Buhari approves induction retreat for ministers-designate

Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari has approved an Induction Retreat for the 43 ministers-designate recently confirmed by the Senate.

The induction retreat will hold on August 15 and 16 at the State House, Abuja.

A statement from the presidency on its twitter handle, @NGRPresident, said Buhari “has approved the convening of an INDUCTION RETREAT for Ministers Designate, to be held at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja from August 15-16, 2019.”

The statement added that preparatory to the inauguration of the Cabinet, all relevant study documents for the guidance of the Ministers-Designate shall be available for collection at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) from 10.00am on Tuesday August 6, 2019.

Nnamdi Kanu, Shehu Sani talk tough as DSS arrest AAC presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore

The leader of the Indigenous , IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu and Shehu Sani, former Kaduna Central Senator have condemned the arrest of the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, AAC, Omoyele Sowore, by men of the Department of State Services, DSS.

Saga Gist had reported that Sowore, the convener of #RevolutionNow Protests, was picked up at his apartment in the early hours of Saturday.

The politician posted a distress tweet at exactly 1:25 am which reads, “DSS invades Sowore’s.”

Reacting, Nnamdi Kanu on his Twitter page said, “Fulani tyranny & primitive dictatorship will never win this war against the massed ranks of oppressed people in Nigeria.”

“Suppressing the right to protest in a so-called democracy will only hasten the collapse of that ZOO.#FreeSowore & allow the #RevolutionNow right to protest.” he added.

Also, Shehu Sani on Twitter wrote, “Our democracy is a block of ice floating on warm waters.

“The sponsored protest and attacks on the @AmnestyNigeria stands condemned.The arrest & detention of @YeleSowore is needless.I join the call for his release #FreeSowore.”

New Minimum Wage: NLC speaks on nationwide strike

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has reacted to reports that the organised labour may go on a nationwide strike for the full implementation of the new minimum wage.

President of the NLC, Mr Ayuba Wabba, in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday, said the congress would apply all available means to resolve disputes in the country as there were no such plans for strike.

According to him, before the union embark on any mass action or street protest, the issue(s) in contestation will be debated by the appropriate organs of the Congress, NAN reports.

“We would wish to inform our members and affiliate unions, civil society allies and the general public that the Nigeria Labour Congress is neither organising nor getting associated with any mass action or street protest over any issue in any part or every part of the country in the days ahead.

“Similarly, the decision to do a mass action or any form of protest is usually taken by those organs.

“Accordingly, we wish to state unambiguously that neither has such an issue arisen nor a debate for a mass action taken place, let alone a decision to proceed on a mass action,” he said.

He, however, said the Congress respects the right of the citizenry to freely associate and hold an opinion, and to peacefully protest against any policy or policies with which they disagree.

Hospital detaining my wife, twin babies over N3million – Man cries out in Delta

A 31-year old man, Mr. Luke Megbune has accused the management of Capitol Hill Clinic of allegedly detained his wife, Mrs. Blessing and his newborn twins, over his inability to pay three million naira medical bill incurred.

Megbune, who dashed into the Secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ Warri Correspondents’ Chapel looking helpless, said his wife and babies have been in the hospital for three months and eighteen days since after delivery.

Megbune also said the hospital had allegedly threatened to take his babies to the orphanage home if he cannot pay the medical bills.

The father, from Ubuluku Community in Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State said, “I cannot watch them take my children to the orphanage home when I am still alive. Those children have great destinies.”

Megbune said he had tried all means possible to raise the said amount to no avail.

Narrating the incident, Megbune said his wife, Blessing delivered the babies on the 5th of April after carrying the pregnancy for six months (premature)at the General Hospital in Agbarho, Ughelli North Local Government Area.

“The first one weighed 1kg and the second one weight about 0.75kg. They were okay.

“They later referred us to Central Hospital, Warri because of lack of equipment. On arrival at the Central Hospital in Warri, they said they don’t have enough equipment and referred us to the Delta State University Teaching Hospital, Oghara.

“They told us that going to Oghara that the babies have little chances of survival and they have just two hours to live.

“A good Samaritan came and said that he knows a hospital within Warri that can handle the situation. That was how we ended up at Capitol Hill Hospital along Airport road.

“They commenced treatments. They worked but after all said and done, they gave us the bill of over three million naira.

“I don’t have any money with me. The little business I am doing has crumbled. No help anywhere and that’s why I am here begging you and the public to help me raise the money and save my children from going to the orphanage home.”

In swift reaction, the Managing Director of the hospital simply identified as Matthew denied the allegations, noting there was no time the wife and twin babies were detained nor threatened to be taken to the orphanage by the hospital.

He said the babies were in the hospital and Megbune’s wife, Blessing comes from the house to breast feed them daily.

Matthew said Megbune was only trying to tarnish the image of the hospital with his actions.

Matthew who described Megbune as a “crafty man” and gave the hospital’s version of the story.

He said the babies were given birth to as pre-term(premature) in another hospital.

Matthew also pointed out that out of over three million naira medical bill incurred, Megbune had only paid one million, two hundred thousand naira.

According to him, when they came, we told them (Mr. Megbune) that it will cost him money to save the babies but he (Megbune) said his church was willing to offset the medical bills.

He said the church actually came, but paid only six hundred thousand naira out of the said sum.

El-Zakzaky’s brother makes shocking revelation about IMN, calls detained Shi’ites leader terrorist

Sheikh Muhammad Yakubu, the brother of Sheikh Ibraheem Yakubu El-Zakzaky, the leader of Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), otherwise known as Shi’ites, has reacted to the recent proscription of IMN.

According to him, the proscription by the Federal Government was long overdue.

El-Zakzaky’s elder brother, who is also the Zaria Branch Chairman of Izalatul Bid’ia wa Ikamatus sunna, said that the Federal Government should not stop at proscribing IMN but go further to disband the Shi’ite sect in its entirety.

Speaking with The Nation newspaper, Shiekh Yakubu said there was no difference between his younger brother’s IMN, the Shi’ite sect, and the dreaded terrorist group, Boko Haram.

He added that both the leader of the deadly Boko Haram sect, Abubakar Shekau, and his younger brother, El-Zakzaky, were terrorists.

He said the decision taken by the federal government to proscribe the IMN was not only right but overdue because the government can be overthrown through the violent protests of the group.

Sheikh Yakoob said the IMN leader is responsible for whatever calamity that has befallen him, saying that he was warned when he started propagating “his dangerous Shi’ite doctrine.”

He said: “As you may be aware, El-Zakzaky is my blood brother. We were given birth to by the same father. While growing up, before he started this journey into Shi’ism, I didn’t have any close friend apart from him. We did everything together. We studied together in Islamic school.

“We warned him seriously to desist when he started this Shi’ism ideology. I personally warned him several times, and when he refused, I had to abandon him. So, whatever the authorities might have done to him, he caused it for himself.”

Sheikh Yakoob added: “There is nothing good about Shi’ism. These people are supposed to have been proscribed a long time ago, but the government waited until they are now causing havoc.

“In the entire world, where has the Chief of Army Staff ever been blocked on the way and denied right of passage? Since the time Shi’ites people did that to the Nigerian Chief of Army Staff, they were supposed to have been stopped. But now, the authorities seem to have understood their mission.

“Anywhere the Shi’ites are, they are always a problem. They are the ones that ruined Iraq. They are the ones that ruined Syria, Yemen and Lebanon. All the crises you see in the Middle-East, Shi’ites are responsible for them.

“You see, with their protests, they çan take over government. The enemies of the country and enemies of the sitting government can take advantage of the Shi’ites protest and overthrow the government.

“I believe the government now understands this secret. What the government has done is very right.”

On Tuesday’s declaration by another Shi’ites group that IMN members are fake Shi’ites, El-Zakzaky’s brother described the declaration as hypocritical.

According to him, all Shi’ites groups have the same doctrine and ideology.

“They are liars. All Shi’ites are one,” he said.

“What they are doing is hypocrisy. All of them have the same doctrine and ideology. They are only in Shi’ites leadership tussle with Zakzaky. That is why they are denouncing him publicly.

“Therefore, it is not only Zakzaky’s group that is supposed to be proscribed. The government should outlaw the entire Shi’ites sect. This is because both Boko Haram and Shi’ites share the same ideology.

“They can continue to fool other people that they are not armed, but we know they carry arms. Didn’t you see them shown with their arms?

“They lied that they were not the ones that killed the police officer in Abuja. The Deputy Commissioner of Police that was killed in Abuja was not the first police officer to be killed by the Shi’ites.”

When asked about the court order that, said his brother should be released and a house built for him anywhere in northern Nigeria, Sheikh Yakubu said, government should only obey such order if it is also ready to build a house for the leader of the dreaded Boko Haram group, Abubakar Shekau.

He said: “Nobody should blame the government for holding him despite the Abuja court order. Some would say, ehn, court ordered that Zakzaky should be released and a house built for him. If they want the government to build a house for Zakzaky, then the government should also build a house for Shekau.

“Do Nigerians agree that government should build a house for Shekau? If no, then government should not build a house for Zakzaky, because they are the same. They are all terrorists.”

He noted that since the exit of El-Zakzaky, Zaria, which was his base, has been very peaceful as security agents have been able to tame their “violent activities.”

DSS arrests Omoyele Sowore

Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress in the February 2019 presidential election, Omowole Sowore, has been arrested by the operatives of the Department of State Services.

His publishing outfit, Sahara Reporters, broke the news.

According to the Online medium, DSS operatives arrested Sowore in the early hours of Saturday at about 1.25 a.m.

It added that Sowore was picked up at his apartment in the early hours of Saturday.

Sowore posted a distress tweet at exactly 1:25 am with an eyewitness confirming that his phone was forcefully taken from him.

Fani-Kayode reacts to reported secret burial of 1,000 soldiers killed by Boko Haram

Femi Fani-Kayode, a former Aviation minister, has reacted to the claim that the Nigerian military under President Muhammadu Buhari, secretly buried 1,000 Nigerian soldiers killed by Boko Haram terrorists and ISWAP.

In a tweet on Thursday, Fani-Kayode said that Buhari must as a matter of urgency answer the grave allegation levelled against his government by the international media, Wall Street Journal.

He wrote: “@MBuhari must as a matter of urgency answer the grave allegations that have been made by the international media that he secretly buried 1000 Nigerian soldiers that were killed at the war front by BokoHaram in order to cover up the fact that he was losing the war against terror.”

It was reported that Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), challenged President Muhammadu Buhari to probe the reported secret burial of 1,000 Nigerian soldiers killed by Boko Haram and ISWAP.