ISIL 'kidnaps scores of Christians' in Syria's Homs

Activist group says fighters have kidnapped 230 people, including 60 Christians, after seizing strategic town in Homs

ISIL has destroyed many churches and Christian shrines in Syria 

Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have abducted scores of people, including several Christian families, after seizing a strategically located town in the central Syrian province of Homs, an activist group has said.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said on Friday that at least 230 people had been kidnapped, including 60 Christians, some of whom were taken from a church in Qaryatain, which was captured overnight after heavy fighting with the Syrian army.

Qaryatain is near a road linking the ancient city of Palmyra to the Qalamoun mountains, along the border with Lebanon.

ISIL started the attack on Wednesday morning when three suicide bombers targeted pro-regime checkpoints at entrances to the city, the observatory said.

"IS[IL] seized Al-Qaryatain town in the southeastern countryside of Homs after violent clashes with pro-regime forces and loyalist fighters," SOHR head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

A total of 37 regime soldiers and loyalist fighters were killed, while 23 ISIL fighters also died, Abdel Rahman said.

ISIL has destroyed many churches and Christian shrines in Syria, and demanded that Christians living under its rule pay a tax known as jizya.

The ongoing clashes between government troops and ISIL are one of many fronts in Syria's war, which has left more than 240,000 people dead since it began in March 2011, according to the SOHR.

The latest toll compiled by the observatory showed that 11,964 children were among 71,781 civilians killed in Syria.

At least 88,616 regime forces were killed - or one third of all deaths documented by the SOHR - including 50,570 soldiers and the rest allied fighters.

The conflict began with anti-government protests before spiralling into a multi-front war after a brutal regime crackdown.

Mother stabs 7-year-old son for removing neighbour daughter’s pant

An Ikeja Magistrates’ Court, Lagos State, on Tuesday ordered the remand of one Blessing Fred, 23, at Kirikiri Prison, for allegedly stabbing her 7-year-old son at the back.

The Chief Magistrate, Mr Tajudeen Elias, ordered for the remand of the accused as she pleaded guilty and adjourned the case till Sept. 23 for sentencing.

The accused, a stylist, who lives at No.12, Tunde Olushola St., Ijaiye, a Lagos suburb, was arraigned on a two-count charge of assault and grievous harm.

The prosecutor, Insp. Racheal Williams, told the court that the offences were committed on July 13, at the accused residence.

Williams said that the accused acted on her neighbour’s complaint that her 7-year-old son dragged her 5-year-old daughter inside the room, removed her pants and touched her private part.

“The accused was angry, beat her son severally and stabbed him at the back with a broken bottle.

“If not for the intervention of neighbours who rushed the victim to a nearby hospital, he would have died as a result of bleeding from the wound,’’ she said.

The offences according to the prosecutor, contravened Sections 170 and 244(a) of the Criminal Law of Lagos, 2011.

Yemen crisis: Houthi rebels 'driven from key al-Anad airbase'

Pro-government forces in Yemen have retaken the country's largest airbase in a battle with Houthi rebels, a spokesman for the forces told the BBC.

Heavy casualties have been reported at al-Anad airbase, north of Aden, after intense fighting there in recent days.

It comes after pro-government forces, backed by air strikes from a Saudi-led coalition, retook Aden in July.

The Saudis are leading a campaign to defeat the rebels, who control much of Yemen, and restore the government.

Troops and armoured vehicles from the United Arab Emirates - a key member of the coalition - are also said to have arrived in Aden in recent days.

Military officials quoted by the Associated Press news agency say the foreign troops are helping the pro-government forces operate sophisticated weapons, including tanks. The New York Times said the troops had been involved in the fighting at al-Anad.

However, local journalists told the BBC that Emirati troops had recently disembarked in Aden and were deployed as advisers, rather than in combat, while a Yemeni military official denied foreign troops had landed in Yemen.

Nigeria refineries low on Petrol production

Current data on refineries production in Nigeria indicate that more heavy or fuel oils (low and high fuel oil/black oil) are being produced from the four refineries than other high demand products like premium motor spirit, PMS, otherwise known as petrol.  The revelation comes despite assurances by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, which said last week that two of its refineries were working between 60 and 80 percent of their installed capacities.

NNPC had promised that the four refineries would be re-streamed by July end, when the turn around maintenance, TAM, of the hitherto almost comatose refineries would have been rounding up, thus, buoying high hopes for imminent relief from products scarcity in the country.

Capacity utilisation

However, status of the refineries operations as at July 31, 2015, exclusively obtained by Sweetcrude, indicate that the refineries cannot still meet the daily consumption requirement of between 40 and 42 million litres/day for petrol. For now, the Port Harcourt Refining Company, PHRC 2, is only able to produce about 39million litres of petrol, i.e. 38,906 x 1000 = 38.906 million compared with fuel oil, which is in low demand of about 49 million litres.

This is because aside from the PHRC 2, the fluid cracking catalytic units, FCCUs of the other refineries are still under rehabilitation. But succour is expected from the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company, WRPC, once its FCCU has been fully rehabilitated, to produce additional 30 million plus litres, while capacity utilisation in the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company, KRPC, remains nil.

KPRC only produces automotive gas oil, AGO, also known as diesel, and dual purpose kerosene, DPK, which can be used as both aviation fuel/Jet-A1 and household kerosene, HHK   Nigeria has four refineries with combined capacity of 445,000 barrels per day, bpd, comprising: PHRC 1 – 150,000bpd; PHRC 2 – 60,000bpd; KRPC – 110,000bpd; and WRPC 125,000bpd.

But current status data put the Crude Distillation Unit, CDU,capacity utilisation in the four refineries as, PHRC 2 re-streamed on July 20th -60.40 percent; PHRC 1 under rehab – nil; KPRC re-streamed July 30th – 64.4 percent; and WRPC – 62 percent.

Broken further production outputsfrom the refineries are shown in the table above:

Explanatory notes:

Catalytic Reforming Unit (CRU)

Naphtha Hydro-treating Unit (NHU)

Vapor Recovery Unit (VRU)

Gas Processing Unit (GPU)

NNPC pronouncements

But on July 29th the NNPC declared that “the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries have been successfully re-streamed after a nine-month phased rehabilitation exercise conducted by its in-house engineers and technicians.” The Corporation in a statement revealed that both plants had commenced preliminary production of petroleum products after successful test-runs.

It added that while PHRC is ramping up its operation to about 60 percent of its 210, 000 barrels per day name plate capacity, while WRPC production is projected to hit 80 percent of its installed 125, 000 bpd capacity, even as the FCCUs have not been re-streamed. The NNPC further said the Port Harcourt Refinery is projected to boost the nation’s local refining capacity with a product yield of 5million litres of petrol per day while Warri Refinery would contribute 3.5 million litres of petrol to local refining capacity.

It is uncertain whether these outputs are based on actual or projected efficiencies since the FCCUs in the two refineries are still down and contrasts sharply with the production data already provided.

FCC challenges

However, the NNPC spokesman, Mr. OhiAlegbe, who issued the statement on the refineries capacity utilisation did not speak about the type of products churned out or of FCCU challenges, without which the refineries cannot function effectively. But a top management source of the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company, PPMC, the Corporation’s marketing arm which evacuates products from the refineries, noted that the effectiveness of the FCCU determines the type and quantity of products produced.

He told Sweetcrude in confidence: “That the refinery is not producing enough PMS for the market does not mean the refinery is not working. What it simply means is that the refinery is churning out more fuel oil, which is the residue from crude, and which is not in high demand in Nigeria.

“What is responsible for this state is the efficiency of the FCCU. If the FCCU is working, we will get higher yield of other products like PMS and lesser fuel oil whether low or high, and vice versa. So it means that the more efficient the FCCU, the better the refinery output.”

He however noted that the efficiency of the refinery is not static, as you will get different performance efficiency depending on the effectiveness of the FCCU.

Refinery TAM

The turnaround maintenance for the refineries were abandoned for decades, but since the democratic dispensation in 1999, successive governments have tried to overhaul the refineries to make them more efficient without success because of their long years of abandonments, even as fuel needs increased daily.

Later on, the TAM assumed political overtones, as rehabilitation contracts were awarded to friends of the government, which did not improve the status of the refineries until the process was given up entirely in favour of products importation.  Importation meant more “jobs for the boys” who metamorphosed into “cartels”, living large, due tothe corruption associated with the management of the subsidy regime, at the expense of other Nigerians that have to queue for hours to get fuel products.

It was therefore with great expectations that at the twilight of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, Nigerians received the news that all the refineries will undergo the required maintenance using local contractors, to reduce costs from using the original equipment manufacturers, OEMs.

  

The NNPC has been very evasive on the type of TAM being carried out, or the contractors handling the projects. The closest information on this was given by the Managing Director, KPRC, Mr. Saidu Mohammed, who told Sweetcrude that what was happening in the refineries was a TAM-rehabilitation, without giving further details on the contractors handling them.

He said: “We are doing TAM (Turn Around Maintenance)-Rehabilitation (TAM-Rehab) while the refinery is running. We try as much as possible not to shut down the entire refinery while this is going on.” Disclosing that the KPRC rehab will last till March 2016, after 18 months process, Mohammed however expressed confidence in the capacity of the local contractors to execute the jobs.

According to him, “We are using purely Nigerian contractors. Nigerian engineering contractors are very competent; sadly many people don’t know that. They have the competence and the capacity to do jobs. They can do everything on this refinery.”

Providing insight into the rehabilitation exercise, the NNPC in its statement said it had to adopt the phased rehabilitation strategy after the Original Refinery Builders (ORB) who were initially contacted for the project came up with unfavorable terms.

“Though a decision was taken in 2011 to rehabilitate all the refineries using the ORB of each of the refineries, we were impelled to switch strategy after the ORBs declined participation and nominated some partners in their stead who came up with outrageously unfavorable terms.

“The nominated partners, as sole-bidders came up with humongous price offers after two years of thorough and exhaustive scope of work definition and price negotiations. The proxies were also unwilling to provide post rehabilitation performance guarantees.

“The phased rehabilitation strategy which entailed phased and simultaneous rehabilitation of all the refineries using in-house and locally available resources in line with the spirit and letter of the Nigerian Content Law, also involved the use of Original Equipment Manufacturer representatives to effect major equipment overhaul and rehabilitation.”

The Corporation also claimed that the phased rehabilitation programme which started in October 2014, after the required funding stream was established created a 70 percent reduction in costs without giving full details. The Corporation said that with the successful re-streaming of the PHRC and WRPC, attention has now moved to the Kaduna Refinery, which is billed to come on stream soon.

90-yr-old grandmother kidnapped in Delta

The Delta Police Command has confirmed the abduction of a 90-year-old grandmother, Madam Helen Ojeogwu, by gunmen.

The command said the woman was abducted from her home at Azungwu quarters, Ogwashi-Uku, in Aniocha South Local Government Area.
Its spokesperson, DSP Celestina Kalu, said yesterday that the victim was kidnapped last Monday by a six-man armed gang, which operated in a Mitsubushi L300 bus.

She said: “On July 27, at about 9.46 p.m., one Ojeogwu Chike of 24 Umuzu St., Azungwu Quarters, Ogwashi-Uku, reported that one madam Ojeogwu Helen, aged 90 years, has been kidnapped.”

Kalu said that upon the receipt of the report, the police dispatched an anti-robbery team to the scene.
The spokesperson said that the command had intensified efforts to rescue the victim and arrest the culprits.

Italian police seize money from Snoop Dogg at airport

Snoop Dogg left Italy $205,000 lighter on Saturday after police seized money from him at an airport in Calabria.

During a normal check at Lamezia Terme, the rapper was found with $422,820 in U.S. cash, a police source told CNN. The maximum amount of cash that passengers traveling through Italy can carry without declaring it is €10,000 ($11,010.25). The rules were put in place to prevent money laundering.

To be exact, Italian Finance Police seized $205,933, the source said.

The rapper arrived in the country's southern region earlier this week in his private jet for a performance in the village of Montepaone. He told police that the cash was to pay his band for concerts in Italy and elsewhere, the source said.

Snoop Dogg then left for London. The finance police will open an investigation into the Italian concert and how the rapper was paid.

It was not clear whether the rapper can appeal to get the money back. Representatives for Snoop did not respond to calls and emails requesting comment.

Baby factory in Asaba, Raided! Operator, eight pregnant girls arrested.

Police detectives, at  the  weekend, swooped on a suspected baby factory in  Asaba, Delta State, and arrested the operator and eight pregnant girls.

In addition, a surveillance patrol team attached to the Ozoro Police Division, in the state, apprehended a pastor and a 14-year-old girl at a cemetery in the town around 10.30 pm.

Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, in the state, DSP Celestina Kalu, who confirmed the arrest of the suspects, said, “On 30/7/2015 at about 2038hrs, Police detectives from GRA Division Asaba, while acting on a tip off raided a suspected baby factory at opposite Federal Radio Corporation, Asaba and arrested its operator, one John Mary Ihezun ‘m’.

“Eight pregnant girls, namely (1) Ihezue Nkemjika, (2) Amaka Agu, (3) Isioma Anukwu, (4) Blessing Okafor, (5) Imezoma Okeke, (6) Chioma Oje, (7) Precious Ihemine, (8) Nzube Chukwu, and two boys, one Prince Chukwu and Obum Nwankwo were also arrested from the said baby factory. Meanwhile, investigation is in progress.”

In a related development, she said, “On 30/7/2015 at about 2230hrs, surveillance patrol team from Ozoro Division while on routine patrol arrested one pastor of Christ Freedom Family, Amazing Grace, Ozoro, in a cemetery at Ozoro with one Chioma (f), aged 14 years.

“The suspect claimed that he was performing spiritual healing on the said Chioma    to enable her attain academic prowess. Investigation is ongoing,” she added.

Our son shot dead after apparent torture in police custody – Family

THE family of one Benson Orode, 26, an indigene of Edo State, is at war with the police  following the mysterious death of their son, David,  in custody. The deceased was arrested on May 21, 2015  by policemen who claimed to be from Lagos and, ever since then, nothing was heard about David  until few days ago. The policemen, who arrested him, alleged that David bought a stolen vehicle.

However, the bad news broke, last week, when it was learnt that the body of David was deposited at a  mortuary in Benin-City. This is coming barely four months after a  26-year-old  worker of Protea Hotel, Benin City, Chibuike Edeh, died in the custody of the police. The police has yet unable to fish out the killers.

In the latest incident, it was the radio police crew that revealed this sad news after the family travelled from Benin-City to  Abuja  and then Lagos where they were informed that David died in Benin and never left the town as claimed by the police. Meanwhile, the police authorities in Benin-City have failed to make any comment on the  death of David, whom Sunday Vanguard learnt died during interrogation. Family members, friends and associates, on  Tuesday, protested the killing of  David  whose corpse, it was gathered, was deposited at the mortuary by one Corporal Oniyon Musa same day he was arrested.

The protesters stormed the premises of the Edo State House of Assembly, Edo Government House and headquarters of Edo Police Command, demanding for independent autopsy to ascertain the cause of death. His elder brother, Solomon, said the police was yet to inform the family what happened to the deceased since he was arrested, adding that N200,000 cash, phones and ATM cards belonging

to his late brother were still missing. According to him, his brother’s corpse was deposited at the morgue as Benson Agu instead of  David  Obode. “Until now, they have not told the family anything.

•The late David

They broke the news to journalists in Lagos and not the family. We don’t know what has happened to our brother. How could somebody you arrested be mobbed?

“We saw the body at the morgue and there is evidence he was killed by torture and shot. His landlord, who was also arrested, said my brother was tied and hung on a tree while blocks were placed on his chest. We have informed our lawyers. They have written to the IG and we are asking the police to produce our brother. They said the boy bought a stolen car. Who is the complainant? We do not know.

How did he die? The police should tell the family what happened”. Elder sister to David, Mrs Osawaru Uzehi, said the family travelled to Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt in search of where police said they took their brother but didn’t know he had  been killed. Osawaru said her late brother was innocent of the crime he was accused of and that she was at the police station on the day her brother was arrested. She stated that injuries on his corpse showed that he was shot as there was a big hole on it  indicating her claim.

She said David spent the night before the arrest in her house after which he left for his apartment only for her to be informed that he was in trouble. She rushed to the place only to see her brother held down by neighbours and his landlord who said the police had come for him for an undisclosed crime. “So the police,  who said they came from Lagos, took my brother away to Edo State Police Command; later, they said he had been taken to Abuja and  then Lagos”.

Uzehi, who wept profusely, said a legal practitioner in Lagos had written the police but then no response was heard  about her brother’s whereabouts and neither was he charged to  court for any criminal offence. According to her, the aged mother, who stays with her since they lost their father years ago, had become hypertensive and always troubled asking for her son.

She continued: “The policemen came in a Toyota Highlander ash colour; they were wearing ear rings and dreadlocks; if not for the police colours  on their rifles, I would have doubted they were real policemen. I asked them what my brother had done. They replied that I didn’t  have any right to ask them questions.

“Later, I went  to the Edo State  Police Command. We saw the policemen, we tried to talk to them but they did not grant us audience. We waited endlessly to see who could talk to us. We went to see the OC SARS  in Edo State, he did not also attend to us. The policemen only told us he bought a stolen vehicle and that he was an armed robber.  I was surprised; he stayed with me for a long time, he never took my money;  if he didn’t  have money, he will request from me and I will give to him. The policeman insisted that he was a thief and that they were ‘Scorpion SARS’ from Lagos.

“The next day,  May 22nd, we went back  to the state police command with a lawyer. The lawyer and we  waited and eventually they said my brother was an armed robber but still did not allow the lawyer to see him. The next day, May 23rd,  when we got there, they said they had moved my brother to Abuja and we later called a lawyer in Abuja to help us search police stations there. He went there and he could not see my brother. Later, the police told us that they had taken him to Lagos. My uncle, who is a policeman, went there and searched several police stations but did not see him”.

A copy of the family’s letter to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police by Peter Ehijinwa of Peter Ehijinwa & Co, dated  June 29th,, 2015, identified the team that travelled to Benin to arrest David  as Corporal Adeleke Adedeji, Corporal Abenna  John, Corporal Henry Shobowale and Corporal Oniyo Musa.

The family, from Esan Central, Edo State, appealed to the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, to come to their aid  in the interest of justice. When contacted, Edo State Police Commissioner, Samuel Adegbuyi, said he was on leave. The state Police Public Relations Officer, (PPRO), Stephen Onwochei, did not pick his calls.

UK plane crash kills members of Bin Laden family, Saudis say

Members of Osama bin Laden's family were killed in a small plane crash in southern England in which three passengers and the pilot died, the Saudi Embassy in London said.

The Saudi ambassador to Britain, Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf Al Saud, offered his condolences via Twitter to the family of the late Mohammed bin Laden over the crash Friday but did not name the victims.

The late al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden -- killed in a U.S. raid on a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in May 2011 -- was one of dozens of children of Mohammed bin Laden. The bin Laden family is large and is spread around the world.

The plane crashed at Blackbushe Airport in Hampshire, to the west of London.

The UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said Friday it had sent a team to investigate the incident but declined to give further details. The team remained at the site on Saturday.

Rare photos reveal Osama bin Laden's Afghan hideout

Hampshire Police confirmed that there were four people on board the plane, including the pilot, and that there were no survivors. No one on the ground was injured, police said.

The official Saudi Press Agency did not identify those on the plane but said it was a Saudi-registered Embraer 505 Phenom 300 aircraft.

Since the accident happened on British soil, the investigation will be in the hands of the AAIB.

Muslims being 'erased' from Central African Republic

Amnesty International says Muslims living in rural areas especially targeted as militias undertake "ethnic cleansing".

Militias have taken advantage of the political vacuum in Central African Republic (CAR), engaging in ethnic cleansing of Muslims in a bid to erase the community from the country, human rights group Amnesty International has said.

Discussing Friday's report, entitled "Erased identity: Muslims in ethnically cleansed areas of the Central African Republic," Joanne Mariner, a senior crisis response adviser at the UK-based organisation, told Al Jazeera that Muslims in the western half of the country were being repressed and forced to abandon their religion.

More than 30,000 Muslims are living in seven enclaves, guarded by UN troops, across the country, but for those living outside, especially in rural areas, they are being targeted with impunity, the report found.

"They not allowed to express themselves as Muslims; if they are outside the enclaves, they cannot pray, dress in any way that identifies them as Muslim," Mariner said.

"Their survival depends on a daily routine of negotiation with anti-Balaka fighters."Mariner said that many had been forced convert to Christianity or face persecution from the community

US ambassador to the UN, called the devastation "kind of crazy, chilling".

Amnesty said in Friday's report that none of the mosques outside Bangui, and the town of Carnot, have been repaired or rebuilt.

One of the "clearest signs of the intensity of sectarian animus was the destruction of the country's mosques", the organisation said.

More than 6,000 people have been killed since the crisis began in March 2013.

"The key challenge is a lack of security. The government understands they have a long way to go [but] they need to be able to assert control over these far flung areas," Mariner said.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said this week that more than 1,000 people were still looking for their loved ones, a year after after being separated from them during the wave of violence.

"In this part of the country, very few families have been spared the pain and uncertainty of being separated from loved ones," Scott Doucet, head of the ICRC sub-delegation for the west of the country, said.

The UN says that that 2.7 million people, more than half the population, are still in need of aid, while 1.5 million people were affected by food insecurity.

The global body's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says humanitarian needs continue to exceed resources available.

Meanwhile Doctors without Borders (MSF) has previously described the country to be in a state of a protracted chronic health emergency.

CAR has been led by a transitional government since January 2014. The country is scheduled to hold presidential and parliamentary elections on October 18.

I was once a danfo driver, says Fayose

Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has appealed to members of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria against allowing themselves to be used by kidnappers to perpetrate evil.

Speaking on Thursday during the swearing-in of the new State Executive of the union in Ado Ekiti, the governor, who said he was once a ‘danfo driver’ appealed to the drivers to be orderly and not to be desperate.

He said, “Please, I want to commend you for contributing immensely to the development of the state’s economy, but don’t allow yourselves to be used by evil doers. You can see that some kidnappers were paraded recently. Information from them revealed that they have been using some of your members.

“I was once a driver like you. I used the money I got from driving to sponsor myself for HND at Ibadan Polytechnic, but I did not get desperate. All I’m saying is that being a driver you can make it in life. You will become what you want to become in life with hard work. Don’t join evil gang for you to get rich overnight, try and rise through the ladder like we did.”

He cautioned drivers against reckless driving, reminding them of the ‘don’t drink and drive’ rule.

“Though I am part of you, if you breach the law, I won’t save or spare you. You will be arrested and prosecuted by the security agents,” he said.

The governor, who recalled that he united the two unions — RTEAN and National Union of Road and Transport Workers — during his first term, said the occasion was a sign that good things were coming to Ekiti.

“We should emulate this kind of occasion. This is very good. We will always identify with this kind of achievements. You are doing a good job for this country. I don’t want to be the enemies of drivers, I want to be your friend.”

He also thanked the unions for standing by him during the failed impeachment plot against him by the former 19 All Progressives Congress lawmakers.

Fayose, who had earlier spoken at the 2015 Annual Conference of the Institute of Strategic Management, appealed to leaders to focus attention on how to banish poverty that is killing the potential of many Nigerians.

Speaking on the theme, ‘Strategies for Poverty Alleviation’, Fayose said his desperate bid to banish poverty in the land had propelled him to pioneer the stomach infrastructure concept that had become a brand in the country.

“In tackling poverty, the first thing to do is to empower the people. But before empowerment, you must make them look healthy through provision of food. Let them get access to you as a leader, this will give them a sense of belonging and relief.

“Some of the projects being executed by MDGs centred on poverty alleviation. Poverty has become a serious issue in Nigeria. That was why my government made the payment of salaries the first thing, because this will keep the people and the economy going.

“I receive close to 200 to 300 calls and messages daily on stomach infrastructure thing. Though 90 per cent of it is about money, we should not shy away from the fact that the concept has become a way of life in Nigeria as a good weapon to tackle poverty among the common people.”

6 dead, several hospitalised as cholera ravages Delta communit

A cholera outbreak in Aladja, a community in Udu Local Government Area of Delta State has reportedly killed six persons, while several others have been hospitalised.

File photo: Children collect stagnant water for use at home

Vanguard learned that the health situation was noticed last week with few persons affected, but that by last weekend, the death toll had risen to six as the disease gained wider spread.

Some of those affected, it was gathered, are receiving medical attention in different hospitals and health centres within Udu, while those with severe cases are hospitalised at the Central Hospital, Warri.

Chairman of Udu Local Government Area, Solomon Kpomah, who confirmed the outbreak, said his administration had deployed medical personnel to the community to curtail further spread.

He said: “The state government has also sent its medical team to test and treat those affected. We will continue to carry out sensitisation campaign.

“There is need for a holistic approach by all parties towards curtailing the disease.”

He urged residents to maintain high level of hygiene by disposing wastes properly, warning them also to be cautious of the water they drank and the food they ate.

Local residents had passed initial cases of the disease as a spiritual attack resulting from some grave evil committed in the community, until tests conducted by medical experts revealed that it was cholera.

Delta students vow to shutdown Asaba over unpaid bursaries

ASABA—STUDENTS of Delta State origin under the auspices of National Association of Delta State Students, NADESSTU, have threatened to shut down the capital city of Asaba, if their 2013/2014 bursary was not paid in the next two weeks.

NADESSTU in a communiqué at the end of its emergency meeting at Delta State Polytechnic, Ozoro, said that the students were no longer happy with the development, adding that any further delay in the payment of the bursary may lead to students’ unrest in the state.

The communiqué by Shaka Emomine, National President and others, decried that the student community was losing faith in the national leadership of the association over the issue.

The communiqué, said: “The national leadership of the association will no longer stand any chance of losing or jeopardizing the trust bestowed on us by our fellow students whom we were elected to serve and protect their interest.

“Therefore, the Delta State Government is hereby issued a two-week ultimatum to come up with the payment of the Delta State Students Bursary/Scholarships Award or risk a state wide protest from the students with its main target being the state capital, Asaba with a magnitude of protest capable of bringing all commercial activities in the beautiful city to a halt until the cries of the students are listened to.”

Palestinian baby burned to death in settler attack

Two houses burned in Duma village in occupied West Bank, with graffiti left on the walls reading "revenge" in Hebrew.

An 18-month-old Palestinian boy has burned to death after settlers set fire to his family house in Duma village, south of Nablus city, in the occupied West Bank.The parents of Ali Saad Dawabsheh and his four-year-old brother were also injured in the attack, sources told Al Jazeera on Friday morning.

Up to 75 percent of their bodies suffered burns, according to medics in Nablus' Rafidia hospital.The Israel army issued a statement saying that they were trying to locate the suspects of the attack.

"This attack against civilians is nothing short of a barbaric act of terrorism. A comprehensive investigation is underway in order to find the terrorists and bring them to justice," Lietenant Colonel Peter Lerner said in the statement. 

"The IDF (Israeli army) strongly condemns this deplorable attack and has heightened its efforts in the field to locate those responsible."

Two Palestinian houses were burned at the entrance of the village with graffiti left on the walls, reading in Hebrew "revenge" and "long live Messiah".

Witnesses told Al Jazeera that they saw at least four settlers running away from the scene.

There are at least three illegal Israeli settlements near Duma village.

According to the UN, at least 120 attacks by Israeli settlers have been documened in the occupied West Bank since the start of 2015.

A recent report by Yesh Din, an Israe;i human rights organisation, showed that more than 92.6 percent of complaints Palestinians lodge with the Israeli police go without charges.

Taliban elects new leader after Mullah Omar's death

The Taliban has elected Mullah Akhtar Mansoor as its new leader, Taliban sources have told Al Jazeera, as the group confirmed the death of their founder Mullah Omar.

The election, which was reported on Thursday, has not been officially confirmed by the Taliban. But a commander present at the meeting to elect Mansoor confirmed the report to Reuters news agency.

Reports said the election was held in Pakistan's city of Quetta. 

The news comes as a Taliban representative and the group's Twitter account confirmed the death of Omar, Al Jazeera's Qais Azimy, reporting from Kabul, said. However, the group refused to give information where and when Omar had died.   

Mansoor will be only the second leader the Taliban have had since Omar, an elusive figure rarely seen in public who founded the group in the 1990s.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Yehia Ghanem, a journalist who covered the Taliban for years, said the way Mansoor's election was announced, "it is obvious that it is true."

Mansoor is a "key figure" in the Taliban organisation, serving as the governor of Kandahar before the American invasion, he said. 

"He actually led many intelligence operations, very important and major ones, in which he beat the biggest intelligence apparatus in the world," Ghanem added. 

Mansoor's leadership and intelligence experience in Kandahar, the birthplace of Taliban, make him a logical successor of Omar, he added.   

The Afghan government said on Wednesday that Taliban leader Omar died more than two years ago, in a hospital in Karachi. Ghanem, however, said that the report was "doubtful."

Following the announcement, a second round of peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government have been postponed.

Al Jazeera's Qais Azimy, however, said that despite the postponement of the talks, the Afghan government is optimistic that Mansoor would be more open to negotiations.