The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Tuesday, said Nigeria was already experiencing the negative fallout of climate change seen in the flooding, desert encroachment, and drought experienced in various parts of the country.

According to a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, Buhari said this at an audience he granted the former United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, on the sidelines of the First World Bio Summit 2022 in Seoul, South Korea.

The statement is titled ‘Nigeria facing climate change challenges, President Buhari declares during meeting with Ban Ki-Moon in Seoul.’

During the conversation, Buhari expressed delight with the existing cooperation between Nigeria and the Republic of Korea, especially in energy supply, citing gas exports to the Asian country.

He also described education as a critical investment in addressing unemployment and underdevelopment, calling for a closer focus on health challenges.

On his part, the former UN Chief who advocates Climate Change remediation and chairs the Ban Ki-moon Foundation for Better Future sympathised with the President over the flooding.

Ki-moon called for more investment to improve education and avert environmental degradation and preventive diseases to meet the core Sustainable Development Goals.

He thanked Buhari for attending the World Bio Summit, adding that his presence would highlight the importance of global action and cooperation in developing vaccines and technology to meet the huge threat and challenges of pandemics.

Ki-moon also noted that Nigeria is “a very important country,” having prominent citizens occupying sensitive positions in global organisations.

Therefore, he called for more people-to-people engagements and cultural cooperation between both countries even as he sought Nigeria’s support in Korea’s bid to host an EXPO in 2030.

Explaining his pet project, the ex-UN Scribe said his Global Centre on Adaptation is trying to mobilize resources to help developing countries fight climate change.

He urged donor countries to fulfil their financial commitments to the Global Climate Fund.

Buhari and his guest also discussed the role of gender equality in attaining a prosperous society while calling for an end to the war in Ukraine.

Operatives of the Ebonyi State Police Command have arrested one Nnamdi Ngwuta Obaji aka State Commander No. 3 and another member of the outlawed group, IPOB/ESN, Felix Ogudu.

In a statement signed by the police public relations officer, Chris Anyanwu, he said armed with credible intelligence, a combined team of the police, Department of State Services (DSS) and the military stormed three camps of the outlawed IPOB/ESN, including a new one under active construction located in a thick forest close to Opeke River in Omege Village of Agba Community of Ishielu LGA.

Anyanwu said the operation was prompted by pieces of reliable evidence, elicited from interrogation of the two IPOB operatives.

He said in the process of cordoning off the camps, the combined teams were ambushed by the criminal elements with sporadic shooting in their direction, adding that the team responded and engaged them in the same manner and the superior firepower of the security operatives subdued the miscreants.

He said the IPOB operatives chanted morale-boosting war songs, dived into the Opeke River and swam to different directions as they scampered for safety.

He said a good number of the IPOB members were neutralized while many escaped with bullet injuries.

The United States Embassy in Abuja has alerted its personnel of a possible terror attack in the nation’s capital.

In a security alert email, the embassy warned that government buildings, places of worship, markets, law enforcement offices, and other densely populated spots might be hit in the attacks.

The embassy also said it would reduce its services until further notice.

“Event: There is an elevated risk of terror attacks in Nigeria, specifically in Abuja. Targets may include but are not limited to, government buildings, places of worship, schools, markets, shopping malls, hotels, bars, restaurants, athletic gatherings, transport terminals, law enforcement facilities, and international organisations.

The U.S. Embassy will offer reduced services until further notice,” the email read.

The embassy further advised its staff members to avoid non-essential travel and crowded gatherings and to carry proper identification.

”Avoid all non-essential travel or movement. Stay alert. Avoid crowds. Review your personal security plans and keep your cell phone charged in an emergency. Carry proper identification,” the email further read.

The police headquarters and the State Security Service did not immediately return requests seeking comments about the fears raised by the U.S. authorities.

The warning comes months after the National Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) issued a similar warning about budding terror attacks said to be linked to Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP).

The FCT witnessed repeated attacks from terrorist groups in July. It began with a prison break at the Kuje facility of the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCS) and, after that, an attack near a law school in Bwari that left about a dozen members of the elite presidential guards brigade killed.

President Muhammadu Buhari’s has continued to express his intention to decisively address insecurity, but after several years of unremarkable results, questions are being raised that threats to lives and property might be escalating across the country.