Author: Chronicle Editor

“The night Cyril Ramaphosa became a wartime president” is how a leading columnist for South Africa’s News24 website described the South African leader’s decision to impose a nationwide lockdown to defeat coronavirus. The three-week lockdown, which started just after midnight, is unprecedented. It is the first time since South Africa became a democracy in 1994 that a president had stripped away the most basic freedoms of citizens – to walk, to shop, to socialise and to congregate for prayer without hindrance. “The law is that you stay at home. The exception is for survival: food [and] health, with security forces…

Justice Mohammed Liman of a Federal High Court in Lagos on March 26, 2020, ordered the interim forfeiture of N293million, six parcels of land and 30,000 MTN shares recovered from Maj. Gen. Emmanuel Atewe (Retd), a former Commander of the Military Joint Task Force, Operation Pulo Shield, in the Niger Delta. Atewe is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, alongside Patrick Akpobolokemi, a former Director-General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Kime Enzogu and Josephine Otuaga on a 22-count charge of Conspiracy, Stealing and Money Laundering. The order of interim forfeiture follows an ex-parte…

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday he had tested positive for coronavirus and was self isolating but would still lead the government’s response to the outbreak. A Downing Street spokesman said Johnson, 55, experienced mild symptoms on Thursday – a day after he answered at the prime minister’s weekly question-and-answer session in parliament’s House of Commons chamber. Over the last 24 hours I have developed mild symptoms and tested positive for coronavirus. I am now self-isolating, but I will continue to lead the government’s response via video-conference as we fight this virus. Together we will beat this. #StayHomeSaveLives…

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has shut his palace in Ile-Ife, Osun state to curb spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). The Ooni in a statement yesterday by his Director of Media and Public Affairs, Moses Olafare, said: “The palace is shut and all social and cultural activities have been suspended, only visitors with essential mission will be allowed in. “The easiest solution is for everyone to stay at home. COVID-19 is not a respecter of anybody, and does not honour anybody. This is the first time in a long while that the world is having a common problem, we…

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has ensured the completion of two separate abandoned projects by Fariq Interbiz Limited, worth N305,000,000 (Three Hundred and Five Million Naira) in Wasagu and Dirin-Daji communities of Kebbi State. The intervention followed a whistleblower information that the Commission received where it was gathered that the Federal Ministry of Water Resources awarded the contracts to the company to construct two comprehensive water supply units, one in Wasagu and the other in Dirin-Daji communities. The contractor, having received a reasonable percentage of the total contract sum, abandoned the project uncompleted. EFCC lists Surebet247, 34 other…

In the latest attempt to end fraud related tax in the lottery and betting industry in Nigeria, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has uncovered the identity of Thirty Five (35) lottery business operators who do not have core licenses or permits to operate. The 35 illegal companies’ names were unraveled during an investigation that was carried out on the operations of lottery companies in the country, supported by a document from the National Lottery Regulatory Commission, NLRC, based on request from the EFCC. The illegal companies are: Emerald Bets International Limited (Emerald Bet), Saharabets Sports Ltd (Surebet247), Bimm…

The UK government has ordered 10,000 ventilators from Dyson to help deal with the coronavirus crisis. The firm, headed by British inventor Sir James Dyson, said it had designed a new type of ventilator in response to a call on behalf of the NHS. The order is still subject to the devices passing stringent medical tests but that is expected to happen quickly. Dyson has had hundreds of engineers working round the clock to design the ventilators from scratch. Blitz spirit It hopes to build the ventilators at scale from its UK base in Wiltshire – using aircraft hangars that…

China has announced a temporary ban on all foreign visitors, even if they have visas or residence permits. The country is also limiting Chinese and foreign airlines to one flight per week, and flights must not be more than 75% full. Although China reported its first locally-transmitted coronavirus case for three days on Friday, almost all its new cases now come from abroad. There were 55 new cases across China on Thursday – 54 of them from overseas. What are the new rules? The Chinese Foreign Ministry said it was “suspending the entry of foreign nationals” because of the “rapid spread of…

The US now has more confirmed cases of coronavirus than any other country, with more than 85,500 positive tests. According to the latest figures collated by Johns Hopkins University, the US has overtaken China (81,782 cases) and Italy (80,589). But with almost 1,300 Covid-19-related fatalities, the US death toll lags behind China (3,291) and Italy (8,215). The grim milestone came as President Donald Trump predicted the nation would get back to work “pretty quickly”. How did the White House react? Asked about the latest figures at a White House briefing on Thursday afternoon, President Trump said it was “a tribute to the…

Mexican protesters have shut a US southern border crossing amid fears that untested American travellers will spread coronavirus. Residents in Sonora, south of the US state of Arizona, have promised to block traffic into Mexico for a second day after closing a checkpoint for hours on Wednesday. They wore face masks and held signs telling Americans to “stay at home”. Mexico has fewer than 500 confirmed Covid-19 cases and the US over 65,000. The border is supposed to be closed to all except “essential” business, but protesters said there has been little enforcement and no testing by authorities. The blockade…