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Two remaining hostages freed
Royal Dutch/Shell said on Wednesday that the last two of six hostages taken two weeks ago by youths in Opouama in the Niger Delta region have been freed, Reuters reported.
The two appeared to be in good condition but were to undergo medical checks, Reuters quoted a company spokesman as saying.
Senators to probe rape charges
The Nigerian senate has ordered an investigation into reports that soldiers on peacekeeping duty in the Niger Delta region have raped and assaulted women there, the BBC reported on Wednesday.
Soldiers were deployed in Choba in the oil-producing region following protests by youths against an oil company there. The senate told its defence committee to investigate the allegations after a Choba senator made them and a newspaper reportedly published photographs of women being raped by soldiers, the BBC said.
Washington wants expanded commercial relationship
The United States has a "strong interest" in strengthening its partnership with Nigeria and wants it to succeed in becoming "efficient, competitive, transparent and market-oriented," the US Information Agency (USIA) reported.
The US Deputy Secretary of Commerce, Robert Mallett, addressing the first meeting of the US-Nigeria Joint Economic Partnership Commission on 5 November, recalled an earlier period in the late 1970s when President Obasanjo was head of state and the two countries enjoyed a "deeper, more diversified relationship that we have now. Oil company representatives, bankers and manufacturers were always flying in and out of Lagos. We'd like to see that happening again," he said.
Mallett said it was important that democracy was enhanced in tandem with broadening commercial relations.
Sugar firm loses 25,000 mt to flooding
The state-owned Nigerian Sugar Company lost 6,000 hectares of sugar cane plantation to floods in the country's central region, 'The Guardian' said on Thursday.
The company said the lost harvest, expected to have yielded some 25,000 mt of sugar, included part of the 1999/2000 crop as well as new fields cultivated under an expansion programme, the newspaper reported. Some of the heaviest rains in 30 years have been recorded in parts of northern and central Nigeria this year.
South Africa to cooperate in power sector
Nigeria and South Africa are to work closely together to develop their power sectors, particularly in generation and distribution, 'The Guardian' quoted Power and Steel Minister, Bola Ige, as saying on Thursday.
The paper quoted Ige as saying Nigeria wanted to learn how South Africa has improved the supply of electricity for its people, particularly in townships such as Soweto. 'The Guardian' also said South African power firms were keen to invest in Nigeria's energy sector and take advantage of current deregulation and plans to privatise the state power company NEPA.
Ige was expected to travel to South Africa for talks with his counterpart, 'The Guardian,' reported.
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Item: irin-english-1957
[This item is delivered in the "irin-english" service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or to change your keywords, contact e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org or Web: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer.]
Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 1999
Subscriber: afriweb@sas.upenn.edu Keyword: IRIN
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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