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Cholera: Tinubu orders cabinet to set up committee on emergencies
President Bola Tinubu has directed the establishment of a cabinet committee to oversee the Cholera emergency operation centre operated by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, made this known yesterday after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting chaired by Tinubu at the State House, Abuja.
The Minister said the cabinet committee comprises members from the Federal Ministries of Health, Finance, Water Resources, Environment, Youth, Aviation, and Education.
He added that the committee’s efforts are in addition to the state government’s support to ensure Nigeria makes progress in reducing open defecation and other developmental issues aiding cholera spread.
“The Council approved a cabinet committee comprising the Federal Ministries of Health, Finance, Water Resources, Environment, Youth, Aviation, and Education, as some of our children will be returning to school.
“In addition to this, the state government will be co-opted to ensure Nigeria makes progress in reducing open defecation, as cholera is a developmental issue that requires a multi-sectoral approach,” Pate explained.
Meanwhile, some states have adopted strategies to overcome the prevalence of cholera. These include chlorination of water, and awareness and education of the people on proper hygiene.
The Gombe State government said though the state is free of cholera outbreak, it has started distributing chlorine to the 11 local government areas as part of measures to mitigate cholera spread.
Its Waste Manager, Gombe State Environmental Protection Agency (GOSEPA), Dr Umar Musa, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday, said the targeted areas are wells, stagnant ponds and reservoirs, while areas that fetch water from rivers would get aqua tabs.
He explained: “Chlorine will destroy pathogens in water which contain the bacterium called Vibrio Cholerae which causes cholera infection and other water-borne diseases.”
The manager, who said the chlorine distribution would continue until December, added that 110 trained personnel are handling the distribution.
“The use of chlorine was the preventive method Gombe State also adopted in 2023 and it yielded positive results because there was no single case of cholera recorded.
Also, the Anambra State Government, which said it had not recorded any case of cholera, through its Commissioner for Health, Dr Afam Obidike, said in Awka, the state capital that the ministry has, nevertheless, activated Emergency Response Teams across the 21 local government areas.
“Emergency response teams are also actively conducting surveillance in communities in the 21 LGAs to promptly identify and contain any potential cases.
“We have commenced public campaigns to raise awareness about cholera and emphasise preventive measures in homes and communities.
“The media has been engaged to disseminate crucial information and educate the public about the signs, symptoms, and preventive strategies for cholera,” he said.
For some schools in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), precaution is the watchword.
FCT Minister of State, Dr. Mariya Mahmoud, called on the FCT Primary Health Care Board to put in place measures to guard against the outbreak of cholera epidemic that has ravaged some states in Nigeria.
The minister made this call while taking briefs from the Director of the FCT Primary Health Care Board at the 190th FCT Joint Account Allocation Committee (JAAC) meeting in her office.
Mahmoud, who expressed satisfaction over the non-reported case of the epidemic in the nation’s capital, however, warned that as the seat of government necessary measures should be put in place to avoid any outbreak of the disease.
“I am indeed delighted that no case of the cholera epidemic has been reported in any of our primary healthcare centres across the six area councils in the FCT.
“However, that does not give us room to relax because this is the seat of government. The FCT Primary Health Care Board should put in place measures to guard against any outbreak of the disease.
“By now, I was expecting the board to commence radio jingles in different major languages and sensitization programmes in our schools, markets, mosques and churches. We should not give room for the outbreak before we start the fire brigade approach. That will not be acceptable,” she warned.
When NAN visited some of the schools yesterday in Gwagwalada, it observed that most schools have water drums and soap at designated places for pupils and teachers to wash their hands.
The move, they said, is to ensure availability of potable water for the pupils and others.
The Assistant Headmaster, Administration, Pilot Science Primary School, Mr Ismaila Gishe, said the Local Education Authority (LEA) recently provided plastic water drums and purifiers to purify the water before the pupils could drink it.
The Ogun State House of Assembly yesterday urged relevant government agencies to collaborate with local governments for proactive measures in containing the spread of cholera in the state.
The House’s members, led by the Speaker, Oludaisi Elemide (APC-Odeda), made the call during plenary.
Elemide commended the state government for its prompt intervention through the purchase of protective kits meant for the prevention of the spread.
He solicited the collaboration of relevant agencies and the Department of Public Health and Sanitation at the local government level.
Earlier, Wahab Haruna (APC-Yewa North I) had underscored the need to enforce compliance with public health precautions and promotion of hygiene by private food vendors to save the citizens.
Haruna who is Chairman, House Committee on Health, also explained the need for residents to take precautions to halt the spread of the disease.
In Oyo State, some residents of Ibadan, said the disease outbreak had compelled them to reconsider their eating habits and develop mechanisms to keep up with the situation
A motor mechanic at the Scout Camp area of the town, Mr Wale Adeyemi, says others like him feel hit the most being artisans.
According to him, since artisans rarely cook at work, they depend on food vendors but now they have started bringing food from home.
“One can’t expect people like us to cook when we are at our workshops. We buy food to eat as the only food most of us have at home is dinner.
“We have food hawkers who come daily to sell to us but now, many of us don’t patronise them again.
“Now, as my wife is packing the food for the children, she’s packing mine along. I also take garri and groundnuts or bread to ensure I have at least two meals at work.
“I’m not buying food from anyone until the government announces there’s no more cholera in Ibadan,” he said.
A pepper seller at Challenge, Mrs Basirat Lawal, likens this period to the days of COVID-19, as she recalled the precautionary measure of the COVID-19 days being replayed.
Lawal says she’s practising regular handwashing and mindful of where she buys her cooked foods.
“Since I heard about the cholera incident and learnt it started from drinking tiger nuts, I have stopped buying zobo from my customer.
“If I don’t bring food from home, I buy food from just one person because I trust her cooking hygiene, or I simply buy bread and coke.
Meanwhile, a barber, Mr Ahmeed Yinusa, described the experience restraining him from eating from different sources as the toughest in his over 30 years of existence.
News
SHAME! WATCH moment NDLEA nabs nursing student over attempt to ingest 76 wraps of h3rd drugs
Again, NDLEA operatives have proven that there’s no hiding place for hard drug peddlers as a nursing student was nabbed over attempt to ingest 76 wraps of drugs.
Naijablitznews reports that the video clip captured the student counting such a large quantity of hard drugs she wanted to ingest.
WATCH clip below:
News
NDLEA massive raids across Nigeria yields results nabs India-bound nursing student(Photos)
… over attempt to ingest 76 wraps of cocaine
…intercepts illicit consignments heading to Borno, Kano, Abuja; arrests 33 suspects in Lagos, FCT, Kano, Kwara, Kogi, Taraba raids
Attempt by 26-year-old Esther Onyinyechi Uzodinma, a 200-level student of nursing at the Noida International University, Uttar Pradesh, India, to swallow 76 wraps of cocaine hours before her return flight to the South Asian country through the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, MAKIA, Kano, has been thwarted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA.
Esther was scheduled to return to Delhi, India from MAKIA Kano on Qatar Airways flight 1432 on Friday 17th January 2025 but was arrested in her room at 11:30pm on Thursday 16th January at Royal Park Hotel Sabon Garin Kano, while awaiting the cocaine consignment she was to ingest before her flight the following morning.
Her lid was blown open when NDLEA operatives on patrol along Okene-Lokoja highway in Kogi state on Thursday 16th January intercepted 31-year-old Cosmas Okorie in a commuter bus coming from Lagos enroute Kano. Inside his black polythene bag was an audio speaker, which was used to conceal 76 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.340 kilograms, which he was going to deliver to Esther in Kano. A swift follow up operation in Kano led to the arrest of the female nursing university student later same day.
In her statement, Esther claimed the drug cartel she was working for recruited her in India and paid for her trip to Nigeria to enjoy her Christmas and New Year holidays.
To avoid her parents knowing she was in Nigeria, Esther did not travel to her home state, Imo but was lodged for two weeks in a hotel in Enugu, from where she was flown to Abuja and then Kano where she was lodged at Royal Park Hotel to swallow the 76 pellets of cocaine sent to her from Lagos before taking her Qatar Airways flight to India on Friday morning. She said she was promised over $5,000 upon successful delivery of the illicit consignment in India.
In other operations along the Okene-Lokoja-Abuja highway, NDLEA officers arrested four suspects: Abdullahi Umar; Tijjani Samaila; Lucky Obotte and Abubakar Haruna, who were heading to Maiduguri, Borno state, Kano, and Abuja in commuter vehicles with over 38,000 pills of tramadol 225mg, 250mg and 100mg concealed in audio speakers and cloths.
In Lagos, operatives of a special operations unit of the Agency on Tuesday 14th January raided the hideout of a 59-year-old Nwokedi Emeka Jonas in Ojodu-Berger area of the state where they recovered 10 parcels of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis weighing 4.9kg as well as different paper bags he uses in dispensing the psychoactive substance in retail quantities. Printed on them include street names and codes such as ‘Dead man’; ‘Gelato top shelf smoke’; ‘Topshelf’; and ‘Gelato cake’
In other operations in Lagos, operatives of the state Command of the Agency on Wednesday 15th January raided a house in Igando New Town area of Alimosho where they arrested three suspects: Isaac Vincent, 32; Ebube Ikechi, 25; and Christopher Usifoh, 43, from whom 1,610kg skunk, a strain of cannabis and 6kg pills of tramadol were recovered. Also recovered from the house were a delivery van and three other vehicles used for distributing the illicit drugs.
Two suspects: Olashile Okoya and Mohammed Ibrahim were arrested on Saturday 18th January when NDLEA officers raided their home at 5A Addison Palmer, Cadogan Estate, Castle Rock Avenue, Osapa, Lekki Lagos, where 28 kilograms of Cannadian Loud were recovered following credible intelligence.
Not less than 67kg skunk was seized from Saheed Sulaiman on Thursday 16th January when NDLEA operatives raided his Edumare street, Lagos Island hideout, while various quantities of assorted illicit substances were recovered from Adamu Abdullahi on Tuesday 14th January when Jerry Irabi Estate, Lekki hideout was raided by NDLEA officers. They include 3.7 litres of codeine syrup; 10,000 pills of tramadol; 1,670 tablets of rohypnol; 6.5kg cannabis; 3,100 tablets of diazepam; 10,090 tablets of Molly; 5,500 tabs of Exol-5; 1.2kg crisps of wrapped methamphetamine and a monetary exhibit of ₦623,650.00.
In Kano, two suspects: Usama Adamu, 25, and Isah Ibrahim, 29, were on Friday 17th January
arrested at Dawanau, Dawakin Tofa LGA where a total of 7.6kg skunk, 78 tubes of rubber solution and 356 bottles of ‘suck and die’, a new psychoactive substance were recovered from them.
In another raid in Kano, Usman Isa, 29, was nabbed along Zaria road with 114 blocks of skunk weighing 49.8kg.
Three suspects: Lawali Isiaka, Umoru Isiaka and Mohammed Kabiru were on Wednesday 15th January arrested by NDLEA operatives with 390 tablets of Molly and 65.5kg of cannabis at Bode Saadu in Moro Local Government Area of Kwara State, while Samuel Ogbu, 24, was nabbed with 25,000 pills of tramadol by operatives along Wukari- Zaki Ibiam road, Wukari LGA, Taraba state.
In series of raids in Abuja, a suspect, Rufa’i Hashimu, 27, was arrested at Gwarimpa village area of the FCT with 118 bottles of codeine-based syrup, while 13 others were nabbed in other locations such as: Area1 IDP camp, Gishiri, Zuba, Dei -Dei, AYA, Lagos Street Garki, Karu, and Lugbe.
Recovered from them include different quantities of tramadol, diazepam, and methamphetamine.
With the same vigour, Commands and formations of the Agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, sensitization activities to schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others in the past week. These include: WADA sensitisation lecture to students and staff of NUD Basic Primary School, Orile-Igbon, Oyo state; Corpus Christi College, Ilawe Ekiti; Holy Family International Schools, Calabar; Kudam Islamic School, Osogbo; Business Apprenticeship Training Centre, Kankia, Katsina, while Abia state command of NDLEA paid a WADA advocacy visit to Governor Alex Otti, among others.
While commending the officers and men of Lagos, Kogi, SOPU, Kano, Kwara, FCT, and Taraba Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) urged them and their compatriots across the country not to rest on their oars as they intensify their balanced approach to drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.
News
SAD! Two Judges shot dead in Court as attacker takes own life
Two top judges in Iran were shot dead on Saturday in what has been reported as a targeted assassination directed at the Islamic regime’s enablers in the country’s Supreme Court.
The two judges, Ali Razini and Mohammad Moghiseh were killed after an armed man entered the court, in Tehran, Iran’s capital on Saturday morning.
The attacker was said to have then killed himself while fleeing the scene, according to the judiciary’s news website, Mizan. A bodyguard was also injured in the attack.
The motive for the attack is unclear, but both judges are said to have played a role in the persecution and killing of opponents of the Islamic regime throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
In a statement to state news agency IRNA, the judiciary’s media office described the attack as premeditated assassination.
It also said that, according to initial findings, the attacker had not been involved in any case considered by the supreme court, and an investigation had been launched to identify and arrest any further people who may have been involved in the attack.
The judiciary’s spokesman, Asghar Jahangir, told Iranian state TV that the attacker had entered the court carrying a handgun before opening fire.
One of the judges, Razini, had survived an assassination attempt in 1998 that shook Iran at that time. He was one of the most senior judges in Iran.
The other, Moghiseh, was sanctioned by the US in 2019, with the treasury department accusing him of having “overseen countless unfair trials, during which charges went unsubstantiated and evidence was disregarded”.
At that time, he was a judge in the Tehran Revolutionary Court. He was reportedly named to the supreme court in 2020.
Moghiseh was also among seven Iranian judges sanctioned by Canada in 2023 for what the country described as “their role in gross and systematic human rights violations”.
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