Evidence from China suggests the way to get on top of the covid-19 outbreak is through rapid testing, isolation and quarantine rather than lockdowns and big travel restrictions
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In a bid to curb the spread of the deadly Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Nigeria, government has placed a ban on foreign trips for all of its officials.
The ban was announced by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, who said that it will commence immediately.
Outcomes from the first meeting of the Presidential Taskforce on #COVID19 chaired by @OfficialOSGFNG:
1) There is a ban on ALL travel for public servants
2) We strongly discourage travel by Nigerians to affected countries except for essential trips pic.twitter.com/UN10AW6Yun
— NCDC (@NCDCgov) March 17, 2020
SaharaReporters had earlier reported the establishment of a Presidential Task Force for the control of Coronavirus in the country.
Mustapha disclosed the ban to journalists after the inauguration of the task force as a major step to contain the spread of the virus.
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Four young men in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, remain missing two months after being unlawfully arrested by personnel of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad.
The four were arrested at Boss Lounge, a popular nightclub along Woji Road in GRA, Port Harcourt, on Sunday, January 5, 2020 around 8:00pm and their whereabouts have remained unknown since that period.
Efforts by their family members to locate the four persons have been rebuffed by the police, who deny having a hand in their ordeal.
Narrating the incident to SaharaReporters, Mr Ezekiel Tariuwa, elder brother of one of the missing young men, Kingsley, said a Mobile Police officer in charge of security at the lounge, gave access to the SARS officials into the facility to effect the arrest of Kingsley and the three others.
According to Tariuwa, the police in Rivers have denied ordering the arrest and claimed not to be aware of the incident and whereabouts of the young men.
He said, “My brother, Kingsley Tariuwa, was arrested alongside three others at the Boss Lounge, on Sunday, January 5, 2020, at around 8:00pm by SARS.
“The SARS officers were actually cleared by a Mobile Policeman named Elisha Hassan, who is in charge of security at the facility.
“Someone at the lounge, who recognised my brother, had to call someone that alerted one of my siblings to the fact that Kingsley had been arrested.
“We tried calling his phone number from around 9:00pm, it was ringing but there was no response until around 11:30pm when someone picked up the call but all I could hear were voices of police officers ordering them to write statements.
“The line soon dropped and up until this moment, the number had remained switched off.”
Speaking further, Tariuwa disclosed that he had been to the SARS headquarters in Port Harcourt several times to search for his brother but the officers deny carrying out any arrest the previous night each time he went there.
He stated, “I met one officer named Supol Amanze Onyegbula, who sent a junior officer to check their cells if the persons I was looking for were there.
“The officer came back and said they were not in their custody.
“He then advised me to go to radio room at the state police headquarters so that they could help me do a radio search for my brother instead of walking from one station to another.
“I went there, the lady on duty radioed all the stations around but none of them confirmed to have them in custody. I was there for more than two hours and it was still negative.
“The lady at the radio room advised me to go and confirm once again from the policeman at Boss Lounge about which people actually made the arrest.”
Tariuwa further revealed that in the course of his findings, the identity of the SARS official, who led the operation was revealed, adding that the man indirectly confessed to killing the four persons.
He said, “The Mobile Police officer at Boss Lounge told me that it was men from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad that made the arrest and that one of the SARS officers gave him his number.
“He then called the number of the SARS officer, put it on loudspeaker so that I could hear what the man would say while I was standing next to him.
“When the SARS officer picked the call, he then told him that he was the Mobile Policeman at the night club where they arrested four young men the previous night and that their relatives were there with him.
“The SARS officer then said in pidgin that, ‘Forget them! Them don come our office today, commander tell them say no be we arrest the boys. In fact we don travel those boys, we don clear them, no where he reach, nothing go happen’.”
Tariuwa disclosed that after running a check on mobile application, Truecaller, with the SARS officer’s number, the name was revealed as Francis Nwankwo.
He said that a petition had been sent to the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mustapha Dandaura, who directed the DCP, CIID, to oversee the matter.
He added that during the course of investigation, all parties concerned were invited for interrogation and while they honoured the invitation, the SARS officer refused to visit the state CIID.
Tariuwa also revealed that the Mobile Police officer at Boss Lounge was detained by the command.
According to the aggrieved man, Nwankwo, the SARS officer, denied arresting anyone at Boss Lounge when he was called by the investigating officer at the state CIID.
Irked by the slow pace of investigation by the Rivers State Police and ludicrous cooperation of the SARS, Tariuwa lodged another complaint at the Police Complaint Response Unit, which he said triggered some results.
He said, “After I petitioned the Police CRU in Abuja, two days later, the SARS officers showed up at the state CIID, gave their statements but did not show up with my brother and others arrested.
“The day that the DCP gave us to update us on their final investigation was the day that the OC, General Investigations, told us that the case had been transferred to Abuja.
The petition
“The result of their investigations has not been relayed to us, no words on the whereabouts of my brother.
“The only thing the OC, General Investigation, said was that SARS had agreed that they arrested my brother but they have not told us his current state or the other three men.”
Apart from family members of Kingsley Tariuwa, relatives of the three other young men unlawfully seized and arbitrarily detained by Rivers State SARS officials are demanding justice.
Over recent months, SARS officials have been behind many unlawful arrests, detentions and even killings across Nigeria. For instance, on February 22, 2020, SARS officials arrested a player of Remo Stars Football Club in Sagamu, Ogun State, named Tiyamu Kazeem after accusing him of being an Internet fraudster. While taking him away in their van, the policemen pushed him from the vehicle on motion and on to an oncoming car which crushed and killed him instantly. The incident led to violent protests all across Sagamu, forcing authorities to ban the activities of SARS in the area.
In April 2019, personnel of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad shot dead a young man named Kolade Johnson in the Mangoro area of Lagos while he was watching an English Premier League match. The policemen claimed to be chasing cult gangs when the bullet from their gun hit and killed the young man. The list is indeed endless.
Though police authorities announced a handful of measures put in place to check the excesses of SARS operatives, nothing significant has changed about the unit as they continue to torment innocent Nigerians.
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The Nigerian Senate has called for travel ban on high risk countries with Coronavirus.
The lawmakers on Tuesday said entry should be banned to flights from the United Kingdom and China.
This came after Nigeria announced its third case of Coronavirus on Tuesday.
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The Lagos State Ministry of Health has asked all passengers on British Airways flight BA 75 to self-isolate.
Commissioner for Health in the state, Prof Akin Abayomi, said the flight arrived Lagos on March 13, 2020.
It was the flight that brought in the third carrier of Coronavirus into Nigeria.
The 30-year-old Nigerian woman arrived in the country on March 13 on the flight and self-isolated herself on government’s recommendation.
The government said she developed symptoms of the deadly virus during self-isolation.
She is currently in the isolation centre in Lagos.
The government has asked other passengers on the flight to call the following numbers; 08000corona, 08023169485, 08033565529, 08052817243, 08028971864, 08059758886, 08035387653 for urgent medical help.
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South Africa’s flag carrier on Friday suspended all international and regional flights until the end of May following a travel ban aimed at curbing the spread of coronavirus.
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KUALA LUMPUR: The government will bear the cost of an electricity discount for selected sectors amounting to RM662 million, of which RM122.5 million is for Sarawak and RM37.2 million for Sabah, this year, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Datuk Dr Shamsul Anuar Nasarah said.
He said the cost would be borne through the Kumpulan Wang Industri Elektrik’s (KWIE) fund for Peninsular Malaysia, and by the federal government for Sabah and Sarawak, he said in a statement today.
The electricity discount of 2% and 15% for six months beginning April was specified under the Economic Stimulus Package 2020, which was aimed at reducing the cash flow problem faced by tourism-related businesses, as well as commercial, industrial and agriculture users affected by Covid-19.
A discount of 15% is given to six selected business sectors under the Trade Tariff category and is expected to result in a reduction of electricity bills for the period amounting to RM40 million in the Peninsula, RM20 million in Sabah and RM8.5 million in Sarawak.
Shamsul Anuar said the 15% discount would involve 10,000 accounts in the six sectors, namely hotel operators, travel and tourism agencies, shopping complexes, convention centres, theme parks, and local airlines offices.
On the other hand, commercial, industrial and agriculture users would get 2.0% discount.
“This would benefit about 1.6 million Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) account holders with electricity bill savings estimated at RM370 million for the six-month period,” he said.
For Sabah, it would benefit 99,322 account owners with an estimated cost of RM11.5 million, while for Sarawak, it involves an estimated cost of RM107.2 million for 100,000 account owners.
Shamsul Anuar said domestic or residential category users would enjoy electricity bill savings through a 2% discount on the electricity consumption for the April 1-Sept 30, 2020 period.
“This means that the people will enjoy a 2% discount during the period, in addition to the 6% discount already enjoyed by domestic consumers for the Jan 1-June 30, 2020 period,” he said.
This is expected to provide estimated electricity bill savings of RM92 million to about 7.5 million TNB account holders for the six-month period.
“For Sabah, it will benefit 520,378 domestic consumers at an estimated cost of RM5.7 million, while for Sarawak, it will benefit 585,637 domestic consumers at an estimated cost of RM6.8 million,” Shamsul Anuar said. – Bernama
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PETALING JAYA: Please, stay at home and protect yourself and your family.
This was the ultimate message by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to all Malaysians in his special address tonight as the country enters its second day of the 14 days restriction of movement order (RMO).
Muhyiddin explained that the goal of the movement restrictions was to minimise exposure to the Covid-19 virus, after many among the public disregarded the order to travel to their hometowns, while others were spotted in public areas.
“The reason of the RMO is so that all of you need not travel. You don’t have to crowd the trains and buses or eateries, and your children are not required to go to school, which could expose them (to the virus).
“I plead to you, please, stay put where you are. I plead, just for this two weeks … stay at home quietly,” he said.
Muhyiddin said it was pertinent that Malaysians adhere to the RMO to break the chain of infection and ultimately reduce the number of those infected with the novel coronavirus.
He reminded the public that the virus could be transmitted from person to person through touch, and that if they continue to travel around, the chances of them contracting Covid-19 was higher.
He added that the reason the RMO was set to two weeks was because the Covid-19 has an incubation period of 14 days.
“The government is hoping that after this period, those still with symptoms can be identified and separated for treatment, and finally make Malaysia free of Covid-19.
“If during this period we are not successful, the government may be forced to extend the restriction order,” he said.
Muhyiddin said while the concept of staying home and avoiding public places looked simple in principle, this was particularly important if the country wishes to contain the virus.
He also urged those who need to move around to purchase essential daily items to practise good hygiene and avoid any physical contact with others.
“As a prime minister, I have a huge responsibility to handle the crisis. But I can’t possibly do it alone. I need all of your help. God willing, we can overcome this crisis together,” he said.
To date, 790 people have been infected by the Covid-19, with 117 new cases recorded today. Two Malaysians died to the virus on Tuesday.
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Australians are not to travel overseas or gather in large groups in a bid to slow the spread of covid-19, which appears to be at relatively low levels in the country
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KUALA LUMPUR: The special police permit requirement for interstate travel on the commencement of the partial lockdown on Wednesday was revoked late on Tuesday – just five hours after the order was issued by police.
The reversal of the order was announced by Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador at about 11pm after a high number of police stations nationwide were filled to the brim with those planning to travel during the two-week lockdown period.
“The public is in the opinion that it can carry out movements if they obtain police approval. As a result of this, there was a large influx of them at police stations and bus stations although only those who meet certain conditions are given approval for any interstate travel. As an early step to overcome this, we are postponing this need to get a permit under the movement control order,” he said last night.
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