Camouflage-clad gunmen opened fire at concertgoers with automatic weapons on Friday, killing at least 60 people and injuring 145 more in an attack claimed by Islamic State militants.

In the deadliest attack in Russia since the 2004 Beslan school siege, gunmen sprayed civilians with bullets just before Soviet-era rock group "Picnic" was to perform to a full house at the 6,200-seat the Crocus City Hall just west of Moscow.

Verified video showed people taking their seats in the hall, then rushing for the exits as repeated gunfire echoed above screams. Other video showed men shooting at groups of people. Some victims lay motionless in pools of blood.

"Suddenly there were bangs behind us - shots. A burst of firing - I do not know what," one witness, who asked not to be identified by name, told Reuters.

"A stampede began. Everyone ran to the escalator," the witness said. "Everyone was screaming; everyone was running."

Russian investigators said the death toll was more than 60. Health officials said about 145 people were wounded, of which about 60 were in critical condition.

In the 2004 Beslan school siege, Islamist militants took more than 1,000 people, including hundreds of children, hostage.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was being updated by security chiefs about the situation, including from Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the Federal Security Service (FSB), the Kremlin said.

Russian investigators published pictures of a Kalashnikov automatic weapon, vests with multiple spare magazines and bags of spent bullet casings.

ISLAMIC STATE

Islamic State, the militant group that once sought control over swathes of Iraq and Syria, claimed responsibility for the attack, the group's Amaq agency said on Telegram.

A grainy picture was published by some Russian media of two of the alleged attackers in a white car.

The fate of the attackers was unclear as firefighters battled a massive blaze and emergency services evacuated hundreds of people while parts of the venue's roof collapsed.

Islamic State said its fighters attacked on the outskirts of Moscow, "killing and wounding hundreds and causing great destruction to the place before they withdrew to their bases safely." The statement gave no further detail.

The United States has intelligence confirming Islamic State's claim of responsibility for the shooting, a U.S. official said on Friday. The official said Washington had warned Moscow in recent weeks of the possibility of an attack.

"We did warn the Russians appropriately," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, without providing any additional details.

Russia has yet to say who it thinks is responsible.

The attack on Crocus City Hall, about 20 km (12 miles) from the Kremlin, comes just two weeks after the U.S. embassy in Russia warned that "extremists" had imminent plans for an attack in Moscow.

Hours before the embassy warning, the FSB said it had foiled an attack on a Moscow synagogue by Islamic State's affiliate in Afghanistan, known as ISIS-Khorasan or ISIS-K, and seeks a caliphate across Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Iran.

Putin changed the course of the Syrian civil war by intervening in 2015, supporting President Bashar al-Assad against the opposition and Islamic State.

"ISIS-K has been fixated on Russia for the past two years, frequently criticizing Putin in its propaganda," said Colin Clarke of the Soufan Center.

The broader Islamic State group has claimed deadly attacks across the Middle East, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Europe, the Philippines and Sri Lanka.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said it was a "bloody terrorist attack" that the entire world should condemn.

The United States, European and Arab powers and many former Soviet republics expressed shock and sent their condolences. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak denied any Ukrainian involvement.

The United Nations Security Council condemned what it called a "heinous and cowardly terrorist attack."

SECURITY TIGHTENED

Russia tightened security at airports, transport hubs and across the capital - a vast urban area of over 21 million people. All large-scale public events were cancelled across the country.

Putin, who was on Sunday re-elected for a new six-year term, sent thousands of troops into Ukraine in 2022 and has repeatedly warned that various powers - including countries in the West - are seeking to sow chaos inside Russia.

Putin was informed in the first minutes of the attack and is regularly being updated, the Kremlin said.

"The president constantly receives information about what is happening and about the measures being taken through all relevant services. The head of state gave all the necessary instructions," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.

At Crocus City Hall, flames leapt into the sky, and plumes of black smoke rose above the venue as hundreds of blue lights from emergency vehicles flashed in the night.

Helicopters sought to douse flames that engulfed the large building. The roof of the venue was collapsing, state news agency RIA said.

"A terrible tragedy occurred in the shopping centre Crocus City today," Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. "I am sorry for the loved ones of the victims."

Reuters

UN chief to visit Gaza border in new plea for truce

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will visit Egypt's border with Gaza on Saturday to renew pleas for a ceasefire that could bring relief to a territory devastated by more than five months of war between Israel and Hamas.

His trip comes as Israel threatens to launch a major military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, just over the border from Egypt, despite international appeals against such an attack.

A majority of Gaza's 2.3 million residents are sheltering around Rafah. Though conditions are worse in the north of the strip, the plight of civilians across the territory has deteriorated sharply as the conflict has ground on.

Guterres will visit Al Arish in Egypt's northern Sinai, where much of the international relief for Gaza is delivered and stockpiled, and the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing, one of the entry points for the aid.

Advertisement · Scroll to continue

He is expected to visit a hospital in Al Arish and meet U.N. humanitarian workers in Rafah.

As hopes for a truce during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan have faded and the humanitarian situation in Gaza has become more desperate, the United States and other countries have sought to use air drops and ships to deliver more relief.

But humanitarian agencies say that only about one-fifth of the required amount of supplies has been entering Gaza, and that the only way to meet needs in coastal enclave is to rapidly accelerate deliveries by road.

Israel, which has vowed to destroy Hamas and is worried that the Palestinian militant group will divert aid, has kept all but one of its land crossings into the enclave closed.

This week, a global food monitor warned thatfamine was imminent in northern Gaza and could spread to other parts of the territory if a ceasefire is not agreed.

More than 32,000 people have been killed by Israel's military campaign in Gaza, many of them women and children, according to local health authorities.

Israel launched the assault in response to an attack by Hamas in which some 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Guterres, who made one previous trip to Egypt's border with Gaza shortly after the war broke out, is visiting Egypt and Jordan as part of an annual "solidarity trip" to Muslim countries during Ramadan.

While in the Egyptian capital Cairo, he is due to break the daily fast with refugees from Sudan, where war between rival military factions has displaced nearly 8.5 million people, driven parts of the population to extreme hunger, and led to waves of ethnically-driven killings in Darfur.

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russia pounds Ukrainian power facilities; Zelenskiy seeks air defences, 'political will'

Russia pounded Ukrainian power facilities on Friday in an attack described by Kyiv as the largest airstrike on its energy infrastructure in two years of war, and portrayed by Moscow as revenge for Ukrainian attacks during its presidential election.

The missile and drone attack hit a vast dam over the Dnipro river, killed at least five people and left more than a million others without power, forcing Kyiv to seek emergency electricity supplies from Poland, Romania and Slovakia, Kyiv officials said.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address, said the strikes proved again that Russian attacks on infrastructure could be halted only with more air defence systems and that required political will from Ukraine's allies.

"Russian terror is only possible now because we don't have enough modern air defence systems which, to be honest, requires enough political will to provide them," Zelenskiy said.

"All our partners know what is needed and who can make truly life-saving decisions."

Military aid to Ukraine from Western allies has slowed in recent months, in particular a $60 billion package from Washington, stalled by political disputes in the U.S. Congress.

The strikes, which Kyiv said caused blackouts in seven regions, revived memories of the winter of 2022-23 when Moscow regularly bombed Ukraine's power grid.

Zelenskiy said repair work had made progress, with the worst outages in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, central Dnipropetrovsk region and Ivano-Frankivsk in the west.

The Russian defence ministry said the airstrike was carried out in retaliation for Ukrainian shelling and cross-border raids last week as Russians took part in a stage-managed election that handed President Vladimir Putin a fifth term.

Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko said: "The goal is not just to damage, but to try again, like last year, to cause a large-scale failure of the country's energy system."

Russia denies targeting civilians, although the war that began with its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine has killed thousands of people, uprooted millions and destroyed towns and cities.

"STATE OF WAR"

Moscow says Ukrainian power facilities are legitimate targets and such attacks are aimed at weakening Kyiv's military.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a Russian publication on Friday that Moscow saw itself as in a "state of war" because of the West's intervention on Kyiv's side.

The comment marked a rhetorical break from the "special military operation" language that Moscow has used, an apparent move to prepare Russians for a longer and harder struggle.

European Union Council President Charles Michel said Russia's comments about war with Europe showed the importance of the EU's building its own defence industry.

Two people were killed in the western Khmelnytskyi region and three in Zaporizhzhia in the southeast, including at least one at the dam, said the local administration and general prosecutor's office. More than 30 people were reported injured.

Ukraine's largest dam, the DniproHES in the city of Zaporizhzhia, was hit eight times, an official from the Ukrainian prosecutor's office said.

The state hydropower company said there was no risk of a breach. The company's director, Ihor Syrota, said both its power blocks and the dam itself had been damaged.

A state ecological inspectorate said that oil had leaked into the Dnipro river which the dam straddles.

"The wide impact of today’s attacks on critical civilian infrastructure is deepening the already dire humanitarian situation for millions of people in Ukraine," the UN's humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, said in a statement.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said around 20 substations and electricity stations had been hit in addition to the dam.

Russia fired 88 missiles and 63 Shahed drones, of which only 37 and 55, respectively, were shot down, the Ukrainian air force said of the attacks.

That represented a worse ratio than usual, possibly reflecting Moscow's widespread use of ballistic missiles that are harder to shoot down and also the proximity of the targeted regions to Russian-controlled areas.

Some 1.2 million people in at least four regions were left without power due to the attacks, presidential aide Oleksiy Kuleba said on Telegram.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine faces series of retreats – Pentagon

The Pentagon expects Ukraine to make retreats in the conflict with Russia, a Pentagon spokesperson said on Thursday, while urging Congress to resume military aid to Kiev.

The Ukrainian leadership is facing “really hard, tough decisions” due to the US failure to send more arms to the country, Sabrina Singh told journalists during a briefing.

”Ukraine right now is having to make strategic decisions about having to withdraw from certain areas in order to fortify their defensive lines,” she noted.

The government of President Vladimir Zelensky has declared the full takeover of territories that Kiev claims as its own as the only acceptable outcome of its conflict with Russia. The Ukrainian leader has repeatedly rejected advice from Pentagon officials to pull back its forces in certain areas.

In the case of Artyomovsk, which Ukrainians call Bakhmut, Zelensky initially declared the Donbass city a “fortress” and repeatedly sent in reinforcements, instead of pulling his troops back – until Russia took control of the city last May.

Some military experts have argued that the move significantly undermined the Ukrainian push against Russian defensive lines later that year. Kiev’s forces have suffered from high attrition rates in the so-called counteroffensive, with over 90,000 troops lost, and have not achieved their objectives, according to Moscow.

Singh blamed Kiev’s recent setbacks on the battlefield to the failure of the US Congress to authorize an additional $60 billion in military assistance to Ukraine. The proposal has been stuck in the House for months due to Republican opposition.

The official was commenting on a debate in the EU, sparked by French President Emmanuel Macron, who argued last month that NATO states could eventually send their own troops into Ukraine to prevent a Russian victory. Singh reiterated the White House policy that “there will be no [US] boots on the ground” in the embattled country.

Moscow has warned that the flow of Western arms to Kiev makes the US and its allies parties to the conflict. The weapons will not change its outcome, Russian officials have said.

Reuter/RT

“Ite Oku” is a simple story but built into a very complex and complicated plot and catapulted over the roof by the ingenious interpretation of the characters by the star-studded cast assembled by producers Zentury Pictures and Sir Folly Film International.

It is the story of a very ambitious cab driver who is very much unsatisfied with his state in life and hastily seeks a get-rich-quick ladder to climb to opulence, prosperity and the attendant reckoning in society.

He fishes out a very wealthy woman and begs for money and fortune. Consequently the beautiful lady of high net-worth leads him to the mysterious abode of the dead where money rituals are performed and the huge wealth sought came in stupendous proportions.

Unknown to the greedy upstart, the beautiful lady belongs in the realm of the dead and she only assumes the body of the living for the sole purpose of dispensing largess to the needy as agreed upon by her husband in the grave! But with conditionality: whosoever becomes rich through her money rituals is bound by an irrevocable oath of chastity and barrenness throughout his or her life time. His or her spouse dwelling in the grave is wedded to him or her at the initiation of money rituals. Death, non-negotiable is the punishment for defaulters!

Fast forward, cab driver Aderoju acted by veteran Odunlade Adekola is courted by a bevy of ladies all over the community. These gold-digger dazzling ladies include Morenikeji acted by Yemisi Oke [who out of desperation enlists the supernatural powers of her mystical father], Layo played by Wunmi Toriola, Folake played by Ayisat Raji and Ajibike acted by Emiola Iyiola among others.

Full of suspense, viewers would not know how Yemisi, acted by vivacious legendary Bukky Wright emerges as the wealthy lady from the abode of the Dead, ‘Ite Oku’ or how Feyisara, acted by Temitope Adeniyi became Yemisi as the Dead living in the body of Yemisi acted by Bukky Wright. The knotty riddle becomes clearer when apprentice mechanic Femi, acted by multi-talented Murphy Afolabi is shown as the earthly fiancé of Feyisara [Temitope Adeniyi] who lost her life as a result of enforced abortion of the pregnancy she had for Femi by her upper-class parents who stoutly disapproved her relationship with apprentice Femi. Her untimely death provoked the unnatural death of Femi [Afolabi] and both then found themselves living happily together in the land of the Dead.

Femi had come by some fortune through money making rituals to counter his rejection by Feyisara’s parents. It’s this huge wealth he commands his dead fiancée Feyisara, in the body of Yemisi to go out to the land of the living and dispense to the needy where and how Aderoju falls into trap.

It is this entanglement that gives the plot its complexity and eerie weirdness and the experienced actors the opportunity to display their dexterity and super-star status in acting.

Long suffering widow, Mama Aderoju, magnificently portrayed by another legendary actor Tola Oladokun comes face-to-face with the heart-breaking realisation that her son, the only son, is a millionaire in cohort with money-making ritualists in the haven of the Dead. From that moment on, motherhood; emotional, harried, weeping, wailing and ecstatic, charges the atmosphere of the movie, garnering for Tola Oladokun the medal of the champion of the day. She is a delight.

But she is not alone. Bukky Wright, Murphy Afolabi and Yemisi Oke will not let go without creating dilemma for the viewers as to whom the 'Victor Ludorum' should go.

Watching Bukky Wright with the ease of her acting and delivering of her lines one is tempted to believe they are having a natural conversation with the lady next door or a family member in a family setting. She is so natural and naturalistic.

Odunlade Adekola is a man for all seasons and acting has become so natural that he is, in reality, the character he portrays.

Murphy Afolabi couldn’t have acted a dead man in the grave better nor could Tola Oladokun be more convincing as an agonizing mother in the throes of a grown son with death sentence on his head.

The costumes, the lighting, the audio, and other acoustics contribute in no little measure to the greatness of the movie *Ite Oku* which makes it one of the most outstanding movies in recent times.

It is entertaining, educative, and instructive while its visuals are both thrilling, captivating and alluring. Nothing was spared in making Ite Oku a movie for all time.

It was a big relief that the writer of the story, Shonde Afolabi did not insult African spiritual essence like several writers of stories in Nollywood who often times would portray the Bible or the Quran as being superior or more potent or more efficacious or more edifying than our [Africa’s] own cherished and revered traditions, cultures, beliefs and mores. Every religion is a product of people’s culture and tradition.

Tola Oladokun, Odunlade Adekola, Bukky Wright and Murphy Afolabi, you make acting a pleasure!

** Tola Adeniyi,

Actor. Dramatist. Playwright. Choreographer. Producer and Director. Chairman, Tola Adeniyi Foundation for Theatre and the Arts [TAFTA]

It was a night of old favourites and modern anthems. More than 400 people paid about £25 a head to dance beneath Winchester Cathedral’s magnificent medieval arches on Saturday evening. Drinks were served at a bar; music was fed through individual headphones.

“If you had told me this time last year that I would be in the cathedral, with a beer in my hand while belting out the chorus of Rolling in the Deep by Adele, then I would have thought you were mad,” wrote Matt Rooks-Taylor, a local reporter. “Everywhere I looked, there were happy faces.”

But not everyone is pleased at the growing trend for England’s glorious cathedrals to host silent discos. As the number signing up to host such events in the coming months reached at least 14, a petition opposing the “desecration of our historic holy places” amassed more than 2,400 signatures. In Canterbury, a prayer vigil was held outside the ancient cathedral during a silent disco earlier this month.

At the heart of the controversy is how the eye-watering cost of running and maintaining cathedrals is met. In England, 39 out of 42 Anglican cathedrals are Grade I-listed, and three – Durham, Canterbury and Westminster Abbey – are also world heritage sites.

None get government funding, and the Church of England contributes a fraction of costs. The vast majority of income has to be raised from grants, donations, events and in some cases entrance fees.

At Canterbury, the running costs are £7.3m a year, or £20,000 a day. At Winchester, it is £5.1m, or £14,000 a day. At Hereford, the annual bill is £2.5m; Guildford Cathedral – built in the 1940s, making it relatively modern – costs £1m a year to run.

At Guildford, 1,000 people attended a silent disco in two sessions on Saturday evening, ending at midnight. At 7.30am, worshippers arrived for the first service of the day.

“On Saturday, people came to enjoy a space that would be otherwise dark and quiet,” said Matt O’Grady, the cathedral’s chief operating officer. “By generating an income in this way, we can keep the cathedral open. We simply wouldn’t be able to provide a sacred space without our commercial activities, including markets and music events in the cathedral.”

Another silent disco will be held at Guildford Cathedral next Saturday, with two more scheduled for August and another two in February 2025.

At Hereford Cathedral, a sold-out silent disco on Saturday may be repeated later in the year. The Very Revd Sarah Brown, the cathedral’s dean, said: “Hereford Cathedral is first and foremost a place of prayer, worship and ministry. But as we face mounting costs with no public sector funding we must look to different ways to supplement our income to help keep this sacred place available for all.

“It will not be to everyone’s taste, but if attending an event such as this helps to change public perception of the place, and assists with knocking down some of the barriers which prevent people from walking through the doors, then it has served a purpose.”

Critics of the “raves in the naves” argue that cathedrals were built as sacred spaces for the worship of God. The discos were “profane and sacrilegious,” said Cajetan Skowronski, a doctor from East Sussex, who organised the petition and prayer vigil at Canterbury.

“Discos are fine in their proper place, which is a nightclub, but not inside the body of a cathedral. The best way to raise money would be to make the building work as a cathedral in terms of drawing in worshippers, people who make regular donations. Once it ceases to function as a cathedral and becomes simply an events space, why not sell it?”

It would be hard to imagine any other great world religion treating its sacred places in such a way, said Skowronski. “The bars, the strobe lighting – essentially they’re recreating the nightclub experience within the cathedral. I’m not against clubbing, dancing, drinking, celebrating, but in the right place.”

John Blake, the commercial director of Winchester Cathedral, said the critics should come and see for themselves. Saturday night’s silent disco was a “great success” and a “joyous occasion”, he said.

He added: “There was nothing anti-religious about it. It was a wonderful, uplifting experience bringing in people who wouldn’t normally come to a cathedral, and everything was back in place for the first service on Sunday morning.”

The Very Revd Jo Kelly-Moore, chair of the Association of English Cathedrals and dean of St Albans, said: “Our cathedrals hold so much of the social, religious and political history of our country while always being open and free for worship, solace, prayer and hope.

“Some of us manage to do this without charging, but we all have to build an economy around us to be sustainable.

“Here in St Albans, it costs £6,000 a day to run and any revenue is ploughed back into the cathedral to fund worship and mission, care and restoration of the fabric, visitor operations, outreach and the staff needed to run the building.”

The Guardian, UK

A chief economist at Shell once described Nigeria as the “jewel in the crown” of the oil major’s empire. Yet in recent years the jewel has lost its lustre. Early this year Shell, which has been pumping oil in Nigeria for nearly seven decades, agreed to sell its onshore subsidiary to a consortium of mostly local companies.

Other oil firms are packing up too. In February TotalEnergies, a French group, said it also planned to offload its own stake in Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary. It joined a long list of firms, including Chevron, ExxonMobil, Eni and Equinor that have shed Nigerian assets in the past couple of years (Exxon’s deal is yet to receive regulatory approval). If Shell’s divestment is finalised, domestic companies will own more oil licences than foreign groups for the first time in Nigeria’s history.

This wave of divestments is giving rise to anxiety in Nigeria that its most vital industry is in terminal decline. For decades Nigeria has been Africa’s biggest oil exporter. Yet production has slumped by nearly 50% from its peak in 2005 because of insecurity onshore and higher costs offshore. It will face further troubles when the green transition reduces global demand for oil. Despite efforts to diversify Nigeria’s economy, oil still accounts for over 80% of exports and roughly 50% of the government budget. What happens if, in the coming decades, that crutch is removed?

The oil majors say such talk is overblown, and stress that they are not abandoning Nigeria as a whole. Most are pulling out only from the Niger Delta, the southern swamplands that harbour most of Nigeria’s onshore and shallow-water oil rigs. For years the Delta has been plagued by kidnappers, thieves, saboteurs and collapsing infrastructure. Operating there, the majors argue, is simply not worth the risk. Most of Nigeria’s oil production has moved offshore in recent years, where the majors still have large operations. Shell and Total could soon add to their existing investments there. Chevron took a stake in a new deepwater project in January.

In theory, getting a barrel of Nigerian oil out of the ground should cost about $15 on average, according to Rystad Energy, a consultancy. But that is not the case. Insecurity in the Delta has driven up costs and pushed investment into offshore waters, where production costs are higher. As a result, it costs $25-40 to pump a barrel of oil in Nigeria. That will make it hard to keep up with producers such as Saudi Arabia, where costs are below $5 a barrel, when global demand and prices fall.

The pace of Nigeria’s decline will depend partly on how rapidly the world moves away from oil. If it does so quickly with the aim of limiting global warming to 1.9°C, Nigeria’s oil production could fall by a further 70% by 2040, reckons Pranav Joshi, an analyst at Rystad.

The prospect of such a massive shock makes adaptation essential. Nigeria is trying to expand other areas of its economy, like farming and manufacturing, which struggled to compete with cheap imports during the many years when Nigeria’s currency was buoyed up by oil revenues. But this sort of diversification will probably take time. In the shorter term, some think Nigeria can pivot from oil to natural gas, which accounts for just 10% of Nigeria’s exports. Not only does the country have Africa’s largest reserves of gas, global demand for the fuel is booming.

Much of the gas that is traded internationally is transported as liquefied natural gas (LNG), global demand for which is likely to rise by 50% by 2040, Shell reckons. Bumping up Nigeria’s exports would require a big expansion of the facilities needed to cool and liquefy gas. Nigeria LNG—a joint venture between Shell, Total, Eni and the Nigerian government—is expanding its capacity by one-third to around 41.3bn cubic metres a year, or the equivalent of about 8% of internationally traded LNG last year. That sounds impressive, but the facility is working at less than half its existing capacity and LNG exports have plunged by 35% since 2020 because of supply disruptions and Nigeria’s habit of flaring (or burning) vast quantities of gas that is a by-product of oil extraction.

In the longer run Nigeria will also have to grapple with the environmental damage wrought by the oil industry. The Niger Delta is among the most polluted places on Earth and is littered with derelict pipelines and abandoned wellheads. Much needs to be done if Nigeria is to avoid becoming a fossil-fuel mausoleum.

Against claims by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that it has successfully settled all outstanding foreign exchange (FX) obligations, foreign airlines say the status quo remains the same.

Kingsley Nwokeoma, President, Association of Foreign Airlines and Representatives in Nigeria, (AFARN) told BusinessDay that as far as he is concerned, nothing has changed as regards clearing foreign airlines’ trapped funds.

“If they say they have cleared the trapped funds, they should show us figures. They should tell us how much have been cleared. The last time I checked, the status quo remained the same,” Nwokeoma said.

Hakama Sidi Ali, acting director of corporate communications at CBN, on Wednesday announced in a statement that the financial regulator recently concluded the payment of $1.5 billion to settle obligations to bank customers, effectively settling the residual balance of the FX backlog.

But Bankole Bernard, chairman of Airlines and Passengers’ Joint Committee (APJC) of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said that CBN’s claim is true, adding that the airlines’ trapped funds have been cleared.

According to him, the foreign airlines have been offered the option to get their funds from the banks using the rate of the I & E window but have refused because the current I &E window rate is not the same they used to sell tickets.

Bernard said the airlines would be making huge losses if they collected the money using the I & E window, that is why they stopped selling low inventory tickets and are selling only very high fares in order to recover their monies that have been lost as result of the current exchange rate.

When asked why Emirates is yet to resume flight operations in Nigeria, he said “Emirates cannot resume flight operations because of the diplomatic row they have with Nigeria. The rich and powerful still find their way to Dubai.

“The crimes Nigerians are committing in Dubai has made them refuse Nigerians from coming to Dubai. These crimes affect tourism. They do not want their country to be perceived as unsafe. Emirates still has their office in Nigeria and they have staff they are paying salaries,” he said.

Last year, International Air Transport Association (IATA) disclosed that Nigeria owed $812.2 million out of $2.27 billion trapped funds, making it the country with the highest trapped funds globally.

The top five countries that account for 68.0 percent of blocked funds include Nigeria ($812.2 million), Bangladesh ($214.1 million), Algeria ($196.3 million), Pakistan ($188.2 million) and Lebanon ($141.2 million).

Businessday

The governments of Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory owe the federal government an outstanding liability of N1.72tn in budget support facilities.

The figures were revealed in a presentation on state budget support facility by Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, at the 140th meeting of the National Economic Council presided over by Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, on Thursday.

Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communications, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed this in a statement he signed Thursday titled, ‘NEC endorses take-off of $617M i-DICE programme across states.’

In 2021, the Muhammadu Buhari administration approved a fresh N656bn Bridge Financing Facility for the 36 states.

This was part of earlier interventions to “help state governments meet their financial obligations,” then-Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed said.

The FCT owes N49.11bn and each of the 36 states carries the same debt burden, totalling N1.72bn.

At a previous NEC meeting held in November 2023, the FG had emphasised that it ceased providing budget support loans in July 2023, partly due to an increase in the federation’s revenues.

Meanwhile, the excess crude account, was $473,754.57, the Stabilisation Account, N33,808,342,662.88, while the Current Balance of Natural Resources is N113,925,600,918.68.

On the NEC ad-hoc committee on crude oil theft prevention and control report presented by the Imo State governor, Hope Uzodimma, Nkwocha said:

“On the request of the Vice President and Chairman of Council, Governor Uzodinma of Imo State presented an abridged version of its report on crude oil theft prevention and control on behalf of the NEC ad hoc Committee.

“Uzodinma said the committee met and had far-reaching deliberations and deployed appropriate technologies for data collection. Full report to be tendered at next NEC.”

The statement added, “While noting the presentation, the Vice President observed that the rate of submissions by States were not impressive and urged States yet to make inputs to expedite action to enable robust deliberations on the subject-matter at the next Council meeting.”

Kwara State governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, presented the update on NEC ad-hoc committee on Economic Affairs.

Recall that at the 138th NEC Meeting held on December 21, 2023, a committee on Economic Matters chaired by the Kwara State governor was established.

The Committee’s main objective was to develop a feasible and effective roadmap for addressing economic issues affecting Nigerians at the national and sub-national levels and avert a possible economic and socio-political crisis.

Members were given one month to prepare their plans and submit their reports by the second quarter of 2024.

NEC also received presentation on the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones programme.

It was announced that all processes for establishing the phase 1 of the SAPZ have been completed and disbursement for states kick started, expression of Interest have been received from 27 states, while guidance letters have been sent to 27 Governors (TOR for studies and request to provide focal points).

Punch

No fewer than 15 persons were feared killed within three days, following attack by armed herdsmen, who stormed Akpete, Ugbobi, Ijaha, Edikwu Oji and Iyanpu communities in Apa Local Government Area of Benue State.

The attacks also left several persons injured and many others still missing and unaccounted for.

It was gathered that the armed men, who have been attacking the communities since Tuesday, destroyed homes and farm produce in the affected communities.

A source, a youth leader in one of the affected communities informed that “the onslaught started on Tuesday, when they attacked a part of Ijaha, where they killed five persons and injured many others. They also burnt down houses and farmland.

“On Wednesday, they again stormed Ediku Oji and Akpete, barricaded the road connecting the village to Ugbokpo, the council headquarters.

“In that attack, they ransacked the village, chased the people out of their ancestral homes after killing two persons and injuring several others.

“Yesterday morning, they moved into Ugbobi village shooting sporadically and for close to three hours, they laid siege to the community and the fear is that about about eight persons lost their lives in the attacks, though it could be more than that because the search for bodies is ongoing at the moment.”

Reacting, National Chairman of Apa Development Association, ADA, Eche Akpoko, said: “The attacks started on Tuesday. The situation is even worst than what we witnessed last year for which we held a press conference.

“It has become a routine and this time around, they have no regard for children and women. In fact, even in international war, there is regard for rules of engagement. Can you imagine that in a village, a hungry lady went to the farm to get tubers of yam, they caught her and butchered her. They do not allow our people to go to farm again, you don’t dare step out.”

We’re under siege, lawmaker laments

Also, the lawmaker representing Apa state constituency in the Benue State House of Assembly, Abu Umoru, who lamented the unending attacks in Apa council, said: “More than 95 percent of a section of the community is displaced already.

“The entire Edikwu community has been displaced. Opaha where I come from, nobody is in the community, Odugbo nobody is there, Akpete, Ikobi, Akpanta, Ochumekwu, Ijaha and Adija communities have all been deserted.

“Everyday they burn houses in Akpete. In the last three days, they have been going to Akpete to burn houses after chasing residents from their ancestral homes. They lay ambush and kill no fewer than five persons on daily basis. The casualty is very high.

“Today, I could not be at plenary in the House, I went to my communities to sympathise with my people and because of the killings, I have developed a problem that I have to go to the hospital to check myself.

“The killings are terrible. Even on Wednesday, on the highway around Nasarawa Toto leading to Oweto up to Otukpo, between a village called Ojantele and Orozo, the herders put their cows on the road for three hours.

“There was no movement. It was the Hausa people who travel on these big trucks that came down and talked to them before they removed barricade from the road.

“The development is no more a question of moving motion everyday at the state House of Assembly. These killings have gone beyond us. Our representatives at the National Assembly have moved motions countless times, but what has happened? Who do we cry to?

Contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Catherine Anene said: “I don’t have reports on these attacks.”

Vanguard

US puts pressure on Israel with Gaza ceasefire resolution as Qatar talks continue

Israel's spy chief was due to travel to Qatar on Friday for ceasefire negotiations while the U.S. planned to put a resolution calling for an immediate truce in Gaza to a vote of the U.N. Security Council, intensifying pressure on its ally.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday in Cairo he believed talks mediated by the U.S., Qatar and Egypt could still reach a ceasefire deal between the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel.

Negotiations in Qatar centred on a truce of around six weeks that would allow the release of 40 Israeli hostages in return for hundreds of Palestinians detained in Israeli jails, paving the way for more aid to enter an enclave where famine looms due to extreme food shortages.

"Negotiators continue to work. The gaps are narrowing, and we're continuing to push for an agreement in Doha. There’s still difficult work to get there. But I continue to believe it's possible," Blinken said.

The main sticking point has been that Hamas says it will release hostages only as part of a deal that would end the war, while Israel says it will discuss only a temporary pause.

A Palestinian official with knowledge of the mediation efforts, who declined to be identified, told Reuters that Hamas had demonstrated flexibility. Israel "continues to stall because it doesn’t want to commit to ending the war on Gaza,” the official said.

A statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Israel's spy chief David Barnea would travel to Qatar on Friday to meet mediators.

Meanwhile, Israel said it expected to continue attacks on Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City for a few more days. The facility, where residents reported tanks, gunfire and flames on Thursday, is the only partially working medical facility in the north of the enclave and has already been under attack for four days.

Israel says Hamas gunmen are holding out at the medical complex, something Hamas denies. Israel claims it has killed 150 fighters and captured 358 militants in and around the hospital in recent days.

U.S. EXERTS MORE PRESSURE ON ISRAEL

Washington, which traditionally has shielded Israel at the U.N., has incrementally applied more pressure to its longtime ally, and the draft U.N. Security Council resolution marked a further toughening.

The shift has coincided with rising global condemnation of the five-month-old war, Palestinian civilian deaths, domestic political opposition to U.S. President Joe Biden's stance and the prospect of a manmade famine in Gaza.

The U.N. text, seen by Reuters, says an "immediate and sustained ceasefire" lasting roughly six weeks would protect civilians and allow for the delivery of humanitarian assistance.

Earlier in the war, the U.S. was averse to the word ceasefire and vetoed measures that included calls for an immediate ceasefire.

The new resolution expresses support for the talks in Qatar, freeing of Israeli hostages and release of Palestinians detained in Israeli jails. The Israeli embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

To pass in the Security Council, a resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no veto by the U.S., France, Britain, Russia or China. European Union leaders also issued a call for an immediate ceasefire on Thursday.

The U.S. has wanted any Security Council support for a ceasefire to be linked to the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's offensive has killed almost 32,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.

Reuters