Obire Efe Blog

  The prime suspect in connection with incessant ritual killings of residents of Akinyele area of Ibadan in Oyo State, Sunday Shodipe, who escaped from police custody, has killed another woman in the community. The incident occurred on Saturday when the fugitive sneaked into the room of a woman identified as Funmilayo (Iya Ibeji) and smashed her head with an object believed to be a cutlass. A friend of the victim was said to have alerted neighbours, who rushed her to a private hospital, where they stitched her head but later referred her to the University College Hospital because of the severity of the injuries. She was also rejected because of lack of bed space. It was gathered that she was later taken to Adeoyo Hospital at Ring Road where she died as a result of lack of proper medical attention to save her life. An eyewitness, who is also a friend of the victim, Medinat Amusat, while speaking with SaharaReporters, said, "We were together outside the house around 12:00pm before w...

 The Edo State Governor and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the September 19, 2020 gubernatorial election, Mr. Godwin Obaseki , has concluded his ward-to-ward reelection campaign in Edo North Senatorial District with a promise to protect the interests of the majority of the people and bring an end to godfatherism, which he said is a threat to the growth and development of the state. Obaseki made the promise while speaking to party faithful in Ward 7, Etsako West Local Government Area, on Sunday, and called on the people to support him in the fight against godfatherism by voting en masse for the PDP in the forthcoming governorship poll. The governor said that the progress of the state had been held down for too long by the godfather, adding: “In three years and a half, my eyes have seen a lot in Government. We need people who know what they are doing in Government. We want to stop all this nonsense so that we can create more jobs and a better future for our peop...

  The federal government has unveiled the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) gas hub on a 10.6-hectare piece of land, which was earlier proposed as a pipe mill for the oil and gas industry in 2013. The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, who performed the ceremony, also used the opportunity to carry out the ground-breaking ceremony of Rungas Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) composite cylinder manufacturing plant located inside the gas hub at Polaku community in Bayelsa State. The board had purchased the land in 2013 for the purpose of establishing a pipe mill, but the company said discussions with various investors regarding setting up of the pipe mill did not yield desired results, thereby forcing it to deploy it for other productive uses. Sylva stated that the project was in furtherance of the efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari ’s administration to diversify the Nigerian economy by developing the country’s huge gas resources acro...

 The Japanese economy contracted at an annualised rate of 27.8 per cent in the second quarter, as the world’s third-largest economy was devastated by the novel coronavirus pandemic, a government report showed on Monday. The third straight quarterly contraction marked the biggest fall since 1980, when comparable data became available. The reading was almost in line with the 26.6 per cent contraction forecast by the Japan Centre for Economic Research. The centre expected the economy to bounce back in the July-to-September period with annualised growth of 13.6 per cent. Consumer spending, a major component of output, dropped 8.2 per cent quarter on quarter in the April-to-June period for the third straight quarter of decline following a consumption tax increase in October, according to the report released by the Cabinet Office. Corporate investment fell 1.5 per cent in the April-to-June quarter after a 1.7 per cent rise in the first quarter, the office said. Exports of goods and servi...

 Oil prices rose on Monday as China ’s plans to ship in large volumes of U.S . crude in August and September outweighed concerns over a slowdown in demand recovery after the coronavirus pandemic and an uptick in supplies. Brent crude added 30 cents, or 0.7 per cent to $45.10 a barrel by 0410 GMT while U.S . West Texas Intermediate crude was up 34 cents, or 0.8 per cent to $42.35 a barrel. Chinese state-owned oil firms have tentatively booked tankers to transport at least 20 million barrels of U.S. crude for August and September, Reuters reported on Friday. This is as China ramped up energy and farm purchases ahead of a review of the Sino-U.S. trade deal. Record crude imports from the world’s top importer and the easing of COVID-19 restrictions globally have supported oil prices. Although new waves of coronavirus outbreaks in several countries are expected to cool consumption again. “Oil demand data was largely positive last week, with the U.S. implied gasoline demand rising to ...

  The Nigerian Citizens Association in South Africa has called for gender equality and an end to all forms of gender-based violence. Coach Oscar Emetuei, National Deputy President of NICASA, made the call in a telephone interview with the  News Agency of Nigeria  on the outcome of the monthly virtual conference of NICASA’s Women’s wing. The conference titled, “Gender equality; towards a just and equal world” was organised to mark this year’s women’s month in that country. Emetuei said, “The conference seeks to achieve the following objectives -build a collective and common understanding for driving change toward the achievement of a just and equal world. “To share experiences on lessons learned and innovative approaches to overcoming gender inequality in all sectors and societal spheres. “Identify key actions needed to address gender-based violence and all forms of discrimination against women and girls everywhere. “To tackle constraints that surround gender equality to...

  Kaduna State Governor , Nasir el-Rufai, says Southern Kaduna leaders accusing him of taking sides want to be “appeased” but notes that his administration will not grease the palms of trouble-makers. “I have no time for nonsense. I will not appease criminals. I will not appease idle people who have nothing to do but to raise a spectre of genocide. They do that to get money into their bank accounts and get donations from abroad instead of standing up,” the governor said during an interview on  Channels Television’s programme,  Sunday Politics . The southern part of the state has experienced the worst form of carnage in recent times with hundreds of residents murdered by bandits and other enemies of peace. It earlier reported that some leaders in Southern Kaduna including a lawmaker representing Zagon Kataf/Jaba Federal Constituency, Amos Magaji, have since cried out and fingered the governor for taking sides in the clashes between various ethnic and religious groups in t...

 As the rate of unwanted pregnancies increase in the country and different complications arising from the adoption of different child spacing methods by women, a Family Planning expert, Temitope Oyedokun, has warned women to desist from patronizing unregistered family planning centres, saying that this may have a grave consequence on their health. Oyedokun, who is also the Chief Nursing Officer in charge of Obantoko Health Centre in Odeda Local Government Area of Ogun State , gave this warning while speaking with journalists, shortly after a family planning sensitisation campaign in the Obantoko community and its environs, held at the weekend. She explained that women that are still sexually active should not be ashamed of contacting registered and approved family planning centres when the need arises, stressing that at such centres, they would be properly counselled and monitored. “I want to advise our women to stop patronising unregistered family planning centers. They should go ...

 The Delta State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education has approved additional three private schools as centres for the 2020 Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) being organised by the National Examination Council (NECO). The Commissioner, Mr Patrick Ukah in a statement listed the schools as Patricia High School, Asaba, Infant Jesus Academy, Asaba, and Marymount College, Agbor. According to him, 43 private schools had earlier been approved as centres for the BECE by NECO which is different from that organized by the Delta State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that BECE by NECO will begin on Aug. 24, while that organised by the Delta State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education will start on Sept. 21. “JSS 3 students writing the NECO examination are expected to have resumed school for their revision, while those sitting for the state examination are expected back to school on Sept. 8,” he said.c The commissioner...

 The Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has expressed optimism that the Special Forces deployed in the southern part of the state yesterday would help to end the senseless killings and restore peace in the area. The Forces approved by the Defence Headquarters, arrived Kafanchan in the morning ahead of their deployment to the various Kaduna flashpoints today. Addressing the Forces that arrived at the Sector 7 Headquarters of Operation Safe Haven in Kafanchan (OPSH) in the morning, the Kaduna State governor said he was pleased with their deployment. The governor, who was represented by the Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, said the state government would continue to place a premium on security as the backbone of sustainable development. “We came to formally welcome you to Kaduna State and to Southern Kaduna in particular after your induction. You are courageous and outstanding officers who have done well in Faskari, Batsari and other flas...

 Nigerians living in Ghana have continued to suffer humiliation at the hands of Ghanaian authorities as security operatives forcefully locked up their shops including those whose papers and tax payments were up to date. President, National A ssociation of Nigerian Traders, Ken Ukaoha, revealed this while bringing the attention of the Nigerian Government to the latest attack on them in the country. In a video obtained on Saturday were armed security agents invaded a shop belonging to a Nigerian, they could be seen forcefully locking up the place without asking for documents. The owner of the shop can be heard in the video telling the security operatives that he had paid all his taxes and was not operating an illegal business. Despite his explanations, the officials went ahead to seal the shop. Ukaoha said, "The Ghanaian authorities today rolled out all their forces against Nigerians and their businesses, forcefully locking all shops belonging to Nigerians including those whose pa...

  Crime in South Africa dropped by up to 40% during the first three months of its lockdown, official figures show. The police minister said most types of crimes went down between April and June - including sexual assault and arson. He added that a controversial alcohol ban during the coronavirus lockdown had helped, but that attacks on liquor stores had increased in the pandemic. South Africa has among the world's highest crime rates. It has recorded over half the Covid-19 cases in Africa. More than 500,000 infections and 11,000 deaths have been reported in the country - although BBC Africa Editor Mary Harper says this may be because of its reliable testing rates. Police Minister Bheki Cele told reporters on Friday that the figures "paint a never-seen-before 'rosy' picture of a peaceful South Africa experiencing a "crime holiday". "These statistics show major decreases in all crime categories compared to the same comparative period last year," he ...

 Minister of Information, Culture and National Orientation, Alhaji Lai Mohammed , at the weekend, joined his Transportation counterpart, Rotimi Amaechi on the inspection of ongoing railway projects in the Lagos/Ibadan. The exercise which commenced at the Nigerian Railway Corporation complex, Ebute-Meta at exactly 7:40 AM drew a sea of heads largely from the Federal Ministry of Transportation and the Chinese Construction Engineering Corporation, the major contractor handling the project. The inspection train is expected to leave Ebute-Meta to Apapa from where it would journey to Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. READ ALSO:   Refineries to be delivered in mid 2023, says NNPC  

  Bayern Munich sent out an emphatic and ominous message to their Champions League rivals with an absolute demolition of fellow European heavyweights Barcelona in a gloriously chaotic and utterly one-sided quarter-final tie in Lisbon. The high-pressing, energetic and ruthless German champions were on a different level to their Spanish rivals, as they have been for pretty much every opponent they have faced in Europe this season and in every competition since football restarted in June. They scored four times in the first half, added another quartet in the second, and could easily have netted more against a shell-shocked and shambolic Barca side whose defensive errors were too numerous to recount and who now have a new and embarrassing record defeat in European competition to their name. Bayern were not entirely infallible, though, with Barca ’s forward players – inevitably led by Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez – regularly finding space in behind to cause problems and test Manuel N...

  A woman was on Friday burnt beyond recognition while three others sustained severe injuries when a truck conveying petroleum products exploded at Irete Junction area of  Owerri West Council Area of Imo State. The incident happened at about 10: 45am when the driver of the truck was trying to make u-turn after discharging the liquified natural gas at a petroleum station along Owerri -Onitsha express road. According to an eyewitness, the incident occurred when a vehicle marked  XY 933UNW carrying a full load of pineapples from the Onitsha to Owerri lane rammed into the truck and exploded. The woman, the witness said was trapped in the vehicle screaming while passersby watched helplessly until she was completely burnt. It was gathered that the driver escaped with severe burns while two other cars caught in the incident were burnt to ashes before the state fire service team arrived at the scene. The eyewitness blamed the fire service personnel for arriving at the scene late...

  Facebook on Friday joined the attack on Apple ’s operation of its App Store after the iPhone maker refused to forgo its commission on live online events hosted on the social network that allow people to make money during the pandemic. The comments from Facebook come in the wake of a blockbuster lawsuit from video game sensation Fortnite maker Epic Games on Thursday which accused Apple of abusing its monopoly position in its online marketplace. Facebook said it would not collect any fees from paid online events that educators, entertainers, or others can host due to a fresh addition to the platform, but that Apple declined to back off from its standard share of transactions that are handled through the App Store. “We asked Apple to reduce its 30 percent App Store tax or allow us to offer Facebook Pay so we could absorb all costs for businesses struggling during COVID-19 ,” Facebook vice president Fidji Simo said in a blog post. “Unfortunately, they dismissed both our requests an...