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WEST AFRICA: Hopes for "re-eradicating" polio

Health specialists are increasingly optimistic that growing acceptance of the polio vaccine in northern Nigeria offers hope that an upcoming immunisation campaign across West Africa will succeed in “re-eradicating” the disease in countries affected in 2008 after several polio-free years. Health officials in Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Togo, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), are vaccinating nearly 40 million children in a “synchronised”...

Nigeria tests drug after deaths of children

All paracetamol-based drugs prescribed in Nigeria are being tested after the deaths of 29 children, who had taken contaminated medicine, officials say. The children died after drinking a baby teething mixture contaminated with diethylene glycol, a toxic substance normally used in engine coolant.

'Bad syrup' kills Nigerian babies

Nigeria's food and drug agency says that 25 children aged between three months and four years have died after taking a contaminated teething syrup. The National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control said it had shut down the Lagos-based manufacturer, Barewa Pharmaceuticals.

No HIV test - no marriage

Getting married in Nigeria often requires more than just the bride and groom turning up at the altar, and having witnesses and wedding rings present: many Christian churches also require an HIV test certificate.

ALERT – NIGERIA: Unidentified gunmen kill journalist, police involvement suspected

On 17 August 2008 at about 10.30 p.m. (local time), Mr. Paul Abayomi Ogundeji, a member of the editorial board of the Lagos-based private daily newspaper "Thisday", was shot dead in Dopemu, a suburb of Lagos, by yet-to-be identified gunmen. According to the Nigerian Police, while driving home Ogundeji was ambushed by armed robbers who had earlier stolen another car. The police allege that the bandits ordered him to stop and to open his car door, and that when he refused to obey, the robbers...

NIGERIA: No condoms for Anambra State

It is now illegal to encourage the use of condoms in southeast Nigeria’s Anambra State. The state government has also banned the advocacy and distribution of other forms of contraceptives including IUDs (intrauterine device) and any other “un-natural” birth control. “Instead of teaching children how to use condoms to enjoy sex they should be taught total abstinence,” the state commissioner for health, Amobi Ilika said when announcing the measures in late March at the state capital, Awka....

NIGERIA: Worst cholera outbreak in years in Benue State

At least 35 people have died of cholera in the capital of Benue State, Madurdi, and the town of Oturkpo. Both areas have a history of cholera outbreaks but the latest toll is far higher than in previous years. The cases occurred in areas where conditions are known to be particularly unhygienic and where residents lack clean water. The quality of Makurdi’s water supply is unreliable and taps often run dry, forcing many residents to drink straight from the nearby Benue River. At least 25 of...

NIGERIA: Govt hits tobacco companies with whopping law suit

The Nigerian federal government filed a suit in the High Court of Abuja on Tuesday against tobacco companies British-American Tobacco, Philip Morris International, and International Tobacco Ltd., seeking US$42.4 billion in reparations for damage they have caused to Nigerians’ health. The number of Nigerians who smoke exceeds 30 million, according to a recent study by the Nigerian non-governmental organization Environmental Rights Action. There are no comprehensive studies on the effects...

NIGERIA: Biafra separatist leader free and defiant

The jailed leader of a separatist movement in the south-east of Nigeria known formerly as Biafra was released from detention at the end of October in a move analysts hailed as a helpful and diplomatic approach to the region’s problems by the government, but the secessionist leader says he will continue his struggle for independence. “Nigeria must be Balkanized,” Ralph Uwazuruike, the leader of the secessionist Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), told...

NIGERIA: Plan to demolish waterfront villages suspended

Residents of waterfront villages around Nigeria’s oil capital Port Harcourt are relieved as a plan to demolish their homes has been shelved following the removal of the state governor on 26 October. “The former governor did not have the interest of poor people at heart," said Peters Ibinabo, a resident of Bundu, one of 25 waterside villages slated for demolition. “The [new] governor has started well," he told IRIN by telephone. In his first address to the people of Rivers State,...