It was reported that the Korean doctor, Dr Jeng Sunail, was kidnapped at the Tsafe General Hospital and taken to an unknown destination where he was held captive for about six months.

This is conatined in a statement signed by Malam Zailani Bappa, the Senior Special Assistant to the governor on Public Enlightenment, Media and Communication, and made available to newsmen in Gusau on Sunday.

It said the Korean government’s message was delivered by its Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Jon Tong Chol.

Mr Chol told the governor that his country received the news of the release of its unhurt national, which came without a ransom paid, as a positive gesture that should continue.

The statement said while receiving the Ambassador, Matawalle reassured him of his administration’s commitment to the protection of lives and property of all persons in the state, including foreign nationals.

The governor said under the last two months, his administration secured the release of about 350 captives including Sunail from different repentant bandits camps as a result of the peace process currently being pursued in the state.

“Indeed, this could have been celebrated worldwide if it were somewhere else but our aim here is to get the results, because that is what we swore to do as a popular government”, Matawalle was quoted to have said.

He called on the Korean Ambassador to have greater faith in his administration and persuade his country to further invest in the state especially in the areas of health, mining and commerce.

He also described Korea as a developed country with modern technology that could be utilised by Zamfara as the state strives for progress.

He also called on Korea to assist the thousands of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the state particularly in the provision of drugs, resettlement and skills acquisition so that full normalcy could return.

The post Kidnap: Korean Govt thanks Gov. Matawalle for rescuing Korean doctor appeared first on NEWSVERGE.

Sea-Eye tweeted the report Monday.

According to the Sea-Eye, the migrants were spotted on a wooden boat by private search plane Colibri before being taken on to the Alan Kurdi vessel.

“A ship of the Maltese Navy is now on its way to take the people from the #AlanKurdi and bring them to land,” it tweeted.

There had been no confirmation of this from Malta.

On Sunday Malta agreed to allow 65 migrants saved by Sea-Eye to land, after which the Alan Kurdi returned to its area of operations. Italy had refused the ship entry.

Recent private-rescue operations have frequently ended in long stand-offs or in the seizure of rescue ships.

The case of Carola Rackete, captain of the ship Sea-Watch 3, recently became high profile.

Rackete took 40 migrants to the island of Lampedusa after more than two weeks at sea, breaching Italian orders not to enter the port.

She is under criminal investigation in Italy.

The post German boat, Sea-Eye rescues 44 additional migrants from Mediterranean appeared first on NEWSVERGE.

LASEMA revealed its handicap in a Twitter post when it said an ‘unspecified number of people were recovered from the rubble before the arrival of the emergency responders on the incident scene”.

However, the agency said its rescue team and other agencies brought out 10 people alive, made up of 3 adult females, 1 adult male, 2 teenage boys, 1 young boy and 3 teenage girls. Dr Titilayo Goncalves, permanent secretary of the health ministry said 20 people were brought out from the wreckage and they were receiving treatment from various hospitals.

Other emergency services that joined in the rescue bid were LASG FIRE, LASAMBUS, NEMA, FED FIRE, Nigeria Police, NSCDC, LNSC and the RED CROSS.

The four-storey building near Massey Children Hospital collapsed this morning while children were having classes on the third floor.

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode raced to the scene and was briefed by LASEMA officials on ground.

Parents of the pupils jammed the site of the incident wailing and shouting, expecting to see their children brought out alive.

Our correspondent who was at the scene of the incident reports that the building collapsed about 10: am on Wednesday.

According to some residents of the area, the building was earlier marked for demolition before it was renovated.

One of the parents said her son was rescued by the neighbours who quickly ran to the site.

“My son was just lucky for him to have been rescued alive. The neighbours ran to the building immediately it collapsed.

“People in the neighbourhood started the rescue before the state rescue team arrived. I sincerely thank God and the people in the area,”she said.

A witness who pleaded anonymity said staff of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), came for inspection of the building regularly.

“This building was marked for demolition. We kept seeing people from Alausa coming to inspect the building, and the next thing we saw was the same building undergoing renovation.

“The state regulatory body is not strict with its policies. Such calamity would have been avoided if the right action was taken by demolishing the building. We pray people will be evacuated safely.’’

However, rescue teams with ambulances found it difficult to gain access into the scene due to the crowd that gathered at the scene.

The post LASEMA rescues 10 people from collapsed building on Lagos Island appeared first on NEWSVERGE.

Our correspondent reports that the victims were market women coming from the popular Owode market in Ede.

The accident, which occurred at about 1.30 pm, involved a mini commercial bus with registration number RLG 556 XA and a Honda car marked AKD 895 CJ.

The commercial bus, it was learnt, had somersaulted after it collided with the car.

Aregbesola, whose convoy had arrived at the scene of the accident, alighted from his vehicle to join the rescue efforts.

The governor, who was in company with his Commissioner for Health, immediately called for an ambulance to take the victims to the hospital.

He also ensured that the two vehicles involved were removed from the road to ensure free flow of traffic before leaving the scene of the accident.

An eyewitness told our correspondent that the driver of the Honda car was on top speed without foreknowledge of the speed breaker in front.

The eyewitness said immediately the driver saw the speed breaker, he applied the brake, forcing his car to swerve off his lane and colliding with the commercial bus.

While all the eight market women in the commercial bus sustained various degrees of injuries, the driver of the car came out unhurt.

The post Aregbesola rescues 8 accident victims appeared first on NEWSVERGE.