News Rider

Prince Charles has ascended the throne of British monarchy as Queen Elizabeth II dies.  Queen Elizabeth, the United Kingdom"s longest serving monarch died on Thursday at the age of 96. A statement by the Royal Family revealed that the Queen died peacefully at Balmoral Castle.  It reads, "The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow." The Washington Post reports that Prince Charles immediately ascended the throne upon his mother’s death, and chose to be called Charles III.  He's expected to deliver his first remarks soon, just as his formal coronation will come at a later date. Crowd had gathered at the Buckingham Palace residence in London on Thursday as concern was growing over the Queen’s health. But AFP stated that about 100 people braved torrential rain to stand at the palace gates, as senior royals rushed to Balmoral in Scotland, where the ...

BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja                    Mamu Department of State Services (DSS) has provided the rationale behind the arrest of terrorists' negotiator, Alhaji Tukur Mamu.  The terrorists’ negotiator was arrested and detained on Tuesday at Cairo International Airport, Egypt alongside his family members, enroute Saudi Arabia for the lesser Hajj.  Mamu, who is also the Publisher of Desert Herald Newspaper negotiated the release of Abuja-Kaduna bound train passengers that were kidnapped by terrorists.  Terrorists had on March 28th bombed the Abuja-Kaduna train, killed nine passengers and abducted about 70 others during the attack. The All Progressives Congress (APC) vice-presidential candidate, Kashim Shettima had visited the publisher and Sheikh Gumi in Kaduna State, few days before the arrest.  But the DSS in a statement by its spokesperson, Peter Afunanya, said that Mamu was arrested on what he described a...

Emergency responders at the collapsed building site Two people have been confirmed dead while six are still trapped under the debris of a collapsed seven-storey building at Oba Idowu Oniru Street, Lekki Lagos. The building, which was under construction caved-in in the early hours of Sunday, requiring a heavy-duty equipment excavator to rescue the trapped victims. Zonal Coordinator of South West, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr Ibrahim Farinloye disclosed this to journalists on Sunday in Lagos. NAN reports that operations are ongoing to rescue the remaining trapped persons under the rubble. Farinloye said, "Seven-storey building collapsed at Sand field bus stop, Lekki. Six people are said to be trapped and responders are on ground." Speaking on the collapse, the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu stated that the collapsed building was under construction. “No injury sustained. However, about...

BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja                         Officials and beneficiaries of JICA scholarship The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has awarded fully funded scholarships to 39 Nigerian youths with an opportunity to work in Japanese companies and use the expertise to develop Nigeria. Japanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Matsunaga Kazuyoshi hinted this on Thursday in Abuja during the sendforth of the beneficiaries. News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 39 students would be benefitting from three different programmes, including Africa Business Education Initiative and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Global Leader Programme. The third programme is on Partnership for Building Resilience against Public Health Emergencies through Advanced Research and Education (PREPARE). Kazuyoshi stated that the initiative would strengthen the Japanese-Nigerian universities, and foster development in Nigeria acros...

Members of the fourth estate are consistently harassed and brutalised, leading to injuries and loss of lives. In this report, CHIKA OKEKE examines the need to protect Nigerian journalists against occupational hazards as exemplified by the United Nations.  Stakeholders during a roundtable on the establishment of a National Response Mechanism on Safety of Journalists in Abuja recently. PHOTO BY CHIKA OKEKE On Wednesday, October 13, 2021, an Abuja-based journalist, Mr Tordue Henry Salem was declared missing at about 8 pm on his way from work after the matter was reported to the police.  Salem, a House of Representatives correspondent worked with the Vanguard newspaper.  Irked by the news, journalists protested at the police headquarters in Abuja on October 25 over the continued disappearance of Salem.         Late Salem They informed the police and DSS to help unravel the mystery surrounding Mr. Salem’s whereabouts. His corps...

BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja         Tiwet The Malaysian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Gloria Tiwet has revealed that about  13,000 Nigerians study annually in Malaysia, an indication of a robust bilateral relations between the two countries. She disclosed this to News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja yesterday at the 2022 Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme (MTCP) Alumni Programme. Tiwet said that the numbers of Nigerian students in Malaysia increased again  following a disruption of academic exercise due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Before COVID-19, every year, we had a total of 13,000 Nigerian students but during COVID-19, there was no movement, so there was zero students because most of them would have returned to Nigeria." “Starting this year, our borders opened since April, and right now, we have around 4,000 Nigerian students who returned to continue their studies and there are also very few who are just starting their universities." "Currently, they are ...

BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja Prof Osodeke Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has extended the six-month old strike action indefinitely over the failure of federal government to meet its demands. The decision was reached in Abuja on Monday by the National Executive Council of ASUU after brainstorming on reports from various congresses held last week. Tribune reports that the state congresses voted overwhelmingly for the continuation of the strike, especially to protest the decision of the federal government to enforce the no-work-no-pay policy. ASUU had commenced on a nationwide strike since February 14, 2022 over the adoption of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) of the government as the payment system for university staff members. Other issues raised by ASUU were non-payment of salaries and allowances of some staff, poor funding of universities and the inability of government to pay earned academic allowance to lecturers.  According to G...