See Photos: Tremors shake DR Congo’s Goma after deadly volcanic eruption

 

Continuing tremors have shaken the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s city of Goma, unnerving families still reeling from a volcano eruption at the weekend that destroyed nearby villages, displaced thousands and killed at least 32 people, Reuters news agency said.

Mount Nyiragongo, one of the world’s most active and dangerous volcanoes, erupted on Saturday evening, sending a smouldering wall of lava half a mile wide downhill towards the city of two million.

The lava flow stopped a few hundred metres short of the city limits, but destroyed more than a dozen villages on the way, blocked a main route to town and cut the principal electricity supply.

People in Goma continued to be worried as violent aftershocks continued through the night and into Monday morning.

“They’re multiplying and they come at any moment,” one resident told AFP news agency, describing the aftershocks as “very worrying”.

Tens of thousands of residents had fled the city in panic – about 7,000 of them to neighbouring Rwanda – when Nyiragongo began erupting. Officials said 17 villages on the city’s fringes had suffered major damage.

The death toll rose to 32 on Monday, including seven killed by lava, three by smoke, two asphyxiated by volcanic gas and four who died while trying to escape Munzenze prison in Goma, said Joseph Makundi, the head of civil defence in North Kivu province.

Nyiragongo’s last significant eruption, in 2002, killed about 100 people, according to AFP.

Hundreds homeless

By Monday, the blackish solidified lava was still hot and smoking, with dozens of people turning out to inspect it or even walk on it, despite the risk of inhaling toxic fumes.

The volcano appeared calm on the horizon, with the usual smoke rising from its crater.

A government delegation arrived from Kinshasa early on Monday, while President Felix Tshisekedi has cut short a European tour to supervise the aid operation.

Residents walk near destroyed homes with the smouldering lava deposited by the eruption of the Mount Nyiragongo volcano near Goma, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo [Djaffar Al Katanty/REUTERS]

Hundreds of people spent Monday night in the street after the lava destroyed their homes.

Government spokesman Patrick Muyaya warned on Sunday that the prices of food and other essentials are set to rise in Goma as the eruption has cut off several hundred metres of the road to Butembo, the region’s main trade route.

Schools are still shut with pupils told to stay at home, although businesses and petrol stations were open again.

See Photos: Mad woman allegedly caught with three AK-47 rifles in Lagos is burnt to death

 

A mad woman allegedly caught with three AK-47 rifles placed in a sack bag has been set ablaze by angry mob at Abule-Ado, Trade fair area of Badagry, Lagos State.

According to social media reports, the woman is suspected to be keeping the guns for armed robbers.

She was immediately beaten then set ablaze.

Bandits kill pastor and his 2-year-old son in Niger State

A 39-year-old missionary and evangelist, Pastor Leviticus Makpa Markus and his 2-year-old son, Godsend Makpa, have been brutally murdered by armed bandits in Niger State.

 

Details of the incident are still sketchy at the time of this report, however, it was gathered that bandits few days ago, attacked Kamberi village where the University of Jos graduate was serving as a missionary and slaughered him and his son while his wife managed to escape with their daughter. 

 

Father and son were laid to rest after a service of songs at the family house in Suleja, Niger State on Sunday evening, May 23.

 

Meanwhile, condolence messages and tributes have continued to pour in from friends, former classmates and colleagues.

One Samuel Solomon described the late missionary as a "rugged foot soldier of Christ"

 
"My heart is heavy. Bandits killed a rugged foot soldier of Christ. They shot him and his son....both died. The wife and daughter escaped. This is just an attempt to wipe out Christianity in the region....he has no money, in fact the community he is serving has no government presence so what were the gun men looking for? Definitely it couldn't have been money....their mission was to wipe the Church," he wrote. 

"Late missionary Leviticus Makpa was serving in Niger state, a remote village that has no school....they started the only school in the village and raised many souls. Below were the messages he sent to me two days ago....rejoicing over the new location they got. He came for the last wine conference ....we had planned how to adopt him as a missionary but painfully he has joined the league of martyrs in heaven....his blood will testify over the land and also against the insecurity of a corrupt administration,"

 

"This is a general indeed...bandits came against them, they hid in the cave to save their lives...after they left, he went back to the field with his family....how many of us can do this? He eventually lost his life and that of his son....the wife and daughter escaped.

 
"He knew his life was a stake but burden for souls won't let him run away from the field. I want to appeal to all well meaning Christians to assist the widow and daughter he left behind. We must see to it that they do not suffer, the daughter must get the best education possible. He was a general! May his soul rest in peace" 

Find the the rest of the tributes below: 

 

 

Photos: One student dies, others recuperating in hospital following fire outbreak at fuel station while they were charging their phones

A student has died after being caught up in the fuel station fire that occurred on May 18 in Kaduna.
 
Lydia Dantata, a student of Kaduna State College of Nursing and Midwifery, went to charge her phone with other students of the school in a petrol station opposite the school campus in Kafanchan.
 
The students had not had power in their school for days due to the power outage resulting from the five-day warning strike by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC.
 
While charging their mobile devices at the fuel station opposite campus, an extension box they tried to plug into a socket provided for them to charge sparked. This happened while a tanker was discharging petrol at the station so the spark led to a fire.
 
10 students were caught in the fire and were rushed to different hospitals.
 
Lydia Dantata and another student who sustained first-degree burns were taken to Jos University Teaching University (JUTH).
 
Five other students with a lesser degree of burns were taken to the General Hospital, Kafanchan and are still receiving treatment.
 
The other three students were taken by their parents to hospitals of their choice.
 
Unfortunately, days after the fire, Lydia Dantata passed on at the Joss University Teaching Hospital. She died on Sunday, May 23.
 
 
Friends have gone on Facebook to mourn her.
 
 

 

400 people arrested in Imo over security threats – Uzodimma

Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma on Monday disclosed that over 400 people who caused mayhem or attacks in the state have been arrested and charged to court.

This is contained n a statement in Owerri by Uzodinma’s Chief Press Secretary Oguwike Nwachuku.

”Over 400 of those who carried out the threats on the state in the past have been arrested.

”The good thing is that over 70 per cent of them are not Igbo. We will crush anybody that attempts to cause mayhem or attack Imo people again.

”Government cannot surrender to blackmailers, hoodlums, and perpetrators of violence,” he said.

He also advised those planning to visit the state with any form of violence to have a rethink as “government is more than ever ready and prepared to keep Imo safe and secured.”

Uzodinma called on the people to go about their businesses without fear of molestation or harassment.

”What happened in the past weeks will never repeat itself again,” he added. NAN

100 Killed In Fresh Attack On Benue Villages

At least, 100 people have been killed in four council wards of Kastina-Ala Local Government Area of Benue State at the weekend after gunmen unleashed terror on communities.

Daily Trust gathered that over 100 dead bodies have been recovered from many villages in the four council wards where the gunmen attacked simultaneously between Saturday and Sunday.

A spokesman of the Kastina-Ala council chairman, Tertsea Benga, alleged that the gunmen stormed several communities in the Mbayongo council ward in Katsina-Ala LGA about noon on Saturday and burnt down houses.

He listed the initially affected villages to include Vingir, Tse Nyipila and Tse Guji all in Mbayongo ward, adding that the attackers proceeded to Kenvanger in Mbatyula council ward on Sunday afternoon.

Most of the corpses were recovered from the bush.

Benga further recalled that half of the communities in one of the affected locality, Yooyo council ward in the same Katsina Ala LGA, had earlier been sacked by the alleged armed invaders who killed many people then and in the latest invasion.

Confirming the incident, the Chairman of Kastina-Ala LGA, Alfred Atera, said that over 100 people have been killed within the weekend in the four council wards of Mbayongo, Yooyo, Utange and Mbatyula/Mberev in a coordinated attack.

Atera blamed the attack on the collaboration between suspected armed herders and ‘Gana boys’ [loyalists of the slain Benue’s wanted criminal kingpin, Terwase Akwaza, popularly known as ‘Gana’], adding that security personnel, though doing their best, were however overwhelmed.

“More than 100 people have been killed in different places.

“They [attackers] are killing and dropping as they are going on their way. Some people were able to claim the corpses for burial.

“I told the military that the attackers have developed a strategy; they are not attacking one place.

“If they attack a place now, the next thing you hear is that they are in Yooyo and at the same time they are attacking Utange, so the military is going here and there.

“There is no military connivance, but I’m suspecting the existence of bandits here and I think they are trying to win cheap popularity,” Atera said.

Meanwhile, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) for Benue Command, DSP Catherine Anene, has not responded to calls or text messages as of the time of filing this report.

Bill seeking to scrap NYSC reaches second reading in House of Reps

The bill on the discontinuation of the National Youth Service Corps has reached the second reading in the House of Representatives.

Sponsored by the lawmaker representing Andoni-Opobo/Nkoro Federal Constituency of Rivers State Awaji-Inombek Abiante, in the explanatory memorandum of the proposal, the bill listed various reasons why the NYSC should be scrapped.

It said the NYSC has led to the “incessant killing of innocent corps members in some parts of the country due to banditry, religious extremism and ethnic violence; incessant kidnapping of innocent corps members across the country.”

“Public and private agencies/departments are no longer recruiting able and qualified Nigerian youths, thus relying heavily on the availability of corps members who are not being well remunerated and get discarded with impunity at the end of their service year without any hope of being gainfully employed.

“Due to insecurity across the country, the National Youth Service Corps management now gives considerations to posting corps members to their geopolitical zone, thus defeating one of the objectives of setting up the service corps, i.e. developing common ties among the Nigerian youths and promote national unity and integration.”

The bill is seeking the alteration of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Alteration Bill, 2020.

The youth service, which started on May 22, 1973, was established during the military regime of General Yakubu Gowon under Decree No. 24 of 1973.

NYSC was established to reconcile and reintegrate Nigerians after the Nigerian civil war.

400 NPA retirees die after 30-year wait for pensions, others

 ‘We were left to die one by one’

It was 30 years of endless wait for staff of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) who were retrenched by the authority on June 10, 1991.
Before their disengagements, they worked in various ports and were promised prompt payment of their gratuities and entitlements.

However, 30 years after, no fewer than 400 of the 2,750 employees were reported to have passed on, waiting to get their gratuities.
Others are made to hold the short end of the stick with their gratuities and entitlements still elusive.

The payment of the terminal benefits was not handled with dispatch to the extent that till date, some of the workers are yet to collect their full entitlements. Bureaucratic bottlenecks have also hindered many of them from getting their entitlements.

The latest of the dead was Mr. Godwin Amromare, who died last year at the age of 65 while many others are bedridden on account of inability to buy drugs and access good medical care.

Media Chairman and spokesman for the retirees, Sylva Okoro, said they were left to die one by one. Okoro, who has been bedridden for about one year due to lack of finance to receive medical treatment, wondered why the NPA management was treating them with contempt after years of meritorious service.

The 1991 retirees, he added, have the constitutional rights to demand their rights as long as NPA refuses to settle them. Okoro added that the retirees had, through their lawyer, Simmons Cooper Partners, wrote a letter to the suspended Managing Director, NPA, Hadiza Bala Usman, for intervention without any reprieve.

In the letter dated December 3, 2020 and signed by Dapo Akinosun and Victoria Alonge, the retirees asked the suspended boss to immediately pay their full pension and other benefits.

But with the suspension of Usman, he said the retirees were at a crossroads. He said: “The suspended managing director was alleged of carrying government money for her personal use instead of using it to pay their pensions, gratuities and redundancy benefits for 1991. NPA has put us in untold hardship for 30yrs.

“The majority of us passed on during this agitation as a result of lack of financial resources to adequately manage our peculiar health condition and our families,” he added.

Okoro, however, urged the acting MD, Mr. Mohammad Koko, to facilitate the immediate payment of the pensions, gratuities and redundant benefits without further delay.

Fire guts another INEC office in Igboeze-South, Enugu

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office in Igboeze-South local government Area of Enugu State was on Sunday gutted by fire.

Mr Romanus Ezekwueme, the Chief Security Officer (CSO) of the local government confirmed the incident to newsmen on Monday.

According to him, I was on duty with some neighborhood security around 11 pm on Sunday when we saw the flame coming out from INEC office and immediately rushed to the scene.

“We broke the gate of INEC office because it was locked, only to see that fire has started from the store room in INEC building.

“We immediately made a distress call to Nsukka and Udenu fire service who came and helped us to quench the fire,” he said.

The CSO said the intervention of the fire men prevented the fire from spreading to other parts of the building.

“It is only the store in INEC building that was completely razed down by fire,” he said.

Reacting to the incident, Mr Andy Omeje, the Chairman of Igboeze-South LG also confirmed the fire incident and thanked the fire but said  only the store in INEC office was affected.

“We thank the fire service for their intervention that prevented the fire from spreading to other rooms in the building.

“When I was called last night that INEC building was on fire, I rushed to the Local Government secretariat where the building is located, I was there till the fire was quenched before I left,” he said.

The LG boss however, expressed concern that INEC officials had continued to deny security men access to the compound at night by locking up the gate.

“This is to know when hoodlums strike so that they can work together.

“Last night, when the fire incident started, it was difficult for neighborhood security to gain access to INEC compound; they have to  force the gate open in order to help to stop the fire,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mrs Lorretta Uroko, the INEC Electoral Officer in Igboeze-South LG confirmed the incident but declined to make further comment.

“I will not comment on this issue until I get  permission from my Resident Electoral Commissioner in the headquarters in Enugu,” she said.

Also when contacted, Mr Okwudili Ohaa the Enugu State Chief Fire Officer confirmed the incident and said the service got the distress call around 11pm on Sunday and rushed to the scene.

Ohaa said the firemen were able to stop the fire from spreading to other rooms in the INEC office.

“It is only the store room that burnt completely,” he said.

He said the cause of the fire was yet unknown but advised residents to always have fire extinguisher in their homes and offices as well as switched off electrical appliances when they were not around.

Efforts to reach the Police Public Relations Officer in Enugu, Mr Daniel Ndukwe failed as he did not pick calls from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

NAN recalled that, INEC office in Obollo-Afor, Udenu LGA was razed down on May 13 and on May 16, INEC headquarters in Enugu was attacked while vehicles and part of the building were razed.

BBNaija’s Dorathy Gifts Her Lookalike Sister A Car For Her Birthday: Photos

                                             

Former Big Brother housemate Dorathy Bachor has gifted her lookalike sister, Cynthia, a brand new car on her birthday.

It was understood that Cynthia Bachor, who was recently revealed as sister to reality star, Dorathy is celebrating her birthday today.

The Delta State-born socialite decided to surprise her sister who shares a striking resemblance with her, with a brand new car on her birthday. Dorathy via her Instagram, shared photos of Cynthia revealing, she had at some point put her life and career on hold for her.

Taking to her Instagram page to share photos from her birthday photoshoot, the reality star, captioned it; ‘You taught me to always try other options when one thing doesn’t work out for me, you always stood by every crazy decision I made, You literally put your life and career on hold just to push mine. We’d always assure each other that things will get better and I couldn’t have asked for a better sister. I love you to the ends of the earth and I’m sure papa is proud of how far we’ve grown together ❤️❤️❤️ Happy birthday my doppelgänger’

See adorable photos below;