Author: Chronicle Editor

The Abuja Municipal Area Council(AMAC) has the highest figure of persons living with HIV in the metropolis, an official of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT’s) Agency For Control of HIV/AIDS (FACA) said. Dr Uche Okoro said AMAC recorded 120,000 cases of HIV as at December 2016. It was followed by Bwari Area Council. No fewer than three million residents underwent HIV/AIDS tests in 2016, with only three per cent positive cases, he said. According to him, free testing and treatment as a method of combating the disease has reduced the prevalence of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the territory.…

Drawing from the successes recorded by the Buhari administration’s youth empowerment schemes, the World Bank, under its Growth and Employment (GEM) project, has approved the sum of N756.3 million for disbursement to 81 young Nigerian innovators who participated in the 2016 Aso Villa Demo Day (AVDD) – one of the economic empowerment initiatives of the present administration. A document obtained from the World Bank-funded GEM project indicated that the money would be disbursed to the beneficiaries in two tranches after a grant signing ceremony scheduled for end of March, 2017. The AVDD in collaboration with GEM project invited business plan…

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has called for the immediate release of 13 students of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) being held in Kirikiri Maximum Prison, Lagos. NANS’ President, Mr Chinonso Obasi, said the union would protest at Kirikiri Prison if the 13 students were not freed within 24 hours. A Special Offences Mobile Court had on April 1 remanded the 13 UNILAG students in Kirikiri Prisons, pending their bail application. They were accused of engaging in unlawful invasion of Television Continental in Lagos. The students were arraigned on a two-count charge of unlawful invasion and disruption of…

President Muhammadu Buhari has condoled with the families of the victims of Cerebro Spinal Meningitis (CSM) in Sokoto State. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the disease has claimed about 328 lives in 16 states of the federation in the last four months. Fourteen states are severely affected in the Northern region with two states in the South. No fewer than 41 live have been confirmed lost to the epidemic in Sokoto between November 2016 and March ending, this year. This was made known on Monday by Gov. Aminu Tambuwal of the state when he led a team…

The deadly explosion in St. Petersburg metro in Russia on Monday has attract condolences from leaders in the Western world. Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland expressed condolences to Russians over the explosion which killed 10 persons. “I am shocked and saddened by the news of deadly blasts in St Petersburg. I extend my sincere condolences to our member state Russia,” Jagland wrote on his Twitter page. Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders offered condolences to the families of the victims. “I express my condolences to the families of the victims and I think of all the wounded…

At least 10 people were killed by an explosion inside a metro train at the Sennaya Square station in St. Petersburg in Russia. Report says an unidentified device exploded in a train car. “According to information available at this point ten people died. Others were injured,” a source said. The number of casualties was still to be specified and rescue workers and law enforcement personnel are working at the scene. Meanwhile evacuation of people from St. Petersburg’s metro after an explosion is now over, Andrei Przhezdomsky, a spokesman for the National Anti-terrorist Committee (NAC). “So far, we say it was…

The Federal High Court in Lagos on Monday lifted the order barring a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Mike Ozekhome, from accessing his Guaranty Trust Bank account into which he received N75m legal fee from the Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had on February 7, 2017, obtained an interim order stopping Ozekhome from dissipating the N75m on the grounds that it formed part of proceeds of alleged criminal activities by Fayose. The EFCC claimed that the N75m which Fayose paid to Ozekhome was part of the N2.26bn arms procurement funds, which a former National…

Envoys from African nations in the Indian capital, Delhi, have condemned the handling of recent attacks on Nigerian students in the city. In a statement, the African Heads of Mission said the attacks were “xenophobic and racial”. Indian authorities had failed to “sufficiently condemn” the attacks or take “visible deterring measures”, the envoys added. The students were attacked last month in Greater Noida, close to Delhi. Five Nigerian students were attacked by crowds, while another was beaten by a mob inside a shopping mall. The violence was prompted by the death of a local teenager due to a drug overdose.…

Mauricio Pochettino has warned Chelsea that his Tottenham side are ready to capitalise on any more slips from the Premier League leaders. Tottenham closed the gap on Chelsea to seven points on Saturday as they won 2-0 at Burnley while their London rivals were crashing to a shock 2-1 home defeat against lowly Crystal Palace. With nine games remaining, Pochettino’s second-placed team suddenly find themselves with a chance to put real pressure on Chelsea for the first time this season. The title fight could swing further in Tottenham’s favour on Wednesday evening as Chelsea face a tough fixture against Manchester…

The face-off between the Senate and the Presidency is set to escalate upon the Senate’s rebuff of the plea by Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, to defer the summons to the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (retd). Clerk of the Senate, Mr. Nelson Ayewoh, has been instructed to write Mr. Malami to formally reject his claim that the Senate cannot summon Ali upon the claim that the Customs C-G has gone to court to stop the Senate from compelling him to appear in uniform before it. This came as the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday,…