imprisonment. He wrote: “If you already know this! Then this is a reminder. And if you don’t know, then know it now! The criminal code Act, section 228 – 230 says: “228. ATTEMPTS TO PROCURE ABORTION – Any person who, with intent to procure miscarriage of a woman whether she is or is not with child, unlawfully administers to her or causes her to take any poison or other noxious thing, or uses any force of any kind, or uses any other means whatever, is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for fourteen years. “229. Attempts To Procure Own Miscarriage: Any woman who, with intent to procure her own miscarriage whether she is or is not with child, unlawfully administers to herself any poison or other noxious thing, or uses any force of any kind, or uses any other means whatever, or permits any such thing or means to be administered or used to her, is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for seven years. “230. supplying drugs or instruments to procure abortion. Any person who unlawfully supplies to or procures for any person anything whatever, knowing that it is intended to be unlawfully used to procure the miscarriage of a woman, whether she is or is not with child, is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for three years. “If you already know this and you still don’t care. My brother and sister God will surely expose you.”SaharaReporters could not find recent statistics on abortion rates in Nigeria.However, according to Guttmacher Institute, an estimated 1.25 million induced abortions occurred in Nigeria in 2012, “equivalent to a rate of 33 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–49”.The study said, “Fifty-six percent of unintended pregnancies were resolved by abortion. About 212,000 women were treated for complications of unsafe abortion, representing a treatment rate of 5.6 per 1,000 women of reproductive age, and an additional 285,000 experienced serious health consequences but did not receive the treatment they needed.”
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