Zambian football medic dies after Nigeria-Ghana game

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March 30, 2022

One of Zambia’s celebrated medical doctors has died after the Nigeria versus Ghana World Cup qualifying game on Tuesday night, when Nigerian fans started attacking Ghanaian players and staff on the field and caused a stampede.

It is not clear how Dr Joseph Kabungo died – there are some reports that he suffered a heart attack.

He was one of the medical personnel for the match in Abuja as Nigeria drew with their with their arch-rivals 1-1, leading to Ghana qualifying on the away goals rule.

Ugly scenes then ensued as angry Super Eagles fans peppered the opposite team with water bottles thrown from the stands as they left the pitch, with police reportedly using teargas to disperse the crowd.

The Nigerian authorities have yet to comment publicly on the incident.

Rwanda takes in 120 migrants from Libya

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Henry Williams

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March 30, 2022

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Nearly 120 asylum seekers have been evacuated from Libya to Rwanda in the first such flight of the year.

The group of men, women, and children – the youngest less than one-year-old – were from Eritrea, Sudan, South Sudan and Somalia.

Most had been living in urban areas of Libya’s capital, Tripoli, and others had been arbitrarily held in detention, some for several months.

The group evacuated on Tuesday night will join another 269 refugees and asylum seekers in Gashora, where the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) provides assistance including shelter, food and medical care

Detainees in various Libyan migrant centres have previously described routine torture, rape, malnutrition and the spread of diseases like tuberculosis because of conditions they are forced to endure there.

Rebels deny shooting down UN helicopter

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Henry Williams

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March 30, 2022

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The M23 rebel group has denied shooting down a UN helicopter that crashed on Sunday while carrying peacekeepers on a reconnaissance mission in north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

The group accused the Congolese army of downing the helicopter while attacking their positions.

“That plane was hit by FARDC [DR Congo’s armed forces]’s shooting.” Major Willy Ngoma, the M23 spokesperson, told the BBC.

The DR Congo army had on Tuesday blamed the rebels for the crash.

Clashes between the rebels and the Congolese army has seen more than 6,000 civilians flee their homes in Rutshuru area of North Kivu province, according to the Red Cross.

War in Ukraine: Russia launches new attacks after peace promise

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Henry Williams

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March 30, 2022

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The governor of Ukraine’s Chernihiv region says there is no let-up in attacks by Russia, despite its pledge to reduce military activity there.

The governor, Viacheslav Chaus, told the BBC that he did not believe Russia’s promise.

“We’ve already seen that there wasn’t even a single time when their military forces kept their word,” he added.

Russian and Ukrainian negotiators made no “breakthroughs” in Tuesday’s peace talks, the Kremlin has said.

“What is positive is that the Ukrainian side has at least started to specifically formulating and putting on paper what it is proposing. Until now we had not managed to achieve that,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

“As regards the rest, we cannot, put it this way, at present state there have been any breakthroughs, anything very promising,” he said, adding that a lot of work was still to be done.

Football enthusiasts call for rebuild of Super Eagles

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Henry Williams

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March 30, 2022

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They made the call following Super Eagles 1-1 draw against the Black Stars of Ghana at the second leg of the World Cup qualifier played at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja on Tuesday.

The draw saw to the exit of the Nigeria from the Qatar World Cup fiesta as the first leg played in Kumasi, Ghana, on March 25 also ended in a goalless draw.

Some of the enthusiast who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said that the better team (Ghana) won the match and that the Nigeria players lost because of over-confidence.

Norbert Okolie, Rangers Media Officer, said the Super Eagles performance was not what most Nigerians expected and that Nigerians expected a massive win.

He said the visitors’ early goal gave them confidence and put Super Eagles players under pressure and that Super Eagles did not overcome the pressure after equalising the game.

India hikes fuel prices 8 times in 9 days

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Henry Williams

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March 30, 2022

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Fuel prices were increased again in India Wednesday for the eighth time in the last nine days.

According to a price notification of state fuel retailers, in the capital city of Delhi, petrol and diesel prices were hiked by INR 0.80 a litre respectively.

A litre of petrol in Delhi now costs INR 101.01 (1.33 dollars) and diesel is sold at INR 92.27 (1.22 dollars) per litre.

In Mumbai city, petrol is retailed at INR 115.88 (1.53 dollars) a litre, while diesel is being sold at INR 100.10 (1.32 dollars) per litre.

The fuel rates are highest in Mumbai among India’s metropolitan cities.

The prices vary across Indian states due to value-added tax or local taxation.

Fuel rates were steady for over four months in the country in spite of the spike in crude oil prices.

The rate revision ended on March 22.

$418m Paris Refund: Governors appeal judgment

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Henry Williams

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March 30, 2022

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The Governors of the 36 states of the federation have appealed the Federal High Court judgment which dismissed their suit challenging the planned deduction of $418 million from the Federation Account.

The money is meant to settle debts owed consultants engaged by state and local governments on the Paris Club refunds.

The Federal High Court in Abuja on March 25 dismissed a suit instituted by the 36 states’ Attorneys-General challenging plans by the Federal Government to deduct funds from the federation account to settle $418 million judgment debt in relation to the Paris Club refund.

The governors made the appeal through their Attorneys-General in a statement signed by fived Senor Advocates of Nigeria; S. I. Ameh, J. S. Okutepa, Dr Garba Tetengi, Ahmed Raji and Olumuyiwa Akinboro.

The governors advised the public and all financial institutions in Nigeria and abroad that the matter was subjudice, urging them to desist from dealing with the defendants in the suit.

Reps summon: NNPC Boss say he has nothing to hide

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Henry Williams

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March 30, 2022

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The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPC) has boldly declared that it has nothing to hide, following a summons to appear before the Nigerian House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts.

The Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mallam Mele Kolo Kyari, made the assertion on Tuesday in Abuja.

This was as the House Public Accounts Committee said that the company must produce before it, the heads of its 17 subsidiaries indicted by the report of the Auditor General for the Federation on alleged financial infractions between 2014 and 2019.

Speaking at the resumed investigative hearing on the report of the Auditor General, Chairman of the House Committee on Public Account Rep. Oluwole Oke said the action of the NNPC in shielding its subsidiaries amount to hiding something from Nigerians.

Kaduna Attacks: House of Representatives invites security heads

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Henry Williams

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March 30, 2022

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The House of Representatives has invited heads of relevant security agencies over the recent attacks on the Kaduna international airport and the Kaduna Abuja train

This followed the unanimous adoption of a motion of urgent national importance sponsored by a member from Enugu State Nnolim Nnaji at plenary.

The lawmaker expressed concern over the attacks on Kaduna airport which resulted in the death of a security guard of the Nigerian airspace management agency NAMA.

Mr. Nnolim who is the Chairman, House Committee on Aviation stressed the need to reinforce security surveillance and personnel in all airports as well as protect other means of transportation in the country to protect the lives of innocent Nigerians.

Train Attack: Investigation Is Still On-Going- Commissioner

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Henry Williams

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March 30, 2022

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Kaduna State government says investigations are still on-going as it announces that 8 persons have died and 24 people injured from the report received from the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) and detailed passenger manifest for the Abuja-Kaduna train service that was attacked by terrorists on Monday.

A statement by the Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Mr. Samuel Aruwan said documents from the Railway authorities indicate that 398 passengers bought tickets for the trip, but 362 were validated as having boarded the train through the recognized turnstile.

He disclosed that the passengers manifest does not include NRC staff and security officials who were on board.

The Commissioner further stated that security agencies have reported that eight bodies were recovered and 26 persons were injured during the attack.