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Tag: insurgency

  • Paints manufacturer bemoans insurgency, high raw materials’cost

    Paints manufacturer bemoans insurgency, high raw materials’cost

    Rising cases of insurgency in the Northeast and and import duties are responsible for the low turnover recorded in the past by paints manufacturer Chemstar Industry Nigeria Limited, its Group Managing Director (GMD), Mr. Aderemi Emmanuel Awode, has said.

    Speaking at the company’s Customers Forum in Lagos, the GMD flayed the rising insurgency in some parts of the country, saying such is not healthy for a business growth. “Because of rising insurgence in the north, our turnover has plummeted especially in the previous year from what it used to be,” he said.

    While expressing optimism for a quick end to the Boko Haram insurgence for business to thrive,the GMD said about 65 per cent of the company’s turnover is from the entire northern states, including Abuja.

    Awode further hinted that the manufacturing sector was facing difficult times due to the challenge of the slide in the naira exchange, and the sharp drop in the price of crude oil. He said most of the raw materials used in the paint industry were imported.

    “About 70 per cent of our raw materials are imported, while payment for the raw materials is done in dollars, while the import duties or tariffs are on the high side. These and other challenges are confronting the growth of paints industry,” he lamented.

    He noted that though the challenges of the paints industry and manufacturing sector in general were tough, God had been benevolent to the company in the last 20 years of its operations.

    The GMD, who put the company’s capacity utilisation at between 60 and 65 per cent, while the market share is about 20 per cent, said if considered with the over 1,000 paints industries in the country, and the competitiveness of the industry, the 20 per cent market share was good.

    Awode, who said the past 20 years had been challenging, yet rewarding, attributed the achievements of the company to the passion for paints business, commitment of the distributors, support of the customers and dedication of the workers.

    “Today, we are celebrating our 20 years of successful business growth and quality products and services. We owe this to the Almighty God, as well as our dedicated staff, loyal distributors and support from customers,” he said.

    Awode said the company, which began operations in a room in 1996 with three workers and two distributors, has over 2,000 distributors spread across the country and over 1,000 work force, as well as factories in Johannesburg in South Africa; Accra in Ghana and Turkey.

    The paints industry, which kicked off its 20th anniversary this year with the yearly Staff Week, and the fourth National Sales Conference as well as the Customers’ Forum, according to Awode, has its distribution network and distributors in all cities and towns of the country.

    Describing this year’s customers’ forum as special, as it coincided with the anniversary, the GMD said Chemstar Paints is the only paints industry that rewards its distributors and customers.

    On the criteria used to reward the distributors, the GMD listed, among others, the rate of their turnover (the volume of what they bought in that financial year); the percentage of appreciation of their business in the previous years; and distributors that have done so well in their different zones.

    Several distributors were rewarded in various categories – fast- growing distributor of the year, outstanding regional distributors, distributors with over 15 years business relationship and Shield paints outstanding distributors.

    They, however, went home with various gifts and cash prizes ranging from gas cooker, deep freezer, refrigerator, LG washing machine, LG Plasma TV, generator, standing fan, DVD player, electric kettle, home theatre and iron, among others.

  • ‘Job creation will eliminate insurgency’

    Creation of jobs and skill acquisition programmes have been identified as antidote to insurgency and politically-motivated violence in the country.

    A traditional ruler in Ekiti State, Oba Peter Falade made the remark recently at the graduation ceremony of the Solar Energy Training Scheme (SETS) organized by the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) in Ado-Ekiti.

    Speaking as the special guest of honour at the event, Oba Falade who is the Obaloja of Oloje-Ekiti in Oye Local Government Area expressed worry about the youths’ obsession with politics in Ekiti State.

    The monarch expressed dismay with the number of youths who showed up at the programme saying had the event been a political rally, it would have attracted the youth in large numbers.

    The royal father explained that massive unemployment in the land gave rise to the Boko Haram insurgency and the use of youths as thugs by desperate politicians.

    “We need more of this programme, assuming there is a political rally, there will be more people especially our youths here and we want this type of programme at the grassroots.

    “If the unemployment problem is addressed, crime will reduce. It is the massive unemployment in the land that has given rise to the Boko Haram menace.

    “If you graduate and have  a job, you will not want to be used as a political thug. This type of programmes will get our youths positively engaged”, Oba Falade explained.

    Speaking earlier, the NDE Director General, Malam Abubakar Mohammed, explained that solar energy has become the obvious alternative to the prevailing epileptic power problem in the country.

    Abubakar whose speech was read by the NDE State Coordinator, Mrs. Adeola Shafaru, stated that unemployed graduates of tertiary institutions were trained in solar energy generation from the abundant sunshine across Nigeria.

    He disclosed that a total number of 700 unemployed graduates across the federation were trained in the design, procurement, installation and maintenance of solar energy equipment for the harvesting of solar energy for electricity generation.

    The NDE boss described solar energy as a viable alternative source of energy as the traditional sources become scarcer.

     

  • Scholars seek help for journalists in elections, insurgency reporting

    A group of scholars and journalists is seeking reforms to empower reporters to effectively cover the general elections and insurgency in the Northeast.

    The professionals spoke at the weekend at Covenant University’s guest house in Ota, Ogun State.

    They urged the government, media owners and the public to improve security, training and welfare for journalists, particularly when they cover sensitive assignments, such as elections and insurgency.

    The participants at the consultative meeting were drawn from the Department of Mass Communication of the university, the African Council for Communication Education (ACCE), Association of Communication Scholars and Practitioners of Nigeria (ACSPN) and the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).

    In a communiqué by its convener, Prof Cecil Blake of the Department of Mass Communication, Covenant University and the representatives of the other groups, the forum urged the government and the society to provide security for journalists in the course of their duties.

    The communique reads: “The forum recognises that the government is constitutionally responsible for the protection of lives and property, especially towards the 2015 elections and the unfolding insurgency in some parts of the country. We also recognise that journalists in Nigeria are exposed to danger, especially in the coverage of elections and the unfolding insurgency.

  • Insurgency: INEC meets with parties on IDPs, decentralises issuance of PVCs

    Insurgency: INEC meets with parties on IDPs, decentralises issuance of PVCs

    The Independent National  Electoral Commission (INEC) will next Tuesday meet with political parties to discuss the fate of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the forthcoming general election.

    The commission has also decided to decentralise the distribution of permanent voters’ cards to the ward level.

    Investigation revealed that the likely disenfranchisement of eligible voters among the IDPs informed the setting up of a committee to find a solution to the challenge.

    At the end of 2014, there were about 3.3 million  IDPs in 24 states of the country.

    But the situation is more pronounced in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states which are under emergency rule as a result of Boko Haram insurgency.

    Findings revealed that the committee submitted its report to the INEC management on Thursday.

    A top source said: “The committee has recommended that it is possible for IDPs to vote with some modalities. The panel said the IDPs can either vote in camps or we may create special polling units for them.

    “These modalities will be shared on Tuesday with political parties. the people from the affected states and the civil society organisations, among others.

    “We are working within the law. We are trying to maximise the possibility of conducting the 2015 poll by trying to carry the IDPs along.

    “The commission believes that the IDPs should vote, and we will do everything possible to allow them to exercise their rights.”

    Responding to a question, the INEC National Commissioner said: “Though we are willing to allow IDPs to vote, it is left to the parties and the people of the affected areas to decide.

    “The good thing is that many of these IDPs had registered as voters; they only need the right environment to exercise their civic duty.

    “We will abide by the popular decision of the people of the areas and the consensus of all political parties.”

    When contacted, the Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Mr. Kayode Idowu, said: “We are meeting with stakeholders next week to consider options on IDPs.”

    Meanwhile, INEC yesterday said it had decentralised the distribution of permanent voters’ cards following discovery that about 15.6 million PVCs were yet to be collected.

    A statement by the CPS to INEC Chairman, Mr. Kayode Idowu in Abuja last night said: “The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has ordered the decentralisation of ongoing distribution of PVCs to ward levels in order to enhance access by persons who are yet to collect their cards.

    “Before now, the distribution was done at the local government offices of the commission since the end of distribution at the polling unit level. But distribution of the PVCs will henceforth be at ward level nationwide.

    “The Commission, at its meeting on Thursday, January 8, 2015, resolved that the period for distribution of the cards should be extended. Registered voters who are yet to collect their cards can now do so from 8. 30 am to 5.30 pm daily.

    “The Secretary to the Commission, Mrs. Augusta C. Ogakwu, said Resident Electoral Commissioners have been mandated to set up effective monitoring strategies and ensure that the specified hours are strictly complied with by relevant INEC staff.”

  • Fallen soldiers’ kids seek end to insurgency

    Fallen soldiers’ kids seek end to insurgency

    It is difficult trying to survive without one’s parents…It is our prayer that the insurgency in the Northeast will soon be a thing of the past and the areas affected would be rebuilt.”

    This was the prayer of Master Abdullahi Mohammed, a primary school pupil who lost his father to insurgency attack.

    Mohammed was one of the pupils who largely depend on humanitarian support from Support Our Troops Foundation.

    He continued: “Laying down one’s life in the interest of one’s nation is largely regarded as a national honour and we pray that their labour put in while containing the insurgents will not go in vain. We pray that their souls continue to rest in peace. May the almighty God continue to grant them eternal rest.”

    Mohammed’s voice wavered as he said that prayer on behalf of other children whose fathers also died while fighting Boko Haram insurgents. It was clear they need help.

    Madam Patience Atekhide also lost her husband last year to the unrest in the Northeast. Her husband was in the military. Since then, she has trying hard to take care of her two female children. She hails from Edo State.

    Succour has come her way, as the military responded.

    About 150 bags of rice, 300 branded school bags, 1,000 books and 50 computers were given to all the children and widows by Support Our Troops Foundation. The late soldiers were indeed heroes who died for a good cause in line of duty.

    The event was put together to support the victims’ family especially, children of military personnel who died in the cause of protecting the territorial integrity of the nation.

    The widows got bags of rice and other relief materials. Prior to this period, another beneficiary who did not want her name in print said the military had shown much love by offering them clothing materials, groundnut oil, bags of rice among others. Meanwhile, the Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) which embarks on this initiative was initiated by the former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, supported by the Defence Minister, Lt-Gen. Aliyu Gusau but founded by Mrs. Funmi Ogbue to cater for the needs of these people left behind by their father.

    While the beneficiaries commended the foundation for the gesture, Ogbue emphasised the need to support the vulnerable group. She stated that it was the vision of the foundation to create a national culture of pride, patriotism and belief in the brave people who make up the nation’s Armed Forces – and to see that pride demonstrated in the practical support it offer them.

    When it was time for the Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh, represented by Defence Spokesperson, Chris Olukolade to give his speech, he sought the opportunity to restore hope of the deceased families. He was particular about providing every needed support to motivate the military and their family. To him, generousity of the founder was one that has backing of the entire red brass in the military. His appreciation appeared insufficient when he called other corporate organisations and individuals to support the initiative. “I will like to appreciate this expression as it is coming at a time that our children are beginning to prepare for school. There are families that are either victims or involved in curtailing the activities of terrorists. We are aware that the federal government has a package to address the situation of victims, to see this as directly supporting our troops.

    “We sincerely appreciate it and identify with it. I can only give a commitment on behalf of Chief of Defence Staff that we will continue to encourage not just the activity to support our troops but all Nigerians who will like to express their supports for our troops in a trying period such as we are going through.”

    The gathering, which had in attendance other top military officers served as an opportunity to rekindle spirit of the men and women in uniform. Badeh restated his commitment assuring the people that the ‘Nigerian military is committed to ensuring that it does not disappoint this nation in a crucial time such as this.’ “All we need from Nigerians are understanding and supports for us to achieve our constitutional mandates of ensuring the defence of the territorial integrity of Nigeria and the Nigerian citizens wherever they are found in the world.”

    A beneficiary who did not want her name in print described the gesture as ‘very nice’ and reasonably good. However, she implored the military to endeavour to assist in paying tuition fees of their children. According to her, the military has done excellent job by providing them with foods among other needs but the future of their wards, she said was much more important. “They promised us that they will pay for the school fees of our children. Like mine, it happened last year. Up until now, I am the one trying to pay the fees. I have never seen their support for the school fees.” Asked if deliberate efforts were made to contact the appropriate authority, she said, “I have been to the army headquarters more than twice but they promised to pay the fees by next year.”

    The Former Defence Minister, Obanikoro thrilled the gathering with words of motivation. He enlightened the public on immense sacrifices made by the military to ensure safety and unity of the nation. The sacrifice, he emphasised should be replicated by supporting their wives and children they left behind.

    “This gesture is to show an expression of love, appreciation and recognition for men and women in uniform, those who have paid the supreme sacrifice in the defence of our nation Nigeria. When I conceived this idea, I invited Mrs. Ogbue to come up with programmes to achieve this aim, she has not disappointed me.

    “This support for the military is something that is embedded in the innermost part of me. It comes naturally because service to humanity itself is the best service you can render anywhere in the world. But when you are now prepared to support rendering of that service with your life, then you have taken it to another level completely.”

    ”I salute those who have lost their lives to ensure that this great country remains a stable and progressive society. I want to say with more emphasis that those fallen heroes must always be celebrated. That Nigeria is stable, that we are progressive to a reasonable extent is the work that these men and women are doing in every part of the country. We Nigerians need to encourage them by giving blind support. We appreciate you and we love you.”

  • Insurgency: Varsity strengthens security at Central Mosque

    Following a growing concern over insecurity in the North, the Nasarawa State University, Keffi (NSUK) chapter of the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN) has taken measures to ensure the safety of worshippers in the campus Central Mosque.

    Security was tight at the mosque last Friday when worshippers gathered for Jumat prayer. MSSN officials joined the school security personnel deployed to the mosques to conduct thorough search before allowing anyone into the premises.

    The MSSN spokesman, Suleiman Abubakar, said the measure was taken to ensure criminals did not find their way to wreak havoc in the school.

    He said: “After several meetings and due consultations with the MSSN officials and the Chief Security Officer of the university, it was resolved that the MSSN should collaborate with the university security team to provide adequate security at the campus Central Mosque, especially during Jumaat prayers.”

    He said the spate of masque attacks, which have claimed the lives of many people, had brought fears in the hearts of worshippers, which he said informed the security measure. “For this reason, we consider it appropriate to beef up security at this time,” he added.

    A member of the MSSN security team, Sa’ad Yusuf Abubakar, said security started from the grassroots. “We need to be security-conscious at all times. Most importantly, our efforts as civilians in the fight against insurgency stand to complement the efforts of security agencies. This effort shall be sustained and Nigeria will win this fight by the grace of God,” he said.

    More than any other issue in Nigeria today, the greatest concern has been the security condition of the country. Almost every day, there are accounts of several security threats arising from armed robberies, assassinations, armed militancy and banditry, kidnapping, bombings, among others.

  • Cleric seeks end to insurgency

    The General Overseer of Word Base Assembly,  Bishop Humphrey Erumaka , has appealed to leaders and citizens to pray for the crisis in the North to stop.

    According to him, is important as Nigerians celebrates the yuletide season. “When there is peace things would be restored. There is war, whatever you give is a relief. We need the crisis in the North to stop and we must stop politicizing it”.

    The cleric said though the situation in the country might appear unstable especially regarding the presidential elections in parts where Boko  Haram has exercised damages but “It is more of a national disaster. I have been to top clergy meetings where we donated money in good measure to send to our brothers in the North. We are doing our best but how much can you help a man who has lost house, family and more.”

    Speaking about the security and other problems affecting the nation, Erumaka stressed that things would get better if all hands are on deck. “The greatest challenge in Nigeria is poverty and it is orchestrated by corruption.’’

     Nigerians are not lazy but the opportunities and facilities are not favorable. In China, people are running factories from their garage but here we have issues with electricity. This leads to restiveness and make our youth available tools.”

    He said the annual programme of the church, Festival of Power and Prayer Crusade which would take place from 4th to 11th January, would not be just for the church but the community. “It is a period when we open our doors to members of the public.

  • How to end insurgency, by Uranta

    How to end insurgency, by Uranta

    Member of the defunct Presidential Advisory Committee on the National Conference Tony Uranta spoke with MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE in Lagos on national security and how Nigeria can end insurgency.

    HoW can Nigeria tackle insurgency?

    An insurgency or an insurgent is a man who takes up arms to prove a point within a state, staying within a state, through his being discontent. You could now say that the Niger Delta situation could aptly be termed an insurgency. The Boko Haram are not insurgents. They are terrorists, terrorists who are part of a global terrorism circle that is being controlled as well by ISIL, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. You will notice that Boko Haram, just as Al-Shabab, Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb, all fly the same flag. They all talk about the Islamic caliphate. An insurgency is not foreign controlled. But far beyond that, an insurgency does not try to obtain land. Boko Haram, ISIL, Al-Shabab’s intention right now, is to take over space, territories, and declare those territories, non-border Islamic Caliphate.

    The only border that keeps them all in their contiguous state is there ideology. Their ideology that says for example that, slavery is proper, the enslavement of women. ISIL has come out to make a very categorical statement about that. Our Shekaus (we’ve had Shekau one, two three, maybe there is the fourth now).  Shekaus have at different times asked why we (Nigerians) are asking for our girls back (Chibok Girls)? They said they have sold them to slavery because Allah allows them to sell them into slavery. This is to emphasize the fact that there is a totally new global phenomenon at play. And nowhere else in the world is that phenomenon called insurgency. Nigerians are very good at repeating like parrots.

    So, the moment a new word comes up, everybody says it, they say we have ‘insurgency.’ What we have is not insurgency. It is simply a mass murderous invasion of our space, by local and foreign terrorists, with intent on capturing territories, intent on massacring and depleting population that they believe is not in any way related to their belief.

    You see, The Sultan of Sokoto, very correctly said in his last statement, that the war must now be intensified. I wish he had said that a year or two years ago, when more Christians were been killed. In that statement, he said it’s because more Muslims are been killed now. This is not a war between Islam and the rest of the world or the rest of Nigeria. It is a war between certain radical fundamentalist that have Islam as their basis, and other parts of Nigeria. Therefore, like you see in Iran, Sunnis are killing Shiites in Iran; Shiites are killing Sunnis in Syria.

    The common derivative is that they are all fundamentalist who are committed to killing. Having established that, there is no insurgency ongoing in Nigeria. I will like that fact to be drummed into people’s ears, hearts and brains. It is your mindset that prepares you for what you are facing. You have to know your enemy. If you think your enemy is an insurgent, then your military is already incapacitated. That will make you believe that what President Goodluck Jonathan said in the beginning when he too was been misled  into thinking that what we have was an insurgency and that we cannot go and start killing our brothers. For me, no member of Boko Haram is my brother. Some Christian people came to my birthday reception a few days ago; they said love your brother. That is Okay but I repeat that no Boko Haram person is my brother. Nobody that will put a baby down and stamp on the baby’s head can be my brother. Nobody that will slaughter babies and children can be my brother.

    So, I will; not love that person or people as I love myself. I will resist the person because the person is a devil and is from the devil. That is the way each of us must see Boko Haram. There is no insurgency in Nigeria rather there is mass murderous terrorism.

    But how come the terrorists are still making inroads despite government’s commitment to stop the mess?

    That is a very good question and that means how come they haven’t been stopped by the military? First of all, let’s go into the issue of bombings. There is nowhere in the world where borders are porous especially as ours are, that you can control the influx of strangers. Some may be law abiding, but most will have criminal intents, because you need to have an attitude of law breaking before you start going into another country illegally. How are you going to control these people? Secondly, how are you going to discriminate or perceive that this woman in Hijab is not carrying a bomb? You cannot approach a woman in Hijab. You can’t stop her. And people should not make the mistake to think that these women are voluntarily suicide bombers.

    Most of the bombings that have taken place, I can tell you, may have been carried out by drugged women. They don’t hold the detonators. The detonators are held by God-knows whoever their controllers are, who have threatened, coerced and brainwashed them into having it strapped on them, then forced to go to the designated place, and the moment they get there they now detonate remotely. This explains why the young girl who got to the door of the school and hesitated standing there weeping, did not move into the Assembly, but her controller, most probably, had estimated that by that time, she is already in the middle of the crowd, so he detonated the bomb. So it was only that young man who went to ask her “mai ne ne” (what is wrong), that was killed with her. Bombings, especially suicide bombing is not a Nigerian characteristic. But, whether Nigerian or foreign, even in the most advanced clime, it is so difficult for you to control asymmetric war, war of unconventional means.

    It was easy to target the Niger Delta militants because they have camps. You know where they are, and you can get your satellite to monitor them.  But for our satellite could you say it’s very efficient? Naturally could we say they are even our satellite in the real sense?

    Our military has been badly armed in the last few years.  Under the last presidents, even going back into the military regime, they very much under equipped our military. Soldiers don’t have modern weapons, don’t have latest training, and don’t understand a lot of things. It was on this basis that Nigeria was tongue lashed in Congress, tongue lashed in the British House of Commons.  British has come in, how many months now, America has come in, why have they not found the girls? Why have all the countries that trooped to Nigeria for assistance suddenly become silent?

    Can we say there is a conspiracy?

    I don’t know. I am beginning to think, as friendly as I am to the Americans; I am beginning to suspect America. America has a very notorious record of arming two sides of a conflict. Nicaragua is very fresh in our mind. In fact, America armed Vietnam to some extent against its own self.  I have record about this, and I will love the American Ambassador or anybody to sit down with me on TV, and I will bring out the record and let them dispute it. I will not be surprised if it is not part of a grand conspiracy to help destabilize or make sure Nigeria fails. Don’t forget that their prediction is around the corner – 2015, they said we will fail. America loves to be seen as intelligent. They hate for you to show them as not having facts. They do not have the facts about our break up.

    We won’t break up. But they will do all they can to see us break up, including saying to us, we will not arm you. If I am the Nigerian President, I will send the American Ambassador out of Nigeria. For them to have the temerity to say to us that for human rights abuses, they will not arm the Nigerian military which is facing a horde of not just human rights abusers, a horde of killers, a horde of beasts that are massacring hundreds of thousands of people in the villages, and they have been doing it consistently and America is turning blind eye.

    America does not consider it there right or duty to help us because, just wait when that horde will start picking up American citizens and beheading them the way they are beheading Nigerians you will see the same America mounting global condemnation. At that time you will hear America carrying out airstrikes! That level of hypocrisy must not be tolerated and cannot be tolerated by Nigerians. I don’t care if the Nigerian government reacts or doesn’t react.

  • Insurgency increases influx into Abuja

    The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has lamented that the insurgency in the Northeast and the recent bomb blast at Kano Central Mosque have increased the influx of displaced people into the city.

    The Coordinator Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC), Mr Reuben Okoya disclosed this in Abuja at a press briefing where he informed journalists about the activities of the agency this year.

    He revealed that AMMC is in charge of managing the nation’s capital in terms of development control, environmental issues, parks and recreation, relocation and outdoor advertising among other functions.

    He said the sudden increase in the FCT population has taken its toll on the existing infrastructure which is now being overstretched.

    Okoya stated:  ”The unrest in the Northeast and Southsouth is driving many people into Abuja as a safe haven. The number of IDPs in Abuja is growing. I can tell you the last Kano bomb blast has driven a lot of people to Abuja. We cannot stop people from coming in. The best we can do is to manage them.”

    The coordinator, however, blamed various state governments across the state for failing  to make their states work.

    “Until the various state government in Nigeria start succeeding, because they have failed, people won’t stop coming into the FCT.”

    Okoya emphasises that the agency has continued to manage the city in the face of challenges without being deterred in spite of the dwindling revenues.

    Meanwhile, Director of Department of Development Control, Yahaya Yusuf said that a total of 436 abandoned buildings were identified in the city, adding that 59 of the buildings have undergone integrity test after which the owners have commenced the redevelopment of the affected buildings.

    He revealed that development control has demolished 2,636 shanties and 639 illegal structures this year.

  • Explosion hits Kano Central Mosque

    Multiple explosion rocked Kano central mosque during the Friday Jumaat prayer were many lives were lost and many people sustained various degrees of injuries.

    The explosion caused pandemonium around the area which is housing the palace of the emir of Kano.

    The Nation gathered that the explosion occurred while people were listening to the Friday sermon from the chief Imam of Kano Prof Sani Zahradeen.

    A heavy smoke was said to have engulfed the entire atmosphere immediately after the blast.

    As at time of filing this report, rescue operations was said to be ongoing by good Samaritans while corpses and other injured individuals were rescued to various hospitals for medical attention.