Nigerian authorities say they have confirmed a second case of Ebola in Africa's most populous country, an alarming development after a man who flew by plane to the country died of Ebola.
Nigerian Health Minister Onyebuchi Chukwu said Monday that the second person with Ebola is a doctor who had helped treat Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian-American man who died of Ebola in late July.
Sawyer, who was traveling to Nigeria on business, became ill while aboard a flight and Nigerian authorities immediately took him into isolation. They did not quarantine his fellow passengers, and have insisted that the risk of additional cases was minimal.
Nigeria is the fourth country to report Ebola cases and more than 700 people have died in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
Cremation ordered for Liberian victims
Meanwhile, the Liberian government is ordering that all corpses of Ebola victims must be cremated as fears rise that the disease could be spread by bodies being buried in residential areas.
Information Minister Lewis Brown announced Monday on state radio that authorities now will cremate the remains of Ebola victims.
The order comes after a tense standoff erupted over the weekend when health workers tried to bury more than 20 Ebola victims on the outskirts of Monrovia.
Authorities said military police officers were called in to help restore order so that the burials could take place.
West Africa is experiencing the largest recorded Ebola outbreak in history, with at least 729 deaths blamed on the disease. Many contracted the disease by touching the bodies of victims as is tradition at funerals.
CBC
Related story: Nigeria possibly has first ebola case
Nigeria racing to contain ebola outbreak after virus kills Liberian in Lagos
Monday, August 4, 2014
Friday, August 1, 2014
President Goodluck Jonathan appoints new Police Chief
President Goodluck Jonathan has approved the appointment of AIG Suleiman Abba as the new Inspector‑General of Police.
A statement by Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said AIG Abba, currently the Assistant Inspector‑General of Police in charge of Zone 7, comprising Abuja, Kaduna and Niger states, replaces the incumbent Inspector‑General of Police, IGP Mohammed Abubakar, who proceeds on statutory retirement today (yesterday) having completed 35 years in service.
Suleiman Abba:
"The incoming Inspector‑General, a lawyer, hails from Jigawa State and is an alumnus of the Nigerian Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, NIPSS. Positions previously held by him in the Police include Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department, FCT Command, Deputy Force Secretary and Commissioner of Police, Rivers State. His appointment is with effect from today, August 1, 2014″
The Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Sir Mike Mbama Okiro in a congratulatory message to the new IGP said it was a deserved appointment.
In a statement by Mr. Ferdinand Ekpe, Assistant Director, Information of the commission, Okiro advised him to rise up to the challenges of his new appointment, noting that as a tested officer who had held various Command positions in the Nigeria Police Force, he had no doubt he (Abba) would bring new perspectives in the search for solutions to the security threats confronting the nation.
Until his appointment, Abba was the Assistant Inspector‑General of Police in Charge of Zone 7, Abuja.
He formerly served as the Deputy Force Secretary at Force headquarters and Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Kebbi State Police Command. He was also the Aide de Camp to Mrs. Mariam Abacha. He was also at one time, the officer in charge MOPOL 44 Abuja.
It will be recalled that Vanguard had exclusively reported, yesterday, that President Goodluck Jonathan and the Police council made up of the 36 state governors and the Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Sir Mike Mbama Okiro (IGP, rtd) settled for the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 7, Mr. Suleiman Abba as the next Inspector General of Police when incumbent, Mohammed Dahiru Abubakar retires after attaining the mandatory 35 years in service by 31st of this month.
The out-going Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar and his successor had earlier met with President Jonathan at the Presidential Villa.
The duo met with the president for less than 20 minutes before driving out of the Presidential Villa. They declined to speak with the press as they drove out together.
Vanguard
A statement by Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said AIG Abba, currently the Assistant Inspector‑General of Police in charge of Zone 7, comprising Abuja, Kaduna and Niger states, replaces the incumbent Inspector‑General of Police, IGP Mohammed Abubakar, who proceeds on statutory retirement today (yesterday) having completed 35 years in service.
Suleiman Abba:
"The incoming Inspector‑General, a lawyer, hails from Jigawa State and is an alumnus of the Nigerian Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, NIPSS. Positions previously held by him in the Police include Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of the Criminal Investigation Department, FCT Command, Deputy Force Secretary and Commissioner of Police, Rivers State. His appointment is with effect from today, August 1, 2014″
The Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Sir Mike Mbama Okiro in a congratulatory message to the new IGP said it was a deserved appointment.
In a statement by Mr. Ferdinand Ekpe, Assistant Director, Information of the commission, Okiro advised him to rise up to the challenges of his new appointment, noting that as a tested officer who had held various Command positions in the Nigeria Police Force, he had no doubt he (Abba) would bring new perspectives in the search for solutions to the security threats confronting the nation.
Until his appointment, Abba was the Assistant Inspector‑General of Police in Charge of Zone 7, Abuja.
He formerly served as the Deputy Force Secretary at Force headquarters and Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Kebbi State Police Command. He was also the Aide de Camp to Mrs. Mariam Abacha. He was also at one time, the officer in charge MOPOL 44 Abuja.
It will be recalled that Vanguard had exclusively reported, yesterday, that President Goodluck Jonathan and the Police council made up of the 36 state governors and the Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Sir Mike Mbama Okiro (IGP, rtd) settled for the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 7, Mr. Suleiman Abba as the next Inspector General of Police when incumbent, Mohammed Dahiru Abubakar retires after attaining the mandatory 35 years in service by 31st of this month.
The out-going Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar and his successor had earlier met with President Jonathan at the Presidential Villa.
The duo met with the president for less than 20 minutes before driving out of the Presidential Villa. They declined to speak with the press as they drove out together.
Vanguard
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Nigerian forces find 10-year old girl strapped with bombs
Nigerian forces have arrested two Boko Haram suspects who were travelling with a 10-year-old girl with explosives strapped to her, the government said on Wednesday.
Government spokesman Mike Omeri said the suspects had been intercepted in a Honda CRV car travelling along a road in the north's Katsina state.
"Ten-year old Hadiza was discovered to have been strapped with an explosive belt and, immediately, Iliya and Zainab made attempt to escape with the car, but were later blocked by other concerned Nigerians and subsequently arrested," he said.
Reuters
Related stories: Female suicide bombers kill 3 in Kano, Nigeria
Video - The state of Nigerian governance and Boko Haram
Government spokesman Mike Omeri said the suspects had been intercepted in a Honda CRV car travelling along a road in the north's Katsina state.
"Ten-year old Hadiza was discovered to have been strapped with an explosive belt and, immediately, Iliya and Zainab made attempt to escape with the car, but were later blocked by other concerned Nigerians and subsequently arrested," he said.
Reuters
Related stories: Female suicide bombers kill 3 in Kano, Nigeria
Video - The state of Nigerian governance and Boko Haram
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Video - Getting people reading in Nigeria
It's no news that the reading culture is dying in Nigeria. People no longer read as they used in the past and the cinema is much now preferred to the library. But one small start-up is embarking on the audacious mission to revive the reading culture in Nigeria by taking the library to people’s homes.
US Senators want Nigeria sanctioned for anti-gay law
Ten senators of the United States (US) are seeking sanctions against Nigeria, over what they described as “a growing trend of laws and proposed legislation targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals in Africa.”
In a letter to President Barack Obama, published by The Cable, the senators were seeking a review of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which allowed for duty-free treatment of certain imports from Nigeria and other sub-Saharan African countries since 2000.
“We, therefore, ask that your administration review Nigeria and Uganda’s eligibility for AGOA’s trade preference and, if it is determined that those countries are not ‘making continual progress’ in meeting the statute’s requirements, that you take steps to revoke AGOA eligibility to Nigeria and Uganda, in accordance with 19 USC 2466a(a)(3),” the senators stated.
The senators believed that the enacted Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act by Nigeria in January and the enforcement of these laws would be a human rights abuse, in violation of the standards set forth in the AGOA.
“These laws, combined with the growing public vitriol by government officials and the media, threaten to usher in an era of widespread oppression of the LGBT community in many African countries.
“We believe that the discriminatory anti-LGBT laws in those countries represent a clear violation of human rights and hope that the interagency process charged with AGOA’s annual review will make this recommendation. We further ask that you not restore eligibility until these beneficiary countries have taken steps to eliminate harsh penalties for LGBT persons,” the senators said.
The senators, according to the letter published in The Cable, are Christopher S. Murphy, Tammy Baldwin, Martin Heinrich, Richard Blumenthal, Barbara Boxer, Al Franken, Kirsten Gillibrand, Edward Markey, Sherrod Brown and Mark E. Udall.
Tribune
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Wole Soyinka advises anti-gay bill legislators to go back to school
Video - Nigeria's anti-gay law denounced
In a letter to President Barack Obama, published by The Cable, the senators were seeking a review of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which allowed for duty-free treatment of certain imports from Nigeria and other sub-Saharan African countries since 2000.
“We, therefore, ask that your administration review Nigeria and Uganda’s eligibility for AGOA’s trade preference and, if it is determined that those countries are not ‘making continual progress’ in meeting the statute’s requirements, that you take steps to revoke AGOA eligibility to Nigeria and Uganda, in accordance with 19 USC 2466a(a)(3),” the senators stated.
The senators believed that the enacted Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act by Nigeria in January and the enforcement of these laws would be a human rights abuse, in violation of the standards set forth in the AGOA.
“These laws, combined with the growing public vitriol by government officials and the media, threaten to usher in an era of widespread oppression of the LGBT community in many African countries.
“We believe that the discriminatory anti-LGBT laws in those countries represent a clear violation of human rights and hope that the interagency process charged with AGOA’s annual review will make this recommendation. We further ask that you not restore eligibility until these beneficiary countries have taken steps to eliminate harsh penalties for LGBT persons,” the senators said.
The senators, according to the letter published in The Cable, are Christopher S. Murphy, Tammy Baldwin, Martin Heinrich, Richard Blumenthal, Barbara Boxer, Al Franken, Kirsten Gillibrand, Edward Markey, Sherrod Brown and Mark E. Udall.
Tribune
Related stories: Law against homosexuality passes into law today in Nigeria
Wole Soyinka advises anti-gay bill legislators to go back to school
Video - Nigeria's anti-gay law denounced
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