Jigawa court sentences two to death for homicide

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30/12/2020

By Ismail Auwal

A High Court sitting in Ringim, Jigawa state, has on Tuesday sentenced one Jamilu Harisu to death for killing his father.

Harisu was arrested on 22nd july 2020, for sneaking into his father’s farm and hit the man on his head with a hoe, an injury that led to latter’s death.

The persecution team led by the Jigawa state Attorney General, Barr. Musa Adamu Aliyu, called four witnesses, and tendered confessional statements, in addition to a medical report as proofs of the case.

The defendant, on the other hand, had testified but did not call any witness in his defence.

At the end of the trial, the court ruled that the prosecution counsel has proven the case beyond reasonable doubt, thereby sentenced Harisu to death by hanging in pursuance to section 221(b) of the Jigawa state penal code law.

In a similar case, one Mustapha Idris was also charged for using knife to slit the throat of Nafisa Hashimu that resulted in her death.

The defendant opened his defense and gave evidence by denying the charges, stating that he was in Abuja when the incident happened.

However, the presiding judge, Justice Kazaure, ruled that the prosecution counsel has proven its case beyond reasonable doubt, and thus declared that Idris had committed a premeditated homicide.

Idris was, therefore, sentenced to death under section 221(a) of the Jigawa state penal code law.

COVID-19: Niger to start vaccination in 2021

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30/12/2020

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By Ismail Auwal

The Niger Republic has announced its intention to start COVID-19 vaccination next year.

The Niger’s Minister of Health disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in the Nation’s capital.

The minister added that the government has already budgeted 75bn cfa for the exercise.

He said, “we don’t want to be left behind in containing the spread of the virus.”

Niger had earlier closed its border on December 17, to contain the spike of the virus.

UK approves use of 2nd COVID-19 vaccine with easier storage

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30/12/2020

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Britain on Wednesday became the first country to authorize an easy-to-handle COVID-19 vaccine whose developers hope it will become the “vaccine for the world.” The approval and a shift in policy that will speed up rollout of the vaccine in the U.K. come as a surge in infections threatens to swamp British hospitals.

The Department of Health said it had accepted a recommendation from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency to authorize emergency use of the vaccine developed by Oxford University and U.K.-based drugmaker AstraZeneca.

“The rollout will start on Jan. 4 and will really accelerate into the first few weeks of next year,” British Health Secretary Matt Hancock told told Sky News. Britain has bought 100 million doses of the vaccine.

AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot told BBC Radio 4 the company could start shipping the first doses of the vaccine Wednesday or Thursday “and the vaccination will start next week and we will get to 1 million — and beyond that — a week, very rapidly.”

Hundreds of thousands of people in the U.K. have already received a different vaccine, made by U.S. drugmaker Pfizer and German firm BioNTech.

Soriot said it was “an important day for millions of people in the U.K. who will get access to this new vaccine. It has been shown to be effective, well-tolerated, simple to administer and is supplied by AstraZeneca at no profit.”

Coronavirus vaccines have typically been given in two doses, with an initial shot followed by a booster about three weeks later.

But in a change of approach, the British government said that with the AstraZeneca vaccine it would prioritize giving as many people as possible a single dose, which is believed to give a large measure of protection against the virus. It said people at the highest risk would get priority, and everyone would get a second jab within 12 weeks of the first.

The new strategy comes against a backdrop of soaring infections in the U.K. The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients has surpassed the first peak of the outbreak in the spring, with authorities blaming a new, more transmissible variant of the virus, first identified in southeast England, for the spike.

Oxford University’s Dr. Andrew Pollard, one of the leaders of the development team, offered hope the newly approved vaccine will help.

“At the moment, there’s no evidence that the vaccines won’t work against the new variant,” Pollard told Radio 4. “But that is something which we have to look at. We can’t be complacent about this variant or perhaps future variants.”

Partial results from studies in almost 24,000 people in Britain, Brazil and South Africa suggest the shots are safe and about 70% effective for preventing illness from coronavirus infection.

That’s not as good as some other vaccine candidates, but Soriot recently told the Sunday Times newspaper that he was confident the vaccine would prove as effective as its rivals.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is expected to be relied on in many countries because of its low cost, availability and ease of use. It can be kept in refrigerators rather than the ultra-cold storage some other vaccines require. The company has said it will sell it for $2.50 a dose and plans to make up to 3 billion doses by the end of 2021.

“We have a vaccine for the world,” said Pollard.

Researchers claim the vaccine protected against disease in 62% of those given two full doses and in 90% of those initially given a half dose because of a manufacturing error. However, the second group included only 2,741 people — too few to be conclusive.

Questions also remain about how well the vaccine protects older people. Only 12% of study participants were over 55 and they were enrolled later, so there hasn’t been enough time to see whether they develop infections at a lower rate than those not given the vaccine.

Researchers also were criticized for lack of information in September, when studies were suspended because a participant suffered a serious illness. AstraZeneca initially declined to provide further details due to patient confidentiality.

Ultimately, the trials resumed after regulators reviewed safety data and decided it was safe to continue. Published partial results show no hospitalizations or severe disease among those who received the vaccine. A separate study testing the AstraZeneca vaccine in the U.S. also is underway.

The vaccine will become the second COVID-19 vaccine in use in Britain. On Dec. 2, regulators gave emergency authorization to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Having another vaccine available means that more people can get protection, said Sarah Gilbert, an Oxford scientist involved in the AstraZeneca project. It takes a different approach than the Pfizer-BioNTech one or another developed in the United States from Moderna Inc.

The ultra-cold storage those other vaccines need is “very impractical” in developing countries, said Dr. Gillies O’Bryan-Tear, chair of policy and communications for Britain’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine. It means the AstraZeneca one “may reach more parts of the world than the Pfizer one,” he said.

Britain’s action likely means the World Health Organization will soon clear the AstraZeneca vaccine for use in a global effort to help poor countries, called COVAX. The initiative, led by WHO and the vaccines alliance GAVI, has secured access to at least 100 million doses of the vaccine, with options and other deals to buy more. But none can be distributed until green-lighted by WHO.

The U.N. health agency does not licence or regulate vaccines itself, but typically evaluates vaccines once they have been approved by an agency such as the U.K. regulator or the European Medicines Agency. WHO experts conduct their own evaluation of whether or not the risks of a vaccine outweigh its benefits and then make a recommendation for the shots to be “pre-qualified” so they can be bought by donors for developing countries.

Most coronavirus vaccines to be used in poorer countries likely will be made by the Serum Institute of India, which has been contracted by AstraZeneca to make 1 billion doses. In June, the pharmaceutical company announced that the Serum Institute would produce 400 million doses by the end of 2020 but as of early December, only about 50 million doses had been manufactured after production was halted several times.

In addition to the Serum Institute, AstraZeneca also has deals with vaccine makers in Brazil, South Africa and China to make the Oxford-developed vaccine for use in developing countries.

Culled from APnews

Police avert first sex party in Kaduna, apprehend organizers

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30/12/2020

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By Ismail Auwal

The Police have arrested leaders of a wayward group suspected to be behind the much publicized proposed sex party organized in Kaduna state.

The sex party, widely advertised and shared by hundreds of youths on social media platforms, was scheduled to hold on 27th December, 2020.

The organizers had requested that all those planning to attend the orgy should go to the venue naked and carry with them condoms for protection.

Special Assistant on Media and Communication to Kaduna State Governor, Abdallah Yunus Abdallah, in an interview with BBC, has confirmed the arrest of the sex party’s organizers.

“Phone numbers of the organizers printed on the invitation flyer were used to uncover their identities,” he said.

This is the first time when a sex party was organized in a conservative northern Nigeria. The news of the event was had generated anxiety, and was roundly condemned by all and sundry, which necessitated urgent government’s intervention by arresting the people behind it.

Nigeria expects more COVID-19 cases in January, as NCDC complaint about overstretched capacity

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30/12/2020

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By Ismail Auwal

Director General (DG) of the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chikwe Iheakwazu, has warned that January 2020 will be difficult for Nigerians, as NCDC’s capacity to cope with the increasing cases of COVID-19 has been stretched.

The DG also warned that the nation would pay the price in January for disregarding health protocols.

Speaking at the briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, the DG said, “We just faced the worst week since we started responding to this outbreak. We had more cases in Nigeria last week than in any other previous weeks since the beginning of the outbreak.

“Pictures and videos from across the country paint a very disheartening situation, because it appears that our messages, our appeals to Nigerians over the last few months have not been heeded- and we have gone ahead with business as usual, he lamented.

“Events centres are full, social activities are full and so it is no surprises that cases are rising,” he added.

“January will be a tough month, no doubt about it. So, we have to brace ourselves for the consequences of the activities that we have decided to carry out in December,” the DG concluded.

BREAKING: Bomb kills seven vigilantes in Maiduguri

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30/12/2020

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By Abba Gwale

Report from Maiduguri has confirmed that seven members of vigilante group have lost their lives in the early hours of today, after their car hit a bomb suspectedly planted by Boko Haram members in Kawuri village.

The diseased were on their way to Kawuri village to start their daily operation, the report confirmed.

Kawuri village is located between Konduga and Bama in Borno state.

The bodies of the diseased have since been transferred to University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.

An official of Borno state government who prefers to be anonymous, has confirmed the report.

Borno state has been battling with insurgency for more than a decade now, which has caused thousands of lives and displaced millions.

Diversification policy saves Nigeria from COVID-19-induced economic meltdown- Buhari

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30/12/2020

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By Abba Gwale

President Muhammad Buhari has restated that his government still stands on its directives given to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to not provide foreign exchange for food importation to the country.

The President also promised to Nigerians that this administration will keep an eye on the rising cost of foodstuffs in the country, from the first quarter of next year.

According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, since seven of the Nigerian states can produce enough rice to feed the nation, “it makes no sense to import food.”

Buhari said this during his fifth meeting with the Presidential Economic Advisory Council at the State House on Tuesday.

Buhari further emphasized that his government policy of economic diversification from petrol to agriculture has helped Nigeria from falling into serious economic meltdown caused by Coronavirus pandemic.

“The CBN must not give money to import food. Already, about seven states are producing all the rice we need. We must eat what we produce,” he said.

Buhari also boasted that before he came into power, Nigeria had only three fertilizer blending plants, but now has 33.

Commenting on the progress made in agricultural production through economic diversification, Buhari predicted where the country would have been by now at the time when COVID-19 is ravaging the global economy.

“Going back to the farm is the way out. We depended on petrol at the expense of agriculture. Now, the oil industry is in turmoil. We are being squeezed to produce only 1.5 million barrels a day as against our capacity to produce 2.3 million. At the same time, the technical cost of our production per barrel is high, compared to the Middle East production cost,” Buhari lamented.

“We will continue to encourage our people to go back to the farm. Our elite is indoctrinated in the idea that we are rich in oil, leaving the land for the city for oil riches. We are back to the land now.

“We must not lose the opportunity to make life easier for our people. Imagine what would have happened if we didn’t encourage agriculture and closed the borders. We would have been in trouble.” Buhari added

He also said his government is working hard day and night to stop the inflation of goods in the country.

UK records highest case of COVID-19 amidst new variant

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30/12/2020

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‘By Abba Gwale

Britain on Tuesday has recorded new 53,135 cases of COVID-19, which is the highest number recorded since the start of mass testing in mid-2020, and up sharply from the last record of 41,385 recorded on Monday.

Also, the number of new deaths recorded within 28 days of the disease rose to 414 from this week’s Monday, 357, taking the total since the start of the pandemic to 71,567.

Britain is battling with the new variant of COVID-19 which scientists say can spread rapidly, making the country to vie with Italy for Europe’s highest number of death toll from the disease.

A senior medical advisor to Public Health England, Susan Hopkins, said “We are continuing to see unprecedented levels of COVID-19 infection across the UK, which is of extreme concern particularly as our hospitals are at their most vulnerable.”

Susan further said that some of the daily increase in cases reflected reporting delays due to Christmas holidays, but the figures were “largely a reflection of a real increase”.

Today, Health minister Matt Hancock will give an update on regional coronavirus restrictions and the government stand on the increase in numbers.

A leading epidemiologist who advises the government, Andrew Hayward, on Tuesday warned that Britain was heading for “catastrophe” over the coming weeks if it did not take tougher measures against the more infectious variant of the disease.

Half of England’s population, living around London and neighbouring regions, is currently under the tightest form of COVID restriction.

Non-essential shops and most of the businesses are closed to the public, and almost all face-to-face socialising is prohibited around that area.

But to allow families to meet during Christmas, most of Britain rules were relaxed, which many health officials said is a big risk because the action may cause a spike in COVID infections in the non-affected region.

Troops kill 9 bandits, foil rustling attempt

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30/12/2020

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By Ismail Auwal

Security operatives have killed 9 armed cattle rustlers in a combat on Tuesday in Kaduna.

The operatives reportedly laid an ambush after an intelligence report that indicated the bandits were attempting to cross over from the eastern part of the Kaduna-Abuja road to the western part, with a large herd of rustled cattle.

In a statement issued by the Kaduna State Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, said, “An ambush was successfully laid by the troops, as the bandits walked into the killing zone and were welcomed with a hail of bullets.”

Mr Aruwan also noted that after the firefight, the troops also recovered one empty magazine, one set of complete army camouflage, one set of desert boots, seven blankets, two Tecno mobile phones, one caftan outfit, and ropes for tying cattle.

“Further search revealed the corpse of one bandit, 16 dead cows, and three wounded cows,” he added.

Additionally, seven more dead bodies were discovered riddled with bullets at the site.

In a separate activity, troops and police also foiled another attempt by bandits to cross the Kaduna-Abuja highway with rustled cattle around the Greenfield University.

“The troops, guided by some local volunteers who pointed them in the direction of the bandits’ movement, engaged the criminals in a firefight. Sadly one of the local volunteers lost his life,” Aruwan clarified.

Bandits kill influential hunter supporting security in Kaduna

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30/12/2020

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By Ismail Auwal

Young Mori, a foremost member of Adamawa State Hunters Association, has been killed by bandits in a firefight in Kaduna State.

Mori who was the head of operations of the Adamawa State Hunters Association before he was killed, has been actively involved in supporting security operatives to tackle banditry and kidnapping in some parts of northern states.

The head of administration of the group confirmed that Mori has been killed.

”This is sad news to hunters. Young Mori, one of our hunters in Adamawa State from Guyuk LGA has been overpowered by cattle rustlers in Kaduna State in the early hours of today,” he said.