Oil prices have increased by nearly 4 percent as Israel launched a missile attack on a target in Iran, according to international media reports.

The country’s nuclear plant is located in the central Iranian province of Isfahan, where explosions have been reported.

Later, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) declared that the plant was unharmed.

In reaction to Iran’s last-week missile and drone attacks, Israel had pledged retaliation.

Iran had launched the attacks in response to the April 1 strike that killed its senior security officials at its embassy in Syria apparently carried out by Israel.

A US official told ABC News that Israel carried out a strike inside Iran, confirming reports of the explosion by the Asian country’s media.

There were also reports of blasts in Iraq and southern Syria.

Commercial flights we re-routed as parts of the Iranian airspace were closed.

Iran says it activated its air defence systems.

Israel is not planning further attacks and Iran is not going to retaliate either, according various officials quoted by the media.

Brent crude price is now over $90 per barrel, up from $87 before the strike.

Insurance underwriter, Lasaco Assurance Plc, has donated health recovery items to support the Health Initiative Programme of the National Youth Service Corps members serving in the Ifako Ijaiye Local Government area of Lagos State.

A statement from the firm said that the donation was to boost health development in the country.

Some Corps members, under the aegis of Local Government Initiative, for their first quarter Health Initiative, embarked on a project to provide health services to rural dwellers, whose access to quality health services was limited due to poverty, ignorance and superstition.

Lasaco Assurance supported the corps members to reach the target audience and help them overcome their difficulties in accessing quality health.

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The company’s Head of Corporate Communications, Seye Smart, who represented the Head of Strategy, Research and Communications, Dayo Adetokun, at the presentation of the gift items to the corps members, emphasised the importance of exposing the citizens to quality health and safety as that would improve their capacity, make them function well and prolong their life expectancy.

A healthy citizen, she explained, would contribute meaningfully to the growth of society and be useful for the development of humanity.

Leader of the LGI team, Bose Ojimi, said the programme was the group’s modest contribution to the country’s quest for improved health and safety for Nigerians and hoped that other corporate organisations would follow in the footsteps of Lasaco Assurance to offer necessary assistance to the people.

In order to stop the increase in energy rates, the Federal Government must provide N3.2 trillion in subsidies to the electrical industry by 2024, according to the Nigeria energy Regulatory Commission (NERC).

This was revealed by NERC chairman Sanusi Garba on Thursday at a stakeholders’ meeting held at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja, which was called by the House of Representatives Committee on Power.

Garba warned that the power industry’s present investments were insufficient to ensure a consistent supply of electricity and warned that the industry would perish if nothing significant was done to solve its problems.

He stressed that before the recent review in tariff, Distribution Companies (DISCOS) were only obliged to pay 10 per cent of their energy invoice, adding that the lack of cash backing for subsidy is creating a liquidity challenge in the sector.

The chairman also said non-payment of subsidies was responsible for the continued dip in gas supply and power generation, adding that the continuous decline of generation and system collapse is largely responsible for liquidity challenges.

“If sitting back and doing nothing is the way to go, it would mean that the National Assembly and the Executive would have to provide about N3.2 trillion to pay for subsidy in 2024,” Garba said.

He added that only N185 billion of the N645 billion subsidy in 2023 has been cash-backed, leaving a funding gap of N459. 5 billion.

In his intervention, the Chairman, House Committee on Power, Victor Nwokolo said the meeting was aimed at addressing the recent increase in tariff and the issue of band A and others.

Nwokolo said officials of NERC and DISCOS have given the committee useful information but revealed that the committee has not concluded with the commission because Transmission Company of Nigeria Generation Companies were not at the meeting.

“We will hold further consultations with them by next week. But from what they have said, which is true, is that without the change in tariff, which was due in 2022, the industry lacks the capital to bring the needed change.

“Of course, with the population explosion in Nigeria, the areas being covered are beyond what they have estimated in the past and because they need to expand their network, they also needed more money,” Nwokolo said.