Author: Vincent Osuwo

China said on Friday that it will progressively raise its compulsory retirement age, according to state news agency Xinhua, as the country faces a demographic catastrophe and an ageing population.  “The statutory retirement age for male workers will be gradually extended from the original 60 years to 63 years,” a decision by Beijing officials shared by Xinhua said. Women’s retirement ages in China will be raised “from the original 50 or 55 years to 55 and 58 years, respectively,” depending on the type of job. The retirement age will progressively grow over the next 15 years, beginning in 2025, according…

Dame Diana Johnson, the UK’s Minister of State for Policing, Fire, and Crime Prevention, had her purse stolen during a police conference, the BBC reports.  The minister was reported to be speaking at the Police Superintendents’ Association conference on Tuesday about the mounting problems of antisocial behaviour, theft, and shoplifting when her handbag was stolen. According to the Mirror UK, the robbery took place at the Chesford Grange Hotel in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, which hosted the conference. The Home Office confirmed that the minister was a victim of theft, and Warwickshire Police are investigating the incident, according to The Mirror. A…

Hon. Muktar Betara, a member of the House of Representatives for the Biu/Bayo/Shani/Kwaya/Kusar Federal Constituency in Borno State, has donated N100 million to victims of the recent flood in Maiduguri, the state’s capital.  According to several accounts, 37 people have been confirmed deceased, with over 400,000 homeless as a result of the severe downpour that caused the Alau Dam to collapse, in Borno State. Betara, an All Progressives Congress member, made a donation to Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum during an on-the-spot disaster assessment in Maiduguri on Thursday. Floods affect 1 million people in Borno as crocodile, snakes overtake streets…

Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, has strengthened his position in the Peoples Democratic Party leadership crisis after the National Working Committee approved the Rivers State congresses. Wike’s supporters in the PDP NWC not only obtained permission but also pushed the National Executive Committee meeting, originally scheduled for September 26, to October 24, which might have overturned the decision. The PDP NWC, chaired by acting National Chairman Umar Damagum, reached this conclusion during a meeting on Thursday at the party’s national headquarters, Wadata Plaza, in Abuja. The NWC meeting has been delayed for the last three weeks amid…

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has mandated that all POS operators route transactions through licensed payment terminal service aggregators.  According to a circular released on the CBN’s website on Thursday, the measure is intended at improving the country’s electronic transaction tracking and administration capabilities. “As part of efforts to mitigate the concerns regarding channelling all point of sale transactions through a single aggregator, the CBN on April 19, 2024, granted a second PTSA license to Unified Payment Services Limited. “In furtherance of the above, the CBN hereby directs as follows: 1 Acquirers are henceforth required to route all transactions…

The Kogi State Governor, Usman Ododo, has stated that the state government would support the rebuilding of the GSM village at Kpata in Lokoja, the state capital, ravaged by fire on Thursday, to enable victims of the fire disaster to have their sources of livelihood restored. Ododo made the promise on Thursday when he visited the fire scene to examine the extent of the damage caused by the fire outbreak. Ododo, who sympathised with the victims of the fire, termed the amount of the damage as concerning and offered to assist business owners and other victims in recovering from the…

The Kogi State Police Command has verified the arrest of Jeremiah Paul, a 100-level biology student at Federal University Lokoja, for the death of a female colleague, Abigail Damilola.  The suspect, from Kaduna State, admitted to kidnapping Damilola, demanding a ransom of N400,000 from her family, and then killing her. According to reports, Jeremiah took Damilola to an uncompleted building, where he killed her after receiving the payment. #JusticeForChristianah: Nigerians demand justice as serial killer Adeleye Ayomide kills 300L FUNAAB student  He then phoned her family again, wanting an additional N10 million. However, police found him and arrested him. During…

A catastrophic car accident occurred on the Abuja-Kaduna expressway, killing 21 people on Thursday. The deadly accident occurred between a trailer truck and a passenger Hummer bus travelling to Kano and Batsari in Katsina State. According to an eyewitness, the accident occurred near a route detour, which required all motorists to drive in a single lane. He stated that the driver of the articulated vehicle fled the scene, leaving behind his vehicle and another container truck that was blocking the busy route. An official of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), who spoke on the condition of anonymity, reported that…

Kristina Joksimovic, a former Miss Switzerland contestant, was allegedly dismembered by her 41-year-old husband. The 38-year-old model was allegedly strangled and mutilated by her husband with a jigsaw and garden shears. According to the Daily Mail, her spouse allegedly used a blender to purée her remains after she was dismembered. The pair married in 2017 and lived in a’spacious semi-detached house’ in an upscale neighbourhood of Basel. They have two children. Kristina’s body was discovered in February in Binningen, near Basel, Switzerland. Kristina shared photos of a ‘couple’s holiday’ on her Instagram account four weeks before her death. Her husband,…

No fewer than four hundred Nigerians who were deported from the United Arab Emirates have arrived in Nigeria. Officials from the Office of the National Security Adviser, in collaboration with the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, the National Emergency Management Agency, and other relevant stakeholders, received the deportees at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. “Four hundred Nigerians, including 90 females and 310 males, have been deported from the United Arab Emirates back to Nigeria. “They were received at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, by…