Category: International News

International News

30 Nigerian ladies stranded in Lebanon appeal to FG for rescue

Ishaku Yohanna

Some 30 Nigerian ladies trafficked to Lebanon are appealing to Nigerian government to rescue them as they are stranded in that country. They made the appeal in a statement by the President of Journalists International Forum for Migration (JIFORM), Ajibola Abayomi, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday. Mr Abayomi said the message was being relayed based on an encounter with the victims, which necessitated the call for a speedy rescue action from the government. “JIFORM has forwarded details of the human trafficking agents involved…

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Ugandan hunter bags eleven years in jail for killing a mountain gorilla

Ishaku Yohanna

A man who pleaded guilty to killing a beloved mountain gorilla in a popular Ugandan national park has been sentenced to 11 years in prison. The sentence is considerably less than the maximum penalty of life imprisonment for the crime. The male gorilla named Rafiki had been reported missing on June 1, and authorities with the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park announced the next day they had found the animal’s body. A gorilla advocacy group said an autopsy revealed that Rafiki appeared to have been killed by a spear. An arrest was…

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Dubai crown Prince settles hospital bill of Nigerian couple stranded with quadruplets

Ishaku Yohanna

Dubai’s Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has paid the hospital expenses of a Nigerian mother and her quadruplets stranded in the city with mounting medical bills, according to the hospital. Suliyat Adulkareem, 29, gave birth to the babies, two boys, and two girls, at the Latifa Hospital for Women and Children on July 1. They were born prematurely at nearly 31 weeks through an emergency C-section and placed on ventilators at the neonatal intensive care unit, the hospital said in a statement. However, the family…

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Mali opposition rejects ECOWAS plan, demands President Keita’s resignation

Ishaku Yohanna

A protest movement that has sprung up in Mali, shaking President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita’s grip on power, on Tuesday rejected a compromise put forward by regional leaders and insisted that he quit. In a statement, the so-called June 5 Movement said it “demands the resignation of Mr. Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and his regime more than ever,” accusing them of bearing “full responsibility” for Mali’s crisis. The announcement came a day after heads of the 15-nation bloc ECOWAS stood by Keita and urged him to forge a unity government and resolve…

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ECOWAS leaders take tough decisions on Mali crisis

Ishaku Yohanna

West African leaders on Monday adopted a tough four-point plan in a bid to resolve Mali’s political crisis, including calling for the resignations of 31 parliamentarians elected in disputed polls and for the swift creation of a unity government.  In a statement issued after an extraordinary video summit, heads of the 15-nation, West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, stood by Mali’s embattled President, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. But the bloc also called for a unity government to be “established rapidly” and urged the opposition to join it. Addressing demands by protestors that Keita…

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80,000 Nigerians held as sex slaves abroad, says Reps Diaspora committee

Ishaku Yohanna

The House of Representatives says 80,000 Nigerians are currently held as sex slaves and in forced labour across the world. During plenary on Thursday, Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora, Tolu Akande-Sadipe, said majority were in Lebanon, Mali and across the Middle East. She condemned the complacency of Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Labour and Employment. Sadipe alerted that the Foreign Affairs Ministry, under the guise of diplomacy, was working to release alleged Lebanese trafficker, Wafic Mohammed Hamza. Hamza was apprehended by National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons…

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Nigerian entrepreneur commits suicide over rape accusation in US

Ishaku Yohanna

A creative designer and founder of Uhuru Designz, a United States of America-based clothing company, Izuchukwu Madubueze (simply known as Izu), has taken his own life over an allegation of sexual assault. Izu, who resided in Tampa, Florida, reportedly moved to the US some years ago. While his Lagos-based friend, Nelson Greyhood, confirmed the suicide, efforts to speak to his family members proved abortive. The telephone line of his brother, Ekene, was not reachable. Our correspondent, however, read Ekene’s status update, indicating that his phone was ‘blowing up’ from multiple…

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COVID-19: FG evacuates 6,317 Nigerians from 21 countries

Ishaku Yohanna

Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, NIDCOM Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said the Federal Government has so far evacuated 6,317 Nigerians back home on account of the Coronavirus pandemic. She said the nationals were repatriated from 21 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, France, India, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Sudan, Kenya, Senegal and others. Addressing journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, on the forthcoming National Diaspora Day celebration slated for July 25, 2020, she however explained that many Nigerians still stranded in foreign countries were awaiting evacuation. Giving…

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Russia to roll out COVID-19 vaccine in September ahead of the West

Ishaku Yohanna

A top government official has revealed that Russia could make available a vaccine for the treatment of the Coronavirus disease as early as September. This announcement is coming after Russia had denied that hackers working for the country’s intelligence agency tried to steal sensitive data from researchers in the UK, US and Canada.  Russia is the fourth-most affected country in the world with more than 750,000 COVID-19 cases. The head of the Russian wealth fund, while stating that a deal has been agreed with AstraZeneca to manufacture a COVID-19 vaccine…

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Niger Republic deports 42 Nigerians over illegal entry

Ishaku Yohanna

The Katsina State Command of Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has received 42 Nigerians being deported for illegal entry into the Republic of Niger en route Europe. The NIS spokesman, Sunday James, gave the number in a statement on Friday in Abuja. James said they were deported to Nigeria through the Kongolam Control Post. He said that the affected Nigerians, between 18 and 35 years, evaded immigration clearance and crossed the border to enter into the Republic of Niger. The spokesman said that a Federal High Court in Katsina had sentenced…

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