FG confirms two new polio cases

The World Health Organisation and the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole have confirmed an outbreak of wild polio virus in Borno State.

Adewole in a statement on Thursday said the outbreak has affected two children from Gwoza and Jere Local Government Areas of the State.

The Minister said the fresh cases were detected during an surveillance of North –Eastern states by health officials from the ministry.

Adewole who charged parents in the region to stay vigilant said a national emergency response team has been sent to Borno State for immediate polio vaccination campaign to prevent the spread of the virus locally and internationally.

He said, “Our overriding priority right now is to rapidly boost immunity in the affected areas to ensure that no more children are affected by this terrible disease.

“Local health officials with the support of partners including WHO and UNICEF are conducting detailed risk analysis to clearly ascertain the extent of circulation of the virus, and to assess overall levels of population immunity in order to guide the response.

“As an immediate response, about one million children are to be immunised in four local government areas in Borno State. Children in adjoining states of Yobe, Adamawa and Gombe will also be immunised bringing the number to about five million in the four states.”

The new cases of the wild polio virus recorded in Gwoza and Jere in Borno state has set back efforts towards declaring Nigeria polio free in 2017.

Nigeria was going to be declared polio free on July 24 next year, if the country did not record any new case.

Health authorities from the Federal Ministry of Health in Abuja and its counterpart in Borno state have been silent on the reported new cases.

Our correspondent learnt that the World Health Organisation was about to issue a statement confirming that Africa has began the process of eradicating the disease on the continent on Wednesday. The organisation, however, recalled the statement after it learnt of the new cases in the Northern Nigeria state.

It was learnt that the Executive Secretary, the United Nations Populations Fund, Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin, made an emergency visit to the country on Thursday morning.

He was said to have met with President Muhammadu Buhari and Prof. Adewole to devise a 48 hours strategy to quickly address the spread of the wild polio virus in Borno State.

The Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, in July had met with top-ranking government officials and stakeholders to discuss efforts aimed at certifying Nigeria polio-free.

She expressed worries on the poor state of the primary health care system of the country and warned that this may frustrate the immunisation of children against the polio virus and the elimination of the diseases in the country.

Buhari who assured Moeti that all hands were on deck in Northern Nigerian states admitted that security problems in region, which had the highest number of unimmunised children, was a challenge that the Federal Government needed to tackle urgently.

He said, “The breakdown of law and order in the Northeast has posed challenges to regular immunisation. The condition of children in Internally Displaced Persons camps around the country is very pathetic.

‘‘But I know that the Federal and state governments in partnership with international organizations and NGOs are doing so much to provide healthcare, rebuild infrastructure and facilitate voluntary return of displaced persons to their communities.”

Why Buhari, IGP must disarm Fulani herdsmen in Adamawa

Jos – Following the recent attacks on its people by suspected Fulani herdsmen, the Beatify people of Demsa local government of Adamawa state, resident in Jos, have asked the federal government and the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Ibrahim Idris to as a matter of urgency, disarm the Fulani herdsmen in their locality so as to safeguard the lives of the remaining members of the ethnic group.

The people said such exercise was necessary in view of the incessant attacks on the ethnic group by heavily armed Fulani herdsmen which have so far led to the death of about 100 people in the last seven months. In a statement issued on Thursday, in Jos and signed by the National President, Pene Da Bwatiye, Prince Hezron Fada, the people alleged that armed Fulani herdsmen have attacked more than 10 villages in the locality between January and July 2016. According to Fada, “It is with a heavy heart that the Bwatiye Community represented by our umbrella organization, PENE DA BWATIYE wish to draw the attention of Nigerians to the massive destruction of the rural town of Kodomun in Demsa Local Government of Adamawa State and the brutal cold blooded murder of 25 persons comprising our revered elders, young and middle aged men and children. “The attacks has left a population of about 2,500 inhabitants now homeless and scattered in towns and villages as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). From January to July this year, similar mass killings took place in the Bwatiye villages of Koh, Goron, Ndikajam, Tabongo, No-Ine Fawaire and Jimoh in Girei Local Government Area of Adamawa State, where 72 deaths were recorded including the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Vunoklang, a suburb of the Jimeta metropolis. “There is no doubt that the killings by the Fulani herdsmen and their hired mercenaries were perpetrated under a grand design to annihilate the Bwatiye race as a people. Upto this time no one has been apprehended, questioned or sanctioned by the authorities over the incidences. Is this not a conspiracy of silence?” The statement added, “As painful as the destruction and looting of property and the brutal killings of our defenceless people and the removal of some vital parts of their bodies for ritual purposes have been, we have managed with difficulty, to implore our communities to refrain from taking law into their hands. While we continue to look up to the State Government for justice and protection, unfortunately, government failed in this regard. “We find this failure of government unacceptable, as it is equally becoming more challenging to restrain our people from rising up to their own self defence by every possible means against armed Fulani herdsmen that are using assault riffles and hard core military weapons, as did in Koh, Ndikajam, No-Ine, Tabong Goron, Fawaire and Jimoh in Girei Local Government Area. The impunity of these invaders will not stop unless the government ceases to treat them with kid gloves. “We are gratified that the President Muhamamdu Buhari has at last directed the security agents to disarm them. However, we wait to see what will happen, for with the likes of Commissioner of Police of Adamawa State, Alh. Ghazzali Mohammed as law enforcement officers, we will be faced with either non-compliance or complicity. You will recall that this Commissioner of Police on Tuesday, August 2, 2016 said no life was lost in the invasion of Kodomun and that he did not allow his men to intervene in the attack because according him, it was a communal clash and to do so, would appear to be taking sides. “This man is therefore not fit for a Command position. He should be removed immediately by the Inspector General of Police. In light of the foregoing, we unequivocally affirm that it is not a coincidence that the brunt of these murderous attacks have been directed mainly at the ethnic nationalities and other well meaning citizens who are opposed to this diabolic agenda. “More importantly, we demand the immediate disarming of all Fulani herdsmen who are taking cover under the guise of grazing their cattle to kill, maim, plunder and economically incapacitate the communities. That, as a matter of urgency, government should immediately come to the aid of the victims of the Kodomun massacre through the provision of relief materials. Government should also rehabilitate and settle the affected community as houses and property have been destroyed and they could hardly afford to provide shelter for themselves.”

Hillary Clinton’s Emails Reveal Ties to Gilbert Chagoury

Newly released emails from Hillary Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state have revealed that Lebanese-Nigerian billionaire Mr. Gilbert Chagoury used his relationship with the Clinton Foundation set up by her husband former President Bill Clinton to seek for favours from the US State Department.

Chagoury is a close friend of the former US president and a top donor to the Clinton Foundation. He has appeared near the top of the Foundation’s donor list as a $1 million to $5 million contributor, according to foundation documents. He also pledged $1 billion to the Clinton Global Initiative.

According to a 2010 investigation by PBS Frontline, Chagoury was convicted in Switzerland in 2000 for laundering money from Nigeria, but agreed to a plea deal and repaid $66 million to the Nigerian government.

The revelation has raised questions about the nature of the State Department’s relationship with the Clinton Foundation, when she was secretary of state.

CNN reported yesterday that Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group, released 296 pages of emails from the Democratic presidential nominee, including 44 that Judicial Watch says were not previously handed over to the State Department by Clinton.

The emails, many of which are heavily redacted, raise questions about the Clinton Foundation’s influence on the State Department and its relations during her tenure.

In one instance, top Clinton Foundation official Doug Band lobbied Clinton aides for a job for someone else in the State Department. In the email, Band tells Hillary Clinton’s former aides at the department — Cheryl Mills and Huma Abedin — that it is “important to take care of (redacted).” Band is reassured by Abedin that “Personnel has been sending him options.”
The emails were obtained by the group through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch against the State Department in 2015.

The Trump campaign seized at the new batch of emails, citing them as evidence of Clinton being corrupt.

The prolonged investigations into her use of a private email server while at the State Department has fuelled public distrust of her and plagued her presidential bid.

But the Justice Department declined to press charges against Clinton for her handling of classified information related to the server earlier this year, with FBI Director James Comey saying while she was “extremely careless,” it was his judgment that “no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case.”

In a 2009 email, Band directs Abedin and Mills to put Chagoury, a Lebanese-Nigerian billionaire and Clinton Foundation donor, in contact with the State Department’s “substance person” on Lebanon.

“We need Gilbert Chagoury to speak to the substance person re Lebanon,” Band wrote. “As you know, he’s a key guy there and to us and is loved in Lebanon. Very imp.”

“It’s jeff feltman,” Abedin responded, referring to Jeffrey Feltman, who was the US ambassador to Lebanon at the time. “I’m sure he knows him. I’ll talk to jeff.”
Feltman told CNN yesterday that he never met with Chagoury.

“I have never met nor spoken with Mr Chagoury. I was not aware of the proposal that he speak to me until this email exchange was released, but in any case we never spoke,” he said.
Judicial Watch President Tom Filton said in a press release that Clinton “hid” the 44 emails on purpose.

“No wonder Hillary Clinton and Huma Abedin hid emails from the American people, the courts and Congress,” he said in a press release. “They show the Clinton Foundation, Clinton donors, and operatives worked with Hillary Clinton in potential violation of the law.”

Clinton’s campaign said the emails didn’t relate to her work at the Clinton Foundation.
“Neither of these emails involve the secretary or relate to the Foundation’s work,” said an emailed statement from Clinton campaign spokesman Josh Schwerin. “They are communications between her aides and the President’s personal aide, and indeed the recommendation was for one of the Secretary’s former staffers who was not employed by the Foundation.”

The Clinton campaign said yesterday that Chagoury only wanted to offer insights on the then-upcoming Lebanese election and was not looking for any specific action from the State Department.
“The right-wing organization behind this lawsuit has been attacking the Clintons since the 1990s and no matter how this group tries to mischaracterize these documents, the fact remains that Hillary Clinton never took action as secretary of state because of donations to the Clinton Foundation,” Schwerin said in a statement.

GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump sought to use the emails to paint Clinton as corrupt.
The Clinton Foundation was not part of the recent investigation into her private server; it was separate. The FBI went to Justice Department earlier this year asking for it to open a case into the foundation, but the public integrity unit declined.

The Justice Department had looked into whether it should open a case on the foundation a year prior and found it didn’t have sufficient evidence to do so.

Yesterday, Judicial Watch released written testimony from Mills, in which she provides further detail on how Clinton’s private email server was set up to address potentially security concerns.
Mills told the attorneys she spoke with a Clinton IT staffer in 2013, after learning the email account of a close Clinton confidante, Sidney Blumenthal, had been compromised by a hacker.

“As I recall, these discussions involved whether this event might affect Secretary Clinton’s email,” Mills said in follow-up answers to an earlier deposition given to Judicial Watch.
Mills also said she recalls speaking to the same staffer — Bryan Pagliano — about the company overseeing the server set up.

“As I recall, these discussions involved whether Platte River Networks would have the technical capacity and be the appropriate source from which to gather Secretary Clinton’s email from the clintonemail.com system,” Mills said.

UK Launches 24-hour Visa Service in Nigeria

The UK has launched the Super Priority Visa Service in Nigeria to allow prospective visitors to Britain to process their applications within 24 hours.

The British High Commission, on its website, said the new service was targeted at meeting the needs of those who require urgent service to travel.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the High Commission quoted the British High Commissioner, Mr. Paul Arkwright, as welcoming the introduction of the Super Priority Visa service in Nigeria.

“I am pleased to see the Super Priority Visa service being launched in Nigeria.

“This comes with an additional cost but is designed to give greater flexibility to our customers and underlines our strong commitment to make improvements to the visa services we offer.

“We expect this new service to be particularly useful for business. We understand that business opportunities and urgent requirements can arise at very short notice.

“We recognise this and want to facilitate such travel to the UK with this new super-fast service,” Arkwright said.

The High Commission said the introduction of the service allowed customers greater flexibility to choose from a number of visa products to meet their needs.

“It is offered alongside our current Priority Visa (front of queue processing five to seven-day) and standard (15-day) services.

“The UK is the only European country to offer a visa decision in 24 hours.

“The Super Priority Visa service is aimed largely at key business customers and those needing to travel urgently by providing a visa decision for collection at the Visa Application Centre the working day following submission.”

It said the service costs 750 pounds sterling in addition to the visa fee and would be available to eligible customers applying in the Abuja and Lagos Visa Application Centres.

The High Commission said those applying in the “Visitors” or “Points Based System Tier 4” are eligible to use the Super Priority Service.

It said appointments are available from Mondays to Thursday from 8.30 a.m. to 10 a.m. and Fridays from 8.30 a.m. to 9 a.m. at the Abuja and Lagos centres only.

“Extending the Super Priority Visa service to Nigeria is another example of how the UK is leading the world in the provision of premium visa services for those coming to the UK to visit, do business or study.”

Lagos residents battle electricity distribution firm over illegal disconnection

Residents of 54, Rasheed Babatunde Street, Ajangbadi, Lagos have drawn a battle line with officials of Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC). The fight is over disconnection of cables and alleged tampering with meter.

Both parties, it was gathered, have been having a running battle over the same issue since April 2015, but it recently took a new dimension when the angry residents accused the power distribution company of unleashing on residents unbearable financial exploitation.

According to them, it was a case of financial demand too many, hence, they took the matter to Okoko Police Station.

Daily Sun was informed that on April 28, 2015, some officials from EKEDC, Ajangbadi, went to the house and disconnected electricity in the three flats. Those using the pre-paid metres were not spared. The power distribution company said it suspected some unscrupulous activities. The residents were accused to have illegally connected a water-pumping machine directly to the electric cable, to avoid the consumption from being captured by the metre.

One of the occupants of the house, Mr. Daniel Chukwudi, told the reporter that the EKEDC’s officials, from the supervising office at 4, Dotun Isijola Street, Kosoko, Ajangbadi, in one of their inspection routines raised the alarm and a letter was later sent to the house from the office.

Hear him: “We have three flats in the house. Two flats use pre-paid, while the last one uses analogue metre. Only one pumping machine serves the house, and the pumping machine is connected to the analogue metre, which was made known to EKEDC.”

Suspecting that the electricians who did the connection might have committed some blunder, the occupants took the letter to the company’s office at Iba new site; where they were asked to pay N50, 000 as fine.

He recalled that all their efforts to explain to the company that they had never tampered with the metre fell on deaf ears. In order for peace to reign and for power to get restored to the house, they finally coughed out N20, 000 having been left in total darkness from that April till September. However, he said no receipt was issued to them to acknowledge the payment.

“Tired of the whole issue and as law-abiding citizens, we went to the Ajangbadi office, and pleaded with them to reconnect us. One Mr. Obinna, a staff of EKEDC told us to raise N 20, 000, that they would come and rectify the problem and that it would not occur again.

“When they were through with the reconnection, we the tenants, contributed the N20, 000 and I gave it to Obinna and two of his colleagues. They told us that the problem had been solved.”

Another resident, Pastor Chukwudi Okoh told Daily Sun that the company told him and his co-tenants to pay all the outstanding bills even when they were already using pre-paid metres. While they were still in darkness, the two tenants paid N 50, 000.They lamented that they kept receiving bills for analogue metre which accumulated to more than N50, 000.

According to the pastor, the residents were subjected to double charges for many months, and were told that their conversion from analogue to pre-paid metering was not professionally handled by whoever that did the installations.

Said he: “Not too long, another manager was posted to our area and he sent his workers to disconnect our electricity over the same illegal connection to pumping machine. They also gave an excuse that the last people that worked on the metre might have handled it wrongly.”

He stated that for another two months, the occupants were in darkness again until they were forced to pay another N14, 000 to the officials to rectify the problem.

“For the third time when reconnection was to be done, I asked them to bring their trusted staff to rectify whatever was not properly done. The three of us living in the house are so busy that we don’t have the leisure to be going to their office every time. I think they capitalised on this to keep cheating us. We paid N10, 000 for the last job that they did. They separated the wires and told us that everything was now okay. One of my co-tenants secretly made a video recording while they were doing the last work.”

Daniel, who is the only person using analogue in the house, also complained that for the six months that the power was disconnected, the officials were sending estimated bills to him.

“We went and complained for more than ten times, but the marketing manager then told us that whether there was power or not, they must send bills to consumers. The bill amounted to N 59, 000. We sent a petition to them on November 24, 2015 asking the bills to be cancelled, but all our efforts met a brick wall.

Daniel said in March 2016, another marketing manager, one Mr. Olaniyan was brought to Ajangbadi branch and for the third time, over the same issue, the power was disconnected. This naturally got the occupants infuriated, but Daniel said they were calmed by the new manager’s display of professionalism.

“We were very angry this time. We went to their office and called the boy that did the last job there. He told Mr. Olaniyan that they had worked on the same metre and corrected the fault. The manager humbly attended to us. He explained that he recently resumed duty. He later sent another official, one Mr. Akeem to crosscheck the job did by the last person.

“We were shocked when Mr. Akeem, with three other staff, told us that the problem was still there. We told him that we had suffered on this same issue in their hands many times. He asked us to open our flats and they checked them, opened the metre and touched some things there. At the end, they collected N10, 000 cash from us without issuing any receipt, and promised us that such issue would not occur again. The manager asked them to reconnect the power,” Daniel said.

He added that Mr. Olaniyan also resolved the issue over estimated bills on the analogue over the period they were disconnected. He was asked to be paying N3, 000 monthly but with no more fresh charges until he cleared the arrears.

“We were satisfied with his approach,” he stated.

The residents thought the trouble was over. But they were wrong. On August 1, 2016, they were for the fourth time thrown into darkness by the same EKEDC, Ajangbadi branch. They got another letter signed by one Mr. Kingsley, telling them that there was illegal connection in the building.

“This time, we became very furious and rushed down to their office to query Mr. Olaniyan, but we noticed that he had been removed and replaced with one Mrs. Eze Iloh. As we were about to enter the office, we saw the boys that did the last job. We complained to them, and they told us that they had already told Mrs. Eze that there was no by-pass in the compound but that she refused to listen to them. We took the letter to her, she collected it from us and told us to go, that she would come and rectify the problem that same day. We waited till night but we did not see her.

“The next day, my neighbour who is a pastor went to remind Mrs. Eze of her promise but she said he was disturbing her peace. When the pastor demanded the letter she collected from us, she refused to release it.

“The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) at Okoko invited her but she refused to show up. The next day, August 5, before 9.00am, two of her staff came to our compound and was begging us to forget the matter. One of them was among those that did the second reconnection. They asked us follow them to the office so that we could resolve the matter; we refused and told them that the case was already with the police.

“Thirty minutes after they left, about 15 other officials came to the house. They said they were sent from the head office. Fortunately, the people that did both the second and last reconnection came with them. They asked Mr. Akeem if he was the one that did the job; he said yes. They asked him if the metre had been tampered with after he did the job, he said no. At a point, they started arguing among one another. There is a video recording showing when they were begging us,” Daniel narrated.

As at the time of filling this report, the house is still in darkness. The pastor and his co-tenants said all they needed is justice and adequate compensation for their ordeal in the hands of EKEDC since 2015. They revealed that they had contacted their lawyers and were ready to drag the power distribution company to court.

When the Marketing Manager, Mrs. Eze Iloh was contacted on telephone, she told the reporter that she had no knowledge of the issue.

Having listened to the caller, she simply said: “I don’t know what you are talking about.” She then cut the line.

In a chat with Daily Sun, the DPO of Okoko Police Station, Mr. Aliyu Lukman said the woman at EKDC office, who collected the letter from the consumers, might have realised the implication of the letter, forcing her to quickly seize it.

“The residents reported the matter here at the station. It is unfortunate that they didn’t make photocopies of the letter before the pastor took it to EKDC office to protest against it. I invited the woman who seized the letter but l heard she contacted some staff from their head office to beg the angry residents.

“They told me that the company had disconnected and reconnected the power three times using their own staff over illegal connection. The residents couldn’t take it any longer and they took up the issue,” he said.