Television Nigerian

As the world battles the grip of the coronavirus pandemic, the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group has said accelerated global health and economic effort are the actions needed to be able to overcome the coronavirus pandemic in the continent.

Akinwumi Adesina, AFDB President, disclosed this on Wednesday during a global Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) via webinar (web-based seminar), according to a statement by the bank’s Communications and External Relations Department.

The corporate council on Africa is a leading U.S. business association that promotes business and investment between the U.S. and Africa.

He said that “one death is one too many” just as “our collective humanity is at stake”.

Adesina, therefore, urged U.S. and African government officials as well as corporate executives to forge new and sustainable partnerships that would endure beyond the pandemic.

While urging participants to be their brother’s and sister’s keepers, the AfDB president said there was a compelling need to pay attention to underlying global inequalities, and the impact on rich and poor countries.

Adesina highlighted the bank’s recent issuance of a record-breaking three billion dollars “Fight COVID-19” bond, which he described as the largest-ever U.S. dollar-denominated social bond.

He said the bond was oversubscribed at 4.6 billion dollars and was listed on the London Stock Exchange.

According to him, the bank also inaugurated a 10 billion dollars COVID-19 Response Facility to assist African governments and businesses.“

The bank’s response package includes 5.5 billion dollars earmarked for African governments, 3.1 billion dollars for countries that fall under the bank’s Concessionary African Development Fund, and 1.4 billion dollars for the private sector,” he said.

Answering questions about Africa’s health care system, Adesina said the region needed to do more than double spending in the sector.

He said the acute shortage of facilities and pharmaceutical companies in the continent should offer development and investment opportunities.

According to him, while China is home to 7,000 pharmaceutical companies, and India 11,000, Africa as a whole, by contrast, has only 375, even though its population is roughly equal to half of the combined population of both China and India.

Adesina, therefore, called on multilateral institutions to align and step up their collective efforts with regard to Africa’s debt, manage their ratings, and work together with rating agencies.

He said that although COVID-19 infection rates across Africa were relatively low compared with the rest of the world, there was yet a compelling need to improve on healthcare infrastructure in the continent.

He added that with an eye on the present crisis and beyond, there was a need for urgent, new, and resilient partnerships that would help leave no one behind.

Meanwhile, Florie Liser, President/CEO of the Corporate Council on Africa has lauded AfDB’s proactive leadership role in responding to the crisis in Africa.

According to Liser, the coronavirus pandemic is threatening to erase Africa’s unprecedented growth and economic gains over the past decade.

Controversial social media personality and self-acclaimed journalist, Kemi Olunloyo has stated that the leader of the indigenous people of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu is ‘Alive and Well’.

Olunloyo generated a twitter storm after alleging that Kanu had died in Italy on Tuesday. However, on Wednesday morning, she tweeted that the pro-secession leader was alive.

“#BREAKING After investigating all night, I am letting everyone know that Nnamdi Kanu is ALIVE and well. He was NEVER in Italy let alone hospitalized.”

“I also spoke to close friends of Kanu including my brother @realFFK who confirmed the same and has spoken to Mazi Kanu,” she wrote.

https://mobile.twitter.com/KemiOlunloyo/status/1252819617661087744

The Nigerian police force has effected the arrest of an Archbishop and General Overseer of Ressurection praise ministries for Africa alias ‘Jehovah Sharp Sharp’, Samson Benjamin for violating the Coronavirus lockdown.

Benjamin will be arraigned on Wednesday before a magistrate court in Lagos. The cleric was arrested after leading about 100 people to protest at the Chinese Embassy in Victoria Island over the maltreatment of Nigerians in China.

POLITICS NIGERIA gathered that the bishop was arrested by police officers from State CIID, Yaba. Benjamin’s arrest came shortly after Embassy Officials forwarded footage of his protest to the police.

Police Spokesperson, Bala Elkana confirmed the incident adding that the cleric was already on the way to court.

Information reaching POLITICS NIGERIA reports that Adamawa State has recorded its first Coronavirus (COVID-19) case.

It was learned that the patient is a returnee from Kano, who earlier been tested after submitting himself for the virus test.

According to SaharaReporters, an online newspaper, the man has been on self-isolation since returning to the state from Kano last week.

He said he was informed of his infection of the virus on Wednesday morning by the COVID-19 Containment Committee in Adamawa.

He told SaharaReporters: “I got a call from the COVID-19 Containment Committee this morning, informing me that my result showed I’m positive for the virus.”

Confirming the news in a state broadcast on Wednesday, Governor Ahmadu Fintiri said the victim is a returnee from Kano State.

He said an emergency meeting with stakeholders and security agencies will be held before evening and the state may be on total lockdown as a result of the incident.

Since the outbreak of Coronavirus, several reports have been written to debunk claims by many individuals and groups that there are now vaccines for the deadly disease.

It has killed over 60,000 persons in the world among close to two million persons infected.

In Nigeria alone, there are over 700 cases at of Tuesday evening.COVID-19 is a respecter of no one including kings and world leaders.

The World Health Organisation says there is no vaccine yet as two of its staff have also been infected.

On Wednesday, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) debunked a viral post claiming that a liquid mixture had been discovered as Coronavirus vaccine.

The agency took to twitter saying: “A liquid mixture is being sold with claims that it is”#COVID19 vaccine”. This is FALSE!

“There is currently NO VACCINE or drug approved for #COVID19 prevention by health authorities#TakeResponslibility.

“Only purchase & consume drugs at accredited pharmacies or health facilities”

A liquid mixture is being sold with claims that it is”#COVID19 vaccine”. This is FALSE!

There is currently NO VACCINE or drug approved for #COVID19 prevention by health authorities#TakeResponslibility

Only purchase & consume drugs at accredited pharmacies or health facilities pic.twitter.com/xVLNPLmcMj

— NCDC (@NCDCgov) April 22, 2020

The coronavirus scourge has left the hope of students hanging as many are uncertain of when the schools will resume. Recall that the Federal government had earlier ordered an indefinite closure of schools at all levels nationwide since March.

Notwithstanding, misinformation and rumours have trailed the specific date these schools will be re-opened. Some time ago, it was rumoured that the schools will commence work on May 1, however, the Federal Ministry of Education appealed to Nigerians to ignore reports in circulation that claim the Education Minister, Adamu Adamu, has directed the reopening of schools.

The spokesperson of the ministry, Ben Goong, in a statement of April 13, said there was no such directive from the minister because everyone had been instructed to work from home due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, the recent one is a viral image being shared across social media platforms. The image displayed the following; “FG ORDERS CLOSURE OF SCHOOLS NATIONWIDE TILL NOVEMBER, 2020 DUE TO THE PANDEMIC OF COVID 19”. The image also contained a press statement dated April 21 and was purportedly signed by Adamu Mallam on behalf of the Ministry of Education.

“The Federal Ministry of Education is closing all tertiary, secondary and primary schools nationwide over the outbreak of the coronavirus in the country. The ministry said it is part of measures to contain the spread of the virus.

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Sunny Echono, confirmed this to PREMIUM TIMES Thursday night. He did not, however, clarify whether schools were closed.

When asked for dates and the duration of the closure, Mr Echono said details would be sent out on “Wednesday,” Premium Times, an online newspaper was quoted.

VERIFICATION: Checks by POLITICS NIGERIA revealed that the content of the image was lifted verbatim from a report first published on March 19. It was authored by Azizat Adedigba, an education correspondent for Premium Times newspaper.

Meanwhile, the original report did not include November 2020 as the resumption date. Also, when contacted by POLITICS NIGERIA, Ms Adedigba flagged the image as FAKE. A reverse image search done on Google showed that the viral picture emanated from social media apps like WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter.

More so, in response to our enquiries, the spokesperson of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Ibrahim Yakassai, denied knowledge of any issued resumption date. “There is nothing of such,” he said on Wednesday afternoon.

VERDICT: The Federal government is yet to release ANY resumption DATE for schools.

Seyi Akinade, a young man studying at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Ogun State, has committed suicide, POLITICS NIGERIA confirmed.

This paper learned that late Akinade was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) following his encounter with some officers of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the police force sometimes in February.

Akinade, alongside 17 students, was allegedly extorted, brutalized and unjustly arrested by the police unit on February 2, 2020.

Findings revealed that the deceased had posted his predicament on Twitter a few days before his demise, announcing that he might take his life.

In a thread posted on the midnight of April 17, he complained of scary nightmares resulting from his encounter with the police.

“It happened again tonight, I had the same nightmare that’s been reoccurring for months now since the incident happened, same faces. SARS officials in their black uniform carrying us away in the dead of the night and I wake up with serious chest pain from fear of what I was about to experience,” he wrote.

Narrating the unfortunate incident, he said:

“It happened on the 2nd of February 2020 I was in my hostel working on my post data slides because I had to present the next day, when all of a sudden these SARS officials entered my room. It was around 10 pm at night and I still had my generator on maybe that was why they came to my room first, they just collected my laptop and phones, my friends were also in my room, we were all told to dress up and come outside one of my friends was given a dirty slap for practically not dressing up fast enough “what did we do?” I kept asking.”

He explained how they were whisked from Camp, a junction close to the school campus, to Ibara Police station in Abeokuta at about 12 midnight.

He said: “They didn’t say anything and they threatened to waste me if I didn’t stop asking silly questions. We were handcuffed like armed robbers all 17 of us, we were squeezed into small cars like goats to the slaughter, and from camp Abeokuta we were taken down to Ibara police station.

“Immediately we got there I decided to plead with who was in charge that I had a presentation in school the next day, that they should please let me go early because at that time it was 12 in the midnight already, he said I will pay 200k! Ha! For what? I told him to go through my phone that I am not a fraudster, that I am a forex trader he went through my phone and my friend’s phone there was nothing implicating there, except for the bank alerts and that money were not even mine, I told him they were investors money.”

Also, Akinade mentioned that he was a Forex trader and that he lost almost twenty thousand dollars as a result of the incident.

“I forgot to mention I opened a trade on my trading platform before they came to arrest us, I also pleaded with them to give me access to my phone so I can close the trade or something they thought I wanted to call someone and they slapped me for requesting for my phone, the trade kept running till the next day.

“I slept in a cell that night for doing nothing, police will slap you and beat you, prisoners will beat you when you enter the cell too! I cried till the next morning not because I was sleeping in a cell for doing nothing but because I was on a losing trade with thousands of $ on the line and also because I was going to miss my project presentation which cannot be repeated.”

“I was paraded like a thief in the morning and they were asking us what we did, with tears in my eyes I said “nothing” they still slapped me and told me to admit I’m a fraudster without having anything incriminating on my phone! That day I lost almost 20k$ trading and I missed my presentation in school. They still wanted to collect bail after beating and harassing us for nothing. Since then I’ve been in massive debt, I couldn’t complete my education,” he lamented.

He, however, decried how he has been in shambles after the February incident. ” I have receipts for everything I said on here in case anyone thinks I’m lying. Suicide has been the only thought on my mind every day. So in case, I hurt myself and anyone is curious as to why I did it.”

Meanwhile, at about 10:24 pm on Tuesday, he left a suicide note on Twitter, biding the world a ‘goodbye’.

“I guess its goodbye now…no one heard my cry for justice and this had to happen haha…bye world.”

I guess its goodbye now…no one heard my cry for justice and this had to happen haha…bye world.

— Johnson (@Akinadeoluwa17) April 21, 2020

Speaking with POLITICS NIGERIA on Wednesday afternoon, Akinade’s stepbrother, Toye Salahudeen, confirmed his death.

Mr Salahudeen said he was informed by his mum earlier on Wednesday that his stepbrother killed himself.

“His dad is on his way to bury him as I’m speaking with you. I learned that he was vomiting before he finally gave up the ghost.”

The relative lamented saying “if he had seen his tweets before yesterday, he would have come to his aide.”

“I was planning to move close to him of recent. I teach him how to draw. We conversations are most times online.”

He told our reporter that his friends spoke of how he threatened to commit suicide but no one knew he was serious about it.

When asked if he knew about the February incident, Mr Salahudeen said he got to know after he shared his experience on social media adding that his narrative was confirmed by his friends.

The FUNAAB Dean of Student Affairs, Babatunde Idowu, said he is not aware of the unfortunate occurrence. He, however, promised to get back to this paper after conducting an investigation into the matter.

Efforts to get Tijani Mohammed, the Officer-in-Charge of SARS operatives in Ogun state, proved abortive as he refused to respond to calls and text messages sent by our reporter.

For almost one month, Nigeria’s economic capital, Lagos, has been on lockdown by President Muhammadu Buhari to contain the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic. The president also locked down Ogun State and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja.

Meanwhile, a viral report earlier this week claimed that Lagos governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has decided to end Lagos lockdown.

CLAIM:  An online news platform – Black box Nigeria reported that Mr Sanwo-olu on April 20 vowed to end lockdown in the state. The platform quoted the governor to have said: “From next week, we are going to be making face masks compulsory in Lagos state. We have commissioned more than one million face masks to be distributed in the state”, the newspaper quoted.

VERIFICATION: POLITICS NIGERIA carried out a check on the report and our findings show that the platform misled the public with its headline. Firstly, the newspaper did not provide direct quotes of the governor talking about suspension of the lockdown. The headline of the story was far different from the body of the news report.

This, however, makes POLITICS NIGERIA seek further verification. Mr Sanwo-olu shared the statement read on April 20 on his twitter handle and he never mentioned ending the lockdown.

His tweet read as follows:

“Lagos is now seeing a slow spread of community transmission of COVID19 and as such we are considering mandatory use of face masks in our plan to contain #COVID19. The rise in new cases is as a success of our house-to-house contact tracing and ramping up of tests across 20 LGAs.”

Lagos is now seeing a slow spread of community transmission of COVID19 and as such we are considering mandatory use of face masks in our plan to contain #COVID19.

The rise in new cases is as a success of our house-to-house contact tracing and ramping up of tests across 20 LGAs. pic.twitter.com/qzjwvGz7pB

— Babajide Sanwo-Olu (@jidesanwoolu) April 20, 2020

“We encourage residents not to panic but to ensure strict #SocialDistancing and good hygiene. Let us avoid stigmatising those who have been discharged as this will encourage those experiencing symptoms to come forward instead of seeking private help and hiding travel history.”

We encourage residents not to panic but to ensure strict #SocialDistancing and good hygiene.

Let us avoid stigmatising those who have been discharged as this will encourage those experiencing symptoms to come forward instead of seeking private help and hiding travel history. pic.twitter.com/GHHOlGqLZN

— Babajide Sanwo-Olu (@jidesanwoolu) April 20, 2020

We have commissioned local production of face masks certified by our healthcare professionals for our residents. Let us not give in to panic buying and opportunistic price gouging which will deny our frontline healthcare workers of masks and other PPEs required to fight #COVID19.”

We have commissioned local production of face masks certified by our healthcare professionals for our residents.

Let us not give into panic buying and opportunistic price gouging which will deny our frontline healthcare workers of masks and other PPEs required to fight #COVID19.

— Babajide Sanwo-Olu (@jidesanwoolu) April 20, 2020

“Everyone needs to work together to avoid the irresponsibility of flouting the lockdown, hiding symptoms and travel history and managing #COVID19 patients at healthcare facilities without informing the @LSMOH and @NCDCgov. We will continue to do all we can to stop the spread.”

“As we prepare to observe the Ramadan fast, we have a responsibility to continue to maintain appropriate levels of respiratory hygiene and physical distancing and observe the restrictions on gatherings.


We must work together to beat #COVID19. Let’s do it.”

As we prepare to observe the Ramadan fast, we have a responsibility to continue to maintain appropriate levels of respiratory hygiene and physical distancing, and observe the restrictions on gatherings.

We must work together to beat #COVID19.

Let’s do it.

— Babajide Sanwo-Olu (@jidesanwoolu) April 20, 2020

From the above release, POLITICS NIGERIA can independently report that Mr Sanwo-olu did not mention lifting the lockdown order placed on the state.

VERDICT: Based on the above verification, it is FALSE to state that Mr Sanwo-olu claimed to end Lagos lockdown. Also, he does not have the constitutional powers to end the lockdown only the President can.

As Lagos remained lockdown with the highest number of Coronavirus cases, two committees of the state house of assembly on Wednesday visited four isolation centres of the state on Wednesday.

The committees are the House Committee on Health Services and the House Committee on Information and Strategy. They were led Honourable Hakeem Shokunle.

The assembly members visited the Mainland Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) Yaba, Isolation Centre at Onikan Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Eti-Osa Isolation Centre and the Cardiac and Renal Centre General Hospital, Gbagada.

Speaking on behalf of the committees, Mr Shokunle said the lockdown by Lagos government is commended to curb the spread of the deadly disease as he pleaded with citizens to abide.

He said: “Government really needs the cooperation of the people; people must obey the stay-at-home order to reduce the spread”.

Inadequacy:

The lawmakers claimed that was the inadequate provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and testing kits at the IDH, Yaba for frontline healthcare givers, the nurses and hygienists.

Speaking on why the committees’ visit became necessary, Shokunle said: “We told the state government that there were so many complaints about the inadequacy of the palliative; in some places, it was not adequate, in some others, they have not received at all”

He disclosed that more equipment will be provided as the number of Coronavirus patients increased daily.

A lady recently assaulted by officers of the Nigerian Police Force in Osun State has narrated her travails since the ordeal. Tola Azeez was beaten in Odo Ori Market in Iwo, Osun State while trying to get medicine for her relatives at a closeby pharmacy last weekend.

The actions of police officers were condemned by the Inspector General of police, the Osun State government and the Oluwo of Iwo. Speaking to the press for the first time since the attack, Tola said the assault on her happened at about 10 am on Saturday 18, April 2020.

“I had gone out to a pharmacy store to procure drugs for my daughter and having walked some distance, I got help from a passerby on a motorbike who ran for dear life at the site of the policemen and I took refuge under the shed in front of a building where I was accosted by the police who asked what I was doing there”.

“I made an attempt to explain to the police officers and without waiting to listen to me, they pounced on me with clubs and whips and all manner of things as seen in the video that went viral. Let it be on record that the video only showed a part of the incidence as I was beaten right from under the shed to the roadside where the video captured.”

Ms Tola said the officers who carried out the attack are Inspector Ikuesan Taiwo (AP No 251724) and PC Abass Ibrahim (Force number 509634).

“I am still under medical and psychological examination as the damage done to me physically, emotionally and psychologically are unquantifiable. I only pray to overcome the pains and the trauma in no distant time.”

Disappointment

She, however, expressed her displeasure over the position of Osun State Police Spokesperson on the matter.

“While it is commendable that the Osun State Commissioner of Police did set up an investigation panel to look into the matter and conducted an orderly room trial which I witnessed and provided oral evidence where a judgement was supposedly pronounced, they were pronounced dismissed.”

“It is quite heartbreaking to listen to the PRO of the police force in the state on one of the radio stations where she said that investigation is yet to be concluded and decision not yet taken.”

“I consider this as an attempt to sweep the matter under the carpet and will like to emphasize that justice will be best served when the officers are paraded and subsequently stripped of what makes them officers of the law to eliminate the bias and further threats of intimidation and threat to life and property.”

“I want to assure the general public that the matter will be taken up in the court of law to serve as a deterrent to other lawbreakers parading as law enforcement agents.”

Police speaks




When contacted by POLITICS NIGERIA, the Spokesperson of the Osun Police command told this newspaper that the two officers are yet to be dismissed.

“Out of anger, the commissioner said the officers stand dismissed. It does not work that way. An investigative panel has been put in place. They will submit their recommendation to the commissioner who will then submit to the highest authorities”

“This, I was trying to explain. For now, I have not been given the recommendation of the disciplinary committee. Once I get that, I will send to you”. he said.