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Tag: Nigeria newspaper

  • Navy hands over impounded vessel to EFCC in Bayelsa

    The Nigerian Navy, ”Forward Operation Base” (FOB) in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa on Wednesday, handed over impounded Barge Podium of vessel to the officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC ).

    The FOB Commanding Officer, Navy Capt. Adamu Yahaya, who handed over the vessel to EFCC in Formoso, Egwuama of Brass area of the state, said the vessel was laden with unspecified quantities of products, suspected to be illegally refined Automated Gasoline Oil (AGO).

    Yahaya also said the vessel was seized in May 2017 at a creek in Alaki area of Rivers, adding that the suspects on board fled when they sighted the Navy gunboat.

    He said the handing over of the vessel to the commission was in compliance with the naval headquarters’ directives.

    “The Nigerian Navy has been given the mandate to apprehend any ship suspected to be carrying out illegalities in the Nigerian maritime domain, however, by law, we are not allowed to carry out prosecution of offenders.

    Read Also: Court restrains EFCC, others from arresting lottery operators

    “We are directed to handover seized vessels to the EFCC for further investigations and possible prosecution,” he said.

    Mr Abdullahi Musa, a Senior Detective Superintendent and leader of the EFCC team from Port Harcourt Zonal office received the vessel and promised that EFCC would carry out thorough investigation into the matter.

    “We will carry out thorough investigation with a view to determining the level of involvement, content of the vessel and prosecution of those involved.”

    The News men reports that officials of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) took samples of the content of the vessels for further laboratory analysis.

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  • Zimbabwe to summon Mugabe over missing $15bn worth of diamonds

    Zimbabwean Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy said it will summon former president Robert Mugabe to explain how about 15 billion U.S. dollars’ worth of diamonds was siphoned out of Marange diamond fields.

    Mugabe once said in an interview while he was still president that some companies had repatriated diamonds from the fields, although his former spokesperson George Charamba has said his statement had been a metaphoric one.

    The Herald on Wednesday quoted committee chairperson Temba Mliswa as saying that his committee had resolved to invite Mugabe to get clarity on what happened to the diamonds.

    Read Also: Zimbabwe has moved on from Mugabe’s era – Mnangagwa

    He did not say when Mugabe would appear before the committee.

    “My point is that we are not witch-hunting; we are actually trying to get institutions to respond to the 15billion dollar leakage in terms of diamonds.

    “When we have received all the evidence we will deliberate on it, but in terms of him coming we had resolved that we will invite everybody, especially him since he was the source (of the information),” Mliswa said.

    A number of former and serving top officials in government and the security services have appeared before the same committee to answer questions regarding the “missing” diamonds

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  • Mozambique to hold general election in October 2019 – Presidency

    Mozambique will hold presidential, parliamentary and provincial elections on Oct. 15, 2019, the presidency said on Wednesday, setting the date for a vote that will precede the southern African country’s emergence as a major gas exporter.

    President Filipe Nyusi set the date of the election, a notice on the presidency website said.

    Mozambique is due to start exporting liquefied natural gas in 2022 from huge offshore fields operated by oil majors including Italy’s ENI and Exxon Mobil.

    The news men reports that General elections were held in Mozambique on Oct. 15, 2014.

    Nyusi, the candidate of the ruling FRELIMO, was elected as President, and FRELIMO retained its parliamentary majority.

    Read Also: D’Tigress beat Mozambique in Afrobasket opener

    The President was elected using the two-round system.

    Then President Armando Guebuza was constitutionally barred from seeking a third term.

    The 250 members of the Assembly of the Republic were elected in 11 multi-member constituencies based on the country’s provinces and two single-member constituencies representing Mozambican citizens in Africa and Europe.

    Seat allocation in the multi-member constituencies was based on proportional representation using the d’Hondt method, with an electoral threshold of five per cent.

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  • Venezuelan President says will not participate in summit of Americas

    Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said that he has decided not to participate in the forthcoming Summit of Americas in Peru, local media reported on Wednesday.

    The two-day summit will start in Lima on Friday.

    Maduro has been invited to attend the event but later the Peruvian authorities have revoked the invitation, following the decision to withdraw the invitation, the Venezuelan leader has repeatedly stated that he would do utmost to attend the event.

    “Last night I made a decision that I would not go to the Summit of Americas in Lima.

    “I will stay with my nation to celebrate the failure of the 2002 coup,’’ Maduro said on Tuesday as broadcast by the state television channel.

    The politician added that the summit was not an event of high priority for Caracas.

    Read Also: Venezuelan calls on Trump to start dialogue between Caracas, Washington

    The president of Peru said that his Venezuelan counterpart Maduro could visit Lima, but he would not be able to participate in the forthcoming Summit of the Americas due to the absence of an official invitation.

    “Any Venezuelan citizen could come to our country. As for the specific case of the Venezuelan president, he has no invitation to participate in the summit.

    “So we speak not about the way he could enter the country, he could cross the border without any problems. The state has sent a clear signal, Mr. Maduro has not been invited,’’ Martin Vizcarra.

    Recently, the Venezuelan leader has had an intention to participate in the summit, however earlier in the month; Maduro changed his position on the issue saying that the event would be a waste of time.

    NAN

  • 2019: APC Governors to meet President Buhari

    State Governors of the All Progressives Congress ( APC ) are billed to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari in their bid to pressure the president to seek re-election in 2019.

    The News men gathered that the meeting which has been fixed for 2.p.m., may also deliberate on some national and party issues including the President’s disapproval of tenure elongation for APC national executives.

    It would be recalled that the governors had on Feb. 22 met behind closed doors, after which the President pledged to address the nation on whether he will seek re-election in 2019.

    The Chairman of the APC Governors’ Forum, Gov. Rochas Okorocha of Imo, who spoke to State House correspondents on the outcome of the February meeting, said the president was to address the caucus of the APC on the matter.

    Read Also: APC leadership: ‘Buhari’s position lawful’

    “We discussed so many issues that affect the nation, our party and Mr President’s ambition to run for 2019 elections.

    “Anyhow, Mr President in his usual manner has requested that we give him time and that he will address the nation and the caucus of the party very soon.

    “So we should be full of expectations that Mr President will make officially known to Nigerians his intentions.

    “But we hope that his response will be in line with what the governors are thinking,’’ Okorocha said after the February meeting.

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  • NEMA receives 149 Nigerians from Libya

    The National Emergency Management Agency ( NEMA ) has received 149 Nigerians who voluntarily returned from Libya.

    The returnees arrived the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. aboard a chartered flight operated by Buraq Airline with registration number 5A-DMG.

    The aircraft landed at about 10:45 p.m. at the Cargo Wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

    The returnees comprised of 107 male adults, 37 female adults including a medical case, four female children and one female infant.

    Mr Abrham Tamrat, the Programme Manager of International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Lagos, handed the returnees over to Alhaji Yakubu Suleiman, the South West Zonal Coordinator of NEMA.

    Suleiman thanked the IOM and the European Union ( EU ) for facilitating the repatriation of the Nigerians who had been stranded en route from Libya to Europe.

    Yakubu admonished the returnees to shun the urge of seeking greener pastures outside the country.

    He said that all nations in the world were facing various challenges as a result of global economic meltdown.

    The coordinator said the Nigerian economy had exited recession due to the ingenuity of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, adding that they should join hand in building the country.

    “Nigeria has more than enough resources to cater for our needs but it is left for every one of us to tap from any of these abundant resources,” Suleiman said.

    He assured them that both the Federal and state governments had lots of incentives for their rehabilitation and reintegration to complement the efforts of EU and IOM.

    Also speaking, Tamat said the IOM had assisted over 7,000 Nigerians back from Libya under the voluntary return assistance programme and would continue to assist persons who indicate interest to return.

    The returnees were also received by officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service ( NIS ), the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons ( NAPTIP ), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria ( FAAN ) and the Nigeria Police.

    The telecommunications company, Airtel, in collaboration with the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Diaspora and Foreign Affairs, also gave the returnees free mobile cellphones and sim cards to facilitate their reintegration.

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  • UTME: NSCDC arrests three students for alleged exam malpractice

    Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps ( NSCDC ), Ondo State Command, has arrested three students for alleged examination malpractice during the ongoing Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) in the state.

    Mr Pedro Awili, NSCDC state commandant, made this disclosure while speaking with the News men on Wednesday in Akure.

    Awili said that the three students were arrested at Adeyemi College of Education in Ondo town and Oyemekun Grammar school centre, Akure.

    Awili said that it was only the NSCDC officials that were given the mandate to deploy officer and men across the country to monitoring and supervisor the UTME Computer Based Test (CBT).

    “In spite of the fact that the command’s effort to educate students and warned them to shun examination malpractice, still some who cannot write exam without cheating were arrested.

    “So, in this UTME the command had arrested three suspects – one female and two males, they are right now in our detection.

    “Those caught will not go unpunished while some of them will be prosecuted.

    “This will serve as deterrent to other students who could not read their books and want to look for shortcut to pass exams,” he said.

    According to him, member of public need to know that examination malpractice is a very serious crime.

    “Students going to write exams should write with their own knowledge and shun cheating,” he said.

    Read Also: UTME: NSCDC arrests candidate who hid phone in pant

    The NSCDC boss, therefore, called on parents and guardians to advice their children and wards to read their books and shun examination malpractice.

    “Some parents assist their children to use machinery to pass exams. We want parents to discourage,

    “Besides, the monitoring, supervision and provision of basic security in all JAMB CBT centres, we are also not losing sight of our mandate.

    “On Friday we arrested two serious suspects involved in illegal petroleum products deal

    “A nursing mother and a man involved in buying and selling of adulterated petroleum products refined from the riverside.

    “The suspects were arrested by our men who were on surveillance at Igbokoda in Ilaje Local Government Area with 480litres of AGO and 720litres of kerosene,” he said

    He noted that the products had been vandalized from the NNPC/SDPC pipe and locally refined within the creek and push out for marketing.

    According to him, the command will ensure diligent investigation to unravel details behind the suspects’ actions.

    Awili, who said that the suspects would be charged to court soon, vowed to continue to ensure that Ondo NSCDC actualise its mandate, saying that there will no hiding place for any criminal in the state.

    NAN

  • Plateau 2019 governorship election: Why I want to contest — Datong

    Plateau 2019 governorship election: Why I want to contest — Datong

    A prominent governorship aspirant in Plateau, Mr Gwaman Datong, says he is seeking the support of the citizens in the state to become governor in 2019 for the socio-economic development of the state.

    In a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday, the aspirant said he had held consultations among various political interests across the state and was convinced that he had solutions to some challenges facing the state.

    According to him, Plateau has a lot of potential in agriculture, tourism, education, information technology and engineering, among others, that only a visionary governor can harness.

    “I urge the citizens to contribute to my quest to better the state as a governor in 2019; it is not about me, but about us and the development of the state.

    “It is not also a contest, but collaboration because I need a good team to solve any problem; I would like you to help me by pointing out any issues that you feel needs attention and also ask how I intend to resolve it.

    Read Also:  Buhari in Plateau

    “I will also be glad if your questions are not just a test but a genuine desire to make the state better,’’ he said.

    Datong, who said he would contest on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), promised that if he was elected as the governor of the state, he would work hard to ensure a positive resolution of conflicts in the state.

    He listed part of his contributions to the state development to include solar-powered borehole and skill transfer for building of metal water towers for welders at Namu, Quaan Pan Local Government Area of the state.

    Others, according to him, are completion of abandoned four-classroom block at Science Primary School, Namu and skill transfer to 200 youths at same local government.

    He said if he was elected governor, he would raise the income base of farmers through
    mechanisation and agricultural extension services and introduce ICT as a means of local and
    foreign exchange to citizens.

    “I will also encourage the participation of local companies in road and building construction and re-engineer government processes for efficiency.

    “My administration will ensure effective management of conflicts among various groups by
    monitoring the conflict indicators in collaboration with surrounding states to develop a friendly coexistence.

    Apart from this, there will be free healthcare for people above 70 years of
    age from a revolving fund,’’ he said.

    Datong, therefore, sought the support of the citizens in the state to give him a chance of ruling the state in 2019, promising that such support would be taken seriously.

    NAN

     

  • Cross River workers protest non-payment of Salaries

    Cross River workers protest non-payment of Salaries

     

    Workers of Cross River Geographic Information Agency (CRGIA) and their counterparts at the State Water Board Limited have protested the alleged non-payment of their 15 and 18 months arrears of salaries, respectively.

    The staff of both agencies who barricaded the governor’s office as well as the Water Board office gate on Thursday in protest of their unpaid salaries said they were tired of the situation as many of them have been evicted from their homes because they cannot pay their rents.

    They said that they had been promised several times by different government officials that something will be done when the arrears was about six months but nothing had been done till date.

    “Our situation is like a nightmare we are begging God to wake us up from. We are being owed 15 months salaries while our directors and other management staff have received salaries till date. We are treated like beggars. I have three children and all of them have been seating at home for more than two terms.

    “To make matters worse nobody is doing anything about it. We have been left in the dark. As we speak, 16 of my colleagues have been thrown out of their houses already. Some sleep in churches while some sleep in uncompleted buildings. We are really suffering. His Excellency, Prof Ben Ayade, should to look into our case because it has already gotten out of hands, many of us collected bank loans that we don’t even know how to pay back,” a staff of CRGIA who did not want to be named said.

  • CAN warns Pastors against praying for human traffickers

    CAN warns Pastors against praying for human traffickers

    Edo State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has warned Pastor’s to desist from offering prayers for human traffickers and their victims.

    The Benin Monarch, Oba Ewuare II had last week said it was regrettable that some church leaders in the state encouraged human trafficking and illegal migration in the country.

    Oba Ewuare II also called on church leaders to help discourage illegal migration and trafficking of the youths as reports showed that some church leaders were encouraging it.

    Addressing journalists Monday, Chairman of CAN, Bishop Oyenude Kure, said the Bible preached against human trafficking and as such pastors that prays for traffickers to succeed are fake.

    Bishop Kure who condemned the action of pastors supporting human trafficking urged them to repent of their sins or face will face the wrath of God.

    He stated that the action of such pastors was worrisome and declared that any Pastor involved in the act either through prayers or directly as an enemy of the church.

    Kure disclosed of plans by CAN to on the 18th of May pray for Edo State and the country especially for the release of Dapchi school girls.

    The Christian body also condemned killings by Fulani herdsmen and urged government to establish cattle ranches rather than cattle colonies.

    Bishop Kure said CAN will resist any attempt to establish cattle colonies in Edo state.

    On the coming 2019 general elections, Bishop Kure admonished Christians in the state ‘to get their PVCs. If you have not done that we are asking you to do that. We are also saying that all Christians should go and join political parties of their own choice so that we will be involved in the political destiny of our state and nation. So that we can move our nation forward.”

    Read Also: CAN: abduction a national disgrace