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Banters, Laughter As Buhari Commissions Police Barracks

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An excited audience comprising Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Inspector General of Police, ministers, National Assembly members, the Interim Administrator of NDDC and directors, senior police officers and government officials, as well as religious and traditional leaders cracked up in laughter yesterday as Gov. Nyesom Wike and Senator Godswill Akpabio exchanged banters publicly at the commissioning of a police barracks in Omagwa, Port Harcourt.

The complex was built and donated by the Niger Delta Development Commission to the Special Protection Unit of the Nigeria Police Force.

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Ordinary folks and community members, not used to such high-profile hilarity, could not contain their excitement. Even before the two men went up the podium to make their speeches, I could tell from my vantage position that their conversations were largely filled with some repartees, and Prof Osinbajo, seated between them, was enjoying their jokes.

Senator Akapbio started it all in his speech, saying that although Governor Wike was doing well as a governor; he would not acknowledge it publicly, “because he is not a member of APC.” (Laughs.) Then he added, ‘’I will not even join the bandwagon of those calling for the governor to join APC. We have enough troubles in our party already’.” (More laughter.)

Soon after, the governor had his turn. ‘’I thought we came here to commission this beautiful complex. I did not know that the minister was planning to turn the event into a political arena.” (More laughter. Applause.)

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The governor was not done. ‘’I cannot leave a place where I am having malaria to where I will get cancer,” he continued, in an apparent reference to calls for him to join APC. The audience, led by Vice President Osinbajo, doubled up in more laughter.

Gov. Wike commended NDDC for completing the barracks and while handing over to the police said ‘’I don’t know who leaked my secret plans to NDDC. Just seven months ago, I was planning to take over this place and complete it. But apparently the Commission got a hint of my plan and quickly mobilized contractors to site’,” he joked.

The governor commended the Commission for a good job done, essentially returning the compliments which its chief executive, Mr Efiong Akwa, had paid him in his welcome remarks.

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We had thought that the banters were all over until Prof Osinbanjo got on to the podium to read President Buhari’s speech. ‘’Well’’, the Vice President started with a smile, ‘’I will eventually settle the controversy between the governor and the minister at a later date…’’. The crowd roared.

READ ALSO: Senate Begins Moves to Ensure Immediate Relocation Of Oil & Gas Companies To Operational Bases In N’Delta

The executive conviviality beamed live on national television was a clear indication that despite political differences, our leaders do share a good dose of friendliness. ‘’But we ordinary folks take our differences to the extreme. It should not be’’, a middle-aged man who sat by me said just before the police band struck the first note of the National Anthem to close the day’s events.

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India Issues Health Alert After Spike In ‘brain-eating’ Amoeba Deaths

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India has issued a health alert after infections and deaths caused by a rare water-borne “brain-eating” amoeba doubled compared to last year in the southern state of Kerala.

Numbers are still tiny but Altaf Ali, a doctor who is part of a government task force to arrest the spread, told AFP that officials were “conducting tests on a large scale across the state to detect and treat cases”.

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Officials reported 19 deaths and 72 infections of the Naegleria fowleri amoeba this year, including nine deaths and 24 cases in September alone.

READ ALSO:India Test-fires Ballistic Missile, Capable Of Reaching All Of China

Last year, the amoeba killed nine people out of 36 reported cases.

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The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says it is often called a “brain-eating amoeba” because it can “infect the brain and destroy brain tissue”.

If the amoeba reaches the brain, it can cause an infection that kills over 95 per cent of those affected.

Infections are “very rare but nearly always fatal”, the CDC notes.

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READ ALSO:Indian Man Gets Death Sentence For Burning Wife Alive Over Skin Colour

The amoeba lives in warm lakes and rivers and is contracted by contaminated water entering the nose. It does not spread from person to person.

The World Health Organisation says that symptoms include headache, fever and vomiting, which rapidly progresses to “seizures, altered mental status, hallucinations, and coma”.

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“It’s worrying that new cases this year have emerged from across the state, as opposed to specific pockets in the past,” Ali said.

Since 1962, nearly 500 cases have been reported worldwide, mostly in the United States, India, Pakistan, and Australia.

AFP

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Gunmen On Motorbikes Kill 22 At Baptism Ceremony In Niger

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Gunmen on motorbikes shot dead 22 villagers in western Niger, most attending a baptism ceremony, local media and other sources said Tuesday.

The shootings happened on Monday in the Tillaberi region, near Burkina Faso and Mali, where jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group (IS) are active.

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A resident of the area told AFP that 15 people were killed first at a baptism ceremony in Takoubatt village.

The attackers then went to the outskirts of Takoubatt where they killed seven other people,” said the resident, who requested anonymity for security reasons.

READ ALSO:Two Nigerians Face Jail Terms In Liberia’s Piracy Trial

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Local media outlet Elmaestro TV reported a “gruesome death toll of 22 innocent people cowardly killed without reason or justification”.

“Once again, the Tillaberi region has been struck by barbarism, plunging innocent families into mourning and despair,” Nigerien human rights campaigner Maikoul Zodi said on social media.

Niger’s military leaders, who came to power two years ago in a coup, have struggled to contain jihadist groups in Tillaberi, despite maintaining a large army presence there.

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Around 20 soldiers were killed in the region last week.

READ ALSO:Nigerian Jailed In US Over $6m Inheritance Fraud

Human Rights Watch has urged Niger authorities to “do more to protect” civilians against deadly attacks.

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The rights monitoring group estimates that the Islamic State group has “summarily executed” more than 127 villagers and Muslim worshippers in Tillaberi in five attacks since March.

Meanwhile, the NGO ACLED, which tracks conflict victims worldwide, says around 1,800 people have been killed in attacks in Niger since October 2024 — three-quarters of them in Tillaberi.

Niger and its neighbours, Burkina Faso and Mali, also ruled by military coup leaders who claim to pursue a sovereignist policy, have expelled the French and American armies that were fighting alongside them against jihadism.

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Serbia Indicts Ex-minister, 12 Others Over Train Station Tragedy

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Serbian prosecutors filed an updated indictment on Tuesday against 13 people, including a former minister, over a fatal railway station roof collapse that has triggered a wave of anti-government protests.

The prosecution said all those indicted, among them former construction minister Goran Vesic, face charges of “serious crimes against public safety” over the tragedy that killed 16 people last November.

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“The indictment proposes that the Higher Court in Novi Sad order custody for all the defendants,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

The roof collapse at the newly renovated station in Serbia’s second-largest city, Novi Sad, became a symbol of entrenched corruption and sparked almost daily protests.

READ ALSO:FG Panel Indicts AFN In Ofili’s Paris Olympics Omission

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Protesters first demanded a transparent investigation, but their calls soon escalated into demands for early elections.

The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad initially filed an indictment at the end of December, but judges returned it in April, requesting more information.

The accused were released or placed under house arrest following the decision.

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The prosecutor’s office said it had complied with the judge’s request and had now completed the supplementary investigation.

READ ALSO:NDLEA Arrests Indian Businessman, 3 Others Over Alleged Trafficking Of N3.9bn Tramadol

The prosecutor specialising in organised crime and corruption in Belgrade is leading a separate, independent investigation into the tragedy.

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That investigation is focused on 13 people, including Vesic and another former minister, Tomislav Momirovic, who headed the Construction Ministry before him.

In March, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) launched a third, separate investigation into the possible misuse of EU funds for the station’s reconstruction.

AFP

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