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Sant’Egidio organization president Marco Impagliazzo (front, L) and Republic of Central Africa foreign minister Charles Armel Doubane (front, 2-L) address a political delegation from Central African Republic on June 19, 2017 inside the Sant’Egidio community church in Rome. Central African Republic’s government on June 19 signed an “immediate ceasefire” deal with rebel groups during a meeting in Rome aimed at ending violence in the strife-torn country. The truce will see armed groups be given representation in the political arena in exchange for an end to attacks and rebel blockades.  At least 40 people were killed in clashes on Tuesday in the Central African Republic, aid and security sources said, the day after the signing of a ceasefire deal. The violence in the central town of Bria was between members of Christian ‘anti-balaka’ militias and ex-Seleka fighters, the sources said. In addition, 43 people were injured as of 2100 GMT, according to medical charity Doctors ...

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) said it has arrested a 45-year-old woman, Rhoda Omorogie, alias Mama Bobo, for her alleged involvement in the trafficking of young girls from Benin to Europe. The NAPTIP Head of Press and Public Relations, Mr Josiah Emerole, said in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja that the operatives of the agency in Benin Zonal Command arrested the suspect in an early morning operation on Tuesday. Emerole explained that Omorogie, a nurse by profession and an indigene of Oredo Local Government Area of Edo, was nabbed by the operatives at about 5 a.m at her residence located at No. 65 Osayande St. off Upper Sakponda Road, Benin City. He said that the suspected trafficker had been in hiding since June 16 following the arrest of one of her gang members, Monday Ugbo, by NAPTIP operatives and rescue of three victims. According to him, the “notorious trafficker’’ is presently in NAPTIP’s custody for interrogation. Th...

Germany’s midfielder Leon Goretzka (L) is tackled by Australia’s defender Milos Degenek as he shoots to score a goal during the 2017 Confederations Cup group B football match between Australia and Germany at the Fisht Stadium in Sochi on June 19, 2017.  with their World Cup winners absent in Russia, Germany’s rising stars are relishing their chance to shine at the Confederations Cup. None of the side that won the 2014 World Cup final in Brazil is present in coach Joachim Loew’s squad in Russia, with some having retired and others either injured or rested. After a season in a struggling Schalke team, central midfielder Leon Goretzka was one of those who seized his chance in Monday’s opening 3-2 win over Australia. He scored Germany’s third goal in the Group B game with a deft strike from Joshua Kimmich’s pass having won the penalty which Julian Draxler converted for the second goal in Sochi. But it was not all completely smooth and Germany’s young guns know t...

PHOTO: Sparkonline The power sector is said to have lost about N1.43 billion to constraints associated with grid and gas in one day (June 17, 2017), according to statistics released by the Presidential Advisory Power Team (PAPT) overseen by the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo. The constraints involved 1,724 mega watts (MW) for gas while line constraints involved a total of 1,252.1MW of which, 1,078.5MW had high frequency constraints. The implications included shortage of electricity supplies to end users, frustration of businesses and decline of revenue generation to the sector. The average power sent out was 2,786MWh/hour (down by 687/h) against 3,474MWh/hour sent out on June 16, 2017. Also, the peak was 3,948 MW lower than 3,960MW generated on June 16. This was attributed to the loss of Distribution Companies (DisCOs) feeders arising from heavy rainfall leading to frequency management reduction in generation output across the grid. Meanwhile, against the back...

• ‘How restructuring will affect subscribers’  Lending bankers yesterday took over telecommunications company Etisalat and subsequently announced changes in the shareholding structure of the company. Access Bank Plc and other Nigerian banks eventually took over the management of the company, effective June 15 after a protracted $1.2 billion debt impasse. Other lenders in the loan deal are Zenith Bank, GTBank, First Bank, UBA, Fidelity Bank, Ecobank, FCMB, Stanbic IBTC Bank and Union Bank. A source privy to the arrangement told The Guardian that the affected banks had requested a new management of the telecoms firm. While it is certain that there will be some job losses, (may not be in the immediate), and possible management changes, there are also worries in the industry about the fate of the 20 million customers on Etisalat’s network in Nigeria. The Guardian learnt that Etisalat’s employees at different cadres were seen going about their normal duties at the major ...

No fewer than 100 houses were destroyed following a heavy downpour in Gwarzo local government of Kano State on Tuesday. The incident, which occurred in the early hours of Tuesday, rendered many people homeless in the area. An eye-witness, Malam Ibrahim Shuaibu, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano on Wednesday that the worst affected areas included Sabuwar Unguwa, Abuja quarters and some parts of Katambawa area in the town. According to the witness, the wall fence of the Gwarzo Local Government Secretariat had also collapsed, while many vehicles were submerged as a result of the heavy downpour. He said a bridge popularly known as Kwakwachi bridge, and a number of some Public buildings including primary schools, were also affected by the disaster. When contacted, the Executive Secretary of State Emergency Relief and Rehabilitation Agency (SERERA), Alhaji Aliyu Bashir, confirmed the incident, saying that he had yet to ascertain the exact n...

…says FG failed to prove case ABUJA – The Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, sitting in Abuja has quashed the 16-count charge the Federal Government preferred against the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki. The two-panel panel tribunal headed by Justice Danladi Umar, held that FG failed to prove essential elements of all the allegations it levelled against Saraki. Saraki The tribunal held that both oral and documentary evidence that were laid by four witnesses FG brought before it were “so discredited during cross-examination”, saying it was so”manifestly unreliable that no court or tribunal can rely on it to make a conviction”. “In the light of the foregoing, the tribunal has no other option that to discharge the defendant. “The Honourable tribunal upholds the no-case submission and the defendant is accordingly discharged and acquitted”, Justice Umar held. FG had in the charge with suit No. CCT/ABJ/01/15 alleged that Saraki made false/anticipatory declarat...

The global technology research and consulting firm’s Quarterly Personal Computing Devices Tracker for Q1 2017, showed that PCD shipments fell to around six million units, the lowest levels recorded since Q4 2011. Latest insights from the International Data Corporation (IDC) have shown a decline of -8.8 per cent year-on-year in Q1 2017 in the shipment of personal computing devices (PCD) for Middle East, and Africa (MEA) region. The global technology research and consulting firm’s Quarterly Personal Computing Devices Tracker for Q1 2017, showed that PCD shipments fell to around six million units, the lowest levels recorded since Q4 2011. The market’s slump was primarily rooted in the fall in the demand for traditional desktops and slate tablets, with shipments of these devices suffering year-on-year declines of 25.3 per cent and 16.9 per cent, respectively. Detachable tablets, on the other hand, experienced incredible growth of 102.5 per cent over the same per...

Reduction in Nigeria’s oil revenue as a result of production and export boost in the U.S. will put the economy on a tight run and create distortions in budget implementation and monetary policy controls. • Shale production could reach all-time high in 2017 Nigeria’s oil economy is living on borrowed time, as the global market, especially the United States (U.S.), becomes less dependent on Africa’s crude and prices face more and more volatility. Rystad Energy, the energy data warehouse, predicts oil production in the U.S. is growing so fast that an all-time high of 10 million barrels per day could be reached before December 31. Until recently — when it was upstaged by China and India — the U.S. was a major destination for Nigeria’s crude. But ramped-up production of shale is providing an alternative. Nigeria has been losing its market share in Europe, its biggest regional market, a...

The House, at its plenary session presided by Speaker Yakubu Dogara, directed the Executive arm to confer on Abiola the highest national honour post-humously in recognition of his unprecedented contributions and sacrifice to the unity, peace and progress of the nation. • Meet Dambazzau, Ali, others over insecurity • Dogara says whistle-blowing law vital to graft fight • Seeks domestication of Child Rights Act in 12 states The House of Representatives yesterday enjoined the authorities to immortalise the late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola who was adjudged to have won the June 12, 1993 presidential election. The House, at its plenary session presided by Speaker Yakubu Dogara, directed the Executive arm to confer on Abiola the highest national honour post-humously in recognition of his unprecedented contributions and sacrifice to the unity, peace and progress of the nation. The lawmakers thereby directed its Committee on Legislative Compliance to...

  Osinbajo said yesterday at the State House in Abuja at the 2018 budget preparation process that the National Assembly lacked the power to inject new projects into the fiscal plan, modify same as brought before it for approval. Barely 24 hours after he signed the 2017 appropriation bill into law, Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has accused the National Assembly of injecting new projects into the budget. Osinbajo said yesterday at the State House in Abuja at the 2018 budget preparation process that the National Assembly lacked the power to inject new projects into the fiscal plan, modify same as brought before it for approval. He said: “I am sure that we understand, not just how to do it right, but to get it done in good time. The president presented this budget last December, but despite the assurances that it would be passed by February, it was not done until May. “...

The collapsed bridge Heavy rains on Tuesday led to the collapse of the Dilichim bridge, cutting off communities in Michika and Madagali local councils from the rest of Adamawa State.The bridge, constructed over the River Yedzaram, had once been bombed by Boko Haram insurgents. It had remained in a precarious state for two years before it was finally washed away after several hours of rains, reports said.The councilor representing Bazza Ward in Michika Local Council, Mr. Damian Gurai, described the incident as devastating. “We are now cut off by this development and many people are now stranded; nobody can come to Michika and Madagali, just as nobody can go to Yola and other parts of Adamawa. “Today is Bazza market day; but many traders who came from Mubi and other parts of the state are now stranded at the river bank,” Gurai said.The Vice Chairman of Michika Local C...

Ovie Ejaria Dominic Solanke Fikayo Tomori Joshua Onomah Sheyi Ojo Chuba Amechi Akpom After his victory over Wladimir Klitschko in their heavyweight bout at Wembley Stadium in April, Nigerian-born English boxer, Anthony Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua was asked why the British usually considered successful British-Nigerians to be British, and British-Nigerians who commit crimes to be Nigerians? He responded thus: “Let’s focus on the success. Let’s stop committing the crime.” Joshua, a former British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion, had a long list of encounters with the British justice system before his moment of celebration. In 2009, he was sent to Reading Prison for fighting. In 2011, he was charged with possession of a class B drug when police pulled him over in Colindale, North London, and found eight ounces of herbal cannabis hidden in his sports bag. He pleaded guilty and was sentence...

South Korea coach Uli Steilike was facing the axe after a turbulent World Cup qualifying defeat to Qatar plunged the team into a “big crisis” on Wednesday. The Taeguk Warriors weren’t the only team to drop points in Tuesday’s qualifiers, with Japan also conceding a late equaliser in their 1-1 draw with Iraq. But after the 3-2 defeat in Doha — South Korea’s first to Qatar in 32 years — the Korean Football Association turned on Steilike, whose team has also lost to Iran and China in Group A. “This is a big crisis. We’ve lost a game which we should have won. The possibility of us surviving in the qualifying rounds is now in limbo,” KFA spokesman Cho Jun-Heon told AFP. “KFA may discuss the coach’s position when it holds a meeting of its technical committee,” he added. The technical committee is due to meet as early as Thursday, with the agenda likely to be dominated by discussions over Stielike, KFA of...

Beijing Enterprises club football players look at the coffin of Cheick Tiote during a memorial service in Beijing on June 13, 2017. Tiote, who was a member of the Ivory Coast squad that ended a 23-year drought to win the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, died on June 5, 2017 after 'suddenly fainting' during a training session with his second tier Chinese club Beijing Enterprises. Senegalese football player Papiss Cisse (C, head down) of Shandong Luneng football club and close friends pray in front of the coffin of Cheick Tiote during a memorial service in Beijing on June 13, 2017. Tiote, who was a member of the Ivory Coast squad that ended a 23-year drought to win the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, died on June 5, 2017 after 'suddenly fainting' during a training session with his second tier Chinese club Beijing Enterprises. / AFP PHOTO / NICOLAS ASFOURI Friends and Beijing Enterprises club football fans are seen ahead of a memoria...

Sven-Goran Eriksson Former England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson was shown the door at China’s second-tier Shenzhen FC on Wednesday after a run of poor results. The club hailed Eriksson despite parting ways with the much-travelled Swede, who leaves with the team fourth in China League One. Shenzhen said it had “cooperated with Mr. Eriksson with joy and we also admire his elegance and grace”. The 69-year-old is leaving after a “friendly discussion”, it said. “We also thank him for the positive change he has brought for the team and the international football theory he has injected,” a club statement said. Eriksson joined Shenzhen in December after departing Chinese Super League side Shanghai SIPG, despite leading them to a third-place finish last year. Shenzhen haven’t won a game since mid-April, a run that leaves them unsure of winning promotion to the Super League as one of the top two teams. Eriksson also had a successful stint with China’s top-tier G...

Former Governor of Sokoto State, Aliyu Wamakko (left); National Chairman, Izalla Islamic Group, Sheikh Bala Lau; Dr. Ibrahim Maigari; National Secretary, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Dr. Usman Bugaje and spokesman, ACF, Prof. Ango Abdullahi during a meeting with Acting President Yemi Osinbajo at the State House, Abuja …yesterday. PHOTO: PHILIP OJISUA Osinbajo acknowledged that in the course of living together, misunderstandings and frustration are inevitable, but noted that “we can only begin to talk about any part of anything if we are together in peace. President Yemi Osinbajo ‎issued the warning when he met with foremost leaders of northern extraction in the Presidential Villa, Abuja yesterday... Yemi Osinbajo vowing to ensure that any form of divisive behaviour is met with the full force of the law. ‎ • EMU wants peaceful dissolution of nation • M’Belt blames faulty struct...

Feng Xiaoting of China (L) vies for the ball with Mahmoud Almawas of Syria in their FIFA World Cup 2018 Group A third round qualifying match at the Hang Jebat Stadium in Kampung Kerubong in Malacca on June 13, 2017.  Feng Xiaoting of China (R) vies for the ball with Mardek Mardkian of Syria in their FIFA World Cup 2018 Group A third round qualifying match at the Hang Jebat Stadium in Kampung Kerubong in Malacca on June 13, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / MANAN VATSYAYANA Zeng Cheng of China reacts after a 2-2 draw against Syria in their FIFA World Cup 2018 Group A third round qualifying match at the Hang Jebat Stadium in Kampung Kerubong in Malacca on June 13, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / MANAN VATSYAYANA Feng Xiaoting (R) of China reacts after a 2-2 draw against Syria in their FIFA World Cup 2018 Group A third round qualifying match at the Hang Jebat Stadium in Kampung Kerubong in Malacca on June 13, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / MANAN VATSYAYANA ...