Nigeria: Free Zakzaky Campaign Committee Decry Court Judgment On Zakzaky, Wife

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06/07/2017

By Amos Tauna

The chairman, Free Zakzaky Campaign Committee, Abdurrahman Abubakar Yola, has expressed dismay with the High Court’s judgment for failing to stand for the truth and justice against tyranny and impunity in the case of N2bn instituted by Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky and his wife Malama Zeenat Ibraheem.

Sheikh Zakzaki and his wife had filed a case against Nigerian Government and its security agencies, the Nigerian Army, Chief of Army Staff, and the Kaduna state government, seeking to enforce their fundamental Human Rights to life, peaceful assembly and to own property.

Abdurrahman in a press statement issued Thursday in Kaduna, northern Nigeria said, “Unfortunately, Today, Thursday 06/07/17, The Federal High Court delivered its judgement in the cases instituted by our leader, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky and his wife Malama Zeenat Ibraheem, against the federal government of Nigeria and its security agencies notably the Nigerian Army, Chief of Army Staff, and the Kaduna state government seeking to enforce their fundamental Human Rights to life, peaceful assembly and to own property. Unfortunately, the court shirked in its duties to be on the side of victims of extreme persecution by the government.

“When it mattered most, the court ducked and failed to stand for truth and justice against tyranny and impunity.”

The team of respondents in the case, that include the Attorney General of the Federation, Kaduna state government and the Chief of Army Staff were sued after an attack on the leadership of the Movement by the Nigerian Army in December 2015 that killed over a thousand IMN members, including three biological sons of Sheikh Zakzaki, his elder sister and a nephew.

The statement explained, “The attack was sequel to the unlawful invasion of the privacy of their residence and eventual destruction of the house completely. This has been aptly described by several human rights bodies as a massacre.

“To worsen these flagrant crimes against humanity, bodies of all the hundreds killed were hurriedly and secretly buried in mass graves about 100km away from the scene, apparently in a shoddy attempt at hiding the crime and its magnitude.

“We are all aware of the blurred human rights records of the Nigerian government which hardly respects court orders in contravention of the constitutional provisions anyway.

“The leader and his wife have remained in detention incommunicado in spite of previous favourable court judgement ordering his immediate release from detention, thereby further flaunting his fundamental rights and rights to liberty.

“As a peaceful Movement, we have kept to our clean tradition of seeking redress through peaceful means without any resort to violence despite deliberate and persistent provocations by the government. This judgement will not in any way break our resolve to seek justice in our usual peaceful manner.

“We continue to give praises to the Almighty for further evidence that the Nigerian government is both unable and unwilling to serve justice, not even through the courts. This further proves to the world that the Movement and its leader have been and continued to be only victims of impunity and mischievous plots by the Buhari-led government.

“We wish to use this opportunity to say a big thank you to all people of conscience, human rights activists and organizations, journalists and all those that continue to be on our side in the dogged campaign for justice for the victims of Zaria genocide.”

Nigeria: Ibrahim Magu Remains Acting Chairman Of EFCC — Osinbajo

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06/07/2017

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By Amos Tauna

Acting President of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo, has affirmed that Ibrahim Magu, remains the Acting Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), in spite of controversy surrounding his eligibility for the position.

Osinbajo spoke in Kaduna, northern Nigeria Thursday through Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-rufai shortly before the commissioning ceremony of the EFCC zonal office in Kaduna.

The EFCC boss had called for the establishment of a special prison for corrupt Nigerians in the famous Boko Haram den, Sambisa forest.

According to Osinbajo, he had talked with President Mahammadu Buhari over the issue of Magu, and the President said as long as he remains President, Magu will not vacate the anti-corruption seat.

Osinbajo explained, “We have every confidence in Magu to fight corruption to a standstill. He will remain the EFCC chairman as long as I remain the Acting President and as well as Muhammadu Buhari remains the President.

“It is our belief that Magu will continue to remain a nightmare for corrupt people for years to come.”

In a welcome address, Governor El-Rufai disclosed that Kaduna state government had recovered over N500 million quietly from corrupt past government officials and contractors without anybody knowing.

He however added that those corrupt officials would be handed over to EFCC in due course for prosecution.

He said he encouraged the establishment of EFCC zonal office in Kaduna because the State has zero tolerance for financial bad behaviour.

El-Rufai promised the Commission a land for its training school as well as staff accommodation.

“The Commission can continue to count on us for our support for EFCC. We have set aside a land in Kaduna for your training school,” El-Rufai explained.

Earlier, the EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, called for a corruption prison to be located in Sambisa Forest, noting that, for the prison to become a reality, the judicial arm of government should cooperate with the Commission.

He informed that illegal monies were likely to be abandoned by corrupt persons at the nation’s airport and places in the near future as it happened at Kaduna airport some few months ago.

He warned that if concerted efforts were not made to rid the country of corruption, the monster would kill the citizens.

“We want to call for establishment of prison in Sambisa forest in order to keep away corrupt people from our midst.

“In this case, the judiciary has direct influence to help in the fight against corruption.

“But concerted efforts are being made by some big Nigerians to neutralise the fight against corruption.

“We must change the narrative by fighting back those that do not want the fight to succeed.

“I remain committed to the fight against corruption, and I commend the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai for encouraging EFCC to establish a zonal office in Kaduna.

“We must therefore join hands together to kill corruption, before corruption will kill us.”

Hypertension Drug Worth N15m Donated To Kaduna State In Northern Nigeria

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06/07/2017

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By Amos Tauna

Kaduna State Government in northern Nigeria, Thursday received a donation of hypertension drug worth N15 million.

Receiving the drugs on behalf of the governor, Commissioner for Health, Dr. Paul Manya Dogo, described the intervention as unique, noting that the drug could only be accessed by rich people due to its non availability in the country.

“The drug is original. I have seen and confirmed that and this is a new intervention in the area of hypertension disease in the state. Because they are not readily available in the country — that makes it so expensive and difficult to get by ordinary Nigerians.

“Now that the donor has brought it to our door step, it means Kaduna is one of the first few states to be privileged to have the drug for our people who may have been diagnosed with hypertension. We want to sincerely thank them for the choice of Kaduna as a pilot state.

“This is another proof that the current administration is not relenting at making quality healthcare delivery to our people. The administration has within two years improved the health sector of its economy tremendously and we are happy that even people outside the country are recognising that and are now coming to support us.

“We want to call on other organisations to join us in this live-saving initiative for the betterment of the common man.”

Earlier in a remark, Director, Operations, Servier International for the Middle East and Africa Division, Dominic Ayoola, said his team were in Kaduna because they have seen what the state government is doing and ready to support them in that direction.

According to Ayoola, “Kaduna State has been very proactive as regard healthcare and we have seen them doing a number of innovative things with a lot of multi-nationals. So we thought this might just be a very good avenue to meet with states that are willing to attend to health needs of their people.

“We are here to see how we can help reduce the burden of hypertension and diabetes though we are still planning that of diabetes. The drug we are donating to this ministry is worth N15m. This is basically new, not available in many countries but we have decided to bring the opportunity to people of Kaduna State, especially those who have the disease and could not afford it.

“To make sure the drugs are available, we are empowering Nigeria in local manufacturing to make it affordable for all. We are looking at a situation where every Nigerian will be able to afford quality drug not necessarily tearing their pockets.”

Kano Renames State University After Late Maitama Sule

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06/07/2017

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By Longtong Ibrahim

The Kano state Government in north-western Nigeria has approved the renaming of Northwest University, Kano to Yusuf Maitama Sule University Kano.

Spokesperson of the Kano state governor, Salihu Tanko Yakasai, in a statement noted that the decision was unanimously agreed by the Executive Council during an extraordinary meeting of the council held on Wednesday to immortalize Late Dan-masanin Kano, Alhaji Dr Yusuf Maitama Sule due to his immense contributions to the development of Kano, North and Nigeria at large.

The statement added that the Council also approved the renaming of Dawaki Road where the residence of Late Dan-masanin Kano is located to Yusuf Maitama Sule Road while the current Yusuf Maitama Sule link Road has been renamed Jafaru Dan Mallam Link Road.

The decision was reached after an extensive deliberation at the extraordinary council, and taking into account people’s calls from within and outside Kano, for the state government to honor late Dan-masanin Kano.

Maitama Sule died on Monday, 3rd July, 2017 at a hospital in Cairo, Egypt, at the age of 87.

Anglican Bishop Condemns Divisive Agitation In Nigeria

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06/07/2017

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REV HENRY NDUKUBA — Archbishop of Anglican Communion, Jos north central Nigeria, leading a service

By Auwal Mohammed

Gombe (Nigeria) — Bishop of Gombe Anglican Diocese, in Northeast Nigeria, Right Reverend Henry Ndukuba has condemned sectional agitations from different parts of the country, saying for Nigeria’s indivisibility to be maintained and sustained, no section or geo-political zone should take advantage of the others.

Ndukuba stated this in an interview shortly after an ordination service of ten priests and three deacons in Gombe, where he came down hard on Nigerian elites for creating the problems currently faced by the country.

According to him, “We stand on the indivisibility of Nigeria and we want to plead for peace because it is better for us to belong together in this entity”.

“Let no tribe, section, group or geo-political zone think they can take advantage of others, it is not done, we are encouraging Nigerians to be patient with one another, forgive one another, if we will be acting based on the things of the past, then we will not be able to move into the future that God has prepared for us

“The major problem of this country is not with the common man, it is the elite who manipulate situations and create situations for their own advantage so that they will be able to maintain their positions and relevance”, he said.

While calling on Nigerians not to fall in to the gimmicks of the elite by going into any form of crises, the clergyman called on citizens to continue to pray for the peace of the nation, “We want to ask that every Nigerian to be patient with one another’, he added.

Speaking on the lingering communal clashes in parts of Gombe South Senatorial zone, Reverend Ndukuba said Crises hinders the spread of the gospel and angers the togetherness of one another.

He said, “We have established ten churches out of mission outreach and most of these churches are in Gombe South or Tangale/Waja area”. He therefore wondered why “We fight ourselves and then come to the holy temple to take communion”.

“Any believer that calls himself a Christian that goes along burning, killing or attacking a fellow believer or any other person at all, is not worthy of his calling because all of us are created in the image of God. That person killing has lost all it takes to be a Christian. I want to plead with all of us; there is no sin that we cannot forgive”, he appealed.

Nurses And Midwives Are Key Stakeholders To Healthcare Delivery System – Osinbajo

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06/07/2017

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Nigeria’s Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has said that Nurses and Midwives are key stakeholders to the healthcare delivery system and their contributions are crucial in improving health outcomes of individuals, families, communities, nations and the West African Sub-region as a whole.

Prof. Osinbajo who was represented by the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole stated this on Tuesday at the opening ceremony of the 14th Biennial General Meeting, the 23rd Scientific Session and the 37th Council Meeting of the West African Council of Nursing at the ECOWAS Conference Centre Abuja.

According to him, in most Sub-Saharan Africa region, the responsibilities of Nurses have increased in line with expanding health services to meet local, national and global health targets, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

He said that in order to complement the efforts of the government, the role of Nurses and Midwives on the health systems need to be reviewed, delineated and recognized for better impact and optimum contribution to positive health.

Prof. Osinbajo disclosed that the Federal Government of Nigeria was putting Nigerian nurses and midwives at the forefront of revitalization of primary healthcare services in the country. “We will soon roll out mass engagement of nurses and community health extension workers in all our PHCs for effective and efficient 24-hour coverage of healthcare services’’. He stressed.

In her remarks, the wife of the President, Mrs. Aisha Muhammadu Buhari, who was represented by the wife of the Vice President, Mrs. Oludolapo Osinbajo expressed her deep appreciation to the nursing profession describing it as a great profession that sacrifice a lot in their efforts to manage patients.

While applauding the role nurses played during the containment of Ebola disease that plagued the region in 2014 where nurses risked their lives to save others, Mrs. Buhari congratulated the Nurses for organizing such Conference that was aimed at sharing Ideas among the Nursing profession.

She said: “Through my pet project, ‘’ Future- Assured’’, I have witnessed great need to support the nursing profession to reach greater height and from all indications the profession will grow exponentially in the coming years’’. She noted.

Earlier, in his welcome address, President of the West African College of Nursing Dr. Victor D. Zoclanclounon, thanked Nigeria for accepting to host the 14th Biennial General Meeting adding that the choice of the theme of the Conference: Emerging Health Challenges: Community and Health Workforce Responsibilities in the Sub-region was apt considering the prevailing health challenges confronting the region.

He however underscored the importance of the nursing profession describing it as central to the healthcare delivery system adding that nurses and midwives are the frontline workers who are always caught in the cross fire of containing health emergencies.

More Than 7 Million Children Displaced In West And Central Africa Yearly

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05/07/2017

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By Longtong Ibrahim

Children from the Central African Republic, who were displaced by an attack on their village

The United Nation Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has on Wednesday revealed that more than seven million young people in West and Central Africa are displaced annually as a result of persistent conflict, poverty, climate change, rapid population growth/urbanization and inequitable economic development.

Other factors include weak governance and limited institutional capacity to support the most vulnerable populations.

UNICEF made this known in its latest report; ‘In Search of Opportunities: Voices of children on the move in West and Central Africa’.

According to the UN Agency, Children account for over half of the 12 million West and Central African people on the move each year, with some 75 per cent of them remaining in sub-Saharan Africa, and less than one in five heading to Europe.

UNICEF Regional Director, Marie-Pierre Poirier, while making the announcement said, “Children in West and Central Africa are moving in greater numbers than ever before, many in search of safety or a better life.

“Yet the majority of these children are moving within Africa, not to Europe or elsewhere. We must broaden the discussion on migration to encompass the vulnerabilities of all children on the move and expand systems to protect them, in all their intended destinations.”

According to the Report, “The region is projected to experience a three to four degree rise in temperature this century – more than one and a half times higher than anywhere else in the world. Severe flooding and drought is already causing the loss of livelihoods and displacement, while changing climate patterns are making some forms of agriculture increasingly unsustainable.

“Tensions over access to scarce resources for cattle and livestock are leading to hostilities in some rural areas, pushing greater numbers of people towards cities.”

The report finds that the region lacks sufficient protection systems – both within and across borders – to ensure the safety and wellbeing of refugee and migrant children, a gap which will become more pronounced with the projected increase in both national populations and migration.

The UN report which was based on a series of interviews with migrants and their families from several countries, states further that the factors if not addressed would continue to rise, hence, calling on policy makers to put children at the centre of any response to migration.

“This can be done by strengthening the chain of protection for children between countries of origin, transit and destination.

“The close cooperation of governments, UN, and non-governmental partners is critical to ensure children’s access to healthcare, education and other essential services, regardless of their migration status.

While urging the public to stand in solidarity with refugee and migrant children displaced by war, violence and poverty, UNICEF also called on all governments, in West and Central Africa, in Europe and elsewhere to adopt the six-point Agenda for Action for the protection of refugee and migrant children.

“The Protection of child refugees and migrants, particularly unaccompanied children, from exploitation and violence; End the detention of children seeking refugee status or migrating, by introducing a range of practical alternatives; Keep families together as the best way to protect children and give children legal status.

“Keep all refugee and migrant children learning and give them access to health and other quality services; Press for action on the underlying causes of large scale movements of refugees and migrants; and Promote measures to combat xenophobia, discrimination and marginalization in countries of transit and destination,” the Agency added.

Quit Notice: We Are Not Part Of Northern Nigeria — Middle Belt Patriotic Front Says

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05/07/2017

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From Amos Tauna

The Middle-Belt Patrotic Front, MBPF, has made its stand known to the world that it is not part of Northern Nigeria and nobody in the North has the mandate to speak for them.

Addressing newsmen in Kaduna, northern Nigeria on Wednesday, the spokesman of the groups, Mr.Nasiru Jagaba, said, “We, the people of the Middle-Belt of Nigeria wish to let the world know that we are NOT a part of Northern Nigeria and no body in the Northern part has the mandate to speak for us.

“We therefore dissociate ourselves from the infamous so-called ‘’KADUNA DECLARATION of the 6th of June 2017 that demanded the exit of our Igbo brothers and sisters from the Northern parts of Nigeria with a threat to their lives and properties,” the groups declared.

The Middle-Belt Patrotic Front made of different associations have their membership from Kwara State, Kogi State, Benue State, Plateau State, Nasarawa State, Taraba State, Niger State. The Federal Capital Territory, as well as the southern parts of Adamawa State, Kaduna State, Kebbi State, Bauchi State, Gombe State, Yobe State and Borno State lend their united voice behind the Middle-belt Forum, MBF.

The groups commend recent moves by the federal government under the leadership of Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to nip these challenges in the bud and called on all Nigerians and those living in Nigeria to support the government to not only restore peace but to move Nigeria to greater heights.
These recent developments in the Country with the dangerous propensity they connote, according to the groups necessited for the briefing, “We cannot, therefore, fold our arms and watch events degenerate into another civil war.

“We believe unjust and unfair handling of affairs in government gave rise to agitations from different parts of the country; and the agitations have never been this deep and strong. It therefore, behoves on a responsible government to address the basis for these agitations.

“The Middle-Belt has been turned into a theater of undeclared war by both Boko Haram and Fulani Herdsmen (globally adjudged to be the 1st and 4th deadly terror groups in the world).

“Their reign of murder and terror on our people and the southern regions of the Country has continued unchallenged, while the government of the day, which is well disposed to contain them has instead protected them; thus creating a deep mistrust from all other regions of the country against the far northern regions,” the groups observed.

The Middle-Belt noted that the Hausa – Fulani community in the country has the most effective communication and ethnocentric network that could have been exploited by government since it is the same group that is in power now, adding that this was one of their electoral promises to Nigerians.

“Hostility would have ceased in a matter of days, if there was any determination on their part to do so by exploiting this network.

“Another case-in-point is the clear double standards exhibited by this government that did nothing when thousands of Christians in the States of Benue, Plateau, Taraba, Adamawa, Southern Borno, Southern Kaduna and parts of Southern Nigeria were brutally murdered by the Fulani herdsmen during almost a decade of a killing spree; but were quick to send a strong military contingent within a week to Taraba state when it was alleged that a few of these same murdering Fulani herdsmen had been killed in the state.

“The Middle-Belt; therefore; strongly condenms the so called northern youths’ call on Igbos to leave the north. Nigeria belongs to all of us and we call on all to disregard the Arewa call.

“For the avoidance of doubt; any recourse to threaten any of our brothers from other regions will be met with stiff resistance from the Middle-Belt.

“We also condenm in the strongest terms, the perceived parting on the back by some Arewa so called Elders to these mis-guided Arewa Youths whose conduct is inimical to the peaceful and cooperate existence of this nation.

“We call on the global community to take judicial note of the double standards of these Northern Leaders who will scold and call for the arrest of these youth in public BUT behind the scene they actively support them; which is why several weeks thereafter; no arrest has been made to date; rather they are given free backing to make more inflammatory remarks,” the groups explained.

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