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New UK Travel Entry Requirements, What to Know

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The UK government this week announced an overhaul in non-visa entry requirements for visitors from next year.
The Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme is similar to the ESTA system in the United States.
What did the government say?
The interior ministry announced that all visitors who do not require a visa to travel to Britain will need an ETA from April 2, 2025.
“Everyone wishing to travel to the UK –- except British and Irish citizens -– will need permission to travel in advance of coming here.
“This can be either through an ETA or an eVisa,” the Home Office said in a statement.
What’s an ETA?
It is a travel permit digitally linked to the traveller’s passport and is for people entering or transiting the UK without a visa or legal residence rights.
It costs £10 (12 euros, 13 dollars) and permits multiple journeys to the UK for stays of up to six months at a time over two years or until the holder’s passport expires – whichever is sooner.
Eligibility is based on nationality and suitable travellers can apply using the UK ETA app.
Who needs one?
Previously, most visitors could arrive at a British airport with their passports and enter the country without a visa.
But that began to change in November last year when the then-Conservative government introduced the ETA, starting with Qatari nationals.
The scheme was extended earlier this year and currently includes citizens of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Children and babies from these countries need an ETA too.
Who is affected next?
Interior minister Yvette Cooper announced on Tuesday that all nationalities except Europeans can apply for an ETA from November 27. They will need one travel to Britain from January 8 next year.
The scheme will then extend to eligible Europeans, who will require an ETA from April 2, 2025. They will be able to apply from March 5.
Eligible travellers will need one even if they are just using the UK to connect to an onward flight abroad.
Who doesn’t need one?
British and Irish passport holders and those with passports for a British overseas territory do not need an ETA.
Travellers with a visa also do not require one, nor do people with permission to live, work or study in the UK, including people settled under the EU Settlement Scheme agreed as part of Britain’s exit from the European Union in January 2020.
What can and can’t you do?
Travellers can get an ETA if they are coming to the UK for up to six months for tourism, visiting family and friends, business or short-term study.
They cannot get married, claim benefits, live in the country through frequent visits, or take up work as a self-employed person.
Do other countries do this?
The Home Office says ETAs are “in line with the approach many other countries have taken to border security, including the US and Australia”.
It also mirrors the ETIAS scheme for visa-exempt nationals travelling to 30 European countries, including France and Germany, that the European Commission expects to be operational early next year.
Why is Britain extending the scheme?
It is part of the government’s drive to digitise its border and immigration system.
The Home Office says it will ensure “more robust security checks are carried out before people begin their journey to the UK”, which helps prevent “abuse of our immigration system”.
It is partly a consequence of Brexit, which ended freedom of movement to Britain for European nationals.
What has been the reaction?
Heathrow Airport has blamed the ETA scheme for a 90,000 drop in transfer passenger numbers on routes included in the programme since it was launched.
It has described the system as “devastating for our hub competitiveness” and wants the government to “review” the inclusion of air transit passengers.
Source: AFP
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At last, Marketers Agree to Crash Petrol Prices as Dangote Sells Fuel at Reduced Cost after Deal

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By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) said about 30,000 of its members will start lifting petrol from the Dangote Refinery The association’s president, Abubakar Maigandi, said that the refinery agreed to sell the product at N940 and N960, respectively He said the development means that petrol prices will crash at the pumps in the coming weeks following the new deal

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) says over 30,000 of its members are ready to buy petrol in bulk from the Dangote Refinery. The association revealed that the petrol price from the mega refinery was about N940 per litre via ships and N990 via trucks.

IPMAN president Abubakar Maigandi disclosed in a television interview on Tuesday, November 12, 2024, that the petrol pump prices at its outlets will drop following the deal with the refinery. The association reached a deal with the $20 billion refinery on Monday, November 11, 2024, to purchase petrol, diesel, and other petroleum products directly. The agreement comes after months of negotiations following the exit of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) as the sole off-taker of the refinery.

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Petrol prices to crash by over N50 Maigandi explained that the Lekki-based facility had been obliged to let marketers buy petrol, diesel, and Kerosene to supply to their depots and retail outlets. The IPMAN boss updated Nigerians on the pricing, saying the refinery gave marketers two rates based on preferences. He said marketers can load at the gantry at N990 per litre or vial vessel transport at N940. Punch reports that the new price is lower than the N960 and N990 per litre on ships and trucks offered by the refinery last week.

The IPMAN helmsman disclosed that the partnership aims to ensure a consistent and affordable supply of petrol and other products nationwide. He stated further that petrol prices may crash by N50 or more, depending on the location.

PETROAN set up a meeting with Dangote Refinery According to Maigandi, the direct purchase of petrol from the refinery will end payments to intermediaries such as the NNPC and depot owners, saying that the cost will reflect on petrol prices in the coming weeks. The IPMAN president said the new arrangement will also end fuel scarcity as products will be available nationwide in all seasons.

Additionally, the management of the Dangote Refinery is set to meet with Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) officials to discuss petrol lifting. The group’s publicity secretary, Joseph Obele, said the refinery, through its president, Billy Harry, mailed seeking a business meeting.

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Obele said Harry has inaugurated a team of seven persons to represent the association at the meeting. NNPC to now sell only Dangote petrol Legit.ng earlier reported that NNPC had announced that it stopped importing refined petroleum products. Mele Kyari, NNPC’s Group Chief Executive Officer, disclosed this while speaking at the Lagos’s Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists’ (NAPE) conference and said that the company now sources its fuel needs from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.

Kyari confirmed that NNPC has shifted away from importation and will source from local refiners, especially Dangote, according to BusinessDay reports.

Source: Legit

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Police save abduct£d 14-month-old baby from nanny

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By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Operatives of the Edo State Police Command have successfully rescued a 14-month-old baby, Grace Osamagbe, who was abducted by her nanny, Rejoice Chukwu, in April.

Commissioner of Police Umoru Ozigi told newsmen on Saturday in Benin, that the Anti-Kidnapping and Cyber Crime Unit arrested Chukwu, 24, and her boyfriend, Destiny Uchechukwu, 28, in Uyo, Akwa-Ibom

According to Ozigi, the suspects abducted the child in Benin and collected a ransom of N160,000.

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“In spite of receiving the ransom, the suspects allegedly sold the baby for N500,000 to Doris Chiwendu in Owerri, Imo State.

“Following intense interrogation, police tracked down Chiwendu and another suspect, Jane Amaigbo, in Ubomiri, Imo State, and rescued the baby on November 9.”

The police commissioner explained that the suspects would soon be charged in court.

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Ondo: Hoodlums attack INEC officials in Ogbagi Akoko, destr0y electoral materials, others

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Some hoodlums have attacked and assaulted officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at Polling Unit 19, Ward 6 Ogbagi in the Akoko area of Ondo State in the ongoing governorship election in the state.

According to a video posted on social media, the Presiding Officer (PO) of the polling unit said that the attackers destroyed all the electoral materials at the polling unit, stole their phones and purses, and physically assaulted them.

The Presiding Officer, who said that the attack happened shortly after a PDP agent at the polling unit was arrested by the police for tearing votes, said that her Assistant Presiding Officer 1 (APO 1) she identified as Bello Samuel, had been missing since they were attacked.

Narrating what happened, the Presiding Officer said, “As the process of the election was going on, a party agent from PDP tore a vote without my consent. I don’t know his name because he had not indicated his name.

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“I was trying to address him but he asked me to do my work. In order to resolve the matter, the Kabiyesi of the community (community leader) came but he (the PDP) agent was trying to tear another vote when the officers (police) at the polling unit called the DPO for his arrest.

“They (police) asked me what I wanted and I said he should be removed or the polling unit should be canceled. Then, he was arrested and the election continued.

“Unaware, we discovered a gang of people parking the election materials and they beat us up – I and my APOs. Even till now, I haven’t seen my APO 1, Bello Samuel by name.

“Our phones have been stolen with our purses, and all the electoral materials have been destroyed except the BVAS which I escaped with.”

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She said that before the hoodlums attacked them, “I called SPO and the officers called the DPO. After that, I know nothing preserved by grace.”

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