News Update

The United States Mission in Nigeria has asked some of its staff not to go to work on the first two days of the planned nationwide protests. In an emergency warning issued on Wednesday night, the U.S. Embassy Abuja and U.S. Consulate General Lagos, asked only essential staff to operate on Thursday August 1, 2024, and on Friday August 2, 2024.

 At least 19 people were killed after an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) suspected to be planted by Boko Haram insurgents went off at a local joint in Kawuri village, Konduga Local government area of Borno State, on Wednesday. The incident happened three days after insurgents attacked a police station at Jakana town in the same Konduga LGA.

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 A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja has barred protesters from marching on the streets of the nation’s capital. Ruling in an ex-parte application brought before him by FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, Justice Sylvanus Chinedu Oriji, restricted participants in the proposed #EndBadGovernance Protest from the streets.
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 The Edo State Police Command has promised to support and protect protesters provided it is carried out peacefully in the state. Briefing journalists on Wednesday evening, the State Commissioner of Police, CP Funsho Adegboye, said it is the right of the citizens to protest.

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Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State has said the government will not entertain any form of violence during the forthcoming planned protests. Yusuf said this while addressing business leaders, traditional rulers, and religious leaders at Government House, Kano, on Wednesday.

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 The National Assembly on Wednesday repealed and re-enacted the 2024 Appropriation Act. The changes incorporated an additional N6.2trillion as requested by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on July 23 to fund legacy capital projects and the new Minimum Wage of N70,000.

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 The House of Representatives Special Joint Committee investigating factors working against the petroleum sector has directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to halt what it called the mortgage of Nigeria’s future crude oil until it concludes its assignment.

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Banks and other financial institutions in the country will be closed on Thursday, August 1, 2024, as the planned hunger strike begins across the country. While none of the banks outrightly announced a closure, chats with different employees of the banks indicated that they have been advised not to report for work on Thursday as the banks monitor the protest.

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 The Senate has asked Nigerians and promoters of the nationwide protests to halt their plans in the interest of the country. According to the Senate, President Bola Tinubu’s administration has, within one year in office, initiated policies that would benefit Nigerians in the near future.

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ORGANISERS IN ONDO PULL OUT OF NATIONAL PROTEST

A few hours before the commencement of the #EndBadGovernance protest in the country, the organisers of the protest in Ondo State have pulled out over an alleged plan to turn it into an ethnicity fight.

According to the group under the aegis of Concerned Revolutionary Youths, the planned protest had already achieved some of the desired results; hence, there was no need to give room for any form of chaos or violence.

The protest scheduled for August 1 was to enable Nigerians to express their grievances against the current hardship in the country.

Addressing newsmen at the NUJ Press Centre in Akure, the state capital, the State Secretary of the group, Ogundipe Seyi Olaniyi, disclosed that prominent persons in the state had also intervened on the need to shelve the protest.

Ogundipe said the group was neither financially induced nor intimidated

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The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, has expressed pain over the deaths of Ohanaeze President-General, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, former Minister Ogbonnaya Onu, Senator Ifeanyi Uba, and Onyeka Onwenu.

Kanu called for prayers to avert too many deaths in Igbo land.

The IPOB leader also cautioned against speaking ill about Iwuanyanwu, Onu, Uba, and Onwenu because it’s against Igbo tradition.

Kanu disclosed this during his routine meeting with his legal team at the Department of State Services facility in Abuja.

Making Kanu’s remark public, his lead counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, said: “Today, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu directed me to convey his heartfelt sympathies to the families of Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, Senator Ifeanyi Uba and Dame Onyeka Onwenu.

“MNK is pained at their demise and as he mourns, he sends his comfort to Ndigbo and requests that none should speak ill of the departed, as such is repugnant to Igbo traditions.

“He sees these deaths to be too many in so short a time and calls for prayers to avert too many deaths from the land.

“Onyeka Onwenu in particular was very close to Onyendu, who found her private advice to be invaluable. MNK recalls that Onyeka was a firm believer in freedom and that she lived a fulfilled life that guaranteed her eternal rest in heaven.”

From dailypost