Headline

Edo: LIFE-ND Trains 250 Persons In Agric Business, Empowers 82 With Working Capital

Published

4 years ago

November 29, 2021

Editor

Mr Jude Ekpu during the interactive session

By Joseph Kanjo, Benin

The State Project Coordinator, Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises in the Niger Delta (LIFE–ND), Mr. Jude Ekpu, says no fewer than 250 persons known as ‘incubatees’ have been trained in various agric businesses such as fishery, poultry, cassava production and rice production in Edo State within one year.

According to him, under the project in Edo State, no fewer than 82 incubates have been disbursed working capital after the training, adding that when others are done with their training, they would be disbursed too.

He added that 10 local government areas out of the 18 in the state have been selected for the implementation of the project with 10 communities selected in each LGA for the project.

INFO DAILY reports that LIFE-ND is a Project for the Niger Delta designed in collaboration with Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) with counterpart fund from Edo State Government.

The state Project Coordinator who disclosed this in Benin, during the weekend, at an interactive session with newsmen, noted that the project is aimed at “developing supply of skilled youth labour using the incubation model which, according to him, is to ensure a successful rural agrobusiness.”

He noted that this is to be “conducted in a way to mentor neighbouring youths to produce greater volumes, leading to higher value enterprises and community incomes, and jobs for the youth.” (sic)

“Within a year of our activities as a project office, the State Project has trained 250 incubatees and 50 incubators, with 125 incubatees and 25 incubators trained in two sets.

“Over 50 communities have donated land resource for effective project implementation. Over 1800 hectares of land has been secured under our land identification and land securing process as farmland for the incubatees. (sic)

“The target beneficiaries of the LIFE-ND project are youths and women in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria. The target beneficiaries are the unemployed and under-employed youth aged 18-35 years and unemployed women who are heads of household with children less than 15 years of age.

“The percentage distribution of targets beneficiaries are as follows: -50% male youth, -20% female (women) and -30% female youths,” he said.

On her part, the National Agrobusiness Promotion Coordinator, LIFE-ND, Mrs Esenwa Anthinia, said, “Our target is for about 4,250 youths and women-headed households to benefit from the project. Some of the incubatees, it is hoped, will later become incubators in the project after being empowered.”

She noted that, “The project came to Edo State following the success of the previously sponsored IFAD Programme, Community Based Natural Resource Management Programme – Niger Delta (CBNRMP-ND).”

Earlier, the Communication Officer of the project in Edo State, Mr. Benedict Akhamie, solicited media support and cooperation, stressing that if LIFE-ND is not projected to the public through the media, no one will know such project exist.

Headline

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

Published

12 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

12 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

12 hours ago

August 24, 2025

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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