More Ebola cases have been reported in Guinea and Sierra Leone with 132 new cases in the week to 1 March, an increase of 34 over the previous week says the World Health Organisation (WHO).
According to a UN Agency in its latest update of the Epidemic in West Africa, Liberia did not report any new confirmed infections in the week for the first time since May last year, but disease surveillance may not be optimal given the low number of samples.
The WHO pointed out that communities were still resisting to bringing infected family members to treatment centres; stating that in Guinea, Only half of the 51 new infections came from registered contacts of Ebola patients and some cases are only identified after post-mortem testing.
In Sierra Leone, the virus is still wide spread, which 81 new cases including 26 in the capital Freetown was recorded. “The number of confirmed Ebola virus disease deaths occurring in the community in Guinea and Sierra Leone remains high, suggesting that the need for early isolation and treatment is not yet understood, accepted or acted upon.
“Unsafe burials continue to occur, with 16 reports of unsafe burials in both Guinea and Sierra Leone, respectively,” it said.
More than 23, 900 confirmed and suspected cases of Ebola have been reported since the outbreak began in December 2013, including more than 9000 deaths, and 500 health workers inclusive.
Guinea and Sierra Leone Report New Cases of Ebola
Stop Inciting the Police – Nigeria’s IG Warns
ABUJA (Nigeria) – Nigeria’s Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Suleiman Abba, has warned members of the public to stop inciting Junior Police Officers to disrespect their oath of office – he drew attention to the dangers inherent in Police officers disobeying superior orders and acting outside the code of conduct.
A statement by Nigerian Police spokesperson, Emmanuel Ojukwu, quotes the IGP saying such act “does not portend well for public safety and security, and is a threat to our democracy.”
For the avoidance of doubt, the Nigeria Police Force will never tolerate any iota of indiscipline in the form of a strike, or work-to-rule among its personnel. Any officer found to be engaged in such a despicable act will be arrested and sanctioned in line with the Police Regulation and the Laws of the Federation.”
The statement further says “every effort is being made to meet the welfare needs of all Police personnel including the payment of promotion arrears which has since commenced with the payment to the promoted officers of salaries attendant on their new ranks.”
NIGERIA: Gas Flaring Threatens Health of Kaduna Residents
By Shindong Bala
Residents of Kaduna, northwest Nigeria, especially those living close to Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) are raising alarm over health hazard posed by gas flaring coming from the refinery.
The smoke emitted by the refinery chimneys according to them hovers over their area and goes beyond 10 kilometres in radius – affecting many residents in the southern axis of the city.
A resident who lives close to the Refinery, Nasiru Suleiman said the gas which is being flared on daily basis has saturated the area and is causing serious health problems to them.
“It smells badly,” he said.
“The emission of the carbon dioxide is a serious disaster on us. In the morning the gas always descends on the whole environment, making it difficult for us to breathe, it is also the same thing in the evening. And it has a very powerful unbearable odor; if we are eating, it is as if we are swallowing the substance along with the Food.”
Another resident, Mr. Jacob Zango, expressed fear that if immediate measures are not taken by concerned authorities, “the residents might not be able to bear it for long.
“We are calling on government and management of Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company to take immediate action to stop this flaring, because what we are inhaling in this place is poisonous and is capable of killing us.”
While reacting, Managing Director of KRPC, Bolanle Ayodele, who acknowledged the act of his company, said they are concern with its effect on both humans and the environment, and are working towards minimizing the black smoke emission. He was however quick to say it was not possible for the company to stop gas flaring completely.
“We are aware of this problem and very soon we will correct it because we are also concerned about the environment.” Nigeria is the largest oil producing country in Africa and the sixth in the world. More than forty years after oil refineries were established in Nigeria, Gas flaring still persists despite known health and environmental hazards.
Niger-Delta
Gas flaring is not peculiar to Kaduna; it is more common in the Niger-Delta region where cities like Warri and Port Harcourt also experience the same hazards.
Experts say, Nigeria currently flared between 1.3 and 1.4 billion cubic feet of gas per day. This is only second to Russia which flared three times the size of what Nigeria burns.
The gas being flared is a constituent of crude oil which experts say can be efficiently utilized as a valuable source of energy, but it is being continuously burnt into the atmosphere worsening the impact of Global Warming.
Although subsequent administrations in the country have set up laws and datelines to stop the flaring, the oil firms have opted to paying fines instead of adopting modern technologies to end it.
A report by Justice in Nigeria Now (JINN) an NGO, says since 1969, the dateline to stop gas flaring has been shifted more than five times.
An environmentalist, Aisha Okunade said the damage of Gas flaring on the environment, Land, Water habitat and humans cannot be quantified.
She said although adequate research has not been concluded on the effects of gas flaring on humans, the effects are sometimes visible on people residing in areas close to refineries.
The sign and symptoms according to her include vomiting, cancer diseases, lung diseases and Asthma.
The emitted gases she said include nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, sulphur and nitrogen oxide, which mostly combined with rainfall to cause damage to soil.
She also called on Nigerian Government to allocate enough funds to research institutions for comprehensive research on such gases.
The concern on the flaring and environmental degradation has led to many mass movements and activism, especially in the Niger-Delta region of the country.
In 1995, a renowned novel writer and activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa was executed by the Nigerian Government for oil related activism on the environment.
Despite hue and cry, Nigerian Government has not taken notable steps at impressing on the oil companies to stop the practice.
Early last year, a United Nations Environmental Programme Report indicted the giant Shell Oil Company operating in the Niger-Delta region for contaminating the soil and environment of Ogoniland in the past 50 years.
The Federal Government said it was going to clean up the area, but that is yet to happen.
This story was first published in IQ4News on 23rd May, 2013.
Nigerian Military Says Boko Haram Ends Soon
By Juliana Katung
Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah, has expressed optimistism in winning the war against Boko Haram, saying the military will soon recapture more communities taken over by the Islamist Boko Haram insurgents.
This is because of Nigeria’s renewed effort and joint operations with its counterpart from the neighboring countries.
Minimah said, the Military and its counterpart have recorded a lot of successes in the last few days which is connected to the joint operations between the Nigerian forces and their Cameroon, Chad and Niger counterparts.
He stated this at the opening ceremony of a 5-Day seminar for operational level officers of the Nigerian Army by the British Military Advisory and Training Team (BMATT) held at Jaji Military Cantonment, Kaduna, Northwest Nigeria.
According to him, the ongoing counter terrorists campaign in the North-East coupled with the awakening of Cameroon, Chad and Niger forces has led to the liberation of more communities under siege of Boko Haram terrorists and also boosted successes recorded against the extremist group in the recent time.
He said the seminar would build the capacity participants and impart more Knowledge on the Nigerian Army on how to recover more territories, which would in turn help the army perform better and be more professional in dealing with terrorism.
“It is gratifying to note that, our drive in retraining in conjunction with the valued partnership is beginning to yield greater results.
He however expressed hope that the seminar will further strengthen the long standing partnership between the Nigerian and United Kingdom armies.
Leader of British Military Advisory and Training Team (BMATT), Brig Gen Jonny Bourne, said the world is currently facing a new wave of security challenges, therefore, the earlier the armies of nations round the world begin to learn from one another, the better.
Gen. Bourne who is the Commander British 7th Infantry Brigade said the seminar would generate valuable ideas to tackle the security threats around the world and Nigeria in particular.
Meanwhile, recently close to 7,000 soldiers from Cameroon and Chad have taken positions on Cameroon’s northern border with Nigeria, in the bid to combat Boko Haram Islamist extremists.
Some sources revealed that the soldiers are finding cross-border operations difficult due to the fact that the insurgents have adopted a new strategies of planting mines on the roads.
According to the sources Chadian and Cameroonian soldiers sang during a joint training session in Fotokol on Cameroon’s northern border with Nigeria’s Borno state, a Boko Haram stronghold.
It is from Fotokol that Chadian soldiers organised attacks on Nigerian towns seized by the Islamist group and assisted Cameroon in protecting its territory from militants
fighting to create an Islamist caliphate.
According to sources, both Nigerian soldiers and their counterpart are still ready to combat Boko Haram despite the group’s new strategy which bring about the successes recorded.
Kaduna Polytechnic Threatens Action Over Land Encroachment
By Mohammad Ibrahim
KADUNA (Nigeria) – Rector of Kaduna Polytechnic, Northwest Nigeria, Muhammad -B- Ibrahim has frown at encroachment into College of Administrative Studies and Social Science (CASSS) property its host Community.
He therefore urged Nigerian government to intervene by stopping the community from such action.
Addressing journalists, Mohammad said the land belonged to the institute since 1976 when it was bought by the then Northern region government.
He said the original land owners were duly compensated for the 1000 hectres of land by the government.
” We paid for the land and we got our certificate of occupancy. It was about 1000 hectre of land, but the Gbagi community now began to encroach into the land inch by inch which is unfortunate. The matter was taken to court but late Patrick Yakowa the then state governor intervened and asked us to settle the issue out of court with the community.
” When I came into the office we demacated our land from the already encroached land but now as I speak to you some miscreants have continued encroaching into the land. It was really unfortunate for some few individuals to be doing this dispute the fact that the land belonged to a federal establishment,” he said.
The Rector further threatened to hold the traditional ruler of the community, Sa Gbagyi responsible for any breach of law and order in the community, saying he should call his people to order.
Earlier, the National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS) through their National Public Relations Officer, Abdulmajeed Oladimeji Oyeniyi gave the Gbagyi Community 14 days ultimatum to stop encroaching into the land.
He said failure to do so the entire students will act in order to secure the land for the institution.
” We are calling on President Jonathan, together with the Inspector-General of Police, Minister of education, the state government, Sa Gbagyi and others to stop the encroachment on the land,” he said.
According to him, the attitude of few people holding the polytechnic community to ransom was wrong.
The students said out of the four Campuses of Kadpoly scattered across the metropolis, it’s only the campus at Sabon Tasha, Bye-Pass that have been witnessing such encroachment by the host community.
Nigeria’s Fuel Queues Will Disappear by Weekend – Says Govt
ABUJA (Nigeria) – Nigeria has assured its citizens that the current long queues seen at filling stations will disappear by the end of the week.
Nigeria is currently witnessing long queues at filling stations across the country, with some pump stations in northern city of Kaduna and southern city of Lagos selling the commodity as high as N120 (US$0.60) per litre, instead of the official pump price of N87 (US$0.43) per litre.
The situation has also led to appearance of touts who control the selling of the commodity at black markets. On Tuesday in Abuja, touts were selling a litre of petrol at over N200 (US$1.00).
A Group Executive Director in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Aisha Abdulrahman who assured of the disappearance of the queues said, the Corporation now had adequate stock that could last between twenty and thirty days, having addressed the glitch that caused the shortage in supply.
Abdulrahman encouraged filling stations to complement NNPC retail outlets by selling petrol for twenty-four hours in order to clear the fuel queues across the country.
She cited rumours and speculations as reasons for hoarding and panic buying by commuters, affirming that the NNPC had flooded the country with petroleum products.
Fielding questions from journalists, after taking them round filling stations in Abuja, Supervising Minister of Information, Edem Duke criticized opposition political parties for speculations that there was fuel scarcity in the country.
He said all the NNPC depots across the country were wet with fuel, but the queues in the filling stations were because of speculations and panic buying.
He berated the political opposition party for cashing in on the fuel situation to score cheap political point and assured that President Jonathan’s Administration would remain responsive to the welfare and economic well-being of the citizens.
“A good government cannot inflict scarcity on its people. It cannot bite its nose to spite its face, especially at a time when there is political tension.
“There is no government worth its onions that will say rather than focus on strategies to win election, let us deprive the citizenry of adequate supply of petroleum products.
“So when people are sitting in Dubai and issuing statements that are unfounded, I think we as the conscience of the nation should know better,” he stated.
Nigeria: 134,000 Youth Corps Members Prepare To Man Polls
By Longtong Ibrahim
About 134,000 Corps Members would be engaged as ad-hoc staff in the conduct of Nigeria’s forth-coming general elections – they have already been accredited and trained by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the coming elections.
Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig.-Gen. Johnson Olawumi stated this while briefing journalists in Abuja.
Olawumi said about 34,000 of Corps members who recently passed out were also trained by the electoral body to participate, but that they would neither wear NYSC uniforms nor be under the care of the scheme.
“You are all aware that we have an existing MOU with INEC on the participation of corps members on election duties.
“However, for 2015 election, INEC brought a new dimension by asking interested corps members to register on line, and as at the close of registration in January this year, we had about 168,000 registered corps members to serve as ad-hoc staff.
“We always have three batches of corps members and because the election was slated then for February 14, the Batch A of last year that registered and were supposed to participate in the election passed out February 19. Initially, our plan was to use them for the elections, but since keeping them due to the postponement of the elections would violate the NYSC Act, we had to pass them out.” He said.
Director General said the scheme in collaboration with the security agencies had put in place measures to ensure adequate security of corps members participating in the polls.
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Nigeria Relief Agency Extends Support To Orphanage Homes
By Mohammad Ibrahim
KADUNA (Nigeria) – Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has donated food items to four orphanage homes in Kaduna, Northwest Nigeria.
Organisations that benefitted from the gesture include Jamiyar Matan Arewa; Al-lhsan Charity; Shelter in Christ; and Adonai Orphanage homes.
NEMA’s North West Zonal Coordinator, Musa Ilallah said the gesture was to encourage the orphanages to cater for more less privileged in the society and to offer the inmates a sense of belonging.
“May I on behalf of the agency present these items to you for the benefit of the children and inmates of these orphanage homes.
” We believe that we have a responsibility as an agency to provide support in whichever way we can,” he said.
Ilallah urged Managers of the Homes to make judicious use of the items donated.
In a remark, Matron of Jam’iyar Matan Arewa, Maryam Tahir, commended NEMA for the gesture and urged the agency to sustain the tempo.
She described the gesture as a clear indication of NEMA’s interest to the plight of orphans and other inmates in the homes.
The items donated include rice, sugar, cooking oil, noodles, canned tomatoes, cloths, detergent, soap, cups, plates, spoons, blankets, buckets, mattresses and diapers, among others.