Relatives of abducted Abuja-Kaduna train passengers have been dismissed false, reports on social media about the release of the passengers.

The Lagos State Police Command has dismissed the alleged viral WhatsApp voice note claiming Fulanis have invaded Badagry in Lagos.

Police in Ondo State have debunked the rumor of six persons being shot dead at the Sabo Area of Ondo town of the state on Wednesday night by gunmen.

The National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) has urged the Federal Government to hasten up the process of renegotiation to enable all outstanding issues sorted out amicably.

Chief Baron Eyo, Chairman of the Labour Party (LP) in Cross River, has urged political parties to support the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to ensure free, fair, and transparent elections in 2023.

The National Identity Management Commission has reassured Nigerians that its database remained intact and impenetrable and no NIN records are missing.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reassured Nigerians that no eligible registrant would be left out in the Permanent Voters Card registration exercise.

Gov. Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa has imposed a curfew in parts of Lamurde and Guyuk Local Government Areas (LGAs) following renewed communal clashes.

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Wednesday warned recalcitrant property owners and developers against habitual flouting of physical planning laws.

Security guards operating at Thinkers Corner of Enugu metropolis have arrested a suspect, Solomon Igwe, for allegedly vandalizing a transformer, property of the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC).

The Nigerian Institute of Food, Science, and Technology (NIFST) on Wednesday called for the use of appropriate technologies in food processing and preservation to tackle hunger, wastage, and enhance economic development.

Mr. Frederick Popoola, the Chairman of the NIFST Lagos Chapter, made the call during the 46th NIFST Day 2022 and the sixth Victoria Ojo Memorial Schools Debate held at Ikeja.

The theme of the event was “The Role of Food Processing and Preservation in National Development”.

He said that food processing and preservation played an integral part in ensuring that food does not go to waste, hence, the need to create more awareness among Nigerians.

The chairman said that asides from food wastage If people consumed food that was not well preserved and processed the likelihood of people falling ill or having food poisoning was high.

Popoola said: When a crop is not properly processed, losses take place and economic returns of farmers are reduced.

” Inadequate processing results in poor storage and the less productive we have the more hunger and poverty spread in the country.

“It is essential for us to adopt the required technologies for the storage and preservation of food, “he said.

Speaking on the challenges of the institute, he solicited more support from the government in terms of favorable policies that would back their activities.

” We need more recognition from the government and we want to be carried along in anything they are doing in terms of foods so that we can assist them to achieve their goals.

On the inter-school debate competition, Popoola said that the significance of the debates was to help students both at the secondary and tertiary levels understand essential critical thinking and presentation skills.

He said that it was also held to immortalize one of the late members of the institute Victoria Ojo.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that six schools under the Lagos Chapter participated in the debate.

The schools include Mainland Senior Secondary School, Fadeyi; Oke-Odo Senior High School, and King Ado Senior High School.

Others are Oregun Senior High School, A.U.D Comprehensive Senior College, Ota, and Ikorodu Senior High School.

King Ado Senior High School came first in the debate competition, while Oke-Odo Senior High School came second and Ikorodu Senior High School came third.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth positions went to Oregun Senior High School, A.U.D Comprehensive Senior College, and Mainland Senior High School respectively.

The Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), has called for a review of the implementation of economic diplomacy critical in attracting investments into the country.

The President of ACCI, Dr. Al-Mujtaba Abubakar made the call on Wednesday in Abuja at a Roundtable on Economic Diplomacy with Nigerian Ambassadors.

While identifying the economic interests of nations as the driving force for national diplomatic focus and attention, Abubakar said that increasing pressure on Nigeria’s economy implies the urgency of productive implementation of the policy.

He urged that the review should design a partnership model between the embassies and chambers of commerce on economic diplomacy and share best practices among business chiefs and ambassadors.

“As you are aware, the economic interests of nations are now the driving force for national diplomatic focus and attention."

“Toward this end, Nigeria has adopted economic diplomacy as a major plank of her foreign affairs and activities at regional, continental and global levels."

“This entails the direct promotion of enhanced trade prospects, facilitation of business opportunities, and widening of the export market,’’ he said.

He said that it necessitated the protection of Nigerian businesses in foreign countries handling trade disputes and promoting of Nigerian private sector.

“There is no doubt that the policy has recorded successes in many areas."

“Nigerian foreign missions and embassies in spite of logistic constraints have done a lot to promote and protect national business interests,’’ Abubakar said.

On their part, the Ambassadors and the High Commissioners at the meeting promised to continue to raise the flag of the nation high in their pursuit of the national mandate on economic projection and expansion.

They, however, identified areas of urgent attention in the implementation of the policy.

Amb Safiya Nuhu, the Nigerian Ambassador to Romania, Bulgaria, and Slovenia, emphasized the need for economic diplomacy to fully integrate the organized private sector.

According to her, economic diplomacy as a concept has not fully integrated the nation’s organized private sector.

She expressed concern that business delegations were still largely populated by public sector representatives.

“There is the need for robust discussions and engagements with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and various other sectors on effective implementation of economic diplomacy policy."

“We need to push that beyond the policy realms and see that this actually gets to the audience that we want."

“We need to motivate our people in Nigeria, the private sector as well as all the stakeholders to be aware of the economic priorities.’’

The Nigerian Ambassador to Ukraine, Shina Alege, said there was a need to rebrand Nigeria to attract more investments.

“We need to rebrand to make our country attractive to foreign direct investments,’’ Alege said.

While calling for the chamber-to-chamber partnership between Nigeria and foreign nations, Alege said there was the need to strengthen trade facilitation.

The Ladoke Akintola University Chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Wednesday said it would forge ahead with its strike and warned its members not to break off.

The Bauchi of office of the Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has sanctioned 15 filling stations for allegedly violating operational rules and regulations.