The Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, on Wednesday described the Ebola outbreak in the country as a “national emergency’’. Mr. Chukwu made the statement at an emergency meeting convened by the House of Representatives Committee on Health over the Ebola outbreak in Abuja.
He said that out of six Nigerians diagnosed with the Ebola virus, one died on Tuesday while the five others were receiving treatment. The minister said that everyone in the world now was at risk, adding that the experience of Nigeria had opened the “eyes” of the world to the reality of Ebola.
Mr. Chukwu faulted a report on the curative powers of bitter kola on Ebola. According to him, there was no empirical evidence to show that bitter kola will prevent or cure Ebola. Commenting on the issue, the Project Director, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Abdulsalami Nasidi, disclosed that 70 Nigerians were currently under surveillance for the disease.
Mr. Nasidi said Patrick Sawyer arrived Nigeria about two weeks ago, had 70 primary and secondary registered contacts of which 39 were hospital contacts and 22 airport contacts. Mr. Sawyer’s contacts, it was disclosed, comprised officers of the State Security Service, Nigerian Immigration Service, airport support personnel and medical personnel that attended to him.
The Director, Port Health Services in the Health Ministry, Sani Gwarzo, said restrictions had been placed on the repatriation of corpses of Nigerians abroad into the country. He said that this was part of efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak in Nigeria. Mr. Gwarzo said that more personnel were required by the health ministry to man and screen travellers at the country’s several travel points.
Earlier, the Chairman, House Committee on Health, Ndudi Elumelu, said the committee reconvened to find out how many Nigerians were infected with the Ebola virus. He explained that the committee also sought to know what the ministry was doing to curb the spread of the virus. According to him, Ebola is what most Nigerians are currently worried about and measures must be taken to protect Nigerians.
Premium Times
Related stories: 2nd ebola case confirmed in Nigeria
Nigeria racing to contain ebola outbreak after virus kills Liberian in Lagos
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Footage appears to show Nigerian soldiers slitting throats of suspected Boko Haram militants
Footage obtained by human rights group Amnesty International and released on Tuesday appears to show Nigerian soldiers slitting the throats of Boko Haram suspects and dumping their bodies in a mass grave.
Nigeria's military is battling an increasingly vicious Islamist insurgency by Boko Haram, which wants to carve an Islamic state out of religiously mixed Nigeria. But its forces frequently come repeatedly under fire for human rights abuses, including torture and extrajudicial killings they usually deny.
It was not possible to independently verify the video, which also includes images of suspects being pulled off the back of trucks and beaten by soldiers and allied civilian militias.
Amnesty said the extrajudicial killings occurred shortly after Boko Haram's attack on a detention center in Giwa Barracks, in the northeastern city of Maiduguri, on March 14.
Nigerian Defence spokesman Major-General Chris Olukolade, who normally bristles at suggestions of abuses by Nigerian soldiers, said in at statement that "the military authorities view these grave allegations very seriously.
"Much as the scenes depicted in this video are alien to our operations and doctrines, it has to be investigated to ensure that such practices have not crept, surreptitiously, into the system," Olukolade said.
He emphasized that such behavior would be counter to the training Nigerian troops are given.
"That level of barbarism and impunity has no place in the Nigerian military. Respect for the sanctity of life is always boldly emphasized in our doctrinal training," he said.
In the most gruesome of the videos, suspects are kept to one side while graves are dug. Then the grave is shown half-full of bodies. A half-naked man is pulled from a truck and held down while a man in military uniform slices his neck open with a combat knife, hurling his body into the pit. The scene is repeated with another suspect on the same bloodied patch at the edge of grave.
The footage comes a week after Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau released a video of his fighters beheading a Nigerian soldier -- a standard practice for the militants. Amnesty's report also shows the aftermath of a Boko Haram attack on a village that the rights group said had killed 100 people.
Amnesty said 4,000 people had been killed in the conflict this year.
A military operation since May last year has aimed to crush the rebels. But they have proved remarkably resilient and have struck back in attacks that increasingly target the civilian population, killing hundreds.
"This shocking new evidence is further proof of the appalling crimes being committed with abandon by all sides in the conflict ... what does it say when members of the military carry out such unspeakable acts and capture the images on film?" said Salil Shetty, Amnesty International's secretary general.
"Numerous testimonies we have gathered suggest that extrajudicial executions are, in fact, regularly carried out by the Nigerian military," she added.
Rights groups argue that such acts by the military are not only wrong but counter-productive, as they fuel much of the anger that has helped drive the insurgency over the past five years. It is also a primary reason cited by U.S. and British forces for not giving Nigeria more counter-insurgency support.
Boko Haram was a largely non-violent clerical movement against Western culture until the killing of its founder, Mohammed Yusuf, in police custody transformed it into a full- scale armed rebellion.
Olukolade said forensic experts would study the footage "in order to ascertain the veracity of the claims with a view to identifying those behind such acts. This will ... stimulate necessary legal action against any personnel or anyone found culpable in accordance with the provisions of the law."
Reuters
Related story: Video - The state of Nigerian governance and Boko Haram
Nigeria's military is battling an increasingly vicious Islamist insurgency by Boko Haram, which wants to carve an Islamic state out of religiously mixed Nigeria. But its forces frequently come repeatedly under fire for human rights abuses, including torture and extrajudicial killings they usually deny.
It was not possible to independently verify the video, which also includes images of suspects being pulled off the back of trucks and beaten by soldiers and allied civilian militias.
Amnesty said the extrajudicial killings occurred shortly after Boko Haram's attack on a detention center in Giwa Barracks, in the northeastern city of Maiduguri, on March 14.
Nigerian Defence spokesman Major-General Chris Olukolade, who normally bristles at suggestions of abuses by Nigerian soldiers, said in at statement that "the military authorities view these grave allegations very seriously.
"Much as the scenes depicted in this video are alien to our operations and doctrines, it has to be investigated to ensure that such practices have not crept, surreptitiously, into the system," Olukolade said.
He emphasized that such behavior would be counter to the training Nigerian troops are given.
"That level of barbarism and impunity has no place in the Nigerian military. Respect for the sanctity of life is always boldly emphasized in our doctrinal training," he said.
In the most gruesome of the videos, suspects are kept to one side while graves are dug. Then the grave is shown half-full of bodies. A half-naked man is pulled from a truck and held down while a man in military uniform slices his neck open with a combat knife, hurling his body into the pit. The scene is repeated with another suspect on the same bloodied patch at the edge of grave.
The footage comes a week after Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau released a video of his fighters beheading a Nigerian soldier -- a standard practice for the militants. Amnesty's report also shows the aftermath of a Boko Haram attack on a village that the rights group said had killed 100 people.
Amnesty said 4,000 people had been killed in the conflict this year.
A military operation since May last year has aimed to crush the rebels. But they have proved remarkably resilient and have struck back in attacks that increasingly target the civilian population, killing hundreds.
"This shocking new evidence is further proof of the appalling crimes being committed with abandon by all sides in the conflict ... what does it say when members of the military carry out such unspeakable acts and capture the images on film?" said Salil Shetty, Amnesty International's secretary general.
"Numerous testimonies we have gathered suggest that extrajudicial executions are, in fact, regularly carried out by the Nigerian military," she added.
Rights groups argue that such acts by the military are not only wrong but counter-productive, as they fuel much of the anger that has helped drive the insurgency over the past five years. It is also a primary reason cited by U.S. and British forces for not giving Nigeria more counter-insurgency support.
Boko Haram was a largely non-violent clerical movement against Western culture until the killing of its founder, Mohammed Yusuf, in police custody transformed it into a full- scale armed rebellion.
Olukolade said forensic experts would study the footage "in order to ascertain the veracity of the claims with a view to identifying those behind such acts. This will ... stimulate necessary legal action against any personnel or anyone found culpable in accordance with the provisions of the law."
Reuters
Related story: Video - The state of Nigerian governance and Boko Haram
Sammy Ameobi wants to play for the Nigeria Super Eagles
Sammy Ameobi has admitted he wants to play for Nigeria at international level.
The Newcastle United youngster is keen to follow in the footsteps of big brother Shola and represent the Super Eagles.
The Chronicle were first to report on June 18 that Ameobi was considering scrapping ties with the English FA - after playing for the Three Lions Under-21s - to play for Nigeria.
He said today in Punch: “It will be a great honour to play for Nigeria. I would love it.
“I have seen how it has been with my brother and the World Cup was a great experience, which I would love to experience and help make sure Nigeria participates in again.”
Ameobi though knows Newcastle is his priority in the coming weeks.
He added: “I am in the last year of my contract with Newcastle and I have to start it with a bang. I am no longer a kid.
“I have had a lot of injuries which I am hoping I have gotten over now, so I need to play very well to either get a new contract with Newcastle or be able to make a good move elsewhere.”
Ameobi also said Shola was on hand to offer him advice.
He said: “He has always been there for me.
“Whenever I needed advice, he would volunteer it; and also when I tried to make moves that might have derailed my career, he was quick to pull me back on track.
“It is great to have a proper professional as an older brother.”
Chronicle
The Newcastle United youngster is keen to follow in the footsteps of big brother Shola and represent the Super Eagles.
The Chronicle were first to report on June 18 that Ameobi was considering scrapping ties with the English FA - after playing for the Three Lions Under-21s - to play for Nigeria.
He said today in Punch: “It will be a great honour to play for Nigeria. I would love it.
“I have seen how it has been with my brother and the World Cup was a great experience, which I would love to experience and help make sure Nigeria participates in again.”
Ameobi though knows Newcastle is his priority in the coming weeks.
He added: “I am in the last year of my contract with Newcastle and I have to start it with a bang. I am no longer a kid.
“I have had a lot of injuries which I am hoping I have gotten over now, so I need to play very well to either get a new contract with Newcastle or be able to make a good move elsewhere.”
Ameobi also said Shola was on hand to offer him advice.
He said: “He has always been there for me.
“Whenever I needed advice, he would volunteer it; and also when I tried to make moves that might have derailed my career, he was quick to pull me back on track.
“It is great to have a proper professional as an older brother.”
Chronicle
Monday, August 4, 2014
Video - Nigeria institutes measures to counter Boko Haram
Nigeria is launching a new string of programmes aimed at ending the Boko Haram threat, through ideology. They include anti-radicalist school initiatives and reform programmes for convicted Boko Haram members.
Related story: Video - The state of Nigerian governance and Boko Haram
Nigerian consumption of U.S. refined petroleum rising
Nigeria is now importing almost as much crude, from the United States (US) as it exports to the world’s largest economy.
The US ships refined-petroleum cargoes like gasoline and kerosene to Nigeria, with May figures from US Energy Department data showing shipments hit the highest volumes ever.
Meanwhile in the past five years the Americans have reduced the amount of crude it buys from Africa’s largest economy, currently getting less than 2 percent of its oil from Nigeria, compared with 7 percent in 2011.
First the U.S. shale-oil boom took away the country’s biggest crude-export market. Now Nigeria is dependent on American fuel to power its automobiles and aircrafts.
Business Day
The US ships refined-petroleum cargoes like gasoline and kerosene to Nigeria, with May figures from US Energy Department data showing shipments hit the highest volumes ever.
Meanwhile in the past five years the Americans have reduced the amount of crude it buys from Africa’s largest economy, currently getting less than 2 percent of its oil from Nigeria, compared with 7 percent in 2011.
First the U.S. shale-oil boom took away the country’s biggest crude-export market. Now Nigeria is dependent on American fuel to power its automobiles and aircrafts.
Business Day
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)