Author: The Nation

• •Ibrahim’s motion gets support

A bill on the ocean surge ravaging communities, especially Ayetoro, in Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State, has been sponsored by Senator Jimoh Ibrahim (Ondo South).

The senator, got a pat on the back yesterday for sponsoring the bill, following which the Senate mandated relevant agencies of government to rise to the occasion and save the threatened villagers.

The bill, whose objective is to propel attention to the huge potential of the oil-producing Ayetoro community, which is a phenomenal historical and cultural settlement along the coastal stretch of the local government area.

The ravaging surge threatens the status of Ayetoro as one of the most prosperous riverine communities in the country.

The Senate noted that Ayetoro community and its environs account for 5.4 per cent of the 60,000 barrel daily production of crude in the Sunshine State. 

The volume is about 3.7 per cent of Nigeria’s total oil production. Ondo State ranks fifth on the list of  oil-producing states under the Nigeria Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Act.

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The region has been hugely affected by devastating sea incursions and ocean surges, which have rendered many homeless and resulted in the loss of properties worth millions in the last few decades.

The Red Chamber resolved that the Committees on NDDC, Environment and Ecology, and other relevant ministries work out modalities for instant intervention.

The lawmakers described as disturbing that the surges have become annual occurrences that successive generations have to attend to and serve as a daily reminder to the indigenes of Ayetoro that they are slipping into the belly of the Atlantic Ocean.

Aware that a concerned interventionist agency, the NDDC in 2004, just four years after its creation, made a commendable attempt to stem the contract for the construction of a shoreline protective wall designed with a geo-t to Gallet Nigeria Limited at an original contract sum of N6.4 billion, of which N6.4 billion was paid.

Also aware that the said contract was revoked in 2009 for alleged lack of compliance by Dredging Atlantic Limited at an undisclosed cost; however, eleven years after the award and sixteen years after the contract was first awarded, there is nothing on file by the government, thereby creating the wrong impression of an unconcerned

Worried that Ayetoro is on the verge of being completely lost to the sea, if not this is more poignant because residents are gradually losing hope that their would get the desired attention from relevant authorities.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu yesterday said the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) can successfully fund anti-terror war in the sub-region.

Tinubu, Chairman ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, spoke in Aso Villa, Abuja, where he hosted three heads of member-states and Dr. Omar Touray, ECOWAS Commission President.

The visiting presidents, were, Patrice Talon of Benin Republic, Umaro Sissoco Embalo of Guinea-Bissau and Mohammed Bazoum of Niger Republic.

Shedding light on how the ECOWAS Commission hoped to fund its campaign against terrorism and other forms of insecurity in its region, President Tinubu said member-countries have the means and wherewithal to fight the menace out of their region. 

He said: “We have no problem raising funds and we have all the instrumentalities to do that. So, concerning our design and engineering of our own finances, we believe we’re capable of raising necessary funds to combat terrorism and insecurity in the region.”

The four ECOWAS leaders, during their meeting, reviewed the political and security situations in the sub-region, especially the political transition in Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea.

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Speaking on the resolutions reached during the meeting, Dr Touray disclosed that President Talon would soon embark on a mission to the three West African countries, on behalf of the Authority of Heads of State and Government.

He said: “Regarding the political situation in the sub-region, the leaders have reviewed the transition in Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea. Regarding the transition in those three countries, the leaders have taken the decision to re-engage the three countries at the highest level. 

“A member of the Troika, in the person of His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Benin, will undertake a mission to these three countries on behalf of the heads of state. That mission will be undertaken shortly. 

“The leaders have reaffirmed their commitment to the expeditious transition to democracy in each of the three countries. The transition must be in accordance with ECOWAS protocols and in accordance with their individual transition charters.

“ECOWAS has resolved to support a credible and inclusive transition in each of the three countries.”

Touray said the leaders also resolved “to provide a robust regional response to any threat to security in the region.”

He added: “The regional response shall include the operationalisation of the ECOWAS Plan of Action with the region’s own troops and regions own financing. Financing from other partners will be welcomed. 

“The security response shall also include support to the individual member states of the region. The response shall also include the use of specific arrangement, such as specific models of peace and security. Adequate resources will be provided to the region’s response to peace and security.”

Heatwaves intensified across southern and Eastern Europe, Asia, and much of the United States yesterday as the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) warned of an increased risk of deaths due to the extreme weather.

Across the U.S., Americans grappled with a medley of extreme weather, from blazing heat to wildfire smoke-choked air and flood warnings, with a tropical storm headed for the Pacific island state of Hawaii yesterday afternoon.

The southwestern city of Phoenix, Arizona, exceeded 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 Celsius) for the 19th day in a row, breaking its all-time record of 18 straight days over 110.

In the northeastern state of Vermont, thunderstorms were expected to drench areas already saturated from recent torrential rainfall, and potentially cause more floods like the ones that overwhelmed roadways and trapped people in their homes last week.

The Mediterranean island of Sardinia could see highs of more than 47 Celsius (116 Fahrenheit) and forecasters said, temperatures could hit 40 degrees (104 Fahrenheit) in several Italian cities, including 42-43 degrees Celsius in the Lazio region that includes Rome.

With baking temperatures hitting Europe during the peak summer tourist season, the WMO said the heatwave in the northern hemisphere was set to intensify. An estimated 61,000 people may have died in heatwaves last year in Europe alone.

The World Health Organisation’s regional director for Europe, Hans Henri P. Kluge, said the world must look ahead while adapting to the “new reality” of killer heatwaves and other extreme weather.

“There is a desperate and urgent need for regional and global action to effectively tackle the climate crisis, which poses an existential threat to the human race,” he said.

The EU’s emergency response coordination centre issued red alerts for high temperatures for most of Italy, northeastern Spain, Croatia, Serbia, southern Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro.

Heatwaves this summer, which saw temperatures climb to 127 degrees Fahrenheit (53 degrees Celsius) in California’s Death Valley and over 52 Celsius (126 degrees Fahrenheit) in China’s northwest, have coincided with wildfires from Greece to the Swiss Alps and deadly flooding in India and South Korea.

They have added fresh urgency to talks this week between the United States and China, the world’s top greenhouse gas polluters.

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry met Chinese officials in Beijing and expressed hope that climate cooperation could redefine troubled ties between the two powers.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed Beijing’s commitment to carbon neutrality and a carbon peak was certain but that it would not be influenced by others.

“Temperatures in North America, Asia, and across North Africa and the Mediterranean will be above 40 degrees Celsius for a prolonged number of days this week as the heatwave intensifies,” the WMO said.

Overnight minimum temperatures were also expected to reach new highs, the WMO said, creating the risk of increased cases of heart attacks and deaths.

“Whilst most of the attention focuses on daytime maximum temperatures, it is the overnight temperatures which have the biggest health risks, especially for vulnerable populations,” it said.

Scientists have long warned that climate change, caused by greenhouse gas emissions mainly from burning fossil fuels, will make heatwaves more frequent, severe and deadly. They say governments need to take drastically reduce emissions to prevent climate catastrophe.

The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service says 2022 and 2021 were the continent’s hottest summers on record. Europe’s highest recorded temperature of 48.8 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit) was registered in Sicily two years ago.

In Italy, tourists have tried to keep cool by splashing in Rome’s fountains and standing under giant fans set up outside the Colosseum. Some were forced to queue for taxis for more than an hour in the heat outside the central railway station in Rome due to the capital’s chronic shortage of cabs.

The health ministry issued red weather alerts for 20 of the country’s 27 main cities yesterday, with the number expected to rise to 23 today.

The Lagos Police Command has confirmed the murder of 21-year-old undergraduate, Augusta Osedion Onuwabuagbe, and removal of her genitals inside her lover’s Ajah apartment.

Also confirmed was the retrieval of a suspected confessional note allegedly left behind by the 26-year-old loverboy, Benjamin alias Killaboi, currently on the run.

It was gathered that detectives from Ajah Police Station had forced open the door to the apartment located at Oral Estate, Ikota, Ajah, after Augusta’s mother reported her inability to reach her daughter.

It was learnt that the woman had received a call from her daughter, a student at Lead University, Ibadan, Oyo State, on July 11, that she had a quarrel with her lover and would be going to his place for them to resolve the issue.

The woman, sources said, reported that she made efforts to reconcile them but was not able to reach either of them on their phones and had to locate Augusta’s roommate, who took her to Benjamin’s residence in Ajah on Saturday, July 15.

On arrival at the residence, it was learnt that the women saw her daughter’s Mercedes Benz C30 outside of Benjamin’s house and they knocked several times on the door but got no response.

They were said to have gone to the estate’s security post to complain but were asked to go to the Police Station so that the police would come and open the door.

Augusta’s mother, it was gathered, went to the police station and filed a complaint which prompted the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, to lead detectives to the apartment and forced open the door.

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“As soon as the door was opened by the police, the body of the girl was discovered in a pool of her blood with her private part chopped off. The body was fast decompassing and was quickly recovered,” said a police source.

Confirming the incident, spokesman, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, said marks of violence and signs of struggle were obvious on the body, adding that the place was cordoned for forensic experts to carry out their investigations.

He confirmed that a note was recovered from the scene, adding that efforts were on to apprehend the suspect.

Meanwhile, Benjamin, it was gathered, took to his Instagram page to confess to have stabbed Augusta by mistake during an argument, adding that he fled the scene out of fear.

In series of incoherent posts shared on his Instastory, the suspect denied allegations he used his lover for ritual, insisting she was the love of his life and they had been together for two years.

He said those painting the ritual narrative were manipulating the situation, urging those abusing his late lover to stop because she did nothing wrong. According to him, the problem in their relationship was toxicity, adding that they had an issue on July 11 and had agreed to meet the next day to talk it over but things got worse.

He claimed he had been having suicidal thoughts since then and was ready to die, turn himself in to give her family closure.

He wrote: “I got into an argument with my girlfriend which (led to a) fight and I mistakenly stabbed her and ran away out of fear and been suicidal since then.  I want to end my life now because I have lost the one I cherished so much. I want to do the right thing and turn myself in. I will gladly end it by paying with my life now.

“I have failed myself, I have failed my mom, I have failed my family. Oh Lord I can’t believe this. I can’t leave with this guilt, I’m going crazy… I will say nothing but the truth all from the beginning to what brought us here.

“Woman has ended me. I will turn myself in shortly. Woman! Woman! Woman1

“Bye for now till I do so. I deserve death, no running away. I accept whatever fate has for me. I will give this to her family.

“Woman was finally the end of you Benjamin Best. I got the love I think I deserved. I blame myself. I will give in. I surrender. I will pay for this. I will pay for this…”