₦airaland Forum

Lawyers in Nigeria have continued to cast their votes for the different contestants vying to lead the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in the 2020 general election, and early indications that have persisted tend to suggest that Olumide Akpata may clinch the presidency.

Though voting has not stopped, and will not be completed until later in the day, a reasonable number of the 29, 635 eligible voters have exercised their franchise. As of 4.09pm when Judicial Sketch monitored the results, Olumide Akpata was leading with 8, 610 votes, representing 53.9% of the 15, 839 votes cast in the presidency race so far; followed at a safe distance by Dr Babatunde Ajibade, SAN who had 3, 809, representing 23.9% of the votes and Dele Adesina, SAN with 3, 560, representing 22.3%. 35 voters abstained from casting votes for any of the presidential contestants.

Mr Akpata, the only candidate who is not a senior advocate among the three contestants, shot ahead of the pack early in the election and has maintained the leading position in the poll so far.
Akpata appears to be cruising home with ....

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https://judicialsketch.com/2020/07/30/nba-election-2020-akpata-maintains-early-lead/

Kano Pillars gaffer, Ibrahim Musa on Sunday signed a season’s new deal to continue heading the technical crew of the club in the forthcoming 2020/2021 football season.

The chairman of club, Suraju Shaibu Jambul, said the management of club has considered the performance of the coach as handsome and has therefore offered him another contract.

Jambul said in a statement issued Sunday afternoon that the coach has performed well since he joined the club, and urged him to work to ensure the club surpasses its previous performance in the new season.

He further urged the coach to work harmoniously with the fans of the club and the entire management staff.

The coach, on completion of the signing exercise, described the renewal of his contract at the club as a sign of confidence from the management of the team. He assured the players and fans that the technical crew would.....

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https://judicialsketch.com/2020/07/26/pillars-give-coach-one-season-contract-extension/

It is still unclear if the new season of reality television show Big Brother Naija will continue or not, as questions of safety in the face of COVID-19 pandemic continue to shroud the show.

There was a reported order by Nigeria’s minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed, to the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) last week to shut down the show.

The acting director-general of the NBC, Armstrong Idachaba, was said to have told senior management members of the commission at a meeting last week that he had been directed by the minister to shut down the show due to COVID-19.

But MultiChoice Limited, which has the highest stake in the show, had....
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https://judicialsketch.com/2020/07/26/big-brother-naija-faces-covid-19-challenge/

Suspected kidnapping and robbery gang leader, Ibrahim Isiyaku, has revealed how his mother, Aisha Isiyaku, has been an ardent supporter and critical operational partner in his gang activities.

The 35-year old Ibrahim who spoke exclusively with Judicial Sketch at the headquarters of the Kano command of the Nigeria Police on Thursday said his biological mother was the most trusted person to him, adding that he confided more in her and kept in her custody things he could not keep with others.

He said all the weapons used by the gang were kept in a safe bag owned by his mother, and that no member of the gang was allowed to keep weapons when there were no operations. He also said such weapons were returned to her for safe keeping after every operation.

According to him, his mother was simply the gang’s armourer.

The mother, when quizzed by our reporter, said her son had always entrusted her with many things, and that she could not have turned down his request.

The 60 years old mother of the arrested gang leader said she kept rifles and other weapons belonging to the gang in her custody, noting that she had always ensured that they were well kept where no one could tamper with them and where she could easily retrieve them when needed for......

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https://judicialsketch.com/2020/07/25/kidnapping-robbery-kingpin-reveals-mothers-role-in-gang-operations/

Former Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanisi II has approached the Federal High Court to bar Kano State Public Complaint and Anti-Corruption Commission from recommencing investigations into allegations of untidy land deal against him.

The matter was heard on Tuesday, June 7, 2020 in the Kano division of the court.

In a Motion on Notice filed by the former emir’s legal representatives, he was praying for “an order of interim injunction pending the hearing and determination of the Applicant’s appeal before the Court of Appeal, Kano Division, restraining the Respondents from taking an action whatsoever on the basis of the Judgment of this Honourable Court delivered on 8th June, 2020, or under any guise whatsoever or from arresting, harassing, publishing, intimidating and in any way whatsoever pending the determination of the appeal.”

Related Post

COVID-19: Schools Remain Closed Till Govt Says Otherwise
Following the lifting of the COVID-19 restriction in Kano state, the state ministry of education…

His legal team also said their request to the court was premised upon the fact that he was dissatisfied with the judgment of the Federal High Court and has filed an appeal against it at the Court of Appeal, adding that they are “eager to prosecute this appeal…”

Having told the court on Tuesday that they have already transmitted......

Read more:
https://judicialsketch.com/2020/07/07/federal-court-adjourns-hearing-of-former-kano-emirs-motion/

The electoral committee (ELCOM) of the Kano branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) one Friday issued a releases to say that a new date has been fixed for the branch’s 2020 election into executive positions.

The committee ‘s spokesman, Mattella J. Ellah, who issued the statement said in view of the fact that the federal high court which gave an order that halted the election on the earlier scheduled date vacated the order on Friday, ELCOM has now fixed Monday, the 29th of June as the new date for the election.
He advised that members should adhere strictly to the election guidelines published by ELCOM for a smooth and rancour free election on Monday.

Kano NBA, Election 2020, New Date, Court Vacates Order, Contestant Withdraws
ELCOM announced a new date for the branch election in a release late Friday
Meanwhile, one of the contestants for the position of publicity secretary, Abdurrazaq A. Ahmed, has withdrawn from the race, citing “dirty political games played by some aspirants which to my mind goes beyond the desire to serve the bar.”

Abdurrazaq A. Ahmed, Kano NBA, Election 2020, New Date, Court Vacates Order, Contestant Withdraws
Abdurrazaq wrote ELCOM to withdraw from the contest as publicity secretary
The 2020 election of the Kano branch has come with so much arguments bothering on the understanding of the provisions of the NBA uniform by-law as it relates to the qualification of aspirants who have served the bar in elective capacity twice in less than five years.
ELCOM exercised its power to disqualify some aspirants based on what it said was its understanding of the provisions in question. But the disqualified aspirants took the matter to the national secretariat which reversed ELCOM.

The reversal of state branch ELCOM’s decision by the appeal panel instituted by the national secretariat was itself another incidence which some members felt was unconstitutional, considering the reality that the constitution provided that ELCOM’s decision on such matters was final.


Kano NBA, Election 2020, New Date, Court Vacates Order, Contestant Withdraws
ELCOM issued guidelines and asked members to adhere to them
Two members of the branch therefore dragged the NBA, its president, Paul Usoro, secretary-general and others to court in Suit No FHC/KN/CS/133/2020 to seek that the court pronounces the position of the national body ultravires the provision of the association’s constitution, and to stop the election been conducted until contested issues have been resolved. The court gave an order for status quo to be maintained, and later vacated the order after it was told that the tenure of the executive committee of the branch was running out. One of the applicants withdrew and the matter was adjourned to July 2, 2020 for the hearing of motion on notice.
Running against time, ELCOM has now.....

Kano State on Monday registered 23 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, the state ministry of health has said in a late evening tweet.
The state now has 59 officially recorded cases in all as of the time this report was filed.
Meanwhile, worried by the rapid increase in the number of confirmed cases coming out Kano, a delegation from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) led by the Director General, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, arrived the state capital Monday evening to commence a monitoring process of the way the state has so far handled the spreading COVID-19 cases in the state.
A source at NCDC confided in Judicial Sketch that there have been complaints going on within the medical community in the state that political considerations have been interfering with professional approaches to the management of the pandemic, and as experts in the field of epidemiology get frustrated, novices have taken over.
For instance, strategic meetings of the state Task Force on COVID-19 as well as Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) were not held unless the daughter of the state governor, Amina Umar Ganduje is present, and if she was late, meetings have to be postponed till she arrived.
Amina is a public health physician with Masters in public health (in Field Epidemiology) in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria while she was doing her residency training in Community Medicine in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano 2018.
NCDC was particularly concerned that professionals in the field of epidemiology have been sidelined while Amina rode over the activities of the committees saddled with the management of a pandemic that threatens the lives of over ten million people in Kano State.
Our source said NCDC does not believe in an effort that lacks think-tank, and Kano State has provided a classical example of haphazard approach.
“COVID-19 Rapid Respond Team is not functional. All the key people at the various health institutions in the state were not utilized. Their resources were not tapped into. Management of crises of this nature does not consider social and economic status. It is the knowledge and capability that are supposed to be considered always”, he explained.
“NCDC will now be the eyes of the FG in Kano. There is no way meetings could be skipped now because there has to be reports to the headquarters. Kano has become problematic. NCDC intends to be part of every activity, and would have its own random confirmation procedure that would not allowed to get compromised”, he said further.
Another source in the Task Force told our reporter that “the governor’s daughter has gone into isolation but she still reins supreme, overriding the opinions of even the professors. The health commissioner has to run every decision through her before any final stance could be taken. In short, she is the de-facto health commissioner”, he said.
In the same vein, the chief press secretary to the state governor, Mr Abba Anwar has said in a statement he issued Monday

Read fully below:
https://judicialsketch.com/2020/04/21/covid-19-rancour-within-kano-task-force-as-ncdc-arrives-to-monitor-cases/

People in Kano State have expressed shock at the response of the state government to the news of unprecedented incidences of death in the state capital, saying the state ministry of health was insincere and irresponsible.

The ministry took to its Twitter handle on Monday to dispel the news as “rumour” and asking people to disregard, adding that “the media and rumour mongers have been trying their best in making us dispense energy in warding them off. This particular rumor has been investigated and found to be untrue so must be dispelled..”
But the ministry’s position was immediately called out on the same platform, as citizens expressed their disagreement and disappointment to the way it reacted.

One Abdulazzez Musa said “See Government response why is itthat our Government officials are full of lies and propaganda.. This ur lies can not stop people from dying when their time reach and it’s very true that people are dying in Kano within these days.. Shameless people who doesn’t fear Allah.”

Mukhtar Y. Buharista said “it’s not rumor but true. I’m an eye witness of this. My uncle died today and buried in Bulukiya graveyard. I while entering the graveyard, we saw many different people who buried their loved ones…. “

Abdulbaseer swore by Allah that the news was beyond rumour. “Wallah tallah billah the mass death is not a rumor…” he said.

Yakub Adam Chedi had an advise for the authorities when he said “Please review your

Read more below:
https://judicialsketch.com/2020/04/21/mass-deaths-anger-anguish-trails-kano-governments-response/

People in Kano State have been urged to remain calm and await the outcome of investigations by experts into the alleged rise in deaths in Kano metropolis in the past few days.

The director, Centre for Infectious Disease Control at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH), Professor Isa Abubakar, told Judicial Sketch that the information regarding the rise in incidences of deaths “emanated from speculations, not from experts in any field related to Medicine.”

He said the state ministry of health rose to the occasion when the rumour started circulating during the weekend, “conducted a very quick survey and discovered that the rise in the number of deaths is not significantly different from what has been happening all along.”

He said while “I agree that it is good to call attention to any issue of concern, I do not think it is wise to make an issue out of it unnecessarily.”

The professor of Medicine said he “will advise that everyone holds on to the press statement issued by the state ministry of health yesterday while, on our part, we will approach the issue in greater detail from a research point of view, since we are in a research institution.”

He however gave an insight into what he thinks may cause deaths during trying times like this, saying “one of the things we may consider for now is that apart from COVID-19, there are other reasons people may die.

“Under normal circumstances, hospitals are

Read more:
https://judicialsketch.com/2020/04/20/kano-expert-explains-why-there-may-be-rise-in-deaths-pleads-for-calm/

Kano State has witnessed spate of unexplained deaths in the past three days, and government is yet to come up with modalities to arrest the situation.

For instance, attendants and undertakers at the Dandolo Cemetery in Goron Dutse within the metropolis told Judicial Sketch that 61 dead were buried between Saturday and Sunday alone. Forty three were buried on Saturday, with 18 more buried on Sunday, they confirmed.

Also, at the Gyadi-gyadi Cemetery in Court Road within the metropolis, 31 were buried on Saturday alone.

The Farm Centre Cemetery also within the metropolis witnessed 27 burials just on Saturday.

The Abattoir Cemetery around Kofar Mazugal in the metropolis saw the burial of 13 people from Zango Quarters alone within three days last week.

Between Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Chedi, Ciromawa, Dorayi, Sharifai, Zage, an unascertained number of people died and were buried at the Abattoir Cemetery.

Kano State ministry of health is yet to make any official statement on the rising death incidences, but a health official at Zage who claimed to have attended to a number of patients, said those deaths were unrelated to .....

Read full details below:
https://judicialsketch.com/2020/04/20/panic-as-unexplained-deaths-ravage-kano-metropolis/

Medical doctors across Nigeria agree that Saturday’s burial of the late chief of staff to President Buhari of Nigeria, Abba Kyari, was against all Standard Operating Procedures prescribed by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the World Health Organisation (WHO), and capable of endangering the lives and well-being of Nigerians.

“I was shocked to the marrow to see that show of shame. Everything the federal government, the NCDC, the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 have been preaching to Nigerians to arrest the spread of the virus was flagrantly violated at Kyari’s burial. It’s so unfortunate, an Abuja-based doctor told Judicial Sketch.

He said the remains of Kyari was not supposed to be conveyed to Abuja from Lagos if proper guidelines were to be followed, adding that the handling of the corpse was another violation, not to talk of the violation of the social distancing rule.

“I watched on TV people without Personal Protective Equipments (PPE) stood shoulder to shoulder. I also saw that those lowering the body into the grave had no more than gloves and face masks. There was poor management and monitoring of the situation.

Boss Mustapha, Quarantine Everyone, Kyari’s Burial, Nigerian Doctors Insist
Mustapha, head of the presidential task force on COVID-19, was accused of not practicing what he has been preaching
For example, who was heading and sharing the PPE, who was retrieving and counting them, who was spraying disinfectant before removal, who was disposing this medical wastes? None! It was a terrible thing to do by any human standard. It was irresponsible,” he said.

Another doctor from Lagos told our reporter that “any responsible government would not have allowed this, and the proper thing to do after being so irresponsible would be to quarantine every single person at the burial.

“Particularly, Boss Mustapha, who is the head of the presidential task force on COVID-19, should not be seen at any press briefing in the next two weeks. They simply do not take

Read more:
https://judicialsketch.com/2020/04/19/quarantine-everyone-at-kyaris-burial-nigerian-doctors-insist/

The chairman of Kano State Task Force on COVID-19, Nasiru Gawuna and a member of the committee, Amina Umar Ganduje should not be let out of self isolation even if their tests come out negative, a medical expert has cautioned.

After the disturbing news that some members of the task force have contracted the virus while others have gone into self isolation, the medical expert has signaled a warning that standard procedure should be observed in dealing with tested individuals.

“The standard is for the persons immediately go into self isolation, then samples would be taken after at least five days, and even if they tested negative, they should remain in self isolation until after 14 days,” he said.

“It is not proper, I repeat, it is improper for them to come out of self isolation even if they test negative. It is important that this protocol is observed,” he insisted.

Professor Abdulrazaq Garba Habibu, COVID-19, Test Results,
Co-chairman of the test force, Professor Abdulrazaq Garba Habibu, tested positive to COVID-19
“Also, samples should not be taken too soon to avoid false negative result”, he said.

Kano deputy governor, Nasiru Gawuna, who is the chairman of the task force, two state commissioners and Amina Umar Ganduje have gone into self-isolation after the co-chairman of the task force, Professor Abdulrazaq Garba Habibu, was confirmed to have come down with....

Read more:

https://judicialsketch.com/2020/04/17/dont-release-gawuna-ganduje-others-even-if-they-test-negative-to-covid-19-doctor-warns/

French president, Emmanuel Macron, said there were grey areas in China’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak and that things “happened that we don’t know about.”

Speaking in an interview with the Financial Times, published Thursday, Macron said, “Let’s not be so naive as to say it’s been much better at handling this,” he said while commenting on China’s management of the outbreak.

“We don’t know. There are clearly things that have happened that we don’t know about,” he said.

Also, the United States and Britain took a tougher line on China where the coronavirus outbreak emerged in December.

“We’ll have to ask the hard questions about how it came about and how it couldn’t have been stopped earlier,” British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said at a press conference on Friday when asked about future relations with Beijing.

Britain, France, US, Voice Suspicion, China's Handling, Covid-19 Outbreak
Britain prime minister, Boris Johnson, has been bogged by COVID-19
Raab is standing in for Prime Minister Boris Johnson who is recovering from COVID-19.

US President Donald Trump’s administration is investigating the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, saying it does not rule out that it came from a laboratory researching bats in Wuhan, China.

Chinese scientists have said the virus, which has killed more than 140, 000 people worldwide, was likely transmitted to humans late last year at a Wuhan “wet market” that slaughtered exotic animals — a longtime focus of concern for public health experts.

But The Washington Post and Fox News both quoted anonymous sources who voiced concern that the virus may have.......

Read more:
https://judicialsketch.com/2020/04/17/britain-france-us-voice-suspicion-over-chinas-handling-of-covid-19-outbreak/

Former Kano State attorney-general and commissioner for justice, Aliyu Umar, SAN has died.
He died early Friday around 4:00am after a brief illness, his family told Judicial Sketch in the morning.

Read more:
https://judicialsketch.com/2020/04/17/breaking-former-kano-attorney-general-aliyu-umar-san-dies/

With Wednesday’s first recorded death from COVID-19 in Kano State, Nigeria, and the rapid increase in new confirmed cases since Saturday when the first case was announced, a medical personnel in the country, Dosunmu Adelabu, has said the situation in the state was scary, but not unexpected.

Healthcare handlers in the state have been on their toes during the week as new cases of the virus were been confirmed daily for the past six days, bringing the total in the state to 21 by Wednesday night, making the rate of contract in Kano a bit more rapid than most states in Nigeria.

“This is scary but not unexpected”, the doctor explained to Judicial Sketch, adding that “the maximum stage of infection has almost been reached now. The incubation period is ripe and many positive cases will be recorded henceforth. Many people can get infected now.”

He said normally, “within these past two weeks in Nigeria, all the infected persons will begin to show symptoms. It is a critical time now, and people have to be more careful.”

He cautioned people to respect the lockdown order religiously for the next one week, and asked the state government to study the situation very well before it lifts the stay-at-home order.
Read more stories below:
https://judicialsketch.com

The governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has Tuesday pronounced a total lock-down on the state, to begin from Thursday.

The governor made this known in a press release by his chief press secretary, Abba Anwar, where he said the lock-down will commence from 10:00pm on Thursday and will last for a week, a time lag within which the government expects to have made significant progress in arresting the spread of COVID-19 in the state.

Judicial Sketch reported earlier that the government was contemplating the lockdown as a means of ensuring that the virus does not spread indiscriminately within Kano State.

Anwar quoted the governor as saying “From Thursday 16th April by 10pm Kano is locked down for the benefit of all in the state. All markets are closed and all public gatherings are banned. The lockdown is for 7 days. We then wait and see what will come up. We are hoping that Allah will see us through.”

Part of the modalities that the state government is putting in place consists of keeping the state borders tightly
Read more below
https://judicialsketch.com/2020/04/14/just-in-ganduje-finally-pronounces-lock-down-on-kano/

There are allegations that Africans in southern China’s largest city have become targets of suspicion and subjected to forced evictions, arbitrary quarantines and mass COVID-19 testing as the country clamps down on ‘imported infections’.

China claimed it had suppressed its COVID-19 outbreak but a recent cluster of cases linked to the Nigerian community in Guangzhou caused the alleged discrimination by locals and prevention officials.

Local authorities in the industrial centre of 15 million said at least eight people diagnosed with the illness had spent time in the city’s Yuexiu district, known as “Little Africa”.

Five of them were Nigerians who faced widespread anger after reports surfaced that they had broken a mandatory quarantine and been to eight restaurants and other public places instead of staying home.

As a result, all the people they came into contact with (about 2000 of them) had to be tested for COVID-19 or undergo quarantine, state media said.

Guangzhou had confirmed 114 imported COVID-19 cases as of Thursday – 16 of which were Africans, while the rest were returning Chinese nationals.

This development has led to Africans becoming targets of suspicion, distrust and racism in China.

AFP reported several Africans saying they had been forcibly evicted from their homes and turned away by hotels, but said the Police in Guangzhou

Read full details below:
https://judicialsketch.com/2020/04/12/china-turns-against-africans-in-covid-19-crackdown/

The Task Force on COVID-19 in Kano State is said to have gotten down to the task of tracing all the contacts of the first confirmed index case in the state, a task health officials said requires all measures of diligence.

Kano State recorded its first case of COVID-19, as a former Nigerian Ambassador to Algeria who came into the state from Lagos State eight days ago, was confirmed to have come down with the virus.

Sources, on Saturday, said state governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje was immediately intimated on the matter as he summoned an emergency meeting with the committee already put in place for the purpose of tackling the pandemic if it eventually rear its head in the state. The governor confirmed the case after the meeting.

The index case lives around UDB Road in the metropolis, and all those close to him have been tested and are awaiting results. He is currently at Kwanar Dawaki Isolation Centre.

Part of the issues that health officials in Kano have been grappling with include the tracing of all those he may have been in physical contact with.

Information at the disposal of Judicial Sketch indicated that after returning to Kano from Lagos, the former Ambassador has been living....
Read more:
https://judicialsketch.com/2020/04/11/updated-contact-tracing-commences-on-kano-covid-19-case/

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has debunked insinuations that 5G mobile network was responsible for the raging Coronavirus pandemic, insisting that “viruses cannot travel on radio waves or mobile networks.”

This was obviously in response to claims by the founder of Christ Embassy Church, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, that 5G mobile network, rather than a virus, was responsible for COVID-19.

WHO, in a statement released yesterday by its office in Nigeria, debunked the myth, saying COVID-19 is a respiratory disease spread through respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs, sneezes or speaks.

“People can also be infected by touching a contaminated surface and then their eyes, mouth or nose,” it said.

WHO added that COVID-19 was spreading in many countries that did not have 5G mobile networks, explain that being infected with the new Coronavirus did not mean that the person

Read more:
https://judicialsketch.com/2020/04/11/who-debunks-oyakhilome-on-5g-as-cause-of-covid-19/

One Abdulrasheed Ibrahim, a resident of Gwammaja Quarters in Kano metropolis was suspected to have died in self-isolation.

According to neighbours of the deceased, late Abdulrasheed had returned to Kano from Abuja last Monday.

The neighbours further disclosed that on the day he returned back to Kano, he was seen washing his car before proceeding on an alleged self-isolation process.

Judicial Sketch gathered that residents in the neighbourhood became apprehensive after been mesmerized by a foul smell coming out of the deceased’s house, and noting that he had remained indoors for three days without been seen outside.

The development had compelled the residents to alert his relatives who arrived and broke into his home, where he was found dead.

Efforts to get more details from the relatives of the decease proved abortive, as they decline comments.

The director, Public Health and Disease control, Dr Imam Wada Bello however confirmed the incidence.

He cautioned for calm, stating that health officials have been deployed to the scene to exercise all requisite medical measures.
Read more:
https://judicialsketch.com/2020/04/10/covid-19-self-isolated-man-dies-in-kano/

There are indications that authorities in Nigeria, especially those managing the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, are considering a total lock-down on the entire country as the final resort.

Concerned by the surge in the number of confirmed cases of the pandemic, as well as the spread of the virus from the initial three states locked down by President Buhari to other states in the past week, the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 is brazing up for the possibility of a holistic lock-down.

The task force, which Judicial Sketch gathered would meet with the president on Friday, was said to have been convinced that a nationwide lockdown would be far more effective in curtailing the spread of the virus.

This sentiment was echoed at a meeting between the task force and the leadership of the National Assembly on Thursday, when the Task Force said it had data to justify lockdown of parts or all of the states in the country.

“There is acquisition of intelligence data to guide implementation of control measures such as may emanate from restrictions and or lockdowns of parts or all of the states,” said the chairman of the Task Force.

According to a member of the Task Force, this position was ignited by the need to give health workers “better latitude to conduct more tests and go ‘contact-hunting.’”

Read full details below:

https://judicialsketch.com/2020/04/10/covid-19-total-lockdown-looms-over-nigeria/

By Ayo Kamaldeen

Since the emergence of the first COVID-19 case in Kwara State some four/five days ago, social media advocates and pseudo investigative journalists have taken over the narrative; drummed it into our ears how the sad case had been mismanaged, and even added their imperial judgment on whose head(s) must be sacrificed for the professional misdemeanor that has endangered our collective health.

Now emotions are high and our angers are unknowingly being manipulated to achieve some ends that might be at variance with promoting justice on the sad case. Two personalities are labeled in the unfortunate scenario, namely Professor Salami, a friend and supposed personal physician to the diseased case; and Professor Yusuff, the chief medical director of the teaching hospital where the diseased case was admitted and died some 45 minutes after being admitted.

Without minding the period of the first contact between the CMD and its aftermath, the social media commentators adjudged him an accomplice and pronounced his sack. And this they called journalism! They even accused the state government of being an accomplice, only they couldn’t rule that the governor be impeached. Sad commentary, bad journalism!

Here is the narrative that is being twisted by the social media crusaders.

On April 1, 2020, the diseased case, Alhaji Muideen Obanimomo, was brought to the Accident and Emergency unit of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) by Professor Salami (Kazeem Alakija Salami) who claimed to be a relative of the deceased. He told the doctors on duty that his patient had complications from food poisoning. He never told the doctors about the patient’s travel history or the truth about his ailment. Since the doctors were not magicians, they treated the patient based on the information provided. Unfortunately, the patient died in the early hours of April 2, 2020. Quite pathetic! A truthful disclosure and appropriate diagnosis might have been able to save the patient’s life. What was Prof. Salami thinking? Did he have some information he didn’t want the public to know; even his medical colleagues?

The corpse of the diseased case was released to Prof. Salami, possibly at his prompting to save his face and prevent the impending backlash. Only he could explain why he decided to conceal the information about diseased status, and hurriedly secured the release of the corpse for burial, even when everyone knew that corpses of COVID-19 cases were buried by government and not by the family. It was only after the release of the corpse that information filtered in through anonymous callers that the patient might be a COVID suspect case, having recently returned from UK with his wife. The management of the hospital, furious at the embarrassment, had described the behavior of the senior doctor as “reckless, unprofessional, and highly unethical.”

Immediately it was discovered that the diseased patient might be a suspected COVID-19 case, the hospital took the following measures: (a
Read full article below:
https://judicialsketch.com/2020/04/08/uith-covid-19-case-cmd-acted-professionally/

The gaffer of the Super Eagles of Nigeria, Gernot Rohr has been handed strict and new contractual regulations that would determine the renewal of his contract by the Nigeria Football federation (NFF).

According to the director of media and communication of the federation, Ademola Olajire, the president of the federation, Pelvin Amaju Pinnick on Monday said, “We have told him (Rohr) he must live in Nigeria, and that his salary will be paid in Naira (the Nigerian currency). He must go round league venues and see how he can nurture the players. If he is able to accept, we have a deal.

“We will seek legal opinions on international coaches’ contracts. We shall also seek the opinion of the sports ministry. He should get the contract (with the new conditions) in about a week’s time so that he can revert after studying it.”

Speaking on the shutdown of the football sector since 19th March 2020, Pinnick said, “We will sit down with our (official premium) partners AITEO with regards to the AITEO Cup competition, to see how we can

Read more:

https://judicialsketch.com/2020/04/06/stay-in-nigeria-or-quit-nff-tells-eagles-coach-rohr/

About 20 million jobs are at risk in Africa as the continent’s economies are projected to shrink this year due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, according to an African Union (AU) study.

So far, Africa accounts for just a fraction of total cases of the disease which has infected more than one million people worldwide, according to a Reuters tally.

But African economies are already facing an impending global economic downturn, plummeting oil and commodity prices and an imploding tourism sector.

Before the onset of the pandemic, continent-wide gross domestic product (GDP) growth had been projected by the African Development Bank to reach 3.4% this year.

However, in both scenarios modelled by the AU study – seen by Reuters and entitled “Impact of the coronavirus on the Africa economy” – GDP will now shrink.

Under what the AU researchers deemed their realistic scenario, Africa’s economy will shrink 0.8%, while the pessimistic scenario said there would be a 1.1% dip.

“Nearly 20 million jobs, both in the formal and informal sectors, are threatened with destruction on the continent if the situation continues,” the analysis said.

African governments could lose up to 20 to 30% of their fiscal revenue, estimated at 500 billion in 2019, it found.

Exports and imports are meanwhile projected to drop at least 35% from

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https://judicialsketch.com/2020/04/06/study-says-20-million-jobs-in-africa-at-risk-from-impact-of-covid-19-pandemic/

US President Donald Trump has warned Americans to prepare for the “toughest week” of the COVID-19 pandemic yet, predicting a surge in deaths.

At his daily briefing, Mr Trump said “there will be death” in a grim assessment of the days ahead, the BBC reports.

He sought to reassure the worst-hit states, promising medical supplies and military personnel to combat the virus. But in contrast to his warning, Mr Trump suggested easing social-distancing guidelines for Easter.

“We have to open our country again,” Mr Trump told a news conference at the White House on Saturday. “We don’t want to be doing this for months and months and months.”

As of Saturday, there were almost 8, 500 deaths from COVID-19 in the US, with most in New York state – the epicentre of the outbreak.

On Saturday, New York state recorded 630 more
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https://judicialsketch.com/2020/04/05/covid-19-trump-warns-americans-of-more-deaths/

President of the Nigerian Senate, Ahmed Lawan, has faulted federal government’s distribution of N20, 000 to some Nigerians as palliative against the economic bite of COVID-19 pandemic.

Mr Lawan said “I think time has come for us to redefine the implementation of the Social Intervention Programme. Probably going out to communities to give them N20, 000 per person might not be the best way to go. It is still an effort, but I think we need a better approach that will be more efficient.”

He said this on Saturday when the federal government requested from the National Assembly the approval of the establishment of a N500 billion COVID-19 Crisis Intervention Fund.......

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https://judicialsketch.com/2020/04/05/covid-19-senate-faults-fgs-distribution-of-n20-000-as-govt-seeks-nass-consent-for-n500b-intervention-fund/

The leadership of the Nigeria Bar Association, Kano branch, Thursday appoints a committee to get palliative materials for its members as COVID-19 forces closure of courts.

Branch secretary, Mujtaba Adamu Ameen said in a statement made available to Judicial Sketch that the branch set up the committee “for the provision of palliative support materials for the branch’s young and vulnerable lawyers with the view to cushion the effect of the COVID-19 crises …”

Kano NBA, Appoints Committee, Palliative Materials
Chairman, Kano branch of the NBA, Abdul A. Fagge (second from right)
Mujtaba said “The committee is expected to report back to the branch within one week.”

The committee, to be headed by the branch’s assistant secretary, Ibrahim M .G. Sagagi, has the mandate to seek contribution from interested members for onward distribution to deserving members, especially those whose earnings are not significant and the young ones.

Sagagi told Judicial Sketch that some senior members have “began to respond. We have received contributions from some members, and the branch has taken some amounts from its account. The distribution would be made after we might have received all we can. Then, we will take stock of what we have, decide what to purchase with it and identify those who will benefit.”

He said a day would be appointed for the distribution soon, adding that anyone interested in helping members of the branch should come forward to do so as soon as possible because “in situations like this, the earlier assistance is given to the


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https://judicialsketch.com/2020/04/02/kano-nba-appoints-committee-to-help-members-with-palliative-materials/

Nigeria’s government appears to be finally trying to decide whether it should adopt the Chinese scientists or the World Health Organisation (WHO’s) prevention protocol regarding the wearing of face masks as a way to arrest the spread of COVID-19.

All along, the US and WHO’s position has been that face masks are only needed for people in contact with COVID-19 confirmed cases has been Nigeria’s adopted position. But while China has been cutting down on new cases, the US has been recording escalated figures.

Judicial Sketch reported earlier that the international politics of power supremacy has been at the core of this disagreement.

The federal government is therefore said to be considering compulsory use of face masks by all Nigerians to stop the spread of COVID-19, whose cases rose by eight Tuesday to hit 139. It’s also reviewing the protocols for implementing the 14-day lockdown of Lagos and Ogun states as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

To step up the treatment of the infected, the government has recalled retired health workers who are now being trained to support the overall preparedness and treatment regimen.

Other measures to combat the pandemic include opening more testing centres so that Nigeria would be able to test 1,500 people daily in a bid to fast-track the detection rate.
Data from the Nigeria Centre of Disease Control (NCDC) showed that the country has so far tested over 2,000 people since the outbreak of the pandemic on February 27.

This also forms part of the Chinese scientists’ evidence-based decision to keep testing more and more people.

The federal government is also said to be considering a relief package, targeted at cushioning 11 million people from the difficulties occasioned by

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https://judicialsketch.com/2020/04/01/fg-considers-compulsory-use-of-masks-to-arrest-covid-19/

Nigeria’s race against the spread of COVID-19 appears to have been caught in the web of international economic warfare between world superpowers, as China and the US battle to exert their influence and control on a government that seems not to know its onions.

While the nation’s center for disease control (NCDC) strives daily to update Nigerians on the status of the virus’ spread, it was painfully aware that the number of cases it churns out does not in any way represent the actual cases that may already have infiltrated the country. This puts Nigeria at the risk of an explosion that would be difficult, if not impossible, to eventually control.

Africa’s most populous country and perhaps its largest economy, sits dangerously, on a keg of gunpowder. Africa, at large, is in danger.

Information at the disposal of Judicial Sketch showed clearly that Nigeria’s government is towing a line drawn out by foreign authorities, a path that was said to be contrary to the more scientifically assured protocol of prevention.

Medical personnel in Nigeria who spoke with Judicial Sketch said there was a clash between the superpowers that control the United Nation’s World Health Organisation (WHO) and China and its scientists on the best preventive measures to take. WHO’s protocol for instance says face masks are to be worn only when one is in contact with COVID-19 confirmed cases or at isolation centres, not always. But many Chinese scientists say all in places where the epidemic is raging should wear masks all times.

Also, medical supplies (mostly preventive and test kits) donated to Nigeria by the Chinese Jack Ma Foundation have not been released by the Nigerian authorities for...

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https://judicialsketch.com/2020/03/30/covid-19-nigeria-risks-explosion-as-china-us-lock-horns/

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), its resident electoral commissioner for Kano State and the attorney-general of federation have been dragged to the Federal High Court in Kano to face a lawsuit, owing to their inability to issue a Permanent Voters Card (PVC) to one Ambassador Michael Edikachi Nworisa.

Mr. Nworisa, a Nigerian youth who said he was very active in mobilising his fellow youths to register with INEC and get their PVCs prior to the 2019 general elections, said he was embarrassed by INEC’s refusal to issue him with one.

He claimed in his suit (No. FHC/KN/CS/125/2019) that INEC succeeded in disenfranchising him, since he was unable to vote during the elections, a situation he said offended the right conferred on him by the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria.

He urged the court, through his lawyer, Kudofoke Oluwatosin Deyon, to determine if “by virtue of the provision of section 77(2) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 199 (as amended) and the provision of section 1(2) of the Registration of Voters Act, and the provision of Article 21 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (which Nigeria as a nation ratified) which confers on claimant the right to vote and be voted for, the failure of the first anns 2nd Defendant to issue the claimant Permanent Voters Card before the election conducted on March 16, 2019 and various elections does not constitute......

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https://judicialsketch.com/2020/03/27/inec-kano-rec-agf-sued-over-failure-to-issue-voters-card-to-nigerian-youth/

As Sikh worshipers gathered for morning prayers on Thursday, Islamic State militants stormed the temple, killing a guard and leaving 25 dead, including a child, the UN News reports.

“Attacks against civilians are unacceptable and those who carry out such crimes must be held accountable”, the Secretary-General reiterated in a statement.

He expressed his “deepest sympathies” to the victims’ families and wished the injured “a speedy recovery”.

“The United Nations stands in solidarity with the people and the Government of Afghanistan and will continue supporting efforts to bring peace to their country”, concluded the statement.

Meanwhile, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), expressed his dismay at the “despicable” attack.

In a statement on his behalf, his spokesperson said that that the attack came “at a time when the world is facing a pandemic” that adversely......

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https://judicialsketch.com/2020/03/27/un-chief-calls-for-accountability-as-gunmen-kill-25-at-afghan-temple/

Twenty seven confirmed cases of Lassa Fever disease have been reported from nine local government areas of Kogi State, according to state epidemiologist.

A press statement issued on Thursday by the chairman of the Nigeria Medical Association of Nigeria, Kogi chapter, Dr Kabiru Zubair, a copy of which Judicial Sketch obtained, said no case of COVID-19 has been recorded in the state as at March 25, 2020.

“So far, 27 confirmed cases of Lassa Fever disease from nine local government areas have been reported by the state epidemiologist. However, no case of COVID-19 has been recorded in the State as at March 25, 2020.

“The NMA wishes to .....
https://judicialsketch.com/2020/03/27/lassa-fever-not-covid-19-ravages-kogi-as-27-cases-confirmed/