STARTECH SAFETY & SECURITY •Inform • Protect • Empower

                           The sixth evacuation flight from the U.S. has departed for Abuja and Lagos with 325 passengers on board. According to the Consul General of Nigeria in New York, Mr Benaoyagha Okoyen, in the manifest are 128 males, 174 females, and 23 infants. This brings to 1,739 the total number of stranded Nigerians evacuated from the U.S. by the Federal Government so far. According to the flight schedule, the Ethiopian Airlines plane will fly directly to Abuja, and then proceed to Lagos.   Okoyen told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that 101 of the passengers were Abuja-bound, while the rest are heading to Lagos. As with the previous flights, all the evacuates were subjected to the Federal Government’s COVID-19 safety requirements before boarding. These include temperature checks and presentation of negative coronavirus test results, among others. NAN Credit-PMnews

                              The United States has imposed sanctions against Bi Sidi Souleymane, the leader of the Return, Reclamation, Rehabilitation (3R) rebel group in the Central African Republic. According to a statement by Secretary of State Michael Pompeo on Friday, the group is accused of committing numerous human rights abuses and displacing thousands in the troubled country since 2015. The sanctions freeze the rebel leader’s assets and impose a travel ban on Souleymane, also known as Sidiki Abbas. Souleymane directly perpetrated torture, the statement said. “Today’s action signals that the United States will not tolerate those who commit human rights abuses and will prevent such actors from benefiting from the U.S. financial system,” said the statement. The move by the U.S. follows similar sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council earlier this week. Under Souleymane’s leadership, 3R also...

                               Plateau State on Friday stormed to the top of daily Coronavirus infection, toppling Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, as the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, announced 443 new cases. Total  confirmed Coronavirus cases in Nigeria now stand at 45,687, with 32,637 survivors discharged and 936 deaths recorded. Six new deaths were recorded on Friday. The 443 new cases were recorded in 19 states in the country. This is higher than the 354 cases recorded on Thursday. In Friday’s infections, Plateau recorded 103 new cases besting Lagos, which had 70 cases and the FCT, with 60 cases. Ondo has 35 cases, Edo and Rivers, 27 cases each, Kaduna, 20 cases, Osun, 19 cases,  Borno and Oyo, 18 cases each and Kwara, 11 cases. Others are: Adamawa (9), Nasarawa (7), Gombe (6), Bayelsa (4), Imo (4), Bauchi (2), Ogun (2) and Kano (1). How they stand Plateau-103 La...

Obaseki and Ize-Iyamu                               The U.S. has expressed worry over reports of deteriorating political climate in Edo and interference by security forces in political matters, ahead of the September gubernatorial election. The U.S Embassy in Abuja, in a statement called for free, fair and credible elections where the will of the Nigerians would be reflected in results. According to the mission, the U.S pledges support to Nigeria’s democratic process, stating that as long-time friends, it will continue to follow political developments ahead of off-cycle elections in the country. “The U.S. supports a democratic process where the will of the people is reflected in the results, and does not favour any party or candidate. “We are concerned with reports of the deteriorating political climate in Edo and are disappointed with the role played by some political actors in the state. “We are especially conc...

  A German nudist was sunbathing naked at the Teufelssee in west Berlin when a wild boar picked up the yellow bag containing his laptop and the man gave chase.   The photographer who captured the drama, Adele Landauer, shared it on Facebook with the permission of the naked man.   In the photos, the naked man is seen chasing the boar and her two piglets while fellow sunbathers looked on in amusement.     “Nature strikes back,” wrote Adele Landauer, a personal coach, on Facebook. “I showed the man the photos, he laughed heartily and gave me permission to make them public.”   The man was sunbathing naked at the Teufelssee in west Berlin, a popular and perfectly legal practice in the German capital as part of what is known as FKK, or Freikörperkultur (free body culture).   The wild boar had apparently spotted a pizza being eaten by other bathers so it seized a yellow bag containing the man’s laptop, probably believing it to contain food.   When the ma...

  Authorities in China have arrested a man for allegedly killing his wife, dismembering her body and flushing some of her remains down the toilet.    According to a city's legal authority, Xu Guoli, 55, murdered his partner when she was asleep due to 'conflicts in family life.' After killing her, he allegedly dumped part of his wife's remains in various locations and got rid of her body tissue 'partially through the toilet at their home in eastern China's Zhejiang Province.'     Mr. Xu was arrested on Friday, August 7 in the city of Hangzhou on suspicion of intentional homicide, after the Hangzhou Municipal People's Procuratorate, the government organ for legal supervision gave the green light for his arrest on Thursday, August 6.    In a statement, the city's legal authority said Mr. Xu's method of crime was cruel, and the nature of his act was 'evil'.    The statement said Mr. Xu went to the police last month to report that his wife had...

                                          The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Campaign Council for Edo State Governorship Election has said it will resist any attempt to illegally remove the incumbent Edo state governor, Godwin Obaseki, from office.   Speaking to newsmen in Rivers state today August 7, the Chairman of the Campaign Council and Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, called on President Buhari to work towards preventing the breakdown of law and order in the state due to the forthcoming election. “An invalid assemblage of absentee Lawmakers-elect with no legitimate claims to the membership of the House of Assembly cannot lawfully convene in the Ugbowu private residence of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, the APC Governorship candidate, to effect a change of leadership in the Edo State House of Assembly. “Consequently, the purported impeachment of the Speaker an...