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By Suleiman Ugbokhe Traditional Rulers overseeing the sharing of some of the relief materials at the council Secretariat, Agenebode The State Relief Materials received last Monday on behalf of Etsako East local government area by the Executive Chairman, Hon. (Mrs) Benedicta Ebuehi, were today shared among the 10 Wards and the traditional institutions in the council area. In her remarks, the Executive Chairman harped on the need to ensure by the Ward and Traditional Institution representatives receiving the materials that the items get to the "poorest of the poor" in the local government area for whom they were meant to assuage their pains brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Executive Chairman took time off busy schedule to visit the sharing venue to ensure orderliness It would be recalled that last Monday, Etsako East received the following relief materials from the state government: 199 bags of 10kg rice, 167 bags of 5kg garri, 223 bags of 10kg beans...

By Suleiman Ugbokhe Hon. (Mrs) Benedicta Ebuehi, Executive Chairman of Etsako East local government area inspecting the site of the trailer park project being supervised by Hon. Salim Afoso(2nd right), Supervisory Councillor for Works, Etsako East The Executive Chairman of Etsako East council area, Hon. (Mrs) Benedicta Ebuehi has paid an on-the-spot assessment visit to the site of a project being executed by her administration in Okpella. The visit took her to the Trailer Park under construction close to BUA cement company at Okpella, which is expected to accommodate a significant number of trailers when completed. When it becomes operational, the trailer park is expected to boost the internally generated revenue (IGR) of the local government area. "This trailer park when completed, apart from sanitising the present haphazard parking of trailers by roadsides thereby posing serious danger to road users, will improve the IGR of the local government area," t...

By Suleiman Ugbokhe Hon. (Mrs) Benedicta Ebuehi, Executive Chairman of Etsako East local government area The Executive Chairman of Etsako East local government area, Hon. (Mrs) Benedicta Ebuehi has asked the people of the council area to renew their faith in God, even as her administration remains committed to engendering peace, safety and better living. This was contained in her Easter message to the people in which she stated that "While this year's Easter is being observed in an atmosphere of health concerns because of coronavirus, the lessons of Easter as embodied by Jesus Christ must not be lost on us. "Even in the face of imminent arrest, Jesus Christ admonished his disciples to keep the peace, 'Put up again thy sword into its place; for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.' And after being crucified for unjust reasons, Jesus asked for forgiveness for those who crucified him, saying 'Father, forgive them; for they kn...

By Suleiman Ugbokhe Traders at their new location The major markets in Etsako East local government area have all relocated from their original sites to public school fields nearest to them. This was in compliance with the directive by the Edo state government that markets be relocated so that the market stalls can be fumigated as part of efforts to curtail the spread of coronavirus pandemic. Such relocated markets cut across the three geopolitical zones in Etsako East local government area. Agenebode market was moved to Ogbaki Primary School, Agenebode, whilst Ewo market in Okpella found a new home at Eveva Primary School, Okugbe, Okpella. In Ivie zone, Okpekpe market moved to Otsele Primary School and Echeadakwi Primary School accommodated Imiegba market. The fact that some of these markets were for the first time in their centuries history not trading in their original sites underscores the severity of the coronavirus pandemic sweeping across the wo...

Image copyright CORBIS VIA GETTY IMAGES Image caption One of the Bronx Zoo's Malayan tigers A four-year-old female Malayan tiger at the Bronx Zoo has tested positive for the coronavirus. The tiger, named Nadia, is believed to be the first known case of an animal infected with Covid-19 in the US. The Bronx Zoo, in New York City, says the test result was confirmed by the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Iowa. Nadia, along with six other big cats, is thought to have been infected by an asymptomatic zoo keeper. The cats started showing symptoms, including a dry cough, late last month after exposure to the employee, who has not been identified. "This is the first time that any of us know of anywhere in the world that a person infected the animal and the animal got sick," Paul Calle, the chief veterinarian at the zoo, told Reuters news agency on Sunday. There have been isolated instances of pets testing positive for the coronavirus elsewhere in the worl...

For the past two weeks, since the lockdown restrictions began, BBC news presenter Sophie Raworth has been running to work at lunchtime to present the BBC News at Six and Ten, taking pictures as she passes some well-known landmarks. Here she describes what it is like to commute through the now deserted streets of the capital. The silence in the centre of London is eerie now. I have lived in this city for most of my life and I'm used to dodging crowds on the streets, being crammed into tube trains, shoulder to shoulder with my fellow commuters. I have always loved the buzz of London, the cacophony of voices from all over the world, and now suddenly it has all gone. Image copyright SOPHIE RAWORTH Our newsroom is in the centre of London, by Oxford Circus, Europe's busiest shopping street with nearly half a million visitors a day. Now there are more pigeons than people. They must be wondering where we've all gone. Image copyright SOPHIE RAWORTH I live about six miles f...