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Pakistan begins new nationwide polio vaccination campaign after surge in new cases

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Pakistan Polio © Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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Pakistan began a nationwide vaccination campaign Monday to protect 45 million children from polio after a surge in new cases that has hampered years of efforts to stop the disease in one of the two countries where it has never been eradicated.

Pakistan regularly launches such campaigns, but violence targeting the health workers and police assigned to escort them is common. Militants falsely claim the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilise children.

The campaign is the third this year and will continue until Sunday “in response to the alarming increase in polio cases”, said Ayesha Raza Farooq, the prime minister’s adviser for the polio eradication program. “We are re-energised in our efforts to combat polio,” she said in a statement.

During the door-to-door campaign, children younger than five will be vaccinated and given drops of vitamin A supplements to enhance their immunity.

Prime minister Shehbaz Sharif recently met with front-line health workers, urging them to ensure no child was left unvaccinated by going door-to-door.

Anwarul Haq, who is the coordinator of the National Emergency Operations Centre for PolioEradication, also urged parents to fully cooperate with polio workers. “Polio has no cure, but it can be prevented with this readily available vaccine,” he said.

Pakistan has recorded 41 cases across 71 districts so far this year, Ms Farooq said. Most were reported from southwestern Balochistan and southern Sindh province, following by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and eastern Punjab province.

The surge in cases in new locations is worrying authorities since previous cases were from the unsettled northwest, bordering Afghanistan, where the Taliban government in September suddenly stopped a door-to-door vaccination campaign.

Authorities in Pakistan say the Afghan Taliban’srecent decision to stop the door-to-door anti-polio campaign will have repercussions beyond the Afghan border, as people from both sides frequently travel to each other’s country. The World Health Organization has confirmed 18 polio cases in Afghanistan this year.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where the spread of polio has never been stopped. It is one of the world’s most infectious diseases, so it continues to spread anywhere people are not fully vaccinated. In severe cases, polio can cause permanent paralysis and death.

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Court Reportedly Orders Nigerian Police To Arraign Detained Activist, Olamide Thomas, Within 48 Hours Or Release Her Unconditionally

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December 23, 2024

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Thomas, who has been at the forefront of advocacy for civil liberties in Nigeria, filed the lawsuit after she claimed her rights were violated following how she was ‘abducted’ by the police in Lagos and subsequently taken to Abuja.

 

The ongoing fundamental rights case filed by Olamide Thomas, a female human rights activist, against the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, has been adjourned to January 6, 2025.

The case, which was being heard at the Federal High Court in Abuja, before Justice Abdullahi Liman.

Thomas, who has been at the forefront of advocacy for civil liberties in Nigeria, filed the lawsuit after she claimed her rights were violated following how she was ‘abducted’ by the police in Lagos and subsequently taken to Abuja.

 

The legal action, filed under Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1892/V/2024, raises concerns over the unlawful arrest of Thomas’ uncle as a bait to apprehend her.

 

Represented by her counsel, S.M. Oyeghe, the applicant argued that the police’s actions are in direct violation of the Police Act and are an abuse of power.

According to the suit, Thomas’ uncle was detained unlawfully in a bid to coerce her surrender, a tactic the defence claims is improper and a breach of her fundamental rights.

Oyeghe told SaharaReporters on Monday that they had earlier filed a fundamental rights suit against the IGP, Nigeria Police Force, and the Head of Cybercrime over the unlawful arrest and detention of Olamide Thomas.

 

“We equally filed and exparte application for her bail or production,” he added.

 

The ruling delivered on the motion ex parte for bail is as follows: “The arrest of the applicant’s uncle in place of the applicant as a bait to capture her was improper, unlawful, and a violation of the Police Act.

 

“The FREP Rules and the Police Act provide for interim orders.

“The detention time limit is 24 or 48 hours. Any detention beyond the specified time would constitute a violation of the Constitution.

“The respondent is ordered to arraign the applicant within 48 hours or release her unconditionally.”

However, the fundamental rights suit before Justice Liman is scheduled for January 6, 2025.

 

Meanwhile, the criminal case is scheduled for hearing on December 30.

The Nigerian police on Friday arraigned Olamide Thomas on three criminal charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

 

The charges centre on allegations that Olamide Thomas insulted the President Bola Tinubu’s son, Seyi and top police officials, including Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun and Police Public Relations Officer Muyiwa Adejobi, in a viral social media post.

 

The case, with suit number F/HE/ARS/CR/636/2024, lists the Inspector General of Police as the complainant.

 

Presiding over the matter, Justice Emeka Nwite ordered Olamide to be remanded in prison following her arraignment on Friday.

 

The activist was arrested over a week ago and has since been in police custody.

One of the counts reads, “That you OLAMIDE ABIODUN THOMAS ‘F’, sometime in 2024, in the Federal Republic of Nigeria within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did knowingly and intentionally transmit or cause the transmission of communication in the form of video recording through computer system or network on your Social media platforms wherein you made remarks in Yoruba language stating that Mr. Seyi Tinubu will die this year, and misfortune and calamity has befallen the Tinubu family, with intent to bully, threaten, harass the person of Mr. Seyi Tinubu, where such communication places the said Mr. Seyi Tinubu in fear of death, violence or bodily harm and you thereby commit an offence contrary to and punishable under section 24 (2) (a) Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) (Amendment) Act, 2024.”

 

Count 2 reads, “That you OLAMIDE ABIODUN THOMAS ‘F’, sometime in 2024, in the Federal Republic of Nigeria within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did knowingly and intentionally transmit or cause the transmission of communication in the form of video recording through computer system or network on your Social media platforms wherein you made remarks in Yoruba Language to bully, threaten, harass the person of Mr. Kayode Egbetokun where such communication places the said Mr Kayode Egbetokun in fear of death, violence or bodily harm and you therefore commit an offence contrary to and punishable under section 24(2) (a) Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention Etc.) (Amendment) Act, 2024.”

 

The third count accused her of also insulting Adejobi.

SaharaReporters gathered that Justice Nwite after the charges were read denied her bail, insisting that her lawyers should bring formal bail application before court.

 

“Justice Nwite rejected our oral application for her bail. She is sent to Suleja prison and said that our lawyers should apply for bail and come back,” an activist told SaharaReporters shortly after the court proceeding.

 

Meanwhile, Take It Back (TIB) Movement has condemned the continued detention of Thomas, demanding her immediate release.

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BREAKING: Our FREP application for Speed Darlington a.k.a Akpi has been granted by the court. He is to be arraigned within 48hrs or released.- lawyer Deji Adeyanju

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December 23, 2024

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BREAKING: Our FREP application for Speed Darlington a.k.a has been granted by the court. He is to be arraigned within 48hrs or released. Issues around injustice may take time but justice will always prevail.

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FLASHBACK: “Jonathan Is A Drunk, A Sinking Fisherman”— Tinubu’s Past Insults On Jonathan Resurfaces As Police Begin Crackdown On Citizens Criticizing Govt Officials

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December 22, 2024

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Tinubu mustered the temerity to call the President of Nigeria a drunkard, a sinking fisherman. This was how Tinubu put it: “I think the President is wrong because that is an insult to our parents. It is a speech from a drunk sailor fisherman whose boat is about to capsize.

As Nigerian authorities begin a controversial clampdown on citizens criticizing government officials on social media, an old episode from the country’s political history has resurfaced, bringing to light the sharp rhetoric of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu during his time as Lagos State Governor.   Tinubu mustered the temerity to call the President of Nigeria a drunkard, a sinking fisherman. This was how Tinubu put it: “I think the President is wrong because that is an insult to our parents. It is a speech from a drunk sailor fisherman whose boat is about to capsize.

Another Man Arrested for Insulting Tinubu, Sanwo-Olu, As Police Begin Crack Down on Nigerians Insulting Politicians on Social Media   In a flashback to 2011, Tinubu, then the national leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), launched a verbal assault on then-President Goodluck Jonathan, describing him as a “drunk sailor fisherman” whose “boat is about to capsize.” Tinubu’s comments came in reaction to a statement made by Jonathan at a campaign rally in Ibadan, where the President had referred to the need to rescue the Southwest from the hands of “rascals.”   Tinubu, speaking at Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos on his way to Abuja for an ACN campaign event, called Jonathan’s remarks an insult to Yoruba parents. “You don’t come to this land, seek our votes, and then insult our parents, saying they raised rascals,” Tinubu said. “It is a speech from a drunk sailor fisherman whose boat is about to capsize.”

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