Home Blog Page 1099

Nigeria does not have official register of missing persons – Minister

Sinafi OMANGA
-
0
Nigeria does not have official register of missing persons – Minister

NIGERIA’S Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouk, has said the country lacks reliable data on missing persons.

The minister disclosed this at a meeting of stakeholders organised by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development in collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in Abuja.

Represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Nasir Gwarzo, Farouk said, “Currently, Nigeria has no national structure or Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to address humanitarian consequences of disappearances”.

“To date, there is no reliable national data on the number of missing persons in Nigeria because there is no official register.

“It is very understable why Nigeria as a country and this Ministry is very concerned about this often-neglected and tragic humanitarian and social issue,” she added.

Farouk noted that irregular migration by many Nigerians, including children through the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea in search of safety and better life, contributed to risk of disappearance.

However, she said the Federal Government through the Ministry will establish a National Mechanism to raise awareness about the plight of the missing persons.

“Also, the needs of their families, establish a collaborative network between and among difeferent stakeholders where methodologies in approaching the question of missing persons and their families will be addressed”, she said.

Speaking on plans by government to locate missing persons in the country, the Executive Secretary of NHRC, Tony Ojukwu said “no responsible government would leave this matter without addressing it”.

Executive Secretary, National Human Rights Commission – NHRC Tony Ojukwu.

“So, it is a matter that should be a source of concern for all us representing one agency or the other.

“I also believe that we will soon begin to see ourselves the role that we can play in bringing this to fruition to the extent that we will to that stage where we will have a proper database”, he said.

A report by the ICRC last year said Nigeria accounts for the highest number of missing persons ever registered by the organisation.

According to the report, 25,000 out of 64,000 missing persons are from Nigeria.

The head of ICRC Nigeria Delegation, Yann Bonzon said “these are numbers of cases that have been registered with the ICRC and Nigerian Red Cross Society. We know that this number is likely just a tip of the iceberg”.

Head of ICRC Nigeria,Yann Bonzon

Bonzon added that “the ICRC know that no fewer than 13,000 families in Nigeria are seeking missing loved ones”.

FG inaugurates committees for Ondo, Benin seaports

Beloved JOHN
-
0
FG inaugurates committees for Ondo, Benin seaports

THE Federal Ministry of Transportation has set up a committee for the proposed Benin and Ondo deep seaports.

The committee is responsible for providing guidance and direction on the ports projects.

READ ALSO:

NDLEA intercepts colorado, cannabis juice consignments at Lagos airport, seaport

Badagry seaport to generate $53bn over 45-year concession period – Sanwo-Olu

NDLEA intercepts cocaine, skunk consignments at Enugu, Lagos ports

Tinubu speaks on economic plans, says subsidy removal long overdue

It will also facilitate permits, clearance and approvals for the projects.

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transportation, Dr Magdalene Ajani, conducted the inauguration.

According to her, the Federal Government decided to establish a steering committee for the seaports in line with the government’s plan to decongest the western Ports and develop the maritime sector.

She noted that the committee commences work immediately.

Members of the Steering Committee include the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, representatives of the Federal Ministries of Finance and Justice, National Inland Waterways, Nigerian Shippers’ Council, and Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, among others.

My expulsion from APC is fake news – Ita Enang

Theophilus ADEDOKUN
-
0
My expulsion from APC is fake news – Ita Enang

FORMER Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on National Assembly Matters, Ita Enang, has described reports of his expulsion from the All Progressives Congress (APC) as fake news.

The former presidential aide on Niger Delta Affairs stated this during an interview with Arise TV on Wednesday, January 25.

Enang, who is laying claim to the governorship ticket of the APC in Akwa Ibom, was reported to have been expelled over anti-party activities by the leadership of the party in the state.

He said a press conference will be organised to debunk the fake news about his expulsion from the party.

Insisting that he is still a member of the APC, Enang said, “They will not intimidate me for defending myself in court, I am the legitimate governorship candidate of the APC for the 2023 general elections.

“I am the spirit, body and soul of the APC in Akwa Ibom State and nobody has suspended me or done anything that affects my status in the party and there is no judgment that gives anybody the ticket of the party. All these actions are taken against me because I have gone to court to defend myself.

“The decision was taken against me because I have taken my case to court. I am entitled by law to defend myself.”

He claimed that former governor Godwin Akpabio had conspired to take charge of the leadership of the APC in Akwa Ibom.

Enang alleged that Akpabio’s attitude has driven many people away from the APC in Akwa Ibom.

“People are leaving the APC. Why are we losing followership since Akpabio came? Why are members leaving? But I will not leave.”

Kidnappers demand N5m to free mother, child abducted in Osogbo

Vincent Ufuoma
-
0
Kidnappers demand N5m to free mother, child abducted in Osogbo

A 32-year-old woman and her child have been kidnapped in Osogbo, the Osun State capital.

According to the state police command, the victims were kidnapped at Otaefun/Kobo’ngbogboe area of Osogbo on Tuesday, January 24.

Police spokesperson in Osun, Yemisi Opalola, said a report of the incident was made to the police and the security operatives were was making efforts to rescue the victims.

Senior pastor of Union Baptist Church, Odi-Olowo, Osogbo, Sunday Adeoye, announced the kidnapping of the woman and her child in a statement on Wednesday, January 25.

The church spokesperson, Oluwamayowa Fagbohungbe, quoted Adeoye saying the woman was kidnapped while returning from her shop.

The woman and her family are members of the church, and she was said to be a teacher in the teenagers’ ministry.

Meanwhile, the kidnappers have contacted the victim’s husband to demand a ransom of N5 million, which they instructed must be paid into the victim’s bank account.

The kidnapped was the third in Osun since the beginning of the year, with ransoms allegedly paid to secure the release of victims.

PDP governorship candidate in Abia State is dead

Vincent Ufuoma
-
0
PDP governorship candidate in Abia State is dead

ABIA State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Uche Ikonne, a professor, is dead.

Ikonne’s death was announced in a statement by his son, Chikezie Uche-Ikonne, on Wednesday.

The younger Ikonne said his father died after a brief illness at the National Hospital, Abuja, on Wednesday, January 25.

“I regret to announce the death of my dear father, Prof Eleazar Uchenna Ikonne, who died at the National Hospital Abuja today January 2023, 25, by 4 am after a brief illness,” he said.

“He was recovering after taking proper treatment in the United Kingdom but relapsed a few days ago leading to multiple cardiac arrests from which he didn’t recover from.”

He noted that further details and arrangements for his burial would be made known to the public after deliberations and meetings are made within the family.

Until his death, Ikonne was a optometrist and politician. He was the the 7th Substantive Vice- Chancellor of the Abia State University and the former Rector, Abia State Polytechnic, Aba.

He was born on August 15, 1956, in Agburuike, Nsulu in Isiala Ngwa North, Abia State.

He attended Ngwa High School in Aba of Abia State. He proceeded to study Optometry at the Manila Central University, Philippines. He obtained a Master’s degree in Hospital Administration at St. Jude College, Philippines.

He later obtained a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Environmental Health Science from Abia State University.

He started his career as a consulting optometrist at the Park Lane General Hospital, Enugu in 1985.

In 1993, Prof. Ikonne became a member of the Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians Registration Board of Nigeria and the Chairman of the Education Committee.

He later joined Abia State University, Uturu as a lecturer.

During his career at Abia State University, Uchenna Ikonne held some key positions in the University including, Head, Department of Optometry, Director, Institute for Distance Education, acting Dean, Faculty of Health Sciences, Deputy Provost, College of Medicine & Health Sciences of the institution.

Ikonne was the Chairman, Disciplinary Committee and Vice-Chairman, Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians Registration Board of Nigeria in 2007 and 2009 respectively.

He won the African Optometric Educator Award of the year and the the distinguished merit Award of the Nigerian Optometric Association in 2003 and 2006 respectively.

67 journalists killed globally in 2022 – CPJ

Marcus FATUNMOLE
-
0
67 journalists killed globally in 2022 – CPJ

THE Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has said 67 journalists and media workers were killed worldwide in 2022.

In a report on Tuesday, January 24, the CPJ said the year witnessed the highest number of journalists brutally murdered around the globe since 2018.

The 2022 figures of journalists and media workers killed were almost twice the number eliminated in 2021.

The 67 journalists killed in 2022 are among 2,186 who have been murdered since 1992, according to the Committee. 

CPJ’s data of journalists who died last year almost tally with those of the International Press Institute (IPI), which logged 66 on December 29, 2022.

The deceased were victims of their work – exposing sleazes, covering gang violence, other dangerous activities and the environment.

Deaths of journalists and other media workers in the past year grew because of the high casualties of the professionals from the Russia/Ukraine war and the hostile media working environment in Latin America, especially Mexico.

Of the 67 killed, 41 died in direct connection to their work. The circumstances behind the killings of others have yet to be known. CPJ said it will continue to probe their death.

More than half of the murders occurred in just three countries–Ukraine (15), Mexico (13), and Haiti (seven), the highest yearly numbers CPJ has ever recorded for the countries.

CPJ’s report does not include journalists who died of illness or were killed in a car or plane crash unless the crash was caused by hostile action.

In addition to Mexico, Russia and Ukraine, journalists and media workers died in Colombia, the Philippines, Chad, Chile, Israel, Myanmar, Brazil, Haiti, Turkey, Occupied Palestinian Territory and the United States.

The deaths underline the extent of threats faced by the press around the world, including in countries with democratically elected governments, the CPJ noted.

“CPJ tracks three types of journalists’ deaths in relation to their work: targeted murders in reprisal for reporting–by far the largest category; deaths in combat or crossfire; and deaths on other dangerous assignments. CPJ also tracks the killings of media support workers, such as translators, drivers, and security guards; there was one such killing in 2022 in Kazakhstan.”

Other highlights of the report show that the Russian/Ukraine war caused the death of 13 of the 15 journalists who died in Ukraine, and more could die as the war persists.

Nearly half of the global total (30) died in Latin America in 2022 – “a reflection of the outsize risk journalists in the region face”.

CPJ recalled Maria Guadalupe Lourdes Maldonado López, a veteran broadcast journalist who was shot dead in her car in Tijuana, Mexico, in January 2022, including Alfonso Margarito Martínez Esquivel and Armando Linares López who were brutally murdered.

In October, two gunmen fatally shot and killed Rafael Emiro Moreno Garavito, a veteran journalist in Colombia. In May, Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot and killed while reporting an Israeli military raid in the Palestinian West Bank city of Jenin.

CPJ specifically accused Israel of condoning impunity for crimes against the press. 

It said Akleh’s killing came one year after Israeli forces bombed several buildings in the Gaza Strip housing media offices, including The Associated Press and Al-Jazeera. 

In the Philippines, all four of the murdered journalists were radio journalists “covering local politics, highlighting the dangers faced by the press in the country”.

The ICIR reports that the CPJ did not record that any journalist died in Nigeria in 2022; there were reports of attacks on the practitioners and other workers in the industry.

The International Press Centre (IPC) condemned some of those attacks in a report in June of that year.

There are several reports of the government’s intolerance of journalists’ work in Nigeria, resulting in their unlawful arrest, shoddy arraignment and incarceration, including a 2019 report which showed that the country recorded the worst attacks on journalists in 34 years under President Muhammadu Buhari.  

FG eyes $500m revenue from cashew exports

Theophilus ADEDOKUN
-
0
FG eyes $500m revenue from cashew exports

THE Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohammed Abubakar, has revealed that the Federal Government is to generate $500 million from cashew nut exports in 2023.

The minister, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr Ernest Umakhihe, disclosed this on Tuesday, January 24, during an event held to mark the Nigerian Cashew Day and commencement of the cashew farming season, in Abuja.

Speaking on ‘Industrialising the Nigeria Cashew Sector through Inclusive Policies’, Abubakar said that Nigeria generated over $250 million from cashew exports in 2022, adding that the product could fetch Nigerian farmers about $500 million in 2023.

He pointed the revenue from cashew export is estimated to represent over 10 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) based on export data of 2022.

”It is estimated to represent over 10 per cent of GDP based on export data of 2022 and it is becoming a commercial crop in Nigeria and is cultivated in 27 states including the FCT,” he stressed.

“In realisation of the importance of cashew, the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development listed cashew as a priority crop. It is being promoted under the Import Substitution Strategy of the present administration led by President Muhammadu Buhari.”

The minister noted that cashew is one of the crops being promoted under the Value Chain Programme of the ministry.

He stressed that the Ministry had carried out a number of activities over the years to promote the growth of the value chain, including the distribution of improved seeds/seedlings to cashew farmers free of charge.

Abubakar added that the Ministry had financed the establishment of cashew cottage industries in some states, distribution of agrochemicals/growth enhancers, carbon-free jute bags and knapsack sprayers.

”Others were the provision of water pumps to cashew farmers, conducting capacity building/training for cashew farmers and sensitisation exercises,” he added.

Many feared dead as explosion rocks Niger community

Bankole ABE
-
0
Many feared dead as explosion rocks Niger community

MANY residents, including vigilantes, are feared dead following multiple explosions that rocked the Galkogo community in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State.

Explosions reportedly rocked the community on Tuesday, January 24.

The cause of the explosion has not been confirmed.

However, a resident, Tanko Erena, told Punch that the explosions were caused by air strikes by Nigeria Air Force. He added that the explosions occurred when men of the Joint Security Task Force were patrolling the area.

“I believe the occupants of the fighter jet thought that the JTF members were bandits because there is really no reason to justify bombing them like that.

“I can’t tell you how many bodies were removed from where the incident occurred, but I saw two vehicles that carried bodies from the scene,” he said.

READ ALSO:

The State Police Public Relations Officer, Wasiu Abiodun, when contacted by the ICIR, directed our reporter to the State Commissioner for Internal Security and Humanitarian Affairs, Emmanuel Umar.

However, calls made to the Commissioner were not answered as of the time of filing this report.

Cultural Survival seeks proposals for Indigenous Community Media Fund

Blessing OTOIBHI
-
1
Cultural Survival seeks proposals for Indigenous Community Media Fund

CULTURAL Survival is accepting applications for the Indigenous Community Media Fund which provides opportunities for Indigenous community radio stations and media outlets to strengthen their broadcast infrastructure and systems while providing training opportunities for their journalists through a participatory and dynamic grants program.

Indigenous community radio stations and other community media outlets and groups may apply for a grant of up to $6,000.

Radio network proposals presented by three or more Indigenous radio stations can apply for funding up to $12,000

All countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa, Canada and the United States; India, Philippines, Indonesia, Nepal, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Malaysia are eligible to apply.

The initiative enhances community efforts to establish and ensure the sustainability of Indigenous community-controlled media.

The organiser says past projects that were funded included improvements to internal organisation infrastructure, capacity building, systematization of radio and other community media management experiences, advocacy in national legislation and policies to advocate for access to Indigenous community media, and other innovative strategies that increase political and community impact.

The initiative will highly value the participation and inclusion of women, other genders, and youth as a funding priority for the projects.

The deadline for the submission of the application is February 15, 2023. Interested applicants can apply here.

Soludo’s call for Kanu’s release not politically motivated – Aide

Theophilus ADEDOKUN
-
0
Soludo’s call for Kanu’s release not politically motivated – Aide

CHIEF Press Secretary (CPS) to the Governor of Anambra State, Christian Aburime, has said Governor Chukwuma Soludo’s appeal for the release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, was not politically motivated.

The ICIR had earlier reported that Soludo appealed to the Federal Government to release the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, in order to resolve security challenges bedeviling the South-East.

Soludo specifically urged the Federal Government to release Kanu to him, saying he was willing to stand as surety for the IPOB leader.

However, IPOB had faulted the governor’s gesture. The group said it rejected Soludo’s offer to stand as surety for Kanu.

The governor has also come under attack over the offer, with many describing his gesture as politically motivated.

Reacting to the development, Aburime stated that Soludo’s call for Kanu’s release was borne out of a genuine desire to restore peace to the South-East.

Aburime added that the governor understood the need for the IPOB leader to speak to the people of the South-East in order to address the high level of insecurity in the region.

The Press Secretary expressed regrets that some people had attached wrong motives and political meaning to the “genuine” appeal made by the governor.

He stressed that Soludo neither consulted other South-East governors nor spoke on their behalf “but spoke in his capacity as the governor of Anambra State”.

According to him, the governor observed that insecurity in the region has continued to surge since the detention of the IPOB leader.

1...1,0981,0991,100...3,439Page 1,099 of 3,439