Kindly Share This Story: A girl detonated a bomb, killing three boys at an Islamic seminary in northeast Nigeria in an attack that bore the hallmarks of Boko Haram, a local militia and residents said Friday. The girl, aged around 12, detonated the device late Thursday when open-air classes were on in Muna Dalti, on the outskirts of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state. She walked up to the group of boys who were just ending their lessons and “blew herself up in their midst,” Mohammed Bola, head of the anti-jihadist militia in the area, told AFP. “She killed three boys and injured four others,” Bola said about the attack which happened around 1900 GMT. Moments earlier, another young girl stormed into a house in the area and detonated her explosives, injuring one person, said resident Salisu Mohammed. “The house was totally destroyed. Luckily, no one was killed as the occupants of the house were outside chatting with neighbours,” he said. The two bombers...

The Federal Government says it has strengthened its preparedness and action plan in collaboration with relevant stakeholders to stop the importation of coronavirus into the country. Dr. Osagie Ehanire, the Minister of Health,  said this at Coronavirus Inter-ministerial Preparedness and Response Meeting with relevant key Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) on Friday in Abuja. Ehanire said the meeting became important because the World Health Organisation (WHO) had declared coronavirus as a global health emergency. The minister said as part of the initial response, the ministry had been working with port authorities to prevent the importation of the virus at the port of entries. “We must assure Nigerians of our capacity to detect and respond to this emergency and other public health threats; our surveillance at the point of entries involve temperature detectors with scanners and visual observation of passengers,’’ the minister said. In addition, Ehanire said t...

Poland’s flagship LOT airline said Friday it was sending a passenger plane to Beijing to evacuate Polish and other EU nationals at risk from the deadly novel coronavirus.  “The plane will fly from Warsaw to Beijing on Friday and will bring LOT crew members remaining in China and other Polish and EU passengers who decide to return,” LOT said in a press release. The airline announced earlier it was suspending all flights to China until at least February 9, but would accommodate Polish government requests to evacuate more citizens as needed. Poland’s deputy health minister Waldemar Kraska said separately on Friday that the government was making arrangements to evacuate 31 Poles from Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak. Numerous countries, including France, Britain, Japan, and South Korea, have already begun airlifting their citizens out of Wuhan. “We’re in the process of implementing a plan to transport Poles from Wuhan — currently 31 people have declared they want to...

Kindly Share This Story: Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo says multinational digital companies operating abroad with significant economic presence in Nigeria will be subjected to taxation under the new Finance Act. Osinbajo disclosed this on Friday in Abuja during a lecture titled: “Economic Dimension of National Security; the Nigerian Experience”, organised for participants of Course 28 of the National Defence College. According to him, before the Finance Act, only companies that have physical presence or fixed address in Nigeria are being taxed. “So, most digital and multinational technology companies do not have physical presence in Nigeria, yet make significant income in Nigeria from online activities. “They pay no tax to Nigeria because they do not have physical presence in Nigeria, now we are no longer relying on physical presence. “Under the new Act, once you have a significant economic presence in Nigeria, you are liable to tax whethe...

The United States Embassy in Nigeria on Friday said claims that it denied the general overseer of Living Faith Bible Church Bishop David Oyedo visa were “manufactured”. “Be advised, the reports making the rounds about a visa being denied to Nigerian Bishop Oyedepo are false,” US Embassy tweeted on Friday. “If you have seen this manufactured item in the media, help defeat this #misinformation by communicating to everyone that it is completely false.” Media reports early Friday claimed the embassy denied the pastor visa renewal. The reports claimed that while the embassy did not give any other reason for the now fictitious visa denial, it said that Oyedepo did not qualify for visa renewal in its assessment and urged him to reapply. “David Oyedepo In anger created a scene while querying the grounds for his refusal, stressing that he had been travelling to the states as far back as 1980s and had not violated any rules or committed any crime to have warranted being denied a ...

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) Friday sealed houses of two Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) top officials. PHOTO: ICPC/Twitter Amaju Pinnick, president of the NFF and second vice president, Shehu Dikko are the two officials whose houses were affected by the fresh ICPC investigation report. Announcing the development on its Twitter page, ICPC said it has placed Pinnick’s and Dikko’s houses under investigation. Pinnick’s affected mansion property is located in Park View Estate, Lagos while Dikko’s house is located on 1, River Benue Close, Maitama, Abuja ICPC does make public the reason behind its action but judging from the #hashtags used along with the published statement on Twitter, #DoTheRightThing, it could have been due to corruption allegations. ICPC places under investigation, mansion belonging to Amaju Pinnick, President of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) located in Park View Estate, Lagos. #Thread   #DoTheRi...

The figure walking across the dark car park was one Sally Challen recognised immediately. Of course, she did. Sally with Richard at a dinner in 2004. PHOTO: MailOnline After 30 years of marriage, she would have known that gait, that profile, anywhere. It was her husband, Richard, locking his car and jauntily trotting across the road — straight through the doors of a well-known local brothel. Sally’s heart was pounding as conflicting emotions ripped through her. Fury, that he was betraying her, his loyal wife. Disgust that he was paying prostitutes women who were likely damaged and exploited for sex. And triumph, that she’d ‘got’ him at last. He couldn’t wriggle his way out of this one. Finally, he’d have to own up to his appalling behaviour. An hour passed, and there he was again, returning to his car. ‘He saw me and legged it,’ she says. A farcical scene ensued as they raced their cars through the Christmas-lit streets of suburban Surbiton, with Sally screeching to a ha...

Messi. Photo: TWITTER/WEAREMESSI Forward Luis Suarez could return to the Barcelona team for their La Liga game against Valencia, coach Ernesto Valverde said on Friday, adding that he was pessimistic about Lionel Messi’s recovery. “Suarez participated in full training yesterday and again today,” Valverde said. “We hope he can play.” The 32-year-old Uruguayan limped off with a calf problem in a 1-0 opening-weekend loss to Athletic Bilbao on 16 August. At the time the club forecast he would be out for a month. A return Saturday would be in line with that prediction. On Thursday, Messi, who also has a calf problem, encouraged hopes that he would be back for Barcelona’s opening Champions League game at Borussia Dortmund next Tuesday. His coach was more cautious on Friday. “We think he’s about to come back,” Valverde said. “I don’t want to say anything to avoid creating expectations, but I think it will be difficult for Tuesday.” Barcelona has one win in three games, their w...

Says it’ll weaken purchasing power, worsen poverty level By Victor Young Organised Labour has on Friday rejected government planned increase in Value Added Tax, VAT, from 5 % to 7.2 %, describing the planned increase as anti-people and anti-development. Labour Speaking through the Union Labour Congress of Nigeria, ULC, Labour asked government to jettison the plan as it would not only weaken the citizens purchasing power, but also would worsen the poverty  level in the country. ULC in a statement by its President, Mr.Joe Ajaero, argued that manufacturers and businesses in attempt to recoup the extra cost as a result of the hike in VAT would dump it on the consumers and this would snowball into another round of increasing prices triggering another inflationary round that would ultimately undermine the economy. The statement reads in part:  “We are indeed worried that governance in Nigeria has rather become a tool for impoverishing the people rather than to make th...

By Vincent Ujumadu IT was a unique service at the Great Unshakable Christ the King Church last Sunday when the head of the church, Prophet Onyedika Igali feted hundreds of beggars, the blind, the crippled and widows, with each of them receiving cartons of noodles. Getting the less privileged persons into the church was not an easy task as officials of the church went round the state capital to pick them from the streets. •Prophet Onyedika Igali with some of the beneficiaries This year’s party for the less privileged was the third since Prophet Igali started the annual event. According to the man of God, God told him to care for such people and he therefore had n choice than to obey the will of God. HEALTH: Back pain, neck pain treatable with physiotherapy (Opens in a new browser tab) He said after distributing the largess to the beneficiaries that six buses were hired to go round the state capital to pick the people from their places of begging. It was gathered that some o...

A photo combination of Mr Amaju Pinnick and Mr Shehu Dikko and their houses placed under investigation by the ICPC. The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has sealed the houses of two top officials of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). Those affected are the NFF President, Mr Amaju Pinnick, and the Second Vice President of the nation’s football governing body, Mr Shehu Dikko. In separate tweets on Friday, the anti-corruption agency announced that it has placed Pinnick’s house in Lagos and that of Dikko in Abuja under investigation. READ ALSO :  Gernot Rohr’s Mother Dies At 97 Although ICPC did not disclose why the properties are being investigated, the tweets were posted with the hashtags ‘Do The Right Thing’ and ‘Integrity Pays’ which indicate corruption allegations. Mr Pinnick and Mr Dikko, as well as and three other officials of the federation are expected to appear before a Federal High Court in Abuja on September 26 over a...

Ten PDP governorship aspirants, who lost the bid for the party’s ticket to contest the Nov. 16 Kogi governorship race, have declared their support for the winner, Mr Musa Wada. Mr Musa Wada The 10 aspirants, under the aegis of Kogi PDP 2019 G-12, declared their support for Wada at a press briefing held at the party secretariat on Friday in Abuja. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the aspirants who signed the text included Idris Wada, Emmanuel Omebije, Grace Adejoh, Dr Joseph Erico, Alhaji Kabiru Haruna, Adebayo Averehi, Mr Mohammed Tettes, and Aminu Sulaiman. Others included AVM Salifu Atawodi (rtd), and Victor Adoji, whose signatures were on the list but who were not physically present at the briefing, with Tettes, who read the text, explaining that the duo had travelled out of the country. “Atawodi and Adoji have travelled out of the country. But before they left, they declared their support for Wada as their preferred candidate,” he said. NAN reports that...