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Pakistan begins new nationwide polio vaccination campaign after surge in new cases
Pakistan began a nationwide vaccination campaign Monday to protect 45 million children from polio after a surge in new cases that has hampered years of efforts to stop the disease in one of the two countries where it has never been eradicated.
Pakistan regularly launches such campaigns, but violence targeting the health workers and police assigned to escort them is common. Militants falsely claim the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilise children.
The campaign is the third this year and will continue until Sunday “in response to the alarming increase in polio cases”, said Ayesha Raza Farooq, the prime minister’s adviser for the polio eradication program. “We are re-energised in our efforts to combat polio,” she said in a statement.
During the door-to-door campaign, children younger than five will be vaccinated and given drops of vitamin A supplements to enhance their immunity.
Prime minister Shehbaz Sharif recently met with front-line health workers, urging them to ensure no child was left unvaccinated by going door-to-door.
Anwarul Haq, who is the coordinator of the National Emergency Operations Centre for PolioEradication, also urged parents to fully cooperate with polio workers. “Polio has no cure, but it can be prevented with this readily available vaccine,” he said.
Pakistan has recorded 41 cases across 71 districts so far this year, Ms Farooq said. Most were reported from southwestern Balochistan and southern Sindh province, following by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and eastern Punjab province.
The surge in cases in new locations is worrying authorities since previous cases were from the unsettled northwest, bordering Afghanistan, where the Taliban government in September suddenly stopped a door-to-door vaccination campaign.
Authorities in Pakistan say the Afghan Taliban’srecent decision to stop the door-to-door anti-polio campaign will have repercussions beyond the Afghan border, as people from both sides frequently travel to each other’s country. The World Health Organization has confirmed 18 polio cases in Afghanistan this year.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where the spread of polio has never been stopped. It is one of the world’s most infectious diseases, so it continues to spread anywhere people are not fully vaccinated. In severe cases, polio can cause permanent paralysis and death.
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Police bust syndicate behind nude photo blackmail in Lagos
Men of the Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU), Lagos, have apprehended three suspects who allegedly run a cyber blackmail and extortion scheme in the state.
According to the spokesperson of the unit, DSP Ovie Ewhubare, the suspects get a hold of their victims explicit photos and then threaten to release them if a ransom is not paid.
He said that the suspects, two males and a female, were apprehended after a petition was filed by a complainant who reported being repeatedly threatened by unknown individuals demanding money.
“The complainant received several phone calls in which the callers threatened to release her nude photographs to the public if she failed to pay them. Acting out of fear and emotional distress, she transferred money to the suspects.
The situation escalated when the suspects demanded an additional N10 million, prompting her to formally petition the police,” he said
The police imagemaker state dthat upon receipt of the complaint, the Commissioner of Police, PSFU, Mr Kayode Ojapinwa, ordered the immediate deployment of operatives to investigate the matter.
“The investigation led to the arrest of the three suspects. Investigations revealed that one of the suspects gained unlawful access to the complainant’s mobile device and fraudulently transferred her nude photographs to his own device. Further findings indicated that he conspired with the other suspects and other accomplices currently at large to demand and receive money from the complainant in several tranches,” he said
According to him, the suspects are currently in police custody and are expected to be arraigned before a court of competent jurisdiction.
The image maker said that investigations were ongoing to apprehend other fleeing members of the syndicate and to recover all proceeds of the alleged crime.
Trending
Catholic Priest Collapses And D!es In Front Of Congregation While Walking To Tabernacle To Return Holy Communion
A Catholic priest has tragically passed away after suddenly collapsing in front of the congregation during Sunday mass.
The tragic incident took place last Sunday, February 1 in Wiesmath in the district of Wiener Neustadt, Austria.
Shortly after administering Holy Communion, 59-year-old priest Raimund Beisteiner was about to return the host to the tabernacle when he “suddenly” collapsed, according to a statement from the Archdiocese of Vienna.
“Despite immediate professional assistance, he di£d in the church,” the statement said.
The mayor of Wiesmath, Erich Rasner, had also attended the Mass with many other believers and witnessed the dramatic scenes.
The shock in Wiesmath at the loss of the popular priest is great. Beisteiner had shaped the spiritual life of the parish for almost two decades and was highly regarded far beyond the community.
Rasner praised him as an “extremely conscientious, sensitive priest” and also emphasized the personal loss of a friendship that had grown over many years.
A prayer service was organized at short notice for the late priest. It was attended by numerous priests from the deanery as well as Archbishop Josef Grünwidl.

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Nollywood Actress, Angela Okorie Allegedly Re-Arrested Over Alleged Refusal To Pay Lawyer Who Secured Her Bail (Video)
Angela Okorie, the Nigerian actress, has reportedly been re-arrested over allegations that she refused to pay the lawyer who secured her bail from Suleja Prison.
Angela was re-arrested at the Suleja prison on Tuesday, immediately she was released on bail.
This came less than an hour after actor Stanley Ontop raised the alarm over an alleged plan to re-arrest the actress after release on Tuesday.
Speaking in a video on Instagram, actress Doris Ogala who said she is already on her way to the police station, stated that the actress was re-arrested by an unnamed Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, for refusing to pay the N5 million agreed fee to secure her bail.
Doris said; “You see, one thing is for someone to cut their clothes according to their size. Angela has been arrested again. As a matter of fact, I’m going to the police station now. You see, when Angela was arrested by Mercy, she called a friend of her or village person. I don’t know how they relate. To help her get a SAN.
“And the SAN charged them N5 million. I think the SAN was the one who even facilitated the bail and all that. Now when Angela knew that they have granted her bail according to the lady, Angela started saying that she didn’t ask her to get a SAN and she wasn’t going to pay the money, and meanwhile this lady has deposited.”
Recall that Angela, who was granted bail on Friday after her arrest by Mercy Johnson over alleged defamation, regained her freedom few minutes ago after perfecting her bail conditions.
Watch Doris Ogala speak

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