The Nation Newspaper

Tag: kills

  • ‘Strange disease’ kills 50 in Kogi

    A strange disease, whose symptoms include diarrhoea, bloodstained vomiting and high fever, has killed 50 people at Okunran, Okoloke and Isanlu-Esa villages in Yagba West Local Government, Kogi State.

    Initial reports had suspected Lassa Fever, but medics told Commissioner for Health Dr. Saka Audu, who visited the affected areas yesterday, that it was a strange disease.

    “We initially suspected Lassa Fever after getting some misleading reports about people bleeding around. So, we made a diagnosis for viral haemorrhagic fever (Lassa fever), but the result was negative,” Dr. Jannette Hathorn, a Consultant at ECWA Hospital, Egbe told Audu.

    She said the first case was that of a child of two and half years, who died 12 hours after he was brought to the hospital.

    “We are sure it is not Lassa fever; but our concern is that we do not know exactly what is happening. We have not arrived at a definitive diagnosis.

    “Two adult patients were also brought here; one showed symptoms of ulcer-viral illness, but there was no bleeding component of any haemorrhagic symptom.

    “We isolated them and both of them were treated for malaria. When they started improving, we let them go.

    “Another parent brought a child to the hospital and pleaded for help. He said 50 people had died in their village with similar symptoms of bloodstained vomiting, diarrhoea and fever.

    “When the child died, we called the World Health Organisation (WHO). Yesterday (Wednesday), their officials came and took samples of everything; we must know exactly what we are dealing with,” she said.

    Audu, who described the situation as “serious”, said the visit was to assess it, “especially since many lives have been lost to the disease”.

    “We want to determine the cause of these mysterious deaths and then proffer solution to it.

    “Government is committed to assisting the people, irrespective of how remote their settlements may be. We must ensure that we take healthcare to the door steps of rural dwellers.

    “We want to reassure the people that government is with them and will take full responsibility of those who are already ill, so as to arrest the spread of this disease.

    “For now, what is clear and confirmed is that it is not Lassa fever; but whatever it is, we will carry out further investigation and come up with definitive diagnosis,” Audu said.

    He said the information about the outbreak of the strange disease came to government last week and a technical team was immediately sent to take samples, which were sent to General Hospital Irrua, Edo State, for definitive investigation.

  • Man, 40, ‘kills’ uncle, son in Delta

    A 40-year-old man, Jerry Okocha, has allegedly killed his uncle and the son in Ogwashi-Uku, Aniocha South Local Government of Delta State.

    The incident, which occurred at Umudei quarters, caused panic, as people ran to avoid being killed by the machete-wielding man.

    The victim, Mike Okocha, was murdered in his living room, while his 20- year-old son, Iwe, was killed in the bathroom.

    The Nation learnt Jerry is mentally unstable.

    An eyewitness, who spoke to our reporter on condition of anonymity, said: “Iwe was bathing when he was attacked by Jerry. He had soaped his head and face and was scooping water to wash the soap when Jerry came from behind and dealt him a heavy blow in the head with the machete. He slumped, while Jerry continued to attack him with the machete.

    “When Jerry saw that Iwe was dead, he left him and went after his (Iwe’s) father, an elder brother to Jerry’s father. The man, who initially did not know what had happened, was reclining on a chair in his parlour when the assailant attacked him. Mike’s wife, who was in another wing of the house, cried out. She escaped and ran to her eldest son’s house nearby. Her son mobilised youths, who disarmed the assailant.”

    The Nation gathered that the assailant’s father died a few years ago, while his mother had travelled to live with her daughter in Abuja.

    Police spokesman Andrew Aniamaka confirmed the incident.

    He said the suspect has been taken to police custody, adding that investigation is on.

     

  • Gang kills family of four in Ikorodu

    Gang kills family of four in Ikorodu

    Members of the notorious Badoo gang have struck again in Ikorodu, Lagos, killing a couple and their two children.

    Israel Olusanya, his pregnant wife Oriyomi, Adewale, 11, and Semilore, 4, were killed on Monday by four masked men who invaded their Letter N Junction, Radio Area, Erunwen home.

    Their eldest child, Tolulope, a Senior Secondary School (SS3) 3 pupil, who survived the attack, is battling for her life in hospital.

    Tolulope, 15, was found naked and unconscious on Tuesday morning with a black cloth around her head.

    It was gathered that the assailants smashed their victims’ heads with mortar and pestle.

    The Nation gathered that the victims were found by the wife of the proprietor of the school where Oriyomi worked as caregiver.

    When the late Oriyomi was not seen in school, the woman tried to reach her and her husband on their phones, to no avail. She then went to their residence, which also serves as the Olusanya’s poultry to check on her.

    She found the door open; knocked many times, but when there was no response, she went inside. On entering the house, she perceived an odour and found the family members in a pool of their blood.

    According to neighbours, the woman’s alarm attracted people. The police were also invited.

    It was gathered that Olusanya’s body was already decomposing and he was quickly buried. The bodies of his wife and children were deposited at a mortuary in Ikorodu.

    A neighbour to the deceased, Alhaji Babajide Olanrewaju said the killers might have come in through the Sabo-Imota Road.

    Olanrewaju said: “Government is taking this matter lightly. The police are not doing anything.  The traditional institution in Ikorodu is passive about the killings. No one is talking. Badoo is a big epidemic in Ikorodu and would turn into another Boko Haram. Maybe, that’s when government would act.”

    Coordinator of a group, Ikorodu Ambassadors, Rasheed Fatuga urged the police, government, traditional and other institutions to act fast before things got out of hand.

    He said: “How long will this continue, what is their mission and purpose? Why kill families? What for? What gain? So sad! A kitchen mortar is a device used to prepare ingredients or substances by crushing and grinding them. It is shocking and sad to see that Badoo gang hasn’t been neutralised. What happens in a community where constituted authorities cannot provide security of lives and properties? What is the function of the Ikorodu Police Divisions when they cannot give us peace of mind?

    What is the essence of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad patrolling Ikorodu 24/7 looking for only Yahoo-Boys up and down? And where are the Ikorodu youths, that are supposed to take the Badoo issue as their priority, talk about it on social media every time, forward the news to the Lagos State Government’s platforms, and stand up against this negligible act? They are nowhere to be found.

    “Instead, they are busy carrying posters of politicians on their heads, politicians/leaders that are responsible for all this suffering in the first place. Kudos to the Vigilante Group of Ikorodu, they have been awesome, but they cannot do it alone. They don’t have the resources. We need to re-orientate and equip them.

    “We use this opportunity to call on our community, religious and political leaders to neutralise this ugly situation as soon as possible. Also we are calling on Ikorodu indigenes/ambassadors all over the world, the Muslim community, Christian associations, traditional worshippers, market men, women and all mothers in Ikorodu to stand up now. Remember, posterity is watching you all!”

    According to Fatuga, the gang invades houses without burglar proof and that are isolated.

    He said: “The Badoo gang usually looks for easy access. They look for houses without burglar proof, incomplete, areas where there are few houses, so that even when victims scream for help in distress, they get none. It hasn’t been easy identifying and detecting the notorious gang because they don’t carry weapons when moving. They depend on and use sharp objects and equipment.”

    Command’s spokesman Olarinde Famous-Cole, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), said investigation was ongoing to get the assailants.

  • Mudslide kills girl, 5, in Magodo

    •Death toll in Ilasamaja collapse  building hits four

    A five-year-old girl has been killed by mudslide in Magodo Phase II, Lagos.

    The incident occurred at 21, Odofian Street, around 7pm last Friday.

    Sarah was playing with her friend, Khadija, when the mud fell on them.

    Khadija was rushed to hospital because of her injuries.

    Rescue workers comprising Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Fire Service, police and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) have recovered the body.

    Death toll in the Ilasamaja building collapse hit four yesterday, with the discovery of another body from the rubble.

    Relatives of some of the workers at the site told The Nation yesterday that they were yet to see their loved ones, raising fears that more people could still be under the debris

    They said at least four persons were still missing.

    According to them, flies have begun perching on the debris which they said was a sign that people were still underneath.

    LASEMA General Manager, Adesina Tiamiyu confirmed the mudslide and warned residents of the dangers in playing around the place.

    He appealed to parents to monitor their kids when they go out to play, adding that Sarah’s body was handed over to her mother for burial.

    On the Ilasamaja incident, Tiamiyu said responders would begin a clean-up of the area to forestall public health issues.

    He confirmed that another body was found around midnight yesterday, saying his officers were on out post disaster clearing.

    Tiamiyu said: “Yes, we recovered another body around 12am. It was found under the debris during a post-disaster clearing of the site.

    “This has brought the total number of mortality to four persons, while those rescued alive remain 19, all male.

    “The body is yet to be identified and has been deposited by the State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit (SEHMU) at the Mainland Hospital Mortuary, Yaba.

    “We will carry out a clean-up of the site as soon as it was completely cleared to forestall public health issues at Ilasa and environs.”

  • Meningitis kills another Corps member in Sokoto

    ANOTHER Sokoto State National Youth Corps Service (NYSC) member has died, barely a month after the death of two members.

    Funmilayo Samuel, an indigene of Kabba in Kogi State, was suspected to have died of meningitis at Murtala Specialist Hospital in Sokoto, where people infected with the disease are being treated.

    A source told CAMPUSLIFE that the body of the late Corps member was immediately moved to another specialist hospital in the state capital after she died.

    Funmilayo, a Batch “A” Stream II Corps member, was serving at the Government Day Secondary School in Hamma’alli, a community in Kware Local Government Area – the same local council where the late Daniel Saanu, a Corps member died early this month.

    The late Funmilayo was expected to pass out next month, having done her final clearance. Her death brings to three corps members, who died in the state within the last two months.

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that the late Funmilayo taught Social Studies in her place of primary assignment. Her body was said to have been taken to her hometown last Thursday for burial.

    Worried by the death of their colleagues, some Corps members have sent distress message to the NYSC secretariat. It was gathered that the state NYSC coordinator, Alhaji Musa Abubakar, will be meeting Corps members this week on the matter.

    The aim, CAMPUSLIFE gathered, is to discuss how Corps members would have access to seek a robust emergency medical care, especially those serving in rural communities where killer disease is recorded.

  • Boko Haram abducts 22 girls in Borno

    • Village razed

    Almost three years after Boko Haram hauled over 200 girls from their school in Chibok, Borno State, into captivity, the terror sect has killed at least four people and seized scores of women and children at different locations in the state.
    One of the attacked villages was razed.
    The abduction is believed to be one of the biggest since the April 14, 2014 raid of Chibok.
    The terrorists struck at Pulka and Dumba villages close to the border with Cameroon on Thursday, taking the women and children.
    A herdsman was shot dead for refusing to pay them ‘protection’ fee.
    Also killed by the marauders were 50 of the man’s cattle.
    Then on Friday night, they turned their attention on Kaye village in Damboa Local Government area of the state, killing three residents.
    But it was Pulka they first raided, taking with them 18 girls.
    Reports said they drove into the village in pickup vans at about 6am on the fateful day and proceeded to seize 14 girls aged 17 and below.
    Panic stricken villagers fled into the bush on sighting the invaders, said a resident.
    “They picked four other girls who were fleeing the raid they came across in the bush outside the village,” said the source who asked not to be named.
    Another resident said the girls would likely end up as brides for the fighters.
    “They didn’t harm anyone during the raid and they made no attempt to shoot people running away from the village,” he said.
    The extremists killed a herdsman in the other raid on the outskirt of Dumba, close to Lake Chad.
    Sources said the man had tried to escape after refusing to pay ‘protection fee’ to the insurgents.
    “When the Boko Haram gunmen came for the money they realised he had left with everything and they decided to go after him on their motorcycles,” the source said.
    “They caught up with him near Dumba where they slaughtered him and shot dead 50 of his cattle.
    “They took four women from the man’s family and the rest of the herd.”
    On Friday night, Boko Haram terrorists invaded Kaye village, setting houses on fire.
    They then began to fire on fleeing residents, three of whom were killed in the process.
    A resident said they rode into the village on bicycles.
    He said many residents were missing.
    Efforts to locate them at the nearest village, Gumsiri, proved abortive, he said.
    The terrorists are believed to be from the Boko Haram faction headed by Abu Musab Al-Barnawi, son of Boko Haram founder Mohammed Yusuf.
    Barnawi was appointed last year by the Islamic State group to replace Abubakar Shekau. Barnawi had pledged allegiance to the Middle East jihadist group in 2015.
    The emergence of Barnawi has brought with it divisions in the group.
    The Barnawi faction has criticized Shekau for mass killings and suicide attacks against civilians.
    Barnawi and his loyalist Mamman Nur, who is seen as the real leader, had promised residents in areas under their control would not be harmed as long as they did not cooperate with Nigerian troops fighting Boko Haram.
    But in recent weeks the Islamist fighters have intensified raids in areas near Lake Chad, stealing food from residents.
    They have also killed several civilians they accused of cooperating with the military.
    Boko Haram, in October last year, released 21 girls of the Chibok girls after negotiation with the federal government.
    It was widely thought at the time that more of the girls would be released soon afterwards.
    There was no immediate response from the government or the military.
    Efforts to reach top officials by phone did not succeed.

  • Truck kills six, injures 10 in Jos market

    A truck loaded with grains lost control in a market at Faringada, Jos North Local Government of Plateau State and killed six persons.

    Not fewer than 10 persons also sustained injury in the accident which occurred at about 7pm Thursday evening.

    Eye witness said the truck lost control as a result of brake failure. The truck which was loaded with maize, rammed into vehicles and commercial tricycles with passengers on board.

    “The driver of a Man Diesel lorry conveying maize from Saminaka in Kaduna State to Onisha suddenly lost control as a result of break failure at Farin Gada area of Jos North Local Government Area of the state, causing confusion and pandemonium in the area,” said Sanusi Musa, an eye witness.

    It was further learnt that it took men of the Special Task Force and other Samaritans, two hours, before the bodies of those trapped under the lorry could be retrieved.

    The Nation gathered that three passengers died in the tricycles while another  three also gave up the ghost in a car believed to have been occupied by a driver, his fiancée and one other passenger.

    However, the Police Public Relations Officer, Plateau State Command, DSP M. T. Tyopev, confirmed that three people died in the accident, adding that the driver of the lorry, Fatai Onaolapo, had been arrested and at present helping the police to unravel the cause of the accident.

    According him, the preliminary investigations carried out, the driver who was coming from Saminaka in Kaduna State was heading for Onitsha with a lorry load of maize, adding that those at the scene attributed the accident to over speeding.

    He said those who sustained injuries are at present receiving treatment at Bingham University Teaching Hospital Jos.

  • Woman accidentally kills baby by giving him kerosine to drink

    Woman accidentally kills baby by giving him kerosine to drink

    Mrs. Ata Buhari yesterday accidentally killed her 18- month-old baby after she mistakenly gave him kerosene to drink instead of water.
    The tragic incident occurred at Iguma Street off Orewere Street, Medical Stores Road in Egor local government.
    Sources said Israel Buhari had cried to his kerosene-selling mother he wanted to drink water.
    The source said his mother gave him water stored in a beverage can, not realising it contained kerosene.
    It was learnt the boy spat out the content immediately he tasted it, making the mother to realise her mistake.
    Few minutes later, the child was said to have complained of stomach pain before he turned white in the eyes.
    Some neighbors were said to have come to the distraught mother’s aid and gave him palm oil before he was rushed to a hospital in the area where he died few hours later.
    Speaking to newsmen in tears, Mrs. Buhari, who hails from Kogi State, explained that one of her children filled an empty can of beverage with water which they took to store.
    She said she had a similar container of beverage with which she stored kerosene kept in her shop.
    She said she picked the one filled with kerosene when her child complained of thirst.
    36-year-old father of the child, Hassan Buhari, said he was called to the hospital where he met the corpse of his only son.

  • ‘Reckless’ driver ‘kills’ boy

    A 49-year-old driver, Kazeem Adesokan, who allegedly knocked down a one-year-old boy, has been brought before an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court.
    Adesokan, who lives at 10, Jesuwame Street, Shibiri, Lagos, is facing a two-count charge of manslaughter and reckless driving.
    Prosecuting Sergeant Michael Unah told the court that accused committed the offence around 7.30 a.m. on Tinubu Close, Palmgroove, Ilupeju, Lagos.
    “Adesokan drove a Toyota Hilux Pickup van with marked KRD 530 BT in a reckless and dangerous manner.
    “The accused drove the pickup in a reckless manner and caused the death of a one-year-old boy simply identified as Abdulrahaman Alhaji.
    “Adesokan, who reversed his pickup without checking if someone was at the back, knocked down the one-year-old boy.
    “As a result of the accused’s recklessness, the boy died instantly,’’ Unah said.
    He said the offence contravened Sections 18, 19 and 20 of the State Road Traffic Law.
    Magistrate A. O Gbajumo granted the accused N100, 000 bail with two sureties in the like sum.
    Gbajumo said the two sureties must be gainfully employed and should show evidence of two years’ tax payment to the Lagos State Government.
    She adjourned the case till February 27.

  • Policeman kills colleague, student in Zaria

    A mobile policeman attached to Zenith Bank, Zaria, on Friday killed his colleague attached to the same bank following disagreement over monthly stipends being given them by the bank. According to reports, quarrel between the policemen, Mathew Joshua, corporal and Aliyu Kamilu, sergeant, ensued following discovery that the sergeant had been short-changing the corporal.

    When Joshua confronted Kamilu on the issue, they started shouting at each other and “the corporal, who is holding-on to his rifle shot at the sergeant in his stomach. “After shooting the sergeant, Josua started shouting and shooting sporadically, which eventually led to the killing of a university student,” an eye witness said.

    The eye witness said that four customers of the bank also sustained bullet wounds. “When the report of the incident reached their command in Zaria, a team of policemen was immediately mobilised to the area. “The policemen met their colleague with two rifles. They had no option than to systematically take position. “One of them succeeded in shooting Joshua on the leg, which gave people around the opportunity to descend on him with stones.

    ” He said Joshua, the corpses of Kamilu and the student were taken to Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Shika, Zaria. The hospital authority also confirmed the death of the student and Kamilu. A source at the Police Area Command, Zaria, also confirmed the death of Joshua at ABUTH.

    “The Nigeria Police has no case because the two policemen gave-up the ghost. “Information coming to us now is that the affected policemen have died, therefore, we have no case.” When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Police Command, Kaduna, DSP Aliyu Usman, confirmed the incident. NAN