SECURITY OPERATIVES HAVE ARRESTED TWO IPOB KINGPINS IN OYIGBO - WIKE

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, says two kingpins of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPO involved in the killing of six soldiers and four policemen in Oyigbo, have been arrested by security operatives.

He has also maintained that the imposition of curfew in Oyigbo Local Government Area helped to prevent an outbreak of inter-ethnic war between Igbo and Hausa communities in the area.

The Governor stated this when Rotary District 9141 Governor, Mrs Virginia Major led a delegation of Rotarians on a courtesy visit at the Government House, Port Harcourt on Tuesday.

He revealed that security operatives in late hours of yesterday arrested two prominent members of IPOB in Oyigbo.

Governor Wike explained that Rivers State was peaceful during the EndSARS protest, until criminals, under the guise of IPOB attempted to paint the State black by killing ten security agents in Oyigbo.

He noted that while Rivers State has been home to every ethnic and religious groups, some misguided IPOB members, had taken this for granted by unleashing mayhem in Oyigbo and even attempted to cause inter-ethnic war.

“If we did not take the steps we took by imposing curfew in Oyigbo, today, it would have been the Hausa and Igbo that will have been fighting and nobody knows what level it would have taken today” he said.

The Governor said though he has had frosty relationship with Nigerian Army and the Police, he will, however, never tolerate the killing of any solider or police in the State.

“I will not support criminality. I won’t because the soldiers don’t like me, then you go and kill them. And then, I will come out and clap, thank you for killing the soldiers. Thank you for killing the police” he said.

He urged those spreading falsehood that Igbo people are being killed and punished in Oyigbo to be dispassionate when acts of criminality are committed. According to him, if IPOB members did not kill people and destroyed properties, Government will have had any justification to declare curfew in the council.

“No government will wake up in the morning to impose hardship on its people. No government will do that, but government has the right to protect life” he said.

Governor Wike lauded Rotary International for collaborating with government to Kick out polio in Nigeria. He assured the Rotarians that his administration will sustain the campaign against polio because no governor will be happy to hear about fresh outbreak of polio in any part of the country.

District 9141 Governor, Virginia Major, lauded Governor Wike for the manner he handled the well intentioned EndSARS protect, which was almost hijacked by miscreants.

She noted that while the world was facing COVID-19 pandemic of unimaginable proportions, Governor Wike and his colleagues and the Federal Government did not relent in their collective efforts to support polio immunisation at all levels.

“This led to the ultimate certification of Nigeria and by extension, Africa as free of the wild polio virus on August 2,2020 by the World Health Organisation, WHO” she said.

He urged the Governor to use his position to support all the renewed efforts of Government, Rotary and all its strategic partners in their quest for sustained surveillance, awareness, immunisation and of course, keeping polio at zero.

KELVIN EBIRI
Special Assistant (Media) to the Governor.

Divine Shadow Church Benue Burnt Over Missing Manhoods

Angry youths of Daudu community in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State, on Tuesday, set ablaze Divine Shadow Church in Daudu over allegation connecting its founder, one Prophet Joshua Uhembe, to disappearance of male genitals in the community.


Photo of the church burnt down 

The youths had three days ago protested on the major Makurdi – Lafia highway over what they described as the disappearance of six persons’ manhood in the community within one month.

Our correspondent recalled that one young man accused of stealing the genitals committed suicide last month in a classroom in the locality which also hosts three Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDPs) camps.

But in the fresh arson of the church, the youths alleged that Prophet Uhembe and his accomplice, Noah Saka, were masterminds of the genitals disappearance.

Nongu Francis, who claimed to be a victim, told our correspondent that his genital was stolen on October,10 this year allegedly by the deceased who committed suicide.

Francis said he had worked in the farm of the deceased who later lured him to perform some bathing rituals with an instruction to stay away from sex for about six days, stressing that after obeying the command, he could no longer function sexually.

The victim further alleged that his situation was similar to many others who were bewitched by the deceased and his accomplice who would later recommend their victims to the accused prophet for deliverance and possible restoration of their organs.

Francis said his case was not a total disappearance but inability to get erection as it were before the ritual bath, adding that he now remains hopeless following the death of the accused man.

Another youth from the community, who simply identified himself as Jonah, said the continuing disappearance of the victims’ male organ propelled the burning of the church whose prophet the community suspected was instrumental to the alleged act unsettling youths of the community.

“We are surprised that someone who calls himself a man of God will stoop so low to be removing private parts of men for ritual purposes.

“The youths have done this to serve as deterrent to other people who may have such wicked intentions.

“We believed that if he [Uhembe] is not stopped, he may extend his activities to women too,” another angry youth alleged.

Our correspondent, however, could not traced the accused prophet for his comment at the time of sending this report, as some villagers alleged that he fled the scene of fire in his church.

Meanwhile, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) for Benue Command, DSP Catherine Anene, has confirmed the burning of the church, adding that some persons were also arrested for destruction of public property.

“If you allege that somebody took your manhood, it is not a justification for you to go and destroy property.

“There is due process for everything.

“So, while they are at the hospital to confirm whether that is true, we will still handle them [the protesters] as people who have destroyed property,” Anene maintained.

FG Seeks Fresh $1.2 Billion Loan From Brazil 

The Federal Government is seeking a $ 1 .2 bn external borrowing from China to finance agricultural programmes in the 2021 budget . A request for approval has also been transmitted to the National Assembly .

The Minister of Finance , Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed , who appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Finance in Abuja on Tuesday to defend the budget proposed by her ministry , made this known .

Ahmed disclosed that the Federal Government sent a request to the National Assembly to approve the loan from the Brazilian government to address issues in the agriculture value chain as Nigeria .

Ahmed also said the Federal Government would acquire 100, 000 hectares of land in each state for food production, adding that link roads would be built in such locations to provide access for farmers to move farm produce to markets and reduce post-harvest losses .
Chairman of the committee, Mr James Faleke, had asked the finance minister about diversification of the economy.

Responding, Ahmed said, “For borrowing to improve industry, we are before the parliament. I request for the approval for loan that we call the Green Imperative Programme which is for loan of $ 1 . 2 bn from the Brazilian government .

“ It is a programme that is addressing the whole of agricultural value chain from mechanisation, production , processing and selling. It is meant to lend to businessmen for tractors , plants at all levels. ”

Zainab also faulted the Minister of Power, Sale Mamman on why the 3 , 050MW Mambilla power project was not captured in the 2021 budget .

The finance minister stated that Mamman did not include the project in the submission made to her ministry for 2021 budget.

The finance minister also told the committee that the executive might forward a supplementary budget to the National Assembly to provide for new salaries in the ongoing reform of the Nigeria Police Force.

Ahmed also stated that the Federal Government was still bent on the enrolment of all workers on the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, including members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, while the University Accountability and Transparency Solution proposed by the university lecturers undergoes verification by experts .

Giving updates on the 2020 budget implementation from January to September , Ahmed said, “ As of the end of Q3 2020, FGN’ s revenue available for budget funding ( excluding GOES) was N2 . 83 tn, 70 per cent of target .

“ FGN share of oil revenues was N1 . 20tn (representing 158 per cent performance , over and above the prorated sum in the revised 2020 budget ) while non- oil tax revenues totalled N927 .47 bn (76 per cent of revised target) .”

#punchng

Ryan Giggs Will Not Take Charge Of November Games - Wales Football Association 

Manager Ryan Giggs will not be involved in Wales' three matches in November, with assistant Robert Page taking charge of the team.

Giggs has denied an allegation of assault made against him.

The 46-year-old was arrested on suspicion of assaulting his girlfriend, several newspapers have reported.

"The Football Association of Wales and Ryan Giggs have mutually agreed that he will not be involved in the upcoming international camp," the FAW said.

Wales will now announce their squad for games against the United States, the Republic of Ireland and Finland on Thursday.

"Our agreed immediate priority is preparing the team for the upcoming international matches," the governing body's statement added.

"Robert Page, with Ryan's support, will take charge for the next three matches against the USA, Republic of Ireland and Finland, supported by Albert Stuivenberg.

"The FAW will not be making any further comment at this current time."

Wales have a friendly against the USA at Swansea's Liberty Stadium on 12 November.

They then host the Republic of Ireland at the Cardiff City Stadium on 15 November in the first of two Nations League games, with Finland visiting the Welsh capital on 18 November.

Giggs' representatives said he denies all allegations of assault made against him and is co-operating with the police.

The FAW cancelled a news conference planned for Tuesday, where Giggs had been due to announce his squad.

#bbcsports

Zainab Ahmed: Nigeria’s Debt May Jump By ₦6 Trillion To Hit ₦38 Trillion 

Zainab Ahmed, the minister of finance, budget and national planning, has projected that Nigeria’s debt profile would hit N38.68 trillion by December 2021.

Speaking when she appeared before the senate committee on local and foreign debts on Tuesday, Ahmed estimated that both external and domestic debt would rise to N32.51 trillion by December 2020.

According to the Debt Management Office, the total public debt stock, which comprises the debt stock of the three tiers of government, stood at N31.009 trillion at the end of June 2020.

“The total public debt stock comprising the External and Homes debts of the Federal and state governments and the federal capital territory stood at N31.01 trillion (USD85.90 billion) as at June 30, 2020,” she said.

“It is projected, based on existing approval, to rise to N32.51 trillion by December 31, 2020, and N38.68 trillion by December 31, 2021.”

The International Monetary Fund estimated that Nigeria’s debt to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio stood at 29 percent in 2019; including Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) debt and power sector financing.

The federal government spent 97.5 percent of its January to May 2020 revenue on debt servicing.

During the five-month period, N1.58 trillion was spent on debt servicing; representing 97.5 percent of the N1.62 trillion revenue generated.

The minister attributed the various abandoned road projects in the country to poor funds releases caused by dwindling revenue.

“I am one person that feels that we should just take one major road in one geopolitical zone and finish it.

“We were not able to do that because of the processes in which appropriation is made both at the executive as well as the legislative arms of government.

“Truly, if we are able to just take one or two projects at a time and complete it before going to the next one, it will be better.

“You will see a road that costs, maybe N5 billion, and you will see a provision for N100 million, N200 million or 300 million.

“Of course the project will never finish. After two years, the contractor comes back and asks for variation, and the amount keeps growing.

“I wish that we get to a point when we sit down as government and agree that let us select a few projects, finish them in 2020, and then in 2021, we select the next.

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“So that on a geopolitical basis, those selections are done as a collective process.”

Ahmed assured that legacy projects like the Lagos-Ibadan highway, 2nd Niger Bridge, East-West road, and Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road, are ongoing due to availability of funds.

#nairaland

#uselection:Trump Wins Florida, Locked In Other Tight Races With Biden 

Trump also claiming the battlegrounds of Ohio and Iowa while Biden won Minnesota and Iowa, two modest prizes the president had hoped to steal.

Races were too early to call in some of other fiercely contested and critical states on the map, including North Carolina, Georgia and Pennsylvania. The president, by early Wednesday, had retained many states he won in 2016 and, as long predicted, the race in part seemed to rest on the three northern industrial states where Trump most surprised the Democrats four year ago Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

Biden, briefly appearing in front of supporters in Delaware, urged patience, saying the election “ain’t over until every vote is counted, every ballot is counted.”

“It’s not my place or Donald Trump’s place to declare who’s won this election,” Biden said. “That’s the decision of the American people.”

Trump also tweeted that he was going to make a statement.

Millions of voters braved their worries about the virus — and some long lines — to turn out in person, joining 102 million fellow Americans who voted days or weeks earlier, a record number that represented 73% of the total vote in the 2016 presidential election.

Early results in several key battleground states were in flux as election officials processed a historically large number of mail-in votes. Democrats typically outperform Republicans in mail voting, while the GOP looks to make up ground in Election Day turnout. That means the early margins between the candidates could be influenced by which type of votes — early or Election Day — were being reported by the states.

Florida was the biggest, fiercely contested battleground on the map, with both campaigns battling over its 29 Electoral College votes.

Trump adopted Florida as his new home state, wooed its Latino community, particularly Cuban-Americans, and held rallies there incessantly. For his part, Biden deployed his top surrogate — President Barack Obama — there twice in the campaign’s closing days and benefitted from a $100 million pledge in the state from Michael Bloomberg.

Control of the Senate was at stake, too: Democrats needed to net three seats if Biden captured the White House to gain control of all of Washington for the first time in a decade. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky won reelection in an early victory for the Republicans, and GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a close Trump ally, fought off a fierce challenge to hang onto his seat.

The parties traded a pair of seats in other early results: Democratic former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper defeated incumbent Sen. Cory Gardner, and in Alabama Republican Tommy Tuberville knocked off Sen. Doug Jones. The House was expected to remain under Democratic control.

As the results began to come in, the nation braced for what was to come — and an outcome that might not be known for days.

Biden was watching from home with family and close aides. Trump was watching the results come in with a small group of allies in the White House residence as other staff and advisers floated between a party at the White House residence and various offices throughout the executive mansion complex.

Outside, a new anti-scaling fence was erected around the White House, and in downtowns from New York to Denver to Minneapolis, workers boarded up businesses lest the vote lead to unrest.

With the worst public health crisis in a century still fiercely present, the pandemic — and Trump’s handling of it — was the inescapable focus for 2020.

For Trump, the election stood as a judgment on his four years in office, a term in which he bent Washington to his will, challenged faith in its institutions and changed how America was viewed across the globe. Rarely trying to unite a country divided along lines of race and class, he has often acted as an insurgent against the government he led while undermining the nation’s scientists, bureaucracy and media.

Biden spent the day last-minute campaigning in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he was born, and in Philadelphia with a couple of local stops in Wilmington, Delaware, where he was spending Election Night.

The momentum from early voting carried into Election Day, as an energized electorate produced long lines at polling sites throughout the country. Turnout was higher than in 2016 in numerous counties, including all of Florida, nearly every county in North Carolina and more than 100 counties in both Georgia and Texas. That tally seemed sure to increase as more counties reported their turnout figures.

Voters braved worries of the coronavirus, threats of polling place intimidation and expectations of long lines caused by changes to voting systems, but appeared undeterred as turnout appeared it would easily surpass the 139 million ballots cast four years ago.

No major problems arose on Tuesday, outside the typical glitches of a presidential election: Some polling places opened late, robocalls provided false information to voters in Iowa and Michigan, and machines or software malfunctioned in some counties in the battleground states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Texas.

The cybersecurity agency at the Department of Homeland Security said there were no outward signs by midday of any malicious activity.

The record-setting early vote — and legal skirmishing over how it would be counted — drew unsupported allegations of fraud from Trump, who had repeatedly refused to guarantee he would honor the election’s result.

Jaffe reported from Wilmington, Delaware. Miller reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Robert Burns, Kevin Freking, Aamer Madhani, Deb Riechmann and Will Weissert in Washington, Bill Barrow and Haleluya Hadero in Atlanta, Jeff Martin in Cobb County, Georgia, Thomas Beaumont in Des Moines, Juan Lozano in Houston, Corey Williams in West Bloomfield, Michigan, Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, and Natalie Pompilio contributed to this report.

Election Betting Odds Have Flipped To Favor Trump, Expert Says 

President Donald Trump is now favored to win the election based on an average of betting websites, an expert told Fox News Tuesday.

Within the past few hours, the website, electionbettingodds.com, created by Maxim Lott and John Stossel, recently flipped its averaged betting odds in favor of Trump.

"He hasn't won yet, but it's looking like he might," Lott told Fox News Tuesday night.

Lott said betting odds on his site this morning, which are averaged from other gambling websites, had Trump as just a 38% favorite to win the election. As of 11 p.m., Trump is more than a 70% favorite. Democratic presdiential candidate Joe Biden currently stands at just under 30%.

"I was surprised though to see it flip so quickly," he added.

Lott created a program on his website that every minute goes to different gambling sites, including FTX.com, Smarkets, and Betfair to check what the odds are.

He said the site was created in 2015 with the belief that markets and are the best predictor of what's going to happen because "they have an incentive to get it right."

While experts had Biden as the clear favorite to win the election, Lott said this year made things a bit more unpredictable. 

I always thought, and I said this before the election, that they were overconfident -- because 2020 is such a crazy year," he said. "You can't predict things."

He said that polls could be off because of shy voters and social pressure against Trump voters right now. He added that another ex-factor people may have not been looking at was mail-in ballots.

Still, Lott said the betting odds could flip back to Biden. He described the former vice president's chances as flipping a coin two times and getting heads both times. 

That's about the chance it flips back to the former Vice President," he continued.

#uselection

UN human rights experts demand Nigeria investigate shooting of peaceful protesters by soldiers

GENEVA (3 November 202 – The Nigerian government must set up a credible, independent inquiry into the recent illegal killings of at least 12 peaceful by soldiers, UN human rights experts* said today.

"Since 2005, UN Special Rapporteurs have repeatedly raised the issue of police killings and impunity with the Nigerian government," the experts said. "We have had 15 years of government promises, but nothing has changed.

"Governments come and go, but police brutality is as intractable as ever. Nigerians need justice."

Excessive use of force during peaceful assemblies is always unacceptable, the experts said, but the shootings at Lekki toll plaza in Lagos on 20 October were "especially disturbing because demonstrators were precisely calling for accountability for previous police brutality."

Nigerians have taken to the streets across the country since 8 October to protest rights violations reportedly committed by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

"What is particularly disturbing is that the authorities said they had disbanded the SARS and agreed to the protestors other demands, including investigations," the experts said. "But they immediately announced the formation of another similar unit and have not ended the excessive use of force."

Protestors have been met with water cannons, tear gas and live ammunition. Hundreds have been injured and an unknown number killed. In addition, security services have allegedly arrested and beaten protestors, and armed individuals have attacked others.

The fact that in the Lekki toll plaza incident CCTV cameras and lights were apparently switched off shortly before soldiers opened fire on the peaceful protestors indicates "a disturbing level of premeditation," the experts said.

Systematic police brutality and use of excessive force against peaceful protesters must be independently and impartially investigated and the perpetrators brought to the justice, the human rights experts said.

In addition to setting up an independent inquiry, authorities must clarify why the military was deployed and who gave the order, the experts said. "Any investigation must aim to identify lines of responsibility, deliver accountability and justice, provide remedies and reparations, and recommend structural and systemic changes," they said.

The experts also called on the government to release the reports of previous investigations into human rights violations by the security forces. These include the 2019 report by the National Human Rights Commission report on SARS and the 2018 report by the Presidential Investigation Panel to Review Compliance of the Armed Forces with Human Rights Obligations and Rules of Engagement ("PIP".

"The authorities have promised for years to address human rights violations by the security forces," said the experts. "Hundreds of victims and relatives of those who died have testified and sent petitions, but they never received any remedy, not even the acknowledgement that their rights were violated. It is crucial that the government releases all these reports to the public before they start new investigations."

The experts have written directly to the Nigerian government, stressing that "it is high time that concrete action is taken to properly look into all incidents and that structural changes be made to prevent any re-occurrence."

#endsars

#asuustrike _IPPIS: Some Lecturers Got Excess Salaries, Had To Refund – Emeka Nwajiuba 

The Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, said some lecturers got excess salaries and had to refund it back to the government.

He disclosed this on Tuesday during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today amid the controversy trailing the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), a policy that has been faulted by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

“I think it is a lie to say the government has not paid them in eight months. It will be unfair to the government and wouldn’t be necessary to bring that kind of argument because some people may have different levels,” he said.

“Some people even got salaries that were not adequate. Some people over got and had to refund. There were so many issues with it.”

When asked when the university lecturers would call off their strike and return back to their classrooms, the minister never gave a specific date.

He rather said there is no circumstance preventing the lecturers from returning back to their duty posts.

“The lecturers can be back in the classroom tomorrow if they say they want to go back. There is nothing withholding the lecturers from into the classroom tomorrow.

“Everything that the government needs to do is done. If you want your salaries, get on the platform and collect your salaries,” he added.

ASUU had on March 23 declared an indefinite strike over some unresolved issues with the Federal Government, notably the non-compliance of the 2009 agreement.

ASUU President, Professor Biodun Ogunyemi who made the announcement said that the action became necessary following the Federal Government’s refusal to address issues raised in its 2019 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) as well as its objection to joining the Integrated Pay Roll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

Also, during his interview with Channels Television on October 29, Ogunyemi insisted that there is no going back on the union’s position on the IPPIS, stressing that it was wrong to use the payment platform for university lecturers.

He blamed this for the alleged irregularities in the payment of salaries and allowances of lecturers, stressing that some academics received very poor remuneration in some cases

#asuustrike #channels

4 Eva 16: Regina Daniels Customized Mercedes G-wagon 

Shared with Caption.

In the mood to keep choosing myself