Minister seeks arrest of those who stole COVID-19 palliatives

Minister of the federal capital territory (FCT), Muhammad Bello, has asked security operatives to arrest and prosecute those who invaded a warehouse where COVID-19 palliatives were kept.

A mob had invaded the warehouse located in Gwagwalada area council around 9 am on Monday, carting away bags of grains, cartons of noodles and other food items.

Speaking at an emergency meeting with leaders of various security agencies in Abuja on Monday, the minister, asked the culprits to return the stolen items immediately. He also said there would be heavy deployments of security operatives to safeguard factories and warehouses at Idu industrial area.

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Sanwo-Olu: Army responsible for Lekki shooting

Governor of Lagos state, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has announced that footage has shows the Nigerian Army is responsible for the shooting that occurred at Lekki toll gate in Lagos.

Speaking with CNN on Monday, Sanwo-Olu said the CCTV footage would be available to the state judicial panel probing brutality of security operatives.

“We will be committed to a full investigation of what happened and people would be held accountable. They certainly would be held accountable. We would do everything possible to ensure that they are held accountable. People have claimed that their friends and family members have been killed. So, this Judicial Panel of Enquiry is meant to bring all of these stories to accountability; where we can make restitutions, where families can prove and identify officers that were responsible for this,” he added.

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NBC under fire for fining ARISE NEWS, Channels, AIT

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has criticised the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) for imposing fines on ARISE NEWS Channel, Channels Television and Africa Independent Television (AIT) over their coverage of the #ENDSARS protests.

On Monday, SERAP threatened to sue the broadcast regulator unless they withdrew the fines. The PDP and the NUJ also condemned the fines; describing the sanctions as an attempt to cow the media.

NBC yesterday accused the three broadcasting organisations of violating broadcasting codes for broadcasting footages obtained on the Lekki shooting by soldiers from unverified and unauthenticated social media sources. The accused stations were slammed with fines that varied between N2million and N3million.

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EU backs Nigerian WTO candidate Okonjo-Iweala

Nigerian former finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has pulled a crucial backing from the EU on Monday, sources said, giving her bid to become the first African head of the WTO a major boost.

The World Trade Organization will announce its new director-general next month, but sources said the EU will publicly announce its support for the 66-year-old economist on Tuesday.

She has emerged as the favourite to replace Brazil’s Roberto Azevedo at the WTO, and to become the first director-general from Africa and the first woman to lead the institution.

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NCDC confirms 119 new COVID-19 cases

119 new cases of #COVID19Nigeria;

Lagos-77
FCT-26
Plateau-9
Edo-4
Oyo-2
Nasarawa-1

62,111 confirmed
57,571 discharged
1,132 deaths pic.twitter.com/DLJuatw6CT

— NCDC (@NCDCgov) October 26, 2020