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Protest erupts in Ondo over currency crunch *IMF pleads for extension of deadline

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called for the extension of the February 10 deadline for cash swap, adding an international perspective to the crisis that has crippled Nigeria’s economic and social lives substantially in recent weeks, over difficulties in accessing cash.

The IMF, spoke, on the same day the Supreme Court, ordered both the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to halt the deadline for the exchange of the old currencies to the new ones for February 10, through a statement in Abuja on Wednesday by Laraba Bonet.

Hinging its plea on the hardship Nigerians were going through, the world body, said: “in light of hardships caused by disruptions to trade and payments due to the shortage of new bank notes available to the public, in spite of measures introduced by the CBN to mitigate the challenges in the banknote swap process, the IMF encourages the CBN to consider extending the deadline should problems persist in the next few days leading up to the February 10, 2023 deadline”.

On the same day, protesters in Ondo State have blocked the Ilesha-Akure-Owo highway over the scarcity of naira notes and the shortage of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, which has seen Nigerians queuing for hours at filling stations.

One of the organisers of the protest, was quoted to have stated: “This is a peaceful protest. We are here to tell the government we are not happy but whoever wants to hijack this protest to loot and destroy properties will be handed over to the police.”

Ondo chairman of the National Association of Nigeria Students (NANS) Comrade Oloroso Surprise, said the protest was to send a message to the government that the people are not happy.

Comrade Oluyemi Fasipe advised the Federal government to streamline the naira policy in line with the need of the people.

According to him: “The current hardship from the scarcity of naira and the high price of petrol is causing frustration among our people. The situation is uncomfortable for everybody. It has nothing to do with personality. No one has access to the naira freely. We want to pass the message that the government should be fast to tackle the issue.

“We also have a message for the Ondo State Government. We realised petrol dealers hike prices necessarily even when they got the product at the official price. We want the state government to set up a committee to monitor sales of petrol and also access to money. We want to be part of that committee.

“The government should do what is good for the masses. The masses are at the receiving end. This policy is too harsh. Old notes should be used alongside the new notes.”

Another protester, Mr. Omotayo Samuel, said they were passing the message that the people were not happy with the situation of these past days. We are not happy. We are now buying naira. Government should reverse these policies. It is politics to change money at this time. Many people are suffering it is difficult to get money these days.”

To Ilesanmi Ademola: “We are doing this peaceful protest. We have been hearing several youths want to disrupt the peace of the state. We do not want a repeat of ENDSARS. We want to fuel and cash to be available. The timing of the policy is bad.”

Ondo Police Commissioner, Oyeyemi Oyediran, who addressed the protesters, while commending them for being peaceful, appealed to them not to allow hoodlums to hijack the protest.

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Why Trump must never smell White House again – Pence

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Donald Trump, former President of the United States, would now be slugging it out with his former deputy Mike Pence for the ticket of the Republican Party to next year’s presidential election, having fully launched his campaigns for that purpose.

Pence, who did not part with his former principal on a friendly note, following his rejection in joining Trump to protest the outcome of the last election, which threw them out of office, was at a community college in Iowa on Wednesday, where he accused Trump of abandoning conservative principles.

He also accused Trump of dereliction of duty on January 6, 2021 – the day the US Capitol Building was invaded by insurrectionists, adding that the former President, besieged the Capitol after the former president insisted he could overturn election results.

The former Vice President, who is one of the frontrunners for the Republican ticket, also condemned Trump’s anti-conservative values and abortion stance, adding that the former POTUS should never be re-elected for putting himself above the US constitution.

“I believe anyone that puts themselves over the constitution should never be president of the United States, and anyone who asks someone else to put them over the constitution should never be president of the United States again.

“After leading the most pro-life administration in American history, Donald Trump and others in this race are retreating from the cause of the unborn. The sanctity of life has been our party’s calling for half a century-long before Trump was a part of it. Now he treats it as an inconvenience, even blaming our election losses in 2022 on overturning Roe v. Wade.”

Pence pledged to “restore a threshold of civility in public life,” saying the country needs leaders who know the difference between the “politics of outrage and standing firm”.

 

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Again Nigeria, has missed out in the list of African countries given the official nod to visit Canada without visa, as two other countries for the continent has been added to the list of 13 different countries across Asia, Africa, Central and South America, announced by the country’s authorities.

The Canadian Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Sean Fraser disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday, said visa-free travel is extended to Antigua and Barbuda, St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, St Kitts-Nevis, Panama, Argentina, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Morocco, Seychelles, st. Vincent and the Grenadines, Thailand and the Philippines.

While north Africa’s Morocco and East Africa’s Seychelles joined the list, Nigeria the most populous African nation didn’t make the cut, with Fraser, saying: “An expansion of the electronic travel authorization better known as the eTA programs makes it easier for ‘known travellers’ from those countries to come here for fun and business.’

Stating that the expansion not only enhanced convenience for travellers, it would also increase travel, tourism and economic benefits, as well as strengthen global bonds with these 13 countries, he said: “The known travellers from these countries can save a lot of money as a result of the visa exemptions.”

A visitor visa currently costs $100 per person and $500 for a family of five or more, but an eTA only costs seven dollars per person and is valid for as long as five years.

According to the government, introducing visa-free air travel will make it faster, easier, and more affordable for thousands of travellers to visit Canada for up to six months for either business or leisure.

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Police save man, lady accused of ritual murder from lynch-mob in Anambra *Say victims innocent

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It has turned out that the two people, a man and a lady, seen in a viral video, being assaulted by an angry mob who were about to set them on fire for allegedly killing two men in Anambra community for ritual purposes, are not guilty of the offence.

Anambra State Police Command, who confirmed on Thursday that the two had been rescued by their operatives, from the hands of the angry mob in Ihiala, Ihiala Local Government Area of the state, who attempted to set them on fire, claimed that they were being wrongly accused.

Spokesman of the command Tochukwu Ikenga, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), and spokesman of the command, who made the disclosure in a statement, said that its operatives rescued two victims and a suspect who was about to be lynched by an angry mob at the Total Junction in Ihiala.

Stating that the incident was not a case of ritual killing but a pure incident of murder, he said: “Preliminary information reveals that the two victims, a man and a woman, who were humiliated and paraded as shown in social media video by the angry mob, were erroneously accused by the mob. The victims were seen at the scene where the murder took place and were not the perpetrators.”

Ikenga, who informed that both the suspect and the victims were currently receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital while the deceased has been deposited in a morgue, appealed to the public never to take laws into their hands irrespective of assumed offence.

Disclosing that the Commissioner of Police (CP), Echeng Echeng, was already on top of the situation and had since sued for calm, he added that the police boss had also ordered the immediate transfer of the case to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), for a comprehensive investigation, while assuring that further developments would be communicated to the public and that all residents to go about their lawful duties.

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