No fewer than eight security agents comprising soldiers, policemen and Nigeria Security And Civil Defence Corps have been killed by gunmen in Imo State.

The incident which happened on Tuesday morning in Umualumaku community, Ehime Mbano Local Government Area of the state has thrown the area into panic.

The joint security taskforce team who were in two security trucks were ambushed and set ablaze by their attackers.

None of them survived as they were burnt inside their operational vehicles.

A security operative who doesn’t want to be mentioned told our correspondent that reinforcement teams had been sent to the scene of the crime with the intent to arrest the suspects and rescue the corpses of the slain security operative.

A resident in the community who do not want to reveal his identity for security said that he saw the security agents a few minutes before they were set ablaze.

He said that the community had been thrown into confusion, owing to the development.

Our correspondent saw a video clip of the attack as the security agents set ablaze in the two vehicles.

When contacted, the spokesperson for the police in the state, Henry Okoye, confirmed the development but asked for time to get the full details of the horrible incident.

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), has demanded a Coroner’s Inquest into the death of Ilerioluwa Aloba, aka Mohbad.

Falana made the demand following the controversial death of Mohbad, who d!ed on September 12, 2023 and was laid to rest the next day.

The demand was contained in a letter to the Chief Coroner, High Court of Lagos State in Ikeja.In the letter, Falana said his law firm was aware of the “very tragic death” of Mohbad and wanted an inquest to “be conducted into the cause of death of this young promising musician and make appropriate recommendations pursuant to Section 15 of the Lagos State Coroner’s Law 2007 which provides that an inquest shall hold whenever a coroner is informed that the death of a deceased person within his Coroner District is as a result of a death in a violent, unnatural or suspicious situation”.

The request, signed by Folakemi Falana and dated September 18, 2023, added:

“We hereby request Your Lordship to conduct an inquest into the circumstances surrounding the tragic death in Lagos State and we are confident that Your Lordship will accede to our request with utmost urgency.”

Instagram celebrity, Ismaila Mustapha aka Mompha, has taken to his page to react after a Lagos Special Offences Court, sitting in Ikeja, on Monday, September 18, admitted as evidence a Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) report on him and his iPhone being used for fraudulent practices.

Guardian reports that the trial judge, Mojisola Dada, admitted the report during Mompha’s trial in absentia, on alleged money laundering brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Recall that the EFCC, had on January 22,2022, arraigned Mompha alongside his company, Ismalob Global Investment, on an eight-count charge of N6 billion money laundering.

When the charges were read to him then, Mompha pleaded not guilty to all the counts and was granted bail, but the court later revoked the bail due to his absence at the trial.

At the resumed trial, EFCC’s counsel, Sulaiman Suleiman, who led the FBI’s agent, Ayorinde Solademi in evidence, tendered documents, which included a letter by the EFCC to the United States of America’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and a report by the Bureau.

However, the defendant’s counsel, Kolawole Salami, objected to the admissibility of the documents from the United States Consulate without certification.

Salami adrgued that the documents are not certified true copies, hence, should not be admitted.

The trial judge, however, overruled Salami, and upheld the position of the prosecution that the documents were original, and require no certification.

While being cross-examined by the defence counsel, Solademi, who works at the Legal Attaché Office of the FBI in Nigeria, told the court that he retrieved an iPhone belonging to Mompha with a Faraday bag.

According to him, the FBI’s forensic operations revealed that Mompha’s iPhone was used in sending account details to a United Arab Emirates (UAE) telephone number, searching for Swift Codes of a bank and had a compromised Microsoft 365 account.

Mompha took to IG this morning to react.

St. David Cathedral, Kudeti, Ibadan in Oyo State is set to celebrate its 170th anniversary.

The church has also announced a series of activities to celebrate the anniversary in grand style. Amongst the anniversary activities is the packaging of the church’s history for preservation.

The Mogaji of Aboderin compound in Ibadanland and Chairman of the 170th-anniversary committee, Chief Olutunde Aboderin, on Monday, disclosed this while speaking at a press conference in Ibadan, the state capital on Monday.

He said the essence of the celebration was to package the history of Christianity in the ancient town for posterity and to leave a legacy for future generations.

He said, “This anniversary is to package history for posterity. If we don’t do this, we will have thrown away a great legacy that we should give to future generations. By the special grace of God, the church of God will continue to match on.

“We are here to showcase that Christianity started in Ibadan, from this place. It is a pride of the entire Ibadanland and a pride of the Yoruba race. We were told that it was under that tree that the first gospel was preached on April 27, 1853. I have been to so many parts of the world and I want to say this, in Hong Kong, you have trees on the road and when they were planted you dare not take a leaf from them without being arrested.

“There is a storey building here in Ibadanland which was built in 1853, the first storey building in the entire Ibadanland, not many people know that. Actually, this building should rank with the ones in Badagry and Abeokuta and should be a place that the state and Federal Government should take over and maintain as they do in other parts of the world,” he said.

Not fewer than three lives have been lost as a result of flood in some parts of Jos metropolis in Plateau State.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Gangere, Rikkos, Bauchi road and Eto-Baba communities, of Jos North Local Government Area were flooded as a result of heavy rains on Sunday and Monday that lasted for many hours.

The Zonal Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency, Eugene Nyenlong, told NAN that his agency got a distress call that three persons had died as a result of the flood.

Nyenlong said that NEMA and other stakeholders were going to the affected communities to assess the situation.

“As I speak to you, we are moving to the scene with other stakeholders to have an on-the-spot assessment of the disaster, and also carry out advocacy visits.

“From the information before us, three persons have lost their lives from the flood that has become a recurring decimal in those areas. I appeal to the Plateau State Government to take stringent measures to ensure that the people vacate the flood-prone areas.

“If the people do not want to move out permanently, they can vacate the areas during the rainy season and return during the dry season,” he advised.

According to the zonal coordinator, there is a tributary that connects the communities and makes them susceptible to flood.

Fifty scholars of Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo, have been announced as winners of the N25m 2023 academic research grant.

A statement by the university said the grant was facilitated by ACU Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, Dr Olutoyin Okeowo.

It added that they would undertake research work in agriculture, humanities, engineering, and other fields of the discipline.

It read, “The grant is part of the university’s efforts to aid the discovery of new ideas, concepts, study, and academic excellence.

“Grouped into 10 groups, the list released by the university indicated that one of the research teams, which is led by Prof. Wahab Akanbi of the Department of Agriculture, will look at the use of cashew apple wastes for the production of organic fertilisers and bio-pesticides.

In another research work, Dr Simon Okanlawon of the Department of Architecture, ACU, will lead six other scholars as they explore the relevance of rural architecture in a sustainable agricultural settlement in Oyo State.

According to the list, another group of researchers headed by Dr Moses Adebayo of the Department of Agriculture will assess elite maize genotypes for new product pipeline development for the university’s seed company.

Other areas of research to be covered are engineering, humanities, natural sciences, arts, communications, and media studies.

The university said each of the 10 groups of researchers would receive a grant from the pool of N25m facilitated by the council chairman.

Professor Adewale Dipeolu of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, has said that over 3,000,000 people stand to benefit from an agricultural app that will soon be developed as part of digital technology measures to combat the effects of climate change on agriculture by farmers, especially those in remote part of the country.

Dipeolu, who is the team leader of the Digital Financial Solutions for Farmers in Remote Communities Project, made this call while speaking at a two-day European Union-funded workshop held at FUNAAB to discuss the findings of the group’s baseline study on the effects of climate change on agriculture in remote communities in Imo, Ogun, and Kwara states.

The workshop had in attendance 40 stakeholders in agriculture drawn from government institutions, technical and vocational training schools specialising in agriculture, research institutes and governmental technology agencies.

He said Nigeria’s agricultural sector had been grappling with numerous challenges, exacerbated by climate change, erratic rainfall, erosion, pest and disease outbreaks, and insecurity issues, such as farmer-herder clashes and that these adversities had left farmers vulnerable, particularly those residing in remote rural areas.

He said;

“We did a baseline study in three states of Imo, Ogun and Kwara states. We are here now to discuss the findings of the baseline study. We went to the field to see if farmers were aware of these digital solutions to climate change. What are the challenges farmers face with climate change? If they use these digital provisions, is it affordable for them? Do they understand what they are trying to do to give them digital solutions and so on?.

“After this workshop, we’ll collate all challenges we found in the field, which will guide us to develop an application that will be made available to farmers in the country, beginning with those in Imo, Ogun and Kwara states.

“We hope that the app will assist the farmers in their day-to-day activities. We hope that it will also help them to go into other livelihood activities and so on. That’s the essence of this particular workshop.

“This app will be translated into three languages: Yoruba, Igbo and Fulani/Hausa for farmers in the country to be able to use it effectively.

“The primary beneficiaries of this initiative encompass rural farmers, with particular emphasis on women and young involved in farming.

“Additionally, local authorities, telecoms providers, and officials in various Nigerian localities stand to benefit from specialised training in digital solutions, which will promote sustainable agricultural practices and offer alternative livelihoods for rural farmers, enabling them to adapt to the challenges posed by climate change.

The ultimate beneficiaries of this project are expected to exceed 3,000,000 individuals residing in rural communities.

“The project focuses on educating farmers about innovative agricultural practices through e-learning platforms that promote sustainable farming techniques. By equipping farmers with the knowledge to embrace new digital solutions, against the backdrop of climate change, the project seeks to address the vulnerability experienced by farmers, particularly those residing in rural communities and remote areas.”

Youth activists gathered at Effurun Roundabout, Delta State, on Monday to demand justice in the death of singer Ilerioluwa Aloba, aka MohBad.

MohBad died on Monday, September 11, at the age of 27.

Youths in the now-viral video marched on Monday with placards chanting, “Say no to Marlian music, we need justice.

“The protest is coming hours after the Lagos State Police Command set up a 13-man special investigation team to probe MohBad’s death.

MohBad was a signee of Marlian Music, owned by artiste Afeez Fashola, aka Naira Marley.

French man sentenced for international tax scheme

MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA –

Ayodele Arasokun, age 46, of Paris, France, was sentenced today in West Virginia to 34 years in federal prison for orchestrating an international tax scheme.

Arakosun was convicted by a jury in October 2022 of twenty-one counts of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Arasokun coordinated a scheme to file 1,701 false returns and claim $9.1 million in refunds, with West Virginia residents among the victims.

Evidence presented at trial showed that Arasokun had the money transferred to prepaid debit cards and checking accounts that he was monitoring.

The investigation revealed approximately 700 U.S.-based accounts containing more than $50 million were being tracked by the defendant.

A total of $2.2 million in fraudulent refunds were actually paid by the Internal Revenue Service.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew Cogar and Eleanor Hurney.

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) – Cybercrime Investigations Division, and the IRS-CI, Los Angeles field office investigated.

TIGTA investigates abuses of the IRS’s online electronic portals, including the Electronic Filing Pin application, which was compromised in this case.U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh presided.

Researchers have highlighted gender disparity in administering life-saving CPR to individuals experiencing cardiac arrests in public settings.

Their findings, yet to undergo peer review but will be discussed in Spain at a medical conference, shed light on the reluctance of onlookers to provide CPR to women compared to men during these emergencies.

To understand the reasons behind the gender gap in CPR administration, one theory proposed by the researchers is that bystanders in public settings may feel uncomfortable providing chest compressions, which unavoidably involve touching a woman’s chest, without obtaining prior consent.

Additionally, the research team explored whether age factors into bystander behaviour in these critical situations.

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), a critical procedure involving mouth-to-mouth respiration and chest compressions, can effectively sustain oxygen flow to the brain in cases where the heart has stopped beating, potentially averting fatalities until professional medical assistance arrives.

The investigation delved into the divergent approaches taken by bystanders when applying CPR to both genders.

It involved an extensive examination of cardiac arrest cases outside healthcare facilities in the United States and Canada over the ten years from 2005 to 2015, encompassing almost 40,000 patients.

The results revealed that 54 per cent of these patients received CPR assistance from a bystander.

However, in cardiac arrests in public spaces, such as on the street, only 61 per cent of women received CPR from bystanders.

In comparison, 68 per cent of men in similar situations benefited from bystander intervention.

Alexis Cournoyer, an emergency physician from Hopital du Sacre-Coeur de Montreal and the lead researcher, stated that the disparity heightened the mortality risk for women following a cardiac arrest.

Cardiac arrests rank among the leading causes of death, with over 350,000 occurrences annually in the U.S. alone, according to the American Heart Association.

“He is a dirty father who should be locked up for life as his conduct is disgracing.

“The defendant is found guilty as charged and he is hereby sentenced to life imprisonment on each of the two charges,” she said.

Ms Soladoye also ordered that the convict’s name should be registered in the sexual offences register of Lagos State.

The Lagos State counsel, Olufunke Adegoke, presented five witnesses while the convict testified as a sole witness during the trial.

Ms Adegoke submitted that the convict committed the offences between 2008 and 2017 at No. 2 Agbeke St. by Iyana-Era Bus Stop, Ijanikin, Lagos.

Child defilement violates Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

He said they had planned to enforce the sit-at-home order when a joint security team busted their hideouts.

“A joint security team, comprising police operatives of the Enugu State Command, NPF Special Forces, and Troops of the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army Enugu, acting on credible intelligence, busted the criminal hideout of IPOB/ESN subversive criminal elements.

“The criminal elements were already perfecting plans to enforce the illegal sit-at-home order in the state.

“Three of the hoodlums, who opened fire on the joint team upon sighting them, were neutralised, while several others escaped with severe degrees of gunshot wounds in the ensuing gunfight,” Mr Ndukwe said, noting that a search had begun for the fleeing hoodlums.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, Kanayo Uzuegbu, while commending the joint team, reassured of the security and safety of citizens and urged them to go about their lawful businesses in the state.

The commissioner reiterated the avowed commitment of the police and other security forces to sustain the onslaught against unrepentant violent criminals operating under any guise.

The Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court on Monday sentenced a 59-year-old artisan, Eze Chukwuma, to double life imprisonment for defiling his two daughters for nine years.

Justice Abiola Soladoye held that the prosecution sufficiently proved the two-count charge bordering on defilement against Mr Chukwuma.

Ms Soladoye said the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses were corroborated.

According to her, valid evidence was laced and documented, and the admission of the convict to have had canal knowledge of his two daughters during cross-examination was crucial.

She said the two daughters told the court their biological father began having sex with them when their mother died during childbirth in 2008.

Ms Soldaoye said: “The defendant’s incestuous relationship with his two daughters, following the death of his wife in 2008, is senseless.

“The children were taken to their village, and even after telling their kinsmen about their father’s acts, nothing was done.

“They returned to Lagos, and the second child reported to the school after her older sister ran away from home as she could no longer endure the assault.”

The judge said the school invited the Lagos State Ministry of Education and social workers, leading to the convict’s arrest, while the survivors were taken to an orphanage.

“He is a dirty father who should be locked up for life as his conduct is disgracing.

“The defendant is found guilty as charged and he is hereby sentenced to life imprisonment on each of the two charges,” she said.

Ms Soladoye also ordered that the convict’s name should be registered in the sexual offences register of Lagos State.

The Lagos State counsel, Olufunke Adegoke, presented five witnesses while the convict testified as a sole witness during the trial.

Ms Adegoke submitted that the convict committed the offences between 2008 and 2017 at No. 2 Agbeke St. by Iyana-Era Bus Stop, Ijanikin, Lagos.Child defilement violates Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

Three people have been killed in a helicopter crash in western Turkey during a firefighting operation to extinguish a forest fire, local media reported on Monday.

According to the report, the helicopter crashed on Saturday while the crew was trying to draw water from a dam in the western city of İzmir.

One of the four occupants was rescued and is being treated in hospital.

The bodies of the three other occupants were recovered in the dam.Divers found a body at a depth of 12 metres in the morning, the report said.

Now, they are trying to bring the bodies to the surface.

Meanwhile, the firefighting operation is ongoing.

The national and state house of assembly election tribunal, on Monday, affirmed the election of Mudassir Zawachiki of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) as the lawmaker representing Kumbotso Constituency in the Kano State House of Assembly.

In their unanimous judgment, the three-man panel, led by Justice L. B. Owolabi, dismissed the petition of Sagir Abdulkadir-Panshekara of the All Progressives Congress (APC), challenging the victory of Mr Zawachiki.

He said the petitioner’s case lacked merit and did not prove the case of overvoting, violence and certificate forgery beyond reasonable doubt.

“The petitioner failed to prove non-compliance with the 2022 electoral act and other irregularities,” Mr Owolabi said.

After his victory, Mr Zawachiki said, “I thank almighty God the truth has prevailed. I will continue to do my best to justify the confidence reposed in me.”

The PPRO said the police on Sunday received information at 8:40 p.m. that hoodlums, armed with dangerous weapons, invaded the Kwanar Garki and kidnapped Isyaku Umar, 37, in Kofar Arewa.

He said the suspects allegedly shot another 30-year-old Ahmad Abdullahi of Babbar Ruga village, in his armpit.

The PPRO added that upon receipt of the report, a team of policemen from Babura Divisional Police Headquarters rushed to the scene and rescued the kidnapped victim unhurt.

“Both the kidnapped victim and the injured one were rushed to the Babura General Hospital for treatment, where the kidnapped victim was treated, discharged and was reunited with his family.

“The shot victim, however, was transferred to Rashid Shekoni Teaching Hospital, Dutse,” the PPRO said.

Mr Shi’isu said following the distress call received from Babura Division that the suspected kidnappers were heading towards the Ringim area, the police, in collaboration with members of the vigilante group, mounted a stop-and-search in Daushe village along Ringim Kanya-Babba highway.

“On sighting the police, the suspects abandoned their car (Opel Vectra) and fled to an unknown destination.

“When the vehicle with reg no. NEN 20 NZ Anambra state was searched, one AK 47 rifle, one magazine, 15 rounds of live ammunition and a cellphone were recovered,” he added.

Mr Shi’isu assured that efforts were being intensified to arrest the fleeing suspects.

He said the Commissioner of Police in the state, Emmanuel Ekot, lauded the efforts of the police officers and directed them to stand firm to ensure that the fleeing suspects are arrested.

Five rescue workers from Greece who were in Libya as part of the flood relief effort were killed in a car accident, Greek government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said on Monday.

Another 14 people were injured in Sunday’s crash, he said.

The confirmation came following conflicting reports about a car accident involving Greek rescue workers on Sunday.

According to Libyan authorities, three members of a Libyan family were also killed in the head-on collision between their car and the Greek volunteers’ bus.

Two others were seriously injured.The five Greek people were three emergency workers and two translators, according to Marinakis.

The bodies and 13 of the injured had already been flown back to Greece onboard military aircraft, while one person remained in hospital in Libya, Marinakis said.

According to local media reports, the accident occurred near the port city of Derna, which was particularly hard hit by the flooding.

Marking the second anniversary of the ban on girls’ education in Afghanistan, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Monday called on the ruling Taliban militants to reopen schools for girls.

“Girls belong in school,” Mr Guterres wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Let them back in.”

The UN chief said closing girls’ schools is “an unjustifiable violation of human rights that inflicts long-lasting damage on the entire country.”

Meanwhile, Amnesty International criticised that during the past two years, the situation had not changed.

“The future and dreams of thousands of Afghan girls are at stake,” the London-based rights organisation wrote on X.

Since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, Afghanistan has become the only country to deny girls and women access to education beyond primary school.

The Taliban authorities originally said the ban was a “temporary suspension” that would be resolved after establishing a safe environment for girls to attend school, but no changes have been made so far.

The move has drawn condemnation from the international community.No country has recognised the Taliban de-facto government so far.

Taiwan’s defence ministry on Monday said it registered 103 Chinese military aircraft in its airspace in 24 hours, marking a new high in the number of daily sorties.

Taiwan’s ministry of national defence said as of 6:00 a.m. on Monday (2200 GMT Sunday), 40 of the Chinese warplanes had crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan’s south-western and south-eastern air space.

Meanwhile, nine People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy vessels had been spotted around Taiwan.

The ministry said Taiwan had tasked combat air patrol aircraft, navy vessels, and land-based missile systems to respond to these activities.

In a Monday statement, the ministry said the intrusion of Chinese aircraft posed severe challenges to regional security.

The ministry said that all parties are responsible for maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, adding that Beijing’s actions could increase tensions and worsen regional security.

“We call on the Beijing authorities to take responsibility and immediately stop such unilateral destructive actions,” the ministry said.

Taipei last week daily registered dozens of Chinese military aircraft and a handful of vessels around its shores.

Taiwan has had an independent government since 1949, but China considers the self-ruled democracy part of its territory.

President Bola Tinubu’s government has again invited the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) for another meeting over its planned indefinite strike.

Labour minister Simon Lalong announced this in a statement.

Mr Lalong had, on September 4, invited NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) for a meeting to avert the earlier two-day nationwide warning strike. Only the TUC showed up for the meeting.

Mr Lalong said he had directed the Department of Trade Unions Services and Industrial Relations to convene the meeting with the leadership of the NLC on Monday.

He said it was important for the unions to sit with the government to resolve all pending matters to avert further economic disruption.

“The administration of President Bola Tinubu will always engage the organised labour and respond to its concerns after due consultation and negotiations. This is in order to guarantee industrial harmony, which is critical to the attainment of the Renewed Hope Agenda,” said Mr Lalong.

Also, the NLC National Executive Council had on September 1, in a communique, threatened to embark on an indefinite strike within 21 days of the issuance of the communique.

The NLC and the TUC are demanding wage awards, implementation of palliatives, tax exemptions and allowances to public sector workers and a review of the minimum wage.

Though the federal government committed to restructuring the framework for engagement with organised labour on palliatives, the eight-week timeframe set for the conclusion of the process expired in August with no action whatsoever.

The committees were given eight weeks to conclude their assignment and hasten the implementation of the framework in cushioning the effect of petrol subsidy removal on Nigerians, but weeks after the timeframe expired, the sub-committees had yet to meet or actualise their mandates.

Mr Tinubu had, since June 19, set up the Presidential Steering Committee and various sub-committees to discuss the framework to be adopted on the palliatives.

The sub-committees had been created to implement FG’s palliative package in areas such as Cash Transfers, Social Investment Programme, Cost of Governance, Energy, and Mass Transit and Housing.

This was a fallout of the president’s closed-door session with the leadership of the NLC and the TUC during a nationwide protest by organised labour.

The federal government says it is planning two super highways across the country through a public-private partnership scheme.

Works minister David Umahi disclosed this to State House correspondents on Sunday after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu in Abuja.

He said the highways would be from Abuja to Lagos and Port Harcourt to Lagos, with state-of-the-art facilities.

The super highways are designed for travel at high speeds, having more than one lane for each direction of traffic and a safety strip dividing the two directions.

The minister said the government received commitments from stakeholders to make the project successful within a reasonable period.

Mr Umahi also disclosed that the president was briefed on the need to seek better appropriation for the funding of road projects to avoid unnecessary variations in cost and specifications.

The minister said the National Assembly would be carried along to see the necessity of providing enough funds for road projects that benefit the people.

Mr Umahi also said due to inadequate funding, he asked the president to direct the termination of road projects that took more than 10 years without completion.

The minister assured Nigerians that the government would abandon no project initiated by the past administration.

He said the Tinubu administration inherited 2,604 projects worth N14 trillion covering 18,000km of roads.

The minister added that the government was also committed to using reinforced concrete for road pavements across the country.

Mr Umahi said concrete could withstand heavy loads, such as heavy vehicles, with less deformation and serve for years without major repairs.

Several factors affect concrete pavement performance, such as traffic, soil, environmental, economic and stress distribution factors.

Mr Umahi also mentioned that the merit of these would be the use of local materials and the elimination of imported items, which have been the cause of contract variations in the country.

On the structural defects on the Third Mainland bridge, Mr Umahi said work had started, and articulated vehicles had been stopped from plying it for now.