Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Sunday 3rd May 2020
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 03/05/20
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Female COVID-19 Patient Escapes From Isolation Centre In Taraba
A patient, who tested positive for COVID-19 in Taraba State, has escaped from the isolation centre.
The state Commissioner for Health and Chairman of state’s Technical Committee on COVID-19, Innocent Vakkai, disclosed this while briefing journalists in the state capital, Jalingo, on Saturday.
Vakkai identified the patient at large as Tatu Idris, noting however, that efforts were on to find her.
He declared the patient wanted and urged residents to report if found anywhere.
The commissioner further stated that the government had procured two additional ventilators to assist in the treatment of patients.
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Another 14 Almajiri Kids Repatriated From Kano Test Positive For COVID-19 In Kaduna
The Kaduna State Government has announced that another 14 almajiris, who were brought from Kano State, had tested positive for Coronavirus.
Muyiwa Adekeye, Special Adviser to Governor Nasir el-Rufai on Media, made this known in a statement on Saturday night.
The state had earlier reported that 21 almajiri kids from Kano were part of its total confirmed COVID-19 cases.
The State Standing Committee on COVID-19 has been briefed that 14 more positive results were recorded on Saturday from almajiris, who were repatriated from Kano.
The committee was advised that the figure may rise when test results that are being awaited are received.
He said, “The standing committee was also informed that the repatriated almajiris are accommodated in one location, and have not mingled with the community.
“The standing 7committee on COVID-19 was updated that these new positive results have increased active cases in the state to 41 and that one COVID-19 fatality has been recorded. Most of these 41 active cases are almajiris from Kano.
“Further progress on expanding testing capacity was also reported. Installation of a PCR machine has commenced at the Yusuf Dantsoho General Hospital. When accredited by the NCDC, this will increase to three the number of COVID-19 testing labs activated in Kaduna State.”
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BREAKING: Nigeria Records 220 New Coronavirus Cases
Nigeria has recorded 220 new Coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 2388.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control disclosed this in a tweet on Saturday.
It said, “220 new cases of #COVID19; 62 in Lagos, 52 in FCT, 31 in Kaduna, 13 in Sokoto, 10 in Kebbi, 9 in Yobe, 6 in Borno, 5 in Edo, 5 in Bauchi, 4 in Gombe, 4 in Enugu, 4 in Oyo, 3 in Zamfara, 2 in Nasarawa, 2 in Osun, 2 in Ebonyi, 2 in Kwara, 2 in Kano and Plateau.
“2388 confirmed cases of #COVID19 in Nigeria Discharged: 385, deaths: 85.” 220 new cases of #COVID19;62-Lagos52-FCT31-Kaduna13-Sokoto10-Kebbi9-Yobe6-Borno5-Edo5-Bauchi4-Gombe4-Enugu4-Oyo3-Zamfara2-Nasarawa2-Osun2-Ebonyi2-Kwara2-Kano2-Plateau2388 confirmed cases of #COVID19 in NigeriaDischarged: 385Deaths: 85 pic.twitter.com/06ZsNqpWU8— NCDC (@NCDCgov) May 2, 2020
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COVID-19: Borno Confirms 11 Deaths, 69 Infections
The Borno State Government has announced the death of 11 Coronavirus patients.
Deputy governor of the state, Alhaji Usman Umar Kadafur, made this known in Maiduguri, the state capital, on Saturday.
Kadafur added that the total number of confirmed cases has increased from 53 to 69, among which are 16 health workers.
He said the situation had informed the need to expand and increase the number of isolation centres and facilities in Maiduguri and other parts of the state.
The deputy governor however, appealed to residents of the state to be very mindful of the consequences and danger posed by the virus as it had no cure yet.
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Insult As Treason And Other Nigerian Idi Amin Dada Stories By Festus Adedayo
Festus Adedayo
Two pieces of literary works – Williams Stevenson’s thriller, Ninety Minutes at Entebbe and the film, The Last King of Scotland (2006) – plot the graph of the gradual emergence of despots. They were both x-rays of Ugandan despot, Idi Amin Dada of Uganda. Stevenson’s was an account of the June 27, 1976 hijack of an Air France Flight 139, hijacked by terrorists and flown to the Entebbe Airport, Uganda and the July 4, 1976 reprisal codenamed Operation Thunderbolt, by a hundred Israeli commandos who, within 90 minutes, killed Ugandan guerillas and freed 103 hostages.
The Entebbe crisis was one of the first indicators of the huge scandal that Idi was to the African continent. He had given the terrorists ample support, making it the first time in history that a national leader would unabashedly back terrorists.
The Last King of Scotland on its own was a historical drama adapted from a 1998 novel written by Giles Foden with the same title. Screenwriters, Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock adapted it from a story of a Scottish medic who left Scotland to Uganda and was recruited as physician to Dada, the character of which was acted by Forest Whitaker. The film also speaks of Dada’s cruelty, how he gradually morphed into sadism due to the disposition of the Ugandan system and the machinery of state that was either too lax or too condescending to embrace a tyrant.
The world was to see more of Dada. Born in 1925 of the Kakwe tribe, northwest Uganda, though half educated, his towering height of 6 feet 4 inches egged him on. The British military in Uganda as an army of occupation at this time particularly felt intrigued by Amin’s sheer hippopotamus height and size. When he thus joined theKing’s African Rifles in 1945 as an assistant cook, he rose through the ranks. He was a key force in quelling the 1952-1956 famed Mau-Mau rebellion and as he was commissioned in 1961, he garnered reputation for cruelty and bravery in equal proportion. Gradually, he began to unfold, until 1971 when he overthrew President Milton Obote and unleashed one of the cruelest regimes in African history, speculated to have murdered 300,000 Ugandans. He eliminated tribal members different from his in the army, opposition members, activists and the clergy and had a uniquely horrendous pattern of feeding his victims’ fleshes to the crocodiles in the Nile river. In 1978, however, invading Tanzanian Army stormed Uganda and Dada fled into exile in Saudi Arabia and died in 2003 of organ failure.
The author, Festus Adedayo
I went into this famous low moment of the African continent to demonstrate that despots are made by the system and not necessarily themselves. So when last Thursday, the story sieved in that the police in the Katsina home state of President Muhammadu Buhari had arrested a 70-year old man who had “insulted” Buhari and the state governor, Aminu Masari, the story of Dada sieved into my subconscious, jarring my nerves. Lawan Isa, according to the state police spokesperson, Gambo Isa, of Gafai Quarters, Katsina town, was arrested in the company of two others – Bahajaje Abu, 30, and Hamza Abubakar, 27 – having “conspired and insulted President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Aminu Masari.” Isa said that Izala had made a “confessional statement” wherein he had given explanation of how he tongue-lashed the two Katsina-born public officials because his cows were rustled, with the shepherd who tended the cows being killed by suspected armed bandits.
In the confessional statement, he was quoted to have said: “I’m tormented with what happened in the village. While on my way back I met Bahajaje Abu (man who filmed the incident) asking me about the government, I told him that I withdrew my support because of what happened with my cows, I am now left with nothing, that is how I became emotional and started the insult.” Their arrest was said to have been ordered by the Katsina State Police Commissioner, Sanusi Buba.
Many analysts had submitted that Nigeria was too arid and hostile to despotism to allow an Idi Amin Dada to reincarnate on her soil. However, 1994 proved these pundits wrong as Nigeria minted a sadistic variant of the “Butcher of Uganda” in the goggled Sani Abacha. Journalists and opposition to his rule generally disappeared without trace and he relished inflicting pain on those who had hurt his ego. Ever since, the country has had a breather from naked despotism.
Studies of the sociology and psychology of despotism reveal that this sadism of the ruler begins to creep in when he begins to harbour a feeling of personal invincibility, becomes too egotistic and develops a skin that is easily bruised by public criticisms. While it could even be countenanced in a maximum rule like that of Abacha, despotism is an anathema to democracy and vilification of citizens for criticizing public officials is alien to the constitution. The major tenet of democratic rule is to query the efficacy or the subsistence of the claim of victory of opinion by a side. What democracy proposes is a beautiful tapestry that is woven of opinions which consist of different shapes, colors and contours. Thus, when you begin to see a democratic rule that is allergic to public criticisms, harangues holders of opinions that differ from its and preaches a monolithic viewpoint, then, as the holy writ says, know ye that autumn is nigh.
While claiming to be at home with public criticisms, Nigeria under Buhari has advertised its fascination with manacles. Last year, Abubakar Idris, known as Abu Hanifa Dadiyata, a social media personality, was said to have been abducted on Friday, August 2, by heavily armed men in the midnight as he was about to drive into his Barnawa, Kaduna residence. At about midnight, while driving into his residence at Barnawa, Dadiyata, said to be a social media influencer who was loyal to the Kwankwasiyya movement, was apprehended. He was said to be critical of the Buhari government and the All Progressives Congress (APC) government of Nasir el-Rufai. Even as his whereabouts is enveloped in nocturnes, there are claims that operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) masterminded the Gestapo-like abduction. Whether Dadiyata is alive or had been silently butchered is yet unknown.
Cross River State’s Ben Ayade had ordered the arrest of Agba Jalingo, publisher of CrossRiverWatch, an online newspaper. He was arrested at 2pm on August 22, 2019, by men of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) of the Nigerian police at his residence in Lagos. They were reported to have earlier invaded the Lagos bakery of his wife, Violet where, according to the reports, they “seized the phones of all staff present and ordered them to show to them Jalingo’s residence.” On August 30, Jalingo was charged with treason, terrorism, cultism and public disturbance in an Abuja Federal High Court and for “working with the #RevolutionNow movement”— brainchild of human rights activist and Publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore. He was also alleged to be planning to “’undemocratically’ force the government of Ayade to end through violent means.” He had reportedly criticized Ayade of manifest corruption.
The fate of many of those who have fallen prey to the intolerance of Nigerian government, either at the state or federal level, is indescribable. They are allegedly, according to an Amnesty International report, “tortured and pressured to write confessional statements, which were used to prosecute them in court.” AI also claimed that they are slammed “indiscriminate charges such as ‘defamation’, ‘terrorism’ and ‘cyberstalking’… ‘kidnapping’, criminal trespass and theft of state documents (while) many of the journalists were prosecuted under the Cybercrime Act and Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act 2013, alongside other laws.”
While the Buhari government cleverly distances self from the tortuous paths of citizens freely expressing their views in the states and who were ostensibly suffocating under the tyranny of their state governments, citing federal bar from so doing by the constitution, it bears own fang in further cruel manner. It is interesting that when Buhari wanted to slam a lockdown on Lagos and Ogun State recently, a contravention of the tone and tenor of federalism, he didn’t think twice about it but cites same jejune provision when it comes to intervening in the release of unjustifiably imprisoned victims of his fellow Idi Amin Dadas in the states. Same last year, the Buhari government filed charges against Sowore for hatching a protest against it and “insulting” Buhari. Though no chains are around Sowore’s feet as he walks Abuja free, according to the tyrannical tone of his bail, he is clearly manacled and in jail.
The most recent victims of government’s intolerance and naked despotism are Gambo Isa, Bahajaje Abu, and Hamza Abubakar, who had the effrontery of “insulting” the Fuhrer and an Idi Amin Dada still in his diapers, Muhammadu Buhari and his minion, Masari. The police are ostensibly abetting this naked display of crude power-mongering.
If one may ask, since when did it become a crime or an offence to insult a holder of political office? For eating the people’s food free, collecting fat salaries, riding in posh cars purchased from our collective patrimony, living free in mansions that belong to the Nigerian state and for rapaciously bleeding our national purse, holders of political offices are deemed to have lost their privacy and right to be peeved by public singe of their actions. If such scrutiny is defamatory, public officials have the right to go to the court. Today, the Cybercrime Act and Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act 2013 have become fecund façade that government hides to unleash pristine and brutish intolerance on its citizens. To charge three Nigerian citizens for breach of the provisions of Cyber Crime Act, simply because they told Buhari and Masari that their alleged acts of not taking care of their interests was obtuse, a duty they both swore on oath to undertake at their swearing-in, is reminiscent of the cruelty and inhumaneness of Idi Amin Dada. Or, what do you think?
Eighty gun salutes for the GOC, Ibadan Media Division
There are two General Officers Commanding (GOCs) in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State. While the 2 Division of the Nigerian Army, based in Ibadan, has been an active division since the Nigerian civil war, with a current GOC, the other GOC is Mr. Felix Adenaike. As I wrote Adenaike’s name, I was tempted to prefix it with “Chief,” a crime whose punishment, many of those who are close to Adenaike know, is summary anger of the media chief. The Ibadan media GOC was 80 years old on April 22.
Adenaike, one of the surviving grandfathers of Nigerian journalism, was given the sobriquet of GOC on account of his no-nonsense managerial tendencies while he held forte as Daily Sketch’s General Manager/ CEO and Editor-in-Chief and Editor-in-Chief of the Nigerian Tribune. He was a disciplinarian whose life was discipline personified. He strictly pursued and stuck with the hallowed principles of journalism and couldn’t suffer fools gladly. Anyone who fell prey to his fine tooth-comb with which he scrutinized the newspapers under him for infractions sang the acrid song that Judas sang on his way to Aceldama. He couldn’t stand willful obstruction of the ethics of journalism or chivalrous murder of the god of grammar in the newspapers under his charge.
The next time you meet Adenaike, the first thing you will notice is that he will willfully regale you with the fine days of journalism and the dross on our hands today. He is one of the two surviving members of the tripod, that comprised himself, Peter Ajayi (may God rest his soul) and Segun Osoba, who Chief Obafemi Awolowo named The Three Musketeers, a deference to the trinity of their professionalism.
As Adenaike clocks 80 years on earth, help say eighty hearty cheers to the General Officer Commanding of the Nigerian Media, Ibadan Command.
The rebirth of Ayinla Omowura
My book on the late Yoruba Apala music maestro, Ayinla Wahidi Yusuff, popularly known as Ayinla Omowura, will be out on Wednesday, May 6, 2020. Entitled Ayinla Omowura: Life and Times of an Apala Legend, it is a 536-page book which documents the life and music of this famed musician, undoubtedly one of the most profound and original Yoruba musicians since Nigerian post-colonial history. Incidentally, that day marks the 40 years of his stab on the head with a glass mug in a beer parlour in Abeokuta, Ogun State, precisely on May 6, 1980.
The book is not a hagiography on Omowura. I documented his profound musicality, his famed violence, drug usage and rascality, as well as his unexampled voice and musical talent. The book reveals a lot about the late musician who has refused to die in the hearts of the people of Southwest Nigeria and on the West Coast. My friends, those who admire my writing, lovers of culture in general, should endeavor to have a copy of the book which incidentally is my first attempt at intruding into the world of book authors. This weekend on my social media handles, I will announce bookstores where the book can be bought. I assure you, it will be worth your while.
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EXCLUSIVE: Pregnant Access Bank Cashier Collapses In Lagos After Receiving Sack Letter
A pregnant cashier at the Ketu/Ikorodu branch of Access Bank affected by the bank’s mass retrenchment of staff, collapsed on Saturday after hearing of her dismissal, SaharaReporters has gathered.
The cashier simply identified as Taiwo, is about three months pregnant.
The bank had announced plans to sack its workers as a result of the negative impact of the Coronavirus outbreak. SaharaReporters gathered that many of the bank’s staff received their sack letters via email over the weekend with shock and grief.
A colleague of the lady, who collapsed, spoke with SaharaReporters on the phone.
He said, “Her name is Taiwo. When she got the news today, she collapsed. There were two of them affected by the mass retrenchment from Ketu/Ikorodu Road branch, as of now. We will get to know more on Monday about others who were affected. The Taiwo lady is about two or three months pregnant.
“When she heard the news, she collapsed. It was friends and family around her that rushed her to the hospital.”
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My Fiancee Broke Into Tears, Sacked Access Bank Cashier Billed To Wed In June Says
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My Fiancee Broke Into Tears, Sacked Access Bank Cashier Billed To Wed In June Says
A cashier at a Lagos branch of Access Bank, who lost his job on Thursday, has shared his ordeal with SaharaReporters.
The bank had announced plans to sack its workers as a result of the negative impact of the Coronavirus outbreak.
Group Managing Director of Access Bank, Herbert Wigwe, had said that apart from the mass sacking, which would affect about 75 per cent of the bank’s workforce, he would take the lead in having the largest pay cut of 40 per cent.
“I will be the first to take the hit and I’m gonna take the largest pay cut, which would be as much as 40 per cent.
“The rest we would have to cascade right through the institution. Everybody may have to make some adjustments of some sort,” he had said.
SaharaReporters gathered that many of the bank’s staff received their sack letters via email on Thursday with shock and grief.
“My fiancee broke down in tears when she heard the news,” the sacked cashier told SaharaReporters on the phone.
“We are billed to get married next month. Where do I start now? This is unfair.
“The sack letter came in on Thursday but I didn’t know. I was doing my job on Friday when someone asked me if I had been laid off. I said no. She asked me to check my email. Behold, the email. I was shocked.
“I was angry with my boss. She told me she didn’t know anything about it. There was nothing I did wrong. Throughout this period, I have been the one fixing all our ATMs that were not running. I get calls at odd hours to work. My boss told me she could not have singled me out for sack. In my branch, I heard another colleague was sacked.
“By Monday, I will hear more about those who were affected. They are still sending out the mail. I tried to console my wife that something better will come. I have ND, HND and BSc but my salary is N75,000. I am not a core staff. Core staff earn as much as N145,000.
“Normally with my degree, I am not supposed to be getting that low but I just have to accept that so as not to be unemployed. There was no prior notice. There was no warning. It’s not that I was not working diligently. This is unfair.
“This same bank donated millions of naira to fight COVID-19. This same bank gave Singer Naira Marley millions of naira to perform for customers and staff. Naira Marley even tweeted it but we that are working day and night, see what we got now,” he added.
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JUST IN: Emir Of Rano Emirate In Kano, Alhaji Tafida Abubakar, Dies
The Emir of Rano, Dr Tafida Abubakar Ila ll, one of the four emirs of the newly created emirates in Kano State, is dead.
A member of the House of Representatives representing Rano and Bukure, Alh Kabiru Alhassan, told journalists in Kano that the deceased died at Nasarawa Hospital in Kano.
He was reported to have been hospitalised on Friday for an undisclosed ailment.
The late emir left behind 17 children comprising of 12 female and five males.
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Ganduje Relaxes Lockdown For Few Days Despite High Number Of Coronavirus Cases
Kano State Governor Ganduje
Abdullahi Ganduje, Kano State governor, has said residents of the state can go out for few days to make purchases despite the lockdown imposed by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The state governor said this during a briefing of the COVID-19 task force in the state.
Kano State Governor Ganduje
President Buhari had ordered a total lockdown in the state following the high number of Coronavirus cases being reported.
However, Ganduje has said residents can go out on Mondays and Thursdays between 10am and 4pm.
He also said traditional markets will not be allowed except for the supermarkets.
According to the governor, only Yan Lemo, Yankaba markets where food items are sold would be open during the free hours.
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BREAKING: Lagos Discharges 22 More COVID-19 Patients, Records Four Deaths
The Lagos State Government has said four Coronavirus patients in its isolation centre have died, while 22 were discharged after testing negative twice to the virus, in line with Nigeria Centre for Disease Control protocol.
The state’s Ministry of Health made this known on Twitter on Saturday.
It said, “Breaking! 22 more #COVID19Lagos patients; 8 females & 14 males, all Nigerians were today discharged from our Isolation facilities at Yaba, @LUTHofficial & Lekki to reunite with the society.
“The patients; 19 from @LUTHofficial, 2 from IDH, Yaba & 1 from our Isolation Centre at Lekki have fully recovered & tested negative twice consecutively to #COVID19.
“With this, number of patients successfully managed & discharged in Lagos is now 247.
“30 new cases of #COVID19 Infection confirmed. Total confirmed cases in Lagos now 1,022.
“26 #COVID19Lagos patients were discharged. Total Discharged now 225.
“Unfortunately, 4 #COVID19 deaths were recorded. This brings total number of #COVID19 related deaths in Lagos to 25.”*ï¸âƒ£The patients; 19 from @LUTHofficial, 2 from IDH, Yaba & 1 from our Isolation Centre at Lekki have fully recovered & tested negative twice consecutively to #COVID19*ï¸âƒ£With this, number of patients successfully managed & discharged in Lagos is now 247@DigiCommsNG#MaskUpLagos— LSMOH (@LSMOH) May 2, 2020
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