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•Casualty figure now 19
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VOL. 9, NO. 3002 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2014
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Chibok girls: March on Villa ends in tears, anger
•SEE ALSO PAGES 2,3&8
•NO WAY: The protesters being blocked at the Presidential Villa’s gate in Abuja...yesterday.
I
PHOTO: ABAYOMI FAYESE
•Mother of a missing Chibok schoolgirl, Rebecca Samuel...yesterday PHOTO: AFP
Ministers, protesters clash Parents: negotiate to bring back girls
T was meant to further draw the President’s attention to the plight of the over 200 Chibok schoolgirls abducted six months ago, but yesterday’s aborted march on the Villa was a scene of verbal assaults – and tears. The protesters, led by former Minister of Education Oby Ezekwesili, were prevented from marching
It was during your tenure, Madam Shame on you...We are simply Ezekwesili that the educational sys- requesting to meet the president tem collapsed —Minister Maina concerning our girls... —Ezekwesili From Grace Obike, Abuja
on the seat of government in Abuja by a huge security cordon, but ministers were sent to receive them. There was a war of words.
Scientists discover cure for diabetes
T
HERE is good news for diabetic patients. They will no longer need to inject insulin thanks to a treatment involving the use of insulinproducing cells which Harvard University scientists discovered how to make. The cure could, therefore, be imminent as the scientists have produced large volumes of laboratorygrown pancreatic cells re-
By Joseph Jibueze, Snr. Correspondent
quired for one-off transplantation in patients. The breakthrough has been hailed and compared to the invention of antibiotics. It involved identifying how to efficiently turn both stem cell types into beta cells. The cells, millions of which were manufactured, produced insulin, responded to Continued on page 4
It took great efforts to prevent physical combat. Marching with the protesters were parents of some of the 219 girls in Boko Haram’s custody since April 15 and leaders of the Chibok com-
munity, which is still reeling under the debilitating effect of the abduction, whose mystery has been unresolved, despite the involvement of the international community and the deployment of tech-
nology. The protesters began their march from the Giwa Park, close to the Police Headquarters. They were stopped near the Protea Hotel at Asokoro – home of the rich and the
powerful. Around 60 people in red T-shirts that read “Bring Back Our Girls” were marching. More than 150 armed policemen and women prevented them from storming the Villa. Scores of other protesters were prevented from joining the rally by other police lines at the top of the street. Continued on page 2 •From left: Mr Bamikole Oladekun, Group Head West, Commercial Banking, First Bank, Mr Chris Erewele, Executive Director, Broadbased Communications Ltd, Mr Jide Adeola, Group Head Lagos, Commercial Banking, Mrs Cecelia Majekodunmi, Group Executive, Mrs Markie Idowu, GM, Directorate Head, Technology and Service Channels, Skye Bank and Prince Henry Ise-Okojie, MD/C.E.O Broadbased Communications Ltd at the launch of HDD equipment for installation of fibre optic cables in Lagos.
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