Abuja — The coup in Guinea has pitched African leaders against each other as President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua is set to mobilise other West African leaders in a move to checkmate his colleagues from Libya and Senegal, Muammar Gaddafi and Abdoulaye Wade, who are believed to be supporting the new military regime.THISDAY gathered that the extra-ordinary meeting of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) scheduled for Friday under the leadership of Yar’Adua is aimed at getting other leaders of the sub-region to oppose the subterranean support being given to the Guinean coup leaders by Gaddafi and Wade.
Archive for the 'Nigeria' Category
Guinea: Yar’Adua Moves to Checkmate Gaddafi
Posted by travelhouseuk on January 6, 2009
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Nigeria: Tension in Jos Again!
Posted by travelhouseuk on January 3, 2009
Barely weeks after the last crisis that virtually turned the once bubbling city of Jos into a ghost town, tension again enveloped the city yesterday, as security personnel took over almost every part of Jos.This followed the arrest of 26 men suspected to be mercenaries on a mission in the city, by men of the Plateau State police Command.According to reports from Jos last night, a combined team of military men and the police has taken over almost the entire city, wearing an unfriendly look and apparently ready to deal with any trouble that might arise. The suspects, who were said to be travelling in a bus with Okene Local Government Legislative Council written on it, and wearing military uniform, were intercepted by a police patrol team.
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Nigeria: Ribadu Dismissed
Posted by travelhouseuk on December 24, 2008
Abuja — The long-anticipated sack of embattled former chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, from the Nigeria Police Force happened yesterday when the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Mike Okiro, implemented the recommendation of dismissal by the Police Service Commission (PSC).The PSC met on Monday and considered the presentation made to it by the IGP on the recommendation of the Force Disciplinary Committee (FDC).
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Somalia: Nigerian Troops Ready for Deployment - AU
Posted by travelhouseuk on December 23, 2008
Lagos — Nigerian troops are expected to strengthen an African force in Somalia in January and prevent a security vacuum when Ethiopian soldiers pull out, the African Union said on Sunday.Ethiopia’s decision to withdraw its 3,000 or so troops from the anarchic Horn of Africa nation by the end of the year has raised fears the fractured, Western-backed government will collapse and Islamist insurgents seize the capital Mogadishu.
The Islamists control the south of Somalia and launch near-daily attacks on the Ethiopians propping up the government and 3,200 peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi guarding key sites in Mogadishu.
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Petroleum Scarcity Looms As Pengassan Begins Strike
Posted by travelhouseuk on December 18, 2008
Abuja — Imminent scarcity of petroleum products looms across the country, as the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), conclude plans to begin an indefinite strike action. Already, a seven day warning strike embarked upon by the oil and gas labour movement has ended without any satisfactory result, and any moment from now, a full scale strike action will be declared nationwide by PENGASSAN. A top member of PENGASSAN who confided in LEADERSHIP yesterday, said the union is embarking on the strike because the management of the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF) has refused to shift grounds on the union’s demand to rescind a policy which seeks to impose an unfavourable condition of staff.He accused the Executive Secretary of PEF,Adefunke Kasali of seeking to implement a regional policy and victimising staff from a particular geo-political zone of the country.
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Africa: No More Excuses on Gender Violence
Posted by travelhouseuk on November 26, 2008
As the world marks the twenty-seventh International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, United Nations figures indicate that in the course of her lifetime, one in every three women is beaten, coerced into sex or abused, by a relative or acquaintance.In Africa , concerns continue to be raised over poor legislation and enforcement to protect women and girls from harm.At the African Development Forum, held in Addis from Nov. 19-21, it emerged that many women do not report cases of violence, particularly those involving intimate partners, for fear of reprisal, which may include economic deprivation, physical abuse, or losing custody of their children.”There is a deep culture of silence where women do not tell about their husbands or partners beating them; they fear that they may stop being provided for, particularly if the man is the bread winner,” says Auxillia Ponga, a gender advisor with the Commonwealth Secretariat.
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Nigeria: Lagos-Kano Rail Contract ‘Inflated By $700 Million’
Posted by travelhouseuk on November 24, 2008
Nigeria : The Lagos-Kano Rail contract awarded by the immediate past administration and which Federal Government plans to revoke was inflated by a whooping $800 million, THISDAY has learnt.Information made available to THISDAY showed that the last administration allegedly awarded the contract at the cost of $8.3 billion, but the Chinese firm handling the project claimed that the contract was awarded to it for $7.6 billion. THISDAY gathered that this discrepancy may have informed the decision of the government to revoke the deal, in addition to legal issues.It was also gathered that the contract was not presented to the National Assembly for appropriation before the past administration went ahead in 2007 to make an advance payment of $250 million to the Chinese Civil Engineering and Construction Company (CCECC) that was awarded the project.
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Nigeria: Chevron Declares Force Majeure on Production
Posted by travelhouseuk on November 20, 2008
Nigeria’s crude oil export has suffered another major setback as United States oil major Chevron yesterday declared a force majeure on its Escravos crude oil exports, until the end of the year, due to last Friday’s militant attack on its pipeline.Force majeure is a legal clause that allows producers to miss contracted deliveries because of circumstances beyond their control.The pipeline that feeds into the Chevron-operated Escravos export terminal in Delta State was attacked last Friday, but no group has claimed responsibility.In a statement last night, the oil firm said around 90,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil production were shut in, following a pipeline breach last Friday.”This is due to breach on the main onshore pipeline carrying about 90,000 bpd to Escravos, Delta State. Repair plans are being prepared and it would be premature to estimate completion time,” the statement said.A company source said about 100,000 bpd of oil output may have been cut due to the attack.
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Nigeria: Country Seeks $500 Million Loan to Build New Satellites
Posted by travelhouseuk on November 19, 2008
Nigeria : The management of NigComSat Limited has appealed to the House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology to prevail on the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to approve the utilisation of $500 million (N59 billion) concessionary loan for the construction of NigComSat 2 and 3 advanced series.The loan, according to the firm, would come from the China Exim Bank. The appeal follows the final confirmation of the loss of the N40 billion NigComSat-1, as exclusively reported by THISDAY last week.The two proposed facilities will serve as back-ups to the construction of a NigComSat-1R meant to replace the lost satellite.Managing Director of the firm, Professor Ahmed Rufai, disclosed this yesterday while briefing members of the House Committee.Rufai, who said NigComSat-1 had become “irreparably damaged” and therefore flown out of orbit, added that given the importance of the facility, there was need for its urgent replacement and the construction of back-ups.
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Nigeria: 19 Die in Pipeline Explosion, Gun Attack in Niger Delta
Posted by travelhouseuk on November 17, 2008
Emma Arubi and Samuel Oyadongha.IT was a harvest of deaths at the weekend in the Niger Delta when 19 people lost their lives in two separate incidents.While six Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) contract staff were confirmed dead following a pipeline explosion on the SPDC 24 inches Amukpe - Sapele Trunkline in the Western operations, 13 persons were killed following a violent attack on Sangana community on the fringe of Atlantic Ocean in Bayelsa State by gunmen. The contract staff worked for a contractor employed by SPDC at the SPDC trunkline in Delta State which supplies crude oil to the Forcados Export Terminal. The company has shut down all its flow stations which receive feed crude as a result of the incident.One of the explosion victims was reported to have died while being flown to a hospital in South Africa and another victim is yet to be accounted for.
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