CCB charges FCTA officials to support fight against corruption

By Stanley Onyekwere

In order to ensure entrenchment of good governance, the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), has admonished officials of Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to support the fight against corruption at all levels.

The charge was handed down by Chairman of the Bureau, Prof. Isa Mohammed, yesterday, during a workshop it organised in conjunction with FCTA for political office holders in Abuja.

Mohammed, represented by Bulus Zaphania, particularly informed the participants that they are expected to comply with the Code of Conduct for Public Officers as prescribed in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and other laws related thereto.

He noted that the programme would guide political office holders on compliance with Code of Conduct in line with the National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS).

He adds: “We employ The Area Council Chairmen to take queue from the FCTA administration that has put up this workshop, and replicate same at your various Area Councils so as to ensure 100% Compliance from all your staff.

“The participants are requested to put public interest above every other interest while carrying out their duties”.

Furthermore, the CCB boss told the officials that the Bureau will soon launch an online Assets declaration portal, which the pilot scheme will start with its staff.

While delivering his remarks, the FCT Permanent Secretary, Adesola Olusade, said the workshop would help to build the capacity and knowledge of the workforce to strengthen fight against corruption.

Accorfing to him, “The workshop will help build the capacity and knowledge of FCTA officials in compliance with the Code of Conduct, which will also strengthen the fight against corruption in the system”.

One of the participants, and Senior Special

Assistant on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement to the Minister of FCT, Comrade Ikharo Attah, said public office holders should be guided by the code of conduct.

“ The workshop is what we have to take serious, because most a times public officers don’t understand that they are holding a public trust, every public office holder should be guided by the code of conduct. You don’t put your interest above the collective interest of the people.

“We must stand to do the things that are for good of the people, not only for your children and your family. What is expected of public office holders is to have high standard of conduct”, he stressed.

Turkey earthquake: Erdogan announces threemonth state of emergency in quake area

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced a three-month state of emergency in 10 provinces worstaffected by an earthquake that has killed thousands.

Mr Erdogan said that the death toll in Turkey has risen to 3,549 people.

More than 1,600 people are reported to have died in Syria.

In a televised address, Mr Erdogan said the state of emergency is to ensure that rescue work can be “carried out quickly” in the country’s south-east.

He said the measures would allow relief workers and financial aid into the affected regions, but did not give further details.

The state of emergency will end just before elections on 14 May, when Mr Erdogan will attempt to stay in power after 20 years.

Turkey last imposed a state of emergency in 2016 after a failed coup attempt. It was lifted two years later.

Rescuers in Turkey are battling heavy rain and snow as they race against the clock to find survivors of the earthquake that struck in the early hours of Monday.

The World Health Organization has warned the toll may rise dramatically as rescuers find more victims.

Thousands of children may be among the dead following the earthquake and aftershocks, the United Nations has said.

Heavy machinery worked through the night in the city of Adana, with lights illuminating the collapsed buildings and huge slabs of concrete, in scenes repeated across southern Turkey.

Occasionally the work stopped and a call of “Allahu Akbar” rose up when a survivor was found, or when the dead were recovered.

Adana is full of the homeless - those who lost their homes and others too fearful of aftershocks to return.

Some left without shoes, coats and phone chargers. Temperatures are expected to drop below freezing later this week.

The 7.8 magnitude tremor struck at 04:17 (01:17 GMT) on Monday at a depth of 17.9km (11 miles) near the city of Gaziantep, according to the US Geological Survey.

A later tremor had a magnitude of 7.5 and its epicentre was in the Elbistan district of Kahramanmaras province.

On Tuesday morning, traffic was at a standstill on the main highway to the Turkish city of Maras, close to the epicentre of the quake.

Cars occasionally crawled forward, the wet road illuminated by glowing red brake lights. Few rescuers have made it to this part of southern Turkey yet.

One search and rescue team on their way to the city, their van loaded with specialist equipment and supplies, told the BBC they were eager to start looking for survivors, but they had no idea how bad the devastation would be when they arrived.

Nationally, 8,000 people have been rescued from more than 4,700 destroyed buildings, Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said in its latest statement.

As aftershocks continue, rescuers in some areas have been digging through rubble with their bare hands. But freezing conditions are hampering search efforts.

In the southern province of

Hatay, the Reuters news agency reported that a woman’s voice was heard calling for help under a pile of rubble.

“They’re making noises, but nobody is coming,” a resident who gave his name as Deniz said while weeping.

“We’re devastated, we’re devastated. My God... They’re calling out. They’re saying, ‘Save us,’ but we can’t save them. How are we going to save them? There has been nobody since the morning.”

In Hatay, Ghanaian footballer Christian Atsu - who made 107 appearances for Newcastle - was pulled from the rubble of a building with injuries, his manager Mustafa Özat told Turkish radio.

Atsu now plays for Turkish club Hatayspor. The club’s sporting director, Taner Savut, is still under the rubble, Mr Özat said.

In the Turkish city of Osmaniye, near the epicentre, pouring rain hampered rescuers. The city was without power as the cold and rain set in.

One family camped on the street, scared of the aftershocks, despite the freezing temperatures. Every time they felt an aftershock, the family moved closer into the middle of the street.

A hotel owner in the city told the BBC that of 14 guests staying that night, only seven had been found.

Countries around the world are sending support to help the rescue efforts, including specialist teams, sniffer dogs and equipment.

But the earthquake has caused significant damage to three airports across Turkey, also creating challenges for aid deliveries.

At least 1,600 people are now known to have been killed in Syria, where millions of refugees live in camps on the Turkish border.

Turkey lies in one of the world’s most active earthquake zones.

In 1999 a quake killed more than 17,000 in the north-west, while in 1939, 33,000 people died in the eastern province of Erzincan. This earthquake was powerful enough to be felt as far away as Cyprus, Lebanon and Israel.

Turkey earthquake: The survivors’ choice - danger inside or freezing outside

At dawn in the biting cold we made our way to a 10-storey building in Adana that had completely collapsed. I met two women wrapped in blankets, heading towards the rubble.

Ummu Bayraktar and Nazife

Batmaz are staying in a mosque in the Turkish city, which has become a hub for the relief operation after Monday’s earthquake.

Their own home nearby was badly damaged. We walk and talk as they head to find their friend, one of Ummu’s cousins.

A companion urges us not to walk close to another building. It’s cracked, he says: “They’ll all have to come down.”

We pass two diggers working on the edge of the collapse zone, while six rescue workers use drills and gloved hands to throw down rubble towards them.

We then take a side street, where I see a group of survivors wrapped in blankets sitting on plastic chairs keeping warm around a fire.

The two women seek out their friend, Nurten, coddled in a blanket in the freezing cold. She sits and weeps.

Her adult daughter, Senay, was on the second floor of the collapsed building. Nurten has been waiting here all day and all night, but no news has come.

“When my daughter is lying in the cold, how can I lie down in a warm bed?” she asks.

“My daughter never liked the cold, oh God. She is under the earth. My heart is burning,” she cries.

We hear the drills and the crump of the digger. Nurten’s friends comfort her. Her daughter has two girls of her own - both currently studying abroad. They’re trying to head back to Turkey.

“What am I going to tell the girls? They’re coming here today. What am I supposed to tell them? They had entrusted their mother to me,” Nurten says.

The sense of loss is spreading more quickly than the search for survivors.

Further south, on the Turkish border with Syria, more news came in overnight from Hatay province, one of the worst hit regions.

In the darkness, footage showed a resident searching in the rubble. He believes someone is alive underneath. “Speak out loud,” he pleads.

“As you see, there is a dead body here. He is dead and nobody has removed him. And a woman’s voice is heard from underneath.”

As he speaks a woman’s voice cries out from the rubble. She cries again, and then bangs on metal trying to hold the man’s attention. But there is nothing he alone can do. An entire home is collapsed and it will take machinery to lift the ruins.

This is a story of unanswered cries, being repeated over and over again across this region.

Nearby, another Hatay resident, Deniz, points to the collapsed building where his parents were stranded.

“They’re making noises but nobody is coming. We’re devastated. My God... They’re calling out. They’re saying, ‘Save us,’ but we can’t save them. How are we going to save them?” he asks.

Even closer to the epicentre, in the city Kahramanmaras, fire crackles. There, thousands of buildings are reported collapsed, the number of homeless even higher.

A family gathers, too frightened from aftershocks to go back to their badly hit building. The firewood is all they have. Flames bring a little warmth to bare hands.

“We barely escaped from inside the house,” says Neset Guler.

“We have four children. We left the house with them at the last moment. There are several people trapped inside. It is a huge disaster. Now, we are waiting without water or food, we are in a desperate state.”

A region awaits help it may be impossible to provide on the scale needed. And in the meantime, more buildings risk falling, and the small fires outdoors will be the only way to stay warm. Source: BBC

Christian Atsu: Footballer ‘removed from wreckage with injuries’ after earthquake

Footballer Christian Atsu has been pulled from the rubble of a building “with injuries” after the earthquakes in Turkey, his club’s vice-president Mustafa Özat has told Turkish radio.

Atsu, who plays for Hatayspor, was trapped after the earthquakes that have killed at least 4,800 people.

The Ghana forward, 31, played 107 games for Newcastle and has had spells with Chelsea, Everton and Bournemouth.

Hatayspor sporting director Taner Savut is still in the collapsed building.

Hatay was one of the areas closest to the epicentre of the earthquake, and has suffered extensive damage.

“Christian Atsu was removed from the wreckage with injuries,” Özat told Radyo Gol.

“Unfortunately, our sporting director Taner Savut is still under the rubble.

“Hatay was deeply affected. We are coming towards the end of the most dangerous hours.”

Atsu, who won 65 caps for Ghana, joined Hatayspor in September 2022 after a season with Saudi Arabian team Al-Raed.

He scored the winning goal in the 90th minute of Hatayspor’s Super Lig match against Kasimpasa on Sunday.

The Ghanaian Football Association tweeted: “We’ve received some positive news that Christian Atsu has been successfully rescued from the rubble of the collapsed building and is receiving treatment. Let’s continue to pray for Christian.”

Organ harvesting plot: Interpreter tried to help transplant bid - court

Ahospital interpreter tried to persuade doctors to approve an illegal kidney transplant for the daughter of a Nigerian politician, a court has heard.

Evelyn “Ebere” Agbasonu allegedly asked for £1,500 to help secure Sonia Ekweremadu’s £80,000 transplant at a north London hospital in February 2022.

The prosecution claims the procedure was not legal as the organ donor had no altruistic motive or family connection with the recipient.

Four defendants deny the allegations.

Ms Ekweremadu, 25, her father Ike, 60, and her mother Beatrice, 56, who all have an address in Willesden Green are standing trial.

Dr Obinna Obeta, 50, from Southwark, who has been described as the medical middleman, has also been accused of the charges.

The Old Bailey has been told the “transactional” deal had involved a 21-year-old donor, a street trader from Lagos, who agreed to the harvesting of his body part for up to £7,000 and the promise of opportunities in the UK.

Ms Agbasonu was a long-standing member of staff at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead where she worked as a medical secretary, jurors heard.

She had stepped in to interpret Igbo during an initial meeting on 24 February between Dr Peter Dupont and the donor from Nigeria, who spoke little English.

The consultant had concluded the young man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was not an appropriate candidate and appeared relieved that the transplant would not go ahead, the court heard.

Prosecutor Hugh Davies KC said it was “somewhat extraordinary” that, according to messages from others, Ms Agbasonu appeared to agree to manipulate a second meeting to the advantage of the Ekweremadu family.

Ike Ekweremadu’s medically trained brother Diwe Ekweremadu allegedly sent his daughter advice from the interpreter to show a clear family connection with the donor.

Jurors heard he told Sonia Ekweremadu: “Ebere said it would be easier to establish that his mum and your mum are sisters. If we stretch it to the grandmum and grandmum the relationship will be too distant.”

Ms Ekweremadu allegedly replied: “OK that’s fine.”

Diwe Ekweremadu then allegedly laid out the financial agreement to her father, saying he had “met the Igbo interpreter” and “she agreed to work with us”, which would also involve “coaching the boy”.

“She insisted that I give her £1,500. I think they just position themselves to exploit people,” the court was told he said.

He allegedly added that after a meeting with Ms Agbasonu, she had “advised that (the donor) comes to the hospital on Tuesday and Thursday while Chinoso (Sonia) is having her dialysis.

“Psychologically everyone in the team will have to accept that he’s really committed to his cousin’s health and it usually makes it easier to accept the person for the procedure,” he said.

Mr Davies suggested the messages demonstrated the opposite of an altruistic organ donation.

‘She covered up for him’

On 11 March, the donor attended a meeting with another surgeon at the Royal Free Hospital and the interpreter, the court heard.

Afterwards, Diwe Ekweremadu allegedly messaged Ike Ekweremadu: “I have spoken with (the interpreter). She said the boy did better today but he’s still showing so much timidity.

“She covered up for him and added the words as much as possible.”

Mr Davies told jurors following the meeting, the surgeon agreed with Dr Dupont that the donor was unsuitable and Ms Ekweremadu was informed of the decision on 29 March.

The court also heard Dr Obeta had trained at medical school with Diwe Ekweremadu, who remains in Nigeria and is not on trial.

The defendants all deny conspiring to arrange or facilitate the travel of the young man with a view to exploitation between 1 August 2021 and 5 May 2022.

The trial continues.

Nigerian bank workers use ladder to flee protesters

Awidely shared video showing staff members at a Nigerian bank using a ladder to climb over a security wall to escape irate customers is genuine, the BBC’s Disinformation team has found.

The workers at Zenith Bank in Warri, Delta state, had been accosted by customers frustrated at not being able to get access money from ATM machines.

A staff member, who asked to remain anonymous, told the BBC that the trouble started after they informed customers that they had run out of new naira notes.

There have been long queues outside banks in recent weeks as Nigerians seek to exchange their old banknotes for new ones before the 10 February deadlineextended from 31 January.

Many banks have placed a limit because of the shortage to the frustration of customers.

Printing errors found in Mozambique school books

Mozambique’s Ministry of Education and a private publisher have apologised after printing errors were found in a Portuguese language text book used in primary schools.

The page numbers in Ouvir e Falar, Ler e Escrever (Listen and Speak, Read and Write) do not follow a chronological order.

For example, what should be the first page is instead page 16 with the wrong content. Other pages are also upside down.

“We apologise to all those affected,” said publisher Textos Editores in a statement, adding that not the whole print run was affected by the error.

The education ministry has ordered a recall of the affected books.

Critics accuse the government of not taking children’s education seriously and want higher standards to be adhered to.

Last year, scientific errors were reported in a natural science book used by grade six pupils.

Despite an outcry from parents the authorities did not comment at the time.

Why Russia and Mali are firm friends

Sergey Lavrov’s is the first visit by a Russian foreign minister to Mali as he tries to expand his country’s footprint on the continent.

Relations first blossomed between the two in December 2021 with Russian forces being welcomed into the West African country in December 2021 to help with the fight against extremist groups.

The authorities in Mali describe them as security advisers, but Western officials insist they are mercenaries from the private security company, Wagner, which the US recently designated as an international criminal organisation.

Mali’s co-operation with these forces had led to a souring of relations with its traditional Western partners.

French forces, which had been in the country fighting Islamist militants for close to a decade, withdrew last year as did their partners, including US special forces.

In recent weeks, the authorities in Bamako expelled French ambassador Joel Meyer.

The US government told the BBC it could not exist in the same space as a group it accuses of committing crimes.

“That is not an organisation that would bring any value to the fight against terrorism,” the US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the BBC last month about Wagner.BBC