PDP condemns ‘APC attacks’ on Matawalle over security issues

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Zamfara state branch has strongly condemned the recent accusation made by some members of previous APC administration in the state, who claimed that Governor Bello Muhammed Matawalle’s administration has done nothing in the recent peace reconciliation processes with armed bandits and tackling security issues in the state.

The state chairman publicity of the party, Alhaji Hamisu Muhammad, who doubles as the state secretary of the party made the reaction at a press conference in Gusau, the state capital Tuesday.

Alhaji Hamisu Muhammad who spoke through the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Public Enlightenment, Media and Communication, Zailani Bappa, described the accusations labelled against Governor Bello Muhammad Matawalle by some people in the state as politically motivated and rootless.

The party further described the accusation as calculated attempt to disrupt the good policies and programmes of the PDP-led administration under Governor Bello Mohammed Matawalle.

He pointed out that since the beginning of the peace and reconciliation processes with armed bandits in the last two weeks, over 200 kidnap victims have  released without paying a single kobo as ransom.

“For over two weeks now, we have not experienced any attacks, kidnapping or cattle rustling as a result of the impact of the current peace reconciliation process with bandits and state government in the state,” he said.

He added that Governor Bello Mohammed Matawalle recently procured 100 hectares of land for the establishment of three Ruga settlements, one in each of the three senatorial districts in the state for herdsmen who surrendered their arms.

He further revealed that, the state government under the leadership of Governor Bello Mohammed Matawalle had concluded arrangement to ensure resettlement of over 30,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who are victims of banditry in the state.

The party urged its opponents to always verify their claims against the PDP-led administration in the state before politicising security issues.

It could be recalled that, recently the former governor Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari in an interview with BBC Radio in Abuja recently which was monitored by our correspondent said, there is no peace reconciliation process with bandits said to be initiated by Zamfara state government, saying the peace reconciliation is not working in Zamfara state as he claimed that, multiple attacks, kidnapping and other criminality is happening everyday across the state.

New drug-resistant malaria has ‘prospect’ of spreading to Africa – Researchers

Malaria parasites resistant to key drugs, which were identified in parts of Asia, now has “terrifying prospect” of spreading to Africa, new findings suggest.

The BBC reported Tuesday how the drug-resistant parasite is rapidly spreading in South East Asia, according to researchers from the UK and Thailand.

The parasites have moved from Cambodia to Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam, where half of the patients are not being cured by first-choice drugs.

Malaria is treated with a combination of two drugs – artemisinin and piperaquine.

But by 2013, the first cases of the parasite mutating and developing resistance to both drugs were detected.

The latest study, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, which analysed blood samples from patients across South East Asia, showed that resistance is spreading rapidly, picking up mutations which have made it even more problematic.

“This strain has spread and has become worse,” Roberto Amato, from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, told BBC News.

Malaria is one of the most endemic diseases in the world, claiming over 400,000 babies and thousands of pregnant women.

It continues to be a major public health problem in Nigeria and 97 other countries in the tropics and subtropics.

Nigeria has the world’s greatest malaria burden, with approximately 51 million cases and 207,000 deaths reported annually. The country bears 30 per cent of the total malaria burden in Africa.

Despite funds and concerted efforts towards the fight against malaria, Nigeria is yet to tackle 50 per cent of the problem posed by malaria, a disease threatening 97 per cent of its population.

This devastating disease affects the country’s economic productivity, resulting in an estimated loss of approximately N132 billion in treatment costs, prevention, and other indirect costs. (Premium Times)

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