Vetting
Nigerian government reopens passport application portal
Pool Photo The Federal Government has announced the reopening of the passport application and payment portal effective from June 8, 2021 by 12 midnight, to allow eligible passport applicants apply and make payments for the various categories of passports of their choice. A statement signed by the Assistant Comptroller of Immigration Service/Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Immigrations Service, Amos Okpu, on behalf of the Comptroller General, said with the reopening of the portal, a new passport application and payment regime has commenced. The statement added that applications and payments for passport services shall be made through the service website: www.immigration.gov.ng, while applicants are expected to visit the portal to apply and upload their support documents for vetting ...
Official: Dennis Amachree not speaking for DSS on Isa Pantami
Nigeria’s secret police, the Department of State Service (DSS) has disowned reasons adduced for its alleged failure to reveal alleged link of Malam Isa Pantami, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy to terrorism before his confirmation as minister in 2019 adduced by one of its former officer, Dennis Amachree. Amaechree, a former Assistant Director of DSS had in an online interview on Wednesday said the secret police was aware of alleged link of Pantami to terrorism. But he said the DSS decided not to make the reasons public, thus enabling Pantami to sail through senate screening due to a lot of factors including federal character balancing. Amachree had said, ”There is no information that escapes the DSS, we have all of it, all. When I was working there, we keep a catalogue of...
Mozambique jihadists push masses to Pemba
The population has soared in Pemba, a northern Mozambique port known for its wide bay, but rather than tourists coming for a swim, the newcomers have fled Islamic extremists. In the past few months, boatloads of people with little but the clothes they wear have landed under the palm trees after their homes fell prey to Al-Shabaab gunmen swearing allegiance to the Islamic State group (IS). In October, the violent rebellion entered its fourth year and has reportedly killed more than 2,400 people and displaced half a million, according to the government. Their villages were torched, many men killed and many young women kidnapped. After seizing coastal zones that host natural gas installations, Islamist fighters have begun to push to the inland districts of Cabo Delgado province. The last offi...
US election: Donald Trump makes first appearance since ‘defeat’
US President Donald Trump makes his first official post-election appearance Wednesday for what should be a moment of national unity to mark Veteran’s Day, now marred by his refusal to acknowledge Joe Biden’s win. The president visited Arlington National Cemetery around 11:00 am, four days after US media projected his Democratic rival would take the White House. Since then he has not addressed the nation other than via Twitter, and has not conceded to Biden, as is traditional once a winner is projected in a US vote. And with Covid-19 cases shattering records across the country and states imposing new restrictions in a push to contain the virus before winter arrives, Trump seems to have all but shelved normal presidential duties. Instead, he has remained shut up inside the presidential mansi...
