The report that the risk map of the troubled Northwest of Nigeria has been stretched to include worship centres after bandits attacked Haske Baptist Church in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, killing two persons, while many worshippers were abducted is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Monday.
The Guardian reports that yesterday, the risk map of the troubled Northwest was stretched to include worship centres after bandits attacked Haske Baptist Church in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, killing two persons while many worshippers were abducted.
Before yesterday’s attack, all tiers of educational institutions have been serially targeted.
An unspecified number of worshippers also sustained degrees of injuries with a medical doctor, Zakariah Dogo Yaro, of the Kaduna State Ministry of Health, among those killed during the incident.
The church, located in Manini Tasha village, Kuriga Ward of the local government area, was attacked around 9:00a.m. by the bandits. The Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, confirmed the incident.
A member of the church told newsmen that the bandits upon their arrival surrounded the church and started shooting sporadically at worshipers, who scampered for safety in different directions.
According to Mr Yakubu Bala, gunshots were heard everywhere, throwing worshipers into pandemonium. “One worshipper was gunned down,” he said.
The Vanguard says that the Nigerian Center for Disease Control (NCDC) reported zero COVID-19-related death for the ninth consecutive days as the nation’s fatality toll remains 2,061.
The NCDC disclosed this on its official Twitter handle on Tuesday. According to the report, the the country last registered a COVID-19-related death on April 11.
It reports that aside from April 11, the number of reported deaths in week 14, which was April 6, was two from two states.
The cumulatively since the outbreak began in week 9, 2020, there have been reported 2,061 deaths with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 1.3 percent.
The NCDC said it conducted 1,870,915 COVID-19 tests since Feb. 27, 2020, adding that 120 infections were registered as at Tuesday, bringing the cumulative number of cases to 164,423. It said that the additional infection
The agency announced that another 22 people recovered from the virus in the last 24 hours, adding that cumulatively 154,406 COVID-19 recoveries had been reported since Feb. 27, 2020.
It noted that a multi-sectoral National Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), activated at Level 3, has continued to coordinate the national response activities in the country.
The Punch reports that the Federal Government of Nigeria is spending $1.5bn (N568.5bn at N379/$ exchange rate) annually to fund electricity tariff shortfalls, the World Bank has said.
According to the global financial institution, this amount could further increase if the country fails to take the right action.
The bank disclosed this in its enlarged report on Nigeria Power Sector Recovery Programme obtained by our correspondent in Abuja on Sunday.
“FGN (Federal Government of Nigeria) is spending $1.5bn per year to fund tariff shortfalls and this could continue to rise if action isn’t taken,” the bank stated in the document.
The World Bank said Nigeria’s power sector was operationally inefficient with unreliable supply exacerbated by high losses and lack of payment discipline. Picking on the various arms of the sector, the bank stated that power generation was characterised by high non-available capacity due to the fact that many plants were out on fault, damage, maintenance, major overhaul, etc.
“Gas and transmission constraints lead to non-operational capacity. Resolving policy/regulatory challenges and Disco (distribution companies) issues are key to free up stranded capacity,” the bank stated. In the transmission sector, the bank said infrastructure in this arm of the industry remained inadequate and congested, stressing that investments in upgrades and maintenance were required.
The Sun reports that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has reiterated its call for the review of the power sector against the backdrop of the continuous decline of the electricity supply to Nigerians.
The NLC, in a communique issued at its recent virtual National Executive Meeting on Friday in Abuja, signed by the president, Ayuba Wabba, expressed its resolve to demand that government, in line with the agreement signed with organised labour on September 28, 2020, invokes the clause in the power sector privatisation that provides for a five-year review of the privatisation programme to reverse privatisation and return the assets to the Nigerian people.
Wabba said the demand was consequent on the incontrovertible evidence that the power sector privatisation has failed to achieve any of its objectives, which include improving the quality and quantity of electricity supply to Nigerians, shedding of power sector funding from the government and increasing revenue from power sector investment to the coffers of government.
“The NEC also called on government to be clear and straight on its engagement with organised labour on the management of electricity tariff,” he said. He also noted the objection of the congress leadership to the World Bank’s claim that energy tariffs are subsidized by about 70 per cent.
ThisDay says that the promoters of the proposed Escravos Seaport Industrial Complex (ESIC – 1) have revealed that the $2.9 billion (N1.16 trillion) project will attract $50 billion (N20 trillion) in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to Nigeria when completed and operational.
The owner of the project, Mercury Maritime Concession Company (MMCC) Limited, while unveiling the plan at a stakeholders’ forum held in Lagos over the weekend, said the $2.9 billion seaport at Escravos, Delta would help to decongest Lagos ports.
Speaking at the stakeholders’ forum, the Chairman of MMCC, Rear Adm. Andrew Okoja (RTD.) said the proposed Escravos Seaport Industrial Complex project will play a major role in the bid to end youth restiveness in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.
He said Mercury Maritime Concession Company and its partners have secured financing for the project adding that a deposit of $1 billion will soon be made to the federal government through the Ministry of Transportation as a show of commitment and capacity to deliver the project.
Okoja said the project was at its preparatory stage, but gave the assurance that within five years, it would be completed.
GIK/APA