Author: NPO Admin I
By Priya Sippy,BBC News A hostage negotiator has told the BBC that paying ransoms may be illegal, yet it is the only way families can guarantee the release of relatives kidnapped by the gangs terrorising swathes of northern Nigeria. Sulaiman, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, is from Kaduna state, where 280 children were recently abducted from a school in the town of Kuriga. He has been working informally in this controversial and risky role for several years – since some of his relatives were taken hostage. “We have to negotiate. You cannot use force to get…
By Nadine Yousif & Brandon Drenon, BBC News A former Mississippi police officer has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for torturing two black men in a house. Christian Dedmon, 29, is one of six officers convicted over the 24 January 2023 assault. Three other former officers have been sentenced to a total of more than 54 years in prison for the attack. Michael Jenkins and Eddie Parker were beaten, shocked with stun guns and sexually assaulted by the officers. In court, Mr Jenkins said Dedmon was the “most wicked” of his assailants, in a statement read by his…
By Tulip Mazumdar,Global health correspondent Working in extreme heat can double the risk of stillbirth and miscarriage for pregnant women, according to new research from India. The study found that the risks to mothers-to-be are significantly higher than previously thought. Researchers say hotter summers can affect not only women in tropical climates, but also in countries such as the UK. They want specific health advice for working pregnant women globally. Eight hundred pregnant women in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu took part in the study, which was started in 2017 by the Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education…
By Halimah Olamide Former Governor of Ekiti State Dr. Kayode Fayemi, on Wednesday told legal luminary, Afe Babalola to stop spewing wrong narrative about his administration. Fayemi, who said enough of negatives and wrong assessment of his time in office, was responding to comments by the founder of Afe Babalola University Ado Ekiti, who commended the incumbent Biodun Oyebanji while rating his predecessors as failures. “Chief Babalola has been relentless in his attack. But I’m sorry, I won’t allow him to control the narrative about my time in office. It is important for people to know this is malicious, and…
By Yetunde Yekini-Oropo Goods worth millions of Naira have been destroyed on Wednesday when a section of the popular Idumota Market Lagos Island went up on flames again. Mostly affected were the Nnamdi Azikiwe and Docemo sections of the every busy market. Men of the Lagos state Fire service who battled to put the fire out, finally did but not until three major buildings had been burnt badly. Traders in the affected sections deal mostly in cloths, shoes and bags. “The Fire stations at Ebute Elefun, Ilupeju and Alausa have deployed resources to mitigate the situation effectively as firefighting operations…
By Kamil Opeyemi The Labour Party on Wednesday said it will consider a legal action against the Nigerian Labour Congress over the invasion of its national secretariat in Abuja. Saying the actions of those who broke into its office is unlawful, the Labour Party in a statement by National Publicity Secretary, Obiorah Ifoh, accused NLC leaders of destroying properties at the secretariat which he said is unacceptable. He said the invasion of the office is also criminal in nature. The statement reads: “Ajaero’s continuous claim that NLC owns the Labour Party is not in any way supported by either the…
By Halimah Olamide There was confusion at the Labour Party’s secretariat Abuja on Wednesday as leaders of the Nigerian Labour Congress broke into the office demanding the resignation of the National Chairman of the party, Julius Abure. It was a tense moment as the NLC leaders who had left their office in buses and cars made good the vow to storm the LP’s national secretariat and demand the exit of Abure. The leadership of the NLC had equally directed a nationwide picketing of the LP’s offices to put pressure on Abure, who it accused of planning what it called an…
Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu has said Nigerians must as a necessity feed themselves from what they grow. Harping on need to get more involved in Agricultural production, she said youths need to be inspired. She spoke when she received the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, Amina Mohammed in her office at the State House, Abuja. The First Lady noted that the various interventions of the Renewed Hope Initiative, RHI especially in the areas of Agriculture, Empowerment, Education, Health and Social Welfare are to complement the efforts of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration. “The President has made…
By Halimah Olamide The Abia State House of Assembly has revoked a law which allows for the payment of monthly pensions to former Governors and Deputies in the state. Through a bill sponsored by Hon. Uchenna Okoro, the Majority Leader and member Representing Arochukwu State Constituency, former governors and deputies in the state who were entitled to pensions will no longer be paid their pensions. The bill sponsored by Okoro was entitled “A Bill (H.A.B 11:) for a Law to Revoke The Abia State Governors and Deputy Governors Pensions Law No 4 of 2001 and for other Matters connected…
By Feras Kilani in Sudan & Mercy Juma in Chad Civilians caught up in Sudan’s civil war have given graphic accounts to the BBC of rape, ethnic violence and street executions. Our journalists have managed to make it to the front line of the fighting close to the capital, Khartoum. Top UN officials have said the conflict has plunged the country into “one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history” and could trigger the world’s largest hunger crisis. There are also fears that in Darfur, in the west of the country, a repeat of what the US called genocide…