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 Officials say attack in country's northeast by fighters disguised in army uniforms left 87 people dead. |
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Locals told journalists that Boko Haram burnt scores of homes and buildings in the late Tuesday assault [AFP]
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At least 87 people have been killed in Nigeria's
northeast in an attack carried out by fighters of the Boko Haram armed
group disguised in military uniforms, AFP news agency has reported
quoting a state government official. Boko Haram fighters set up checkpoints in the Benisheik area and gunned down motorists and travellers who tried to flee. "Eighty-seven bodies were recovered in the bush and our people are still searching for more," Saidu Yakubu of the Environmental Protection Agency in northeastern Borno state told journalists on Thursday. He briefed reporters who accompanied Borno's Governor Kashim Shettima to the scene of the massacre. The group also burnt scores of homes and buildings in the late Tuesday assault, according to locals, who reported seeing corpses littering the roadside. Details of the attack in the town which has been previously been targeted by Boko Haram first emerged on Wednesday. "They came in droves, driving about 20 pick-up truck trucks," said a security source stationed in the town who requested anonymity. He said the fighters were armed with "anti-aircraft guns", in the latest indication that Boko Haram has bolstered its arsenal in recent months. 'Barbaric and un-Islamic' Mallam Isa Manu, a motorist who escaped unhurt, told journalists in the Borno state capital Maiduguri on Wednesday that the armed group wore "military uniforms", a tactic Boko Haram fighters have used previously. According to army General Mohammed Yusuf, who also briefed the governor, troops ran out of ammunition while combatting the assault. Shettima described the attack as "barbaric and un-Islamic," and pledged financial aid to the victims of Boko Haram's latest slaughter. The motivation behind the attack was not immediately clear, but Boko Haram members have repeatedly carried out revenge attacks against residents over the emergence of vigilante groups that have formed to assist the military. The fighters say they are fighting to create an Islamic state in Nigeria's mainly Muslim north, but their aims have repeatedly shifted and much of their violence has largely targeted civilians. |
Friday, 20 September 2013
Scores 'killed' in Boko Haram raid in Nigeria
Thursday, 19 September 2013
Aliyu blasts Wike over comments on education
Niger
State Governor Babangida Aliyu, on Wednesday, berated the acting
Minister of Education, Mr. Nyeson Wike, over his comments on the state
of the education sector in the states.
The governor said education administration was not for ‘riff raffs.’
Aliyu spoke while signing into law the Niger State University of Education Bill at the Government House, Minna.
Aliyu said, “I don’t know when he got into education; education is not for riff raffs.
“Wike should be warned to stay clear of
Niger State. If he (Wike) can fight the governor of his state (Rivers),
he cannot fight other governors, he should take his time.”
Reacting to the comment, Wike’s Special
Adviser (Media), Simeon Nwakaudu, said the minister would not be
distracted by criticisms but would rather focus on the delivery of
access to quality education.
Nwakaudu said, “He (Wike) believes that
all Nigerian children deserve access to education, hence he advocated
that state governments should invest more in education.
“As a seasoned administrator, lawyer and
former secondary school teacher, Wike is passionate about education,
hence he has consistently built synergy to develop the sector, working
closely with governors at all times.
“Nigerians are conversant with the
Almajiri girl child and library projects supervised by the minister to
uplift access to education in the country. He will continue to focus on
the onerous task of improving education in the country.”
Aliyu had said that the Niger State
University of Education, to be located at the present site of the Niger
State College of Education, Minna, would provide avenue for training of
teachers.
Defending the decision of the government
to establish the university, Aliyu lamented that all the states in the
northern part of the country could not boast of 50 per cent qualified
teachers to man their primary schools. He assured that the University of
Education in Minna would attempt to bridge the gap.
He said when the university became operational the government would set deadline for unqualified teachers to be certified.
He added that the country had to be more
serious about educating its children, insisting that “education should
be the priority of every government”.
Okonjo Iweala Vows Not To Resign
is doing well.
Her reaction came on the heels of the call by the Governor Rotimi Amaechi-led Governors’ Forum for her to quit the stage following what the governors described as
Her reaction came on the heels of the call by the Governor Rotimi Amaechi-led Governors’ Forum for her to quit the stage following what the governors described as
non-performance in the discharge of
her duties to the nation.
The minister, who was asked whether she would heed the governor’s call and resign, said: “Do I look like a person who wants to resign? I dey Kampe.”
The minister, who was asked whether she would heed the governor’s call and resign, said: “Do I look like a person who wants to resign? I dey Kampe.”
According to her, the administration
was creating jobs and that is the main focus of the President Goodluck
Jonathan’s government.
“I want to start from job creation
because this is the main way that Nigerians feel the impact of what is being
done by this administration. This is an issue that Mr President had insisted on
and focused on.
“Now, in agriculture where we are
seeing a strong results, over 2.5 million seasonal and full-time jobs have been
created. When I say seasonal, for example, in rice, 460,000 of the
jobs created were seasonal. But overall, over 2.5 million jobs have been
created.
“In nine commodity chains, in
cassava, in soghum, in oil palm, in cotton, cocoa, dry season rice, rainy
season rice, maize, etc. So, we are creating jobs for skilled and unskilled
people in this very important area of the economy,” she said, adding that
investments were being done in the manaufacturing sector.
In the area of
manufactruing, she said, “specific investments are going in. Indorama
company is making an investment of $1.2 billion in petrochemicals, fertiliser,
particularly. They have already closed on the financing for this
investment to be situated in Port Harcourt and the environs. Then, Proter & Gamble of
the US that has built a new factory and they have invested $250 million
in manufacturing baby products.”
First lady urges marketing of healthy food to kids
WASHINGTON (AP) — Michelle Obama
used the power of her bully pulpit Wednesday to push food companies and
television broadcasters to do more to promote healthier foods to
children — and to do it faster.
Research shows food marketing is a leading cause of childhood obesity
because the ads and promotions lead impressionable kids to then pester
their parents to eat what they saw on TV, consumer advocates say.
The
first lady cited a "cultural shift" taking place in America's eating
habits, and highlighted as examples salad bars that are now in many
school lunchrooms and kids' restaurant menus that offer such items as
broccoli and whole-wheat pasta.But while she said there has been progress, including slight reductions in childhood obesity rates in a few states and cities, Mrs. Obama noted that "we clearly have much more work to do" when 1 in 3 kids in the U.S. is on track to develop diabetes.
"I'm here today with
one simple request and that is to do even more and move even faster to
market responsibly to our kids," the first lady said as she opened the
first White House
summit on the issue. Dozens of representatives from the food and media
industries, advocacy and parent groups, government agencies, research
institutions and others attended.
The goal, she said, is to "empower parents instead of undermining them" as they try to make the best choices for their families.
A 2006 report by the influential Institute of Medicine concluded that food and beverage marketing to children "represents, at best, a missed opportunity, and, at worst, a direct threat to the health of the next generation."
At the summit, which went into closed session after Mrs. Obama's public remarks, the first lady lauded the Walt Disney Co.
for banning junk-food ads from its media channels, websites and theme
parks. She also praised the Birds Eye frozen food company for using
characters from the Nickelodeon comedy "iCarly" in promotions
encouraging kids to eat their veggies.
She said companies can promote and sell healthy foods to kids and stay competitive and profitable at the same time.
"The
fact is that marketing nutritious foods to our kids isn't just good for
our kids' health, it can also be good for companies' bottom lines,"
said Mrs. Obama, who leads a White House initiative that is aimed at reducing childhood obesity.
She
asked food companies to do more marketing of products with "real
nutritional value," saying that limiting the promotion of unhealthy
foods alone isn't enough. She asked media companies to curb the amount
of advertising for unhealthy foods in their programming and to use
licensed characters popular with kids to promote healthier food.
Wednesday's summit could pick up where Congress and the administration left off a few years ago. Back then, the Obama administration gave up trying to get the food industry
to agree to voluntary marketing guidelines that four federal agencies
and departments were developing under the direction of Congress.
Industry
objected to preliminary guidelines released in 2011, saying they were
overly broad. Companies also said they feared retaliation by the
government if they refused to go along with the voluntary guidelines.
The Federal Trade Commission backed away from some of the guidelines and never released an updated version.
Mrs.
Obama joked Wednesday that some companies might think they can wait it
out and go back to business as usual after she leaves the White House.
She said childhood obesity will be a problem for years.
"I didn't create this issue and it's not going to go away three and a half years from now when I'm no longer first lady," Mrs. Obama said.
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