Gunmen in southern Nigeria have killed a local driver and kidnapped two Nigerians, three Australians, a New Zealander and a South African working for an Australian mining company, officials said.
The abduction happened in the Akpabuyo district near the capital of Cross River state, Calabar, at about 7am on Wednesday, Nigerian police said on Thursday.
Those taken were believed to be workers with Australian mining and engineering giant Macmahon, which was contracted to cement company LafargeHolcim in the state, police commissioner Jimoh Ozi-Obeh told reporters.
The police is currently working with the Nigerian Navy to ensure that the victims are released unharmed," he added.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said they are working with Nigerian authorities to free their citizens.
"We are working with the authorities, local authorities, at the highest levels," Turnbull told reporters in Geelong, Australia.
"We don't know at this stage the identity of the kidnappers and families in Australia are notified, of course.
"It is a very serious kidnapping, a very serious criminal assault, one person was killed and seven people have been kidnapped."
Irene Ugbo, a spokeswoman for Cross River state police, said no ransom demand had been received.
One witness to the abduction, who asked not to be identified, said the kidnappers took the men to a waiting boat.
LafargeHolcim spokeswoman Viola Graham-Douglas said the company was informed of the incident by Macmahon, which was "working with the security agencies to resolve the situation".
Macmahon has an $18m a year contract with the United Cement Company of Nigeria Ltd (UniCem) for quarrying operations at UniCem's cement manufacturing plant at Mfamosing, near Calabar.
UniCem is a joint venture between Franco-Swiss conglomerate LafargeHolcim and Flour Mills of Nigeria, according to the Australian firm's website.
Kidnapping for ransom has been a long-standing problem in southern Nigeria, particularly in the oil-producing delta region, where criminal gangs target wealthy Nigerians and expatriate workers.
Most are usually released after the payment of a ransom.
Thursday, June 23, 2016
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
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Former Super Eagles captain Joseph Yobo to play in Nigerian league
The LMC, through its official twitter handle, said Yobo had been signed on as League Ambassador and would soon be assigned to one of the four clubs already bidding for his services.
“Joseph Yobo to play last 12 #NPFL games this season as League Ambassador signed on by the LMC,” one of the tweets from the custodians of the Nigeria League read.
The LMC listed four teams; Akwa Utd, FC Ifeanyiubah, Kano Pillars and Wikki Tourists as those bidding to land the former Super Eagles defender.
The LMC assured that Yobo will soon be assigned to a club under the NPFL Elite Players Scheme which Sani Kaita benefited from two seasons ago.
Yobo started his football career on the home front almost two decades ago with Michelin FC in Port Harcourt.
He went on to feature for teams in Belgium, France, England and Turkey.
His stint with Premier League side, Everton, where he was the first signing made by David Moyes, was one of the highpoints of his club career.
The NPFL Elite Players Scheme was introduced by the LMC since 2014 season to inject Nigerian players with specified national team caps as part of strategies to rekindle greater following for the domestic league as well as attract sponsors to the clubs.
Only Enyimba, which signed on ex-Eagles defender, Sani Keita, has so far explored the scheme.
The Naira is sinking after currency float
After the first day of trading following a currency float, the value of Nigeria’s naira dipped by 31%, selling at 288.85 naira as markets closed on Monday (June 20). It was the first day in recent history the naira was traded openly with its value decided by market forces in line with the Central Bank’s new flexible policy. The apex bank also says it has cleared a backlog of foreign exchange demand of around $4 billion.
The naira had previously been officially pegged between 197 and 199 per dollar as the government instituted strict currency controls in a bid to protect its foreign reserves following depleted earnings caused by the falling price of oil, the country’s main resource.
The plunge in the value of the naira in reflection of market realities validates the long-term calls for the devaluation of the currency before the country’s government finally budged last week.
In truth, for most everyday Nigerians and small to medium-sized businesses the naira is only just coming in line with its value on parallel markets, where it has traded between 300 naira to 350 naira per dollar for several months. Nigeria, which depends on oil sales for much of its foreign currency, has seen the naira hit by the global downturn in oil prices. Only a limited number of large banks and traders had access to foreign currency at the 197-199 naira rate. This often created arbitrage opportunities in the banking system.
As has been the case over the past year, the naira still has two different prices. While the interbank value of the currency weakened following the float, its value on the parallel market—which served as a primary source of foreign exchange in the last few months—was quoted up to 10% stronger. Over time, the Central Bank is counting on its new policy and increased availability of foreign exchange to result in a convergence of both values of the naira. Describing the first day of the float as a “robust take-off” of its new policy, the apex bank hopes investor confidence, previously frayed, will return to the country’s economy which shrank in the first quarter of the year.
The bank’s optimistic outlook will likely not be shared by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote whose fortune fell by $3.7 billion following the take-off of the new currency float.
The naira had previously been officially pegged between 197 and 199 per dollar as the government instituted strict currency controls in a bid to protect its foreign reserves following depleted earnings caused by the falling price of oil, the country’s main resource.
The plunge in the value of the naira in reflection of market realities validates the long-term calls for the devaluation of the currency before the country’s government finally budged last week.
In truth, for most everyday Nigerians and small to medium-sized businesses the naira is only just coming in line with its value on parallel markets, where it has traded between 300 naira to 350 naira per dollar for several months. Nigeria, which depends on oil sales for much of its foreign currency, has seen the naira hit by the global downturn in oil prices. Only a limited number of large banks and traders had access to foreign currency at the 197-199 naira rate. This often created arbitrage opportunities in the banking system.
As has been the case over the past year, the naira still has two different prices. While the interbank value of the currency weakened following the float, its value on the parallel market—which served as a primary source of foreign exchange in the last few months—was quoted up to 10% stronger. Over time, the Central Bank is counting on its new policy and increased availability of foreign exchange to result in a convergence of both values of the naira. Describing the first day of the float as a “robust take-off” of its new policy, the apex bank hopes investor confidence, previously frayed, will return to the country’s economy which shrank in the first quarter of the year.
The bank’s optimistic outlook will likely not be shared by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote whose fortune fell by $3.7 billion following the take-off of the new currency float.
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