Thursday, August 7, 2014

13 dead & 41 others wounded in Iraq car bombings



At the least 13 persons were  killed and 41 others were wounded in three car bombs that targeted Shiite communities in Baghdad and Kirkuk on Thursday, police and medical sources said. Twin car bombs killed eight people and wounded 17 others near a mosque in Kirkuk. In a nearby of Kadmiyah in Baghdad, five people was killed and another 24 were injured in a suicide car bomb, based on sources.

Military dislodge Boko Haram from Damboa & other villages in Borno



Special Forces in the ongoing counter-terrorism campaign have cleared Delwa, Mustafari, Manga, Wanga and Damboa of terrorists who have been rampaging in the communities, the Nigerian military has annouced. 

Fashola restores LASU school fees



Lagos state Governor, Babatunde Fashola, has directed the immediate reversal of the school fees of Lagos State University, LASU, which was increased by the government to what it was as far back as 2011.

Governor Fashola gave the directive today August 7th at the convocation programme of LASU which held earlier today at the LASU Ojo campus ground. The reversal comes after months of protests by students and lecturers of the university. Continue...

How brother of EastEnders actress killed & chopped her body into pieces




 On March 1st 2012, former EastEnders actress Gemma McCluskie, 29, disappeared from her home. About 10 days later, it was discovered that her own older brother, Tony McCluskie (pictured with her above) killed her after an argument at the home they shared, chopped up her body, put the body parts in a suitcase and dumped her in the canal. Their older brother talks about the incident for the first time since it happened.

As Danny McCluskie watched the grainy CCTV footage his world crumbled. It showed the unthinkable, the one thing every part of him had screamed could not be possible. His brother Tony carrying a heavy suitcase containing the mutilated body parts of their beloved baby sister Gemma.
The footage proved beyond doubt that Tony had killed the former EastEnders actress in cold blood, chopped her up then disposed of her like putting out the trash.
For Danny one thing made it even more incomprehensible – Tony had put his arms around him when Gemma disappeared and assuring him they would keep looking.
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Nigerian Medical practioners Rejecting Ebola-Infected People over short Incubation Period



Health workers have reacted to the death of the first Ebola virus disease (EVD) victim in the country, expressing fear over what they perceived as an increase in the hazards they face in their practices.

The Chairman, Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Lagos State, Dr. Tope Ojo, said a situation where doctors were paid N5,000 monthly al­lowance for hazard was not only laughable but unbeliev­able.

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Images: Family Relatives of Ebola patients Dump their Dead Body in the streets in Liberia



 In Liberia where in fact the deadly disease is actually spreading, relatives of Ebola victims have started dumping infected bodies of their family members in the streets of Monrovia for fear about catching the deadly disease, defying government order to leave the relatives at home. Liberia's Information Minister, Lewis Brown, told Reuters that act is putting more folks at risk 
"They are removing the bodies from their homes and are putting them out in the street. They're exposing themselves to the risk of being contaminated. We're asking people to please leave the bodies in their homes and we'll pick them up.'
 Usually whenever a relative is found to be contaminated with the Ebola virus, government quarantines the remaining family. Minus catching the disease, that is another reason relatives are dumping bodies in the street, in order to avoid facing quarantine, and having their homes decontaminated.

 See more Photos after the break.

Don’t Disappoint Us- Atiku Begs



The Osun state governorship election is coming up this Saturday and the former Vice Presi¬dent, Atiku Abubakar, is asking for the voters to support Rauf Aregbesola, for another four-year term.

The first wife of Atiku, Hajiya Titi Atiku Abubakar hails from Ilesa in Osun State, and he has spoken at length on why the incumbent governor, Rauf from APC should come back again.

Continue..

Apprehended murderer of Wealthy Lagos Business Woman Killed her Because She Made him Jealous



The 31-year-old man, who allegedly strangled his 39-year-old international business woman lover to death in her apartment at Green Estate, Amuwo Odofin area of Lagos, last month, told a crowd yesterday that he did it out of jealousy.

The suspect, Kelechi Williams, who was paraded at the Lagos State Police Command, was arrested at the border between Ghana and Cote D’Ivore by operatives from the Area ‘E’ Command, Festac Town and those of International Police, INTERPOL, while fleeing with the deceased’s Range Rover Sports Utility Vehicle, SUV, with number plate LAGOS EKY 509 AZ.  

The incident, according to him, occurred on July 19, 2014, at about 2 am during an altercation over the late arrival of his lover, a mother of four identified as Njideka Lizzy Nzewe.

Jonathan pushes for more action against Boko Haram, others



President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday called for more effective global action and implementation of all existing international protocols against terrorism and violent extremism, including Boko Haram in Nigeria.
He made the call, according to a statement issued by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, while presenting Nigeria’s statement to the ongoing United States-African Leaders Summit in Washington DC.

SURE-P bags ₦15b monthly – Agwai




The Chairman of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P), Gen. Martin Luther Agwai (rtd) on Wednesday said the committee receives N15billion monthly.
The money, he said, represents the N32 difference between the old pump price and the new price of N97 for premium motor spirit (PMS).
He said SURE-P has been receiving the N15billon every month since inception on February 13, 2012 and has been intervening in provision of transportation infrastructure, healthcare and youth empowerment, among others.

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Ebola: FG requests for U.S 'experimental drug"/Antidote



To check the spread of Ebola virus in Nigeria, the Federal Government has requested for the experimental drug, Zmapp, used in the treatment of  Ebola virus by the United States Centre for Disease Control.
This was disclosed to State House correspondents by the Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, at the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting presided by Vice President, Namadi Sambo. 
He maintained that those using the drugs are improving and responding to treatment.

Suspected Boko Haram men strike in Cameroon, kill Ten





Banning Of Hijab In Nigeria Is Unconstitutional – NBA




The Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) on Monday advised the Federal Government against banning Hijab (Muslim female headscarves), saying such proposal would be unconstitutional.


Okey Wali, the President of the association, who was reacting to recent calls by some members of the public that the government should ban wearing Hijab to checkmate female suicide bombers said the government should rather find a lasting and peaceful solution to the security challenges threatening the country.
Wali told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that placing a ban on wearing Hijab due to the recent spate of attacks by female suicide bombers was not a positive and lasting strategy to curbing insecurity.

Just in: Army, Police Take Over Venue of Labour’s Aregbesola Support Rally in Osogbo, Plan to stop the rally.




Men of the Nigerian Army have taken over the Nelson Mandela Freedom Park, Venue of the rally organized by the entire workers of Osun to show support for the re-election of Governor Rauf Aregbesola.
Stern and gun-wielding security agents stopped those who had arrived the venue to decorate it ahead of the programme slated for 10am this morning.

Ebola, a national emergency -FG




The Federal Government on Wednesday raised the alarm that the issue of Ebola virus with six confirmed Nigerian victims has become a matter of national emergency.
The Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, and the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, made government’s position known while briefing State House correspondents of the outcome of the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by Vice President Namadi Sambo.

Chukwu said to demonstrate government’s resolve to tackle the emergency, he had written to the United States Centre for Disease Control if they could make the experimental drugs being used in treating the US missionary doctors infected with the virus available to Nigeria.
He said at the time he was briefing journalists he had yet to receive response from the centre.
The minister also said the government had decided to embark on mass recruitment of health personnel to strenghten the team managing the situation in Lagos where all the Nigerian cases were recorded.

He expressed the hope that the Nigeria Medical Association will soon call off its industrial action to join in the emergency service since government had met almost all their demands.
Chukwu added that the government had also started the process of procuring isolation tents that will be distributed to all the states of the Federation and Abuja to cater for those who will be quarantined because of the virus.
This, he said, had become necessary because residents were raising objections to housing the patients close to them.
He put the cost of one of such isolation tents at about N20m.
“We have a national emergency. Indeed, everyone in the world is at risk. Nobody is immune. The Nigerian experience had alerted the world because every country is connected by flights,” he said.

He further disclosed that the government had set up a special team to provide counseling to patients and their families.
He said the Minister of Information would soon visit Lagos State to assess the situation and sensitise residents on the deadly virus.
He minister advised the public to avoid handshake as much as possible if they could afford it, describing the virus as both contagious and infectious.

He said the virus could also be contacted through the sharing of bedspreads, pillow cases and towels among other personal effects with infected persons.
On update on casualty, Chukwu said Nigeria has so far recorded seven confirmed cases of Ebola virus, including the first case of the late Liberian-American, Patrick Sawyer, who imported it to the country.

He said one of the nurses who cared for Sawyer was the first known Nigerian to die of the decease on Tuesday.
He said the other five victims were currently in an isolated ward in Lagos.
He added that three other persons in the isolated ward had not been confirmed to be carrying the virus.

The patients, he explained, had direct contacts with the late Sawyer.
As part of strategies to rise to the national emergency, Chukwu said a website, www.ebolaalert.org, has been designed to offer information on the virus.
While disclosing a Twitter handle, @ebolaalert, the minister added that help could also be reached through a toll-free telephone line designated for that purpose.
Maku said the FEC meeting was devoted to the measures being taken by government to deal with the outbreak of the virus.
He recalled that the council had set up a committee about two weeks to sensitise citizens to avoid unhealthy practices.

Chibok girls: We’re open to third party dialogue -Jonathan



President Goodluck Jonathan has said that the Federal Government is encouraging intermediaries who have offered to persuade the Boko Haram terrorist group to release over 200 schoolgirls kidnapped in Chibok, Borno State, in April this year.

The President gave this indication while speaking in an interview with the Washington Times in Washington USA where he is attending an African Leaders Summit convened by US President Barrak Obama.

A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe, a copy which was made available to our correspondent in Abuja on Wednesday, said while appreciating the support of the international community in the ongoing rescue efforts of the Chibok girls, the President explained that government considered the safety of the girls as very paramount hence the adoption of several methods in the operation.

While describing a strict military approach to the rescue effort as ‘delicate’, the statement quoted President Jonathan as saying “If it is to risk a few dead bodies, it is easier. You can blast the place and carry the corpses. But is that what we have to do? So it is delicate”

The President insisted that the Federal Government has information on the location of the kidnapped girls but was being mindful of the consequences of invading the location to avoid a repeat of an episode in February 2013 in which an offshoot of Boko Haram killed seven foreign hostages in northern Nigeria before authorities could rescue them.

“They are ready to die,” he added about the Islamist militant group. “So when you are dealing with that scenario, it is very different from the ordinary kidnapping by criminals or people who don’t want to die. So it is very, very delicate.”

This, according to the President, was why the dialogue option is not being ruled out. “We have set up a committee, what I call a dialogue committee on the security challenge we have in the north, even before the kidnapping of the Chibok girls.

“We have a team. And we encourage people to assist them. We do negotiate,” he said. “Quite a number of people have come with different information. We encourage them. But none of them has yielded any results yet”

The President expressed government commitment to winning the war against terrorism in Northern Nigerian as well as rebuilding the infrastructure destroyed by insurgents and called on all leaders of thought in the region to co-operate with the Federal Government and assist security agencies with necessary information to accomplish their mission of securing lives and property of citizens in the area. 


Must Read: Three things you have not been told/read about Ebola Virus

Tsav Calls For Massive Recruitment Into Police Force, Return Of Soldiers To Barracks.



The former Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, has urged the federal government to recruit more personnel into the Nigeria Police so that soldiers can return to the barracks.

With the rising wave of terrorism and other violent crimes, soldiers have been deployed across the country to assist the police in internal security operations. Tsav, who spoke yesterday in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, said “the police force is heavily understaffed and as a result, the soldiers have taken over their jobs and are allegedly killing innocent citizens even without provocation”.
Continue..

Anambra Demolishes Church, 3 Others Over Links To Kidnappers




Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra has revoked the Certificates of Occupancy of four buildings, including a church in Awkuzu, Oyi Local Government Area, due to their alleged links to kidnappers.

The buildings have subsequently been demolished. The demolition followed the parade of 15 suspected armed robbers and kidnappers at the Special Anti-Robbery Squad headquarters, Awkuzu on Tuesday.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police in-charge of Operations, Olafimiham Adeoye, said the demolition was in compliance with the state’s law.

Must Read: Three things you have not been told/read about Ebola Virus



The signs and symptoms of Ebola disease And how to prevent it.
So Sad it’s no longer news that a Liberian man named Patrick Sawyer has brought the deadly Ebola Virus into Nigeria, Guys I must tell you that we are looking at an epidemic. It was reported that atleast 30 people who had contact with the man in the hospital are now being tested, but what of other people he met on his way to the Nigeria/hospital i.e taxi driver, pilot, air hostess, hotel Attendant etc Then how many people did these people have contact with? in reality we are looking at over 3000 contacts.

Ebola : Price of bitter kola skyrockets in Abia





Investigations by The PUNCH have revealed that the price of bitter kola across Abia markets has tripled following the recent speculation that the medicinal seed has the potency to cure the dreaded Ebola pandemic now ravaging some West African countries.

There have  been palpable fear and anxiety  across the state since last week following the report of a corpse in the neighbouring Anambra State suspected to have died of Ebola.

Despite assurances by the state government of its preparedness to contain the possible outbreak of the pandemic as some hospital wards had been designated to treat likely victims, residents still remain apprehensive.

ST

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