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Nigerian government has been urged to ensure ordinary citizens have access to food during the festive period and beyond in order to keep them healthy and reduce crime in the country. Making the call during the distribution of food items and other support materials in communities across Benue State recently, President of Idoma International Carnival (IIC), said such a gesture by the government would go a long way in ameliorating the suffering of the masses. According to him, COVID-19 has greatly hampered the lives of many people and therefore the government must support indigent citizens in every way possible, including through the supply of regular food items. He said, “The COVID-19 pandemic has seriously affected every sector of the economy.  “No gainsaying that the people at the grass roots are the most affected at this time which is the end of the year and that is why food must be made available to them. “Though as a group we have brought together people of various r...

Air France-KLM has reintroduced an Airport Transit Visa for citizens of some countries, including Nigeria and Ghana, travelling to the United Kingdom after Brexit. The airline said this in a statement titled, ‘Travel on Air France or KLM to and from the United Kingdom after Brexit – January 1, 2020’, as reported by PUNCH. According to the statement, it is compulsory for citizens of some African and Asian countries to have ATV before they pass through France or the Netherlands. It also noted that citizens of the affected countries with British Visa, long-stay visa or British residence permit citizens must still have ATV to pass through France to the United Kingdom. “As of January 1, 2021, citizens of the following countries who are holders of a British visa, long-stay visa or a residence permit issued by the British authorities will need to be in possession of an airport transit visa (ATV) if they transit through France and or the Netherlands,” part of the statement read. Th...

Jigawa State Governor, Muhammad Badaru Abubakar. A Dutse Magistrate’s Court has sentenced one Sabi’u Ibrahim Chamo to six months imprisonment for insulting and defaming Governor Muhammadu Badaru Abubakar’s character on Facebook. Chamo was arrested by the police on December 25 and detained before he was charged to court for failure to substantiate the allegations he made on Facebook. Jigawa State Governor, Muhammad Badaru Abubakar. The police prosecutor told the court that he was arraigned over an allegation he made that the governor had duped many All Progressives Congress aspirants by collecting their money to give them party tickets. Chamo pleaded guilty to the charge and the court sentenced him to six months in prison, with options to pay N20,000 as fine and 20 strokes of the cane to serve as a deterrent to others.   Politics News AddThis :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements :  from 24HRSNEWS via 24HRSNEWS ...

Nigerians have launched attacks on the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) after the group asked the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Bishop Matthew Kukah, to resign from the General Abdul Salaam-led National Peace Committee. The group had in a statement issued by its Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, criticised Kukah following the cleric’s Christmas message to Nigerians, bemoaning the nepotism which he said had characterised the government of President Muhammadu Buhari. Following that, MURIC asked the bishop to recuse himself from the Abdul Salaam-led Peace Committee, arguing that Kukah’s pronouncements are inconsistent with his status, particularly as the Secretary of National Peace Committee. “How did such a belligerent combatant emerge as the Secretary of Nigeria’s Peace Committee? What good can come from a man who is filled with hate and bias for a large section of the country? He calls for a coup against a democratically elected government. He stigmatised Islam as ...

In Nigeria, cross-over services are significant events that usher in a New Year. Cross-over services are held mostly in churches on the night of December 31 every year and Christians usually gather to pray and worship their Maker for the gift of a brand New Year. As a custom, the services start a few hours before 12am and end some minutes after 12am. But with the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic which has disrupted livelihood and ways of doing things, the cross-over services into the year 2021 will be different in many ways as global health authorities discourage large gatherings to curb the spread of the virus. In Nigeria, state governments like Ogun, Lagos, Osun, Cross River, amongst others have warned churches against holding cross-over services this Thursday, insisting that the 12am to 4am curfew imposed by the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 subsists. The PTF also stressed the need to maintain social distancing, use of face masks and hand sanitisers as Nigeria battles...

Deborah Okezie, mother of 11-year-old pupil of Deeper Life High School, Don-Davis Archibong, who was allegedly assaulted in the school, has claimed she has audio recordings of what transpired in the state Commissioner of Education’s office.  Okezie had earlier stated on a Facebook live session that she was intimidated in the commissioner’s office. She said one of her phones was collected from her and the commissioner asked her to remove a video she had posted from the Internet.  Okezie also claimed that she was pushed out of the commissioner’s office.  But the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Comrade Iniobong Ememobong, in a Vanguard report on Wednesday, said all of Okezie’s allegations regarding what happened in the commissioner’s office were lies. Speaking with SaharaReporters on Wednesday, Okezie, however, claimed she still had the audio recording of the incident which she said she would release to the public at the right time.  Okezie...

The Nigerian Army has deployed combat helicopters, gun trucks and soldiers to search some forests in the South-East states where the Eastern Security Network, recently launched by Nnamdi Kanu, is suspected to be camping. SaharaReporters learnt that the military search had been ongoing for days, and has no time frame, as the army was acting on “orders from above.” From the drones and hidden cameras believed to be installed by the ESN, a video captured the Nigerian Army helicopters and their vehicles and soldiers searching for the camp of the ESN to make arrests. Kanu, a leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, on December 12, launched the ESN, saying the regional security outfit, just like Amotekun in the South-West, would help tackle crime. “The Nigerian Army that is supposed to fight Boko Haram were seen everywhere searching for the camp of Eastern Security Network team. But they forgot they are dealing with sophisticated men. There are cameras and drones everywhere watc...

Bayo Oluwasanmi Not everyone who calls himself a pastor should be listened to. Peter warned believers in his day: “But false prophets arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies… (2 Peter 2:1). Pastor Tunde Bakare needs no introduction. He is a notorious Nigerian Pentecostal false pastor-preacher-profiteer. In 2019, Bakare declared to the world: “Take it to the mountain top if you have never heard it before. I am saying it to you this morning, in the scheme of things, as far as politics of Nigeria is concerned, President Buhari is number 15 and yours sincerely is number 16. I never said that to you before, I want to let you know it this morning; nothing can change it, in the name of Jesus. He (Buhari) is number 15; I am number 16.” The same year 2019, he came out swinging at Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He vehemently condemned Tinubu as a presidential material. He chided Nigerians for praising the one (Tinubu) ...

Adeyeye Ogunwusi Ojaja II, Ooni of Ife, has urged the Nigerian government to come up with recovery plans capable of improving the economy of the country. The first-class monarch said this in his Christmas/New Year message issued by his Director of Media and Public Affairs, Moses Olafare, and titled ‘Ooni charges FG on economic recovery plan as he rejoices with Christians, says COVID-19 second wave real’. Ooni, a Co-chairman of the National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria, said, “We started this year 2020 with a lot of hopes and aspirations, particularly on the country getting it right economically towards the prosperity of the entire citizenry, but unfortunately the COVID-19 pandemic crept in, sinking the economy in another recession. It has happened this way, and the only way out is for the government to take responsibility. “Government policies must be executed in a way that the standard of living of the citizens, particularly the youths is upgraded which will, in ...

File Photo Landmines planted by Boko Haram jihadists have killed 11 security personnel, including four soldiers in Borno, security sources said Tuesday. According to AFP, seven hunters recruited to help the military fight the Islamist insurgents were killed on Tuesday when their vehicle hit a landmine in the village of Kayamla, outside Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. The report said four soldiers had earlier been killed by landmines on Monday. File Photo “Seven hunters died in the explosion and nine others are badly injured,” Babakura Kolo, the head of a local anti-jihadist militia, told AFP. “Their vehicle hit a landmine as they were pursuing Boko Haram insurgents,” he added. Another local militiaman confirmed the incident. Earlier on Monday, four Nigerian soldiers were killed on Monday when their vehicle hit a landmine planted by Boko Haram fighters in Logomani village near the border with Cameroon, two security sources told AFP. There has been a sharp increase in a...

Being the 2020 Christmas Message to Nigerians by the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Hassan Kukah. 1: Another Christmas with Dark Clouds of Death: Let me paraphrase the holy prophet Isaiah who said: “For Jerusalem (Nigeria’s sake), I will not be silent until her vindication shines forth like the dawn…..No more shall people call you forsaken, or your land desolate, but you shall be called my delight and your land espoused.” (Is. 62:1,4). Against the backdrop of our endless woes, ours has become a nation wrapped in desolation. The prospects of a failed state stare us in the face: endless bloodletting, a collapsing economy, social anomie, domestic and community violence, kidnappings, armed robberies etc. Ours has become a house of horror with fear stalking our homes, highways, cities, hamlets and entire communities. The middle grounds of optimism have continued to shift and many genuinely ask, what have we done to the gods? Does Nigeria have a future? Where can...