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Jack Ma’s medical supplies donation arrive Africa

Ihuoma ILO
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Jack Ma’s medical supplies donation arrive Africa

ABIY Ahmed Ali, Ethiopian Prime Minister on Sunday evening received medical supplies from China, donated by China’s billionaire, Jack Ma and the Alibaba Foundation to support Africa’s fight against the novel Coronavirus.

Abiy in his speech thanked Jack Ma and the Alibaba Foundation for sending their supports and commended the duo for being the first to send CoVID-19 prevention materials and supports, which include 1.1million testing kits,  six million masks and 60,000 protective suits to be distributed to all 54 countries in Africa.

‘’Thank you Jack Ma and the Alibaba group for sending the first wave of COVID-19 prevention materials. Support includes 1.1million testing kits, 6million masks & 60,000 protective suits to be distributed throughout Africa.  Distribution to other countries will begin as of tomorrow,’’ Ahmed said.

medical supplies donated by Jack Ma/ Photo credit: Twitter

Ahmed further stated that the distribution to other African countries would commence on Monday (today) to hasten the fight against the pandemic.

Earlier last week, Jack Ma announced he would donate medical supplies to all African countries, stating that Africa cannot be left out in the effort to contain the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic.

“The world cannot afford the unthinkable consequences of a COVID-19 pandemic in Africa,” he said in a statement tweeted on his twitter page.

Presidency directs NASS members who returned from abroad to report to NCDC test centers

Samad UTHMAN
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Presidency directs NASS members who returned from abroad to report to NCDC test centers

 

 Uthman samad

THE Presidency has written to the leadership of National Assembly to direct its members who recently returned to the country from abroad to report themselves at the nearest test centre of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

The letter written by Abba Kyari, Chief of Staff to the President followed refusal by the returnee lawmakers to make themselves available for test at the airports.

Kyari noted in the letter that “airport screenings are our primary line of defense and refusal by any citizen to subject to these tests is a threat to our nation.”

A copy of the letter addressed to Olufemi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of House of Representatives, sighted by The ICIR,  urged the speaker to direct such members of the House to report themselves for test.

“Accordingly, you are kindly requested to direct all members of the House of Representatives who returned to Nigeria from foreign trips to report themselves to the nearest NCDC test centre with immediate effect,”Kyari wrote.

Earlier on Monday morning, The ICIR reported that the NCDC  announced that Nigeria has recorded five new cases of coronavirus, taking the total cases of Covid-19 recorded in Nigeria so far, to 35 with only one person reported dead.

Nigeria records first coronavirus death, deceased is former MD PPMC

Seun DUROJAIYE
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Nigeria records first coronavirus death, deceased is former MD PPMC

Nigeria has recorded its first death from coronavirus. The victim, was 67-year-old Suleiman Achimugu, former managing director of the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC).

Achimugu’s death was announced on Monday by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), stating that he returned home from the UK after a medical treatment.

The NCDC noted that the deceased had underlying medical conditions, including; multiple myeloma and diabetes and was also undergoing chemotherapy.

According to family sources, The former MD of PPMC returned from UK two weeks ago, but started exhibiting symptoms on Tuesday.

It was gathered that Achimugu passed on at 2am on Monday after suffering complications triggered by the virus.

His family members reportedly contacted the NCDC over the development and it was gathered that officials from the centre came to the house and took his blood sample.

“As of yesterday afternoon, he was coughing profusely. So they called the NCDC to inquire about his results,” a family source said.  “It turned out positive.”

“They picked him up and rushed him to specialist hospital, Gwagwalada. He died at 2am this morning.”

According to sources, his family members are currently under quarantine in their house.

They further disclosed that the NCDC will handle the burial..

At the moment, Nigeria has recorded 36 cases of coronavirus, with six states including Lagos, FCT, Ogun, Oyo, Ekiti and Edo having confirmed cases.

Globally, the virus has infected over 341,000 persons and killed over 14,000 people according to John Hopkins coronavirus resource centre.

JUST IN: Former HoS, Oyo-Ita arraigned by EFCC over DTA, estacode fraud allegations

Abeeb ALAWIYE
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JUST IN: Former HoS, Oyo-Ita arraigned by EFCC over DTA, estacode fraud allegations

THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday arraigned the immediate former Head of Civil Service of the Federation (HoS), Winnifred Oyo-Ita.

The EFCC had on Sunday released a press statement that Oyo-Ita would be arraigned along with eight others before  Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja.

This morning, operatives of the anti-graft agency brought Oyo-Ita to the Federal High Court in Abuja over allegations of fraud.

According to the release, others arraigned along with Oyo-Ita are: Frontline Ace Global Services Limited; Asanaya Projects Limited; Garba Umar and his companies: Slopes International Limited; Gooddeal Investments Limited; Ubong Okon Effiok and his own company, U & U Global Services Limited and Prince Mega Logistics Limited.

They were arraigned for frauds relating to Duty Tour Allowances, (DTA), Estacodes, conference fees fraud and receiving kick-backs on contracts.

During investigation by EFCC, it was discovered that Oyo-Ita, in her roles in the civil service as Director, Permanent Secretary and Head of Service, used her companies as well as Effiok’s and Umar’s companies as fronts to receive kickbacks from contractors of various ministries and parastatals where she worked.

The former Head of Service in collusion with Effiok who was her Special Assistant, along with one Titus Okunriboye Tomsin, made bogus claims of fictitious DTA, Estacodes, conference fees which were paid by the government to the accounts of the suspects.

 

Nigeria now has 35 confirmed Covid-19 cases, as five new cases confirmed on Monday

Seun DUROJAIYE
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Nigeria now has 35 confirmed Covid-19 cases, as five new cases confirmed on Monday

THE Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has announced that Nigeria has recorded five new cases of coronavirus, taking the total cases of Covid-19 recorded in Nigeria so far, to 35.

In a  tweet shared on its official twitter page Monday morning, NCDC, presented the breakdown of the new cases, showing that Lagos has recorded two new cases, making the total cases recorded in the state 24.

It also shows that  Abuja has recorded two new confirmed cases, making the total six for the FCT while Edo State has also recorded its first case of COVID-19.

Between Friday, March 20  when Nigeria imposed travel ban and restrictions and Monday morning, Nigeria has recorded 23 new cases.

However, the Centre said two cases have been  discharged – the index case, an Italian man and another contact case, who was asymptomatic.

Former vice president Atiku Abubakar’s son who tested positive to the virus is among the new cases reported in Abuja.

The former vice president announced in a  tweet, that his son is being taken care of at the Gwagwalada Specialist Teaching Hospital.

Meanwhile, the NCDC has been preaching for citizens to observe the rules of prevention as well as practice social distancing to curb the spread of the virus.

Though the fatality of the virus is said to be at a minimal, and Nigeria is yet to record any death, the World Health Organisation (WHO) classified the global  risk level of the virus as very high.

Globally, the virus has infected over 341,000 persons and killed over 14,000 people according to John Hopkins coronavirus resource centre.

There is still no known cure or vaccine for the novel coronavirus and the world is witnessing  what many have described as a human-race altering moment.

UBA magt yet to respond to legal suit filed by 116 retrenched staff

Jennifer UGWA
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UBA magt yet to respond to legal suit filed by 116 retrenched staff

NEARLY two weeks after former staff of the United Bank of Africa dragged the financial institution to court, the bank is yet to file any response.

On January 3, UBA, in a move described as corporate right-sizing, retrenched over 3,000 of its workers.

The ICIR had told the story of staffers who said the bank got rid of them like “spoilt goods” by asking them to tender their resignation letter, or risk being sacked.

On February 13, the ex-workers in a suit marked NICN/La/112/2020 brought against the UBA at the Lagos Division of National Industrial Court, sued for wrongful termination of work, unconscionable and oppressive loan award, discriminatory and unfair labour practice, and defamation of character.

The retrenched workers prayed the court to award them N2 billion each for breach of contract and wrongful termination of employment.

The former workers  also sued that N10 million be awarded to each of them on basis of defamatory comments made by Tony Elumele, UBA Groups chairman on January 6, at the Amphitheatre of the UBA House in Lagos.

“The Chairman of UBA, Mr Tony Elumelu announced to all staff and the whole world that the claimants are toxic inputters and disconnected Individuals.”

“The claimants were never at any time given any query for non-performance or for being toxic imputers or disconnected individuals.

“The defendant made the claim to lower the estimation of the claimants in the eyes of right-thinking members of society,” the claimants stated.

The suit obtained exclusively by The ICIR claimed the bank had made available personal loans which were “unconscionable and oppressive loans with interest at the rate of 18 per cent and 1.5 per cent for insurance.”

However, with the staff being asked to resign instead of getting a sack letter, the insurance benefits were not awarded to them.

Meanwhile, a source close to the bank revealed that the insurance company-HEIRS Insurance Brokers- which is also part of the Elumelu’s business empire knowing as HEIRS Holdings was to handle the insurance scheme.

Furthermore, the petitioners claimed that the bank tactfully foisted the loans on them for two reasons because it wanted to meet up with the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN’s Loan to Deposit Ratio. Secondly, the petitioners said  in accordance with already laid down plan, the bank used the loan as a ploy to swindle them out of their benefits.

Hence, the 116 ex-bankers are seeking an order cancelling the loans or, alternatively, asking the bank to apply insurance proceeds to the payment of the outstanding loans and update their terminal benefits.

Meanwhile, the claimants said during the course of employment, UBA made 2.5 per cent deductions from their salaries for National Housing Fund (NHF) contribution but failed to remit the funds in line with the applicable law and thus denied access to housing loans under the NHF scheme.

Another source close to the case told The ICIR, that after the legal action filed by the ex-staff was made public and published on various media, Ramon Nasir, Group Head, Media Relations and UBA’s spokesperson paid-off publishers and editors to have the published reports pulled down from the platforms in a fierce attempt to maintain the company’s image.

“In place of pulling down the story, the bank offered the newspaper money to run a full-page advert for it,” the source told The ICIR.

This trend, The ICIR learnt, was reproduced across reputable national newspapers and blogs.

Although the bank still has a few days left to respond to the suit, Elvis Asia, counsel to the petitioners told The ICIR  that his clients will proceed to court regardless of the silence by the defendant.

Why Nigeria’s political elite led by Bagudu, Ekwerenmadu others, stash N164 billion worth of properties in Dubai – Study

Amos ABBA
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Why Nigeria’s political elite led by Bagudu, Ekwerenmadu others, stash N164 billion worth of properties in Dubai – Study

THE United Arab Emirates’s resolve to tackle high-end money laundering in its property market is under scrutiny after recent revelations that several Nigerian political office holders and their associates have found Dubai in UAE, a safe haven to acquire landed property with unexplained wealth.

High profile Nigerians involved in this money laundering scheme include Ike Ekweremadu, currently, a serving senator representing Enugu west senatorial district, Atiku Bagudu, governor of Kebbi State alongside 332 Nigerians who are linked to 800 properties in Dubai.

The joint investigative research published by American based non-profit organisation, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace which was carried out by one of its non – resident scholars Matthew Page, revealed that the properties were worth N164 billion.

Titled “Dubai Properties” An Oasis for Nigeria’s Corrupt Political Elites”, the teport  was based on data obtained from UAE real estate and property professionals.

According to the report, many. politically exposed persons, PEP, who owned properties in Dubai cuts across different Nigeria’s major ethnic, religious and political divides.

This list includes twenty former and serving governors, seven former and serving senators, current and former heads of ministries, departments and agencies of government, commissioners and bureau de change operators, were owners of a significant number of these properties.

In 2018, the Tax Justice Network’s Financial Secrecy Index ranked Dubai as the ninth most secretive jurisdiction in the world serving as a destination for global illicit financial flows without strict financial regulation on foreign financial crimes.

Some of the individuals identified with properties in Dubai had a litany of corruption cases in Nigeria namely Dan Etete, former petroleum minister, Ibrahim Mantu, former deputy senate president, Cecilia Ibru, former managing director of the acquired Oceanic Bank, and Tafa Balogun, former inspector general of police.

Others include Ladan Shehu, former group managing director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Bala Mshelia, former chairman of the military pension board, Samuel Okeke, former head of the petroleum product marketing company and Ahmadu Ali, former PDP chairman.

Why Dubai appeals to corrupt Nigerian elite investment

According to the report, Dubai which boasts of a booming real estate market specialises in selling high-end properties to the world’s richest elites.

However, Nigeria’s PEPs are enticed by the tourist attraction to invest in real estate mainly because its property market is vulnerable to money laundering as UAE enjoys a strong banking system but weak financial regulations that promote aggressive business growth, exercises minimal oversight of corporate and property registration practices.

Other indicators identified in the study include its proximity to Nigeria.

For instance, it is easier for a Nigerian to get a UAE visa than it is for them to get a visa to the United States or the United Kingdom.

A thirty-day tourist visa to the UAE only costs N30,000 and takes about a week to process without a need for legal residency or a permit to buy property in Dubai.

In the first quarter of 2019, Nigerian travellers topped the list of international arrivals to Dubai which was a 28 per cent increase compared. to the first quarter of 2018.

The report stated that Dubai guarantees safe investment for real estate properties for not only individuals or legitimate businesses but unlawful ones as well, making it easy to buy property in and transfer money to Dubai.

The US Department of State in 2018 appraised the UAE to be a “major money laundering jurisdiction,” defined by its Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.

In its report Sandcastles, the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (now known as C4ADS) examined how seven individuals sanctioned by the United States or European countries were linked to a property in Dubai.

The study observed that if Nigeria’s PEPs continued to make Dubai an attractive conduit for illicit financial flows from Nigeria and the trend is not discontinued, it would drain government coffers, drive up borrowing, and put pressure on the economy.

Size of Nigeria’s PEPs investment in Dubai

At least 800 properties were found to have links to Nigerian PEPs, their family members, associates, and suspected proxies.

Until 2016 when C4ADS acquired the data of a private database of Dubai real estate information which proved to be a trove of information that revealed that Nigerian elites were getting a slice of Dubai’s real estate market with suspiciously pilfered public funds.

The 800 Dubai properties linked to Nigerian PEPs are estimated to be worth over N146 billion. This accounts for two-thirds of the Nigerian Army’s annual budget and over three times the annual budget of the country’s Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

It was highlighted in the study the Dubai property ownership by Nigeria’s PEPs is an indicator and not definitive proof that a particular politically exposed Nigerian possesses an unexplained wealth.

Global Financial Integrity, had estimated that illicit financial flows out of Nigeria between 2004 and 2013 were pegged at $178 billion which the study tentatively linked to the $400 million invested by Nigerians in the real estate market in Dubai.

Key players involved 

Ike Ekweremadu

Nigeria’s longest-serving senator and three-time deputy president of the senate, Ekweremadu is linked to eight Dubai properties, worth over $7 million.

“These include a luxury flat in Park Towers bought for $2.2 million and one in Burj Dubai purchased for $1.4 million,” the report stated.

He is also linked to at least two properties in the United Kingdom, which according to the records were purchased between 2008 and 2011 for a total of 4.2 million pound sterling in 2011.

“One of these properties, an upscale flat in central London, is registered in the name of Ekweremadu’s charitable foundation while the second, a detached house in a leafy north London suburb, is owned by a shell company registered in the British Virgin Islands,” the report said.

Ibrahim Mantu: A former deputy senate president from 2003 to 2007 under former President Olusegun Obasanjo is linked to 12 of the 800 properties which he was said to have purchased for more than $10 million through a front company, TSE Stevedoring Nigeria.

His wife and sons allegedly own 70 per cent of the company.

“Through another company, A-Z Properties, Mantu also is linked to a $600,000 flat in the Jumeirah Beach Residences while his son, Musa, is also tied to a comparable flat in the same development,” the report said.

Cecilia Ibru: The former bank managing director of Oceanic bank, her family and associates are linked to dozens of properties in Dubai in 2016. They include eight apartments in the Park Towers development acquired for a total of $4.3 million, a flat in Dubai Marina now worth about $500,000, and four commercial properties.

She also laundered $1.2 billion in stolen cash and assets forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria following her plea bargain with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, after she pleaded guilty to three of 25-count of fraud brought against her.

The forfeited assets had included 12 homes in the United States; four homes in South Africa, 28 shop fronts and seven residences in Dubai; 41 properties in Lagos, and eight houses in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city.

Atiku Bagudu

Bagudu is said to be linked to eight properties on the twelfth floor of Dubai’s capital bay towers development. The properties are said to worth more than $4.8 million.

He is associated with some of the recoveries of monies stashed abroad by Abacha. Currently, incumbent Kebbi State governor he had helped Abacha to embezzle billions of dollars from government coffers in the mid to late 1990s, according to U.S. court filings.

He has, however, continued to deny all corruption allegations against him.

However, a 1998 Nigerian government investigative panel described how Bagudu and his accomplices siphoned these funds.

Nigeria was reported to be committed to a deal that would give Bagudu about $100 million from funds recovered from his erstwhile boss, Abacha, a report by Bloomberg, which cited court documents, has revealed.

Recommendations of the study

In 2018, Nigeria and the UAE endorsed bilateral agreements increasing judicial and law enforcement cooperation on criminal and asset recovery cases. However, Nigeria’s anticorruption agencies have been disappointed with the level of information sharing and investigative support they’ve received from the UAE, according to the study.

It was recommended that law enforcement agencies could redirect their attention toward deterring PEPs’ illicit acquisition of Dubai property.

“The Central Bank and Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit could inaugurate an interagency investigative “tiger team” tasked with scrutinizing the last ten years’ worth of financial transfers between Nigeria and Dubai, flagging suspicious transactions that may have been ignored or previously overlooked,” the report said.

It was also advised that the country’s apex bank increase its scrutiny, fines for banks and currency exchanges failing to report transactions involving PEPs, as required by law.

“The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, should focus their investigative time and resources on individuals and companies operating in Nigeria that facilitate PEPs’ Dubai property purchases or play a middleman role in executing transactions,” the report has stated.

Breaking: Confirmed COVID-19 cases now 30 in Nigeria

Olugbenga ADANIKIN
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Breaking: Confirmed COVID-19 cases now 30 in Nigeria

THE Federal Government on Sunday at about 5:28 pm announced that COVID-19 cases in Nigeria have risen to 30.

Three additional cases have just been confirmed.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) via its verified Twitter handle put the number of active cases at 28 while two have been discharged.

The body noted that though no death has so far been recorded in the country, two of the new cases just returned from a trip abroad while one is a contact from one of the confirmed cases.

“Three new cases of #COVID19 have been confirmed in Lagos, Nigeria. Three cases are returning travellers and one is a contact of a confirmed case,” the NCDC stated. “As at 05:28 pm on the 22nd of March, there are 30 confirmed cases of #COVID19 in Nigeria. 2 have been discharged with no deaths.”

The NCDC, however, put out a toll-free-line: 080097000010 for members of the public to report any suspected cases.

It is also working in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Health, alongside other bodies to prevent further spread of the virus.

Some of these include the suspension of train stations, schools, National Youth Service Corps, Churches, Mosques, and every form of public gathering.

The public is advised to also imbibe good hygiene and sanitation, proper washing of hands as well as maintaining social distance.

However, despite these recommendations, a number of religious houses, particularly in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and prominent government workers still maintain normal gathering.

The Lagos State and FCT, for instance, restricted number of public meetings to 30.

On Saturday evening, the Lagos state government reduced the figure to 20. The order was implemented with supports from the Police.

COVID-19 currently has no cure.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is yet to announce any antidote but nations such as China, US are considering the use of chloroquine as a clinical trial.

Over a dozen churches in FCT disregard warning against large religious gathering, hold Sunday service

Editorial
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Over a dozen churches in FCT disregard warning against large religious gathering, hold Sunday service

By The ICIR reporters

DESPITE directive by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) against religious gatherings of not more than 50 persons, not fewer than 20 churches in the FCT, Abuja held church service, opening gates to hundreds of worshippers, The ICIR can report.

The ICIR visited over 20 churches in different areas of the FCT and found that 90 percent of them held physical services and some even held multiple services to accommodate large numbers.

In a press statement shared on its official Twitter page, the FCT  Administration on Saturday, warned against religious and public gatherings, limiting such meetings to a maximum of 50 persons.

The announcement was made in line with public health guidance – to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country and to make contact tracing by health authorities easier.

However, the directive was disregarded by many churches as church leadership across the FCT encouraged members to attend worship services with no adequate measures in place to identify suspected case of the virus.

Rather, in attempt to keep members ‘protected’ against the virus, some of the churches provided hand sanitizers at the entrance of the church, pouring it on the palms of members as they enter into the church.

Then members proceeded to sit close to one another in the church where service continued for an average of two hours.

As at the time of filing this report, Nigeria has recorded 27 cases of the coronavirus.

Lagos has recorded 19 infected persons, Abuja has four cases, Ogun has recorded two cases and Ekiti and Oyo have registered one case each.

FCT churches visited by The ICIR

The ICIR reporters who went round Abuja found contrary to the government’s directive that many churches indeed held Sunday services with members in full attendance.

Winners Chapel also known as Living Faith is one church with thousands of branches across Nigeria.

In the FCT, all branches visited by The ICIR were in full service.

The branches include Living Faith Gwarimpa, Nyanya, and Dawaki. All the three branches started church service as early as 9 am as indicated in their  programme of service.

Also in Gwarimpa, The Transforming Church (TTC),  resumed at 8:30 am, while the church authorities advised members on the threat of coronavirus. The church service commenced officially by 9 am and members were instructed to sit one seat apart from one another .

Most Redeemed Church branches  in Abuja visited by The ICIR  followed the directive of the Church General Overseer, Enoch Adeboye that members should stop holding physical service in view of the pandemic coronavirus.

Members were advised to gather in house fellowships for worship. Some held their service online, The ICIR gathered.

Redeemed Christian Church of God, Yimi road, Ikwa, appeared to be an exception as it held its church program with scores of members in attendance despite warnings from the FCTA.

In Zuba/Madalla axis of FCT, at least 11 churches were seen holding their services with hundreds of members  in attendance.

They included  Ikwa All christian Fellowship, Zuba, Rock of Ages Zonal Headquarters, FCT Province 2, Living Faith Church Zuba, a.k.a Winners Chapel, Winners High Way, behind Pantaker, Zuba, St. Augustine’s Anglican Church, church road, Zuba.

Others that held their church program, with members in attendance exceeding 50 persons  were Christ Apostolic Church, Zuba, Catholic Diocese Abuja St.Jude Parish, Zuba, Assemblies of God Church, Ikwa-Zuba 1, The Lord of Chosen Charismatic Revival Ministry, Zuba Regional Headquarters, Mountain of Fire and Miracle Ministries, Zuba Regional Headquarters, National Evangelical Mission inc. (the people that love) Ikwa -Zuba, Jehovah Witness Church, Zuba.

Also, Christ Embassy Church was not left out as the Nyanya branch of the church held its church program as usual except with the addition of automatic dispensing hand sanitizers made available at the entrance of the church.

The Dunamis International Gospel Centre, a 100,000 seater capacity church located along Airport Road held three different services, with each service held between 7am- 12am packed with at least a thousand worshippers in attendance.

Holy Rosary Catholic Church at Mambolo Street, Wuse Zone 2 also carried on with church service as well, opening its doors to hundreds of members in clear disregard of the FCTA directive.

Churches that defied FCTA orders can explain their choice, CAN reacts

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the umbrella body of all Christians in Nigeria said churches that held services against the directive of the FCTA administration were in the best position to explain their choice.

Bayo Oladeji, spokesman to CAN President told The ICIR, that the leadership of CAN supports the position of the government in placing restrictions on social and religious gatherings amidst the fight against the spread of coronavirus.

Oladeji however pointed out that the churches that chose to flout the directive are in the best position to defend their decision.

According to him, the FCTA released the restriction order during the late hours of Friday, March 20, and while the motive was clear and useful, some pastors ‘complained’ of their inability to reach their members within such short period of notice and settled to use the church service to sensitize their members about coronavirus.

“Some pastors were complaining that some of their members could not be reached on the new directive and they asked for the grace to allow those who couldn’t hear of the directive to worship in their usual way. But they would use the service to sensitise them on the coronavirus,” Oladeji told The ICIR.

The CAN also argued that the government wasn’t proactive in announcing restrictions in the FCT.

Oladeji pointed out that President Muhammadu Buhari’s spokesperson, Garba Shehu, recently attended a gathering of old students of his alma mater.

The meeting which Shehu announced on his Twitter was a call to everyone interested to attend the 2020 Annual Leadership Lecture, by Barewa Old Boys Association on Saturday, March 21, in which the presidential aide was to deliver the keynote address.

“Please find time to join us at the Barewa Old Boys Association (BOBA), 2020 Annual Leadership Lecture, where I will be speaking on “Media and Democracy: Challenge of Journalism,” Shehu posted on his Twitter page which boasts of over 800,000 followers.

Pandemic and outbreak lurking 

The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared coronavirus officially called COVID-19 a pandemic, given that it has infected over 260,000 people globally, killed over 11,000 persons and has spread to every continent on the planet except Antarctica.

Countries have banned international travels, shut down borders and instructed citizens to restrict movement and avoid large gatherings, all in attempt to arrest the spread of the deadly virus.

In the past month, the virus has spread to five states in Nigeria, raising concern over possible outbreak.

With no known cure or vaccine, a fragile health care system and a population estimated to be 200 million, Nigeria remains at the mercy of citizens abiding by rules guarding prevention.

Covid-19: Oyo govt confirms index case In Ibadan

Samad UTHMAN
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Covid-19: Oyo govt confirms index case In Ibadan

Samad UTHMAN

THE oyo state government has confirmed an index case of Coronavirus in Ibadan, the capital city.

The state governor, Seyi Makinde confirmed this in a tweet through his official handle.

The index case was confirmed in Bodija, a suburb in Ibadan.

According to the the governor, “The covid-19 confirmation test for the suspected case at Bodija has come back positive. The result was released at 17:35pm of march 21, 2020”

Another suspected case in the state who just returned from Texas, United States has been kept in self-isolation, the governor has tweeted.

Makinde urged other returnees to indentify self to the state’s health ministry official, and self isolate for 14days.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has earlier today confirmed three new cases in Lagos, including (NCDC) Oyo’s index case, summing up the number to four newly confirmed cases in Nigeria.

This is coming barely 24 hours after the confirmation of 10 new cases of Covid-19 in Nigeria, comprising 3 in Abuja, and 7 in Lagos, the epicentre of the virus.

According to the NCDC, Nigeria is currently battling with 25 confirmed cases of the novel virus and  2 persons already have been released.

The places where cases of Coronavirus have been established include: Lagos, Ogun, Ekiti,  Oyo and Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

The ICIR reported days ago about the non-availability of test centres for the virus in the whole of Nigeria’s northern and south-eastern parts.

This situation has been condemned by the  Senate president Ahmed  Lawan and concerned Nigerians in the past week, saying the virus will be uncontrollable if confirmed in these regions

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