Police in Rivers Shoot Two Suspected Cult leaders. A wanted cult leader named Silas Oderereke and his accomplice were slain following a shooting at the Oderereke hamlet in the state’s Ahoada West Local Government Area, according to the Rivers State Police Command. Oderereke, also referred to as “General,” is the head of the Greenlander cult group in the Ubie tribe of Ahoada West, according to the command. He has been evading capture for the previous four years. In a statement released in Port Harcourt on Sunday, Grace Iringe-Koko, a spokeswoman for the state police command, confirmed the two cultists’ deaths. According to Iringe Koko,the infamous cult leader and his group engaged in violent attacks on anyone who dared to disagree with them, armed robberies, land grabbing, and unauthorised construction sales. “On January 11, 2024, the police received information about Oderereke’s gang’s robbery operation, which also involved vandalising the property of the late monarch, Eze Robinson O. Robinson,” the statement reads, describing how the miscreant was shot to death. The police pursued the perpetrators out of town after acting quickly. But the rebellious “General” rallied his group and attacked an Oderereke community-owned tank farm with the intention of robbing it of its valuables. There was gunfire between Silas Oderereke and another member of his group and the police squad. Oderereke and his accomplice were neutralised during the shootout, but other people were hurt. “The police were able to capture the gang during this attempt at sabotage. “Danger-boy and 2-Man, two other clan leaders who frequently worked with Oderereke, were able to escape and are still on the loose. “The police found a G3 rifle and 19 7.62x51mm rounds when they searched the gang’s hideout.” “Further investigations uncovered a camp Oderereke had established between Oderereke and Olokuma communities,” the state police image maker continued. The cult leader and his large following used this camp as a base from which to conduct robberies on defenceless residents of nearby settlements. “The affected communities shared stories of residents who had moved to Port Harcourt due to the mayhem caused by the cult group and expressed their relief.” Olatunji Disu, the state commissioner of police, praised the agents for their covert investigation and for taking down the thugs. Cultists […]
JAMB. Image: punchng.com JAMB permits free registration for those with disabilities. According to the Joint Admission and Matriculations Board, there is no fee to register for the 2024-2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination for Persons Living with Disability. This was revealed by Ishaq Oloyede, the JAMB Registrar, when he opened registration to interested applicants nationwide. In addition to declaring that registration for the 2024 matriculation exam will open on Monday, or today, Oloyede noted that as a support, JAMB will provide free application paperwork to all categories of PWDs. “Jamb will provide free application documents to all categories of Persons Living with Disabilities in the advertisement for the 2024 UTME/DE in order to support the PLWD,” the official stated. All blind applicants will now receive audio books, according to Oloyede, who revealed that steps have been taken to guarantee a seamless exercise for all candidates. The registrar described the project as a digital take on the classic reading book, adding that it will be available in widely used audio formats including MP3, WMV, and WMA and work with any device that can stream audio files. During the first National Conference on Equal Opportunity of Access to Higher Education in Nigeria, the idea of providing audiobooks was proposed. In addition to blind candidates, those with Down syndrome, autism, dyslexia, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are also eligible for the free registration, according to the testing organisation. He declared, “The following candidate categories will now be listed under the disability group: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Down syndrome, autism, and dyslexia disorder.”
FILE PHOTO: Tuberculosis-Bacteria. By punchng.com People Live in Terror-induced Poverty, Tuberculosis Exacerbates the Anguish. Experts are gravely concerned about the growth of tuberculosis in Borno State, which is being fueled by destitution, malnutrition, and other issues orchestrated by the insurgency. Hadiza Idris of the Dala ward in the Jere Local Government Area of Maiduguri city has been worrying about her health and changing body for, well, God knows how long. All she knew was that she suffered from severe dyspnea, ulcers, fever, and limb weakness on a regular basis. Whenever she wanted to use the restroom or complete other home chores that she could do on her own, she frequently needed assistance getting up from her spouse, kids, or other relatives around. She was unaware that such illnesses were signs of a more serious condition. When her health worsened in December 2023 and she lost the ability to stand. Every time she tried to stand up, she would stumble due to her extreme vertigo. Someone needed to support and assist her. had to visit the Borno State Chest Diseases Centre as a result. She received a fast diagnosis of tuberculosis there. This was the underlying illness that caused the previous series of illnesses she had. She got started on the necessary treatment right away. She was prescribed medications to take for six months in order to heal. The disease is wreaking havoc on Borno State’s population, which is already plagued by Boko Haram and the fear of ISWAP. Experts say that the 10 local government areas in the Northern Borno Senatorial District have been affected the hardest. During the 13th Joint Operations Review held in Yola, Adamawa State, in November 2023, the World Health Organization expressed concern over the concerning rate of tuberculosis in Borno State. “It is concerning how common tuberculosis is in Borno. According to reports, Walter Mulombo, the WHO’s Head of Mission and Country Representative in Nigeria, said that Borno “may be a ticking time bomb for tuberculosis explosion in Nigeria.” The state’s commissioner of health, Prof. Baba Malam-Gana, represented Governor Babagana Zulum at the Yola Review convergence. It was reported that the governor likened the concerning tuberculosis situation in his state to the catastrophic effects of the Boko Haram insurgency, which had destroyed half of the state’s medical facilities and supplies. Speaking to reporters recently, Dr. Bukar Bintube, a consultant pulmonologist at the Borno Chest Diseases Centre, stated, “According to the WHO, the rate at which tuberculosis is spreading in Borno State is out of control, particularly in Northern Borno.” This is not implausible given the Boko Haram insurgency, which drove people from their ancestral areas and brought hardships and low socioeconomic conditions with it. Dr. Bintube went on, “We looked into it and discovered that there is not enough medical staff in Northern Borno because we noticed that the majority of patients with chest illnesses come from that region. There is a severe lack of medical workers in the area. Dr. Bintube disclosed that the health institution receives 40 to 50 new and old TB patients every Monday, the most of them are from Northern Borno, but he would not disclose the precise number of TB patients in the state. The reporter noted that this is quite reminiscent to the scene at other secondary and tertiary healthcare facilities around the state. The Consultant Pulmonologist bemoaned and asked why there were still fresh TB cases in the state. We are currently concerned about the new cases. Why are new cases necessary? It indicates that the rate of poverty in the community is high. This indicates that the illness is affecting more people than anticipated, the speaker stated. Therefore, he recommended that in addition to giving the Centre more equipment, the state government should also fully equip and hire more people in all local government healthcare delivery institutions so that they can address the prevalence of tuberculosis in impoverished rural communities. Dr. Bintube bemoaned the lack of sufficient medication and said that, since Governor Zulum ordered the state Ministry of Health to supply pharmaceuticals to the institution in 2020, no government body has contacted the centre to supply drugs. The majority of the medications we have been receiving come from the Leprosy and TB Control Programme in the Netherlands. We also have a screening machine from WHO,” the pulmonologist added. He urged all parties involved in the health sector, particularly state and federal lawmakers from the Northern Borno Senatorial District, to work with the state government to address the issue. Speaking about his experience with TB, Bukar Bulama, a motorbike rider in Bulumkutu Kasuwa, Jere LG, said that at the beginning of the crisis, he mistook his symptoms for a fever or the flu. “When I first noticed the symptoms more than five months ago, I assumed it was just a slight cough and fever or illness. […]
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio. Image: punchng.com Government officials honour fallen heroes. Governors and Senate President Godswill Akpabio honoured fallen heroes on Sunday for making the ultimate sacrifice to preserve national sovereignty. According to Akpabio, maintaining and defending Nigeria’s unity is the responsibility of the men and women in the armed forces. Unity in Nigeria […]