The World Health Organization said on Monday that polio cases in Nigeria are up 400% over last year, with 43 reported cases this year as opposed to 11 last year.

The WHO says that polio now affects eight states in northern Nigeria, which is up two more than just a few months ago, the BBC reports. WHO official Thomas Moran said that controlling the polio virus in Nigeria is the key to eradicating the disease in Africa.

Moran went on to say that the agency was working hard to prevent the spread of the disease by carrying out large scale vaccination programs in the area. Still, the disease has crept onto several neighboring countries, including Chad, Mali and Ivory Coast.

The official said that Nigerian’s government has been largely cooperative with WHO’s efforts to wipe out the disease in the region.

“The immunity profile of Nigerian children is far better [now], which limits the risk of international spread of the virus,” he said. “You can call it a four-fold increase but it is still very low transmission in a country as large as Nigeria with almost 50m children under five.”

Nigeria is one of only four nations in the world where polio is still considered to be a serious medical threat. The other three countries include Afghanistan, India and Pakistan.

Source: BBC

[Image credit: REUTERS / Wayne Conradie]

Polio cases in Nigeria up 400% over last year is a post from: The Inquisitr

This is corruption at its peak. A one-month old baby was reportedly on the Nigerian government payroll.

The discovery was made as efforts are made to get rid the bureaucracy composed of bloated workforce with ghost employees.

Garba Gajam, justice commissioner for Zamfara State, said:

“In the on-going verification exercise of the payrolls… in the state we discovered that a month-old baby was among the employees of one local government who is paid a salary. What is even more astonishing is that it was indicated in the payroll that the infant holds an ordinary national diploma, revealing that the discovery is a widespread trend in the local government service where senior officials stuff payrolls with the names of their wives and children”

The Zamfara is among the states in Nigeria that has adopted the sharia law which imposes amputation of a wrist for theft.

Just last August, a five-month old baby was also found on the payroll of another local municipality, exposing the corruption that has sickened Africa’s most populous country.

Perpetrators are expected to refund the funds that they stole and face prosecution for misappropriating public funds.

So, don’t be surprised if you see a government official in Nigeria soon with an amputated wrist.

Baby with Diploma Receives Salary in Nigeria is a post from: The Inquisitr

Nigerian comic actor Babatunde Omidina, known as Baba Suwe, is now a free man on $3,300 bail. He was initially arrested last October 12 at the Lagos international airport, accused of swallowing narcotics before boarding a flight to Paris.

Since he was suspected of ingesting the drugs, the only way for authorities to prove their claim was to closely watch his bowel movements. After 25 bowel movements over a period of 24 days and without finding any drugs, Omidina was ordered released.

High Court Judge Yetunde Idowu, in releasing Omidina, said:

“I wish you well. Take care of yourself. You are free to go home.”

His lawyer Bamidele Aturu argued:

“There have been several examinations carried out on him and no banned substances have so far been found He has excreted more than 25 times.”

The lawyer also revealed that the comedian may sue Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency over tests conducted without his consent.

Don’t you just pity the authorities who were tasked to observe the bowel movements?

Nigerian Actor Baba Suwe Released From Prison After Pooping 25 Times is a post from: The Inquisitr

A man carrying bags containing the corpses of more than 70 dead babies has been arrested in Nigeria.

The man, who worked for the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, was supposed to be bringing the infants’ corpses to receive a proper burial, but was unable to afford the morgue fees. Officials say the man was attempting to “dump” the bodies when he was apprehended.

A correspondent for the BBC in Nigeria says that abandoning the bodies of infants outside hospitals is not uncommon because families are too destitute to afford burials for the babies, or are embarrassed. Hospitals retain contractors to arrange burials in those instances.

Lagos state police public relations officer Frank Mba said that in a preliminary investigation, additional staff from the Department of Morbid and Anatomy had been arrested as well as the contractor. Mba added that officials do not believe the incident was ritualistic in nature:

“We are sure that the suspect is neither a ritualist nor a murderer nor a trafficker. Other contending issues like corruption and abuse of office will be investigated.”

The hospital is said to be cooperating fully with the investigation.

Nigerian man arrested with 70 dead babies in bags is a post from: The Inquisitr

A Nigerian policeman angry that his daughter had died in hospital took revenge by teargasing the very same hospital.

According to local reports, the unnamed officer was “furious at the death of his daughter” at a children’s hospital in Ibadan, and wasn’t content to simply mourn without expressing himself rather publicly.

“The officer was agitated by the death of his daughter so he teargassed the children on admission” Makun Abodunde, a local police spokesman said.

Three children in the hospital are in a serious condition, and the officer has been arrested over his attack and faces jail time.

Nigerian Policeman’s Daughter Dies, Teargases Children’s Hospital In Revenge is a post from: The Inquisitr

Nigerian police have arrested a man who they claim transformed into a goat.

Local media claimed that two men tried to steal a car in Kwara State, with one suspect transforming himself into a goat when cornered by vigilantes.

The press quoted a police spokesman as confirming the transformation, saying that the man transformed just before he was apprehended. Police also paraded the goat before journalists as proof that they had captured the car thief.

A picture from local press, with the goat “robbery suspect” above.

Nigerian Police apprehend car thief….who transformed into a goat is a post from: The Inquisitr

Mohammadu Bello Abubakar, 84, agreed only after the Jamatu Nasril Islam, Nigeria’s leading Islamic body, sentenced him to death for having more than 4 wives, which is allowable under Sharia law. The sentence was lifted only on the condition that he divorces the remaining wives, although he still faces eviction from his home.

According to the Beeb, Mr Abubakar had challenged Islamic scholars, saying there was no punishment stated in the Koran for having more than four wives.

He argued that being forced to leave his wives would cause undue hardship: “All my wives are with children and some of these are people I have married and stayed with for over 30 years. How can they expect me to leave them within two days?”

At last count, Mr Abubakar was said to have somewhere over 170 children.

He’s probably thankful though that he doesn’t live in the United States, the alimony would be a complete b*tch.

Nigerian man to divorce 82 of 86 wives is a post from: The Inquisitr