Below is a press statement from the Nigerian Army over the Pandemonium in Anamba State.

Read Below;

PRESS STATEMENT: ARMY MEDICAL OUTREACH
11.10.17

The attention of the State Government has been drawn to an on going medical outreach being undertaken by the Army in Ozubulu, Ekwusigo Local Government Area.

The State has been made to understand that the exercise is part of Army social responsibility to members of the public.

However, strong apprehension among the populace has followed the exercise leading to withdrawal of students from schools by parents, misconception of the actual motive behind the exercise by stakeholders, community leaders and a general reservation by the public for whom the outreach is intended.

To this end and to ensure no further escalation of the situation, His Excellency the Governor, Chief Willie Obiano has contacted the Army Authories and advised for immediate stoppage of the medical outreach until wide sensitization is conducted to reassure people of its intentions and benefits. The exercise has therefore been put on hold.

Parents and guardians are strongly advised to stop withdrawing their wards from schools as the situation has been handled. All schools within the State will remain open as there is no cause for alarm! Community leaders, Presidents General and all Stakeholders are hereby reassured of the commitment of the Governor and the State Government to the wellbeing of Ndi Anambra.

The State Government also strongly condemns observed rhetorics on social media completely misrepresenting the situation with insinuations of spread of diseases and death of students in schools arising from the exercise. The State categorically refutes these rhetorics and confirms that there is no death of any student anywhere in the State. Mischief makers are warned to desist from spreading falsehood. Anambra remains calm and peaceful!

Thank you!

Prof Solo Chukwulobelu
Secretary to the State Government.

UPDATE: Here’s a Live Reporting live from St Michael’s Ugwuorie Ozubulu. No one is going to schools and no person has been killed…

Please disregard the rumour of any killing related to Ozubulu and Soldiers. It’s 82 Division Medical Services and Hospital. Free Medical Outreach. NOT Compulsory

There is tension in Anambra state as students are running helter skelter over what is rumored to be the death of 3 pupils in Ozubulu/Nnewi during free army medical services.

It was reported that some people in military uniform arrived a school in the area and started forcing them to take injection which led to the death of 3 pupils from yet-to-be identified school.

As 10 am today, parents are hurriedly zooming to schools to take their respective wards home.

All the schools around the area are currently under lock.

More photos below;

Police in the Indian capital Delhi have arrested five people after a video circulated showing what appears to be a mob severely beating a Nigerian man.

They have also detained the Nigerian, whom some residents accused of theft.

The video shows four or five men using sticks to beat a man of African appearance who has been tied to a post.
There was a spate of attacks on African nationals living in India last year, including one in which a Congolese man was beaten to death in Delhi.

Police said the latest incident happened on 24 September, and the Nigerian victim was also arrested due to a theft allegation.

A resident of the Savitri Nagar neighbourhood claimed the man broke into his house and tried to steal valuables from his room, police said.

“It is a case of attempted burglary. Those living in the house got alerted. They caught him and beat him up,” Dependra Pathak, chief spokesperson of the Delhi Police told the Press Trust of India news agency.

In March, five Nigerian students were attacked by crowds, while another was beaten by a mob inside a shopping mall living in Noida, near Delhi.

Six months ago, African ambassadors in India criticised the government for not doing enough to stop a string of alleged racist attacks on Africans in Delhi.

Culled from www.bbc.com

The West African Examinations Council, WAEC, has decried the rate of examination malpractice among students, adding that students now drug invigilators using dangerous chemicals.

The council’s Registrar, Dr. Iyi Uwadiae, who stated this, yesterday, during a press briefing at WAEC International Centre, Lagos, proposed international summit on examination malpractices for October 19 and 20.

He berated the dimension examination malpractices were taking on the continent of Africa and particularly in Nigeria.

He said: “In some cases, and particularly during private examinations, candidates now go to centres fully armed with guns and other weapons. For the public examinations, there are centres, and especially private schools, where invigilators are drugged to pave way for them to engage in exam malpractices.”

According to him, while private candidates now go to examination centres with guns and other weapons, some private schools in connivance with the candidates, are now in the habit of drugging invigilators using dangerous chemicals.

He said: “Waging war against examination malpractices has become very expensive and more difficult, particularly with the advent of social media.

“The most notorious challenge facing examining bodies and other educational institutions in WAEC member-countries is examination malpractice.

“Currently, the malaise has assumed dangerous and criminal dimensions on the heels of some advancements in technology, which created the smartphones, social media, among others.

“The council, in the five member countries, has introduced several measures, adopted various strategies and deployed technologies at great costs in the fight against the ever-festering menace.”

“Misguided candidates and their adult collaborators, sometimes including school authorities, teachers, parents and, most recently, operators of rogue websites, have continued to devise ingenious and sophisticated methods of cheating, leading to an exponential increase in reported cases of fraud in public examinations.”

– Vanguard

Six female nurses were said to have been sexually assaulted at the wee hours of Sunday, September 24, 2017 by suspected thugs who were said to be armed with cutlasses and axes.

Amiloaded gathered from a resident of the area that the incident happened around 12am.

The source explained that a suspected thug earlier made several phone calls to a nurse but she was not picking her calls. So, he decided to check on her at the hospital where she is working.

He stressed that When the man (thug) got to the Atewogbeja hospital, he met with the lady nurse but she bluffed him. This infuriated him and he made some phone calls to members of his gang to meet him at the hospital with dangerous weapons around 11pm.

The source who did not state the point of contact between the nurse and the suspected thug explained that a minutes after he made this call, some fierce-looking suspected thugs besieged the hospital and raped the six nurses on night duty.

“After forcefully having their carnal knowledge, the thugs raided the hospital. They dispossessed patients their money and phones including those of the nurses,” the source added.

While some linked the incident to the incessant clashes between cultists in the area, credible sources close to the State Criminal Investigation Burea (SCIB) confirmed the arrest of some suspects already in connection with the clashes.

Find below copies of the primary four exam questions over 21,000 teachers failed in Kaduna State.

According to reports, the Kaduna State Government are set to employ 25,000 new teachers to replace the 21,000 who failed the test.

See the exam copy below;

State governor Nasir El-Rufai said 21,780 teachers, two-thirds of the total, had failed to score 75% or higher on assessments given to pupils. He said 25,000 new teachers would be recruited to replace them.

Mr El-Rufai made the comments at a meeting with World Bank representatives in the state capital, Kaduna.

“The hiring of teachers in the past was politicised and we intend to change that by bringing in young and qualified primary school teachers to restore the dignity of education in the state,” he was quoted as saying.

Mr El-Rufai said problems with pupil-teacher ratios across the state would also be addressed.

He said some areas currently had one teacher for every nine pupils while in other areas the ratio was one to 100.

The Nigerian Army is set to kick off Exercise CROCODILE SMILE II on Friday, October 13, 2017.

Find below a statement signed by Brigadier General Sani Kukasheka Usman, Director Army Public Relations.

The Exercise, set to span across 3 Divisions of the Nigerian Army (2, 6 and 81 Divisions), is in line with the 2017 Training Directives which aims at training troops in the conduct of Internal Security Operations in aid of Civil Authorities across the various formations’ areas of responsibilities, based on Constitutional provisions.

It will be recalled that last year, between November and December 2016, Exercise CROCODILE SMILE I was conducted within the Niger Delta States to curtail prevailing security challenges then. These challenges include illegal oil bunkering, pipeline vandalism, kidnapping and militancy amongst others.

Exercise CROCODILE SMILE II is specifically designed to further the gains and consolidate on the successes of Exercise CROCODILE SMILE I. Additionally, with the operationalization of 6 Division Nigerian Army, earlier in the year, the need to exercise troops in an amphibious environment makes it expedient to hold Exercise CROCODILE SMILE II. Moreover, this exercise will complement the on-going Exercise EGWU EKE II in the South-Eastern part of the country.

Let us not be quick to forget the scenario in which these exercises are carried out. EGWU EKE II became expedient due to the mindless assassinations (even in religious places), attack on security personnel, theft of weapons, armed banditry, kidnapping and cultism, among other security challenges.

In a similar vein, security challenges in the South West and Niger Delta geo-political regions such as illegal oil bunkering, pipeline vandalism, cultism, kidnapping, militancy and other challenges are becoming rampant.

The need for troops to sharpen their skills to cope with these security challenges within the 2, 6 and 81 Divisions’ Area of Responsibilities calls for the conduct of Exercise CROCODILE SMILE II.

Also, in actualizing the Chief of Army Staff’s vision, which is to ‘To have a Professionally Responsive Nigerian Army in the Discharge of its Constitutional Roles’, accentuates the call for the conduct of this exercise in conjunction with sister services and other security agencies.

This exercise will therefore be conducted with the involvement of other security agencies such as the Nigerian Police and Nigeria Security, Department of State Services, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, Nigeria Customs Service and National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, just to mention a few.

EXERCISE CROCODILE SMILE II is also conceptualized to leverage on real time intelligence to curtail insecurity, thereby fulfilling both training and operational objectives. Accordingly, Exercise Headquarters would be established in the field to facilitate open communication between members of the public and exercising troops.

Emphasis will be placed on raids, cordon and search operations, anti-kidnapping drills, road blocks, check points and other amphibious operations. Community support activities such as medical outreaches will also feature prominently during the Exercise.

In this regard, members of the public are enjoined not to panic on seeing the movement of military equipment and troops to staging areas as their safety and well-being is guaranteed at all times. The public is also requested to remain vigilant, security conscious and report suspected criminals who will likely flee the military exercise areas to find safe haven among communities.

Contact phone numbers of all Brigade Commanders in the exercise areas would be made public in addition to the Nigerian Army short code Information and call Centre 193. You are please requested to disseminate this information to the public through your medium.