The police in Taraba have engaged a gang of robbers and kidnappers, killing one and arresting three at the Borno Bukuruku in Bali Local government.

The state Commissioner of police, Mr David Akinremi, said in Jalingo on Saturday that the suspect was killed when the gang engaged the police in a shootout.

A gang of suspected armed robbers/ kidnappers engaged a team of police operatives in a gun duel in their Borno Bukuruku forest hideout in Bali LGA, based on actionable intelligence received at about 10.00hrs.

In the process, one of them was gunned down by the superior firepower of our operatives while three others : Halilu Umaru, 35, Lawale Shehu, 22, Isah Abdullahi, 25, were arrested, Akinremi said.

The commissioner said an Ak47 rifle with eight rounds of ammunition, criminal charms, an army camouflage and cutlasses were recovered from the suspects.

He urged members of the public to watch out for other members of the gang who escaped with gunshot injuries and report them to the police.

Akinremi warned armed robbers, kidnappers and other criminals to steer clear from the state, saying the police would arrest and bring them to justice sooner or later. (NAN)

Source: NAN

Ireland voted by a landslide to ditch its strict abortion laws in a landmark referendum that Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said had finally lifted decades of stigma and shame.

More than 66 percent of voters in what has been a traditionally staunchly Catholic country backed repealing the constitutional ban on terminations, triggering scenes of tearful jubilation in Dublin on Saturday after a divisive and often emotional campaign.

Hugging, celebrating, singing and cheering wildly, thousands crammed into the courtyard of Dublin Castle, where the official result was declared, chanting Yes! Yes! Yes!

Wonderful, wonderful, today is wonderful! said 65-year-old Eileen Shields, who had been ostracised for falling pregnant outside of marriage when she was 18.

The crowds cheered and popped champagne corks as the result was announced. Women and men wearing Repeal tops and Yes badges waved Irish flags and placards reading Thank you, with love hearts on.

Speaking through tears, Stasia Clancy, 64, said: This is like an explosion of the repression and the suppression of the last 100 years.

At Dublins RDS count centre, 40-year-old nurse Ruth Bowie wept at the results.

She told AFP: I had to leave my country to get the healthcare that I needed when I was told that my baby wouldnt survive outside the womb and Ive told my story over and over again just in the hope that this day would come and its finally come.

Veil of stigma lifted

The final results of Fridays referendum showed 66.4 percent voted for removing the constitutional ban, while 33.6 voted against.

Some 1,429,981 votes were cast for Yes. The turnout was 64 percent.

Among the 40 constituencies, the pro-choice vote peaked at 78 percent in Dublin Bay South, while rural Donegal was the only one to vote against liberalising abortion, by 52 percent.

A quiet revolution has taken place, Varadkar said in a speech at Dublin Castle.

No more stigma. The veil of secrecy is lifted. No more isolation. The burden of shame is gone.

He said Saturday would be remembered as the day Ireland stepped out from under the last of our shadows and into the light. The day we came of age as a country.

His government proposes allowing abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy and between 12 and 24 weeks in exceptional circumstances.

Varadkar said he wanted the law in force by the end of the year and Health Minister Simon Harris told AFP that the cabinet would meet on Tuesday to approve the drafting of legislation.

Crumbling church influence

The result is another hammer blow to the Roman Catholic Churchs authority in Ireland, coming three years after referendum voters backed legalising same-sex marriage by 62 percent.

The Churchs influence has crumbled in recent years due to a series of child sex abuse scandals.

The referendum comes three months before Pope Francis visits Ireland for the World Meeting of Families.

An exit poll for The Irish Times newspaper suggested 70 percent of women and 65 percent of men voted to overturn the ban.

People over 65 voted 60 percent against. However, all other age groups backed the proposal, with support at 87 percent among voters aged 18 to 24.

Ailbhe Smyth, 71, co-director of the official Together for Yes campaign, said real-life testimonies from women affected by the ban had helped swing the vote.

*AFP

Source: NAN

Qatar has ordered shops to remove goods originating from a group of Saudi Arabian-led countries which a year ago imposed a wide-ranging boycott on the emirate, Doha officials said Saturday.

A directive from the economy ministry ordered shops to immediately strip shelves of products from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt.

Inspectors will visit stores to ensure they comply with the order, the ministry said.

The government will also try and stop products such as Saudi dairy goods from entering Qatar via a third country.

Qatars Government Communications Office (GCO) said it was trying to protect the safety of consumers.

Products originating from blockading states, which as a result of the blockade cannot pass the GCC customs territory, has to undergo proper import inspections and customs procedures, the GCO said in a statement.

Qatar conducts its trade policy in accordance with all of its multilateral and bilateral agreements.

The order comes just days before the anniversary of a bitter Gulf crisis.

Since June 5 last year, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt have cut all relations with Qatar, accusing it of financing terrorist groups and having close ties with Iran.

The countries subsequently imposed a trade and diplomatic boycott on Qatar, which rejects the charges and says the countries are seeking regime change in Doha.

The row has forced isolated Qatar, which previously relied on its Gulf neighbours, to look elsewhere for food imports, including Turkey, Morocco and Iran.

Many such imports enter the country via ports such as Kuwait and Oman.

It is through these ports, and also via individuals, that goods from the boycotting countries manage to get in to Qatar, said a source with knowledge of the situation.

Businessmen from the blockading countries are trying to go around the blockade by using third parties, said the source.

Source: NAN

Hundreds of protesters in Nicaragua have resumed their protest, blocking roads in many parts of the country, with at least eight more people killed in the last 24-hours.

Unrest resumed since week-long church-mediated talks between the government and opposition to quell a month of violence broke down late on Wednesday.

Hundreds of demonstrators in the north, center and south of the Central American nation were blocking highways on Saturday, demanding Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, stand down.

Since protests began on April 18 at least 83 people have been killed and more than 860 wounded, police and rights activists say.

Four people were killed on Friday, and another four by mid-day Saturday, police and family members said.

Ortega, a former Sandinista guerrilla who first ruled between 1979 and 1990 before returning as president 11 years ago, had kept power by maintaining leftist rhetoric while ensuring an accommodation with powerful private industry and keeping up trade with the United States.

But demonstrators have voiced frustration over corruption, the autocratic style of Ortega and Murillo, limited options to change the countrys politics in elections, and the presidents control over Congress, the courts, the military and the electoral board.

The Organization of American States has called for Ortega to call early elections, an issue which became the biggest stumbling block in dialogue.

Foreign Minister Denis Moncada said an early ballot would mean dismantling constitutional order and the democratically elected government.

Before protests broke out, an OAS team had been trying to mediate in a process aimed at bringing about new elections, as well as electoral reforms.

Ortega and Murillo were elected in November 2016 for a term that ends in January 2022.

Source: NAN

Kim Jong Un, leader of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK), and U.S. President Donald Trump are willing to hold the first-ever historic summit as scheduled in Singapore.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Sunday confirmed this in a nationally televised address at the presidential complex, saying both Kim and Trump wished the success of their summit originally scheduled for June 12 wholeheartedly.

The confirmation came after Moon held a surprise summit Saturday with Kim on the DPRK side of the border village of Panmunjom. Moon met with Trump in Washington on May 22 to discuss the DPRK-U.S. summit.

The South Korean leader said he met with Kim for the second time in a month following the third inter-Korean summit on the South Korean side of Panmunjom on April 27. The second meeting between Moon and Kim was held at the request of the DPRK leader.

At the April 27 summit, Moon and Kim promised to meet at any time, in any place and in no format, if necessary, to discuss significant issues between the two Koreas.

Kim had delivered his intent Friday afternoon to meet with Moon in no format, which the South Korean president willingly accepted.

Moon spoke highly his second meeting with Kim, which the South Korean leader likened to a daily round between old friends. He said the two Koreas should meet as it was.

During the Saturday meeting, Moon explained to Kim about the outcome of his summit with Trump in Washington earlier this week, conveying Trumps firm will to end hostile relations with the DPRK and build economic cooperation if Kim fulfills complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Moon told Kim that Pyongyang and Washington should dispel possible misunderstandings via direct dialogues and have sufficient working-level talks over agenda that needs to be agreed upon at the Kim-Trump summit as both Kim and Trump wholeheartedly wished the success of the DPRK-U.S. summit.

Kim agreed to the need for what Moon told him, the South Korean president noted.

The DPRK leader made clear his commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula at the Saturday meeting, expressing his willingness to end the history of war and conflicts, and cooperate for peace and prosperity via a successful DPRK-U.S. summit.

Moon and Kim wished the June 12 DPRK-U.S. summit could be held as scheduled and the journey of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula and building permanent peace should never be stopped. The leaders agreed to closely cooperate to achieve it.

To rapidly enforce the Panmunjom Declaration, which Moon and Kim announced after the April 27 summit, the two sides agreed to resume high-level inter-Korean dialogue on June 1, which had been cancelled at the last minute.

It will be followed by inter-Korean military talks to ease military tensions and a Red Cross talks to hold the reunion of separated families across the inter-Korean border since the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, according to the South Korean president who took office in May last year.

Moon and Kim also agreed to meet and communicate, if necessary, at any time and in no format, Moon said.

The inter-Korean talks between high-level officials were originally held last week, but Pyongyang made a pre-dawn cancellation citing the joint annual South Korea-U.S. air combat exercises, codenamed Max Thunder that ended on Friday.

In a publicized letter to the DPRK leader, Trump cancelled the DPRK-U.S. summit on Thursday, citing tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in recent DPRK statements.

Following the cancellation, the DPRK said it was ready to sit down with the United States, and then Trump said the U.S.-DPRK summit likely remained as scheduled.

Moon said in the speech that the DPRK showed its determination by dismantling its nuclear test site and stopping nuclear and missile tests, calling it a completely new start toward complete denuclearization and permanent peace on the peninsula.

Pyongyang invited journalists earlier this week to let them cover the dismantlement of the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, where all of its six nuclear tests were conducted.

*Xinhua

Source: NAN

NAN Reporting

The Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) has appealed an Order of Interim Injunction from the National Industrial Court (NIC), compelling it to immediately resume duties.

Addressing an emergency news conference on behalf of the national body of JOHESU in Abuja on Saturday, Dr Godwin Okara, the Chairman, Assembly of Healthcare Professionals Association (AHPA), said the matter is now at the Court of Appeal.

Okara said JOHESU had filed Court Processes before the Court of Appeal on May 21, challenging the locus standi of the Kingdom Human Rights Foundation International, an NGO, and the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the suit.

He said the union only received the NIC order at 5.39 p.m. on Friday (May 25).

“An Order of Interim Injunction compelling JOHESU to immediately resume duties was just served on JOHESU at 5.39 p.m. on Friday May 25.

“We have the greatest respect and regard for the Judiciary of our country Nigeria.

“It has always proved to be the bulwark of our democracy, the last hope of the common man and the flagship of the vanguard for law and order in human society,” he said.

Okara described the suit as a calculated attempt by the Federal Ministry of Health and the NGO to demonise JOHESU through sustained misinformation and falsehood.

The JOHESU official explained that the briefing was aimed at updating the media and the general public on the latest developments affecting the industrial action.

He explained that the union decided to seek legal redress when it noticed that there was an intention by the parties to tarnish the image of its members on the mass media when they have not received any court order.

“JOHESU had before the receipt of this Court Order filed Court Processes in the National Industrial Court and the Court of Appeal on May 21, 2018, challenging the locus standi of the NGO and the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the suit.

“The move is a follow up to the calculated attempt to demonise JOHESU through sustained misinformation and falsehood by the Federal Ministry of Health and the Kingdom Human Rights Foundation International, an NGO, which is neither our employer nor a party to the agreement JOHESU signed with Government.

“The NGO has constituted itself into a meddlesome interloper,” Okara said.

He also expressed concern over the persistent attempts by the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) to misinform the public through malicious fabrication of accusation and blatant lies that JOHESU members had locked up theatres, consulting rooms, laboratories and wards.

Okara dismissed insinuations by the NMA that their members were intimidated by JOHESU officials and hospital authorities lack the power to keep the gates and doors of our health facilities open.

“It beats imagination that NMA will go to any ridiculous length in giving bad names to a dog in order to hang it,’’ he said.

According to him, JOHESU members have conducted themselves with the highest degree of restraint and discipline in the face of provocation and double-dealing by the Federal Ministry of Health and NMA.

The AHPA chairman commended the leadership of the Senate for their recent intervention aimed at ensuring full and amicable resolution of the crisis.

Okara also appreciated all men and women of good conscience that have lend their voices of reason to JOHESU’s struggle for improved healthcare facilities in the country, justice, fairness and equity in the health sector.

While sympatising with patients and their relatives over the pangs of the strike, he appealed to the general public to understand that the strike was in the best interest of improving the country’s health sector.

Okara urged members of JOHESU to sustain the strike pending the outcome of national consultative meetings with states and zonal leaders of the union to review the latest situation and decide on the next line of action on May 27 and 28 in Abuja, respectively.

The JOHESU official therefore, urged the Federal Government to implement the agreement reached with the union on Sept. 30, 2017, to avoid further loss of lives.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the NIC had on May 17 ordered striking members of JOHESU to suspend its ongoing strike, and resume work nationwide within 24 hours.

Justice Babatunde Adejumo, President of the NIC, gave the order after listening to the submissions of Mr Okere Nnamdi, in an ex-parte motion filed by the NGO, Incorporated Trustees of Kingdom Human Rights Foundation International.

The NGO in the motion prayed the court to order the workers to restore normal healthcare services and go back to negotiation table.

Source: NAN

Frustrated by the lingering impasse in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Senators Suleiman Hunkuyi and Shehu Sani are considering dumping the party.

Their faction of APC in Kaduna State says it was considering defecting to another political party barely few months to the 2019 general elections.

The faction, known as APC Akida, said in a statement in Kaduna on Friday that they have concluded a review of the state of the party and governance issues in the state and the nation, and was considering leaving the party they worked hard to put in place.

The group said it would take the decision if there is no visible evidence of success in addressing the damaging levels of alienation and frustration among the millions of party faithful in Kaduna State.

Other prominent members of the faction that are set to discard APC are Isah Ashiru former APC governorship aspirant, and Mr. Mataimaki Tom Maiyashi.

Maiyashi, Chairman of the group, who signed the statement said two recent events in the state chapter of the party have confirmed the fears of the absence of credible and legitimate party leadership.

These, he said, were capable of destroying the credibility and popularity of the party.

The party congresses and the Local Government Councils elections in Kaduna State have confirmed the fears of the absence of credible and legitimate party leadership and this would destroy the credibility and popularity of the party.

These are fears which the Akida group had raised since the early days of the administration of Governor Nasir el-Rufai.

The congresses have exposed the contempt for popular participation by the Governor and his hand-picked choir.

Our party has lost massive popularity and goodwill as a result of attempts to force the choices of an unpopular government on party faithful, he said.

Maiyashi said those who emerged as leaders of the party from the congresses enjoyed no support or legitimacy among party members.

It has become painfully aware that all efforts to halt the damage being done to our party ,including many attempts by the leadership of the APC at zonal and national levels, are unlikely to reverse the decline in our partys capacity to live up to its promises made to the people in 2015.

The Akida group has informed all relevant party organs and leaders that it will regretfully consider leaving a party it worked hard to put in place if there is no visible evidence of success in addressing the damaging levels of alienation and frustration among the millions of party faithful in Kaduna State.

As things stand, the founding values of our party, particularly integrity, accountability, inclusiveness and compassion have been systematically repudiated by the government of Nasir el-Rufai, starting with the subversion of the autonomy and integrity of the party at all levels in the state.

We appeal to anyone with authority or influence over the governor to use it responsibly to head off a looming disaster in the shape of a party that has lost its foundations and integrity, he said. (NAN)

Source: NAN

The recently passed 2018 Appropriation Bill has been transmitted to the presidency for the assent of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Sen. Ita Enang , the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), confirmed on Friday, the receipt of the 2018 Appropriation Bill.

The NASS had on May 16 passed the 2018 Appropriation Bill of N9.12 trillion.

The budget was increased by the legislature by N508 billion from the N8.61 trillion proposed and presented by President Buhari to the NASS in November 2017.

Enang, in a statement in Abuja, said he had received the 2018 budget passed by both chambers of the NASS and was set to be transmitted to the president for further action.

I have received the 2018 Appropriation Bill for onward transmission to the President as soon as possible.

Since the Appropriation Bill has been received, what is left is for it to be transmitted immediately to the President, he said

The National Assembly on May 16, passed the 2018 Appropriation Bill of N9.12 trillion after it was increased by the lawmakers by N508 billion.

Chairman of the committee, Sen. Danjuma Goje, presented the budget and explained that it was premised on oil price benchmark of 51 dollars per barrel as against 45 dollars proposed by the president.

He added that it also benchmarked at crude oil production of 2.3 million barrels per day and exchange rate of N305 to one dollar.

Goje said that of the aggregate expenditure of N9.12 trillion, N530 billion was earmarked for Statutory Transfers while N2 trillion was earmarked for Debt Service.

He added that N3.5 trillion was earmarked for Recurrent Expenditure, N2.8 trillion for Capital Expenditure, N1.95 trillion for fiscal deposit, while Deficit to Gross Domestic Product was put at -1.73 per cent.

He recalled that the 2018 Budget as presented by Buhari had the objective of delivering on a three year (2018-2020) Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).

The Bill contained the estimates of revenue and expenditure totalling N8, 612, 236, 953, 214.

It was made up of Statutory Transfers of N 456, 458, 654, 074 and Debt Service of N2, 233, 835, 365, 699.

Recurrent (Non-Debt) Expenditure is N3, 494, 277, 820, 219 and Contribution to Development Fund for Capital Expenditure is N2, 427,665,113,222, he said.

Goje disclosed that there was additional allocation to security to the tune of N47 billion, Reduction of Deficit, N51 billion and Health, N57 billion.

Other additional allocations, according to him, are Power, Works and Housing, N107 billion, N16 billion to Education, particularly for infrastructure for the 12 newly-established universities and meal subsidy in Unity Schools.

He also said that N10 billion was allocated to Judiciary while additional provision of N44 billion was allocated to Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

The committee chairman, therefore, explained that the various additional allocations accounted for the budget increment from N8.61 trillion to N9.12 trillion.

He regretted the delay in the passage of the budget, but said that it was not entirely the fault of the National Assembly.

Lawmakers commented on the budget, with James Manager (Delta-PDP) saying that to avoid speculations, it was important to let Nigerians know that the increment in the budget was in consultation with the Executive.

Sen. Lanre Tejuoso (APC-Ogun) described the bill as a budget of transformation with the introduction of one per cent Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) in the health allocation.

He explained that the implication of the one per cent was that a minimum of 3,000 Nigerians in each local government area would have their health bills paid for by government.

In his remarks, President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, said that there was need to grow the economy away from oil.

He also said that government spending must continue to grow on issues relevant to the welfare and security of the people.

Saraki stressed that government spending should reduce in areas where the private sector was better placed to catalyse progress, adding that it would free up funds for education, health, water and sanitation services, among others.

On this note, it is with great delight that I announce that the 2018 Budget has met the threshold of reserving at least one per cent of total budget to health.

This is historic. We were focused on this commitment of the one per cent set aside for the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF). We promised and we have delivered.

For us, this is not a commitment to numbers; it is a commitment to the health and well-being of our people; it is a commitment to making Nigeria stronger.

We expect that this will continue and even inch upwards as we work to eradicate malaria, and significantly reduce infant and maternal mortality.

The statistics that show Nigeria as having one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world is not the Nigeria we want to leave behind for our children.

The journey starts now; let us not look back, he said.

Saraki emphasised the need for the Executive and the Legislature to come together, especially in the formation and passage of Appropriation Bill.

He said that while progress had been made in the formation stages, a lot more needed to happen to minimise delays and other stumbling blocks in the process.

One of the symptoms of the unhelpful aspects of the prevailing culture hampering the process remains the neglect or refusal of certain agencies of government to honour invitations to budget defence.

It is our hope that we will see a major change in this regard, going forward.

The Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) has been passed; it should, of course, be duly signed and implemented so that our people can reap the full dividends of this landmark legislation.

We would like to see that the process of implementation of the budget starts immediately so that our people will begin to benefit from the objective of the budget and opportunities it opens.

In order for us to have an efficient budget implementation, we will advise that agencies of government eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy and speed up the procurement process, he said.

Passing the Bill at the House of Representatives, the lawmakers warned the Federal Government not to engage in extra-budgetary spending unless through supplementary appropriation.

They also barred the government from borrowing without first furnishing the legislature with details of the borrowing plan and obtaining approval.

Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Rep. Abdulrazak Namdas, who briefed the media on the conditions given to the government, said that the House had constituted a conference committee to liaise with the Senate on the conditions.

He said that the budget must henceforth, run a full circle of 12 months.

We have set up a conference committee to harmonise with the Senate based on the new clauses passed by the House.

We believe that a clean copy of the budget will be ready by next week and sent to the president for assent.

Namdas explained that the budget was jacked up based on a new oil benchmark of 51 dollars, crude oil production of 2.3 million barrels per day and an exchange rate of N305 to one dollar.

After close consultation with the Executives, the increase in oil benchmark was applied in the following critical sectors of the economy reduction of deficit amounted to N50.88 billion; security N46.72 billion; health N57.15 billion; power, works and housing N106.50 billion. (NAN)

Source: NAN

Gov. David Umahi of Ebonyi has appointed a former Nigerian Ambassador to Mexico, Chief Lawrence Nwuruku and a former Minister of State for Power and Steel Chief Goddy Ogbaga, to manage two rice mills in Ikwo and Izzi Local Government Areas (LGA).

Nwuruku, also a former Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) National Commissioner, would manage the Ikwo Rice Mill, while Ogbaga was appointed the Chairman of the Rice Mill, located in Iboko, Izzi LGA.

Umahi made the announcements on Friday during the novelty football matches involving the various arms of governments and parastatals in the state as part of events to mark the 2018 democracy day celebrations.

The governor commended the organisers of the novelty matches, noting that the excitement had reduced the blood pressure of spectators at the refurbished Pa Ngele Oruta Stadium.

He also announced a donation of N5 million to participants of the matches with the six winning teams getting N500, 000 each.

The four-runners up will get N400, 000 each, while the officials would also get N400, 000, he said.

NAN reports that Ogbaga and Nwuruku recently declared their intentions to run for the Ebonyi North and Central Senatorial seats of the state respectively.

Source: NAN

Leaders of North and South Korea have met to ensure the historic meeting between North Korea leader Kim Jong Un and the U.S. President Donald Trump, still holds.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in met with his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong Un in the demilitarized zone for the second time in a month on Saturday to discuss the peace commitments they reached in their first summit.

There has been uncertainty over the North Korea-U.S. meeting following various demands by Trump and his North Korean counterpart.

The meeting between the Korean leaders came hours after President Donald Trump suggested his June 12 meeting with Kim may still go ahead.

Moons office, which released photos of the meeting, said the leaders met on the North Korean side of the demilitarized zone in the village of Panmunjom between 3 and 5 p.m. local time.

The Blue House said Moon would personally announce the outcome of Saturdays summit on Sunday.

The two leaders reportedly spoke for two hours to frankly discuss how they could make the potential summit between Kim and Trump a success.

The meeting came hours after South Korea expressed relief over revived talks for a summit between Trump and Kim following a whirlwind 24 hours that saw the U.S. president cancel the meeting.

In their first summit in April, Kim and Moon announced vague aspirations for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula and permanent peace, which Seoul has tried to sell as a meaningful breakthrough to set up the summit with Trump.

Read more:

Source: NAN