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Terrified residents raise alarm over Ebola outbreak, seek government help  These days, across West Africa, monkeys are animals that instil fear in the minds of everyone. This is because of the fact that the animals have been certified as reservoirs for the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease. Little wonder that residents of the Federal Housing Estate, Oke-Ila, Ado-Ekiti, are scared stiff over the sudden appearance of a mysterious monkey in the area.The monkey, described by residents as having a light brown skin, was said to have escaped from the home of its master, also a resident in the area, two weeks ago and began terrorising everyone in the area. With panic written on their faces, the residents said the animal was jumping fences, attacking women and children and seizing fruits from hawkers in the area. Abiodun Ajayi, a resident, told Daily Sun : “It was about two weeks ago that a woman rais...

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has lamented the increasing number of displaced persons due to Boko Haram attacks, saying it has been faced with growing challenges of handling the daily surge of internally displaced persons at established camps in the North-East. Information officer of the agency in the North-East, AbdulKadir Ibrahim, said the weekend attack by Boko Haram on Madagali, Adamawa State, where many of the fleeing residents of Gwoza were staying, had led to another challenge for the agency. Already, the agency said it had registered about 12,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) at the Madagali camp. He said NEMA now faced another challenge of establishing more IDPs camps because of the weekend attack at Madagali. He said notwithstanding, NEMA has continued to provide succour for victims of insurgency at different IDPs camps in Adamawa, Borno and Gombe states. He said...

Tears are still flowing in Okesa area of Ado-Ekiti, as the people continue to mourn the death of a 15-year-old boy, Junior Abia, in Okesa area of the Ekiti State capital. Junior was the second born of the Abias. His parents are popularly known as Papa and Mama Chibuzor Daily Sun learnt that tragedy struck in the home of the Abias on Friday, August 8, at about 2pm. On that day, Junior suddenly shouted for help, jolting his elder brother, Chibuzor, into action. Junior had an electric shock while listening to music on his mobile phone through the earpiece, as the handset was plugged into the wall socket, charging. After raising the alarm, Junior’s elder brother was said to have looked for a long stick with which he could remove the earpiece from Junior’s ears. It was gathered that when he could not have the earpiece removed, Chibuzor also raised the alarm and that alerted other people, ...

The Federal Government has warned that it will not allow any part of the country to be used as centre for an experimental terror state in West Africa. Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, gave the assurance in Abuja, while addressing officers of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) at a workshop on Conflict Prevention, Peace Building and Election Monitoring ahead of the 2015 general elections. Maku said the government had utmost confidence in the ability and capacity of the military to defend the honour and uphold the territorial integrity of the nation, warning marauding insurgents in some states in the North-East that the Armed Forces would wholeheartedly defend the country to the last mile. “Local and international adventurers that are contending with the destiny of our nation should know that we will defend our country to the last mile. “We know our responsibility to this...

Tokyo stands ready to offer an experimental drug developed by a Japanese company to help stem the global tide of the deadly Ebola virus, the top government spokesman said on Monday.   "Our country is prepared to provide the yet-to-be approved drug in cooperation with the manufacturer if the WHO requests," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga. The World Health Organization (WHO) has been discussing the use of unapproved drugs as a way of getting a handle on an outbreak in Africa that has already cost more than 1,400 lives, with thousands more people infected. There is currently no available cure or vaccine for Ebola, and the WHO has declared the latest outbreak a global public health emergency. Several drugs are under development.  The use of an experimental drug called ZMapp on two Americans and a Spanish priest infected with the virus while working in Africa has opened up an intense ethical debate. The drug, which is in very short supply, has reporte...

  The House of Representatives Committee on Health has asked members off the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) to apologise to Nigerians for their “unpatriotic” strike. The NMA ended on Sunday night its national strike after 55 days. The House committee said the apology was necessary because scores of people died and many others put into hardship of the dreaded Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) that entered the country while the strike was on. Addressing reporters yesterday in Abuja on the suspension of the NMA strike, House Committee Chairman Ndudi Elumelu said the failure to obey the agreements between the parties was fundamental to the crisis. He said: “The leadership of the NMA has been described as unpatriotic, even by other Nigerian doctors and the public because of various health challenges confronting the nation and the scourge of Ebola Virus Disease, which erupted during the strike. “Patriotic Nigerians at home and abroad have passionately condemned the ...

Distributors of Half of a Yellow Sun and October 1 , FilmOne Distributions, have announced the coming of another flick, A Silent Cry (Ekun Asunsinu), a Yoruba language film, which they said would make waves among several films produced in Nigeria this year. Speaking at the premiere of the movie in Ibadan, Oyo State, at the weekend, Managing Director of FilmOne, Mr. Kene Mkparu, described the film as a “unique, intricately crafted story delivered with dexterity by the finest of thespians in the Yoruba movie industry.” According to Mkparu, the film will capture the visual attention of Nigerians, irrespective of their sex, tribe and political affiliations. “We believe in good organic content, whether told in the official or indigenous language, that can boast of good production values.We want to support diligent producers with fresh ideas whose works speak for themselves,” he said. Planned for theatrical release on September 5, A Silent Cry , from the stable of ...

The much-awaited third album by award-winning singer, Bukola Elemide, aka Asa, hit the music shelves yesterday, amidst high expectations. Entitled Bed of Stone , the new work, which was officially released for download, is a 14-track album described by promoters as riveting and soul-stirring. Made available on iTunes, Deluxe CDs, Vinyl and with vendors worldwide, opportunity for pre-order digital download had been opened to fans since June 30, this year. The tracks include Dead Again , Eyo , Satan Be Gone , Bed of Stone , Moving On , Grateful , Society , How Did Love Find Me , Ife , Situation , New Year , The One That Never Comes , Sometimes I Wonder and Shine Your Light .