Naval personnel kills girlfriend in Lagos

A Naval officer allegedly stabbed his girlfriend to death, over the weekend, at the Nigerian Navy Base, Ojo, Lagos State.
The officer, Harry, stabbed his girlfriend, who was also a naval personnel called Itoya, over claims of infidelity.
Itoya met her death when her boyfriend, who had just returned from a Joint Task Force mission in Jos, Plateau State, stabbed her severally while she was asleep in their apartment.
After stabbing her, Harry stabbed himself. Neighbours who heard screams from the apartment rushed in and found Itoya lying in a pool of blood.
While neighbours were taking her to a Naval hospital in the base, she died. Sources at the NNS Wey, Ojo Naval Base said that Harry, who sustained injuries, has been placed under arrest at the Nigerian Naval Reference Hospital, Ojo.

Norway mass killer in open court hearing

Breikik





The man who confessed to killing 77 people in Norway in July has made his first public appearance in court, the BBC reports.
Anders Behring Breivik, dressed in a dark suit, appeared in court in Oslo before survivors of the attacks, relatives of his victims and reporters.
The 32-year-old right-wing extremist has been in custody since the July 22 attacks in Oslo and at a youth camp on the island of Utoeya.
Previous hearings on his continued detention have been held in private.

The BBC says the atmosphere in the courtroom had been tense and strange.
According to the BBC, about 30 survivors and relatives of the victims attended the hearing, and the defendant looked them straight in the eye when he entered.
Breivik appeared very calm and professional, but was stopped by the judge as he attempted to read out a prepared statement.
Breivik has admitted to the July killings but denies criminal responsibility - saying the massacre was "necessary" to save Norway and Europe from Muslims and multiculturalism.
In the days after the attacks, in which 151 people were also injured, he had reportedly been hoping to explain his actions at a court hearing.
But although an open hearing was initially ordered, the decision was later overruled by a higher court after police appealed against it.
A police request that Breivik address his remand hearings via a video link from prison was rejected by Norway's Supreme Court on Friday, allowing his court appearances to be held in public.
The judge in Monday's hearing remanded Breivik in custody for a further 12 weeks but relaxed the conditions of his solitary confinement.

Police apologise over murders of Diane and Holly Fallon

Fallon and her mother Diane





Strathclyde Police have apologised for their handling of sex offender Thomas Smith, who murdered a mother and her 10-year-old daughter in Ayrshire.
Smith killed Diane Fallon and daughter Holly in Cronberry in March 2009.
An independent review was commissioned after it emerged the killer was a registered sex offender who was living next door to the family.
The force said it was sorry he was able to murder Diane and Holly "while we had responsibility for managing him".
The independent case review said "more robust" management of Smith could have identified his "increasing risk".
Residents of the tiny East Ayrshire village, which has just 30 homes, were not told that Smith, a former soldier, had been jailed for six months in 2006 for sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl on Teeside.
Strathclyde Police did know that Smith was a registered sex offender but the report said they failed to assess whether his address was suitable and struggled to monitor him.
In particular officers missed opportunities to uncover violence against young women and contact with children which may have led to Smith's arrest before the murders.
The Serious Case Review report, by Robert Thomson of the Lothian and Borders Community Justice Authority, said: "I cannot say that it would have prevented the murders of Diane and Holly Fallon, but potentially he may not have been in a position to commit these murders at that point in time.
"There were several missed investigative opportunities that should have resulted in Smith being subjected to greater police scrutiny, which may have resulted in a return to custody."

In response, Assistant Chief Constable George Hamilton, of Strathclyde Police, said he accepted the recommendations of the Significant Case Review.
He said: "It is our job to keep people safe. Doing this means that we have to manage people like Smith in our communities.
"I am sorry that he was able to murder Diane and Holly while we had responsibility for managing him.

Thomas Smith


Thomas Smith must serve a minimum of 32 years in prison
"I have met with the family of Diane and Holly Fallon, shared the findings of the report with them and I have made that apology directly to them.
"There are undoubtedly things that we could and should have done better."
Mr Hamilton said, as a result of the review process, "lessons have been learned and major improvements have been made".
The Significant Case Review noted that Smith's earlier conviction had shown he had "perpetrated two sexual assaults on different stranger children in different episodes on the same day".
The report said this was "very rare" and Strathclyde Police correctly identified Smith as "high risk".
Officers are... less likely to push the boundaries of their police powers in the established climate of litigation and complaint”
End Quote Significant Case Review
The review called for the police to be more "objective and informed" in risk assessments of sex offenders.
It also claimed that the "plausibility" given to Smith's denials of the first sex offence by the risk assessment may have "distracted" the officers who had the task of managing him.
The review said repeating the offender's version of events in the risk assessment was "not helpful or necessarily good practice".
The case review concluded that the police's offender management unit was "struggling to proactively manage" offenders with little managerial direction.
It also said it was "great concern" that key information was not added to the Scottish Intelligence Database.
In the report's conclusion, it said that registered sex offenders were "increasingly aware of their rights and the limited powers the police have in relation to their management".
It said: "Officers are personally discouraged from taking innovative action and are less likely to push the boundaries of their police powers in the established climate of litigation and complaint."
The review called on the Scottish government to boost police powers over sex offenders.
'Benchmark of depravity'
In total, the report made 34 recommendations.
It said more resources should be dedicated to monitoring convicted criminals; there should be a better system for sharing intelligence; and wider powers should be considered: perhaps allowing police to search sex offenders' properties without a warrant and examine their mobile phones.
Smith had been a neighbour of Ms Fallon and her daughter for just over a year when he murdered them.
Ms Fallon, 43, was brutally sexually assaulted and her daughter raped before having their necks compressed and being strangled with a ligature.
The victims' bodies were then dumped by Smith.
Jailing Smith, who is now 28, for life at the High Court in Glasgow, Judge Lord Turnbull told him: "You have set a benchmark of depravity below which it is difficult to imagine any other human being sinking."
The judge said he should serve at least 32 years before being eligible for parole.

Uganda man jailed for killing gay activist David Kato

David Kato


Sidney Nsubunga Enoch admitted in court that he had bludgeoned Mr Kato to death with a hammer, but alleged he had been provoked by sexual advances from him.
The murder sparked outrage, with Western governments calling on Uganda to legalise homosexuality.
Most Ugandans believe homosexuality is un-Christian and un-African.
School teacher
Mr Kato was killed after a newspaper published the names and addresses of people they said were gay or lesbian under the headline "Hang them".
David Kato took on the Rolling Stone which was publishing photos of men it identified as gay
He was a school teacher and gay rights activist who had led a campaign against a controversial bill which included the introduction of the death penalty for some homosexual acts.
After the murder, Uganda's parliament adjourned without debating it.
US President Barack Obama condemned the bill and donors have urged Uganda's government to ensure it never become law.
Last month, UK Prime Minister David Cameron said the UK would reduce aid to countries that refused to legalise homosexuality.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni adviser, John Nagenda, accused Mr Cameron of adopting a "bullying mentality" and of treating Ugandans like "children".
Homosexuality is illegal in most African countries.

Woman jailed for force-feding her baby to death

Gloria

A mother who force-fed her baby girl who later died has been jailed.
Gloria Dwomoh, a 31-year-old nurse from Walthamstow, London, was sent to prison for three years after being convicted of allowing or causing the death.
The 10-month-old, named in court as Diamond, was forced to take solid foods from the age of six months. She died in March 2010.
The Old Bailey heard Diamond died from pneumonia caused by food in her lungs that had blocked her airways.
Dwomoh, who was convicted last month, had denied the charge.
The trial heard the defendant, who worked at St Thomas's Hospital near Waterloo, was obsessed with Diamond's weight and as she was weaning her on to solid food, used a jug to feed her liquidised food, including meat and cereals.
During the trial, Andrew Edis QC, prosecuting, said the food went down the "wrong way" for months and the spout of the jug was placed into the girl's mouth to "prevent her closing it".
"If you have a child who is distressed and choking, you do not carry on," he said.
During her trial, Dwomoh told the court she and her siblings had been fed the same way by her mother in Ghana.
"I didn't do anything to her," she told the jury. "I didn't do anything at all to hurt her."
However, the Common Serjeant of London, Judge Brian Barker, said forcing her daughter was against "her natural instincts" causing her "daily distress".
"At best it was a misguided obsession - but a determined obsession - which must have caused daily prolonged distress to your daughter," he said.
"It cannot be described as an act of kindness.
"It took away her life and that is something you must live with."
Mercy petition
Trevor Burke QC, for Dwomoh, told the court she had been "punished enough".
"She has endured the loss of her child for over a year," he said.
He presented the court with a 1,000-signature petition from family and friends pleading for mercy, and asked the judge to impose a suspended sentence.
Her supporters had demonstrated outside the the Old Bailey.
A serious case review found "weaknesses and shortcomings" in the actions of some agencies involved with the family, said Laura Eades, chair of Waltham Forest Safeguarding Children's Board.
"Had best practice had been followed, the risk to Diamond of force-feeding would have been better recognised and the family would have been offered further support and intervention," she said.
"This should have reduced the probability of Diamond being subject to behaviour that proved, in this case, to be fatal."
However, the report concluded Diamond's death "was not predictable".

Woman bags suspended sentence for biting her lovers testicle

Maria Topp

A mother of four who admitted biting her boyfriend's scrotum during a drunken row has been given a suspended jail term.
Maria Topp, 44, from Gateshead, attacked Martin Douglas at his Newcastle flat in February.
The 45-year-old DJ needed 19 stitches to a wound on his scrotum.
The recorder at Newcastle Crown Court handed Topp, of Aycliffe Place, Wrekenton, a 12-month sentence, suspended for 18 months.
He also ordered her to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work, and imposed a restraining order preventing her from contacting Mr Douglas.
Recorder Robin Mairs said: "This relationship is over, I think both of you accept that."
Topp had previously pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm.
That hearing was told that the pair, who had been in a relationship for about five years, had been drinking at the time of the attack, which Topp did not remember.
'Excruciatingly painful'
It was not clear what sparked the violence between the couple in the early hours of 18 February.
Police were called and found Mr Douglas with a wound to his scrotum which had left one of his testicles exposed.
He has since made a full recovery.
Recorder Mairs referred to the couple's "turbulent relationship" and said the pair must have been "blind drunk", after a sustained drinking session.
He said to Topp: "You bit his scrotum with enough force to rip his skin.
"It must have been excruciatingly painful."

Man buries day-old baby alive

A 30-year-old man, Garba Mohammed, was yesterday remanded in prison for the murder of a day old baby, by a Minna Chief Magistrate Court in Niger state.
Garba was said to have buried the child of his daughter, Hauwa Garba, on the grounds that she had the baby out of wedlock with no one claiming responsibility.
According to the First Information Report (FIR) filed before the court, 30-year-old Garba committed the offence, which is contrary to section 235 of the Penal Code, on October 18, 2011.
Garba, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges, insisting that the baby was already dead before it was buried.
The case was adjourned to December 7, as the prosecutor, Esther Philip, requested the court not to grant bail to the accused until proper investigations have been carried out.

culled from DAILYTIMES

Police nab man with N10m in counterfeit notes

Security officials in Yobe state have arrested a suspected fake Naira notes dealer.
Musa Kalamu, the 37-year-old suspect, was arrested by the Yobe State Police Command with about N10 million in counterfeit notes.
The State Commissioner of Police, Suleimon Lawal, who paraded the suspect, said Kalamu was arrested along Gujba road during the ongoing Pin-Down Operations embarked upon by the police, following the recent upsurge of violence in the state.
The Commissioner said the suspect, who was arrested while he was approaching a police check point, had dropped the bag containing the notes close to an innocent trader by the road. He said the police became suspicious, and after careful investigations, it was confirmed that the bag had fake currencies in it and Kalamu was apprehended.
Lawal, however, said that experts would be called in to examine the counterfeit notes which were in the N500 and N1,000 denominations.

culled from DAILYTIMES

Robbers attack five banks in Ogun varsity

Ogun State Police Commissioner, Nicholas Nkemdeme



Heavily armed suspected robbers struck at the permanent site of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State on Thursday, where no fewer than five banks were raided.
The bandits’ invasion was said to have disrupted the semester examination currently going on in the university.
The hoodlums, numbering 20, were said to have stormed the institution about 11.45am and carted away huge sums of money after their one hour of operation.
It was learnt that the armed robbers, who used explosives to break doors and windows, also vandalised four vehicles parked in the school premises.
It was learnt that the First City Monument Bank, Oceanic Bank, Skye Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank and Zenith Bank were the financial institutions in the university attacked by the bandits.
Unconfirmed reports said some students were hit by stray bullets while others lost their money and personal belongings in the ensuing confusion.
The Chairman, OOU chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Dr. Adesola Nassir, said he was on his way to the campus when he heard gun shots which forced him to make a quick detour.
It was learnt that no one was killed in the attack.
THE PUNCH gathered that the bandits operated unchallenged as security operatives attached to the banks fled for their dear lives apparently due to the superior firepower of the robbers.
A source said, “The armed robbers came at about 11:45am in a Toyota Hilux van. They were armed to the teeth and were shooting sporadically into the air. They attacked about five banks and at the end of the day, carted away millions of Naira.
“I can’t tell the number of students injured but some were hit by stray bullets while some lost their property and money in the process of running helter skelter. The security officials could not do anything; they were helpless as the robbers operated in the banks.
“They shot at four vehicles, one of the vehicles belong to a lecturer.
“But thank God, nobody has been confirmed dead as a result of the robbery attack.”
The university Public Relations Officer, Mr. Sam Oyeleye, confirmed the robbery but said only one student was injured during the incident.
Oyeleye added that the victim had already been rushed to an undisclosed hospital for medical attention.
The state Commissioner of Police, Nicholas Nkemdeme, was said to have visited the robbery scene.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi, confirmed the robbery.

culled from PUNCH

Bridegroom hangs self at Isiala Mbano four days to Wedding

tranquil rural community of Umuezealaegbe Umuduru in Isiala Mbano LGA of Imo State woke up Tuesday morning 25th October 2011 to a bizarre spectacle of the lifeless body of their 25 years old man, Mr. Adindu Ezeala dangling on a tree branch downhill the stream side.
According to family sources, Adindu’s disappearance from home was noticed a day before, but was not taken seriously since his motorcycle was properly parked in its usual place. But when night came and he did not return, a search party comprising mainly the youth of the village swung into action and combed all nook and crannies of the community and beyond, but he was nowhere to be found all night long. But when the search team returned in the morning to freshen up preparatory to another round of search, a younger brother to the deceased strolled to the back of their compound downhill to ease himself where he saw Adindu’s lifeless body hanging on a tree branch and raised an alarm.
Speaking with the Announcer Express, Mr. Lawrence Ezeala father of the deceased, disclosed that late Adindu worked at laterite sand depot Umuduru, describing him as taciturn and industrious, the grief-stricken father regretted that his late son died when his life was sweetest to him as the family had prepared to accompany him (the deceased) to his prospective in-laws next Thursday, four days before the incident, for the traditional marriage rites of his fiancée at Lokpa in Abia State.
He further spoke of how the late Adindu had, before embarking on the self-sent journey to eternity, left on a table in his room the sum of one hundred thousand naira ear-marked for the fiancées dowry; His motorcycle keys and bank note were there on the table too.
The absence of a suicide note, however, provided an avenue for wide speculations as to the reason for the seeming suicide. While some people suspect that he might have tested positive to the dreaded HIV as he might have been asked by his in-laws to prevent a HIV-clean bill as part of the requirements for the marriage rite; others hold the opinion that it was the spiritual manipulation of evil people as could be inferred from the proverbial exclamation of an elderly kinsman who said, “when a young man gathers more firewood than his mates, he is often accused of picking them from the evil forest” for others suicide should be ruled out as the deceased had things going in his favour and never knew frustration.
However, a team of policemen from Isiala Mbano Divisional Headquarters inspected the hanging dead body shortly before it burial in accordance with appropriate tradition of the land.


culled from ANNOUNCEREXPRESS

Kidnappers kill abducted herbalist

Kidnappers have reportedly killed Mr. Roland Iyida, a herbalist, who was abducted alongside Rev. Fr. Chijioke Amoke, parish priest of Onicha-Enugu in Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of the state.

The fate of Fr. Amoke, who was abducted last Wednesday by a kidnap gang who had first abducted the herbalist, hangs precariously in the balance as the church reaffirmed its stand that no ransom would be paid for his release, just as no assistance would be accepted from anyone who volunteers to pay the ransom.

The body of the herbalist was discovered inside the Anglican Church, Uda community in Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area by worshippers yesterday morning. A source told Daily Sun that the worshippers alerted the villagers and a report was made at the Ogrute Police Station. The DPO in charge of the station told Daily Sun that his men recovered the herbalist’s body and had since deposited it in the morgue in Ogrute. He declined further comments but said they had no information about the release of the priest.

Rev. Fr. Simon Ukwueze, contact between the priest, the kidnappers and the church, told Daily Sun on phone that the abducted priest had complained of weakness and loss of appetite. In a press statement issued by the Nsukka Catholic Diocese, signed by the Bishop, Most Rev. Dr. Francis Okobo, the church reiterated its stand on ransom, saying that it would not pay a dime and had not paid a dime as ransom for kidnapped clergies.

According to the statement entitled: Horrible kidnap of a Catholic Priest, Reverend Father Chijioke Amoke, “no ransom will be paid to free Fr. Chijioke and whoever tries to do such will be doing both ourselves and Fr. Chijioke more harm than good. We will not pay any ransom and we will not accept anyone pretending to be doing so on our behalf.

“We wish to remind the kidnappers that they can never hold Fr. Chijioke forever. They will surely release him either to us (church) and humanity or return him to God by killing him and thereby end the work God has given him here on earth.”


culled from SUN

Met Police chief inspector sacked over sex and drugs boast

A Metropolitan Police chief inspector has been sacked after boasting on a dating website of committing a sexual offence and taking drugs.
He was also found to have used his position to advertise himself online to meet sexual partners while in uniform.
The officer was dismissed for gross misconduct after a two-day hearing.
The Met and the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) refused to name the 46-year-old officer, who was based in central London.
An earlier investigation of the chief inspector by Kent Police did not find enough evidence to press criminal charges.
The IPCC said he told website users he was a serving police officer who had committed crimes including drug-taking and a sexual offence.
He is the third Metropolitan Police officer to be sacked in a month.
An constable was dismissed for mishandling 999 calls, while a sergeant was fired after he indecently assaulted a "vulnerable" teenager while on duty.
'Authority and trust'
The chief inspector was originally arrested by Kent Police last year and an internal Met investigation was launched.
At this point he had his duties restricted.
When Kent Police decided it was not proceeding with criminal charges, an internal disciplinary hearing was arranged, and this found he had committed gross misconduct.
IPCC commissioner Mike Franklin said: "Police officers, by virtue of the powers vested in them, hold positions of authority and trust in our communities.
"Those who discredit their role cannot expect to continue to serve the public and, as in this case, they should be dismissed."
Commander Peter Spindler, Scotland Yard's director of professional standards, said: "Officers and staff may believe that what they do online, whether on-duty or off-duty, is either anonymous or doesn't have any impact on others.
"We expect our employees to behave professionally, morally, ethically and with the utmost humility and integrity in all areas of their lives.
"Anything short of this will not be tolerated."

Boko Haram kills 63 in Nigeria

At least 63 people have been killed in bomb and gun attacks in the north-eastern Nigerian town of Damaturu, the Red Cross says.
Witnesses said the bombs hit several targets, including churches and the headquarters of the Yobe state police.
The Islamist militant group Boko Haram told a newspaper it was behind the attack and that it planned to hit further government targets.
A Nigerian journalist told the BBC he personally counted nearly 100 bodies.
"I saw 97 dead bodies in the morgue," Aminu Abubakar, who is in Damaturu, said.
"But an official involved in the evacuation told me that he counted 150 dead bodies although some had been taken away by their loved ones," he said.
'Greatly disturbed'President Goodluck Jonathan was "greatly disturbed" by the attack, and said his government was working hard to bring those "determined to derail peace and stability in the country to book", according to a spokesman.
A series of attacks on security forces in the nearby city of Maiduguri recently have also been blamed on Boko Haram.
Nigerian Red Cross official Ibrahim Bulama, in Damaturu, told the BBC at least 63 people had been killed there.
He said two other people had been killed in attacks elsewhere. News agencies said the nearby town of Potiskum had also been attacked.
The BBC's Jonah Fisher, in Nigeria's main commercial city, Lagos, says this attack appears to be Boko Haram's bloodiest strike to date.
An unnamed local government official in Damaturu was quoted by AFP news agency as saying that hundreds of wounded people were being treated in hospital.

Witnesses said the attacks began on Friday at about 18:30 (17:30 GMT) and lasted for about 90 minutes.
Gunmen then engaged in running battles with security forces.
'Church torched'
A Roman Catholic parish priest told our correspondent his church had been burnt down and eight other churches also attacked.

Boko Haram: Timeline of terror
• 2002: Founded
• 2009: Hundreds killed when Maiduguri police stations stormed
• 2009: Boko Haram leader Mohammed Yusuf captured by army, handed to police, later found dead
• Sep 2010: Freed hundreds of prisoners from Maiduguri jail
• Dec 2010: Bombed Jos, killing 80; blamed for New Year's Eve attack on Abuja barracks
• 2010-2011: Dozens killed in Maiduguri shootings
• May 2011: Bombed several states after president's inauguration
• Jun 2011: Police HQ bombed in Abuja
• Aug 2011: UN HQ bombed in Abuja
The attacks followed a triple suicide bomb attack on a military headquarters in Maiduguri, in neighbouring Borno state.
Military officials said the three attackers had died.
Boko Haram, which means "Western education is forbidden", has launched frequent attacks on the police and government officials.
A known spokesman for the group contacted called Nigeria's Daily Trust newspaper to say it carried out the attacks on Maiduguri and Damaturu.
"We will continue attacking federal government formations until security forces stop their excesses on our members and vulnerable civilians," he said.

Dumo Sibanda house fire murder: George Sithole jailed

George Sithole






A "jealous and possessive" man has been jailed for life for murdering a six-year-old girl who died in a Sussex house fire seven years ago.

George Sithole, 41, started the blaze which killed Dumo Sibanda after being upset that his relationship with a friend of her family had ended.

A judge at Lewes Crown Court said he would serve a minimum of 17 years.

Firefighters found Dumo unconscious in her bedroom in Crawley. She was pronounced dead at hospital.

The 41-year-old fled the UK that year to return to his native South Africa. He was extradited on 16 March this year.

In the hours and weeks before the fire, Sithole accused Siphenphile Mercy Mlalazi, known as Mercy, of cheating on him and bombarded her with calls and text messages, jurors heard.

After buying petrol and matches, he went straight to the semi-detached house in Banks Road, Pound Hill, where Ms Mlalazi was staying with Dumo's family.

Within minutes, flames engulfed the house, forcing Ms Mlalazi and Dumo's father Donald Sibanda to jump out of their separate bedroom windows at the front.


Six-year-old Dumo Sibanda died after the fire, despite paramedics' attempts to resuscitate her
After the fire had started, Mr Sibanda rushed into Dumo's room but could not find her because of the smoke.

Six-year-old Dumo Sibanda





He went back to his bedroom and jumped out, thinking he would then try to rescue his daughter from outside by climbing up to her window.

As the fire raged in the early hours of October 26 2004, Sithole stood outside the house and even sought to comfort the distraught Mr Sibanda.

A paramedic said Sithole looked "dumb-struck and wide-eyed but was not showing any emotion".

He denied starting the fire but jurors convicted him of murder after two hours of deliberation.

Israel ex-President Katsav has rape sentence upheld

The Israeli ex- President ,Moshe Katsav,






Israel's Supreme Court has upheld a seven-year rape sentence against former President Moshe Katsav.
Katsav, 65, was convicted in December of raping a former employee when he was a minister in the 1990s, and for sexually harassing two other women during his 2000-2007 presidential term.
He resigned from the largely ceremonial post of president in 2007.
He has denied the charges, saying he is the victim of a plot, but the Supreme Court unanimously rejected his appeal.
Katsav is due to begin serving his sentence on 7 December.
He is the first former Israeli head of state to be jailed.
Israeli women's groups had welcomed the initial conviction, arguing that allegations of sexual harassment were too often ignored.

Half-cooked Meat Inflicts 60 Nigerian Pilgrims with Gastroenteritis in Mina

Pilgrims







About 60 Nigerian pilgrims were hospitalised in Saudi Arabia Tuesday after an outbreak of gastroenteritis during their stay in Mina, the country’s health officials have confirmed.
They said the outbreak occurred following suspected intake of poorly cooked meat as part of activities marking the eid celebration.
Similarly, Saudi Arabian authorities have declared this year's hajj totally free from infectious diseases or any case that required quarantining.
Speaking in Mina, Health Minister, Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, attributed this achievement to a series of initiatives taken by the ministry.
Nigerian officials said the earlier fear that there was an outbreak of cholera in the camp of some states was unfounded and not true, adding that when some pilgrims complained of visiting the toilets in unusual manner, health officials attached to them promptly dispensed the necessary drugs and the situation was contained quickly.
One of the officials who spoke to journalists, Dr. Ibrahim Adamu, said it was normal for people to experience such unease after the intake of poorly cooked meat.
He however said 60 women were given routine medication and the situation had been brought under control.
In Mina, the Saudi Arabian Health Minister said: “The precautionary and preventive measures taken by the ministry led to pilgrims being safeguarded from all kinds of infections.”
The first step taken by the ministry to guarantee an infection-free pilgrimage was to make it binding for all pilgrims coming from foreign countries to follow the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) specifications for travellers from one country to another.
Another key step was the ministry’s rigorous watch at all entry points into the Kingdom to detect if any incoming pilgrim was carrying symptoms of infections and to take immediate action if any suspicious case was found, the minister said.
“Preventive doses against meningitis were given to 365,777 pilgrims, oral polio vaccines to 532,400 pilgrims and yellow fever vaccines to 200,000 pilgrims at various entry points to the Kingdom,” the minister said.
The field health teams of the ministry handled 3,500 cases of sick pilgrims without sending them to hospital, the minister said, while enumerating the accomplishments of his ministry during the Hajj.
“The ministry’s hospitals conducted 470 specialized heart catheterisations, 20 open heart surgeries to pilgrims in addition to a number of patients waiting to undergo the surgery in the next two days. The hospitals also conducted 886 kidney dialyses and 179 endoscopies,” the minister said.
He put the number of pilgrims who visited health centres in Mecca and Medina at 421,760 and those who visited outpatient clinics in Mecca and the holy sites at 88,635.
“These achievements attest to the Ministry of Health’s capability to offer high quality services to pilgrims,” the minister said.
Al-Rabeeah also considered it a great achievement that the ministry took 415 inpatient pilgrims from hospitals in Mecca and Medina in specially equipped coaches and ambulances to perform the rites of Hajj.
He added that the ministry could offer quality services to pilgrims with the help of advanced technology, including a special computer-controlled system and geographical positioning.
The ministry also has an instant information system that supplies to field workers information about the locations of the ambulances.
The systems also enable remote consulting and video viewing of emergency wards in hospitals. It also enables the media and top officials to observe the medical services offered to pilgrims.
The ministry will hold a meeting of all health committees to analyse the positive and negative aspects of its plans and activities, he said.
A WHO director for combating infections, Dr. Jawad Al-Mahjour, has also been monitoring the services offered by the ministry to pilgrims, especially the excellent care of sick Hajjis and steps taken to detect and combat diseases.


Culled from THISDAY

Woman Allegedly Hacks Actor-hubby to Death

Nigerian Inspector General of Police, Hafitz Ringim









A Benin-based actor, Mr. Daniel Iyamu, was allegedly killed Wednesday in his sleep by his wife, at their No 1 Agonse Street, Ugbihoko Quarters in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State.
Iyamu was found stone-dead on his bed after his neighbours had forcefully broken the door to his room and gained access into the apartment.
THISDAY gathered that the neighbours were alerted to the scene by the deceased’s children who told them that their father was yet to get up from his bed at about 10am. This, it was further learnt, aroused the curiosity of the neighbours who then took a step further by forcing the door open.
The source also said they discovered some injuries on the deceased’s head which suggested that he might have been hit by a hard object while asleep.
The late actor’s daughter and student of the Federal Polytechnic, Auchi, Faith, told newsmen that her mother, Grace, had been suffering from suspected mental illness which her father had been treating since last year.
The woman, who has been arrested by the police, was reported to have confessed that the late

actor died after she had hit him with a pestle.
The woman, who was found unconscious in another room by the policemen drafted to the scene, was revived before she was taken away by the security agents who also saved her from being lynched by their angry neighbours.
When contacted, acting spokesman for the Edo State Police Command, Mr. Ahwara Ejiroro, an assistant superintendent of police, confirmed the incident.
Culled from THISDAY

OPC members jailed for dismembering corpse

OPC leader, Fredrick Faseun






A Lagos High Court in Ikeja on Wednesday sentenced four members of the O’odua Peoples’ Congress to two years imprisonment for dismembering the corpse of one Ibrahim Akande in Ipaja area of Lagos in 2005.
The convicts were said to have carried out the act after Akande was shot dead by one of them.They were said to have disposed parts of the body in a nearby canal.
One of the convicts, who admitted in his statement to the police that they dismembered the body to make the deceased unidentifiable, was arrested with the corpse’s head.
Justice Lateefat Okunnu, in her judgment, said the jail terms of the convicts - Mustapha Gbadamosi, Musibau Yekini, Saka Raji and Sundy Opeyemi - would take effect from May 2005, when they were taken into custody.
The Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecution had, among other three counts, charged them for “misconduct with regard to the deceased’s corpse.”
The prosecution had stated that “they improperly or indecently interfered with, and treated with indignity, the body of Ibrahim Akande.”
Okunnu, however, discharged and acquitted the convicts on the counts of murder and accessory to the murder.
She said the prosecution failed to prove the charges of murder and accessory to murder against the convicts.
Sunday, who was specifically charged with unlawful possession of the head and hands of the deceased for diabolical purpose was also discharged and acquitted of the offence.
The judge said it was evident from Sunday’s statement to the police that the convicts participated in decapitating the body.
Okunnu said the prosecution, was able to prove the charge of “misconduct with regard to the corpse of Akande” in line with Section 242(1)(b) of the Criminal Code Law.
But she said the prosecution failed to prove the charge of murder, accessories to the murder and unlawful possession of Akande’s head.
She said the possession of human head, according to Section 392A of the Criminal Code Law, became an offence if it was with “the intention that such head or skull shall be possessed ...as a trophy, juju or charm”.
According to Okunnu, the prosecution failed to prove that Sunday, who kept the head and hands of the deceased in a bag at the refuse dump in his yard, was having such intention as provided for in Section 392A of the Criminal Code Law.
Gbadamosi, who faced the murder charge alone, said he shot the deceased after he (Akande) dodged an earlier one.

Culled from PUNCH

Condition of stabbed student worsens, admitted at UNTH

miss Goodness






Miss Goodness Moses, a victim of violence against women, has finally found her way back to the hospital, this time, the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Enugu State.

And the news about the medical report is anything but cheering. Consequently, doctors at the UNTH have advised her to go back to the Eye Foundation, Ikeja, Lagos, where her eyes were earlier operated on, after a Lagos-based businessman, Nwzie Uzoma, allegedly stabbed the eyes and hit her jaws with an object.

One thing that seems to have compounded the case of the 26 years old girl, is the alleged uncooperative attitude of her attacker. For instance, on July 15, 2011, Uzoma’s lawyer and that of Goodness’ family agreed to settle the matter out of court. And one of the conditions given to him, as the stage was set for amicable settlement, was for the businessman to pay any medical bill that may be incurred in future by the victim, since she is still undergoing treatment.

“One of the conditions was that he would first, treat me before we settle out of court. The agreement was that he should be giving me the sum of N10,000, any time I have an appointment with the doctors. This covers the medical bills and transportation. Alternatively, he was told to be accompanying me to the hospital each time I was going to see the doctors. But I have been going to the hospital alone, even without him paying the medical bills. What I have been able to receive from his lawyer is N10,000. When I called him on phone to complain about the breach of the agreement, he abused and told me to meet my father,” the embattled lady said.

The victim, who is a student of Institute of Management Technology(IMT), Enugu, came to Lagos for her Industrial Training (IT), after completing the Ordinary National Diploma (OND), before the incident occurred. She narrated how she went back to IMT for clearance, to enable her collect her result, only to find herself at the UNTH. The school management had earlier questioned her inability to complete he IT, and she narrated her ordeal. Still in doubt, the school asked her to show medcal report to that effect. Daily Sun gathered that she quickly came to Lagos to take the important documents. But when she got back to the school, crisis started.

She said: “Suddenly, my eyes became reddish, coupled with headache, tears and I lost my sight temporarily. The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), gave me a letter to the UNTH. I went into crisis because, Uzoma refused to take care of the medical bills. I had been going to the hospital but not all the time, due to financial constraints,” she said. At the UNTH, the doctors treated before referring her back to the Eye Foundation. According to her, one of the eyes can no longer see. “I’m making use of only one eye. I no longer see with the left eye,”she said.

Goodness’ father, Moses Onyike, who also spoke to Daily Sun said instead of abiding by the agreement reached with Uzoma’s lawyer and his family, he (Uzoma) reported the matter to Igbo community in Ipaye, Iba Town, Ojo, for mediation. But he failed to come the day both parties were invited by the community as wel as any time they scheduled to go to the hospital.

“Even when the Igbo community he took the matter to invited both of us, he refused to show up. The case was supposed to come up in court on September 29, but it didn’t. And the next thing Uzoma did was to turn round and accused me of conniving with the Igbo community to request the sum of N5 million from him.” The embittered man, who disclosed that he had spent over N100,000, in the last few months, to ensure that his daughter doesn’t go blind, wondered why Uzoma refused to treat his daughter, or make the settlement out of court, as canvassed by him, through his lawyer a reality.

Daily Sun first reported the case of Goodness in its Thursday, May 19, 2011 edition The Newspaper had reported how Goodness was trekking to Ipaye bus stop on Sunday March 13, 2011, along side one of her sisters, before she had a brush with Uzoma. According to her, Uzoma, who was driving in his car, almost ran over her, were it not that she dashed into the bush and fell flat.

But Uzoma, who claimed Goodness called him a devil, after she narrowly escaped being crushed, allegedly hopped out from his vehicle, fuming with rage and used an object to hit her jaws. “He resumed the attack on me the following day he came to our house and even extended it to my father. That was the day he stabbed me in one of my eyes.

And My eyes went blank. Because of the hitting and stabbing, I started vomiting blood and was quickly rushed to the El-Shaddai Hospital, Iba Town. But the doctors referred me to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Goodness once told Daily Sun.

culled from SUN

Nigerian school emerges winner at International Science Fair

Nigeria Minister tor Education, Ruqayyatu Rufai





Madonna Model Secondary School, Port Harcourt has emerged the winner at the just concluded International Science Fair competition held in Brazil.
The coordinator, Society for the Promotion of Science and Technology in Nigeria, Mr. Desmond Achoakawa, said on Wednesday in Abuja that the school emerged first out of the 35 countries that participated.
Achoakawa told the News Agency of Nigeria that Madonna Model Secondary School was one of the three schools that represented Nigeria at the fair.
The competition was tagged, 'MONSTRATEC' and the countries presented more than 300 bio-digester project, designed for decomposing organic household waste and extract gas for cooking.
The coordinator said the success of the school showed that Nigeria could actually excel in science and technology, as a relevant tool for national development.
He said the project was chosen as the best because of its relevance to the Nigerian environment and the country’s contribution to waste management and the high cost of cooking gas.