Travel News

LAGOS, Oct 25 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department on Tuesday authorised the departure of non-emergency U.S. government employees and their families from Nigeria due to a heightened risk of terrorist attacks in the country.

The latest travel update comes after the United States and the United Kingdom warned on Sunday of a possible terrorist attack in the capital Abuja, especially aimed at government buildings, places of worship and schools, among other targets.

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"The U.S. Embassy Abuja continues to have limited ability to provide emergency assistance to U.S. citizens in Nigeria," the State Department said.

Nigeria's Department of State Services said the United States had previously issued similar warnings and urged citizens to remain alert.

Insecurity, which is rife across most Nigerian states, is a major issue among voters who will choose a new president next February.

Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Sandra Maler

By   Balarabe Alkassim

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emeifile has disclosed that the ongoing crisis about trapped funds belonging to foreign Airlines in the country will soon be over adding that no foreign airline will lose its funds.

He disclosed this at a meeting with Aviation industry stakeholders’ and  the Speaker, House of Representatives on Monday.

Emeifile said the country is going through difficult times and need not to be put under pressure or blackmailed to jeopardize the interest of the nation to satisfy the business interests of the foreign airlines.

The CBN Governor informed that, as part of the measures, the apex bank took a decision and $265 million was provided in trances and paid to the foreign airlines.

He however noted with dismay that despite the CBN’s efforts, the foreign airlines have reported to blackmail in order to portray the country in bad light.

According to the CBN governor, said that, it is not an obligation by law for the apex bank to sell dollars to Airlines, but their banks can source for them through the CBN or any other means.

He berated other countries like the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates and others for not reciprocating the magnanimity shown to their entities by Nigeria by refusing to allow Nigeria’s airlines to operate to their countries.

Also Speaking, the minister of aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika said despite the difficulties the country has always find ways to meet its obligations.

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The minister noted that the Airlines can decide what they want to do, but Nigeria won’t be threatened because Nigeria is a very big aviation market which they can’t afford to lose.

In his remarks, the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila lamented the treatment being meted out on Nigerians in foreign countries citing the recent visa ban by the UAE and the refusal of some countries to block Nigerian airline operators to fly into their territories.

On his part, the International Aviation Transport Association (IATA), Samson Fatokun maintained that, despite the CBN intervention in August, the foreign airlines are still being owed $700 million in trapped funds.

He however said they will discuss with the airlines about the demands forwarded by the Speaker, the minister of aviation, the CBN and others on ways to make concessions and move forward to resolve the matter.

Speaking, the Vice Chairman, Airline Operator of Nigeria (AON) and chairman, Air Peace, Allen Onyema said, in order to domestic airlines to have a head way in foreign flight, the foreign airlines must be made to reduce their flight frequencies to their home countries and allow domestic airlines to fly the routes.

• Says Nigeria losing billions to vandalisation of navigational aids in eastern ports

The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority(NPA), Mohammed Bello-Koko has said the agency is in the process of procuring a Vessel Tracking Service (VTS) to enable it to identify, locate and monitor all vessels in the nation’s waters, even when such vessels switch off their Automatic Identification System (AIS).

Koko stated this while briefing State House correspondents yesterday in Abuja, noting that the Authority currently does not have the technology to detect rogue ships when they turn off their AIS.

Speaking against the backdrop of a recent incident where an oil tanker evaded arrest in Nigeria after illegally lifting crude oil, Bello-Koko said rogue vessels that engage in crude oil theft on Nigerian waters go undetected because they turn off their AIS.

According to him, the agency has been trying to acquire the VTS for about 10 years and has just identified a certified consultant, while also working with the Nigeria Liquefied and Natural Gas (NLNG) Company to help with critical detection.

He further assured that the technology would be procured before the end of the current administration.

Recall that the Federal Government in August awarded a multi-billion-naira pipeline surveillance contract to Tantita Security Services, a company led by a former militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo aka Tompolo.

Tompolo’s firm recently made startling revelations on crude oil theft in the Niger Delta area in which he said about 58 illegal oil points have been discovered so far since the operation to end oil theft on the waterways of Delta and Bayelsa states.

Speaking on activities of the eastern ports, Bello-Koko said the Onne Port Complex is the fastest-growing port in Nigeria.

He said the port is now active, not just in terms of importation, but also in exports.

According to him, the ports of Tin Can, Onne, Calabar are now ISO-certified, and because of this, there has been a tremendous increase in cargo traffic in Onne.

Bello-Koko said the Onne port handled 11,800 metric tonnes of cargo in the first half of 2022 while attributing the volume of trade to the ease of doing business at the port.

Bello-Koko, also raised an alarm that the Nigerian economy has been losing billions of naira to miscreants that vandalises navigational aids such as the fairway buoys located along the eastern port’s channels.

He said fairway buoys are those markers along the channel that guide the movement of ships with laden goods.

According to him, some miscreants vandalise the expensive buoys only to sell them as scraps compelling the Authority to invest millions in replacing them.

He said the NPA has lost businesses due to the absence of fairway buoys on the water channel.

“We have been to forums where shipping companies would decline to visit Nigerian ports, especially Warri and Calabar due to lack of buoys on the channels. These ships need the buoys to aid their navigation along the channel, and the absence of which could make a vessel go under,” he said.

The NPA boss however appealed to port communities to avoid such sabotage, which also comes with cost implications on the government and economic implications on the port communities due to loss of business.

He also noted that the deployment of the deep blue project asset in the eastern ports, which will commence in a few weeks, will help tackle insecurity on vessels.

Ha added that the deployment of marine police in the eastern ports has also helped to reduce incidents of piracy and hijacking of vessels.

Speaking on export operations at the port, the NPA boss said there is an export-processing terminal within Onne.

He said the terminal operators created an export-processing terminal, which NPA licensed as they have all the equipment, technology and processes to send it out.

Bello-Koko also said the West Africa Container Terminal (WACT), located in Onne port, spent $100 million on terminal expansion, adding that the development has aided the flow of business at the terminal.

Commenting on partnerships, Bello-Koko disclosed that the authority was working with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) to support the federal government’s diversification efforts.

In the technical partnership with the NEPC, he said the NPA had licensed 10 export-processing terminals in Lagos and Ogun states “in the first instance with more in the pipeline”.

He said these export-processing terminals, which will be linked with NEPC’s domestic export warehouses (DEWS) in the hinterland, have been programmed to eliminate all the delays that hitherto rendered Nigerian exports uncompetitive in the international marketplace.

Speaking on single window deployment, the NPA boss said one of the issues limiting a central automation system is that the different stakeholders in the maritime industry are working in silos with their various systems.

He said if the stakeholders come together to integrate their automation process into one system, the national single window will come to life in no time.

(Bloomberg) -- One of South Africa’s richest suburbs may be the target of a terrorist attack this weekend, according to an alert posted on the website of the US Embassy.

“The US government has received information that terrorists may be planning to conduct an attack targeting large gatherings of people at an unspecified location in the greater Sandton area of Johannesburg, South Africa, on 29 Oct.,” the embassy said in a statement. “There is no further information regarding the timing, method, or target of the potential attack.”

The embassy advised its staff to avoid crowds of people and other large public gatherings in the specified area over the coming weekend.

Many of the biggest companies in South Africa, including financial services group FirstRand Ltd., chemicals company Sasol Ltd., insurer Dis