Skip to main content

Italy says 8,300 migrants rescued in five days

Italy says 8,300 migrants rescued in five daysROME: Some 1,800 migrants were rescued from waters off Libya Monday, lifting the total picked up to 8,300 over five days, according to the Italian coastguard which coordinated the operations.
Vessels from the coastguard, the Italian navy, humanitarian organisations and EU anti-trafficking operation Sophia were involved in 16 operations to save people from 14 inflatable dinghies and two small wooden boats.
The latest rescues will lift to over 94,000 the number of migrants brought to Italian ports this year, roughly in line with the pattern of 2015, according to Flavio Di Giacomo, a spokesman for the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
The number of migrants trying to reach Europe via the Greek islands has dropped sharply since an EU-Turkey deal designed to stem the flow was agreed in March.
Numbers on that route are running at dozens per day rather than the thousands per day seen this time last year.
More than 3,000 migrants have died at sea while trying to reach either Greece or Italy since the start of this year, an increase of some 50 percent on the same period in 2015.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Nollywood actress, Omoge Campus, is dead

Aisha Abimbola, a.k.a Omoge Campus Nollywood actress, Aisha Abimbola, popularly known as Omoge Campus, has died. She reportedly died in a Canadian hospital. The cause of death was still speculative as at he time of filing this report. Her colleague, Bisola Badmus, broke the news of her death on her Instagram page; while ace actor, Saheed Balogun, also confirmed it to our correspondent on the phone on Wednesday morning. See Bisola Badmus’ IG post announcing the death: Other colleagues of the deceased like Ronke Odusanya, Biodun Okeowo, and Odunlade Adekola, have expressed shock over the loss of their colleague. See their posts below: Abimbola who studied Catering and Hotel Management at the Lagos State Polytechnic first featured in TV series, Papa Ajasco. She came into limelight on the back of a Bola Igida movie, Omoge Campus. The title of the movie stuck to her and became her stage name. The movie was produced in 2001. She produced her own m...

Arepo: IG deploys policemen, helicopter to flush out vandals

Adelani Adepegba The acting Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, has deployed the Tactical Operation Unit, comprising of the Police Mobile Force, the Counter-Terrorism Unit and the Air Surveillance Team to flush out vandals and other criminal elements operating in Arepo and Ibafo areas of Ogun State. Idris said the deployment of the unit in the areas on Thursday was to ensure that normalcy returns to them in record time. A statement on Friday in Abuja by the Force Public Relations Officer, Don Awunah, quoted the IG as saying that the Nigeria Police Force would not watch any criminal group(s) take law into their hands, adding that he had authorised the team to deal decisively with anyone who constitutes himself as an enemy of the state. He also asked residents of the areas who had fled to return home and go about their normal businesses as the police would deal with the criminals. In another development, the police have arrested one Aloysius Ebiniko, said to be the ...

Gunmen kill four in Kaduna village attack

Gunmen Godwin Isenyo, Kadu na Unknown gunmen on Monday evening  invaded   Gurguzu village, near  Maguzawa, an outskirts of  Rigasa in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State,  killing four persons while many persons sustained varying degrees of injuries. An eyewitness put the number of those injured at six while another source said the figure was higher than six. The incident, it was learnt, took place some minutes after 6pm on Monday, when unknown gunmen rode on bikes invaded  a farm in the village and shot the farmers. Four died on the spot. Our correspondent also gathered that the injured victims were rushed to an undisclosed hospital for medical treatment. Presently, it was gathered that more than 500 people from Gurguzu village were displaced and taking refuge at a primary school in Rigasa. Meanwhile, the Kaduna State Government has sued for peace, urging residents to remain calm and go about their lawful businesses. It said i...