Syria conflict: US condemns siege of Qusair

6 June 2013 Lyse Doucet: "[The rebels] say they're coming back but they'll come back to a city that's gone" The US has condemned the Syrian army's attack on Qusair, a strategic town over which it gained control after a siege. The White House also called on Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah to withdraw fighters from Syria, where they have been helping government troops. A BBC team that visited Qusair found that it was in ruins. Meanwhile, activists and the Israeli military said a UN-operated border crossing in the Golan Heights had been taken by rebels from Syrian forces. "The rebels have seized the crossing near the old city of Quneitra in the occupied Golan Heights," Rami Abdelrahman, head of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told Reuters news agency, adding that fierce fighting was continuing in the area. The BBC's Yolande Knell, in Jeruslaem, says Israeli officials have voiced fears that the civil war in Syria could spill over their borders and with Islamist extremists among the rebel forces, they're worried that the Golan Heights could be used to launch attacks against Israel in future. No building escaped damage On the international front, France said growing proof of chemical weapons use in Syria "obliges the international community to act". At the scene Lyse Doucet BBC News, Qusair This battle for Qusair is over. But now the fight begins to help the people who survived. Thousands fled the violence, many were trapped inside. Aid agencies speak of alarming reports that large numbers of wounded need urgent care. There's not enough food or water in Qusair or for those displaced outside in schools, shelters and on the streets. In the last two days, the UN managed to send in a powerful generator to help restart the main pumping station for this entire region. But now aid agencies are urging the government to give them greater access to the city. The fight for Qusair was a strategic victory, but a humanitarian disaster. However, President Francois Hollande cautioned: "We can only act within the framework of international law". He was speaking hours after Syrian government forces backed by Hezbollah fighters retook full control of Qusair, after three weeks of heavy fighting. A team from the BBC were the first Western journalists to reach the city, and said they did not see a single building that had escaped damage. More than 80,000 people have been killed in Syria and more than 1.5 million have fled the country since an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in 2011, according to UN estimates. International efforts to resolve the conflict continue, but the US and Russia have failed to set a date for proposed peace talks. The UN and Arab League envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, said the international conference might now be held in July, rather than June as had been planned. He called the lack of agreement between Washington and Moscow "embarrassing", but also noted that neither side in the Syrian conflict was ready to commit to attending. Humanitarian concern Qusair lies only 10km (6 miles) from the Lebanese border and is close to important supply routes for both the government and rebels. It had been the focus of fighting between rebels and troops backed by a pro-government militia and fighters from Hezbollah, the militant Lebanese Shia Islamist group allied with Iran. Syrian state TV reported on Wednesday that a large number of rebels had died and many others had surrendered as troops advanced swiftly. The rebels said they withdrew overnight in the face of a massive assault. The town where 30,000 people once lived is now all but deserted by civilians, reports the BBC's Lyse Doucet, who was taken to Qusair by the Syrian government. Estimated population of 30,000 people Up to 10,000 people have fled to neighbouring towns and 1,500 people are wounded, the UN says Some 23 villages and 12 farms west of Qusair are reportedly inhabited by Lebanese Shia Near the main route from Damascus to port of Tartous, a gateway to the heartland of President Assad's Alawite sect She found Syrian troops and Hezbollah fighters were everywhere - travelling in trucks and armoured vehicles, firing guns in celebration and moving on foot through the streets. White House spokesman Jay Carney said the US condemned the assault "in the strongest possible terms". "It is clear that the regime is unable to contest the opposition's control of a place like Qusair on their own, and that is why they are dependent on Hezbollah and Iran to do their work for them," he said. The US has called on Hezbollah and Iran to immediately withdraw their fighters from Syria, calling on all parties to allow humanitarian agencies safe access to the area. Hezbollah - or the Party of God - is a political and military organisation in Lebanon made up mainly of Shia Muslims. It emerged with financial backing from Iran in the early 1980s and has always been a close ally of Syria's. One of the group's fighters told The Times newspaper it had dispatched some 1,200 special forces fighters to spearhead the assault on Qusair. "The buildings were so close, we were clearing them not metre by metre but centimetre by centimetre," said the veteran fighter, who went by the nom-de-guerre Haji Abbas and said he had recently returned from a week's fighting in the town. "We squashed them into the northern part of the town and then pinned them down with sniper fire." Correspondents say the battle for Qusair has highlighted Hezbollah's growing role in the Syrian conflict - a development that has heightened sectarian tensions in the wider region. Late on Wednesday Lebanese media said that several rockets had landed in the Hezbollah stronghold of Baalbek inside Lebanon. Sarin 'used' While Iran politically and militarily backs the Syrian government, it is not clear that Iranian forces were on the ground during the battle for Qusair. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has said it fears there are shortages of food, water and medical supplies in the town. George Sabra, the interim chairman of the main opposition alliance, the National Coalition, said there were hundreds of injured people awaiting help in the area and called on the Red Cross to be allowed access. The BBC's Jim Muir: "People are being kept weeks and weeks just to register with the UN." In Paris, Mr Hollande told reporters: "We have the elements which now allow us to give certainty over the use of chemical weapons in Syria - at what level we still do not know. "What has happened in Syria must be one more piece of pressure that can be put on the Syrian regime and its allies." His comments followed those of French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who revealed on Tuesday that samples taken from locations of alleged chemical weapon attacks in Syria, including Saraqeb and Jobar, and brought to France had tested positive for the nerve agent, sarin. Mr Fabius said he had "no doubt" that sarin had been used by "the Syrian regime and its accomplices", but did not specify instances of its use. The US says more proof is needed. The Syrian government has repeatedly denied using chemical weapons, and has in turn accused the rebels of doing so, an allegation that they have also justified.

U.N. Believes Chemical Weapons Used in Syria

United Nations investigators said on Tuesday they had "reasonable grounds" to believe that limited amounts of chemical weapons had been used in Syria, and France said the nerve agent sarin had been deployed by the government. In their latest report, human rights investigators said they had received allegations that Syrian government forces and rebels had used the banned weapons, but most testimony related to their use by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. Increasing reports from the battlefield of the use of chemical weapons have sounded alarm bells in the West, lending urgency to a new diplomatic push to end the two-year-old war that has killed 80,000. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said last week that the use of chemical weapons was unacceptable. France said it was certain that sarin had been used on several occasions following tests it had carried out on samples recovered from Syria. "There is no doubt that it's the regime and its accomplices" that are responsible for use of the gas, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on France 2 television. "All options are on the table," he added. "That means either we decide not to react or we decide to react including by armed actions targeting the place where the gas is stored." Britain's U.N. ambassador, Mark Lyall Grant, said evidence suggested the use of a number of different variants or combinations of chemical agents "sometimes including sarin, sometimes not". Quantities were relatively small. The United States wants more evidence about the use of chemical weapons in Syria before deciding how to respond, the White House said. White House spokesman Jay Carney said United States believes most chemical weapons in Syria remain under the government's control and was "highly sceptical" of claims that the opposition had used them. Assad's government and its opponents have accused each other of using chemical weapons. Syria's ambassador, Faysal Khabbaz Hamoui, in a debate at the U.N. Human Rights Council on Tuesday, questioned the "neutrality and professionalism" of the panel. Russian Ambassador Alexey Borodavkin called for U.N. experts to be sent to Khan al-Assal in the northern Aleppo province, where an alleged chemical weapons strike took place on March 19, one of the four cited by the inquiry. However, previously a team of U.N. inspectors has been denied access to Syria and has been unable to establish whether chemical weapons have been used.

Boko Haram Leader May Face Trial In US

05.06.2013, 6:06 Wanted Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, could be tried for terrorism in the United States or in courts of partner nations if caught, the U.S. Acting Assistant Director of Diplomatic Security Threat Investigations and Analysis Directorate, Kurt Rice, has said. Rice whose country on Monday placed $23m bounties on five leaders of terrorist groups in West Africa, including Shekau, spoke at a joint tele-news conference with David Gilmour, Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs. The joint tele-news conference coincided with President Goodluck Jonathan's approval of the proscription of Boko Haram and Jama'atu Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladis Sudan and the gazetting of an order declaring the group's activities illegal and acts of terrorism. During the conference which was aired to audiences in Abuja, Lagos, Accra in Ghana, Dakar in Senegal and Niamey in Niger Republic, Rice also explained that the highest bounty of $7m was placed on Shekau because the US had "seen increases in the terrorist capabilities of the Boko Haram" under his leadership. Rice said the major aim of placing bounties was to bring the terrorists to account in courts in the US or before courts of partner nations where they (terrorists) operate. "The whole exercise is to bring these people before American courts or of partner nations whether it be in Nigeria; whether it be anywhere in North or West Africa,'' he said when asked where the terrorists would be likely tried. He also explained that the intent of Washington in offering the rewards through the Justice Programme was "to work with our Nigerian partners to try and make (Nigeria) a more stable and secure area." Rice, who expressed the hope that the capture of Shekau would "check" the deadly attacks by Boko Haram in the Northern part of Nigeria, added that the US had through the Justice programme paid out $125m (about N19.8bn) to more than 80 people, who provided information leading to the arrests of terrorists since 1984. "The fact is that this is a shared fight against terrorism. This is one tool we have against terrorism and we find that overtime it has been enormously effective and it has saved a lot of lives and we want to continue doing that,"he said. But he stressed that the US would carefully vet information provided by individuals on the whereabouts of the Boko Haram leader. He added that persons who have links with Shekau or any terrorist organisation who provide information about him would not benefit from the $7m bounty. Rice said, "The Reward for Justice programme is meant to get information from people who have been horrified by terrorist acts worldwide and want to prevent this type of thing. "We don't pay rewards to terrorist organisations. The fact is that we are looking for information and when we get the information we will carefully vet it before reward is ever paid out: to be absolutely sure that the people who are worthy of the awards are not connected with terrorist organisations and they don't ever get a cent of this money." Also speaking, Gilmour ruled out suggestions that the $7m (N1.1bn) bounty offered on the head of Shekau could be counter-productive to Nigeria government amnesty offer for the insurgents. Gilmour reiterated the US position that security-based solution was not the only way to address the current security challenges in Nigeria. He said Washington recognises that in Northern Nigeria, there are legitimate grievances such as social inequality and youth unemployment. Gilmour therefore urged "the Nigerian government to take seriously those grievances of the general population of Northern Nigeria.'' To security operatives, currently conducting military operations in three North Eastern states, under a state of emergency, he advised them to try and build the confidence of the population to keep them safe. He said, "We've made the point that security forces particularly need to build the confidence of the population. This is something that we've seen around the world with insurgencies and these types of situations. "The population needs to have the confidence in the government to keep them safe and the government needs to be responsive to the needs of the people." Under the latest reward programme, the US offered $5m reward on Al-Qaeda's Mokhtar Belmokhtar, accused of being responsible for the Algerian gas plant attack that killed three Americans and 34 other foreigners in January. An additional $5m was offered to help arrest AQIM leader Yahya Abou Al-Hammam, believed to have been involved in the murder of an elderly French hostage in Niger in 2010. The reward programme also targeted Malik Abou Abdelkarim, a senior fighter with AQIM, and Oumar Ould Hamaha, the spokesman for Mali's Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa. But as the US defended the bounty on Shekau, the Northern Elders Forum argued that it could complicate issues relating to the Boko Haram insurgency. The Spokesman for the NEF, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, said this in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja, on Tuesday. Explaining the implication of the action, Abdullahi said, "I still believe that the insurgents have concentrated on our national institutions so far as far as I can analyse. If there is sufficient lobby or pressure for outside powers to come in for whatever reason, then perhaps, this issue is likely to be a little bit more complicated than it is. Meanwhile, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, has said that the proscription of Boko Haram and Jama'atu Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladis Sudan has been gazetted as the Terrorism (Prevention) (Proscription Order) Notice 2013. He said in a statement on Tuesday that the President's approval of the order was in pursuant to Section 2 0f the Terrorism Prevention Act, 2011 (As Amended). According to Abati, the approval by Jonathan officially brings the activities of both groups within the purview of the Terrorism Prevention Act and any persons associated with the two groups can now be legally prosecuted and sentenced.

'Oral Sex Caused My Cancer' - Hollywood Actor

3 June, 2013 Hollywood actor Michael Douglas has claimed that his throat cancer was caused by performing oral sex on women. The star, who fought a six month battle with the disease from August 2010 until January 2011, had initially believed that it was his years of smoking and drinking that had lead to the illness. However, in a new interview the 68-year-old said that the particular strain he had suffered with was caused by human papilloma virus (HPV), a sexually transmitted disease. Douglas made the frank admission about how he developed the illness during an interview with The Guardian newspaper when he was asked if he had regretted smoking and drinking in the past. Douglas candidly replied: 'No. Because without wanting to get too specific, this particular cancer is caused by HPV, which actually comes about from cunnilingus.' Douglas, who is married to Welsh actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, was diagnosed with cancer in August 2010 after a walnut-sized tumour was found on his tongue. His health troubles started just a few months after his eldest son Cameron - from his first marriage to Diandra Luker - was jailed for drug possession and dealing. The actor admitted he initially believed his disease had been triggered by the stress over his son's legal troubles. He explained: 'I did worry if the stress caused by my son's incarceration didn't help trigger it. But yeah, it's a sexually transmitted disease that causes cancer. And if you have it, cunnilingus is also the best cure for it.' Douglas was diagnosed with stage four of the disease and underwent an intense course of chemotherapy and radiation. Eventually, he was given the all-clear, although he still has to undergo check-ups with doctors every six months. However, the actor is optimistic he has conquered the disease once and for all. 'With this kind of cancer, 95 per cent of the time it doesn't come back,' he said. More than 20 years ago, Michael was hospitalised for an addiction, which many reports at the time claimed was to sex. However, he has since denied that he was a sex addict, insisting that he was being treated for alcohol abuse. HPV is a sexually transmitted virus which is more widely known as a cause of cervical and anal cancer. Last year, Cancer Research UK said the rising rates of HPV16-positive cases of oral cancer could be linked to oral sex.

Cynthia Osokogu’s Murderer Offered Me N15mn Bribe- Festac Police Chief

The Assistant Commissioner of Police, Area E, Festac Town (Lagos), Damien Okoro, was one of the police officers conferred with meritorious award and certificate of bravery by President Goodluck Jonathan at the recent event to mark the Police Week in Abuja The award was in recognition of his groundbreaking investigation into the gruesome murder of Cynthia Osokogu, a postgraduate student murdered by her Facebook friends in Lagos. Four people are currently being prosecuted for Ms. Osokogu’s murder. Ms. Osokogu, 24, was allegedly drugged and murdered in a hotel room last July in Lagos. Okwumo Nwabufor and Olisaeloka Ezike are charged, for Ms. Osokogu’s death, with conspiracy to commit murder, murder, and felony. Osita Orji, a Pharmacist who sold the Rophynol drug to the alleged murderers, is accused of reckless and negligent act; while Nonso Ezike, who pawned the deceased’s Blackberry phone, is charged with possession of stolen property. Mr. Okoro in an interview after he received his award stated that Ms. Osokogu’s killers offered him N15million to compromise the case. He spoke about the pressure from high place o limit the investigations. He also spoke about his love for unraveling crime and the need for police officers to improve themselves on the job. Tell us briefly about the investigation into Ms. Osokogu’s murder The investigations into the murder of Ms. Osukogu was not an easy one as she was killed in such a manner that it would take a very intelligent officer to arrest her killers. There was no complainant, no means to locate her family as her phones were stolen by her killers . We also could not Identify her or say this was where she was coming from. Investigation into the killing took my officers and I to Cotonou in Benin Republic where we went undercover and broke the barrier of the Interpol which would have slowed down the case. We also went to Anambra State University. When we got the call log, it was about 300- 400 pages. We did a deep study of the call log which involved forensic analysis. It was tasking analyzing all the activities on social media- Facebook, Twitter. I took a great risk putting my life and that of my officers on the line to go after the killers. Not minding the grave danger, we made arrests at about midnight; until 3.15am we were in operation. It was the painstaking forensic investigation we did that showed the suspect was economical with the truth about his location. He was in Lagos State but claimed he was in Abuja. Did you think that you will be celebrated for arresting Cynthia’s killers? My mind was not on any award. I was just doing what a police officer is expected to do in such a situation to find the killers. I am very glad and I feel elated at the awards and certificates I have received and the President’s award is a great fete that is not common. I am fulfilled and I thank God that I was honored; (the honour) is much more than the N15million I was offered as bribe. Today, I’m being celebrated and that is all I wanted. I received the National Orientation Agency, Security Watch Africa awards, the best Area Commander in Nigeria award in 2012 also, the IGP award and the President’s meritorious award. If we had collected money, there would be no celebrations today. The suspects offered me money for us to kill the case. We were pressured from everywhere not to arrest other suspects. I got furious when Eche, the killer was bold enough to say that I should remove the handcuff from his hands; that he wants to go home and his people are coming to “see” me. He asked me why I was bothering myself with “that prostitute.” I replied that he was not going anywhere. He thought I was being tough so he offered N10million. I just stared at him and told him- “you cannot go anywhere.” He thought I was looking for more money so he increased his bribe to N15million. At this point, I became very furious with him that he had no remorse after killing a human being in that manner. I stood my ground and told him that he cannot go after committing such a heinous crime. He thought I was joking but got the message when my men took him away and locked him up. If I had collected that N15million, we would not be talking about this award. The N15million is nothing compared to the lifetime award I received from the president. This award is not a mean fete. I will cherish the award all my life. It shows that if one works hard and is dedicated, the person would be recognized and honoured. How did you achieve so much despite the challenges of your job? The technology involving forensic investigation has been digitalised. Using computers and the social media to crack cases requires tech knowledge. What this entails is updating one’s knowledge and expertise. I had to enroll in a technology school where I acquired knowledge in forensic investigation. Also, there is the challenge of human, political and economic pressure trying to make you compromise. When highly placed individuals call you and want the case compromised it makes the job difficult but an astute policeman must stand his ground and say no. There are a lot of training programme for officers as the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Mohammed Abubakar is one person that believes in training and retraining; there courses available to make officers excel on the job. Like I said, success on the job is a personal aspiration and desire. An officer should have that high innate passion to achieve more – to become an achiever of international repute. This kind of mindset will make you go far in life. Would you have preferred another profession? It has always been on my mind to join the police force even while I was in school. I am from a family of policemen and I got attracted to the profession I loved so much and I don’t regret it . If I am reincarnated, I would still become a policeman. My experience in the Police Force has been awesome. I advise other officers to train and retain themselves especially in modern policing and the use of the web and social media. It is left to them to become achievers on the job. What is the lesson here for other police officers? Every officer should strive to make a name for his or herself and put themselves in the echelon of crime busting which is fundamental in police work. The aspiring officer should look for a mentor. I own all the achievement so far to the IGP Mohammed Abubakar . He is my mentor and I adore him. I have known my boss for over a decade and I have worked with him and learnt from his wisdom and knowledge. He was the one who encouraged me to read law. The Lagos State commissioner of Police, Umar Manko, is also a policeman I adore. He gave me the enabling environment and the necessary support to carry out investigations. If he had said that Cynthia’s case should be transferred, then we would not be saying anything about awards and being celebrated. Damiem Okoro’s crime busting portfolio Aside from playing a leading role in resolving the Cynthia Osokogu murder trial, Mr. Okoro has also led various other high-profile criminal investigations. These include: - The robbery at NAHCO in Lagos State where a bank was broken into and a huge amount of local and foreign currencies was carted away. He and his team arrested the robbers and recovered all the cash. - He was also the brain behind the arrest of Sierra-Leonean rebel leader, Faondi Sanko, whom he handed over to the army in Abuja. - In 1997, ACP Okoro and his team recovered the spare engine of Boeing 747 GASS cargo, stolen from the tarmac . He was given N1million to compromise the case but he arrested the suspects and charged them to court.

Dehui poultry plant fire: Locked exits 'blocked escape'

A fire at a poultry processing plant in China has killed at least 119 people, officials say. The fire broke out at a slaughterhouse in Dehui in Jilin province early on Monday. Accounts speak of explosions prior to the fire, which caused panic and a crush of workers trying to escape. Most exits were said to be locked. A labour activist told the BBC it was the worst factory fire in living memory. The fire is now said to have been mostly put out and bodies are being recovered. President Xi Jinping, who is on a visit to the Americas, ordered every effort to go into the rescue operation and treatment of survivors, adding that the investigation into the cause of the accident would be vigorous. Sources including the provincial fire department suggest there may have been an ammonia leak which either caused the fire or made fighting the blaze more hazardous It is China's deadliest fire since 2000, when 309 people died in a blaze in a dance hall in Luoyang, in Henan province. About 100 workers had managed to escape from the Baoyuan plant, Xinhua said, adding that the "complicated interior structure" of the building and narrow exits had made rescue work more difficult. It said the plant's front gate was locked when the blaze began, and other official media reports said there was only one unlocked door in the whole building. Firefighters have still not completed the job of recovering bodies from the building, meaning the death toll may rise yet further, say correspondents. Some 60 injured people have been sent to hospital, but the severity of their injuries remains unclear. State media quoted hospital staff as saying that some wounded were being treated for inhalation of toxic gases such as ammonia while others had burns of varying degrees. The provincial government said it sent more than 500 firefighters and at least 270 doctors and nurses to the scene, evacuating an area nearby that is home to 3,000 people as a precaution, reported Reuters news agency China's central government in Beijing has created thousands of workplace safety regulations, from the handling of toxic chemicals to the prevention of occupational illnesses. But those laws are not always enforced, since local officials and factory bosses often place profits ahead of safety. Many buildings in China, including factories, are constructed without consideration for health and safety concerns. Worries over factory thefts often dictate that building exits are locked, making it difficult for workers to leave in a hurry. The authorities in Beijing are attempting to change that pattern. Workplace accidents have dropped by a third in the past five years, according to comments attributed to former Vice-Premier Zhang Dejiang. The death toll from those accidents dropped by almost the same proportion. However, China's Public Security Bureau notes that in 2011 fires on construction sites rose nearly 6% and in agricultural factories nearly 9% compared to 2010. Factory bosses failed to obey safety procedures, using heat sources and electricity in unsafe ways, it said. Critics argue that factory bosses are rarely punished for workplace accidents. Poultry plant fire raises safety concerns Panic Workers interviewed by state broadcaster CCTV said the fire broke out at about 06:00 (22:00 Sunday GMT) during a shift change and may have started in a locker room. Those who managed to escape from the factory describe panic and chaos as the lights went out, the building filled with smoke, and they found exits blocked or locked. Guo Yan told Xinhua the emergency exit for her workstation was blocked and that she was knocked to the ground in a crush of workers trying to escape through a side door. "I could only crawl desperately forward," said Ms Guo, 39. "I worked alongside an old lady and a young girl, but I don't know if they survived or not." Another unnamed survivor said: "I escaped by climbing out of a window. There was a huge cloud of black smoke coming down the corridor. It was burning hot. It engulfed me. As soon as I was outside I collapsed unconscious." Family members were quoted as saying the factory doors were always kept locked during working hours. The plant is owned by Jilin Baoyuanfeng Poultry Co. It was only established in 2009 and is not an antiquated facility. Located around 800km (500 miles) north-east of Beijing, it employs some 1,200 people and produces some 67,000 tonnes of chicken products every year. Chickens are slaughtered at the plant and then cut up for retail - a process that takes place in cold conditions. Ammonia is used as part of the cooling system and in such plants flammable foam insulation is commonly used to keep temperatures low. China map Workplace safety standards are often poor in China, with fatal accidents regularly reported at large factories and mines, says the BBC's John Sudworth in Shanghai. Those lax standards are variously linked to corruption, the prioritisation of efficient production over worker safety in building design, and poor enforcement of safety rules.

One Year Later: Dana Crash Victims Will Be Remembered Annually – FG 3 June, 2013

The Federal Government has instituted an annual aviation safety programme in memory of the victims of the June 3, 2012 Dana Air crash. To mark the one year remembrance of the crash, which killed over 157 persons in Lagos, the Federal Government said it would unveil a cenotaph in their memory on Monday (today). The aircraft, marked J9 992, took off from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja and crashed at Iju Ishaga on the outskirts of Lagos. The Ministry of Aviation spokesperson, Mr. Yakubu Dati, said, “The safety week will be observed from June 3, 2013, and will be done every year in honour of those who lost their lives in one of the most tragic accidents in the history of air transport in Nigeria.” Dati said the Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah, would lead the church service for the ceremony, while the Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah would be the chief host. The ceremony, he said, would climax with the unveiling of the cenotaph. He added that the safety week would start with the evaluation of the actions the ministry had taken to improve safety in the industry. According to him, there has been the introduction of some safety critical equipment since the Dana Air crash. Dati said the ministry had given safety and security priority in line with the Technical and Administrative Review Committee’s recommendations. He said, “In the last one year, there has been improvement in communication, navigation and installation of modern surveillance equipment in all the airports in the country. There have been massive training and human capacity development of Air Traffic Controllers and other technical personnel of all the agencies in the aviation sector.”