The Federal Government of Nigeria has reportedly begun the sale of bags of rice worth forty thousands naira to only public servants in the Federal Capital Territory.
According to a circular seen by LEADING REPORTERS today, each civil servant is entitled to one bag while two civil servants can share one accordingly.
Picture of the circular attached below:
48 hours after the demonstration of the #EndBadGovernance protest across the nation, President Bola Tinubu is yet to address the protesters.
According to report, over #500bn worth of properties were reported destroyed and 17 persons were allegedly killed by security personnel across the country.
The protesters listed 12 demands
which seeks to address various socio-economic and political issues plaguing the nation.
The demands include:
Revert petrol pump price to N100/litre, Combat insecurity and hunger
Close all IDP camps and resettle the campers, Total electoral reform
Independent probe into the electoral budget of N355 billion.
Immediate release of ENDSARS protesters still in detention
Implementation of living wage (minimum wage of N300k)
Compulsory free education from primary to secondary school.
Children of public school holders must attend public schools in the country.
Government must patronise made-in-Nigeria goods.
Transition to unicameral legislation.
Judicial and constitutional review among others.
Despite the protests which has gearnred reactions all over the country, the president has refused the address the nation as suggested by tweeps.
Turkey on Friday blocked access to the Instagram social media network, the national communications authority said without explanation.
This is coming after censorship accusations against the United States-based company by a high-ranking Turkish official.
The BTK communications authority said in a post on its website that “instagram.com has been blocked by a decision on the date of 02/08/2024,” without adding further details.
Many users living in Turkey complained on the X platform that they couldn’t refresh their Instagram feeds, an issue verified by AFP journalists.
The Turkish presidency’s communications director Fahrettin Altun on Wednesday hit out at Meta-owned Instagram, accusing the platform of “impeding people from publishing messages of condolence for the martyr Haniyeh.”
Ismail Haniyeh, the political chief of the armed Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and a close ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was killed in Tehran on Wednesday in an attack blamed on Israel.
“This is a very clear and obvious attempt at censure,” Altun said on X.
According to Turkish media, there are more than 50 million users signed up to Instagram in Turkey, out of a population of 85 million.
The decision sparked mockery on other social media networks such as X.
A meme showing a congested metro station with the tagline: “X when Turks wake up to find that Instagram is blocked,” began trending on the platform.
“Instagram is blocked in Turkey, life is over,” wrote user tweeting as #CringeOfMaster alongside a picture of a grieving man.
Others mockingly asked Instagram users where they could see their doctored images now.
This is not the first time that Turkish authorities have blocked access to social media sites.
Wikipedia was blocked between April 2017 and January 2020 over two articles that alleged a link between the presidency and extremism.
That caused shock in a country where Erdogan’s government is often accused of attacking civil freedoms due to the amount of online information that became inaccessible.
In April, Facebook owner, Meta, suspended its Threads social network in Turkey following a decision by authorities to prevent it from sharing information with Instagram.
The Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) has disconnected the Kaduna Government House over N2.9 billion debt.
The company in a statement signed by the Head, Corporation Communication, Abdulazeez Abdullahi, said the government house had not paid for electricity consumed in seven months.
Recall that in the early hours of Friday, the state government through its tax agency, the Kaduna State Internal Revenue Service (KADIRS) sealed the electricity coy over N600 million tax liabilities.
But Abdullahi said the disconnection took effect after extensive efforts to resolve the issue through consultations and reconciliations.
According to the statement, “In a dramatic move that underscores growing tensions between utility providers and state governments, Kaduna Electric has cut off electricity supply to the Kaduna State Government House and other state government accounts due to unpaid bills.
“Kaduna Electric announced the disconnection after extensive efforts to resolve the issue through consultations and reconciliations. The outstanding balance for electricity consumed from January 2024 to July 2024 alone amounts to a staggering N1,166 billion. This figure, including the historical debt, has left the State Government with a huge debt that currently stands at a total of N2,943 billion.”
He said despite a recent payment of N256 million made on May 9, 2024, for electricity consumed between September 2023 and December 2023, the Kaduna State Government’s debt remains significantly high, “This payment, though substantial, has not been enough to clear the accumulated arrears.”
“Kaduna Electric’s decision to disconnect power came after repeated attempts to address the payment issues, including several consultations with state officials. In contrast, other states under the Kaduna Electric franchise, namely Sokoto, Kebbi, and Zamfara, have maintained their accounts in good standing, regularly meeting their electricity payment obligations and other repayment obligations with Kaduna Electric.
As the #endbadgovernance Protest continues, police has reportedly attacked Abuja based lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, human right activist, VeryDarkMan other other peaceful protesters in Abuja
In a video shared by Saharareporters, the protesters could be seen scammering for safety.
Watch video below:
A prisoner swap involving as many as 30 people held by Russia, possibly including jailed Jewish-American journalist Evan Gershkovich and Jewish dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza, could be underway.
If it comes to pass, the exchange would be the largest prisoner swap between Russia and the United States since the end of the Cold War. Signs of an approaching prisoner swap have been reported by independent Russian media as well as international press.
Gershkovich, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal arrested in March 2023 on allegations of espionage, was sentenced in July to 16 years in a maximum security prison. He, his employer, and the United States government vehemently deny the charges.
Security experts have long considered a prisoner swap to be the best bet for returning Gershkovich to the United States. Senior officials at the Kremlin have said that talks over a swap that would include his release are underway.
Since he was arrested more than a year ago, Gershkovich’s cause has been taken up by Jewish organizations and activists. In an echo of the Cold War-era movement to free Soviet Jewry, activists have turned to Jewish holiday rituals to raise awareness of his imprisonment, leaving an empty seat for him at the Passover seder, and sending him greeting cards ahead of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year.
It could involve between 20 and 30 political prisoners, according to a story published on Wednesday in the independent newsletter the Kozlov Paper that was reprinted in the Moscow Times.
One week after Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission imposed a $220 million fine on WhatsApp for a data privacy breach, the Meta-owned company may suspend its operations in the country due to further regulatory demands.
Sources close to the situation indicate that Meta, WhatsApp’s parent company, is contemplating withdrawing certain services from Nigeria.
Alongside the substantial fine, the FCCPC has directed WhatsApp to cease sharing user data with other Facebook companies and third parties without explicit user consent. The commission also requires WhatsApp to disclose details about its data collection practices and to enhance user control over data usage.
In response, a WhatsApp spokesperson emailed TechCabal, “We want to be clear that, technically, based on the order, it would be impossible to provide WhatsApp in Nigeria or globally.” The spokesperson criticized the FCCPC’s order as flawed, asserting that it inaccurately portrays WhatsApp’s data handling and would necessitate significant changes to the platform’s infrastructure.
Meta has not addressed the FCCPC’s allegations regarding user opt-out options from the 2021 privacy policy but maintains that the update does not involve sharing user data. The company’s privacy policy states, “While traditionally mobile carriers and operators store this information, we believe that keeping these records for two billion users would be both a privacy and security risk and we don’t do it.”
The potential suspension of WhatsApp could have significant repercussions for individuals and small businesses in Nigeria, many of whom rely on WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook for customer engagement.
Some privacy lawyers have questioned the FCCPC’s use of the National Data Protection Regulation as the foundation for the fine. Enacted in 2019 by the National Information Technology Development Agency, the NDPR is Nigeria’s principal data protection framework. Two unnamed lawyers have expressed doubts about the NDPR’s authority in such a high-stakes matter and questioned whether a government regulation can be deemed definitive in privacy issues.
Additionally, two unnamed government officials have raised concerns about the fairness of the $220 million fine. “We are too revenue-focused. What is the opportunity cost of $220 million in government coffers?” questioned an industry expert.
Should WhatsApp choose to halt its operations in Nigeria due to these demands, both the FCCPC and the Nigerian government will face significant scrutiny and consequences.
At least six people have been reportedly killed while some sustained injuries in the ongoing protest in Suleja, Niger State.
The victims were said to have killed while security operatives were struggling to dislodge a group of protesters who mounted barricade on a section of Abuja-Kaduna highway.
Daily Trust had reported how passengers and motorists were trapped on the road for hours.
Some policemen who were around the barricade could not control the youths who outnumbered them.
However, a reinforcement team was sent to the scene where pandemonium occurred.
Among those killed was said to be Yahaya Nda Isah, a resident of Hassan Dalatu Road, Suleja, who was hit by a stray bullet.
The bullet reportedly hit Isa on his bike in front of the Suleja Police ‘A’ division where protesters had assembled.
A nephew of the deceased told Daily Trust that his uncle was on his bike when the bullet fired to disperse the protesters hit him on his chest and he died on the spot.
He was my uncle. He was not even protesting. He was passing in front of the Police ‘A’ division where some people were protesting when stray Bullet hit him on his chest and he died. As I speak with you, I am in his house alongside other mourners. It’s unfortunate”, he said.
Another victim was simply identified as Mallam Abu also said died on the spot.
One of the residents who did not want his name mentioned told Daily Trust that 3 other people were shot at the same scene while 2 others were shot at the Suleja Junction on Abuja-Kaduna road but could not confirm if other victims were dead.
Another resident who said his shop was not far from the Suleja Police “A” division said he had to close to run for his life.
“We heard people shouting and gunshots were heard for about 20 minutes at Emir Roundabout. The situation in Suleja is ugly”, Bala Abdullahi, another resident.
Spokesperson of the Niger State Police Command, SP Wasiu Abiodun, said some hoodlums also attempted to set the Tafa LGA ablaze but they were dispersed by security operatives.
“The miscreants attempted to set the Tafa LGA ablaze, they were dispersed by the Police and military. Kaduna road and toll gate was cleared”, he said.
The ongoing nationwide hardship protest in Kano has turned violent as hoodlums hijack the exercise to loot shops and offices.
Leading reporters gathered that the hoodlums have started attacking shops and offices engaging in all sorts of mob action across streets.
The looters were seen moving valuables, including chairs, computers and other valuables.
Pandemonium broke out on Thursday in Bulunkutu area of Maiduguri when an immigration officer accidentally shot himself thrice on the foot while blocking protesters.
The sound of the gunshots further provoked the protesters who went wild with the thought that one of them was shot but became calm on discovering that it was an immigration personnel that was shot.
LEADING REPORTERS gathered that joint patrol team of the police, military, immigration, DSS, Civil Defence barricaded the Bulumkutu Railway Junction to prevent the hardship protesters from heading to the main city of Maiduguri.
The self-wounded officer was part of the security team deployed to disperse crowd of protesters in the state capital, Maiduguri.
The officer, whose identity has not been disclosed, was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment and his condition is currently unknown.
Some protesters were demonstrating against the government’s handling of the ongoing insurgency in the region, while others were calling for end to corruption, high cost of living and other issues bedeviling the country.
