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Former Minister of Aviation Femi Fani-Kayode has berated the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for appointing President Muhammadu Buhari ‘Champion of the COVID-19 response’.

POLITICS NIGERIA had reported that ECOWAS leaders in a virtual meeting on Thursday appointed the Nigerian leader to lead the battle against the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic in the West African region.

The appointment took place Thursday at the Extraordinary ECOWAS Summit on COVID-19 which was held via teleconferencing under the Chairmanship of His Excellency, Mahamadou Issoufou, President of the Republic of Niger.

In a tweet via his Twitter page on Friday morning, Fani-Kayode described the appointment as a mistake, adding that the ECOWAS will regret the appointment of Buhari.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain added that the Nigerian leader can barely manage himself, and now he is being appointed to manage a sub-region of 400 million people.

Fani-Kayode noted that the possibility of Buhari managing the sub-region was in doubt.

He wrote: “The greatest mistake that the ECOWAS leaders have made is to appoint Buhari as the leader of the fight against COVID-19.

“This is a cataclysmic error which they will deeply regret. He can barely manage himself and now you ask him to manage a sub-region of 400 million people?”

The greatest mistake that the ECOWAS leaders have made is to appoint @MBuhari as the leader of the fight against Covid 19. This is a cataclysmic error which they will deeply regret. He can barely manage himself & now you ask him to manage a sub-region of 400 million people?

— Femi Fani-Kayode (@realFFK) April 24, 2020

The Osun State Government has mandated the use of face masks in the state to curb the spread of Coronavirus.

According to a statement by Ismail Omipidan, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Gboyega Oyetola, the compulsory use of face masks take effect from Friday, April 24.

The statement read: “The decision was part of the resolutions reached by the South West Governors at its virtual meeting last week”.

He said the Southwest states were the first to make the wearing of masks mandatory, and that the regulation would remain in place till the states are rid of the pandemic.

“The sit-at-home order and other precautionary measures of social distancing and regular washing of hands must be observed.”

The Lagos State government through the Ministry of Education is set to partner with a Microsoft company – ATB Yechsoft Solutions on digital literacy training.

The collaboration, according to Kayode Suton, the Ministry of Public Affairs of the education ministry, is aimed at training 18,000 teachers to make learning easy for secondary school students amidst the pandemic.

POLITICS NIGERIA gathered that the training tagged “Work-From-Home, Remote Teaching and Learning for Lagos State Secondary School” will commence on April 27 and it will afford teachers the opportunity to teach, mentor, create the content of different subjects from mobile gadgets.

More so, Folashade Adefisayo – the Lagos Commissioner for Education, said the programme will be outstanding feet for the state.

Expressing her satisfaction, the boss of Lagos State Teaching Service Commission, (TESCOM) Elizabeth Ariyo, said the programme is a long term goal as she applauded the efforts of Microsoft Office through their representative, ATB Techsoft Solutions.

Information reaching POLITICS NIGERIA reveals that popular Nollywood actor, Yomi Obileye is dead.

Nigerian comedian, Gbenga Adeyinka disclosed this to this newspaper on Friday morning. He said the Veteran actor and broadcaster lost his life to an undisclosed ailment.

He also shared the sad news on his Instagram page. He wrote:

“If tears could build a stairway and memories were a lane, we would walk right up to heaven and bring you back again.

“Rest In Peace Uncle Yomi OBILEYE. Thanks for the memories. I can’t help but want to watch “HOSTAGES” again. Sleep well Egbon and May God give your family and fans the fortitude to bear the loss.”

Obileye became famous for his role in Tade Ogidan’s movie, ‘Hostages’ in 1997. The veteran actor was also known for his role in ‘Palace’, a soap opera that featured Liz Benson, Jide Kosoko, Antar Laniyan, Dayo Adeneye, Jide Alabi, and Tunji Bamishigbin.

The late actor was the elder brother to broadcaster cum actor, Taiwo Obileye, who featured in Tales of Eve: Thanks for Coming and was popularly for his role in Chief Daddy.

Suspected killers of Mrs Funke Olakunrin, the daughter of Afenifere leader, Reuben Fasoranti, have been arraigned by the Ondo State government.

POLITICS NIGERIA gathered that the four suspects were arraigned on Friday by the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Adekola Olawoye, before a Chief Magistrate Court sitting in Akure, the state capital.

Olawoye named the suspects as Lawal Mazaje from the Felele area of Kogi State, Adamu Adamu from Jada area of Adamawa State.

Others are Mohammed Usman from Illela area of Sokoto State, and Auwal Abubakar from Shinkafi area of Zamfara State.

This newspaper gathered that the arraignment is coming after the Nigeria Police Force handed the suspected killers over to the state government on Thursday.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has revealed why some states in Nigeria are yet to record any case of Coronavirus.

The agency boss, Chikwe Ihekweazu, while speaking on Channels Television Sunrise Daily Programme on Friday, disclosed that the states that are yet to record Coronavirus have not submitted samples for tests.

POLITICS NIGERIA reports that there are 10 states in Nigeria that are yet to record even a single case of the deadly virus. In other 26 states, the country has a total of 981.

Before now, the NCDC director has said the virus will get to all parts of Nigeria. On Friday, he said the agency expects “every state to submit a certain number of samples for testing every day. We have seen that some states have not submitted a single sample.”

He said state governors need to be honest with themselves to carry our necessary tests in their state to make sure the menace is curbed early enough.

The death of Joy Adole, a teenage house help in Lagos state, has caused a furore, POLITICS NIGERIA reports.

The deceased was reportedly found dead in her room in the home of her mistress, One Mrs Fortune Steve Nwankwo. Although Joy was suspected to have been beaten to death by Mrs Nwankwo, the latter claimed she committed suicide by hanging.

This paper however gathered that the 19-year-old died barely three months of staying with the Steve Nwankwos as domestic staff.

How she got there

Findings revealed that Joy, who hailed from Ochodu-Ukpa, in Oju Local Government Area of Benue state, was staying with a family in Ibadan, Oyo State capital before she got to Lagos in search of a greener pasture. In January 2020, one Blessing Inakwu, a relative of Joy’s host family in Ibadan, took the deceased with her to Lagos.

According to Ms Inakwu, the young girl begged to follow her to Lagos and she fixed her up with the Steve Nwankwos as a domestic staff through her childhood friend, one Johnson Odewu, who currently works at Joshesther Olive hotel in Ikeja, Lagos state capital.

Johnson Odewu

Mr Odewu, also a native of Benue state, once worked in Lagos Oriental hotel where he met Mr Steve’s sister. He told POLITICS NIGERIA that it was Mr Steve’s sister who informed him that the couple were in need of house help.

“Since Blessing had already told me that Joy was in Lagos and was in need of a job, I connected her with the Steves. I only served as an intermediary between the two families,” He said in a telephone interview with this paper.

According to the agreement reached, the family promised the deceased the sum of 15,000 naira as salary. However, on January 10, Joy moved into the Steve Nwankwos’ residence located at 18, Ogundola street, Bariga.

“Ever since then, I did not get any report until recently,” Odewu continued.

Things fall apart

Everything appeared to be fine until April 13 when Odewu got a call from Mrs Fortune Steve Nwankwo with complaints that Joy was not doing her job as expected.

In fact, according to him, he had visited the couple to check on the girl twice and there were no negative reports.

“When she complained to me on the 13th of April, I told her that we would settle everything once the lockdown is over,” He said.

Corroborating Odewu’s narrative, Ms Inakwu said the complaints from Mrs Steve Nwankwo reached her two weeks ago. In response to the allegations against the teenage girl, Ms Inakwu cautioned her but Joy insisted that she wanted to leave the house.

Mr and Mrs. Steve Nwankwo

“I promised to go and pick her after the lockdown,” she said, referencing the cessation of movements pronounced in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus in Lagos state.

Our reporter gathered that Joy attempted leaving the house but could not find a bus to transport her from Bariga to Oshodi on the 19th of April, hence, she went back to the house.

On the same day, according to Ms Inakwu, Mrs Steve Nwankwo called in to report the deceased’s conduct. “On the 19th of April, she called to complain about Joy that she is not listening to her and that she stole her indomie. Joy confessed that she stole the noodles because of hunger and I pleaded with Mrs Steve to ensure give her food.”

Ms Inakwu also revealed that Mrs Steve Nwankwo did not fulfil her end of the bargain regarding the payment of salary, having worked for three months.

“I asked if she paid her (Joy) salary and she said she gave her 10 thousand naira instead of 45 thousand. I challenged the madam and she claimed that the remaining balance was withheld because the deceased damaged some properties.”

Late Joy told Ms Inakwu that she only damaged One flask and a ceramic plate.

“I told her to give her money since the two things are not up to 35,000 naira.”

She further explained that during the conversation of April 19, Mrs Steve told her that she was beating Joy for her misdeeds.”I also heard her husband begging her to stop beating the girl, who was crying in the background.”

However, in the early hours of Monday, 20th of April, Ms Inakwu got the news that Joy was dead.

Suspicion

The way the couple transferred Joy’s corpse to the morgue even before informing any of her relatives reeks of suspicion. Ms Inakwu stated that at about 7:00 am on that Monday, she received a call from Mr Steve asking her for Joy’s full name.

At this point, Blessing Inakwu was curious and she directed him to pose the questions to Joy, unknown to her that the young girl was dead.

Mrs Steve Nwankwo

She then received another call around 11:00 am from Mrs Steve Nwankwo, announcing that Joy committed suicide by hanging. “Before she called me, she said the corpse has been moved to the mortuary. Before you take her to the mortuary, why didn’t you call me?” She probed.

Following the sad occurrence, Mrs Steve Nwankwo has been arrested and detained at the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Panti. In a telephone interview with this paper, the officer handling the case, Inspector Yemi, noted that investigation is ongoing on the case.

Also, the Lagos State police spokesperson, Bala Elkana, said the embattled couple came to Bariga Police Station and reported that their house girl committed suicide in their house.

Nevertheless, the official noted that when operatives visited the scene of the incident and saw the position of the rope and how she hanged, they suspected that something was fishy as wounds were all over the deceased’s body, showing that she was tortured to death.

“We are suspecting murder. Investigation is ongoing,” Mr Elkana stated in a text message sent to POLITICS NIGERIA on Friday.

Family vows to get justice

While the police say an investigation is ongoing, relatives of the deceased have vowed to pursue the case till justice is served. Speaking with POLITICS NIGERIA, John Adole, the elder brother of Joy, said he got to know about the death through one of their brothers staying in Oshodi.

“I live in Lagos but I never when the girl left Ibadan until Monday when I got the news of her death,” he said.

Speaking on steps taken by the family, he said: “On Tuesday, we went to Panti where the case is, to know how far the police have gone on the investigation.”

He added that the corpse of late Joy was examined by the relatives in Mainland hospital located in Yaba.

“We went to Mainland hospital in Yaba to see her corpse. I have applied for an autopsy. I filled the consent form yesterday,” He announced to POLITICS NIGERIA on Thursday evening.

Mr Adole further explained that the autopsy is yet to be carried out due to the unavailability of the pathologist caused by the Coronavirus lockdown. “We have put heads together to see how we can get a pathologist for the autopsy and we are waiting for result of the police investigation,” He said.

Meanwhile, when this paper contacted Mr Steve Nwankwo, he declined comments on the issue.

“The matter is with the police. I would not want to say anything on the case since the case is already being handled by the police,” He told our reporter on Thursday night.

When probed on instances of beating, as gathered by our reporter, Mr Steve insisted on not commenting on the issue.

The Lagos State government has been advised on the best means of distributing palliatives to vulnerable residents in the state.

Tokunbo Smith, a public affairs analyst told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the state government should adopt the database of the Lagos State Residents Registration Agency (LASRRA).

He made this known while reacting to the recent increase in the number of Coronavirus cases recorded in Lagos.

”We can leverage Information Technology (IT) for the distribution of palliatives. Fortunately, I am one of the Committee Members of the School Health Information Platform (SHIP). Lagos State has LASRRA. The government can use the database to distribute palliatives.

“They have about 75 percent of residents of Lagos State registered; so why can’t they use it to distribute palliatives.”

Smith said any attempt by the government to relax the lockdown will cause more harm than good. He said while the extension will affect economically, it is better to have a healthy nation.

As of the time of this report, Nigeria has a total of 981 cases. While 197 have been discharged, 31 deaths have been recorded.

The Sarkin Malaman of Sokoto state, Sheik Buhari Siriddawa has passed away.

The elderly monarch died earlier today. His demise was announced on Friday evening by one of his sons, Muhammad Buhari Siriddawa. He wrote;

“I regret to announce the death of my biological father may his gentle soul rest in Jannah Amin”. He was also a senior Imam, renown for his vast knowledge of religious and traditional matters.

More to come….

The post BREAKING: Buhari Siriddawa is Dead appeared first on Politics Nigeria.

The Governor of Osun state, Gboyega Oyetola has appointed news heads of Yoruba Security outfit, Amotekun and the Bureau of Social Services, BOSS.

In a statement on Friday evening made available to POLITICS NIGERIA, Comrade, Amitolu Shittu, a human rights activist will head the newly establish Amotekun Corps, while Mr Richard Tinubu has been selected to head the Bureau of Social Services.

Richard Tinubu and Amitolu Shittu

Tinubu is a trainer and management Consultant, Richard Tinubu, who spent the better part of his working career at an American company, Computing Solutions Outfit, NCR Nigeria Plc.

BOSS is an outfit established by the State government to leverage premium human resources and technological innovation in driving effective monitoring and evaluation of Social Service delivery to ensure public value and fiscal discipline.