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Attack on Israel: Palestine was pushed to the wall — MURIC

Published

7 months ago

October 12, 2023

MURIC Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola

Attack on Israel: Palestine was pushed to the wall — MURIC

An Islamic human rights organisation, the Muslim Rights Concern, has described the ongoing bombardment of Palestine and the blockade of Gaza by Israel as a mere continuation of Israel’s genocidal and apartheid proclivity.

MURIC averred that the attack on Israel by Hamas occurred because Palestine was pushed to the wall.

While calling for a ceasefire, the group called on the global community to address the root of the Palestinian question.

This was contained in a statement issued on Thursday by the Executive Director of MURIC, Professor Ishaq Akintola.

The full statement reads: “Today marks the sixth day of the bombardment of Palestine from the air, land and sea. This followed a surprise attack on Israel launched by the Palestinian liberation group known as Hamas on Saturday, 7th October, 2023.

“MURIC wishes to put the crisis in its proper perspective in view of several false and misleading narratives being pushed to the front burner. This began with the allocation of a larger portion of Palestinian land to Israel in 1947 by the United Nations (UN) which was immediately followed by Israel’s belligerent, expansionist and apartheid policies which have left the Palestinians with only a fraction of the land which belonged to them ab initio.

“The UN failed to secure autonomy for Palestine. Only Israel is recognized as a state. The Palestinians have no freedom of movement. Their infrastructure, water, electricity, etc are controlled by Israel and the latter has the power of life and death over every Palestinian citizen. Extra-judicial killing at the hands of Israel is rampant while arbitrary arrests, demolition of Palestinian homes are the order of the day.

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“The desecration if Al-Aqsa Mosque which is the third holy place of Islam is equally at the root of the crisis. It was these provocations, the acts of injustice and the constant violation of Allah-given fundamental human rights that pushed the Palestinians to the wall.

“Saturday’s attack was therefore mere smoke and since there is no smoke without fire, objective people must look beyond the smoke and ask for what actually caused it.

“We reject the notion that Hamas or the Palestinians are terrorists. These are people fighting for their rights. They are freedom fighters. They are out to liberate their people. They are seeking for justice, equal rights and a dignifying existence for every Palestinian. We identify with these noble goals and we assert that justice is the soul of peace. No one can deny one and still enjoy the other.

“The anatomy of terrorism has revealed that when deep wounds are inflicted on people by usurpers and the international community turns a blind eye, the victims more often than not turn to self-help. We found in Israel all the five evils Chamberlain spoke about: brute force, bad faith, injustice, oppression and persecution.

“The whole Gaza may be flattened. All 2.4 million Palestinian population may be slaughtered. It makes no hero of Israel. Neither does it make the Jewish state super human. Rather it will only bring forth the brute in Israel. History does not forget.

“We lay the blame squarely at the feet of America for failing to act as an unbiased umpire. America and its Western allies find immense pleasure in applying veto to UN resolutions which were designed to act as checks on belligerent Israel until the latter began to see itself as not only untouchable but also invincible. Israel has ignored more than 232 UN resolutions to date.

“Three things have emerged clearly in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. Firstly, the myth of the invincibility of Israel has been broken. Two, by vouching to stand by Israel in this crisis, America has proved that it is the biggest threat to democracy, rule of law, justice and equity in the world. Three, by vowing to deprive 2.4 million Palestinians living in Gaza of food, water and electricity, Israel’s prime minister Netanyau has exposed himself as the worst tyrant since Hitler and Mussolini.

“It will be recalled that one time American president Bill Clinton affirmed in September 2011 that this same Netanyau killed the idea of two states living side by side. Of course this means a lot to the discerning mind (https://foreignpolicy.com/2011/09/22/bill-clinton-netanyahu-killed-the-peace-process/).

“Meanwhile, more than 1,100 Palestinians including children, pregnant women and other vulnerable persons have been killed. On the Israeli side, 1,200 have died. Hundreds have been injured on both sides.

“Considering the heavy toll on both sides, MURIC calls for immediate ceasefire. We demand the opening of a humanitarian corridor by Israel in obedience to the United Nations’ call and the appeal made yesterday by the European Union. War is a monster. It makes beasts of men.

“We appeal to Hamas not to carry out it’s threat to execute one hostage for every attack carried out by Israel without warning. We call for immediate ceasefire by all sides. We call on Nigerians to eschew sentiments and face facts in the Palestinian question. Nobody should fan the embers of bitterness over the war between Israel and Palestine. Rather we should learn as much lessons there are in the unfortunate imbroglio.”

Attack on Israel: Palestine was pushed to the wall — MURIC

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Nigeria to reduce electricity supply to Niger Republic, Benin, Togo

Published

2 hours ago

May 5, 2024

Trends Admin

Nigeria to reduce electricity supply to Niger Republic, Benin, Togo

Not more than six per cent of total electricity from the national grid will be supplied to cross-border customers in Benin Republic, Niger and Togo.

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) gave this directive to the System Operator (SO), a department in the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

NERC said this was done in a bid to increase power availability to Nigerians.

This is coming as the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has reportedly disclosed that the Federal Government and the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) would make capital injections of N750 billion and N250 billion annual debt financing to bridge the huge electricity metering gap in the country that currently stands at about seven million, according to a ThisDay report.

These details are contained in a document tagged: ‘Interim Order on Transmission System Dispatch Operations, Cross-border Supply and Related Matters’.

The power sector regulator stated that the directive would last for six months in the first instance before a review.

Nigeria supplies a portion of the electricity it generates to some of its neighbours such as the Benin Republic, Niger Republic and Togo.

NERC’s order, dated April 29, 2024, and which became effective from May 1, 2024, was signed by the commission’s Chairman, Sanusi Garba, and Vice Chairman, Musiliu Oseni.

The electricity sector regulator stressed that following the implementation of the April 2024 supplementary order, the commission had observed sub-optimal grid dispatch operation practices.

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It argued that this had compromised the Distribution Companies’ (Discos) ability to deliver on its Service Based Tariff (SBT) committed service levels to end-use customers with a significant impact on market revenues.

NERC said the system operator’s sole reliance on limiting Discos’ load off-take/allocation in managing recurring grid imbalances while prioritising international off-takers and Eligible Customers (ECs) is neither efficient nor equitable.

The practice so far adopted by the operator in managing generation availability, it said, had caused significant hardship to Discos’ customers, comprising industrial, commercial, and residential, especially during peak demands while prioritising delivery to other bilateral contracts, including export to international customers.

“The commission hereby orders as follows: The system operator shall develop and present to the commission for approval within seven days from the issuance of this order a pro-rata load-shedding scheme that ensures equitable adjustment to load allocation to all off-takers — Discos, international customers, and eligible customers — in the event of a drop in generation and other under-frequency related grid imbalances necessitating critical grid management.

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“The system operator shall implement a framework to log and publish hourly readings and enforce necessary sanctions for violation of grid instructions and contracted nominations by off-takers in line with the grid code and market,” it stated.

Among others, it further directed that the system operator shall publish and notify all market participants and the commission of the previous day’s hourly log readings of off-take by market participants and the market settlements report by 12:00 noon of the next day.

“The system operator shall ensure that the maximum load allocation to international off-takers in each trading hour shall not be more than six per cent of the total available grid generation.

“The aggregate capacity that can be nominated by a generating plant to service international off-takers shall not be more than 10 per cent of its available generation capacity unless in exceptional circumstances a derogation is granted by the commission.

“The system operator shall henceforth cease to recognise any capacity addition in bilateral transactions between a generator and an off-taker without the express approval of the commission,” it added.

It urged the system operator and TCN to immediately initiate and install integrated Internet of Things (IoT) meters at all off-take and delivery points of eligible customers, bilateral supplies, cross-border trades, and outgoing 33kV feeders of the Discos to provide real-time visibility of aggregate off-take by grid customers.

“The installation of and streaming of data from the IOT meters should be completed within three months from the date of this order,” it added.

Nigeria to reduce electricity supply to Niger Republic, Benin, Togo

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Edo, Delta areas to experience two-week power outage – TCN

Published

2 hours ago

May 5, 2024

Trends Admin

Edo, Delta areas to experience two-week power outage – TCN

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has announced a two-week power outage starting on May 4 in parts of Edo and Delta states.

In a statement released in Benin by Ndidi Mbah, the General Manager of Public Affairs at TCN, it was revealed that the outage is necessary for the safe erection of two 132KV transmission towers at the Amukpe substation.

Benin DisCo will not receive bulk power supply during this period through several feeders, including Adeje, Industrial Woodland, Mosogar, Sapele, and Abraka.

“The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), hereby states that it will commence the erection of two number 132kV transmission towers at its Amukpe Transmission Substation.

”And will equally restring a portion of the Benin-Delta and Delta-Oghara 132kV double circuit transmission lines from Saturday, May 4 to May 17, 2024.

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“Consequently, Amukpe Substation will be out of power for the work.

“Also, there will be no bulk power supply to Benin DisCo (BEDC) through the following feeders: the Adeje, industrial Woodland, Mosogar, Sapele and Abraka feeders.

“The outage is necessary to create a safe working environment for the contractor. Completion of the projects will establish N-1 redundancy, which would enable TCN to supply bulk electricity to the substation from either the Benin or Ughelli transmission line.

“This means that when one transmission line is faulty, bulk electricity can still be received in the substation from the second line,” Mbah said.

These developments, once completed, will ensure a more reliable and flexible bulk power supply through the Amukpe transmission substation.

It’s important to note that BEDC is responsible for the retail distribution of electricity in Delta, Edo, Ekiti, and Ondo States, covering an area of 57,353 square kilometres.

Edo, Delta areas to experience two-week power outage – TCN

News

Coastal highway project to disrupt DStv, GOtv services

Published

2 hours ago

May 5, 2024

Trends Admin

Coastal highway project to disrupt DStv, GOtv services

Ongoing construction of Lagos-Calabar coastal highway will disrupt DStv and GOtv services with effect from today Sunday May 5, MultiChoice has alerted.

The company has sent out a notice to this effect to its customers, telling them to expect disruption in service from Sunday, May 5 to Tuesday, May 7 due to the the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway.

In a notice shared on social media, MultiChoice however assured its customers that its technical team would be working to relocate its facility and minimise service disruptions during the process.

The statement read, “Our uplink facility will be impacted by the ongoing Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road construction project. As a result, we are forced to relocate.

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“From Sunday, May 5, 2024 to Tuesday May 7, 2024, our technical team will be working tirelessly to relocate and minimise disruptions during the exercise.

“We appreciate your patience and understanding during this period and remain dedicated to delivering the quality service and support you expect from DStv and GOtv.”

Recall that demolition for the 700km Lagos-Calabar coastal highway commenced on Monday.

According to the Minister of Works, David Umahi, the duration of the construction is eight years, and it will cost N15 trillion.