Two women have been killed in a recent flood disaster in Wovi Community of Damboa Local Government Area (LGA) of Borno, while several houses have been destroyed in Rumirgo, Askira Uba LGA, displacing several families.
In a statement, Dauda Iliya, the spokesperson to the Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum, extended his principal’s sympathy to the victims and their families.
“I received with profound sorrow the sad news of the devastating flood disaster in the Wovi community, which claimed the lives of two women, as well as the destruction of homes in Gumsuri, displacing many families,” he said.
“Equally distressing is the windstorm in Rumirgo, Askira-Uba local government. My thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families and all those affected by these disasters,” Governor Zulum stated.
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According to Iliya, Governor Zulum has directed the immediate release of relief materials to affected communities in Damboa and Askira Uba LGAs.
“I have instructed SEMA to immediately provide relief supplies to Gumsuri and Wovi communities, ensuring no one is left without support. Humanitarian assistance has already been dispatched to the people of Rumirgo,” the governor added.
The development is coming less than a year after a deadly flood submerged communities in Borno, killing scores of people and washing away homes, farmlands, among others.
READ FULL STATEMENT BELOW:
Zulum Commiserates with Victims of Flood, Windstorm Disasters in Damboa and Askira
Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, has expressed heartfelt condolences to the residents of Gumsuri and Wovi in Damboa local government area following a devastating flood disaster that claimed two lives, submerged homes, and displaced numerous families.
The governor also conveyed his sympathy to the Rumirgo community in Askira-Uba local government where a destructive windstorm caused significant damage to public and private infrastructure.
In a statement by the Special Adviser to the governor on Media, Dauda Iliya, Governor Zulum described the incidents as tragic and deeply distressing.
“I received with profound sorrow the sad news of the devastating flood disaster in Wovi community which claimed the lives of two women as well as the destruction of homes in Gumsuri, displacing many families. Equally distressing is the windstorm in Rumirgo, Askira-Uba local government. My thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families and all those affected by these disasters,” Governor Zulum stated.
The governor directed the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to immediately provide relief materials to victims in the affected communities, assuring that aid would reach all those in need.
“I have instructed SEMA to immediately provide relief supplies to Gumsuri and Wovi communities, ensuring no one is left without support. Humanitarian assistance has already been dispatched to the people of Rumirgo,” he affirmed.
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United States President Donald Trump has travelled to the southern tip of Florida to inaugurate a new immigration detention facility, nicknamed Alligator Alcatraz.
On Tuesday, Trump joined Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at the remote facility, located in a vast wetland region known as the Everglades.
“This is what you need,” Trump said. “A lot of bodyguards and a lot of cops in the form of alligators. ”
The president then quipped about the dangers: “I wouldn’t want to run through the Everglades for long. ”
The facility, built on the site of the former Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport in Ochopee, is designed to help address the need for more beds and more space to carry out Trump’s campaign for mass deportation.
State Attorney General James Uthmeier first announced Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz” two weeks ago, sharing a video on social media that featured bellowing alligators and pulsing rock music to underscore the forbidding nature of the facility.
“This 30-square-mile [78sq-km] area is completely surrounded by the Everglades. It presents an efficient, low-cost opportunity to build a temporary detention facility because you don’t need to invest that much in the perimeter,” Uthmeier said.
“If people get out, there’s not much waiting for them other than alligators and pythons. Nowhere to go. Nowhere to hide. ”
Its nickname draws from the lore surrounding the Alcatraz federal prison, an isolated, maximum-security detention centre built on a rocky island in the middle of the San Francisco Bay in California. That facility, closed since 1963, gained a reputation for being unescapable — though there were, indeed, five escapees whose fates remain unknown.
“It might be as good as the real Alcatraz site,” Trump said of the Florida site on Tuesday. “That’s a spooky one too, isn’t it? That’s a tough site. ”
Alcatraz has long been a source of fascination for Trump, who mused earlier this year about reopening the San Francisco facility, despite cost and feasibility concerns.
Similarly, the Alligator Alcatraz facility has spurred criticism for its human rights implications, its location in an environmentally sensitive landscape and its proximity to communities of Miccosukee and Seminole Indigenous peoples.
But the Trump administration has embraced its location as a selling point, as it seeks to take a hard-knuckled stance on immigration.
“There is only one road leading in, and the only way out is a one-way flight. It is isolated and surrounded by dangerous wildlife in unforgiving terrain,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday.
“ This is an efficient and low-cost way to help carry out the largest mass deportation campaign in American history. ”
The Florida government has set up temporary, modular units in Ochopee, Florida, for the new detention facility [WSVN via AP]
Dressed in a baseball cap that read, “Gulf of America: Yet another Trump development”, Trump flew to Ochopee to inspect the Alligator Alcatraz facility on its opening day.
Florida officials have celebrated the fact that it took only eight days to set up the detention centre, which appears to use temporary structures on the pavement of the former airport.
Governor DeSantis, who ran against Trump in 2024 for the Republican presidential nomination, said that Alligator Alcatraz would take advantage of the adjacent airstrip to facilitate expedited deportations for migrants.
“Say they already are been ordered to be deported,” DeSantis told reporters on Tuesday.
“You drive them 2,000 feet [667 metres] to the runway. And then they’re gone. It’s a one-stop shop, and this airport that’s been here for a long time is the perfectly secure location. ”
The head of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, Kevin Guthrie, added that the facility will be equipped to hold up to 3,000 migrants — up from an initial estimate of 1,000 — with the potential for expanding the premises.
A further 2,000 people will be held at Camp Blanding, a National Guard base on the other side of the state, in northern Florida.
A poster on display at Trump’s news conference in Ochopee also advertised 1,000 staff members on site, more than 200 security cameras and 28,000 feet — or 8,500 metres — of barbed wire.
Guthrie sought to dispel concerns that the facility might be vulnerable to natural disasters like hurricanes. The Everglades, after all, collects overflow from nearby Lake Okeechobee and drains that water into the Florida Bay, making it a region prone to natural flooding.
“As with all state correctional facilities, we have a hurricane plan,” Guthrie said, pointing to the detention centre’s “fully aluminium-frame structure”.
He said it was capable of withstanding winds up to 110 miles per hour (177 kilometres per hour), equivalent to a Category 2 hurricane.
“All in all, sir,” Guthrie told Trump, “this has been a perfect state logistics exercise for this hurricane season. ”
Protesters line the roadway leading to the site known as Alligator Alcatraz on June 28 [Marco Bello/Reuters]
Still, human rights advocates and environmental groups gathered on the highway leading to Alligator Alcatraz on Tuesday to show their opposition to Trump and his deportation plans.
Protesters chanted through megaphones, “Hey hey, ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go. ” Some picket signs read, “Communities not cages” and “We say no to Alligator Alcatraz! ”
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida released a statement prior to the facility’s opening, denouncing the Trump administration for conflating immigration with criminality.
The creation of Alligator Alcatraz, it said, was an extension of that mentality.
“The name ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ reflects an intent to treat people fleeing hardship and trying to build a better life for themselves and their families as dangerous criminals, which is both unnecessary and abusive,” the ACLU branch said.
Meanwhile, the Friends of the Everglades, an environmental group, called upon its supporters to contact Governor DeSantis to oppose the “massive detention center”. It noted that the construction of the airport itself had raised similar environmental concerns nearly 50 years earlier.
“Surrounded by Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve, this land is part of one of the most fragile ecosystems in the country,” the group said in a statement.
“The message is clear: No airports. No rock mines. No prisons. Only Everglades. Let’s not repeat the mistakes of the past. This land deserves lasting protection. ”
Trump, however, argued in Tuesday’s news conference that the construction mostly built upon the existing airport.
“ I don’t think you’ve done anything to the Everglades,” he said, turning to Governor DeSantis. “I think you’re just enhancing it. ”
DeSantis himself brushed aside the environmental criticisms as attempts to derail the president’s deportation initiative.
“ I don’t think those are valid and even good faith criticisms because it’s not going to impact the Everglades at all,” the governor said, promising no seepage into the surrounding ecosystem.
Trump hinted that the Alligator Alcatraz site could be the first of many similar, state-led immigration detention facilities.
“ I think we’d like to see them in many states — really, many states,” he said. “At some point, they might morph into a system where you’re gonna keep it for a long time. ”
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Sunderland have completed the signing of Senegal midfielder Habib Diarra in a reported club record £30m deal from Strasbourg.
The 21-year-old, who scored against England in a friendly at the City Ground in June, has penned a five-year contract at the Stadium of Light.
Diarra made 31 appearances for Strasbourg in all competitions last term, helping the club to a seventh-placed finish in Ligue 1 as they secured European football for only the second time in 20 years.
“Everyone saw last season’s success and I guarantee that I’ll give everything for this team and fight for these colours in the Premier League. I’m ready for this challenge and I can’t wait to get started. “
Diarra becomes Sunderland’s second arrival this summer as they prepare for their first season back in the Premier League since 2016-17 and is seen as a direct replacement for Jobe Bellingham who joined Borussia Dortmund in June for a fee worth up to £30m.
Petra Kvitova’s goodbye to her “special place” Wimbledon was always going to be emotional.
Not everyone has celebrated their biggest professional and personal milestones here.
It was here that she won her two Grand Slam titles and on Centre Court that she got engaged, and it was during the Championships fortnight last year that she gave birth to her son.
So when Court One witnessed her final match at the All England Club before she retires later this year, the tears flowed for her and the tissues came out in the stands.
A 6-3 6-1 defeat by 10th seed Emma Navarro was met with a standing ovation for a player who has long held a reputation of being one of the nicest players on the tour.
Given the rare honour of a few minutes on the microphone despite losing the match, Kvitova said she wished they “could have played for a bit longer”.
“I will miss Wimbledon, I will miss tennis, I will miss you fans – but I am ready for the next chapter of life as well,” the 35-year-old said.
“I can’t wait to be back as a member. “
With her family watching from her box, she thanked them all, including the few coaches she has had, adding: “My first was my dad, my last one is my husband. “
Her voice broke when she spoke in Czech when she addressed her family, and she took her time leaving the court and taking in her final moments there.
She had been outplayed by American Navarro in an error-strewn performance, the final curtain coming when she double-faulted on match point.
But there were occasional glimpses of the blistering forehand that drove her success on grass, as well as the thumping serves which were part of a game that propelled her to world number two.
“It was surreal looking across the court to see her serving bombs at me,” Navarro said. “It was intimidating at times.
“Petra’s had an amazing career. It was a pleasure to play against her today. “
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Brought up in a sleepy Moravian town where she played on the local clay courts, grass was not a natural surface for Kvitova and her first two appearances at the All England Club ended in first-round exits.
However, with a big serve and booming baseline shots, she had the perfect game for grass and from 2010 to 2015 reached at least the quarter-finals, lifting the trophy in 2011 and 2014.
In December 2016 she suffered a career-threatening injury in a knife attack at her home, where the nerves in her racquet-holding hand were severed, but she defied the odds – doctors gave her a 10% chance of competing again – to return five months later.
Since then she has not made it past the fourth round here, though she did make another Grand Slam final at the 2019 Australian Open, but “Wimby”, as she calls it, has always been her favourite tournament.
She missed last year’s Championships while on maternity leave and returned to the tour in February.
She won only one of the nine matches she has played as a mum and announced last month that she would be hanging up her racquet after the US Open in September – but not before accepting a wildcard for one final Wimbledon.
