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    Trump’s administration is using DNA tests to reunite children and their migrant parents after they were separated at the U.S.-Mexico border, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

    The department said compared to verifying documents such as birth certificates, the DNA process is a faster and more accurate method to reunite children aged under five with their parents by July 10, and
    all the children by July 26, deadlines set by U.S. Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego in June.

    During a conference call with newsmen, an HHS official said the method will ensure that children are not handed
    over to someone falsely claiming to be their parents.

    Personnel from HHS, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Department of Homeland Security will collect
    cheek swab DNA samples from children and parents for the verification.

    HHS Secretary Alex Azar didn’t give a specific number of children to be reunited with their families under
    the court order, only saying it would be less than 3,000.

    He also expressed frustration with the deadline, describing it as extreme and artificial.

    The Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy dictates that all immigrants arriving in the U.S. illegally
    should be detained under federal custody and prosecuted.

    Children traveling with their parents were separated from their families, sparking domestic and global outrage.

    Facing the backlash, Trump signed an executive order on June 20, replacing the family separation with detaining
    entire families together, including children.

    The new order ignores the legal time limits on the detention of minority groups.

    The administration announced last week that it will now hold families together for longer than 20 days.

    According to government figures, between May 5 and June 9, over 2,300 immigrants were separated from their
    families after illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

  • Pinnick clinches CAF 1st Vice President appointment

    Pinnick clinches CAF 1st Vice President The embattled President of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Amaju Pinnick has been appointed as the 1st Vice President of Confederation of African Football (CAF).

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Pinnick’s appointment’s is contained in a letter dated July 5, 2018 signed by CAF’s General Secretary, Amr Fahmy.

    The letter reads ” Following resignation of the 1st Vice President, Mr Kwesi Nyantakyi and the prevailing situation in the Football Federation of Nigeria, the CAF President, after consulting the members of the Emergency Committee, appointed Mr Amaju Melvin Pinnick as 1st Vice President.

    ”This decision is immediately applicable in accordance with article 27, para. 2 of the status which will be ratified by the Executive Committee in its session scheduled on Sept. 27 and 28, 2018, ” the communique reads. (NAN)

  • Tinubu lauds late Ciroma

    The national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on Thursday described the death of former Finance Minister, Malam Adamu Ciroma, as a great loss to Nigeria.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ciroma, an elder statesman, died in an Abuja hospital on Thursday after a protracted illness.

    The deceased was a founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and also the finance minister during the first term of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

    He was 84 years old.

    In a statement issued by his Media Officer, Mr Tunde Rahman in Lagos, Tinubu said the country had lost an illustrious leader who played politics with a commitment to serve the people and change society.

    He said that the late Ciroma was a consummate politician and an accomplished public servant.

    ”Malam Adamu Ciroma was one of the illustrious leaders this country has produced. He was a politician of note.

    ” You cannot but recall his days in the Second Republic National Party of Nigeria (NPN) and in the PDP where he was one of the party’s founding fathers.

    ”He also made name as an experienced technocrat and skilful public servant particularly as Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor and in later years as Minister of Finance.

    ”He was a fine man who played politics with a commitment to serve the people and change society.

    ”This did not come as a surprise given his background honed by sound education at the popular Barewa College and University of Ibadan and his nationalistic worldview.

    ”My condolences go to the Ciroma family and the people of government of Yobe State. May his soul rest in peace, ” Tinubu said (NAN)

  • TETFUND spends N365m on office structures at Bida Poly – Rector

    TETFUND spends N365m on office structures at Bida Poly – Rector

    The Rector of the Federal Polytechnic, Bida, Niger,Dr Abubakar Dzukogi, says the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) is spending about N365 million on the construction of additional structures at the institution.

    Dzukogi told the News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN) in Bida on Thursday that the projects, if completed, would address the problems of office accommodation being experienced at the institution.

    He said that projects were additional staff offices, lecture hall, as well as office complex for Director, Academic Planning and that of Continuing Education and Students Matters.

    He explained that the polytechnic had also taken measures to ensure that all projects executed by TETFUND were in line with contract specifications.

    He said due process in awarding the contract in line with 2007 Procurement Act was duly followed.

    Dzukogi said that the project had reached 70 percent completion are to be completed saying that within the next two months the job will be completed for day to day running.

    Dzukogi appealed to Federal Government to release more funds to the polytechnic for the execution of capital projects.

    He added that “we are in dire need of additional hostel blocks to accommodate our teeming students”.

    According to him, only about 30 per cent of the estimated 16,000 students of the institution are being accommodated in hostel.(NAN)

  • NULGE calls for forensic audit of State/LG Joint Accounts

    The Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has appealed to the Federal Government to appoint reputable auditors to carry out forensic auditing of State and Local Government joint accounts.

    Mr Ibrahim Khaleel, NULGE National President, made the appeal while addressing newsmen at the end of its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting on Thursday in Abuja.

    Khaleel said that the forensic audit to be carried out should be in the last ten years in order to ascertain how the funds were expended.

    According to him, the audit becomes necessary since there is little or nothing on ground in nearly all the local government areas to show for the huge resources allocated to states and local governments over the years.

    “It is unfortunate that state governors have continued to delay the passage of the local government autonomy bill, by arm-twisting state legislators to undermine the amendment process,” he said.

    He, therefore, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to break his long silence on the vexed issue of local government autonomy, by fulfilling his promise of granting autonomy to local government areas

    He added that the president must rise above the perceived political capital in the governors to invest in the trust of the Nigerian majority whom he had promised in his inaugural address.

    “That his government was not going to fold its arms to the travesty of governance that was going on in the states and local governments,” he said.

    The NULGE president also said that one of the most invasive acts and glaring abuse of power by the governors since the current democratic dispensation was their commandeering of local government funds.

    He noted that this was at the expense of the development that they were meant to be provided at the grassroots.

    Khaleel, however, said with the recent signing into law of financial autonomy, granted to state assemblies, state lawmakers no longer need to be intimidated in asserting the logic of the constitutional provision.

    “This empowers them to check the excesses of governance in their states, ‘’he added.

    He, however, said should the state governors and assembly members fail to accede to their yearnings, the union will have no other option than to vigorously mandate all chapters to vote against those standing against local government autonomy.(NAN

  • “Metering: AEDC to engage more power sector players to provide meters

    The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) has pledged to engage more meter access providers in the power sector to address the metering problem in the country.

    Mr Oyebode Fadipe, Head Corporate of the commission, AEDC disclosed this while addressing newsmen at a roundtable on power by the Civil Society Groups for Good Governance on Thursday in Abuja.

    Fadipe, who identified estimated billing known as “crazy billing’’ as the major challenge facing the power sector, however, assured that the problem would soon be a thing of the past,

    According to him, it will be solved through engagement of more power sector players in the industry.

    “The principal cause or source of the crazy bill or outrageous billing is because a lot of customers have not been metered and that is the principal cause. Only very few are in the prepaid category.

    “Those that have the post-paid meters are those who are complaining about crazy billings and overestimated billing,’’ he said.

    Fadipe urged consumers on estimated billing with issues with their bills to go through the complaint process to get them addressed.

    He said that the Meter Access Provider (MAP) currently in use and the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) policy was essential in other to neutralise the metering platform.

    Fadipe said that it was no longer the Distribution companies (DISCOS) that had the monopoly of the metering of customers.

    “We have more players coming in and again the Discos have to be in agreement with the particular meter access provider.

    “When a customer pays money over a time, the access provider recovers the money over that time.

    “When the consumer comes to recharge and he or she is recharging about N10,000 value, the consumer is given less than 10 thousand naira recharge in order to recover part of the cos.”

    He noted that the AEDC had invested about 10 billion in 2018 for the production of over 200,000 pieces of meters of different categories both single faced and multiple faced meters.

    Fadipe also that AEDC had done over 99 per cent of the metering, adding that any issue regarding metering was by new residents who built their factories for power.

    He said that the issue of criminalising estimated billing was still in process at the National Assemble, adding that the company was hopeful that the law would meet its purpose.

    “We have to wait for the complete process and we hope that it would favour both the providers and consumers concerned.

    Mr Sham Kolo, Deputy Director, Surveillance and Enforcement, Consumer Protection Council (CPC), said the outrageous billing was worrisome, especially as the mandate of CPC was to promote and protect the interest of consumers.

    He said that the council was working closely with the Discos to make sure that consumers were not short changed in any way.

    Contributing, Mr Dominic Ogakwu, Convener, Civil Society Groups for Good Governance,(CSGGG) said that there was need for accountability in the power sector. (NAN)

  • Air Peace inaugurates first all-female flights to Abuja, Owerri

    Air Peace on Thursday inaugurated its first all-female flights from Lagos to Abuja and Owerri, to promote gender equality in the nation’s aviation industry.

    The Boeing B777-300 aircraft piloted by Capt. Simisola Ajibola and assisted by Senior First Officer Quincy Owens landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja at 3.29 p.m. amidst pomp and pageantry from aviation stakeholders.

    The aircraft also departed Abuja and touched down at the Sam Mbakwe Cargo Airport, Owerri at 6.00 p.m. where it was welcomed with a ceremonial water salute.

    Speaking at a brief ceremony in Abuja, the Minister of State for Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, commended Air Peace for joining the league of airlines that had operated flights with an all- female cockpit, cabin crew members, engineers and flight dispatchers.

    Sirika, represented by Capt Talba Alkali, Director, Safety and Technical Policy, Ministry of Transportation, said the feat had shown that the airline was gender friendly.

    According to him, this is the first time a Nigerian airline is carrying out an all-female flight with a high capacity aircraft, adding that lower capacity aircraft were used by both Arik Air and Aero Contractors in previous occasions.

    “Air Peace has made a tremendous impact on the industry and we as regulators and the ministry will continue to create an enabling environment for the airline and other domestic airlines to thrive.

    “Today’s event is yet another testament of the safety of our airspace and we will continue to work with the airlines to make it safer,’’ he said.

    Also speaking, the Chairman of Air Peace, Mr Allen Onyema, said over 20 per cent of key positions in the airline were being held by women, who had demonstrated that they had the capacity to deliver.

    Onyema said the airline had employed about 2,000 workers since it began operations over three years ago, stressing that about 1,500 of the employees were women.

    “Air Peace is an airline run by women. We are very proud of giving women opportunities to excel because we believe that there is nothing that men can do that women cannot do.

    “We want to encourage our female children that they should aspire to be whatever they want to be by emulating what our female flight and cabin crew members have done today,’’ he said.

    The Air Peace boss commended the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration for the support given to domestic airlines, especially the recent removal of the Value Added Tax on transportation and waivers on the importation of aircraft spares.

    On her part, Ajibola thanked Air Peace for giving her and her colleagues the opportunity to conduct the historic flight, adding that Nigerians should get used to having women in the cockpit.

    “There are times we are boarding and the men will see me in the cockpit and they will behave like: “Is it a female flying us? Are we safe? And we laugh about it, because it is 2018.

    “We expect people to be conversant with having females in their cockpits. But I guess we will give them a little more time to understand that what the men can do, we equally can do,’’ she said.

    The US-trained pilot called on young Nigerian girls to embrace their dreams without fear of intimidation by their male counterparts.

    Two passengers, Mr Emmanuel Ikedi and Mr Anthony Okoroafor, told NAN that they were impressed with the way the pilot flew the aircraft and lauded Air Peace for the feat. (NAN)

  • INEC seeks media collaboration on voter education

    INEC seeks media collaboration on voter education

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has called for media collaboration, especially on voter education as the country prepares for general elections in 2019.

    Chairman of the commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, made the call in an interactive session with the media on Thursday in Abuja.

    Yakubu also called for input of the media on the appropriate way to design the ballot papers and ballot boxes for the elections, given the increase in the number of registered political parties.

    “As we approach the 2019 general elections, we need your support in many ways, especially voter education and sensitisation.

    “With 68 political parties and 136 applications being processed, we need to raise the awareness of citizens on the manifestos, logos and acronyms of political parties.

    “Similarly, we need to find different ways of managing the ballot papers for the general elections.

    “As a proactive step, the commission has been working on a number of options regarding the design of the ballot paper and the management of the ballot box,” he said.

    He added that the commission was considering resuscitating its Inter Agency Consultative Committee on Voter Education in all states, and assured that the media would be involved in the process.

    On Ekiti governorship election, National Commissioner in the commission, Mr Solomon Soyebi, called for media collaboration in curbing vote-buying as witnessed in the exercise in Anambra.

    “We want to curb the issue of vote-buying but we cannot do this alone. It required the collaboration of the media.”

    Soyebi reiterated that Enhanced Smart Card Reader would be used for the election, adding that the cards were deployed for recent bye-elections in parts of the country.

    He, however, disclosed that Ekiti would be the first state where the enhanced card reader would be fully deployed in a state-wide poll.

    Soyebi said that the commission was fully prepared for the election.

    In his remarks, National President, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Mr Abdulwaheed Odusile, advised INEC to sustain its collaboration with the media.

    Odusile, represented by Adebayo Bodunrin of Daar Communications, said that the quarterly meeting had been of mutual benefit to the media and the commission.

    “The media has benefited in a way that it has helped us to get the necessary information to better inform the public.”(NAN)

  • Hunter becomes the hunted’: Lions eat poachers on South Africa reserve

    JOHANNESBURG: At least three suspected poachers who were apparently hunting for rhinos have been mauled to death and eaten by lions on a game reserve in South Africa, the owner said on Thursday.

    The men entered the Sibuya Game Reserve on the southeast coast armed with a high-powered rifle and an axe in the early hours of Monday and were found dismembered the following day.

    “They strayed into a pride of lions it’s a big pride so they didn’t have too much time,” reserve owner Nick Fox, 60 said.

    “We’re not sure how many there were there’s not much left of them.

    Suspected poacher eaten by lions in South Africa

    “There seems to be clothing for three people. I’ve not heard of it before in our area.”

    Police forensics officers were on the scene conducting tests on the remains of the victims, Fox added.

    “We went in yesterday I got our vet to dart [anaesthetise] all the lions,” he said.

    “I think we had a stroke of luck here that the lions got to them before they got to the rhinos. “We lost three rhinos in March 2016.”

    Fewer than 25,000 rhinos remain in the wild in Africa due to a surge in poaching.

    Rhinos are targeted to feed booming demand for rhino horn in China, Vietnam and other Asian countries, where it is believed to have medicinal qualities.

    Fox said that the reserve was still open to guests despite the incident.

    “It’s still business as usual, it doesn’t change anything we do,” he said.

    “The comments on our Facebook are all talking about karma and warnings.”

    Read more: hunting , illegal , kill

    Culled from The Express Tribune (Pakistan)