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OPINION;Deaths, sorrow on Bayelsa waters

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<em>2014 was a tough year in Bayelsa State as pirates and kidnappers wreaked havocs on its waterways, SIMON UTEBOR writes</em></div>
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There are high expectations from 
Bayelsans in 2015 that the government and the relevant authorities will 
put their acts together to check the high incidence of insecurity on the
 state’s waterways.</div>
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For many indigenes and residents alike, 
Bayelsa waterways could simply be described as “waters of deaths”, no 
thanks to the activities of sea robbers, sea pirates and kidnappers.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In 2014, the state was many times in the
 news for bad reasons due to repeated assaults that appeared to 
obliterate the other seemingly good things the state government was 
doing.</div>
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Observers
 believe the trend became worrisome because Bayelsa, a largely littoral 
state, is not getting the security on the waterways right.</div>
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While the government appeared to have 
scored above average in containing criminalities in the land areas, the 
coastal zones still have serious issues.</div>
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The state Governor, Chief Seriake 
Dickson, had at different fora, while wooing investors into the state, 
said the state was peaceful and secure.</div>
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But many believe that the statement 
could not be completely true when juxtaposed with the mass murders of 
travellers, traders, seafarers, security personnel and other users of 
the waterways.</div>
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While it is a herculean task to count 
the cases of pirates’ activities and kidnap incidents on the waterways 
of Bayelsa in 2014, cases will take a long time to blot out of the 
people’s cerebrum.</div>
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In January 2014, sea pirates carried out
 attacks on a commercial passenger boat and a patrol boat of the Joint 
Military Task Force in the Niger Delta, codenamed Operation Pulo Shield,
 on the waterways and creeks of Nembe and Southern Ijaw Area of Bayelsa,
 snuffing life out of at least one person.</div>
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The attack on the commercial boat 
occurred along the coastal town of Ekeni in Southern Ijaw, while the 
attack on the patrol boat of the JTF took place in Nembe-Bassanbiri 
community of Nembe.</div>
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The attack left a soldier badly injured,
 while the one on the passenger boat dispatched a businesswoman, Rhoda 
Brisibe, to an early grave.</div>
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Brisibie was allegedly shot in the head while three other occupants of the ill-fated boat sustained serious injuries.</div>
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In the same month, seven pirates 
attacked a Nigerian Agip Oil Company tugboat in the firm’s oil fields in
 Bayelsa State, abducting the captain and engineer.</div>
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The tugboat, with six crew members, was 
coming from Port Harcourt to Brass to load crude at the terminal. The 
four others on board had their valuables stolen.</div>
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The incident happened at Peter’s town in the Nembe Local Government Area of the state.</div>
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In a related assault, the same month, 
another gang of pirates attacked a passenger boat, taking the 
passengers’ valuables and, to immobilise the boat, removed its engine.</div>
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The passengers were returning to Akassa 
after attending a church service in Twon Brass, Brass Local Government 
Area of the state.</div>
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Also, a PSV Cee Jay liner was allegedly attacked by pirates and boarded off the coast of Bayelsa State.</div>
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The hoodlums kidnapped the master and chief engineer and robbed the crew.</div>
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<a href="http://www.punchng.com/special-feature/deaths-sorrow-on-bayelsa-waters/attachment/some-suspects/" rel="attachment wp-att-297055"><img alt="Some suspects" class="size-full wp-image-297055" height="303" src="http://punch.cdn.ng/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Some-suspects.jpg" width="450" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text">
Some suspects</div>
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Subsequently, the Tug Lamnalco Hawk was attacked and boarded by three pirates in Pennington Terminal area of the state.</div>
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In March, 2014, gunmen suspected to be sea pirates attacked two tugboats operated by Agip, kidnapping the captains of the boats.</div>
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The tugboats were said to be on transit from Nembe to Port Harcourt when they came under attack.</div>
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The event led to intensified security patrols by the marine division of the Nigeria police and the JTF.</div>
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The attacked tugboats were identified as MV Ebizar and MV Smoke.</div>
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May also reflected a gory picture of insecurity in the state.</div>
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Pirates created apprehension along the Nembe-Brass waterways in the state after they ambushed a passenger boat.</div>
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It was learnt that the pirates, who rode
 on a speedboat, were said to have shot sporadically into the air and 
forced the boat to stop sailing.</div>
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The gunmen were said to have raided the 
boat at the Obama Rice Farm, an area located between Brass and Nembe, 
and dispossessed passengers of their valuables.</div>
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It was further learnt that the incident 
created panic among other boats users and traders as they temporarily 
stopped the movement of goods and passengers along the waterways.</div>
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Though no life was lost, the attack 
created fears among travellers and traders and stopped movement of boats
 along the waterways.</div>
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The passengers of the attacked boats 
even refused to resume their journey until the patrol boat of the JTF 
convinced them to do so.</div>
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Reacting to the incident, the then state
 Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hilary Opara, said immediately they got 
wind of it, he deployed gunboats in the affected area.</div>
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In June, 2014, attempts by some pirates 
to seize Robert creeks to carry out their dastardly act were met with 
stiff resistance as the JTF repelled their attacks.</div>
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The security outfit was said to have killed three suspected pirates during a cross-fire with the group in Nembe.</div>
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Coordinator, Joint Media Campaign Centre
 of JTF, Col. Mustapha Anka, had said some 30 pirates, armed with AK-47 
riffles in two speedboats, attacked the JTF patrol troops.</div>
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Anka said in repelling the attack, a soldier in the patrol and two boat operators were injured.</div>
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Also, two American sailors were kidnapped by sea pirates in an oil vessel along the coast of Bayelsa State.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Director of Naval Information, 
Commodore Kabiru Aliu, while confirming the kidnap then had said the 
Nigerian Navy had received a report on the attack of a US flagged 
222-foot vessel, C-Retriever, owned by U.S. marine transport group 
Edison Chouest offshore.</div>
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He had said, “We are aware of the kidnap
 of the two American sailors and we have directed the Central Naval 
Command to see to their rescue. So, our men are on top of the 
situation.”</div>
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The abducted crew members were the chief engineer and the captain of the vessel.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In July, tragedy befell Agip as pirates 
attacked and killed three of its workers around the Clough Creek 
waterways, Southern Ijaw LGA of the state.</div>
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One of the deceased, Mr. Hector Abbey, drowned after jumping into the water in a bid to escape from the bandits.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The boat, identified as MV Terra, was 
said to have been ambushed by the gunmen when it was heading for the 
firm’s Clough Creek flow station.</div>
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It was gathered that the boat was not 
escorted by security operatives when it was attacked. The assailants 
were said to have double-crossed the workers, who were travelling in a 
speedboat and opened fire on the driver.</div>
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Abbey, 42, out of panic, was said to 
have jumped into the water, but was unable to swim safely to the shores.
 While his remains were later recovered by local divers, two other 
persons were declared missing.</div>
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The JTF then confirmed the incident, saying the workers were travelling without an escort.</div>
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Another attempt in the month to take over a flow station was repelled by security forces.</div>
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The JTF and the police rose to the occasion when suspected pirates attacked a flow station at Ogboinbiri in Southern Ijaw.</div>
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The Marine division of the police and the JTF engaged the pirates in a gun battle in Gbarain and Ogboinbiri.</div>
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Okpara and spokesperson for JTF, Anka, 
then said the efforts of the security operatives foiled the pirates’ 
attempt to overrun the flowstation.</div>
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Anka had said an employee of Lonestar, 
an oil servicing company, working in the facility operated by Shell 
Petroleum Development Company, sustained a gunshot injury during the 
operation.</div>
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On his part, Okpara said some sea 
pirates were killed in the shootout, adding however that the number of 
casualties could not be ascertained as the bodies sank.</div>
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Okpara had said the pirates attacked the
 rig at Gbarain with the intention of cutting the chain used to secure 
the gunboat to the rig.</div>
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According to him, the pirates would have stolen the gunboat and removed the policemen’ guns if they had succeeded.</div>
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The same month witnessed the kidnap of the foster father of President Goodluck Jonathan, Chief Inengite Nitabai.</div>
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The 65-year-old Nitabai was whisked away from his compound in Otuoke after they gained entrance into his home.</div>
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Nitabai, who was abducted by no fewer than 10 gunmen, only regained freedom after almost a month in the kidnappers’ den.</div>
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Narrating his ordeal in the hands of his
 captors, Nitabai said he was blindfolded and fed with garri and red oil
 while in captivity.</div>
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The harvests of kidnapping also 
continued in August as four workers of construction giant, Setraco, were
 abducted in the creeks of Nembe.</div>
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The victims, Caleb Agene, Otuke Magic 
Kingdom, Gabriel Oghene and Godwin Odukpong, were working on the 
multi-million naira Ogbia-Nembe road when they were abducted.</div>
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The incident occurred a few days after 
the state government set up an 11-man security task force, headed by a 
former leader of the movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, 
Ebikabowei Victor-Ben.</div>
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The kidnap of the four infuriated 
maritime workers in the state who threatened to go on an indefinite 
strike if the relevant authorities failed to address the security 
challenges.</div>
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The maritime workers under the aegis of 
the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, Bayelsa State chapter, said it 
appeared the government had failed to protect its members from attacks 
by pirates.</div>
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MWUN Chairman Lloyd Sese, had said, 
“Insecurity on the waterways has been our problem over the years. Sea 
piracy has increased this year. The creeks and the rivers have become a 
no-go area for meaningful businesses.</div>
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“Unlike the roads where armed robbers 
will operate under fear that security agencies may catch up with them 
and run away, pirates rob for many hours unhindered on the waterways.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Our boats are stolen, drivers are 
killed and women are raped on a daily basis. We are tired. There is no 
day we are not attacked.”</div>
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On the task force set up to curb 
insecurity on the waterways, Sese said, “You are asking people living in
 Abuja, who built mansions there and know nothing about the waterways, 
to come and secure the waterways.</div>
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“How can it work? We will withdraw our 
services to stop wasting the lives of innocent citizens. The former 
militants were appointed into the task force without maritime union 
officials.</div>
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“These are the same people who have boys
 doing one thing or the other on the waterways and you want their boss 
to call them to order. It won’t work.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Months after the threat and lack of 
affirmative action from the relevant authorities, they then embarked on 
an indefinite industrial action.</div>
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Sese lamented that a task force on 
marine security set up by the state government to address insecurity 
along the waterways failed woefully.</div>
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And October was not a good one for the 
Nigeria Police as gunmen said to be sea pirates allegedly killed four 
policemen and abducted six persons.</div>
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The killing of the policemen and the 
abduction of the six were said to have been carried out in two separate 
operations in the state.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
While the killing took place along the Santa Barbara waterways, the six were abducted along the Nembe waterways in Nembe.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The gunmen also seized a gunboat belonging to the police in the incident.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It was learnt the gunboat was escorting a barge owned by Agip when the pirates attacked it.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It was further learnt that the pirates, 
who operated on a speedboat, laid ambush for the gunboat and opened fire
 on the policemen.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
They were said to have killed the policemen, who were taken unawares. They subsequently took away the gunboat and their arms.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The incident was also said to have 
delayed the movement of prominent personalities travelling to Okpoama, 
Brass Local Government Area for the funeral of an uncle to former 
Bayelsa Governor Timipre Sylva.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Also, gunmen suspected to be sea pirates
 attacked a passenger speed boat near Kiberi-Bio along the 
Ogbia-Nembe-Brass waterway in the state and allegedly took away four 
passengers – two women and two children.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In addition, the hoodlums allegedly carted away valuable items worth thousands of naira, including the attacked boat.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The bandits were said to have also made 
away with the speed boat after forcing the driver and the passengers on 
board to disembark and run into the mangrove forest.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In the same month, the State Police 
Command confirmed attack on two military patrol boats deployed to rescue
 victims of pirates’ attack in Ogbia Brass waterways.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Yet, December will remain evergreen in 
the minds of the military as six soldiers were killed by pirates in two 
separate incidents.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In the first incident, dare-devil gunmen suspected to be sea pirates attacked and murdered three soldiers attached to the JTF.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The suspected pirates also hijacked a military gunboat after killing their victims.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The pirates were said to have laid 
ambush for the soldiers and killed them at Santa Barbara, a notorious 
river in Nembe area of the state.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The victims were said to be escorting 
some items to Brass terminal, owned by an international oil company, 
when the gunmen opened fire on them.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
When contacted, the JTF said it did not believe the soldiers were dead, but missing.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Anka confirmed the attack but said it was premature to conclude that the soldiers were killed by the pirates.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
However, less than 72 hours after, armed
 men again killed another three soldiers at Azagbene, in the Ekeremor 
area of the state.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The killing took place two days to 
Christmas when the pirates attacked the boat conveying the three 
soldiers on routine patrol along the waterways.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It was learnt that after the gunmen had killed the soldiers, they went away with their rifles and 180 rounds of ammunition.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The source said the civilian boat driver was also not spared as he was killed and his boat taken away.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The news of the killing of six soldiers within the space of four days was said to have thrown the JTF into deep mourning.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
With the harvests of deaths on Bayelsa 
waterways, the Seriake Dickson administration, stakeholders and relevant
 authorities are challenged that the state has yet to get right the 
security of lives and property of people.</div>
</div>

OPINION;Deaths, sorrow on Bayelsa waters

2014 was a tough year in Bayelsa State as pirates and kidnappers wreaked havocs on its waterways, SIMON UTEBOR writes There are high e...

NIMC begins registration of Nigerians in Diaspora

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<img alt="Director-General, National Identity Management Commission, Dr. Chris Onyemenan" class="attachment-bigstoryimage" height="305" src="http://punch.cdn.ng/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Chris-Onyemenan.jpg" width="360" /><div class="featured-image-caption">
Director-General, National Identity Management Commission, Dr. Chris Onyemenan</div>
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The
 National Identity Management Commission has commenced the enrolment of 
Nigerians in Mexico as part of its grand plan to register all the 
nation’s citizens in Diaspora.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Director-General and the Chief 
Executive Officer, NIMC, Mr. Chris Onyemenam, said this at the 
Nigeria-South Africa Chamber of Commerce breakfast forum in Lagos.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A statement by the commission on Friday 
quoted the DG as saying from inception till date, about 5.5 million 
people had been registered on the NIMC database, adding that there were 
plans to make the enrolment mandatory for every citizen.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He said the harmonisation of the identity
 management system with 14 government agencies had been achieved by 
ensuring that the executives of the agencies were members of the board 
of directors of the NIMC.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The director-general said after an 
identity card with 13 applets had been issued, five of the applets would
 be activated immediately.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
According to him, the electronic identity
 card will have its e-ID, international travel, biometrics, payment 
solution and the Electronic Public Key Infrastructure applets activated 
when issued to owners.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He added that agencies such as the 
National Pension Commission, Corporate Affairs Commission, Nigerian 
Police Force, Nigerian Communication Commission, National Health 
Insurance Scheme, and National Population Commission had formed 
partnership with the NIMC.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In the financial services sector, he said
 an agreement had been reached with the Central Bank of Nigerian and 
modalities and processes were already in place to use the national 
identity number as a requirement for obtaining a Bank Verification 
Number.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Onyemenam said that the agency had been 
able to provide a virtual payment solution that guaranteed security of 
funds through its partnership with MasterCard, Visacard and Verve.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The DG said, “It also means that 
financial credit institutions can lend credit facilities to individuals,
 and what that means is a gradual shift from emphasis and focusing on 
cash to credit, which is expected to drive the economy.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Another important one is the financial 
inclusion strategy. If you have no financial inclusion strategy based on
 a unique identity, you will never get it right. To get it right, 
therefore, we need a national identity management that can guarantee 
security and infrastructure to confirm the identity. We have not only 
provided that infrastructure, we have provided a virtual payment 
solution.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Highlighting the benefits of the 
harmonisation with the government agencies, Onyemenam said terrorism, 
money laundering, crime could easily be detected.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He explained, “Harmonisation can help law
 enforcement agencies to focus on trends and undergo more accurate 
criminal profiling and drug trafficking trends. The duplication process 
provided by the NIMC solution ensures transport infrastructure, the 
identification of every individual can be leveraged by the government.”</div>
</div>

NIMC begins registration of Nigerians in Diaspora

Director-General, National Identity Management Commission, Dr. Chris Onyemenan The National Identity Management Commission has commen...

Bayelsa school where pupils spend only two hours in class every day

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SSS 2 students sitting idly in class</div>
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A
 brief argument ensued between some of the Senior Secondary School Two 
students of Southern Ijaw Secondary School, Oporoma, a riverine 
community 45 minutes away via speedboat from the capital city of 
Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A young male teacher, Matthew Awoga, had
 asked one of the students, Emmanuel Alabo, to write the word ‘malaria’ 
on the blackboard to test his spelling skill before the English class 
would begin properly.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Trembling as he held the chalk, Alabo 
dragged his feet to the front of the class, and after making several 
attempts to write the word, he eventually wrote ‘marleria.’</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Perplexed, the teacher asked the rest of the class whether Alabo was right.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
While a part of the class said he was, 
another part argued he was not. Some other students were confused – they
 could not tell whether he was right or wrong.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The teacher was embarrassed; nonetheless, he called another student, a female, to write the word.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
But the girl never attempted to write it. She bluntly said she had no idea how to spell the word.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
After spending several minutes in front 
of the blackboard, she dropped the chalk. “Sir, I don’t know how to 
write it,” she admitted.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Wanting to ‘disgrace’ the SSS 2 
students, the teacher dashed out of the class to select three Junior 
Secondary School Three students “who would teach the seniors how to 
spell.” But Awoga got more than he bargained for.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
One of the JSS 3 students, Efe Moses, simply wrote ‘maleria.’</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Likewise, Faith Income, 15, was asked to write same word, but wrote ‘asieg,’ a non-existent English word.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Firstman Woyinkuro, also from JSS 3, 
eventually bailed his classmates and seniors out by writing the correct 
word. The class clapped for him.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Saturday PUNCH</i> correspondent 
had disguised as a parent wanting to enrol a child in the school, but 
wanting to see firsthand the situation of things.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Interacting with our correspondent 
later, the students said it was not entirely their fault that they were 
unable to write words properly.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The students said they had not been 
receiving English lessons for a long time and that the teacher was a 
National Youth Service Corps member posted to the school.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Going late to school</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The time was 11:35am when some of the 
students entered the school premises, chatting and playing along — until
 they all entered their different classrooms.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
For the next one hour, the students in 
the Junior Secondary School 3 class sat on almost broken wooden seats 
idly, some resting their arms on the desks, anxiously waiting for the 
day’s lesson to begin. A young male teacher walked in with a stroke of 
cane and a Mathematics textbook.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
At his sight, they all sighed.</div>
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JSS 3 students waiting to learn under broken ceiling</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The teacher, another serving National 
Youth Service Corps member in the school, taught the class Mathematics 
till 2pm. The lesson was over for the day. The JSS 3 students learnt for
 an hour on that Monday.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Unlike in Yenagoa, the state capital, 
where students were seen boarding taxis, buses and tricycles to go to 
school at about 7am, the students of SISSO told our correspondent many 
reasons why they needed not to resume early.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
They said one of the reasons they resume late is because their teachers are not always available to teach them.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Instead of wasting my time if I come 
early, I prefer staying at home helping my parents with some house 
chores,” a 15-year-old Senior Secondary School 2 student, Wisdom Victor,
 said.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Opening his dusty Biology notebook for 
our correspondent, the class’ last lesson on the subject was in October.
 The boy forgot to date the lesson.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“We don’t have a Biology teacher again. Since the <i>corper</i> (corps member) who was teaching us passed out last year, we’ve not had anyone to teach us again,” he said.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Victor, who wants to be a medical 
doctor, lamented that he was unsure of how he could achieve his dream 
without having an adequate knowledge of his favourite subject – which is
 also a prerequisite for studying Medicine.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b> Ghost teachers, ghost students</b></div>
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_298992" style="width: 460px;">
<a href="http://www.punchng.com/feature/bayelsa-school-where-pupils-spend-only-two-hours-in-class-every-day/attachment/students-in-the-class/" rel="attachment wp-att-298992"><img alt="An SSS 2 student staring at the chalk when asked to write ‘malaria’" class="size-full wp-image-298992" height="267" src="http://punch.cdn.ng/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Students-in-the-class.jpg" width="450" /></a><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text">
An SSS 2 student staring at the chalk when asked to write ‘malaria’</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
From every indication, Victor, his 
classmates, juniors and seniors may keep going to school late, sitting 
idly in classes and having a one or two-hour lessons, as long as their 
teachers don’t bother, a position the principal of the school, Mr. 
Austin Sofoni, agreed to.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Although he did not disclose the number of teachers the school has, Sofoni said they are “many.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
However, on the day our correspondent visited, there were only about four of them present, including two corps members.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He lamented that many of them are not committed to teaching and are also “difficult” to discipline.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He said, “We have a problem with 
teachers. Many of them are not always around. They don’t come to teach 
these children. Though we have many, most of them are not committed to 
the job and they are difficult to control.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“It is so because they are paid through 
their bank accounts nowadays; I could have withheld their salaries if it
 was like before when they were paid by cash.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Though I can still do it [withhold 
their salaries], the process involved in doing so is not easy. Even if I
 succeed in getting their salaries unpaid, getting them paid afterwards 
is not also an easy process.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“When I consider all these things, I pretend not to know what is happening, but I truly fear for the future of these students.”</div>
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_298993" style="width: 406px;">
<a href="http://www.punchng.com/feature/bayelsa-school-where-pupils-spend-only-two-hours-in-class-every-day/attachment/students-3/" rel="attachment wp-att-298993"><img alt="Some students of the school" class="size-full wp-image-298993" height="504" src="http://punch.cdn.ng/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Students.jpg" width="396" /></a><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text">
Some students of the school</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The situation has adversely affected the
 attendance of the students. Many students have since stopped attending 
classes while some others have dropped out of the school.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Aside Victor, another SSS 2 student, 
Orderere Agada, said she sometimes arrives in school very late because 
many times, her class only has one or two lessons in a day. She added 
that there are days when no lesson holds.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
She justifies her lateness to school: 
“We need more teachers to learn. Some of us, even I, sometimes arrive in
 school by 11am or 12 noon because there are many times we don’t learn 
anything. What’s the point in coming early?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“There are days that if we have more than two lessons, we are surprised. It’s unusual. Many of our teachers live in Yenagoa.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Our friends stay at home, especially 
when they are not sure whether there would be any lesson for the day. 
They only come if we tell them teachers are around. We are determined to
 learn, but we lack teachers.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Moses Ayibakari, 15, also in SSS 2, 
said, “We don’t have a Biology teacher since last term. We also do not 
have a Geography teacher. We are pleading with the government to send us
 more teachers.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>‘Politicians hire our teachers’</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Expressing worry, the school principal 
told our correspondent that he sometimes receives calls from politicians
 telling him not to ‘disturb’ some particular teachers because they are 
working for them on other duties.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He said, “Politicians are not helping 
matters. In a situation where politicians call me to say a particular 
teacher is working with them, knowing well that the teacher is fully 
employed, what do I do?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“It would have been better if they would
 rather tell us that they are no longer teachers so that we can forget 
about having them in the system, but that is not the case.”</div>
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_298994" style="width: 460px;">
<a href="http://www.punchng.com/feature/bayelsa-school-where-pupils-spend-only-two-hours-in-class-every-day/attachment/southern-ijaw-secondary-school/" rel="attachment wp-att-298994"><img alt="Southern Ijaw Secondary School" class="size-full wp-image-298994" height="253" src="http://punch.cdn.ng/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Southern-Ijaw-Secondary-School.jpg" width="450" /></a><br />
<div class="wp-caption-text">
Southern Ijaw Secondary School</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
An Abuja-based political analyst, Mr. 
Teniola Ayodeji, suggested such action could have been connected to the 
fact that President Goodluck Jonathan hails from the state and there 
would be lots of political activities there.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He said, “Elections are here again, 
remember, and it’s the President’s home. But if politicians are engaging
 teachers and calling the principal not to disturb them, then there is a
 big problem in this part of the world.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“It’s the President’s home and the state
 of education is perhaps expected to be far better than this. If the 
‘President’s children’ are suffering like this, I wonder what is 
happening to children in some other remote communities in the country.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Ayodeji suggested that if politicians 
are hiring teachers for assignments that pay better than teaching, it is
 possible militants also hire young boys for their violent campaign.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He said, “It happened in the pre-amnesty era when militants from the state recruited young boys into their fold.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“They need young men to do that. All 
they need is to lure them with money and this can make some of the male 
students quit schooling.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Teachers demand better welfare</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Though the principal didn’t disclose the
 salary packages of his teachers, he said they were well paid, being one
 of the richest states in the country.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Meanwhile, two of the four schoolteachers who were around when<i> Saturday PUNCH</i> visited said they had good reasons for not teaching regularly.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
One of them, who pleaded anonymity, said
 it was cumbersome travelling on water from the state capital Yenagoa 
where he resides to the community to teach because of the risks 
involved.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He also said if the government could 
construct a road that links the community with Yenagoa, “life would be 
better for us and the students.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He said, “It is not easy travelling on 
speedboats every day to teach. If there is good road, movement to and 
fro and teaching these students would be easier.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Look at the students also; they don’t 
have the privilege of going for excursions outside this community. They 
only go to the farm or the river to swim after school. Many of them have
 not seen cars before. They only see canoes and boats.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Another teacher, who pleaded anonymity, said he lives in Yenagoa because of the presence of better social amenities in the city.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He said, “My family lives in the city 
and I don’t think it will be easy abandoning them to stay in a place 
where there are poor infrastructure. There is no good water source here,
 no light, no road, and many others.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Many times also, we don’t always get 
boats on time to travel here to come and teach, so we return home. These
 are the challenges.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Youth corps members take charge</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Almost all the students that <i>Saturday PUNCH</i> spoke with said they were most times taught by NYSC members posted to the school.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
They said if that was not the case, probably no learning would be taking place. Victor said, “We need more <i>corpers</i> (youth corps members) to teach us.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Our teachers come once in a while because they travel a lot, but the <i>corpers</i> are always around. They are permanent. As one set goes, another comes in. They are our friends.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The situation has, however, led to some of the youth corps members complaining of fatigue and some illnesses.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
One of them, Matthew Awoga, a Mechanical
 Engineering graduate, said he usually experiences stress and sometimes 
develops headache because he alone teaches Mathematics from JSS 1 to SS 3
 and Introductory Technology from JSS 1 to JSS 3.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Waving a cane at the JSS 3 students as 
they were making noise, he complained, “If you saw me when I just 
resumed in this school, I was a fat person, but now I’m lean. Teaching 
has drained my blood. It’s not easy.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“The teachers don’t teach them, they 
leave the job to us. I pity the students sometimes because I know they 
don’t get quality education. We are only trying our best as we are not 
professional teachers.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Many of them only come around when they have issues with their salary payment, otherwise, you won’t see them.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
While he spoke with our correspondent, 
the school principal and a teacher, whom Awoga described as a ‘ghost,’ 
emerged from the principal’s residence, a stone’s throw from the school.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The teacher had just arrived from 
Yenagoa to inform the principal, that he would not be available in the 
school for more than two days in a week as he was ‘busy’ doing some 
other things outside the state. Our correspondent overheard their 
conversation before they switched to vernacular.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Companions with wild animals</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Because of the swampy nature of the 
school environment (and the community generally), due to the fact that 
it’s a riverine area, <i>Saturday PUNCH</i> learnt from the students 
and the youth corps members that wild reptiles, especially snakes, are 
occasional ‘visitors’ in the school premises.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Vincent Christian, a JSS 3 student, was 
bothered. He said, “There are wild animals here. We kill snakes and 
scorpions because they sometimes lurk around the school environment.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Many times when we are cutting grasses 
or playing in the field, we see them and kill. We see big snakes at 
times close to the window.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Toilets, food vendors, miles away from school premises</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Another reason why most students in the 
school don’t learn for more than two hours in a day is because there are
 no toilets in its premises. In addition, because there are no food 
vendors in the school premises, some go out and never return for the 
day.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“We go back to our houses, riverside or 
bushes if we want to defecate because we don’t have toilet in the school
 premises,” Godspower Blessing said. “Some of us also go home to eat and
 don’t return, especially if there are no teachers around.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The school principal, Sofoni, confirmed it is true.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He commented, “We are trying everything 
possible to stop the loitering of students but there are certain factors
 that are militating against the measures.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“In a big school like this, we have no 
toilets. So when a student walks up to any teacher or me that they are 
going to ease themselves, we cannot stop them. In the guise of going to 
ease themselves, some of them never return to the class.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“They spend the remaining school period 
in the town or even if they return, they come very late. Lack of toilet 
facilities is a big problem here.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Also, for those living at the far end 
of the community, by 11:30am when the school is on lunch break, they go 
home and never return for the day.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“You can’t stop them from visiting their
 parents to have lunch. By the time they trek that distance, even if 
they want to come back, it is already around 2pm when school closes.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Poor infrastructure, impediment to learning</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Non-availability of teachers is not the 
only problem; the students complained that they lacked facilities that 
could facilitate their learning. An inspection by <i>Saturday PUNCH</i> confirmed this.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The weather was cold due to harmattan 
when our correspondent visited, and this made the students to shiver – 
another reason why the students said they wouldn’t be able to learn well
 even if teachers were around to teach them.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In almost all the classrooms, there are 
broken windows and ceilings such that if rain falls, it leaks through 
the ceiling and this also makes the students shiver.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Apart from broken windows, seats and 
ceilings in the school, the students said they had no laboratories to do
 practicals and no library to study while their teachers are away.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A JSS 3 student, Clarky Igburu, 15, 
said, “We have broken ceilings, no windows, no doors, the harmattan is 
affecting our us. The cold is affecting us, we cannot learn well.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Christian also said, “The environment is
 not good for us; most of us don’t want to come and study because we 
feel cold and the environment is not good for us. We need better 
classrooms.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Not having enough and well-furnished 
classrooms, laboratories and library also contribute to the reason why 
the students don’t spend more time learning.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
For instance, all the SS 2 students were
 combined in one classroom and so when a teacher walks into the class to
 teach, the ones who don’t offer the subject leave the classroom – to an
 empty one, most times making noise there.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Due to idleness, some leave the school premises and go home.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“We can just walk home if we feel there 
is nothing to learn again for the day, that is why we go home early even
 when we come late,” one of the students, Moses Ayibakari, told <i>Saturday PUNCH</i>.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Ayibakari said he would have loved going
 to the library to study each time he leaves the class for subjects that
 he doesn’t offer, but there is none.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He added, “There’s no library. For us science students, we don’t have laboratories to do practicals.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“We learn computer education in the 
textbook, but we have not seen any in this school. We learned that the 
world now is a global village, but we don’t have computers in this 
school.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“We want to be part of the global 
civilisation. I also learnt that the forthcoming Unified Tertiary 
Matriculation Examination will be computer-based, but we don’t have 
knowledge of how it works.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
For Sofoni Ebimo, Thankgod Godgift, 
Firstman Woyinkuro, Doralby Sekibo and some others who said they wanted 
to become computer scientists, non-availability of the equipment may 
hinder their ambitions.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“I want the government to c ome to our 
aid. I also want to learn how to use the computer because I want to be a
 pilot, flying planes,” Favour Gumugumu said.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A JSS 3 student, Ebibonimighe Gumugumu, 
13, also said, “We need library. The one we have is not normal. There 
are no books in there. We also need a computer lab, light and sports 
facilities.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Blessing Godspower, of JSS 2 class, confirmed what Ebibonimighe said, “There are no textbooks in the library.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“We have not learnt anything today 
because there are no teachers to teach us. We don’t know many of them. 
Some of them are not coming. I want them to be coming so we can learn 
many things.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Ebikeme Igburu, 16, also said “We lack 
facilities in this school. I want to become a medical doctor, but I 
don’t have a practical understanding of science subjects. We want 
computers and electricity.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The principal, Sofoni, is worried.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He said, “Now, WASSCE is making it 
compulsory for students to write computer study, civic education and 
some entrepreneurial subjects, where are the computers?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Even if we have them now, can they 
learn how to use them to write the exam between now and April (2015)? 
These are some of our challenges.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
On the electricity issue, <i>Saturday PUNCH</i>
 found out that the community doesn’t have electricity and so all the 
residents depend on the community generator which is switched on at 6pm 
every day for about six hours – at the time when many of the residents 
would have gone to bed and the students would not be in school.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Poor academic performance</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Talking about passing examinations, this
 seems to be the least challenge for some of the students – because 
writing seems to be the greater one, as our correspondent earlier found 
out.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Despite the fact that the state was 
rated 4th in performance in the 2013/2014 academic year by the West 
African Examinations Council, an educationist, Mr. Tariowei Abule, said 
the rating does not depict the true situation of things.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He said, “Don’t forget that growth is 
different from development. It’s just like Nigeria having the largest 
economy in the world, but still having low development.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Passing examinations does not mean real
 learning is taking place. There are ways results can be manipulated. 
The process is the real deal, which cannot be manipulated.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Many of them pass the exams, but cannot
 further their education or cope at the tertiary level because they got 
their O’Level certificates through malpractice. They cannot prove what 
they have.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Also, when another educationist, who 
lives in Yenagoa, Mrs. Amaebi Owei-Tongu, learnt about the plight of the
 students, she said there was no way they would learn well. “These 
situations will adversely affect their overall performance and I don’t 
know how they would be able to pass examinations,” she said.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Baffled how they could then be able to write and pass national examinations, our correspondent asked a youth corps member.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He explained that some of the teachers and his colleagues ‘help’ the students during such times.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
For the ‘help’ – a word used for ‘malpractice’ – the latter pay for it by cash, though.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A former student of the school, an 
undergraduate of the Niger Delta State University, Amasomma, Bayelsa 
State, who pleaded anonymity, said, “We also paid for the help we 
received during our time.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“I am not happy saying this, but that 
was the situation we found ourselves in. It’s the way they could 
compensate us for not teaching us well. They assisted us by writing 
answers for us and allowing us to take textbooks into exam halls.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b> ‘We need help’</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Sofoni admitted there was little he could do to restore the old glory of the 50-year-old school whose motto is “Show the light.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Rather than being in light, he admitted the students are ‘living in darkness.’</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He said, “In a school environment, what 
should be paramount is the teaching aid. We don’t have enough 
classrooms; the ones we have are not furnished with good seats. Many of 
them are in bad shape. The conduciveness is not there for them.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Then in a big school like this, 
teachers should be accommodated to reduce their travelling on water 
expenses. Some have to travel back to Yenagoa where they reside by 2pm 
every day, so hardly do you find them anytime after that. They would 
have sped off.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Also, look at my office (looks cramped,
 untidy and not conducive). Who can believe a cubicle like this is a 
principal’s office?”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He also blamed the students partly for their woes.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He added, “The students are also to 
blame for their poor performance. I was a student here in the late 1970s
 and then we used to read a lot. We did study in the night.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“We were always reading and competing 
among ourselves, but students of this school nowadays don’t do that. 
They love staying idle and not taking initiative. They are not too 
serious about learning.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
On not being “serious about learning,” 
one of the teachers said there are a few students from JSS 3 to SSS 3 
classes who have children that they look after.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Pointing at one of the female students in SSS 2 who is 16, he said, “She has a two-year-old child and always sleeps in class.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The young girl was ashamed to talk afterwards.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
However, Sofoni said the situation could change if the government would help.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He said, “There are politicians, 
senators, and House of Representative members from this community, but 
once they go out there, they forget about us.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“If not, we would have road and other 
facilities. If the government comes to our aid, some of these problems 
will be resolved and there will be better learning for these children.”</div>
</div>

Bayelsa school where pupils spend only two hours in class every day

SSS 2 students sitting idly in class A brief argument ensued between some of the Senior Secondary School Two students of Souther...

Military arrests General, senior officers over Baga attack

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<img alt="Director of Defence Information, Maj.-Gen. Chris Olukolade" class="attachment-bigstoryimage" height="225" src="http://punch.cdn.ng/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Chris-Olukolade-360x225.jpg" width="360" /><div class="featured-image-caption">
Director of Defence Information, Maj.-Gen. Chris Olukolade<br /><small><em> </em></small></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
The authorities of the Nigerian 
military have arrested senior Army personnel on attachment to the Multi 
National Joint Task Force.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Those arrested and placed under movement
 restriction are a Brig. Gen, a Lt. Col. and five other officers of the 
Nigerian Army deployed to the Baga headquarters of Multinational Joint 
Task Force, which was attacked and taken over by members of the Boko 
Haram sect on January 5, 2015.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Investigations revealed that the 
military authorities arrested the Brigadier-General and six other 
officers including a Lt. Col. in Maiduguri and moved them to Abuja for 
questioning.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The arrested officers are expected to 
answer questions on the loss of men and location, and military equipment
 which were taken over by the insurgents.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It was learnt that Baga came under 
attack barely 48 hours after the Army moved weapons to fortify the place
 in anticipation of a well-coordinated onslaught against the insurgents.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Army authorities are angry that some of the equipment fell into the hands of the insurgents.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It was learnt that the leadership of the
 Army decided to order the arrest of the affected senior officers in 
line with military tradition that the senior officers may have lost 
command in view of the circumstances surrounding the fall of Baga and 
had some clarifications to make.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It was learnt that the Army authorities 
would interrogate the affected officials to find out from them the 
circumstances surrounding the Boko Haram invasion of the headquarters of
 the MNJT and other places under their control.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Director, Defence Information, Maj. 
Gen. Chris Olukolade, confirmed that officers of the Army on deployment 
to the MNJTF were being made to answer questions for the loss of men and
 equipment during the Baga attack in a text message to our correspondent
 on Friday.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He said that the decision of the Army 
leadership was normal as it was designed to gather necessary information
 for future operations in the area.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He said, “Nigerian officers in key 
command positions of the Multi National Joint Task Force are in the 
process of accounting for their action in the mission area leading to 
loss of weapons, men and location in their area of responsibility.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“This is a normal military procedure in major operations and after some encounter.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“The essence is to extract and collate 
relevant information for subsequent missions. It could also lead to or 
determine appropriate disciplinary action where necessary.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Olukolade also said that troops had 
killed a substantial number of insurgents who were operating in Michika,
 the headquarters of the Michika Local Government Area.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He said that the troops had commenced an
 extensive mopping up operation in search of weapons, stranded 
terrorists and casualties.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“An extensive mopping up operation to 
search for arms or stranded terrorists and other casualties is ongoing 
in Michika after troops sacked the terrorists, who have been operating 
in the town and its environ.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“The main assault on terrorists’ main 
positions was concluded yesterday (Thursday) as many of them died in the
 combat. Troops who sustained injuries in the operation are receiving 
necessary medical attention.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Other troops are continuing the pursuit
 of those who are on the run from the town. Normalcy has been restored 
accordingly,” he added.</div>
</div>

Military arrests General, senior officers over Baga attack

Director of Defence Information, Maj.-Gen. Chris Olukolade The authorities of the Nigerian military have arrested...

YABATECH declares 22-day holiday for elections

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<br /><br />The Yaba College of Technology, 
Lagos, has directed its full-time and part-time students to proceed on a
 22-day holiday to enable them to exercise their civic rights during 
next month’s general elections.<br />

This was contained in a bulletin by Head, Public Relations Unit of the college, Mr Charles Oni.<br />

According to the bulletin, the holiday will start from February 11 and end on March 4.<br />

It also stated that hostels and lecture theatres would be under lock and key throughout the period.<br />

The bulletin quoted the Rector of the college, Dr Margaret Ladipo, as
 appealing to the students to comport themselves during the holiday.<br />

Mixed reactions, however, trailed the announcement, as some students 
said the holiday would disrupt the second semester academic calendar.<br />

Others commended the management for being safety conscious and 
allowing students, who are not residents in Lagos to travel for the 
elections.<br />

Miss Ronke Adeyemi, a National Diploma, Science and Laboratory Technology part-time student, told the<em> News Agency of Nigeria</em>, that it was a good decision.<br />

“It is a good decision and I am happy with it. It is very risky for 
us to stay on campus during the elections because anything can happen.<br />

“I will use the period to read and prepare for my test because as 
soon as we resume in March, we are starting our test,’’ she said.<br />

Another student, who pleaded anonymity, said the holidays was too 
long and would deny the students the opportunity to receive enough 
lectures and prepare for examinations.<br />

The National Diploma Textile Technology student said the holiday should be reduced to 10 days in the interest of the students.</div>

YABATECH declares 22-day holiday for elections

The Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, has directed its full-time and part-time students to proceed on a 22-day holiday to enable them to...

You are here: Home / News / AU vows to sanction South Sudan warring factions AU vows to sanction South Sudan warring factions

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<br /><br />The African Union on Saturday reiterated its determination to impose sanctions on South Sudan’s warring factions.<br />

The AU Peace and Security Council said in a communique that sanctions
 will be imposed against those who continue to undermine the cessation 
of hostilities agreement and obstruct the political process.<br />

AU said it will seek support of the UN Security Council in line with 
relevant provisions of the communique adopted by the Intergovernmental 
Authority on Development 28th Extraordinary Summit.<br />

IGAD, a regional bloc of east African nations, and the UN Security 
Council have also threatened sanctions on warring South Sudanese parties
 hindering the peace process.<br />

Fighting broke out in South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, in 
December 2013 when President Salva Kiir accused his sacked deputy Riek 
Machar of attempting a coup.<br />

The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people, driving 1. 5 
million South Sudanese from their homes and leaving almost 5 million in 
dire need of humanitarian assistance.</div>

You are here: Home / News / AU vows to sanction South Sudan warring factions AU vows to sanction South Sudan warring factions

The African Union on Saturday reiterated its determination to impose sanctions on South Sudan’s warring factions. The AU Peace and Secu...

Heavy snow in Germany disrupts traffic, causes accidents

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Heavy snow in Germany disrupts traffic, causes accidents</h1>
<span class="st_plusone_buttons"></span><br /><br />Heavy snow in parts of southern 
German state of Bavaria since Friday have caused traffic accidents and 
forced schools to close, according to local fire brigade and media 
reports.<br />

Five people were injured after a truck collided with two cars in the 
town of Brunnthal near Munich, according to local fire brigade.<br />

In a separate accident on the highway B17 near Augsburg, 12 people 
were injured in multiple collisions that involved nine cars, three vans 
and three trucks. One of them was in serious condition, the Bavarian 
Radio reported on Saturday.<br />

In the district of Oberpfalz, 25 road accidents have been reported, according to Bavarian Radio.<br />

In Munich, bad weather has caused delay of suburban trains. In north 
Bavaria, pupils have to stay at home because icy roads and fallen trees 
have made it impossible for school buses to operate.</div>

Heavy snow in Germany disrupts traffic, causes accidents

Heavy snow in Germany disrupts traffic, causes accidents Heavy snow in parts of southern German state of Bavaria since Friday have cau...

Serena beats Sharapova, wins 6th Australian Open title

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Serena beats Sharapova, wins 6th Australian Open title</h1>
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Serena
 Williams won her 19th Grand Slam title, continued her unbeaten run in 
six Australian Open finals and extended her decade-long domination 
of Maria Sharapova with a 6-3, 7-6 (5) win on Saturday.</div>
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After
 celebrating prematurely on her third match point, letting her racket go
 after serving what she thought was an ace but learning that it was a 
let, top-ranked Williams took a deep breath and fired another ace — her 
15th of the set and 18th of the match — to seal it.</div>
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This
 time, the celebration was real. She jumped around like a little child, 
bouncing up and down, before shaking hands with Sharapova at the net.</div>
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Serena beats Sharapova, wins 6th Australian Open title

Serena beats Sharapova, wins 6th Australian Open title Serena Williams won her 19th Grand Slam title, continued her unbeaten run in...

Buhari Was Stoned In Lagos, Obanikoro Insists

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Musiliu Obanikoro, the immediate past 
Minister of State for Defence, on Saturday insisted that the 
presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress [APC], Muhammadu
 Buhari, was stoned in Lagos on Friday on his way to his party’s 
presidential rally at the Teslim Balogun Stadium.<br /><br />Mr. Obanikoro 
had posted a comment on twitter on Friday condemning the purported 
stoning of Mr. Buhari, suggesting that the APC candidate was so 
attacked.<br />But the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Lai 
Mohammed, promptly issued a statement, saying Mr. Buhari was never 
attacked and that Mr. Obanikoro was playing political games.<br /><br />“Not
 once was he (Mr. Buhari) pelted with stone during the almost two-hour 
ride,” Mr. Mohammed said. “It is obvious that those who were paid by Mr.
 Obanikoro to stone the General failed to deliver. We therefore urge him
 to seek a refund of whatever money he paid to his hired hands to pelt 
Gen. Buhari with stones.<br /><br />“Gen. Buhari and other top leaders of 
the APC rode in an open bus from the Palace of the Oba of Lagos to the 
Teslim Balogun Stadium venue of the rally, to great cheers from 
Lagosians who lined the route.<br /><br />“Obanikoro’s statement on an 
imaginary attack on Gen. Buhari in Lagos must be his own way of saying 
‘thank you’ to his masters for nominating him as minister on Friday, as 
his reward for ceding the governorship ticket he claimed to have won to 
Jimi Agbaje.”<br /><br />But in a statement on Saturday, Mr. Obanikoro chided the APC spokesperson for denying the purported attack on Mr. Buhari.<br /><br />“It
 is pointless and futile, but also does not give the APC any advantage,”
 the former minister said via a statement by Ohimai Amaize, his Special 
Adviser on Media Strategy. “When things go wrong, we must acknowledge 
and condemn it in order to forestall any future occurrences.”<br /><br />“Senator
 Obanikoro, based on eyewitness accounts is aware of the stoning 
incident at Idumagbo area of Isale-Eko, Lagos State, and the fact that a
 woman was injured in the ensuing fracas after General Buhari’s security
 detail had to shoot into the air to dispel the irate mob,” the 
statement added.<br /><br />The APC is yet to respond to Mr. Obanikoro’s new statement on the matter.<br /><br /><br /></blockquote>
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Buhari Was Stoned In Lagos, Obanikoro Insists

Musiliu Obanikoro, the immediate past Minister of State for Defence, on Saturday insisted that the presidential candidate of the All Pr...

Boy attacked by dogs got infections at LASUTH –Indian hospital

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Boy attacked by dogs got infections at LASUTH –Indian hospital</h1>
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<img alt="Abraham Omonigho after treatment at Indian hospital (l) and with family in Lagos ...on Friday" class="attachment-bigstoryimage" height="225" src="http://punch.cdn.ng/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Abraham-Omonigho-360x225.jpg" width="360" /><div class="featured-image-caption">
Abraham Omonigho after treatment at Indian hospital (l) and with family in Lagos ...on Friday<br /><small><em> </em></small></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Available information has shown 
that four-year-old Abraham Omonigho, who was attacked by two German 
shepherd dogs in Igando area of Lagos State, in September 2014, was 
infected while at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This was said by the medical personnel 
at the Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad, an Indian medical facility in 
Telegana State, where Omonigho was flown to late November, 2014, after 
his father, Odia, took him out of LASUTH.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
After spending about two months at the 
Apollo Hospitals, Omonigho returned to Nigeria on Thursday. The 
treatment of the undisclosed infection was said to have lasted over one 
month.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Omonigho’s scalp had been covered up by 
the doctors but Odia said his son would return to India in June 2015, 
for a micro surgery.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<em>Saturday PUNCH</em> learnt this on Friday during a visit to the Abrahams in their Akesan Estate residence in Igando area of Lagos.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Our correspondent had reported that 
Omonigho was riding a bicycle with his brothers-Bobby and 
Osemidiamen-when they were attacked by the two dogs owned by their 
landlord.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The PUNCH had reported that while the 
older brothers jumped down from the balcony of their one storey 
apartment, the victim was ravaged by the dogs, which tore his scalp.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Neighbours and policemen were reported to have stood at the gate, helpless, until the victim’s mother arrived at the scene.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Our correspondent reported that the 
crowd persuaded her not to go in, but she was spurred to move in after 
seeing one of the dogs emerge from the balcony with blood in its mouth.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Helen reportedly fought off the dogs singlehandedly and rescued her son while the crowd assisted in taking him to the hospital.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The victim was taken to LASUTH and the 
State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, ordered the management not to collect
 money from the family.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
However, the victim’s father, Odia, had a
 running battle with the hospital management, which he said still 
charged him for drugs and other medications.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Odia later raised the alarm that his son’s condition had worsened as a result of neglect by the hospital.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Delta State Governor, Emmanuel 
Uduaghan, intervened and together with a non-governmental organisation, 
Global Initiative for Peace, Love and Care, a trip to India was arranged
 for Omonigho to undergo a surgery.</div>
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_299009" style="width: 460px;">
<a href="http://www.punchng.com/news/boy-attacked-by-dogs-got-infections-at-lasuth-indian-hospital/attachment/abraham-omonigho-at-the-lagos-state-university-teaching-hospital/" rel="attachment wp-att-299009"><img alt="Abraham Omonigho, at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital " class="size-full wp-image-299009" height="524" src="http://punch.cdn.ng/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Abraham-Omonigho-at-the-Lagos-State-University-Teaching-Hospital-.jpg" width="450" /></a><div class="wp-caption-text">
Abraham Omonigho, at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
The Lagos State Commissioner, Jide 
Idris, in a press release cautioned against the trip, saying the 
victim’s condition was delicate.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Idris alleged that the victim’s father 
declined the state government’s offer for Omonigho to be flown to 
another specialist hospital in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Odia, however, insisted that his son’s 
head had started to rot and that the Indian trip had been concluded 
before the state government gave him the Dubai offer.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Odia said the Indian doctors thrashed the medical report LASUTH issued to them, which he said was termed as “mere paper.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He said, “They said the report did not 
give them any information and couldn’t have been written by a doctor. 
They said it was good I quickly brought my son because his head was 
getting rotten and had been infected while at the hospital. The doctors 
told me they could not start with the surgery because they had to treat 
the infections first.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“You remember I cried out that my son’s 
head smelled, but the LASUTH people said it was granulation. I had 
always suspected things were wrong because at LASUTH, the nurses would 
open his head for dressing at 6am and leave it open for the doctors, who
 would not show up till 12pm. And when they did, they would ask the 
nurses to close it up. I remembered that no doctor showed up for two 
weeks during a particular time. That was when I got mad because his 
condition was becoming critical.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“But in India, they dressed his wound three times a day, and at least five special senior doctors attended to him every day.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Our correspondent was shown a medical document of the hospital which confirmed that Omonigho’s head was infected.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It read, “At the time of admission, 
there was: large raw area over scalp with infection; the raw area was 
extending from frontal scalp, bilateral parietal scalp to occipital 
region; the raw area was looking pale and slimy; Infection+.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Dr. Durga Prassad, consultant 
paediatrician, was consulted for evaluation of medical problems. He 
(Omonigho) was diagnosed as a case of infected raw area over scalp.”</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Odia said the doctors told the family 
they needed to do skin grafting to temporarily cover up the wound before
 the major operation would be done after his return to India in June.</div>
</div>

Boy attacked by dogs got infections at LASUTH –Indian hospital

Boy attacked by dogs got infections at LASUTH –Indian hospital Abraham Omonigho after treatment at Indian hospital (l) and with f...