Seven people have been killed and three were missing as heavy rains flooded South Korea, officials said Saturday, with thousands told to evacuate their homes due to an overflowing dam.

Over the last three days, heavy rainfall has submerged counties across the country, with local media reports suggesting the death toll may rise later Saturday.

More than 6,400 residents in the central county of Goesan were ordered to evacuate early Saturday as the Goesan Dam began overflowing from the downpour and submerging low-lying villages nearby, the interior ministry said.

The seven people killed since Friday died in rain-related landslides and building collapse, it added.

Two of the three people reported missing were swept away when a river overflowed in North Gyeongsang province, the ministry said.

All regular train service nationwide was suspended as of 2:00 pm (0500 GMT), although KTX bullet trains remained operational with potential schedule adjustments, according to the Korea Railroad Corporation.

South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo urged officials to respond to river overflows and landslides “preemptively”, and requested support for rescue operations from the defence ministry.

The First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, on Friday, urged wives of the 36 state governors to use their positions meaningfully.

Mrs Tinubu urged the governor’s wives to use the position they are in to positively impact not only the lives of people in their states but also that of other Nigerians.

The First Lady gave the advise when she hosted the wives of the 36 state governors.

Her meeting with the governor’s wives was to formally introduce and acquaint them with the objectives and the mission of the Renewed Hope Initiative.

This was contained in a statement signed by Mrs Tinubu’s spokesperson, Busola Kukoyi, titled, ‘First Lady Sen Oluremi Tinubu CON meets with Wives of Governors on Renewed Hope Initiative’.

While congratulating the wives of the governors on the successful conduct of the 2023 elections which brought their husbands to office, Mrs Tinubu reminded them that it is time to keep promises made during the elections.

She said she would require the support of the wives of the state governors to reach every nook and cranny of the country.

Director General of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council, Akin Osuntokun, has called for the immediate dismissal and prosecution of the National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, over the role he played in the 2023 presidential elections.

Osuntokun also demanded that a forensic financial investigation be conducted on all expenditures and donations received by the commission before, during, and after the polls.

The campaign director made the demand at Thursday’s international press conference held at the party’s campaign headquarters in Abuja.

“We demand unequivocally, the immediate dismissal from Ofiice and prosecution of Prof Mahmud Yakubu and the commencement of forensic financial investigation into the expenditure of budgeted disbursements and donors’ funds received by INEC.

“This is in addition to the N300 billion appropriated from the national purse as well as other funds and materials received from International donor Agencies,” he said.

The development is coming barely five months after the February 25 election, where the commission announced the candidate of All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, as the winner.

Tinubu polled 8,794,726 votes to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and his counterpart in Labour Party, Peter Obi, who amassed 6,984,520 votes and 6,101,533 votes respectively.

The Department of State Services has said the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele had been charged to court.

An Abuja High Court had on Thursday ordered the DSS to either release Emefiele or charge him to court.

Reacting in a statement by its spokesperson, Peter Afunanya, the DSS said the service had in 2022 applied for a court order to detain Emefiele but noted that he got another order stopping the DSS from arresting him.

Afunanya explained that the suspended CBN governor was arrested for “criminal infractions” for which he was being prosecuted for.

President Bola Tinubu, on Thursday, in Abuja, declared a state of emergency on food security.⁣
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Tinubu also approved that all matters pertaining to food and water availability and affordability, as essential livelihood items, be included within the purview of the National Security Council.⁣
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This is followed by an immediate release of fertilizers and grains to farmers and households to mitigate the effects of the subsidy removal.⁣
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Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties, Communications and Strategy, Dele Alake, disclosed this to State House Correspondents on Thursday evening after consultations with key stakeholders in the agricultural sector at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. ⁣
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Alake said “We will immediately release fertilizers and grains to farmers and households to mitigate the effects of the subsidy removal.⁣
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“There will be an organic synergy between the Ministry of Agriculture and the use of water resources to ensure adequate irrigation of farmlands and to guarantee that food is available all year round. ⁣
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“As a country, Mr. President has made it clear that we are no longer comfortable with seasonal farming. We can no longer afford to have farming downtime.” ⁣
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The Presidential aide explained that the Federal Government will partner with states to create ranches in those that are willing to avail lands. The ranches will have sections dedicated as grazing reserves, he added. ⁣
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“We will establish ranches in collaboration with state government and the federal government will pay for the land,” he said. ⁣
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Alake explained that the FG will activate land banks nationwide, which currently stand at 500,000 hectares mapped “to increase the availability of arable land for farming which will immediately impact food output.”⁣
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Meanwhile, the Central Bank has advised middlemen withholding grains to release supplies at their disposal as prices are likely to fall when the FG begins to distribute grains.⁣