Biafra Voice News

Germany is girding itself for possible cyber attacks on next week’s G20 summit in Hamburg, by hacker groups or cells linked to foreign governments, its top cyber official told Reuters.
Arne Schoenbohm, president of Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), said authorities had set up a 24/7 special command center to defend against such attacks, just as it was preparing for any physical violence.
“We’re preparing intensively for every form of protest,” Schoenbohm said in an interview.
“As the national cyber security agency … we’re concerned about everything from (persistent threats) to groups like Anonymous and Lulzsec that could be planning political protests using cyber attacks.”
Schoenboehm said the agency had no information about specific attacks, but had been carrying out so-called “penetration” tests to ensure the safety of computer networks involved when the leaders of the 20 major economies meet on July 7-8.
Dozens of cyber experts were standing by to respond to any attack, he said.
Some 20,000 police with dogs, horses and helicopters will be deployed to deal with tens of thousands of expected protesters in Hamburg.
Schoenboehm said the government realized people could protest virtually as well.
He said German cyber officials had been and remained in close touch with their counterparts in other G20 countries, including the United States to protect computer networks, surveillance cameras and other security equipment.
Germany holds national elections in September. APT 28, a Russian hacker group that experts say has links to the Russian government, is believed to be behind attacks on the German parliament, political parties and think tanks.
Schoenboehm said the attacks were continuing, with a clear aim to securing information that could be used to affect the election.
Last week, the BSI said it had seen a fresh wave of spearphishing attacks aimed at businesses and government that use emails to get users to click on links that download malicious software.
BSI has been working closely with German political parties and lawmakers to raise their security awareness and bolster security, but risks remain, Schoenbohm said.
He said he had just learned that Germany’s “Vote-Meter,” a government-generated computer program that allows voters to compare their views with party programs, was not secure, he said.
“We will be looking at that carefully in coming weeks,” he said.

No fewer than 12 West African countries will assemble in Nigeria to deliberate on ways to develop the mining sector in the region, Alhaji Sani Shehu, President, Miners Association of Nigeria, has said.
Shehu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja that the countries would meet on July 5 to discuss their progress, challenges in the sector and areas that ECOWAS could assist them.
The association is organising General meeting of ECOWAS Federation of Chambers of Mines (EFEDCOM), he said.
EFEDCOM was formed by ECOWAS to advocate for effective policies to promote sustainable and responsible mining sub-region.
The meetings of EFEDCOM are rotational; the 2016 version took place in Ghana and the 2017 edition would be hosted by the Miners Association of Nigeria.
According to him, the programme which is first of its kind in Nigeria, will be attended by Senegal, Burkina Faso, Mali, Ghana, Niger, Cote D’Ivoire, Guinea among others.
He said the programme would be of great benefit to Nigeria’s economy, as it would open up market opportunities to showcase available minerals in the country and areas that ECOWAS could assist the sector.
According to him, Nigeria is still backward among mining nations, adding that Nigeria is not on the World Mining Map due to its low performance in the sector.
“The programme will showcase Nigeria as a potential country that is capable of being in the World mining map, adding that most of the countries that will attend the programme are already in the map.
”There is no concrete achievement to show or point at in the last two years that has happened in the sector, except the Mining Road map that was produced and launched last year.”
He said that the association had been making efforts to promote Nigeria mining to compete with successful African and international mining countries.

The fire which gutted House on the Rock Church in Abuja on Sunday began on the top floor of the N3 billion edifice, according to a witness.

The church building, which is known as `Citadel and Towers’ with a sitting capacity of 10, 000 , went up in flames at about 2pm as the rain was falling.

The witness who identified herself simply as Esther said the fire began after the Sunday service had closed.

She said she was about to leave the Church premises when she noticed fire on the top floor of the building.

According to her, the plastic materials on the top floor of the building burned quickly, and spread to the second floor and onto the pulpit. Half of the building located on Airport Road was destroyed before the firemen were able to tame the fire.

Rev. Kennedy Asigime, a cleric in the church, said that there were no casualties as members of the church had gone home at the time of the event.

“The most unfortunate thing is the fact that we have a fire service that is not properly equipped to help in such situation.

“We have no idea what caused the fire, whether it is an electrical fault or not, nobody knows for now.

“This whole building cost about N3 billion and a very substantial part of the building has been totally destroyed.

“We cannot be sure of what is left standing now, we need to do an integrity test to know if the whole building is going to be knocked down,’’ Asigime said.

He, however, said that the timely response of the Fire Service was commendable but the response with substance to deal with the situation “is below zero.’’

He said the fire fighters were not well equipped to extinguish the fire as they lacked the required liquid and came with “the same ladder used by Electric Distribution Companies.’’

“They were just here because they want to put it on record that they responded to the call; but they got here and said they did not have water. Until trucks from the private sector started coming, trucks from Julius Berger and NNPC, may God help us in this country,’’ he added.

In his response, the Head of FCT Fire Service, Garki Station, Mr Stanley Ujobo, said the cause of the fire could not be ascertained yet.

“We cannot really ascertain the cause of the fire for now until we are done with dumping, which is pouring enough water to prevent resurgence.

“A lot of combustible and very highly inflammable materials were used in partitioning the building.

“Before you enter such a burning building, you have to take caution to avert loss of life; that was the reason we were unable to start fighting the fire on arrival,’’ he said.

According to Ujobo, the building did not have fire hydrant and that the alarm system was not working.

Ujobo said that the fire fighters were professionals trained to fight fire and would not rush into a building without proper strategy.

Ujobo advised Nigerians intending to build such big structures to consult the fire service for professional guidance on what type of materials to use.

Motorists and some members of the church who witnessed the fire incident from a distance were seen worshipping and singing praises to God for averting a bigger calamity.

The fire service deployed no fewer than eight trucks.

There were other private fire trucks that responded, before the fire was extinguished at 5.30 p.m.

The European Union (EU) has withdrawn financial support for Nigeria, saying the country has enough resources to meet her developmental needs.

The Head of EU delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ambassador Michel Arrion, gave the charge thursday at an annual distinguished lecture organised by IBB Golf Club in collaboration with Foundation for Global Impact and Sustainable Development.

He said what the EU would do instead is to help with technical support and capacity-building towards development.

While urging the Nigerian government to Begin to look beyond Official Development Assistance (ODA), the envoy suggested the judicious application of taxation.

He charged Nigeria to remain committed to the course of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union in order to realise the goals of the regional blocks.

The ambassador who noted that the EU would not have become what it is today without the quality leadership provided by Germany, stated that Nigeria as a nation has what it takes to uplift the regional block and give it direction.

“We are not offering more financial support, we are proposing more political and policy dialogue, technical assistance, capacity building, training, transfer of technology, more advocacy for more private investments and other innovative sources of funding.

“To finance the development of the country, Nigeria must find alternative funding to ODA. Nigeria must collect much more taxes five times more, to reach an average of 20 per cent of the GDP, and spend better.

“It should also attract much more foreign investment and put in place more and better private/public partnerships. I believe Nigerian authority should work harder to provide good reasons for foreign investors to want to invest in Nigeria,” he said.

Speaking on the theme: ‘40 Years of EU in Nigeria, Lessons and the Way Forward,’ Arrion noted that ECOWAS can only be strong when leading countries such as Nigeria believe in it.

He added that to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Nigeria and other countries within the West African region must be committed to regional integration.

“We in the EU believe in the relevance of regional integration. ECOWAS would be strong when Nigeria believes in it and is committed to making it strong.

“EU is strong because Germany believes in it,” Arrion stated.

Reviewing the operations of the EU in Nigeria in the past 40 years, the ambassador stated that it has been 40 years of development cooperation in agriculture, infrastructures, health, water, energy and other micro-project.

According to him, the body has Since 2000 adopted a more ‘political’ approach in its support by engaging in human rights activism, campaign for improved criminal justice system, prisons reform, fight against trafficking in human beings, small arms and drugs.

“More recently, a much more political approach has been adopted in our cooperation with Office of National Security Adviser (ONSA) towards the de-radicalisation, counter-radicalisation of Boko Haram, fight against corruption as well as humanitarian assistance, and aid to reconstruction of the North-east,” the ambassador stated.

Millions of EU nationals living in the UK will have to apply to a “settled status” register and might be given ID cards as part of new plans laid out by the Home Office.

The Government’s 15-page policy paper sets out an online application process for the three million EU nationals in the UK to make sure they receive the same rights and benefits as non-European nationals who have lived in the UK for five years.

It is unclear whether the “settled status” would result in an identity card or simply be an entry in a Home Office database.

“I want to completely reassure people that under these plans, no EU citizen currently in the UK lawfully, will be asked to leave at the point the UK leaves the EU,” said Theresa May. 

After Ms May gave a statement on the issue in Parliament, the EU’s Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier tweeted, “More ambition, clarity and guarantees needed than in today’s UK position.”

The 150,000 people who have already applied for permanent resident status since the referendum will have to apply again, but will not have to provide evidence of sickness insurance this time round.

The Home Office processes millions of visas each year. The new “light touch” online system, as described by Ms May, will use existing HMRC documents to save applicants retrieving pay slips from five years ago.

While the Home Office paper said that EU nationals cannot bring a spouse to live with them unless they meet an £18,600 minimum income threshold, Ms May did not mention this in her speech. She said that people with “settled status” would have equal rights to British citizens if they wanted to bring over family members.

EU citizens are yet to see whether they will retain their voting rights in local elections, or whether they will have the protection of the European court of justice, which, under the new plan, will no longer have jurisdiction over their rights in the UK.

Several issues for EU nationals living in the UK, such as healthcare, professional qualifications and rights for self-employed workers, have not been guaranteed.

There are several protections, however, including pensions, and certain security benefits like child benefit.

The need to apply for “settled status” will only become mandatory after the cut-off date, which has not been set. 

Former Ukip leader, Nigel Farage, who campaigned to leave the EU and to reform the immigration system, tweeted: “New UK government rules on EU citizens still set no cut-off date. Numbers will continue to grow.”

EU nationals will be given a grace period of up to two years if they can demonstrate five consecutive years of residence in the UK. Ms May said anyone with less than five years, but who arrives in the UK before the country leaves the EU, will be allowed to build up to five years and apply for “settled status”.

After the cut-off date, EU nationals who have not applied will not be allowed to stay in the country, although people can come to the UK after the deadline on a temporary basis and will have the chance to apply for permanent residency.

Any EU national arriving in the UK after the cut-off date will be subject to the new immigration rules, which are yet to be agreed.

Ms May was grilled over the threat of families being broken up if her new plan insists upon a minimum income requirement to bring over a spouse.

“No families will be split up. Family dependents who join a qualifying EU citizen here before the UK’s exit will be able to apply for settled status after five years,” she responded.

“After the UK has left the European Union, EU citizens with settled status will be able to bring family members from overseas on the same terms as British nationals.”

The income requirement raises questions, however, on how EU nationals can bring over parents and other family members.