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Volunteers on Covid jab trials should get travel certificates, say top scientists

Senior government science advisers from the UK, Europe and Canada have called on countries around the world to offer vaccination certificates to volunteers on Covid jab trials so they can travel internationally.

The UK has led the way in granting vaccine certificates to trial participants, but many countries have failed to follow suit and refuse to admit people unless they have had two doses of Covid vaccine that has already gone through trials and been approved by regulators.

The situation means many tens of thousands of people globally who enrolled in clinical trials to assess Covid vaccines, or combinations of different shots, cannot travel abroad unless they get an additional round of approved jabs.

In an open letter to governments around the world 14 senior advisers, including England’s chief medical officer, Prof Chris Whitty, and the UK’s chief scientist, Sir Patrick Vallance, warn that preventing trial volunteers from travelling was “unfair” and had led some participants to drop out of trials and seek extra vaccinations.

“Vaccine clinical trial volunteers have given their time freely to help others, and clinical trials are the way in which the world can understand which vaccines work and are safe,” the letter states. “There is a moral and ethical obligation to treat volunteers in a way that feels fair to them and to the wider public. It is the right thing to do.”

Among those affected are more than 15,000 people who took part in the phase 3 Novavax trial at hospitals across the UK. The firm has not yet submitted the trial data to regulators for approval.

Kris Gumbrell, the chief executive officer of a pub chain, took part in the Novavax trial and received four shots in total, two vaccine, two placebo, between October 2020 and April 2021. He has a vaccine certificate that can be used to enter events in the UK, but he cannot travel to any country that requires approved vaccines. To complicate matters further, the NHS app considers him vaccinated so he cannot book the extra shots he now wants so he can travel with his family in January.

“You hit a brick wall because your Novavax vaccination doesn’t count. You’re stuck in this trap. You can’t go anywhere that requires an approved vaccine,” Gumbrell said. “There’s an awful lot of upset people out there. The UK has done a huge amount of heavy lifting with vaccine trials. The politicians should be fighting our corner more.”

In an effort to find a solution, the UK government announced last week that it would provide two shots of the approved Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for thousands of Britons who took part in trials so they could travel abroad – meaning they would have four shots of Covid vaccine total.

The letter urges foreign governments to issue vaccine certificates or “passports” to volunteers on vaccine trials that have been approved by regulators, regardless of whether the participants have received unlicensed vaccines, combinations of shots, or even placebo jabs.

“Given the numbers of trial participants globally, the population contribution of admitting a small number of placebo recipients in trials will be trivial in terms of public health and national disease epidemiology,” the letter states.

“Of course trials will continue to be needed to improve vaccine design and coverage, especially as the virus mutates and evolves. Anything that acts as a disincentive to participate in trials will be to the detriment of public health,” it adds.

Prof Saul Faust, the Wessex regional lead for Covid vaccine trials at the University of Southampton, said the letter was “a massively important intervention” by Chris Whitty and his colleagues.

“Vaccine trial participants – of whom there are more than 50,000 in the UK but many tens of thousands more globally – have been discriminated against as second class citizens by politicians globally instead of treated as the heroes they are. Without them we would have no vaccines at all,” Faust said. “While the UK decided to honour participants with UK accreditation before the summer, because no other countries have agreed this principle none of our UK participants have been able to travel or go abroad so far without lying to get extra doses of approved vaccines – also at considerable personal risk as the effects of such combinations or doses are unknown.”

“If governments don’t sort this out, no one will ever want to take part in trials again, so booster trials and of any future pandemic vaccines will be at risk,” he added.

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Police foil N14m ransom payment, rescue kidnap victim, arrest suspects

A kidnap victim, Semiu Ogunniyi, who was abducted from a hotel in Ikare-Akoko, Akoko North-East Local Government Area of Ondo State, has been rescued by police operatives and local hunters.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Wilfred Afolabi, who disclosed this, revealed that one of the suspected kidnappers involved in the abduction of Ogunniyi, Muhammed Babuga, was arrested in the course of the rescue operation.

According to Afolabi, the kidnappers had demanded a ransom of N14 million for the release of the victim, after which the movement of the suspects was trailed through actionable intelligence.

The police boss disclosed that during the interception, the suspects engaged the operatives in a fierce gun duel, with several suspects sustaining gunshot injuries during the exchange of gunfire.

While speaking with newsmen at the headquarters of the state police command, Afolabi added that two suspected kidnappers, Ibrahim Umar, 25, and Paul Osanyinduro, 38, were arrested in Owo, headquarters of Owo Local Council Area of the state. Abubakar Bamoh, 30, a logistics provider for the kidnappers terrorising various parts of the South-West, was also arrested.

He said, “Command also arrested 3 suspected kidnappers who have confessed to their involvement in various kidnapping cases across the state. This operation marks yet another success in the Command’s ongoing offensive against kidnapping and violent crime in the state.

“Acting on credible intelligence regarding the activities of one Abubakar Bamoh, male, aged 30 years, an indigene of Bunza Local Government Area of Kebbi State, operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of the Command swung into action and successfully apprehended the suspect at one of the Fulani camps in Igbara-Oke, Ondo State.”
(Daily post)

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SERAP demands explanation over missing N500bn oil revenue from NNPCL

Allow 7m Nigerians to complete voter registration or face legal action, SERAP tells INEC

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has asked the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mr Bayo Ojulari, to immediately account for and explain the whereabouts of the N500 billion oil revenue the company allegedly failed to remit to the Federation Account between October and December 2024.

In a letter dated May 17, 2025, and signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP cited recent revelations by the World Bank which showed that out of N1.1 trillion earned from crude oil sales and other income in 2024, only N600 billion was remitted by the NNPCL, leaving a staggering N500 billion unaccounted for.

The organisation is demanding full disclosure and recovery of the missing funds, and has threatened legal action should the company fail to act within seven days.

“SERAP is writing to request you to use your good offices and leadership position to promptly account for and explain the whereabouts of the missing N500 billion, which the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited failed to remit to the Federation Account,” the letter stated.JAMB’s

SERAP also urged Ojulari to identify and surcharge those responsible for the missing funds and hand them over to anti-graft agencies for investigation and prosecution.

“SERAP urges you to promptly identify those suspected to be responsible for the alleged missing oil money, surcharge them for the full amount involved, and hand them over to the ICPC and the EFCC,” the group wrote.

Citing the World Bank report, the group noted that revenue from oil sales and other sources was expected to be fully paid into the Federation Account and shared by all tiers of government, but the NNPCL failed to comply.

“Nigerians have the right to know why the NNPCL is remitting only 50 per cent of the gains generated from the removal of petrol subsidies to the Federation Account,” SERAP said.

“The failure by the NNPCL to remit the money is a grave violation of the public trust and the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution, national anti-corruption laws, and international obligations under the UN Convention against Corruption.”

SERAP warned that the alleged disappearance of such a large sum has serious implications for economic development, poverty alleviation, and the provision of basic public services at a time of national hardship.

“Despite the country’s enormous oil wealth, ordinary Nigerians have derived very little benefit from oil money primarily because of widespread grand corruption, and the entrenched culture of impunity of perpetrators,” the group added.

It stressed that the failure of the NNPCL to uphold transparency and accountability standards has worsened the country’s fiscal crisis.

“The missing oil revenue reflects a failure of NNPCL accountability more generally and is directly linked to the institution’s continuing failure to uphold the principles of transparency,” SERAP noted.

Citing paragraph 3112(ii) of the Financial Regulations 2009, the group said any public officer who fails to account for government revenue “shall be surcharged for the full amount involved and handed over to either the EFCC or the ICPC.”

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Security Operatives Nab ‘Wanted’ Kidnapper In Abuja Hajj Camp

Security operatives have reportedly arrested a wanted kidnapper at the hajj camp in Abuja.

A security source at the camp confirmed the arrest to our correspondent, on Sunday.

He said the suspect was nabbed during screening of pilgrims who were preparing to be airlifted to Saudi Arabia. He disclosed that the suspect identified as Yahaya Zango resided at Paikon -Kore in Gwagwalada area council of the FCT.

The source said security agencies had declared him wanted, following his alleged involvement in some kidnappings.

He said the suspect presented his passport alongside other Muslim contingent from Abuja who were on their way to observe this year’s hajj. “It was this afternoon during the screening at the hajj camp in airport when the DSS operatives apprehended him and whisked him away,” he said