United Arab Emirates (UAE) has lifted its visa ban imposed on Nigerian travellers.

The decision was reached after President Bola Tinubu met with Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE president, in Abu Dhabi, on Monday.

Ajuri Ngelale, the presidential spokesperson, said in a statement that Etihad Airlines and Emirates Airlines are to “immediately resume flight schedules into and out of Nigeria without any further delay”.

“As negotiated between the two heads of state, this immediate restoration of flight activity, through these two airlines and between the two countries, does not involve any immediate payment by the Nigerian government,” the statement reads.

“In recognition of Tinubu’s economic development diplomacy drive and proposals today presented by Tinubu to his counterpart, an agreed framework has been established, which will involve several billions of U.S. dollars worth of new investments into the Nigerian economy across multiple sectors, including defense, agriculture and others, by the investment arms of the Government of the United Arab Emirates.”

Since 2021, UAE and Nigeria have been engaging in a diplomatic row over issues involving flight allocations and travel bans.

In December 2021, the UAE banned airlines from airlifting Nigerian passengers into the Emirates.

The UAE had claimed that the ban was due to the surge in Covid-19 cases.

Before the travel ban, UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) had approved a slot of three weekly flights from Nigeria to Sharjah Airport. The single flight was approved for Air Peace.

In retaliation to the UAE’s treatment of Air Peace, the federal government dropped the Emirates’ slots from 21 to one.

The move made the Dubai-based airline suspend all its flights to Nigeria.

In October 2022, the UAE imposed a visa ban on Nigerians after a diplomatic row.

The Cable

United Arab Emirates (UAE) did not make any comment on lifting the visa ban imposed on Nigerian travellers in its statement on the meeting its president, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, had with his Nigerian counterpart, President Bola Tinubu, on Monday.

Tinubu proceeded to Abu Dahbi, UAE capital, from India, where he attended the G-20 Summit.

In a statement on Monday, Presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, announced that the meeting with the UAE authorities was fruitful.

According to Ngelale, disputes on the visa ban slammed on Nigerian travellers 10 months ago, suspension of Etihad and Emirates flights were resolved at the meeting.

“President Bola Tinubu and President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on Monday in Abu Dhabi, have finalised a historic agreement, which has resulted in the immediate cessation of the visa ban placed on Nigerian travellers.”

“Furthermore, by this historic agreement, both Etihad Airlines and Emirates Airlines are to immediately resume flight schedules into and out of Nigeria, without any further delay,” Ngelale said.

However, Emirates News Agency, the official news agency of the UAE, reported that during the meeting, which took place at Qasr Al Shati in Abu Dhabi, Nahyan renewed his congratulations to Tinubu on assuming the presidency, and wished him every success in leading Nigeria and its people to further progress and prosperity.

Below is the full statement issued by UAE:

 President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan today met with Bola Ahmed Tinubu, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who is on a working visit to the UAE.

During the meeting, which took place at Qasr Al Shati in Abu Dhabi, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed renewed his congratulations to Tinubu on assuming the presidency earlier this year, and wished him every success in leading Nigeria and its people to further progress and prosperity.

His Highness expressed his hope that the two leaders will work together to reinforce ties between the UAE and Nigeria for the benefit of both countries.

The UAE President and Nigerian President explored opportunities for further bilateral collaboration in areas that serve both countries’ sustainable economic growth, including the economic, development, energy, and climate action fields.

The two sides also exchanged views on a number of regional and international developments of interest.

The meeting discussed the upcoming COP28 climate conference set to take place in the UAE later this year, with both parties stressing the vital importance of encouraging and enabling international cooperation to tackle global issues, including climate change.

His Highness underscored the UAE’s ongoing commitment to fostering ties with countries that share the same aspirations for stability, sustainable growth, and development and prosperity for their people. He further emphasised the particular importance the UAE attaches to its relationship with Nigeria, within the framework of its strategic vision for relations with the African continent.

The President of Nigeria expressed his pleasure to be visiting the UAE and affirmed his country’s keenness to further enhance bilateral cooperation to support sustainable development and progress in both countries.

The meeting was attended by His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court; Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan, Advisor for Special Affairs at the Ministry of Presidential Court; Dr. Anwar Gargash, Diplomatic Adviser to the UAE President; Reem bint Ibrahim Al Hashemy, Minister of State for International Cooperation; Suhail bin Mohammed Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure; Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy; and Dr. Abdulrahman Al Awar, Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation.

The meeting was also attended by the delegation accompanying the Nigerian President, which included a number of ministers and high-ranking officials.

Daily Trust

Nigeria has recorded a 55 percent drop in malaria deaths, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.

WHO Regional Director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, said it fell from 2.1 per 1,000 population to 0.9 per 1,000 population. 

Speaking in Abuja yesterday during the launch of the 2022 Nigeria Malaria Report, she said Nigeria accounted for around 27 percent of the global burden of malaria cases, adding that malaria incidence in the country had also fallen by 26 percent since 2000. 

She said it fell from 413 per 1,000 to 302 per 1,000 in 2021.

She said: “Drivers of this continuing disease burden include the size of Nigeria’s population, making scaling up intervention challenging; suboptimal surveillance systems, which pick up less than 40% of the country’s malaria data; inadequate funding to ensure universal interventions across all states; and health seeking behaviour, where people use the private sector, with limited regulation, preferentially.”

She said the report on malaria in Nigeria 2022 was an excellent model from which to use data to prioritize health interventions. 

“Using data, we can prioritize and target interventions, optimize allocation of resources and facilitate the monitoring of performance at federal and state levels. This report is a result of the collaboration between the Nigeria Malaria Elimination Programme, the WHO Regional Office for Africa, and the Global Malaria Programme,” she said.

She noted that the report provided critical information on the status of malaria in each of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

She said the report was unique in providing data at the state level to guide a truly subnational response to malaria, providing an overview of the malaria situation across all states, focusing on population demographics, malaria interventions, climate and disease burden.

Moeti said Nigeria also made progress on HIV between 2015 and 2021, meeting two of the 95-95-95 goals.

She said tuberculosis intervention coverage was improving, with increasing case detection over the same period. 

The Coordinating Minister of Health, Muhammad Pate, said  the ministry was working towards retraining about 120,000 health workers to improve healthcare delivery in the country.

He said the ministry was also working on reducing the burden and deaths from diseases.

Daily Trust

Akintola Williams, the trailblazing figure who became Nigeria’s inaugural indigenous chartered accountant, has passed away at the remarkable age of 104. His legacy is firmly etched into Nigeria’s financial landscape, having played a pivotal role in shaping the nation’s accounting profession and fostering the growth of its financial sector.

Williams, born in 1919, embarked on a path that saw him excel in the realm of accounting. He pursued his accounting studies at the prestigious University of London and achieved the status of a chartered accountant in 1947. Upon returning to his homeland, Nigeria, he went on to establish the renowned Akintola Williams & Co., which evolved into the respected firm Deloitte & Touche, in 1952.

Beyond his professional achievements, Williams was an ardent advocate for the advancement of the accounting profession in Nigeria. He played a pivotal role as a founding member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), even serving as its president from 1963 to 1965. Additionally, he contributed his expertise as a member of the National Board of Accountants and Auditors.

Throughout his illustrious career, Williams earned a plethora of awards and distinctions, underscoring his exceptional contributions to his country. These accolades included the esteemed Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) and the Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM). Moreover, he was honored as a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

In his passing, Williams leaves behind a legacy that continues to resonate in Nigeria’s financial and accounting sectors, serving as an enduring source of inspiration for generations to come.

The Guardian

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukrainians blame Zelensky for corruption – poll

The vast majority of Ukrainians believe that President Vladimir Zelensky is at fault for widespread corruption in the country’s government and military, a new study has revealed.

The poll, released on Monday, found that 78% of Ukrainian adults see Zelensky as “directly responsible” for Kiev’s corruption problem. It was conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Charitable Foundation and the Kiev International Institute of Sociology.

Prior to the launch of Russia’s military offensive in February 2022, Ukraine consistently ranked among the world’s most corrupt nations, but it was touted as a bastion of freedom and democracy as the US and its NATO allies rallied public support for massive aid to Kiev. However, Ukrainian corruption remains a concern and could hinder the country’s bid to join the European Union, an unidentified Western diplomat told Politico on Monday.

Ukraine is a “very corrupt country,” the diplomat said, adding that Zelensky’s plan to use the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) to prosecute graft cases could “send the wrong message.” Upon landing in Kiev for a surprise visit on Monday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbockreportedly said Ukraine needed to step up its efforts to fight corruption.

The Ukrainian poll was conducted from July 3 to July 17 in face-to-face interviews with thousands of citizens across the country. There were no major differences in findings based on region or socioeconomic factors. Respondents aged 60 and older took a harsher view, with 81% saying Zelensky was responsible for government corruption. The rate was 70% in the youngest segment, ages 17 to 29. Overall, only 18% of Ukrainian adults disagreed with the statement that Zelensky bears responsibility.

Documents obtained by the International Association of Investigative Journalists in 2021 showed that Zelensky and his business partners set up offshore companies to purchase lavish properties in central London. Zelensky transferred his stake in one of the companies to an aide just before he was elected president in 2019. Supporters of former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko accused Zelensky and his associates of using their offshore accounts to evade taxes.

Zelensky has purged officials in his government for alleged corruption, including an embezzlement scheme involving humanitarian aid. Just this month, he sacked Defense Minister Aleksey Reznikov, who came under fire earlier this year over purchases of military rations at inflated prices. However, the new defense chief, Rustem Umerov, is reportedly under investigation for alleged crimes in his previous job.

** Russian forces repel five Ukrainian attacks in Donetsk area

Russian forces repelled five Ukrainian attacks in the Donetsk area over the past day, causing the enemy to suffer about 200 casualties, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a daily bulletin of the special military operation.

Here are the details of this and other combat actions that happened over the past day, according to the bulletin.

Donetsk area

The five attacks by Ukrainian assault teams were repulsed near Kurdyumovka, Avdeyevka and Krasnogorovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic.

"In the Donetsk area, units of the battlegroup South, in cooperation with aircraft and artillery, repelled five attacks by Ukrainian assault teams near Kurdyumovka, Avdeyevka and Krasnogorovka in the DPR," the ministry said.

South Donetsk area

Ukraine lost up to 160 troops in the south Donetsk area over the past day.

"Units of the battlegroup East in the south Donetsk area repelled three attacks by assault teams from the Ukrainian 38th Marines Brigade and the 128th Territorial Defense Brigade in the areas of the settlements of Novomayorskoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic and Priyutnoye in the Zaporozhye Region. In addition, air strikes and artillery fire hit a convoy of armored vehicles of the Ukrainian 72nd Mechanized Brigade near the settlement of Vodyanoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the ministry said.

The enemy also lost 2 armored fighting vehicles, 4 motor vehicles and 3 Msta-B howitzers.

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine could get long-range missiles armed with US cluster bombs - officials

The Biden administration is close to approving the shipment of longer-range missiles packed with cluster bombs to Ukraine, giving Kyiv the ability to cause significant damage deeper within Russian-occupied territory, according to four U.S. officials.

After seeing the success of cluster munitions delivered in 155 mm artillery rounds in recent months, the U.S. is considering shipping either or both Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) that can fly up to 190 miles (306 km), or Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) missiles with a 45-mile range packed with cluster bombs, three U.S. officials said.

If approved, either option would be available for rapid shipment to Kyiv.

Ukraine is currently equipped with 155 mm artillery with a maximum range of 18 miles carrying up to 48 bomblets. The ATACMS under consideration would propel around 300 or more bomblets. The GMLRS rocket system, a version of which Ukraine has had in its arsenal for months, would be able to disperse up to 404 cluster munitions.

With Ukraine's push against Russian forces showing signs of progress, the administration is keen to boost the Ukrainian military at a vital moment, two of the sources said.

The White House declined to comment on the Reuters report.

The decision to send ATACMS or GMLRS, or both, is not final and could still fall through, the four sources said. The Biden administration has for months struggled with a decision on ATACMS, fearing their shipment would be perceived as an overly aggressive move against Russia.

ATACMS are designed for "deep attack of enemy second-echelon forces," a U.S. Army website says, and could be used to attack command and control centers, air defenses and logistics sites well behind the front line.

Kyiv has repeatedly asked the Biden administration for ATACMS to help attack and disrupt supply lines, air bases, and rail networks in Russian occupied territory.

Last week Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he and Secretary of State Antony Blinken had discussed the U.S. providing the long-range missiles and he hoped for a positive decision.

"Now is the time," one of the U.S. officials said as Ukraine's forces are attempting to pierce Russian lines just south of the city of Orikhiv in an attempt to divide Russian forces and put its main supply lines under threat. ATACMS or GMLRS with this capability would not only boost Ukrainian morale but deliver a needed tactical punch to the fight, the official said.

The U.S. plan is to include the grenade-packed weapons in an upcoming draw from U.S. stockpiles of munitions, according to the four U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the plan.

At present Ukraine has only one U.S.-furnished cluster munitions, the 155 mm rounds that were announced in July.

The new weapons would augment Ukraine's current 45-mile range GMLRS rounds, a version that blasts out more than 100,000 sharp tungsten fragments, but not bomblets.

Made by Lockheed Martin (LMT.N), ATACMS come in several versions some of which can fly four times GMLRS' range, and their use could reset battlefield calculus.

The Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), which allows the administration to take from U.S. stocks and ship to Ukraine has proven to be the fastest way - days or weeks - to get armaments to Ukraine.

In the interim period - ahead of the ATACMS arrival - necessary software upgrades could be performed on launchers including the M270 and High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) which Kyiv has been using on the battlefield, two of the officials said.

But because no final decision had been made, it was unclear if the weapons would be included in the next PDA. The weapons could come in a PDA as soon as this week, around a Sept. 19 meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

President Joe Biden may ultimately decide against, or delay a decision on the transfer.

Cluster munitions are prohibited by more than 100 countries. Russia, Ukraine and the United States have not signed onto the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which bans production, stockpiling, use and transfer of the weapons.

They typically release large numbers of smaller bomblets that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area. Those that fail to explode pose a danger for decades after a conflict ends.

Washington has committed more than $40 billion in military assistance to Kyiv since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbor on Feb. 24, 2022.

** Ukraine collects Russian bodies on 'road of death' in retaken southeast

Wearing face masks, the Ukrainian soldiers poked sticks into the undergrowth along a deserted country road, searching for the bodies of Russian soldiers they hoped to exchange for their own comrades, living and dead.

They called it the "road of death" after the number of Russian soldiers killed there when Ukrainian forces retook the southeastern village of Blahodatne at the start of their counteroffensive in June.

Three months on, the frontline had shifted south and it was finally safe enough for the three-man team of Ukrainian soldiers to start their operation in this liberated part of Donetsk region.

"We're going to search," said Volodymyr, a 50-year-old marine, as artillery fire boomed in the distance. "Search with our eyes. And using smell."

The route was dotted with gutted vehicles and shattered buildings. At one point, they used a rope to tug a body to make sure it had not been booby-trapped by retreating Russian forces.

"Here's what we do. We gather up their bodies. We arrange exchanges for our prisoners who are alive. And for bodies. Our boys," Vasylii, a 53-year-old volunteer, said. "You know, so that a mother can go and visit the cemetery."

Russia and Ukraine have conducted regular exchanges of prisoners of war, as well as the bodies of dead soldiers, since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The group recovered nine bodies in their day-long search on Friday. Each was loaded onto the back of a truck and taken for forensic examination.

Volodymyr said Russian forces had been forced to retreat rapidly from Blahodatne and that the only other route out had been unusable because it was heavily mined.

"There was probably an exchange of fire. But they retreated very quickly," he said.

"They left the wounded and killed on the way and escaped to Urozhaine. But they didn't stay in Urozhaine for long either. There was intense fighting for Urozhaine," he said, referring to a nearby village that was later retaken.

When Carter Osborne needed extra cash for graduate school tuition, he decided to monetize his strongest skill: writing.

It was 2017 and Osborne realized he could get paid to advise high school seniors on their college admissions essays. He himself had a consultant review his undergraduate personal statement before getting into Stanford University in 2013.

He went back to that mentor for help getting the side hustle off the ground. Because the demand for admissions consultants was on the rise, she referred three of her clients to him.

Osborne had planned to shutter the side hustle after he finished his master’s degree in public administration two years later, but at that point, he realized it fulfilled him to help kids with their essays. Plus, it was lucrative. By 2021, Osborne “snowballed” 40 clients, and made $113,550, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.

He scaled down the operation to 33 clients last year, primarily because the expectations of his full-time jobs as a public relations account director were increasing. He still made $77,120, and Osborne says the average of the last two years is slightly more than he makes at his full-time job.

The upside: The side hustle costs almost nothing to start, he says. Osborne, who works with clients remotely, estimates he spent $50 to create Zoom and Squarespace accounts. The extra cash is helpful, Osborne says: He recently used his padded savings to buy a house with his girlfriend in Seattle, Washington.

The side hustle isn’t totally cost-free, though. October through December, when application deadlines loom over high school seniors’ heads, Osborne works a combined 70 hours per week between his two jobs.

“There’s just no getting around it. When we get down to deadlines, you’ve got to push,” Osborne, 28, tells CNBC Make It. “I often say to my friends, ‘Hey, I will see you in January.’”

Here, Osborne details how he started and maintains his six-figure side hustle:

CNBC Make It: Do you think your side hustle is replicable?

Osborne: I think it’s absolutely replicable for anyone who wants to spend some time learning how to break down the college essay writing process and engage in it.

But you need a couple of things to get started: You need a good mentor, someone who’s been in the field and knows how all this works. It could be asking a private consultant like me, or school counselors who are trained in this.

Being on the admissions and counseling side is a different game than applying yourself. It takes knowledge of the specific ways admissions readers will approach these essays, and how schools look for things today versus 10 years ago.

The admissions process does seem to be constantly changing. Without giving away any trade secrets, how do you stay up to date on what schools expect from students?

You have to know what’s changing in the world of college admissions. This year has been crazy, considering the Supreme Court decision [overturned affirmative action] and schools are talking about legacy admissions. If you’re not on top of the news cycle, you’re going to be behind when students ask you questions like, “Should I talk about race in my personal statement?”

I also subscribe to a lot of colleges’ newsletters and I am working on getting some freelance articles published. Working on pieces forces you to engage critically and it requires me to do a lot of research on mental health and college admissions.

How do you help students improve their essays without making it yours?

There’s an ethical line. My first meeting with students is an hour to 90-minute interview where we brainstorm as many ideas as possible. I record their answers, but just act as a sounding board and ask them questions to help them think critically about how their life experiences could fit into a personal statement.

When people start writing text for students or suggesting new content, that’s where you could get into hairy territory. The initial rough drafts are never great, and I can’t write their essays for them. If I need them to dig deeper into an idea, I only pull notes and make suggestions based on things that they’ve told me. I’m not going to create a brand new thought on the page here without running it by them. And it’s certainly going to be woven from things they’ve already told me.

How do you set boundaries to maintain a work-life balance during the height of admissions season? Do those boundaries help you prevent burnout?

During admissions season, the one or two months when it gets really hot, I don’t maintain a good work-life balance. In 2021, my busiest year, I never took a day off, and started to feel burnt out. My biggest symptom was I started to lose focus. I’d log onto the full-time job in the morning, and within 30 minutes, I’d feel distracted. I was a little more irritable, and forgetting things more easily. Friends would reach out, and I’d completely miss their texts.

But this year, I made an adjustment: I do my full-time job during the day, take a half-hour break, then start three meetings in a row, which takes me until about 9:30 p.m. It sounds counterintuitive, but the reason I do it is to keep my weekends open and give myself two days off, something I never used to do. Now, I can go on short trips with my girlfriend, visit family or just take a genuine break and recharge.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

CNBC

Four banks recorded N478bn non-performing loans during the first half of this year, according to their financial results

Specifically, Guaranty Trust Bank Holding Plc (GTCO), FBN Holdings Plc and two other banks reported N478.93bn non-performing loans by value in the half-year ended June 2023, an increase of nearly 16 per cent from N413.36bn reported in the full year ended December 31, 2022.

The other two banks are FCMB Group Plc and Fidelity Bank Plc.

With about 4.3 per cent NPL ratio and N5.26trn gross loans & advances, FBN Holdings reported N226.24bn NPL by value in H1 2023 from N204.29bn reported in 2022.

The holdings declared 5.4 per cent NPL ratio and N3.79trn gross loans & advances in the 2022 financial year.

GTCO declared N115.29bn NPL by value as of H1 2023 from N102.37bn reported in the 2022  financial  year.

GTCO in its presentation to investors and analysts said, “The Group’s IFRS 9 Stage 3 loans closed at 4.6 per cent (Bank: 3.6per cent) in H1-2023 from 5.2per cent (Bank:4.7 per cent) in 2022. With Individuals and others emerging as sectors with the highest NPLs i.e., 20.9 per cent and 30.96 per cent respectively.

“IFRS 9 Stage 3 loans grew marginally to N115.3bn in H1-2023 from N102.8bn in 2022, primarily driven by exchange rate impact as the Group continued to deleverage in Ghana and Kenya and carried out derecognition of fully provided facilities in the Nigerian book.”

In addition, Fidelity Bank reported N84.73bn as of H1  2023  from  N61.37bn,  while  FCMB group declared N52.66bn NPL value as of H1 2023 from N45.01bn in 2022.

Meanwhile, banks in the country have continued to write off non-performing loans. This came as lenders also continued to debit the bank accounts of recalcitrant debtors in other to reduce the volume of non-performing loans.

The CBN in 2020 released the Global Standing Instruction guideline to reduce non-performing loans in the banking sector and monitor consistent loan defaulters among others.

According to the CBN, the GSI allows banks to recover the outstanding principal and interest upon default from any account maintained by the debtor across all financial institutions in Nigeria.

A report released by the CBN on personal comment of a Monetary Policy Committee member, Kingsley Obiora, during the last MPC meeting said the capital adequacy ratio and Liquidity Ratio had remained above the minimum thresholds.

Although CAR decreased to 11.2 per cent in 2023 from 14.1 per cent, it remained above the 10.0 per cent prudential requirement, he said.

He said, “The LR was also above the 30.0 per cent regulatory minimum ratio. It increased significantly from 42.6 per cent in June 2022 to 48.4 per cent in June 2023.”

Punch

Compliance Team of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders NAGAFF has alleged that over 1,800 laden containers are currently trapped at the various seaports in Lagos due to  sharp practices by Maritime Police.

The Compliance Team alleged that many of the containers stuck at the Ports  have been flagged down for investigation by the Maritime Police division.

Speaking with journalists after a protest at Apapa Port at the weekend, the National Coordinator, NAGAFF 100 per cent Compliance Team, Tanko Ibrahim, expressed worries that if not checked, the trend might fuel port and cargo congestion, especially as the end of year activities approach.

He alleged that the Police Division was conniving with some shipping companies to get information on consignments and arbitrarily delay cargo clearance.

However, Tanko expressed displeasure over the activities of Maritime Police, which he alleged are primarily geared towards extortion, saying that freight agents and shippers part with a minimum of N1.5 million for each container flagged down by the police.

“At the moment, there are over 1,800 containers trapped within the Western Ports as a result of sharp practices of Maritime Police. For each container, Police collect N1.5 million before releasing it and most times there is no reason for intercepting the containers in the first place.

“We wrote letters to the Inspector General of Police IG, and other stakeholders at the ports about this problem. We notified port stakeholders two weeks ago that this protest will happen and we followed-up with a reminder, but nobody engaged us for any meeting or dialogue. There are numerous issues but the major one is the Maritime Police. After freight forwarders clear containers from the ports, we are harassed on the roads by this Police division. They seize the containers and take it to their stations”, he alleged. He alleged that the Maritime Police was conniving with some shipping companies to block containers even before they are released by Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), leading to additional demurrage and storage charges on the consignments.

“They connive with some shipping companies to extort monies from us. We are also subjected to paying the demurrage that accrues from the delay while resolving any issue with the Police.”

We are not against the Police carrying out any investigation on consignments if they insist it is their job; but we are no longer going to be held liable for the demurrage and additional charges during their investigations,” he said.

He also warned that the freight forwarding group is at the verge of dragging the matter to court, adding that this may be the most effective way to address the issue if pleas, dialogue and protests fail.

“We recognise that ports are sensitive areas, that’s why we have been more open to dialogue and deliberations instead of protests,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Ports Authority NPA and AP Moller Terminal Apapa have called for an emergency meeting on Monday, next week with the aggrieved freight agents over the issue.

Sun

At least 26 people died and several others were missing after a ferry capsized on a reservoir in north central Nigeria on Sunday, local officials said, the second such major accident to hit the region in three months.

Bologi Ibrahim, spokesperson for the governor of Niger state, said the boat was carrying more than 100 people, including women and children, in the Mokwa local government area of the state. The victims were going to their farms across a major dam, said Ibrahim.

"Twenty six persons, mostly women and children have been confirmed dead, over 30 people rescued, while a combined rescue operation by marine police and local divers in collaboration with Niger State Emergency Management Agency is ongoing," Ibrahim said in a state.

In July, more than 100 people died when an overloaded boat capsized in a remote part of Niger state, in one of the worst such disasters in recent years.

Overcrowding and poor maintenance are responsible for most boat accidents on Nigerian waterways.

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russian strikes on Ukraine kill 2 foreign aid workers and target Kyiv

Two foreign aid workers were reportedly killed in eastern Ukraine on Sunday as Russian shelling hit a van carrying a team of four working with a Ukrainian nongovernmental organization, while dozens of Russian drones targeted Kyiv and wounded at least one civilian.

The four volunteers from the Road to Relief group, which helps evacuate wounded people from front-line areas, were trapped inside the van as it flipped over and caught fire after being struck by shells near the town of Chasiv Yar, the organization said on its Instagram page.

Road to Relief said that Anthony Ihnat of Canada died in the attack, while German medical volunteer Ruben Mawick and Swedish volunteer Johan Mathias Thyr were seriously wounded, it said.

Road to Relief added that it couldn’t trace the whereabouts of the van’s fourth passenger, Emma Igual, a Spanish national who was the organization’s director. Hours later, Spain’s acting Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares told Spanish media that authorities in Madrid had received “verbal confirmation” of the 32-year-old Igual’s death.

The volunteers were on their way to assess the needs of civilians on the outskirts of Bakhmut, Road to Relief said, in reference to the eastern town that saw the war’s longest and bloodiest battle before falling to Moscow in May. Ukrainian forces have held on to Bakhmut’s western suburbs and are pushing a counteroffensive in the area.

Also on Sunday, Ukrainian officials reported that Russia launched “dozens” of drones at Kyiv and the surrounding region early in the morning, wounding at least five civilians.

Ukraine’s air force later said it had brought down 26 out of a total of 33 drones. The head of Kyiv’s military administration, Serhii Popko, reported that debris from Iranian-made Shahed drones fell in several districts of the city and wounded at least one civilian. Popko said there was no risk to the person’s life, and added that most of the wreckage fell in open ground, although one high-rise apartment was damaged.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko later confirmed that one civilian was wounded in the city’s historic center and received help on the spot.

The governor of the Kyiv region, which surrounds but doesn’t include the capital, also reported that the drone strike wounded four people across the province, one of whom had to be hospitalized. In a Facebook post, Gov. Ruslan Kravchenko said that the drones damaged an infrastructure facility as well as civilian buildings including homes and stores, a hospital, a rehabilitation center, a school and a kindergarten.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said in the early hours of Sunday that Moscow’s forces earlier destroyed three U.S.-supplied speedboats carrying Ukrainian soldiers that had been traveling toward Russian-occupied Crimea. The claim couldn’t be independently verified. Earlier on Sunday, the ministry said in a separate statement that Russian air defenses shot down eight Ukrainian drones targeting Crimea, as well as another that flew over the Bryansk region bordering Ukraine.

On Aug. 24, Ukrainian military intelligence said that its special forces landed in Crimea, which Moscow illegally took from Ukraine in 2014, and raised the Ukrainian flag along the peninsula’s western shore before leaving “without casualties.”

Ukrainian army representatives on Sunday reported further small gains near Robotyne in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, where Kyiv has mounted a counteroffensive, days after Russian-installed authorities acknowledged that Russian forces had left the village.

Oleksandr Shtupun, a press officer for Ukraine’s Tauride Defense Forces, said on Ukrainian TV that Kyiv’s troops had retaken a further 1.5 square kilometers (0.6 square miles) near Rabotyne, and that heavy fighting is ongoing.

“The Russians are clinging to every meter of our Ukrainian land … however, the Ukrainian Defense Forces are trying to make it as difficult as possible to supply the Russian army, and in certain areas this is bearing fruit,” Shtupun said, without giving details.

Hours later, Ukraine’s General Staff said in the latest of its Facebook updates that its forces had “partial success” near Robotyne as well as Klishchiivka, a village 9 kilometers (5.6 miles) southwest of Bakhmut, dislodging Russian troops from their positions. It gave no further details, and the claim could not be verified.

A Washington-based think tank late on Saturday assessed, citing geolocated footage, that Russian forces had captured territory between Robotyne and two nearby villages: Verbove, some 10 kilometers (6 miles) east, and Novoprokopivka, 5 kilometers (3 miles) to the south.

The Institute for the Study of War also said in the latest of daily updates that Ukrainian forces had advanced along the border between the Zaporizhzhia region and the Donetsk province farther east, near Novomaiorske village. It acknowledged earlier Ukrainian claims of advances “south of Klischiivka,” but gave no evidence to support them.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

West ‘deadlocked’ over Russia – Ukraine

Ukraine has made no progress in making the US and its allies agree to its idea of a tribunal for top Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said in a speech on Friday.

The nation’s top diplomat blasted the West’s “divisions” and “lack of will”on the issue at the Yalta European Strategy forum in Kiev.

Western nations are just as reluctant to transfer frozen Russian assets to Ukraine, Kuleba said, adding that there has been little progress on this matter as well. “Unfortunately, we are in a kind of deadlock on both,” he said.

The G7 group, which includes the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, and Japan, “stands firmly” in favor of what the diplomat described as a “hybrid tribunal,” in which Putin, as well as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, would maintain immunity from prosecution, Kuleba said, stressing that this is absolutely unacceptable for Kiev.

“The special tribunal is needed to create a precedent for punishing the Russian leaders,” he said. “The hybrid tribunal does not answer the question as to how to prosecute those three,” the top diplomat said, noting that he “simply cannot remember” the name of the Russian prime minister.

Those who are against the “special tribunal” make a “clear statement that they consider Russia’s crimes in Ukraine less important than the crimes committed during the Yugoslavia war,” Kuleba said. Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Andrey Kostin, also said it would be “impossible to explain to Ukrainians that we could have a tribunal without Putin on the defendant’s bench.”

The Ukrainian foreign minister also said he sees no way to resolve these differences between Kiev and its Western backers. “President [Vladimir Zelensky] has recently asked me what has been done [to push through the idea of a tribunal] and I have admitted for the first time in my ministerial capacity that I cannot suggest a solution,” he said.

Kuleba claims that any legal constraints preventing Kiev from achieving its desired results can be altered. “If a law does not fit an idea of attaining justice, the legislation should be changed,” he said.

Kiev continues to push for Zelensky’s ‘peace formula’, which includes Russia withdrawing from Donbass, Kherson, Zaporozhye, and Crimea, as well as paying reparations to Ukraine and submitting to war crimes tribunals. Moscow has dismissed these demands as “nonsense” and has said it is ready for peace talks that reflect “the reality on the ground.”

** Russian air defense destroyed Ukrainian drones over Belgorod Region

Russian air defense systems destroyed two Ukrainian drones over the Belgorod Region, the Russian Defense Ministry told reporters.

"An attempt of the Kiev regime to make a terrorist attack by fixed-wing type unmanned aerial vehicles against installations on the territory of the Russian Federation was prevented at about 01:20 a.m. Moscow time (22:20 p.m. GMT). Air defense systems on duty destroyed two unmanned aerial vehicles over the territory of the Belgorod Region," the ministry said.

AP/RT/Tass