Sherif Denies Alledged Boko-Haran Link!

Contrary to widely-reported claims by Stephen Davis that Ali Sheriff and former Army Chief Azubuike Ihejirika were major sponsors of the Boko Haran sect, the former Borno State governor yesterday debunked the allegations, saying he never had any dealings with the sect. 

Stating this at a news conference in Abuja, Sheriff said he was ready to face any investigation to prove his innocence, adding that the allegation was aimed at denigrating him.

Ali Sheriff at a press briefing

"Let me state categorically at this point that I do not share the ideology of the Boko Haram sect, which is against western education, western culture and modern science or any other sect with similar ideology," he said.

"From my background, it could be easily seen that we are completely opposed to one another in terms of our viewpoints and convictions. By my nature and upbringing, I have neither associated myself with nor shared the beliefs of religious fundamentalists such as the Boko Haram sect or any other sect for that matter."

Sheriff added that he was being accused of having terrorist links in Borno State and other parts of the country since the 2009, even when the sect had been around much earlier.

"It may not be necessary to bother you with the long history of the metamorphosis of Boko Haram as a sect, as several reports have published their genesis, spanning over twenty five years," he said.

"The incident preceding the 2009 was in Kanama of Yobe State in 2002, long before I became the Governor of Borno state. It is on record that my Administration in 2009 took exceptional bold steps in handling the Boko Haram insurgency."

The ex governor said that his defection from the All Progressives Congress to the PDP seemed to further galvanize his detractors to "convert the matter into a political weapon".

Inexplicable Fees Paid By Nigerian Students, Just How Much Is Too Much!

Call it extortion or inexplicable fees paid by Nigerian students either during exams, at the point of processing and securing admissions, or at the clearly unemployed state of serving our mother land. 

This short write up below brings these to fore:

 "The National Youth Service Corps call-up letters will now cost the prospective ‘corper’ N4,000, and this is after buying a scratch card to confirm his name as having been mobilised. 

This to my mind is a sign that the NYSC is broke and if that be the case, why force young people to go for the programme compulsorily?

To think that corps members are not insured despite the dangers they face every year, a corps member who sustains injury or even loses his life in the course of the year is not even given any insured compensation rather, officials of the NYSC only pay the family a condolence visit.

I hereby suggest that the said N4,000 be reversed and in fact, an insurance cover be put in place for corpers since they’re on national duty.

Other scratch card scams include checking of WAEC/NECO and JAMB results as well as the Post-UTME tests. One would have thought that having spent a fortune to buy those forms, their results will be part of the deal.

In such places as hospitals in Lagos, cars are parked at a fee irrespective of whether you came for a visit or you are a patient, while it is agreed that it helps to stem illegal parking, something ought to be done to ensure that patients park their vehicles free since the hospital services are not free anyway.

Let’s see how many other government official scams we can come up with and see what we can do to stop them where necessary".

Source: Punch news

Alafin of Oyo Takes His Four Wives Shopping!

Nigerian Monarch, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi, Alaafin of Oyo, who traveled to the United Kingdom with his four wives recently to celebrate his 76th birthday, was the source of attraction when at Westfield Mall - London with his four wives. 







It was reported that Nigerians who knew who recognized him, went to pay homage...



While others simply took pictures with the Royalties.

Rivers State Records First Ebola Death!

An elderly woman has died of the Ebola Virus Disease, EVD, making her the first confirmed case in Rivers State.

The deceased, who was one of the three persons quarantined in Oduoha, Emohua Local Government Area, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, with a doctor and a pharmacist, who were staff of Sam Steel Clinic. 

She was the seventh Ebola fatality to be recorded in the country, although medical tests ran on the other two, revealed they were free from Ebola and were given a clean bill of health. Howbeit reports say they were still under medical surveillance.

Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, while presenting an update on the status of EVD, in Nigeria,  disclosed that the eighth Ebola patient successfully managed in the Lagos isolation centre was discharged Tuesday.

He gave the number of cases successfully managed and discharged in the country as eight, and explained that the last case to be discharged, (the eighth case) was the first secondary contact to be diagnosed, adding that the patient is a spouse of a primary contact of the index (first) case.

Total number of cases successfully managed and discharged is now eight. The last case to be discharged, the first secondary contact to be diagnosed and a spouse of a primary contact of the index case, went home from the isolation ward in Lagos yesterday (Tuesday). The ninth survivor is the ECOWAS Commission official who jumped surveillance in Lagos and travelled to Port Harcourt where he infected the doctor who attended to him." He said.

The Minister stated that schools may re-open from September 15, 2014 as last contacts under surveillance may be discharged by then and the fact that there were no community transmissions in Nigeria, stressed that the 18th confirmed case of Ebola in Nigeria is the sister of the late Port Harcourt doctor, who is currently on admission in the Lagos isolation centre.

"Total number of deaths from Ebola Virus Disease in Nigeria is now seven. One is the index (first) case, which occurred in a private hospital in Lagos; four in the Lagos isolation ward, one in the Port Harcourt isolation ward, the female patient who was on admission in the same hospital where the late Port Harcourt doctor was also admitted, while another one was the doctor who was infected by the ECOWAS Commission official in Port Harcourt and who did not come under the care and management of the Incident Management Committee." He said.

He revealed that the total number of EVD patients currently under treatment, according to the Minister, is two; one in the Lagos isolation ward and another one in the Port Harcourt isolation ward.

According to him, 41 contacts are currently under surveillance in Lagos while Port Harcourt has 296.

Africa Cup At Risk Over Ebola Fears!

As the continent gears up for its African Nations Cup qualifiers, concerns are growing that the deadly disease could ruin the games. Some argue soccer players and fans from Ebola-hit countries could spread the virus.

The message from Africa's soccer governing body, the Confederation of African Football (CAF), was clear: Ivory Coast will be expelled from the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations if they refuse to host Ebola-hit Sierra Leone in their qualifier on Saturday (06.09.2014). 

CAF's statement prompted Ivory Coast to allow the match to be held in Abidjan after all. The Ivorian government said the decision was taken after Sierra Leone's federation had guaranteed that no member of its delegation had been in a country affected by the Ebola virus 21 days prior to the match.

In July, the Seychelles forfeited a game against Sierra Leone when it refused entry to Sierra Leone's soccer team amid fears players could carry the virus.

With group stages set to begin on Friday, fear of Ebola has increased among the 28 participating countries. In addition to sharing their love and enthusiasm for the sport, soccer players and fans could help spread the virus.

African fans hope the games will proceed as planned

Ivory Coast borders Ebola-stricken Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. So far, Ebola has killed more than 1,500 people - and it's unclear how many more have been infected.

Last year's Africa Cup winner Nigeria has also been affected by fears: Ever since the first Ebola cases were reported in Nigeria's business hub Lagos, concerns about an Ebola outbreak have increased. 

Lesotho decided to pull out of a final 2015 African Youth Championship qualifier against Nigeria.

Fear at play?

They decided to pull out even though the game was scheduled to take place in Kaduna, which is over a thousand kilometers (621 miles) away from Lagos, Nigerian sports journalist Shehu Saula said.

However, he understands that fear was at play. Players and spectators alike would have been concerned that they could contract the virus, he said.

At the beginning of August, CAF banned Guinea and Sierra Leone from hosting any international matches and moved them to Ghana instead.

"The affected countries understand the reasons why we had to take these initiatives," CAF spokesperson Erick Mwanza told DW. "The players of course know they are losing the advantage of playing at home and the fans would not have the opportunity to watch their stars, but it is in their best interests. We would rather not take any risks which might expose the players and the fans to any potential dangers."

It's also in the players' interest as many of Guinea's and Sierra Leone's national team members play for foreign clubs - such as Ibrahima Traore who plays for German soccer club Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Africa Cup at risk

If Ebola cannot be contained quickly, sports journalist Saula says the Africa Cup tournament in Morocco in about five months will be at risk.

"We either shift the tournament to a [later] date when we have eradicated or at least reduced the Ebola epidemic to a minimum, or we will stand to host a tournament that many people will not attend or where the players will possibly play in a stadium that is half-empty," he said.

Source:Deutsche Welle 

Seven health workers abducted in Rivers!

Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers have abducted seven health workers working for the Niger Delta Development Commission in Abua/Odual Local Government Area of Rivers State.

The health workers; four medical doctors, a pharmacist, one dentist and a nurse, were said to have been taken away by their captors at about 11pm on Saturday in Okolomade Community.

It was gathered that the gunmen, who stormed the community with AK-47 rifles, shot sporadically to scare away indigenes before going for their victims.

The kidnappers, according to a member of the community, came in two speed boats and escaped with the health workers through the waterways in the area.

The situation caused confusion as some members of the community, who ran into the bush to avoid being killed, came out the following morning.

A source said on Tuesday that the kidnapped health workers were in Okolomade community for the NDDC Free Medical Outreach Programme before being whisked away by the hoodlums.

According to the source, the Executive Director, Finance and Administration of NDDC, Dr. Itotenaan Ogiri, who is a member of the community invited the health workers to render free healthcare services to the community for three weeks.

It was leanrt that the hoodlums took away mobile phones belonging to those living around the building where the doctors and other health workers were lodged.

However, the kidnappers have not called to demand any ransom, though efforts to reach the State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ahmad Mohammad and the Head Corporate Affairs of NDDC, Mr. Ibitoye Abosede on the matter reportedly proved futile.
Source: Punch News

Nigeria On The Verge Of Losing Borno State!

Nigeria stands on the verge of being split in two as Boko Haram makes lightning territorial gains in the north-east of the country, the Nigeria Security Network (NSN) has warned in a special report, North-East Nigeria on the brink.

The network of Nigerian and international experts, including former United States Ambassador to Nigeria John Campbell, warns that Boko Haram is preparing to take over Borno’s state capital, Maiduguri, following an attack on Bama to the south-east.

“If Maiduguri falls, it will be a symbolic and strategic victory unparalleled so far in the conflict,” the group says.

A successful attack could be followed by a take over of the whole of Borno state and possibly parts of Adamawa, Yobe, and neighbouring Cameroon, the group says.

The report says, “Unless swift action is taken, Nigeria could be facing a rapid takeover of a large area of its territory reminiscent of ISIS’s lightning advances in Iraq.”

NSN calls on the Nigerian government to urgently reinforce Maiduguri to prevent it falling into enemy hands and re-gain control over Borno’s network of roads to stem the insurgency’s advance.

They warn that low morale and inadequate equipment in the army is causing soldiers to refuse to counter-attack and flee from battle.

The report states “Despite the bravery of individual soldiers on the ground and the best efforts of the Nigerian government and military to support them, the response to Boko Haram in recent days and weeks has been insufficient to halt the group’s dramatic advances...At this point in time, the Nigerian military does not appear to be in a position to stop Boko Haram.”

It also suggests that soldiers are sent into combat with only 60 rounds of ammunition to face Boko Haram fighters using heavy weapons and tanks, making it impossible for them to resist the insurgency’s advances.

The report calls on the international community to support Nigeria with non-lethal military assistance, including transportation to reinforce Maiduguri and reconnaissance. It also warns Cameroon to be ready to defend its territory.

It further warns that unless drastic action is taken, Nigeria could be facing not only a major loss of territory but a humanitarian catastrophe.

The report says that a Boko Haram takeover in Borno “would likely be accompanied by a major humanitarian crisis, involving the movement of possibly tens or even hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons fleeing Boko Haram, and atrocities carried out against civilians who remain in captured areas. Attacks against government workers and others in Maiduguri are very likely should the capital fall.”
Source: Sahara Reporters