No fewer than 717 Hajj pilgrims have now been confirmed dead and at least 800 injured in the stampede at Jamrah where they were expected to perform the stoning of pillars, representing devil as part of the hajj rite. The stampede was said to have occurred in the town of Mina, located Minah, about five kilometres east of Mecca, when nearly three million pilgrims arrived at the site simultaneously to perform the stoning ritual. The pilgrims were said to have converged on a single escalator. Saudi Civil Defence said that rescue operations were still underway to find and treat the injured, and that the death toll was expected to rise. According to the Saudi authorities, at least 4,000 medical workers – along with 200 ambulances – have been deployed to the scene to help in rescue efforts. It is not yet clear if any Nigerian pilgrim is among the casualties. The Jamrah tragedy came less than two weeks after a total of 110 people were killed, including six Nigerians, and at least 235 were injured when a massive crane collapsed in Mecca’s Grand Mosque on September 11. [myad]
Ebonyi State Government, Engineer David Umahi has promised to provide some quantities of Ebonyi rice, popularly known as Abakaliki rice to the victims of Boko Haram that are being sheltered in the Internally Displaced Persons’ camps. He also promised to give the same items to soldiers that are fighting Boko Haram’s war in the North East. The governor made the promise when he visited the Chief of defence staff, Brigadier General Abayomi Olonishakin, at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja. Governor Umahi praised the Nigerian Army for their gallant efforts towards ending the insurgence in the North- East, adding that the people of Ebonyi State would give necessary support to the Army at any time. “I want to appreciate you and your wonderful team. I want to once again thank you. In the next 10 days, we will bring some quantities of rice to assist your boys and also to the governor of Borno State, to assist the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). “You have recorded tremendous success in dealing with this sect (Boko Haram) and I want to tell you that the people of Ebonyi State are very happy about that. Since the insurgence started, we have lost no fewer than three personnel and the same thing has happened to other sections of the country.” The governor assured the Defence chief that the people of Ebonyi would continue to pray for the Army until the insurgents were routed even as he recalled that the military played key roles in resolving past crises in Ezillo as well as those between Ebonyi State and its neigbours. “We had issues with Cross Rivers; we had issues with Enugu and we had issues with Abia. We also had internal problems which is Ezillo. The Army played important roles and was very much instrumental to the peace we have in the state.”
Tragedy struck Mina this morning when more than 310 pilgrims died in a stampede on the way to the Jamrah complex. Saudi Civil Defense forces said more than 450 were injured. The exact cause of the accident has not yet been established. Many of the injured were said to have been in semi conscious state. The harsh summer weather has only added to the problem. The injured were not in a position to speak. Reports have it that ambulances were blaring sirens as they were bringing in the injured. Hundreds of Saudi security forces and Haj volunteers are at hand helping the injured. Most of the injured were taken to Mina Emergency Hospital while others were also rushed to the hospitals in Mecca. The Jamrah area, where the pilgrims have to perform the symbolic stoning of the devil ritual, has seen stampedes in the past. But the Saudi authorities have expanded the area by constructing a multilayered complex to ease the flow of pilgrims. The pilgrims had late evening yesterday, left Arafat where they spent the whole day praying for Muzdalifa rom where they marched, this morning to Jamrah to throw seven pea-sized stones at one of the three wall-like structures. [myad]
“Within this period, myself and my wife have been hiding; we don’t even go out. We thought we’ll be hiding for at least twelve months.”
These were the words of the immediate past President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan when he joined other dignitaries who thronged the Ikenne country home of the Awolowos to pay tributes to their matriarch, Chief Hannah Idowu Dideolu Awolowo, who passed away on last Saturday.
Former President Jonathan arrived the home at exactly 1.17pm in the company of his wife, Patience; a former Majority Leader in the House of Representatives, Mrs. Mulikat Akande-Adeola; and a former Chairman of the Federal Road Maintenance Agency, Mr. Jide Adeniji, among others.
Jonathan said the death of HID Awolowo forced him and his wife out of their “hiding” place, adding that he had resolved not to go out for one year, after leaving office.
Condoling with the family, the former President noted that the deceased enjoyed a rare privilege of living for extra 29 years, when compared to the biblical prescription of three scores and 10.
He further described her as a rare mother, whose milk of kindness, milk of encouragement as well as milk of advice Nigerians still needed.
“My wife and I are not mourning because mama has passed on. For me, we believe that it’s a rare privilege to add extra 29 years to the biblical three scores and ten; it’s not easy.
“Ordinarily, we wouldn’t have been mourning but mama was a rare mother. She was a woman of virtue described in the Bible and she was a mother to all of us; a mother whose milk of kindness we still need, her milk of encouragement we still need, her milk of advice we still need and today she’s no more with us.
“We, just like the immediate children, and indeed this country, have missed her. Within this period, myself and my wife have been hiding; we don’t even go out. We thought we’ll be hiding for at least twelve months.
“But in this particular case, we cannot hide. So, we have come for the condolence and to encourage our brothers and sisters that we are together. God brought her for all of us. She just had to be the direct mother of few but she’s a mother to all. We shall mourn more than even the direct children would.” [myad]
Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, has announced the re-scheduling of the party’s governorship primary to a date that has not been made known, for the December 5 governorship election in Bayelsa
Odigie-Oyegun told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in a telephone interview in Abuja that the primary earlier scheduled on Tuesday was cancelled due to security challenges.
“The primary has been rescheduled; it had to be called off due to security challenges,” he said, adding that leadership of the party would meet to choose a new date for the exercise.
Earlier, attempt by the party to conduct the primary at the Samson Siasia Stadium, Yenagoa, on Tuesday was frustrated by fracas, involving supporters of most of the 19 aspirants.
The situation led to the walk-out of 14 aspirants, including Chief Timi Alaibe, from the venue after Chairman of the Primaries Committee, Adams Oshiomhole, was reportedly whisked out of the place to avoid being attacked.
Confirming the postponement of the primaries, Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr Timi Frank, said the primary did not hold in Bayelsa on Tuesday.
According to Frank, fracas marred the exercise but one of the aspirants and former governor of the state, Timipre Sylva, held a member of the committee under duress to declare him winner of the exercise.
Frank said that neither the chairman of the primary committee nor the secretary was part of the purported primary, which he described as ‘’kangaroo primary’’. He said that the party would soon come up with a position on the primary and a new date for it.
“I am speaking as a concerned citizen of Bayelsa that the purported primary is not acceptable anywhere.
“In a situation where all other aspirants walked out of the venue and a particular aspirant put a member of the primary election committee under duress to declare him winner is unacceptable.
“I believe the party will soon come up with a position on that fraud called primary and schedule a date when an acceptable primary will hold,’’ Frank said.
Results of the purported primary indicated that Sylva polled 726 votes to defeat his closest rival, Timi Alaibe, a former Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission, who got four votes.
A total of 1,502 delegates were expected to participate in the primary to elect the party’s candidate for the December election. [myad]
Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, has narrated the story of his escape from the Samson Siasia Stadium, Yenagoa, venue of the 2015 governorship primary of the All Progressives Congress where he was reportedly held hostage for several hours during the exercise, which was marred by violence.
Oshiomhole, who spoke to news men today in Benin, the Edo state capital, accused a former governor of Bayelsa State and chieftain of the APC, Mr. Timipriye Sylva, of hijacking the primary even as he dismissed media reports that the party’s primary was held, wherein Sylva, who is also an aspirant, emerged as the party’s candidate.
Oshiomhole, who said Sylva threatened his life and that of other members of the committee, challenged the Bayelsa ex-governor to produce his Certificate of Return presented to him by the party if he truly won in a free and fair primary.
The governor alleged that the electoral process was hijacked by thugs, acting on the instruction of the former governor, who he said had insisted that the exercise be conducted without accreditation.
He added that he had to call for help from Abuja, leading to the intervention of the Joint Task Force, who rescued him out of the venue, after several hours of being at the mercy of the hoodlums.
“I was appointed with six other members from the APC to conduct the primary election of the governorship election in Bayelsa State. The exercise took place yesterday (Tuesday) and somehow, thugs took over the sports complex, where the exercise was to take place.
“They practically prevented the actual delegates from participating and as a result, we could not proceed with the exercise. The committee was virtually held hostage, including my humble self. This time, they were supervised unfortunately by one of the aspirants, the former governor of the state, Timipriye Sylva, who said to my face and to the committee that we could not leave the venue of the conference unless we conduct the exercise without accreditation, as prescribed by the national secretariat.
“It is important that we state clearly that the national secretariat has adopted a standard guideline for the conduct of governorship primary and this guideline were used effectively in Kogi State and it produced a candidate in which all the aspirants were quite happy with.
“The key issues in this guideline, as handed down by the party, is that delegates, as contained in the list, have to be identified either though the Permanent Voter Card or the National Identity Card or international passport.
“This was to ensure that proper accreditation was done because the integrity of an election rests primarily on the integrity of the accreditation process; once the accreditation suffers any defect, it affects the entire exercise. As they say, you cannot build something on nothing.”
Oshiomhole, who wondered why the former governor insisted on having his way other than that prescribed by the national leadership of the APC, said: “whereas all the aspirants agreed with this guideline, it is only Sylva that did not agree with it. He rejected this mode of accreditation and chose to accuse the national secretariat of formulating the guideline to frustrate his ambition.
“Every effort made to reassure him and direct his attention to the fact that same guidelines have been used and that they are standard guidelines that will be used in future elections fell on deaf ears.
“He insisted that we cannot leave the place unless we are ready to conduct the election without recourse to accreditation, as stipulated by the party and, of course, I was not in a position to amend the guideline, nor was I ready to submit to his intimidation.”
He said that when it became clear that he (Sylva) had mobilized thugs in connivance with the police, the thugs found their way into the stadium, without accreditation, “and insisted that we must conduct the election based on their own rules.
“Sylva insisted that it is the State Secretariat and not the national body that should conduct the primary and that it was wrong for the national body to conduct primaries without involving the state leadership of the party and therefore, as far as he was concerned, we must proceed with the election without complying with the guidelines of the national secretariat.
“When it became clear that our lives were under threat, I had to call Abuja to prevail on the Joint Task Force to provide me with security to enable me to leave the venue of the primary because thugs had effectively blocked the gates under the instructions of Sylva.
“I have since forwarded our report to the National Secretariat namely that the primary could not be conducted because of these and several other malpractices.”
Oshiomhole said that many people were apprehended with fake or cloned Permanent Voter Card, which they wanted to use to replace the actual delegates and they were handed over to the Police.
He said that it was curious that the Police released those who were so arrested and allowed them to continue to harass and intimidate, not only the committee members but other aspirants. [myad]
Suspected armed robbers today, struck at a popular bank in Ogaminana, Adavi Local Government Area of Kogi State, carted away the sum of N25 Million meant for the salaries of the local government workers, killed two police men and two bank staff.
Report reaching Greenbarge Reporters showed that the attack took place at about 10am.
It was gathered that the robbers were heavily armed and on arrival at the premises of the bank, began to shoot sporadically to scare people.
Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr. Williams Aya, confirmed the incident, saying that no arrest had been made.
Aya vowed that the command would ensure that the perpetrators were brought to book.
This was even as the residents have pointed accusing fingers at the police who have now become easy prey to criminals who they are supposed to be their target of policing.
They said that whenever such thing happened, the police would now turn their searchlight on innocent people from whom they extort monies in the name of bail, whereas the real armed robbers are allowed to go Scot free. [myad] .
A Police Inspector, the District Head of Allawa in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State, his brother and about 33 others were reportedly killed yesterday night, by unidentified gunmen who invaded the village.
According to reports, the attackers, who were said to be armed with sophisticated weapons, also set more than 25 houses on fire and injured several other villagers before fleeing into the bush. The attack was said to have lasted about two hours, leaving scores of the villagers displaced.
Unconfirmed report indicated that the attackers may be Fulani herdsmen who might be members of Boko Haram allegedly fleeing from their hideout in Sambisa Forest in Borno state.
Niger State Police Public Relations Officer, Bala Elikana, reportedly confirmed the incident and expressed shock and sadness over the loss of innocent lives. He said that the command had not been able to confirm the number of casualty.
He, however, admitted that a policeman was among those killed.
He said that a distress call could not reach security agencies on time because the incident happened at night and as a result, there was no means of communication between Allawa and other parts of the state.
Elikana said that the Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Abubakar Marafa had dispatched the Divisional Police Officer in Kagara and the Police Area Commander in Minna to the troubled village to assess the situation. [myad]
Egypt’s President, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has pardoned jailed Al Jazeera journalists, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, women activists, Sana Seif and Yara Sallam as well as 100 other prisoners.
Presidency spokesman, Alaa Youssef confirmed that the two Al-Jazeera journalists were among those that were pardoned group.
Fahmy, Mohamed and their Australian colleague, Peter Greste were sentenced in a retrial last month for broadcasting “false” news that harmed Egypt and aiding the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. Fahmy and Mohamed were released from prison within hours of their presidential pardon being announced.
Greste was deported in February through a presidential decree and his name did not appear on the list of those pardoned. It is not clear whether the pardon will also apply to him.
The pardons came on the eve of the Muslim holidays of Eid-el-Kabir, when prisoner releases often take place in Muslim countries.
“This comes in the framework of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s initiative to release a number of youth which he launched … in December,” local media quoted presidential sources as saying.
In a tweet, Fahmy confirmed the news, writing “AJ Staff is Free!”
Fahmy, who had abandoned his Egyptian citizenship to qualify for deportation, is expected to leave Egypt for Canada.
A spokesperson for the Canadian government said that Canada was pleased with the pardon and it would help arrange Fahmy’s departure from Egypt.
“I am so happy. Mohamed is so happy,” Fahmy’s wife Marwa Omran said.
She said following his release, her husband “wants to pursue getting his nationality back.” [myad]
President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the Armed Forces and national security agencies to provide maximum security across the nation during Eid-El-Kabir prayers and celebrations, especially in areas most vulnerable to terrorist attacks across the country.
In a message to felicitate with Nigerian Muslims as they celebrate this year’s Eid-el-Kabir, Buhari again assured all Nigerians that the days of Boko Haram are numbered.
“Boko Haram’s reign of terror in parts of the country will be finally over very soon as the ongoing military onslaught against the terrorist sect will continue relentlessly until total victory is achieved.”
The President commiserated with families in Maiduguri and North-Eastern Nigeria who have lost beloved relatives in recent terrorist attacks. He said that his thoughts and prayers for divine solace were with all those who had been callously plunged into mourning by mindless terrorists, when others are celebrating this year’s Eid-El-Kabir.
The President also congratulated all Nigerian Muslims who are currently in the Saudi Arabia to participate in the rites of the Hajj, urging them and other Nigerians to rededicate themselves to a greater acceptance and internalization of its lessons of piety, faithfulness, dedication, fortitude, obedience, sacrifice and selfless service which are for the benefit of all mankind.
“The President calls for more patience, fortitude, tolerance, endurance, patriotism and a greater willingness to make personal sacrifices for the good of all as his administration strives to lead the nation towards rapidly overcoming its current security, economic and developmental challenges.
“President Buhari assures all Nigerians that their safety, well-being and progress remain uppermost in his thoughts and actions, and that he will continue to work with all his might to deliver the positive changes in national life which they expect after his election and inauguration as Head of the Government of the Federation.” [myad]
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