Headline

Senate Threatens Warrant Of Arrest On Akpabio, NDDC Boss

Published

4 years ago

March 30, 2022

The Nigerian Senate on Wednesday threatened to issue a warrant of arrest against the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio for severally snubbing the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions.

Another official risking a warrant of arrest is the sole administrator of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr Akwa Effiong for snubbing the Senate Committee’s invitation.

Chairman of Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, Ayo Akinyelure at a press briefing on Wednesday disclosed that the Minister and the Sole Administrator have been unanimous in administering the NDDC, an agency of government the way they like, hence, there were a plethora of petitions against them for refusing to pay contractors who executed projects for the Commission to the tune of N72 billion.

The petitions which were referred to the Committee by the Senate Committee of the whole were being treated, but, disappointedly, Godswill Akpabio and the Sole Administrator who are in a position to offer explanation have been undermining the Committee’s work.

Akinyelure confirmed to journalists that appropriations have been made yearly for contractors who executed projects across the Niger Delta States to be paid, wondering what might have happened, that Akpabio and the Sole Administrator chose to embarrass the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government, even as contractors keep protesting and lamenting all the time.

He expressed frustration at the conduct of the two senior officials of government, saying his Committee has only four weeks to submit a report to the committee of the whole.

He said, “Godswill Akpabio was a Senator and as a former colleague, he ought not to disrespect the Senate Committee in the manner he is doing.

The contractors have executed projects to the tune of N72 billion and they have their evidence, so it’s up to Godswill Akpabio and the Sole Administrator to come and explain why the contractors have not been paid despite yearly appropriations”, Senator Akinyelure said.

The lawmaker further called on President Muhammadu Buhari to constitute the Board without delay so as to remove one man’s overbearing influence.

Headline

Welcome Home, Israel Confirms Return Of 20 Hostages From Gaza

Published

14 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

16 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

17 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