The Nigerian Army said on Friday that three soldiers and seven
civilians died in a clash between soldiers and some residents of Kpaidna
community in Niger.
Major Njideka Agwu, the Assistant Director, Army Public Relations, 31
Artillery Brigade, Minna, said that the incident occurred at 2.00 a.m.
on Friday in the community located in Bosso Local Government Area of the
state.
He said, "The 31 Artillery Brigade of the Nigeria Army, Minna, was on
a joint operation with the Nigeria Air Force Quick Response Group in
the area when we were attacked by the villagers.
"We were on a cordon and search operation in the village because we
got intelligence report that there were caches of arms and ammunitions
in the area.
"During the operation, three soldiers and seven civilians lost their
lives, while 57 villagers were arrested by the joint operation.''
Agwu said that arms and ammunition were discovered during the operation which was still ongoing.
She said, "Trouble started when some of the villagers denied the
military access to their houses to enable soldiers search for arms and
ammunition believed to be stockpiled there.
"During the clash, six operation vehicles belonging to the army were
destroyed by the villagers; four were set ablaze while two were
vandalised.''
Agwu enjoined law abiding citizens in the area to go about their
normal businesses as the operation was to safeguard lives and property.
She urged members of the public with useful information that would
lead to the recovery of arms and ammunitions in the area to report to
the nearest security agency.
DSP Bala Elkanah, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state,
confirmed the incident which he described as "purely military matter.''
He said, "It was purely a military operation. We (police) were not involved."
Thousands of Brazilians angry at political upheaval, corruption and
the cost of the Rio Olympics blocked traffic in protests Friday ahead of
the gala opening ceremony.
About 3,000 people occupied the busy avenue running along Copacabana
beach, while a smaller crowd including radical leftists faced off with
mounted police near the Maracana stadium where the opening was to be
staged.
Most people came to vent anger at center-right interim president
Michel Temer who took power in May on the suspension of elected leftist
president, Dilma Rousseff. She faces an impeachment trial that
supporters claim amounts to a coup.
Demonstrators also targeted the Olympics, saying the billions of
dollars spent on staging South America's first Games fueled corruption
and only helped the elite.
Waving signs that read "No to the Olympics!" and "Temer out!",
protesters gathered outside the luxury Copacabana Palace Hotel where
many Olympic team members are staying.
Guests with Olympic accreditation around their necks looked down from
the hotel terrace, while the crowd jeered vehicles taking Olympic VIPs
and athletes through the upscale neighborhood.
When a limousine surrounded by police outriders came through, the
crowd surged forward, chanting "no to the coup" and "putschists,
fascists, we won't let them pass!"
Soon after, about 500 people gathered close to the 78,600 capacity
Maracana stadium where Temer was to oversee the Olympics opening
ceremony.
"There won't be an Olympic torch!" chanted the crowd, confronting a
line of about 20 mounted police and many more on foot in riot gear.
"This party wasn't done for the people. The Games don't come close to
the reality lived by the poor. So I'm protesting against the lack of
finances for our schools and for the way our salaries are only paid in
instalments," said teacher Guilherme Moreira Dias, 38.
The protests were the latest unwelcome distraction for the government and Olympic organisers as the Games start.
Authorities are also dealing with rampant crime, including a
lengthening list of muggings against Olympic delegates and journalists,
despite the deployment of 85,000 soldiers and police to protect the
Games.
Just a facade
Protesters, many of them from Rousseff's leftist Workers' Party, said
Brazil's deep economic and social problems are being swept under the
carpet for the Olympics.
"They're holding the Olympics when people are having a very hard
time," said Ricardo Parents 59, a psychologist who came to the
Copacabana protest.
"The Olympics is a facade, it's for show. It doesn't represent the
reality of Brazil. They want to show everything nice and perfect."
Over and over again the crowd chanted "Temer out" and called for Rousseff's return.
She is charged with breaking budgetary laws and looks certain to be
thrown out of office by the Senate in the next few weeks at the end of
an impeachment process that she says has been manipulated by Brazil's
right, calling Temer the chief "conspirator."
"I am demonstrating for democracy in Brazil. The world is watching so
we are here to denounce the coup," said one demonstrator, Iraci Franca,
57, a nurse.
"It's very hard right now in Rio state for education and health
because of the lack of funds and non-payment of salaries," she said.
Rio de Janeiro won the right in 2009 to host the Olympic Games at a
time when Brazil was economically and politically on the rise. The
collapse in stability and wealth since then has been brutal.
Temer is to open the Games while Rousseff and her predecessor and
political mentor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva have refused to attend the
ceremony.
With opponents promising to boo Temer at the stadium, organizers plan
to play loud music immediately after his remarks and mask the heckling,
according to Brazilian media.
"We want to take advantage when the world's attention is on Brazil to
denounce what's happening, how we are on the path to dictatorship,"
said one demonstrator, Ubiratan Delgado, a 59-year-old engineer in
Copacabana.
"We're not against the Olympics, it's the criminal Olympics we oppose."
Chief Raymond Dokpesi on Friday described as unfortunate, the
decision of Peoples Democratic Party leaders from the South to zone the
position of the party's national chairman to the South-West.
He said the action was a repeat of the same mistake that he said led the party to where it was today.
Dokpesi stated this in a statement by his Media Aide, Mr. Omor Bazuaye, in Abuja.
Dokpesi was also said to have taken his campaign to the North-West.
He was said to have told delegates in Kano to do the right thing by
voting their conscience at the August 17 national convention in Port
Harcourt, Rivers State.
"Leaders of the South met and decided to micro-zone to the
South-West. These are the same things we did that brought the party to
its knees," he was quoted as saying.
"I have come here pleading and begging that if I become National chairman it is me and you that would be chairman."
Donald Trump, the embattled Republican presidential nominee, has made
a successful campaign out of incendiary rhetoric and defying political
correctness.
But the plain-talking political outsider has stepped in it repeatedly
over the past week, so much so that members of his own party are
begging him to stay on message in his battle against Democratic rival
Hillary Clinton.
Here are six of Trump's biggest gaffes since last week.
- Russian hacks
Trump alarmed American voters and his own supporters when he urged
Russia to find and release emails that disappeared from Clinton's
private server while she was secretary of state.
"Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000
emails that are missing," Trump said during a July 27 press conference.
"I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press."
Democrats - and some furious Republicans - seized on the comments to
highlight how Trump invited a foreign power to conduct espionage against
the United States.
Trump backtracked the next day: "Of course I'm being sarcastic."
- Gold Star gaffe
Trump's denigration of the family of a fallen Muslim American soldier was seen by many as a monumental mis-step.
Khizr Khan, a Pakistani immigrant whose son died in a suicide bombing
in Iraq in 2004, pricked Trump by telling the Democratic National
Convention last Thursday that Trump has "sacrificed nothing, and no
one," for the country.
The Republican shot back on ABC News that he has made "a lot of
sacrifices," then raised the stakes by tweeting: "Mr. Khan, who does not
know me, viciously attacked me from the stage of the DNC."
The remarks, and Trump's refusal to apologize for suggesting that
Khan's wife stood silently at his side at the convention because she was
not allowed to speak, triggered an uproar within his party, with John
McCain decrying the attack on a Gold Star family.
Trump stood firm, even as some Republicans openly vowed to vote for Clinton.
"I don't regret anything," Trump told WJLA-TV on Tuesday.
- Harassment?
Just as his campaign reeled under the Khan fallout, Trump invited fresh criticism for comments some branded as victim blaming.
In an interview with USA Today published on August 1, Trump was asked
about the sexual harassment accusations against Fox News boss Roger
Ailes, who resigned last month amid the scandal.
What if daughter Ivanka were similarly harassed, Trump was asked: "I
would like to think she would find another career or find another
company," he responded.
- Paul Ryan rebuff
Like many of his colleagues, House Speaker Paul Ryan issued a stern statement Sunday criticizing Trump's clash with the Khans.
In a move that highlighted Trump's vindictive reputation, Trump said
Tuesday that he was "just not quite" ready to endorse Ryan, the nation's
top elected Republican, in his congressional re-election. Ryan squares
off next week against a primary challenger who has praised Trump.
Ryan then warned Trump during a radio interview that his support was not a blank check.
- Purple Heart
Trump had the opportunity to bounce back Tuesday after the Khan
fiasco, when a supporter gave him a Purple Heart, the American medal
awarded to soldiers wounded in combat, as a gift.
"I always wanted to get the Purple Heart," said Trump. "This was much easier."
Trump has never served in the military. The New York Times reported
that he received five draft deferments in the 1960s during the war in
Vietnam.
- Cry baby
The crying baby is an American presidential campaign staple. On
Tuesday, when a baby repeatedly cried as Trump delivered a speech in
Virginia, the nominee came across as unprepared.
"Don't worry about that baby. I love babies," he said. "I hear that baby crying, I like it. I like it!"
"It's young and beautiful and healthy and that's what we want."
Minutes later, when the baby cried out again, Trump sang a different tune.
"Actually, I was only kidding, you can get the baby out of here," he said.
The Acting Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, has
assured the organised Labour that any police personnel indicted in the
shooting of protesting workers at the gate of the Nasarawa Government
House, Lafiya, penultimate Friday, would be made to face the law.
Ibrahim said that the police would not tolerate destruction of human
lives because the very essence of the force was service to humanity.
The IGP made the comment while receiving the leadership of the
organised Labour led by the Presidents of the Nigeria Labour Congress
and the Trade Union Congress Messrs. Ayuba Wabba and Bala Kaigama, at
the Force Headquarters, Abuja, on Friday.
The delegation of the organised Labour was at the Force headquarters
to solicit the support of the IGP in their call for justice in the
killing of two of their colleagues by policemen at the Nasarawa
Government House, Lafia.
The IGP said, "So what I am assuring you is that whoever is indicted,
we are going to take appropriate action according to our regulations.
In fact, that is the essence of the rule of law."
Idris said he had spoken with the state Governor and the Commissioner
of Police in the state because of how seriously the police took the
issue.
"I am just making a promise to all of you that we are going to take
the necessary action against anybody involved in this kind of behaviour.
Like I said, there is no form of police organisation that sanctions the
taking of human life; no way, we don't do that.
"And live weapons are used only in some special circumstances, that
is, if the officer is under threat of life, a reciprocal behavior. You
cannot use it on people that are going on a peaceful demonstration or
procession; you don't use live ammunition on them."
Approximately 53% of students who sat for the 2016 May/June West African Senior Certificate Examination (WASSCE) have passed.
According to the results released on Friday, August 5, by the West
African Examination Council (WAEC) in Lagos, 137,295 candidates
(representing 8.89%) had their results withheld.
The total number of candidates who passed had credit passes in five
subjects including English Language and Mathematics was 878,040 which
represented 52.97%, a stark contrast to the 2014 and 2015 breakdown
where 31.28% and 38.68% respectively had the same ratings.
Vanguard quotes Olu Adenipekun, the Nigerian head of WAEC as saying:
"the cases are being investigated and reports of the investigations will
be presented to the appropriate committee of the Council in due course
for consideration."
He informed also that 1,552,758 candidates sat for this year's
examination May/June examination, explaining further that out of the
1,544,234 who sat for the exams, "a total of 1,014,573 candidates,
representing 65.70% obtained six (6) credits and above; one million one
hundred sixty seven thousand four hundred and eighty four (1,167,484)
candidates, representing 75.60% obtained five (5) credits and above,
while one million two hundred and eighty two thousand two hundred and
four (1,282,204) candidates, representing 83.03% obtained credit and
above in four (4) subjects."
1,370,049 candidates, representing 88.72% obtained credit and above
in three subjects just as 1,438,679 candidates, representing 93.16% had
credit passes and above in two subjects.
Candidates are to log on to the official website of WAEC: http://www.waecdirect.org to check their results within the next 24 hours.
