22 Arrested for Killing Anti-Ebola Campaigners in Guinea

Conakry (Xinhua/NAN) – Guinea’s Justice Minister Cheick Sacko said 22 suspects had been arrested in connection with last week’s killing of eight government  officials.

The eight officials were involved in sensitization of the public against Ebola Virus Disease in the southeast region of Wome.

“The suspected perpetrators of the assassinations will be charged before a special sitting of the Conakry Court of Appeal,” the minister said on Wednesday in Conakry.

He said that those arrested included Labile Haba, a 30-year-old hawker, who was believed to be the head of the operation.

Sacko said other suspects include two residents of Wome who had tried to flee to Cote d’Ivoire, as well as their two colleagues arrested in the town of Gueckedou in Guinea’s southern region.

The justice minister said the suspects, who were arrested a day after the killing of the eight officials, had been questioned by investigators.

Read More

Villagers Kill 8 Ebola Awareness Health Workers in Guinea

Eight members of a team who were trying to spread awareness about Ebola in the village of Wome – in southern Guinea have been killed by the villagers.Some local officials and journalists were also killed, BBC reports.

Sources say the victims may have been killed because the villagers are suspicious that the health workers are spreading the disease. Also, some of the residents are still in denial about the existence of Ebola.

According to reports, the bodies appear to have machete cuts and dents apparently from being hacked and clubbed to death.

So far, six people have been arrested in connection with the crime.

Read More

Ebola: FIFA Pledges Financial Support to West African Countries Affected

Lagos (NAN) President of the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA), Sepp Blatter, on Saturday said the organization would give full support to three West African countries heavily hit by the Ebola Virus Disease.

According to “Inside Games,” an online news provider, Blatter made the pledge at FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.

The publication stated that the world football’s governing body said that the issue would be discussed and agreed upon at its next Finance Committee meeting which would hold in France on Sept. 25.

It said that FIFA had decided to dip into its solidarity fund to help Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, all impoverished countries in West Africa, whose citizens had been afflicted by the Ebola disease.

“FIFA said that the additional financial support would be spent in solidarity with United Nations (UN) initiative on the fight against the epidemic.

This announcement, the publication said, came as it emerged that the Antoinette Tubman Stadium in Monrovia, the Liberian capital, was to serve as the site for two large-scale Ebola treatment units.

It stated that the stadium had been identified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as the safest and most effective location for the units.

It also said that FIFA would cover the costs of any damage to the Monrovia pitch that might be caused by the treatment units.

The publication also quoted Wilfried Lemke, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General of the UN on Sport for Development and Peace as acknowledging that the Ebola outbreak also had tremendous impact on the sports community.

“National authorities, the UN and the world of sport need to work closely together in order to halt the spread of the disease,” Lemke said.

FIFA recalled that Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Liberia withdrew from the recent Youth Olympic Games in China because of the Ebola crisis.

 

Read More