Good morning! Here is today’s summary from Nigerian Newspapers:
1. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), has confirmed twenty new cases of coronavirus in the country. This was disclosed via a tweet on their verified Twitter page on Friday night. According to the new report, 11 infected persons are in Lagos, 3 in the FCT, 3 in Edo, 2 in Osun & 1 in Ondo. As at 10:30 pm, 3rd April, there are 210 confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported in Nigeria.
2. The United Kingdom has disclosed it is working round the clock to airlift its citizens in Nigeria amid the COVID-19 crisis. This was announced 5:16 pm local time on Friday via the UK in Nigeria Twitter account. It said over 4,000 nationals have expressed interest to return to the country.
3. The Federal Government has directed missions abroad to compile list of Nigerians willing to return home. Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said this in a statement on Friday. She explained that a number of Nigerian nationals were requesting to come back due to the coronavirus outbreak. Dabiri-Erewa added that the Ministry of Finance had instructed that cost be covered by the prospective evacuees, and they will also be compulsorily quarantined on arrival in the country.
4. The United Kingdom (UK) Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has said that there are now 38,168 confirmed cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country. The health agency disclosed this in a tweet on its official Twitter account on Friday morning. According to the tweet, COVID-19 had killed 3, 605 people in the UK as of 5 pm on 2 April.
5. The Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF, has demanded that President Muhammadu Buhari government should suspend all States’ deductions and restructure all debt service due to the coronavirus crisis. The body also urged the federal government to initiate fiscal measures to safeguard the liquidity of state governments.
6. Eti Osa Local Government Area may be the epicentre of COVID-19 in Lagos State as the deadly virus spreads across the nation’s commercial hub. This was revealed as the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, released the list of areas with the highest numbers of confirmed cases in the state on Friday. According to him, Eti-Osa Local Government Area tops the list with 47 cases, followed by Ikeja – 24; and Lagos Mainland – 14.
7. Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, his Deputy Engineer Benson Abounu and Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development, David Olofu have all tested negative for Coronavirus. Governor Ortom who received the test result Friday, encouraged other Benue people to voluntarily go for the COVID-19 test. He commended the State Action Committee on Coronavirus and all other individuals and organizations for making selfless contributions towards eradicating the pandemic.
8. Nigeria has recorded two Coronavirus deaths. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), in a tweet on its official Twitter handle, said the deaths were recorded in Edo and Lagos States. With this, Coronavirus death toll in Nigeria has now risen to four.
9. Nigerian Army said it has arrested soldiers in the trending video clips openly threatening to rape Warri women and girls and infect them with HIV. This is coming after the Delta State Government had earlier dismissed the video as fake. Soldiers in the footage issued the threat after their colleague was allegedly killed by residents in retaliation of the murder of Joseph Pessu on Thursday amid the COVID-19 lockdown. But the Defence Headquarters in a post on its Twitter handle has confirmed the arrest of the soldiers.
10. A suspected COVID-19 case has been reported in Potiskum town in Yobe State. This came after a 30-year-old man reportedly exhibited some symptoms of the deadly virus. Yobe State Commissioner of Health, who is also the Co-Chairman of the State Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control, Dr. Mohammed Lawan Gana, confirmed the suspected case at a press briefing held in Damaturu on Friday.
