Charred bodies were left scattered among burnt palms, cars and vans on Sunday after a weekend explosion which killed more than 100 people at an illegal oil refining depot on the border of Nigeria's Rivers and Imo states. Flip flops, bags and clothing belonging to those who died littered the ground, which was blackened by oil and soot while still emitting smoke in some places despite overnight rain. "There are so many people that died here. I'm pleading to the government to look into this," Uche Woke, a commercial bike rider, told Reuters at the scene of the blast on Saturday night. The Nigerian Red Cross Society was on the scene on Sunday to assess the blast, which destroyed a section of the Abaezi forest, which straddles the border of the Ohaji-Egbema Local Government Area of Imo state with Rivers state. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said in a statement that he would intensify the clampdown on illegal refineries after what he described as a "catastrophe" and "national disaster". Unemployment and poverty in the oil producing Niger Delta have made illegal refining attractive, but with often deadly consequences. Crude oil is tapped from a web of pipelines owned by major oil companies and refined in makeshift tanks. The process has led to fatal accidents and polluted a region already blighted by oil spills in farmland, creeks and lagoons. A man stands at the scene of explosion in which over 100 people lost their lives, at an illegal crude oil bunkering site at Abaezi forest, in Ohaji-Egbema. The Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre said several vehicles that were in a queue to buy illegal fuel were burnt. "The fire outbreak occurred at an illegal bunkering site and it affected over 100 people," Goodluck Opiah, the state commissioner for petroleum resources, said of the accident. The border location is a reaction to a recent crackdown in Rivers on illegal refining in an effort to reduce worsening air pollution. "In the last month or two, there were several raids and some security agents involved were tackled," Ledum Mitee, former president of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), said. At least 25 people, including some children, were killed in an explosion and fire at another illegal refinery in Rivers state in October. In February, local authorities said they had started a crackdown on the refining of stolen crude, but with little apparent success. Government officials estimate that Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer and exporter, loses an average of 200,000 barrels of oil per day, more than 10% of production, to illegal tapping or vandalising of pipelines. That has forced oil firms to regularly declare force majeure on oil and gas exports. Credit: Reuters

Police in Ivory Coast have seized a record haul of more than 2 tonnes of pure cocaine with a street value of around 41 billion CFA francs ($67.7 million), the interior ministry said on Saturday. The cocaine was seized from traffickers this month in a police operation that took place in the commercial capital Abidjan and the port city of San Pedro, a ministry statement said. The statement gave few details but said nine people, including Ivorians and foreign nationals, had been arrested and investigations were under way. The previous record haul was just over a year ago when about a tonne of cocaine was seized in one of Abidjan’s northern districts. Major drug hauls in Ivory Coast are rare, but large cocaine seizures have become increasingly common along the West African Atlantic Coast. The region is often used as a transit route for illegal drugs on their way from South America to Europe. About 40 tonnes pass through the region annually, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Source: Reuters

French President Emmanuel Macron has defeated his far-right rival Marine Le Pen by a comfortable margin in a runoff election and has won a second term, early projections by pollsters showed. The first projections showed centrist Macron securing around 57-58 percent of the vote in Sunday’s runoff. Such estimates are normally accurate, but may be fine-tuned as official results come in from around the country. Le Pen, the candidate of the far-right National Rally party (Rassemblement National or RN), received 41.8 percent of the votes, the highest in her last three unsuccessful presidential bids. In a victory speech on Sunday evening, Macron said a simple “thank you!” and praised the majority who gave him five more years at the helm of France. He arrived on the plaza where his supporters gathered, beneath the Eiffel Tower, to the sound of the Ode to Joy, the European Union’s anthem, hand in hand with his wife, Brigitte. Macron also thanked people who voted for him not because they embrace his ideas but because they wanted to reject Le Pen. “I’m not the candidate of one camp anymore, but the president of all of us,” he said. Le Pen conceded defeat in a speech shortly after the polling projections were released, but still hailed her result as a “brilliant victory”. Promising to “carry on” her political career and saying that she would “never abandon” the French, the 53-year-old said: “The result represents a brilliant victory.” Macron would be the first French president in a generation to win a second term since Jacques Chirac in 2002. But he would face a divided nation and a battle to keep his parliamentary majority in legislative elections in June. He is the third-ever French president to win two consecutive terms. Pierre Haski, a veteran political commentator, said the legislative elections – commonly referred to as the third round – will be the new test for the political landscape in France, especially as support for traditional parties has drastically shrunk. “You have three political forces,” he told Al Jazeera. “You have Macron’s centre, a major chunk of the political spectrum. You have Marine Le Pen, who has increased the number of votes in this election compared to previous ones so she’s a strong contender on the right. Then you have [leftist] Jean-Luc Melenchon, who did well in the first round and came in third and wants to take revenge in the parliamentary elections. “The challenge for Macron is to have a majority because if he doesn’t, he will be forced into a different political orientation between the president and the prime minister, and that’s a source of tension and difficulties.” According to the exit polls by Franceinfo, an estimate of 28.2 percent of the electorate did not cast their votes. Early official results are expected later Sunday night. The final official results of the final round of the presidential election will be released on April 27. In a speech on Sunday evening, Melenchon said the campaign for legislative elections in June starts now. Melenchon, who united the first-round left-wing vote around him and has already talked about himself as a future prime minister, urged voters who are unhappy with the system not to give up. “The voters have spoken, Le Pen has been beaten, France clearly refused to entrust its future to her. Macron’s election is the worst result of the fifth republic. He swims in an ocean of abstentions and spoiled ballots,” Melenchon said. Meanwhile, far-right leader Eric Zemmour called on France’s nationalist parties to unite ahead of the upcoming legislative elections. “The political situation ahead of parliamentary elections forces us to act … the nationalist bloc needs to unite, nationalist movements must join forces,” said Zemmour, who was also a candidate in the first round of the vote but failed to make it to the second round. In response to poll projections, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Macron in a tweet, saying: “I am pleased to be able to continue our good cooperation.” European Council President Charles Michel expressed relief at Macron’s re-election. “In these troubled times, we need a strong Europe and a France fully committed to a more sovereign and strategic European Union,” he tweeted in French. Italian Premier Mario Draghi hailed Macron’s victory as “splendid news for all of Europe” and a boost to the EU “being a protagonist in the greatest challenges of our times, starting with the war in Ukraine”. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson congratulated Macron on his re-election. “France is one of our closest and most important allies,” Johnson wrote on Twitter. “I look forward to continuing to work together on the issues which matter most to our two countries and to the world.” Source: Aljazeera

The Ghana Immigration Service says it will soon present a compensation package to the family of one of its fallen officers, Michael Otto, the 24-year old who was killed by unknown assailants at Kokoligu, a village between Nandom and Hamile in the Upper West Region while on duty in March 2022. The Service says it already has stipulated packages for families in instances such as what has occurred, and so it will fall on the existing protocols to give what is due to the family. Speaking to Citi News on the sidelines of the final funeral rites of the officer over the weekend, the Head of Public Affairs of the Immigration Service, Superintendent Michael Amoako-Atta, said the development has triggered operational changes within the Ghana Immigration Service and officers on operational duties are now fully protected to avert such incidents from reoccurring. “Now, any officer on operation is fully equipped from the head to the sole of his or her feet. There are rules and regulations that guide us in situations like this and whatever is due the family of the slain officer will be paid,” he said. He added that a joint investigative committee made up of the Police, Immigration, and Defence intelligence will soon submit its report into circumstances that led to the killing of the 24-year-old officer. The family of the slain officer have already made calls for expeditious investigations into the matter and the apprehension of the suspects behind it. According to Superintendent Michael Amoako-Atta, “the officer was part of operation conquered fist who were there to protect the borders from terrorist infiltration and other cross border crime to ensure that we remain safe.” He said “it happened that while on patrol he met some miscreants who pounced on him and shot him. A high-powered investigative body from Accra visited the crime scene. The are yet to submit their final report to the Comptroller-General. Some operational protocols have been adapted to ensure that this unfortunate incident does not recur.” Credit: Citinewsroom

The strike by members of the Civil and Local Government Staff Association, Ghana (CLOGSAG), in demand for the payment of their neutrality allowances continues this week. CLOGSAG laid down their tools on Thursday April 21, 2022, following the inability of government to pay the allowance as agreed upon in January this year. Most government agencies and departments were affected last week by the strike. The association has already given indication that they will call off the strike on condition that government makes a commitment to pay them the allowances due them. “It was noted that the Neutrality Allowance has not been effected as agreed, in spite of official reminders and follow-ups to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning,” CLOGSAG noted in a statement last week. The neutrality allowance is to ensure that civil and local government workers do not engage in partisanship while conducting their affairs when they are in their various offices. It is paid to them to ensure that they discharge their duties professionally without getting involved in partisan activities. The strike and demand for the allowance has generated public debate with divided opinion on the relevance of such an allowance. While some contend that government giving in to this demand will open the floodgate for other allowance claims from the state, some believe that such an allowance is important to keep civil and local government workers away from serving based on their political interests. US-based professor, Prof. Kwaku Asare, also known as Prof. Azar in a Facebook post said, “Ghana’s civil service has been so politicized that civil servants must now be paid political neutrality allowance… In most places, civil servants are neutral and may, albeit with substantial risks, be incentivized to be partisan. Ghana’s civil servants, on the other hand, appear to be partisan until they are incentivized to be neutral. We have to be careful or soon students will be demanding allowances to take exams, voters will be demanding allowances to vote.” Credit: Citinewsroom

Coach Vahid Halilhodzic, who led Morocco to the 2022 World Cup, said his decision not to pick Chelsea attacker Hakim Ziyech and Ajax full-back Noussair Mazraoui is a "finished story". "The player who refuses to train, who refuses to play, who fakes injuries, for me it's a finished story," Halilhodzic told Croatia's commercial Nova TV on Thursday when asked if he would recall the two players for the World Cup in Qatar. Ziyech and Mazraoui were omitted from the qualifying playoff matches against the Democratic Republic of Congo last month. Neither player was part of the squad that reached the quarterfinals of the African Cup of Nations in Morocco in Cameroon in January. Last week the head of the Moroccan football federation Fouzi Lekjaa said that the doors of the national team remained "open to all Moroccan players, regardless of their differences". But, for Halilhodzic, a former Nantes and Paris Saint-German player, the "national team is something sacred" which "does not belong to the players (but) to the entire people". "And then, when someone behaves like this, for me this story is over and I don't want to talk about it anymore. I've made such a decision. "The fact that someone thinks differently is their business." Ziyech said in February that he was retiring from international football after a dispute with Halilhodzic, who accused him of a lack of respect that he said could "blow up the team". Despite World Cup qualification, Halilhodzic has been criticised in Morocco for his tactics and rumours have circulated of his possible departure. Asked about his future, Halilhodzic told Nova TV that he was "serene". "We'll see. Many strange things have already happened in my life ... If someone thinks differently that's his business. "If they are not satisfied with me, it's not the first time we separate". Morocco qualified for the World Cup last month after strolling through a play-off against the Democratic Republic of Congo. In Qatar, they will face Croatia, Belgium and Canada in Group F. Halilhodzic said he considered Croatia, who were runers-up at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the group favourite but pledged his team would do everything to beat them. Credit: AFP

Ketu South Municipal Director of Health Services, Joseph Kwami Degley has said nobody should die from Tuberculosis (TB) because the infectious disease is curable and preventable. He said it was important for people to report to health facilities when they start to cough with sputum for diagnosis to allow for early detection and treatment saying, delay in seeking care could be disastrous. The Municipal Director, who was speaking at the launch of Volta Regional TBImpact -Ghana Project at Wudoaba in the Ketu South Municipality said no death must result from TB (caused by bacteria that most often affect the lungs) when its treatment was free and accessible. “If anybody should die of TB now, we can take it that the person has decided to commit suicide. I am saying this because there is a potent cure for TB and the treatment is free and easily accessible at all health facilities. Mr Degley said in line with Hope for Future Generations' (HFFG) goal to improve the well-being and quality of life of communities by empowering them with information to enable them to make critical decisions through partnerships, capacity building, youth-friendly service deliveries, advocacy among others, the health sector also had universal health - expanding services to the doorsteps of all people as one of its major objectives. He said the Directorate was doing its best to implement this objective and called for collaboration from all to make it effective. The TBImpact – Ghana is a year-long project being implemented by HFFG with a grant secured from the Stop TB Partnership aimed at capacitating affected communities to lead to the design, implementation, and monitoring of TB interventions, as well as promoting accessible, equitable and quality TB services in selected districts in Greater Accra, Central and Volta Regions of Ghana. Mr Wisdom Klenyuie, Regional TB Coordinator, who provided some statistics to underscore the need to take the fight against the disease seriously, said TB patients must adhere to treatment. He said stopping TB treatment prematurely could lead to Multidrug-Resistant (MDR) TB, a form of TB caused by bacteria that do not respond to most effective first-line anti-TB drugs. “MDR-TB is a severe form of TB, and its treatment takes about 9-11 months using special drugs while drug-susceptible (normal) TB is treated with a standard six-month course.” Madam Cecilia Lodonu-Senoo, Executive Director of HFFG, Ms Patricia, in a speech read for her said the project which formed part of efforts to reduce the TB burden and advocate increased funding for the disease was being implemented in partnership with the National Tuberculosis Programme, Ghana Health Service, TB Voice Network and One Impact Digital Solutions. She indicated that the project would be community-led involving 15 TB advocates and women-led groups who would undergo training to lead advocacy and policy dialogue at all levels using locally generated TB data. There would also be quarterly media talk shows using TB survivors, TB activists, and young women affected by TB, participation of trained TB survivors in quarterly TB reviews and, organisation of training on One Impact software for TB survivors to empower community members with the right information on TB. Mr Charles Amanyo, Municipal Health Promotion Officer in declaring the project duly launched, expressed hope the project would contribute to stopping the disease and called, “we should all be concerned to work to make the project live up to its name, TBImpact, as no one knows the next victim.” Credit: GNA

Majority Chief Whip and Member of Parliament for Nsawam-Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh-Dompreh is appealing to Ghanaians to rally behind the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia-led government to enjoy a consistent power supply in the country. According to Mr Annoh-Dompreh, it’s only the NPP government that can end the era of dumsor, adding that “our stable power supply is as a result of a conscious effort by an efficient and competent leadership. You are assured of a stable power supply while the NPP remains in office.” The Majority Chief Whip made this known on his Twitter page after a visit to the Sunon Asogli Thermal Power Station. He said Ghanaians can enjoy stable power because the government paid 30% of the debt inherited in 2018 and 66% in 2019. He explained further that, the ruling NPP since assuming power in 2017, has taken many initiatives to address the challenges facing the energy sector including the payment of 87% of the legacy debt. “In 2020 the NPP govt settled a legacy debt amount of $203 million between SAP, ECG & VRA. The NPP govt had struck a better working relationship with all the IPPs in this country.” Mr. Annoh-Dompreh also explains that the NPP has implemented the Cash Waterfall Mechanism (CWM), Natural Gas Clearing House (NGCH), restrategized, and renegotiated the Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). Additionally, the Ministry of Energy in 2019 instituted the Cash Waterfall Mechanism to prevent the growth of sector-wide indebtedness. The waterfall payment is a payment system that allows debtors to pay higher-tiered creditors their full interest and principal first before lower-tiered creditors receive their principal and interest payment. Annoh-Dompreh explained that the NPP knows and understands what should be deemed as a priority and has therefore put in place the necessary measures to avoid “dumsor”. In recent times, Ghanaians have been concerned about the return of dumsor. This follows intermittent power supply witnessed across the country. But Energy Minister, Matthew Opoku Prempreh has disclosed that the recent power outages are a result of some unfavorable load imbalance in the systems used in the delivery of power. “A couple of days ago, we had the Aboadze Switch Yard burnt and that has led to a lot of intermittent power curtailment in parts of Western Region, Central Region, and even the Greater Accra Region. Because what GRIDCo is doing is to put all the networks in a circuit such that energy can be wheeled wherever with automatic meters. “But that also meant that they will increasingly have trip-off if the load imbalance is unfavorable to the system. So the system decides to shut itself down to prevent machine and equipment damage “So it's true that parts of the country are experiencing intermittent power surges because of a combination of factors, which are the works that we are doing and the light going off by itself,” he said . He, therefore, urged Ghanaians to bear with the Ministry as it strives to resolve the situation. Credit: DGN online

Self-made nation prophet Rev Owusu Bempah has emphatically stated that it’s not a sin to drink alcohol. According to the revered man of God and founder of Prophetic Hill Chapel, there’s a clear distinction between drinking alcohol and getting drunk. Speaking in a phone-in interview on Okay FM, Rev Owusu Bempah additionally argued that even Jesus Christ himself entreated Christians to drink alcohol to remember him. The high opinionated man of God is reported to have said; "Someone cannot say it’s a sin as you are drinking alcohol and not getting drunk. For example, the Lord said the whole earth the only person who was clean in his sight is Noah. The Lord saw Noah as a clean man but the truth is Noah had a palm plantation where he produced palm wine”. “One of the days he could not control himself well that he got drunk as a result of drinking the palm wine but that didn’t take him away from God. He slept when he got drunk, he slept and his nakedness was made known to the public reason why I will also condemn getting drunk” “When Jesus came, he did not condemn alcohol, he prayed for water to turn into wine. It wasn’t Fanta neither was it coke. The people said something during the time, they said so there is this nice drink and you made us drink this bitter drink. To the best of my understanding, Jesus didn’t change water into coke or Fanta”. Meanwhile, for many Christians, alcohol intake is a contentious subject. On the one hand, there are numerous references throughout the Bible to Jesus not only supporting the consumption of wine but encouraging and actively participating in it himself. Credit: News Desk Report

President of the Ghana Football Association, Kurt Okraku has denied reports that Otto Addo has extended his contract as Black Stars head coach. There were media reports that the GFA have met the Dortmund trainer/scout and extended his contract until December 2022. Kurt on his Facebook page wrote; “I woke up this morning to many stories on Coach Otto Addo..Truth: Ghana has not met with his employers yet. Steps are being taken to that effect and we will keep everybody informed on progress made.Getting our technical team in place for upcoming assignments is high on the agenda of our football association” Interim coach of the Black Stars of Ghana Otto Addo has indicated that he will love to be at post when Ghana makes an appearance at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Otto Addo was brought in for Ghana’s World Cup qualifier against Nigeria and saw the team book a place. See picture below: Story by: Mutala Yakubu

The Chief Executive Officer of GIHOC Distilleries, Maxwell Kofi Jumah has claimed that every Christian drinks alcohol. According to him, one cannot claim to be a Christian without drinking alcohol because during the last supper of Jesus Christ, as written in the Gospel, he [Jesus] asked his disciples to drink wine to remember him. “So, no Christian can claim he or she does not drink alcohol. He did not say you should drink to booze but drink to remember him,” Maxwell Kofi Jumah explained in an interview with Accra-based Okay FM on Thursday, April 21, 2022. He dismissed the argument that there is alcoholic and non-alcoholic wine. Jumah said, “there is nothing in this world called non-alcoholic wine. If it is non-alcoholic wine, then it is called fruit juice; so, don’t pollute the minds of people. “There is nothing in this world called wine which is not alcoholic. Every wine is a fruit juice that has fermented. “There is nothing in this world called non-alcoholic wine; when a fruit juice ferments we call it wine, so, people should stop lying to themselves,” he reiterated. Credit: News Desk Report

Some scores of social media users have shared mixed reactions over an outfit worn by social media influencer, Efia Odo to Rapper, Kwesi Arthur's 'Son of Jacob' Album launch. While some praised Efia Odo for being a loyal fan of Kwesi Arthur, others lambasted her for exposing some parts of her body. In series of tweets sighted by Thinknewsonline.com, Successful_Black_Man @Sun_At_Mid_Nyt tweeted "Efia odo's dressing to Kwesi Arthur's SOJ album listening be someway bi🙄" EFIAODO @Efiaodo1 also tweeted "Son of Jacob dropping midnight!!!" Don @Opresii added "If you want advice somebody ebe Efia Odo you dey come advise? You just Dey waste your energy. She pass apiitorr." Unruly King @unrulyking00 tweeted "Kwesi Arthur got the realest fans but EFIA ODO is the BIGGEST FAN" Ginger @franswagga also tweeted "Such things dey nice me so long as it's not my gf or wife. Efia Odo piaaaw ✌" Rae the WiTcH @Imarried_Karma tweeted "Efia Odo wore her dress because she felt comfortable in it, in my opinion. You can wear the dress you expected her to wear because you know how it feels to be comfortable. Anyway, @Efiaodo1 where can I buy some?" The Rapper has however received lots of praises from followers for his timely and good songs. Below are some tweets: Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith