About 23 shops and goods believed to worth millions of Naira were destroyed in a fire incident yesterday March 17 at Owode market in Offa, Kwara State.

The fire reportedly started by 1a.m, however the arrival of firefighters prevented the inferno from spreading to other shops and houses in the vicinity.

The Head, Media and Publicity of the Kwara State Fire Service, Hassan Hakeem Adekunle who confirmed the incident said it is suspected an electric spark caused the incident.

He said;

“If not because of the quick intervention of the Fire Brigade, the disaster would have been greater. About 23 shops were affected due to the little delay in reaching out to the Fire Brigade. “The cause of the inferno was suspected to be an electric spark, even though the intelligent team of the state Fire Brigade is still working on that to unravel and ascertain the actual cause or causes of the fire outbreak.”

The the Federal Government has barred all its officials from embarking on foreign trips in a bid to contain the spread of the deadly Coronavirus.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, made this known today Tuesday March 17th after the inaugural meeting of the Presidential Task Force Team on the COVID-19.

Mustapha also advised Nigerians coming in from outside the country to self-isolate themselves for 14 days to ensure they do not pose a threat to their immediate environment.

The National Youth Service Corps has asked corps members currently in orientation camps across the country to vacate the camps over coronavirus fears.

The virus has killed over 7000 persons globally and yesterday, a third case was confirmed Positive in Lagos State.

According to The Guardian, the corps members in Lagos camp were told on Wednesday morning to leave the camp immediately after receiving their letters to their places of primary assignment and transport allowance.

The camps opened last Tuesday and usually last for three weeks.

Bird View Communications President, Ayo Alaba Idowu has disclosed that the UK returnee who tested positive for coronavirus, has been living with their staff since Saturday March 14 till the morning when the test result was released.

Idowu who announced suspension of business operation at their headquarters in Ikeja for the next 15 days, said the decision was taken to keep their staff safe and also support the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

In his words ;

Today, I made a painful, but necessary, decision to suspend operations at our business head quarter in Ikeja for the next 15 days, and subject about 15 employees in the building to Coronavirus test and subsequent government quarantine or self-quarantine. This was after a staff was exposed to a family member that returned from U.K. on Saturday and tested positive to Coronavirus in the early hours of today. The person that tested positive had lived in the same house with our staff member between Saturday and early hours of today. .

Nigerian government reportedly traced the person to the Ogba address in the early hours of today, conducted the test and found out that the person was positive. Our immediate response to the situation was not to discriminate against the staff that was exposed, but to join hands to support the spread of the global pandemic situation. We are providing all possible supports to keep our people safe and fight COVID-19 together. .

In the meantime, our business will mostly be remote, while our Lekki office will still welcome physical consultations. However, we will be putting up a notice that will advise a set of people, especially those who recently traveled in the last 14 days, to stay away from physical meetings and rather engage remotely or simply visit again after 14 days. .

For me and my family, we just started a much-deserved one-month family vacation in Canada, but are already contemplating either cutting our trip short or staying much longer than planned. The truth is that both options come with their own risks and we have to do thorough assessment of the situation to determine which one has less exposure for us. We are taking COVID-19 very seriously and are doing everything possible to join hands to stop the spread. We also urge you to take it more seriously than you have ever imagined. .

Stay safe and stay healthy.

The senate has asked the Fag to consider banning non-Nigerian travellers from countries with high risk of coronavirus.

The request was made today after the Senate adopted a point of order raised at the plenary session by Ibrahim Oloriegbe, its health committee chairman.

The Senator, however, said in addition to the ban, other prevention and control practices, Nigeria should as well restrict travels to worst-hit countries to curb the spread of the virus.

Nigeria’s health workers have embarked on a strike in the middle of a pandemic.

The Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), Abuja chapter, announced their decision moments after the third case of Covid19 was confirmed in Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos.

The doctors said they deliberated extensively on the health threat posed by the coronavirus scare, their work conditions, and patient care before arriving at the “difficult decision.”

In a statement signed by the president, Roland Aigbovo, the association said the mass action followed the failure of the FCT administration to pay them their basic salaries for more than two months.

Mr Aigbovo said their members have been thrown into financial distress due to the nonpayment of their salaries and despite repeated warnings and ultimatum, nothing has been done by authorities.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has announced a third case of the Covid 19 in the Country.

According to a tweet on their page ;

The Honourable Minister, Federal Ministry of Health, NIGERIA has announced the 3rd case of #COVID19 in Nigeria

The case is a Nigerian who returned to Lagos from UK & developed symptoms during her 14-day self-isolation

She is clinically stable & is being treated at Infectious Disease Hospital, Lagos

The Honourable Minister @Fmohnigeria has announced the 3rd case of #COVID19 in Nigeria

The case is a Nigerian who returned to Lagos from UK & developed symptoms during her 14-day self-isolation

She is clinically stable & is being treated at Infectious Disease Hospital, Lagos pic.twitter.com/eRKAAx3JzK

— NCDC (@NCDCgov) March 17, 2020

According to reports on social media, she is a 30 year old Nigerian woman that returned from the UK on 13th of March

She isolated herself, and then developed symptoms similar to the covid19 infection.