Twelve persons have been confirmed dead and five others injured in an accident involving a Volvo truck and a Ford bus at Foursquare area on Lagos /Ibadan Expressway on Saturday.

Mr Babatunde Akinbiyi, the Public Relations Officer, Ogun Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency (TRACE), confirmed the accident.

Akinbiyi explained that the accident was caused by wrongful overtaking on the part of the Ford passenger bus with registration number AAA 886 XR, which led to a head on collision with the oncoming truck.

He stated that the truck with registration number LSD 138 XQ, was coming from the opposite direction before the accident.

“The accident happened around Foursquare camp (diversion axis) on the Lagos /Ibadan Expressway.

“17 people were involved, 12 persons comprising six male and six female died while three male and two female sustained injuries, ” he said.

The TRACE spokesman added that the injured victims were taken to Ife – Oluwa Plus A hospital, Ogunmakin while the corpses were deposited at FOS Mortuary, Ipara.

Source: NAN

Some youths manhandled Senator Mathew Uroghide and removed his cap at the Benin Airport on Friday for allegedly moving a motion for the impeachment of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Senator representing Edo South Senatorial District is the Chairman of Senate Committee on Public Accounts promptly denied moving such a motion.

Uroghide denied on Saturday evening in Benin-City that he moved a motion for the impeachment of Buhari, the reported.

He had come under attack from several groups in Edo State since he was reported to have moved the motion.

But speaking to journalists afterwards, the embattled Senator explained that he never moved a motion for the impeachment of the President on account of his anticipated approval of the sum of $496 million for the purchase of Military equipment.

He said that he only called for the invocation section 143 of the Constitution, which according to him requires investigation before impeachment.

I hope you people understand the working of the Senate and the positions you are talking about. I am the Chairman, Senate Committee on Public Accounts.

Every government expenditure falls on my table. If I have to do what I have to do. The President had a good intention of buying those equipment but the procedure was wrong and he has accepted that it was wrong.

We have sworn to oath that we will uphold the decision of the constitution. A good intention of buying something and a procedure that is wrong. What do we do?

The only thing that concerned the President office is Section 143. If you check Section 143, it is a long process. The first thing you have to do is investigation and correspondences will be entered into.

The President has to be written and reply. We have not reached the issue of impeachment. Nobody on the floor of the Senate moved motion that the President should be impeached.

If the papers said somebody said the President should be impeached, it is out of ignorance with these ignorant youths that are misled by ignorant persons. It is unfortunate.

I am proud to be a Senator. All revenues fall on my table. They should be proud that this is what it is. The Constitution is above every other person.

We have not reached the point of impeachment that was why the Senate President said it should be referred to the judiciary so that they will advice on what to do.

If is said the President should be impeached, then I am ignorant. Section 143 is a very long process. It will take a lot of time and actions to impeach the President. Move a motion for the President to be impeached, then I must be stupid. I only said invoke Section 143 so that processes should be followed, Sun quoted the senator as saying.

Protest in Senate over Buharis $496m aircraft purchase

Senator Mathew Uroghide (PDP, Edo-South), however, raised a point of order to declare Buharis action illegal.

Senate President, Bukola Saraki interrupted Uroghide, noting that the matter would be taken at another time.

Kwara Television (@KWTV_Ilorin)

Meanwhile, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that following Fridays attack on Urhoghide, Edo state police command has beefed up security around his Benin residence.

NAN further reports that two police hill lux vans were stationed outside while heavily armed policemen were seen outside.

Party supporters were at the residence to show solidarity with him

Speaking to newsmen, Urhoghide said he does not have any regret for what he said at the floor of the Senate.

Urhoghide who said that he would seek redress in court, stressed that he would report back to the Senate that he was humiliated for what he said during plenary.

He said it was a shame on Nigeria for a boy to hit a serving senator and representative of the people.

He stated that he expected political practitioners to educate people that he was not talking about impeachment when he moved a motion that Section 143 of the Nigeria Constitution should be invoked.

Urhoghide fingered the Chief of Staff to Gov Godwin Obaseki, Mr Taiwo Akerele, as being responsible for the mobilisation of thugs that attacked him at Benin Airport on Friday.

He said President Buhari should have submitted a supplementary budget for the purchase of the aircraft.

According to him, They have promised to deal with me. If not for the state Commissioner of Police. I obeyed the Police Commissioner.

I remained where I was until the Governor came. We were walking side by side talking when a boy hit my head and the Governor walked away.

Before I left Abuja, I knew what was happening and the person responsible for it. I called him to tell him that it was unnecessary but he didnt pick his calls.

It would be cowardice for me to abort the journey. I want to see what will happened and they displayed their thuggery, I am not cowed by it.

I will represent my constituency and do whatever I want to do. Those who beat the PDP State Youth leader were not arrested but he was arrested

If this game is not played along the direction that some people want it, then they see you as a deviant.

That is what you saw yesterday, asking a riffraff, a boy of no consequence to lay his hands on me, an elected representative of the people, a serving Senator, it is a shame on this country.

They should realised I am a PDP senator. I am in the opposition, I am not a member of the APC.

I am liberty to say anything against the APC government. I am just being objective.

They had ample time to bring the requests but they didnt. We could have said more aircraft should be bought. What they have done is rumble jumble.

The President has violated the constitution, that is the truth. If anybody is pretending that nothing has been done, the person should go to a mental home. Section 80 has been violated.

Couldnt I have spoken? That is what miscreants have misunderstood. I dont have any regret for what I said. I stand on it.

Where did I embarrass the President? Because of selfish interest here and they want to show to the President that everybody could be cowed in Edo.

This is not a war I want to fight on partisan basis. I have immunity on what I said at the floor of the Senate.

I am being crucified outside for what I said during plenary. I am going to report back to the Senate.

All the security agencies must see the threat I am subjected to because I performed my duty as a Senator.

Meanwhile, Chief of Staff to Gov Obaseki, Mr Taiwo Akerele, has denied sponsoring thugs to attack Mr Matthew Urhoghide for moving a motion to impeach President Mohammadu Buhari.

Akerele told Urhoghide to face members of his constituents that protested against his motion.

The Chief of Staff said he could not have concerned himself with what a senator from Edo South said when he hails from Edo North.

He advised Urhoghide to look out for the people of Edo South that did the protest

It was obvious to the public that the people that protested are from Edo South I am not from Edo South. Am I from Edo South.

I have nothing to do with him. I have no business with me. He should go and ask him people who protested from Edo South, he said.

Source: NAN

Fourteen opposition parties in Lagos State have formed an alliance to challenge Governor Akinwunmi Ambodes All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2019 elections.

The Chairman of Alliance for Democracy (AD) in the state, Mr Kola Ajayi, made the disclosure on Saturday in an interview News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

He said that the Star Alliance was recently formed with the objective of providing what he called a credible alternative to the APC.

Ajayi, who also chairs the alliance, listed other parties in the coalition as MEGA, Action Alliance and New Nigeria Peoples Party.

According to him, the others include Peoples Progressive Party, Peoples Redemption Party, Democratic Alternative and Accord.

Ajayi said that the Peoples Party of Nigeria, People s Alliance for National Development and Liberty, Peoples Democratic Movement and Legacy Party of Nigeria were also part of the alliance.

He claimed that APC had yet to meet the aspirations of Lagos residents, hence, the need for a credible alternative.

We formed this coalition to provide a credible platform on which to deliver good governance to the real people at the grassroots.

We think Lagos residents deserve better and we should come together and give them the kind of government they want, he said.

He urged the residents to embrace the coalition which, he said, was formed for the masses.

The coalition chairman said that the parties in the alliance had been
meeting regularly on the strategy to employ to win Lagos in 2019.

He said that the coalition would soon reach out to residents especially those at the grassroots on its development agenda.

The state Chairman of NNPP, Malam Shakirudeen Olofin, also told NAN that the alliance was formed to give residents a `better deal.

He said that the coalition was the `Lagos Third Force with the intention to bring real governance to the state.

Also confirming the alliance, the state Chairman of MEGA Party, Mr Oladele Idowu, said that the coalition was formed to deliver `real change to the state in the interest of residents.

Lagos State Chairman of Action Alliance, Mr Shola Omojola, also told NAN that the opposition parties were discussing strongly in the alliance to give the state residents a better deal.

Source: NAN

The people of Kogi West Senatorial district turned out in large number on Saturday for the verification of signatures for the recall process of embattled Senator Dino Melaye.

The verification process started with low turn out early in Saturday and later in the afternoon.

Constituents who had petitioned the INEC about the lawmakers recall trooped out in large number to verify their signatures at various polling units.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Saturday began the verification exercise for the recall process.

The exercise is taking place across the local government areas in Kogi West Senatorial District of the state where the lawmaker represents in the National Assembly.

The verification exercise taking place today is consequent to the meeting of stakeholders convened by INEC on Wednesday in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital.

According to a timetable released by the electoral umpire, the outcomes of the exercise will be declared on Sunday, April 29.

Against apprehensions that Card Readers might malfunction and mar the recall process of Sen. Dino Melaye (APC-Kogi West), verification officers have confirmed their effectiveness in the exercise.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondents who monitored the verification exercise in Lokoja and Kogi Local Government Areas on Saturday also confirmed adequate security and peaceful conduct of the exercise.

The polling Officer at Ukwo-Okoriko Compound, Ward A, Unit 003, Koton-Karfe, Musa Iliasu and Sen. Dino Melaye verification agent at the unit, Imam Sani said the cards readers did not malfunction throughout the exercise.

At Banda, Oworo Ward 8, Unit 012, Johnson Salifu also confirmed the functionality of the card reader.

Patricia Aifakokhan, the NYSC Polling Officer at Lokoja Ward B sharing the views of her contemporaries in other units confirmed that the card readers functioned perfectly.

Administrator of Kogi LGA, Mohammed Tanko Musa, said he was impressed with the orderly conduct of the exercise adding that though the township witnessed low turnout, reports from the hinterlands would be different.

Meanwhile, the senator is currently receiving treatment at the National Hospital in Abuja following injuries probably sustained when he jumped out of a police vehicle to escape arrest.

Police men remain stationed at the National Hospital, where Melaye is still receiving treatment.

He was arrested to face trial in Kogi over allegations made by some hoodlums who alleged that the senator supplied them with weapons.

NAN correspondent who visited the national hospital observed that no fewer than 20 officers and men of Nigerian Police Force were seen in and around the trauma centre where the Senator was receiving the treatment.

NAN reports that in spite the ongoing strike embarked on by health workers, some doctors were attending to the injured senator.

The senator was earlier taken to Zankli Medical Centre in Utako District in Abuja and later moved to national hospital.

NAN correspondent, who was at the hospital on Friday, was denied access to see the injured Melaye but a source from the hospital that preferred anonymity said the senator was recovering.

Reacting, the Spokesperson of the hospital, Dr Adetayo Haastrup told NAN that the senator was in a stable condition in the hospital.

Source: NAN

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) cannot be held responsible for the poor turnout of petitioners in Saturdays verification of signatures for the recall of Senator Dino Melaye, an official has said.

The INEC Federal Commissioner in-charge of Kogi, Kwara and Nasarawa states, Alhaji Mohammed Haruna, made the statement in Lokoja after the end of the exercise.

Haruna said that the main concern of INEC was to ensure transparency in the process, insisting that the organisation was neutral in the bid to recall Melaye from the Senate.

Turnout is not our problem; turnout is the problem of parties concerned, ours is to ensure transparency, Haruna said.

Commenting on insinuations that INEC might tamper with the wish of the people, the commissioner said that nothing like that would happen, stressing that the agency had no interest in who won or lost in the matter.

Nothing untoward will happen, I assure you . Whatever happened at the polling units is what INEC will announce, he stated.

Commenting on the mix up in the list of petitioners, Haruna said that mistakes in such exercise was normal but gave an assurance that the mistakes would be corrected.

He lauded the peaceful conduct of the people before and during the exercise.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that in Koton Karfe and Lokoja, the people conducted themselves well, although the turnout was poor.

At Ukwo polling unit in Koton Karfe, 18 out of 440 petitioners came for the verification, while at Oworo polling unit in Felele area of Lokoja, none of the 815 petitioners showed up.

Also at polling unit 004 of Ward 3 in Lokoja, 32 out of the 1,251 petitioners showed up.

During the exercise, there was no case of malfunctioning of card reader machines while security personnel adequately manned the polling centres.

Melaye, representing Kogi West in the Assembly, has been struggling to retain his seat following a petition by some of his constituents in 2017 that he was not representing them well.

The senators accusers gathered signatures to demand his recall but Melaye, who accused the state Governor, Mr Yahaya Bello, of being the mastermind of the plot, mobilised his supporters to resist the move.

He subsequently approached the court to stop the process but could not get the relief he sought at the Court of Appeal.

Source: NAN

The Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) has announced a five-hour outage in Ikoyi and environs from 10.00am to 3.00pm on Sunday.

Mr Godwin Idemudia, the EKEDC General Manager, Corporate Communications, said in a statement on Saturday that the outage would enable the company to carry out maintenance work.

According to the general manager, the maintenance work will be carried out on the companys 33KVA Bus Section 11 at the Fowler Injection Substation.
We solicit understanding from all our customers who will be affected by the outage, especially for the inconveniences it will cause them even as this information comes to them at a short notice.
Eko Disco promises to keep improving its equipment for better service delivery to electricity users in its network.
We implore our customers to bear with us, he said.

Source: NAN

The President of the Senate Dr Bukola Saraki has led other senators to visit their colleague, Senator Dino Melaye at the National Hospital, Abuja.

Melaye was admitted at the hospital on Tuesday after being arrested by the police and attempted to be taken to Kogi to be paraded in court along with some suspected criminals.

The circumstances surrounding the hospitalisation of the senator are still unclear and some of his colleagues who tried to visit him on Tuesday and early Wednesday reported that the police prevented them from seeing their colleague.

However, the President of the Senate, following a resolution on the floor of the senate, led a powerful delegation to the hospital to see their colleague and ascertain his state of health.

The senate had adjourned plenary on Wednesday following a two prayer over the arrest and humiliation of one of them.

The decision of the Senate followed a motion moved by Senator Sam Anyanwu over the arrest of their colleagues. An yanwu had decried that the police refused he and other colleagues from seeing Melaye at the hospital.

However, the prayer that the senate adjourn was moved by Senator Mao Ohuabunwa who insisted that there was no need for the senate to sit about and debate when the health condition of their colleague was unknown.

He insisted that it was not only when a colleagues dies that the senate should adjourn but that the senate must adjourn over life threatening situations such as this.

The prayer was seconded by Senator Sunny Ugboji and adopted by the senate and the senate thereafter adjourned plenary.

The senate also adopted the motion that the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, briefed the senate in plenary on Thursday.

As at the time of filing this report, the President of the Senate Dr Bukola Saraki as well as his colleagues had departed the National Assembly complex to go and visit their colleague.

Speaking, the President of the Senate said that the Senate leadership was very concerned about the turn of events surrounding the arrest and humiliation of their colleague.

Saraki said that he had already sent the Deputy Leader of the Senate to go and visit Melaye at the National Hospital Abuja.

We as leadership are very concerned, Deputy leader and others have been sent to look for Dino Melaye. But it has gone beyond that and I can appreciate the emotions that have passed.

The IGP should brief us tomorrow.

I want to thank those who contributed. At times like this it is difficult to speak the truth because this is a violation on one, a violation on all of us, a violation on the institution and a violation on democracy.

This action is a threat to the democracy we are all fighting for,

We are about to go into an election period, and if these are the kind of excesses we will see from those responsible to protect us, then it is a cause for concern.

We must all condemn this action, we should not be spending our energy on things like this, he said.

Saraki added that since the incidence, he had been trying to reach the Police IGP to no avail, adding that is smirks of disrespect to him and to the institution of the Senate.

I have not been able to reach the IGP and that is a disrespect, not only to me as an individual but to the institution of the Senate.

This must stop. There are procedures and there are ways.

We will go and ascertain Dinos state of mind and find a solution to this problem, he said.

Speaking earlier, Senator Chukwuka Utazi challenged his colleagues to speak the truth at all times insisting that it doesnt matter if the senator in question was liked by all.

According to him, it could be Dino today and someone else today, adding that the action was an affront on the institution and on democracy.

He charged his colleagues that anyone who refrained from speaking or who supports the actions of the Police was not acting in the interest of Nigeria.

Senator Shehu Sani who gave soul searching sermon called on his colleagues and all arms of government to be mindful of their actions while they are in power as power would not always remain in their hands.

He stressed that the right things must be done by all who are in position of authority so that posterity would judge them faily.

Shortly before the senate adjourned, the delegation that was earlier sent to the National Hospital by Saraki returned to brief the upper legislative chamber.

Deputy Leader of the Senate Bala Ibn NaAllah who led the delegation told the house that they were able to speak with the doctor in charge as well as the medical director of the hospital.

The assurance we have is that they are doing what is possible to stabilize him. Currently he is in the intensive care unit and they are doing all they can to stabilize him.

We tried to see him but the instruction is that only Senator Kaka and Abu Ibrahim have the permission to see him.

There is one issue that is worrisome: his feeding is an issue, the Police is afraid to feed him, the National Hospital also expressed reservation about feeding him, but before we left we had a discussion on how to feed him.

It was agreed that if there is a way they can arrange for food from any source but the source must taste the food first.

There is an insistence to remove him from the National Hospital but the hospital has insisted that the police must sign an undertaken before he can be removed, he said.

Source: NAN

Elated scientists announced Wednesday the completion of a 20-year quest to map the complex enzyme thought to forestall ageing by repairing the tips of chromosomes in plants and animals, including humans.

Decoding the architecture of the enzyme, called telomerase, could lead to drugs that slow or block the ageing process, along with new treatments for cancer, they reported in the journal Nature.

It has been a long time coming, lead investigator Kathleen Collins, a molecular biologist at the University of California in Berkley, said in a statement.

Our findings provide a structural framework for understanding human telomerase disease mutations, and represent an important step towards telomerase-related clinical therapeutics.

Part protein and part RNA genetic material that relays instructions for building proteins telomerase acts on microscopic sheaths, known as telomeres, that cover the tips of the chromosomes found inside all cells.

In humans, each cell contains 23 pairs of chromosomes, including one pair of sex chromosomes the X and Y that differ between males and females.

Australian-American biologist Elizabeth Blackburn, who shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Medicine for discovering telomeres and their protective function in the 1970s, likened them to the tiny plastic caps that keep shoelaces from fraying.

Eventually, however, shoelace tips and telomeres do break down: every time a cell divides the telomeres get worn a little bit more, until the cell stops dividing and dies. This, biologists agree, is probably central to the natural ageing process.

But there is a twist.

In 1985 Blackburn discovered telomerase, and its remarkable capacity to extend a cells lifespan by essentially rebuilding telomeres with extra bits of DNA, much in the same way that retreading a tyre can make it nearly as good as new.

Telomerase, in other words, was revealed to be a key agent in longevity.

It can also be linked to disease.

Inherited genetic mutations that compromise telomerase function cause disorders, said Michael Stone, a professor at the Centre for Molecular Biology or RNA at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

A deficiency of the enzyme could accelerate cell death. At the other extreme, too much telomerase supports unbridled cell growth in most human cancers, he wrote in a commentary, also in Nature.

But early efforts to develop drugs that could control the enzymes expression essentially switching it on or off were hampered by an incomplete understanding of the structure and organisation of the telomerase complex, Stone added.

A 2010 study showed that ageing could be reversed in mice that were treated with telomerase.And in 2011, scientists found a way to transform age-worn cells from people over 90 into rejuvenated stem cells indistinguishable from those found in embryos. In lab experiments, several critical markers of ageing in cells were reset, including the size of telomeres.

To crack the telomerase code, Collins and her team used a state-of-the-art cryoelectron microscope (Cryo-EM) to see the enzyme in action at unprecedented resolutions of seven or eight angstroms.

An angstrom is one ten-billionth of a metre long.

Cryo-EM can decipher the molecular structures of compounds that cannot be crystalized and imaged with X-rays. Its developers won the 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

When I got to the point where I could see all the subunits we had 11 proteins in total it was a moment of Wow! Wow! This is how they all fit together, said lead author Thi Hoang Duong Nguyen, a post-doc at UC Berkeleys Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science.

A 2010 study showed that ageing could be reversed in mice that were treated with telomerase.

And in 2011, scientists found a way to transform age-worn cells from people over 90 into rejuvenated stem cells indistinguishable from those found in embryos.

In lab experiments, several critical markers of ageing in cells were reset, including the size of telomeres.

Source: NAN

The Kwara State Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) says it will commence an indefinite strike on May 2.

A statement issued on Thursday and signed by the state Chairman of MHWUN, Mr Muritala Olayinka, noted that the indefinite strike will commencemidnight of May 2.

He said that the union had earlier given the state government a 19-day ultimatum to meet their demands, which will lapse on May 1, 2018.

Olayinka explained that their demands include: upward review of Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) from 50 per cent to 100 per cent and the promotion of staff without financial backing should be addressed immediately.

He also cited non-payment of outstanding arrears of salaries of the staff of local governments in the state.

He stated that the union would not go back on its decision until the state government does the needful.

I dont think the state government will respond to our demands before that day because we have made series of moves in ensuring government look into our demands but they turned deaf ears.

If they make a move now, it is likely going to be a meeting, but it is until when we seeapproval for our demands before we can make a u-turn on the industrial action, he said.

The chairman noted that the state government had recently claimed that it was gradually getting out of recession and its economy had improved.

Workers are not slaves so we have to make this struggle a totality until government responds to our demands, he said.

Olayinka calls on his colleagues to be law abiding and abide by instructions from the labour leaders.

Responding to the threat of industrial action by MHWUN, the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Ahmed on Media and Communications, Dr Muideen Akorede, said that the state government was looking into the issue.

Source: NAN

There are indications that the 1, 296 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Pompomari camp, Damaturu, may face cholera outbreak and other water-borne diseases due to absence of water and sanitation facilities.

According to the inmates, they get water once a day, while their toilet facilities are not being maintained.

NAN correspondent on a delegation of the Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in Emergency Working Group, further reports that inmates of the camp said the coming rains would compound the problems as their makeshift homes are in tatters.

One of the displaced persons, Adamu Rabiu, told NAN about the poor hygiene practices in the camp, and said it was a huge problem to the inhabitants.

He alleged that the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), had neglected provision of adequate water for them.

He said that the single solar-powered borehole in the camp, was grossly inadequate for their population of over 1,300.

He expressed concerns over how sanitation officers in charge of maintaining hygiene in their toilets, had failed to apply disinfectants and air fresheners to reduce offensive smell polluting the premises.

Rabiu said that the development could become harmful to the population of the IDPs, and called for immediate deployment of more sanitation workers to help rescue the situation.

As you can see for yourself, the environment is not conducive at all.

We want the authorities in charge to help us maintain this camp by bringing in sanitation workers.

We are aware that the Red Cross helped in cleaning the drains and culverts, but now, SEMA is in charge and they are not doing anything.

We need help in areas of food and water. As you can see that the jerry cans and the people here are waiting for water to come, the solar powered borehole is not adequate.

The tanker brings water once a day; it is not enough for the population here.

Our rooms are torn, the rains are coming soon, we want government to come to our aid to help repair our makeshift houses.

Another IDP, Mohammed Danladi, said that the clinic was lacking relevant drugs, and called for support to equip the clinics with essential drugs.

When contacted, the Director, Search and Rescue, Yobe SEMA, Alhaji Garba Bilal, explained that the camp initially had 4,011 Persons.

He said, but with the reduction of insurgency, a large number of IDPs had returned, leaving 1,296 persons.

Bilal said that the camp was fully funded by the state government in collaboration with donor agencies.

He said that the collaborative efforts covered provision of basic needs and psycho-social support towards overall goal of reintegrating the IDPs into the society.

According to him, there are other six IDP camps in Kukareta, Ngaburawa, Fuguri, Muhammad Gombes Farm, Albari YBC and Kasesa, which has the highest population.

Mr Baba Galadima, Team Leader, WASH in Emergency Working Group, expressed joy that the camps had been decongested.

He commended the state government for timely interventions towards providing livelihood support for the IDPs.

He said that the Federal Government was intervening in providing the group with facilities in parts of the state, to augment the already existing ones.

The group is working to see that humanitarian responses especially in the North East reach their target population.

Source: NAN