The Vanguard reports that the Nigerian Government has announced sanctions for 27 foreigners and 62 Nigerians who recently returned from countries with high incidence of COVID-19 and who evaded safety protocols put in place for returnees from those countries.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman, Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19, Mr. Boss Mustapha, disclosed this in a statement issued late Sunday in Abuja.
The PSC had on May 1 issued a “Travel Advisory” for passengers arriving in Nigeria from Brazil, India and Turkey, explaining that such precautionary measures were necessary steps to mitigate the risk of importation of variants of concern and break the chain of transmission to the population.
Under the new measures, passengers arriving from/or who have visited any of the three countries within fourteen days prior to the visit to Nigeria, are required to follow mandatory arrival quarantine and testing protocols in designated facilities.
“The Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) has however observed that while most of the arriving passengers dutifully observed the guidelines, some (Nigerians and Foreigners) have violated them in contravention of the provisions of the Coronavirus Health Protection Regulations 2021”, the committee stated. While 26 of the foreigners are Indian nationals, one is a Dane.
ThisDay says that a civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to end what it described as unwarranted military aggression in the South East region with specific reference to the reported airstrikes in Imo State.
HURIWA said the unilateral and arbitrary deployment of airpower by Buhari against the region, even when the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) and the Eastern Security Network (ESN) had reportedly asked their members to disengage from their activities, constituted a crime of military aggression against innocent civilians.
In a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, and the National Media Affairs Director, Miss Zainab Yusuf, HURIWA said the continuous deployment of military force in the Southeast would rather escalate the current security challenges in the Southeast and South-south regions, “which have witnessed unwarranted attacks on police formations and operatives by unknown gunmen,” than bring solution to the situation.
It said the continued airstrikes amounted to a unilateral and illegal warfare against the law-abiding citizens of South-east region.
“HURIWA has therefore asked the government to stop these unlawful airstrikes before they lead to loss of innocent lives of villagers, who now live in a state of fear and a climate of panic,” the statement said.
The Guardian reports that the Southwest leaders in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) have endorsed the position of the 17 Southern governors taken at their May 11, 2021 summit in Asaba, Delta State, especially on ranching and ban of open grazing in the entire Southern states.
The leaders also rejected calls for disintegration of Nigeria, saying that the country needs religious and ethnic unity to progress. This is coming amid calls for the creation of a Yoruba nation in the Southwestern part of the country.
At a meeting convened by former governor of Osun State, Chief Bisi Akande, which held yesterday at State House Marina, Lagos State, the leaders, including APC National Leader, Bola Tinubu; Speaker, House of Representatives, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila; Governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos); Gboyega Oyetola (Osun); and Dapo Abiodun (Ogun); Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo; former governor of Ogun State, Chief Segun Osoba; former Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Alani Akinrinade (rtd); and Chief Pius Akinyelure, the Southwest APC endorsed the Southern governors resolutions, saying, “Such a decision will lessen tensions between farmers and herders while also helping the long-term economic viability of both the farming and herding communities.”
The Southwest APC leaders added that though they were mindful of the short-term dislocation the Southern governors’ decision might cause, “we are also mindful that this position is in the best interest of all parties concerned.
In the nine-point communiqué, the leaders expressed concern about the state of the nation, particularly, the serious security challenges facing the country.
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