Rivers Poly workers beg Wike to reverse sacking

THE four hundred thirty-five employees of the Rivers State Polytechnic, Bori, sacked by the state government have urged well meaning people of the state to prevail on the government to reverse the decision and recall them to work.

The State Government had on Monday announced the cancellation of the polytechnic workers appointment. Those affected are academic and non-academic staff, who were recently employed by the Rotimi Amaechi administration.

Speaking on behalf of their colleagues, Jekey Lekue, Grace Ikue and Basil Ujobolo urged the State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, not to renege on his promise during his inauguration to give hope to the people.

Speaking with newsmen in Port Harcourt on Thursday, some of the disengaged workers lamented that they had been searching for job for the past five years before they were eventually employed at the state polytechnic.

They also stated that some of them had to resign from their former place of work after they received their appointment letters from the authorities of the State Polytechnic, Bori, Khana Local Government Area.

Explaining that they went through a painstaking process before they were employed, the sacked workers recalled that they had supervised the last examination in the school before the announcement that their employment had been cancelled.

“We are calling on well meaning Rivers people to do justice to this issue. We beg Rivers people to step in. Governor Nyesom Wike gave the state hope on May 29, 2015. We have already been captured in the data base of the state. Our governor should not do this to us,” they further appealed.

In another development, the State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, has disbanded the Rivers State Road Traffic Management Agency known as TIMARiV.

Reacting to the sacking of the 435 RIVPOLY workers, the Special Adviser on Media to the State Governor, Sir Opunabo Inko-Tariah, stated their appointment was marred by irregularities.

Inko-Tariah said, “The appointment of the staff were marred with irregularities. Such an appointment had to be terminated to look into the whole issue holistically.

“The sacking was premised on irregularities. So many procedural obligations were breached and as a result, the exercise was deprived of due process.”

Speaking on the Rector of the polytechnic, Dr Obiando Elechi Amadi, who was sent on a compulsory leave, Inko-Tariah pointed out that it was as a result of a case of official misconduct on the rector’s part.

On the disbandment of the state traffic management agency, the governor’s aide specifically said that some of the officials of TIMARIV were making illegal seizure of vehicles in order to extort money from innocent citizens.

According to him, “Many of those guys were making illegal and embarrassing seizure of vehicles on the roads and this is becoming an eyesore. Let us leave politics aside; it is a known fact all over the state that TIMARIV had constituted itself into a public nuisance.

“The action of its staff had, in most cases, brought River State into disrepute. What they do in most cases is illegal. They are not supposed to struggle for the steering with the driver of a vehicle, but this is what they often do.

“The state government can no longer cope with the excesses of this TIMARIV staff. It was on that premises that the governor decided that it should be disbanded.

“Governor Nyesom Wike also instructed that all seized vehicles should be released with immediate effect. He further instructed that nobody should pay a kobo to TIMARIV.

“If anybody should be refused or deprived of the retrieval of his/her vehicle, such a person should report to the nearest police station and the TIMARIV staff in question will be dealt with,” Inko-Tariah added.

Source: Punchng

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Airtel, others boost maternal health

Telecoms operator, Airtel Nigeria, has renewed its partnership with the Millennium Promise and the Earth Institute at Columbia University, United States of America, to provide quality health care to pregnant women, nursing mothers and children under five years in Pampaida, Kaduna State, under the Millennium Villages Project.

The MVP, an initiative of The Earth Institute, is a science-based bottom-up approach to lifting rural villages out of the poverty trap that afflicts more than a billion people worldwide.

The community-driven initiative currently operates in 12 sites in 10 sub-Saharan African countries where it tackles challenges related to health and nutrition, education, agriculture, gender equality and other vital issues.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Segun Ogunsanya, said that under the new agreement with Millennium Promise, the telecoms company was leveraging on its 3.75G network to deploy a sophisticated mobile phone platform dubbed CommCare to help support community health workers and home-based care providers to provide better, more efficient health care to the targeted beneficiaries.

Ogunsanya said, “The CommCare platform will also aid better supervision and coordination of community health programmes, providing a guide to community health workers and assisting them with an electronic questionnaire to collate data on the pregnancy, birth and condition of the infants as well as wellbeing of mothers.

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“The system will also guide community health workers to refer infants or mothers that are in need of medical attention, thus addressing one of the key barriers to reducing neonatal and maternal mortality.”

Ogunsanya said Airtel was committed to providing communications solutions “that will help to improve the quality of life of people in Pampaida.”

“We are creating enormous opportunities for these communities in Northern Nigeria and we expect the impact of this project to outlive our generation.

“At Airtel Nigeria, we are convinced that the attendant benefits and potential of this project will fast-track transformation of the lives of many of the residents of Pampaida from their current status,” he said.

Source: Punchng

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KWASU researchers discover medicine for kidney disorders

Vice-Chancellor, Kwara State University, Malete, Prof. AbdulRasheed Na’Allah

A group of researchers at the Kwara State University has discovered a new phytomedicine for the management of kidney diseases.

This was revealed by the Vice-Chancellor of Kwara State University, Prof. Abdulrasheed Na’Allah, during the institution’s third convocation ceremony.

He said the project, which is a research sponsored by the Centre for Community Development, taught residents of Ogbondoroko community in the Asa Local Government Area of Kwara State different ways of applying corn silk to manage kidney disorders, as well as how to commercialise the product by packaging it into teabags.

He said the programme also featured free medical check-ups for members of the community.

He added that the institution had also embarked on research for the control of malaria.

Na’Allah said, “In addition, KWASU’s CCD has sponsored a group of researchers at KWASU to embark on community-based research, geared towards controlling malaria in selected rural communities in the Moro Local Government Area.

“The research findings are to be used to develop indicators of malaria susceptibility and transmission risk as an evidence-based model for prioritisation and allocation of public health interventions.”

Source: Punchng

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PCN bans four pharmacists for sharp practices

President, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Mr. Olumide Akintayo

Four pharmacists have been banned from practice for three years by the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria, following their indictment by an investigative panel and disciplinary tribunal.

Their offences range from operating illegal premises without registration, to operating illegal clinics, pharmacy, fake registration, and use of other people’s licences to register illegal pharmacies.

Among them is a senior officer of a state ministry of health whose licence was withdrawn for three years.

The Registrar/Chief Executive of PCN, Elijah Mohammed, stated this in an interview with The PUNCH during a workshop in Abuja organised by the council for pharmaceutical inspectors.

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According to him, the PCN has declared “full-scale war against indiscipline, war against fake drugs and war against illegal premises for the good of Nigerians.”

The workshop, he said, was meant to inculcate in the inspectors a new mindset for better output, adding that PCN is modifying the process in order to be able to serve the entire country and ensure that pharmaceutical services are up to standards.

Mohammed said, “The names of four pharmacists have been struck out from the register and they cannot practise as pharmacists in Nigeria for the next three years. Some did illegal registration, some were operating a combination of illegal clinics and pharmacies.

“Some were using other people’s licences to register illegal pharmacies. Some were operating illegal premises without registration. We started with pharmacists, but we are going to extend this to non-pharmacists very soon.”

Mohammed said the PCN tribunal was equivalent to a High Court and that the persons concerned were duly investigated and prosecuted after they were found guilty.

Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Mr. Linus Awute, represented by the Director of Traditional Medicine, Mr. Moshood Lawal, said the cardinal objective of the national drug policy was to ensure that members of the public have access to drugs that are safe, efficacious, affordable and of good quality.

He said it was the responsibility of PCN, as a regulatory authority, to ensure that all premises where drugs are manufactured and displayed for sale are licensed and subject to control.

He said, “The pharmacy profession is very dynamic and because of new advances in the sector, it has become necessary to update the knowledge of the pharmaceutical inspectors, if they must remain relevant in the regulatory process.”

Source: Punchng

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Mother Abandons Four-Year-Old Sick Girl In Hospital (Photo)

A four-year-old child, who is battling with cerebral palsy, which inhibits proper growth and movement of her body, has been abandoned at the Ifako-Ijaiye General Hospital, Lagos State.

It was learnt that her unidentified mother had sometime last year left the child with her grandmother, identified as Nike Owoyeni, and fled.

Our correspondent learnt that Owoyeni took the victim to the hospital around December, 2014, where she was reportedly treated and discharged the same day.

PUNCH Metro gathered that Owoyeni, after leaving the hospital, headed for the Ogba area of the state and dumped her granddaughter beside a parked truck. The child was said to have been seen by a resident, who took her back to the facility.

It was said that neither the child’s mother nor the grandmother had shown up since she was admitted about seven months ago.

PUNCH Metro learnt that efforts to reach Owoyeni, who claimed that she resided in the Alagbado area, had been futile as a phone number she gave at the hospital reportedly indicated ‘wrong number.’

The child was sleeping when our correspondent visited the Children Ward of the hospital on Wednesday.
He observed a straw was passed into her body through the mouth region.

A senior official at the Social Welfare Department of the hospital, who identified herself only as Obilana, said the victim’s condition was very critical when she was brought, adding that the hospital management had been doing all it could to save her life.

She said, “She is suffering from cerebral palsy. She should be four or five years old, but looked extremely skinny.

Her body was very stiff when she was brought here last year. But we have recorded some improvement. She also had a body odour, which has gone now.

She has started looking fresh. We attend to her every day. She is fed through the straw in her mouth.”

A nurse, who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity, said the child needed to be given a special treatment.

She said, “This is the first time a child will be abandoned in this hospital.

We have been doing our best for the child, but she needs a special placement, where she can have access to adequate treatment. In this case, the ministry of health needs to intervene.”

The hospital’s Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Adeola Abimbola, said the hospital was making efforts to ensure there was a rapid improvement on the child’s condition.

She also enjoined parents not to give up on their wards in the face of health challenges.

She said, “The first time she was brought here by her grandmother, we treated her and she was discharged on the same day. It was a man that later brought her back from where she was dumped.

“The woman (grandmother) did not specify where she lives in Alagbado and that is why it is difficult for us to locate her.
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We later discovered that the phone number she gave is fake. We have been doing all we can for the child and we are trying to get her a special placement.

“No matter how serious the ailment may be, dumping a child at a place or abandoning him/her in a hospital should never be an option.”

Source: Punchng

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China Bans Ramadan Fasting In Mainly Muslim Region

China has banned civil servants, students and teachers in its mainly Muslim Xinjiang region from fasting during Ramadan and ordered restaurants to stay open.

Most Muslims are required to fast from dawn to dusk during the holy month, which began on Thursday, but China’s ruling Communist party is officially atheist and for years has restricted the practice in Xinjiang, home to the mostly Muslim Uighur minority.

“Food service workplaces will operate normal hours during Ramadan,” said a notice posted last week on the website of the state Food and Drug Administration in Xinjiang’s Jinghe county.

Officials in the region’s Bole county were told: “During Ramadan do not engage in fasting, vigils or other religious activities,” according to a local government website report of a meeting this week.

Each year, the authorities’ attempt to ban fasting among Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang receives widespread criticism from rights groups.

China imposes restrictions on Muslim Uighurs Uighur rights groups say China’s restrictions on Islam in Xinjiang have added to ethnic tensions in the region, where clashes have killed hundreds in recent years

China says it faces a “terrorist threat” in Xinjiang, with officials blaming “religious extremism” for the growing violence.

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Edo gunmen stab three students in teacher’s kidnap

There was pandemonium in Uselu Secondary School, Benin, on Thursday when some armed men stormed the school premises and abducted one of the teachers.

 

It was gathered that the gunmen arrived the school, located in Egor Local Government Area of the state, in a vehicle at a‎bout 12.05pm and shot sporadically into the air, forcing the students to run in different directions.

 

It was learnt that they later forced the teacher into the vehicle, after stabbing three of the students, who tried to prevent the men from abducting their teacher.

 

Our correspondent  learnt ‎that the affected students, who sustained cuts in the chest, head and arm, were later rushed to an undisclosed hospital.

 

The students were, however, thrown into wild jubilation when the abducted teacher returned to the school premises, when our correspondent arrived at the school at about 2pm.

The teacher, who identified him‎self as Iguodala Chosen, said the gunmen told him that he was taken away over a fight between two students in the school but was later released by the leader of the group.

 

‎He said, “One of them said he was a soldier, so, I simply followed him. Then they started hitting me. When I asked them what I had done wrong, they said that it was because of the fight between two students.

 

“I told them that the Principal had intervened in the issue. Then they took me to National Youth Council at Slope, but their chairman pleaded with me not to be annoyed over how I was beaten and released me.”

 

Efforts to reach the Edo State Police Command on the matter were unsuccessful.

 

Source: punchng

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Boko Haram: 37 People Killed, 400 Houses Burnt In Borno Town

Thirty seven people, including two babies have been confirmed killed by suspected members of the Boko Haram militants who attacked Gubio town in Borno State at the weekend.

In the last four weeks, the insurgents have renewed attacks and killings on towns and villages, especially in Borno less than two months after they were dislodged from hundreds of communities they earlier took over as part their territorial conquests.

Over 400 houses, mosques, public and private schools and vehicles were equally destroyed by the invading insurgents who thronged to Gubio on Sunday.

Details of the siege emerged on Tuesday during a visit to the town by Governor Kashim Shettima.
Gubio is 93 kilometers north of Maiduguri and was one of the few towns that the Boko Haram could not establish permanent presence.

Officials of local vigilantes, also known as civilian JTF told Governor Shettima that the insurgents stormed Gubio in a convoy and engaged in sporadic shootings and burning.
"The terrorists killed 37 people, including two young boys," said Alhaji Bukar Mondama, the leader of the vigilantes.

"They destroyed over 400 structures, including eight mosques, four schools, the local government’s secretariat, 22 vehicles and several motorbikes.

''They came around 4.30pm when we were playing football and caught us off guard with sporadic shootings. There was serious confusion in the whole town because everybody was running helter-skelter. We tried to confront them but we were incapacitated, they showcased unmatchable weapons, deadly explosives and heartless fighters," he said.

Another vigilante, Modu Yusuf said beside their commanders, most of the assailants
were young children, aged between 12 and 16.

Source:Dailytrust

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Here's Who's Helping Hundreds Of Pregnant, Rescued Boko Haram Kidnapping Victims

Among the Boko Haram kidnapping victims recently rescued were at least 214 pregnant women and girls, according to the UNFPA.

Thanks to a new infusion of armory, the Nigerian military saved 234 women and girls from the terrorist group’s stronghold in the Sambisa Forest last Thursday. As the survivors begin to settle into the IDP camps in the Borno State, the UNFPA is stepping in to offer prenatal services and psychological care to pregnant women and those who recently gave birth.

But the organization’s current tally just includes those who are visibly pregnant, according to a statement released by the UNFPA. The group is continuing its screening process.

The aid organization is armed with clean delivery kits and is equipped to handle deliveries. Last year alone, more than 16,000 women delivered at UNFPA facilities in northeast Nigeria, but not all of those cases have been confirmed as pregnancies related to the Boko Haram kidnappings.

To effectively treat severely malnourished babies, health workers gave infants intravenous drips and packs of therapeutic food to suck from, according to the AP.

Experts say that psychological support is key to helping victims who were subjected to a whole host of atrocities, including being repeatedly raped, sold into sexual slavery or indoctrinated, according to the AP.
Last week alone, the UNFPA offered psychological counseling to 15 pregnant women, but the group couldn't confirm that they were all rescued from Boko Haram.

Binta Abdullahi, who was kidnapped more than a year ago, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that she was spared from getting married off to a Boko Haram member because she was pregnant when she arrived. The group warned her that she would be forced to wed after she gave birth or she would be sold as a slave if she refused.




This latest effort brought the total number of rescued females to 677. Many said they were taken captive in the past nine months when Boko Haram overtook a large portion of northeastern Nigeria and deemed it an Islamic caliphate, according to the AP.


But officials say that the schoolgirls from the infamous kidnapping in Chibok were not among those who have been recently rescued.

“One year of captivity is a long time for anyone to bear,” Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, executive director of UNFPA, said in a statement on the anniversary of the kidnapping. “It has been a year full of unimaginable suffering and anguish, not just for the girls, their families and their communities, but also for the world at large. It is time for the girls and all other abductees to resume their lives in peace. It is time for this nightmare to come to an end.”

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214 Nigerian girls rescued from Boko Haram pregnant: UN

The United Nations (UN) says at least 214 young women and girls recently rescued from the the camps of the Takfiri Boko Haram militants in northeastern Nigeria are pregnant.

The UN Population Fund (UNFPA)’s executive director, Babatunde Osotimehin, said Monday that many of these women are undergoing medical tests and screening for various diseases and infections, including HIV/AIDS.

“About 214 of those already screened were discovered to be at various stages of pregnancies, some visibly pregnant and some just tested pregnant; but we are supporting all of them with various levels of care to stabilize them,” the UN official added.

“Some of the children that were freed along with the women, it was discovered, were born in the forest and had never been out in the open until their release by the Nigerian Army,” Osotimehin said.
Nigeria’s army says it freed almost 7,000 women from various Boko Haram camps last week.

Army spokesman Chris Olukolade said Monday that soldiers found an additional 260 women and children, who had escaped from the terrorists, on the outskirts of Chalawa Village in the northeastern state of Adamawa.

Most of them come from the nearby town of Madagali and surrounding communities, he added.
Earlier on April 31, Nigerian army rescued 234 women and children from a Boko Haram stronghold in Sambisa Forest in the restive northeastern state of Borno.

Boko Haram militants regularly abduct women and girls during their attacks on various Nigerian villages and towns.

On April 14, 2014, the militants kidnapped 276 girls from a secondary school in the town of Chibok in Borno. Two days later, 57 of the girls managed to escape but 219 remained in captivity, reportedly in the Sambisa Forest.

It is still unclear if the missing Chibok schoolgirls are among those rescued recently.
Meanwhile, those who have been freed say the group is fracturing, as shortages of weapons and fuel foment tensions between its foot soldiers and leaders.

Boko Haram says its goal is to overthrow the Nigerian government. It has claimed responsibility for a number of deadly shooting attacks and bombings in various parts of the country since the beginning of its militancy in 2009, which has so far left about 15,000 people dead and displaced about 1.5 million.

(Source: Sunnewsonline)

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