Startech Safety And Security News Blog

The World Health Organisation has identified 13 high-risk African countries for coronavirus. They are Algeria, Angola, Ivory Coast, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. A statement from WHO said the identified African nations have direct links or a high volume of travel to China. "WHO has identified 13 top priority countries (Algeria, Angola, Cote d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia) which either have direct links or a high volume of travel to China. "To ensure rapid detection of the novel coronavirus, it is important to have laboratories which can test samples and WHO is supporting countries to improve their testing capacity. Since this is a new virus, there are currently only two referral laboratories in the African region which have the reagents needed to conduct such tests. "However, reagent kits...

In its continued efforts to boost its airlift and combat support capability for Armed Forces’ operations across the country, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) on the 29th of January 2020, ‘accepted’ back into service another C-130H aircraft, NAF 913, after a successful Periodic Depot Maintenance (PDM) within the country at the 631 Aircraft Maintenance Depot (631 ACMD), Ikeja, Lagos. According to its spokesman, Air Commodore Ibikunle Daramola, this brings to 2 the number of C-130H aircraft successfully reactivated in-country within the space of one year after NAF 917 was commissioned on 24 June 2019 upon completion of in-country PDM. Air Commodore Daramola in a statement noted that NAF 917 has since been involved in so many missions both within and outside the country, including the delivery of relief materials to flood victims in Mozambique and Zimbabwe as well as the movement of logistics for ongoing operations nationwide. Also inducted today were 3 additional Toyota Land Cruise...

Three of the four Catholic seminarians kidnapped by gunmen early January in Kaduna State have regained freedom. The four seminarians, who are students of the Catholic Good Shepherd Major Seminary Kakau in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, were kidnapped by heavily armed men who invaded the school. The Kaduna State Police Command, who confirmed the incident, had said the gunmen who were in military uniforms attacked the school on January 9, 2020, and made away with the four students. The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Yakubu Sabo, who confirmed the incident, told   The PUNCH   that but for the quick intervention of the operatives of the command, the kidnappers would have made away with more than four of the students. Sabo said, "The Command received a distress call through DPO Sabon Tasha of Chikun LGA, that in the early hours of today 09/1/2020 at about 0030hrs, some Armed Men in Military Camouflage gained entry into the Good Shepard Major Semina...

A former Michigan special education teacher has admitted to having sex with two students and giving one of them Xanax. On Tuesday, Kathryn Houghtaling pleaded no contest to sex and drug charges, according to Oakland County Circuit Court records obtained by PEOPLE. Houghtaling was arrested last January after having sex with one student in a car while other students watched. She also had sex with another student at his home in December 2018. She was caught after a parent found a video of a group of students partying with the teacher, the   Detroit News ,   WWJ   and the   Oakland Press   report . Houghtaling, then 26, was a first-year special education teacher at Rochester High School at the time. “The allegations are serious; they involve students. One was being taught by Ms. Houghtaling — that’s the allegation. They involve various sex acts in more than one location on more than one date through at least two months in the last year,” Judge Lisa Asa...

An off-duty police officer L/Cpl Kingsley Boahen has been gunned down by armed robbers at Mankessim in the Mfantseman Municipality in the Central Region. The incident took place in the early hours of yesterday when the deceased who was in mufti and walking along a road close to the scene of the armed robbery operation got hit by a bullet. According to the Central Regional Police PRO, ASP/Ms Irene Sowah Oppong, upon hearing that an armed robbery was taking place at the Zein Filling at Mankessim, the Divisional Command dispatched a patrol team to proceed to the location. Upon reaching the place, she said the armed robbers engaged police officers in a shootout but eventually scaled a nearby wall and fled. © REUTERS/Francis Kokoroko A police vehicle in a file photo A gunshot was heard nearby after the shootout and after a search, the lifeless body of the police officer was found. The body of the deceased was conveyed to the Cape Coast Hospital mortuary for preservation and...

The Benue State police command says it has apprehended 19 suspects for armed robbery and kidnapping in the state. Commissioner of Police in the state, Mukkadas Garba who disclosed this in a release, said the arrest of the suspects was part of efforts to maintain the peace and stability of the state. He said the command had employed various preventive measures including foot and vehicular patrols, regular stops and raids of black spots to secure the state. © YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images A picture shows the emblem of the Nigerian Police “During the period under review, 19 robbery/kidnap suspects were arrested; 10 arms and 28 ammunition were recovered from the suspects.” Speaking about one of the incidences, the CP said the police received a complaint about a robbery incident at Kwande LocaI Government Area and detectives were immediately deployed to investigate the case. He said during investigation, the detectives invaded a criminal hideout at Iyom village...

Herders in pastoralist counties have appealed to the government to focus on countering desert locusts at the borders of Wajir, Garissa, Marsabit and Mandera to prevent further destruction. The four counties have in the last two weeks been dealing with fresh invasions with a total of six swarms reported on Wednesday alone. © ASSOCIATED PRESS File Photo-Swarms of desert locusts fly up into the air from crops in Katitika village, Kitui county, Kenya The six swarms include two that continue to wreak havoc in Samburu National Reserve, threatening food security for park animals, and others in Ngorishe and Reteti. NEW INVASIONS Two other swarms also invaded Wajir County while another was on Wednesday evening spotted entering Isiolo South through Eldera on the county’s border with Garissa. The swarms have invaded Isiolo, Wajir, Marsabit, Samburu, Mandera, Kitui, Embu, Machakos, Tana River, Baringo and Turkana counties. Kinoti Lengures, a resident of Wamba i...