Headline

Need To Protect Water Bodies Emphasised

Published

4 years ago

September 30, 2021

Editor

The need for all to protect and preserve the integrity of rivers, creeks and water bodies in general has been described as the responsibility of all and sundry.

The Executive Director, Health of Mother Earth Foundation, HOMEF, Nnimmo Bassey, who made this assertion at the official inauguration of River Ethiope Basin Institute at the Delta State University, Abraka, said to make the above happen, all those interacting with and utilizing the water bodies must do so with respect and place the wellbeing of the rivers and dependent communities before profit.

According to him, failure to protect and preserve the rivers and water bodies would result to a situations where fishers go fishing all day and return with nothing or resulting to coastal communities depending on imported frozen fish for nutrition.

While decrying the massive levels of pollution in the Gulf of Guinea, as well as rampant sea piracy in the region, Bassey said, “those who pollute the rivers and water bodies should be held accountable to ensure that our rivers do not continue to be treated as dump sites.

“A drop of oil can contaminate 25 litres of water. Imagine the extent of pollution in our rivers and ocean by the millions of barrels of oil that has been dumped into them over 63 years of reckless oil activities,” he noted.

The Director, further tasked that those in academics to listen more to community elders and help pass the knowledge learned to the younger generation.

Bassey applauded the management of Delta State University and the leadership of River Ethiope Trust Foundation on the their partnership to establish the River Ethiope Basin Institute.

He described the river as one of the cleanest in the region, adding that “its stands out as an example of what our water bodies were like before the arrival of the oil industry and their polluting activities.”

On his part, the Executive Director, River Ethiope Trust Foundation, Urikefe Dafe, stated that the River Ethiope Basin Institute will be a platform for research into the river and also be a launchpad for the sharing of knowledge and the fight for the recognition of the rights of the river.

In his goodwill message, Chief Charles Majeroh a foremost Nigerian architect and community member noted that, “the only way to preserve the River Ethiope is to ensure that human waste are not deposited into the rivers and also ensure that there is minimal dredging of the river to enable it breath freely.”

He also urged all business owners around the River Ethiope area to be more intentional in the protection of the water front.

Headline

Welcome Home, Israel Confirms Return Of 20 Hostages From Gaza

Published

20 hours 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

23 hours 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

23 hours 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