24 Mar 2017

Igwe Kingsley Skyblings

Scores Dead As Migrant Boats Capsize Off Libya





Five migrants were found dead in the sea off Libya on Thursday after the boats they were travelling in sank, likely carrying hundreds more to their deaths, an aid organisation said.

Proactiva Open Arms, one of several groups operating in the area, said it was notified that an inflatable boat was sinking and found another going down shortly afterwards.

“We brought on board five corpses recovered from the sea, but no lives. It is a harsh reality check of the suffering here that is invisible in Europe’’, the group wrote on Facebook.

Given the size of the boats, which are often packed with people by smugglers in Libya, there were probably more than 100 people in each, Proactiva spokeswoman Laura Lanuza said.

A spokesperson for Italy’s coast guard, which coordinates and participates in rescues, confirmed the five bodies were on board Proactive’s ship, the Golfo Azzurro, which he said would remain in the area in case of any emergency calls.

A rising number of migrants are attempting to cross the central Mediterranean this year after a deal between the European Union and Turkey largely shut down a route to Greece.

A total of 559 deaths have been recorded in the Mediterranean so far this year, according to the International Organisation for Migration. About 5,000 were recorded for the whole of 2016.
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Check Out Who Ghanaian Actress, Juliet Ibrahim Is Now Dating



From them posting each others photos on their pages with lovely messages, and organizing a surprise birthday for her, the pair have made it official! See more photos after the cut...











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Family of Suicidal doctor who jumped into lagoon repels journalists and sympathizers




It has been alleged that the  family of late Dr. Orji Allwell Chiawolamoke, who jumped into the Lagoon on Sunday from the Third Mainland Bridge while on his way back from church, yesterday chased sympathisers and journalists away from their Abule-Ijesha home at Somolu area of Lagos State. This came as the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, established a Suicide Prevention Service Centre. About noon, Orji’s elder brother arrived and rushed into the apartment.
A few minutes later, he ordered all the sympathisers, journalists and church members to leave. Orji’s elder brother, who was visibly angry, marched everybody to the gate and thereafter shut it. He warned journalists, who besieged their house to leave as the death of their brother was a complex one. He said: “We don’t want to see
family members, journalists and neighbours. We are mourning our brother; we need privacy to sort out something. We didn’t invite journalists.”

This was confirmed by an emergency response team member, who craved anonymity. He said: “The last time I called the family, one of them reigned courses on me until I informed him that I was not a journalist but an emergency officer.”

It was observed that those who came to sympathise with Orji’s mother didn’t stay long before taking their leave. Once they stepped out, the gate would be slammed, to prevent people from entering. Efforts to get the burial plans proved abortive as none of the members was ready to comment on the issue. It was learnt that family members were angry with the way the media carried their tragic story.

A source said that Orji’s relatives were angry that what was seen as the most tragic incident in the family was blown out of proportion and celebrated by the media. Meanwhile, emergency responders told our correspondent that construction workers in a Japanese firm discovered the body floating on the water.

One of them, who claimed to have received a text message via the Lagos State Environment and Health Monitoring Unit (SEHMU), an agency responsible for picking up of bodies on the road or disaster victims, said the doctor’s body was found about 3:48 p.m. on Wednesday.

The source said: “Immediately the construction workers sighted the body, they informed their Japanese bosses who then tied it to one of the vessels to prevent it from floating to other area owing to tidal waves movement. That was when they alerted the Marine Police, SEHMU, Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and other emergency responders.

“When they arrived, they moved the body to the Marine Police Headquarters at Awolowo Road, before the state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, was informed. The family members were invited and they confirmed that the body was Orji’s.”

When the New Telegraph visited the hospital yesterday, there was no sign of a condolence register opened in honour of the doctor. Also, no photograph of Orji was hung inside or outside the hospital, to indicate the tragic loss. Rather, normal hospital operations went on as usual. Patients were in the patients’ waiting area.
A doctor on duty, who did not give his name, referred the New Telegraph to the headquarters of Mt. Sinai at 30, Falolu Street, Lawanson in Lagos, where he said official comment from the hospital would be issued from. When asked whether a condolence register has been opened in honour of Orji at the headquarters, he said, “I have not been to the headquarters in Falolu, hence I don’t know. You will find out if you get there.

“At the appropriate time, Mt. Sinai, as a corporate organisation, would make its plan known (in connection with the burial).” The doctor added that the hospital was already in touch with Orji’s family. When told that those at the headquarters might not know Orji since he did not work there, the doctor said: “They employed him.”

However, efforts to get the comment of the Medical Director at the Mt. Sinai Headquarters were resisted by a front desk officer. Responding to the request from the New Telegraph to see the medical director, the receptionist said: “He is not around.”

As it was at the Papa Ajao branch, no condolence register was opened for Orji at the Mt. Sinai Headquarters at Falolu. When our correspondent visited Ojuelegba District of the Deeper Life Church yesterday, the pastor refrained from commenting on Orji’s suicide.

According to him, the authority to speak on such matters must be obtained from the General Overseer, Pastor W. F. Kumuyi.

However, a member of the church’s marriage committee, who identified himself as Mr. Ibekwe, said Oji’s action was an embarrassment to all the members of Deeper Life. Ibekwe said the mother of the deceased was a pastor in the church.

As if responding to Orji’s death, LUTH has initiated what it called the Suicide Research and Prevention Initiative and Staff Emotional Care Services (SURPIN/SECS). The hospital’s Chief Medical Director (CMD), Prof. Chris Bode, said the centre would collaborate with other relevant government agencies to help save lives and prevent death by suicide both locally and nationally.

Source;  New Telegraph
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Kemi Olunloyo's bail hearing was stalled...See Why






The absence of a magistrate, Alatuwo Fubara, at the Port Harcourt Magistrate’s Court on Thursday stalled the hearing on bail application of a blogger, Kemi Olunloyo, and a Port Harcourt-based publisher, Samuel Walson.

Olunloyo, the daughter of a former Governor of Oyo State, Omololu Olunloyo, and Walson were arrested for allegedly publishing materials believed to have defamed a frontline cleric, Pastor David Ibiyeomie, of the Salvation Ministries in Port Harcourt.
According to Punch, though they were expected to appear in court in the morning, it was gathered that the absence of Fubara, who was expected to preside over the matter caused them to stay back in prison.


The magistrate was said to be unable to come to the court as a result of ill health.

While the duo’s lawyers and counsel for Salvation Ministries were present at the court, majority of those at the magistrate court were journalists and bloggers, who came to cover the hearing and also showed solidarity with their colleagues.

Olunloyo was arrested in Lagos, while Walson was apprehended in Port Harcourt. They were remanded in the Port Harcourt Prison.

Some of their friends told journalists that the suspects were currently having health challenges.


The court, however, fixed March 30, 2017, for hearing on the bail application of the journalists.
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