BIGDREAM

Lekan Olaoluwa, 29, was in church when the blast happened. He thought it was a missile attack. The roof caved in, glass windows shattered, injuring people around him. The rest hurried out, trying to understand what had happened. “We were still doing Sunday School, the service had not fully started,” he said. On getting home, Olaoluwa met a bald building – the roof had been torn off. On Sunday, March 15, thousands of Lagosians reported they had heard an earth-shattering explosion around 9 am. The explosion’s ground zero was Abule-Ado, a community that sits beside the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex, a 350-hectare shopping facility along the Lagos-Badagry expressway. Surrounding communities include Festac Town, a federal housing estate which derives its name from FESTAC ‘77, the month-long event that showcased African music and fine arts to more than 16,000 visitors from across the globe in 1977. According to more than 20 eyewitnesses who spoke to Channels Television for thi...

Three new cases of the #COVID19 have been confirmed in Lagos, Nigeria, taking the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 30. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), made this known on Sunday, noting that two of the cases are returning travellers while the other one is a contact of a confirmed case. According to the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Akin Abayomi, the first of the three cases is a Nigerian male, with a two-week history of dry cough, intermittent high-grade fever and general pains. He was recently in Dubai for two weeks and has been on admission for three days with Chest X-ray and a CT scan, suggestive of pneumonia. The second case is a Nigerian male without a travel history. He’s an asymptomatic contact (driver) of a known positive case, while the third case is a Nigerian female who returned from the United Stayes on March 8, 2020. The three new cases bring to eight, the total number of cases the NCDC confirmed today (Sunday) alone. A...

The Lagos St ate government has ordered all bus drivers and conductors to wear masks and gloves while driving, as part of efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease. The state Ministry of Transportation said this in a statement in which it outlined various preventive guidelines for all public transport operators. Beyond wearing gloves and masks, drivers have been asked to sanitize their parks and garages. They have also been asked to make alcohol-based sanitizers available for both themselves and passengers, as well as thermometers to check the temperature of each passenger before boarding. The government has also stated that all commercial buses including the yellow buses a.k.a (Danfo) should avoid loading passengers to full capacity but should keep it at 60% capacity, while also ensuring that there is enough space (at least 2m or 5feet) between passengers. “Passenger are also expected to report any Operator/Company that does not comply with these guidelin...

Oyo State has recorded its first case of the Coronavirus, adding to the tally of COVID-19 cases recorded across Nigeria. The COVID-19 confirmation test for the suspected case at Bodija area of the State came back positive on Saturday, March 21. Oyo State Public Health Officials in a statement said they are collaborating with the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan’s team on the case. According to the statement, a follow up on the Ekiti COVID-19 case revealed that the deceased was picked up directly from Lagos Airport to a private apartment in Ona Ara Local Government Area. The health authorities say they have contacted the family concerned and the community has been alerted for intensified contact tracing and self-isolation of identified close contacts. Health officials, however, state that the information which was given that he stayed in some hotels in Ibadan has been found to be false. Channels Television gathered that another returnee from Texas, USA, has also...

  One new case of the  COVID19  has been confirmed in the Federal Capital Territory. This was confirmed by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Sunday, March 22.  According to the NCDC’s report via Twitter, Nigeria as at 11:00am on the 22nd of March, now has 27 confirmed cases of  #COVID19  . While the 27th case has been confirmed the NCDC also noted that two persons of the number recorded have discharged. As at the time of the report, there have been no death recorded with regards to the virus. 

The Lagos State Government has asked public officers from Grade level 1 to 12 to stay at home for the next 14 days as part of precautions to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease. “I’m now hereby directing that all public officers in the entire unified public service from grade level 1 to 12 which constitutes about 70% of our entire public workforce should stay at home from Monday 23 rd  March 2020 for 14 days at the first instance. We will review this as time goes on,” the State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said on Sunday during a statewide address. “Members of the public are advised to refrain from visiting any of our public offices and to transact such businesses as is possible that we can do this on the phone or online channels”. However, he continued by saying: “This stay-at-home (order) does not affect any of our first responders, meaning the medical personal are still meant to be at their duty posts, the fire service, members of the Lagos St...

Iraq on Sunday imposed a total nationwide lockdown until March 28 to fight the novel coronavirus, as the number of cases grew and the death toll climbed to 20. Most of Iraq’s 18 provinces had so far imposed their own local curfews but the new measures would include the whole of the country, according to a new decision by the government’s crisis cell. Schools, universities and other gathering places would remain closed, as would the country’s multiple international airports, it said in a statement seen by AFP. Many had feared a potential influx of cases from neighbouring Iran, where 1,685 people have died after contracting the COVID-19 respiratory illness, according to the latest official toll Sunday. Iraq first shut its 1,500-kilometre border with Iran about a month ago and deployed troops to enforce the decision. It has logged a total of 233 coronavirus cases and recorded 20 deaths, but there are concerns that many more are going undetected as only 2,000 people of the co...