Month: October 2023
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Federal Fire Service Establishes 6 Additional Zonal Offices
(FLOWERBUDNEWS) The Federal Fire Service (FFS) said on Thursday it had established six additional zonal offices to boost service delivery across the country.
Mr Liman Ibrahim, its Comptroller General, announced this at a press briefing in Abuja.
“The essence of the spread is to deliver quality fire fighting services, improve the response time to emergencies and complement efforts of the state fire services.
“When I came, we had presence only in Abuja, Lagos and the six geo-political zones. We believe that the new zones will widen our reach and strengthen us to do more.”
He listed the zones to include Zone G, with headquarters in Minna, which is expected to cater for Niger, Kogi and Kwara, while Zone H, with headquarters in Sokoto, would cater for Sokoto, Zamfara and Kebbi.
Others included Zone I with headquarters in Yola, to cater for Adamawa, Taraba and Gombe, while Zone J, with headquarters in Owerri, would cater for Abia and Imo.
Others included Zone K, expected to cover Delta, Edo and Bayelsa, with headquarters in Asaba, while Zone L, with headquarters in Osogbo, would cater for Osun, Ondo and Ekiti States.
Ibrahim said that the zonal headquarters would be equipped with firefighting trucks while experienced firemen would be deployed to man them.
He said that the federal government was focused on strengthening the state fire services for effectiveness and efficiency, adding that the FFS was already reaching out to state governors to secure their support and encouragement.
“I want to believe that a strengthened state fire service complemented by our presence in the zones will go a long way in addressing the gaps in fire service delivery across the country.
“We have also received approval for the establishment of additional five fire service training schools which will soon take off. They are to be located in Maiduguri, Calabar, Ilorin, Katsina and Umuahia.”
Ibrahim, however, said that the service had recorded very few fire outbreaks in the last six months, adding that more efforts were being put into ensuring that the country was free from fire outbreaks. (NAN)
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Xenophobia: We’ve drawn Redline against South Africa -FG
The Federal Government Wednesday warned the South African government against any further xenophobic attacks on Nigerian citizens in the south coast country. (more…)
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South Africa embassy closed in Nigeria – Minister
South Africa has temporarily closed its embassy in Nigeria following the ongoing xenophobic crisis, Foreign Affairs Minister Naledi Pandor told Reuters.
She said South Africa was in constant contact with Nigerian authorities to try to restore calm, adding there is no provision in local law for compensation for damage caused in the attacks.
“There is an Afrophobia we are sensing that exists, there is resentment and we need to address that,” Pandor said on the sidelines of a continental economic conference in Cape Town. -
Hurricane Dorian regains strength as it targets the Carolinas
Dorian regained strength to become a major Category 3 hurricane on Thursday as it churned towards the Carolinas, with forecasters warning coastal residents of potentially devastating storm surge flooding.
Dorian had weakened as it scraped past the Florida coast, after earlier causing catastrophic damage to the Bahamas as a Category 5 hurricane.
At least 20 people are known to have died as the storm battered the island chain for some 48 hours, ravaging the country with massive flooding, flattening entire neighbourhoods and stranding residents due to impassable high water.
The Miami-based National Hurricane Centre said early Thursday that Dorian was packing maximum sustained winds of 185 kilometres per hour.
It warned low-lying residents in the states of Georgia, South and North Carolina, and Virginia of “life-threatening inundation’’ from rising water.
Forecasters said Dorian’s centre should move near to, or over, the North Carolina coast later Thursday.
By Saturday morning it is expected to be hovering around the New England area as a far-weaker storm before dissipating in the North Atlantic.
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South Africa acknowledges ‘Afrophobia’ partly to blame for violence against foreigners
South Africa’s Foreign Minister acknowledged on Thursday that prejudice against people from other African countries was one of the causes behind deadly attacks on foreign-owned businesses, a day after Pretoria was forced to shut its embassy in Nigeria over threats of retaliatory violence.
At least five Africans have been killed in attacks on foreigners in South Africa this week.
On Wednesday South African companies MTN, and Shoprite closed stores in Nigeria after retaliatory attacks in one of the store.
South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said the government decided to temporarily close the embassy in Nigeria for security reasons after a protest march was planned there and threats of violence were received.
In an interview on the sidelines of a continental economic conference in Cape Town, Pandor said South Africa was in constant contact with Nigerian authorities and was also working to restore calm in areas affected by the violence.
“There is an Afrophobia we are sensing that exists, there is resentment and we need to address that,” Pandor said.
“There is a targeting of Africans from other parts of Africa, we can’t deny that. But, there is also criminality … because a lot of this is accompanied by theft,” she said, describing the attacks as a complex phenomenon whose root causes were not easy to define.
The violence in South Africa has overshadowed the conference of the World Economic Forum in Cape Town. Nigeria announced on Wednesday it would boycott the meeting.
The withdrawal from the summit of Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who was scheduled to address a panel on universal energy access on Thursday, has cast a cloud over initiatives to boost intra-African trade.
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Family of seven found dead in one room in Lagos
Family of seven, including the husband and wife, children and their visitor have been found dead at no 19 Olowora street, Mafoluku, Oshodi in Oshodi/Isolo L ocal Government Area of Lagos State. (more…)
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Family of seven found dead in one room in Lagos
Family of seven, including the husband and wife, children and their visitor have been found dead at no 19 Olowora street, Mafoluku, Oshodi in Oshodi/Isolo L ocal Government Area of Lagos State.
Daily Champion gathered that the tragic incident happened in their one room apartment within the compound.
One of the neighbours of the victims, who confirmed the incident to newsmen, said they woke up in the early hours of Wednesday, and found that the neighbours house was still under lock.
The source, who does not want his name mentioned, said, “We decided to force the main door open after we observed that the door has not been opened since morning.
Also, the neighbour identified the man of the house as Kazeem, an electrician
Daily champion was there when the Mafoluku police officers arrived the scene.
The cause of the death is still unknown as their bodies are yet to be taking to hospital for proper investigation.
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PSC puts police recruitment exercise on hold
The Police Service Commission (PSC) has put on hold the ongoing recruitment process into the constable cadre of the Nigerian Police Force, to enable it finalise the remaining stages of the exercise.
Mr Ikechukwu Ani, the Head, Press and Public Relations of PSC, who disclosed this in a statement issued on Friday in Abuja, appealed to the affected applicants to be patient and await further directives from the commission.
He called on those who participated in the recruitment process up to the aptitude test level to ignore any list or information on the exercise emanating from outside the commission.
According to him, it is the constitutional responsibility of the commission to recruit Nigerians into the police force whether as constables, cadet inspectors or cadet assistant superintendent of police.
He said that the commission would not abdicate the all-important mandate, adding that “it will resist any attempt to ambush the ongoing recruitment exercise or dilute its content.”
Ani said that any attempt to ambush the process would be an affront to the commission and waste of national resources.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the commission had, on Aug. 3, conducted aptitude tests for the 80,724 shortlisted candidates for the recruitment exercise nationwide.
The commission had earlier shortlisted a total of 210,150 candidates from the 315,032 applications received at the close of its recruitment portal on Jan. 11.
NAN also recalls that President Muhammadu Buhari had mandated the commission to recruit 10,000 Nigerians into the police force.
NAN