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The three Nigerians recently arrested by marine
police in Akwa Ibom State while attempting to smuggle 55 nationals of
Benin, Togo and Burkina Faso to Gabon for onward movement to Europe,
will soon be prosecuted, officials of the National Agency for
Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP) have said.

The agency also said at least 85 persons involved in
human trafficking have been successfully prosecuted by the Agency since
2003 when it was established.

Speaking to journalists yesterday in Benin City,
Chuzi Egede, the Executive Secretary of the NAPTIP, said the 55
foreigners have since been re-united with their families through their
various embassies, just as he said that the agency has achieved 100 per
cent in the prosecution of arrested persons involved in human
trafficking.

“Only two weeks back, we received about 55 victims
who were rescued from the high sea by the marine police in Akwa Ibom
State and we have since reunited them with their families,” he said.
“All of them were from neighbouring countries of Togo, Benin, Burkina
Faso and the likes and, through their embassies, we have been able to
take them to their countries and the three Nigerians who were
trafficking them to Gabon are in our custody and as soon as
investigations are completed, they will be prosecuted in our law
courts.”

Rehabilitated victims

Mr Egede said the agency had successfully convicted
20 persons as at July this year, adding that the agency has
rehabilitated about 800 victims. The agency has rehabilitation centres
in seven zonal offices of Lagos, Benin, Enugu, Uyo, Maiduguri, Kano,
Sokoto and Abuja. “When we see victims, they are taken to these
shelters and they are rehabilitated and the experts are there to give
them all the care they want,” he said.

The agency’s Director, Counselling and
Rehabilitation, Lilly Oguejiofor, said the National Policy on
Protection and Assistance to Trafficked Persons in Nigeria has even
been adopted by other countries in West Africa for use in the
rehabilitation of trafficked persons within the sub-region.

In what appears to
be a clear endorsement of the yet to be declared intention of Goodluck
Jonathan to contest next year’s election, the People’s Democratic Party
(PDP) yesterday said the contest for the party’s 2011 presidential
nomination is open to all aspirants.

The chairman of the
party, Okwesilieze Nwodo, who disclosed the party’s position after its
National Executive Committee meeting on Thursday, however, cautioned
that the party has not completely abandoned its zoning arrangement.

Asked if the party
had done away with zoning, he said, “When former President Olusegun
Obasanjo emerged, he chose a Northern Muslim, Atiku Abubakar, as his
vice president. When the (former party) chairman resigned, he was
replaced by another chairman from the South Eastern zone. Our Senate
President, Speaker, Deputy Senate President and Deputy Speaker are from
different zones of the country. How then can PDP be said to have
abandoned zoning or rotation?” Mr Nwodo pointed out that the party had
not always adhered to the arrangement in the past. He said it was only
rigid about rotating power to the southern part of the country in 1998
because of the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election.

But in 2003 and 2007, the contest was thrown open to all aspirants, irrespective of their zone.

“If our late
president were alive today, we wouldn’t be contesting his right to run
for a second term under our national constitution. It was his
entitlement,” he said. “This will, of course, not exclude any other
aspirant from any part of the country from contesting the presidential
primary, as it has become the custom of our party.”

Later, Solomon Lar,
the founding chairman of the party, told the News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN) that Mr Jonathan will be serving out the terms of the
Yar’Adua/Jonathan joint mandate.

According to
reports, a proposal on the zoning arrangement was presented by Mr Nwodo
and it was unanimously adopted. The chairman had proposed that Mr
Jonathan, currently serving out the joint mandate of the
Yar’Adua/Jonathan ticket, had the right to run for a second term under
the party’s national constitution.

“In the zoning
formula, we did not envisage that a serving president will die in
office. Today, Jonathan, by the dictates of the party constitution, is
serving out the term of the mandate given by the people of our dear
country. That being the case, the party believes rightly that Jonathan,
who is part and parcel of the mandate, has a right to contest the
remainder of their joint ticket in 2011,” he said. Ibrahim Shema, the
governor of Katsina State, had moved a motion for the adoption of the
continuity of the mandate and was seconded by a member of the PDP Board
of Trustee, Tony Anenih.

A source, who asked
to remain anonymous, told NAN that the motion did not receive any
opposition, adding that the party granted a waiver to people from
Bauchi, Borno, Yobe, Abia and Niger States, who intend to return to its
fold.

Dangerous primaries ahead

In a reference to
supporters of the zoning arrangement, Mr Nwodo noted that “reforms are
sometimes hard to accept, especially when we are called upon to abandon
old ways of doing things. In preaching these reforms, we may have hurt
the sensibility of some of our members. We, thereby, present our
unreserved apology. But we, however, continue to appeal that these
reforms be accepted by all our party members.” In his address, Mr
Jonathan pleaded with members of the party to exercise decorum in the
months ahead, as the party prepares to conduct its primaries.

“Wherever two
people stay, they must disagree. Husband and wife must disagree.
Siblings belonging to the same parents must disagree, and as a party,
we must disagree, but what makes us strong is that we have the ability
to resolve our differences.” He also appealed to members to hold
dialogues instead of switching parties.

“When you have
crisis, the faction that is disgruntled will first of all give their
votes to another person. Even though they will regret later, but in
anger they will dash their votes out. But by God’s grace, we will be
resolving our crisis internally. We will not argue it in the public.”

Other party matters

Mr Nwodo announced
that sections of the party constitution, especially those that affect
delegates in the party’s primaries and convention, will be amended in
line with the provisions of the recently-passed 2010 electoral Act.

Though the
resolutions of the NEC meeting will be made public today, sources at
the meeting said the online registration of members was suspended in
the interim.

The source, who
declined to be named, also said that the council accepted the return of
the Abia State governor, Theodore Orji, to the party. However, he only
narrowly got its waiver to contest in 2011 under the party platform.

Most of the party’s governors spoke vehemently against the waiver,
demanding that he goes back to his ward and register, as stipulated by
the party’s constitution. It took the intervention of President
Jonathan to sway the council.

Incumbent Paul Kagame won 93 per cent of the votes in
Rwanda’s presidential election, final results showed on Wednesday,
after a campaign that critics said was marred by government repression.

A grenade was thrown into a rush-hour crowd in the
capital Kigali, wounding at least seven people. Analysts said the
attack appeared to be aimed at producing a political crisis.

Kagame, widely lauded for rebuilding Rwanda and
establishing peace in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide, won the last
election in 2003 by a similar margin. Wednesday’s results still have to
be signed off by the Supreme Court.

“We are very happy with the conduct of the electoral
process, from the campaign to the voting itself. We did not get reports
of intimidation from anywhere,” said Charles Munyaneza, executive
secretary of the electoral body.

Turnout for Monday’s election was more than 95 per cent in all the nation’s five provinces.

Kagame’s nearest rival, Jean Damascene Ntawukuliryayo
of the Social Democratic Party, won 5 percent. Prosper Higiro of the
Liberal Party garnered just over 1 per cent and Alvera Mukabaramba of
the Party for Peace and Concord 0.4 per cent.

Opponents said the other candidates were a democratic
smokescreen and stooges of Kagame’s Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). They
also said the campaign playing field had been uneven, with three
would-be opposition candidates prevented from registering to contest
the ballot.

One of them, Victoire Ingabire, head of the United Democratic
Forces party who faces charges of funding rebels in neighbouring
Democratic Republic of Congo and espousing genocide ideology, rejected
the result.

Grenade attack

Police spokesman Eric Kayiranga said seven people
including two children were wounded in a grenade blast outside a Kigali
bus park on Wednesday evening.

“It was thrown into the middle of a crowd. It was
rush hour and people were going home. Three suspects were arrested on
the spot,” he told Reuters.

The attack was “a terrible and cowardly act of
violence”, he added in a police statement. “There are no other security
concerns in Kigali or around the country,” he said.

Security agents quickly sealed off the area, denying
access to journalists. Eyewitnesses put the number of wounded at closer
to 20 and said bloodstains were visible on the roadside.

“Grenade attacks are never an attempt to overthrow
the government but rather to influence the political climate. At most
they could provoke the RPF to clamp down on civil liberties and thereby
create a political crisis,” said Rwanda expert Jason Stearns.

Another regional analyst who cannot be identified
said: “It does show that opposition to Kagame is unlikely to come via
the ballot box.” Human rights groups pointed to mounting violence
during the run-up to the election after the shooting dead of a local
journalist and the killing of an opposition official who was found
nearly beheaded in July. The government strenuously denied any
involvement.

“It was a climate of intimidation and exclusion of
the opposition and critical voices. It was a climate of fear,” Carina
Tertsakian, Rwanda researcher for Human Rights Watch, told Reuters by
telephone from London.

The European Union congratulated Rwanda for the calm
atmosphere on polling day and high voter turnout and said the election
marked a new stage in Rwanda’s democratic process and development.

But it said it was concerned by the pre-election incidents and called for swift and transparent investigations.

Kagame has been in control of the land-locked nation
of 10 million people since his rebel army swept to power in the
aftermath of the genocide of 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus
in 1994.

Despite being poor in natural resources, Rwanda is a rising star in
Africa for donors and investors with Kagame feted as a visionary leader
and African icon. The International Monetary Fund forecasts its economy
will expand by an average of 6 percent in the medium term.

The Ogun State Police Command yesterday
said it has arrested 1,523 suspected criminals, while 5230 ammunitions
of different sizes were seized from armed robbers between January and
July this year. The Commissioner, Musa Daura, made this known while
receiving the executive of Correspondents Chapel Nigeria Union of
Journalists (NUJ) Ogun State Council, who paid him a courtesy visit in
his office at Eleweran, Abeokuta.

Mr Daura also said the police have
recovered 137 vehicles of different types during the months, adding
that 52 cases of murder and five cases of kidnapping were handled.

He attributed the success recorded so
far to the doggedness of his officers and the good working relationship
between his command and the press.

The Chairman of the Correspondents
Chapel, Kunle Idowu, promised that journalists in the state will
continue to promote the good works of the command.

He said, as the fourth estate of the
realm, journalists will continue to promote goodwill between the police
and general public so that their constitutional duties will be carried
out with less stress.

“We know the challenges that Nigeria
police is facing today, but in spite of that, you still perform
creditably well in reducing crime to its barest minimum in the state.
This, journalists in Ogun State can attest to,” he said.

While calling for more commitment from the rank and files of the
force, Mr Idowu called on the government and well-meaning individuals
to continue to assist police so that the society will be crime free.

Twenty-four people
died in separate accidents, following a deadly car accident and the
collapse of a four-storey building in Abuja on Wednesday.

At least 10 people
were killed when a four-storey building in Garki, collapsed. In another
part of the city, about 14 persons died when a trailer-load of cement
ran over 13 cars.

The four-storey building at Plot 4, Ikole Street, Off Gimbya Street, Area 11, collapsed in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Eyewitnesses say the building caved in around 5am, trapping many of the residents inside.

David Ibrahim, one
of the survivors, said the collapse happened without warning. He and
his brother barely had time to jump out through the window and escape.
However, Mr Ibrahim said his brother’s wife and three children were
still trapped inside.

Dauda Ologboneja, a
taxi driver whose route took him past the area, said frantic family
members were using cell phones to try to locate their loved ones.

“My friend used his
phone to call some people inside the building,” he said. “One guy said
he was feeling hot and that they should come and help him.”

Dangerous situation

The uncompleted
building had been abandoned for the last five years and had become a
temporary shelter for small scale traders and homeless people in the
area. It is allegedly owned by Olawale Kuye.

In 2001, Mr Kuye
was directed by the Federal Capital Territory Authority’s (FCTA)
Development Control Department to stop construction on the building
after he illegally added an extra floor and failed integrity tests.

The director of the
territory’s development control unit, Yahaya Yusuf, said the building
contravened what was approved for the owners. “The unit has already
ordered the occupants of the building to move out. The process of
bringing down the building was still pending at the legal (department)
of Development Control when I received the news that the building has
collapsed this morning.”

The Minister of the
Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Bala Mohammed, who visited the scene a
few hours after the collapse, has threatened to sack Mr Yusuf for
incompetence. He accused the director of “shielding his boys who marked
the houses and are collecting bribes from developers.” He promised a
full investigation into the incident.

Rescue efforts

All emergency
officials of the FCTA, in collaboration with the National Emergency
Management Agency (NEMA), were mobilized to the scene. Members of the
Civil Defence Corps were the first to arrive, using their hands to pull
survivors and bodies out of the rubble. Local construction companies,
including Julius Berger Plc., Gilmore and Reynolds Construction Company
brought in heavy machinery to help clear the debris.

As at press time,
10 people had been rescued and had been taken to hospital, but over 50
persons were still trapped in the debris.

Despite the efforts, residents accused the NEMA of not responding on time.

“The ambulance came
here one hour after the building collapsed,” said Charles Ofoji. “More
lives would have been saved if they came here earlier.”

Car accident

Thirteen people
were killed and scores more injured at the scene of the car accident at
AYA junction. Thirteen cars were crushed when a trailer overturned onto
nearby vehicles.

A combined team of
police officers, road safety personnel, soldiers, Vehicle Inspection
Officers (VIO) and bystanders worked to rescue some of the victims
trapped beneath the truck. People from the other cars involved in the
accident were rushed to the hospital, but the driver of the truck was
nowhere to be found, as he reportedly fled the scene.

One woman, who was
trapped in her car for about an hour, was finally freed when over 30
rescuers worked to unload the truck’s burden of cement, to pave way for
a VIO truck lifter to raise the vehicle.

An eyewitness, who declined to be named, attributed the incident to brake failure.

“The truck hit a car and in the course of an argument between the
truck driver and the car owner, the truck started smashing other cars
that were in front and on its side,” she said. “It looked as if the
truck driver actually meant to kill today.” The FCT minister visited
the National Hospital where the victims of both incidents were taken
for treatment. Mr Mohmmed promised that the FCTA would pay for the
treatment of all the injured persons.

Three
writers have been shortlisted for this year’s edition of The Nigeria
Prize for Literature while the winner of The Nigeria Prize for Science
has emerged.

Former managing
director of Daily Times of Nigeria, Onukaba Adinoyi-Ojo (‘The Killing
Swamp), the late Esiaba Irobi (‘Cemetery Road’) and scholar, Ahmed
Yerima (‘Little Drops…’), made the final list.

Addressing
journalists on Wednesday at Ocean View Restaurant, Victoria Island,
Lagos, chair, panel of judges of the prize, Dapo Adelugba, disclosed
that an initial 93 entries were received. He said 21 of the works
didn’t meet the eligibility criteria and because of this, only 72 were
assessed.

The professor of
Theatre Arts disclosed that the jury comprising Mary Kolawole, John
Ilah, Kalu Uka and Tanimu Abubakar, also professors, used five main
criteria to judge the works. They are relevance and originality;
compliance with the highest standards of literary and dramatic
production; dramaturgy; setting and linguistic appeal; and stageability.

Earlier, chair of
the Literature Committee, Theo Vincent, noted that the Literature Prize
has developed its own dynamism and momentum. He also spoke on changes
made in the administration of the prize after no winner emerged for the
last edition. Disclosing the identity of the judges and opening up the
prize to all Nigerians irrespective of where they are domiciled were
some of the changes announced by the committee which Vincent heads.

Close scrutiny

Mr Vincent also
thanked the media for its interest in the prize. “We assure you we do
value the close scrutiny of what we are doing,” he said.

Similarly,
Akaehomen Ibhadode, a professor of Mechanical Engineering at the
University of Benin, has been announced winner of the 2010 Nigeria
Prize for Science.

Mr Ibhadode won the
award for his work entitled ‘Development of New Methods for Precision
Die Design.” Chair of the Science Committee, Oye Ibidapo-Obe, read the
report of the jury comprising Anya O Anya, Awele Maduemezia, Gabriel
Ogunmola, Grace Olaniyan-Taylor and Lateef Salako.

The judges noted
that Mr Ibhadode has made significant contributions to the field of
cold forging. They added that he developed a mathematical model for the
design of forging die based on die expansion methods, an optimal
procedure for the selection of the most effective die design.

“In an
industrialising economy like Nigeria, the products of the precision die
process are particularly important in the development of small and
medium scale enterprises on which the economy depends for its
accelerated growth. He has applied the methods not only for the steel
industry but also for the development of aluminium products,” the
judges said of Ibhadode’s work.

Jonathan Nok won
the science prize last year while nobody won the literature prize. Both
prizes are sponsored by the Nigerian LNG Limited. The winner of the
Literature Prize will be announced at the NLNG Grand Award Night on
October 9.

On Wednesday, a Federal High Court in Abuja turned
down a motion seeking to stop the Head of Civil Service of the
Federation from conducting competency and pre-qualification tests for
senior civil servants.

Justice David Okorowo struck out the motion, saying
the test the group was asking him to stop had already taken place on
Monday, August 9. He consequently adjourned the substantive suit to
October 22.

Standoff in court

Last Friday, Sunny Uche filed a suit against the
federal government on behalf of Association of Senior Civil Servants of
Nigeria seeking to stop the tests pending a court hearing and a judge’s
determination of the motion on the notice.

Mr Uche wanted a declaration that the Federal Civil
Service Commission is not obliged to consult the Head of Service in
exercising its powers of promotion. He also wanted the court to declare
that the Head of Service could not rewrite any of the existing
conditions for promotion, even when consulted.

The civil servants had asked the Head of Service to
delay the exam pending the determination of the case or risk being in
contempt of court.

Sticking to the plan

Notwithstanding the suit, the Head of Service, Steve
Oronsanye, administered the examinations as scheduled on Monday. Three
thousand senior civil servants of the directorate cadre defied the
early-morning rain to participate in the test. Even unionists, who had
challenged the test in court and picketed the Head of Service’s office,
turned out to participate in the exercise.

Mr Oronsaye denied being served the court injunction on Friday.

“They went to court. Unfortunately for them, I do not
think they got an injunction. If they had, I would not have conducted
this test, because I am a respecter of the rule of law.”

He said stiff sanctions awaited the workers who refused to take part in the exercise.

The
President of the Senate, David Mark, has enjoined Muslim faithful
across the country to pray for the successful conduct of the 2011
general elections in the country.

The senate
president, in a message to Muslims as they embark on a 30 day fast,
asked them to put Nigeria first before any personal or group interests.
The President of the Senate told Muslims to pray for leaders at all
levels so that they will always be on the path of honour and do the
wish of the people at all times.

He urged Muslims to imbibe the attributes of Holy Prophet Mohammed which symbolizes piety, peace, love,

forgiveness, tolerance and good neighbourliness.

“Ramadan is a
period to seek God’s forgiveness, guidance, intervention and love,” Mr
Mark said. “We must see this holy month as a time to love, share and
pray for each other and for our country as a whole.” Mark stressed that
Islam as a religion preaches peace; unity and love and therefore urged
religious leaders not relent in ensuring proper teachings of the
virtues of the religion.

He charged Muslims
to use the period of this holy month to give to the needy in our
society saying, “Helping the less privileged is one of the significance
of Ramadan. We must have the fears of Allah in all our undertakings and
promote peaceful co-existence between and among all ethnic and
religious groups in the country”.

Sambo sues for patriotism

The Vice President,
Namadi Sambo, said he is conscious of the enormous bounties of this
holy month and enjoined Muslims to take advantage of this blessed month
and make concerted effort towards nation building.

He called on the
Ummah to rededicate themselves towards the service of Allah and
humanity and to shun all negative vices inimical to progress.

Mr. Sambo restated
the commitment of the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan to
resolutely pursue peaceful and harmonious co-existence, eradication of
corruption, provision of power, rehabilitation and reconstruction of
the Niger Delta, conduct of credible elections and sustainable
infrastructural development across the county.

Governor Adams
Oshiomhole of Edo State urged Nigerian Muslims to use the occasion of
the Ramadan fast to offer prayers for the stability, peace and
prosperity of Nigeria.

Mr Oshiomhole
enjoined them to avail themselves of the benefits and opportunities the
holy month accord for personal restitution, piety and renewed
commitment to Allah’s injunction.

“Nigeria needs the prayers of the Muslim Ummah for her stability,
prosperity and peace at this critical period. Therefore, our Islamic
leaders and adherents need to have our nation in their hearts in their
personal and collective supplication to Allah,” he said.

Three
writers have been shortlisted for this year’s edition of The Nigeria
Prize for Literature while the winner of The Nigeria Prize for Science
has emerged.

Former managing
director of Daily Times of Nigeria, Onukaba Adinoyi-Ojo (‘The Killing
Swamp), the late Esiaba Irobi (‘Cemetery Road’) and scholar, Ahmed
Yerima (‘Little Drops…’), made the final list.

Addressing
journalists on Wednesday at Ocean View Restaurant, Victoria Island,
Lagos, chair, panel of judges of the prize, Dapo Adelugba, disclosed
that an initial 93 entries were received. He said 21 of the works
didn’t meet the eligibility criteria and because of this, only 72 were
assessed.

The professor of
Theatre Arts disclosed that the jury comprising Mary Kolawole, John
Ilah, Kalu Uka and Tanimu Abubakar, also professors, used five main
criteria to judge the works. They are relevance and originality;
compliance with the highest standards of literary and dramatic
production; dramaturgy; setting and linguistic appeal; and stageability.

Earlier, chair of
the Literature Committee, Theo Vincent, noted that the Literature Prize
has developed its own dynamism and momentum. He also spoke on changes
made in the administration of the prize after no winner emerged for the
last edition. Disclosing the identity of the judges and opening up the
prize to all Nigerians irrespective of where they are domiciled were
some of the changes announced by the committee which Vincent heads.

Close scrutiny

Mr Vincent also
thanked the media for its interest in the prize. “We assure you we do
value the close scrutiny of what we are doing,” he said.

Similarly,
Akaehomen Ibhadode, a professor of Mechanical Engineering at the
University of Benin, has been announced winner of the 2010 Nigeria
Prize for Science.

Mr Ibhadode won the
award for his work entitled ‘Development of New Methods for Precision
Die Design.” Chair of the Science Committee, Oye Ibidapo-Obe, read the
report of the jury comprising Anya O Anya, Awele Maduemezia, Gabriel
Ogunmola, Grace Olaniyan-Taylor and Lateef Salako.

The judges noted
that Mr Ibhadode has made significant contributions to the field of
cold forging. They added that he developed a mathematical model for the
design of forging die based on die expansion methods, an optimal
procedure for the selection of the most effective die design.

“In an
industrialising economy like Nigeria, the products of the precision die
process are particularly important in the development of small and
medium scale enterprises on which the economy depends for its
accelerated growth. He has applied the methods not only for the steel
industry but also for the development of aluminium products,” the
judges said of Ibhadode’s work.

Jonathan Nok won
the science prize last year while nobody won the literature prize. Both
prizes are sponsored by the Nigerian LNG Limited. The winner of the
Literature Prize will be announced at the NLNG Grand Award Night on
October 9.

The
Federal Government is not happy with the way Nigerian soldiers are
killed in the course of their peacekeeping mission in Darfur, Sudan,
Adetokunbo Kayode, the minister of defence, has said.

Mr. Kayode made the
comments, yesterday, at the United Nations (UN) regional conference on
deterrence, use of force and operational readiness in peace keeping
operations at the Nigerian Army Peacekeeping Centre (NAPKC) in Jaji,
Kaduna.

The minister said
members of the Nigerian contingent recently disarmed in Darfur were
caught between abiding with the mandate of the mission and protecting
themselves in the midst of rebels’ attacks.

“It is hoped that
the outcome of the conference will be clear policy that will streamline
the bottlenecks and create guidelines for efforts at reducing the
complexity of mandates and the immediate resolution of conflicts.”

Chief of Army
Staff, Abdulrahaman Dambazau, said that the guidelines should aim to
answer immediate issues that affect the performance of troops in the
field, but not hamper their performance.

“The sacrifices
made in terms of lives by peacekeepers should not bolster the spirit of
warring factions, rather every form of sacrifice should make us design
better ways for our peacekeepers to have an edge over belligerents,” he
said.

Mr. Dambazau called
for policies that would enable the organisation prepare peacekeepers
for effective duty on UN missions, especially in Africa.

“The successes that will follow any peace support mission are determined by the state or level of preparedness of the troops.”

Nigerian peacekeepers honoured

Eleven Nigerian
soldiers were among United Nations international peacekeepers honoured
posthumously in May as part of the eighth annual International Day of
UN Peacekeepers at the world body’s headquarters in New York.

The occasion was
marked with several events at the UN on the previous day, including the
presentation of service medals to peacekeepers, including two Nigerian
military officers.

The UN list tracked the loss of international peacekeepers from January 2009 to February 2010.

On the list of
fallen peacekeepers were two Nigerian officers: Johnson Umana, who died
in Darfur on May 7, 2009, and Bala Etsu, who died in April 27, also in
Darfur.

Others from Nigeria
included John Itebu, who died on May 25, 2009; Gonjing Toma, who died
in Darfur on June 10, 2009; Mathew Abel, who died in Lebanon on June
23, 2009; John Ahmed, who died in Darfur on March 17, 2009; and Leonard
Ajibo, who also died in Darfur on February 25, 2010.

There were also
Yusuf Ibrahim, who died in Darfur on September 28, 2009; Bello Ishaku,
who died in Darfur on October 14, 2009; Taryuhua Ningir who died in
Lebanon on October 30, 2009; and Dede Fadairo, who died in Haiti on
January 12, 2010, in an earthquake.

As a mark of their sacrifice, the Dag Hammarskjöld UN Medal will be
sent to the next-of-kin of the fallen soldiers. More than 700 UN
peacekeepers have died in the course of duty in the past five years,
with more than 3,000 lives lost since the first operation in 1948.