US Says The Talk To Free Chibok Girls Ongoing

Washington - A US official on Monday confirmed
that a ceasefire deal appeared to have been
reached between Nigeria and Boko Haram
militants, but said talks to release some 200
kidnapped girls were ongoing.
Doubts have been raised since members of the
Nigerian government said on Friday that they had
secured a deal with Boko Haram to free the girls
captured in April and to end hostilities.
In the aftermath of Friday's declaration by
Nigeria's military and presidency, however,
reports of attacks continue to emerge, casting
further doubts on the credibility of the ceasefire
claim.
And a group of Nigerian elders has said only one
faction of Boko Haram had been involved in the
deal.
"We can confirm reports that a ceasefire has been
announced, [and] appears to have been put into
place," State Department deputy spokesperson
Marie Harf said.

"We would welcome that ceasefire, call on all
parties both to implement and maintain such a
ceasefire, and hope that such a ceasefire would
herald the return of peace to the northeast.
"This is a region that has had far too little of
that."
But she said it was Washington's "understanding
that the negotiations about a deal to release the
girls continue."
With 80 US military personnel sent to
neighbouring Chad for intelligence, surveillance
and reconnaissance, the United States is the
biggest foreign participant in the effort against
the Islamic militants, Boko Haram, who have
terrorised parts of northern Nigeria.
Washington has also deployed surveillance
drones, spy planes and about 30 civilian and
military specialists to support Nigeria's security
forces.

Riot at Kirikiri Prisons, Inmates Feared Dead

A number of inmates have been killed after
soldiers stationed at the Kirikiri Medium Prison,
Lagos were called in to quell a riot which broke
among inmates of the prison on Friday, an
eyewitness has told Saturday PUNCH.
Saturday PUNCH learnt from a source who
pleaded anonymity that a protest against the
seizure of a ceiling fan belonging to an inmate
degenerated into the riot which might have
claimed the lives of a number of the prisoners.
Our source, who witnessed the incident, said the
shooting started around 1.30pm.
He said, “Someone brought in a ceiling fan for an
inmate referred to as the ‘general-overseer’ of
the prison’s Christian denomination. But the fan
was seized by the officer in-charge of the
prisons, who also allegedly ordered the inmate
detained.
“The inmate said he was the owner of the ceiling
fan and only sent it out of the prison for
repairs.”
According to this source, the inmate was later
released after protests by his colleagues who felt
he was being unjustly punished. But the situation
was said to have degenerated beyond control,
necessitating the intervention of soldiers at the
prisons.
“By the time the inmate was released, the other
prisoners had started throwing stones at
windows and getting violent. The soldiers shot
sporadically at the inmates as they ran into their
cells, but many of them were hit,” our source
said.
As of the time of filing this report, there was no
confirmation on the actual number of prisoners
killed but our source claimed to have seen the
dead bodies of a number of inmates and some
injured prisoners with bullet wounds being
transported to the hospital within the prison.
But the spokesperson for the Nigerian Prisons
Service, Mr. Ope Fatinikun, told our
correspondent on the phone that there was
indeed a riot at the prison, which he claimed
was not violent.
He said, “No inmate was shot at, but 12 of them
who sustained minor injuries have been given
treatment.
“If anybody tells you he saw dead bodies of shot
inmates, he should provide pictures. We have
passed that stage something like that could not
have happened without someone getting a
picture.”

Eleven States Resume Today After Forced Ebola Holidays

Schools in at least 11 states of the country are
set to resume a new academic session today
(Wednesday) after a forced holiday occasioned
by the Ebola Virus Disease outbreak.
The states which had earlier shunned the
September 22 resumption date announced by the
Federal Government, picked October 8, as a more
realistic resumption date to enable them to put
in place the logistics required to prevent the
spread of the Ebola Virus Disease and also
observe the Eid-el-Kabir holiday.
Some of the states commencing academic
activities today include Rivers, Benue, Lagos,
Ekiti and Oyo.
Others are Kano, Kogi, Akwa -Ibom, Ebonyi, Ogun
and Kwara states.
However, some states such as Niger, Zamfara
and Adamawa, will resume on October 13.
In a telephone interview with our correspondent
on Tuesday, the National President, Nigerian
Union of Teachers, Mr. Michael Alogba, said the
resumption was not nationwide as schools in
some states had earlier resumed classes, having
received the preventive equipment from the
government.
The NUT had ordered its members to stay at
home until the materials, such as digital non-
contact thermometers, soaps, sanitisers and
basins were provided.
“I’m sorry I don’t have a comprehensive list right
now. But I know Lagos and Ogun states are
resuming tomorrow. Our directive was that state
wings of NUT should monitor the degree of
compliance with the provision of safety measures
and formally notify us. But the resumption
tomorrow (Wednesday) is not nationwide. Some
have resumed earlier. Many of them have
reported total compliance to us and they include
Lagos, Ogun, Rivers and Ebonyi states,” he said.
Asked what lessons were learnt with the Ebola
Virus Disease scare, Alogba said that the disease
had revealed the underbelly of the education
sector.
“It has exposed the deplorable state of hygiene
in our schools. Ordinarily, we don’t need to cry
to the high heavens before we could have water
in our schools. But the EVD has exposed our
shortcomings. Let everybody begins to do what
is right. Government should know that it is
accountable to the people,’’ he added.
However, the fate of pupils attending Federal
Government colleges still hangs in the balance.
Alogba, who admitted issues in the unity schools
said, “The problems in the Federal Government
colleges are multi-dimensional. Aside from the
Ebola-imposed holiday, there are other issues
with the members of staff. As long as those
problems persist, the Federal Government
colleges will continue to remain under lock and
key.’’
The Association of Senior Civil Servants of
Nigeria had last month ordered its members to
go on strike over the inability of the Federal
Government to pay their promotion arrears from
2007 to 2010.
In a statement, the ASCSN Secretary-General,
Mr. Alade Lawal, said, “By this decision, the 104
Federal Unity Colleges will not re-open for the
next academic session scheduled to begin on
September 22. Records available to us indicate
that the Federal Ministry of Education had
collected the money meant for the settlement of
these arrears from the Federal Ministry of
Finance,’’ he said.

Di Maria Voted United’s Player Of The Month

Angel Di Maria has rounded off an impressive September with a Player of the Month award at Manchester United.

The club’s record signing has already become an influential player for Louis van Gaal at Old Trafford and was the clear winner of the award winning 68 per cent of the vote.

Ander Herrera and Rafael were given 23 per cent and 9 per cent of the votes respectively, but the Argentinian playmaker won the ManUtd.com online poll.

Di Maria opened his Manchester United account against QPR, before scoring an early goal of the season contender against Leicester.

“I am very happy to have received the award but I’ve got to stress that it’s all about the team,’ Di Maria told ManUtd.com. I’m happy that my career here at Manchester United has started very well, and I hope that what I’m doing out there on the field is helping us to pick up points and victories.”

Residents Scooping Fuel As Tanker Crashes In Kwara

Danger may currently be lurking in Osin
community in Ilorin East Local Government Area
of Kwara State as residents of the settlement are
scrambling to scoop fuel spilled in the area after
a fuel tanker crashed on Saturday.
A resident of the village, who made a desperate
call to PUNCH Online on Saturday, feared that
the worst might happen if concerned authorities
failed to respond to their calls urgently.
The resident, a male(name withheld), alleged
that four days ago, there was an accident in the
community, located along the Ilorin-Jebba Road,
saying the State Emergency Management
Agency, which promised to come to the scene,
failed to show up.
“Today again, this morning, a fuel tanker crashed
some minutes ago; its content is currently
spilling around and people are scooping fuel in
the area. We have called the same management
agency but as I’m talking to you now, they
(members of the agency) have not shown up,
though they promised they would come,” says
the resident.
“There is still fuel in the tanker that had an
accident in this place four days ago, it has not
been evacuated. If any place goes up in flame
around this area, every body will be in trouble.”
Our correspondent called Alhaji Abdulwahab Oba,
the Chief Press Secretary to Governor
Abdulfattah Ahmed, who promised to call on
relevant agencies to race to the scene and put
the situation under control.

Senate President David Mark and former Lagos State Governor and a national leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on Friday held separate closed-door meetings with former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The meetings were held at Obasanjo’s Hilltop residence in Abeokuta.

Both Mark and Tinubu said the issues discussed bordered on the state of the nation.

Tinubu came ahead of Mark. Emerging from the venue of the meeting, he said he had discussion with Obasanjo on “some of his former boys” who would vie for elective positions in the 2015 general elections, especially the Presidency.

He said, “We are here to pay homage to our former President and discuss with him because he has a number of influences in the political sphere.

“We need to talk to find out his thinking about Nigeria and the future. We need to seek his observation on some of his former boys who are running for Presidency in our party.”

He, however, said there was nothing worth celebrating about Nigeria’s 54th independence anniversary since the country remained “an invalid baby in incubator.”

Mark who arrived the Hilltop residence at about 2.0pm left around 3.45pm.

He also described Obasanjo as the father of the nation with a wealth of experience.

The Senate President told journalists after the meeting that he had come with his team, including Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan; the Peoples Democratic Party Women Leader, Mrs. Josephine Anenih; and Senator Polycarp Nwite, among others to discuss with the former President and raise some basic issues that affect both the party and the nation.

He said, “We discussed issues that will move Nigeria forward because Chief Obasanjo’s love for Nigeria is unquantifiable. So, we had a good discussion with him.”