Author: Opalim Lifted

In what could be described as a daring and clinical military operation, Special Forces (SF) under the 271 Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Detachment, Birnin Gwari, Kaduna State, carried out a rescue operation in the early hours of 17 December 2022 leading to the rescue of seven Chinese expatriates earlier kidnapped and held hostage by terrorists. The rescued Chinese victims are believed to have been kidnapped in June 2022 by terrorists while working on a mining site in Ajata-Aboki, Gurmana Ward of Shiroro Local Government, Niger State. The Combat Search and Rescue operation, which consisted of 35 Special Forces was conducted…

Internationally renowned Nigerian singer Burna Boy was recently the cynosure of an NBA game between Orlando Magic and Toronto Raptors. The Afrobeat maestro was seen in a viral video being received by American basketball fans to a loud ovation Burna Boy in his full Odogwuness with so much swag full clad in a black ensemble walked across the home court of the NBA side Orlando Magic. The singer after the game was seen fraternizing with some of the Orlando Magic players, as they thanked him for coming out to support them. Wike honours Burna Boy with second highest award in…

Hearses bearing the dead lined the driveway to a designated COVID-19 crematorium in the Chinese capital on Saturday while workers at the city’s dozen funeral homes were busier than normal, days after China reversed tight pandemic restrictions. In recent days in Beijing the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant has hit services from catering to parcel deliveries. Funeral homes and crematoriums across the city of 22 million are also struggling to keep up with demand as more workers and drivers testing positive for coronavirus (COVID) call in sick. China is yet to officially report any COVID deaths since Dec.…

NEMA evacuates 191 stranded Nigerians from India A total of 191 stranded Nigerians in India evacuated back home by the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, have arrived Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja today, Friday 16th December 2022. An Ethiopian Airline charted flight that conveyed the returnees touched down at the Abuja airport as they were received by a reception team led by NEMA and other relevant agencies. After being profiled and screened, the returnees were each given a token of $100 (N72,000) for transportation to their various homes. Addressing the returnees, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development,…

A two-year-old boy has survived being attacked by a hippopotamus near his home in the southwest. Iga Paul was playing near the shores of Lake Edward when the hippo struck in Uganda. The animal grabbed the toddler and “swallowed half of his body”, police said, who added a local man fought the hippo off by throwing stones. Uganda’s wildlife authority have disputed this account, telling the BBC the boy was attacked rather than swallowed. Ebola virus in Uganda has mutated – Researchers According to police, after the attack, which took place on 4 December, the toddler was taken to a…

Fifa president Gianni Infantino believes African football has a bright future after Morocco’s historic run to the World Cup semi-finals rubber-stamped the continent’s best performance at the finals. No African side had ever made it past the quarter-finals, while two African teams reached the knock-out stage for only the second time in history – and the first since the 2014 World Cup. Four years ago, not one African team managed to get out of the group stage – so registering the worst World Cup for the continent since 1982. In Qatar however, all five African representatives won a group game…

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) says it will launch an investigation into allegations of forced abortion carried out on victims of insurgency. The NHRC announced this after a visit by Lucky Irabor, chief of defence staff, on Friday. Irabor led principal officers of the defence headquarters on a visit to Tony Ojukwu, executive director of the NHRC, in Abuja. In a report published on December 7, the Nigerian military is alleged to have conducted a secret, systematic and illegal abortion programme in the country’s north-east, ending at least 10,000 pregnancies among victims of insurgency. World Human Rights Day: Buhari…

INEC says the 2023 general elections will be endangered should the incessant attacks on their facilities continue. Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission Prof Mahmood Yakubu raised this alarm. The chairman said said though some of the destroyed items could be replaced but there is a limit to which the attacks could stretch them. In a development that will shock Nigerians, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared that the forthcoming general election in 2023 is in danger. INEC vows 2023 elections will reflect voters’ expectations According to the electoral umpire, the conduct of the 2023 elections may be…

The burial of Mr Sammie Okposo, who died suddenly on the 25th of November, was attended by his colleagues, family and friends. Famous Nigerian Gospel singer, Sammie Okposo, was finally laid to rest at a private cemetery in Ikoyi after a Church service on Thursday. The senior pastor of House officiated the ceremony on the Rock, Paul Adefarasin, alongside the lead pastor at The L.O.G.I.C (Love Of God In Christ) Church, Flourish Peters. The week-long funeral ceremony will be wrapped up on Sunday with an Outing Service at The Logic Church, Lekki, Lagos. Gospel singer Sammie Okposo dies aged 51…

On Friday, family and friends gathered to bury the young Lagos fashion designer Oluwabamise Ayanwola, who died after an encounter with a government-owned BRT bus. Bamise disappeared after boarding the bus on her way to visit her brother. Security teams later found her dead body on the streets. Bamise’s family said that she recorded a video of part of her experience inside the BRT bus and also sent SOS messages to a friend, which helped her family and security agencies identify the bus and driver involved in the incident. Her burial attracted government officials, human rights groups, family members, friends,…