Mr Okunjimi Odimayo, Ondo APC Governorship Aspirant

By Kingsley Okoye

Mr Okunjimi Odimayo, a governorship candidate for the All Progressives Congress (APC) Ondo Governorship primary election, has withdrawn his candidacy from the primary.

Odimayo also threw his weight behind the candidature of the incumbent Gov. Rotimi Akeredolu.

Odimayo announced his withdrawal from the election in a personally signed statement to newsmen in Abuja.

As an aspirant and stakeholder in our great party, I have come out with a bold and courageous decision.

I have risen the hope of the common people that the future is here, I have shown a new and brighter direction of politicking.

I have changed the old narrative for a new and proper way to good and all-embracing governance.

With these strong beliefs and in the spirit of sportsmanship and party supremacy, I have resolved as follows:

After series of meetings and consultations with the top hierarchy of our party both the national and state levels, fellow contestants, leaders, elders and other stakeholders, I will not be participating in the primary.

I thereby pledge my full support and that of my team and political family members to our governor, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, to emerge as the candidate of our party.

I remain a committed and loyal member of APC with members of my campaign council and my supporters across the 18 local government areas in the state.

As a stakeholder and loyal party man, I have since, directed my delegates in the primary election to cast their votes for Gov. Akeredolu to help him to win the election and emerge as APC candidate for the governorship election.

The primary is scheduled for July 20 while the governorship election will come up on Oct. 10.(NAN)

Source: NAN News

Prof. Kemebradikumo Pondei

By EricJames Ochigbo

Prof. Kemebradikumo Pondei, the Acting Managing Director, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) on Monday, collapsed during investigative hearing at the National Assembly

The incident happened while he was answering questions from lawmakers at the ongoing N40 billion irregular expenditures in the commission.

The members had asked Pondie to explain the N642 million paid to a company known as Clear Point Communication.

The lawmakers also asked the Pondie to explain the N536 million paid for Save Life Campaign in the oil rich region and to prove that there were all budgeted for in the 2019 Appropriation Act.

Pondie told the lawmakers that N642 million paid to Clear Point Communication to train locals and to help locate and identify NDDC projects in the area.

Pondie, however, could not confirm that the payments were budgeted for, asking the lawmakers to give him time to provide the budget.

In the process, Pondie collapsed, sweating profusely and was carried out for first aid and medical attention.

The hearing was then adjourned for 30 minutes to all members and guest go for tea break. Details later.(NAN)

Source: NAN News

COVID-19

No fewer than 21 inmates at the Philippines national penitentiary have died from the coronavirus since March, including a prisoner who testified against an opposition senator detained on illegal drug charges, officials said Monday.

A total of 349 inmates at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City in metro Manila have been infected with the coronavirus since March, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said.

Only five inmates remain in the prisons quarantine and isolation facility, he added, citing information from the Bureau of Corrections.

Among the prisoners who died was Jaybee Santiago, convicted of kidnapping and carjacking in 2009, who ran illegal drug operations from inside the prison.

He testified against Sen. Leila De Lima, who has been detained since February 2017 on allegations she received protection money from jailed illegal drug lords while she was head of the Department of Justice.

However, De Lima has denied the allegations.

Sebastians body was immediately cremated following the health and safety protocols in handling COVID-19 deaths, the Bureau of Corrections said.

Guevarra said he has ordered an investigation into Sebastians death to dispel any doubt surrounding the circumstances amid speculation he could have been killed or his death staged to let him escape.

The Department of Health reported 1,521 additional confirmed coronavirus infections, bringing the national tally to 68,898.

The death toll was 1,835, with four additional deaths reported. (dpa/NAN)

Source: NAN News

The new Zonal Commanding Officer, ACM Imoh Etuk addressing transport operators

By Yemi Adeleye

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) on Monday, said it had mobilised enough regular and special marshals for traffic control and management during the partial closure of the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos.

The FRSC Zonal Commanding Officer in charge of Ogun and Lagos states, Mr Imoh Etuk, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), appealed to motorists to be patient to avoid a chaotic situation.

Etuk, who noted that the corps was carrying out a test-run of traffic control on the bridge, said that officers and men of the corps would be professional in ensuring free flow of traffic.

We should not forget, very soon the Third Mainland Bridge will be partially closed for rehabilitation for a while, though our men are prepared, however, we want members of the motoring public to also be on the same page with the corps.

Road users need to obey simple traffic regulations that will be in place, and all the detours that will be made available, to ensure free movement of traffic. We want them to be sane.

We know that the traffic situation is not going to be a childs play with the partial closure, even if it will be only for a day not to talk of six months.

We will keep having discussions before the time, we are doing a test-run to ensure that people do the needful, because it is going to be hectic.

We have mobilised men from all the units and sector to tackle the problems, but we need the cooperation of road users in obeying all regulations and in being patient during this period, Etuk said.

He said that the Sector Commander in Lagos, Mr Olusegun Ogungbemide, had been having series of meetings with all relevant bodies to ensure that no one slept on the road.

According to him, the corps is still strategising and educating the motorists.

The FRSC official, however, assured residents that regular and special Marshals of the corps would do the needful professionally, and be on top of the situation.

We will ensure that officers continue with the professionalism that the corps in known for, to ensure that our people do the needful for robust traffic control and public enlightenment, especially in the COVID-19 era.

We will ensure that all the safety protocols are followed and that our men come down hard on those that overload their vehicles and people that do not obey simple traffic rules and regulations.

I am charging the transport union to be on the same page with the Federal Road Safety Corps in the quest to ensure that we have sanity on our roads.

Our men will be there to ensure traffic control, but we must be obey the traffic rules and regulations, he added.

Etuk, who cautioned against overloading of vehicles, advised motorists to adhere strictly to COVID-19 transport guidelines.

NAN reports that the rehabilitation of the bridge by the Federal Ministry of Works, expected to last six months from July 24, is to fix worn out expansion joints. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Abia jailbreak: Police begin manhunt for 9 escapees PPRO

By Sam Oditah

The Police in Abia have begun manhunt for the remaining nine of the 29 criminal suspects that escaped from police cell in Umuahia on Saturday.

SP Geoffrey Ogbonna, the Police Public Relations Officer for Abia Command, confirmed to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday that 29 detainees escaped from the Umuahia Central Police Stations cell after overpowering the guard on duty.

Narrating the incident, Ogbonna said that one of the detainees had appealed to the guard (name withheld) to assist him with water to flush the toilet.

He said that unknown to the guard, the detainees had conspired to attack him in order to escape from detention.

This happened around 9.00 p.m. on Saturday, he said.

He added that as soon as the guard brought the water and opened the iron bar, the suspects rushed out, overpowered him and took to their heels.

The commands spokesman said that 20 of the suspects were rearrested that night and in the early hours of Sunday.

He expressed the confidence that the remaining nine escapees would be rearrested and appealed for assistance from Umuahia residents.

I appeal to members of the public to be vigilant and report any strange face or faces in dirty attires in their neighbourhood to the police.

The suspects had dirty attires they wore in the cell and may be looking for where to steal peoples clothes in order to look decent to be able to escape from the town, Ogbonna said. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Lt.-Gen Tukur Buratai

By Ismaila Chafe

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday in Abuja received an update from the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, on military operations against bandits in the North West zone of the country.

Addressing State House correspondents after the closed door meeting, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, said he briefed the president on security developments as he successfully completed the first phase of an assignment given to him.

He expressed optimism that the security situation in the North-West zone was under control due to steps taken by officers and men of the Nigerian Army in collaboration with other security agencies.

We are there fully supporting the already ongoing operation Hadarin Daji, which is a joint operation of all armed forces and security agencies.

So far, this collective effort is making tremendous progress in the area of bringing about normalcy.

Unlike where we had series of killings, kidnapping, cattle rustling and of course they tried to prevent the people from going to their farms and farm this season this has been addressed.

There is the presence of number of troops in the North West and they are carrying out surveillance, operations, and patrols to ensure that nobody is molested if he/she goes outside the community to farm.

We assure that this would be sustained throughout this years farming season and beyond, he said.

The Army Chief therefore, commended his men involved in the peacekeeping operation in the zone and other parts of the country for doing a good job, assuring that normalcy would soon be restored to the affected areas.

He urged all Nigerians to support the military and other security agencies so as to end insurgency and other security challenges troubling some parts of the country.

The COAS stressed the need for vital information about the whereabouts and movements of insurgents and bandits, saying this would help a lot in containing the situation.

If you want insurgency and other acts of criminality to end today, the totality of the peoples effort must be put into the matter so as to see that insecurity in the country is reduced to the barest minimum.

But if we dont do anything and continue to complain, and continue to accuse the agencies involved in fighting it, then we are not helping matters.

You are supposed to find solutions as something is being done on daily basis. I assure you that we will soon reach the end of the tunnel and we will see the light that will improve the security situation in all parts of the country, he added.

According to him, securing the country is not an easy task, however, the army will continue to do its best in carrying out its task.

We still carrying out our task and we will deal with them. You know securing a country is a task that everybody knows and we will prevent the country from any form of insecurity.

In this case, you know the military task is very clear; to defend our country from external aggression, to defend our territorial integrity and to come to the aid of civil authority, which we are doing.(NAN)

Source: NAN News

Third Mainland Bridge, Lagos

By Grace Alegba

The Federal and Lagos State Governments have appealed to Lagos residents to stop dumping refuse in drains so as not to jeopardise ongoing road repairs toward partial closure of Third Mainland Bridge for rehabilitation.

They made the appeal on Sunday during a joint inspection of alternative routes under rehabilitation toward the planned partial closure of the bridge on July 24 for repairs.

The Federal Controller of Works in Lagos, Mr Olukayode Popoola, during the inspection, called for speedy change of attitude toward drain stuffing causing flooding and quick road degeneration in the state.

The joint inspection we are carrying out has to do with the partial closure of the Third Mainland Bridge that is coming up on the 24th of this month.

We have gone round and seen many places. We started from Ojota, came down to Maryland; we saw where we need to put more attention; we saw where Lagos State has done repairs.

Right here now we are at Abebe. The problem we have here is just the attitude of the residents.

We saw the drains, they are all blocked with used tyres, papers and so many things that should not be there.

We are appealing to our people to change their attitude. Government is spending a lot of money to make sure that the roads are maintained but our people are not cooperating.

There is no need to turn the drains into refuse cans. Please change your attitudes, otherwise the blockade will constitute a nuisance and the roads will continue to get spoilt on daily basis, he said.

Popoola reaffirmed that the outward Lagos Island lane of the Third Mainland Bridge would be partially closed to traffic by midnight of July 24 for commencement of rehabilitation works on the bridge.

He said that the ministry would close the Oworonshoki-bound carriageway first for three months and after completion of work, move to the Island-bound to replicate the repairs.

We are changing the bearings, the expansion joints and then re-surfacing the bridge. We will make sure we work day and night so that the six months completion date will not be exceeded, he said.

Mrs Aramide Adeyoye, the Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Works and Infrastructure, said that the inspection was a fact-finding tour and decried the high rate of road infrastructure abuses.

She decried the constant theft of manhole covers on the Eric Moore Road axis for over one kilometre stretch and using the open drains as refuse dumps.

The controller has rightly said it. Those drainage structures are not for disposal of refuse and when they are blocked, in no little time the road will be affected, she said.

Adeyoye said urgent steps should be taken against scavenging activities in the state, noting that the burden was more on drains wherever there were scavengers.

She said that her ministry was carrying out speedy rehabilitation of alternative roads to ease movement during the closure.

Our ministry is largely undertaking repairs in collaboration with the Lagos State Public Works Corporation just to make sure that the alternative routes are in a motorable state for people to make use for this period.

All the routes have been identified and we are working on them. One of them is Eric Moore here at Abebe Junction, she said.

Adeyoye said that the resurfacing of the Abebe road section was being done repeatedly because of constant abuse of the road infrastructure by Lagos residents.

Speaking on available alternative routes, she said that 10 major access roads had been mapped out for use during closure of the Third Mainland Bridge.

She said that priority would be given to people on the Mainland connecting the Island in the morning to use the bridge while those living on the Island would be required to use alternative routes.

Adeyoye added that those home-bound to the mainland would also have priority of usage of the bridge in the evening.

If you are living in Victoria Island or Ikoyi, you can use alternatives such as Eko Bridge or you go through Iddo-Carter. So, you can now take Herbert Macaulay.

Other inner roads are also available. You can also go through Adekunle, Glover and the side roads.

You can take Costain. We will make efforts to make the roads motorable, she said.

She said that the state Commissioner of Police had given permission for construction to take place in the night in spite of the curfew, so that work could be done overnight toward speedy completion of repairs.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Dr Fredrick Oladeinde, said that apart from the alternative routes already mapped out, water transportation options were being made viable.

Oladeinde said that the Lagos State Bus Services Ltd. had also been given permission to use the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lanes to move more people fast.

We have quite a number of boats that come from Ikorodu and Bariga, going to the Island to complement the alternative routes that people would use, he said.

He said that a 24-hour operations task force team had been formed comprising both federal and state law and traffic regulatory agencies to ensure smooth movement to avert gridlock. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Prof. Akin Abayomi, Lagos State commissioner of Health.

By Oluwafunke Ishola

The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, on Sunday says a total of 54, 570 sampleshas been testedfor COVID-19 pandemic in the state as at July 18.

Abayomi, who made the disclosure on his Twitter account, said that of the 54,570 samples, 13, 346 returned positive.

He said that 759 COVID-19 tests were conducted in the state on July 18, out of which 115 new cases were confirmed.

According to him, 2,069 of the confirmed cases have since been discharged from #COVID-19 Care Centres following full recovery.

He said, 8,781 of the confirmed cases monitored in communities by #COVID-19 Lagos Response Team have either fully recovered or positively responding to treatments.

The commissioner said that 164 of the cases were currently under isolation in public and private Care Centres.

He, however, noted that 2,141 active cases in communities have yet to turn up for admission in COVID-19 Lagos Care centres.

One additional #COVID-19 related death was recorded bringing the total #COVID-19 related deaths in Lagos to 191, he said.

Abayomi said taking responsibility was easy, adding that it was the most effective strategy to stop the community transmission of the virus. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Nigeria Troop fighting insurgenct ( file Photo)

By Sumaila Ogbaje

Troops of Operation Sahel Sanity has eliminated no fewer than 17 bandits and arrested a number of others in recent encounters in Katsina State, Defence Headquarters has disclosed.

The Acting Director, Defence Media Operations, Brig.-Gen. Bernard Onyeuko, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.

Onyeuko said the troops of Combat Team 1, had on July 18, with the support of Air Task Force advanced, captured a notorious bandits stronghold known as Dangote Camp located deep in the forest in Jibia Local Government Area.

He said the initial resistance by the bandits was effectively subdued by the superior tactics and dexterity of the troops which resulted in heavy casualty on the bandits.

At the end of the encounter, 17 bandits were neutralised while several others were believed to have escaped with gunshot wounds as evident by the trails of blood along their escape routes.

Equally, 5 AK 47 Rifles, 3 Dane guns, 2 AK 47 Rifle magazines, 152 rounds of 7.62mm Special ammunition and seven motorcycles were captured from the fleeing bandits.

Regrettably, one brave officer and two gallant soldiers paid the supreme price while four other soldiers were wounded in action.

However, the wounded in action soldiers are currently responding positively to treatment in a military medical facility, he said.

Onyeuko said the troops while conducting fighting patrol along Faskari Sheme Dandume Road in Katsina, arrested five suspected bandits including one female.

He disclosed that one of the suspects, Bashir Usman, claimed to be a policeman during interrogation but could not validate his claim with any form of identification.

According to him, Usman was apprehended with one AK 47 Rifle loaded with 28 rounds of ammunition while riding on a motorcycle.

Onyeoku said that other items recovered from Usman include one handset and the sum of N6,350, adding that all the suspects were presently undergoing preliminary interrogation.

The military spokesperson further disclosed that the troops had on July 17, made an aggressive pursuit of bandits following a tip off that bandits invaded Kuka Uku Village in Batsari and kidnapped a 16-year-old Miss Hadiza Sani.

He said the bandits abandoned the victim and fled due to the troops aggressive pursuit, adding that the rescued victim had since been reunited with her family.

According to him, troops deployed at Forward Operation Base Bagega also rescued another kidnapped victim, a 10-year-old girl, following an alarm by her mother that two bandits on motorcycle kidnapped the victim while they were fetching firewood around Bagega Tudurki Forest.

The rescued has been united with her family.

The Chief of Army Staff Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai commended the troops for their gallantry, successes and their resilience and urged them not to rest on their oars but build on the successes so far achieved.

He further assured the people of the North-West zone of the Nigerian Armys commitment to the safety of lives and properties within the zone, he said. (NAN)

Source: NAN News

Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State

By stanley Nwanosike

Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State has approved the release of N24.6 million to the Enugu State Scholarship and Education Loans Board (ESSELB) for bursary allowance for students.

The Executive Secretary of ESSELB, Mr Levis Abonyi, in a statement on Sunday in Enugu, said that the beneficiaries were 246 students of the state origin at the Nigerian Law School.

Abonyi said that the benefiting students would get the sum of N100,000 each.

He said that those eligible for the offer must be indigenes of the state in the Nigerian Law School.

The ESSELB executive secretary listed the requirements for the prospective beneficiaries to include valid admission letters and valid Law School identity card.

Other requirements, according to him, are local government identification letters, dully signed by the scholarship board staff in their respective council secretariats and recent passport photographs.

He said that all applications must be made online through the boards website http://www.esselb.en.gov.ng/>www.esselb.en.gov.ng.

Abonyi, however, asked the affected candidates to call the help-lines: 09044022730, 09045085589, 09054915257 and 07053900572 or visit the boards office at No. 28, Okpara Avenue (old CCB building near EEDC), for application voucher.

The executive secretary also urged eligible students to upload all the above required documents to the ESSELB portal.

Follow us on Facebook Enugu State Scholarship and Education Loans Board-ESSELB for more information on date of screening and presentation of cheques, he added. (NAN)

Source: NAN News