Headline

Delta To Raid Street Beggers, Child Hawkers In 2022

Published

4 years ago

December 31, 2021

The Delta State Government says it would no longer tolerate street begging and child hawking during school hours.

It stated that the state government would embark on a raid where it would apprehend culprits in the New Year.

The Chairman of the State Child’s Rights Implementation Committee, and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Women Affairs, Community and Social Development, Kevwe Agas stated this at a press conference in Asaba.

Agas who asserted that the state government had done everything required to sensitise the public, added the the state had embarked on advocacy visits and media campaigns since the inauguration of the committee, about two years ago.

“The agency is now convinced that the time has come to commence enforcement of the law,” the committee chairman said.

She declared, “This press briefing is to let the world know that the Child’s Rights Implementation Committee is in existence and committed to implementing the Child Rights Law going forward. We intend to prosecute those abusing our children and ensure that the rights of the children are enshrined and dispensed without discrimination.

“We have a challenge in carrying out our assignment and it is the challenge of children roaming the streets, especially during school hours. In our engagement, we discovered that most of these children are not from the State. The challenge is therefore how to get them back to their respective states. We also intend to cascade the activities of the Committee to the grassroots by inaugurating the Local Government Child Rights Implementation Committees.

“The Governor, Senator, Ifeanyi Okowa had said that every child must be in school and that every action relating to children must be backed by law. This Committee, empowered by law, therefore, is committed to the enforcement of the law as regarding Child Protection and Child Rights in the best interest of our Delta children”.

Agas further told The PUNCH that it has handled a number of cases of child abuse, she disclosed that the agency succeded in bringing justice to bear on some cases, while others remain in various stages of litigation in court.

The Chairman recalled the case of a police officer’s wife who was jailed two years, the case of the 14-year-old girl who was gang-raped by some culprits,
and a child trafficking and prostitution case, which involved the rescue of the victim, Favour Enefiok.

On the molestation to death of Sylvester Oromoni Jnr, the committee chairman said that the Committee had commenced processes to establish liaison with her Lagos State counterpart, to ensure that justice is served.

Headline

42 Killed In Israeli Attacks, Says Gaza’s Civil Defense

Published

6 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Gaza’s civil defence agency reported at least 42 people killed in Israeli attacks on Sunday, as the Israeli army prepared for a new assault on the Palestinian territory’s largest city.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said there had been several air strikes around Gaza City — which the military is gearing up to capture — including one in the Al-Sabra neighbourhood that killed eight people.

Attacks were also reported elsewhere across the territory, he said, with the “total tally currently rising to 42 dead”.

The army did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the figure.

“The situation is extremely dangerous… Each day, each minute, there are bombings, martyrs, death and blood — we can’t take it anymore,” Al-Sabra resident Ibrahim Al-Shurafa told AFP, explaining strikes and shelling were ongoing.

“We don’t know where to go. Death follows us everywhere,” he added.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.

The October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel’s offensive has killed at least 62,686 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.

AFP

Headline

Venezuela Frees Eight Opposition Leaders

Published

6 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Venezuelan authorities released eight opposition leaders from jail early Sunday, including a former congressman and two Italian citizens, and granted house arrest to five others, an opposition politician said.

Most of those released had been charged with corruption in opposition-run mayoral offices.

Also set free was Congressman, Amirico de Grazia, detained amid protests that erupted during President Nicolas Maduro’s reelection in 2024.

“Today, several families are once again embracing their loved ones. We know there are many left, and we have not forgotten them; we continue to fight for everyone,” two-time former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles said on X.

Opposition leaders Victor Jurado, Simon Vargas, Arelis Ojeda Escalante, Mayra Castro, Diana Berrio, Gorka Carnevalli, as well as Italian nationals Margarita Assenzo and de Grazia were released, Capriles said.

Nabil Maalouf, Valentin Gutierrez Pineda, Rafael Ramirez, Pedro Guanipa, and David Barroso were placed under house arrest.

The Italian government confirmed the release of de Grazia and Assenzo, who must appear in court to clarify the conditions of their release. It also vowed to continue working on securing the release of other detained Italians.

“We have always said, and we maintain it: we will talk to whomever we need to talk to so that there is not a single political prisoner in our Venezuela!” Capriles added.

AFP

Headline

Russia, Ukraine Exchange Prisoners Of War, Civilians

Published

6 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Russia and Ukraine each sent back more prisoners of war on Sunday in the latest in a series of exchanges that have seen hundreds of POWs released this year, the two sides said.

Large-scale prisoner exchanges were the only tangible result of three rounds of talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul between May and July.

They remain one of the few areas of cooperation between the two countries since Russia’s offensive began in 2022.

“On August 24, 146 Russian servicemen were returned from the territory controlled” by Kyiv, the Russian defence ministry said on Telegram.

“In exchange, 146 prisoners of war of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were transferred” to Ukraine, it added. Ukraine did not confirm any figures for the release.

Russia also said that “eight citizens of the Russian Federation—residents of the Kursk region, illegally detained” by Kyiv were also returned.

Ukrainian forces launched a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region in August last year, seizing hundreds of square kilometres (miles) of territory in a major setback for the Kremlin.

Russia deployed thousands of troops from its ally North Korea as part of a counterattack but did not fully reclaim the region until April.

Among the Ukrainians released on Sunday was journalist Dmytro Khyliuk, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Khyliuk was kidnapped in the Kyiv region in March 2022. He is finally home in Ukraine,” Zelensky said on social media.

Also freed was former Kherson mayor Volodymyr Mykolayenko, “who spent more than three years in captivity,” Zelensky’s aide Andriy Yermak wrote on X.

“In 2022, he was on the list for return, but Volodymyr voluntarily refused to be exchanged in favour of a seriously ill prisoner with whom he was sharing a cell in a Russian prison,” Yermak said.

AFP