Gunmen kill nine people in Plateau attack
Gunmen on Wednesday killed 9 civilians in an attack on a village in Plateau, stated police, in what one politician describe as the contemporary outburst of intercommunal violence.
A police spokesman for Plateau state said the unidentified assailants shot dead residents and burnt 22 houses in the assault on the village of Hura.
The bloodshed followed a rise in tensions between the local Irigwe community and Fulani herders over alleged cattle rustling and land disputes.
Regional lawmaker Haruna Maitala denounced the “worrying reoccurrences of attacks and counter-attacks.
“The attacks go on unabated, with a clear extension of unwarranted hatred amongst members of the two communities,” he said in a statement.
Central Plateau state is part of Nigeria’s so-called middle-belt that divides the mainly Muslim north from the predominantly Christian south.
Deadly clashes between nomadic Fulani herders and farmers over land, grazing, and water have plagued the area for years.
Aid group Mercy Corps said in May last year that violence between farmers and pastoralists in Nigeria had “contributed to more than 7,000 deaths in the past five years”.
Attacks in remote areas often go unreported, but the authorities in Plateau state insist that the bloodshed has decreased following reconciliation efforts between the communities.
Nigerian Army School of Infantry Graduates 1,106 Special Forces Operatives
The Nigerian Army School of Infantry has graduated 1,106 Starter Point Integrated Services (SPIS) Special Forces students at Camp Seleya in Jaji Military Cantonment.
The Graduands are officers and soldiers of 81 Battalion, 198 and 199 Special Forces’ Battalions.
Lt Gen Lamidi Adeosun who is the Chief of Policy and Plans, ‘Army’ represented the Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen TY Buratai at the occasion.
Gen Adeosun commended the graduands for their hardwork, Discipline and for putting in their best during the course. He also commended the tactical simulation conducted as part of the high points of the ceremony by the Special Forces.
He urged them to put their newly acquired special skills to use in meeting the operational objectives of Nigerian Army and the Country at large.
He stated that Nigerians are appreciative of the troops’ sacrifices and urged them to be prepared to give their best all the time.
He used the opportunity to commend the Nigerian Army School of Infantry(NASI) and SPIS Ltd for successfully completing the training of the first batch of the trainees.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Commandant NASI, Maj Gen Kevin Aligbe had stated that the 12-week special training covered subjects like close contact combat, Skills at arms, unexpected incident operations and first aid among others.
He urged the graduands to make a difference in the Theatre of Operation as the School of Infantry would monitor their performances in the field through the Nigerian Army feedback monitoring system.
Among the senior officers present at the occasion included the Commandant Nigerian Defence Academy Maj Gen J Sarham, Commander Infantry Corps Maj Gen SO Olabanji, Commander 4 Special Forces’ Command Maj Gen MG Ali and the General Officer Commanding 1 Division Maj Gen US Mohammed.
Persons using bleaching cream at more risk of contracting covid 19 says Expert
By Bukola Olasanmi
A medical expert, Dr Chinonso Egemba, says users of skin-lightening creams, which contain steroids, are more likely to have severe illness or die from coronavirus disease.
Egemba, who is popularly known as ‘Aproko Doctor’, said on Wednesday, that some bleaching creams and soaps contained steroids, which reduced body immunity.
He described the immune system, as the body’s defence force against disease-causing bacteria and viruses such as coronavirus and other organisms that humans touch, ingest and inhale everyday.
“If you are bleaching, stop it because it is reducing your immunity and people or patients with low immunity suffer more and may likely die from the virus.
“Steroids are basically anti-inflammatory drugs and inflammation is one way our bodies dispose off foreign substances. It could be via body swelling in form of boils or redness of the skin.
“So steroids reduce the body’s response to anything that could cause inflammation.
“Now, there are different types of bleaching creams and soaps but some particular types contain steroids and it can bleach the skin or cause skin lightening.
COVID-19 Lockdown: Lagos residents defend homes against curfew bandits
Amid rising number of robberies during lockdown, residents in Lagos have began to form vigilante groups to keep guard against attackers on a looting spree.
Residents in Alagbado, a Lagos suburb, said they had also taken on the responsibility of defending their homes following an attack by a group of bandits.
“My decision to join the vigilante is to protect my home because … the government is not doing their job,” Awosusi Ahmed, a resident said.
“I would have been in my own abode, sleeping, with the confidence that the police is doing their job. But since I’ve not received any help from the police, and I’m not expecting any help from them as well, so I have to be strong,” he said.
Such incidents are not restricted to Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, as some communities in neighbouring Ogun state have also reported similar attacks.
On Monday, the police said they were bolstering forces in Lagos and Ogun “in the wake of recent activities of hoodlums and street urchins in the border communities” and announced the arrest of some 200 suspects.
COVID-19: “Trump’s Halting of WHO Funding ‘Dangerous” – Bill Gates
Billionaire businessman, Bill Gates has described President Donald Trump’s halting of funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) as “dangerous as it sounds.”
President Trump had on Tuesday said he was instructing his administration to halt funding while “a review is conducted to assess the World Health Organization’s role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus.”
Trump explained that the US will now “discuss what to do with all that money that goes to the WHO.”
Gates in a tweet on his handle, however, faulted Trump’s decision at a time the world is fighting a pandemic.
“Halting funding for the World Health Organization during a world health crisis is as dangerous as it sounds,” the businessman said.
The world, more than ever, needs the WHO which is helping to slow down the spread of COVID-19, according to Gates.
He said: “Their work is slowing the spread of COVID-19 and if that work is stopped no other organization can replace them. The world needs @WHO now more than ever.”
The WHO had in January declared coronavirus a public health emergency of global concern with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation pledging about $100m to help in the fight against the pandemic.
According to the foundation, the money will be deployed to help find a vaccine for the pandemic.
South Korea holds parliamentary polls amid Coronavirus pandemic
South Koreans headed to the polls on Wednesday to elect members of parliament under strict safety guidelines in one of the first national elections held amid the coronavirus pandemic.
About 14,000 polling stations were open at 6am (21:00 GMT on Tuesday) around the country after disinfection, and voters were required to wear a mask and have their temperature checked on arrival. Anyone whose temperature was higher than 37.5 Celsius (99.5 Fahrenheit) was led to a special booth.
All voters must use also hand sanitiser and plastic gloves when casting ballots and maintain 1-metre (3.2 feet) distance between each other.
The election is set to decide control of parliament, and shape President Moon Jae-in’s ability to push through his agenda in the final two years of his administration, including a minimum wage, policies aimed at creating jobs, and continued re-engagement with North Korea.
According to exit polls jointly conducted by three major local TV networks, Moon Jae-in’s ruling party is projected to win a majority.
Moon’s progressive camp could secure up to 177 seats in the 300-strong single chamber parliament, while the main conservative party is expected to win as many as 131, the polls showed.
South Korea is one of the first countries in the world to hold a national election since the coronavirus epidemic began, with many others postponing votes.
Once grappling with the first large outbreak outside China, South Korea has largely managed to bring its cases under control without large disruptions thanks to a an enormous testing campaign and intensive contact tracing.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 27 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, bringing the total infections to 10,591, with 225 deaths. The daily tally has hovered about 30 over the past week, most of them from overseas travellers.
But authorities have warned that infections could resurge at any time, calling for special caution on election day.
COVID-19: People with over N5, 000 in bank won’t get palliatives ― FG
By Bukola Olasanmi
The Federal Government has said that people with over N5, 000 in their bank account will not benefit from the palliatives to cushion the effect of the lockdown as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The government also said that it will be using the mobile networks, to know people that top up the credit units for their phones with may be N100 or less.
Besides, the state governments will now be involved in the distribution of food items.
Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Hajiya Sadiya Farouq stated this while briefing State House correspondents after meeting behind closed doors with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The Minister also said that the Ministry will now focus on the urban poor as it carries out with President Buhari’s directive on the distribution of palliatives to cushion the effects of COVID-19 on Nigerians.
According to her, “You are aware that the President in his broadcast of Monday 13th April, directed that we expand the beneficiaries of the conditional cash transfer by one million and in this regard, we are going to focus more now on the urban poor.
“These are people who depend on the informal sector to earn their livelihood; they are daily wage earners and these are the people that we are really going to focus more on as well as people living with disabilities.”
Giving details on how to identify the beneficiaries of the stimulus, she said that the Ministry has three options to be adopted in selecting the beneficiaries of the scheme.
She said, “Well, we have three options; one, we are going to use the national social register that we already have, two, we are also going to focus on the urban poor as I mentioned, by using their verified BVN accounts to get them, that is, people that have an account balance of N5, 000 and below.
“We are also using the mobile networks, to know people that top up the credit units for their phones with may be N100 or less. Those are also people that we consider to be poor and vulnerable. So, these are the three options that we are exploring and I am sure that by the time we get this data we will be able to give this intervention.”
Breaking: Corporate Affairs Commission Headquarters on Fire
The headquarters of the Corporate Affairs Commission located in Maitama, Abuja, has been gutted by fire.
The fire is said to have engulfed the last floor of the seven storey building, destroying valuables and other items.
Though the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained, firefighters have arrived the scene to put out the inferno.
This is a developing story, Details shortly