The government of President Muhammadu Buhari has donated $1 million to Afghanistan.

Secretary-General of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Hissein Brahim Taha, disclosed this in a statement.

Commending the Nigerian government, Taha said OIC remains committed to supporting Afghanistan.

“The Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Hissein Brahim Taha has commended with appreciation the generous donation of one million dollars made by the Republic of Nigeria to the Humanitarian Trust Fund for Afghanistan.”

“This donation comes in time to add a new momentum to OIC’s efforts to contribute to easing the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and to help in catering for the needs of millions of Afghan people, including women and children.

“OIC remains committed to the noble cause of supporting the Afghan people and will spare no effort in implementing to the full the special resolution on Afghanistan issued by the last extraordinary session of the Council of Foreign Ministers held in December 2021 in Islamabad, Republic of Pakistan.

“The OIC appeals to all Member States, stakeholders and partners to come on board and make contributions to the humanitarian trust fund for Afghanistan through the bank account reserved for this fund within the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB).”

Afghanistan was plunged into crisis after The Taliban took control following the withdrawal of American troops in August.

The country currently faces hardship under the oppressive regime of The Taliban.

Daily Trust

Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, has explained reasons behind the recent poor power supply, citing hydro capacity during dry season and maintenance work at gas plants.

Since February, most parts of the country have been experiencing poor power supply — worse than it used to be.

The minister at a press briefing Thursday in Abuja said the outage experienced around the country is being addressed through three approaches.

“I would like to discuss the increased load shedding you may have observed in Abuja and other areas in the country. With the reduction in hydro capacity during the dry season, additional load needs to be taken up by our gas plants,” he said.

“We are having maintenance work in the Eastern Axis around Odukpani leading to reduced power supply from the usually reliable NDPHC Calabar Power Plant and we are having challenges at Okoloma Gas Station linked to Afam VI power plant.

“We are working with NNPC and other gas suppliers also to improve the pressure on the Western Axis that is precluding units from reaching optimum supply.”

In addressing the challenges, the minister said the government is working on more gas supply contracts for the power sector backed by improved funding. He said the contracts will have stiff financial penalties for underperformance.

He also said there will be an increased energy mix to improve energy security.

“We will complete the Zungeru Hydro plant, the Katsina Wind plant, Kashimbila Hydro as well as ensure the challenges with Gurara are permanently resolved (partnering with the Ministry of Water). We are also working to resolve issues that have prevented large on-grid solar from taking off in Nigeria.

“We are re-tooling the system operator for improved dispatch optimization based on technologies and improved maintenance schedule alignments across generators.

“The challenges have been identified and we have short term solutions as well as long term solutions,” he said.

PT

Russian forces pressed their attack on a crucial energy-producing Ukrainian city by shelling Europe’s largest nuclear plant early Friday, sparking a fire and raising fears that radiation could leak from the damaged power station.

The assault on the eastern city of Enerhodar and its Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant came as the invasion entered its second week with Russian forces gaining ground in their bid to cut off the country from the sea. Elsewhere, another round of talks between the two sides yielded a tentative agreement to set up safe corridors inside Ukraine to evacuate citizens and deliver humanitarian aid.

Nuclear plant spokesman Andriy Tuz told Ukrainian television that shells were falling directly on the facility and had set fire to one of its six reactors. That reactor is under renovation and not operating, but there is nuclear fuel inside, he said.

Firefighters cannot get near the flames because they are being shot at, he said, and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted a plea to the Russians to stop the assault and allow fire teams inside.

“We demand that they stop the heavy weapons fire,” Tuz said in a video statement. “There is a real threat of nuclear danger in the biggest atomic energy station in Europe.”

The attack renewed fears that the invasion could result in damage to one of Ukraine’s 15 nuclear reactors and trigger another emergency like the 1986 Chernobyl accident, the world’s worst nuclear disaster, which happened about 110 kilometers (65 miles) north of the capital.

The American Nuclear Society condemned the attack but said the latest radiation levels remained within natural background levels.

“The real threat to Ukrainian lives continues to be the violent invasion and bombing of their country,” the group said in a statement from President Steven Nesbit and Executive Director and CEO Craig Piercy.

The plant’s reactor is a different type than the one used at Chernobyl, and there should be little risk if the containment vessel is not damaged and outside power can be restored, said Jon B. Wolfsthal, a former senior director for arms control and nonproliferation at the National Security Council and former special adviser to then-Vice President Joe Biden.

“Everyone needs to take a step back and not jump to conclusions,” Wolfsthal, now a senior adviser at Global Zero, said on Twitter.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said it was in contact with authorities in Ukraine. The agency’s director general, Mariano Grossi, urged military forces to refrain from violence near the plant.

The mayor of Enerhodar said earlier that Ukrainian forces were battling Russian troops on the city’s outskirts. Video showed flames and black smoke rising above the city of more than 50,000, with people streaming past wrecked cars, just a day after the U.N. atomic watchdog agency expressed grave concern that the fighting could cause accidental damage to Ukraine’s 15 nuclear reactors.

The Ukrainian state atomic energy company reported that a Russian military column was heading toward the nuclear plant. Loud shots and rocket fire were heard late Thursday.

“Many young men in athletic clothes and armed with Kalashnikovs have come into the city. They are breaking down doors and trying to get into the apartments of local residents,” the statement from Energoatom said.

Later, a live streamed security camera linked from the homepage of the Zaporizhzhia plant showed what appeared to be armored vehicles rolling into the facility’s parking lot and shining spotlights on the building where the camera was mounted.

There were then what appeared to be bright muzzle flashes from vehicles, followed by nearly simultaneous explosions in the surrounding buildings. Smoke then rose into the frame and drifted away.

While the huge Russian armored column threatening Kyiv appeared bogged down outside the capital, Vladimir Putin’s forces have brought their superior firepower to bear over the past few days, launching hundreds of missiles and artillery attacks on cities and other sites around the country and making significant gains in the south.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal called on the West to close the skies over the country’s nuclear plants as fighting intensified. “It is a question of the security of the whole world!” he said in a statement.

The U.S. and NATO allies have ruled out creating a no-fly zone since the move would pit Russian and Western military forces against each other.

The Russians announced the capture of the southern city of Kherson, a vital Black Sea port of 280,000, and local Ukrainian officials confirmed the takeover of the government headquarters there, making it the first major city to fall since the invasion began a week ago.

Heavy fighting continued on the outskirts of another strategic port, Mariupol, on the Azov Sea. The battles have knocked out the city’s electricity, heat and water systems, as well as most phone service, officials said. Food deliveries to the city were also cut.

Associated Press video from the port city shows the assault lighting up the darkening sky above largely deserted streets and medical teams treating civilians, including one inside a clinic who appeared to be a child. Doctors were unable to save the person.

Severing Ukraine’s access to the Black and Azov seas would deal a crippling blow to its economy and allow Russia to build a land corridor to Crimea, seized by Moscow in 2014.

Overall, the outnumbered, outgunned Ukrainians have put up stiff resistance, staving off the swift victory that Russia appeared to have expected. But a senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russia’s seizure of Crimea gave it a logistical advantage in that part of the country, with shorter supply lines that smoothed the offensive there.

Ukrainian leaders called on the people to defend their homeland by cutting down trees, erecting barricades in the cities and attacking enemy columns from the rear. In recent days, authorities have issued weapons to civilians and taught them how to make Molotov cocktails.

“Total resistance. ... This is our Ukrainian trump card, and this is what we can do best in the world,” Oleksiy Arestovich, an aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said in a video message, recalling guerrilla actions in Nazi-occupied Ukraine during World War II.

The second round of talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations was held in neighboring Belarus. But the two sides appeared far apart going into the meeting, and Putin warned Ukraine that it must quickly accept the Kremlin’s demand for its “demilitarization” and declare itself neutral, renouncing its bid to join NATO.

Putin told French President Emmanuel Macron he was determined to press on with his attack “until the end,” according to Macron’s office.

The two sides said that they tentatively agreed to allow cease-fires in areas designated safe corridors, and that they would seek to work out the necessary details quickly. A Zelenskyy adviser also said a third round of talks will be held early next week.

Despite a profusion of evidence of civilian casualties and destruction of property by the Russian military, Putin decried what he called an “anti-Russian disinformation campaign” and insisted that Moscow uses “only precision weapons to exclusively destroy military infrastructure.”

Putin claimed that the Russian military had already offered safe corridors for civilians to flee, but he asserted without evidence that Ukrainian “neo-Nazis” were preventing people from leaving and were using them as human shields.

He also hailed Russian soldiers as heroes in a video call with members of Russia’s Security Council, and ordered additional payments to families of men killed or wounded.

A top Russian officer, Maj. Gen. Andrei Sukhovetsky, commander of an airborne division, was killed in the fighting earlier this week, an officers organization in Russia reported.

The Pentagon set up a direct communication link to Russia’s Ministry of Defense earlier this week to avoid the possibility of a miscalculation sparking conflict between Moscow and Washington, according to a U.S. defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the link had not been announced.

The fighting has sent more than 1 million people fleeing Ukraine, according to the U.N., which fears those refugee numbers could skyrocket.

The immense Russian column of hundreds of tanks and other vehicles still appeared to be stalled roughly 25 kilometers (16 miles) from Kyiv and had made no real progress in days, amid fuel and food shortages, according to U.S. authorities.

AP

"Sir, I want to walk away from my marriage now before something tragic happens. I had wanted to quit February 2021 but people mounted pressure on me to stay back. They said I should try and pray more saying the situation was not beyond remedy. I agreed not because I hope that anything positive would ensue but just to satisfy those who intervened. More so I didn’t want to portray myself as being rigid or as having a hidden plan for my action. Now it is one year after but the situation has rather gone from bad to worse. Because of that, I stopped having sexual intimacy with him for months till date. It's getting to a dangerous level that hearing his voice usually stoke hatred and bitterness in me. He, too, told me last week that he's feeling like harming me. My life is no longer safe with him in the house. I'm emotionally disconnected from him. Touching me is so hurting and irritating that it wells up anger within me. I think it is better we go our separate ways before the unthinkable happens!"

That was a caller's complaint to me last weekend. Since the beginning of this year, I have weighed in on a number of emotionally disconnected cases. Before a marital conflict could degenerate to physical separation, emotional divorce must have taken place. To stay together in a relationship, people must get emotionally connected. Some people call it "body chemistry." Nobody can live or share stuff with someone they feel repulsive about their presence. It takes emotional stimulation and psychological appeal to feel attracted and attached to a partner. These are parts of natural indicators of compatibility. Emotional and communication walls are the first to break down in a relationship before a separation or divorce can take place. These are the pivots on which every purposeful and sustainable relationship revolves.

Higher percentage of troubled marriages are already in emotional divorce. Several of them are struggling with fitful communication issues. Reasons for these are as many as one can deduce based on experiences and the reality of situations. Disputing couples can share the same bed for months and years without body contact or sexual intimacy. That's the zenith of emotional disconnect. If the situation is not addressed in good time, malice, rejection and deep-seated animosity would ensue.

Emotional divorce often precedes a legal divorce. It is a psychological mechanism some spouses use to separate their emotions from the marriage when they feel the relationship has become a threat to their well-being. It is a marital relationship in which the partners live separate lives, with an absence of normal interaction between them. If a partner has decided to go for divorce, they will first attain emotional distancing; as convenient this may seem, it is usually a traumatic experience. Going through an emotional divorce means you're distancing yourself emotionally from your partner. For some spouses, this happens before the divorce. For others, it doesn’t happen until after the divorce process.

According to Virginia Williamson, an American licensed marriage and family therapist, "An emotional divorce is just as it sounds," essentially emotionally exiting the marriage. During an emotional divorce, a spouse divests from trying to work on or repair the marriage and typically moves through the stages of grief in an effort to let the marriage and their partner go."

In practical terms, most divorce cases are one-sided. It is in rare cases will a couple mutually arrive at a decision to divorce. Usually, it is the spouse who has already separated themselves emotionally from the marriage that requests for a divorce. Already, the spouse that has gone through an "emotional divorce" now plans to be legally divorced from their spouse. And while divorce is certainly difficult on both sides, the partner who has gone through emotional divorce before taking seeking a legal divorce may find the process easier than the partner who is feeling rejected and shocked by the development.

Some spouses struggle for years with feelings of emotional distance before they realize that divorce is the solution. These spouses are commonly referred to as a “walk-away spouse.” A walk-away spouse may become emotionally detached for a variety of reasons. Emotionally divorcing a spouse helps the person maintain a sense of psychological integrity if faced with what they feel is an emotionally demanding situation. The spouse who is left to deal with their emotions after the legal divorce is commonly referred to as the “left-behind spouse.”

In a post on ‘emotional divorce' during the week, a United States based counsellor, singer and gospel minister, Olubukola Adediran aka Sister Bukky, stated that "A lot of couples are emotionally divorced. This is a dangerous situation. One spouse has emotionally moved on while the other is suffering or still thinking, hoping and praying that things will change for the better. Husband and wife have moved on; they are both emotionally detached and disconnected from each other in the marriage. In fact, they live like flat mates. They engage each other only when things they own in common need attention or they have decisions to make regarding shared bills or facilities.

"God created the beautiful institution of marriage but from the inception, it is a known fact that it is not devoid of problems. The very first union that produced you and I had problems. People often concern themselves with physical separation via formal divorce processes, but many more people are emotionally divorced, psychologically detached and mentally disconnected from one another. No feelings, no affection, no urges for sexual intimacy, no unity of purpose, no mutual understanding or agreements, and nothing in their union that typifies oneness in marriage. It is strictly business because there are financial obligations involved in running the home as well as care for the children.

"Who are we deceiving? Couples like these are merely pretending as they consciously race on the slippery ground until the inevitable happens. Are relationships like this redeemable? YES, to some and NO, to some. It all depends on individual situation. The only people who determine redeemability are those involved, and most importantly - what God is saying or what He has said concerning the situation.

"Society is often a very big problem. Religion without commonsense and knowledge, spirituality without insight or direction are serious problems. External interests, not considering the interests of the people involved in distressed marriages, are also part of the problems we have - 'what will people say!' This post does not oppose divorce and neither does it promote divorce. It strongly suggests that knowing what the problem is, you should deal with it appropriately. We should note that a good marriage is not one without problems! Marriage takes a lot of work. Forgiveness plays a great role. So, a right marriage may still have issues. Yes, serious issues at that. In turbulent marriages, some of God’s children have gone home untimely, families have lost sons and daughters unduly and prematurely, too. Individuals have lost direction and are struggling to get a life in life and find a path to rediscover and understand themselves.

"Don’t overhype your problem, it may be dangerous. Calm down! Your situation may still be redeemable. Don’t underhype your problem either. See it as it is. Face it or face out! Get help! Seek the face of God. Be real! Know what you want and do what’s best in your situation. Be bold! Be strong! You deserve to live and be who you were destined to be. You are important! Yes! You're!"

Quote:

“Emotional and communication walls are the first to break down in a relationship before a separation or divorce can take place. These are the pivots on which every purposeful and sustainable relationship revolves.”

• West wrote via

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08035304268

08059964446

..confirms death of 2 doctors, 1 hospital staff

The Oyo State Ministry of Health on Thursday, confirmed the death of two doctors and another hospital staff as a result of contracting Lassa fever.

The Commissioner for Health in the state, Dr. Bode Ladipo, disclosed this in his office, while recalling the intensified efforts of the state government towards curtailing the spread of the outbreak of Lassa fever since the first case was discovered in the state in January, 2022.

He stated that the medical practitioners numbering about four were admitted into a private health facility earlier this week but the deaths of the three occured afterwards.

Dr Ladipo noted that surveillance activities have been heightened at the grassroots across the state, adding that access to care has also been provided for individuals at risk of the disease.

In his words the commissioner said: “The state ministry of health wishes to address the causes of death of health workers in the state from Lassa fever. Four health workers from a private health facility were admitted into the treatment centre in the early days of the week.”

“Upon diagnostic investigations, all four were confirmed positive for Lassa fever. Unfortunately, three of them consisting of two doctors another hospital staff died despite all efforts at caring for them by experts.”

“Nineteen confirmed cases and four deaths have been recorded so far. Surveillance activities have been heightened at the grassroots across the state. Resources have also been deployed to designated health facilities to forestall the spread of this disease across the state.

The health commissioner, however, requested prompt medical attention on anybody detected with symptoms of Lassa fever including fever, sore throat, vomiting, generalised body weakness and any other chronic health condition, while admonishing health workers to confirm with the universal safety precautions in the line of their duties.

He was also of the view that qualitative health care requires joint responsibility of all for safety and purpose.

“The public is also admonished to remain calm while ensuring adherence to strict preventive measures.”

“We implore all health facilities across the state to maintain a high index of suspicion and report all suspected cases to the LGAs or state health authorities,” he urged.

The Lagos State Police Command has released Nigerian singer and songwriter, popularly known as Timaya hours after he was arrested.  

The Popular musician was arrested on Thursday in Lagos over alleged hit-and-run in Lekki by operatives of the Maroko Police Division and is being investigated for allegedly causing grievous body injuries to a woman.

Timaya was alleged to have hit a young woman on Wednesday with his vehicle at Ikate, Lekki, and abandoned her to her fate.

It was alleged that the singer had hit the woman’s vehicle and when she came out to confront him, he knocked her with his vehicle and drove off.

The victim’s sister, who took to social media to decry what the singer did to her sister, shared pictures of the victim on her hospital bed with facial injuries. The woman also shared a screenshot of her messages to Timaya on the incident and alleged that instead of addressing the issue, the singer blocked her.

The revelation sparked anger from social media users who told the singer to act responsibly.

They also urged the police to intervene and arrest the musician since it was a crime.

Reacting to the development, police operatives went to the singer’s residence and invited him to the station to answer allegations of causing a serious motor accident.

Confirming his arrest, spokesman, CSP Adekunle Ajisebutu said the singer was in custody but not detained.

He said: “He is being investigated for a case of a serious motor accident. He is not detained but in our custody.”

Meanwhile, Timaya in reaction explained that "he did not hit the lady and run away as being accused. He said he mistakenly hit her car and she grabbed the side mirror, which led her to fall and injuries".

The singer added that "he is back in his house after he was released and he is ready to pay for the medical bills and damages done to the lady’s car".

A member of the singer’s team, Tobi Olushola, also explained that he was in the vehicle when the accident happened.

Narrating his version of events, he said, “We were in traffic on Ikate road. I think we scratched her car but we were unaware. We just saw her holding on to the vehicle’s side mirror.

“Timaya asked her what the problem was and she said we scratched her vehicle with ours. Timaya then asked for her phone number and her bank account details.

“But, she refused and asked him to transfer money right there. Bear in mind that we were in traffic and we did not want to delay other road users.

“Meanwhile, at that time, there were already about four men with her. We pleaded with her to let us leave the road and settle the matter amicably but she refused.

“After trying to convince her to send her relevant details to no avail, we started moving.

“However, she held onto the side mirror of the vehicle and in the process, she fell down and got injured.

The prices of many crudes,  yesterday, surged toward $120 per barrel on the decisions of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC.

This came as many buyers decided to shun Russian crudes, amid concerns about supply disruptions.

Specifically, the prices of Bonny Light, Brent, WTI, rose to $107, $111 and $109 per barrel, from $98, $104 and $108 per barrel respectively, yesterday.

In a statement, OPEC said at the end of its 26th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting, that: “Following the conclusion of the 26th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting, held via videoconference on March 2, 2022, and based on internal consultation held exclusively by the OPEC and participating non-OPEC oil-producing countries in the Declaration of Cooperation of (DoC), it was noted that current oil market fundamentals and the consensus on its outlook pointed to a well-balanced market, and that current volatility is not caused by changes in market fundamentals but by current geopolitical developments.

“The OPEC and participating non-OPEC oil-producing countries decided to reaffirm the decision of the 10th Ministerial Meeting on April 10, 2020, and further endorsed in subsequent meetings including the 19th Ministerial Meeting on July 18, 2021.

“Reconfirm the production adjustment plan and the monthly production adjustment mechanism approved at the 19th Ministerial Meeting and the decision to adjust upward the monthly overall production by 0.4 mb/d for the month of April 2022, as per the attached schedule.

“Reiterate the critical importance of adhering to full conformity and to the compensation mechanism taking advantage of the extension of the compensation period until the end of June 2022. Compensation plans should be submitted in accordance with the statement of the 15th Ministerial Meeting.

“Hold the 27th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting on March 31, 2022.”

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, had, said the increase in prices of crude oil is not in the best interest of Nigeria.

Vanguard

The Federal Government on Thursday approved the request by the United States of America, for suspended Commander of the Police Intelligence Response Team, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Abba Kyari, to be extradited over the $1.1million wire fraud perpetrated by Abass Ramon aka Hushpuppi and 4 others

Government’s approval was made known by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) when he filed an application before the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja for Kyari’s extradition.

The application marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/249/2022 was filed under the Extradition Act.

The AGF said the application followed a request by the Diplomatic Representative of the U.S. Embassy in Abuja. The request is “for the surrender of Abba Alhaji Kyari, who is a subject in a superseding three counts indictment”

The AGF said he was satisfied that the offence in respect of which Kyari’s surrender is not political nor is it trivial.

The AGF also expressed satisfaction that the request for the surrender of Kyari was not made to persecute or punish him on account of his race, religion, nationality or political opinions but in good faith and the interest of justice.

He said Kyari, “if surrendered, will not be prejudiced at his trial and will not be punished, detained or restricted in his personal liberty, by reason of his race, nationality or political opinions”.

The AGF said having regard to all the circumstances in which the offence was committed, it will not be unjust or oppressive, or be too severe a punishment, to surrender him.

Malami said he was also satisfied that Kyari has been accused of the offence for which his surrender is sought.

He noted that there was no criminal proceeding pending against Kyari in Nigeria for the same offence.

Recall that in April 2021, a jury filed an indictment against Kyari with the approval of the U.S. District Court and demanded Kyari stand trial for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering and identity theft.

Consequently, the US Embassy requested for Kyari’s extradition saying, “On April 29, 2021, based on the indictment filed by the grand jury and with the approval of the United States District Court for the Central District of California, a deputy clerk of the court issued a warrant of arrest for Kyari.

“The arrest warrant remains valid and executable to apprehend Kyari for the crimes with which he is charged in the indictment.

“Kyari is wanted to stand trial in the United States for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, and identity theft.

“Kyari is the subject of an indictment in case Number 2:21-cr-00203 (also referred to as 2:21-MJ-00760 and 2:21-CR-00203-RGK), filed April 29, 2021, in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.”

Kyari was accused of conspiring with a United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based Nigerian, Ramon Abbas, aka Hushpuppi to commit the crime.

The charges against Kyari reads, “Count one: Conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349, carrying a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years;

“Count two: Conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code Section 1956(h), carrying a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.

“Count three: Aggravated identity theft, and aiding and abetting that offence, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1028A(a)(1) and 2(a), carrying a maximum term of imprisonment of two years.

Vanguard

The police officer who was seen in a viral video carrying a female VIP's food tray at an event in Ilorin, Kwara state's capital, has been asked to report at the police headquarters, Abuja

The Force Headquarters which warned its operatives attached to Very Important Persons all over the country to stop serving purposes other than protecting prominent individuals from security threats said on that the viral video is being probed. 

Acting Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi said the police officer has been identified and summoned to Abuja.

Adejobi who refused to provide the name of the police officer said; “He (the policeman) has been identified. He is coming to Abuja to meet us. We’ll ask question from him and take necessary action. We need to discourage such a thing because it is embarrassing the image of the Force and we can’t continue to be experiencing that kind of a thing because it is highly unprofessional.”

President Muhammad Buhari has approved the sum of $8.5 million for immediate evacuation of about 5,000 Nigerians that flee the Russia, Ukrainian war to  Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia.

The Nigeria's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Zubairu Dada, disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the virtual Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting presided over by Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The Minister, who was flanked by her counterpart, the Minister of Humanitarian, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouk, said the approval came after a joint memo presented by both the ministries of foreign affairs and Humanitarian affairs, disaster management and social development at the council meeting.

Dada said that Air Peace and Max Air airlines have been contracted to provide three aircrafts and run as many shifts as possible to facilitate the evacuation, adding that those to be evacuated include 940 from Romania, 150 from Slovakia and 350 from Poland who have registered for evacuation.

Speaking on the amount approved, Dada said, “The ministry of humanitarian affairs wrote a memo to the president seeking for funding to enable us conduct this exercise. The memo was in the tune of $8.5 million which Mr. President has graciously approved. That provision entails arrangement to evacuate not less than 5,000 Nigerians . 

“Whatever happens you can be rest assured we are going to run any number of shifts that it will involved. Don’t forget it will also involve taking care of those Nigerians that may decide not to come back. It also include some assistance for the feeding that may have been done by the missions under whatever arrangements. Even the missions themselves are also in dire situations. So it’s a whole gambit of activities that are involved.”

Asked if the amount will be released immediately for the exercise, the Minister said: “That is why the evacuation flights will begin today (Wednesday).”

On  students trapped in Ukrainian cities now in the hands of Russians, Dada said: “we want to believe the Russian armed forces will obey the rules of engagement. They know  the rules about civilians that are caught up  in situations such as this. We want to assume they will respect international laws and ensure that no harm comes to them.

“Don’t forget that even our missions in Ukraine has had to be evacuated. So if for any reason any Nigerian is left behind, we are very very prayerful, we are very hopeful that no harm shall come to them once of course they are in some shelters or whatever place they are hiding.

“Don’t forget we had also summoned both the Russian and Ukrainian ambassadors to our ministry, and we did emphasis the need for their troops to ensure that they do not do anything that will harm the lives of innocent citizens.

“We have seen video clips making the rounds about the alleged treatment that had been meted  out to black people who were on queues and in buses and all that. All these we have brought to the attention of the ambassadors and we have expressed our displeasure at this development and demanded that they do something about this.”