Nigeria Records 386 New COVID-19 Cases, Total Infections Now 3,912

The Nigeria Centre For Disease Control (NCDC), has confirmed 386 new COVID-19 cases in the country, taking Nigeria’s total cases to 3,912.

This is the highest number of new cases recorded in a day.

Of the 386, the NCDC said in a tweet, 176 were reported in Lagos, 65 in Kano, 31 in Katsina, 20 in the FCT, and 17 in Borno.

386 new cases of #COVID19;

176-Lagos
65-Kano
31-Katsina
20-FCT
17-Borno
15-Bauchi
14-Nasarawa
13-Ogun
10-Plateau
4-Oyo
4-Sokoto
4-Rivers
3-Kaduna
2-Edo
2-Ebonyi
2-Ondo
1-Enugu
1-Imo
1-Gombe
1-Osun

3912 cases of #COVID19 in Nigeria
Discharged: 679
Deaths: 117 pic.twitter.com/IUWL9ROjqQ

— NCDC (@NCDCgov) May 8, 2020

The NCDC also noted that 679 of the 3,912 cases have been successfully treated and discharged, while 117 cases have resulted in deaths.

Earlier on Friday, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, said that isolation and treatment centres in the country are running out of bed spaces.

“We have received reports from the states, which suggests that the treatment centres are running out of bed spaces,” Mustapha, who is also the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, said.

“As we assess the situation, the PTF shall also begin to examine our peculiar circumstances, modify the strategies for care management, and consider viable alternatives, where necessary. At the appropriate time, the guidelines and protocols shall be unfolded.”

The novel coronavirus has killed at least 271,780 people since the outbreak first emerged in China last December, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1900 GMT on Friday.

More than 3,896,790 cases were registered in 195 countries and territories. Of these, at least 1,268,000 are now considered recovered.

The tallies, using data collected by AFP from national authorities and information from the World Health Organization (WHO), probably reflect only a fraction of the actual number of infections.

Many countries are testing only the most serious cases.

Since Thursday at 1900 GMT, there have been 4,862 new deaths and 90,352 new infections recorded worldwide.

The United States recorded the highest number of new deaths with 1,257, followed by Britain with 626 and Brazil with 610.

The US also has the highest number of total deaths with 76,101 out of 1,271,775 cases. At least 195,036 have been declared recovered.

Britain now has the second-highest toll with 31,241 deaths from 211,364 cases.

It is followed by Italy with 30,201 deaths and 217,185 cases, Spain with 26,299 fatalities and 222,857 infections and France with 26,230 deaths and 174,791 cases — although French authorities did not update the country’s number of infections on Friday.

The country with the highest number of deaths compared to its population is Belgium, with 74 fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by Spain with 56, Italy 50, Britain 46 and France 40.

China — excluding Hong Kong and Macau — has to date declared 4,633 deaths and 82,886 cases. It has 77,993 recovered cases.

Europe has a total of 153,690 deaths from 1,681,558 cases, the United States and Canada have 80,754 deaths and 1,338,087 cases, Latin America and the Caribbean have 17,520 deaths and 324,309 cases, Asia has 10,163 deaths and 277,011 cases, the Middle East has 7,423 deaths and 212,644 cases, Africa has 2,105 deaths from 54,944 cases, and Oceania 125 deaths from 8,245 cases.

Please note that due to corrections by national authorities or late publication of data, the figures updated over the past 24-hour period may not correspond exactly to the previous day’s tallies.

AFP

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I won’t be shocked if Aubameyang dumps Arsenal – Thierry Henry

Former Arsenal skipper, Thierry Henry, has said he will not be shocked if current captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang decides to leave Arsenal this summer.

Aubameyang, who has netted 17 times in the Premier League this season, has one year left on his current deal.

Talks over a new contract have not progressed quickly, with Real Madrid and Manchester United believed to be keeping tabs on the Gabon striker.

Arsenal’s hierarchy have made it clear they will now allow players to run down their contracts and are prepared to cash in on Aubameyang if he does not reach an agreement.

Henry is sympathetic to Aubameyang’s position and feels he needs to do what is right for his career, with Arsenal likely to miss out on Champions League football again next season.

“If you’re an Arsenal man you don’t want him to leave, but also the guy has a career and I don’t know what’s in his head or where he wants to go.

“But all I know is that we’re definitely going to miss his goals if he does leave.

“Because at the end of the day, I said it when I was at Sky, he was that kind of a “thing”. He does score goals and if you take the goals of Aubameyang away, it’s a tough one,” Henry said on Sky Sports.

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Juventus Striker Dybala Recovers From COVID-19

Juventus star Paulo Dybala revealed Wednesday that he has been given the all-clear six weeks after contracting coronavirus, but Serie A rivals Torino confirmed that one of their players had tested positive.

“Many people talked in the past weeks … but I can finally confirm that I am healed. Thank you once again for your support and my thoughts on all who are still suffering from it. Take care,” tweeted the 26-year-old Argentina forward.

But city rivals Torino revealed that an unnamed player had been diagnosed with COVID-19 during testing of players and staff as Serie A teams return to individual training this week.

“During the first medical tests carried out on the Torino FC players, a positivity to COVID-19 emerged,” the northern club said in a statement.

“The football player, currently asymptomatic, was immediately placed in quarantine and will be constantly monitored.”

Torino have been one of the clubs to express concerns about a return to competition as Italy grapples with a pandemic which has killed nearly 30,000 people in the country.

Torino president Urbano Cairo this week conceded there were “divergent opinions” even if officially all 20 Serie A teams have backed completing the season suspended since March 10.

Dybala was one of three Juventus players to test positive along with Italy defender Daniele Rugani and France’s Blaise Matuidi.

Rugani was the first Italian top-flight footballer diagnosed with the virus on March 11. Both he and World Cup winner Matuidi recovered mid-April.

Dybala was diagnosed on March 22, along with his girlfriend Oriana, who recovered sooner from the disease.

Dybala on Wednesday also posted a picture of himself on Instagram with his arms outstretched looking at the sky: “My face says it all, I’m finally cured from Covid-19.”

Italian champions Juventus also confirmed that their Argentine star had recovered.

“Dybala performed, as per protocol, a double check with diagnostic tests (swabs) for Coronavirus-Covid 19, which came back with negative results,” Juventus said in a statement.

“The player has, therefore, recovered and will no longer be subjected to the home isolation regime.”

On Thursday, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) will meet the government’s Technical Scientific Committee to discuss the medical protocol for group training scheduled on May 18.

But sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora warned that it was “impossible to set a date” for a return to Serie A action before seeing how the contagion evolves over the coming weeks.

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COVID-19: Almajiri system is dead in Kaduna – El-Rufai

The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has vowed to end the almajiri system of education in his state.

El-Rufai declared that almajiri system is dead in Kaduna State.

Speaking on Channels Television, the governor explained his government was determined to put an end to the system due to the spread of COVID-19.

He also disclosed that northern states governors were also determined to end the system in the region.

The governor stated that the system failed in the north and Nigeria generally.

According to El-Rufai, “We’ve been looking for the ways and means to end this system because it has not worked for the children, it has not worked for Northern Nigeria and it has not worked for Nigeria. So, it has to end and this is the time.

“If other northern governors are treating the issues with levity, that is their own business. But I can assure you that in Kaduna State, the almajiri’s system is dead.”

Recall that El-Rufai had said that Northern governors had agreed to the deportation of Almajiris from Northern States to their indigenous states.

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Ogun Govt Discharges Six COVID-19 Patients

By Mod 

Ogun State government has discharged six COVID-19 patients after they recovered and tested negative for the virus.

According to the state ministry of health, they were discharged on Wednesday from the Isolation centre in Ikenne after testing negative twice.

The six patients have since joined their families to continue living their normal lives. This brings the total number of discharged cases in the state to 20.

Meanwhile, four new confirmed cases of COVID-19 were announced in the State by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Wednesday.

This brings the total number of confirmed cases in the State to 95. Out of these 95, there are currently 73 active cases who are receiving treatment at isolation centres in the state.

The State Ministry of Health expressed the hope that as the days go by, more patients would be discharged, and urged the residents to continue to maintain social distancing as the use of face masks alone may not stop the spread of the infection.

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US announces another $319m Abacha loot in UK, France

United States Embassy in Nigeria has announced that another $319m (N121bn) Sani Abacha, former Nigeria military dictator, loot is in the United Kingdom and France.

This comes about a week after Nigeria got $311 million Abacha Loot from the US and the Bailiwick of Jersey.

“The funds returned last week are distinct and separate from an additional $167m in stolen assets also forfeited in the United Kingdom and France, as well as $152m still in active litigation in the United Kingdom,” the embassy said in a statement on Wednesday.

It added that the United States will continue to help “combat corruption and to ensure a successful outcome in the return of these funds.”

It is unclear if the $152m litigation in the United Kingdom is the same with $152m (now $155m due to interest) being challenged by the UK and the US in a UK court.

The two countries are challenging its repatriation to Nigeria on the allegation that Nigerian government was planning to return $110 million of the money to Atiku Bagudu.

Bagudu, Kebbi state governor, was a financial adviser to the Abacha family.

The U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement in February that Bagudu was part of a network controlled by Abacha that “embezzled, misappropriated and extorted billions from the government of Nigeria.”

Bloomberg reported that President Muhammadu Buhari administration is seeking the approval of a UK court to take possession of the assets before transferring 70 percent of the proceeds to Bagudu under the terms of an agreement signed in 2018.

But Nigeria’s Attorney-General Abubakar Malami denied such deal with Bagudu never happened but court papers say otherwise.

Bloomberg reported in April that the UK government’s National Crime Agency is “opposing the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s application,” according to a motion filed by Bagudu’s brother, Ibrahim, to the District Court for the District of Columbia in the US capital on March 30.

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Delta Community Residents Protest As Fulani Herdsmen Ambush, Kill Vigilante Leader, Member While Attending To Distress Call

Residents of Okpanam community under Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State and residents of Justice Estate along the Asaba-Benin Expressway on Thursday embarked on a peaceful protest over the killing of the community's vigilante chairman and a member by suspected Fulani herdsmen.

The angry protesters accused the Delta State governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, of treating the issues of Fulani herdsmen in the state with levity while Deltans were killed, kidnapped, maimed and raped on daily basis.

The vigilante chairman and a member of the Okpanam community vigilante were said to have been killed by the Fulani herdsmen around 9:00pm on Wednesday in a nearby bush after receiving a distress call by an unknown person. 

Speaking with SaharaReporters, a member of the community’s vigilante group, who simply identified himself as Uzor, revealed that the late chairman known as Emeka Chosen got a distress call at about 9:00pm on Wednesday that someone was kidnapped by Fulani herdsmen and responded.

He said, "Emeka Chosen received a distress call at about 9:00pm Wednesday that someone had been kidnapped by the Fulani herdsmen. Emeka and two other members of our vigilante group mobilised and entered the bush so as to rescue the victim.

"On arriving the bush and unknown to Emeka, the herdsmen had laid ambush for them and fired several gun shots at him and one of the vigilante members from behind. They died immediately while the third member narrowly escaped into the bush with bullet wounds.  Late Emeka Chosen

"The third vigilante member managed to make some emergency calls to other vigilante members that same night who mobilised to the bush but by then the Fulani herdsmen had escaped." 

Our correspondent reliably gathered that last month a man was killed while three persons were kidnapped by Fulani herdsmen at Justice Estate.

As at the time of filing this report, the two corpses have been retrieved and deposited at the mortuary.

Contacted on the issue, the Police Public Relations Officer in Delta State, DSP Onome Onovwakpoyeya, confirmed the incident.

"The information we earlier received was that someone was kidnapped and the vigilantes in Okpanam were alerted and they pursued the kidnappers.

“But because they were banned from carrying arms, the kidnappers laid ambush for them and shot two of them dead."

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