Headline
Senators, Reps Should Get Same Minimum Wage As Labour – Father Mbaka
Published
1 year agoon
By
Editor
Popular Catholic priest, Rev. Father Ejike Mbaka, has urged the Federal Government to address the minimum wage issue cautiously to prevent potential crisis.
The cleric’s remarks come amid ongoing deliberations between the Federal Government and labour unions regarding the new minimum wage, which the government has proposed at N62,000, while labour unions demand N250,000.
Mbaka criticised the allowances given to legislators despite the hardships faced by Nigerians, suggesting that senators, governors, and members of the House of Representatives should also receive the proposed N62,000 national minimum wage.
READ ALSO: Bandits Abduct Catholic Priest In Kaduna
He advised the Federal Government to proceed with caution to avoid a crisis.
Speaking to journalists, Mbaka stated, “If we decide to give labour N60,000 or N62,000, why not generalise it to the House of Assembly members, senatorial members, House of Representative members, and governors?
“They are all civil servants, so are the others slaves? I can’t understand why they are amazing billions as sitting allowance, wardrobe allowance, newspaper allowance, and suffering allowance.
READ ALSO: Pro-June 12 Group Seeks National Dialogue, People’s Constitution
“The people that should have such allowances are those suffering in the village.”
Speaking further, Mbaka said, “How much are our teachers, nurses, and doctors being paid? Let’s be realistic, our civil servants that wake early and return late daily, how much are they being paid?
“Looking at the level of inflation in the country, you will see that we are all not sincere in this country.
“I’m pleading with the government that a stitch in time saves nine; this situation must be handled with care because it might be hijacked and nobody knows the ripple effect.”
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Headline
India Issues Health Alert After Spike In ‘brain-eating’ Amoeba Deaths
Published
6 hours agoon
September 18, 2025By
Editor
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”.
Officials reported 19 deaths and 72 infections of the Naegleria fowleri amoeba this year, including nine deaths and 24 cases in September alone.
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Last year, the amoeba killed nine people out of 36 reported cases.
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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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”.
“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
Headline
Gunmen On Motorbikes Kill 22 At Baptism Ceremony In Niger
Published
1 day agoon
September 17, 2025By
Editor
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.
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.
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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.
Around 20 soldiers were killed in the region last week.
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Human Rights Watch has urged Niger authorities to “do more to protect” civilians against deadly attacks.
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.
AFP
Headline
Serbia Indicts Ex-minister, 12 Others Over Train Station Tragedy
Published
2 days agoon
September 16, 2025By
Editor
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.
“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.
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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.
The prosecutor’s office said it had complied with the judge’s request and had now completed the supplementary investigation.
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The prosecutor specialising in organised crime and corruption in Belgrade is leading a separate, independent investigation into the tragedy.
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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