The Egyptian Police on Tuesday killed at least 10 terrorists in a security raid in Arish city of restive North Sinai province northeast of the capital Cairo, official news agency MENA reported.
After receiving a tip-off, the National Security Sector struck the hideout of some terrorist elements in a deserted farmland in El-Obour area in Arish, where they were planning to carry out terrorist operations.
According to the report, three machine-guns, two rifles, two bombs and ammunition were seized in their possession.
Egypt has been battling militants for years.
Meanwhile, the Sinai-based terrorist operations gained strength after the 2013 military ouster of Egyptian former President Mohammed Morsi in response to massive protests against his one-year rule.
On Monday, the armed forces announced in a statement the death of 52 militants in North Sinai.
The raids are part of the “Comprehensive Operation Sinai 2018”, which started in February.
More than 390 militants and over 30 soldiers were reported to have been killed so far in the anti-terror campaign.
Promoting accountability and transparency in government and encouraging public participation will come to the fore when the North West Provincial Legislature embarks on an outreach that gets underway today.
The four-day undertaking, which will take place in the Dr. Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipality, will get underway at Matloding village when the Joint Committees on Health and Social Development and Education, Sports and Recreation visit the local clinic.
The committees are expected to also visit the Matloding Combined School to assess the state of overcrowding in classrooms, shortage of furniture and under-performance.
Later in the day, the committees will visit Ntshidi Secondary School in Mabule village.
Meanwhile, as part of the Taking Parliament to the People programme, the Committee on Premier, Finance, Economy and Enterprise Development is scheduled to visit the Soft Bread Bakery in Mahikeng.
The Committee on Culture, Arts and Traditional Affairs is also set to visit the Lomanyaneng Library to assess the state of infrastructure and functionality of the village’s library.
“During the programme, members of the Provincial Legislature will also interact with different provincial departments and their MECs; mayors, members of the municipal public accounts committees, ward committees and members of the public on issues affecting them,” said the provincial legislature on Monday.
The legislature also encouraged the public to attend the public meeting that will be held at Groot Marico Community Hall on Thursday. The meeting is scheduled to kick off at 3pm.
The programme will conclude on Friday with the various committees visiting areas such as Lichtenburg, Coligny, Kraaipan village and Sannieshof.
The Limpopo Provincial Government has welcomed the ruling by the Press Council on the matter between the Office of the Premier and City Press newspaper.
In a report, the newspaper had alleged that Premier Stanley Mathabatha had been sitting with a report that could have led to criminal charges against some senior government officials.
The article said Mathabatha spent the past two years “sitting on recommendations by provincial Treasury to act against officials fingered in a multimillion rand corruption tender awarded by the Department of Health under his close ally, MEC Phophi Ramathuba”.
The Limpopo Provincial Government took the matter to the Press Ombudsman. A ruling was made on 25 September 2018 ordering City Press to write an apology and a retraction.
“The media must report objectively and in a balanced manner. Public servants are parents and members of the community. Mistakes may happen during execution of their responsibilities.
“As a government of the people, we expect the media to report unbiased, accurate and factual [reports] about the work carried out by public servants, including political leadership.
“We knew that the article was malevolent and tainted the image of Premier Mathabatha as well as his administration.
“Claiming that Mathabatha’s administration is corrupt without facts was out of order. Our stand on corruption is well-known and documented. As the provincial government, we feel vindicated because the story was reckless and unfounded,” the Limpopo Provincial Government said in a statement.
Two-third of world marine life is considered endangered species due to climate change and improper disposal of chemicals which affects living organisms in streams, Rivers or the oceans.
Marine life is the plants, animals and other organisms that live in the salt water of the sea or ocean, or the brackish water of coastal estuaries. At a fundamental level, marine life helps determine the very nature of our planet. Marine organisms produce much of the oxygen we breathe.
People need to stop indiscriminate dumping of wastes in the streets, gutters and their neighbourhood. As a people, we don’t have good waste disposal culture. This is very unpleasant and unhealthy.
Lagos State alone is said to generate 13,000 tons of wastes daily, and most of these wastes ended up in the rivers, streams and lagoons. In other parts of the country, no less waste is generated and dumped into nearby drainages, canal or stream.
In Nassarawa and Down Quarters communities in Kakuri, Kaduna South Local Government Area, human wastes are simply discharged into drainage and subsequently flushed by rain into river Kaduna. The effect is that the waste poisoned and killed aquatic animals.
Climatologist and Assistant Director, African Climate Reporters, Dr Piman Hoffman, said when his team took a tour of river banks in Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara States, it was observed that most fish species were gone and very few could be seen.
Dr. Hoffman attributed this development to indiscriminate dumping of chemicals, wastes and human activities to the extinct of marine animals.
According to him, humans have introduced significant number of chemicals into the environment which are very harmful to marine animals. He said while some chemicals are designed to get rid of weeds and pests, a significant amount of chemicals are waste from industrial and agricultural processes.
The improper handling of chemical wastes is found in oceans and world’s water supply being treated like sewage or toxic waste dumps. He expressed sadness over the attitude of companies who dumped chemicals into water sources without recourse to the consequences.
He explained that an anytime chemical waste is released, it effect goes into the atmosphere and pollute the water. As it rains, the chemicals are washed into rivers, which in turn feed the waterfalls and then go into the ocean.
He added that climate change and human activities has caused the extinction of many aquatic life and many are still going due to continuous dumping of hazardous wastes harmful to living organisms in water.
“We dump everything in the oceans, including plastic bags and other plastic debris, garbage, and toxic chemicals, crude oil, sewage and nuclear wastes. We killed thousands of aquatic animals daily without knowing the consequences, hence, the need to halt this ugly attitude.
“There has been an increasing concern about the environment in which man lives. Solid wastes, mount of rubbish, garbage and sewage are being produced every day in the urban centres.
“It must be noted that some component of these wastes including food, paper, metals, polythene bags, zinc and lead containing materials among others, consume oxygen thereby changing the redox potential of the liquid present,” he said.
The Climatologist opines that when people dump chemicals into gutters, they are really dumping them into the creeks! Besides being illegal, it is anti-social, and sometimes deadly to fish, and other creek dwellers. Oil and other chemicals also pose a threat to our drinking water supply. In stream beds these chemicals can find their way through porous soils into deep drinking water aquifers and pollute them.
He said hazardous wastes are poisonous by-products of manufacturing, farming, city septic systems, construction, automotive garages, laboratories, hospitals, and other industries.
“The waste may be liquid, solid, or sludge and contain chemicals, heavy metals, radiation, dangerous pathogens, or other toxins. Even households generate hazardous waste from items such as batteries, used computer equipment, and leftover paints or pesticides.
“When a toxic waste harms one organism, it can end up destroying an entire food chain of aquatic life. Improperly disposed chemicals pollute marine life and kills sea mammals, corals, and fish, crabs, seabirds and other creatures living in water,” he added.
Fertilisers used by farmers also poses similar danger to aquatic plants and animals; as well as oil pollution, another major pollutants killing marine creatures in the Niger-Delta region of Nigeria.
Fishermen expressed total dissatisfaction over increase dumping of trash, toxic and other waste materials into gutters and the rivers that lead to gradual extinctions of fingerlings and aquatic animals.
Some fisherman in an interview with journalists at the riverbank in Kaduna, said many species of fish has gone extinct, as they no longer see fish like sardines, and others as it was some years ago.
Mallam Musa Sani, is a fisher at Kangimi Dam in Kaduna, he disclosed that many species of fish had gone extinct, while some are on their way to being extinct; saying this is caused by human activities. He added that for the past 10 years, fishes like sardines and tilapia has disappeared, “We are forced to migrate from one river to another in the search of other fishes for sale,” he said.
Musa disclosed further that even frogs and crabs have all disappeared. He called on citizens to stop dumping wastes into drainage and river to save aquatic animals from going into extinctions.
Another fisherman, Paul Moses, in River Benue, appealed to Government to monitor activities of industries in the country as improper waste management leads to sicknesses or diseases.
Today, it is difficult to see crocodiles along the banks of River Kaduna. It is also very improbable to see a Hippopotamus in Rivers Niger or Benue. Similarly, frogs, tadpoles, toads, crickets have virtually disappeared or have gone extinct.
However, the worry is that the huge deposit of waste in the ocean or river has constituted a big threat to the survival of marine life, and if Nigeria is committed to playing a role in the global ocean clean-up campaign, the federal government must develop a mechanism that would curb the use of polythene bags and plastics as these materials constitute nuisance to marine life and coastal communities.
As the world celebrates world animal’s day on October 4, 2018. African Climate Reporters therefore join the world to fight against dumping of wastes in gutters.
Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has called for a regulation by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to protect its transformers in the event of any damage caused by Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos).
TCN’s Managing Director, Mr Mohammed Usman, made the call in an interview with journalists in Abuja on Sunday.
Mohammed said the inability of the DisCos to invest in their distribution infrastructure had resulted in the use of some of TCN’s transformers by DisCos to supply electricity.
This, he said, had sometimes resulted in the breakdown of the transformers.
“Under the grid code, everybody has their responsibility; we have our responsibility; and distribution companies have their responsibility.
“And where they fail to invest, it is not our problem that they fail to invest, but their lack of investment is affecting our system when we are connected to them.
“And that is why I am telling NERC that we are writing a petition that those areas where they are taking supply directly from our transformers because they have failed to build their own injection sub-station.
“We are going to ask NERC to put it as a rule to say that if our transformers get spoilt because of the DisCos’ failure to invest, they are going to compensate us.
“Because if they connect directly from our station without passing through their injection station; if there is a fault on their line, it will hit our transformers directly.
“Sometimes, they will come and say the fault has been cleared and TCN will restore supply, while they did not truly clear the fault and then that will scatter our transformer.
“We are saying, if such thing happens, we are going to write a petition asking NERC to do a regulation that will protect us.’’
Mohammed added that given the presence of several uncompleted transmission projects by some contractors in the past, TCN management was taking over the expired contracts.
“You know those contracts actually, have expired; most of those contracts are contracts for supply and installation of 330Kv sub-station and they are supposed to last for 18 months.
“The one in Damaturu was awarded in 2006, it is about 12 years, this contract has expired.
“ The problem TCN had in the past was that it awarded contracts to incompetent companies, but under current TCN management we have changed the way we do contract now.
“Most of our major contracts now, we have to do pre qualification, you have to be qualified first before you can even tender, so this kind of problem that we had will not continue.
“But some of the contractors that are not very difficult; we will work with them to complete the job.
“But if it is a contractor like the contractor of Damaturu sub-station that is a troublemaker, you have to exercise your right under the contract .
“So, we have so many of these contracts all over the place, and we are handling it.
Mohammed said TCN had attracted significant amount of investments, adding that international donors were willing to provide more funding to executive more transmission projects.
This, he attributed to series of audits reports conducted by the current management of the company.
The Aso Rock has distanced President Muhammadu Buhari from a letter in circulation, which alleged that the President had authorised Gov. Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State, to “deal with traitors and disloyal members of APC, especially Sen. Shehu Sani.
Garba Shehu, the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, made this known in a statement in Abuja on Sunday.
According to the presidential aide, the president is not aware of any such letter, let alone authorising anyone to deal with any party member.
The statement read: “The presidency wishes to distance President Muhammadu Buhari from a letter currently in circulation, which alleges that the President had authorised a governor or anyone else for that matter to deal with traitors and disloyal members of APC, especially Senator Shehu Sani.
“We wish to confirm that the president is not aware of any such letter, let alone authorising anyone to deal with any party member.
“Given President Buhari’s record, it is inconceivable that he would usurp the role of the party leaders and instruct anyone to punish a party member.
“In the light of above, we would like to appeal to the general public, especially members of the press, to ignore false or unauthorised information intended to attribute to the president any action which is not in line with his character.’’
Gov. El-Rufai of Kaduna State last week visited the Presidential villa twice over political developments in his state.
El-Rufai, who vehemently opposed the decision of the APC National Working Committee (NWC) to clear Sen. Shehu Sani as the sole candidate in the race for APC-Kaduna Central, said the fate of the senator “lies in the hands of the party delegates in the state”.
The national body of the APC had on Sunday reiterated that Sani remained its only senatorial candidate from Kaduna Central.
The Acting National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr Yekini Nabena, confirmed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said that the success of it’s just-concluded presidential primary election had demonstrated it’s strict adherence to democratic rules, principles of transparency and fairness.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar won the PDP Presidential ticket with 1532 votes to defeat other contestants including Gov. Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State who came second with 693 votes, and President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, who placed third with 317 votes.
The result was announced by Sen. Ifeanyi Okowa, Chairman PDP 2018 Special National Convention Planning Committee, at the end of the party’s convention on Sunday in Port Harcourt.
The party made the remark in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, on Sunday in Abuja.
Ologbondiyan said the success showed that citizens, irrespective of their individual and group interests, were capable of holding peaceful and credible elections that met global standards.
“Simply put, in the PDP Presidential primary, every vote counted.
“We invite the whole world to note that the PDP conducted its presidential primary and a clear winner, Atiku Abubakar, emerged, without any form of disagreements or reliance on heavy security.
“This shows that Nigerians are peaceful, orderly and desirous of credible processes at all levels of political engagement.
Ologbondiyan restated PDP’s determination to dismantle rigging machinery and return credible processes in all spheres of Nigeria national life.
The Convener of Save Nigeria Group, Tunde Bakare, told President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday to proclaim an executive order urgently to facilitate national reconciliation, reintegration and restructuring.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Bakare gave the advice against at a news conference in Ikeja against the backdrop of the persistent call by opinion leaders for Nigeria to be restructured to engender, equity, unity, peace and progress.
Bakare said that the executive order should be proclaimed in consultation with the National Assembly and the council of state, to establish a presidential commission to facilitate the restructuring.
The tele-evangelist and politician was speaking on the state of the nation at his Latter Rain Assembly Church,
Bakare said that restructuring would return Nigeria to the winning formula of the past that facilitated the country’s socio-economic development.
“To chair the presidential commission, the president should appoint a wise and discerning Nigerian who must be incorruptible and of unquestionable integrity and highly respected.
“The person should be able to build bridges among the diverse interest groups in the country and willing to serve his or her fatherland without remuneration.
“The chairperson should evolve the presidential commission into six zonal commissions and appoint for each zone, a zonal commissioner.
“The zonal commissioners should be technocrats, mandated to create and implement a master plan for their respective geo-economic zones and coordinate the transition of the economy in their zones.
“The presidential commission will launch a nationwide reconciliation and reintegration drive and should creatively communicate the new Nigeria with a compelling national vision and a brand identity.
“The commission should institute a social impact bond for the implementation of the zonal economic master plan. The financing scheme should be structured into key sectors, including agriculture which we have neglected.
“We should be ready to reject who we are not and reaffirm who we are.
“It’s time we say no to a defective system that throws up the worst of us for leadership. It’s time to say no to a system that only breeds defectors because it is only defective people that defect.
“It is time to build systems that will serve the common good; structure that works for every Nigerian and a nation that caters for every citizen. It is time to make the right choices.’’
Bakare also advised the Federal Government to prioritise the welfare of every Nigerian.
