By Justina Auta The European Union (EU) says it has invested €10 million in Action Against Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling of Migrants (A-TIPSOM) Project in Nigeria. EU representative, Eleni Zetzelidou, made this disclosure on Friday at the pre-launch of the A-TIPSOM project by an international NGO, the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP) in Nigeria. Zetzelidou said that the fund would aid in policies, protection, prosecution, and partnership between organisations in the ECOWAS region, in the field of trafficking human beings. “We have done similar works in the past and have previous cooperation projects with…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
Some Lagos-based lawyers on Friday opposed a bill proposed by the Senate seeking a 15-year jail term for any person found guilty of paying ransom to kidnappers. In interviews in Lagos, the lawyers said the bill did not tackle the root cause of ransom payment. The bill entitled, “Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Bill, 2021”, provides that anyone who makes payment or colludes with an abductor, kidnapper or terrorist to receive any ransom, is liable on conviction to 15 years’ imprisonment. The bill also notes, among other things, that kidnapping is in the increase in Nigeria and prevalent across all the geopolitical…
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Ibrahim Attahiru has died in a military plane. Among those who died near Kaduna Airport, along with the COAS, are and six other military officers. The spokesperson of Nigerian Air Force, Commodore Edward Gabkwet in a terse tweet on Friday, said the Chief of Army Staff was billed to commission a project in one of the military formations in Kaduna state. He gave no details of the six military officers on board the aircraft. “An air crash involving a @NigAirForce aircraft occurred this evening near the Kaduna International Airport. “The immediate cause of…
The Chairman of the South East Governors’ Forum and Governor of Ebonyi, David Umahi has posited that the peaceful agitation by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and other groups in the South-East have been hijacked by bandits. He said this in Abuja at a media event organised by the Presidential Media Team. “The situation in the South East right now is a situation in which non-violent approach of IPOB at the beginning has been hijacked by bandits, by cultists, by criminals,’’ he said. He, however, described the insinuation in some quarters that ”foreign machineries” were the ones causing mayhem…
U.S. President Joe Biden has applauded a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip and emphasised the U.S. will continue to support Israel militarily. Biden said in remarks at the White House in Washington, DC as Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire proposal by Egypt to take effect early Friday in Gaza. “The United States fully supports Israel’s right to defend itself against indiscriminate rocket attacks by Hamas and other Gaza-based terrorist groups that have taken the lives of innocent civilians. “These hostilities have resulted in tragic deaths of so many civilians, including children, and I…
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) says it has detained a Lebanese national accused of defiling minors in Plateau capital, Jos. The suspect, who was identified as Kfouri Suleiman (AKA Simo), is 61-year-old and had lived in Jos for 38 years. A NAPTIP statement on Thursday in Abuja alleged that the suspect was using the heinous crime for pornographic activities. The statement said that the suspect was at present being interrogated by NAPTIP operatives at the agency headquarters office in Abuja after he was handed over by the police. The statement recalled that NAPTIP Director-General, Mrs Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim,…
An Egyptian-brokered ceasefire agreement came into effect early on Friday at 2:00 a.m. Palestinian time between Israel and militant groups led by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas). As soon as it turned 2:00, loudspeakers of the mosques all over the Gaza Strip shouted Allahu Akbar (God is great) celebrating the end of more than 11 days of tit-for-tat trade of fire between Israel and Hamas-led militants in the Gaza Strip. Militants fired into the air, while tens of thousands of people took to the streets, while whistling and shouting Allahu Akbar. Earlier on Thursday, Hamas armed wing announced that it…
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says the 74th session of the World Health Assembly (WHA) will stress the urgent need to end the current pandemic and prevent the next one by building a healthier, safer, and fairer world. WHO, in a statement said that WHA, which would be held virtually, would run from May 24 to 1 June, 2021. The Health Assembly is WHO’s highest decision-making body and is attended by delegations from all around the world. It will also be opened to associate members, observers, invited representatives of the UN and other participating inter-governmental organisations, and non-State actors. According to…
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued essential standards for future research and development of genetically modified mosquitoes as part of efforts to make the fight against malaria and other vector-borne diseases more engaging. WHI said in a statement that the new standards would address issues relating to ethics, safety, affordability, and efficacy. Malaria and other vector-borne diseases, including dengue and Zika affect millions globally. More than 400,000 people die annually from malaria alone. If proven safe, effective, and affordable, genetically modified mosquitoes could be a valuable new tool for fighting the diseases and eliminating the enormous health, social, and…
The Controller, Niger State Fire Service (NSFS), Bello Salihu, said that Niger recorded a loss of N1.2 billion from 196 fire outbreaks in 2021 first quarter. Salihu disclosed this in an interview in Minna on Thursday. He said they recorded 300 fire outbreaks in the past but that the number became low due to intensive fire prevention campaigns to business premises, organisations and the public. “We believe and hope that in Q2 we will do more in the area of campaigning and sensitisation to bring down the rate of fire outbreaks to the barest minimum. “In the first quarter we recorded…