Nigeria shuts Action Against Hunger aid group 'for feeding militants'

"I fled Boko Haram and had to leave my son behind" - one woman tells the BBC of her ordeal

Nigeria's army has stopped the work of international NGO Action Against Hunger accusing it of supplying a militant Islamist group with food and drugs.

The army said it had warned the NGO against "aiding and abetting" Boko Haram in north-east Nigeria.

Action Against Hunger, which denies the accusations, says its "life-saving assistance" to vulnerable people has now been put "into jeopardy".

Boko Haram's 10-year campaign of terror has left more than 30,000 people dead.

More than two million people have also been displaced.

A network of NGOs is assisting the government in helping those who have been forced from their homes.

This is the first time the military has explicitly named an aid organisation it accuses of sabotaging the army's counter-terrorism operations in the region, reports the BBC's Chris Ewokor.

In a statement, Action Against Hunger said it "delivers neutral, impartial and independent humanitarian aid to millions of people in Borno state by providing basic services to the most vulnerable people, especially women and children".

Contains disturbing scenes and flashing images.

Boko Haram’s decade of terror explained

It said it had been told by soldiers without any notice to close its office in the capital of Borno state, Maiduguri.

In July, the Paris-based charity said six of its aid workers had been kidnapped in Nigeria.

The six abductees appeared on a video, with one of them calling on the Nigerian government and international community to intervene. Their whereabouts are still unknown.

No group has said it was behind the kidnapping.

In 2015, Boko Haram seized control of much of Borno state, and spread its activities to neighbouring countries.

A counter-insurgency by the army led to much of that territory being recaptured. But the militants have come to rely more on suicide bombings and kidnappings in recent years.

One of its most notorious attacks was on a school in Chibok, north-east Nigeria, when 276 schoolgirls were kidnapped. Many of them have been freed, but the whereabouts of more than 100 are still unknown.

Since 2013, Boko Haram are thought to have kidnapped more than 1,000 people.

Mother, 2 children, dogs die in Ekiti after eating amala

A woman and her children age 12 and 14 years old and two dogs have been reported dead in the Odo-Ayedun Ekiti community in Ikole area of Ekiti state after eating a locally made food known as amala.
Confirming the sad news which took place on Tuesday, September 17, to journalists, the police public relations officer in Ekiti, Caleb Ikechukwu, revealed that the husband of the deceased woman, who also ate the food, is in a critical condition at the Federal Teaching Hospital in Ido Ekiti.

 Ikechukwu also said that the police, alongside other agencies, are making moves to investigate the development and discover the cause of the strange deaths.

Adeoye Aribasoye, a member of the Ekiti state House of Assembly, representing Ikole Constituency II, on Thursday, September 19, spoke on the incident at the plenary and called for an investigation into it. Thanks again and happy
Aribasoye said: “After they ate the flour on Saturday, the mother and the two children complained of stomach ache overnight and they resorted to self-treatment which led to the death of the mother on Monday and the two children in quick succession between that Monday and Tuesday.
“Before the deaths were broken to the father, he was already down and the father was rushed to FETHI, and he is currently battling with his life.”
Meanwhile,a tragic story of two Nigerian men who lost their lives after attempting to smuggle hard substance from Brazil to Ethiopia had surfaced.

The men identified as Chigozie Pascal Aniagbado and Chijioke Chidioka Ogbuefi died aboard their flight. It was gathered that the deceased avoided being caught at the airport by swallowing the hard substance they smuggled.

Nigeria doesn’t have a debt problem - Finance minister

Nigeria does not have a debt problem, rather a revenue problem, says the minister of finance, Zainab Ahmed. The minister made the disclosure on Monday, August 26 while speaking with management staff of the ministry of budget and national planning, The Cable reports. Legit.ng gathers that Ahmed said Nigeria’s debt is not too high and that the federal government is looking at increasing revenue performance from 55 percent to 85 percent She said: “I want to restate that our debt is not too high; what we have is a revenue problem. “Our debt is still very much within a reasonable fiscal limit. In7n fact, amongst our comparative countries, we are the least in terms of borrowing. “If we don’t do that, we will continue to suffer significantly in our capacity to service the national budget.” The management staff were further informed by the minister, that there’ll be consequences for non-performance and they had their work cut out. She said: “It is a very big work that Mr President has given to us. It is not myself and the minister of state that will do the work; it is you that will do it. All we are providing is leadership and the enabling environment for you to deliver on the task. “Within this week, we will be getting our directives on what we need to achieve. We are going to sign up on these directives and we are going to be held responsible for the delivery of the directives. “There will be consequences, not just on the ministers but on the permanent secretaries and the directors.” Afe Babalola makes stunning revelation, says DSS not empowered by law to arrest Nigeria’s debt profile stood at N24.387tn as at December 2018; up from N21.752tn in 2017. Also, in three years alone, the country’s external debt rose to $11.77bn. Meanwhile,former vice president Atiku Abubakar declared that the country would have spent N2.5 trillion on debt-servicing by the end of 2019, a figure which he said was more than the country’s capital budget. Atiku, in a statement by his media aide, Paul Ibe, warned that the deeper the country goes into unsustainable debt, the more she loses its independence to her creditors. He called for immediate action to address Nigeria’s unsustainable debt burden as he said the National Economic Council (NEC) which he chaired in 2006 paid off the country's entire debt under the leadership of former president Olusegun Obasanjo.

Insecurity: Ajagun Esin of Apapaland Cautions Parents,Clerics

The Ajagun Esin of Apapaland in Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State Omilabu-Gandhi (snr) has advised parents to inculcate the tenets and teaching of religion of their choice in their children. Ajagun Esin of Apapaland gave the advise at Apapaland Muslim Prayer ground where he observed this year Eld Karbir prayers.While comments on the moral decadence and other social vices now rampant among the youths of the country. He emphasized " if religious cultures and the tenets are uphold by every families we shall be very closer to Allah while all the vices in our lives shall vanish". Advocating religious tolerance in the country. Ajagun Esin of Apapaland described religious fanatics as greedy and selfish people who don't really understand the tenets of their various religious. He querried that if the Holy Quran chapter 3 verse 85 teaches the beauty of lsam as a religion of peace and love where did so-called religious fanatics find their source. He therefore advised religious fanatics to desist from their naferious act. Ajagun Esin of Apapaland Omilabu - Gandhi (snr.) Later congratulates Muslim worldwide on the occasion of Eld Karbir and enjoy them to always maintain co-exsistence among one another religious in their community.

Eid - El- Karbir:Koyewon Condemns Social Vices.

Chief Olaiya Babalola aka Koyewon Chairman PCRC Moniya Area Command has blamed the ills of the society on lack of good morals and discipline among youths. He made his feelings known in a chat with Transview magazine online in his Eid Karbir messages at lbadan.Koyewon called on students nationwide to face their studies with all seriousness,so as to graduate as Worthy ambassadors of their Alma mater and be suitable materials for the future leadership of this great nation. On issue of social and moral decadence Koyewon sued for the change of attitude from such social vices as greed,pride, wealth without sweat and lack of respect for the constituted authorities. He called on parents to assist in achieving the set objectives by training their children and wards, especially at home when the teachers are not around to provide the necessary guidance. While congratulating Muslims worldwide on the Eid Karbir.Koyewon urge the PCRC members not to relents in their efforts to do all the needful for the Nigeria Police.

Mob allegedly kills policeman for 'shooting' pregnant woman dead in Lagos

An angry mob on Saturday, August 10, reportedly lynched an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) attached to the Area M Command for allegedly shooting a pregnant woman called Biliki. The horrible incident happened at Agbole area of Ijegun in Egbe-Idimu local council development area on Saturday afternoon. It was also gathered that two other policemen sustained various injuries and ran to the palace of the Ijegun monarch for safety. It should be noted that trouble for the security operatives started after a stray bullet reportedly fired by them during their chase of suspected kidnappers hit the woman. She was said to have immediately been taken to the clinic but died shortly after. Her death soon caused an outrage as residents wondered why the operatives would shoot in an area with so many people. A resident identified as Damilare Olarenwaju said that the policemen fired at a roundabout with so many people around. He said: “How can policemen fire shot at a roundabout, on a Saturday close to festive period in Ijegun?" The development, according to the youths in the area to block an important road in the community. Another resident said: “The road in front of the king’s palace is impassable at the moment. Vehicular movements have been diverted into a nearby street to access Ijegun bus stop. “The information I gathered is that the policemen from Area M fired gunshots while chasing suspected criminal and the bullet killed a woman. Youths in the area killed him and injured his colleagues. One of them managed to crawl to the Oba’s palace.” Bala Elkana, the police spokesperson in the state, confirmed the death of the officer and the injured, adding that policemen have been deployed to the area to restore peace. “I cannot tell you what really happened at the moment but it is true that we lost an ASP and two order ranks were injured. They are of the Anti-kidnapping unit attached to Area M. “Reinforcement has been deployed to the area for the restoration of peace. Let us first calm the situation before we can talk of what happened,” he said. Meanwhile,Mohammed Adamu, the Inspector general of police, ordered full-fledged investigations into the circumstances surrounding the death of three police operatives and one civilian by soldiers in Taraba state.

Presidency Finally Makes Revelation About Ruga Settlement

The senior special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on National Assembly matters, Ita Enang, has said that the controversial Ruga settlement policy was amended into the Nigeria's constitution by the land use act during the administration of former president Olusegun Obasanjo. The presidential aide, in the series of tweets on Tuesday, August 6, said the federal government wanted to have a large portion of land in rural areas where it would provide comprehensive farming facilities for the farmers and the animals certified feat. Senator Enang said the Ruga is not only meant for Fulani but all the farmers in Nigeria who shepherd animals, adding that it is wrong for anyone to say that land for Ruga is requested for Fulani herders. The senior special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on National Assembly matters, Ita Enang's tweet on Ruga. He said: "The Ruga was amended into the Nigeria constitution by the land use act during president Obasanjo regime. It intend to have a large portion of land in rural areas, where government will provide comprehensive farming facilities for the farmers and the animals certified feat. It is not only Fulani who are to work in Ruga but all the farmers in Nigeria who shepherd animals. "It is wrong for anyone to say that land for Ruga is requested for Fulani herders, the land is requested for comprehensive farming for all Nigerians. The Obudu cattle range is an instance of Ruga, it's a good intention of the government to all farmers in Nigeria." He said he did not know what Ruga meant until he did a research and discovered that there's no inconsistencies in government communications. The senior special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on National Assembly matters, Ita Enang's tweet on Ruga. Source: Twitter "I Senator Ita Enang, a lawyer of good standing did not know what Ruga means until these questions arose, I now went to research and discovered that there's no inconsistencies in government communications, it's a matter of nomenclature," he added. Meanwhile, the sum of N2.2 billion was allocated in the 2019 budget for the implementation of Ruga programme. It was reported that Enang, who made the statement while speaking with students of law school in Abuja from Akwa Ibom, said though Ruga is taken from Hausa language, it does mean rural grazing area

Greek earthquake: Powerful tremor shakes Athens

A strong earthquake has shaken the Greek capital of Athens, knocking out phone networks and power in parts of the city. The 5.1 magnitude earthquake had an epicentre about 22km (14 miles) north-west of Athens. Athenians ran out into the streets and evacuated tall buildings as the tremor shook the capital for some 15 seconds. There were no reports of serious injuries, but several aftershocks have been felt. The strongest aftershock had a magnitude of 4.3, almost an hour after the initial quake hit at 14:13 (11:13 GMT). The earthquake was felt particularly strongly in the centre of Athens. There were reports that the fire service rescued over a dozen people trapped in elevators following the power outage. "It was a very intense quake. We were terrified," a resident called Katerina told AFP. Another woman told local media that it was "more like an explosion". "We were all very afraid," she said. Residents posted footage on social media of the impact of the quake. Louis Kachiouteas @lokahiou Έδωσε πόνο! #Seismos #σεισμος #earthquakes 12:43 PM - Jul 19, 2019 Twitter Ads info and privacy 104 people are talking about this Report End of Twitter post by @lokahiou A woman was slightly hurt by falling plaster and an empty building collapsed, Greek media said. Other buildings were also damaged. Efthymios Lekkas, head of the earthquake protection agency, told people to remain calm. "There is no reason for concern. The capital's buildings are built to withstand a much stronger earthquake," he said. Seismologists say the earthquake was around 13km (8 miles) from the surface. The earthquake is the first to hit the Greek capital since September 1999 and experts say it was very close to the same epicentre, at Mt Parnitha. That magnitude six quake left 143 people dead and tens of thousands of buildings damaged. The crucifix was shaken from the bell tower of the Church of the Pantanassa How earthquake-prone is Athens? The city lies on several major fault lines which causes some earthquakes, although they rarely cause casualties or damage, said Professor Iain Stewart, a geologist at the University of Plymouth. Before the earthquake in 1999, the city was considered at low risk – but "if a place has an earthquake it increases the hazard" in future, he said. An earthquake of magnitude 5.1 like the one on Friday does not cause significant risk of damage, he said, although he expected it to be more noticeable near the epicentre. One at magnitude 6.3 or above would cause buildings to collapse, Prof Stewart said. Long-range earthquake prediction - really? History of deadly earthquakes Athens is built on solid ground, so there is less potential for damage to the Ancient Greek monuments in the city which date back thousands of years. The risk increases the further you go towards the extremities of Greece, Prof Stewart said: particularly on the islands of Crete, Kefalonia and Rhodes. In 2017, two people were killed by a 6.7 magnitude quake which hit the island of Kos, a popular tourist destination. Source:AFP.