Malian President , Ibrahim Boubacar Keita , has said the second round of a parliamentary election scheduled for April 19 will go ahead despite the need for social distancing .
He also announced a coronavirus aid package for poor people and hard – hit firms , as cases continue to rise in the war – torn West African state .
The president warned that the country’ s already war – battered economy was facing a shock , and declared a package worth some 500 billion CFA francs ( $ 832 million ).
“ The government of Mali… is willing to make the greatest sacrifice to lessen the negative impact of the pandemic on our economy and society , ” Keita said in a televised address .
Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world and has been struggling since 2012 to quell a jihadist insurgency that has killed thousands of soldiers and civilians .
The conflict – which has left swathes of the country outside state control – has aggravated fears that Mali is ill -prepared to tackle a large coronavirus outbreak .
Authorities have recorded 87 cases in the country so far , with seven fatalities . The government had previously declared a nationwide night – time curfew and closed land borders .
Warning of the steep economic costs associated with the pandemic , Keita said Friday that the government would shoulder water and electricity bills for the poorest people in April and May, among other measures .
The government would also distribute 56 , 000 tonnes of grain in food aid and 16 , 000 tonnes of animal feed , he added , and allow tax rebates for firms hit hard by the virus .
The president added that the government is also considering isolating the capital Bamako , where most of the country ’ s infections have been detected , with a decision due soon .
The Rapid Response Squad, a section of the Lagos State Police Command , have arrested five hoodlums suspected to have unleashed mayhem on residents of Lagos border communities .
The RRS team led by its Commander , Tunji Disu , said the suspects had harassed citizens in Abule- Egba , Alagbado , amongst other areas of the state .
Disu said five arrests have been made , adding that the police would be on standby to prevent further disturbances.
The PUNCH had reported that hoodlums robbed residents of the areas which fall under Alimosho and Ifako- Ijaiye Local Government Areas of Lagos State .
This happened as the 14 – day lockdown order of the President , Major General Muhammadu Buhari ( retd . ) , to curb the spread of COVID- 19 enters day 12 in Lagos and Ogun States .
The two affected local governments in Lagos are the suburbs of the state with Ogun.
Disu added that some of the suspects were arrested while the RRS team and the police in the areas were on patrol in the Lagos – Ogun border communities .
“ Commander RRS , Tunji Disu , Commander Area ‘ H ’ and the DPOs within the area have been partrolling Ijoko , Dalemo, Saka , Akinde , Alakuko , Abule , Alagbado, etc , where hoodlums were harassing citizens .
“ Five suspects have been arrested and normalcy restored to the area. Police officers will be on standby to forestall any further disturbances , ” the command tweeted on Saturday evening.
The President , Major General Muhammadu Buhari ( retd . ), has urged Nigerians to comply with the restrictions in order to defeat the coronavirus while promising more interventions for vulnerable citizens .
The PUNCH reports that the lockdown order of the President in Lagos and Ogun State , as well as the Federal Capital Territory Abuja , enters day 12 on Saturday.
The retired major general in a statement by his spokesperson , Garba Shehu , expressed appreciation to all Nigerians for their patience , resolve and determination to defeat the COVID- 19 pandemic .
According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control as of the time of filing this report , over 300 cases of the infection have been recorded in Nigeria .
Buhari entreated Nigerians not to waiver in complying with the lockdown order which aims at allowing citizens to observe social distancing to break the cycle of transmission of the novel virus .
He asked Nigerians “to observe restrictions on movement where they are in place, and follow the instructions of our scientists and medical advisers : stay home, wash your hands , save lives .
“ All that the government is asking you to endure is because there is no known way of defeating this pandemic (yet ) . There is no vaccine . And that means there are choices to be made … We cannot expect others to come to our assistance . No one is coming to defeat this virus for us … We cannot wait for others. We can only depend on ourselves . And so we must — and we will — end this outbreak ourselves as Nigerians , together . ”
World- renowned British primatologist Jane Goodall says the coronavirus pandemic was caused by humanity ’ s disregard for nature and disrespect for animals.
Goodall, who is best known for trail -blazing research in Africa that revealed the true nature of chimpanzees , pleaded for the world to learn from past mistakes to prevent future disasters.
During a conference call ahead of the release of the new National Geographic documentary “ Jane Goodall: The Hope” , the 86 – year- old also said everyone can make a difference .
“It is our disregard for nature and our disrespect of the animals we should share the planet with that has caused this pandemic, that was predicted long ago .
“Because as we destroy , let’ s say the forest , the different species of animals in the forest are forced into a proximity and therefore diseases are being passed from one animal to another, and that second animal is then most likely to infect humans as it is forced into closer contact with humans .
“It’ s also the animals who are hunted for food , sold in markets in Africa or in the meat market for wild animals in Asia , especially China , and our intensive farms where we cruelly crowd together billions of animals around the world. These are the conditions that create an opportunity for the viruses to jump from animals across the species barrier to humans .
“It’ s really good that China closed down the live wild animal markets , in a temporary ban which we hope will be made permanent , and other Asian countries will follow suit .
“But in Africa it will be very difficult to stop the selling of bush meat because so many people rely on that for their livelihoods .
“It will need a lot of careful thought on how it should be done , you can ’ t just stop somebody doing something when they have absolutely no money to support themselves or their families , but at least this pandemic should have taught us the kind of things to do to prevent another one .
“We have to realise we are part of the natural world , we depend on it, and as we destroy it we are actually stealing the future from our children .
“Hopefully , because of this unprecedented response , the lockdowns that are going on around the world , more people will wake up and eventually they can start thinking about ways they can live their lives differently .
“Everyone can make an impact every single day .
If you think about the consequences of the little choices you make : what you eat , where it came from , did it cause cruelty to animals, is it made from intensive farming — which mostly it is — is it cheap because of child slave labour , did it harm the environment in its production , where did it come from , how many miles did it travel , did you think that perhaps you could walk and not take your car .
( Also consider ) ways that you could perhaps help alleviate poverty because when people are poor they can ’ t make these ethical choices . They just have to do whatever they can to survive — they can ’ t question what they buy, they must buy the cheapest , and they are going to cut down the last tree because they are desperate to find land on which they can grow more food .
“So what we can do in our individual lives does depend a little bit on who we are , but we all can make a difference , everybody can .
There was unrest in the Alimosho and Ifako- Ijaiye Local Government Areas of Lagos State as hoodlums took to the heavily residential areas to rob citizens and loot shops in the local markets .
This happened as the 14 – day lockdown order of the President , Major General Muhammadu Buhari ( retd . ) to curb the spread of COVID- 19 enters day 12 .
The PUNCH gathered that the Jankara market in the Ifako Ijaiye Local Government was looted by the hoodlums .
News correspondent also gathered that residents of Meiran and Agbado witnessed the presence of the hoodlums , who carted away prized items .
Confirming the incident , Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Bala Elkana , told our correspondent over the phone that arrest is being made in respect to the crime.
He said some of the locations where the incident happened fall under the jurisdiction of the Ogun State Police Command but the Lagos State Police Command has deployed its officers to the affected areas .
He said , “ Those social miscreants create a scene and pretend to fight each other but we have deployed our officers round to deal with them.
“ A lot of arrests has been made and I will give more update as soon as I get further reports .
“ We are working with Ogun State Police Command on that and operations is ongoing .
“ Some of the affected areas fall under Ogun and Lagos but we are working with the Ogun Division already because crime has no boundary . ”
The President , Major General Muhammadu Buhari ( retd . ), commended the Presidential Task Force on COVID- 19 , led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation , Boss Mustapha .
Buhari said this in a tweet, following a State House meeting with some of the members of the task force over the national response on COVID- 19 , particularly lockdown order in Lagos , Ogun and the Federal Capital Territory.
The President , who had, on March 29 , ordered the lockdown for an initial period of 14 days , did not provide any indication on whether or not the lockdown would be extended .
THE Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, has cautioned state governors against relaxing the lockdown order declared in the wake of novel coronavirus in the country.
The NMA, in a statement , signed by its president, Dr. Francis Faduyile and Secretary-General,Dr. Olumuyiwa Odusote, respectively said its attention “has drawn to some isolated statements negating the established measure of preventing COVID-19- social distancing; and orders by some state governors authorising the mass observance of Jumat prayers and Easter Sunday services.”
“We, therefore, pray all authorities concerned to rescind their decision in the interest of the safety of lives and implore the Nigerian Police force and other security agencies ensure that such gatherings do not take place,” it appealed in the statement.
The statement read in full:”The attention of the Nigerian Medical Association has been drawn to some isolated statements negating the established measure of preventing COVID-19- social distancing; and orders by some state governors authorising the mass observance of Jumat prayers and Easter Sunday services.
“Of particular concern are: The declaration by the Cross River State Governor that social distancing is not needed while wearing a face mask;
“A moratorium on the lockdown to allow mass gathering in mosques and churches starting from Friday to Sunday in Rivers state;
“The lifting of the ban on Friday prayers by Katsina and Kogi States government.
“We are aware that similar orders have also been given in Ondo, Ebonyi and Imo states which have approved mass attendance of Easter services.
“While appreciating the prime place of religion in our national lives and especially the value Christians place on Easter, we place on record that there is now the evidence of community transmission of COVID-19. As such, relaxing any guideline that promotes mass gatherings in any part of our nation now can only heighten and not flatten the curve of transmission dynamics.
“We, therefore, pray all authorities concerned to rescind their decision in the interest of the safety of lives and implore the Nigerian Police force and other security agencies to ensure that such gatherings do not take place.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson was recovering in a hospital ward after ending three days in intensive care for COVID- 19 , as his government urged Britons to stay at home over Easter.
The 55 – year- old leader left intensive care at London ’ s St Thomas’ Hospital on Thursday evening and will now be monitored closely during what Downing Street called “ the early phase of his recovery” .
“ He is in extremely good spirits , ” a No . 10 spokesman said .
Johnson ’ s improving condition came as the government continues to impose an unprecedented nationwide lockdown to try to stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus .
It announced another 881 deaths on Thursday , taking the UK total to 7 , 978 , with more than 65 , 000 cases so far confirmed .
That is thought to reflect only a fraction of the actual number of people infected .
Despite the grim tolls , there were indications the stringent social distancing regime introduced on March 23 could be starting to have a positive impact .
“ We are beginning to see the benefits of this social distancing , ” said Stephen Powis , medical director of England ’ s state – run National Health Service .
“ We do believe the virus is spreading less , ” he told the BBC.
But Powis stressed it was “ critical ” that people keep obeying the social distancing measures over the long Easter weekend, when fine weather in forecast .
“ It’ s still too early to really be confident that we are turning the corner, ” he added .
“ We need to completely and utterly make sure that we all comply with the instructions we have been given. ”
The Federal Government has yet to take a decision to provide free electricity supply to Nigerians for two months, the Minister of Power , Mr Saleh Mamman , has said .
The minister ’ s statement comes after power distribution companies said that the two – month free electricity which they announced on Wednesday would be paid for by the National Assembly and the Federal Government.
Mamman , in a tweet , said , “ No decision has been taken by the Federal Government to provide Nigerians with free electricity for two months.
“ If and when that becomes a reality, it shall be announced officially. Be rest assured that the Federal Government is exploring ways to ameliorate any hardship on Nigerians . ”
The Discos had announced on Wednesday that they were in support of the proposal by the National Assembly and the Federal Executive arm of government that Nigerians should get two months of free electricity .
Speaking through their umbrella body , the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors , the Discos stated that modalities for the free electricity would be worked on and made public in due course .
The Discos, however , clarified on Thursday that electricity would be paid for by the Federal Government in partnership with the National Assembly .
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