Second Nigerian ‘Chibok girl’ freed in a week seven years after abduction

 The army handed over Hassana Adamu, along with her two children, to Governor Babagana Zulum on Saturday

A SECOND young woman abducted seven years ago from the town of Chibok by Boko Haram militants was freed this week, Borno state’s governor said on Saturday.

The kidnappings of some 270 teenagers in the northeastern town in 2014 sparked an international outcry and a viral campaign on social media with the hashtag #bringbackourgirls.

The army handed over Hassana Adamu, along with her two children, to Governor Babagana Zulum on Saturday, one week after his office announced that another of the victims had been freed and reunited with her parents.

Adamu, like the other of the recently freed ‘Chibok girl’, as the victims became known, ‘presented herself to the Nigerian army,’ the governor’s office said.

Photos shared by his office showed a shell-shocked looking young woman, in a pink striped hijab, speaking to the governor with her two small children, flanked by military officers.

Eighty two of the victims were freed in 2017 after mediation, adding to 24 who were released or found. A few others have escaped or been rescued, but just over 110 remain missing.

Earlier this week, the army said that more than 1,000 Boko Haram members and their families had recently surrendered “due to the intense pressure from troops’ sustained offensive actions”.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau died in May following a battle with rival Islamist group Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).

ISWAP, the regional affiliate of Islamic State, has since sought to absorb Shekau’s fighters and unify the groups which during Shekau’s tenure fought one another for control of territory in northeast Nigeria and around Lake Chad.

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Uganda says only vaccinated legislators to be allowed in parliament sessions

 THE Ugandan Parliament has made it mandatory for the country’s legislators to get vaccinated against Covid-19 before being allowed to attend parliament sessions.

‘Some Members of Parliament have been vaccinated while others have not,’ said Chris Obore, director of communications at Parliament, told Xinhua on Friday.

According to Obore, those who have not been vaccinated should get the jabs by Tuesday.

Obore said that the same restrictions would apply to parliamentary staff and journalists.

‘No visitors will be allowed in the chambers because the public gallery will be used by legislators since the house can only accommodate 100 people,’ he added.

He said the country has 429 legislators but they would attend plenary in shifts.

‘We have asked party chief whips to draw a plan which will allow the legislators to attend proceedings on a rotational basis,’ he said.

Ministry of health figures show that by August 11, over 1.16 million people had been vaccinated since the exercise started in March this year.

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FIRST FOUNDATION STONE LAID FOR NEW GENERAL HOSPITAL OF KWANZA NORTE

 Ndalatando – The Ministry of Health has approved a project aimed to build a new General Hospital in northern Cuanza Norte Province, within 18 months, with a capacity of 200 beds.

As a symbol of the start of the project, the foundation stone for the construction of the infrastructure was laid this Saturday, by the minister of Health, Sílvia Lutucuta, with the effective start of the work scheduled for next week, under the responsibility of the company Griner.

 

The hospital will be built in an area of ​​15,000 square meters, in the locality of Kirima, eleven kilometres off Ndalatando City , capital of the province, and will have the capacity to serve more than a thousand patients daily.

 

According to the minister of Health, the new hospital unit will cost the state around 63 million US dollars, and the government 's objective is to improve health care in the region.

 

The new health unit will have a haemodialysis centre and pathological anatomy services, as well as neonatology, intensive care, dentistry, psychiatry, orthotrauma, operating room, ophthalmology, among other services.

 

The unit will also include an area for the treatment of patients with chronic diseases, such as diabetes, heart and kidney diseases, which is why the minister says that it will be a Reference Center for the training of staff in various specialties in the areas of medicine, nursing and biomedical.

 

On his turn, the governor of Cuanza Norte, Adriano Mendes de Carvalho, underlined that the construction of this health unit is a project that has long been awaited by the population of the region, as it will be built to relieve the current provincial hospital.

 

The old hospital has been in existence for over 50 years, and no longer offers adequate conditions to respond to the current challenges, due to demographic growth and the emergence of various diseases, in addition to the degradation of the infrastructure.

 

According to the governor, this situation has embarrassed the local health authorities in providing services that meet the needs of the province, and he considers the construction of the project a great gain that will revolutionize health care locally.

 

 He also added that the residents of the province will no longer need to go to other provinces for specialty medical care.

 

Cuanza Norte has 133 health units, including municipal hospitals, health centres and medical posts, created to alleviate the demands at the Provincial Hospital, which has insufficient structure and space to care for patients from the ten municipalities.

 

The province has nearly 500,000 inhabitants, and medical assistance to the population is provided by 197 physicians, including nationals and foreigners, and 946 nurses.

SADC PREPARES SUMMIT OF HEADS OF STATE AND GOVERNMENT

 Luanda - The 41st Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is set to take place on Tuesday (17), in Lilongwe, Malawi.

The meeting will take place in face-to-face and by videoconference format.

 

The SADC Council of Ministers, meeting Friday and Saturday, approved the minutes for the summit of Heads of State and Government.

 

According to the programme, Sunday (15) is reserved for the preparation of documentation and Monday for the arrival in Malawi of the Heads of State and Government.

 

Also on Monday, there will be a meeting of the Troika's Senior Officials, a body currently made up of Mozambique (President), Tanzania and South Africa.

 

During the 41st Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of SADC, the signing of some protocols is on the agenda, including the agreement on mobility in the region through the suppression of visas in passports, for citizens of Member States.

 

SADC was created on 17 August 1992, at the Summit in Windhoek, Republic of Namibia.

 

It is a sub-regional organization comprising South Africa, Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Eswatini, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Seychelles.

ANGLO AMERICAN ENGAGES IN MINERAL PROSPECTING IN ANGOLA FOR THREE MONTHS

 Luanda – The mining prospecting works initiated by the multinational Anglo American, in the provinces of Moxico (east) and Cunene (south) will be concluded in roughly three months’ time, said the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Geological Institute of Angola, Canga Xiaquivuila.

At the start of the activity, he explained, these aero-geophysical studies for the two locations in East and South Angola, respectively, will involve two aircrafts: one engaged in electromagnetic survey, in Moxico, and the other in magnetic survey, in Cunene.

 

The operation results from mining investment contracts, signed by Anglo American and the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas (MIREMPET), in November 2019, and will make it possible to select the areas of interest for mining exploration in these provinces, in a first phase.

 

Anglo American (British multinational) signed five contracts with MIREMPET, three for the province of Cunene, for base metals (copper, cobalt and nickel), and two in Moxico (copper, cobalt and silver).

 

“After recognition, come the steps of discovery, deposit and evaluation of the resource, until reaching the mineral. It's an aero-geophysical moment, which happens in the best possible way because of the National Geology Plan (PLANAGEO) that came to improve and assess the country's geographic potential”, Canga Xiaquivuila described.

 

He went on to say that in order to achieve the final goal, which includes reaching the best results, extraction of minerals can take much more than 15 years, but with the investment of the Angolan government, the time of transformation to a mine was reduced.

 

"I can't specify the amounts of that investment. However, with my experience as a technician, it can take 30 million dollars a year," he said.

The Investor

In 2020, the executive director of Anglo American, Mark Cutifane, said he was impressed with the strategic vision of Angola, the state with which he signed five agreements, from which he expects benefits for the Angolan communities, as well as for Anglo American.

 

"I was impressed with the strategic vision that the Angolan minister Diamantino Azevedo has for Angola in particular, and what he wants to do with the Mining Sector" he stressed at the time, on the sidelines of the “Indaba Mining” held in that year, at the Cape Town, South Africa.

On the occasion, he showed that what he most hoped for is that the five agreements signed with Angola could benefit the Angolan communities and the company he manages, adding that he is interested in all the minerals that the country has.

 

Anglo American is one of the five best diamond exploration companies in the world, with BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Vale.

 

Anglo American PIC is a British mining company and one of the largest in the world in this area of ​​business, dedicated to the exploration and processing of metals from platinum, as well as  diamonds, copper, nickel, ore iron and coal.

BNA STARTS CONSTRUCTION OF MONETARY CASH CENTER

 Luanda – The construction of the logistic center for storage, processing and distribution of cash, known as the “Cash Center”, of the National Bank of Angola (BNA), started this month, in the Special Economic Zone - ZEE Luanda/Bengo.

The construction is budgeted at 32.7billion kwanzas (roughly $51.2 million) and should be completed in ten months.

 

The first stone was placed symbolically on the 10th of the current month, by the governor of the BNA, José de Lima Massano, with a note published on that institution’s official web page.

 

From the BNA side, the agreement document was signed by the deputy director of Assets and Services Department, João Massunga, while on the Omatapalo side it was the General-Director for Production, Pedro Chambel.

 

The construction of the "Cash Center" is part of the modernization of the management of the national currency, aiming at making it gain the necessary performance and value, based on the best international practices on the matter.

 

According to the BNA, the center will provide high processing and storage capacity for banknotes and coins and will have equipment and functionalities that will ensure the handling of cash, with greater security, reliability and efficiency.

Angop/CF/jmc

TALIBAN ENTER KABUL FROM ALL SIDES

 Kabul, Afghanistan – The Taliban entered the Afghan capital Kabul from all sides, the Afghan interior ministry said on Sunday. Sirens could be heard along with sporadic gunfire. Multiple helicopters were flying above the city centre and dropping flares.

The Taliban said it has no plans to take the Afghan capital “by force”. The armed group issued the statement as their fighters moved to the outskirts of Kabul.

“Negotiations are under way to ensure that the transition process is completed safely and securely, without compromising the lives, property and honour of anyone, and without compromising the lives of Kabulis,” it said.

“The Islamic Emirate instructs all its forces to stand at the gates of Kabul, not to try to enter the city,” a spokesman for the Taliban tweeted, although some residents reported fighters peacefully entered some outer suburbs.

Panicked workers fled government offices. Thousands of civilians now live in parks and open spaces in Kabul itself, fearing the future.

‘All sides’

The senior official told Reuters news agency the Taliban were coming in “from all sides” but gave no further details.

Three Afghan officials told The Associated Press the fighters were in the districts of Kalakan, Qarabagh and Paghman in the capital. Fighters earlier took Jalalabad, near a major border crossing with Pakistan, the last major city other than Kabul not under their control.

After its lightning advance on the capital, the armed group ordered its fighters to refrain violence, allow safe passage to anyone seeking to leave and request women to head to protected areas, said a Taliban leader in Doha, Qatar.

The chief of staff to President Ashraf Ghani on Twitter urged the people of Kabul: “Please don’t worry. There is no problem. The situation of Kabul is under control.”

US officials said the diplomats were being ferried to the airport from the embassy in the fortified Wazir Akbar Khan district. More American troops were being sent to help in the evacuations.

Source:  https://www.aljazeera.com