The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Jere

  • Many killed in robbery attack on Kaduna-Abuja highway

    …victim, ex Katsina Commissioner buried in Kaduna

     

    Many persons were killed and several others abducted on Sunday evening by armed men suspected to be robbers and kidnappers along Kaduna-Abuja highway.

    The Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, Austin Iwar, confirmed the attack.

    The CP gave assurance that the force is on the trail of the bandits.

    Meanwhile, one of the victims of the attack, a former Commissioner of Education in Katsina State, Professor Halima Idris has been buried in Kaduna on Monday afternoon according to Islamic rites.

    Deputy of Katsina State, Engr. Manir Yakubu led the delegation of about 23 Commissioners from the state, while former Governor of Kaduna State, Balarabe Musa, Umar Farouk Ahmed and other dignitaries attended the burial.

    The travelers, The Nation learnt were attacked around 6:00 pm near Gidan Busa village, located between Jere and Kateri communities, along the Kaduna-Abuja expressway.

    According to an eyewitness, passengers were returning from Kaduna to Abuja in different vehicles, when they stumbled on the bandits who mounted a road block, stopped motorists and started shooting sporadically.

    He said, the attackers numbering about 10 also killed an Army Officer and a policeman in the attack and several others were abducted.

    According to him, “There is an army officer travelling with his orderly and daughter. The orderly escaped with gunshot but they killed the army officer and his daughter on the spot”.

    He also alleged that, security officers could not engage the kidnappers for reasons best known to them.

    Police on Monday in a statement through its Public Relations Officer, DSP Aliyu Mukhtar said four persons were killed in the attack, while five others were injured.

    “The Kaduna State Police Command wishes to inform the public that on 22/07/2018 at about 06:30pm, a distress call was received that a group of unidentified Armed Men blocked Kaduna–Abuja express road by Gidan Busa Village and opened fire indiscriminately at any vehicle on sight.

    “In swift response, teams of Police Men stormed the scene where the bandits were dislodged but sadly they had already killed four (4) commuters and injured five (5) others in their dastardly act Normalcy has been restored on the road with commuters moving safely without molestation.

    “The Police Command uses this medium to reassure the public that we are committed even than before to protect life and property of Nigerians, irrespective of time, venue and circumstance.

    “In this regard, we call on the general Public to volunteer information to security agencies to assist us in ridding our communities of such violent miscreants who have constitute threat to our peaceful coexistence.”

  • Borno free of cholera outbreak – Commissioner

    Borno free of cholera outbreak – Commissioner

    The Borno Government on Thursday declared that the state is cholera free sequel to the successful control of an outbreak of the disease.

    The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Haruna Mshelia, made this known at a news conference in Maiduguri.

    He said the state government in collaboration with World Health Organisation ( WHO ) and development partners had effectively controlled the cholera outbreak which was first recorded on August 16.

    “Today, we are more than two weeks without any case reported and this signifies that we have come to the end of this outbreak,’’ Mshelia, who was represented by Dr Muhammad Ghuluze, said.

    “The preparedness of the health cluster to respond to cholera outbreak; effective partner coordination, and swift activation of the emergency operation centre, efficient case management and surveillance were the strong points that helped disrupt transmission and reduce mortality by about one per cent,” he said.

    Read also: Cholera spreads through IDPs camps in Nigeria – UN

    Mshelia disclosed further that over 5,000 cases of the disease were recorded with 61 deaths in the six affected local government areas of the state.

    He listed the affected areas as Jere, Maiduguri, Dikwa, Monguno, Mafa and Guzamala.

    The commissioner attributed the outbreak to the weakening health system due to Boko Haram insurgency and over population at Internally Displaced Persons ( IDPs ) camps.

    According to him, the state government has inoculated 950,000 persons against the disease as part of effort to prevent future outbreak.

    Mshelia reiterated the state government commitments to enhance quality healthcare delivery in the state.
    He commended WHO and other organisations for their contributions to the improvement of healthcare services in the state.

    NAN

  • Borno vaccinates 1.6m children against measles

    Borno vaccinates 1.6m children against measles

    The Borno Government says it has inoculated 1.6 million children against measles in the past three weeks.

    The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Haruna Mshelia, said that the children were immunised under the first and second phases of the exercise.

    Mshelia explained that the first phase exercise was conducted in Borno South senatorial district and four local government areas of the central zone.

    He disclosed that the first phase exercise recorded 92 per cent coverage, while that the second phase of the immunisation exercise was conducted in the northern part of the state and the remaining four local governments of the central senatorial district.

    He said: “Collation of coverage in the second phase is on-going due to accessibility issues.’’

    The state government has also vaccinated about one million residents in a maiden cholera immunisation exercise.

    Read also: Measles: Kaduna begins immunisation of 1.5m children

    More than 950,000 doses of oral cholera vaccines were administered to people to contain outbreak of the disease in the state in the past three months.

    Oral cholera vaccines were administered to children above one-year of age and adults in Maiduguri, Konduga, Jere, Monguno and Dikwa local government areas.

    The state government in collaboration with World Health Organisation ( WHO ) and other humanitarian partners scaled up activities and successfully controlled the outbreak.

    NAN

  • FG empowers 5,200 IDPs in Borno – Official

    FG empowers 5,200 IDPs in Borno – Official

    More than 5,200 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Borno have benefitted from the economic empowerment schemes of the National Programme on Food Security (NPFS) of the Federal Government.

    Mr Bala Ahmad, the Director of Engineering, Borno State Agricultural Development Programme (BOSADP), told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Maiduguri on Monday that the beneficiaries were women and youths.

    Ahmad said that the programme, tagged ‘‘Community-based Agricultural and Rural Development Programme’’ of the Federal Government, was designed to improve the living standards of the beneficiaries.

    ‘‘The implementing agencies of the scheme are Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development through the National Programme on Food Security (NPFS), the Bank of Industry (BOI) and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) of the United Nations.

    “The programme was launched in eight northern states where poverty is widespread; the states are Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara in the Northwest, as well as Borno and Yobe in the Northeast.

    “The programme targets a large section of the rural population, especially women, youths and the most vulnerable, as well as small-scale farmers.

    “In Borno, the beneficiaries, who are mostly persons displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency, are from seven councils which include Jere, Maiduguri Metropolitan Council, Konduga, Damboa, Bama, Biu and Benishaik.

    “The beneficiaries were asked to register as members of cooperative societies where they were divided into 30 groups.

    “They are to benefit from three basic programmes. The first group, comprising mostly women, was given hybrid cows to improve their livelihoods through the production of milk and other cattle-related products.

    “We engaged livestock facilitators who assisted the beneficiaries in selecting hybrid breed of cows that can yield quick returns.

    “Under the programme, some women were also supported with sewing and milling machines so as to enable them engage in groundnut and palm oil production,’’ he said.