Headline

Open Grazing: CSO Writes Obaseki, States Position

Published

4 years ago

October 12, 2021

The Edo Civil Society Organisations, EDOCSO, has called on governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, to promulgate a law prohibiting open grazing of cattle in the state and that there should be stiff punishment for violators.

The civil society organistion further called on the state government to, as a matter of urgency, facilitate training on cattle husbandry with startup capital for the teeming unemployed youths, graduates and non graduates respectively, advising that such trained youths should be formed into clusters to operate the ranches that will be built in all the local government councils.

An open letter addressed to the Edo State Governor, which was jointly signed by EDOCSO’s Interim TEC Chairman, Bishop Osadolor Ochei, Interim Deputy TEC Secretary, Comrade Keshi Lawrence, said cattle business is a private business hence government is not expected to provide land for cattle owners.

The letter which states that all cattle owners must ranch their cattle, noted that provision of colony to cattle owners should be discouraged, and that “every cattle owner should purchase/lease land for the purpose of ranching and/or any other farming operations.”

The letter reads in part: “Our positions and recommendations are contained herein under:

1. Edo state should promulgate a law to prohibit open grazing of cattle with stiff punishment for violators.

2. All cattle owners must ranch their cattle.

3. It is not the business of government to provide lands for cattle owners.

4. The Edo state vigilante network should be duly trained, paid and deployed in the enforcement of the law with support from the Nigeria Police Force.

5. Any cattle owner that allows his cattle to graze on a farmer’s land or destroy any property should be made to serve a jail term not less than six months and pay compensation to the farmer whose farm is destroyed. He should stand the chance of forfeiting the cattle to the state government.

6. The provision of colony to cattle owners should be discouraged. Every cattle owner should purchase/lease land for the purpose of ranching and/or any other farming operations.

7. Edo state government as a matter of urgency facilitates training on cattle husbandry with startup capital for our teeming unemployed youths, graduates and non graduates respectively. The trained youths should be formed into clusters to operate the ranches that will be built in all the local government councils.

8. Implementation of number 7 above will create chains of employment which will lead to drastic reduction in crime, tax generation increment with a projection of 16 months of consistency will cover for the high demands for beef by our people.

9. There is also need for the government to seek for security assistance with countries with technology to combat crimes like kidnapping and banditry that has crept into Edo state.

We believe the adoption of the above recommendations would address the worries and challenges open grazing has brought to our dear state. The issue of food security would be addressed and government should also make deliberate efforts in investing in the agricultural sector.

Headline

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

Published

3 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

3 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

3 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