Danny Glover in Nigeria to film Nigerian movie about the ebola outbreak

U.S. actor Danny Glover said Thursday that he is in Nigeria to star in a movie based on people who risked and sacrificed their lives to stop the spread of Ebola in Africa's most populous country.

Glover said he is proud to take part in the film, called "93 Days," because of the achievements made by the real-life characters. Nigerian actress Bimbo Akintola will portray Dr. Stella Ameyo Adadevoh, who along with her team diagnosed the first Ebola case in Nigeria.

Adadevoh put the patient under quarantine, and stubbornly refused to discharge the Liberian man who was sick with the infection despite pressure.

Adadevoh eventually died along with three other hospital staff that had contracted the disease. Her actions ensured that the fast-spreading viral infection was quickly contained.

Glover will portray the director of the hospital where Adadevoh worked.

Akintola said the movie is a story of how Nigeria— a country where many institutions have weakened due to endemic corruption and ethnic strife — triumphed over the spread of Ebola, which ravaged her West African neighbors of Guinea, Sierra-Leone and Liberia.

"Nigerians acted as one. There was nothing about you being from different ethnicity or different political party, it was about Nigerians just standing up and doing this incredible thing for Nigeria," Akintola said.

She said the movie will be about courage in the face of death. "The doctors at First Consult (hospital) didn't ask for an Ebola patient. They weren't expecting it. But they stood up to the plate when it turned out the patient had Ebola. No one run away. That is courage in the face of death," Akintola said.

About 12,000 people fly out of Nigeria daily to different corners of the globe, Akintola said, adding that an Ebola outbreak in Nigeria would have had a devastating effect on the world.

According to the World Health Organization, news of the first Ebola case in Nigeria on July 23 last year rocked public health communities all around the world.

"Nigeria is Africa's most populous country and its newest economic powerhouse. For a disease outbreak, it is also a powder keg. The number of people living in Lagos — around 21 million — is almost as large as the populations of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone combined," WHO said last year in a publication about the outbreak.

Lagos also is characterized by a large population living in crowded and unsanitary conditions in many slums, it said.

Thousands of people move in and out of Lagos, Africa's largest city, every day, constantly looking for work or markets for their products in a busy metropolis with frequent traffic gridlocks, said WHO, adding that officials were worried how they would manage to trace people who had come into contact with persons infected with Ebola in order place them in isolation.

"The last thing anyone in the world wants to hear is the two words, 'Ebola' and 'Lagos' in the same sentence," said WHO, quoting Jeffrey Hawkins, the United States Consul General in Nigeria at the time.


AP

Video - Nigeria prison reforming Boko Haram members

Nigeria has launched several programmes to try and reform captured members of the Boko Haram group.

The violent extremist group has been active in the north-east of the country, as well as across the border in Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

Video - World Bank gives Nigeria money to rebuild after Boko Haram attacks

The World Bank is considering a 2.1 billion dollar loan to rebuild infrastructure in the northeast state of Nigeria that has been strongly affected by the Boko Haram insurgency. Boko Haram militants may have destroyed infrastructure worth over a billion dollars in the Nigerian state of Borno, since the group's insurgency began six years ago.

Nigerian military says it has wiped out all Boko Haram camps

The Nigerian military on Wednesday said it has destroyed all known Boko Haram terrorists’ camps and cells in the North East.

The Defence spokesperson, Rabe Abubakar, said this at his maiden news conference, adding that the camps were destroyed by troops operating in the region.

Mr. Abubakar said the terrorists have been “so militarily defeated and weakened” that they can never hold any part of the territory in that part of the country.

He said, “These terrorists have been subdued. Even if they are adopting other means and as they are re-strategising, we are also doing same.”

The defence spokesperson said the military had been coordinating air and ground assault to make sure that terrorists’ hideouts are completely decimated.

“As I am speaking to you, all the terrorists’ camps have completely been wiped out. So, right now they are completely in disarray, having no command and control of where to plan. We have even taken over the camps that most of them have even abandoned their bases and blended within towns and communities,” Mr. Abubakar said.

He also said some of the terrorists had been apprehended.

“We are making a lot of headways and a lot of achievements and people should know that Boko Haram is no longer strong enough to hold ground. Very soon this issue of whether they are in control of any territory in Nigeria or not will come to the open,” he said.

Mr. Abubakar, a colonel, assured Nigerians that no territory in the country will be taken captive by the insurgents.

He also said that significant progress has been made due to various strategies including morale boosting of troops by the chief of army staff, Tukur Burutai.

Mr. Abubakar said, “the issue of desertion, complaints of non-equipment and lack of morale and motivation are now things of the past”.

He noted that emphasis are now placed on credible training and retraining on the sanctity of human rights and protection of the combatants in the battle fields.

Premium Times

Video - New Super Eagles coach Sunday Oliseh records first win

Ahmed Musa opened the scoring with a penalty 10 minutes in before Moses Simon bagged his first international goal.

Nigeria claimed the first win of Sunday Oliseh's tenure on Tuesday as they saw off Niger in a 2-0 friendly victory at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium.

Former Eagles ace Oliseh took charge in July and saw his spell at the helm get off to a disappointing start with a goalless draw against Tanzania earlier this month.

However, CSKA Moscow man Ahmed Musa struck from the spot before Moses Simon wrapped up the friendly win in Port Harcourt with his first Nigeria goal.

Musa carried Nigeria's main threat early on, testing Daouda Kassaly with a shot from distance before Anthony Ujah caused the visitors' defence more serious problems, earning a penalty 10 minutes in.

That was duly dispatched by Musa, but Nigeria struggled to consolidate their advantage until seven minutes from time when substitute Simon put the game to bed.

Having replaced Musa shortly after the hour, Simon latched onto a sloppy clearance to beat Kassaly with a fierce drive from inside the area, opening his international account in the process.

Oliseh's men now turn their attentions to their African Nations Championship first-round play-off with Burkina Faso in October.

GOAL