News
Yearly, 2.7m People Are Bitten By Snakes As WHO Warns Of Antivenom Shortages
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
Yearly, as many as 2.7 million people are bitten by poisonous snakes, with up to an estimated 138,000 deaths.
One person dies from snake bite every four to six minutes,” David Williams, a World Health Organization snakebit expert, told reporters in Geneva.
Far more people — around 240,000 each year — are left with permanent disabilities, he said.
Snake venom can cause paralysis that stops breathing, bleeding disorders that can lead to fatal haemorrhage, irreversible kidney failure and tissue damage that can cause permanent disability and limb loss.
Most snake bite victims live in the world’s tropical and poorest regions, and children are worse affected due to their smaller body size.
Williams stressed that disabilities caused by snake bites can drive not only the victims but their entire family into poverty due in part to the high cost of treatment, but also loss of income when the family breadwinner is the victim.
A major problem, he warned, was that “some regions of the world simply don’t have enough safe and effective treatments available to them”.
Sub-Saharan Africa, for instance, has access to just around 2.5 percent of the treatments it is estimated to need.
The UN health agency explained in 2019 that production of life-saving antivenoms had been abandoned by a number of companies since the 1980s, sparking a grave shortage in Africa and some Asian countries.
India is the worst affected country in the world, with around 58,000 people dying there due to snake bites every year, while its neighbours Bangladesh and Pakistan are also hard-hit, Williams said.
The impacts of climate change are meanwhile worsening the situation in some places, he said, pointing in particular to how flooding can often increase the number of snakebites.
He pointed to Nigeria, which is currently “going through a critical shortage of snake antivenom due to an influx of additional cases of snakebite that have been brought about by the flooding”.
“And this is a problem that occurs in many areas of the world where these sorts of disasters occur on a regular basis,” he said.
Major flooding events in Pakistan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, South Sudan and other countries had also been followed by a rise in snakebites.
WHO also warned that climate change risked shifting the distribution and abundance of venomous snakes, possibly exposing previously unaffected countries to the dangers.
AFP
By Mario Deepromoter
The power outages Nigerians experienced on Monday evening have been restored in some parts of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company franchise areas.
A check carried out by NAN revealed that places like Deidei, Suleja, Lugbe, Kuje and other areas had their light restored on Tuesday at about 5:15 am.
Customers in the AEDC were told of the disruption in supply, which was attributed to the collapse of the National grid.
In a statement on its Twitter handle on Monday, the company said that the system collapse occurred at about 6.58 pm.
Be rest assured that we are working with relevant stakeholders to restore power as soon the grid stabilises,” it said.
NAN
By Mario Deepromoter
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has set October 17 for the hearing of appeals related to the ongoing emirship tussle in Kano State.
The dispute centres around the appointment of the Emir of Kano, a position that has sparked legal challenges involving several parties.
A three-member panel of justices, led by Justice Mohammed Mustapha, reserved judgment on Monday after listening to submissions from the lawyers involved.
The two major appeals are filed by Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero against the Attorney General of Kano State and 10 others, as well as a separate case involving the Kano State House of Assembly versus Alhaji Aminu Babba Dan Agundi and six others.
The hearing will also address a motion to stay the execution of the July 25 judgment concerning the enforcement of fundamental rights.
A Federal High Court in Kano, presided over by Justice Abdullahi Liman, has nullified Governor Abba Yusuf’s decision to depose Emir Ado Bayero and appoint Muhammadu Sanusi II on May 23.
The court also held as “null and void” the Kano Emirate Council (Repeal) Bill, 2024, passed by the Kano State House of Assembly, which voided Bayero’s seat.
The judge said, “The above action violates the order of this court earlier stated,” adding “The balance of convenience is on the applicant herein (Alhaji Aminu Babba Dan Agundi).”
However , the ruling comes as a Kano State High Court had also restrained Ado Bayero from acting as the emir.
NAN
By Mario Deepromoter
Tunisian pilot who flew the Super Eagles team to Libya reveals he was instructed by Libyan authority to divert the plane to a different location.
According to the pilot, the original flight plan was to land the aircraft in Benghazi, Libya, as approved by the aviation authorities. But later they were suddenly directed by officials to divert to another airport just as they neared their destination.
“The flight plan was to land in Benghazi. We got the approval from the Libyan civil aviation authority that we were approved to land,” the pilot explained. “But unfortunately, when we started the descent, they asked us to divert to Mitiga, which is almost 150 miles (300 km) away. This was not even our alternate airport.”
The pilot said he warned the officials that the diversion would have severely impacted their fuel reserves, and could compromise the safety of the flight.
I asked them several times, at least eight times, and I warned them that I would be in trouble for the fuel situation,” the pilot recounted. “They said it was from the highest authority and that we had to divert to Mitiga immediately.”
The pilot later complied with the directive. Thankfully, the aircraft landed safely in Mitiga with no challenges.
This revelation comes hours after Super Eagles players reported that had been mistreated by Libyan authorities ahead of their Tuesday match, which they later boycotted and flew back home after being held hostage for 20 hours.
In a series of tweets early Monday morning, Super Eagles captain William Troost-Ekong described the situation as “disgraceful,” accusing the hosts of playing “mind games.”
He revealed that the team was kept in an abandoned airport with no access to food, drink, or phone connections.
Nigeria defeated Libya 1-0 at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo on Friday, October 11. Both nations were scheduled to play the return leg in Libya on October 15.
Just in: AEDC restores power in some parts of Abuja
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