A Federal High Court in Lagos State has barred the Federal Government from blocking Subscriber Identification Module, (SIM), cards not linked to National Identity Numbers, (NINs), next month. The Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy had, through the Nigerian Communications Commission, (NCC), asked operators to block all SIM cards not linked to NIN by April 9, 2021. The deadline had caused many Nigerians to gather at offices of the National Identity Management Commission, (NIMC), in disregard of Covid-19 protocols. Meanwhile, a former second National Vice-President of the Nigerian Bar Association and human rights lawyer, Monday Ubani, filed an originating motion and asked the court to stop the NCC from disconnecting all SIM cards not linked to NINs. Ubani sought four reliefs including an order that the two-week ultimatum is inadequate and will not only cause him hardship but will also infringe on his fundamental right to freedom of speech and right to own property as provide

The Federal Government has evacuated 255 Nigerians stranded in Saudi Arabia. This was announced on Monday by the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM). In a post on Twitter sharing pictures of the returnees, NIDCOM said the 255 stranded Nigerians arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja via Saudi Air Flight SV3405 at about 1:00 pm local time today Monday, 29th, March 2021. This according to the agency is the first batch of returnees while the arrival of other returnees is expected in subsequent days. The returnees will proceed on quarantine at the Federal Capital Territory Hajj camp for 14 days in line with the reversed COVID-19 protocols by the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19.  

  The  U.S. Department of State   has cleverly  sent a warning to would-be irregular migrants from Africa, who may be drawing inspiration from the crisis at the country’s southern border. A spokesperson of the department, Jalina Porter, who gave the warning, on Friday, said anyone seeking to enter the U.S. should do so through “legal pathways”.  she told reporters at a news briefing. “So, we say to those in Africa who are looking at what’s going on along the border that the border is and always has been closed to irregular migration. “The Biden administration certainly prioritises responsible and safe migration practices, and this doesn’t preclude anyone, whether you’re in the Northern Triangle or Central America or whether you are from Africa. President Joe Biden is already facing a crisis at the border because of   a  massive surge of migrants  along the U.S. border with Mexico. 

The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, CP Hakeem Odumosu and the entire management team of the command today, Saturday 27th March, 2021, paid a condolence visit on the family of late Jelili Bakare that was shot dead by one Insp Jonathan Company on 18th March 2021. The incident occurred at Quinox lounge at Sangotedo Area of Lagos State, about 11.30pm when the policeman attached to the Mounted Troop, Force Animal Branch of the Nigeria Police, had an argument with the deceased and shot him dead. Immediately after the incident, the Inspector fled but was eventually arrested by the Divisional Police Officer Ogombo Division, Lagos State. The suspect, Jonathan Company, m, has been moved to the State Criminal Investigation Department for proper investigation on the order of the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, CP Hakeem Odumosu. The Commissioner of Police was received by the Olori Ebi of the Bakara family in Ajiran Land, Eti-Osa Local Government of Lagos State, Chief Yekini Olawale, the

  Nigeria has recorded five COVID-19 deaths in the past 24 hours. This is according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) which announced this on Thursday night. With the five new deaths, the total fatalities in the country have risen to 2,036. According to the health agency, the new COVID-19 cases were recorded in 14 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). They are Lagos – 50, Kaduna – 12, FCT – 10, Bayelsa – 8, Imo and Kwara – 3, Bauchi and Osun – 2, Akwa Ibom, Edo, Kano, Ogun, Oyo, Plateau and Zamfara each have one case. The country has tested 1,727, 467 people since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 was announced on Feb. 27, 2020. More than two-thirds of the 161,000 people infected by COVID-19 in Nigeria has recovered after treatment. However, more than 11,000 infections are still active in the country.

  Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen. Lucky Irabor has disclosed that the military is more than prepared to crush insurgency and restore peace in the country. Irabor made this known during a One-Day National Defence and Security Summit with the theme: “Promoting Kinetic Operations as a major Plank for Counter Terrorism and Counter Insurgency in Nigeria” on Monday in Abuja. He narrated that it is no news that Nigeria is facing a lot of security challenges including terrorism, insurgency, farmers/herders conflict, ethno-religious conflicts, kidnapping and banditry but the Armed Forces are ready and committed to ending the criminal operations. He added that members of the armed forces are trained to combat anything that threatens the peace and territorial integrity of the nation. According to him,  “Our strategic objectives are manifold and imbued to neutralise non-state-actors and other agents of violence in our communities, forests and countryside to stabilise the security situa

  Samia Suluhu Hassan Tanzanian Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan was sworn in Friday as the country's first female president, two days after the death of President John Magufuli.  Hassan took the oath at the statehouse in the city of Dar es Salaam in a televised ceremony on state TV.                                                                    Ellen Johnson Sirleaf     Ellen Johnson Sirleaf made history when she became  the first woman to be elected as president of an African country.  Her inauguration took place on 16 January 2006. The economist, a former international civil servant and finance minister, won a second term in 2011 and the Nobel Peace Prize the same year.                                                                    Joyce Banda   Joyce Banda became Malawi's first female president in 2012, stepping up from vice president to the position after the death of Bingu wa Mutharika. She left the country in 2014 under a cloud, having lost the presidential ele

    Despite the fact that Pope Francis, the leader of the Catholic Church, expressed support for same-sex civil unions in the new documentary  Francescom that gay people are children of God and said, “What we have to create is a civil union law. That way, they are legally covered.” However,  on Monday, the Vatican issued a decree explaining that priests cannot bless such unions. It is "impossible" for God to "bless sin", the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) said on Monday. But the CDF did note the "positive elements" in same-sex relationships. In the Catholic Church, a blessing is given by a priest or other minister in the name of the Church. On Monday, Pope Francis approved the response by the CDF, saying it was "not intended to be a form of unjust discrimination, but rather a reminder of the truth of the liturgical rite". Some parishes in recent months, including in Germany and the US, have started giving blessings to people in

  The remains of billionaire oil magnate and renowned philanthropist,  High Chief Olu Benson Lulu-Briggs , were on Saturday finally laid to rest in his hometown, Abonnema, in Akuku-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State. Meanwhile, Widow of the billionaire business mogul Chief OB Lulu-Briggs, Dr Seinye Lulu-Briggs was absent  as her husband was laid to rest. Chief OB Lulu-Briggs died two years ago in Ghana but was not buried because of disagreement in his family over the circumstances surrounding his death. The funeral attracted prominent politicians,  business leaders  and other dignitaries who gathered in Abonnema district in Akuku Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State to pay their last respect to the  philanthropist. Also, the last rites was attended by former President Goodluck Jonathan, his wife Patience,  Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, his deputy, Dr Ipalibo Harry, Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva and his wife. Other dignitaries at the well attended ev

Prophet Jeremiah Johnson, an evangelical Christian who predicted that former  President Trump  would win reelection in 2020,   says he’s ending his “Jeremiah Johnson Ministries” establishment for a new one called “ The Altar Global ”  Johnson said he did not make the decision lightly, writing in a Facebook post that he ended Jeremiah Johnson Ministries “after much prayer and the clear direction of the Lord," according to  The Washington Post . The post has since been deleted.  The move comes after Johnson faced negative reactions  for  prophesying that Trump would win the 2020 election.  His conduct also comes in the middle of a YouTube series titled “I Was Wrong,” during which he stated that the country must come together and not dwell on the 2020 election.  “I believe that it is a tremendous mistake to take the next four years to argue and debate and cause division and grow more prideful talking about how we think the election was taken from Donald Trump. I actually believe we n

National Leader of the All Progressives Congress Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has called on the federal government to summon a meeting of state governors, senior security officials, herder and farmer representatives, along with traditional rulers and religious leaders to resolve the  apparently  out of control conflicts, i n a statement he delivered Saturday. Read the full statement by the APC chieftain below : STATEMENT ON THE HERDER CRISIS The herder-farmer dispute has taken on acute and violent dimensions. It has cost too many innocent lives while destroying the property and livelihoods of many others. It has also aggravated ethnic sentiment and political tension. Despite the efforts of some of those in positions of high responsibility and public trust, the crisis has not significantly abated. Sadly, others who should know better have incited matters by tossing about hate-tainted statements that fall dangerously short of the leadership these people claim to provide. We all must get hold of o

The employee of a senior care facility is accused of raping an elderly Alzheimer’s patient in    Minnesota.  He was busted   sexually assaulting  an 83-year-old woman, who has Alzheimer's disease, when her son checked in on her via webcam Monday night, according to reports. The son said he remotely witnessed 52-year-old Olabamidele Olumide Bewaji caress and undress his mother before sexually assaulting her twice in her room at the Pillars of Mankato Senior Living home, the Mankato Free Press reported, citing a court complaint. He told investigators that he used a speaker on the camera to demand Bewaji stop, according to the complaint. Bewaji eventually stopped, but the son noted he did so slowly. Olabamidele Olumide Bewaji, 52, was charged with two counts of felony third-degree criminal sexual conduct in Blue Earth County Court. According to a criminal complaint, the 83-year-old victim’s son was monitoring his mother’s room via web-based cameras when he witnessed the assault.  His

Mr Rotimi Olumo, Coordinator of the Oodua Peoples Congress in Oyo State, has  characterized  former Minister of Aviation,  Femi Fani-Kayode , as a ‘lie merchant  and an expert in misinformation .’ Olumo said this in a statement on Wednesday in the wake of accusation by Fani-Kayode that the Fulani warlord, Abdullah Iskilu-Wakili, captured by OPC members on Sunday was not the real Wakili disturbing the people of Ibarapa and Oke - Ogun communities in Oyo State. Olumo said Fani-Kayode ‘s claim was misinformation taken too far. According to OPC, Fani-Kayode utterances merited no response but because it came at a time when the chief tormentor of Ibarapa people is still in custody, it is reasonable to respond and clear the air on the issue. Oguntade said: “Fani- Kayode has a reputation for using his social media page to foment trouble and cause disunity in Yorubaland. He had once said that Yoruba language was Anago. How can you take such a person too serious? “I remembered former President Ol

  The House of Representatives on Wednesday begged the Federal Government of Nigeria to make sure that the £4.2million Ibori loot be returned to Delta State. The lawmakers argued that the funds were stolen from Delta State and as such should rightly be returned to the state. They added that the funds are needed for the infrastructural development of the state. This was the resolution reached after a motion of urgent public importance which was sponsored by all the lawmakers from Delta State. However, t he federal legislators also pointed out that the total money is £6.2 million and not £4.2 million as is being reported. The House also asked the Federal Ministry of Finance to direct the Attorney General of Federation, Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, and give the House all particulars relating to the recovered money. James Onanefe Ibori  was Governor of Delta State in Nigeria from 29 May 1999 to 29 May 2007.  He was convicted in the United Kingdom of money laundering and conspiracy

Meghan and Harry interview The Duchess of Sussex has said she found life within the British Royal Family so difficult that at times she "didn't want to be alive any more". In a deeply personal TV interview, Meghan told Oprah Winfrey that she did not get help when she asked for it. She said a low point was when Harry was asked by an unnamed family member "how dark" their son Archie's skin might be. Prince Harry also revealed that his father, Prince Charles, stopped taking his calls when he wanted to step back. The highly-anticipated interview with Oprah, which the couple were not paid for, aired overnight in the US. During the two-hour CBS special, to be screened in the UK on ITV at 21:00 BST on Monday night and on ITV Hub, Courtesy of Harpo Productions/CBS, the couple covered a range of topics, including racism, mental health, their relationship with the media and Royal Family dynamics. They also announced their baby, which is due in the summer, is a girl an