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Myanmar earthquake death toll crosses 3,000

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Death toll from Myanmar’s devastating earthquake has surpassed 3,000, with hundreds more missing.

This is as forecasts of unseasonal rain presented a new challenge for rescue and aid workers trying to reach people in a country riven by civil war.

Ekwutosblog reports that the last Friday’s 7.7-magnitude quake, one of the Southeast Asian nation’s strongest in a century, jolted a region home to 28 million, toppling buildings, flattening communities and leaving many without food, water and shelter.

 

Myanmar’s embassy in Japan said on Facebook that on Wednesday, deaths rose to 3,003 with 4,515 injured and 351 missing, while rescuers scramble to find more.

However, conditions could get even tougher for the huge relief effort after weather officials warned unseasonal rain from Sunday to April 11 could threaten the areas hardest-hit by the quake, such as Mandalay, Sagaing and the capital Naypyidaw.

“Rain is incoming and there are still so many buried. And in Mandalay, especially, if it starts to rain, people who are buried will drown even if they’ve survived until this point,” an aid worker in Myanmar said.

The embassy in Japan added in its post that there have been 53 airlifts of aid to Myanmar, while more than 1,900 rescue workers arrived from 15 countries, including Southeast Asian neighbours and China, India and Russia.

According to state television, despite the devastation, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing will leave his disaster-stricken country on Thursday for a rare trip to a regional summit in Bangkok.

The visit is said to be an uncommon foreign visit for a general regarded as a pariah by many countries and the subject of Western sanctions and an International Criminal Court investigation.

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Lagos: Cause of Ijora-Badia explosion revealed

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Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service has revealed the real cause of the explosion that rocked the Ijora-Badia area of Lagos on Sunday afternoon, injuring no fewer than 15 people.

According to a statement by the Director of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Margaret Adeseye, the explosion occurred around 4:10 p.m. inside a mini shop stocked with 25kg gas cylinders.

The shop, located within a bungalow that housed 15 self-contained rooms and seven other shops, reportedly had five gas cylinders at the time of the incident.

Adeseye attributed the explosion to the mishandling of gas, which caused a leak that was ignited by a nearby flame.

“It was a case of poor handling of gas products, which unfortunately allowed gas to escape and come in contact with a flame. This triggered the explosion,” she confirmed.

The resulting fire, she said, was promptly extinguished by a team of firefighters from the Sari Iganmu Fire Station, with support from the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, the Lagos Neighbourhood Safety Corps, and LASAMBUS.

While no fatalities were recorded, 15 persons sustained varying degrees of burn injuries.

Adeseye noted that several victims were treated with first aid on-site, while others were taken to nearby hospitals for further medical care.

She also assured residents that the area has since been secured and normalcy restored.

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Take-It-Back protesters scamper for safety as police fire tear gas during protest in Abuja.

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Officers of the Nigeria Police Force dispersed protesters with tear gas in the Maitama area of Abuja.

The protesters, who had gathered on Monday, April 7, scattered in different directions as the tear gas canisters were fired in their midst.

The protest is part of a nationwide demonstration spearheaded by the Take-It-Back Movement and other civil society organisations.

Key among the concerns raised by the organisers are the alleged misuse of the Cybercrime Act, the worsening economic hardship in the country, and what they described as a “state of emergency” in Rivers State.

The demonstrators carried placards bearing inscriptions such as “Stop the Repression” and “Let Us Breathe”.

Human rights activist Omoyele Sowore was also present at the protest ground.

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How I caught lots of people’s wives with big men, governors – Ali Baba

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Veteran Nigerian comedian, Ali Baba, has revealed that he has caught numerous wives of his friends and associates engaging in extramarital affairs with governors and wealthy politicians.

He made this revelation during an appearance on the Outside the Box podcast.

Speaking candidly about the unsavoury activities prevalent among the nation’s elite, the comedian recounted a particular encounter in which he saw the wife of an associate at the residence of a state governor.

He said: “I have been in the houses of a lot of big men—like governors and the rest—and I see wives of a lot of people that I know doing things, and I greet, ‘How are you? How is everything?’

“And then those guys would do their philandering, tap her bum and say, ‘Go back inside, I’m not finished with you,’ and she went back inside. Then I ran into her at an event, and her husband said, ‘Oh, how are you? Meet my wife.’ I responded, ‘Oh madam, it’s a pleasure. I haven’t seen you in five years. Where have you been?’ And she’s like, ‘I’ve been around, good to see you.’

“When she sees me somewhere after, she calls me and says, ‘Ali, thanks,’ I say, ‘It’s okay.’”

Ali Baba’s account casts a sharp light on the often unspoken indiscretions that occur behind closed doors in high society.

Credit: Blaze 91.5 FM

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