COVID-19 Lockdown: Where Are The Mega Religious Concerns? This is The Opportunity To Win Souls Through Actions!

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Food For Thought:

 ‘’And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins’’. Bible: 1 Peter 4:8

Preamble: On Monday, March 30, 2020, President Buhari abruptly ordered a two-week lockdown of Lagos, Abuja and Ogun State to curb the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic sweeping across the world. The lockdown came into force on Monday night meaning there was little time for people to prepare, buy foodstuffs etc. Even if there was enough time, many Nigerians don't have the wherewithal to stockpile essential commodities because many depend on subsistence income to eke out a living. Few days into the stay-at-home directive, a crisis within a crisis – hunger virus or HUVID-20 is emerging in Nigeria. Nigerians are confronted with hyper-inflation in the prices of food and essential commodities. A paint container of garri hitherto sold for N500 in most parts of Lagos state now goes for as much as N1,500, a 300% increase. Same applies to other food items. People are struggling to feed, pay bills and survive. The butterfly-effect will be potential increase in crime. We hear folks are stealing foodstuffs. Folks reportedly broke into the office of the LCDA Chairman at Oké-Odo, Lagos state and carted away COVID-19 relief materials. 

Cybersecurity Awareness: How Cybercriminals Weaponize COVID-19 To Perpetrate Scam

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Preamble: According to worldometers.info/coronavirus, there are currently 335,366 coronavirus cases in 191 countries and territories around the world. Out of this number, about 97,595 (87%) of COVID-19 patients recovered and 14,611 deaths (13%) were recorded as at 2200Hours GMT, 22/03/2020. This suggests that a coronavirus infection is not necessarily a death sentence as people actually recover from it. On the economic side, the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Thursday that a global recession "is a near certainty" and current national responses to the coronavirus pandemic "will not address the global scale and complexity of the crisis." Corroborating the assertion of the UN Secretary General, Nigeria’s Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PECA) warns that Nigeria could slip into another recession sequel to the impact of coronavirus on global economy, which includes the crash of oil price.

Border Closure Affecting Telecoms Services; Boko Haram Bombs 282 Base Stations in NE Nigeria

Voice call and data networks in the villages and towns around Nigerian borders have been down due to lack of diesel to power the base stations there, Airtel Nigeria has said. It also said the insurgents bombed 282 telecom base stations in the North East recently. Daily Trust reports that the Federal Government had stopped fuel tankers from delivering fuel to areas close to the borders.

BREAKING: Health Minister Confirms First Case Of Coronavirus COVID-19 In Nigeria

Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Health has confirmed the first case of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria.

Pervasive Insecurity In Nigeria, Boko Haram Resurgence And The Fierce Urgency of Now!

Service Chiefs - Credit: Daily Trust 

Preamble: If there is a critical discourse on the front burner currently in Nigeria, it is on unrelenting insecurity – pervasive kidnap for ransom and extortion, overwhelming banditry, resilient and resurging Boko Haram attacks on soft/hard targets, seeming helplessness of Nigerian security agencies, especially the military and deafening calls for the Service chiefs to voluntarily, honorably throw in the towel or be sacked. The secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha says ‘’you don’t just wake up and sack people like that, there are processes and I believe that, at the ‘opportune’ time, those processes will be followed. This suggests that the service chiefs who have served their tenures may not be replaced anytime soon. The aforesaid statement credited to the SGF and an Op-ed on Africa Briefing by a professional colleague – Mr. David Otto titled, ‘’Changing Nigeria’s military leadership at the height of Boko Haram/ISWAP attacks is a tactical suicide’’. Nigerians are being slaughtered, kidnapped in their numbers every day. According to the report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard after her 12-day mission to Nigeria, ''Nigeria is a pressure cooker of internal conflicts and generalised violence that must be addressed urgently...''. Someone please remind the commander-in-chief that the ‘opportune’ time to do the needful is now. There's a fierce urgency to act now!

US Offers Key Counterterrorism Strategy To Africa

One of the security concepts that has emerged within the United States over the last couple of decades has been the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). In the United States it is rare not to hear accounts in the media regarding actions being taken by the known JTTFs in New York and Washington, D.C.

Boko Haram Kills 30, Abducts Scores in Maiduguri, NE Nigeria

Boko Haram terrorists reportedly killed at least 30 people and abducted many women and children in a raid in Borno State, a regional government spokesman said on Monday.

Health Security: Nigeria Braces For Coronavirus, Airports on Alert

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The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) advised passengers and other airport users to comply with all quarantine procedures at airports nationwide to prevent the importation of the virus.

Airports worldwide also increased health screenings and the implementation of new quarantine procedures as officials hurried to slow the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus, a new SARS-like illness that first appeared in Hubei province, China.

Nigeria Issues Lassa Fever Healthcare Worker Advisory

Lassa fever is a major public health challenge in West Africa, with Nigeria bearing the highest burden. It is an acute viral haemorrhagic fever (VHF) caused by the Lassa virus. The natural reservoir for the virus is the Mastomys natalensis rodent (commonly known as the multimammate rat). Other rodents that carry the virus have also been identified.

Trump Administration Plans To Add Nigeria And Six Other Nations To Travel Ban List

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The Trump administration is planning to add seven countries - Belarus, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nigeria, Sudan and Tanzania - to its travel ban list, U.S. media reports said on Tuesday.

Spike in Cult Related Killings in Rivers State, SouthSouth Nigeria

The failure of authorities to protect people from attacks and intimidation by violent gangs is leading to loss of lives and rising impunity that is making life precarious in some communities across Rivers state, said Amnesty International today.

2020’s Top Cybersecurity Threats Explained By Avast

The new year is a time for reflecting on the old and considering the new. In cybersecurity, this leads to a prediction-fest where vendors tell us what to expect over the next 12 months. But to really understand what is likely to happen, we need to examine not what happened over the last year, but what has been bubbling under the surface. From there we can assess how the criminals are likely to respond in their drive for either money or political advantage.

Gunmen Abduct Four Students of Catholic Seminary in Kaduna, Northcentral Nigeria

Four students of the Catholic Good Shepherds Seminary, Kakau, Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna state, have been abducted by gunmen who invaded the school.

Nigerians Given 12 Hours To Leave South African Province After Cop’s Fatal Stabbing

Nigerians and other foreign nationals resident in South Africa’s Keimoes and Upington areas of Northern Cape Province were yesterday morning given 12 hours to vacate by the indigenes.

Aviation Security: Tougher Screening Awaits Nigerian Travellers Due To US-Iran Face-Off

Tougher security screening may be awaiting Nigerians who are planning to visit the United States (U.S.) and other European countries in the wake of the escalated face-off between America and Iran. Aviation security experts said the measure would now be necessary with the suspicious Wednesday’s Boeing plane crash in Iran.