Connect with us

NEWS

Ekweremadu to Remain in London Prison Till Oct 31

Published

on

Share

By Idris Umar, Abuja

Respite is not yet in sight as Senator Ike Ekweremadu will have to remain in London prison till October 31, next adjourned date of his trial in the United Kingdom (UK). 

His wife Beatrice Ekweremadu, on Thursday made an appearance at the Old Bailey for a plea and directions hearing, while her husband, Senator Ekweremadu and Obinna Obeta attended via virtual from Wandsworth and Belmarsh prisons.

At today’s proceeding, the judge allowed Mrs Ekweremadu to continued to enjoy the conditional bail but remanded Senator Ekweremadu and Obeta, a 50-year-old London doctor involved in the case in custody.

 Ekweremadu had pleaded “not guilty” to the charges brought against him.

Ekwewmadu’s lawyer, Martin Hicks, QC, told the court that “We deny that there was any exploitation or any intent to do so. The argument will be factual denial”.

 Ekweremadu, his wife and Obeta are facing trial for allegedly plotting to traffic a Nigerian man to the UK and harvest his kidney for transplant to to the senator’s ailing young daughter.

According to the prosecutors, the suspects were charged for planning to remove the kidney of an underaged boy at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, North West London, for transplant to their daughter who suffers from kidney failure.

The complainant had refused to accept to the procedure after undergoing tests. The alleged offences were said to have  taken place between between August 1 last year and May 5.

The complainant who had turned out not to be underaged, having attained 21 years on 5 May 2022, presented himself at Staines Police Station and alleged that he was flown from Nigeria to the United Kingdom for the purpose of having his kidney transplanted to the daughter of the defendants.

“He arrived on 20th February 2022 and was taken to Royal Free Hospital where tests were conducted. For the purpose he was there he did not consent to the taking of his kidney.

“He returned to the house he was staying and his treatment changed dramatically and claimed being treated as a slave,” Prosecutor Tim Probert-Wood  said.

NEWS

Tinubu Welcomes Qatar’s Investment Initiatives, Affirms Nigeria’s Readiness for Partnership

Published

on

Share

President Bola Tinubu says Nigeria is ready to partner Qatar to explore opportunities in the agricultural sector.The President said this while receiving Dr Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, a special envoy from the Amir of the State of Qatar, at the State House on Friday.Al-Khulaifi, Qatar’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, conveyed Amir’s strong interest in expanding bilateral cooperation.

He said that a high-level Qatari business delegation would visit Nigeria in the coming weeks to explore opportunities in agriculture, food security, and other critical sectors.
President Tinubu emphasised Nigeria’s readiness to build on the momentum generated by his state visit to Qatar in 2024, pledging to implement all bilateral agreements between the two countries.
He directed Sen. Abubakar Bagudu, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning; Alhaji Mohammed Idris, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, and Amb. Yusuf Tuggar, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, to work together to ensure the timely execution of these agreements.“To all the members of the delegation, I want to say a big thank you for coming to Nigeria. We are grateful to God for what we have experienced as partners in progress.“I am also glad that the Amir of Qatar greatly remembers the issues discussed during my visit last year.“Let me commend the brotherly relations between Qatar and Nigeria. The Ambassador knows that I take Qatar very seriously. We are willing to go further in our bilateral relations,” he said.The President said the Qatari government had demonstrated maturity and foresight in working for global peace and deserved commendation.“I am proud of your efforts to bring peace and stability to the world. I see your efforts in human development, peace and prosperity. “Like you, we are sandwiched between the challenge of terrorism and helping our neighbours. We are conscious of who is our friend and those helping us to ameliorate the problems,” he said.President Tinubu also noted ongoing reforms to streamline Nigeria’s tax system, making it easier for foreign investors to do business in the country.“We are making efforts to reform our tax system. Going by experiences of the past and the need to depart from old ways, our reforms have been hard.He added that his administration made tough decisions so that the country could grow. “We are gradually seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.The President said Nigeria’s partnership with Qatar could be improved by looking into food sovereignty and economic prosperity.“We are doing well as much as we can as the leader in Africa. We want to continue to promote good relations with you. We are ready to do whatever we can do from here.“We subscribe to peace efforts by your government. There can be no development without peace,” he added.Al-Khulaifi conveyed the Amir’s desire to strengthen the strategic partnership with Nigeria, particularly in peace-building, agriculture, and petrochemicals.He expressed pride in the current level of relations and looked forward to expanding both government-to-government and people-to-people ties.“We are proud of the level of relations we have reached with Nigeria. I am very impressed with our partnership with the country, which is not just government to government but also people to people.“Our Ambassador has been following up with the projects. We have much to do together in agriculture, food, and petrochemicals. We have some companies telling us that we should create a way for them to come into Nigeria,” he said.Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, whose responsibilities include mediating peace in Africa and the Middle East, said some Qatari companies would visit Nigeria to discuss investment opportunities in agriculture.“The message I have from His Highness, Amir of Qatar, is that he wants Nigeria to be a strategic partner in Africa,” he added. (NAN)

Continue Reading

NEWS

50m people in West, Central Africa at Risk of Hunger -WFP

Published

on

Share

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that millions of people in West and Central Africa are facing record hunger as conflict, displacement, economic hardship and repeated extreme weather push the region towards a major crisis.No fewer than 36 million people are struggling to meet their basic food needs, which is projected to rise to over 52 million during the lean season from June to August, latest analysis reveals.

This includes almost three million people facing emergency conditions, and 2,600 people in Mali who are at risk of catastrophic hunger.
Although needs are at a historic high, resources are limited, with millions of lives at stake.“Without immediate funding, WFP will be forced to scale down even further both in the number of people reached and the size of food rations distributed,” Margot van der Velden, Regional Director for West and Central Africa, said.
In 2019, only four per cent of the population was food insecure compared to 30 per cent today, according to Ollo Sib, a senior research adviser with WFP.“We hope that our voice will be heard because this food security situation in the Sahel remains extremely difficult and dire,” he said, speaking from Dakar to journalists in Geneva on Friday.Sib recently travelled to some of the affected areas, such as communities in northern Ghana grappling with unprecedented drought.“They were forced to replant two to three times, and for them, each failed sowing is an additional financial burden as the cost of fertilisers and seeds were extremely high in those locations,” he said.The assessment team also went to northern Mali, which is the only place in the region where people are facing catastrophic food security conditions.“We had the opportunity to interact with pastoralist elders who typically sell their livestock to buy cereals,” he said.“This year they were worried because the cost of food rose by 50 per cent compared to the five-year average. But at the same time, they are not able to access markets to sell their goods.”WFP said unyielding conflict is among the factors driving deepening hunger in West and Central Africa.Fighting has displaced more than 10 million of the most vulnerable people across the region, including more than two million refugees and asylum seekers, in Chad, Cameroon, Mauritania and Niger.Nearly eight million more have been internally displaced, mainly in Nigeria and Cameroon.Meanwhile, food inflation exacerbated by rising food and fuel costs are pushing hunger levels to new highs.At the same time, recurrent extreme weather “erodes the ability of families to feed themselves,” WFP said.WFP stands ready to respond and scale up vital assistance in West Africa and the Sahel.The UN agency is seeking $710 million to support its life-saving operations through the end of October.The aim is to reach almost 12 million people this year with critical assistance.So far, teams have already reached three million of the most vulnerable including refugees, internally displaced people, malnourished children under five, and pregnant or breastfeeding women and girls.The agency said that five million risk losing assistance unless urgent funding is found.WFP also called for governments and partners to invest in sustainable solutions aimed at building resilience and reducing long-term dependency on aid.Since 2018, the UN agency has been working with regional governments to address the root causes of hunger through a programme that has rehabilitated over 300,000 hectares of land to support over four million people in more than 3,400 villages. (NAN)

Continue Reading

NEWS

Benue Govt., RGL Sign MoU on Otukpo Food City Complex

Published

on

Share

The Benue State Government on Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Rexzodeneh Group Limited (RGL) for the development of the Otukpo National Food City Complex.Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Prof. Moses Ogbaji, said that the project would improve food security and promote agricultural development.

Ogbaji expressed confidence that the project would be implemented with all seriousness and commitment.
The commissioner said that the project was located at Ogyoma Community, Akpa District of Otukpo Local Government Area (LGA), adding that the government expects tangible benefits to accrue to its people.He warned against using the project as a means of acquiring loans unnecessarily with uncertainty.
“I have signed a lot of MoUs since I came on board; some used it only to collect loans and go back. Your case will not be like that in Jesus’ name.“We will sanction you if you repeat the same. We expect concrete actions on this; we are serious, not joking about it,” he said.The Executive Secretary, Benue Investment Promotion Agency (BENIPA), Mr Terhemen Gbenkaan, said the project was genuine and well-known to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture.Gbenkaan said the National Food City Complex was originally planned to be established in Otukpo and extended to other local government areas.According to him, the project is to promote food production, processing, and storage as well as provide a platform for farmers, processors, and other stakeholders to access markets and services.“This MoU signing is the first between government and the private sector, which demonstrates the government’s commitment to development for the people,“ he said.He explained that a thorough due diligence process was conducted, including sending the project documents to 13 ministries, departments, agencies and MDAs for expert advice, and it all received positive responses.Commenting, the Managing Director of Rexzodeneh Group Limited (RGL), Femi Apata, said the company was prepared and determined to make Benue a hub for food production and processing.“People will no longer need to travel to other places for finished food products; instead, they’ll be coming to Benue as the food basket of the nation.“I believe that our gathering today will mark the beginning of a new era in Benue State’s agricultural development.“By the grace of God, within the next 60 days, we’ll be celebrating milestones achieved on the ground, not just in theory,” he pledged. (NAN)

Continue Reading

Read Our ePaper

Top Stories

NEWS58 seconds ago

Tinubu Welcomes Qatar’s Investment Initiatives, Affirms Nigeria’s Readiness for Partnership

SharePresident Bola Tinubu says Nigeria is ready to partner Qatar to explore opportunities in the agricultural sector.The President said this...

NEWS8 minutes ago

50m people in West, Central Africa at Risk of Hunger -WFP

ShareThe UN World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that millions of people in West and Central Africa are facing record...

NEWS13 minutes ago

Benue Govt., RGL Sign MoU on Otukpo Food City Complex

ShareThe Benue State Government on Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Rexzodeneh Group Limited (RGL) for the development...

POLITICS22 minutes ago

Kebbi’s PDP Senators Set to Decamp to APC – Ganduje

ShareDr Abdullahi Ganduje, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on Friday said the Senators from Kebbi State,...

NEWS27 minutes ago

No Compromise on Professionalism, CAS Warns Air Force Personnel

Share The Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar has charged personnel of the Nigerian Air Force to...

NEWS11 hours ago

Bayelsa PDP Approves Salary Increment for Party Officials

ShareFrom Mike Tayese, Yenagoa In a major shift of position, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa State has approved...

CRIME11 hours ago

Benue Killings: Group Petitions IGP, Demands Urgent Federal Intervention

ShareClaims 300 Lives Lost in Recent Coordinated Attacks across Five LGAs Agatu Council Boss Confirms Killing of District Head by...

FEATURES14 hours ago

Miss Valdeen N. Pierre Honored with Humanitarian Award at the 2025 National Humanitarian Summit

ShareIn a remarkable celebration of humanitarian service and strategic collaboration, Miss Valdeen Pierre , Country Director – United State ;...

community14 hours ago

32-year-old in Court For Allegedly Robbing Man of N4.5m iPhones

ShareThe police in Lagos on Friday arraigned a 32-year-old businessman, Wilfred Ochie, who allegedly robbed a man of two iPhones...

NEWS14 hours ago

Methodist Archbishop, Igwe Condemns Spate of Insecurity, Killings in Nigeria 

ShareBy, Godwin Okeh Abakaliki  The Archdiocesan Bishop of Methodist Church, Archdiocese of Ebonyi, His Grace Most Rev. Chikwendu Ogan Igwe...

Copyright © 2021 Daily Asset Limited | Powered by ObajeSoft Inc