The sacking of over 20,000 teachers in Kaduna state by the state Governor has aroused many interests. The retrenchment was in a bid to attack the reduced standard of education in the state, after a test meant for the basic students were given to the teachers to take. The results of the tests were appalling as majority of the teachers failed.


A protest, led by Ayuba Wabba, the president of the Nigerian Labour congress was held in the state, on Wednesday, halting all activities. Wabba also alleged that the government came up with the competency test to sack teachers. Chairman of the NUT, Mr. Audu Amba, issued  a two-week ultimatum to the government to revoke the decision to sack 25,000 workers.
The governor of the state, condemned the use of the pupils on highways for their protests, endangering the lives of the little ones and he made this known through his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr. Samuel Aruwan. No direct dialogue has been made so far over this issue.

The bodies of 26 Nigerian women have been recovered from the Mediterranean. Most of the women, aged in large part between 14 and 18, were drowned when the rubber boat carrying 64 sank on Friday while crossing the Mediterranean. The other three victims were collected as part of other operations and transferred the Cantabria as it headed to Salerno to turn over the bodies to the Italian authorities.
 The deceased women, believed to be Nigerian in origin, were recovered by the Spanish ship Cantabria as part of operation Sophia, an EU anti-trafficking force.

An investigation into the deaths of the women has been launched by Salermo prosecutors who believe there is a possibility that sexual violence played a role in the death of these women. The bodies were frozen onboard the Cantabria in order to preserve evidence that may have been lost during the journey to the coast. Full autopsies are expected to be completed at the Salerno morgue within the week.

Source: The vanguard