Gunmen kill 19 villagers in Zamfara

At least 19 people have been shot or hacked to death in a brutal attack in a village in north-west Nigeria, police say.

Eyewitnesses said about 150 people raided the village of Lingyado, in Zamfara state close to the border with Niger, with guns and machetes.

A police spokesman said it appeared to be a reprisal attack in response to a similar incident in August.

Security forces have been sent to the area to restore order.

Police spokesman Sunusi Amiru said six others were wounded in the attack and were receiving medical attention.

"We are on top of the situation, we are on the trail of the suspects, we have deployed more men to the trouble spots," he told Reuters news agency.

The BBC's Nigeria correspondent Jonah Fisher says the victims were attacked as they emerged from their homes.

When the shooting began, some residents fled into nearby cornfields, the Associated Press news agency reports.

Some of the attackers shouted that they would rape any women they found, one witness, Ahmad Tsauri Lingyado, told AP.

One witness, speaking from hospital, told the BBC that his house was targeted first, and that he saw both his grand-daughter and daughter-in-law killed.

BBC

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Gunmen kill19 villagers in Zamfara

The spate of killings in the North took a strange turn Sunday as gunmen suspected to be Hausa/Fulani herdsmen attacked and killed 19 in Lingyado, a predominantly Hausa/Fulani village in Zamfara State.

Recent killings in the North often had ethno-religious coloration but Sunday's early morning attack is confounding the authorities who are now suspecting armed robbery.

In a style similar to Jos attacks, gunmen carrying machetes attacked Lingyado, going from house to house posing as visitors before shooting and slashing 19 people to death, witnesses and police said according to The Associated Press (AP) report.

About 150 attackers surrounded the village and roamed between its compounds, shooting residents who came out to greet them, Husaini Dansadau told AP.When theshootingbegan,many who were ableto flee ran away.Some of the gunmen shouted that they would rape the women they found, a witness and brother to one of the victims, Ahmad Tsauri Lingyado, said.

The attackers reportedly used Kalashnikov rifles and machetes in the attack.

They also stole money and valuables before fleeing into the darkness.

Tsauri disclosed that they survived the attack by fleeing into corn fields.

 

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President Goodluck Jonathan pledges to eradicate polio within 2 years

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan pledged on Thursday to set up a special government team to ensure the eradication of polio from Africa's most populous nation within two years.

"I can assure you that we will work very hard on polio with the objective of eradicating it in the next 24 months. It is now limited to about six states and eradicating it within our tenure is a goal we will pursue with full commitment," Jonathan said during a visit to the Nigerian capital by Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

Gates and his wife have a $34 billion foundation devoted largely to health projects in poor countries, including efforts to wipe out polio globally.

The disease spreads in areas with poor sanitation, attacks the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis within hours of infection. Children under five are the most vulnerable.

Polio is endemic in just four countries -- India, Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan -- and there has been a 99 percent reduction in cases since 1988, when the World Health Organization and its partners formed the Global Polio Eradication Initiative to fight it.

At that time, polio was endemic in 125 countries and caused paralysis in nearly 1,000 children every day.

Reuters

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Nigeria will be the first African nation to get HIV vaccine

Nigeria will be the first African country to access the benefit of a new protective vaccine  that will stop people from developing the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, AIDS as indication yesterday emerged that Cornell Micheal Nelson, one of  the scientists who discovered the vaccine will be in Nigeria  next month.

In a telephone chat with Vanguard, Director General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, NACA, Professor John Idoko disclosed that Cornell Micheal Nelson, will be in Nigeria by  October 12, to attend a symposium, where he would be presenting a keynote addrees on the newly discovered vaccine.

The choice of Nigeria for this landmark event, is not unconnected with the country’s  large population and notable contribution to the fight against the HIV virus. With the discovery of  the vaccine, the world may be on the verge of finally overcoming the threat posed by HIV and AIDS.

However, indications from the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, NIMR, revealed that Nigerian Scientists are excited over the vaccine which shows great potential to reduce the burden of  HIV across the world.

According to former Director General of NIMR, Prof. Oni Idigbe, all is set for the symposium which would address other areas of the discovery.

Before now, various type of vaccines have been discovered in the past but none has shown great potential like the present vaccine discovered in Thailand.

According to the researchers, the AIDS vaccine could cut down the risk of developing the disease by a third.

Already, scientists across the world have hailed the breakthrough, saying it could be the first step to even better protection.

The new vaccine which works by stimulating the immune system — is a combination of two previous treatments which had proved ineffective when used alone.

It was tested on 8,000 HIV negative male and female volunteers aged 18 to 30 in Thailand.

They were checked for infection every six  months. The results found that the chances of catching HIV were almost 32 per cent lower if a person had been given the vaccine rather than a dummy injection.

The breakthrough — funded by the US Military HIV Research Program and the Thai Ministry of Public Health — is regarded as a first step towards an effective vaccine against AIDS, which hits two million people a year.

Prof Aine McKnight, a viral expert from the University of London, said: For a quarter of a century the scientific community has been divided on whether a vaccine against HIV could be produced.

“Today that question is settled. This is exciting news, but the battle is far from won.”

A spokesman from the World Health Organisation said: “The results are the first demonstration that a vaccine can prevent infection and are of great importance.

“These results have instilled new hope in the HIV vaccine research field and promise that a safe and highly effective HIV vaccine may become available for populations throughout the world.”

The scientists, however advised that for now, the best protection remains having sex with a condom.

Vanguard

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