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Pregnant woman dies in Kaduna over naira scarcity

Published

2 years ago

February 13, 2023

A pregnant woman

A heavily pregnant woman in Kasuwan Magani, Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State, lost her life due to the unavailability of the new naira notes in banks.

James Auta, the deceased’s husband, said his wife was rejected by the hospital when he could not make the payment due to failure to access cash in his bank and Point of Sale (POS) channels.

The incident happened early this month after Auta’s wife went into labour but was rejected, simply because her husband couldn’t make a payment due to naira scarcity.

It was gathered that the woman died at home after giving birth but continued to bleed. The incident caused concerns across the state as patients and their family members found it difficult to make payments to access treatments due to the naira shortage.

Daily Trust reports that the extended deadline to phase out the old notes was Friday, 10 February. However, the Supreme Court gave an order restraining the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from enforcing the deadline for the phasing out of the N200, N500 and N1,000 notes, pending the hearing of a lawsuit brought by three northern states challenging the new currency redesign. It adjourned that hearing until 15 February.

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The Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, is challenging that interim ruling by the Supreme Court and the central bank has not spoken on how it intends to comply with the ruling, thus leaving Nigerians confused.

President Muhammadu Buhari held an emergency meeting of the National Council of State on Friday to discuss crucial issues affecting the country including the currency crisis. However, Mr Buhari has not taken a decision on the cash crunch.

Parts of Nigeria have descended into chaos as frustrated Nigerians besieged ATM units in a bid to access their own money.

Violent protests have been recorded in parts of the country, including in Ogun, Oyo and Akwa Ibom in the country’s south, and social media is awash with lamentations of suffering Nigerians, who are not able to access their funds for transactions.

Meanwhile, the CBN has said that the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company Plc (NSPMC), has the capacity and enough materials to produce the required indent of the naira notes.

The apex bank also said that it was working to increase the circulation of the new notes across the country

The apex bank’s Director of Corporate Communications, Osita Nwasinobi, in a statement dated Friday but released on Saturday, said such reports about the Mint’s capacity to print the required banknotes that were credited to the governor of the bank, Godwin Emefiele, were not true as he was misquoted.

A medium had quoted Emefiele as admitting that the Mint did not have enough materials to print the new notes and that accounted for the current scarcity.

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“The Mint has run out of papers to print N500 and 1,000 notes. They have placed orders with a German firm and De La Rue of the UK (for papers) but they have been placed on a long waiting list, so their orders cannot be met now.

“The Mint had received CBN’s request to print 70million copies of the new notes, totalling N126billion to be pumped into circulation by today (yesterday), The Mint doesn’t have the capacity,” the CBN governor was quoted as saying.

But, Nwasinobi said at no time did the CBN governor make such a statement during his presentation to the National Council of State at its meeting on Friday.

He said, “For the records, what Mr Emefiele told the meeting was that the NSPMC was working on printing all denominations of the naira to meet the transaction needs of Nigerians.

“While the CBN appreciates the concerns shown by all stakeholders about the distribution of the naira, we are alarmed at the extent to which vested interests are attempting to manipulate facts and pit the public against the bank.”

Nwasinobi also said the CBN remained committed to performing its monetary policy functions as stipulated in the CBN Act, 2007 (as amended).

He added, “We also wish to restate that the NSPMC has the capacity and enough materials to produce the required indent of the naira.

“The bank, therefore, wishes to appeal to the public to disregard the said reports and exercise more restraint, even as we work assiduously to increase the circulation of the new notes in the country.”

On a particular voice note trending on social media alleging that the CBN planned to shut down some banks, particularly in a geopolitical region of the country, the CBN director said there was no such plan and that the claims were illogical and did not comply with the workings of the banking system.

Related Topics:Naira Scarcity pregnant woman

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TikTok removes 2.4 million videos by Nigerian users in Q4 2024

Published

4 hours ago

March 31, 2025

Trends Admin

TikTok removes 2.4 million videos by Nigerian users in Q4 2024

Bytedance’s short video platform, TikTok, said it removed 2.4 million videos posted by Nigerian users in the fourth quarter of 2024 for violating its content policy.

According to the platform, Nigeria was among the top 50 countries where videos violating its policies emanated from in Q4.

However, the highest number of violations were recorded in the United States, which has the largest number of videos removed at 8.5 million.

ikTok disclosed this in its latest Community Guidelines Enforcement report, which indicated that a total of 153 million videos were removed globally in the period under review.

The company said the top 50 markets in terms of policy violations accounted for approximately 90% of all content removals for the quarter.

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The removed content was said to have violated one or more of TikTok’s policies, which center around Integrity and Authenticity, Privacy and Security, Mental and Behavioural Health, Safety, and Civility, among others.

Accounts removal

In the period under review, TikTok said it removed a total of 211.5 million accounts discovered to be either fake or owned by people suspected to be under 13 years of age.

Fake accounts constituted the largest number of deleted accounts for the period. According to the report, a total of 185.3 million fake accounts were removed.
In addition, 20.5 million accounts suspected to be owned by users under the age of 13 were removed, while 5.6 million accounts were removed for other reasons not stated.

“We remain vigilant in our efforts to detect external threats and safeguard the platform from fake accounts and engagement.

“These threats persistently probe and attack our systems, leading to occasional fluctuations in the reported metrics within these areas.

“In Q4 2024, we also updated the way we classify fake likes and followers removed over time, which contributed to some of the overall increases observed in these categories.

“This update better reflects the scale of our existing work to promptly identify and remove any accounts, content, or activities that seek to artificially boost popularity on our platform,” the company stated in the report.

TikTok removes 2.4 million videos by Nigerian users in Q4 2024

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Two children killed, 20 injured in Gombe stampede – Police

Published

4 hours ago

March 31, 2025

Trends Admin

Gombe State Police Command Spokesman, ASP Buhari Abdullahi

Two children killed, 20 injured in Gombe stampede – Police

The Police Force Gombe State Command has confirmed the death of two children following a stampede at the Gombe main Eid Ground.

The Command’s spokesperson, Buhari Abdullahi, disclosed this in a statement issued on Sunday in Gombe.

According to Abdullahi, the incident occurred at about 10:45 a.m. at the exit gate of the Eid Ground, immediately after the conclusion of Eid prayers.

“The stampede was caused by inadequate exit access, as a large crowd, primarily women and children, rushed to leave the venue.

“The situation, worsened by intense heat, led to the unfortunate incident,” he said.

He said that 22 individuals were affected and were immediately taken to hospitals for medical attention.

“Regrettably, two of the victims, a four-year-old boy, and six months old baby girl, were pronounced dead by doctors while receiving treatment,” Abdullahi added.

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He extended the command’s condolences to the bereaved families and wished the injured a speedy recovery.

“The police urge Eid Ground managers to ensure that all entrance and exit gates remain open to facilitate smooth movement, especially after prayers,” he advised.

In a related development, Gov. Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State has condoled with the families of the deceased and those affected by the tragedy.

In a statement issued by his media aide on Sunday, the governor directed a thorough investigation into the circumstances that led to the stampede, with the aim of preventing future occurrences.

“The safety and well-being of our citizens remain a top priority. The state government is committed to learning from this incident and implementing corrective measures,” Yahaya said.

He also directed that all medical expenses for the injured victims be fully covered by the state government to ensure their recovery and well-being.

Two children killed, 20 injured in Gombe stampede – Police

(NAN)

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Wike’s achievements will translate into electoral success for APC in 2027, says Tinubu

Published

4 hours ago

March 31, 2025

Trends Admin

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike.jpg

Wike’s achievements will translate into electoral success for APC in 2027, says Tinubu

President Bola Tinubu has praised the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, for his outstanding performance, expressing confidence that his achievements could translate into electoral success for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 FCT elections—despite Wike still being a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Tinubu made the remarks at the State House, Abuja, on Sunday during a traditional Sallah homage by a delegation of prominent FCT residents to mark Eid-el-Fitr celebrations.

The President commended Wike’s leadership, noting that several infrastructure projects initiated under his administration, have significantly improved the lives of Abuja residents.

“I must thank the Honorable Minister of FCT. It’s worth it. It is nothing other than a privilege to be the landlord of every one of us in Abuja,” Tinubu said.

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He recalled a conversation where Wike requested exemption from the Treasury Single Account (TSA) to enable greater financial flexibility for FCT projects.

Tinubu humorously recounted his response:”I asked him, ‘Would that give me an opportunity for my party (APC) to win the election in FCT?’ If this thing goes too much in your favour, you will lose your job!’”

“Today, we are living in peace, and security is improving. The hunger is coming down. Food prices are lowering. Our people are looking for results, and Wike has delivered,” Tinubu added.

Tinubu noted that despite being from the South-South, Wike is successfully driving progress in the Northern-dominated FCT.

“Surprisingly, Nyesom Wike is not from the North. He’s not a Hausa man. Yet his ability to work in the centre of the North is yielding fruits. That is a great reflection of our diversity that we must use for prosperity.”

The President urged Nigerians to embrace unity, stating that, regardless of ethnic and religious differences, progress is only possible through collaboration and shared purpose.