Startech Safety And Security News Blog

Crowds rejoiced after a group of colonels seized power in Mali, a vast country stretching into the Sahara, where troops - including French soldiers and UN peacekeepers - are fighting jihadist groups, but not everyone is happy, writes West Africa analyst Paul Melly. Negotiations are rumoured to be under way for the exile of Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, deposed as president of Mali in a military putsch on Tuesday and currently detained with his son, his Prime Minister Boubou Cissé and a number of other senior government officials. But now Ecowas, the West African regional bloc to which Mali belongs, has laid down a firm line, with member heads of state issuing a call for Mr Keïta's reinstatement as president.  The weary-sounding 75-year-old had announced his enforced resignation in a televised statement around midnight on Tuesday, apparently from a room at the Kati army base, 15km (nine miles) from Bamako, where he and Mr Cissé had been taken by soldiers that afternoon. This came after mo

Dakar Senegalese officials say they have asked for 2,700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate - the chemical which caused a huge explosion in Beirut - to be removed from Dakar. The amount in Dakar's port, which is near residential areas, is nearly as much as was in the Lebanese capital. Officials say the chemical is part of a 3,050-tonne consignment destined for neighbouring Mali. Port officials say 350 tonnes has already been transported there. The government says the owner of the consignment has asked to store the chemical in a warehouse at Diamniadio, about 30km (20 miles) from Dakar. But the ministry of environment has not yet approved the request, saying the site has not met all the required conditions, including carrying out an environmental and social impact study. "We have asked the owner to make arrangements so that the product can be transported outside Senegal," one of the ministry officials Baba Drame told the AFP news agency. It is not clear who the owner of the consig

The Defence Headquarters has confirmed the death of three soldiers in a clash with insurgents in Kukawa town of Borno State.   Coordinator of the Defence Media Operations (DDMO), Major General John Enenche disclosed that 8 terrorists were killed in the clash which also left two other soldiers injured.   Eneche maintained that the attack by the terrorists was a deliberate attempt to reverse the milestone achievements recorded regarding IDPs in the areas of peace-building, reconstruction, rehabilitation and resettlement efforts by the Borno state government, and further affirmed that the situation in Kukawa was calm with troops in full control.   The statement read;    “During the incident, eight Boko Haram terrorists were neutralised and unconfirmed number escaped with gun shots wounds. “Unfortunately, three soldiers were fatally wounded and later gave up the ghost at the military medical reception station at kukawa military location.  “The Nigerian Armed Forces wishes to assure the gen

Police in Italy are investigating the death of a 4-year-old boy and his mother who both went missing before they were found dead with their bodies 'eaten by animals' in Sicily.   The corpse of DJ Viviana Parisi and her son Gioele Mondello, 4, were found five days apart after they went on an apparent shopping trip on August 3.   Her grey Opel Corsa crashed with a van carrying a group of workers, which left Ms Parisi's car with a punctured tyre. Viviana's lifeless body was found on August 8 in a woodland close to Caronia, not far from her abandoned car.     According to Mirror UK, she had a broken arm and animal bites.   Her son's body was later found 16 days after he vanished with her. Gioele's corpse had reportedly been decomposed so much his head was almost a skull when they found it 182 yards from the Messina to Palermo road where his mum had been involved in the crash.     Italian police suspect his body parts, found 300 yards from his mum's body, were mo

                             The Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has admitted that the elections that produced Olumide Akpata as President were not perfect but cannot be cancelled in response to a petition from one of the contestants, Dele Adesina.    Dele Adesina (SAN) who came third in the election, had petitioned NBA BoT to cancel the election in grounds of classical electronic fraud, illegal and unconstitutional process”.   He had also alleged that the appointment of the service provider for the NBA 2020 election was done solely by the NBA president and the voter list was not released by ECNBA until five hours to the election, in violation of the NBA Constitution.   Reacting to the petition, NBA's BoT stated that the election cannot be cancelled as it has no judicial authority to give direction to the NBA but can only advise.   The BoT’s reply dated August 19, 2020 ans by its chairman, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), read;    “The Trustees have given car

  A bereaved wife has begged the police to arrest her husband's killers.   Aderonke Balogun, 25, narrated how her husband, Sulaimon Ajayi, was rushed to a hospital following an attack on him. He was later discharged but was admitted again when he developed complications. He died days later in the hospital.   Trouble began when members of Ijegemo-Omilende community in Ado-Odo area of Ogun state woke up to find the mutilated body of a young man who was murdered and some of his body parts carted away by an unknown person.   They decided to form a vigilante group to guard the community. Unfortunately, in their efforts to secure the community, another person, Sulaimon Ajayi, was killed after some hoodlums led by a resident of the community attacked their vigilante group on 5th of August at about 11:55 pm.   Recounting what happened, Sulaimon’s younger brother, Dauda Ajayi, who was at the scene of the incident, said: "I was with my brother on the day of the incident.   "A week

A woman has been rescued from a septic tank three days after a man who stole her baby from her threw her in there.   The nursing mother named Mrs Chizoba Eke was pulled out alive but injured from the septic tank of an uncompleted building located at Igwuruta, Ikwerre Local Government Area, Rivers State.   Her attacker, simply identified as Chinedu was apprehended when he was trying to traffic her six months old baby through Omerelu, Rivers border with Imo State.   Mrs Eke, the nursing mother was kidnapped from her home with her baby on August 17, 2020, and forced into the septic tank after severe assault by her abductor.   The husband of the victim, Mr Eke also alleged that Chinedu had attempted to rape his wife when she was pregnant with the newborn.   Mr Eke said, “I was invited by the Police to come identify our baby, having lodged a complaint when both my wife and baby got missing. The suspect is known to me as Mr Chinedu. He had attempted raping my wife when she was pregnant.”   M

Police officers are on the look out for anyone with information about a set of goats that 'hijacked a police car in broad daylight'.   In the words of the Isle of White, UK police officers, they are in the hunt for some badly behaved 'kids' who damaged their vehicle and are appealing for witnesses.   According to police, the goats were pictured standing on top the police vehicle near Newport on Wednesday afternoon August 19, as Police had been called to the area after an unexploded bomb from World War II was discovered.    The police called the Royal Navy Explosives Team, travelled from Portsmouth to help destroy the unexploded bomb.     The officers, after detonating the bomb then returned to their car only to find their car damaged by the 'hooligans'.     The police is now asking if anyone can recognize the goats from the picture.    A police statement published in the police department's official Facebook page said: ‘In a field on the outskirts of Newport

                                        A 16-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped by 30 men in the coastal resort of Eilat in Israel.    According to the Times of Israel, the girl went to Police last Friday, August 14, to report that she was repeatedly assaulted while she was drunk in a hotel room.    Police say they have arrested two men so far and one of the suspects told investigators that a large group of men had sex with the girl but claimed that it was consensual.   Some of the men are alleged to have filmed the attacks on their phones, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz.    The first suspect was reportedly arrested after Police discovered there was video footage of the alleged rape.     Police say the alleged victim was not a guest at the hotel but had only gone there to drink with some of her friends. But when the girl went to the bathroom, she was allegedly taken to one of the hotel rooms and raped by the group of men, who all didn't know each other.     The report s

A 55-year-old man chained by his father for 30 years at Rogo LG in Kano state was rescued by the police and human rights organizations on Thursday, August 20.   This comes a few days after another man,  Ibrahim Lawan who was chained for 15 years  by his father in his apartment in Sheka quarters within Kano metropolis, was rescued by the police.   See more photos and video from the rescue of the 55-year-old man today.                                                                          Credit-LIB

Virginia Roberts, the woman who claims she was once the teenage sex slave of pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, has alleged former US president Bill Clinton, spent time on Epstein’s 'Pedophile' Island where be allegedly flirted with two women before vanishing with them both.   In newly unveiled documents totalling over 2000, of a lawsuit against Epstein and his high-profile friends, written hours before the pedo's prison suicide last year, she claimed the former US president joined her, Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein and two other women from New York for dinner.     She claims he teased the women with “playful pokes” and “brassy comments” before leaving with them at the end of the night.   Virginia wrote: “Strolling into the darkness with two beautiful girls around either arm, Bill seemed content to retire for the evening.”   Clinton has denied any close relationship with Epstein, denied knowledge of his crimes, instead linking their friendship to aid work in the developing world.   Ac

A father of a patient slapped and stabbed the medical doctor who was in charge of his child's case, it has been claimed.   A medical doctor narrated the story on Twitter as he discussed the "hazards" medical doctors are exposed to.   He wrote: "The kind of hazards Drs are exposed to is staggering! In Nigeria, added to the well known hazards, we have assault from patient relatives added! A female Dr was slapped & stabbed with a syringe (of unknown origin & use) in our Children Emergency by a patient's father. For what?   "The young Registrar on call took a blood sample from the man's child and asked him to take it to the lab. The lab scientists (as they sometimes do) said the sample was inadequate. The man returned angry. "Where is that Dr that is wasting my child's blood?" Gbas gbas gbos.   "The hospital needs to have a policy on assault on doctors. These things keep repeating! A dr once had to have CT scan done 2 rule out head

A 60-year-old fake doctor identified as Charles George has been arrested for treating COVID-19 patients.    The Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria who confirmed the suspect's arrest on Thursday August 20, said he was apprehended at his one-room apartment at Block 1, Julius Berger Junior Staff Quarters popularly known as Berger Camp in Kubwa, by police detectives from the office of the Commissioner of Police, Federal Capital Territory.   Syringe (for abortion) and kidney dish among others were recovered from the fake doctor who was accused of subjecting his clients to unprofessional medical treatment which “may lead to sudden and unnatural death.”   The police presented a fake letterhead and COVID-19 cure threat SMS which the suspect was allegedly blackmailing his clients with, said in its statement;   "George has been vetted as a regular customer of the FCDA Police Station and Kubwa Area Command Headquarters for several matters in connection with mixed medicine and extortio

A final year student in the Department of Biology Education, Nasarawa State University, lost his life while trying to rescue a trader who was being electrocuted at the GSM market in Keffi, the state capital on Monday, August 17.   According to reports, a mobile phone repairer, Junaudu Shaibu was about to pick up his tools when he was electrocuted by a nearby high tension wire. Zaidu had tried to rescue Shaibu when he got electrocuted as well.   He has since been buried according to Islamic injunctions.   His family and friends have taken to social media to mourn his passing. May his soul rest in peace, Amen.  

An Inspector of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has been arrested alongside 5 others for allegedly being involved in cattle rustling.    The suspects who were accused of terrorising Katsina and Zamfara states were intercepted with three trailer trucks loaded with 164 suspected rustled cows at Jibia Local Government Area of Katsina State by a combined team of customs and police officers in Katsina state capital.    Drivers of the three trucks identified as Muhammed Isah, Ibrahim Muhammed, Idris Muhammed, were arrested alongside one Alhaji Sa’idu Lawal of Garkudi in Jibia Local Government Area of Katsina State and Usman Muhammad who claims to have over 50 cows delegated to him to be taken to Buniyadi in Yobe state.   Police Public Relations Officer, SP Gambo Isah said;    “It may interest you to know that the command has also succeeded in arresting one inspector Abubakar Shafi’u with service number 36702 who is from the procurement department of the immigration headquarters, Abuja.

The Federal government says it would be also be banning flights from the European nations just as they have banned flights from Nigeria into their country.   As part of measures to contain the spread of the Coronavirus in its region, the European Union in June this year released a statement  listing some countries that are banned  from flying into any of the countries in the region, and Nigeria was included.   At the daily briefing of the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 on Thursday, August 20, the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, announced that the Federal government will be reciprocating the EU's decision. Airlines from the European Union would not be allowed to fly into Nigeria once the International flights resume operations in Nigeria on Saturday, August 29.   The minister, who was represented by the Director-General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Capt. Musa Nuhu, argued that the decision was taken in the interest of Nigerians. “On the list of countries (that are bann

Three foreigners who have been supplying arms and ammunition to bandits and other criminal groups operating in the North West region of the country, have been arrested by soldiers on internal security operations in Sokoto State.    The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) ???????spokesperson, Major General John Enenche said the suspects were profiled as Nigeriens and were arrested with arms at Dantudu in Mailailai District of Sabon Birni LGA of Sokoto State.   Weapons recovered from them include six AK-47 rifles, three AK-47 rifle magazines and 2,415 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition carefully concealed in various parts of their operational vehicle.   It was further learnt that the suspects are currently undergoing preliminary investigation in military custody, after which they would be handed over to the relevant prosecuting agency.   Eneche added;    “It, therefore, goes to show that some of the security challenges in the country have external influence. The suspects are currently in custody

Adewunmi Lawal, the Engineer who has been on the run after allegedly raping his neighbour’s daughter in the Itele, Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State, has been arrested by the police.    LIB reported earlier that the 16-year-old victim was raped after the suspect broke into their apartment shortly after her mother who is a widow, travelled to Badagry in Lagos State for prayers.   Ogun state police spokesperson, Abimbola Oyeyemi said the suspect was arrested in Lagos and the case has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for further investigation.   Oyeyemi said;     “He was arrested two days ago. He was sighted somewhere in Lagos because he was looking for ways to persuade the parents of the girl and in the process, he went to the office of a non-governmental organisation in Lagos; he wanted the NGO to invite the victim’s mother for them to resolve. “While he was there, we got information and quickly alerted our counterpart in Lag