2 students die from initiation concoction in Kogi

Two teenagers, who finished their secondary education this year (names withheld), have been reported dead in Kabba, Kogi State, in mysterious circumstance.
Sources told Vanguard that their deaths were in connection with cult initiation by a confraternity in the town.
When contacted, the parents of the teenagers said they were too devastated to speak to the press. They told Vanguard that they did not want the incident reported for fear of police harassment.
A source, who craved anonymity, said the boys died of complications which resulted from drinking a “hard substance,” which was part of the initiation.He said the boys voluntarily sought to join the confraternity.
The source said:

“From what was gathered, one of the boys was given a very hard concoction to drink during his initiation into Eiye confraternity by the leaders of the cult group. “The substance, which was laden with very hard drugs, led to the death of the poor boy.”

However, a new twist has emerged in the controversy surrounding the teenagers’ deaths.
Another account has it that the boy took performance enhancing drugs which overstretched his system and led to his demise.
According to this account, four teenagers were involved in taking the concoction known in local parlance as Sukudie.
He said the teenagers, who resided at Odiolowo CAC area of Kabba, were rushed to the Specialist Hospital, Kabba, before two of them died.
The two survivors, according to the source, are Ebira boys from Okene.

N5,000 stipend: PDP reject Buhari, APC Senators move to ease the unemployed NYSC graduate

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has said that Wednesday’s rejection by the All Progressives Congress, APC, senators of N5,000 monthly stipend, underscored the “monumental hypocrisy” of their party in getting to power by means of deceit and false promises to Nigerians.
APC had promised payment of N5,000 to unemployed Nigerians as a social security
package during electioneering campaign.
PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh​,​ in a statement on Thursday said the development was a clear confirmation that the APC was a party of “hypocrites, who never had the intentions of honouring any of their campaign promises”​.​
“The PDP declares that it is absolutely obvious to all that the APC came to power riding on monumental lies and deceit in making promises they had no intentions to keep.
“All they wanted was to get into power and they achieved this with their lying tongues.
“Indeed, the unanimity displayed by the APC senators in rejecting the promised N5, 000 monthly welfare package, especially coming after their party and the presidency had made futile efforts to distance themselves from it, further stresses the duplicitous spirit of the APC and its reprehensible insensitivity to the feelings and aspirations of Nigerians, especially the unsuspecting youths, women and the indigent, who they shamelessly swindled with false promises.
“From the foregoing therefore, Nigerians should not expect any sincere action from the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC government on the other promises including monthly allowance to discharged but unemployed NYSC members, free meals and scholarship to school children, free houses, bringing the naira to the same value with the dollar.
“Our position remains that the APC has sufficiently confirmed to the world that they have a lot to learn on the leadership values of honesty, integrity, credibility and forthrightness.
“Finally, we invite Nigerians to note the powers amply vested in them by the constitution under a democracy as we urge them to stand on such powers and hold the APC and its government accountable for all their campaign promises,” the party said.

Father Of Two, Tortured To Death At Sokoto Checkpoint By Policemen

When Sadiya Shehu Shinkafi of Shinkafi, Zamfara State, sent her younger brother, Shehu Yahaya, to buy some chickens at the Teke market in the neighbouring Sabon Birni Local Government Area of Sokoto State, she never knew she would never see him alive again. His lifeless body was reportedly found in a nearby bush.
The 25-year-old father of two children was allegedly tortured to death by some policemen at a checkpoint along the Isa-Sabon Birni road. Yahaya was said to have observed that President Buhari had ordered the stoppage of all checkpoints, a comment which was said to have angered the policemen who were purportedly collecting money from drivers.
Narrating the incident, Alhaji Shehu, father of the deceased said: “When the vehicle in which the late Yahaya was travelling moved on, the police at the check- point trailed them because of what he said.”
Yahaya’s friend, Bashar Nahantsi, who was travelling with him recounted: “The policemen ordered the two of us to come out of the vehicle, claiming that they suspected us of drug abuse. We came down and they arrested us, but my late friend freed himself from their grip and ran away, leaving me with them. They stripped me and tied my hands from behind, using my vest. They asked if I had anyone who could stand for me. I said yes and called one of my elders. They did not see him, but they said I should not worry. They tied my hands and feet.
“Later, my friend who ran away came back. I was put under the custody of two mobile policemen under a tree. They asked me to lie low in the grass so they could arrest my friend. They arrested him, but he later escaped into a farm. He was chased by the two mobile policemen.”
Bashar said one of his relatives later came to meet him and negotiated for their bail with N1,500.
“By then, they had come back with my friend in an unconscious state and dumped him on the ground. At that time, he could not even sit properly. I had to support him with my feet before he could sit down.
“After collecting N1, 500, they ordered that I should carry my friend to where we could get a vehicle home. When I realised the condition they had subjected my friend to, I told them I couldn’t do anything.
“I managed to get away from them. It was two days after the encounter, while I was at a village that I got to know of my friend’s death. The police killed him.”
Yahaya’s father, who was away when the incident happened, recalled amidst tears: “I was at Birnin Gwani when the incident happened on Sunday.
I came back home on Tuesday to find out that my house was filled with people. Upon enquiry I was told that my son Yahaya had died. I asked if he was sick and the people told me that it was policemen who killed him at Teke market.”
He said that those who washed and dressed his son’s lifeless body testified that his neck was fractured and that he had bruises on it as though he was strangled.
He added that it was Yahaya’s sister, in the company of a driver, one Kabiru, who went to get the corpse at a hospital in Sabon Birni.
“I have left everything to Allah, but I demand that justice be done,” he concluded.
For Yahaya’s sister, Sadiya also recounted, “0n Sunday morning I gave my younger brother N37, 000 to buy chicken for me, but about 4pm the same day, his wife came to inform me that he dead. His corpse was covered with neem leaves. I uncovered the corpse and discovered it was my younger brother, Yahaya. I regretted that I sent him to his untimely death.”
The Commissioner of Police, Sokoto State command, Salisu Fagge, confirmed that five policemen had been arrested and investigation was still on.
“The deceased’s parents alleged that the police had killed their son at a certain town. We investigated and arrested the policemen who were alleged to have carried out the assault. We called witnesses who testified to us. We will penalise any offender, whoever he is, whether police or civilian. Whoever commits any wrong must be brought to order. The law must take its course. No one should be above the law,” the police boss said, adding, however, that, “There are procedures to be followed before the suspects are taken to court. We have to follow due process

Nigeria-made rapid urine test for malaria wins Health Innovation Awards

A Nigeria-made malaria test that can diagnose the disease within 25 minutes using just drops of patients’ urine sample has won the inaugural 2015 Health Innovation Challenge Awards.
The awards was instituted by the Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria (PHN) through the Nigeria Health Innovation Marketplace (NHIM).
Urine Malaria Test (UMT), which is endorsed by the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) and approved by the National Agency for Food Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and developed by Fyodor Biotechnologies was the first among the five winning innovations from the 2015 Health Innovation Challenge.
The overall performance of the UMT is equivalent to that of the Binax NOW blood test, the only malaria rapid test approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The award given to Fyodor UMT comes with a grant of $100,000 and enrollment in the accelerated programme of the NHIM.
The presentation was made yesterday in Lagos, at the 2015 Nigeria Health Innovation and Impact Investment Summit.
The Nigeria Health and Innovation Impact Investment Summit event was tagged “2015 Disrupting Healthcare, Saving Lives.” The activation of the PHN was formally endorsed by former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Mr. Bill Gates, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Dr. Muhammad Ali Pate, Mr. Jim Ovia, Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Mrs. Sola David Borha and other corporate leaders in Nigeria to mobilise the broader business and corporate community as well as the private health sector towards a multi-sectoral coalition to improving health outcomes.
It has been shown that the private sector has the potential to expand the access to health services, improve quality of care and complement the public sector’s efforts in addressing health system challenges in the country.
Co-Chair of PHN and Chairman of Zenith Bank, Jim Ovia, said: “The innovators are not making money but they are contributing to saving lives and improving society. We will give them all the support and definitely they will be making money in the future.”
Chief Executive Officer of PHN, Dr. Muntaqa Umar-Sadiq said: “It is important to use innovative platforms to improve health. Despite millions of dollars invested in healthcare we are not seeing the result. So we need bold and innovative approach to improve our health indices.”
Umar-Sadiq said various players in the country including PHN, Health Strategy and Delivery Foundation (HSDF), Flint Atlantic Capital, International Finance Corporation (IFC) and others are already converging a market for healthcare social enterprise and impact investment capital.
Meanwhile, the first runner up award went to Medical Devices as a Service (MDaaS) with a cash grant of $50,000 in addition to participate in the accelerated NHIM programme.
MDaaS is a company that makes medical devices available, accessible and affordable to underserved health facilities across Nigeria. MDaaS provides hospitals with a range of device acquisition options and offer world-class service support with each device.
The second runner up award went to e-Heal (Electronic Health Education in Any Language) with a grant of $30,000 and participation in the accelerated NHIM programme.

IS THIS FASHION OR WHAT?

The way our girls are going around naked in the names fashion,  question needs to be ask,  what's the role of our parents,  government and community?  What's your opinion?