Miles Routledge 'Lord Miles' Captured By Taliban

 A British Youtuber and self-styled “danger tourist” is among three British men being held by the Taliban’s feared counter-intelligence unit in Kabul, it has emerged.

Miles Routledge, a 21-year-old from Birmingham who goes by ‘Lord Miles’, has over 140,000 followers on Twitter, where he brands himself as a person who will “go to the most dangerous places on Earth for fun.”

Two other Britons, charity medic Kevin Cornwell, 53, and a second unnamed man who manages a hotel in Kabul, are believed to have been held by Taliban secret police since January following a separate incident.

Mr Routledge was arrested on March 2, along with two Polish nationals named as Adrian Wojcik, 22, and Roman Bilski, 24, and is being held for further questioning, a senior European diplomatic source told The Telegraph.

A Taliban security officer confirmed the arrest of multiple foreigners last week to the Telegraph. 

The official added that the group were found partaking in “suspicious activities” and were being held with the Taliban’s counter intelligence department in Kabul.

It is not the first time that Mr Routledge has visited Afghanistan. Last August, the blogger received widespread criticism for visiting Kabul during the Taliban’s ongoing takeover of Afghanistan.

He acquired a spot on a British Army evacuation flight to Dubai while thousands of Afghans who had worked alongside British troops in the country were left behind where they face ongoing targeting by the Taliban.

it is unclear why Mr Routledge, who studied physics at Loughborough university, again travelled to Afghanistan but it is believed he intended to shoot footage for his social media accounts. 

Last August, Mr Routledge posted a video of him meeting with an alleged Taliban gunrunner in the city of Jalalabad after boasting of entering Afghanistan on a forged document. The video has over one million views on YouTube. 

In the same footage, Mr Routledge is seen firing several automatic weapons with a Taliban fighter and a member of a local mafia, which he describes as “a lot of fun”.

Return Home For Census, IPOB Urges Igbos

 The Indigenous People of Biafra has urged Igbos outside the South-East region to return home and be counted during the 2023 census.

The group said it was imperative for the Igbo to be counted during this year’s census in order to ascertain their actual population size, adding the opportunity will equally prove to the world that they are not really, “a dot” in a circle.

IPOB’s Director of Media and Publicity, Emma Powerful, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday.

Earlier, The PUNCH reports that the National Population Commission said it had put out measures to guard against all forms of malpractices ahead of the forthcoming population and housing census.

The commission also stressed that citizens living away from their states of origin do not need to travel to home for the purpose of the exercise.

It said people would be enumerated at their places of residence.

Powerful disclosed that the census would serve as a chance for the Igbo to ascertain the population and the size of amenities it needed in their territory.

“The mass return of our people during this forthcoming population census will help us quantify the population of Biafrans in Nigeria. Therefore, we must seize the opportunity the Nigeria Government is offering to our benefit. They have always told the world that we are a dot with an insignificant population. Now is the time to let the world know the population of Biafrans in Nigeria as the Biafra agitation is gathering international attention and speed. Biafra is coming, and no one can stop it. IPOB is gradually dismantling all obstacles to our freedom, and this population census will provide another opportunity to collect more evidence to that effect.

“Should there be any reason why you can’t travel to Biafra land to be counted, make sure you and your family members are not counted outside Biafra land. We must prove them wrong once and for all.”

He added that it would engage transport owners to be part of this project so that those willing to travel to the East to be counted could do so.

“We are calling on all well-meaning Igbo business men and women, entrepreneurs, senators, ministers, commissioners, House of Assembly members from the Eastern states to contribute in one way or the other to ensure that our people come back home during this population census exercise.”

Rivers, Kano, Abia… 27 States Attracted Zero Foreign Investments In 2022

Foreign investors ignored 27 states as the value of capital importation into Nigeria fell by 20.5 percent to $5.33 billion in 2022 from $6.70 billion in 2021.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed this in its latest Nigerian Capital Importation report for the four quarters of 2022. The publication looks into the value of fresh investments that flowed into the country’s economy in the year under review.

According to the NBS data, the 27 states snubbed by investors include: Abia, Adamawa, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Osun, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, and Zamfara.

LAGOS OUTSHINED OTHERS TO REMAIN INVESTORS’ FAVOURITE

In 2022, only ten states attracted foreign investments.Lagos took the lead as it outshined others, and federal capital territory (FCT), to top the list of states that attracted the most investments within the year.

Analysis by TheCable Index shows that the country’s commercial city attracted $3.61 billion in investment, representing 68 percent of the total capital inflow into the country for the period under review. This also shows an increase when compared to the $2.21 billion investment recorded in 2021.

NBS said Abuja (FCT) emerged second top investment destination with $1.63billion-representing 31 percent of the total capital inflow in the country in 2022. Other states that attracted foreign investments in 2022 are Akwa Ibom ($42.52 million), Anambra ($36.97 million), Oyo ($3.00 million), and Kogi ($2.00 million). Katsina follows with $0.70 million, Ekiti ($0.51 million), Ondo ($0.20 million), and Plateau ($0.04 million).

Out of 52 countries that invested in Nigeria, the United Kingdom emerged as the top source of capital investment in 2022 with $2.76 billion; followed by South Africa ($428.73 million), Singapore ($420.97 million), and the United States ($286.92 million).

EIGHT STATES FAILED TO ATTRACT INVESTMENT IN FOUR YEARS

Meanwhile, out of the 27 states that were ignored by foreign investors, eight also failed to attract foreign investments in the last four years (2019 -2022).

The states are Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Gombe, Jigawa, Kebbi, Taraba, Yobe, and Zamfara. A recent report by the Debt Management Office (DMO) and the NBS also shows that some of the states are accumulating domestic and foreign debt.

According to DMO, apart from Kebbi state, the others had an increase in domestic debt in the last seven years. Yobe state had a domestic debt growth of +2,247 percent, followed by Taraba at +218 percent, Gombe at +161 percent and Zamfara at +142 percent.

Others are Ebonyi with +139 percent growth in domestic debt, followed by Jigawa at +98 percent and Bayelsa at +42 percent. Only Kebbi state (-4 percent) had a decrease in its domestic debt in the last seven years.

On the internally generated revenue (IGR) front, data also shows that the above states are doing poorly in generating revenue for their respective states.

The 2021 data released by NBS (which is the latest) shows that Yobe generated N8.5 billion, which is the lowest among the 26 states;  followed by Taraba with N9.6 billion, and Kebbi at N9.9 billion.

Gombe generated N10.6 billion as IGR in 2021, followed by Ebonyi (N13.8 billion) and Bayelsa, an oil-producing state, generated N13.3 billion in 2021. Jigawa and Zamfara generated N16.5 billion and N18.9 billion, respectively.

‘NIGERIA LOSING FOREIGN INVESTMENT TO RISING INSECURITY’

Speaking on the continued dwindling of Nigeria’s attractiveness to investors, Adejare Bello, the nation’s ambassador to Mexico, said restoring security in the country was a prerequisite for productive investment. Bello said Mexican investors were willing to “invest heavily in Nigeria’s economy but for the prevailing security situation in the country”.

“The embassy receives frequent enquiries from investors on possible areas of collaboration between both countries but all these efforts to attract foreign investments are being thwarted by the news of insecurity,” he said.

“Some of the areas the foreign investors have been looking to invest include oil and gas, gold mining, agriculture as well as establishing a partnership with Dangote in the area of fertiliser procurement.”

Bello said although the federal government has been proactive in dealing with the security challenges in the country, he advised that the current onslaught against criminals must be sustained. This, according to him, will go a long way to enhance the inflow of foreign direct investment into the country.

Yes Daddy: Obi Is A Chronic Liar And Can't Sue For Defamation - Sowore

 

peterobi is A LIAR and a chronic LIAR can’t sue for defamation or libel, this is grandstanding to cover up for the “YES DADDY” phone scandal, aimed at intimidating @GazetteNGR. If at all he dare sue @GazetteNGR he will abandon the lawsuit halfway and claim he’s forgiven you guys out of benevolence. #Revolutionnow

Timothy Chukwudi Lands In Trouble Over WhatsApp Posts

 

Banks Push Out Dirty, Mutilated Notes As New Naira Scarcity Persists

 Bank workers and customers have lamented the quality of the old naira notes reintroduced into circulation by the Central Bank of Nigeria amidst the gradual disappearance of the new notes.

Saturday PUNCH gathered that bank tellers, who pay cash to customers, and workers in bulk rooms, who collect large cash deposits from depositors, were apprehensive that the dirty and mutilated notes could spread diseases.

A teller at a new generation bank in the Ibafo area of Ogun State, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told one of our correspondents that handling dirty notes was a source of concern to her and her colleagues, especially those in the bulk room.

She stated, “The fear of contracting diseases is real. Following the re-circulation of the old notes, the N1,000, N500 and N200 that we are being supplied to pay to customers are mostly dirty and mouldy. Some of the bundles smell bad and we have returned to wearing nose masks to safeguard our health.


“Last week, two of our colleagues in the bulk room started coughing and the situation degenerated to the extent that the branch manager asked them to stay away from work so that they could be treated. The affected workers complained of being exposed to mouldy and smelling notes, which they had to sort out.

“What we now do is covering our mouths and noses with face masks. We also keep hand sanitizers in strategic locations. The condition of the old notes makes many people sick and even customers are complaining, but they can’t reject the dirty notes because of the naira scarcity of the past three months.”

A trader in the Abule-Egba area of Lagos, Alhaji Sarafadeen Akanbi, who withdrew N500,000 from over the counter on Thursday, complained bitterly when the cash was handed over to him.

He said, “I urgently need the cash and that’s why I came here. I exploited my relationship with the bank employees, starting from the branch manager, as a highly valuable customer to withdraw N500,000. Though the bank limited other customers to N20,000, I was given the privilege of withdrawing that much.

“However, I was shocked when I was paid in dirty, smelling and mutilated notes. I complained to the manager and he said I could fill the deposit slip and my account would be credited with the amount if I felt dissatisfied as that was what was available. When I decided to sort out the money, I didn’t get up to N150,000 worth of manageable notes and I had to return the rest as the people I want to pay will not accept them from me.”

Many bank customers were still unable to make withdrawals in many branches in parts of Lagos and Ogun states on Friday as some of the lenders claimed that the cash supplied them had been exhausted.

At the Ibafo branches of UBA, Access Bank and First Bank, long queues of customers were seen at Automated Teller Machine galleries, while those who wanted to get into the banking halls besieged the gates.

Those who succeeded in making withdrawals lamented that the old notes were dirty and could spread diseases.

A security guard at the UBA branch informed the restless crowd that only those who wanted to make deposits and sort out failed transactions would be allowed in as the cash for over-the-counter withdrawals had been exhausted.

When one of our correspondents managed to gain access into the banking hall, a senior official of the bank said only N2m was made available for over-the-counter payment and that the amount was exhausted before noon.


The official said, “I am tired of the situation as we face serious pressure from customers, who are desperate to make withdrawals. When we opened in the morning, we were paying each customer N10,000 over the counter and through the ATMs, but when we realised that the money would soon get exhausted, we limited what each customer could get to N5,000.

“However, many customers are not having that as they claim that the CBN has allowed them to withdraw up to N500,000 weekly. While this is true, we can only pay out what we get.”

Asked if new notes were being mixed with the old notes, the banker said, “Where are the new notes? I haven’t seen the new notes in almost a month. They are not being supplied and the few ones paid out before the Supreme Court ordered the CBN to re-circulate the old notes are not coming back into the banking system.”

The branch manager of a Tier-1 bank on Victoria Island, Lagos, told Saturday PUNCH, “Customers can withdraw any amount up to the N500,000 limit set by the CBN for individuals and N5m for corporate bodies from our branch and many other branches on the island. A lot of customers from the Mainland have been coming here to make withdrawals.

“We have not received new notes for over two weeks. I don’t think the new notes are being printed currently. The availability of the old notes is dependent on how much each bank was able to return to the CBN before the deadline, as each bank is being given a percentage of the deposits.


“The payment of mutilated notes to some customers is meant to discourage those of them who insist on making withdrawals of huge amounts as that is against the spirit of the cashless transaction. Such notes can only be paid over the counter as they can’t be loaded in ATMs because they jam the machines and cause all sort of problems.”

Several calls to the CBN spokesman, Isa Abdulmumin, on Friday were unanswered as his phone rang out. Messages sent to him on WhatsApp also received no response.

However, Saturday PUNCH gathered that the apex bank had exhausted the new notes printed and had not been able to take delivery of more new notes and was only peppering over the cracks with the re-circulation of the old notes.

Saturday PUNCH had reported in February that the CBN might contract the printing of the redesigned N1,000, N500 and N200 notes to foreign contractors as acute scarcity resulted in violent protests occasioned by vandalism of bank facilities.

Sources had said the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc, which is responsible for the printing of the naira, appeared to lack the capacity to meet the demand for the new notes.

To douse the tension created by the scarcity of the notes, the National Council of State had advised the apex bank to print more naira notes or re-circulate the old notes, which it mopped up from circulation, in order to ease the pressure on hapless Nigerians, who had been suffering from the scarcity of the new notes.

‘Embrace digital channels’
Meanwhile, the CBN has urged Nigerians to embrace alternative payment channels such as eNaira, USSD codes and other Internet banking facilities in line with its cashless policy.

The apex bank said the idea became necessary as the country was gradually marching towards the alternative payments policy regime, which is the trend all over the world.

Abdulmumin made the call during the CBN’s Special Day at the ongoing 34th Enugu International Trade Fair in Enugu on Friday, according to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria.


He added that the country could not afford to be left behind in the global financial ecosystem but rather embrace digital payment channels.

Abdulmumin, who was represented by the Assistant Director, Communication Department, CBN, Mr Imoh Esu, said the apex bank had continued to seek creative ways to ensure that Nigeria took full advantage of opportunities and benefits of digital payment channels.

This, he said, led to the launch of the eNaira in October 2021 aimed at broadening the payment possibilities of Nigerians and fostering digital financial inclusion, with potential for fast-tracking inter-governmental and social transfers.

He stated, “Similarly, the CBN in collaboration with the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System, recently launched the National Domestic Card Scheme – the first in Africa.

“This is expected to not only lower operating costs for banks, but reduce the huge foreign exchange costs associated with operating foreign card schemes.”

On the recent redesign of some denominations of the naira, Abdulmumin reiterated that the policy, which was approved by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), was in the overall interest of the country and the economy, in addition to aligning with the international best practices.

According to him, overall, the policy has started strengthening macroeconomic fundamentals, moderating inflation and up-scaling the financial inclusion rate.

“It has also led to relative stability in the exchange rate and supported the efforts of the security agencies in combating banditry and ransom-taking in the country,” he added.

Earlier in his welcome address, the President, Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, Mr Jasper Nduagwuike, lauded the various intervention schemes of the CBN in supporting and encouraging the growth of businesses in various sectors of the economy.

Pro-Tinubu Supporters Obtain Permit To Rally In Washington DC

 Nigerians in USA have obtained permit to demonstrate against anti-democratic elements who want to overturn the 2023 presidential election.

In the permit shared, the pro-Tinubu supporters want president Joe Biden to support Nigeria for easy transition to democratically elected president-elect Tinubu.

—Venue: 5537 Ruxton Dr, Lanham, Maryland, 20706.

—Expected participants: 100.

—Date: 04/03/2023

—Time: 12pm ET.