Police apprehend 2 Chinese for ‘Illegal Mining’ in Zamfara

Chinese Nationals, Mr WANG and Mr CHUN

The Zamfara State Police Command has arrested 2 Chinese Nationals for,allegedly engaging in illegal mining activities in the state.

SP Mohammed Shehu,the PPRO of Zamfara State Police Command Gusau,said in a statement on Monday that the foreigners were arrested based on information received on their activities.

“The Command had On 19th April, 2020 received information that some foreigners in concert with other unpatriotic Nigerians engaged in illegal mining activities in Kwali, Bukkuyum LGA of the state. ”

“On the strength of the information, On 20th April, 2020, the Commissioner of Police ,CP Usman Nagogo psc+ led a special taskforce team to Kwali mining sites to assess and see things for himself. ”

“The information proved to be credible one as hundred of miners scattered as soon as they saw the team. Two labourers were however arrested who confirmed the presence of Chinese and Bulkinabe Nationals among others.”

“On 25th April, 2020 information had it that a Chinese and Bulkinabe Nationals are taking shelter somewhere in Nasarawa Burkullu. On 26th April, 2020 the Commissioner of Police led another team to the same Village where two Chinese Nationals were seen with all the chemicals necessary for making gold. The two Chinese Nationals, Mr WANG and Mr CHUN are being interrogated to get more information that could help the course of investigation, ” they said.

The Federal Government of Nigeria had banned all mining activities in Zamfara state in 2019,as part of measures to reduce crime and banditry in the state.

Godswill Akpabio reportedly caught in multibillion Naira coronavirus scandal

The Niger Delta Development Commission is currently reeking of a multi-billion naira fraud involving the board and top management members of the agency over the purchase of Personal Protective Equipment and sanitizers to tackle Coronavirus in the nine states making up the region.

According to Sahara Reporters, It was revealed how the commission approved N5,474,647,125.00 for procurement of Personal Protective Equipment for health workers and provision of community-based sensitisation campaign against the spread of COVID-19 to a company named Signora Concept Services Limited.

The letter reads, “This is to notify you that based on your tender for emergency procurement of specialized medical Personal Protective Equipment for health workers and provision of community based sensitization campaign against the spread of COVID-19 and other communicable diseases in the nine state of the Niger Delta region, the contract has been awarded to you at the total cost of N5,474,647,125.00 only inclusive of 7.5 VAT as corrected and modified in accordance with the instruction to tenderers by the Niger Delta Development Commission.”

The letter was signed by Alex Ndudi Enebeli, Head of Procurement Unit for the Acting Managing Director of the NDDC.

Even though the company was given 15 days to deliver all items stated in the letter, findings by SaharaReporters showed that Signora Concept Services Limited was yet to deliver any equipment to a single state in the Niger Delta region 18 days after the contracted was awarded and payment made.

“Apart from N70m donation made by the NDDC about a month ago, we are yet to receive any single health equipment from the commission.

“Though we were promised ventilators, we got a letter later from them that it won’t be possible again.

“I’m surprised hearing now from you that over N5bn was budgeted for PPEs to be distributed to Niger Delta states,” a task force member of one of the Niger Delta states told SaharaReporters on Friday.

Checks by SaharaReporters also revealed that the NDDC had in January 2020 released the sum of N4,096,798,332.50 for the supply of Lassa Fever equipment that were never delivered.

Infuriated by the level of fraud going on in the agency, a Niger Delta socio-political organisation, the Ijaw Intellectual Advocates, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the Minister of Niger Delta, Godswill Akpabio.

National Coordinator of the group, Salaco Yerinmene, said the fresh contract approved by the NDDC interim management committee was done to defraud the people of the region under the guise of purchasing COVID-19 PPEs and sanitizers that will never be delivered to any community under the nine states making up the oil-rich region.He said, “We have clearly realised that the IMC Akpabio constituted and placed under his supervision was to jeopardise the commission and continually pillage the treasury of the Niger Delta people which must be resisted by any means necessary.

“While we leave the reading public to guess as to the motive behind this contract, we will like to ask some questions begging for answers.

“Why should Akpabio and IMC give priority to projects that are not bothering the Niger Delta people?

“How many communities in the Niger Delta region were sensitised through this medium over the spread of Coronavirus since the outbreak of the disease?

“If the affirmative to question 2, then where did the money go into?

“Why not use the money to construct major roads across the coastal communities or use the fund to provide potable water to the various communities?

“Mr Akpabio should know that as young intellectuals, we are aware of the game he is playing in looting the commonwealth of the people and he should also be aware that his days are numbered.

“It is in Akpabio’s best interest to resign and summit himself to the EFCC, else we shall have no other option than to fight to the latter.

“We are again reiterating our stand that Akpabio must and should be suspended and be investigated by the EFCC and the forensic audit should commence immediately, otherwise the crude oil from all Ijaw territories shall never be used to fund the present corruption going on at the NDDC.”It is not the first time fraud of this magnitude would be uncovered in the NDDC, it is in fact among a long list of similar cases.

In January this year, the interim management committee of the commission announced the discovery of fraudulent contracts worth N1rn.

According to the committee, at least 1,921 ‘emergency contracts’ were sanction by the former management of the agency despite its annual budget being only around N400bn.

A prominent activist in the region, who asked not to be named, told SaharaReporters on Friday that the NDDC had always been used as conduit by powerful persons in government to siphon huge public funds and deprive the people of developmental projects that could have changed their lives for the better.

He said, “The NDDC has been more of a curse for the people of Niger Delta than a blessing. All the big politicians do is to use the agency to milk people of the region by stealing funds meant for development of the region and thereby deny them of the basic infrastructure and amenities that could have raised the quality of their lives. It is a cesspool of corruption.”

So far, the Niger Delta region has 42 reported cases of Coronavirus spread across Delta (six), Akwa Ibom (11), Edo (17), Ondo (three), Rivers (three), and Abia (two).

C.Tunde

Sahara Report

Test results of Chinese doctors who arrived the country to help in fight against Coronavirus is not yet ready – FG

The Federal Government has said that the results for the Coronavirus tests carried out on the 15-member Chinese medical team that arrived the country to help in the fight against the deadly disease, is not yet ready.

Minister of State for Health, Dr. Adeleke Mamora disclosed this at the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.

Commenting on the health status of the Chinese doctors who completed their mandatory 14-day quarantine on Wednesday April 22, Mamora said;

“For one reason or the other, we do not have the test results of the Chinese yet. I want to assure you that once we have the result of the tests, we will inform the country about the development.

“I will advise all Nigerians to be patient because the government is also anticipating the result of the tests in order to ensure that we protect the health and wellbeing of every citizen of the country.”

Akeredolu sacks aide over negligence of duty, appoints another

The Governor of Info State, Rotimi Akeredolu has sacked his aide, the Special Assistant on Youths and Students Affairs, Mr Banji Adewumi over negligence of duty.

This was disclosed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Segun Ajiboye in a statement:

“it was recently discovered that Adewumi has abandoned the office and his responsibilities for some months now, and that he is no longer resident in the country.

“Expectedly, his absence has made the office suffer serious neglect, which if left unattended to, may lead to incalculable damage in the relationship between the government and the students population,’’ he added.

Ajiboye said that the governor has approved the appointment of Mr Ogunyemi Ojo as the new Special Assistant on Youths and Students’ Affairs.

“The governor wishes the new appointee success in his job and urged him to see his assignment as a challenge to create a platform for robust relationship between the government and youths in the state,’’ he added.

Regina Daniels: Am not after his money, I married him for some reasons

The relationship between Nigerian girlfriend Regina Daniels and contributing businesswoman Ned Nwoko remains the subject of intense debate among Nigerians on various social networks.

Their marriage sparked controversy after many accused Regina Daniels’ mother.

Rita Daniels, of allowing her teenage son to marry an elder for money.

The difference in their age is 40 years, however, as alludes say, their age is a small number, the couple says they found each other in love.

While speaking to Kemi, the 59-year-old opened up about her marital life by reiterating that he is a devout Muslim, thus defending marriage options as many women as he wants.

The prominent politician who is married to five women says his step is based on Islamic teachings.

“Allamdulilai, Hon. Ned Nwoko is royal blood and has access to as many women as he wants.

He is not a child and knows what is best for him. Don’t forget that he is a Moslem and has more rights than a woman.

He would not want to comment on Regina Daniels. ”

On the other hand, Regina Daniels made it known that she married him for a purpose not for his money.

FG offers Medical workers life insurance

The Federal Government has offered a total of 5,000 health workers in the front line of Covid-19 fight in the country life insurance.

This was made known by the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on the COVID-19, Boss Mustapha.

“The premium in the sum of N112.5m for the cover has been fully paid by the Nigerian Insurance Industry in line with the principle of No Premium, No Cover,”

“The PTF wishes to thank the Insurance Industry immensely and calls on other sectors of the economy to rise up to support the efforts to fight COVID-19.”

“I also call on our frontline health workers to double their efforts just as we assure them of our determination to protect them.”

I was not a virgin when I married my billionaire husband- Regina Daniels

It appears that Nollywood high schooler entertainer Regina Daniels used to be not a virgin when she wedded her extremely rich person spouse Ned Nwoko.

We can reach determinations that Regina Daniels’ virginity used to be broken ahead of time of her marriage.

You would review that Regina Daniels’ mother Rita Daniels, gloated about the truth that Regina Daniels was previously a virgin sooner than she got married with the 59-year-old government official.

Might it be able to be that she lied or she just the statement essentially to come to a meaningful conclusion.

A video located through Marioofficialblog via web-based networking media proposes the dazzling entertainer on the whole with her sisters in a Tik Tok venture the spot they did the ‘Never Have I Ever’ game.

The game necessitates that the member drops a finger on the off chance that the individual have ever.

“Drop a finger in the event that you have a build depend bigger than 5” The questioner inquired.

Regina Daniels’ more youthful sister, Destiny Daniels, made her to drop a finger seeing pleasantly she would be duplicity to her and done being honest with her fans.

This offers a sign that the vigorously pregnant had hacked cassava sooner than transforming into a married spouse.

Her admission presently repudiates her mom’s comments about prior.

This disclosure has started a discourse via web-based networking media in Nigeria as adherents increment inquiries over Rita Daniels’ input about her little girl’s virginity status.

China sends doctors to check on Kim Jong-un’s health

China has sent a team to North Korea including medical experts to check on Kim Jong-un, according to three people familiar with the situation.

The trip by the Chinese doctors and officials comes amid conflicting reports about the health of the North Korean ruler. It was not immediately clear what the trip by the Chinese team signalled in terms of Kim’s health.

A delegation led by a senior member of the Chinese Communist party’s international liaison department left Beijing for North Korea on Thursday, two of the people told Reuters.

The department is the main Chinese body dealing with neighbouring North Korea. The sources declined to be identified given the sensitivity of the matter.

The liaison department could not be reached for comment late on Friday. China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment late on Friday.

Daily NK, a Seoul-based website, reported earlier this week that Kim was recovering after undergoing a cardiovascular procedure on 12 April. It cited one unnamed source in North Korea.

South Korean government officials and a Chinese official with the liaison department challenged subsequent reports suggesting that Kim was in grave danger after surgery.

South Korean officials said they had detected no signs of unusual activity in North Korea.

On Thursday the US president, Donald Trump, also played down earlier reports that Kim was gravely ill. “I think the report was incorrect,” Trump told reporters, but he declined to say if he had been in touch with North Korean officials.

On Friday a South Korean source told Reuters their intelligence was that Kim was alive and would likely make an appearance soon. The person said he did not have any comment on Kim’s current condition or any Chinese involvement.

An official familiar with US intelligence said that Kim was known to have health problems but they had no reason to conclude he was seriously ill or unable eventually to reappear in public.

The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, when asked about Kim’s health on Fox News after Trump spoke, said: “I don’t have anything I can share with you tonight, but the American people should know we’re watching the situation very keenly.”

North Korea is one of the world’s most isolated and secretive countries, and the health of its leaders is treated as a matter of state security. Reuters was not able to independently confirm any details on Kim’s whereabouts or condition.

North Korea’s state media last reported on Kim’s whereabouts when he presided over a meeting on 11 April. State media did not report that he was in attendance at an event to mark the birthday of his grandfather, Kim Il-sung, on 15 April, an important anniversary in North Korea.

Kim, believed to be 36, has disappeared from coverage in North Korean state media before. In 2014 he vanished for more than a month and North Korean state TV later showed him walking with a limp. Speculation about his health has been fanned by his heavy smoking, apparent weight gain since taking power and family history of cardiovascular problems.

When Kim Jong-un’s father, Kim Jong-il, suffered a stroke in 2008, South Korean media reported at the time that Chinese doctors were involved in his treatment along with French physicians.

In 2019 Xi Jinping made the first state visit in 14 years by a Chinese leader to North Korea, which depends on Beijing for economic and diplomatic support.

China is North Korea’s chief ally and the economic lifeline for a country hard hit by UN sanctions, and has a keen interest in the stability of the country with which it shares a long, porous border.

Kim is a third-generation hereditary leader who came to power after his father Kim Jong-il died in 2011 from a heart attack. He has visited China four times since 2018.
Trump held unprecedented summits with Kim in 2018 and 2019 as part of a bid to persuade him to give up North Korea’s nuclear arsenal.

China struggles to block EU’s report alleging that Beijing was spreading disinformation about COVID-19 outbreak

China struggled to block a European Union report alleging that Beijing was spreading disinformation about the coronavirus outbreak, according to four sources and diplomatic correspondence reviewed by Reuters.

The report was eventually released, albeit just before the start of the weekend Europe time and with some criticism of the Chinese government rearranged or removed, a sign of the balancing act Brussels is trying to pull off as the coronavirus outbreak scrambles international relations.

The Chinese Mission to the EU was not immediately available for comment and China’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to faxed questions about the exchange.

An EU spokeswoman said “we never comment on content or alleged content of internal diplomatic contacts and communication with our partners from another countries.”

Another EU official Reuters said that the disinformation report had been published as usual and denied any of it had been watered down.

Four diplomatic sources told Reuters that the report had initially been slated for release on April 21 but was delayed after Chinese officials picked up on a Politico news report hat previewed its findings.

A senior Chinese official contacted European officials in Beijing the same day to tell them that, “if the report is as described and it is released today it will be very bad for cooperation,” according to EU diplomatic correspondence reviewed by Reuters.

The correspondence quoted senior Chinese foreign ministry official Yang Xiaoguang as saying that publishing the report would make Beijing “very angry” and accused European officials of trying to please “someone else” – something the EU diplomats understood to be a reference to Washington.

The four sources said the report had been delayed as a result, and a comparison of the internal version of the report obtained by Reuters and the final version published late Friday showed several differences.

For example, on the first page of the internal report shared with EU governments on April 20, the EU’s foreign policy arm said: “China has continued to run a global disinformation campaign to deflect blame for the outbreak of the pandemic and improve its international image. Both overt and covert tactics have been observed.”

Why we can’t relaxed lockdown, says FG as Nigerian cases rise to 1,095

As Coronavirus cases hit to 1,095 as of yesterday the 24th April 2020, the Federal Government, through the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, have come up with reason why the lockdown measure should not be relaxed amid efforts to curb the virus pandemic.

You could recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari, had on March 29 ordered a lockdown of the Federal Capital Territory, Lagos and Ogun states for 14 days to curb COVID-19 spread. Many states had also followed.

However, as the number of COVID-19 cases increased, the President on April 13 extended the lockdown for 14 more days.

During a media briefing on Friday in Abuja, Chikwe Ihekweazu, the director of Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 said, it was not yet time to relax the lockdown.

He added that, although the lockdown was having negative effects on the economy as it was impeding Nigerians’ ability to go about their daily activities, he said it was vital to be patient and endure the lockdown further to ensure a safe and healthy society when the economy would be reopened.

He said, “We will eventually exit this stage and restart our normal life but that stage is still a while to come and I ask for your endurance, support and patience. Lots of efforts are going on across the world to find new therapy, to find vaccine.

“Everybody is pushing hard along this direction. We need unprecedented level of caution to continue carrying out the preventive measure that we have advised many times on this platform.

“Many families have not been able to bury their dead, rescheduled their marriages and baptism and everything they are doing. In a way, life is in suspense. Everyone recognises the sacrifice Nigerians have made but we really have to encourage one another to continue to a position where we can relax some of that (lockdown) but until we get to that place, we have to continue in the short term.

“We are working hard to reach a point where we can relax some of these measures but we are not there yet. We ask you to join us to continue this journey with us and amplify these messages that we are giving. We are happy to have the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress here with us today (Friday).”

Ihekweazu added that the citizens must remember that the most vulnerable people were the elderly and people with other illnesses.

“We must protect them. In protecting them, if they are living in the village, leave them there and support them with whatever resources you have. But please, now is not the time to encourage travelling,” he added.

Indian Refiners rejects Nigerian Crude oil

India’s Reliance Industries owner of the world’s biggest refining complex, saw its imports of Nigerian crude oil slump to zero in the first quarter of the year, compared to 9,800 barrels per day in Q1 2019.

India has remained the single largest buyer of Nigerian crude oil in the past few years after the United States slashed its imports from the country on the back of its shale oil production boom.

Reuters reported on Thursday that Reliance Industries imported 8.3 per cent less oil in March than in the same month of 2019, according to data from shipping and industry sources.

It said the March imports, at 1.24 million bpd, were 6.1 per cent per cent above the previous month’s.

Indian Refiners rejects Nigerian Crude oil

Reliance shipped in about 43 per cent of its imports from Latin America, slightly lower than about 43.5 per cent a year before, the data showed.

The share of Middle Eastern oil in its overall purchases rose to 43.19 per cent from about 37 per cent a year ago. Imports from the US declined to about 10 per cent from 13 per cent a year ago, the data showed.