Thousands of telecommunication subscribers nationwide seeking to retrieve their lost Subscriber Identity Module cards or acquire new lines temporarily have been left stranded, following a technical glitch in the National Identity Management Commission portal that has grounded SIM-related services. The affected NIMC portal enables telecom firms, Nigerian Immigration Service, banks and other organisations to verify the National Identity Number of their customers before attending to them, in line with the Federal Government’s directive. Following the directive by the Nigerian Communications Commission for the inclusion of NIN in the requirements for all new and existing SIM cards, telecom firms are required…

The Republic of Benin authorities have extended the detention of Yoruba separatist, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, by six months. Yomi Aliyyu, Igboho’s counsel, disclosed this Sunday night. Aliyyu was quoted to have said Benin Republic renewed Ignoho’s incarceration despite that there was no criminal charge against him and no extradition request from the Nigerian Government. He said, “Contrary to what was speculated in the news by a lawyer, the government of the Republic de Benin has renewed the incarceration of Adeyemo for another six months even though there is no criminal charge in their file in Cotonou…

Leaders gathered at an African Union (AU) summit called on Saturday for the continent to have a bigger role on the international stage amid signs the bloc is struggling to forge a coordinated response to challenges from coups to Covid-19. The AU, formed 20 years ago to foster regional cooperation, has taken little decisive action in the face of six coups or attempted coups in Africa over the past 18 months, and the power grabs were high on the summit agenda. While the bloc did move to suspend Burkina Faso, Mali and Sudan following military takeovers, it is unclear whether…

Thousands of people demonstrated in Canadian cities, including the financial hub Toronto, on Saturday as mostly peaceful but noisy protests against vaccine mandates spread from Ottawa, the capital. The "Freedom Convoy" began as a movement against a Canadian vaccine requirement for cross-border truckers, but has turned into a rallying point against public health measures and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government. “We're all sick and tired of the mandates, of the intimidation, of living in one big prison,” said Robert, a Toronto protester who did not give his last name. "We just want to go back to normal without having to…