The Nation Newspaper

Category: News

  • Gaza death toll tops 500 as Israel strikes hospital

    Gaza death toll tops 500 as Israel strikes hospital

    THE Palestinian death toll in an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip jumped to more than 500 on Monday, as the United States, alarmed by escalating civilian bloodshed, took a direct role in efforts to secure a ceasefire.

    Despite growing calls for a halt to two weeks of fighting, violence raged on, with Israel saying it had killed 10 militants who tunneled across the border from Gaza, and Palestinian officials accusing the Israeli army of shelling a hospital.

    Israeli jets, tanks and artillery constantly pounded the densely-populated coastal strip, killing 28 members of a single family at the southern end. Hamas unleashed regular volleys of rockets at Israeli cities, many of them intercepted. A day after he was caught by an open microphone saying sarcastically that the Israeli assault was “a hell of a pinpoint operation”, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry flew to Cairo to try to secure an end to hostilities.

    Speaking in Washington, President Barack Obama said he was increasingly worried by the conflict.

    “We have serious concerns about the rising number of Palestinian civilian deaths and the loss of Israeli lives, and that is why it now has to be our focus and the focus of the international community to bring about a ceasefire,” he told reporters at the White House.

    The Islamist group Hamas, which inflicted the biggest single loss on Israeli forces in eight years when it killed 13 soldiers in Gaza on Sunday, said it would not lay down its arms until a series of demands were met — including an end to a blockade imposed on the territory by both Israel and Egypt.

    “The world must understand that Gaza has decided to end the blockade by its blood and its heroism,” deputy Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said in a televised address.

    At Al-Aqsa hospital in the central Gaza Strip, four people were killed and 70 wounded when an Israeli tank shell slammed into the third floor, housing operating theaters and an intensive care unit, the Health Ministry said.

    The Israeli military, which has accused Hamas militants of firing rockets from the grounds of Gaza hospitals and seeking refuge there, had no immediate comment.

    Non-stop attacks lifted the Palestinian death toll to 518, including almost 100 children, since fighting started on July 8, Gaza health officials said. Israel says 18 of its soldiers have also died along with two civilians.

    The carnage energized world leaders to step up efforts to find a way out of the confrontation but a rift among Arab powers may complicate the quest for a truce.

     

  • We were not paid to sack Nyako, says Acting Governor

    We were not paid to sack Nyako, says Acting Governor

    Adamawa State Acting Governor Ahmadu Fintri has said members of the House of Assembly were not “bribed” to remove Governor Murtala Nyako.

    Fintri spoke yesterday when he visited President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Speaking with State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, the acting governor said he was at the Villa to give a “situation report” to the President.

    “Who gave the money? There must be evidence. In this country, people are fond of saying it is about money. Who gave the money?”

    On whether Nyako was removed to retrieve the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) mandate, he said: “You saw the allegations and they have been proven by the panel, so that cannot be the reason why we removed the man.

    “There were even so many other issues that we could not bring as part of the allegations that formed his removal.

    “But definitely as a PDP man who has taken over, I have to say that I brought back to my party the mandate stolen  by the former governor.”

    Asked to speak on the allegation that the President was trying to muzzle the opposition, Fintri said: “Nyako is not an opposition man. He only stole the PDP mandate.

    “How did the President get involved in this local issue in Adamawa? The man “stole” our money. That is the bottom line.”

    He also said that he didn’t know if Nyako is on the run.

    On the present situation in Adamawa, the acting governor said: “Adamawa is fine, Adamawa is calm. We are into confidence building, having removed Nyako and the destruction of infrastructure and moral of our people.

    “We have gone into building of confidence. We are trying to pay salaries. Because for months, he has not paid their salaries. That is what we are doing now.”

  • Jimi Agbaje joins Lagos PDP

    Jimi Agbaje joins Lagos PDP

    THE former Democratic People’s Alliance’s (DPA) governorship candidate in Lagos State, Jimi Agabaje, has formally joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), according to a party official.

    Lagos State Publicity Secretary of PDP, Mr. Gani Taofik, told reporters in Lagos: “Agbaje is now a card-carrying member of the PDP.

    “Agbaje has showed the State Working Committee (SWC) of the party his membership card obtained from Ward B in Apapa Local Government Area.

    “He told us that he decided to join PDP as the most viable platform for the desired change in Lagos State.”

    Taofik said Agbaje, who came to the party secretariat in Ikeja on a “courtesy visit,” presented the membership card to the party leadership.

    The publicity secretary noted that Agbaje’s joining the party at this time would help to further broaden its membership.

    According to him, the SWC assured Agbaje and his supporters of a level-playing field in seeking positions in the party.

    Taofik, however, said there no automatic tickets for candidates seeking the various elective posts on the platform of the PDP in 2015.

    “However, if this is Agbaje’s God’s appointed time, nothing can stop him he said.

     

  • Alleged kidnap: Police exonerate pastor

    A pastor accused of kidnapping a seven-year-old boy has been exonerated by the police.

    Pastor Ernest Chukwu-emeka Nwankwo of Holy Family, Happy Family Ministry in Ikorodu on the outskirts of Lagos was freed after the police found that he has “no case to answer”.

    A woman, Rosemary Chukwu who allegedly kidnapped Emmanuel Emeka on June 25, claimed that Nwankwo sent her on the mission.

    When she was apprehended by a mob, with Emeka concealed in a travelling box, Rosemary alleged that Nwankwo paid her N4million to steal the boy.

    But, Lagos State Police Command’s spokesperson Ngozi Braide, a Deputy Superintendent (DSP), said yesterday that Nwankwo “has no case to answer”.

    She said the pastor was granted bail because of lack of substantive evidence against him.

    Braide, however, said detectives were still investigating the case, adding that if anything implicating is found against Nwankwo, he would be re-arrested.

    Braide said: “The prophet is on bail. We can’t just detain someone because of allegation that cannot be substantiated. From preliminary investigations, we have not found any evidence to detain him. We have also sent the woman who made the allegation to the psychiatric hospital to ascertain her sanity; we are awaiting the result. The children found with the woman on the day of incident are nowhere to be found.

    The ministry, through its spokesman, Evangelist Patrick Adebayo, had earlier denied all allegations made against Nwankwo.

    The prophet said the woman found with the boy was neither a member nor a worker of the ministry.

    He stressed that the building where some people were found in chains was only used as praying ground for lunatics and not for ritual purposes as alleged.

  • Hausa community tackles security challenges

    The Hausa community in Agege, a popular Lagos suburb, has conducted a census  to ascertain its population.

    The Sarkin Hausawa, Alhaji Musa Mohammed, said, the exercise was aimed at ensuring that insurgents are not living there, adding that his domain, which is predominantly inhabited by northerners, is safe.

    The Boko Haram sect, a fortnight ago, claimed responsibility for the explosion at a fuel depot in Apapa and threatened to attack some unidentified parts of the state too.

    However, the community leader said there was no cause for alarm, adding that adequate security measures had been taken to prevent such an occurence in his domain.

    “We have just concluded headcount of our people in Agege”, he said.

    Speaking after a prayer for peace in Nigeria, Muhammed said: “We know ourself here in Agege. Nobody comes here and claimed to be Hausa that we would not know his root. You don’t just come and settle here simple because you are a Northerner, no, you must have an established link with an existing resident, which we must know well.”

    The prayer, which was organised by the Abnaul Faidha Islamic Society of Nigeria, took place at the Agege Central Mosque yesterday.

    Chairman of the society, and the Majidadin of Agege, Alhaji Alli Abubakar, said the organisation’s tenets include the propagation of the real teaching of Islamic religion and urged all Muslims to embrace the concept.

    He added that the purpose of the prayer was also to sensitise youths in Agege and its environs of the need to embrace peace.

    The Chairma, Agege Local Government, Alhaji Jibrin Muhammed, said: “We have gone a step further to ensure that we have our people’s identities. We have been working together for peace and how it will continue to endure; even after my administration, peace will never elude Agege.”

  • Council chief honoured

    The Chairman of Amuwo Odofin Local Government in Lagos State, Comrade Ayodele Adewale has received an award as the “Best Executive Chairman Amuwo Odofin Local Government Ever Had.”

    The honoured was conferred on him by the Festival Town Residents Association Community 2, at its last general meeting and the election of new executives to pilot its affairs.

    The chairman of the association, Comrade Jola Ogunlusi, noted that the award to the council chief is in recognition of his developmental policies that have been transforming the council area positively.

    Adewale thanked the association for recognising hard work and promised to continue to make Amuwo an enviable brand.

  • Women of easy virtue seek new life

    Some women of easy virtue in Lagos have said they are ready to quit the trade, if the government resettles and empowers them.

    The women, who are operating at the sprawling slum in Ijora Badia by Bale Bus Stop before Ijora Seven-Up Bridge, said they took to the trade for want of something better to do.

    The densely populated slum is said to be home to close to a million people. Residents in most parts of the area live in filth. Most of the women are into prostitution. A girl, her mother and grandmother are there in the same trade.

    The coordinator of a Non-governmental Organisation (NGO), Empowering Women to Begin New Life Initiative, Ms Anietie Mbosowo, held a preaching/ counselling session in the area.

    Men and women were seen smoking. Children who are out of school walked bare-foot in the filthy.

    Over 90 percent of the houses are built with planks and each of the rooms has just enough space for a six or eight-spring bed. The plank houses are so closely built that it is difficult passing through the corridors.

    While most of the men were smoking heavily; the women, some of them expectant, were waiting for their “customers”, even in the afternoon.

    Some of the prostitutes who responded to inquiries said they go to church or mosque to worship God but they still have to return to the trade because they have no alternative for now.

    A woman who is in her 60s, who confirmed that she is a grandmother, said some organisations had been trying to give them another focus to life, but without empowerment.

    Some of them said that even when they planned to stop, they are pulled back to the environment as there is no other place for them. The grandmother said recently, a man who pretended to be a pastor, duped them of millions of naira after an Alhaji did same since they are not used to saving their money in banks.

    She said some of them pay as much as N18,000 per month to their landlords as rent and for security.

    Mbosowo urged Governor Babatunde Fashola; his wife, Dame Abimbola, women political appointees, the Christian community and every Nigerian to come to the rescue of the women and their children.

    Her organisation, she said had tried over the years to cater for some of them but she has limitations as she has no sponsors or support from any quarters, apart from her salary.

    She expressed the fear that insecurity in the society might continue as long as those people are left as they are.

    She gave her e-mail contact as: newlifefoundations @yahoo.com, and animbos 2005@yahoo.com.

  • Lagos to honour entrepreneurs

    The Lagos State Government is set to mark this year’s Enterprise Day by honouring 10 successful entrepreneurs from different parts of the country.

    Executive Secretary, Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board, Mr. Olawumi Gasper, who disclosed this to reporters yesterday, said the initiative was “to promote networking of successful entrepreneurs with young aspiring entrepreneurs from the technical colleges in a one-day open interactive forum.

    He added that the second edition, which will hold on July 23 at NECA House in Ikeja, is devoted “to celebrating legacies and promote immense opportunities in youth-led businesses and other entrepreneurial pursuits.”

    “Among the honourees will be “game changers” such as Simzu Shagaya, Ibukun Awosika and Fola Adeola who have narrowed the gap between Nigeria and the global market in their various industrial sub-sectors,” he said.

  • Four killed as truck rams into market

    Four killed as truck rams into market

    Four persons died yesterday when a truck lost control and rammed into a market at Odo-Eran bus stop on LAU-Iba road yesterday. Eleven others were injured.

    Eyewitnesses said the truck’s brakes failed when its driver was trying to negotiate a sharp bend at about 10 am.

    The truck was said to have rammed into the market to avoid over-running a tricycle riders’ park.

    A male victim described as a Good Samaritan died while attempting to save a woman from being overrun by the truck.

    Moments after pushing the woman out of the way, a rod from the truck was said to have struck the Good Samaritan.

    The driver, it was gathered, attempted to escape from the scene but traders seized him and inflicted machete wounds on him.

    An eyewitness, identified as Balogun Towiwa, said: “The truck driver would have been killed but for the timely intervention of officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).”

    The truck was loaded with bags of sachet water belonging to Dammy Pure Water, which is situated at 22, Church Close on Igando Road.

    Hon Salami Adedoyin, a politician, said: “The driver was saved by FRSC. He wanted to run, but was apprehended by traders who used machetes on him.”

  • How SSS almost stopped my London trip- Ezekwesili

    How SSS almost stopped my London trip- Ezekwesili

    Former Education Minister and leader of the Bringbackourgirls campaign, Dr Oby Ezekwesili almost missed her flight to London Monday morning to appear on a BBC Hard Talk programme following the temporary seizure of her passport by men of the State Security Service (SSS) at the Abuja International Airport.

    Ezekwesili whose passport was later released tweeted about her encounter with the SSS.

    Her tweets on her handle @obyezeks are reproduced below :

    7.37am

    IS THIS A DEMOCRACY? I am being detained by the SSS @ Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport . The SSS has REFUSED to GIVE MY PASSPORT TO ME.

    7.41am

    On my way to London this morning for my @BBCHARDtalk appearance billed for TOMORROW and the SSS has DETAINED me by WITHHOLDING my PASSPORT

    8.03am

    SSS has RELEASED IT. Just barely made the BA flight. Last to board @ 7.55 for an 8.00 am flight that is now taxiing. IS THIS A DEMOCRACY

    8.04am

    No ONE can SEIZE my DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS. I REFUSED to let the SSS GET AWAY with TRAMPLING on my CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT.