ONE WORD

File: Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu The Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, has tested positive to COVID-19, and has gone into isolation. This was revealed in a statement signed by the Commissioner for Information, Abia State, John Kalu on Monday. The statement noted that Governor Ikpeazu had sent his sample for a COVID-19 test on May 30th and had directed members of the State Executive Council (EXCO) and the inter-ministerial committee on COVID-19 to do the same. According to the statement, the Governor’s first test result returned negative on Tuesday, 2nd June 2020. The Commissioner, however, said that the Abia leader did another COVID-19 test on Thursday, 4th, June 2020 with the sample returning positive. “As a result,” the statement added, “Governor Okezie Ikpeazu has gone into isolation, as required by relevant NCDC protocols, and he is being managed by a competent team of medical practitioners with a view to nursing him back to good health. “Consequent on the above, the Go

Photograph: Matt Rourke/AP Since George Floyd’s death at the hands of police in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on 25 May,  around 140 cities  in  all 50 states  throughout the US have seen protests and demonstrations in response to the killing. More than 10,000 people  have been arrested around the US during the protests, as police forces regularly use pepper spray, rubber bullets, teargas and batons on protesters, media and bystanders. Several major US cities have  enacted  curfews in an  attempt  to stop demonstrations and curb unrest. Jarah Gibson was arrested while non-violently protesting in Atlanta, Georgia, on 1 June. “The police were there from the jump and literally escorted us the whole march,” said Gibson. She said around 7.30pm, ahead of Atlanta’s 9pm city-wide curfew, police began boxing in protesters. While protesters were attempting to leave, Gibson tried to video record a person on a bicycle who appeared to be hit by a police car and was arrested by police. She was given a cit

What’s happening Throughout America’s long history of racial violence, certain names have stood out as markers of the struggles of a particular period in time.  Emmett Till’s  lynching in 1955 drew attention to the brutality of the pre-civil rights era in the South. The beating of  Rodney King  and acquittal of the officers involved sparked the Los Angeles riots in 1992. The police killings of  Eric Garner  and  Michael Brown  in 2014 brought the Black Lives Matter movement into the national consciousness. They were, of course, not the only black people to be lynched, beaten or killed in those eras. But a combination of circumstances, timing and the context of the moment turned them into enduring figures. George Floyd’s name will almost certainly join that list given the extraordinary nationwide reaction to the way he was killed by a Minneapolis police officer. Floyd’s death was part of a string of recent controversial killings.  Ahmaud Arbery  was gunned down by a white father and son

The mayor of Buffalo has said that the elderly protester filmed being knocked to the ground by police in a now viral video was an “agitator” who has been asked to leave the area “numerous” times. Byron Brown said that the 75-year-old man, Martin Gugino, was trying to “spark up the crowd of people”. Two officers appeared to push Mr Gugino, who hit his head on the pavement and was seen to be bleeding from a head wound after the incident near Niagara Square in Buffalo,  New York . Mr Gugino was rushed to Erie County Medical Centre, where he is in a stable but serious condition. Both officers have been suspended without pay and an internal affairs investigation launched. Explaining why they had not been fired, Mayor Brown told WBEN Radio: “I don’t want to jump ahead of the investigation. It is very important for officers to know they are getting due process.” Mr Brown spoke about the violence and vandalism that had erupted after protests over the death of  George Floyd  and said that Mr Gu

Former President Barack Obama on Monday addressed the  nationwide protests  over the death of George Floyd, praising the “overwhelming majority” of peaceful demonstrators, condemning the violence brought on by a “small minority” and calling on a “new generation of activists” to “bring about real change.” “The waves of protests across the country represent a genuine and legitimate frustration over a decades-long failure to reform police practices and the broader criminal justice system in the United States,”  Obama wrote in an essay published on Medium.com . “The overwhelming majority of participants have been peaceful, courageous, responsible, and inspiring. They deserve our respect and support, not condemnation.” The former president then lauded police in Camden, N.J., and Flint, Mich., for publicly supporting peaceful protests before he criticized demonstrators who have been acting violently. “On the other hand, the small minority of folks who’ve resorted to violence in various forms

A medical doctor has died of COVID-19 at the lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). The practicing medical doctor died at the isolation ward, after contracting the virus from a patient he had been managing in a private hospital. The deceased, Doctor Chugbo Emeka becomes the first health worker in Nigeria to die from the novel coronavirus. Confirming the death, the Chief Medical Director of LUTH, Professor Chris Bode, says Doctor Chugbo was brought into the facility late on Monday, after showing severe symptoms. Professor Bode adds that the late doctor once worked with LUTH before going into private practice. Meanwhile, the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) has condoled with the family of the doctor and members of the medical community over the loss. Doctor Emeka specialiSed in obstetrics and gynecology and was a one time Vice President of the National Association of Resident Doctors in LUTH. Channels 

The Deaconess of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Mrs. Chidinma Ibelegbo Saturday said those who kidnapped along Sagamu-Ijebu-Ode expressway on Thursday were Fulani herdsmen. Ibelegbo, who was kidnapped alongside four other persons, claimed that she escaped from the den of her captors when they fell asleep, an account entirely different from the claim of the Ogun State Police Command that took credit of her release. She gave the testimony of how she was divinely released at the ongoing RCCG Ministers’ Conference at the Redemption Camp at Kilometre 46, Lagos-Ibadan expressway last night. Ibelegbu, a deaconess from Abia State RCCG 3, recounted that she earnestly prayed to God that her captors should fall asleep so that she could sneak of their den. Shortly after she prayed, the deaconess said she sneaked out of the kidnappers’ den. In a statement, Saturday, the police command confirmed that it had rescued the only female official of the RCCG kidnapped on the way