Author: Opalim Lifted

The US Embassy in Haiti urged citizens to leave “as soon as possible,” citing security and infrastructure issues, as rising violence has displaced hundreds and pushed homicides skyrocketing. “US citizens in the caribbean island should depart as soon as possible via commercial or private transport,” the embassy stated in a statement, stressing extreme care. The United Nations disclosed that an increasing gang turf war has generated a severe humanitarian catastrophe that has displaced around 200,000 people nationwide and left over 5.2 million people—nearly half of Haiti’s population—in need of humanitarian help. The US Embassy in Port-au-Prince was temporarily closed earlier…

Dr. Betta Edu, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, said on Wednesday that 23,000 Nigerians have been reported missing in less than a decade due to the insurgency in some parts of the country. Edu said this in Abuja at a stakeholder engagement with the theme “Where are you now”, to mark the International Day of the Disappeared. She said that the figure represented half the number of missing people in all of Africa. Edu said that the report of the missing people released by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Nigerian Red Cross Society…

As a precaution following the discovery of the highly mutated COVID variant BA.2.86 in Britain, England will begin its autumn flu and COVID-19 immunization programs earlier than usual. A devastating wave of severe illness and death from the Omicron variant branch, BA.2.86, was not expected, according to scientists, given the global immune systems that have been strengthened by vaccination and earlier infections. However, due to the variant, Britain’s health ministry announced that annual vaccination programs for the elderly and at-risk populations would begin a few weeks earlier than anticipated. In a statement, junior health minister Maria Caulfield stated, “It makes…

The Gabon junta named General Brice Oligui Nguema as transition leader, soldiers said on national television. He is from Haut-Ogooue, Gabon’s southeastern most province, which borders the Republic of Congo. Bongo is from the same region of the country. In October 2019, he took over as Chief of Gabon’s Republican Guard from Bongo’s stepbrother. The president, his family, and other high-profile officials are all protected by the elite force. Nguema initiated an operation called “clean hands” to combat alleged state-led theft shortly after taking on the new post in 2019. Nguema was named in a 2020 investigation by the Organized…

The Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP) on Wednesday attributed part of the distortion of the FCT Master Plan to abuse of the Geographic Information System (GIS). The National President of the Institute, Mr. Nathaniel Atebije, stated this in Abuja during the 2023 Town Planners Day, organized by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) chapter. Atebije said that the FCT was the first to deploy GIS for urban planning and city management in Nigeria, adding, however, that it was abused to cause several distortions to the master plan. GIS is a computer system that analyses and displays geographically referenced information and…

The Nigerian Army’s troops of the 343 Artillery Regiment in anti-oil theft operations uncovered illegal oil bunkerers’ camps in Imo and Delta states and intercepted boats and vehicles laden with illegal oil products. Troops of the Nigerian Army have continued to crack down on saboteurs of Nigeria’s oil sector in southern Nigeria. Chronicle NG reports that Onyema Nwachukwu, Nigerian Army PRO, said this on Wednesday in a statement. Troops of the 343 Artillery Regiment conducting anti-oil theft operations on Monday, August 28, 2023, cracked down on an oil thieves’ camp in Obokofia Community in Imo State. In the crackdown, the…

FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, renowned clergy, Pastor Jerry Eze and music artiste, Innocent Idibia, popularly known as 2Face, have been listed among the ‘100 Most Notable Peace Icons in Africa’. Chronicle NG reports that they were named among other Africans in the list released by the organiser on its website on Wednesday. Other Nigerians who made the list included former SGF Boss Mustapha, Tony Elumelu, Mohammed Abdullahi, Alhaji Imaan Ibrahim, Femi Otedola, Dr. Stephen Akintayo, Farouk Khailann, and Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations. Renowned clergy, Pastor Jerry Eze, Dr. Daniel Moses, Mohammed Dewji, Mesfin Tasew Bekele, AIGP…

After being overthrown in a coup by the army and placed under house arrest, President Ali Bongo of Gabon has made an appeal for assistance. He exhorted followers to “raise your voice” while speaking from what he claimed to be his home. Army officers had earlier announced their coup on television. They proclaimed that they were voiding the results of the election held on Saturday, which the opposition claimed was rigged and in which Mr. Bongo was pronounced the victor. Additionally, the officers claimed to have detained one of Mr. Bongo’s sons for treason. The removal of Mr. Bongo would…

Acting Chairman of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Abba Ali, has refuted the trending news that the presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Rabiu Kwankwso, is suspended from the party. The NNPP has been rocked by crisis recently as its National Working Committee (NWC) dissolved seven state executive committees as well as the founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Boniface Aniebonam, and the National Publicity Secretary, Agbo Major. The national leader of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP),  Rabiu Kwankwaso, was conspicuously absent as his party held its National Executive Committee meeting in Abuja Tuesday afternoon…

Manchester City’s Erling Haaland has been crowned PFA Men’s Player of the Year, while Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka has been named Young Player of the Year. In his debut season with Pep Guardiola’s squad, Norway attacker Haaland, 23, scored 52 goals in all competitions. Erling defeated teammates Kevin de Bruyne and John Stones, as well as Arsenal’s Saka and Martin Odegaard and Tottenham’s Harry Kane, who is currently at Bayern Munich. Last season, City won the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League. Haaland joined City from Borussia Dortmund in a £51.2 million transfer in June 2022. Messi, Haaland, De Bruyne…