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Tag: Saudi

  • Six Nigerians among Saudi tragedy victims

    Six Nigerians among Saudi tragedy victims

    Six Nigerian pilgrims are among the  107 people killed in Friday’s crane collapse at Mecca’s holy site Ka’aba, Saudi Arabia.

    Kaduna State Task Force on Hajj spokesman  Saidu Adamu yesterday confirmed the death of a member of the state’s delegation.

    National Hajj Commission (NAHCON) confirmed the death of five other Nigerians.

    It named the dead Kaduna pilgrim as Alhaji Adamu Shuaibu Kargi from Kubau Local Government Area.

    Federal Government officials had on Saturday said no Nigerian died.

    Gombe State Amirul-Hajj, Abdullahi Mai-Kano, said four women pilgrims from the state were missing after the incident.

    According to him, the four pilgrims were from Akko, Dukku and Nafada local governments areas of the state.

    Mai-Kano said the pilgrim was injured in her head, but had been treated and discharged.

    He said the four pilgrims were declared missing after a thorough verification and bed checking in the three houses accommodating the state’s pilgrims.

    Authorities in Saudi Arabia had earlier on Saturday confirmed that 107 people died.

    The spokesperson for the Saudi presidency on the Affairs of the two holy mosques, Ahmad Al-Mansouri, said at “least 107 people were dead and another 238 were injured.

    [ad id=”403656″]Also yesterday, the Kano State Pilgrims Welfare Board said  4, 478 of the 5, 602 intending pilgrims from the state had  been flown to Saudi Arabia.

    Alhaji Nuhu Badamasi, the Public Relations Officer of the board, said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano that the intending pilgrims were flown to the holy land through the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport in nine flights by Max Air.

    According to him, the airline made its ninth flight with 530 pilgrims yesterday around 7. 30 a.m. with officials of the board.

    ‘’This brings the total of our intending pilgrims so far airlifted to the Holy land to 4, 478, while the remaining 1, 124 are still on ground waiting for their flights,’’ he said.

    Badamasi expressed optimism that the remaining pilgrims would be taken to the Holy land before the Sept. 17 deadline.

    ‘’We are appreciative of the commitment of the airline as it has kept to its promise and flight schedules since the commencement of the exercise’’.

    He, however, called on the remaining pilgrims to cooperate with the board to ensure the success of the airlift.

    NAN recalls that the airlift of the state’s intending pilgrims commenced on Sept. 5.

    The Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of Jama’atul Nasril Islam, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III has commiserated with authorities of the Kingdom of Saudi-Arabia over the deaths due to the collapse of cranes on the holy mosque in Makka.

    In a statement signed on behalf of Sultan Abubakar by the JNI’s Secretary-General, Dr. Khalid Abubakar-Aliyu , the royal father described  the  death of the 107 pilgrims as a great tragedy to the Muslim ummah (community).

    He said:”This is indeed a great tragedy to the Muslim Ummah specifically and the entire world generally.

    “This is a pointer to us that death is inevitable.

    “Therefore, we should be conscious of our actions and inactions, because death may descend anywhere, anytime.

    “We commiserate with the Saudi authorities, especially the custodian of the two holy mosques at this moment of grief over this tragic event.”

    The Sultan also expressed concern over the kidnap of his deputy, Sheikh  Adam Abdullahi Idoko by unknown gunmen.

    Sheikh Idoko is the Vice President of the JNI and Chief Imam of the University of Nsukka, Enugu State.

    While condenming the incident, the Sultan urged the government and security agencies to do everything possible to rescue the Islamic scholar.

    His words: “While congratulating the Ummah, JNI is also perturbed over the kidnapped of Sheikh Adam Abdullahi Idoko.

    “Indeed this ugly incident is strongly condemned by the JNI.

    “The JNI appeals to the government and security agencies at all levels to do everything humanly possible to rescue the distinguished Muslim scholar, hale and hearty, from the hands of the criminals.”

  • Lesser Hajj: Saraki decries Saudi’s Visa policy

    Lesser Hajj: Saraki decries Saudi’s Visa policy

    Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki has criticized the entry visa issuance policy of the Saudi Arabian embassy in Nigeria for this year’s lesser hajj.
    Saraki who arrived Medinah on Saturday listened to complaints from some Nigerians who are performing the lesser hajj.
    He noted that the Saudi authorities, unlike other embassies in the country, refused to articulate a visa policy which potential visitors to the holy land can follow and obtain their entry visa without any difficulty once they meet the requirements.
    “The present process in which visitors to Saudi must go through a third party has created artificial bottlenecks now being exploited by the travel agents and the embassy officials.
    ” Our people are now made to suffer indignities arising from conspiracy between the embassy officials and the so-called agents. The process is fraught with corrupt practices,” Saraki said in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Yusuph Olaniyonu.
    The Senate President said some Nigerians informed him that they had to send their passports through Saudi embassies in other West African countries where the cost of the visa was less and they did not need to go through the hardship experienced in Nigeria.
    “It is unimaginable the amount of money people paid to get visa for this year’s lesser hajj and we do not want that to repeat itself for the hajj proper coming in a few months’ time. You know this religious rites and obligations are very important to our people and so, despite these inconveniences, they still struggle to get here and we have a responsibility to ensure this exploitation and inconvenience stop immediately,” Saraki said.
    He reassured Nigerians who complained to him that the Saudi visa policy will be one of the issues the Senate will look into when it resumes plenary later in the month.
    He said that the Saudi authorities as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja will be engaged to find a lasting solution to the problems of visa issuance to Nigerians by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
    The Senate President further called on all Nigerian Muslims on lesser hajj and those at home to devote the last days of Ramadan to pray for peace, security, development and progress of Nigeria.
    He urged them to specifically ask for Allah’s intervention in the search for a lasting solution to the Boko Haram crisis in the North-Eastern part of the country and for God to help President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to revamp the economy of Nigeria.

  • Saudi to open stock market to foreigners

    Saudi Arabia said it’s on track to open the Arab world’s biggest stock market to foreigners in the first half of the year, confirming no change of policy since a new monarch ascended to the throne following King Abdullah’s death.

    The Capital Markets Authority has issued draft laws and is assessing investor feedback before it approves the regulations and sets an official date for the lessening of restrictions on the $484 trillion exchange, governor Mohammed Al-Sheikh said at a conference in Riyadh today. King Salman pledged on Friday to maintain the oil-rich nation’s current policies and asserted all ministers will stay in their posts.

    Abdullah, who on January 23 passed away aged about 90, helped drive a 27 percent stock rally in the past four years with a $130 billion spending plan. The market regulator’s comments today underscore the kingdom’s commitment to its economic plans as it seeks to boost non-oil industries amid plunging crude prices. The Tadawul All Share Index rose 0.7 percent in its first day of trading following the late king’s death, the largest increase among Persian Gulf stock markets.

    Bloomberg reported that the feedback process “indicates that there is genuine and significant demand and interest in the Saudi market,” Al-Sheikh said at the Riyadh conference.

    Investors from outside the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (BGCC200) aren’t allowed to invest directly in stocks and have to get access to the market through equity swaps and exchange-traded funds. Saudis accounted for 95.05 percent of the value of Saudi shares traded in December, with other GCC nations at 2.08 percent and others 2.87 percent, according to bourse data.

    “Markets can hence expect continuity from Saudi Arabia in the near term,” VTB Capital said in an e-mailed note on Jan. 23. “King Salman is thought to be more conservative than his predecessor, but also has a reputation of being a consensus builder in the royal family.”

  • Jonathan commiserates with King Salman, Saudi Arabia people

    Jonathan commiserates with King Salman, Saudi Arabia people

    President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday joined other world leaders in commiserating with King Salman Ibn Abdulaziz and the people of Saudi Arabia on the death of his predecessor, King Abdullah Ibn Abdulaziz.

    In a condolence letter to the new Saudi Monarch, President Jonathan said that King Abdullah will be long remembered for entrenching the process of progressive reform in his country.

    The President, according to a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said that he was confident that the existing cordial and mutually beneficial relations between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia will be maintained and further strengthened under King Salman.

    He said: “I have received with great sadness, news of the death of His Highness, King Abdullah Ibn Abdulaziz at the grand age of 90.

    “On behalf of the government and people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I wish to express my heartfelt condolences at the sad loss of this illustrious monarch and revered leader. Our thoughts go out to the people of Saudi Arabia and, particularly, the Saudi royal family at this time.

    “King Abdullah will be remembered for entrenching the process of progressive reform, enduring stability and economic consolidation in Saudi Arabia, while preserving the Kingdom’s place as the universally acclaimed centre of the Islamic faith.

    “While the government and people of Nigeria share in your loss, we are hopeful that you and the entire people of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia would be comforted by the enduring legacy of selfless service that King Abdullah leaves behind.

    “As Your Highness ascends to the throne as King of Saudi Arabia and custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, I am confident that the excellent fraternal relations and productive partnership that have always existed between our two countries and peoples will be further strengthened and deepened in the years ahead,” Jonathan wrote in the letter to King Salman

    New Saudi king seeks to reassure on succession and policy

    King Salman pledged yesterday to maintain existing energy and foreign policies.

    He also quickly moved to appoint younger men as his heirs, settling the succession for years to come by naming a deputy crown prince from his dynasty’s next generation.

    King Abdullah, who died early on Friday after a short illness, was buried in an unmarked grave in keeping with local religious traditions.

    By appointing his youngest half-brother Muqrin, 69, as Crown Prince and nephew Mohammed bin Nayef, 55, as Deputy Crown Prince, Salman has swiftly quelled speculation about internal palace rifts at a moment of regional turmoil.

    Oil prices jumped in an immediate reaction as news of Abdullah’s death added to uncertainty in energy markets.

    Salman, thought to be 79, takes over as the ultimate authority in a country that faces long-term domestic challenges compounded by the plunging price of oil in recent months and the rise of the Islamic State militant group in Iraq and Syria, which vows to toppled the Al Saud ruling family.

    In his first speech as king, shown live on Saudi television, Salman pledged to maintain the same approach to ruling the world’s top oil exporter and birthplace of Islam as his predecessors and called for unity among Arab states.

    “We will continue, God willing, to hold the straight course that this country has followed since its establishment by the late King Abdulaziz,” he said.

    Mohammed bin Nayef becomes the first grandson of the kingdom’s founding monarch, King Abdulaziz, known as Ibn Saud, to take an established place in the line of succession.

    All Saudi kings since Abdulaziz’s death in 1953 have been his sons and the move to the next generation had raised the prospect of a palace power struggle. King Salman also appointed his own son, Mohammed bin Salman, Defense Minister and head of the royal court.

    The rapidity of the decisions startled Saudis, used to a delay of up to several months before top appointments following the deaths of their monarchs. The choice of Mohammed bin Nayef was seen by some as a reflection of his strong record in counter-terrorism in his role as interior minister.

    Salman’s predecessor, King Abdullah died early yesterday.

    “His Highness Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and all members of the family and the nation mourn the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, who passed away at exactly 1 a.m. this morning,” the royal palace said in a statement .

  • Saudi Arabia’s gas initiative fails to pay off

    Saudi Arabia’s gas initiative fails to pay off

    Saudi Arabia’s decade-long ‘Gas Initiative’ is unravelling — with considerable impact on global energy balance — as galloping domestic consumption seems eating into the exportable crude surplus of the Opec kingpin — Saudi Arabia.

    Launched by the then crown prince, and now King Abdullah ibn Abdul Aziz, way back in September 1998, when during an hour long private meeting with senior executives of seven US oil majors he invited them to help develop the kingdom’s energy resources. But things have turned ‘sour’ since.

    Initially, the three mooted gas projects focused on a $15 billion scheme to develop gas reserves in South Ghawar field and two minor $5billion ventures that involved gas production for petrochemical, power and water desalination projects.

    However, internal opposition and drawn out negotiations, as well as questions about the Aramco reserve estimates, stifled the early euphoria.

    The initiative ended up with only a handful of projects, led mainly by Russian, Chinese and European firms. US oil majors, who had originally negotiated for participation, interestingly abstained. The revised gas projects entailed exploration and processing of the non-associated gas found in designated blocks in the Rub Al Khali (Empty Quarter).

    In October 2003 Royal Dutch/Shell and France’s were awarded the Shaybah gas project, covering a 200,000 square kilometre. In May 2004, Russia’s Lukoil was awarded stake in 29,900 sq km Block A and China’s Sinopec was awarded stake in 38,800 sq km Block B. Italy’s ENI and Spain’s Repsol-YPF, were awarded the 52,000 km, Block C.

    Early last month, Shell announced ending investments in the project. ENI, Repsol and Total — have also abandoned gas search. China’s Sinopec too had reportedly suspended operations in the Empty Quarter.

  • 20-year-old Saudi citizen held

    Detectives have arrested a 20-year-old Saudi Arabia citizen in connection with the Boston bombings.

    He is Abdulrahman Ali Alharbi, 22, who is studying English.

    Police said he is a witness and not a suspect and is cooperating.

    They raided a home in Boston in connection with the explosions at Monday’s marathon which killed three and injured more than 173, 17 of them critically.

    Authorities are still unsure who was behind the blasts – which have been described as small, home-made devices – but have a number of leads which they are following.

    Agents, including the FBI and bomb disposal officers, swooped on an apartment in the suburbs of the city after a man, said to be of Saudi origin, was arrested at the scene.

    The 20-year-old suspect is under police guard in hospital, where he is being treated for burns and shrapnel wounds to his legs, after he was tackled to the ground by a civilian who believed he was acting suspiciously.

    It was also reported that he may have had a foreign accent. He is in the country legally on a student visa and is said to be cooperating fully with police inquiries.

    He said he had been at dinner with friends the night before and was at the marathon simply because he ‘wanted to see the end of the race’.

    He has a clean record, and suffered burn injuries during the explosion.

    It is not clear if agents found anything in the raid, but Revere fire officials said they were called out to support bomb-squad officers as part of the investigation of the ‘person of interest’.

    At Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, investigators seized the man’s clothes to examine whether they held any evidence that he was behind the attack, which is being called the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11.

    Law sources told the New York Post that after the man was grabbed by police, he smelled of gun powder and said, ‘I thought there would be a second bomb’ before asking, ‘Did anyone die?’

    The Saudi man was tackled by a bystander by the scene who thought he was acting suspiciously.

    Investigators were seen leaving the scene with brown paper evidence bags, trash bags and a duffel bag.

    A law enforcement source told CBS: ‘They see him running away from the device. Now, a reasonable person would be running away. But this person had noticed him before. This is a civilian — chases him down, tackles him, turns him over to the Boston police.

    ‘The individual is being looked at (and) was suffering from burn injury. That means this person was pretty close to wherever this blast went off, but not so close as to suffer the serious injuries that other people did.’

    Rep Pete King, a Long Island republican who chairs the house counterterrorism subcommittee told ABC news that the bombings had ‘all the trademarks of an al Qaeda attack’.

     

  • Shun peace talk in Saudi, says Erumaka

    The General Overseer of the Wordbase Assembly, Lagos, Bishop Humphrey Erumaka, has charged the federal government to shun any form of conditional dialogue on peace deal from the Boko Haram sect.

    Erumaka made this known in an interview with The Nation recently ahead of the church 14 days of Prayer and Praise Revival programme scheduled to hold early next year.

    Erumaka said the recent condition for peace talk initiated by the Boko Haram sect with the federal government in Saudi Arabia was a clear indication that the sect was not interested in the peace and stability of the country.

    According to him, the need for peaceful co-existence and mutual understanding in any society is very germane for national development but can be effectively done when people or the different parties involved show genuine interest for peace.

    He said “I generally believe in dialogue as a process of mediation but one can only dialogue with people who show real interest for peace. Nigeria can no longer be held ransom by faceless groups whose agenda is primitive and undefined. The condition of the peace talks in Saudi Arabia should be jettisoned in its entirety.”

    While calling for continuous prayers for peace and stability on the part of citizens, the pastor also advised government to put structure that will help protect the lives and properties of citizens in place.

  • US to overtake Saudi as top oil producer, says IEA

    The United States will overtake Saudi Arabia and Russia as the world’s top oil producer by 2017, the West’s energy agency said yesterday, predicting Washington will come very close to achieving a previously unthinkable energy self-sufficiency.

    The International Energy Agency (IEA), according to Reuters, said it saw a continued fall in US oil imports with North America becoming a net oil exporter by around 2030, and the United States becoming almost self-sufficient in energy by 2035.

    “US, which currently imports around 20 percent of its total energy needs, becomes all but self-sufficient in net terms – a dramatic reversal of the trend seen in most other energy importing countries,” it said.

    The forecasts by the IEA, which advises large industrialized nations on energy policy, were in sharp contrast to its previous reports, which saw Saudi Arabia remaining the top producer until 2035.

    “Energy developments in the United States are profound and their effect will be felt well beyond North America – and the energy sector,” the IEA said in the annual long-term report, giving one of the most optimistic forecasts for U.S. energy production growth to date.

    “The recent rebound in U.S. oil and gas production, driven by upstream technologies that are unlocking light tight oil and shale gas resources, is spurring economic activity – with less expensive gas and electricity prices giving industry a competitive edge,” it added.

    IEA Chief Economist Fatih Birol told a news conference in London he believed the United States would overtake Russia as the biggest gas producer by a significant margin by 2015. By 2017, it would become the world’s largest oil producer, he said.

  • IPMAN executive jailed in Saudi for drug trafficking

    AUTHORITIES of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have sentenced a Nigerian and executive member of the Kwara State Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) to six months in prison for cocaine trafficking.

    The embattled petroleum marketer (name withheld) went on lesser hajj last August with his wife en route Kano.

    He allegedly hid the suspected substance inside the yam flour neatly packaged in his travelling bag.

    But Saudi security officials allegedly fished out the substance from where it was stuck.

    When interrogated by security personnel, the IPMAN executive was said to have owned up while his wife was instantly set free.

    He was said to have been convicted immediately according to Saudi laws.

    It was gathered the development automatically prevented him from performing the lesser hajj.

    Friends and relations could not ascertain his whereabouts until the wife was said to have contacted them on the development.

    It was also gathered authorities of the Saudi Arabia government had communicated the decision to the leadership of IPMAN in Kwara state.

    Not a few members of the association have expressed dismay over the development, describing it as unfortunate.

    A member of the state executive of IPMAN, who craved anonymity, confirmed the development.

    He said zonal and national offices of IPMAN had taken steps to fill the vacant seat.

    A member of the executives said it is morally wrong for the association to allow an ex-convict to return to office.

    The source said, “the move for his replacement would serve as a lesson to the people, particularly the members.”

    It was gathered he had commenced serving the jail term, which ends in December, since August.