Headline

Don’t Cause Confusion In NDDC, Group Warns N’Delta Minister Over Appointment

Published

3 years ago

October 27, 2022

Our Correspondent, Abuja

Group known as South-South Emerging Leaders Forum (SELF) has cautioned the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Umana Umana, not to cause unnecessary confusion in the appointment of new Sole Administrator for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari relieved the Interim Administrator of NDDC, Mr. Effiong Akwa, of his position and directed the most senior director in the commission to run its affairs.

The minister subsequently announced Mr. Emmanuel Audu-Ohwavborua, to perform the duties of the managing director in acting capacity pending the appointment of a substantive Managing Director and members of the Governing Board.

But in a statement signed Thursday in Abuja by its coordinator, Preye Johnson, Esq., the group said the director appointed by the Minister to succeed the sacked administrator “is not the most senior director as directed by the President. In fact, there are two most senior directors ahead of him.”

The forum named the said most qualified senior directors to include Seigha Glasgow and Prince Alazigha.

The South-South forum, however, threatened to drag the minister to Court if the right thing is not done based on the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari.

According to the forum, if the injustice melted against the most senior directors is not corrected, there will be no proper growth in the the commission, adding that the most senior directors will be disrespected.

The statement also urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) not to recognise and allow for the change of signature Mr. by Emmanuel Audu-Ohwavborua.

The statement reads: “As a frontline forum of professionals in the Niger Delta, we are using this medium to call on the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Umana Okon Umana to do the right thing and avoid unnecessary confusion at the NDDC by appoint the most senior director as directed by Mr. President.

“We are making this call because the appointment of Mr. Emmanuel Audu-Ohwavborua is in contrary to the directive of the President and it is in the public knowledge that there are two most senior directors ahead of Mr. Mr. Emmanuel Audu-Ohwavborua.

“We hereby call on the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) not to recognise or allow for the change of signature by Emmanuel Audu-Ohwavborua as the acting Managing Diractor of NDDC because he is not the most senior Director in the Commission as stated in the letter signed by the Ministry of Niger Delta and dated 20th October 2022.

“Apart from the CBN, we call on the National Assembly not to have anything to do with the leadership of Mr. Emmanuel Audu-Ohwavborua as NDDC’s acting helmsman.

“We also warn that if the right thing is not done we shall have no option than to approach the Court of Law to correct the injustice,” the statement said.

Headline

Welcome Home, Israel Confirms Return Of 20 Hostages From Gaza

Published

1 day ago

October 13, 2025

Editor

Israel said that the last 20 living hostages released by Hamas on Monday had arrived in the country.

“Welcome home,” the foreign ministry wrote in a series of posts on X, hailing the return of Matan Angrest, Gali Berman, Ziv Berman, Elkana Bohbot, Rom Braslavski, Nimrod Cohen, David Cunio, Ariel Cunio, Evyatar David, Guy Gilboa Dalal, Maxim Herkin, Eitan Horn, Segev Kalfon, Bar Kuperstein, Omri Miran, Eitan Mor, Yosef Haim Ohana, Alon Ohel, Avinatan Or and Matan Zangauker.

AFP

Headline

20 Members Of Gang Blacklisted By US Escape Guatemala Prison

Published

1 day ago

October 13, 2025

Editor

Twenty members of a gang designated a “foreign terrorist organisation” by the United States have escaped from detention in Guatemala, a prison chief said Sunday.

The members of the Barrio 18 gang “evaded security controls” at the Fraijanes II facility, prison director Ludin Godinez said at a news conference.

He received “an intelligence report” on Friday warning about the “possible escape” from the prison, which is southeast of the capital, Guatemala City.

Godinez said they were investigating possible acts of corruption.

Washington last month blacklisted Barrio 18, an El Salvador-based gang which has a reputation for violence and extortion, as part of its crackdown on drug trafficking.

The US embassy in Guatemala condemned the prison escape as “utterly unacceptable.”

“The United States designated members of this heinous group as the terrorists they are and will hold accountable anyone who has provided, provides, or decides to provide material support to these fugitives or other gang members,” the embassy said on X.

It called on the Guatemalan government to “act immediately and vigorously to recapture these terrorists.”

According to Interior Minister Francisco Jimenez, there are about 12,000 gang members and collaborators in Guatemala, while another 3,000 are in prison.

The country’s homicide rate has increased from 16.1 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2024 to 17.65 this year, more than double the world average, according to the Centre for National Economic Research.

According to the Salvadoran government, the gangs Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha, better known as MS-13, are responsible for the deaths of about 200,000 people over three decades.

The two gangs once controlled an estimated 80 percent of El Salvador, which had one of the highest homicide rates in the world.

Headline

South Africa Bus Crash Kills 40 Including Malawi, Zimbabwe Nationals

Published

1 day ago

October 13, 2025

Editor

At least 40 people, including nationals of Malawi and Zimbabwe, were killed when a passenger bus rolled down an embankment in South Africa, a provincial transport minister said Monday.

The bus travelling to Zimbabwe crashed around 90 kilometres (55 miles) from the border on Sunday after the driver apparently lost control, Limpopo province transport minister Violet Mathye said.

“They are still working on the scene, but 40 bodies have already been confirmed to date,” Mathye told the Newzroom Afrika channel. The dead included a 10-month-old girl, she said.

Thirty-eight people were in hospital and rescuers were searching for other victims, she told eNCA media.

The bus was travelling from the southern city of Gqeberha, around 1,500 kilometres away, and its passengers included Malawians and Zimbabweans who were working in South Africa. The crash may have been caused by driver fatigue or a mechanical fault, the minister said.

South Africa has a sophisticated and busy road network with a high rate of road deaths, blamed mostly on speeding, reckless driving and unroadworthy vehicles.

AFP