NEMA

TheNews Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that in May, a communal conflict erupted in Tingno, Tito and Wadugu villages in Lamurde local government area.

NAN reports that during the conflict many people lost their lives and over 270 houses and other properties were destroyed.

Distributing the materials, in Tinguo and Tito villages,the Director-General of NEMA, AVM Muhammadu Muhammed (rtd), said that the intervention was a directive from President Muhammadu Buhari, to bring succour to affected communities.

Muhammed, was represented by Mr Iliya Midala, the agencys operations officer in charge of Adamawa and Taraba.

Today, we are presenting these relief materials for intervention under the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari to the victims of recent communal conflict in Tingno and other affected villages.

President Muhammadu Buhari sympathised with the affected communities and called on them to live in peace with one another.

The relief intervention was targeted to reach out and bring succour to over 5,000 people affected by the conflict, Muhammed said.

He noted that no meaningful development could take place when communities cannot live in peace with another.

He urged the beneficial communities to effectively use the relief materials to improve their livelihoods.

Responding on behalf of the communities, Chief Richard Anjelo, village head of Tingno, thanked the President Buhari for the intervention.

Anjelo noted that the people of the area were living in peace and harmony with one another until recentconflict.

He attributed causes of the conflict to lack of parental good upbringing to their children, adding that drugs addiction played a vital role in the conflict.

We are appealing to the Federaland State Governments to establish security outpost in Tingno town.

We have over 60, 000 people under Tingno District but we have only four policemen in charge of about seven villages under Tingno, Anjelo said.

NAN reports that six trucks of building materials, food and other household materials distributed to the communities.

Source: NAN News

Medical Lab

The Lagos State Ministry of Health on Saturday said it had sealed a private medical laboratory conducting COVID-19 tests inside a pharmacy at Banana Island in Ikoyi, Lagos.

The ministry, through its Twitter account, said that the lab; Acouns Medical Laboratory and Diagnostic Centre, situated inside a pharmacy,
was carrying out COVID-19 tests without required government approval.

It advised residents to desist from patronising health facilities not accredited by the state government for testing or management of COVID-19 cases.

According to the ministry, it poses danger to the community and staffs of such facilities.

It is illegal to manage COVID-19 cases outside of an accredited facility.

We implore the public not to go for test or treatment in a private facility that has not been accredited by government.

It is dangerous and it might put you at more risk, it said.

The ministry said that the laboratory was sealed through one of its agencies- Health Facility Monitoring Accreditation Agency (HEFAMAA).

It said that the ministry would continue to do its best to ensure that health facilities in the state adhere strictly to standards that guarantee the health and wellbeing of Lagos citizens.

Source: NAN News

A total of 925 patients have recovered from the coronavirus infection in Oyo State, following the recovery and discharge of 91 more patients.

Gov. Seyi Makinde announced this via his official Twitter account on Saturday.

However, the state has recorded 85 new COVID-19 cases following tests carried out on suspected cases.

Ninety-one confirmed COVID-19 cases received their second NEGATIVE test results and have been discharged.

This brings the number of discharged cases in Oyo State to 925.

Also, the COVID-19 confirmation tests for 85 suspected cases came back POSITIVE.

The cases are from Ibadan N (17), Ibadan SW (13), Oyo E (9), Ido (8), Lagelu (7), Oluyole (6), Orelope (3), Akinyele (3), Egbeda (3), Ibadan NE (3), Ona Ara (2), Atiba (2), Ogbomosho S (2), Iseyin (2), Ibadan SE (1), Ogbomosho N (1), Oyo W (1), Ibadan NW (1)

The killings had stood out as Europes only atrocity since World War Two constituting genocide.

Grieving families stood by green-draped coffins of nine newly identified victims who will be buried at a flower-shaped cemetery near the town, where tall white tombstones mark the graves of 6,643 other victims.

About 1,000 victims of the massacre in the eastern town during Bosnias 1992 to 1995 war are still missing.

World leaders addressed the solemn ceremony by video link, unable to attend because of coronavirus epidemic.

Instead of tens of thousands visitors who typically attend the annual commemoration, only a few thousand came after organisers banned organised visits.

During the Bosnian war, Bosnian Serb forces pushed non-Serbs out of territories they sought for their Serb statelet.

Fleeing Muslims took shelter in several eastern towns, including Srebrenica, that were designated as United Nations safe zones.

On July 11, 1995, the Serb forces commanded by Gen. Ratko Mladic attacked and overrun Srebrenica, which was protected by lightly armed Dutch peacekeepers.

They separated women and children from men and bussed them to territory controlled by the Bosnian army.

The men and boys were killed, while those who tried to escape through the woods were captured and executed.

Their bodies were dumped into mass graves and later exhumed by UN investigators and used as evidence in war crimes trials of Bosnian Serb leaders.

We grieve with the families that tirelessly seek justice for the 8,000 innocent lives lost, all these years later, said U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Washington brokered Bosnias peace deal months after the massacre.

Most people at the commemoration were Muslim Bosniaks, showing that Bosnia has not achieved reconciliation almost 25 years since the end of its war, in which about 100,000 people were killed.

The UN war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia convicted Mladic and his political chief Radovan Karadzic over Srebrenica genocide however remained heroes for Serbs, many of whom deny that genocide happened.

A non-government organisation called Eastern Alternative in the nearby town of Bratunac organised an event honouring July 11 as the Srebrenica Liberation Day, when killings of Serbs in the area by the Bosnian army stopped.

There can be no trust as long as we witness attacks on the truth, denial of genocide and glorification and celebration of executors, Sefik Dzaferovic, the Bosniak chairman of Bosnias tripartite presidency, told the commemoration gathering. (Reuters/NAN)

Source: NAN News

Oil rigs

Iran is determined to develop its oil industry in spite of U.S. sanctions imposed on the country, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said.

Zanganeh, who said this in a televised speech on Saturday, added: We will not surrender under any circumstances.

We have to increase our capacity so that when necessary with full strength we can enter the market and revive our market share.

The minister said this before the signing of a 294-million dollars contract between the National Iranian Oil Company and Persia Oil

Jessica Lu of CCRC, Wang Qiongyu of CRCC and Hassan Bello, Executive Secretary NSC

By Chiazo Ogbolu

Talks between Federal Government and China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (CRCC) on the construction of the N43.24 billion Ibadan Inland Dry Port is nearing completion.

The Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) said in a statement on Saturday in Lagos that the 80,000 TEU capacity dry port would be built on the basis of Public Private Partnership.

Mrs Rakiya Zubairu, NSC Head of Public Relations, said in the statement that CRCC was the preferred bidder for the facility aimed at addressing congestion and gridlocks in Apapa ports.

Zubairu noted that the NSC would be the guarantor to the concession of the project.

She added that the facility would be designated as port of destination where cargo would be consolidated for import and export, especially in the South-Western part of Nigeria.

Among other uses, the dry port will provide a competitive cargo sorting centre, bulk breaking as well as cargo-tracking and truck management services.

The Lagos-Kano standard gauge railway currently under construction is aligned to the proposed dry port, making it easy to convey cargo from the seaports in Lagos and to all destinations along the route.

The negotiations emphasised the utilisation of local content at each stage of development and operation of the facility, she said.

According to Zubairu, an updated Full Business Case Compliance report will be produced at the end of the ongoing negotiations.

Afterwards, a draft agreement would be presented to the Federal Ministry of Justice and sent to the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, (ICRC) for vetting, after which the Minister of Transportation would present the agreement to the Federal Executive Council.

She said that the concessionaire would then be taken to the site for sod-turning and immediate commencement of construction with a completion timeline of 12 months.

The negotiation was moderated by the Federal Ministry of Transportation led by the acting Permanent Secretary and the Director, Maritime Services, Auwalu Suleiman.

The Director-General of ICRC, Mr Chidi Izuwa. Amb. Jummai Katagum, who represented the Federal Ministry of Finance was also part of the 4-day negotiation.

Also present, was Mrs Olubamiwo Adeosun, Secretary to Government of Oyo State and the preferred bidder CRCC was led by Deputy Managing Director, Jacques Liao, Zubairu added.

She said that NSC Executive Secretary, Hassan Bello, expressed satisfaction with the proceedings as all parties expressed firm commitment to the actualisation of the project.

According to the NSC Spokesperson, facilitation of the meeting was enabled by the transaction advisors, Aminu Dikko and Mohammed Kumalia, adding that the negotiations would be concluded soon.

Source: NAN News

COVID-19 updates by NCDC

By Racheal Abujah

Nigeria has recorded 499 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the countrys coronavirus case load to 30,748, according to NCDC, according to the government health agency.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) made the disclosure on its official twitter handle late on Thursday.

The NCDC said that as at the July 9, some 499new confirmed cases and five deaths were recorded in the country, noting however, that no new state had reported a case in the past 24 hours.

Giving a breakdown, the NCDC said that till date, 30,748 cases had been confirmed and that 12,546 cases had been discharged with 689 deaths recorded nationwide.

The agency said that the 499 new cases were reported in 24 states as follows: Lagos (157); Edo (59); Ondo (56); Oyo (31); Akwa Ibom (22); Borno (21) and Plateau (19).

According to the agency, Kaduna has (18); Katsina (18); Bayelsa (17); FCT (17); Delta (14); Kano (11); Rivers (10); Enugu (8); Ogun (6); Kwara (4); Imo (3); Nasarawa (2); Osun (2); Abia (1); Ekiti (1); Niger (1) and Yobe (1).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NCDC startedfrom five testing laboratories in the beginning of the response to COVID-19 to 40 laboratories at present.

The NCDC said that it remained committed to working with every state to tackle the burden of COVID-19 across Nigeria.

Collective responsibility is key, it stated.

Meanwhile, the agency has restated that COVID-19is different from malaria.

Underlying medical conditions always put an individual at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19, the agency explained.

It advised Nigerians to adhere to recommended measures, including physical distancing, hand hygiene and use of face masks.

Source: NAN News

Medical Lab test kits

Of 2,000,569 tests completed, 56,170 tests were conducted in the past 24 hours, Mkhize said in his daily update.

This is an enormous achievement that we can all be proud of as South Africans, said Mkhize.

As mass community testing has been gaining momentum, South Africa also saw rapid rises in confirmed cases and virus-related deaths.

As of Thursday, a total of 238,339 cases were reported with 13,674 new cases recorded over the past 24 hours, the highest single-day surge since the outbreak in early March, said Mkhize.

Regrettably, we report a further 129 COVID-19 related deaths one from Northern Cape, 26 from KwaZulu-Natal, 28 from Eastern Cape, 37 from Gauteng and 37 from Western Cape, the minister said, adding that the nationwide death toll has reached 3,720.

Gauteng has overtaken the Western Cape to become the countrys hardest-hit province with 81,546 cases, said Mkhize.

The Western Cape was ranked second with 74,815 cases, followed by the Eastern Cape with 44,432, and KwaZulu-Natal with 19,630. (Xinhua/NAN)

Source: NAN News

Crude oil prices,

Brent crude was down by 25 cents, or 0.6 per cent, at .10 a barrel by 0341 GMT, after falling more than two per cent on Thursday.

U.S. oil fell 33 cents, or 0.8 per cent, at .29 a barrel after a drop of three per cent in the previous session.

Brent looks set for a weekly decline of nearly two per cent and U.S. crude for a fall of more than three per cent.

Trading was quiet with Singapore on holiday for an election.

While many analysts are expecting economies and fuel demand to bounce back from the pandemic, record daily increases in coronavirus infections in the U.S., the worlds biggest oil consumer, raised concerns about the pace of any recovery.

I do not suspect many oil traders will be looking to place significant bids in the market today, suggesting prices may continue to wallow into the weekend, said Stephen Innes, Chief Global Markets Strategist at AxiCorp.

More than 60,500 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the U.S. on Thursday, setting a daily record, with Americans being told to take new precautions.

The tally was also the highest daily count yet for any country since the pathogen emerged in China late last year.

In Australia, the government on Friday will consider reducing the number of citizens allowed to return to the country from overseas, after authorities ordered a new lockdown of the countrys second-most populous city, Melbourne.

Oil inventories also remain bloated due to the evaporation of demand for gasoline, diesel and other fuels during the initial outbreak.

U.S. crude oil inventories rose by nearly six million barrels last week after analysts had forecast a decline of just over half that figure.(Reuters/NAN)

Source: NAN News

Acting EFCC Boss Ibrahim Magu

By Ebere Agozie
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the immediate suspension of Ibrahim Magu as Ag. Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

This is to allow for unhindered inquiry by the Presidential Investigation Panel under the Tribunals of Inquiry Act and other relevant laws.

Dr Umar Gwandu, Special Assistant to the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice on Media and Public Relations, disclosed this in a statement on Friday in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) had reported the replacement of Magu earlier on Wednesday https://portal.nannews.ng/1796275/efcc-picks-director-of-operations-umar-to-oversee-commission/.

According to Gwandu, the President also approved that the EFCC Director of Operations, Mohammed Umar, take charge and oversee the activities of the Commission.

Umar would be overseeing the commission pending the conclusion of the ongoing investigation and further directives in that regards.

Source: NAN News