Malaria accounts for 30 percent of childhood deaths in Nigeria. It is one of the highest figures in Africa. Yet despite efforts to tackle the disease, huge challenges remain.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Traditional medicine hurting fight against malaria in Nigeria
Malaria accounts for 30 percent of childhood deaths in Nigeria. It is one of the highest figures in Africa. Yet despite efforts to tackle the disease, huge challenges remain.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Video - Meth labs cropping up in Nigeria
Authorities in Lagos have discovered the fifth illegal methamphetamine production centre in just one year, deepening fears Nigeria is a narcotics hub and part of a worldwide network.
The anti-drugs agency says the West African country is producing meth on a large scale.
The highly addictive drug is known by several names, including meth, ice and crystal. It is usually injected, but it can also be smoked or inhaled.
Mild doses can increase alertness and concentration, but high doses can cause psychological problems including paranoia and hallucinations.
Nigeria used to be a transit point through which illegal drugs from Mexico passed on their way to Europe.
Mitchell Ofojeyu, a spokesman for the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency, said: "They have an international network because they're bringing in Bolivians into West Africa to produce Methamphetamine; [it] shows the synergy the drug cells in West Africa have with their counterparts in other regions of the world."
In an exclusive report, Al Jazeera's Mohammed Adow visits the lab where the methods of concealment for the drug dealers are as diverse as the narcotics they traffic.
Reporting from Lagos, Adow said: "While manufacturing drugs is a new phenomenon in Nigeria using it as a trafficking hub is not."
English couple caught smuggling Nigerian baby into the UK
An English couple – Simon and Gladys Heap from Oxford – have been convicted by a UK court for attempting to pass off a Nigerian baby as their biological child in a bid to smuggle it into the UK.
The couple was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for 12 months, and 250 hours of community service after pleading guilty on April 16, 2013.
Gladys aged 52 and her husband, 47, had entered Nigeria in July 2010 and had gone to the British High Commission in Lagos to apply for a British passport for the baby girl claiming Gladys had a baby just a few days after entering the country.
According to the British High Commission in Abuja, the staff at the High Commission were however suspicious.
"...DNA tests later confirmed that neither adult was related to the child. A birth certificate they had presented was also found to be fraudulent. They flew home without the baby," the statement issued in Abuja yesterday said.
Although the statement was silent on how the couple came about the child, it implied that the child may have been purchased.
Following an investigation by a joint Border Force and Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), the couple was arrested and charged with facilitating a breach of immigration law. They were sentenced by the Isleworth Crown Court.
The head of the Border Force at Heathrow, Mr. Marc Owen, described the case as shocking. “Thanks to the close co-operation between Border Force, the Metropolitan Police and staff at the British High Commission they were stopped and we were able to bring them to justice,” he said.
The leader of the investigation team, Detective Inspector Kate Bridger, said the couple tried to circumvent the adoption system and deceive the authorities.
“A child should not be treated as a commodity to be bought and sold," she said, adding that the system is in place to protect children. The child has remained in Nigeria.
Heap, an expert on Nigeria, works with companies trying to forge international trade links. His wife is a nurse.
Heap has a BA in History from Cambridge University, an MA in African Studies from the University of London and a PhD in History from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria. He also studied History at Oxford University.
He has previously worked as a researcher for child rights organisation, Plan International; a fellow at the University of Ibadan and is currently a senior researcher at the development agency Japan International Cooperation Agency.
The couple was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for 12 months, and 250 hours of community service after pleading guilty on April 16, 2013.
Gladys aged 52 and her husband, 47, had entered Nigeria in July 2010 and had gone to the British High Commission in Lagos to apply for a British passport for the baby girl claiming Gladys had a baby just a few days after entering the country.
According to the British High Commission in Abuja, the staff at the High Commission were however suspicious.
"...DNA tests later confirmed that neither adult was related to the child. A birth certificate they had presented was also found to be fraudulent. They flew home without the baby," the statement issued in Abuja yesterday said.
Although the statement was silent on how the couple came about the child, it implied that the child may have been purchased.
Following an investigation by a joint Border Force and Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), the couple was arrested and charged with facilitating a breach of immigration law. They were sentenced by the Isleworth Crown Court.
The head of the Border Force at Heathrow, Mr. Marc Owen, described the case as shocking. “Thanks to the close co-operation between Border Force, the Metropolitan Police and staff at the British High Commission they were stopped and we were able to bring them to justice,” he said.
The leader of the investigation team, Detective Inspector Kate Bridger, said the couple tried to circumvent the adoption system and deceive the authorities.
“A child should not be treated as a commodity to be bought and sold," she said, adding that the system is in place to protect children. The child has remained in Nigeria.
Heap, an expert on Nigeria, works with companies trying to forge international trade links. His wife is a nurse.
Heap has a BA in History from Cambridge University, an MA in African Studies from the University of London and a PhD in History from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria. He also studied History at Oxford University.
He has previously worked as a researcher for child rights organisation, Plan International; a fellow at the University of Ibadan and is currently a senior researcher at the development agency Japan International Cooperation Agency.
Monday, April 22, 2013
Video - scores killed in Northern Nigeria
Al Jazeera's Ahmed Idris reports on fighting in northern Nigeria that left nearly 200 people dead.
Nigerian doctor wins World Environment Day Blogging Contest
A 24-year-old doctor and environmentalist from Nigeria has won the 2013 World Environment Day blogging competition after picking up almost half of close to 70,000 votes cast in an online vote organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Charles Immanuel Akhimien was one of ten short-listed bloggers whose entries were posted on the World Environment Day website (www.unep.org/wed) where WED followers could choose their favourite entry. After securing first place with over 31,000 votes, Charles will travel to Mongolia in June 2013 to report on World Environment Day (WED) 2013.
"As a doctor, I have found that the state of our environment is directly related to our personal health, so I have decided to champion environmental issues," said Mr. Akhimien
"I look forward to seeing some of the two million trees planted across Mongolia's vast desert regions since 2011, and to observe how Mongolia is using renewable energy by exploiting its huge solar power potential," he added.
Over 100 international bloggers submitted entries to this year's UNEP competition on the theme of food waste. The competition was held in support of the 'Think.Eat.Save. Reduce Your Foodprint! campaign launched by UNEP,the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and other partners earlier this year. Food waste and food loss is also the theme of WED 2013.
For the final phase of the competition, Mr. Akhimien wrote a blog on the role of social media in encouraging sustainable consumption.
His winning entry is available on the WED website: http://www.unep.org/wed/blog-competition/bloggers/blog/?blogger=charles
Previous winners of the WED Blogging Competition have reported from Rwanda, India and Brazil.
World Environment Day - organized by UNEP - is the single biggest day for positive action on the environment worldwide. It is celebrated each year on 5 June. Organizations and individuals across the world are encouraged to carry out an environmental activity in support of WED.
More information is available at: www.unep.org/wed/
Updates on WED 2013 are also available on UNEP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Look out for the hashtags #WED2013 and #ThinkEatSave .
Charles Immanuel Akhimien was one of ten short-listed bloggers whose entries were posted on the World Environment Day website (www.unep.org/wed) where WED followers could choose their favourite entry. After securing first place with over 31,000 votes, Charles will travel to Mongolia in June 2013 to report on World Environment Day (WED) 2013.
"As a doctor, I have found that the state of our environment is directly related to our personal health, so I have decided to champion environmental issues," said Mr. Akhimien
"I look forward to seeing some of the two million trees planted across Mongolia's vast desert regions since 2011, and to observe how Mongolia is using renewable energy by exploiting its huge solar power potential," he added.
Over 100 international bloggers submitted entries to this year's UNEP competition on the theme of food waste. The competition was held in support of the 'Think.Eat.Save. Reduce Your Foodprint! campaign launched by UNEP,the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and other partners earlier this year. Food waste and food loss is also the theme of WED 2013.
For the final phase of the competition, Mr. Akhimien wrote a blog on the role of social media in encouraging sustainable consumption.
His winning entry is available on the WED website: http://www.unep.org/wed/blog-competition/bloggers/blog/?blogger=charles
Previous winners of the WED Blogging Competition have reported from Rwanda, India and Brazil.
World Environment Day - organized by UNEP - is the single biggest day for positive action on the environment worldwide. It is celebrated each year on 5 June. Organizations and individuals across the world are encouraged to carry out an environmental activity in support of WED.
More information is available at: www.unep.org/wed/
Updates on WED 2013 are also available on UNEP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Look out for the hashtags #WED2013 and #ThinkEatSave .
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