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Worsening Insecurity: Sultan Asks Muslims To Increase Prayer Today, Being Arafat Day

The Sultan of Sokoto and President General Jama’atu Nasril Islam,  Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, has asked Muslims in Nigeria to increase in their prayer today, July 8, which is Arafat Day, for Allah to end the insecurity ravaging the country.

Speaking against the backdrop of Tuesday’s twin devastating attacks on the convoy of President Muhammadu Buhari’s advance team to Daura, Katsina state and Kuje Correctional Center, where a security agent was killed, two others were injured and the prison gate opened for all inmates to escape, the Sultan tasked the Muslim ummah to take advantage of the grace of Arafat Day to beseech Allah for end to all issues of insecurity across the country.

The Sultan, in a statement signed by the JNI Secretary General, Dr. Khalid Aliyu, said the Arafat Day is the best day of the year when Allah forgives sins, listens to prayers and accepts them. Thus, Muslims are urged to fast on that day and make supplications to Allah for their needs and challenges.

“Considering that two events are coinciding on Friday and the need to remind Muslims to fast the 9th of Dhul-Hijjah (Arafat), cannot be overemphasized, just as it is mandated by the Prophet (SAW) and having fallen on such a special day – Friday, being the best day of the week, wherein Jumu’ah prayer is observed and prayers are answered in a specific Sa’a (hour) and Arafat – the best day of the year, wherein standing for it, is observed by pilgrims, and Allah, the Most benevolent forgives and answers all supplications on the Arafat day gracefully.

“Thus, His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto and the President-General, JNI, urges Nigerian Muslims to fast the day, as was recommended by the Prophet (PBUH) and to equally pray ceaselessly to Allah, the Most High for His quickest intervention. Nigerian pilgrims are also implored to specifically pray for Nigeria and its leaders, while standing for the Arafat.

“He implores us all to dedicate special prayers against all the menaces and the hydra-headed calamities (of insecurity, poverty, high cost of living and corruption) occurring in Nigeria,” he said.

Source: Blueprint.

British PM, Boris, Kotows To Pressure, Throws In The Towel

The British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has thrown in the towel in response to a revolt within his Conservative Party.

He said in an address to the nation today, July 7, that the process of choosing a new prime minister “should begin now.”
“It is clearly now the will of the parliamentary Conservative Party that there should be a new leader of the party and therefore, a new prime minister.
“The process of choosing that new leader should begin now.”

He said that the time line will be announced next week.
Johnson is not planning to leave office immediately, as he said: “I’ve today appointed a cabinet to serve, as I will, until a new leader is in place.”

In a televised speech outside 10 Downing Street, the outgoing leader showed that the appointment of new cabinet ministers means that the government can continue to function as he prepares to depart.
Johnson spoke of his attempts to stay on as leader and how “painful” it is for him to step down, but made no mention of the scandals that have proved his political downfall.
“In the last few days, I’ve tried to persuade my colleagues that it would be eccentric to change governments when we’re delivering so much… and when the economic scene is so difficult domestically and internationally.
“I regret not to have been successful in those arguments, and of course, it’s painful, not to be able to see through so many ideas and projects myself.”

He said, however that he’s proud of “getting Brexit done” and “leading the West in standing up to Putin’s aggression in Ukraine.”
Johnson went on to address voters directly, and expressed his sadness at stepping down after nearly three years in the role.
“To you, the British public, I know that there will be many people who are relieved and, perhaps, quite a few will also be disappointed.

“And I want you to know how sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world.”
Johnson has, in recent months, been engulfed in a series of scandals that forced even his most stalwart supporters to abandon him.
Nearly 60 members of the government, including five cabinet ministers have resigned since Tuesday, furious about the botched handling of the resignation by Johnson’s former deputy chief whip, Chris Pincher, who was accused of groping two men last week.
Johnson initially attempted to ride out the crisis, despite an unprecedented flight of middle-ranking ministers from the government, a battering at Prime Minister’s Questions and a bruising appearance before a committee of senior lawmakers in Parliament.

On Wednesday, he still insisted he wasn’t going to resign.
But Johnson finally gave in today after some of his most loyal allies told him that the game was up.
UK Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss said that Johnson had made the “right decision” to resign.

“We need calmness and unity now and to keep governing while a new leader is found.”
Greg Clark, newly appointed UK Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, said that he had a duty to ensure that the country has a functioning government.
The leader of the opposition Labour Party, Keir Starmer, said that it is “good news for the country” that Johnson had decided to resign.

“That should have happened long ago. He was always unfit for office. He has been responsible for lies, scandal and fraud on an industrial scale,” said Starmer on Twitter.

The opposition leader also had scathing words for the Conservatives.

“They have been in power for 12 years. The damage they have done is profound. Twelve years of economic stagnation. Twelve years of declining public services. Twelve years of empty promises,” Starmer said.
“Enough is enough. We don’t need to change the Tory at the top; we need a proper change of government. We need a fresh start for Britain.”

Professional Bodies Put Heads Together On Standardisation Of Tax Practice In Nigeria

Professional bodies in tax management are putting heads together to fashion out the implementation of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on standardisation of tax practice in Nigeria.
The meeting, being hosted by the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Muhammad Nami  has in attendance, representatives from the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), and the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN).
Addressing the meeting today, July 7, the FIRS boss called for value-based leadership approach from the councils even as he advised the professional bodies to work hand-in-hand with the Service to deepen the FIRS institutional framework through qualitative reporting and effective representation of their clients.
“Our professional bodies need to speak on matters of tax policies and tax laws especially on proposals to annual Finance Bills.
“We also urge you to help the Service to deepen institutional framework through quality reporting and effective representation of clients by our professional colleagues.
“We need to stem the tides in improving financial reporting to reduce the spate of ‘copy and paste’ financial reporting system as we experience today.”
Nami, who is also a Fellow of two of the three professional bodies, said that FIRS has adopted renewed strategies to tackle financial reporting concerns.
According to him, FIRS has created new departments such as the Intelligence, Strategic Data Mining and Analysis Department, the Special Crimes Department, the Tax Incentives Management Department and the Emerging and Special Taxes Department, which he stated are at the forefront of unravelling financial reporting issues through data mining.
He said that the FIRS alongside the State Inland Revenue Services, are collaborating with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to build a databank to improve tax investigation.
Other strategies include the accreditation of tax consultants and auditors in the FIRS, the review of data from Automatic Exchange of Information as well as increased enforcement actions.
The Presidents of the three bodies, Professor Benjamin Osisioma of ANAN, Tijjani Musa Isa of ICAN and Adesina Adedayo of the CITN commended the FIRS Executive Chairman for showing leadership in pushing for and enabling a resolution of the squabbles between the three bodies.
This was even as Professor Osisioma commended the efforts of Nami, saying that failure to cooperate amongst the three bodies would lead to chaos in tax practice regulation in the country.
“If we fail to cooperate and collaborate, we would destroy what we are trying to build.”

Nigeria Has 3.2 Million Refugees, Commission Reveals; Says It’s Constructing 5 Resettlement Cities

The National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons has said that Nigeria now has 3.2 refugees for whom five resettlement cities are being m constructed across the country.
The Commission said that out of over 3.2 million refugees, the authorities have so far registered 84, 803, with only 17,334 offering to return home.
The Federal Commissioner of the Commission, Imaan Suleiman-Ibrahim, who spoke at a news briefing at the Presidential villa, Abuja today, July 7, disclosed this in the State House, Abuja, listed Borno, Kano, Katsina, Zamfara, Nasarawa and Edo as the states already designated for the pilot phase of the project.
“When displacements happen through flood and communal clashes, people lose their homes and means of livelihood. So, we started a pilot phase of our project of resettlement in 2020.
“The project of resettlement city will entail building small cities because Persons of Concern (PoCs) have three options of doable solutions.
“They can either locally integrate, resettle or they can go back to their homes but sometimes they are unable to go back home and that is why there is need for building of new communities or strengthening the capacity of their host communities.
“We are in the third phase of our resettlement city project but the pilot phase is in Borno, Kano, Katsina, Zamfara, Nasarawa and Edo States. Most of them are now at between 70-90 percent completion but that of Edo State is about to take off.”
She said that as part of its doable solutions, the Commission will proceed to address issue of hunger as well as implement sundry empowerment programmes for the  displaced persons, even as they imbibe new forms of livelihood.
“When displacements happen within Nigeria we are not the first responders. So, we are expected come in after they are stable to be able to provide them with doable solutions so that they can go back to normalcy.”
Imaan Suleiman-Ibrahim acknowledged the recent adoption of the National IDP Policy in 2021 by the Federal Executive Council, described the decision as epic, saying: “that gives us the legal framework and clearly highlights everybody’s role, including the IDPs and the host communities.
“We have been able to continue to strengthen the psycho-social support system for the Commission because people are displaced, they go through all kinds of trauma so, psycho-social support is key.
“We have begun the piloting phase for the transitional learning centers in some locations, Edo, Zamfara, Imo, Bauchi, Federal Capital Territory and Katsina. We’ve been able to give persons of concerns access to COVID-19 vaccines and also conduct medical outreaches in collaboration with the National Primary Health care Development Agency.
“With the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), we have been able to train 10, 000 PoCs in all areas of ICT skills. This is in line with their own vision to achieve 90 percent of literacy for the citizens of the Federal Republic off Nigeria.
“We have also introduced the project Zero-Hunger, which was conceived to address the growing challenge of food insecurity because when you are hungry, you become vulnerable and easily accessible to criminal minds. We also ensure that we give them targeted empowerment and capacity building trainings to make more self-sufficient and give them a new lease of life.”
Imaan Suleiman-Ibrahim identified three major challenges faced by the Commission, including security, rising number of refugees and funding.
“The major challenge is security. In managing humanitarian crisis there are areas that we are supposed to reach and we are unable to do so and that is a major problem. Because even when they are undergoing the crisis, sometimes the places are not secured but they still require support.
“The second challenge is the rising numbers. You will agree with me that we have had an unprecedented humanitarian crisis globally. These things just keep happening and we have to manage the issue regardless. So, I think the rising numbers is also a challenge and we have to find a way of shrinking the numbers as quickly as possible.
“Then thirdly its funding; there is hardly any funds for anything and the requirement to be able to intervene quickly for these people.”

Federal Govt Calls On Nigerians To Take Responsibility For Their Security

Osun state Governor, Rauf Aregbesola
The Federal Government has called on Nigerians to take responsibility for the security of lives and property as the nation goes into Eid-el-Kabir festivities, starting on Saturday, July 9.
In a statement today, July 7, declaring Monday, July 11 and Tuesday, July 12 as public holiday in respect of the festival, the federal government asked Nigerians to put heads and hearts together to achieve relative peace.
“We must all take responsibility for the security of lives and property as we celebrate this year’s festival.”
The Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf
Aregbesola, who spoke through a statement on behalf of the Federal Government, “craves the indulgence of every Nigerians to come together, put our heads, hearts and all we have together, in order to achieve relative peace for harmonious coexistence and put an end to insecurities in Nigeria.”
The Minister assured that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari “is committed to the security of lives and properties of all Nigerians, empowering the citizens for successful living, the provisions of social investments programmes and adequate security in the schools.”
He assured all Nigerians of the government’s protection of all under the law, maintenance of law and order and keeping the peace in all situations.
The statement signed by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary Nigeria, Dr. Shuaib Belgore, quoted the minister as calling on Muslims to continue to imbibe the spirit of love, peace, kindness and sacrifice, as exemplified by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him).
He asked Muslims to use the period to pray for peace, unity, prosperity and the stability of the country, considering the challenges of insecurity the country faces at the moment.
Aregbesola, who wished Muslims a happy Eid-el Kabir celebration, urged Nigerians to take responsibility by reporting any suspicious individuals and criminal activities they observe around them to law enforcement agencies with the use of N-Alerts application that has been designed to mitigate security challenges with prompt response from security agencies: as soon as you “See Something Do N-Alerts”, most especially during this festival.
He also enjoined all Nigerians to be vigilant and observant of intruders in their communities.

Sheikh Gumi’s Aide Quits Negotiating With Terrorists On Behalf Of Govt, Says No Sincerity

The lead negotiator for the release of the kidnapped Abuja-Kaduna Train passengers, Malam Tukur Mamu, has announced that he’s quitting the negotiation job because he has confirmed the insincerity of the people in government.
Tukur Mamu, who is the media consultant to a Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Gumi, in a statement today, July 7, complained that as he quits, his own life is in danger and that if anything untoward happens to him, the terrorists should not be blamed but the corrupt system.
Saying that the same group which launched the
March 28 attack on the Kaduna-bound train, was responsible for the attack on Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre in Abuja in the night of July 5, 2022,
Mamu, who is the publisher of Desert Herald newspapers based in Kaduna and Dan Iya of Fika Emirate of Yobe State, said the terrorist group had hinted him on the attack on the custodial facility and others, which information he subsequently passed to the Nigeria’s security agencies but they didn’t act.
He recalled that after the Ansaru terrorists had released the Managing Director of the Bank of Agriculture (BoA) and a pregnant passenger of the train, he led negotiations for the release of the third batch of the kidnap victims, comprising 11 passengers few weeks ago.
He said that since then, he has consistently raised the alarm on the deplorable condition of the remaining hostages, calling on the Federal Government to act fast by listening to the terrorists in order to save the lives of the innocent Nigerians in captivity.
Specifically referring to the attack on the Kuje Prison on Wednesday, Mamu said that his decision to quit from negotiatiin was informed by his frustration and failure of relevant government officials to do the needful in avoiding the Kuje Prison attack and the continued sufferings of the abducted train passengers.
“This is probably the last I will ever dable on the above subject matter, because of the frustrations and failure of relevant official stakeholders to take prompt and painful decisions, in the interest of the citizens of a nation that have been consumed by insecurity and avoidable attacks.
“With all the billions in budgetary allocations on security, with instances of few becoming billionaires at the expense of innocent lives, we must accept the fact that the current system has collapsed.
“This is also to confirm to Nigerians that after unnecessary delays and despite the milestone we reached in efforts to secure the release of the remaining victims of Abuja-Kaduna train attack, there was indeed a fresh threat by the abductors that they will to start slaughter their victims yesterday, Tuesday, 5th July, 2022. I was crying on audio after listening to their recorded message and pleading with them. Their renewed threat was as a result of our (FG’s) failure to convey to them a definite response regarding their two demands I consider worth giving speedy approval especially if one will take into cognisance the value of the innocent lives that are with them and in a country where one person will steal far more than what they are requesting for.
“As a result of my engagement, they gave us opportunity to respond to their demands but we failed to do so on four different occasions which resulted to the recent threat. For me, there’s no difference between corrupt officials or contractors that are committing treason against the nation by way of stealing the resources that will benefit everybody, monies that will stop preventable deaths in our hospitals due to decaying structures, improve standards of education and even stop insecurity and crimes, with the terrorists that emerged because of this sad reality and now unleashing terror on the entire society.
“It was after the failure of the fourth oppornunity that they angrely issued the fresh threat to start slaughtering their victims yesterday, Tuesday. After much pleading with them, tolerated abuses and begged them to allow individual family members to contact them directly, they gave today, Wednesday, 6th July, that if there is nothing definite from family members they will start executing their threat. I immediately passed this disturbing intelligence to all the relevant security agencies, the National Assembly leadership and other stakeholders. But sadly as at today, Wednesday, which is the dead line they gave, there is no word from anybody. I have nevertheless sent words to them to reconsider their threat and allow family members to reach out to them.
“And even on the tendency and threat to attack targets and other facilities of interest like the Kuje Correctional Centre attack, I have shared that intelligence with the security agencies and the committee that was constituted by CDS Gen. Lucky Irabor. I can confirm without doubt that the Kuje Correctional Centre attack was executed and coordinated by the same group that attacked the Abuja-Kaduna bound train, because they gave indications of imminent attacks to that effect which I shared.
“For the records, they requested for the release of 51 of their members. But through power of dialogue and engagement I was able to singlehandedly scaled that number to only 10 and communicated with audio backing the development to the relevant authorities. There was unnecessary delay on giving them even a precise feedback by the government and now they have not only succeeded in carrying out another successful attack that indicts the nature of our intelligence and capacity to respond promptly but have also succeeded in releasing dozens of their members which would have been averted if action has been taken to give them only 10 and secure the release of the train victims.
“In all, this risky, painful and frustrating engagement which government is yet to acknowledge and appreciate, I have more than 100 documented audios that I shared with the relevant authorities. For the purpose of this important press release and to authenticate my claims, I will also share 4 of the latest audios.
“And for the records, since after our successful mission that led to the release of the 11 victims, I have made up my mind then to disengage completely from this voluntary service to a nation that doesn’t appreciate sacrifices because of the above reasons and many more but I was instructed on humanitarian grounds by my principal, Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Abubakar Mahmud Gumi to exercise patience and continue. But with the current sad development at the highest official level of government, I am formally announcing my withdrawal completely from this service and to announce to the world that my life is also being threatened. It should also be on record that if anything happens to me, certainly it is not the terrorists but within the corrupt society we are in.”

Fuel: Nigeria Being Held To Ransom By Marketers Who Won’t Sell At Official Rate – Minister

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva has said that some oil marketers are holding Nigeria to ransom because they have refused to sell the fule at the current official rate of N165 per litres, leading to the lingering queues in Abuja and other parts of the country.

Speaking with journalists today, July 6, shortly after the weekly meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) at the Presidential villa in Abuja, the minister said that the fuel queues are as a result of shortages in supply as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd has enough stock of the product that can last the country for about 32 days.

According to him, there were queues in Abuja because selling at the recommended N165 per litre of fuel is considered by the marketers as unprofitable and the marketers have resolved to divert the product to other areas where they can make abnormal profit.

“If you look at it, there are no queues when you leave Abuja. In most places, only in the Abuja metropolis you continue to have these queues. So, is it that there is less supply to Abuja than to the rest of the country? It is not so.

“It is because if you go out of Abuja, they can afford to probably sell at higher prices. And I’m sure a lot of you must be buying at higher prices.

“But within Abuja, because of the watchful eye of the federal government, they cannot sell at those prices. So it’s not a very attractive market for them. I think these are all things that we might have to be dealing with for a while until we’re able to fully deregulate.”

Speaking on the rehabilitation of the nation’s refineries, Sylva said the Port-Harcourt refinery would soon become operational, adding that the Dangote Refinery would commence operation by January next year.

The NNPC last year reached a deal with Dangote Oil Refining Ltd valued at $2.76bn to acquire 20 per cent ordinary shares of 200,000 units put of the 1,000,000 total units in Dangote Oil.

Dangote Refinery is a 650,000 barrels per day integrated refinery and petrochemical project under construction in the Lekki Free Zone in Lagos, Nigeria. It is owned by the Dangote Group and is expected to be Africa’s biggest oil refinery and the world’s biggest single-train facility, upon completion.

The integrated refinery and petrochemical project which will meet 100 per cent of Nigeria’s refined petroleum product requirement and even have a surplus for export when completed is expected to be completed in 2023 after some delays and will generate 9,500 direct and 25,000 indirect jobs.

The Minister said: “So, these issues will gradually be resolved and we will get to the point where Nigeria will be fully supplied from in-country refined products.”

On why Kaduna and Warri Refineries’ workers are still receiving salaries even when they are not producing anything, the minister of state explained that most of the workers have been redeployed to other units of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) with a few others doing skeletal services to prevent pilfering at the facilities.

“But I can assure you that most of the workers in the refineries have been redeployed to other parts of NNPC.”

Buhari Raises Many Questions On Bombing Of Kuje Prison, Escape Of 63 Boko Haram Inmates

“How did the defences at the prison fail to prevent the attack? How many inmates were in the facility? How many of them can you account for? How many personnel did you have on duty? How many of them were armed? Were there guards on the watchtower? What did they do? Does the CCTV work?”

These are loads of Questions after questions which President Muhammadu Buhari asked today, July 6, when he visited the Medium Security Custodial Centre (Prison), Kuje, Abuja, which was attacked last night, July 5, by terrorists.

The President, who spent over 30 minutes being briefed about the attack by the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Interior, Dr. Shuaib Mohammad Lamido Belgore and the Controller General of Nigerian Correctional Service, Haliru Nababa, was apprised that, at the end of it, none of the 63 terrorists are accounted for.

Buhari said that though records are not lost as such records have been backed up, but that he, like most Nigerians, was shocked by both the scale and audacity of the attack.

The President was informed that the security forces have recaptured 350 of the escapees while about 450 others are still unaccounted for, and that rapid work is under way to recapture the rest.

After inspecting some of the points impacted by the attack, President Buhari spoke to newsmen, expressing disappointment with the utilization of intelligence system.

“I am disappointed with the intelligence system. How can terrorists organize, have weapons, attack a security installation and get away with it?”

The President, accompanied by Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, the Chief of Staff, said that he is expecting “a comprehensive report” on the incident.

Meanwhile, the Presidency has said that Governments don’t stop working because nations face terrorist threats.

Reacting to what he called mounting criticism of the proposed trip by President Buhari to Dakar, Senegal, the senior special assistant, Garba Shehu said: “to cancel the trip to Senegal would mean that the terrorists are successful in calling the shots, something that no responsible government in the world will allow.”

ISWAP Claims Responsibility For Attack On Kuje Prison

The Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) has claimed responsibility for the audacious attack on Kuje Prison in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

In a 38 second video, released today, July 6, the terrorist group showed some of its men shooting their way into the facility as they chanted: Allahu Akbar!

Tens of fighters were seen marching in groups while vehicles and buildings were on fire in the video.

An elderly man dressed in native attire also joined the young men who were shouting on top of their voices.

The Islamic State’s A’maq Agency released the video with the Arabic caption: “Fighters of Islamic State attacked Kuje prison in Abuja yesterday and succeeded in freeing dozens of prisoners.”

Activist Audu Bulama Bukarti provided a translation: “Islamic State fighters penetrated the prison of the Nigerian government yesterday, in Kuje city, on the outskirts of the capital, Abuja, after demolishing its walls, and successfully liberated dozens of prisoners.”

When he visited the prison on Wednesday morning, Bashir Magashi, Minister of Defence, said the attackers headed towards the direction where 64 Boko Haram suspects were kept.

Magashi said after the attack none of the suspects in custody could be located.

“The prison is accommodating about 994 inmates and over 600 escaped. Many people have been recaptured and brought back to the prison. Maybe by the close of the day, more will have been captured and returned.”

Source: PM news.

Minister Orders Traditional Ruler To Join In Search For Escaped Kuje Prison Inmates

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has given marching order to traditional ruler to work with relevant security operatives to apprehend all the escapees from the Kuje Correctional Centre (Prison) during a violent attack carried out by terrorists last night, July 5.

The minister, who visited the facility today, July 6, for an on-the-spot assessment of damage after the attack, called on the Gomo of Kuje, Haruna Tanko Jibrin to summon all traditional chiefs in Kuje Area Council to combine intelligence with security agencies to fish out the escaped inmates from the community.

He called on members of the communities to provide appropriate intelligence to the security agencies to enable them do their work, even as he expressed confidence that, with maximum cooperation from the communities, all those who escaped would be traced, found and brought back since no one could go into any community and blend without being spotted by members of the community.

The minister described the incident as very sad and unfortunate, saying that such incidents threaten everybody, hence the need for everyone to support the security agencies in carrying out their assignments.

He said that efforts are being made to strengthen security, not only around the facility, but the Kuje Area Council and other parts of the territory.

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