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US Donates $138 Million In Aids To S/Sudan

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US Donates $138 Million In Aids To S/Sudan
Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta and US Secretary of State, John Kerry
Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta and US Secretary of State, John Kerry

US Secretary of State, John Kerry, on Monday announced a further donation in humanitarian assistance worth about $138 million to war-torn South Sudan.

Kerry made the announcement when he met with regional ministers in Nairobi, Kenya.

According to a press release issued by the US Embassy in Nigeria, the donation, made through the US Agency for International Development, USAID, includes 58,000 metric tons of food aid and specialty nutrition products, along with emergency health and nutrition services, safe drinking water, hygiene supplies, and cholera treatment and prevention messaging to stem the current outbreak.

The US has remained the largest donor to South Sudan, a country that has known little peace since independence.

Thus far, the US’s assistance to the country is just short of the $2 billion mark.

“A recent outbreak of violence in Juba, broader insecurity throughout the country, and severe economic declines have conspired to worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis in South Sudan.

“Warring parties have terrorized and abused innocent civilians, especially women and girls. More than 2.5 million people have fled their homes – internally and to neighboring countries. Forty percent of the population now faces life-threatening hunger, with some people on the brink of starvation.

“Food security conditions are at their worst since South Sudan gained independence in 2011,” the statement read.

Kerry, however, admitted that peace cannot be brought about by humanitarian assistance alone, saying, “We strongly urge the country’s leaders to prioritize the needs of their people by protecting the population and ensuring the delivery of vital humanitarian assistance.”

The American diplomat is expected in Nigeria on Tuesday, where he will first go to Sokoto state before coming to Abuja to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari.

The two are expected to talk about security, economy and the fight against corruption.

Troops Take On Armed Robbers, Kidnappers In Bauchi

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Troops Take On Armed Robbers, Kidnappers In Bauchi

Troops Take on Armed robbers, kidnappers

Troops of 33 Brigade of the Nigerian Army in Nacho on Sunday carried out an operational patrol aimed at clearing suspected armed gangs that had been disturbing residents of the state.

A statement by army spokesperson, Sani Usman, on Monday said the Army had received several reports of armed robberies and kidnappings, which necessitated the operation around Dutsen Mairama and Dogon Ruwa settlements within Lame/Burra forest of Toro and Ningi local government areas.

“During the encounter, three armed kidnappers were killed and their camps destroyed.

“The troops also recovered arms and ammunitions including empty shells.

The troops would continue to carry out such clearance operations in all known hideouts of kidnappers and armed bandits within Bauchi and other States to deny criminal elements freedom of action,” the statement read.

JAMB Registrar Insists Universities Must Stick To Admission Policies

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JAMB Registrar Insists Universities Must Stick To Admission Policies

Jamb Registrar, Ishaq Oloyede

Newly appointed Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation and Board, JAMB, Ishaq Oloyede, has said that admission into tertiary institutions must comply with national policies.

Oloyede disclosed this on Monday during the first Technical committee on admission to first choice institution held at the Bayero University Kano, adding, however, that the senate of each institution has the prerogative to admit candidates but this must be in adherence to national policies.

According to him the national policies include the use of 2016 JAMB UTME result printouts for all candidates who scored 180 and above

Other policies that must be strictly adhered to are the subject combinations of various courses as specified by the senate/academic board and included in the 2016 UTME brochure.

The JAMB Registrar added that “In the discharge of this National assignment, it is important that we act with focus on what is beneficial to the largest number of Nigerians.

“We must avoid adding to the burden of the masses of our people who rightly yearn for higher education as a veritable means of active participation in public life

Vice Chancellor of Bayero University disclosed that only 21,000 out of 64,224 candidates that applied for admission into the university, made the cut-off mark, adding that only 6,500 would eventually be offered admission after the screening processes had been exhausted.

Professor Bello stated that the University has always maintained transparency in its admission processes.

Doctor Dies Of Lassa Fever As Delta Records Fresh Case

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Doctor Dies Of Lassa Fever As Delta Records Fresh Case

LASSA Fever Kills Doctor In Delta

Delta State has recorded a fresh case of Lassa Fever in Asaba, the state capital, as the disease claimed the life of a medical doctor.

The doctor died after he was rushed to the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, in Nnewi, Anambra State.

The State’s Commissioner for Health, Nicholas Azinge, confirmed the incident, saying that the doctor’s wife and 32 others he had contact with had been quarantined.

Azinge said the situation has been brought under control, as officials of the Emergency Response Team of the Ministry of Health, Asaba, headed by Ejiro, swung into action immediately, while the governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, has been briefed on the development.

“We are liaising with the Commissioner for Health in Anambra State and NAUTH, Nnewi, to ensure that all those who had contact with the late doctor were quarantined depending on the severity, and others placed on surveillance.

“The wife of the doctor was rushed to Otibokhae Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Edo State, when we suspected that she was also sick, but it is just malaria and she has been treated. We have also put the children of the doctor under surveillance.”

“Right now in the state, none of those quarantined has shown any symptom of Lassa Fever and our emergency response team is monitoring closely.”

It was also gathered that the Ministry of Health, Asaba, has quarantined the Peugeot Expert Ambulance from the General Hospital, Ibusa, Delta State, used to rush the doctor to Nnewi, as well as the driver.

Reports said the deceased doctor’s colleagues were treating him for malaria in Asaba, but it was at the teaching hospital in Nnewi that tests showed he had Lassa Fever by which time it was too late.

According to a report by Vanguard, “A source said the deceased, transferred recently to the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, from one of the northern states, had not officially resumed because workers were on strike at the hospital.

“Had he resumed at FMC, Asaba, I can tell you that the situation could have been more calamitous,” the source added.

Adeosun Courts IDB On Reconstruction Of Northeast

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Adeosun Courts IDB On Reconstruction Of Northeast
Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun at the Opening of the IDB office in Abuja
Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun at the Opening of the IDB office in Abuja

Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun has called on the Islamic Development Bank, IDB, to support Nigeria in the rebuilding of the Northeast region which has been ravaged by terrorism.

Adeosun made the appeal on Monday in Abuja at the inauguration of the IDB Country Gateway office.

She said that Nigeria was making efforts to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, and would require the support of the IDB in that regard.

She said: “I call on the IDB Group to work with development partners in operationalising the recovery and peace building assessment and implementation of the recently constituted June 2016 Buhari plan for the revitalisation of the North-East.

“This entails addressing aspects of interventions relating to peace building, stability and social cohesion.

The finance minister said that the new IDB office would go a long way to ensure speedy completion of projects and better impact of development intervention in the country.

Ahmad Ali, the IDB president, said that the bank is inspired by Nigeria’s exemplary leadership, drive for national development and zero tolerance for corruption, promising that the bank would give Nigeria its utmost support in alignment with the nation’s development priorities.

President Buhari in a group Photograph with the IDB team
President Buhari in a group Photograph with the IDB team

He added that “The IDB group considers the education sector and particularly bilingual education among its priority areas in Nigeria and a key tool to counter extremism.”

Ali said that the bank would also focus on agriculture, health, infrastructure, small and medium enterprises and regional integration.

He noted that the establishment of the country gateway office would enable the group to be more service-centric and closer to the Nigerian clients in both public and private sectors.

Ali and his team later paid a visit to President Muhammadu Buhari at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa.

The IDB is a multilateral development financing institution established in 1975 in Saudi Arabia and Nigeria became its 56th member country in 2005.

DSS Foils Boko Haram’s Plot To Attack Some States

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DSS Foils Boko Haram’s Plot To Attack Some States

dss (1)

Boko Haram insurgents under military fire in the Northeast planned to carry out suicide attacks in some states in the country, the Department of State Services,DSS, has disclosed.

This disclosure was made in a statement signed by Tony Opuiyo issued on Monday by the service.

The DSS however said the plan had been foiled as the service has arrested many members of the group involved in the plot, including a spiritual leader of the group, Mudaisiru Jinrin, in a Boko Haram cell in Kano.

The spiritual leader is believed to be the mastermind of the shooting of some students at Government Secondary School, Mamudo village near Potiskum, Yobe State, in 2013.

The statement also said that agents of the service rounded up some members of kidnapping gangs in Benue, Akwa Ibom and Calabar states.

The DSS said: “Following threat messages against some members of the diplomatic corps in Abuja and Lagos, this service responded and subsequently apprehended one Aikhoje Moses, on 19 August 2016, at Azagha by-pass off the Benin-Asaba expressway in Edo state. Before his arrest, Moses had threatened the diplomatic community in Nigeria, particularly the consular-generals of Switzerland and Denmark and their embassies in Nigeria, warning them to leave the country.

“The service also arrested one Mudaisiru Jibrin aka Namakele/Alarama on 17 July, 2016, at Sauna quarters, Yankaba area in Kano. Jibrin was the spiritual leader to a newly uncovered Boko Haram cell in Kano. Preliminary investigation so far conducted revealed that he was also the mastermind of the shooting of some students at Government Secondary School (GSS), Mamudo village near Potiskum, Yobe State, in 2013.

“Similarly, on 8 July, 2016, at Kinkinau area in Unguwar Mu’azu of Kaduna metropolis, the service arrested one Mukhtar Tijani, a notorious Boko Haram fighter and three of his accomplices namely, Isiaku Salihu, Abdullahi Isah and Hindu Isah. The four suspects were apprehended while perfecting arrangements for major coordinated attacks on selected targets and locations in Kaduna state.

“In a related development, on 12 August 2016, at Auchi in Edo state, three members of the Ansaru terrorist group hibernating in Kogi state were apprehended by the service. Usman Abdullahi, Abdulmumuni Sadio and Ahmad Salihu were arrested while making arrangements to launch attacks on some selected targets in Edo and Kogi states, before escaping to join ISIS in Libya.”

The DSS said it has also responded to recurring attacks by cattle rustlers in Zamfara state by arresting members of a gang which specialised in cattle rustling and kidnapping in Zamfara and Katsina states.

The DSS “conducted series of operations in collaboration with the military to degrade the criminal network of one ‘Buhari General’ in the state. Sequel to these operations, this service arrested one Abdullahi Haruna aka Douglas, a bread seller on 13 August, 2016, at Hayin Buba area in Gusau LGA of Zamfara state. Haruna was intercepted while using the cover of his petty business, to monitor security bases and movement of security agents in the state, in a bid to facilitate counter-attacks against security personnel deployed to the state.

“Also, on 12 August, 2016, at Aliero town in Aliero LGA of Kebbi state, one Hussaini Alhaji Sule aka Yellow, was apprehended by the service. His arrest was facilitated by an earlier operation of 29 July, 2016, when one Hafizu Sani, a spy and criminal associate of ‘Buhari General’, was apprehended by this service. Prior to his arrest, Sani was also spying on the movements of security agents in Zamfara state. Sani, in concert with other elements, has been terrorising local communities in Kaduna, Katsina and Zamfara states respectively, engaging in cattle rustling and kidnap activities.

“Meanwhile, following the spate of gruesome killing and kidnap incidents in Benue state, on 8 August, 2016, the service arrested one Terfa Jirgba and two of his accomplices, namely Terzungee Kwaghaondo and Mathias Aende, at Badagry street off Esther Aka road in Makurdi, Benue state. Jirgba is an active ally and gang member of Terwase Agwaza aka Ghana, a notorious kidnapper who runs a kidnapping and criminal network in Benue state.

“In a follow-up operation, one Terungwa Abur was trailed to Port-Harcourt City in Rivers state. He was eventually picked up on 16August, 2016. Abur is the second in command to Agwaza and a key member of the kidnapping gang of Terwase Agwaza aka Ghana which operates from Benue state. He acts as a courier for the underworld gang and was the negotiator of the N4m ransom paid to the gang for the release of two Indian national staff of Dangote Cement Company, Yander-Gboko, who were kidnapped on 29July, 2016, in Markudi city. He also participated in the killing of one Ortin in Gboko township on 1August, 2016.

“To address the activities of various criminal syndicates that have in recent months terrorised residents of Calabar and parts of Akwa Ibom state, on 15 August, 2016, along Ukpong street in Oron LGA, one Benjamin Emomotemi and his accomplices namely Gabriel Ambrose, Godbless Taliboth Mattias, Blessing Sunday, Simeon BlessingSunday, Edet Effiong Asanagasi And Rose Williams, were all apprehended by the service tactical team. The suspects were part of a kidnap ring which masterminded the abduction of one Mr Rufus AKV on 31 May, 2016 and Senator Patrick Ani on 6 July, 2016 in Cross River state.”

Obasanjo Says It’s All Over For PDP

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Former President Olusegun Obasanjo
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has expressed doubts in the ability of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to come out stronger from the current leadership crisis that is threatening to tear the party apart.

The elder statesman made this known while in a chat with journalists during a tour of some projects in Jalingo, the Taraba State Capital, over the weekend.

Obasanjo said: “In the part of the country where I come from, there is a saying that you cannot say ‘good night’ and come to say ‘good evening’ in the same place.

“So for me, it is good night for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and that’s all.”

Obasanjo, a one-time Chairman, Board of Trustees of the PDP, had torn his membership certificate before the 2015 election, stating that he has retired from partisan politics.

However, recently, the former president was sighted at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, venue of an event organized by the PDP, triggering rumuors that he may have returned to the party on which platform he won the presidential election for two tenures.

But Obasanjo released a statement describing the rumuors as baseless and insisted that he was done with party politics.

He explained that it was just mere coincidence that he also had a function to attend at the venue, that had nothing to do with PDP’s event.

UN Applauds Improved Conditions For IDPs

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UN Applauds Improved Conditions For IDPs
Toby Lanzer (far left) pictured with Governor Kashim Shettima and the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, during the commissioning of a bore hole for the IDPs
Toby Lanzer (far left) pictured with Governor Kashim Shettima and the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, during the commissioning of a bore hole for the IDPs

By Samuel Malik

The United Nations has applauded the improvement in the conditions of internally displaced persons, IDPs, in Bama, Borno State, saying 15,000 people are provided with food by the World Food Programme while a clinic has been opened to provide care for the sick. Also classes have been set up for school children.

This was made known today in Abuja by the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sahel, Toby Lanzer, who was accompanied by Governor Kashim Shettima to get first-hand information in Bama, one of the worst hit towns, where more than 20,000 displaced persons are camped.

Lanzer, who said his last visit to Bama was in April, said the current security situation is better than before, as Nigerian troops are firmly in control.

The www.icirnigeria.org exclusively reported in June that 21 people were dying daily due to the horrible conditions IDPs were going through. Without adequate medical facility, water and food, the people were faced with death en masse.

“Aid agencies have stepped up their engagement. For example, the World Food Programme is providing rations for more than 15,000 people and the International Organization for Migration and the UN’s Refugee Agency have supported families to build hundreds of all-weather shelters. I was particularly heartened to see young people of Bama, who had been displaced to Maidguri, returning to Bama to help the aid agencies with our work,” Lanzer noted.

In spite of these improvements, the UN chief called for more efforts, especially across the Lake Chad Basin, where he said millions are still at risk of starvation.

“The scale of the crisis in the region is staggering: 9 million people need emergency relief; 4.5 million people are severely food insecure; 2.5 million people have been forced from their homes,” he pointed out, adding that he expects more positive results in the coming weeks from both non-governmental organisations and UN agencies, including UNICEF.

He expressed concern about the new cases of polio in Borno State, which he described as a blow.

“Our stated purpose is to meet people’s needs and I have no doubt that, together with an increasingly engaged donor community, much more good work must and can take place,” he said.

BBOG Group Prevented From Seeing President Buhari

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BBOG Group Prevented From Seeing President Buhari

Oby Ezekwesili addressing the BBOG group

Oby Ezekwesili addressing the BBOG group

The Bring Back Our Girls group was on Monday prevented from marching to the Aso Villa, where they had planned to demand an update from President Muhammadu Buhari on efforts to rescue the Chibok school girls kidnapped by Boko Haram 800 days ago.

The group had taken off from the Unity Fountain in Abuja but was halted at the Independence avenue by a combined team of policemen and men of the Department of State Services, numbering about 60.

Co-convener of the group and former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, told the police that they had come to see the President, insisting that he should be answerable to Nigerians who elected him into office.

But the team of security agents, led by Chuks Obasi, a Chief Superintendent of Police, said they were acting under strict orders not to allow the protesting group beyond the independence avenue.

Obasi said, “Well, I have my mandate and my mandate is to ensure that the protest does not assume a violent dimension.”

The protesters therefore resorted to sitting on the road and playing protest music.

Last week, the Boko Haram terrorist group released a video showing some of the abducted girls, and demanding that the federal government released their fighters that are being held by the country’s security agents in exchange.

The video also showed the dead bodies of some people whom the terrorists claimed were some of the abducted chibok girls that were killed when the military attacked the terrorists with a fighter jet.

One of the girls, who gave her name as Maida Yakubu, also begged the government to accede to the terrorists demands so that they would regain their freedom.

Since the video was released, the BBOG group has intensified their daily sit-outs at the Unity Fountain, urging the government to do everything possible to rescue the girls.

Kaduna To Save N360 Million On Ban On High Energy Bulbs

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Kaduna To Save N360 Million On Ban On High Energy Bulbs

Kaduna To Ban Energy-Consuming Bulbs

The Kaduna State Government has said that it intends to ban the sale of high energy consuming bulbs, as part of efforts at increasing energy supply in the state.

Muhammad Abdullahi, Kaduna state’s Commissioner for Budget and Planning, said this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Kaduna on Monday.

Abdullahi said that government would embark on a state-wide campaign aimed at urging electricity consumers in the state to move to energy saving bulbs, before the ban would commence.

He added that ministries, departments and agencies of the state had already started implementing the energy-saving-bulbs policy.

The commissioner said the initiative is expected to save the state the sum of N360 million, which is about 30 per cent of the amount spent on light bills and fueling of generators annually by electricity consumers in the state.

Abdullahi explained that the strategy was the brainchild of Abdulkarim Mayere, who came third in the “My Great Kaduna Competition” organised by the state government in 2015.

The competition, according to the commissioner, was organised to source for ideas from members of the public on how to move the state forward and make Kaduna great again.

Abdullahi pointed out that the state governor, Nasiru El-Rufa’i had since appointed Mayere as the General Manger of Kaduna Power Supply Company, a new company set up to ensure energy efficiency in the state.

He also said that the state will soon commence the generation of electricity from domestic waste; another idea by Lwahas Adoniram, who was the best contestant in the “My Great Kaduna Competition.

According to the commissioner, “Adoniram suggested that waste could be converted into huge employment opportunities with the local construction of turbines powered by domestic waste.

“We have already entered into discussion with the Federal Ministry of Environment and it has shown interest to partner with us to make the project a reality.

“The people of the state have as much contribution to make, so we opened up the competition last year and received about 500 entries out of which 15 were selected and integrated into the state development plan.

“As you can see, we have already started implementing some of the ideas.

“The state government would continue to engage citizens in policy formulation and implementation processes in order to run a holistic people-oriented government,” the commissioner concluded.

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