News Digest: Buhari approves bumper pay for policemen; Floods 'destroy $1m worth of rice in Nigerians'

1. Buhari approves bumper pay for policemen

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved an enhanced salary structure for the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and given assurance that his administration will continue paying attention to the welfare and operational needs of the force.

Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, in a statement on Monday, said the president confirmed the approval in the State House, Abuja.

The president spoke when he played host to the members of the Nigeria Police Service Commission and the leadership of the force who were on a “thank you” visit to him.

By the president’s approval of the Rank Salary Structure Adjustment, salaries, allowances and pension of policemen will be increased.

2. Floods 'destroy $1m worth of rice in Niger'

Floods destroyed more than 400 hectares (1,000 acres) of rice in Niger's south-eastern Diffa region, AFP news agency reports the local governor as saying.

Nearly 3,000 tonnes of rice worth 717m CFA francs ($1.13m) have been lost as a result, Governor Mahamadou Bakabe is reported as saying on state television last night.

AFP adds that the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said last month that flooding had already claimed 45 lives since June.

The rains destroyed nearly 17,400 homes and killed more than 33,000 heads of livestock, it said.

3. Lula accused of taking Equatorial Guinea bribes

Brazil's attorney general has opened an inquiry looking into allegations that former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva received donations for helping a Brazilian company get business in Equatorial Guinea, reports Lusa news agency.

He is already in prison serving a 12-year sentence for corruption.

In 2017, Lula was found guilty of accepting an upgrade to a beachfront flat he was buying from an engineering firm in return for help in winning contracts for Petrobras, Brazil's state oil company.

This time he is being accused of receiving bribes in return for brokering deals between Equatorial Guinea and a Brazilian construction company ARG.

4. Women in Africa most at risk of being killed by partner

Africa has been highlighted as the continent where women run the greatest risk of being killed by their intimate partner or a family member, a UN report says.

It occurred at a rate of 3.1 deaths per 100,000 people, according to new data released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

5. One million South African bees 'poisoned'

At least one million bees are suspected to have died of poisoning in a wine-producing area of South Africa.

Brendan Ashley-Cooper told the BBC that an insecticide used by wine farmers, Fipronil, was thought to have killed the insects on his farm.

Fipronil has been blamed for the deaths of millions of honey bees in Europe.

Campaigners say Fipronil is highly toxic to insects, and its use was restricted in Europe in 2013.