A Kenyan woman has been arrested for allegedly stabbing her husband to death for arriving home late and drunk. Ann Mbaithe (pictured left) was accused of stabbing her husband, Daniel Githuka, 30, in the chest and killing him, after he returned home in the early hours of Saturday, July 30 in Tinganga village, Kiambu town.
The deceased's mother Elizabeth Wanjiku said he worked at a neighbouring school and usually returned at about 10pm. She said the couple had been married for five years and had no problems. The had one child aged four and a half.
"My son and I live in the same compound. I heard confrontation from my house past midnight," Wanjiku recounted.
The mother said she got out of bed and went to Githuka's house where she found him arguing with his wife. Her son stood his ground saying he was the head of the house who should not have been confronted over the matter. She had not noticed the knife Mbaithe had been holding since she folded her arms.
"It was not a physical confrontation but my son's wife suddenly attacked and stabbed him in the chest with a knife. After my son was stabbed I called for help from neighbours but upon reaching hospital he was pronounced dead due to loss of blood."
Wanjiku said she reported the matter at Kiambu police station. Officers arrived later and arrested Mbaithe at the home. County DCI boss Amos Tebeny said Mbaithe will be charged with murder once investigations are completed.
Nearly two dozen people are missing after one of two major bridges connecting the Indian cities of Mumbai and Goa collapsed over the swollen Savitri River.
The bridge gave way at about 2 a.m. local time on Wednesday, said Rakesh Ranjan, Deputy Commandant of the National Disaster Response Force and Civil Defence (NDRF), sending two buses into flood waters below.
The state passenger buses were carrying 22 people -- 18 passengers, two conductors and two drivers.
High pressure from the flooding of Savitri River caused the collapse, Chief Minister of Maharashtra state Devandra Fadnavis said in a video statement on Facebook. The single-lane bridge was built in British-era colonial times.
A rescue effort is underway with four NDRF teams, navy helicopters, boats and divers at the scene.
Fadnavis said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had "assured all help from the central government," and right now a desperate attempt is being made to locate the buses that have gone into the river."
PM @narendramodi offered all help in rescue and relief operations. NDRF teams are already activated.@NDRFHQ /2
A newer bridge, which runs parallel to the collapsed road, has resumed traffic, Fadnavis said on Twitter, citing a Raigad district official.
India has been hit by severe flooding in the past few days which has taken the lives of 163 and affected as many as 7.78 million, according to the NDRF.
This handout picture taken on July 29, 2016 and released by Turkish Presidential Press Service shows Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) shaking hands with Turkey’s Chief of General Staff Hulusi Akarl at the Presidential Complex, in Ankara.(AFP)
Turkey was on Saturday holding 17 journalists on charges of “terror group” membership as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Western critics to “mind your own business” over a relentless crackdown following a failed coup.
But in a goodwill gesture two weeks after the July 15 coup bid, Erdogan also announced he was withdrawing thousands of lawsuits against individuals accused of insulting him.
Turkey has detained more than 18,000 people over the attempted putsch which has been blamed on the US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen — a charge he denies — with the relentless crackdown sparking warnings from Brussels that Ankara’s EU membership bid may be in danger.
Seventeen journalists remanded in custody by an Istanbul court over links to Gulen woke up in jails across the city on Saturday as international concern grows over the targeting of reporters in the wake of the putsch.
Twenty-one journalists had appeared before a judge in hearings lasting until midnight on Friday. Four were then freed but 17 were placed under pre-trial arrest, charged with “membership of a terror group”, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.
Those held include the veteran journalist Nazli Ilicak as well as the former correspondent for the pro-Gulen Zaman daily Hanim Busra Erdal.
Among those freed was prominent commentator Bulent Mumay who was given a rapturous welcome by supporters.
“I could never have imagined being accused of such a thing. It was a madness. It’s not right to arrest journalists — this country should not make the same mistakes again,” he said, quoted by the Dogan news agency.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu defended the detention of reporters, saying it was necessary to distinguish between coup plotters and those “who are engaged in real journalism”.
The president also announced that as a gesture of goodwill after the coup he was dropping hundreds of lawsuits against individuals accused of insulting him.
“I am going to withdraw all the cases regarding the disrespectful insults made against me,” said Erdogan.
Earlier this year, officials had said more than 2,000 people were being prosecuted on charges of insulting the president.
‘Mind your own business!’
Thousands of those detained after the coup have now been released, with an Istanbul court releasing 758 soldiers late on Friday, adding to another 3,500 former suspects already set free.
“And if there is even the slightest doubt that the (treatment) is improper, then the consequences will be inevitable,” he told German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung.But with concern growing about the sheer numbers rounded-up, EU enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn said he needed to see “black-and-white facts about how these people are treated”.
In a speech at his presidential palace late Friday remembering those killed during the failed coup, Erdogan angrily denounced the criticism and accused the West of deserting Turkey in its hour of need.
“Some people give us advice. They say they are worried. Mind your own business! Look at your own deeds,” Erdogan said.
“Not a single person has come to give condolences either from the European Union… or from the West,” said Erdogan.
“Those countries or leaders who are not worried about Turkey’s democracy, the lives of our people, its future while being so worried about the fate of the putschists cannot be our friends,” he growled.
One of the very few EU officials of any rank to visit Turkey in the wake of the coup was Alan Duncan, a junior minister within Britain’s foreign office.
But Erdogan was on Saturday to meet Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdulrahman al-Thani of Qatar, one of Turkey’s closest allies.
‘Taking the plotters’ side’
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Turkey has succeeded in eradicating all elements linked to Gulen from the military after sacking nearly half of its generals following the failed coup.
“We are going to make our armed forces stronger and we are going to work towards making this country more secure,” he said.
Turkey implemented a shake-up of the military on Thursday after nearly half of its 358 generals were sacked for complicity in the coup.
Erdogan had earlier also lashed out at a top US general who had expressed concerns about military relations after the putsch.
Quoted by US media, US Central Command chief General Joseph Votel said Thursday that the coup bid and subsequent round-up of dozens of generals could affect American cooperation with Turkey.
“You are taking the side of coup plotters instead of thanking this state for defeating the coup attempt,” Erdogan said at a military centre in Golbasi outside Ankara, where air strikes left dozens dead during the coup.
Votel swiftly denied any link to the coup however.
The UN Security Council has authorised the deployment of a UN police force to Burundi to try to quell violence and human rights abuses in the country.
The council backed a French-drafted resolution to send up to 228 police for an initial period of a year.
Burundi earlier said it would accept no more than 50 police officers.
More than 400 people have been killed in unrest since President Pierre Nkurunziza said he would run for a third term in office last April.
More than 200,000 people have fled their homes.
Negotiations continue
“Given an increase in violence and tension the Security Council must have eyes and ears on the ground to predict and ensure that the worst does not occur in Burundi,” said French UN Ambassador Francois Delattre.
The government of Burundi earlier warned it would agree to no more than 50 UN police officers.“This is a strong act of preventative diplomacy,” he added.
Diplomats are now negotiating how to implement the UN Security Council’s resolution.
Although both Burundi’s opposition and government forces are ethnically mixed, some fear that the violence could descend into a repeat of the genocidal killings which the country has previously experienced.
President Nkurunziza is the former leader of a Hutu rebel group which battled a Tutsi-dominated army for many years until he came to power in 2005 as part of a peace deal.
Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo and the just sacked Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Rep. Abdulmumin Jibrin, recently refocused attention on the issue.
Jibrin had drawn the first blood a week ago after he was removed as chairman of the appropriation committee when he accused Speaker Yakubu Dogara and three other principal officers of padding the 2016 budget. According to him, his opposition to the alleged padding and other supposed malfeasances of the Speaker and his allies was the reason for his forced resignation as chairman of the appropriation committee.
His assertion, however, quickly drew the attention of critics who queried why he had to wait till he was removed from office before spilling the beans.
Taking a cue from the assertions of Rep. Jibrin, President Obasanjo upon a visit with President Muhammadu Buhari again took a direct hit at the National Assembly when he said that the Jibrin incident had again confirmed his past assertions that there were rogues and armed robbers in the National Assembly.
Obasanjo’s assertions undoubtedly drew from his experience of dealing with the National Assembly during his period in the Presidential Villa. In one case, he had an incumbent President of the Senate investigated and charged to court after he and some other members of the committees on education of the two chambers were indicted for soliciting for bribes to pass the budget of the Federal Ministry of Education.
However, what has shaken many friends and foes of the former president is the claim that the most brazen act of corruption in recent Nigeria history involving the legislature did not emanate from the National Assembly, but from the executive branch of government.
It was an irony of sorts for someone like Senator Adolphus Wabara who was himself allegedly offered double the amount to support the amendment. Wabara claimed he was offered double the normal N50 million even after he was indicted by the executive branch of government in the N54 million bribe for budget scam in the Federal Ministry of Education.The Third Term fiasco during which members of the House of Representatives supportive of the constitution amendment for a third term for the president and governors were offered N50 million apiece till date continues to be cited as the most repugnant act of corruption ever in the Fourth Republic of Nigeria.
A number of other principled legislators also refused the bribe and were to shine like stars in that dark period of licentious legislative lampoonery supposedly crafted by the executive branch. For their principled stances, they were denied return tickets and many others like Temi Harriman, the only House member from the ruling party from the South-South who fought third term, simply walked away from the ruling party.
Senator Joy Emodi for her opposition was made to confront the political treachery that has been symptomatic of politics in Anambra State in her bid for a return ticket on the platform of the PDP.
The Third Term project and the seeming acquiesce of the Obasanjo presidency to the fiasco remains in the view of many, including this correspondent, the major failure of the Obasanjo administration.
Otherwise, President Obasanjo has remained almost head and shoulder above his successors.
Whether President Obasanjo or Jibrin or whoever, no one has been able to give a classic definition of the phrase, budget padding.
The seeming determination of the executive branch to force the term into the consciousness of Nigerians remains deceptive.
Given the provisions of Sections 80, 81 and 82 of the Constitution, the National Assembly cannot be said to have padded a budget that it has a right to work on. Stopping the National Assembly from padding, adjusting or shrinking the budget would inevitably make the legislature a rubber stamp. It would mean taking away its most important duty of controlling the purse and turning the executive branch into a dictatorship.
Global Organised Labour under the aegis of African Industrial Global Union has commended the President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote for his strategic investments across African countries and creating thousands of jobs for the teaming population.
The body, at a meeting in Lagos, called for special recognition for the African entrepreneur, describing him as a success story from African soil for which African countries must be proud of.
Speaking at a network meeting on unionisation in Dangote group, organised by Industrial Global Union Africa Region in Lagos, Union leaders one after another said Dangote has offered a relief to Africa from the negative narratives the western countries latched on to discredit her and her people.
They stated that much as an African could be so patriotic as to be dotting African soil with billions of dollars investments to create jobs and reduce poverty, he needs to be given special recognition to motivate others to tow similar line.
Relishing on the prospective of an African country hosting the single largest Refinery and Petrochemicals train project, the union leaders said it was planning in their next African meeting to bring the business mogul to address global union leaders.
Regional Secretary, Sub-Saharan Africa, Fabian Nkomo said the body cherished the business acumen of Dangote and would like to work closely with him so that as he creates jobs, the union could also partner to ensure job quality is maintained.
He said he has moved round Africa and discovered no one else has invested so much in Africa as an Africa and therefore Dangote should be encouraged. “He has help governments across African states to create vital jobs and reduce poverty among our people, the unions are very proud of him”, Nkomo stated.
In his remark, the Africa Regional Chairman of Industrial Global Union, Issa Aremu who is also the General Secretary of Textile Workers Union commended Aliko Dangote for leading industrialisation in the Africa continent.
Aremu acknowledged the remarkable efforts of Aliko Dangote at re-industrialisation of the continent, stimulating the continent’s growth and creating more jobs for its huge population.
Dangote Group was commended for the strong network of branches across the Africa continent; Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d’ Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegal, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Congo, Cameroun, Kenya, Ethiopia among others.The labour leader lauded the commitment of Dangote to sustainable industrial development and urged government to provide favourable environment for investments as well as improvement in infrastructural development.
Aremu added that it was time Dangote group entered into mutually rewarding engagement with relevant unions with a view to unionisation even as he called on trade unions to support business through improved productivity.
He alluded to the $12 billion dollar Refinery, Petrochemicals and Fertilizer projects which he said will be a revolution of the Nigerian industrial space when completed.
As partners in progress, Aremu pledges the support and cooperation of Industrial Global to ensure business-friendly unionization of the Dangote workers.
He nevertheless cautioned the unions involved to be proactive and strategic in approaching the exercise saying “we need to show that we are partners to improve on the businesses of Alhaji Aliko because we are talking of unionization because there is an investment in which workers are engaged. If there there are no businesses, we can’t be talking of unionism.
“So first and foremost, we must be seen to be part of forces that are protecting investments. We are not business killers, if anything we are adding values. So we cherish him as one of the few Nigerians making a good story out of Nigeria and Africa and would like to collaborate with him.
Industrial Global Union with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland represents 50 million workers in 140 countries in the cement, mining, energy and manufacturing sectors. Industrial is a force in global solidarity taking up the fight for better working conditions and trade union rights around the world.
Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief, Babajide Komolafe & Peter Egwuatu ABUJA—The Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN), yesterday, jerked up its Monetary Policy Rate (MPR)to 14 per cent, attracting criticism from business experts who predicted that the hike will lead to increased corporate failures, unemployment and decline in the nation’s stock market.
At the end of its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja yesterday, the CBN, raised the MPR from 12 percent to 14 per cent, while retaining the Asymmetric Window at +200 and -500 basis points around the rate. The apex bank also retained the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) and the Liquidity Ratio at 22.50 per cent and 30.00 per cent, respectively.
Governor of the CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, who announced the outcome of the MPC meeting, said that the move was towards ensuring price stability as it would attract more inflow of foreign exchange into the country.
Justifying the new rate, he said, “Basically, the issues were that you notice during the May meeting, the MPC decide to say look, if we notice the balance between inflation and growth that we should stay with growth and expect that growth. But given the fact that monetary authorities cannot directly influence, we expect that working with fiscal authorities, we can achieve growth
But at this meeting, we took a lot of time to deliberate on whether to favour growth as against inflation.
“We felt that there was a need in line with the CBN core mandate to look at price stability at a time- that if we favour price stability at this time and it signals an interest rate movement that will curtail inflation that when we curtail inflation, a lot more stakeholders interests would have been met, thereby encouraging in this case the inflow of capital into the country.
“And as we have more inflow of foreign exchange into the country, what that does is that it deepens forex supply base and by deepening the forex supply base it makes forex available to end users , particularly to the manufacturing sector who need raw materials to boost manufacturing and industrial capacity and we are also hoping that when this is achieved, what you find is that naturally, prices would be affected downwards.
“When you have a situation when foreign exchange is also made available to those who want to import agriculture inputs, insecticides or plants it helps to boost agric productivity which will also help to moderate the effects on prices downwards.
“What this does is that it generally creates activities that would boost not just manufacturing outputs but will indirectly push growth forward. That was purely the essence of let’s push to the direction of inflation and price stability which was the focus of this meeting against growth.
“It didn’t mean that we didn’t have growth at the back of our minds. But we felt let’s start by looking at price stability. Push towards curtailing inflation, and at the same time ultimately see how we can achieve growth in the same vein.”
Hike will worsen economic situation
Analysts however faulted the decision of the MPC to hike the MPR saying it would worsen the economic situation in the country.
“This is not an answer to recession, the answer is to make more money available, but the CBN has decided to be tactical because growth is a long term goal”, commented Mr. Bismarck Rewane, Managing Director/Chief Executive, Financial Derivatives Limited
“He stated that the MPR hike, “Is a formalisation of what is happening in the money market, where treasury bills rate are already higher than 14 percent hence it would not have effect on interest rate in the market. But it will increase cost of borrowing especially for small and medium enterprise (SMEs), increase default on debt, corporate failures and hence increase unemployment. It will also increase cost of borrowing for state governments. It will increase appetite for regulatory borrowing, because banks would now prefer to buy treasury bills and bonds which now offers higher rate. However it will make the naira to strengthen.
According to the Managing Director, APT Securities and Funds, Mr. Garba Kurfi, “
The upward increase in interest rate by the CBN is not the best at the moment if government is serious in encouraging local production. This is because high interest rate will make the cost of production higher if producers are to get loan at higher rate from the financial institutions. The high interest rate will discourage investments in the capital market if one can get 14 per cent risk free from the money market. This move apparently is likely to promote money market but with the inflation rate at 16.5 per cent may encourage”.
Also commenting, Head, Investment Research, Cowry Asset Management Limited, Mr. Edgar Ebinum said, “The reason for the hike is obvious but it is challenging for capital market, and it would stifle borrowing. While it is necessary to ensure a positive real return, by making the interest rate higher than inflation, but investors look beyond interest rate, the conditions in the economy is still not attractive to foreign investors
The decision will cause the real sector to slow down, because there would be reduction in lending to the sector. In fact the hike makes lending more difficult for banks. The banks are already battling against rising non-performing loans and hence have reduced lending activities”.
Speaking in the same vein, Managing Director, High Cap Securities Limited, Mr. David Adonri said, “The increase in MPR to nearly match inflation rate is expected response from the monetary authority. It will crowd out credit from real sector and depress equities market. The manufacturers would be affected as credit would be on the rise. Response of fiscal authority should be to reduce domestic borrowing and move towards fiscal consolidation”
On his part, Mr. Kunle Ezun, a research analysts with Econbank Plc noted, “The decision was expected and the expectation has been factored into transactions in the money market. Remember that TBs were been sold at 14 per cent last week. That is why the market is calm.
“I also believe that the 200 basis point raise is sufficient to address the rising inflation level now. The reality is that inflation level is more of consideration to foreign investors and they are not in the market now. The local guys don’t really bother about inflation.”
The hike in MPR was however commended by Managing Director, Chief Economist,Africa, Standard Chartered Bank, Mrs Razia Khan. She said, “The decision to raise the monetary policy rate despite growth concerns will give investors a clear signal on the authorities’ intent to sustain FX reforms. This should be well-received.
“Given the cost-push nature of inflation in Nigeria, which largely stems from the shortage of FX, we believe that this was the right thing to have done. Today’s monetary policy decision demonstrates a commitment to FX liberalisation, which alone will undo some of the bottlenecks that have contributed to inflation.
“As Nigeria embarks upon the path of reform (FX liberalisation, fuel price deregulation, transparency initiatives, efforts to boost revenue mobilisation, power sector reforms), all with a view to easing the economy’s transition to lower oil prices, and creating the foundation for more sound long-term growth, we think that today’s MPC decision represented an important initial step in the right direction.
Chief Executive Officer, SOFUNIX Investment and Communications Ltd and Chartered Stockbroker Mr. Sola Oni, said The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has pushed up the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) from 12 per cent to 14 per cent on the basis that the existing nominal anchor is a disincentive to investment for both foreign and indigenous investors, particularly, when compared to the current inflation rate.
In portfolio management, the logical assumption is that relationship between interest rate and stock market is inverse. This implies that when interest rate is low, speculators move their funds from the money market instruments’ to the stock market to make a kill.
As a corollary, the same speculators move from the stock market to other asset classes, especially, fixed income securities when the interest rate is high.
By this logic, one can assume that the current increase in the MPR would boost investment in the fixed income securities while it may depress investors’ appetite for equity investment.
But the fact remains that it is not always so as economists would say ceteris paribus which means all things being equall. There are many exogenous factors that affect investment decision at the level of investment objective. As for the economy, the stock market mirrors the economy.
Therefore, it is not cast in iron to just conclude that the CBN’s increase of the MPC to a 10 -year high will have negative impact on the stock market.”
Nigeria Olympic team coach Samson Siasia has been robbed in Atlanta, Georgia, where his team have been training ahead of next month’s Olympic Games.
“It is true that my car was burgled but I have taken the necessary steps on the item stolen in the car,” Siasia confirmed.
“We are focused and preparing hard for the Olympics that is what I can tell you for now.”
Siasia’s team are due to play a final warm-up game against Honduras Olympic team on Tuesday before they depart for Brazil on Friday.The car Siasia has been using to run around for the team was broken into at the team’s hotel’s car park and his credit cards, two phones, the phone of his personal assistant Abu and some money were taken away.
A number of Indian state-owned refiners have been actively picking up Malaysian oil cargoes for loading in July and August amid growing uncertainty over the exports of Nigeria’s crude grades, according to regional sweet crude traders.
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited on Monday issued a spot tender to purchase several Malaysian light sweet crude grades, raising expectations that more Indian end-users could switch their focus to Southeast Asian supplies, Platts reported.
BPCL was said to be seeking up to one million barrels of various Southeast Asian light sweet crudes, including Malaysia’s Miri Light, Labuan, Tapis, Kikeh, Kimanis and Bintulu as well as Brunei’s Seria Light and Champion crudes for loading over September 11-20, according to an official tender notice seen by S&P Global Platts.
According to the latest shipping fixtures seen by Platts, India Oil Corporation fixed Olympic Sky and Seafalcon to move a total of about 1.2 million barrels of Malaysian Labuan crude for loading in July, while BPCL fixed Nordic Jupiter, Mare Siculum, Shah Deniz and Pavino Spirit to move around one million barrels each of light sweet Kikeh and Kimanis crudes for loading in July.
The tender closes July 22, with validity until July 26. The latest spot tender raised a few eyebrows in the Asia-Pacific sweet crude market, as the Indian state-owned company does not regularly seek Malaysian and Bruneian crude grades in the spot market.
“BPCL, like many other Indian state-run companies, prefers to take Nigerian light sweet crudes like Qua Iboe and Bonny Light. Those are the number one choices,” the source said, adding that “when production [of light sweet Nigerian grades is] in doubt, the next best option would be Malaysian (grades).”However, BPCL’s latest move was seen as necessary, as the procurement of any Nigerian crude grades would be a big risk amid ongoing production hiccups caused by militant attacks in the Niger Delta, a company source said Tuesday.
Late last week, Mobil Producing Nigeria, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil, said Nigerian crude grade, Qua Iboe, had been placed under force majeure and exports were halted, while Italian company Eni confirmed earlier this month that 4,000 barrels per day of oil equivalent of equity production had been shut in following an attack claimed by Nigerian militants in the Niger Delta.
Nigerian militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers, said Friday that it would not permit foreign oil companies operating in the Niger Delta region to carry out repairs on bombed oil pipelines, threatening more devastating attacks on any repaired facility.
“There is no guarantee the Nigerian crudes will load and set sail safely. It’s very risky,” said a Singapore-based sweet crude trader.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) to check corrupt practices in higher institutions.
A statement signed by Mrs Rasheedat Okoduwa, the commission`s spokesperson, on Thursday in Abuja, listed the corrupt practices to include indiscipline, examination malpractice, extortion and sexual harassment, among others.
Okoduwa said that the MOU was aimed at getting students involved in the anti-corruption campaign and to educate them on how to report corruption cases to ICPC for prosecution.
She said that the MOU would also encourage students and teachers to engage ICPC through its training arm, the Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria (ACAN) in research on corruption and related matters.
The commission’s Secretary, Mr. Elvis Oglafa, was quoted in the statement as saying that the commission was “looking at a bigger picture where institutions of higher learning can achieve 100 per cent discipline and zero tolerance for corruption’’.
“But with the signing of the MOU, a new door has been opened for the reporting of such vices.’’Oglafa, the statement added, stated that over the years, NANS had not provided any platform which could enable its members to report corrupt practices within the educational system.
He expressed optimism that since Nigerian students had demonstrated willingness to confront corruption, a new vista which had just been set, would cleanse the system of the debris of corruption in institutions.
“NANS President, Mr Tijani Usman, commended ICPC for the initiative and affirmed that Nigerian students were willing to fight corruption because they were always at the receiving end of its adverse effects.
“The MOU was signed on behalf of ICPC by the Secretary to the Commission and Usman, the head of the students’ delegation, on behalf of Nigerian students,’’ Okoduwa said in the statement.
Iraqi security forces paraded through Baghdad on Thursday to celebrate victories over the Islamic State jihadist group, but an unannounced rehearsal two days earlier put a damper on the festivities.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi reviewed the forces from a pavilion as they passed through central Tahrir Square, and military jets and helicopters overflew the city.
The parade was held to mark “the liberation of Fallujah and Ramadi and all the Iraqi territory that was liberated,” defence ministry spokesman Brigadier General Tahseen Ibrahim told AFP, referring to two key cities recaptured from the jihadists.
But an unannounced rehearsal for the parade held on Tuesday, in which many roads were closed and military vehicles drove through the city, inspired fear rather than celebration.
Some speculated on social media that it was a message to protesters planning a demonstration on Friday that Abadi has called on them to delay, while others speculated that it could be a military coup.
Iraq announced the full recapture of Fallujah, a city 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad that had been outside government control for more than two and a half years, at the end of June.
Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, was declared to have been recaptured at the end of December, but fighting in the area continued into this year.
More recently, Baghdad’s forces seized a key military base south of Mosul from IS that the Pentagon has said will serve as a “springboard” for the push to retake the last IS-held city in Iraq.
IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces backed by US-led air strikes and training have since regained significant ground.
