Author: Chief Editor

The Lagos State Police Command yesterday warned those planning another #EndSARS protest to desist as the move would be resisted. The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hakeem Odumosu, said any gathering or procession with an undertone of #EndSARS had been banned. According to him, the protest is backed by “some unpatriotic individuals and groups, who are planning to embark on the replica of the recent destructive and violent #EndSARS protest that left pains and agonies in Lagos State.” His warning came amid reports that the planned second phase of #EndSARS protests is billed to commence today in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt…

•FG meets labour on petrol, electricity tariff hike today Amidst concerns over the long closure of public universities, the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities ((ASUU) has requested that it be given till Wednesday to conclude consultations with its chapters on the terms of resolution of the dispute with the federal government. Similarly, the federal government team is expected to continue discussions with the organised labour unions on ways of resolving the dispute over the recent increases in the pump price of petrol and electricity tariff. ASUU was expected to revert to the federal government latest last Friday…

Former Niger Delta militant leader, Chief Government Ekpemupolo alias “Tompolo” has protested against the continued siege on his firm, Mieka Dive Limited, five months after he was vindicated of corruption charges by a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos. Chief Ekpemupolo, in a statement made available to newsmen on Thursday evening during a peaceful protest by youths and workers of the company, said there was no justification for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to continue to occupy the firm after a court judgement in his favour. “After nearly five years of malicious prosecution by the EFCC and its…

United States has removed all visa reciprocity fees for Nigerians seeking visas into the country. A statement on Saturday signed by Spokesperson, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ferdinand Nwonye, said that the United States Government had removed all visa reciprocity fees for Nigerian citizens seeking visas to the United States. The statement said: “The positive development is in line with the removal of excess visa application, processing and biometric fees for United States citizens applying for Nigerian visas by the Nigerian Government. “The United States Government has therefore eliminated reciprocity fees for Nigerian citizens with effect from December 3, 2020.” The…

Former governor of Ekiti State, Peter Ayodele Fayose yesterday secured the permission of a federal high court in Lagos to seek medical treatment abroad. The judge, C.J. Aneke granted the permission following an application by Ola Olanipekun, Fayose’s counsel. The former governor is being tried by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for an alleged N2.2 billion fraud. Fayose had earlier secured similar permissions to seek medical care outside the shores of Nigeria in July and in December 2019. His December 2019 medical trip had generated heated controversy when photographs of the former governor at relaxation spots somewhere in…

Governors of the 36 states of the federation ended their meeting late on Thursday in Abuja with a resolve to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari over raging insecurity in the country. Boko Haram, bandits and kidnappers have continued to terrorise and kill scores of Nigerians across the country, the latest being the massacre of 43 rice farmers in Borno State. A source at the meeting told THISDAY last night that almost all the governors spoke in support of a firmer action against Boko Haram, bandits and kidnappers, with a call on security agencies to raise their game. A communique signed…

Files notice to discontinue case, may sacrifice his Head of Legal Section The Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu has spent the last 24 hours struggling to convince top shots in the Presidency that he was unaware of the lawsuit that came up on Thursday asking a court to stop the various states’ judicial panels of enquiry probing allegations of rights abuses and other acts of brutality against the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad and other police units. The Presidency is said to have been angered that a decision to set up the various panels of enquiry, taken by the National…

President Muhammadu Buhari has set up a four-man committee to review the report of the Justice Ayo Salami-led judicial panel of enquiry into the tenure of Ibrahim Magu as acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), TheCable understands. The committee will produce the White Paper on the probe report which recommended the removal of Magu as EFCC boss and his prosecution over allegations of corruption in the management of recovered assets. Magu has denied any wrongdoing and maintained that he discharged his duties honorably as the nation’s anti-graft czar from 2015 to 2020. This setting-up of the panel is…

• Nigeria, others at risk of delayed access over N14tr funding gap • Virus to push 207m into extreme poverty by 2030 The Senate has urged the Federal Government to make sufficient funds available for procurement and administration of COVID-19 vaccines on Nigerians. It described as unfortunate the failure by government to produce a plan for the purchase, distribution and administration of the therapy despite the fact that many nations globally had done so. Adopting a motion sponsored yesterday by Senator Oloriegbe Ibrahim (APC: Kwara State) during plenary presided over by Senate President Ahmad Lawan in Abuja, the upper legislative…

IGP orders investigation of suit Nigeria Police Force, yesterday, approached the Federal High Court in Abuja asking it to stop judicial panels of inquiry probing into alleged police brutality. The move has been, however, severely criticised by a rights group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA). The judicial panels of inquiry were set up in most states of the country by governors to probe allegations of police brutality and human rights abuses of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad and other police tactical units. The inauguration of the panels was directed by the National Executive Council (NEC), headed by Vice…