NEWS
Maiduguri Flood: Zulum Seeks NEMA’s Support to Resettle Victims
Gov. Babagana Zulum has called for the support of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other stakeholders to resettle victims of the flood disaster in their respective communities.
Zulum made the call while receiving the Director- General of NEMA, who was in Maiduguri to monitor and step up the interventions by NEMA and other stakeholders.
He said so far there are 36 camps, opened to cater for the displaced.
“These camps will be closed down gradually as the Alau dam flood water continues to recede.
“The state suffered a lot from the experience of sustaining camps for more than a decade during the insurgency and will not want to repeat the mistake again.
“As the water recedes, we have resolved to provide a two week food ration for those in the camps because we believed after two weeks things would be okay for many to return to their homes,” he said.
He urged NEMA to work with SEMA and the flood committee set up so that they would be on the same page for proper coordination of the responses to the emergency.
“There’s a need for coordination to get it right since we are all working towards the same objective of bringing succur to the people.
“The State Government and NEMA will take the lead while donors and development partners are to complement them,” Zulum said.
Earlier, the DG of NEMA, Hajiya Zubaida Umar, said she was in Borno to monitor and step up interventions as well as identify gaps to be filled.
Umar said that since the occurrence of the incident on Monday, NEMA has been working closely with the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and the state Disaster Response Unit.
“We have been able to provide interventions in terms of food and non food items, water, ambulances, tents and other things within our capabilities.
“We are still part of the search and rescue team.”
She lauded the leadership exhibited by Zulum and his team in handling the situations since the incident happened and assured him of sustained support from NEMA.
She announced the donation of 50 tonnes of relief materials from United Arab Emirates (UAE) to be distributed to Borno and other states affected by flood disaster. (NAN)
NEWS
Customs Intercept Contraband Worth N510.92m in Two Conths
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit Zone C, says it intercepted contrabands with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N510.92 million between July 15th and September 15th, 2024.The zone covers the six states in the South-South geopolitical zone and the five states in the Southeast geopolitical zone.
This is contained in a statement signed by Jerry Attah, Public Relations Officer, NCS, Zone C, and made available to journalists on Wednesday. According to the statement, Comptroller Michael Ugbagu, NCS, Zone C, gave the statistics while showcasing the seized contraband to relevant regulatory agencies at the Government Warehouse in Edo.Ugbagu said that the zone also recovered the sum of N25.57 million from demand notices raised based on some infractions noticed, making a cumulative sum of N536.49 million recorded within the months under review.“The DPV was derived from our seized goods, which include 49,699 sachets of various brands of tramadol and 3,350 bottles of various cough syrups with codeine without an NAFDAC number.“1,015 sacks of dry donkey meat and skin, 75 jumbo bales of second-hand clothing, 463 cartons of foreign spaghetti, 269 pieces of used pneumatic tires, and 56 cartons of smuggled foreign tomato paste.“More worrisome is the interception of 49,699 sachets of various brands of tramadol and 3,350 bottles of various cough syrups with codeine without NAFDAC registration numbers.”He noted that the cough syrup with codeine and tramadol without NAFDAC registration numbers, if not intercepted, could have had adverse effects on youths.He added that the items were mostly intercepted along the Ewu-Okada/Benin expressways based on credible intelligence. (NAN)NEWS
APC Forum Decries Deplorable Condition of Federal Roads
The Forum of Stakeholders of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has decried the deplorable condition of some federal roads in Nigeria. Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, the North-Central Chairman of the forum, said this in an interaction with newsmen on Wednesday in Jos. Zazzaga described some of the federal roads as ”death traps”, particularly those within the north-central region.
He said that some of the deplorable roads in the region include Jos-Akwanga, Makurdi-Oturkpo-Otukpa, Makurdi-Ankpa, and Jos-Saminaka. Other roads that needed urgent attention, he said, included Suleja-Minna, Ejule-Otukpa, Ganawuri-Manchok, Lokoja-Abuja, Lapai-Agaie-Bida, Birnin-Gwari-Bokani-Mokwa, Minna-Zungeru-Tegina-Kontagora. ”Currently, the north-central region has the most deplorable roads and highways in the country. ”These deplorable roads have brought severe hardship on the people and lost lives and property through preventable road traffic crashes. ”We call on President Bola Tinubu to intervene and ensure the rehabilitation of these roads because good roads are vital enablers of development,” he said. The chairman also called on governors of states within the region to reconstruct the dilapidated roads and seek refunds from the federal government. ”Though these are largely federal roads, they are located within states, and the beneficiaries are the people of these states. ”So we call on state governments to reconstruct these roads and seek refunds from the federal government,” he added. (NANNEWS
Yuan Strengthens 7. 087 Against Dollar
The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, strengthened 160 pips to 7.087 against the dollar on Wednesday.This is according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.In China’s spot foreigners exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by two per cent from the central parity rate each trading day.
The central parity rate of the yuan against the dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day. (Xinhua/NAN)