News
UN Allocates Additional US$5 million to Respond to Flood in Borno, Bauchi, Sokoto

UN Allocates Additional US$5 million to Respond to Flood in Borno, Bauchi, Sokoto
By: Michael Mike
The UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) has released US$5 million to scale up the flood response and address critical needs in three of the most flood affected states in Nigeria – Borno and Bauchi in the north-east, and Sokoto in the north-west.
The announcement followed the increasing impact of floods on people’s lives, livelihoods, and food security across Nigeria at the peak of the rainy season.
Report has it that more than 300 people have lost their lives, with at least 1.2 million people affected by flood in 31 states. MNational Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) also reported that thousands of hectares of cropland have been damaged ahead of harvests.
United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mohamed Malick Fall said: “Floods across Nigeria have created a crisis within a crisis,” adding that:“Millions of people were already facing critical levels of food insecurity before the floods because of economic hardships that have made it exceedingly difficult for the most vulnerable to feed themselves and their families. The floods have compounded people’s suffering.”
A statement on Wednesday by United Nations Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said: @As of mid-September, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimated that crop losses due to floods in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY) states were equivalent to an amount of food that could feed 1.4 million people for six months. Nationwide crop losses could feed 8.5 million people for six months. To mitigate the flood impact, there is a need for extended lean season support and a scale up of emergency agriculture activities, where possible.
According to the statement, the CERF funds will help humanitarian partners reach 280,000 people in Borno, Bauchi and Sokoto states with food, clean water, sanitation, and shelter support. The funds will also help to rapidly mobilise resources to bolster access to healthcare, including efforts to prevent the spread of waterborne diseases such as cholera. The response will include the use of multipurpose cash assistance (MPCA) and cash for work programmes to help affected people earn an income.
The funding will also enhance protection services, including support to women and girls and services for gender-based violence (GBV), as well as support to people living with disabilities.
“This CERF allocation is a much-needed boost to the joint efforts of humanitarian partners in Nigeria in support of the Government-led response. However, the CERF funds and the previous allocation from the Nigeria Humanitarian Fund (NHF) are insufficient to meet the scale of needs. What is required right now is the immediate mobilisation of additional resources by donors, development partners and the private sector as the emergency response transitions to the recovery phase in some affected areas.”
The CERF funds complement a $6 million allocation from the NHF for the BAY states, where more than half a million people have been affected by floods. In addition to the flood impact, the BAY states are experiencing cholera outbreaks that have claimed dozens of lives at the height of a food security and malnutrition crisis that is projected to affect five million people through October. The NHF funds and resources from the US funded Rapid Response Fund, managed by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), are supporting interventions in water and sanitation hygiene, shelter, and non-food items as well as MPCA in Borno. Other ongoing UN assistance includes food and nutrition assistance, emergency healthcare (including mass cholera vaccination campaigns and sexual and reproductive health services), emergency shelter and family tracing and reunification.
In Borno, which is the State most impacted by flooding, more than 400,000 people, many of them vulnerable internally displaced persons (IDPs) were displaced at the peak of flash flooding in Maiduguri Metropolitan Council (MMC) and Jere local government areas (LGAs). A section of the Alau Dam collapsed in the middle of the night on 9 September forcing people to flee their homes with few if any belongings. This was in addition to displacement due to torrential rains and windstorms starting in August that affected tens of thousands of IDP shelters.
While the flooding has receded in MMC and Jere, there is an urgent need for protection services and sustained lifesaving assistance especially food, and clean water, and sanitation support amid cholera outbreaks for people who remain in emergency shelters. Recovery and livelihood support especially for farming households are required for those returning to their homes. Many areas experiencing ongoing flooding, such as Dikwa local government area in Borno, also need an immediate emergency response.
UN Allocates Additional US$5 million to Respond to Flood in Borno, Bauchi, Sokoto
News
Tipper truck kills several traders in Jalingo market crash

Tipper truck kills several traders in Jalingo market crash
By: Zagazola Makama
A tragic road accident occurred on Saturday at the popular Mile 6 Market in Jalingo, Taraba State, when a tipper truck loaded with shaft sand lost control and rammed into a crowd of traders and shoppers.

Zagazola learnt the incident, which happened around midday, resulted in multiple fatalities and left several others injured. The exact number of casualties is yet to be confirmed as emergency responders continue rescue operations and assessment of the scene.

Sourcessaid the truck was speeding when one of its front tyres suddenly burst, causing the driver to lose control. The vehicle veered into the busy market area, knocking down people and structures along its path.

“It happened so fast,” said Musa Ibrahim, a local vendor. “The truck was on speed and after the tyre burst, the driver couldn’t control it. It just rammed into the crowd.”
Security operatives and medical personnel arrived swiftly at the scene to evacuate the injured to nearby hospitals. The body of the deceased has also been recovered, while efforts are ongoing to identify victims and notify their families.

The driver of the truck has been apprehended and is currently in custody as investigations continue into the cause of the crash.
End
Crime
Former Footballer, 4 Others Arrested, Over 22.6kg Cocaine, Meth Seized at Lagos, Enugu Airports

Former Footballer, 4 Others Arrested, Over 22.6kg Cocaine, Meth Seized at Lagos, Enugu Airports
…72-year-old Grandma, Beninese, Ithers Nabbed in NDLEA Raids in Delta, Kwara, Lagos
By: Michael Mike
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a former football player Segun George Hunkarin along with his businessman partner Ntoruka Chinedu over attempt to smuggle a consignment of cocaine into Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
According to a statement on Sunday by the spokesman of the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, Chinedu who is a frequent flyer known for conveying clothes from Turkey to Nigeria and foodstuffs from Nigeria to Turkey, was the first to be arrested upon his arrival at the Lagos airport last Tuesday, when his carry-on bag was searched, 37 wraps of cocaine weighing 800 grammes were seen to be concealed therein.

Babafemi said investigation showed that the suspect was coming from Turkey on Ethiopian Airlines flight but transited through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where he collected the luggage from another person before heading to Nigeria.
He said further checks revealed that an accomplice who turned out to be the former professional footballer, Segun Hunkarin, was waiting for Chinedu at the airport carpark to collect the consignment from him. Hunkarin who had stayed years in Brazil playing for football clubs was promptly tracked and arrested at the carpark.

In his statement, Hunkarin was said to have claimed that while playing professional football in the South American country, he had only trafficked drugs twice from Brazil to Ethiopia but has never brought any to Nigeria.
Another Europe based businessman Amen Okoro was last Friday arrested by NDLEA operatives at the Lagos airport while attempting to traffic 5,000 pills of tramadol 225mg packaged as known malaria drugs such as Lonart, Amatem and Aluktem to Spain.
He was intercepted at the departure hall of terminal 2 of the airport during the outward clearance of passengers on Royal Air Maroc flight to Spain through Casablanca.

Babafemi said Okoro, who is into freight and logistics business between Europe and Nigeria, claimed that on his arrival in Spain, he would have taken a train to France where he resides and from there send the tramadol consignment to Italy for retailing.
At the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA) Enugu, Babafemi said NDLEA operatives last Friday intercepted a Maputo, Mozambique based bar attendant Ezenwaka Chibuzor. A search of his luggage led to the discovery of 17 cardboard size parcels of methamphetamine weighing 17.500 kilogrammes and three parcels of cocaine weighing 3.05 kilogrammes.
He revealed that the 38-year-old suspect was coming from Johannesburg, South Africa via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Ethiopian Airlines flight when he was interdicted and subjected to a search during which the illicit drugs concealed in bedsheets packed in his bags were discovered.
He noted that another passenger on board the same Ethiopian Airlines flight, 54-year-old Azu Kpodar was also intercepted at the Enugu airport by NDLEA operatives. When Azu, who arrived from Sao Paulo, Brazil, was searched, a liquid soap plastic container marked YPE, was discovered in his luggage. The substance was promptly taken for analysis at the NDLEA forensic and chemical laboratory, Enugu where the substance tested positive to cocaine.

The substance which turned out to be liquid cocaine weighed 1.250 kilogrammes, the
suspect who is a toy seller in Brinquedo, Sao Paulo, Brazil, claimed he purchased while shopping for his wedding ceremony in Nigeria.
NDLEA operatives at the Seme border area of Badagry in Lagos last Tuesday intercepted a 26-year-old Beninese Vode Jean-Luck while trying to smuggle 69 balls of skunk, a strain of cannabis with a gross weight of 29.5 kilogrammes from Benin Republic into Nigeria.
In Kwara state, a notorious drug dealer Mary Oladele (a.k.a Iya Nafi) was arrested last Wednesday when NDLEA operatives raided her base in Omu-Aran in Irepodun local government area of the state where various quantities of skunk, tramadol and flunitrazepam were recovered from her.
Babafemi said a 72-year-old grandma Mrs. Christy Ejaro was last Tuesday arrested by NDLEA operatives at Niger CAT area of Warri, Delta state, with several sachets of skunk packaged in retail size recovered from her.
The spokesman said the War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, social advocacy activities by NDLEA commands equally continued across the country in the past week.
Meanwhile, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd), while commending the officers and men of MMIA, AIIA, Delta, Kwara, and Seme commands of the agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week, equally praised their counterparts in all the commands across the country for ensuring a fair balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.
Former Footballer, 4 Others Arrested, Over 22.6kg Cocaine, Meth Seized at Lagos, Enugu Airports
News
Armed bandits abduct resident in Bature Daji, in Niger narrowly miss vigilante target

Armed bandits abduct resident in Bature Daji, in Niger narrowly miss vigilante target
By: Zagazola Makama
Armed bandits in large numbers stormed Bature Daji community in Niger in the early hours of Saturday, abducting a resident while narrowly missing their original target, a local vigilante member.
Zagazola Makama gathered that the incident occurred around 5:30 a.m. when the attackers invaded the residence of one Dani, a known vigilante operative in the area. He was reportedly the primary target of the assault but managed to escape.
However, the gunmen kidnapped one Attahiru Ibrahim, popularly known as Sarki Daji, from the same neighborhood and whisked him away to an unknown destination.
Local sources revealed that the assailants later moved toward Gorogawu Village, a border community near the Republic of Benin, raising concerns of cross-border movement and security challenges.
A joint team of security forces, including military and other operatives, has launched a pursuit operation to rescue the victim and apprehend the attackers.
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