A diving excursion turned tragic on Monday when a tourist boat, Sea Story, sank in the Red Sea, off the coast of Egypt.

Officials confirmed that 17 people are still missing, while 28 others have been rescued.

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The boat was carrying 45 individuals, including 31 international tourists and 14 crew members, when it went down near the popular diving destination of Marsa Alam.

Rescue teams, including coast guard boats and helicopters, are continuing an intensive search for survivors.

Details shortly…………. 

The continual hounding of independent voices by the Nigerian Government has seen investigative journalist, David Hundeyin throw in the towel.

Hundeyin vented his frustration with failure to raise Nigeria’s national consciousness to desired levels, despite dedicating over six years to the project.

He made the disclosure in a statement on his verified handle on micro-blogging site, X, on Monday.

According to him, the Nigerian Government has been busy networking with other nations on his repatriation while Nigerians snore because “my fundamental objective – to help uplift the consciousness of my people – has not had any success. Basically, I have failed. Whatever I’ve been doing is not working.”

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He wrote, “At the end of the day, if people tell themselves a lie long enough that they start to believe it and make real-world decisions based on it, the loser is not me.

“My life is an open book. Literally. A 590-page book you can find on Amazon or Roving Heights. There’s nothing about me, my personal history, or my motivations that is a secret.

“If the urge to believe things about me that came out of someone’s hallucinations outweighs the importance of the value that I create, then I’m clearly not creating enough value for my people, which is fine.

“The thing is that I cannot really do more than I have already done. I’m already at my physical and mental limits. I have gone through things and put myself through experiences that normal people will never witness in 3 lifetimes.

“One thing I have always been very clear about is that my motivations are internal. I have always believed that I have to do what I have to do because it is nobody else’s job to fight for my future and that of my unborn children. I’ve never done any of this for external validation. I live way too much inside my own head for any of that to matter anyway.

“So if the situation now is that the ability of a noisy minority to poison the well of public opinion with some of the most malicious and mean-spirited lies in existence outweighs the urgency of what I try to do in a space where 200 million people are being constantly manipulated and casually exterminated like they’re 200 million ducks or catfish, then I have to acknowledge that I have failed.

“Even right now, Nuhu Ribadu’s NSA Office has been busy speaking to the authorities in Kenya, Ghana and the UK as recently as last week, while they continue to work on their obsession of bringing me to Abuja as a trophy for Emperor Bola Ahmed.

“And yet what is apparently important for public discussion is who I married or who I had sex with, plus some malaria hallucinations from a failed former journalist who never accomplished anything in his career. These are the things my people are discussing. Even at this late hour, we don’t know who our enemies are and who is on our side.

“This can only mean that my fundamental objective – to help uplift the consciousness of my people – has not had any success. Basically, I have failed. Whatever I’ve been doing is not working. I’ve spent nearly 6 years of my life on a project that hasn’t moved public consciousness forward one single inch from where I met it in 2019. I put myself into a lot of trouble along the way, but it didn’t really amount to much.

“So this is a message to @NuhuRibadu. You can leave me alone and stop talking to Ruto and Akufo-Addo about refouling me. I will not disturb you people anymore. I’ll focus on my Pan-African political commentary and news about the Sahel region, but I’m leaving the Nigerian space for you. I clearly overestimated both myself and my people.

“The mistake was mine.”

A fire that broke out on Sunday evening along Obodoukwu Road, near the Relief Market in Okpoko, Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State, has destroyed goods and property worth millions of naira.

The blaze caused panic and confusion as traders and residents scrambled to salvage their belongings.

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Eyewitnesses reported that the fire started in one of the shops and quickly spread to others.

“We observed thick smoke coming out from one of the shops, and before we knew what was happening, it started increasing fast,” said Ndubuisi, a local trader.

“The few traders that were around, along with some residents and passers-by, tried to fight the fire before the firefighters arrived.”

Despite their efforts, many shop owners were unable to save their goods. “Some of the victims could not take anything out of their shops,” Ndubuisi added.

“I can say that goods worth millions of naira were lost to the fire. We can’t say what caused the fire, but we pray that God comes to their aid.”

The cause of the fire remains unclear, but it caused significant damage to several shops filled with various goods.

The Anambra State Fire Service confirmed the incident on Monday, stating that it received a distress call at 4:19 pm on Sunday, November 24, 2024.

In response, two fire trucks from the Okpoko Fire Station and Main Market Fire Station were dispatched, along with additional firefighting equipment.

Fire Chief Chukwudi Chiketa confirmed that the firefighters battled the blaze for several hours, preventing it from spreading further.

He said, “Our firemen were able to contain the fire and prevent it from escalating to other structures. The fire affected a few shops, but thankfully, no lives were lost.”

The Fire Service also issued a public safety reminder, urging residents to remain vigilant and fire-conscious. They concluded their operations at approximately 7:39 pm.

As investigations into the cause of the fire continue, local authorities are assessing the extent of the damage.