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Three Years Jotna expresses disagreement with Coalition stakeholders
We are totally against the decision championed by Fatoumata Jallow-Tambanjang to extend the coalition’s agreed term from 3 to 5 years, Said Hagie Suwaneh, vice chairperson of the operation at the press briefing.
He continued; “Fatoumatta Jallow Tambajang individually tasked some members of the Barrow supported camp to join her on the issue of five years.
Mr. Suwaneh said it also came to their attention that some local parties have never supported the president’s five years mandate. “We will never recognize the announcement made by Fatoumatta Jallow Tambajang and her co.”
“We are calling on Fatoumatta Jallow Tambajang to withdraw her statement given on 27th day of September, 2019.”
DLEAG arrests 2 with cocaine
Both suspects, he said, are under their custody as investigation into the matter continues. “DLEAG will continue on our efforts in making the country free from drugs and its related issues.”
Commenting on the concealment method and the way the cocaine was discovered with the first suspect, PRO Saidybah added: “Some quantities were placed in socks, and hidden in his boxer around his private part and some other quantities in the socks he wore. Our operatives are well trained and are always on alert.”
On The second accused, he said, the suspected cocaine was hidden inside his boxer and placed around the many jujus he tied around his waist. “Both suspects have European residential documents. They were planning on traveling to Spain through Banjul International Airport. From their tickets they were booked with Binter Canary for Las Palmas from Banjul International Airport,” he said.
The DLEAG PRO added that Sequel Balde is a Bissau Guinean residing in France and also holding a Portuguese passport, while Seco Balde is a Bissau Guinean residing in Spain and also holds Spanish residential permit, adding that both suspects were on board a commercial vehicle.
It could be recalled that, Bakary Gassama, the director general of the Drug Law Enforcement Agency The Gambia (DLEAG) once hinted that The Gambia could be a target of Drug Trafficking Organisations who are taking advantage of her strategic location to both South America and Europe as a drug trafficking route.
He said there are indications that the country can be used as a transit point for drugs coming from South America and some parts of Africa to the targeted markets in Europe and U.S.A. “Therefore, it is imperative to prepare well in terms of both human capacity and equipment to respond adequately to the illegal and clandestine activities of these organisations.”
It could be also recalled that DLEAG, The Office Central de Re’pression du Trafic Illicite de Stepfiants (OCRITS) of Senegal and The Judiciary Police of Guinea Bissau two months back signed a ‘historic’ Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the three countries. The MOU is aimed at combating drug trafficking, organised crimes and its related issues.
The MOU will enable the three countries to exchange information and intelligence, join training and border patrols in the fight against drug trafficking and organised crime. The MOU is also capable of tactically re-positioning their front-line officers in making the sub-region a hostile environment for criminals.
Rescue of pregnant teens in Nigeria
Nigerian police raids a suspected child trafficking company and rescued 19 teens and women who are pregnant. This company was suspected to have planned to sell the babies. Said the spokesman of police
The victims, ranging in age from 15 to 28, were found in different locations in Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city, in a police raid earlier this month, police said.
Two women accused of operating homes where the victims were found have been arrested on suspicion of selling babies, and investigators are searching for a prime suspect in the case, Lagos police spokesman Bala Elkana said.
Four children also were freed in the raid, police said. The captors also are accused of planning to sell these children; investigators still are trying to determine where these children came from, police said.
The two arrested suspects still were in police custody Monday.
We got reports based on intelligence information about activities of individuals who were keeping pregnant women and babies to sell them after delivery,” Lagos police spokesman Bala Elkana
The pregnant teens and women are from different parts of the country. Some said their traffickers kidnapped them, while others said they were lured to the city by the traffickers who promised them domestic jobs, Elkana said.
Police said some of the victims were persuaded by their traffickers to sell their babies.
“Some were told that there is a place where babies are sold and they came voluntarily. Some were promised jobs that turned out to be fake when they got to the city, and the (traffickers) forced them to stay, ” Elkana
According to police, the traffickers were selling male babies for 500,000 naira (around $1,378) and female babies for 300,000 naira ($827).
Police said the rescued victims will be handed over to Nigeria’s anti-trafficking agency and relevant authorities for rehabilitation.
Senegalese peacekeepers killed in CAR helicopter crash
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) — Three Senegalese UN peacekeeping crew members were killed and the fourth one injured in the crash of an Mi-24 helicopter in the Central African Republic (CAR) on Friday, a UN spokesperson said.
The helicopter was attempting an emergency landing due to bad weather conditions in Bouar west of the Central African Republic. said Stephane Dujarric.
The helicopter was providing air support to a security operation by the UN mission against an armed group in the Nana-Mambere prefecture, Dujarric said.
“The secretary-general, and the United Nations, extend their heartfelt condolences to the families of the fallen peacekeepers, as well as to the government and people of Senegal,” the spokesman said.
Jessye Norman dies at 74
A statement released to The Associated Press on Monday said Norman died at 7:54 a.m. EDT from septic shock and multi-organ failure secondary to complications of a spinal cord injury she sustained in 2015. She died at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital in New York, and was surrounded by loved ones.
“We are so proud of Jessye’s musical achievements and the inspiration that she provided to audiences around the world that will continue to be a source of joy. We are equally proud of her humanitarian endeavors addressing matters such as hunger, homelessness, youth development, and arts and culture education,” the family statement read.
She is a native of Augusta, Georgia, Norman was one of the rare black singers to reach fame in the opera world. She established herself in Europe in the 1970s and made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1983.
Omoyele Sowore Nigerian journalist charged with treason is granted bail
A detained Nigerian journalist and former presidential candidate charged with treason has been granted bail but remains in custody, one of his lawyers told CNN on Tuesday.
Nigeria’s secret police have been holding, Omoyele Sowore, founder of a New York-based news site since his arrest August 3.
He was initially detained by the Department of State Services (DSS) for calling a nationwide demonstration against President Muhammadu Buhari’s government, but formal charges against Sowore, including treasonable felony, cyberstalking and money laundering, were made public only last week.
A court in Abuja ordered the journalist to be immediately released pending his arraignment, according to court documents seen by CNN.
His lawyer, Femi Falana, said the journalist is being held illegally and accused the government of bringing up trumped-up charges against him.
“We are saying the machinery of the state cannot be used to harass political opponents,” Falana told CNN.
DSS spokesman Peter Afunnaya told CNN the case was before the court and declined to make further comment. Afunnaya said he would “get back” with more information about the journalist’s whereabouts.
parents mourns their children in Nairobi
At least seven students have been killed and scores wounded after a classroom collapsed in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, according to emergency services.
The incident at the two-storey Precious Talent Top School took place a few minutes after 7am local time (04:00 GMT) on Monday.
Al Jazeera correspondent Catherine Wambua-Soi said that rescue efforts were finished, with reports of seven deaths and 64 injured so far.
“It was a two-storey structure that was constructed using metal sheets and some wood, and a concrete slab to separate the two stories,” Wambua-Soi said, reporting from the location of the accident.
“People we’ve talked to said the concrete slab was reinforced very poorly and the government has said it wants to investigate how safe the building was,” she added.
According to Kenya Red Cross communications manager Peter Abwao, the school has some 800 pupils aged below 14.
Wambua-Soi added that the private school was located in a relatively poor neighbourhood.
“Children who come to this school would probably come from families that are not able to afford more expensive private schools, and the nearest public school was about two kilometres away,” she said.
“It’s schools like this one that are regularly badly constructed, made of iron sheets and concrete that is poorly reinforced.”
Wambua-Soi said the mostly-poor parents might not even be able to pay for the hospital, but that the government has promised it will foot the hospital bills for those affected by this.
WHO: Tanzania not sharing information on suspected Ebola cases
The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a rare public rebuke to Tanzania over its failure to provide detailed information on suspected Ebola cases.
In a statement on Saturday, the UN health agency said it learned on September 10 of the death of a person in Tanzania’s commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, two days earlier.
On September 11, WHO was “made aware of unofficial reports” the individual had tested positive for Ebola.
“Identified contacts of the deceased were unofficially reported to be quarantined in various sites in the country,” the agency’s statement said.
It added that WHO had also learned of two other non-fatal suspected infections, one of which reportedly tested negative, but despite repeated requests was provided with no further information from the country’s authorities on any of the three cases.
“To date, clinical data, results of the investigations, possible contacts and potential laboratory tests performed … have not been communicated to WHO,” the statement said.
“The limited available official information from Tanzanian authorities represents a challenge,” it added.
The Tanzanian government formally informed WHO on September 14 that it had no confirmed or suspected cases of Ebola. Health Minister Ummy Mwalimu told reporters on the same day that officials had investigated two recent cases of unknown illnesses, but they were not Ebola.
DR Congo to deploy second Ebola vaccine
Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have said they plan to introduce a second Ebola vaccine to tackle the second-worst outbreak of the virus in history.
The team overseeing DRC’s response announced the move on Saturday but did not say when the vaccine – manufactured by the US-based firm Johnson & Johnson – would be introduced.
It will complement another vaccine produced by US pharmaceutical giant Merck which has been administered to more than 220,000 people since the DRC’s Ebola epidemic erupted in the country’s eastern North Kivu and Ituri provinces in August 2018.
The Johnson & Johnson product has been a source of controversy among DRC health officials.
Former health minister Oly Ilunga Kalenga, who was stripped of oversight of the Ebola response in July, opposed its use, saying it had not been proven effective and could confuse local populations.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires two injections eight weeks apart, unlike the Merck vaccine, which requires a single shot. The Merck product is experimental but is estimated to be 97.5 percent effective and , according to the World Health Organization (WHO), may protect a person for up to 12 months.
In their statement, the current Ebola response team said the Johnson & Johnson product was also safe for deployment and noted that it was already being trialled in neighboring Uganda and in the West African country of Guinea.
“It is a vaccine that other countries already use. Why can’t we use it in Congo to protect our population?” the statement said.
The statement added that health officials intended to start by offering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to DRC traders who cross into Rwanda and then to residents of the province neighbouring the epicentre of the outbreak “to create a corridor of immunised people”.
First Lady Barrow receives distinguished global award for excellence at the UN
State House, Banjul, 22 September 2019 -Her Excellency Fatoumatta Bah-Barrow, the First Lady of the Republic of The Gambia on September 20, 2019, was honoured with the Distinguished Global Award for Excellence on the sidelines of the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly by the Global Empowerment Movement (GEM-USA). The award was in recognition of the work that she does to reduce extreme poverty, assisting marginalized rural women, girls and vulnerable children in The Gambia.
The First Lady was celebrated for her dedication and selfless work in various initiatives, including Children on the Move, to positively impact the lives of people ensuring that no woman, youth or child is left behind.
Madam Barrow has been exemplary at using her platform as First Lady to making a difference in terms of development and the protection of the rights of Gambian women and children with the support of various Government departments and development partners.
Present at the event were members of the Gambia mission and community, as well as representatives of the Nigerian First Lady amongst others.
GEM-USA is an international non-governmental organization that gives support to underprivileged women and families who are vulnerable to victimization/crimes of abuse, human trafficking, forced prostitution, and provides education to bring these heinous crimes to the attention of others.
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