Across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, these are the five top news stories you shouldn’t miss:
Reps order Customs to pay ₦360 million to families of Nigerians killed in Katsina, Oyo
The House of Representatives has ordered the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) to pay ₦200 million to 10 persons killed by customs in Jibia, Katsina.
The House also directed NCS to pay ₦160 million to eight persons killed in Oyo.
The decision followed the adoption of the report of the House Committee on Customs and Excise that investigated the killings.
Sylvester Oromoni: Doctor testifies family took the ailing student to church instead of hospital
A medical doctor, Aghogho Owhojede Tuesday, said Sylvester Oromoni, the late 12-year-old student of Dowen College, was taken to church for prayers for an unspecified number of days by his family.
The doctor said that on the day Master Oromoni died (November 30, 2021), he had referred him to Delta State University Teaching Hospital, Oghara, for further treatment.
He said that the late Master Oromoni could not be taken to the teaching hospital because his condition deteriorated “and he passed away”.
Nigeria launches ₦62.1 billion HIV trust fund
The federal government has launched a ₦62.1 billion HIV trust fund as part of efforts to reduce funding gap and also place more people living with HIV on treatment.
The Director-General, National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Gambo Aliyu, said the fund is a sustainable financing mechanism for the mobilisation and deployment of domestic private sector resources to address the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV in Nigeria.
He said the fund will improve efforts to ensure coverage of high-impact HIV interventions that will provide the requisite treatment for HIV-positive mothers.
Aliyu said it will also contribute to closing the funding gap for HIV in Nigeria that currently stands at about U$108 million per annum.
MC Oluomo qualified to be Oshodi monarch, says royal family secretary
The Secretary of Kupoluyi Royal Family also known as Almaroof, Prince Abdulwasiu Almaroof Tuesday, said Lagos Council Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya (aka MC Oluomo), is qualified to be a monarch in Oshodi.
“He (Akinsanya) is from the Kupoluyi Royal Family and that is not contestable. The family held a meeting recently and picked him (Akinsanya) as our candidate for the Oshodi monarch. We expect other ruling houses to also announce their candidates. From those candidates, a monarch would eventually emerge,” he said.
Atiku’s wife confirms divorce reports
Jennifer Douglas, previously married to former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, has confirmed their divorce.
In a statement Tuesday, Jennifer, a Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) News correspondent in the 1980s, explained that their union broke down due to disagreements over her continued stay in the United Kingdom, amongst other long-standing issues.
She said, “The core reason for the divorce was disagreement over my continued stay in the United Kingdom, to look after my children and several other long-standing issues. I needed to play the role of a mother at this time to the children who have gone through the absence of both father and mother growing up; especially, with the passage of my elder sister who used to look after them”.
