Comptroller General of the Nigerian Immigration, Muhammad Babandede.
Operatives of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja, Lagos, have refused departure of 58 Nigerian doctors.
The Spokesman of the service, Sunday James, disclosed this in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja.
Mr James said the doctors attempted traveling aboard a UK bound aircraft flight number ENT 550, registration number SP-ES that flew in from London.
According to him, 56 of the doctors had no visa for entry to the United Kingdom, while only two (2) had visas.
“The 58 Medical Doctors were refused departure in line with Section 31 subsection 2a and b, of Act 2015.
“This means, on powers conferred on the Comptroller General, NIS, Mr Muhammad Babandede, to prohibit departure of any person under the conditions stated in the Act.
“The chartered flight approved for landing in Nigeria was to carry 42 medical doctors for a training program but they were 58 with only two having visas for entry into the UK.
“A situation that calls for refusal of departure,” he said.
Mr James said NIS as the agency saddled with control of entry and departure from Nigeria of persons would not allow individuals or groups of well-educated Nigerians to disobey the laws.
He added that those who should know the procedures for travelling out of their country and the requirements, which include having a valid visa for entry into a destination country to leave, should not violate the laws.
“This is to avoid refusal of entry and repatriation back to Nigeria amidst COVID-19 pandemic.
“And also spreading the same as well as flouting the Federal Government’s directive on restriction of international flights unless for essential reasons as approved by the government.
“There is no official communication to the Service from the Ministry of Health in Nigeria or any known Medical body notifying the NIS of the travel of this number of medical doctors.
“The aircraft has departed for London without the medical doctors.
“The Comptroller General is taking this opportunity to advise Nigerians to always adhere to travel protocols.
“They should ensure they have valid passports with valid visas to the country they intended travelling to before going to any Airport, Seaport or Land Border Control to avoid refusal to depart.
Heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua has called on elite athletes to create a ‘union’ to help the fight against racism.
Joshua has been a vocal supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement and believes the best course of action to take is for athletes to come together in the fight against racism because “an individual trying to make a change is a lot more difficult than a union of people trying”.
Joshua said: “Athletes have the biggest platform, so we all judge on that. I think an individual trying to make a change is a lot more difficult than a union of people trying. “And I think the images that we need to represent are important. The same way I rally for Under Armour, the same way I rally for Range Rover is the same way I should rally for the African Caribbean community.
Joshua attended a protest in Watford last month and reciting a passionate speech calling on everyone to “inject the vaccine”. At the protest, Joshua said: “From today onwards be proud. We can no longer sit back and remain silent on the senseless, unlawful killings, sly racism of another human being based only on, what? Their skin colour.
The Lagos based lawyer in his statement released on Friday noted that there are some powerful forces who want the suspended EFCC boss dead than to be alive to share his experience as the commission’s Chairman.
President Muhammadu Buhari has been called on by Olusegun Bamgbose, the National Coordinator of the Concerned Advocates for Good Governance, CAGG, to place the suspended acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, under house arrest with full security after his interrogation.The Lagos based lawyer in his statement released on Friday noted that there are some powerful forces who want the suspended EFCC boss dead than to be alive to share his experience as the commission’s Chairman.
According to Bamgbose, if Magu decided to open up, many people will be affected and the nation may explode, he added that Magu has secrets that may shake the nation’s foundation.
Bamgbose on Friday noted that “The directive to thoroughly investigate Magu by the Presidency is commendable.”
“The truth, however, is that if Magu decides to open up, many heads will roll and the nation may explode. Magu has secrets that may shake the whole nation.”
“There are some powerful forces, who at this juncture, will want Magu dead, than live to recount details of his experience as EFCC Chairman.”
“His life is in grave danger. I’ll urge President Buhari to order him to be placed under house arrest with full security.”
“If Magu decides to split the beans and open the can of worms, the nation will quake. I see powerful forces scheming to do away with him.”
“The President should protect him. When the investigation is over, he should be accordingly charged to Court and if found guilty, he should be sent to jail.”
“This will act as a deterrent to others, that the fight against corruption is real. Nobody is above the law. All hands must be on deck to stem the tide of corruption in Nigeria.”
A male and female naval officers was on Thursday afternoon shot dead by gunmen suspected to be armed robbers and kidnappers at Osara, along Okene-Abuja Lokoja road.
The officers whose names was yet unknown at the time of filing this report, drove a Toyota Highlander with an Abuja number plate ABC188CN.
Barely six days after a Army Captain, GSM Abubakar, was gruesomely murdered by suspected kidnappers along Lokoja- Okene highway , suspected gunmen have killed two naval officers, a male and female, again in Kogi state.
The incident occurred at about 6.00 on Thursday evening along Lokoja – Okene Highway when the suspected gunmen shot the duo in their Sienna Toyota van.
The Kogi State Commissioner of Police CP, Ayuba Ede, who confirmed the incident said that the two naval officers were killed along Okene -Lokoja Highway on Thursday evening.
Ayuba explained said he had dispatched operatives of the command to the scene of the incident to ascertain details of where the the victims were coming from and where they were heading to before the incident.
The Commissioner of Police said that the details of the incident could not be ascertained immediately, stressing that findings would be made public later.
It would be called that Captain GSM Abubakar was killed by suspected kidnappers on the highway in Kogi State while his mother, wife and children were abducted by the gunmen.
The whereabouts of the late Army officer’s mother , wife and children are unknown as at the time of filing this report .
Abubakar who was attached to 353 Artillery Ojo cantonment was going for his official decoration following his new promotion when the incident happened on Sunday .
Jackson Ude, the blogger who accused Prof. Yemi Osinbajo of collecting N4 billion from Ibrahim Magu, the suspended acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has declared that he was not afraid of the Vice President.
Osinbajo had on Thursday asked the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, to investigate allegations that he received N4 billion from Magu.
This was contained in a petition addressed to Adamu through Osinbajo’s lawyer, Taiwo Osipitan and dated July 8, 2020.
The Vice President asked IGP Adamu to initiate criminal proceedings against Jackson Ude if the allegations are proven to be untrue after investigation.
And reacting to this, Ude said the Nigerian police cannot arrest him and insisted that Osinbajo must first resign as Vice President before dragging him to court.
He said that since the Vice President is denying the allegation, the Presidential Panel investigating Magu and the police, should be compelled to release the verbatim transcripts of Magu’s confessions.
Ude, a former Director of Strategy and Communications under President Goodluck Jonathan administration, Chief, tweeted, “Since Osinbajo, the Star Boy, is denying, let’s have lawyers compel the Presidential Panel investigating Magu and the Police, to release the verbatim transcripts of Magu’s confessions. This is not about waving immunity.
“I am not afraid of Osinbajo and his minions. If he indeed wants to go to court, he needs to resign first, and sue me. He cannot be VP and be using state resources to intimidate the Judiciary. He cannot wave an immunity that he didn’t place. Osinabjo should resign first!
“Osinbajo should have used the U.S Police, FBI or even the CIA to charge me for criminal defamation. Using the Nigerian Police is a waste of poor Nigerian taxpayers money. Except his aim is to arrest me in Nigeria, lock me up forever. Anyway, perhaps Na my ghost dem go arrest.”
The Mayor of Seoul, Park Won-soon, has been found dead after disappearing on July 9 in Beiyue Mountain, Seoul, NAN reports.
Also, information released by the police and fire department, from his CCTV records, showed that Park left his residence in Seoul that morning and passed a park in Jongno District, Seoul.
It was also reported that he did not show up for work on Thursday, and he also canceled his 9-day work schedule due to recent physical discomfort.
The Federal Government has put on hold the planned resumption of federal schools.
It has also stopped students from participating in the West African Senior School Certificate Examinations earlier scheduled for August 4 to September 5.
The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, disclosed this to State House Correspondents at the end of a meeting of the Federal Executive Council presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The minister said federal schools would remain closed until it is safe to reopen them.
He also urged state governments that have announced school resumption plans to rescind such.
Adamu stated that the West African Examinations Council could not determine the resumption date of schools for Nigeria.
He said he would prefer that Nigerian students lose an academic year than to expose them to heath dangers amid the coronavirus pandemic.
As politicians begin to jostle for the vacant seat of the Lagos East Senatorial District of the Lagos State, following the death of Senator Sikiru Bayo Osinowo. BOLA BADMUS writes on the attendant issues so far.
Residents of Lagos State, especially in the Lagos East senatorial district will soon go to poll to fill the vacant seat left in the Senate by Senator Sikiru Bayo Osinowo, who died recently. The senator, who was a four-term member of the state House of Assembly from 2003, was elected into the Senate in 2019, and was, until his death, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Industry. In the last general election, the deceased, who contested on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), defeated his closest rival, Princess Abiodun Oyefusi, of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Already, there are various permutations, especially on the factors that could influence the choice of voters this time round. Some believe that certain dynamics that swayed the electorate have either changed or ebbed, others contend that the public perception of the candidate and platform they represent have become most critical and germane. And the calibre of the touted names as possible replacement for Osinowo is quite intimidating, with virtually all of them having distinguished themselves at various levels of human endeavours either in the public or private life. They include season politicians, astute administrators, professionals and other distinguished individuals.
For instance, names of the immediate past governor of the state, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode; former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Honourable Adeyemi Ikuforiji; Senator Gbenga Ashafa, Osinowo’s predecessor; Chief Lanre Razak, former Commissioner for Transportation in the state; Dr Tola Kasali, a two-time commissioner in the state; and Honourable Dayo-Bush Alebiosu, another two-term former member of the lower chamber of National Assembly, who represented Kosofe Federal Constituency of the state.
It would be recalled that Late Senator Osinowo contested the party primaries with the then sitting Senator Ashafa, whom he defeated to clinch the party ticket. The deceased eventually won the general election. But before Osinowo secured the APC ticket, he equally slugged it out with a few other party buffs, including Chief Razak, a former Commissioner for Transportation and currently one of the members of Governor’s Advisory Committee (GAC) in the state.
The importance attached to the planned bye-election by the political parties is further underscored by the pedigree and calibre of the leaders of the PDP in the state being linked to the contest. These personalities include Princess Abiodun Oyefusi; her then challenger for the PDP ticket, Babatunde Adisa and Mr Babatunde Olalere Gbadamosi, who contested the last governorship poll on the platform of Action Democratic Party (ADP) but has since returned to PDP.
With the return of Gbadamosi, who is also from Ikorodu area of the state as Princess Oyefusi, into PDP, pundits contend that the latter will need to work extra hard to re-secure the PDP ticket. Both aspirants have individual areas of strength, resources and different levels of network.
Similarly, the contest for the ticket of the APC, according to observers, also promises to be a keen fight as former Speaker Ikuforiji is believed to have been nursing the ambition of going to the Senate for some time. He was not favoured for the position by the party leadership then which preferred Senator Ashafa retain his seat in the Senate for a second term in 2015.
Now that another opportunity has come knocking, both Ashafa and Ikuforiji could want to try their luck in the party primaries to be held when the APC would have been done with the mourning of Osinowo. Coincidentally, Chief Razak, who is also from Epe as Ikuforiji, had stepped down for Senator Osinowo in the then party primaries before the 2019 election. The former commissioner and seasoned politician, is also said to be eyeing the Senate seat again. He has a lot of experience in diverse endeavours thus his popularity within and outside the state.
On his part, former Governor Ambode is expected to leverage on his records as a seasoned bureaucrat, administrator, professional and politician. The public space is abuzz with the record as a professional and governor of the centre of excellence. He still savours enormous goodwill and support at the grassroots level.
Another personality of the APC extraction, who is said to be interested in the vacant position, is Dr Kasali, a two-time commissioner in the state, with astounding record of performance under Governor Bola Tinubu and who had, on two occasions, sought to become governor.
Also, the name of Dayo-Alebiosu, a two-term former member of House of Representatives in Abuja, has continued to feature with his allies and friends flaunting what they regard as his enviable record of performance to recommend him for the vacant position in the Senate. Alebiosu was a former special assistant to the governor of Lagos State on Housing and he first got elected into the lower chamber of the National Assembly in 2007 with a total of 100,000 votes, more than any elected representative in Nigeria. He secured another term in 2011 and served as the pioneer chairman of the House Committee on Treaties and Agreements; and also served as the Chairman of the Sub-Committee on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The former lawmaker, who represented Kosofe Federal Constituency, also served in different committees, including the National Security, Petroleum (Upstream), Gas Resources, and Justice. Incidentally, he comes from Kosofe, the very constituency where the late Senator Osinowo hailed from. However, not a few political analysts believe that the final decision of who will finally fly the APC flag in the bye-election rests squarely with a national leader of the party, Tinubu based on party loyalty and dedication.
From all indications, it is a battle of titans. The winner of the ticket of the parties will bear the burden of stamping the authority and control of their individual parties on the turf of the senatorial zone nay the state.
Manchester City returned to winning ways in style by thrashing hapless Newcastle at Etihad Stadium.
Pep Guardiola’s side were surprisingly beaten at Southampton in their previous Premier League game but two goals in the opening 20 minutes against the Magpies effectively settled this contest.
Gabriel Jesus ended his nine-game goal drought by converting from David Silva’s cutback, while Riyad Mahrez swept home the second from Kevin de Bruyne’s pass.
It got worse for Newcastle in the second period when Federico Fernandez inadvertently deflected Matt Ritchie’s attempted clearance into his own net and David Silva added the fourth by curling in a sublime free-kick.
Raheem Sterling came off the bench to add the fifth for City in injury-time, rolling in from Silva’s pass.
With four games remaining, City have strengthened their claim to second place, moving nine points clear of Chelsea, while Newcastle drop to 13th.
City slickers
Manchester City’s unsatisfactory title defence has seen them drop 33 points this season, three more than in their previous two campaigns combined, but they were a class apart against Newcastle.
The swift movement and quick passing in the final third tore apart the Magpies backline with ease time and time again and though their aggregate score from their last five home games now reads 19-0, it could have been much more.
Phil Foden’s growing influence in the starting line-up is clear to see, buzzing around in the final third, but the young Englishman will be disappointed by missing a hat-trick of chances, all dragged wide from promising positions.
The man Foden is tipped to replace next season, David Silva, showed why he will depart as one of the finest players the Premier League has seen, completing 106 of his 112 passes, contributing two assists as well as scoring a glorious free-kick.
The first two goals were similar, both coming from the left of the box, with Belgium international De Bruyne taking his assist tally to 18 for the campaign, just two short of Arsenal legend Thierry Henry’s record.
– Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has denied collecting N4 billion from the embattled EFCC boss, Ibrahim Magu
The vice president denied the allegation via a tweet by his spokesperson, Laolu Akande – Akande described the report claiming Osinbajo collected money from Magu as fake news concocted to smear the vice president’s image.
As the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission faces presidential panel over alleged diversion of recovered loots, an unconfirmed report broke out on social media.
The report claimed that the EFCC boss told the panel that he gave Vice President Yemi Osinbajo N4 billion. The unsubstantiated report has been widely circulated on various social media platforms
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