Strange disease kills 14 in Ondo community

Akure—An outbreak of a strange disease at Ode-Irele area of Ondo State has claimed the lives of 14 persons.
Already, the state government and the World Health Organization have sent representatives to the community.
Also, the Personnel Protective Equipment purchased by the government for Ebola cases and their handlers had been deployed to the area.
The outbreak was noticed on Wednesday and 12 people reportedly died same day. Four others were rushed to the hospital yesterday and two of them gave up the ghost.
Some natives of the town alleged that the gods of the community were offended.
However, the state Health Commissioner, Dr. Dayo Adeyanju, who led a delegation to the area, said the reason given by the natives could not be scientifically proved.
Dr. Adeyanju confirmed that 12 persons had died due to the strange disease, while reports reaching him was that two others, out of the four quarantined, had also died.
He said: “Investigations did not reveal symptoms of Ebola,” adding that the state government had moved into the area to curtail spread of the strange disease.
The preliminary report, he said, showed that the dead persons complained of headache and later lost their sight before they died.
He stated that it was not a case of Ebola Virus Disease, EVD.
According to him, “there were no cases of diarrhoea, vomiting and haemorrhage that are usual symptoms of the dreaded EVD.”
The commissioner said government would do everything possible to control the strange ailment, adding that World Health Organization, WHO, and other partners were already involved in the matter.
He said: “Samples taken from the victims have been sent to Lagos for proper investigation, while government had been engaging in advocacy to ensure that new cases are reported,” adding that concealment could be devastating.
Dr. Adeyanju asked relations of the victims not to bury the corpse of the affected people at home. He said they should take the dead to the cemetery and to take precautions during their burials.
He said the state government would have recovered the dead bodies from the affected families had the state a cremation law.
He said the state Disease Surveillance Team and volunteers engaged during the Ebola cases had been deployed to the area to control the ailment.
He warned against sensatio-nalizing the issues in the social media to avoid creating tension among the people.
He appealed to the people to rely only on official statements from the state government.
Meanwhile, many people have moved out of the area for fear of the strange disease.

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Reps ask FG to recall envoy from South Africa

The House of Representatives on Thursday asked the Federal Government to recall Nigeria’s ambassador to South Africa back home for “consultations” over the widespread attacks and killing of non-South African Blacks, especially Nigerians in that country.

Xenophobic attacks in South Africa have lately claimed lives and means of livelihood of many Nigerians, resulting in businesses and homes being shut for days.

A motion debated by lawmakers in Abuja, highlighted the plight of African migrants in South Africa‎, whom the House said were being “slaughtered like animals” by their South African brothers.

The motion stressed that Nigerians were among the victims.

The House specifically requested South African President, Jacob Zuma, to immediately investigate the attacks and punish those responsible.

The motion was sponsored by Chairman, House Committee on Diaspora Affairs, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa

“Nigeria frowns on the spate of killings of Nigerians in South Africa and requests President Zuma to investigate the cases and bring the perpetrators to justice,” she stated.

Dabiri-Erewa noted that though, Nigerians had suffered xenophobic attacks in the past in South Africa, the latest cases were ignited by comments credited to the Zulu King, ‎Goodwill Zwelithini, who had reportedly asked migrant Africans to return to their countries of origin.

The motion read further, “‎The House notes sadly that the recent attacks which have left many dead, businesses and shops vandalised, many beaten up mercilessly, were incited by a statement allegedly made by South African Zulu King, Goodwill Zwelithini, who told African migrants to go home as they are no longer welcomed in South Africa.

“Son of President Zuma, Edward, allegedly echoed the same statement. This ignited a strong debate, and worse still, immediate backlash of violent reactions among the Zulus in Kwazulu, who unleashed terror on foreign immigrants, including Nigerians in Jo-bourg, Durban and Pretoria.

“They steal, break into their homes, businesses, take their properties, killing them.

“At least five have been killed in Durban, hundreds stranded and unable to return home.”

Many members, who contributed to the debate, expressed sadness over the turn of events in South Africa.

They recalled with pain, the sacrifices Nigeria made to free South Africa from the clutches of Apartheid.

“What is happening in South Africa is a demonstration of the shortness of their memory,” one member from Enugu State, Mr. Tobi Okechukwu, said.

Mr. Abubakar Momoh from Kogi State, advised South Africans to turn their anger against those who oppressed them and not fellow Africans who gave so much to secure their freedom.

The motion was passed in a unanimous voice vote at Thursday session, which was presided over by the Speaker, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal.

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12 Nigerian, Ghanaian Christian migrants ‘thrown’ overboard by Muslim

Italian police said Thursday they had arrested a group of African migrants after witnesses said they threw 12 passengers overboard following a row about religion on a boat headed to Europe.
The deadly dispute, which saw a group of Muslim passengers allegedly attack a group of Christian passengers, coincided with reports of a new migrant drowning tragedy.
Four days after a migrant shipwreck off the coast of Libya, in which 400 people are believed to have died, another 41 migrants were missing feared drowned Thursday after their dinghy sank en route to Italy, Italian media reported.
The stricken vessel was spotted by a plane, which alerted the Italian coastguard but by the time a navy ship arrived at the spot only four passengers were found alive, the reports quoted the police and aid agencies as saying.
The four survivors, who came from Nigeria, Ghana and Niger, said they were part of a group of 45 people that set sail from Libya.
A separate group of migrants rescued by an Italian vessel related a deadly standoff over religion in their dinghy, which ended in 12 Nigerian and Ghanaian passengers being drowned, the police said.
The victims were “of Christian faith, compared to their attackers who were of Muslim faith,” police in the Sicilian port of Palermo said in a statement.
Fifteen migrants were arrested on suspicion of “multiple aggravated murder motivated by religious hate”, the statement added.
The incident aboard the vessel, which was carrying about 100 migrants, took place in the Strait of Sicily, between Tunisia and Italy.
According to a group of Nigerian and Ghanaian survivors, a fight broke out over religion, with a group of Muslim passengers threatening the Nigerians and Ghanaians after they declared themselves to be Christians.
“The threats then materialised and 12 people, all Nigerian and Ghanaian, are believed to have drowned in the Mediterranean,” the police statement added.
The remaining passengers were rescued and brought to Palermo, where the 15 alleged attackers, who came from Ivory Coast, Mali and Senegal, were arrested.
– ‘Human chain’ –
The boat, like many of the claptrap vessels flooding Italy’s shores each week with migrants fleeing conflict and poverty in Africa and the Middle East, had set out from Libya on Tuesday, according to the survivors.
The police said the distraught Nigerians and Ghanaians told a “dreadful” story of their struggle to escape with their lives “by forcefully resisting attempts to drown them, forming a veritable human chain in some cases.”
Some passengers had taken photographs of the incident, judicial sources who described the accounts as “coherent” told Italian media.
The International Organization for Migration said it had received reports of “a fight between different groups -– maybe for religious reasons… on one of the boats rescued some days ago.”
Italy pleaded for more help from other European Union countries Thursday to rescue the migrants risking their lives to reach Europe and to share the burden of accommodating the arrivals.
Italy is not the final destination of most of the tens of thousands of migrants who risk their lives each year in search of a better life in Europe but as their first port of call it is saddled with handling all their asylum requests as well as saving those in danger from a watery grave.
“Ninety percent of the cost of the patrol and sea rescue operations are falling on our shoulders, and we have not had an adequate response from the EU,” Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni told the daily Corriere della Sera.
“And then there is the difficult issue of knowing where to send those rescued at sea — to the nearest port? To the country where their boat came from? The EU has to respond clearly to these questions,” Gentiloni said.

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Iraq PM welcomes Iran aid, but says must respect sovereignty

Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Thursday welcomed Iran’s assistance in the fight against Islamic State jihadists, but warned Tehran to respect Baghdad’s sovereignty.

“Everything must be done through the government of Iraq,” Abadi told an audience of US policy experts at a Washington think tank on the third day of a visit to the United States.

“We welcome the Iranian government’s support for us,” Abadi added, on the third day of a visit to the United States aimed at shoring up US support for his fledgling government as it battles the jihadists.

Washington says Iranian officers provided advice and artillery to Shiite militias involved in the operation to retake the city of Tikrit from the Islamic State (IS) group in recent weeks.

But Abadi insisted: “Iraqi sovereignty is of utmost importance.”

The Iraqi prime minister met Tuesday with US President Barack Obama, having said that he intended to ask for a “marked increase” in heavy weapons for his forces to repel IS, which has captured a swathe of territory in Iraq and Syria.

Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Abadi said that he had come to Washington with a shopping list of weapons.

And he said he had received assurances that a number of F16 planes would be delivered on time.

Abadi also said two Iraqi brigades were to start training to retake Anbar province from the jihadists and would need heavy weapons for the fight.

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AU condemns South Africans attacks on foreigners

The African Union  on Thursday in Addis Ababa, described the South Africa xenophobic attacks on foreigners as unacceptable and called for an immediate halt.

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the Chairperson, AU Commission, said in a statement that “whatever the challenges we may be facing, no circumstances justify attacks on people whether foreigners or locals.”

The attacks had escalated with foreign-owned shops being looted and torched while some foreigners have been burnt alive and others brutally assaulted.

She welcomed current efforts by the South African government to engage those affected as well as the deployment of more police officers to provide protection and keep law and order.

The AU chief decried the incident as particularly unfortunate as the continent was approaching the celebration of the African Freedom Day on May 25.

“On 25 May we remember the founding of the Organisation of African Unity, which played such a critical role in mobilising international solidarity to end apartheid.

“The challenges faced by South Africa—poverty and unemployment, are challenges faced by all countries on the continent.

“We must work together to address them and build a better future for all Africans, she said.

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