The Theater Command of Operation Lafiya Dole of the Nigerian Army on Friday alerted Borno residents on a planned attack by Boko Haram terrorists using beggars and other strategies.
The Media Coordinator of the Theater, Col. Mustapha Anka, made this known in a statement in Maiduguri.
Anka said, “the attention of the Operation Lafiya Dole has been drawn to a terrorists’ intention to use beggars to cause mayhem in the state.
“Under the plan, concealed explosives in bundles of firewood are to be placed in crowded and strategic areas of Maiduguri and environs to cause havoc.”
He said that the terrorists had also devised a new means of attracting the public by shouting Boko Haram to create panic.
“Additionally, the general public should be weary of a terrorists plan to deceive the public by way of shouting `Boko Haram’ to create panic in order to lure unsuspecting public for maximum casualty while detonating their bombs during and after the new year celebrations,” Anka said.
He, therefore, advised residents to be extra vigilant during and after the new year celebrations.
He said “the Theater wishes to remind the public to be extra vigilant during and after the new year celebrations as the ban on bangers and fireworks is still in force.”
The World health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday, December 29, 2016, finally declared the Republic of Guinea free from the Ebola virus disease, after the country had lost more than 2,500 people to the dreaded virus. With this declaration, Liberia remains the only country which is yet to be officially cleared of the disease.
For over two years, the epidemic had ravaged the small West African country, taking a heavy toll on the country’s health and education sectors.
A WHO official at the National Coordination Centre for the Fight Against Ebola, Rene Magliani, disclosed that over 6,200 children in Guinea were orphaned by the epidemic while it lasted in that country.
He said that Guinea alone recorded over 3,800 cases of Ebola infection, out of the 28,600 cases globally that resulted in 11,300 deaths. Almost all the cases of infection and death were recorded in Guinea and its neighbours Liberia and Sierra Leone.
According to WHO, country is officially declared Ebola-free 42 days after the recovery or death of the last known patient, without any new infections recorded.
Recent reports from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicate that Nigeria’s foreign reserves dropped to 29.13 billion dollars as of December 29, 2015. According to the report, posted on the CBN’s website, this represented a drop of 2.43% from the figure of $29.31 billion dollars recorded on December 23, 2015.
Nigeria’s external reserves, which stood at $34.49 as of January 5, 2015, have been taking a steady dive since the second half of 2015. This is believed to be largely as a result of a severe shortage of US dollars, which saw the CBN spending more than $5 billion dollars to try and shore up the value of the Naira in the first half of the year.
Despite the efforts of the CBN however, the value of the Naira has continued to plummet at the unofficial foreign exchange market, a situation compounded by crashing global oil prices.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has diclosed that the the federal government will create no fewer than one million direct jobs in 2016.
This was contained in a statement issued by his senior special assistant (SSA) on media and publicity, Laolu Akande.
He also said that another one million poor Nigerians would benefit from the first phase of the Conditional Cash Transfer Scheme.
According to the statement, the VP made the remark during an interactive session with a cross section of the Nigerian Community in Burkina Faso.
Osinbajo was in Burkina Faso to represent President Muhammadu Buhari at the inauguration of the newly elected president of that country, Roch Marc Christian Kabore.
He said that President Buhari had announced job opportunities for 500,000 graduate-youths to be engaged as teachers.
He added that an estimated 500,000 non-graduate unemployed people would be trained as artisans.
The vice president explained that the Conditional Cash Transfer Scheme was intended to utilise the thrift system to grant loans to market women to enable them improve their businesses and earn decent living.
He said the homegrown school feeding programme would not only provide adequate nutrition to school children, but also boost agriculture and create jobs and wealth locally.
Osinbajo assured the Nigerian community that the fight against corruption is a continuous one.
He said that the Buhari administration would not only prosecute those involved but also recover all the loot that had been traced.
The federal government has set aside an extra N108 billion to completely offset subsidy payments to oil marketers for the year 2015.
Executive secretary of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Farouk Ahmed, who disclosed this in Abuja while announcing the new pump price of petrol, said the money is meant to clear payment for the month of October, November and December, 2015.
Recall that government recently paid an outstanding N407 billion subsidy claims to oil marketers which covered payments up to September, 2015. Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, said the payments included arrears from the 2014 financial year as well as payments for 2015.
Meanwhile Ahmed said the PPPRA has completed verification of marketer’s documents for the months of October and November, which would be sent to the Debt Management Office (DMO) before finally being handled by the ministry of finance.
He said, “For October, November and December, PPPRA has been verifying subsidy claims, the verification only commences when the marketers bring in their documentation. So we have been able to verify October and November and we are going to send everything to the DMO for payment.
“Already there has been a budget for that because we have appropriated about N108 billion for these three months, but I can tsell you that the figure is way below that. It has come down because of the drop in the price. So that will be processed to DMO and then the ministry of finance will handle that,” Ahmed said.
He further maintained that marketers will not have problems with payment of subsidy arrears for 2015 because the federal government is up to date with the payment.
Welcome to the beginning of a New Year of the continuation of CHANGE in our beloved nation.
I am aware that Nigerians have experienced a number of significant hardships over the past months. Living in the State House has not alienated me from your daily sufferings. I am aware of the lengthy queues at fuel stations and of the difficulties businesses have faced in acquiring foreign exchange. These challenges are only temporary; we are working to make things better.
When I presented myself to you as a presidential candidate and asked you to vote for me, I wanted to be a leader who keeps his promises. I wanted to be a leader who restores the people’s hope in those elected to serve them. I wanted to be a leader who initiates positive and enduring CHANGE.
I am still totally committed to being that kind of leader. Unforeseen circumstances and other distractions notwithstanding, I shall still do my utmost best to keep every promise I made to Nigerians during my election campaign.
In the past seven months since our inauguration on May 29, 2015, my administration has focused on laying the right foundation for the CHANGE you voted for during our historic presidential election.
Nigerians will in due course begin to enjoy the fruits of all our ongoing work. The effective and efficient implementation of our 2016 budget proposals will address many of the socio-economic issues that are of current concern to our people.
One area in which Nigerians, especially those in the northeast, have already begun to experience major CHANGE is in the war on terror.
I commend our Armed Forces for significantly curtailing the insurgency which has ravaged the northeast of Nigeria over the past few years. However, there is still a lot of work to be done in the area of security. Our Armed Forces will maintain, consolidate and build on their successes in the war against Boko Haram and violent extremism.
This government will not consider the matter concluded until the terrorists have been completely routed and normalcy restored to all parts of the country that have been adversely affected by the Boko Haram insurgency.
Our crackdown on corruption will continue to be vigorously undertaken. I urge the courts to support our efforts and help in the recovery of stolen funds by speedily concluding trials and showing that impunity no longer has a place in our country.
There is much work to do in other areas as well and I have charged all my ministers and other appointees to ensure that Nigerians experience positive changes in their lives in 2016.
We must reduce our country’s reliance on oil. We must diversify our economy. And we must do all we can to promote job creation. Our challenges are many but our determination to succeed is strong and unshaken.
The executive secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Denzil Kentebe, has said that the oil and gas industry require over 800,000 metric tons of pipes per annum.
Speaking at a meeting with the investors held at the Board’s headquarters in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State recently, he listed opportunities for the utilisation of line pipes to include the gas master plan projects, major upcoming engineering, procurement and construction projects as well as the planned replacement of aged pipes used in transporting crude and refined products.
To this end, Kentebe has charged investors in line pipes used in the Nigerian oil and gas sector to accelerate their investments so as to close existing gaps in the local supply chain.
Kentebe stated that the Board had spent considerable time stimulating investments in line pipes and noted that it was high time the firms brought their investments to fruition.
He pledged the Board’s preparedness to assist the companies overcome challenges they may be facing with their projects, urging them to suggest interventions they would require from government.
The Executive Secretary also assured that the Board was committed to realising the Polaku Pipe mill project so as to produce line pipes in-country and demonstrate government’s commitment to the pipe mill initiative.
Remarking, the Managing Director, Brentex Petroleum Service Ltd, Chidi Nzerem, thanked the Board for its support, pointing out that the company had begun extensive work at its pipe mill site in Calabar, Cross Rivers State.
According to him, when completed, the pipe mill would be the largest in Africa with a production capacity of 300,000MT of pipes. He also confirmed that his company had acquired 65 per cent of the equipment required to start production which has already been shipped Calabar.
The Appeal Court sitting in Owerri, has declared Dr. Alex Otti of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) party winner of the Governorship elections held in Abia State in April, 2015. The court therefore ordered Mr. Okezie Ikpeazu of the PDP to vacate the seat, and for Dr. Otti to be sworn in accordingly.
In delivering the judgement, a 5-man panel of The Court of Appeal, led by Justice Oyebisi Omoleye, held that Dr. Otti scored 164,444 votes to defeat Mr. Ikpeazu, who scored 114,444 votes.
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