Nigeria will blocks flights from countries that do not allow Nigerian flights to land due to coronavirus restrictions, Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika said on Thursday.
“The principle of reciprocity will be applied,” Sirika told reporters. “If you ban us from coming to your country, the same will apply the other way.”
A spokesman for the minister said Sirika was referring to landing rights for aircraft, and not the nationals of the countries.
The director general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority said that authorities were still drafting the list, but added that the European Union was among those barring Nigerians.
Nigeria earlier this week announced plans to resume international flights on Aug. 29. All but essential international flights were halted in late March in an attempt to stem the spread of the virus.
The resumption will begin with four flights daily coming in to both Lagos and Abuja, but Sirika said that initially the number of passengers would be limited to 1,280 a day.
Nigeria has 50,488 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and has recorded 985 deaths.
Reuters
Friday, August 21, 2020
Nigerian man, 50, extradited from Canada to face U.S. fraud charges for alleged sweepstakes scam
A Nigerian citizen living in Canada was extradited to the United States on Thursday to face federal charges after allegedly taking part in a scheme to defraud thousands of victims of hundreds of millions of dollars.
American investigators allege the 50-year-old man was part of a conspiracy to run a fraudulent "sweepstakes" scheme designed to steal a total of $300 million U.S. The alleged fraudsters were able to defraud their victims of a total of $900,000 U.S.
A federal grand jury indictment, returned in September 2018, charges the man with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Each count upon conviction calls for up to 20 years in federal prison.
According to the indictment, the defendants carried out their sweepstakes scheme from 2012 to 2016.
Elderly victims targeted
The man allegedly purchased lists of elderly potential victims and their addresses from an email service provider. He and other conspirators based in the Toronto area, sent packages containing fraudulent sweepstakes information to conspirators living in the U.S.
The packages contained thousands of mailers, which the U.S.-based conspirators sent to victims notifying them that they had won a sweepstakes contest.
Each mailer included a fraudulent cheque issued in the name of the victim, usually in the amount of $8,000, and a pre-addressed envelope.
Victims were instructed to deposit the cheque into their bank account, immediately withdraw between $5,000 and $7,000 dollars in cash or money orders and send the money to a "sweepstakes representative" to facilitate the victim collecting his or her prize.
By the time the victim was notified by the bank that the deposited cheque was fraudulent, the cash or money order had been sent by the victim and received by alleged conspirators.
The man, who remains in federal custody pending his initial appearance in Austin, Texas Friday afternoon, is one of eight defendants charged in connection with this scheme.
Despite the fact that the man was living in Canada, U.S. special agents were able to track him down — something they attribute to their strong relationships with international law enforcement agencies.
CBC
Related stories: Police rescues American lady locked in Lagos hotel after fake marriage, arrests Nigerian
The Hushpuppis And Nigeria’s Image
American investigators allege the 50-year-old man was part of a conspiracy to run a fraudulent "sweepstakes" scheme designed to steal a total of $300 million U.S. The alleged fraudsters were able to defraud their victims of a total of $900,000 U.S.
A federal grand jury indictment, returned in September 2018, charges the man with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Each count upon conviction calls for up to 20 years in federal prison.
According to the indictment, the defendants carried out their sweepstakes scheme from 2012 to 2016.
Elderly victims targeted
The man allegedly purchased lists of elderly potential victims and their addresses from an email service provider. He and other conspirators based in the Toronto area, sent packages containing fraudulent sweepstakes information to conspirators living in the U.S.
The packages contained thousands of mailers, which the U.S.-based conspirators sent to victims notifying them that they had won a sweepstakes contest.
Each mailer included a fraudulent cheque issued in the name of the victim, usually in the amount of $8,000, and a pre-addressed envelope.
Victims were instructed to deposit the cheque into their bank account, immediately withdraw between $5,000 and $7,000 dollars in cash or money orders and send the money to a "sweepstakes representative" to facilitate the victim collecting his or her prize.
By the time the victim was notified by the bank that the deposited cheque was fraudulent, the cash or money order had been sent by the victim and received by alleged conspirators.
The man, who remains in federal custody pending his initial appearance in Austin, Texas Friday afternoon, is one of eight defendants charged in connection with this scheme.
Despite the fact that the man was living in Canada, U.S. special agents were able to track him down — something they attribute to their strong relationships with international law enforcement agencies.
CBC
Related stories: Police rescues American lady locked in Lagos hotel after fake marriage, arrests Nigerian
The Hushpuppis And Nigeria’s Image
Thursday, August 20, 2020
Nigeria's wet markets thrive despite coronavirus pandemic
A vendor descales an endangered pangolin with a machete. Nearby, grasscutter rodents are skinned. Most of the sellers wear masks.
Experts say COVID-19, which has killed around 1,000 people in Nigeria, jumped from animals to humans, possibly at a wet market in China. But few in Epe were worried.
"We are not afraid of it because the coronavirus is not inside the meat," said vendor Kunle Yusaf. "We do eat the meat, even during this coronavirus, and we do not have any disease."
University of Cambridge epidemiologist Dr Olivier Restif called for more education around safe animal trade and hygiene.
"We're very concerned with the risk that it poses," he said of markets where live animals are kept in close quarters. But he warned that simply banning markets could alienate people and drive trade underground.
The WWF International wildlife charity said the pandemic "should be a wake-up call." But the booming trade at Epe illustrated unchanged attitudes despite the nearly 800,000 killed worldwide by the virus.
Nigeria is also a hub for illegal wildlife trade to Asia.
Nigeria's National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) did not respond to requests for comment.
The WWF said the economic strain of the pandemic has sapped conservation budgets in many countries.
Chinedu Mogbo, founder of Green Fingers Wildlife Conservation Initiative, a wildlife sanctuary near Epe, hopes to encourage Nigerians to cut bushmeat consumption and avoid animal-based traditional medicine, which can fuel the unhygienic animal handling that can aid virus transmission.
"I believe they will appreciate them more, coming up close to see them," Mogbo said.
By Angela Ukomadu and Libby George
The Chronicle Herald
Armed fighters take hundreds hostage in Nigeria's Borno state
Armed fighters have taken hundreds of hostages in a northeast Nigerian town where residents had only just returned after fleeing their homes, residents and militia sources said on Wednesday.
The Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) group, a splinter group of Boko Haram, overran the town of Kukawa in Borno state late on Tuesday, the sources told the AFP news agency.
They seized residents who had returned to the town in a government operation on August 2, after spending nearly two years in displacement camps, said Babakura Kolo, head of a local militia.
"The terrorists attacked the town in 22 trucks around 4:00 pm (16:00 GMT) yesterday and engaged soldiers guarding the town in a fierce battle," he said.
Kukawa's residents had returned to their homes just 16 days earlier under military escort, on the orders of the Borno state authorities.
They had been living in camps in the regional capital Maiduguri, 180km (120 miles) away, where they fled following a bloody attack in November 2018.
A town chief who accompanied the residents to the town said the people had returned with the hope of cultivating their farmlands "only to end up in the hands of the insurgents".
"We don't know what they would do to them but I hope they don't harm them," said the chief, who asked not to be identified for safety reasons.
Squalid refugee camps
A security source who confirmed the incident to AFP said fighter jets were deployed from Maiduguri on Wednesday to "tackle the situation", but did not give further details.
The decade-long conflict in northeastern Nigeria has forced more than two million people out of their homes, most of them from the northern part of Borno.
Many have moved into squalid displacement camps in Maiduguri, where they rely on handouts from international charities.
In the last two years, local authorities have been encouraging the displaced to return home, despite concern by international charities that this is not safe.
Residents have been returned to five major towns since 2018, where they are confined under military protection, with trenches dug around to try to fend off attacks.
Despite the fortifications, the armed fighters have continued to launch attacks.
Since 2009, Boko Haram has been carrying out attacks in Nigeria and neighbouring countries in the Lake Chad region, with no signs of slowing down despite counterattacks by a joint multinational force across borders.
Boko Haram has been responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of people and the abduction of thousands of others, including hundreds of schoolgirls from Chibok in 2014.
In 2015, Boko Haram split, giving way to the formation of ISWAP, which has pledged allegiance to the ISIL (ISIS) group.
Since then, ISWAP has also gone on a spree of violence, attacking government forces and carrying out abductions and extortions.
The key strongholds of the armed groups are located in southern and southwestern regions of Lake Chad, the confluence of the borders of four African states - Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
Al Jazeera
The Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) group, a splinter group of Boko Haram, overran the town of Kukawa in Borno state late on Tuesday, the sources told the AFP news agency.
They seized residents who had returned to the town in a government operation on August 2, after spending nearly two years in displacement camps, said Babakura Kolo, head of a local militia.
"The terrorists attacked the town in 22 trucks around 4:00 pm (16:00 GMT) yesterday and engaged soldiers guarding the town in a fierce battle," he said.
Kukawa's residents had returned to their homes just 16 days earlier under military escort, on the orders of the Borno state authorities.
They had been living in camps in the regional capital Maiduguri, 180km (120 miles) away, where they fled following a bloody attack in November 2018.
A town chief who accompanied the residents to the town said the people had returned with the hope of cultivating their farmlands "only to end up in the hands of the insurgents".
"We don't know what they would do to them but I hope they don't harm them," said the chief, who asked not to be identified for safety reasons.
Squalid refugee camps
A security source who confirmed the incident to AFP said fighter jets were deployed from Maiduguri on Wednesday to "tackle the situation", but did not give further details.
The decade-long conflict in northeastern Nigeria has forced more than two million people out of their homes, most of them from the northern part of Borno.
Many have moved into squalid displacement camps in Maiduguri, where they rely on handouts from international charities.
In the last two years, local authorities have been encouraging the displaced to return home, despite concern by international charities that this is not safe.
Residents have been returned to five major towns since 2018, where they are confined under military protection, with trenches dug around to try to fend off attacks.
Despite the fortifications, the armed fighters have continued to launch attacks.
Since 2009, Boko Haram has been carrying out attacks in Nigeria and neighbouring countries in the Lake Chad region, with no signs of slowing down despite counterattacks by a joint multinational force across borders.
Boko Haram has been responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of people and the abduction of thousands of others, including hundreds of schoolgirls from Chibok in 2014.
In 2015, Boko Haram split, giving way to the formation of ISWAP, which has pledged allegiance to the ISIL (ISIS) group.
Since then, ISWAP has also gone on a spree of violence, attacking government forces and carrying out abductions and extortions.
The key strongholds of the armed groups are located in southern and southwestern regions of Lake Chad, the confluence of the borders of four African states - Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
Al Jazeera
Wednesday, August 19, 2020
Nigeria gets first electric motorcycles
The motorcycles were launched in Ogun State to ease transportation and boost economic activities in the state.
Chief Executive Officer, MAX.ng, Adetayo Bamiduro said the introduction of the electric motorcycles was in line with the firm’s commitment to make mobility safe, affordable and sustainable.
He said MAX.ng’s electric motorcycles had been in the works for over two years, culminating in a successful pilot after which improved models of the motorcycles were deployed.
According to him, MAX.ng is in partnership with Rubitec Nigeria Limited, a renewable energy company, to provide charging stations for the motorcycles.
He explained that the electric motorcycles use a battery-swap model that allows riders replace their depleted batteries with fully charged ones with the process taking less than five minutes, thus eliminating the wait-time for fueling traditional combustion engine motorcycles.
He noted that although in partnership with Asian and European partners, including Yamaha and Breakthrough Africa, the MAX M1 is an indigenous electric motorcycle, the first in the country.
Chief Executive Officer, Rubitec Nigeria Limited, Mr. Bolade Soremekun said MAX.ng has consistently shown that it is a company that takes its social responsibility seriously, in line with Rubitec’s desire to improve the standards of living of people in its communities and beyond.
“I am thrilled that this is happening here in Nigeria, especially considering the epileptic nature of power supply. It just shows that with innovation, we can overcome almost any challenge,” Soremekun said.
Baale of Gbamu-Gbamu community, Chief Kehinde Adekunle, expressed appreciation on behalf of the community.
He said Gbamu-Gbamu was a trading community, but the market people had always had issues transporting their goods to major markets due to the high cost of transportation.
He noted that the MAX electric motorcycles would enable the traders to move their goods faster and at a reduced cost which would allow them to make more profit.
Co-founder and Chief Growth Officer, MAX.ng, Mr Chinedu Azodoh said the key advantages of electric motorcycles are beyond cost implications.
“They are more durable and cost-effective when compared to combustion-engine motorcycles and are therefore easier to maintain. Electric motorcycles are also eco-friendly and MAX.ng’s motorcycles have the added prestige of being manufactured in Nigeria for Nigerians,” Azodoh said.
He said MAX.ng is working with different partners to roll out electric vehicles into the Nigerian market and with the successful launch and deployment of the MAX Series M1, the company intends to mass-produce the vehicles with a target of reaching thousands over the next one year period.
The Nation
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