A 67-year-old man, Abraham Olayinka, has been rescued alive after jumping into Asa River on Abdulwahab Folawiyo, Unity Road, Ilorin, Kwara State.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the incident occurred around 11.30am on Monday.

Traders within the vicinity, who saw him jump into the river, reportedly drew the attention of security men around the area to the incident.

Our correspondent learnt that a commercial motorcyclist, Mohammad Abubakar, in response to the call for help, jumped into the river together with some fishermen.

They were said to have rescued the victim from the river.

The Head of Media and Publicity of the Kwara State Fire Service, Hassan Adekunle, who said the victim was rescued before firemen arrived at the scene, said Olayinka was unstable when he was first brought out from the water.

He, however, said the sexagenarian was revived and taken to a hospital where he was stabilised.

Adekunle said the victim refused to state the reason for attempting suicide despite the pressure mounted on him by the fire service.

However, PUNCH Metro gathered from some residents that Olayinka recently lamented about losing N30,000 to some thieves and that the money belonged to a friend.

The commercial motorcyclist who rescued him, Abubakar, said, “I was riding along this area when I saw people gathering around the river bridge. I decided to stop to see what was actually going on, and I was told the old man jumped into the river and there was nobody to help him.

“When I discovered that the old man was still breathing, I waited for a moment to get police permission to rescue him and I immediately jumped into the river.”

Source: https://punchng.com/sympathisers-rescue-67-year-old-man-who-jumped-into-kwara-river/

India has become the second country to outrightly ban Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. This is coming after the Central Bank of Nigeria instructed all financial institutions in the country to block the accounts of all individuals and entities linked to cryptocurrency transactions.

There has been a lot of drama surrounding India’s cryptocurrency stance. In 2018, the Reserve Bank of India issued a ban on all cryptocurrency transactions. The ban was lifted by the country’s Supreme Court in March 2020.

In December 2020, government officials hinted that they were considering taxing Bitcoin transactions by up to 18%. Barely a month later and there were rumours that the country was mulling over banning all private cryptocurrencies.

Apparently, officials were serious about banning cryptocurrencies. Citing an unnamed senior finance ministry official, BloombergQuint disclosed the government’s move. However, according to the official, the ban would not be imposed overnight, as in the case of Nigeria. Instead, investors would be given three to six months to liquidate their investments.

As per the report, India’s Parliament will proceed to introduce a law that bans the usage of cryptocurrencies in all forms, including restricting trading via foreign exchanges.

On the flip side of India’s ban is Kenya, an East-African country that has proposed to make Bitcoin it's base currency.

https://brandspurng.com/2021/02/13/india-bans-cryptocurrencies-gives-investors-6-months-to-liquidate-their-assets/