The congratulatory message is contained in a statement issued on Wednesday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga.

Seventeen-year-old Nafisa was named the overall best in English language skills; 15-year-old Rukayya emerged as the overall best in debate, while Hadiza clinched the outstanding talent award (gold medal).

President Tinubu commended the exceptional young Nigerians for the feat and affirmed that the nation’s future was much brighter with many of its youth as repositories of excellence.

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The president also commended the institutions of learning and stated that the accomplishments were a testament to the quality and potential of Nigeria’s education system as a nurturer of some of the world’s brightest minds.

President Tinubu said he believed that education was a critical element for national development; hence, his administration’s significant investment in the sector and the removal of financial barriers for indigent Nigerians seeking higher education through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND.

The president encouraged Nafisa, Rukayya, and Hadiza to remain steadfast in their studies and wished them continued success.

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The building, located at Plot C31, Sultan Dasuki Road, Kubwa, initially served as a guest house before it was converted to a residential apartment.

READ ALSO: 10 children die from suspected measles outbreak in FCT

The building collapsed at 7 a.m. this morning.

Three persons have been rescued, while emergency responders including NEMA, police, FCT FEMA and FCT Development Control are still battling to rescue the remaining victims trapped under the rubble.

Source: NAN

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FEMA’s Head of Public Affairs, Mrs Nkechi Isa, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja.

Isa, who said that no life was lost, added that the cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained.

She, however, said the fire was brought under control by a combined team of the Federal Fire Service, FCT Fire Service, and Julius Berger Fire Department.

The FEMA spokesperson said the agency received a distress call on the 112 emergency toll-free number at 4.05 pm about the fire incident at the market.

She added that the agency, being the lead coordinating body for all emergencies in the FCT, thereafter, activated its stakeholders to ensure maximum response.

Isa identified the stakeholders as the FCT Fire Service, Federal Fire Service, National Emergency Management Agency, FCT Police Command, and Julius Berger Fire Service.

The acting Director General of FEMA, Mr Mohammed Sabo, appealed to FCT residents to equip their homes and business places with basic firefighting equipment like extinguishers and fire blankets.

Sabo noted that the 10 shops affected by the fire incident did not have a fire extinguisher.

He also noted that access to the place was unhampered allowing the fire trucks to effectively fight the fire.

He advised market management to put a fire tinder in place to prevent loss of properties during fire outbreaks.

Sabo also urged FCT residents to avoid storing petroleum products and other combustible items in their homes.

He called on residents to always use the 112-emergency toll-free number in the event of an emergency.

Earlier, Mr Innocent Amaechina, spokesman of the Abuja Market Management Ltd., AMML, who confirmed the outbreak of the fire said that only a portion of the market was affected.

Amaechina refuted the erroneous report in social media that the whole market was engulfed in fire.

The official, who also could not confirm the cause of the fire, said that the incident reportedly began between 2 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.

He said that some shops, including the office of the AMML in the market, were burnt down by the fire.

He added that some vehicles parked at the northern parking lots in the market were equally burnt.

“I have not been able to have access to the market to assess the extent of the damage, but the police and fire service officials have arrived at the scene and taken control of the situation,” he said.

Source: NAN

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Mrs Nkechi Isa, Head of Public Affairs of FEMA, disclosed this in a statement.

Isa said that the diesel tank exploded around 10:45 a.m. in the generator house of the High Commission just as two MIKANO generators were being serviced by a five-man team from JMD company.

“One of the generators was said to be working, while the other one was being serviced when a tank containing 2,000 litres of diesel in the generator house exploded.

“Two of the personnel servicing the generator died from the explosion while two others survived with severe burns and were taken to the Trauma Centre at the National Hospital, Abuja,” she said.

Isa added that the FCT Fire Service was able to contain the fire around 12.30 p.m. while ambulances from the Ministry of Defence, Federal Fire Service, FEMA were on standby.

Reacting to the development, the acting Director-General, FEMA, Mr Mohammed Sabo, called for caution while handling petroleum products, particularly with the onset of the dry season.

Sabo appealed to residents to always use the 112 emergency toll-free number in the event of any disaster or emergency situation.

Source: NAN

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The Federal Capital Territory Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, which confirmed the incident in a statement in Abuja on Saturday, said the deceased defied warnings, drove into a pool of water and drowned.

The statement, signed by FEMA’s Head of Public Affairs, Mrs Nkechi Isa, said that the deceased defied warnings from the local divers stationed in the area by FEMA.

It added that the deceased also navigated through the barricade placed by the agency to stop residents from going through the flooding water.

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Isa added that the Search and Rescue Team of FEMA, led by Mrs Florence Wenegieme, the Director, Forecasting Response and Mitigation, recovered the body of the deceased on Saturday.

It further said that the body was deposited at the Asokoro District Hospital where a doctor confirmed him dead.

“The family of the deceased who hailed from Zango Kataf, Kaduna State, has since taken his body away for burial,” Isa added.

Reacting to the development, the acting Director-General of FEMA, Mr Mohammed Sabo, appealed to residents to always heed to the warnings issued by the agency.

Sani said that the FEMA always placed a barricade at Dogon Gada during heavy downpours.

He urged residents not to drive into a pool of water but should wait for it to recede or seek an alternative route.

Sabo commiserated with the family of the deceased and called on residents to always use the 112 emergency toll-free number in the event of a disaster or emergency.

Source: NAN

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Mr Emeribe David, a Superintendent of Fire, who spoke at the scene of the disaster, said that all the agencies involved agreed to resume the rescue operation 8.00 a.m. on Tuesday.

The building, which was said to be a hotel under construction, collapsed around 4 p.m. on Monday, trapping undisclosed number of labourers.

David, who led the team of firemen to the site, said that the fire service received a distress call around 4 p.m. and reached the site about 15 minutes later.

He said that his team joined other agencies in the operations to save the lives of the people trapped in the wreckage.

He identified some of the agencies as the FCT Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, Federal Road Safety Corps, National Emergency Management Agency and security agencies, among others.

“Immediately the Fire Service received the call, we were deployed to the scene with a fire truck and ambulance crew to see what we can salvage.

“We do not know the number of people that were trapped, but we will figure that out when we continue the operations in the morning,” he said.

Earlier, the Director-General of FEMA, Dr Abass Idris, told journalists that nine persons have so far been rescued as at 7:44 p.m.

A News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, correspondent who was at the scene reports that the agencies involved in the operation closed the site around 10 p.m., while security officials were drafted to guard the area.

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Dr Abbas Idriss, the Director-General, FEMA, said this in a statement signed by Nkechi Isa, the Head, Public Affairs, FEMA, on Friday in Abuja.

He said that 116 houses were submerged, but no life was lost, following a heavy downpour which started in the early hours of the day.

Idriss said that the flood which was caused by infractions on the water channels, had made the Estate to be vulnerable to flooding.

The FEMA boss dismissed social media reports alleging that a resident of the estate was missing as a result of the flood.

He however appealed to residents whose houses were built on water channels to relocate.

Idriss who said that the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency, NIHSA, had predicted heavy flooding in the FCT this year, also advised residents living in flood prone areas to relocate.

He called on the residents to use the 112 Emergency toll free number to report emergencies.

Source: NAN

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The Director-General of FEMA, Dr Abbas Idriss, confirmed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Abuja on Wednesday.

Idriss said: “Around between 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., we received a distress call that there was a building collapse beside the United Bank for Africa Bank, UBA, at Ademola Adetokunbo Crescent, Wuse II.

“We quickly activated our rescue team to go there and on getting there they saw it was a wall that fell on artisans working around the area. So far six people were removed from the rubbles and two have died while four are in the hospital at the moment.

“It is a building under construction and they have eaten into the building next to them because it is not their building that fell it is the neighbour’s building that felt on them.”

The director-general said that the agency had been sensitising FCT residents on the need to abide by building approvals and the Abuja Master Plan.

He called on stakeholders saddled with the responsibility of granting building approvals in the FCT, like the Department of Development Control, Department of Engineering Services and other agencies, to ensure that they give proper approval and monitored constructions in all locations.

“That is the only way to guard against the situation because the approval is supposed to be in phases; as you give approval in phase one, when they do according to specification, you now give them approval for the second phase. That is how it should be.

“But if you give a blanket approval to just go and start the building they can build with whatever material they can. However, in this case like I said earlier, we are not talking about usage of inferior materials.

“It is because they extended their building and ate  into the neighbourhood structure, which eventually collapsed on the artisans,” said the FEMA chief executive.

Source: NAN

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The agency’s Head of Public Affairs, Mrs Nkechi Isa, made the disclosure in a statement, Thursday in Abuja.

Mrs Isa also revealed that two persons trapped in the building collapse had died.

She said a combined team of FEMA, NEMA, FRSC, Nigeria Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, the department of Development Control, Abuja Metropolitan Management Agency, and Red Cross were at the scene to rescue the remaining people trapped in the rubble of the collapsed building.

She said that some construction companies with heavy duty equipment were also part of the rescue efforts.

“No fewer than 22 persons have so far been rescued, two are confirmed dead. The victims have been taken to Wuse, Gwarimpa, Asokoro district hospitals and the Federal Medical Centre. The search for survivors is ongoing.

“The two-storey building with a basement collapsed this morning trapping an unidentified number of workers,” she said.

Source: NAN

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The filling station went up in flames at about 7 p.m. when a fuel laden tanker parked within the premises caught fire.

The fire which lasted about two and a half hours razed down the filling station.

It was reported that no life was lost, while virtually all vehicles queuing for fuel were safely evacuated except few ones affected by the heat of the fire.

Idriss told said the impact of the fire would have been minimized if hoodlums had not prevented the fire service men from accessing the filling station.

While expressing worry over the unfortunate incident, he wondered why individuals would want to destroy fire trucks procurred for the purpose of extinguishing fire and  the safety of lives and property.

An eye witness, who identified himself as Ishakku, said that crowd began to gather upon explosion from the tanker, with smoke billowing out from the burning station.

He said that the fire had burnt for almost an hour before the fire service operatives came and the crowd mixed with hoodlums had become impatient.

He said that the hoodlums, on sighting the fire service vehicles began to throw stones, sticks and other materials at them.

According to him, the first two fire vehicles that arrived at the scene early could not wait because they were attacked.

“The officers with their vehicles had to run for safety, which made the fire to cause more damage at the filling station.

“Had it been the fire service trucks were not attacked and the men were allowed when they came, the damage would have been minimal.”

He said it took the combined intervention of military officers, police, DSS and other security personnel in FCT to disperse the crowd before the fire service men could gain access to the filling station.

The FEMA director-general, who was at the scene of the incident to assess the impact, described the act as barbaric, adding that it was a serious offence punishable under the law.

“The fire service came to extinguish the fire and they were being attacked; they can’t stay and you can see the damage caused.

“Hoodlums are attacking them (fire service men); it is a very seriously offence that must be addressed, and such act must be discouraged across the country.

Idriss stressed the need for public to be enlightened on why they should not prevent or attack fire service men or vehicles who came for operations.

“If hoodlums are throwing stones and injuring them, they can’t stay, it is very important that the public are aware of the importance of the service of fire official and other agencies.”

The director-general also sought the support of the media in sensitising the public on the operation of fire service men and emergency management officials.

“It is very unfortunate generally we have been having filling station fire in the FCT, but we have been doing everything to nip it in the bud,” he said.

He commended the FCT police commissioner, FRSC Sector Commander, the military, DSS and other sister agencies for timely intervention and well coordinated efforts to control the crowd without loss of life and to also put the fire under control.

Source: NAN

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