Daily Watch – Kaduna cautions ‘vigilance’ in wake of bomb explosion, Suspected Islamist militants kill 20 in DRC

The Nigerian Government has announced that its embassies across Eastern Europe have started receiving Nigerians from Ukraine following the ongoing Russian-Ukraine war. According to Ambassador Gabriel Aduda, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nigerian nationals who have made it to Poland, Romania and Hungary have been accommodated in organised camps pending when the evacuations will commence. The ministry said that in 24 hours, officials of the Nigerian Embassy received 130 Nigerians safely at Bucharest, Romania where they have been provided accommodation and will be documented. It added that “Officials at Budapest, Hungary have received and accommodated 74 Nigerians safely” while as of Monday, they were expecting “another batch of about 200 into the city of Budapest, tomorrow.” The ministry said that in Warsaw, Poland, they have received 52 Nigerians and 23 Nigerians are being processed at the Polish Government Reception Point, and at Hala Kijowska, Milny 90, 37-552 Milny, which they say is near the border of Korczowa-Krakowiec. The ministry assured Nigerians that all arrangements are being put in place to effectively evacuate Nigerian citizens, in safety and dignity. The FG had announced that Nigerians willing to leave Ukraine are advised to go through the borders of Hungary and Romania through the Zahony Border and Suceava, Tulcea and Maramures borders in Romania as they have approved visa-free access to Nigerians.

The Kaduna State Government has advised residents to be vigilant as explosive devices have been planted by terrorists in various parts of the state. The government gave the advice on Monday through a statement by the state commissioner for Internal Security and Homeland Affairs, Samuel Aruwan. It said security agencies feared the terrorists may be planning to “discreetly place explosives in public facilities such as schools, hospitals, hotels, bars, entertainment centres, restaurants, parks, major roads and places of worship.” Earlier on Monday, Kaduna police spokesperson, Mohammed Jalige, had confirmed an explosion in the Kabala West area of the state metropolis on Sunday. Confirming the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria, Mr Jalige said a suspected Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) went off in the Kabala West area of Kaduna South Local Government Area. “The explosion is suspected to be IED, there is no casualty recorded in the incident. There was nobody in the building when it exploded. It happened Sunday night around 21:45 p.m. The anti-bomb squad has been deployed to the scene to analyse the particles we got from the place,’’ he said. Mr Jalige promised that details of findings would be made available after investigation.

Seplat Energy will reward shareholders with a final dividend payout of $14 million translating to $0.025 per ordinary share, the oil and gas company said in a disclosure on Monday. Seplat Energy, which just acquired the entire shallow water assets of one of ExxonMobil’s Nigerian subsidiaries, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, pays dividends four times a year at quarterly intervals. The dividend will be subject to appropriate withholding tax and shareholders’ approval and “will be paid to shareholders whose names appear in the register of members as at the close of business on May 5, 2022,” It said. The register of shareholders will be closed on 6 May to allow the company’s registrar to prepare for the payment of the final dividend on or around 25 May. “Shareholders holding their shares on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) without a valid Nigerian Certificate for Capital Importation (“CCI”) will be paid their dividend in Naira as the default currency,” it added. Those holding their shares on the NGX and having a valid CCI will be paid their dividend in U.S. dollars, while shareholders holding their shares via depository interests on the London Stock Exchange will get paid in U.S dollars.

Suspected Islamist militants killed at least 20 civilians in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo overnight, according to a local resident and an activist who criticised the failure of Congolese and Ugandan forces to stop the repeated massacres. The attack late on Sunday evening in the village of Kikura was blamed by the resident and the activist on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan militia that has killed thousands of civilians in eastern Congo since 2013. Congolese and Ugandan troops launched joint operations against the ADF in late November but attacks by the group, which has pledged allegiance to Islamic State, have continued to kill dozens of civilians each month. The assailants struck at around 9 p.m. with machetes and also burned down houses, said Odette Zawadi, the president of a local activist organisation. She said 20 bodies had been recovered and that the death toll could rise further. Capitaine Antony Mwalushayi, a spokesman for Congo’s army, said it had taken a while for soldiers in the area to learn of the attack since it was carried out without firearms. “We cannot be discouraged because the objective of the enemy is to discourage us, to separate us from the population,” he said. A spokesman for Uganda’s army was not immediately available to comment. The ADF started as an uprising in Uganda but has been based in Congo since the late 1990s. It pledged allegiance to Islamic State in 2019, but United Nations researchers have found no evidence of Islamic State control over its operations.