Middle Aged Woman Found Dead In Toilet At Lagos International Airport

News reports have revealed the unfortunate demise of a middle aged woman found dead in one of the toilet stalls at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, today.

An unidentified middle aged female passenger had been travelling with Etihad Airways before she had been found dead.

The Nationreports that the woman had been travelling for medical treatment before her sudden death.

The woman was revealed to have complained of sudden pains just before going to the toilet where she may have suffered some complications which ultimately led to her death.

Spokesman of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN),Yakubu Dati, has confirmed the incident. May her soul rest in peace.

Buhari Orders Mass Sackings At Budget Office

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the complete purge of the Budget Office because of the discrepancies and padding of the 2016 budget, The PUNCH has learnt. Our correspondent gathered on Wednesday that the President handed down the directive following the embarrassment that the budget discrepancies had attracted to his government.

It will be recalled that Buhari had on Monday sacked Mr. Yahaya Gusau as the Director-General of the Budget Office for the same reason and approved the appointment of Mr. Tijjani Mohammed Abdullahi as his replacement. But a top government official who pleaded anonymity told The PUNCH on Wednesday that the President was not yet done with the issue.

The source said Buhari had been properly briefed of the activities of government officials in the Budget Office who were described as “budget mafia” and accused of sabotaging the budget process.

He said that a decision had been taken that while many of the identified officials would be sacked, the remaining ones should be posted out of the office. He added that the Head of Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita, had been directed to implement the presidential directive and communicate the decision to the affected officials. The source said, “The President is really angry over the discrepancies discovered in the 2016 budget. It has been confirmed that it was a clear case of sabotage. It was said to have been carried out by a budget mafia whose members are strongly enshrined in the office.

“The President’s decision is that the former Director-General should not be the only casualty in this matter. “He has ordered that the Budget Office should be purged. Many of the officials there will be sacked while others will be transferred to other places other than where they have already constituted themselves to a mafia.”

When asked when the President’s directive would take effect, the source said “it is with immediate effect.” In sacking Guasu as DG, Budget Office on Monday, Buhari had also approved the appointment of Mr. Ben Akabueze as the Special Adviser on Planning to the Minister of Budget and National Planning.

Sources in the Presidency had, on February 6, alleged that a budget mafia planned to scuttle the innovations introduced by the current administration into the budget by inflating the figures.

A mafia was alleged to have proposed a budget of N9.7tn for capital and overhead spending, excluding personnel cost, as against the Presidency’s initial estimate of about N8tn. The group was said to have proposed N3tn as overheads alone out of the N9.7tn, a figure the Presidency later slashed to N163bn.

The Ministry of Budget and National planning had also promised to investigate and punish those responsible for the errors and strange figures found in the budget, which was presented to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari in December, 2015.

The errors had delayed the passage of the budget with the federal legislature, saying the February 25 deadline it set for its approval was no longer feasible. Source:-Punch

Nigerian Army Set To Storm Aba To End Biafra Protest

Brigadier General Lawrence Fejokwu, the Commanding Officer, 14 Brigade Ohafia, made an announcement that, the command headquarters will be moved to Aba to protect residents in the area.

This is coming in the wake of protests by members of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign States of Biafra (MASSOB).

The protesting groups are calling for the release of their leader, Nnamdi Kanu. Fejokwu said “I have gone around to familiarize myself with my location and men.

My decision is that Aba have continued to be a hot spot especially on the activities of IPOB and MASSOB and the issue of kidnapping. To this effect, I have decided to, after due clearance with my boss, the GOC, to relocate our tactical headquarters from Ohafia to Aba to see how far we can go in arresting the situation.”

Adding that “In doing so, I urge the IPOB and MASSOB to rescind their decision to bear arms and stop acts of violence and channel their grievances to the appropriate authorities.” The commanding officer also said:-

“I don’t mind dialoging with the pro Biafra groups if that will bring peace. If they want to pray; at the end of it, they should quietly go back to their houses. But in a situation where prayers lead to procession which will disturb the peace of the state, no security agency will sit and watch that happen. We will continue to appeal to them to tow the path of peace. As at today, there is no pro Biafra protester in our custody.”

Photo Of Tonto Dikeh while In The Labor Room

She gave birth to her son yesterday February 17th. Big congrats to her!

Bukola Saraki Welcomes Ooni Of Ife, Gets Made In Nigerian Gift From Monarch (Photo)

Senate president, Bukola Saraki in company of other senators received the Ooni of Ife, Oba Alayeluwa Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II today. The senate president who prostrated before the monarch got a Made in Nigeria gift as his souvenir. See more photos below:-

Vaccine – Preventable Disease Kills 25 Children In Lagos

Residents of Otodo-GbameCommunity in Ikate, Lekki, Lagos State, are battling to save their children from a vaccine preventable disease which has claimed the lives of no fewer than 25 children in the area.

Punch Metrolearnt that the yet-to-be-identified disease, which started in January 2016, has brought panic to the predominantly Egun community, as the affected children developed rashes similar to measles, and usually died two to three days after.

Punch correspondent gathered that some families, most of whom work as fishermen and fish sellers, lost two to three children each while the disease ravaged the area in January and first week of February.

When Punch Metro visited the area on Monday, it was learnt that health workers from the Eti-Osa Local Government Area had visited the community last Wednesday and had started immunisation for children. Punch correspondent learnt that two children, however, died in the presence of the health workers while the immunisation was being administered. Speaking withPunch Metro, a woman, Anago Benedict, who lost three of her children to the disease, and gave their names as Taiye, Kehinde and Jisine, said apart from the rashes on their bodies, they also vomited blood before they died.

She said, “My children fell sick in the first week of February. The disease is ravaging our area, and we did not have anyone to run to.

“My children were killed by the disease. They were vomiting blood. I did not know what name to call the disease.” Another woman, Stella Paul, who is the mother of one of the two children that died on Wednesday, said the girl was ill for only two days.

She said, “Her name was Esther. She was two years old. She died on Wednesday in the presence of the health workers. She was sick for only two days. I have three children. Esther was the youngest. Emmanuel is the first.”

Another resident, Atuku Daddy, who lost his niece, Kehinde Petito, urged the government to provide health care facilities in the community, as they lacked any government hospital. He said, “The girl was two years old. She died on February 8. She was ill for just three days, and she was rushed to the hospital, where she died.

“In the night, she could not sleep. Some of the symptoms we saw were swollen private parts and high temperature. We call it Ina oru. In the afternoon, she would play, but in the evening, her body would become hot.

“I work as a fisherman, and I was born in this community. Nothing of such had happened in our area before now. Our grandfathers usually told us that there had not been any epidemic. But since January, many children had died in our area from the disease.

“A family lost up to three children to the disease. That is why we appeal to the state government to give us a hospital. Since the immunisation started last Wednesday, the rate of contracting the disease is getting minimal.”

Kehinde’s grandmother, Bose Petito, who works as a cleaner in a private school in Lekki Phase 1, said, “I have taken her twin brother for vaccination. They also gave him drugs to use. The signs of the disease are on him too, but they are not serious. It was sad to lose her, but we are fine now. The mother has gone to work.”

Punch correspondent also observed the rashes on Taiye’s legs and stomach during the interview.

A resident, who identified himself only as Jonathan, said the health workers collected the water and food samples of the residents to find out the cause of the disease.

Jonathan added that residents had raised the alarm since January, but help did not come on time. He said, “Between January and February 2016, we had deaths of many children. They would have a brief illness and they would die.

“So far in February, we have had about 20 children who died. When the health workers came, they took our water and food samples to the laboratory for tests, but I do not know what they found out. “We raised the alarm when these deaths started, but no one came to our rescue. Since Wednesday, people have been turning out for the immunisation.” However, the state Ministry of Health said it had sent epidemiologists to the community to verify the outbreak. The ministry’s spokesperson, Mrs. Adeola Salako, said the blood samples and other body fluids of children with suspected cases had been collected for examination.

She said, “An epidemiological investigation, led by the state epidemiologists from the Ministry of Health, commenced on Wesdnesday, February 10.

‘The investigation is meant to verify the assertions and the cause of deaths through laboratory investigation of water, throat swabs and blood samples of children with suspected cases and to proffer solutions. “It is worthy of note that no further death has been recorded since then.”

Why Buhari Travels Often - Lai Mohammed Explains

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, on Wednesday spoke on why President Muhammadu Buhari constantly embarks on foreign trips. Mohammedwhile briefing State House correspondents on the outcome of the Federal Executive Council meeting, said the trips were designed to tackle terrorism and corruption, which had hitherto been discouraging investors from investing in Nigeria.

The minister said: “You do not run a country by being isolated and the personal presence of the President in many of these fora is very important because before now we were almost a pariah state.

“The two things that have been driving investments away from this country are terrorism and corruption.

“One thing that nobody can fault this President on is his determination to fight these two ills. Mr. President’s presence in these fora is very crucial even to the economy back at home. “What I mean that Nigeria was a pariah state, is that before now the level of corruption was very high that nobody was ready to risk his investment in Nigeria.

“The cost of doing business was so high that most international businessmen didn’t want to come here. “Who is coming to invest in a country where there is insecurity? These are the twin problems that Mr. President has addressed in the last nine months.”