Author: Maryam Garba

OFFICERS of the Nigerian Customs Service have expressed dissatisfaction over the non-payment of their election allowances, two months after the 2023 general elections. The officers include Customs Assistants, Assistant Inspector of Customs, Inspector of Customs, Assistant Superintendent of Customs, Deputy Superintendent of Customs, Superintendent of Customs as well as Chief Superintendent Customs officers who were deployed across the country to complement the strength of the Nigeria Police Force during the elections. This newspaper reports that some personnel of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) had made similar complaints in March, even though investigations revealed that some of them were later paid…

NIGERIA has reported a total of 532 confirmed cases out of 1,686 suspected cases of meningitis, including 124 deaths, for a case-fatality ratio of seven per cent. Ther cases were reported from 81 local government areas in 22 states, including the Federal Capital Territory in Nigeria from From October 1, 2022, to April 16, 2023. This is according to the epidemiology situation of the disease in Nigeria as of April 27, 2023, released by the World Health Organisation. The report showed that males account for 57 per cent of the total suspected cases. “The highest proportion of reported cases is…

THE Federal Government on Sunday gave a breakdown of the $1.2m spent on the bus fare to evacuate stranded Nigerians from war-torn Sudan to Egypt borders for onward airlifting to Nigeria. Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, the Permanent Secretary of the Humanitarian Affairs Ministry and Chair of the Situation Room on evacuation of Nigerians from Sudan, gave the explanation after a closed-door meeting of the ministry in Abuja. He explained that $30,000 was paid per bus and that 40 buses were procured for the proper evacuation of Nigerian citizens stranded in Sudan. He also explained the delays experienced by Nigerians at the Egyptian…

THE first batch of 13 buses conveying 637 evacuees have arrived safe borders at Aswan, Egypt and are undergoing necessary documentation and clearance before admission into the Egyptian territory for their eventual evacuation to Nigeria, Daily Trust has learnt. This was disclosed by Ministers of the Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama and Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouk. A joint statement signed by Director Overseeing the Office of the Permanent Secretary, Foreign Affairs Ministry, Amb. Janet Olisa and Permanent Secretary, Humanitarian ministry, Dr. Nasir Sani-Gwarzo said movement of the second batch of 29 buses would commence…

THE Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has evacuated a total of 2,544 persons from Sudan following the outbreak of a military conflict in the country. Among them, 119 are Saudi citizens while 2,425 are from 74 countries among which 10 are from Nigeria. This was contained in a press release by the Saudi Arabia Embassy in Nigeria on Friday. It reads in part, “In continuation of the evacuation efforts being made by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under the directives of the Kingdom’s Leaderships, more evacuees continue to arrive at Jeddah Port from the Republic of Sudan on Thursday, bringing the…

VICE-PRESIDENT Yemi Osinbajo and others are billed to speak at the 2023 Mo Ibrahim Governance Weekend, Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity Laolu Akande said in a statement on Friday. According to the statement, the Vice President leaves Abuja today for the event in Nairobi, Kenya this weekend and is expected back “soon.” The Mo Ibrahim Foundation, the organiser of the annual forum, was established in 2006 with a critical focus on the importance of good governance and leadership for Africa. This year’s theme is “Global Africa.” The forum, tagged The Ibrahim Governance Weekend (IGW),…

THE Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, NiDCOM, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has disclosed that the first set of stranded Nigerians from Sudan, have arrived in Aswan, Egypt. The NiDCOM Chair in a tweet further revealed that they arrived late which saw them meet an already closed border but are expected to leave early in the morning and proceed thereafter to the Airport. She said, “The first set has arrived at the Aswan border in Egypt but the border is already closed. They will leave early morning and then proceed to the airport.” Speaking on the development, an evacuation committee member told News…

THE Federal Government on Thursday said some universities in the country have offered to admit Nigerian students who returned from crisis-torn Sudan.  “We did it with Ukraine, when they came back, there were plans to continue education for them,” the chairperson of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) Abike Dabiri-Erewa said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily monitored by News Point Nigeria. “Although the medical students among them had issues because they found out that the level of their medical school was not even as high as that of Nigeria so it was difficult to place them where they wanted. But,…

THE Federal Government, on Monday, confirmed that some Nigerian students fleeing the conflict in Sudan were denied entry into Ethiopia, but stated that the situation was being handled. The Federal Government said Nigerian authorities in Ethiopia were addressing the issue, as they had sought clearance for the fleeing students, stressing that it was, however, risky for the students to have embarked on such a journey. The Director, Special Duties, National Emergency Management Agency, who doubles as the Chairman, NEMA’s Committee for the Evacuation of the Stranded Nigerians from Sudan, Dr Onimode Bandele, said that the students’ case was receiving the required…

THE Vice President of External Affairs, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Akinteye Babatunde, says the standard of living of Nigerian students in Sudan is quickly deteriorating. “The rising panic and tension in the state are building up; these students should be evacuated to states where the battle is not too intense,” Babatunde said during Channels Television’s breakfast show, Sunrise Daily, on Monday monitored by News Point Nigeria. He said that “if we are talking about the students’ living conditions in Sudan, it is worse than ever. They can’t go out to get anything, they can’t buy food, they can’t…

THE Commissioner for Information and Voter Education of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Festus Okoye, has said the commission lacks the power to declare wanted its Resident Electoral Commissioner in Adamawa, Hudu Ari. The REC had got into trouble for usurping the powers of the Collation Officer for Adamawa State to announce the result of supplementary governorship poll and errorneously declaring the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Aishatu Dahiru, aka Binani, as the winner of the poll. INEC had since written the Inspector General of Police to investigate and prosecute the REC, while the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari…

SOME Nigerian students stranded and trapped in crisis-ridden Sudan have said they in grave danger and are being surrounded by criminals. About 4000 Nigerians are trapped as a result of fighting between forces loyal to Sudan’s army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Hundreds have been killed since the fight broke out between the forces of the two rival generals in Khartoum, capital of Sudan. Fauziyya Idris Safiyo, a Nigerian student who managed to flee Khartoum to the border town of Gallabat on Sudan-Ethiopian shores, said the situation…

THE Kaduna State Government has said that no fewer than 214 persons were killed because of attacks by terrorists, communal clashes and reprisals across the state from January to March 2023. This was disclosed by the state Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan in the first quarter 2023 security report he presented to the state Security Council. Aruwan explained that 196 males, 14 females and four minors were killed, while 746 citizens were kidnapped during the period under review. He also said that Kaduna Central Senatorial District remains top on the list with 115 deaths. Receiving the…

THE Federal Government has declared Friday, April 21 and Monday, April 24, 2023, as public holidays to mark this year’s Eid Al-Fitr celebration. The Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, made the declaration on behalf of the Federal Government, according to a statement by the Permanent Secretary, Dr Shuaib Belgore, obtained on Wednesday. He congratulated all Muslims for the successful completion of the holy month of Ramadan. Ogbeni Aregbesola called on all Muslims to imbibe and practise the virtues of kindness, love, tolerance, peace, self-denial, sacrifice and good neighbourliness, as exemplified by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him).…

A POS operator simply identified as Alfa Rafiu has been arrested in Kwara State for allegedly squandering N280m mistakenly sent to his account. The suspect, our correspondent gathered, is a resident of Akuji compound, Abayawo area in Ilorin West Local Government Area of the state. According to sources familiar with the issue, Rafiu suddenly went on a spending spree after he received the alerts in batches of several million some weeks ago. “About two weeks ago, he received several bank alerts that scaled up to N280 million which he knew nothing about. “But instead of him drawing the attention of…

THE eight female students at Government Secondary School, Awon in Kachia Local Government Area of Kaduna State have escaped from the hands of their abductors. News Point Nigeria reported that, the students were kidnapped by the bandits in the Awon general area on April 3rd, 2023. Confirming the development in a statement on Tuesday, the Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan said that the students escaped from a thick forest around the Kaduna – Niger interstate boundaries, and walked for days before arriving at a location (kept undisclosed for security reasons) where they were harboured.…

AS the 1444 Hijra (2023) Ramadan draws to an end, the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), under the leadership of its President-General and Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, has urged Muslims across the country to look for the new moon of Shawwal on Thursday. The Director of Administration of the NSCIA, Arc. Zubairu Haruna Usman-Ugwu, said this on Tuesday in a statement. “Consequent upon the advice of the National Moon-Sighting Committee (NMSC), the President-General enjoins the Nigerian Muslim Ummah to search for the crescent of Shawwal 1444 A.H. immediately after sunset on Thursday, 29th Ramadan…

THE Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has announced a total of 1,336 suspected cases of cholera, including 79 deaths, so far in 2023 (between January to March). The NCDC disclosed this in its latest cholera situation epidemiological report obtained by News Point Nigeria on Monday. The report revealed that 12 states across 43 local government areas reported the suspected cases, with a case fatality ratio of 5.9 per cent. The 12 states reporting cases in the country are Abia, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Cross River, Ebonyi, Kano, Katsina, Niger, Ondo, Osun, Sokoto, and Zamfara. Cholera is an acute diarrheal illness caused by…

MINISTER of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola has said that three main opponents of his party in the February 25 poll gave away the presidential victory to the President-Elect, Bola Tinubu by splitting from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after the 2019 presidential election. The former Lagos State governor, who spoke on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics monitored by News Point Nigeria, said Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP), PDP’s Atiku Abubakar and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) all belonged to the same party, the PDP, in 2019 but they separated towards the 2023 presidential poll…

AFRICA’s Global Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has released its unaudited results for the first quarter ended March 31st, 2023, recording remarkable growth across all its major income lines. The Bank’s result which was released to the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX)  on Thursday, April 13, 2023 showed that gross earnings rose by 47.5 percent from ₦183.9 billion to ₦271.2 billion; while Interest Income which stood at ₦125.9 billion as at March 2022, grew by 53.4% to ₦191.9 billion in the quarter under consideration. The results further revealed that Operating Income rose by 39.6 percent to ₦175.7 billion, as…