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The Inspector – General of Police , Mohammed Adamu, has directed all officers of the Force to “ extend due courtesies to essential service providers ” in all states across the country including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja .

He also ordered Force personnel deployed to enforce the 8 pm – to – 6 am curfew in the country to respect the fundamental rights of medical practitioners, journalists , other essential workers , and all citizens .

The PUNCH reports that the Nigerian Medical Association in Lagos State on Wednesday asked its members to embark on an indefinite ‘ sit – at – home ’ over alleged harassment and intimidation by police officers .

But in a statement , the Police said , “The Force wishes to state that it is not oblivious of the sensitive, indispensable , patriotic and frontline role of the nation’ s workforce that falls within the category of Essential Service Providers particularly as it relates to efforts to curtail & contain the COVID- 19 pandemic .

“ To this effect , all essential workers including medical personnel, ambulance service providers , journalists , firefighters , etc remain exempted from the movement restriction orders as well as the national curfew .

“ Consequently , the Inspector General of Police , IGP M . A Adamu , NPM , mni has directed Zonal Assistant Inspectors – General of Police and State Command Commissioners of Police to give maximum effect to these orders and extend due courtesies to essential service providers so affected and also ensure that personnel deployed for the enforcement duties respect the fundamental rights of the citizens . ”

The President , Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd . ) , has approved the termination of the appointment of Prof Charles Uwakwe as registrar and chief executive officer of the National Examinations Council .

The President also dismissed four members of the council ’ s management for various offences bordering on financial impropriety .

Uwakwe had been suspended since May 2018 by the Federal Government over alleged financial mismanagement and abuse of office . Mr Abubakar Gana had been appointed as the acting registrar .

Uwakwe and some top officials were said to have allegedly awarded contracts in the council to the tune of N25 bn without following due process .

NECO in a release confirmed that the suspended registrar had been relieved of his appointment by the President , while four members of the management had also been dismissed .

The President ’ s directive was conveyed in a letter , dated May 11 , 2020 and signed by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, Sonny Echono , on behalf of the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu .

It said Uwakwe was accused of violating the Public Procurement Act ( 2007 ) and pursuant to PSR 030402 and Part 1 schedule 4 ( i ) of NECO Establishment Act .

Echono said , “ After due consideration of the investigative panel on the allegation of unsatisfactory conduct levelled against you and some management staff of the council , Mr President in exercise of his powers , has approved your removal as the registrar and chief executive officer of National Examinations Council with effect from the date of your suspension from duty . ”

The former registrar was also directed to hand over all the government property in his custody to the acting registrar .

In another letter , FME / S/ 1419 /C. 3 /T/ 98 , on May 11 , by the permanent secretary, the President approved the dismissal from service of four management workers .

According to NECO , the affected officers are acting Director ( Finance and Accounts ), Mr Bamidele Olure ; Head of Procurement Division , Dr Shina Adetona; Deputy Director, Mr Tayo Odukoya , and the Head of Legal /Board matters, Babatunde Aina.

The letter partly read , “ After due consideration of the financial report of the Review Committee , Mr President has approved the recommendations as follows ; Bamidele Olure, dismissal from the service with effect from the date of his suspension from office having been found guilty of financial impropriety and not qualified to head the Finance and Accounts Department .

“ Dr Shina Adetona was dismissed from service with effect from the date he was suspended from office for acts tantamount to fraudulent practices, sabotage and suppression of official records . ”

Punch

The Nigerian Medical Association in Lagos State has asked its members to embark on an indefinite ‘ sit – at – home ’ over alleged harassment and intimidation of medical workers by security agents in the state .

The NMA on Wednesday gave the directive in a statement signed by its Chairman , Dr Saliu Oseni , and Secretary , Dr Ramon Moronkola , adding that the directive took effect from 6 pm on Wednesday .

The Lagos NMA accused police officers in Lagos of acting contrary to the directives of the Federal Government on lockdown order , noting that their members were unsafe.

“ As a direct result of the conflicting directives of the government and the Lagos State Commissioner of Police , Hakeem Odumosu , the Lagos State branch of Nigerian Medical Association was inundated of several cases of harassment and intimidation of doctors and other health workers by officers and men of the Lagos State Police Command to the extent that even ambulances carrying patients with emergency cases were impounded. This has become a recurrent issue.

“ The Lagos State branch of the NMA has resolved that it is presently unsafe for members to continue to provide healthcare services under the present confused arrangement.

“ You are hereby advised to proceed on a sit – at – home, in your best interest, starting from 6 pm today , Wednesday , 20 th May , 2020 indefinitely , until otherwise advised, ” the statement said .

However , the Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy , Mr Gbenga Omotosho , said the issue had been resolved.

He said , “ Before it got to this level last night ( Tuesday ) , the Lagos State Government intervened and called the top hierarchy of the police and told them the confusion we had in town and immediately the matter was resolved .

“ When the NMA said it was going on strike , the commissioner for health and everybody have been on it and they have spoken to them that the police had reversed themselves and there was no need to go on strike and they agreed . ”

Organised labour unions at the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, has trooped in large numbers to express their anger over the replacement of the managing Director of the company, Mr. Usman Gur Mohammed with Engr. Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz.

The unions, which staged the wild protest at the Company’s Headquarters located in Maitama District of the Federal Capital City, FCC, in Abuja, said they rejected the sacking of Mr. Mohammed as the Managing Director of TCN, by the Minister of Power, Engr. Sale Mamman.

They however threatened to shut down power infrastructure should urgent step not taking by the government to reinstate him.

Recall Minister of Power, Engr. Sale Mamman Tuesday night announced the replacement of the Managing Director, TCN Mr. Usman Gur Mohammed with Engr. Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz.

Engr. Abdulaziz until the appointment as the Managing Director of TCN in acting capacity was the Regional Transmission Manager (RTM), Abuja Region of TCN.

The development was contained in a statement by Mr. Aaron Artimas, the Special Adviser to the Minister of Power.

Artimas explained that, “As part of continuing measures to reposition and improve the performance of the power sector in the country, the Honorable Minister of Power Engr. Sale Mamman hereby announces major changes at the Transmission Company of Nigeria.”

“Accordingly, the Managing Director of the TCN, Usman Gur Mohammed has been removed from office with immediate effect. He is being replaced with Engr. Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz, as Managing Director, in acting capacity.

Dissatisfied, the members of the unions comprising the Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies, SSAEAC, and the Nigerian Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, at TCN branch had abandoned their job to reject the sacking.

Other changes made by the minister include the appointment of four directors who have been on acting position in the Company for some time.

“They are; Eng. Victor G. Adewumi. Executive Director, Transmission Services Provider; Engr. M. J. Lawal, Executive Director, Independent Systems Operator; Ahmed lsa-Dutse, Executive Director, Finance & Accounts and Justin l. Dodo, Executive Director, Human Resources & Corporate Services.

He said, “All the changes/ appointments have been approved by President Muhammadu Buhari.”

Vanguard

The Federal Executive Council has approved N623 . 7 million for the Nigeria Customs Service to buy computers for its zonal and area commands .

The Minister of Information and Culture , Mr Lai Mohammed , gave the information at the end of the virtual FEC meeting .

“ The Minister of Finance presented a memo for the award of contract for 1 , 200 units of coloured printers and desktop computers for human resources and accounting management systems across zones and area commands of the Nigeria Customs Service , which was approved .

“ The sum of the contract was N623 , 700 , 000 for the 1 , 200 desktops and computers for the use of the Customs Service all over the country, ” Mohammed told reporters.

Punch

The Nigerian Medical Association in Lagos State has asked its members to embark on an indefinite “sit – at – home ” industrial action over alleged harassment and intimidation by security agents in the state .

The NMA gave the “ stay – at – home directive ” in a statement signed by its Chairman , Dr Saliu Oseni , and Secretary , Dr Ramon Moronkola .

According to the statement , the directive takes effect from 6 . 00 pm.

The doctors accused police officers in Lagos of acting contrary to the directives of the Federal Government on lockdown order, noting that their members are unsafe .

The statement read , “ We have observed that despite the directives of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria , President Muhamadu Buhari , through the Presidential Taskforce on COVID 19 , which was clear on the exemption of essential workers including doctors and other health workers from the ongoing lockdown /movement restrictions, ( but ) the Commissioner of Police in Lagos State , Mr . Hakeem Odumosu , has been issuing conflicting directives on social and mainstream media to the effect that essential workers , including doctors and other health -workers are NOT exempted .

“ As a direct result of the conflicting directives of the government and the Lagos State Commissioner of Police , the Lagos State branch of Nigerian Medical Association was inundated yesterday ( Tuesday ) evening of several cases of harassments and intimidation of doctors and other health – workers by officers and men of the Lagos State Police command to the extent that even Ambulances carrying patients with emergency cases were impounded. This has become a recurrent issue.

“ The Lagos State Branch of the NMA has resolved that it is presently unsafe for members to continue to provide healthcare services under the present confused arrangement.

“ You are hereby advised to proceed on a sit – at – home, in your best interest, starting from 6 pm today , Wednesday , 20 th May , 2020 indefinitely , until otherwise advised . ”

Punch

The President , Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd . ) , and ministers are attending a virtual Federal Executive Council meeting .

Buhari attends from the Presidential Villa in Abuja .

It is the second virtual FEC meeting since the coronavirus pandemic started .

The first virtual FEC meeting was held on Wednesday , last week .

The virtual option was adopted as part of measures to guard against the spread of the virus .

Only ministers with memos to present need to be physically present at the Presidential Villa while others linked up from their different locations .

Four men have been arrested in Cairo after using masks depicting Liverpool star Mohamed Salah as a disguise to rob stores .

The gang of armed thieves was caught by the police while attempting to rob a store on Hassanein Heikal Street, in the Nasr City neighbourhood of Egypt ’ s capital , according to reports .

All four of the robbers covered their face using masks of the Liverpool attacker , who is a huge star in his home country.

The gang tried to escape after being approached by security forces but were eventually apprehended.

Salah has become one of the world ’ s most sought players since joining Liverpool from Roma in 2017 .

The star was subject of interest from Real Madrid during his first season at Anfield , according to Egypt’ s assistant coach Hany Ramzy .

The interest was said to have been months ahead of the two club’ s meeting in that season ’ s Champions League final – concluding a campaign where the Egyptian netted a remarkable 44 goals.

“ When I was working with Hector Cuper , we had a training camp in Switzerland [ in March 2018 ] , ” Ramzy told OnTime Sportsvia Goal , via the Echo .

Punch/DailyStar Uk

The headquarters of the Nigerian Postal Service has been gutted by fire .

The fire incident , affected the Staff Posting Unit at the NIPOST’ s building .

The Postmaster General of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer of NIPOST, Ismail Adewusi , confirmed the incident .

He assured Nigerians that the fire outbreak would not affect NIPOST’ s operations .

He said , “ No cause for alarm over the fire that touched our Office of ( Staff ) Posting under the Personnel Unit . No damage to any vital document was recorded.

“ It has also caused no disruption to any of our operations . We thank men of the Federal Fire Service who responded promptly and put the fire under control . ”

Lesotho ’ s ex – finance minister Moeketsi Majoro was sworn in as Prime Minister following the resignation of Thomas Thabane who is accused of conspiring in the murder of his wife.

Majoro , 58 , took the took oath of office at a ceremony at the royal palace of King Letsie III in the small southern African kingdom, pledging “ I will be a true and faithful prime minister , so help me God ” , according to an AFP reporter at the event .

AFP