A Makurdi Magistrates’ Court on Friday, February 23, 2018 sentenced three herders – Iliya Garba, Hassan Abdullahi and Lanshak Lonfalk – to a year imprison each for violating the Benue State Anti-Open Grazing Law, 2017. The convicts were charged with criminal conspiracy and open nomadic livestock rearing and grazing. The offences are punishable under Sections 97 of the Penal Code ...

By most comments from Nigerians, Plateau is rated as one of peaceful states in the country, presenting a unique, friendly weather and abundant tourism potential. These attributes have, no doubt, given reasons why the state has witnessed patronage from both local and foreign tourists. However, concerned citizens of the state expressed concern that the plateau may seem to exist on ...

The Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) has listed insurgency, climate change, and non payment of annual contributions as challenges to full implementation of its programmes in the region. LCBC Executive Secretary, Alhaji Sanusi Abdullahi, said this at a meeting of the Committee of Experts to the 63rd Ordinary Session of the Commission’s Council of Ministers in Abuja. He said the ...

The Congolese Minister of Environment, Amy Ambatobe, has reinstated 6,500 km² of logging concessions that were cancelled in August 2016 by the then Environment Minister, Robert Bopolo, following instructions from then Prime Minister, Augustin Matata Ponyo. The three concessions reinstated on February 1, 2018 were awarded to the Chinese-owned logging companies Forestière pour le Développement du Congo (FODECO) and Société ...

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture-managed Cassava Weed Management Project (IITA-CWMP) says it will partner with cassava growers in the country to boost its productivity. Mr Godwin Atser, IITA Communication and Knowledge Exchange Expert, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday, February 23, 2018 in Abuja. Atser said the institute had observed the ...

Europe is increasing the suffering of African migrants trying to cross the Sahara, the Red Cross chief said, urging lawmakers not to put security above human rights. Francesco Rocca, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC),  met migrants in Niger who said they were stranded, unable to head north to Europe or return home. ...

International scientists have called for concerted efforts to stop spread of the invasive alien species, which they say are contributing to Africa’s inter-community conflicts, a local news reported on Thursday, February 22, 2018. The scientists, who ended a workshop on invasive species in Nairobi, Kenya, said such species are also responsible for tremendous economic losses through loss in forest and ...

The Federal Ministry of Water Resources on Thursday, February 22, 2018 inaugurated the Governing Boards of the ministry’s parastatals and agencies. They are the 12 River Basin Development Authorities, the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency and the National Water Resources Institute. The minister, Mr Suleiman Adamu, while inaugurating the boards, said the overall mandate of the implementation of the ministry’s project ...

The Regional Director, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Mr Yao Ydo, says inclusive policy implementation was the key for African nations to attain the Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDG). Ydo said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday, February 22, 2018 in Lagos. He said that the implementation of the policies streamlined toward ...

A listeriosis outbreak, believed to be the world’s largest, has claimed 172 lives in South Africa, the Department of Health said on Thursday, February 22, 2018. As of Feb. 20, the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) has reported 915 laboratory-confirmed cases of listeriosis, the department said in its latest update on the pandemic that has gripped the country since ...