Prisoners in mass breakout after 'riot' at Australia jail

Nine of 10 prisoners who escaped from an Australian jail on Tuesday have been recaptured, police say.

The men had broken out of Greenough Regional Prison, 400km (250 miles) north of Perth, during what staff described as "a riot".

It prompted police to send text messages to the public, warning them to treat the men as "unpredictable".

Police said on Wednesday that only one prisoner, 35-year-old Bradley Silvester, remained at large.

The 10 medium security inmates had used ladders to escape the jail during a disturbance late on Tuesday, prison officials said.

"[The disturbance] started with a cell fire and then there were a couple of other fires lit in the prison," Corrective Services Commissioner Tony Hassall told The West Australian newspaper.

"They broke into some staff offices, got some equipment and used that to cause some damage."

He said inmates had also assaulted prison officers with unidentified equipment. According to the officers' union, three guards were attacked with chemical spray.

"Our members are describing the incident as a riot," union secretary Paul Ledingham told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

"Reports this morning are there is extensive, extensive damage within the prison."

More than 150 extra police officers were deployed to the region to help track down the escapees.

Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan called it a "very dangerous and very fluid situation".

Locals were sent late-night messages after the breakout, warning them to keep their homes and cars locked.

Five prisoners were recaptured on Tuesday. Another four - Devon Comeagain, Alan McDonald, Brendan Bartley and Darryl Councillor - were returned to custody on Wednesday.

Authorities did not say what sparked the disturbance. Union officials have alleged that the jail is overcrowded, with "unsustainable" levels of staffing.

Court sentences killers of Benue Catholic priest, Fr. John Adeyi to death by hanging

A Makurdi High Court has sentenced the two surviving kidnappers and murderers of Fr John Adeyi to death by hanging.

Father Adeyi, the Vicar General of Catholic Diocese of Otukpo and Parish Priest of Catholic Church Okpoga, was in 2016 kidnapped by unknown gunmen.

The cleric was later killed and his body dumped in a farm near Otukpa.

However, four of the kidnappers were arrested by A team of the Nigerian police led by ACP Abba Kyari few months after.

In a verdict on Wednesday, the court found the two surviving suspects guilty and handed them death by hanging.

Reacting to the judgment, the family of the late cleric in a statement forwarded to DAILY POST, described the court’s verdict as justice at last.

“Today being 25/07/2018, the kidnappers and murderers of Fr John Adeyi have been convicted and sentenced to death by hanging by a High Court in Makurdi.

“While applauding the judgement and thanking God and all those who made this come true, we must say that today is a sad day to be reminded of the brutal death of our dear Very Rev Fr John Adeyi, PhD.

“It is gratifying, however, to know that the culprits did not go unpunished.

”May the soul of Fr Adeyi continue to rest in perfect peace with his creator.”

Pogba 'absolutely brilliant' at World Cup, Mourinho

Jose Mourinho says he hopes World Cup winner Paul Pogba "understands why he was very good" in Russia.

The 25-year-old midfielder scored in the final in Moscow as Les Bleus defeated Croatia 4-2; a performance Pogba's club manager at Manchester United has labeled "absolutely brilliant".

"It is about him understanding why he was so good, especially in the second part of the competition," Mourinho said. "I think that is the point, about his performance level and his contribution to a winning team."

United are currently on their 2018/19 pre-season tour in the United States, with Pogba currently enjoying a rest following his World Cup triumph.

"I did with Paul what I did with all my players," Mourinho added.

"I sent a nice message before the World Cup and during it I did not disturb anyone. They needed to focus on the job for their national team.

"After the World Cup I sent a different message than to the other guys because he won the competition."

UK police identify Novichok suspects as Russians: report

Police believe they have identified suspects who carried out the Novichok attack on a former Russian double agent and his daughter in the English city of Salisbury, the Press Association reported Thursday.

"Investigators believe they have identified the suspected perpetrators of the Novichok attack through CCTV and have cross-checked this with records of people who entered the country around that time," a source with knowledge of the investigation told PA, the British domestic news agency.

"They (investigators) are sure they (suspects) are Russian," the source added.

Scotland Yard police headquarters refused to comment on the report when contacted by AFP.

Ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia collapsed in the city of Salisbury on March 4 after being exposed to the nerve agent Novichok. Both have since recovered.

Britain blamed Russia for the poisoning of Skripal, a former military intelligence colonel who was jailed for betraying Russian agents to Britain's MI6 foreign intelligence service.

He left Russia for England in a 2010 spy swap.

Russia has strongly denied involvement in the Skripal attack, sparking a diplomatic row that has led to tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions between Britain and its allies and Russia.

Two Britons fell ill in June after being exposed to Novichok in the same region of southwest England. Experts are seeking to establish whether the toxin was from the same batch used against the Skripals.

Charlie Rowley, 45, and his 44-year-old partner Dawn Sturgess, collapsed at his house in Amesbury, a town close to Salisbury, within hours of each other on June 30.

Sturgess died on July 8, while Rowley has regained consciousness and is in stable condition.

PA said investigators believe Sturgess was exposed to at least 10 times the amount of nerve agent as the Skripals came into contact with.

Rowley's brother Matthew told BBC news that the 45-year-old had told him the Novichok was contained in a perfume bottle.

Police have said it was detected in a "small bottle".

- Analysing samples -

An inquest into the death of Sturgess was to open on Thursday at Wiltshire and Swindon Coroner's Court in Salisbury.

In English law, inquests are held to examine violent, unnatural or unexplained deaths. They set out to determine the place and time of death as well as how the deceased came by their death, but do not apportion blame.

The inquest will be formally opened but then adjourned to a later date.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said its inspectors had collected samples in the Amesbury case and returned to the organisation's headquarters in The Hague on Wednesday to begin analysing them.

The organisation said in a statement that it had reveived a request from Britain on Friday to provide technical assistance.

They deployed a team to "independently determine the nature of the substance" alleged to have resulted in the death of Sturgess and the poisoning of Rowley.

"The OPCW team collected samples. The samples will be sent to two OPCW designated laboratories and once the results of the analysis are received, the report will be submitted to the United Kingdom," it said.

Gov. Ortom speaks on ‘dumping’ APC, after meeting Oshiomhole

The Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, on Thursday recanted his decision to dump the All Progressives Congress, APC, following a meeting he had with the National Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole.

Ortom had a few days ago declared his intention to resign from the party, saying he was given a “red card” from the party.

However, the Governor met with Oshiomhole at the party’s National Secretariat in Abuja.

Addressing journalists after the meeting, Ortom said the party’s leadership assured him that no individual in Benue state can push him out of the party.

Addressing journalists after the meeting, Ortom said, “I was given a red card by a Senator but the leadership of the party told me that the decision of the party leadership at the national level is superior to any individual and I think that is good enough.

“We have spoken to him, he has spoken to me, stakeholders are going to be spoken to and that is where I belong. We have not concluded the matter, it is an ongoing process because I have always stood for peace and I always want peace to prevail.

“I appreciate the intervention and I hope that we would be able to resolve the matter of differences and this is the funny thing about politics. I am here in APC, a member of APC, I’m still flying the flag of APC and I only said I was given a red card but I have been corrected by the national chairman.”

France can’t fix your problem for you – Macron tells Africa

President Emmanuel Macron of France Tuesday said that France cannot fix Africa's problem for them but only the provision of security and good economic base by the African leaders would solve their problems.

He also said that he was concerned on the problem of terrorism and jihadism in the country and that he was commuted to having strong bilateral relations with Nigeria in the areas of fighting terrorism,, improving the economy, sports and cultural development.

This is as Presidents Muhammadu Buhari and Macron held bilateral talks at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja during which agreements for French assistance totalling $475 million for some projects in Lagos, Kano and Ogun states were sihned.

The Lagos deal is a letter of intent for the financing of urban mobility improvement project via a loan of $200 million. This will involve development of eight priority bus corridors connected to the Lagos mass transit network.

In Ogun State, a French firm in conjunction with the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority is to mobilise from investors about $200 million for land reclamation to correct the massive degradation of arable land being witnessed in the state.

The project aims to reforest 108,000 hectares of depleting forest in Ogun, which the State governor, Ibikunle Amosun, hailed as very vital to not only addressing climate change challenges and recreating the forest, but also providing employment to the people of the state, among other benefits. France, through its foreign development agency, Whence Francaise de Development (AFD), will also extend a credit facility of $75 million towards improving water supply in Kano city.

The concessional loan is expected to help Kano State government ensure more residents of the city have access to drinking water while improving the financial viability of the state water board to increase its revenues. After the signing of he agreements, Buhari and Macron addressed a joint press conference at the forecourt of the Aso Rock Villa, and pledged to increase the cooperation between Nigeria and France in tackling security challenges occasioned by Boko Haram and ISIS jihadists in Nigeria and the Sahel region of Africa.

While Macron pointed out that France could not do much to assists Nigeria solve the raging crisis of killings by herdsmen, he said he was more concerned about how African governments organised themselves to effectively tackle the challenges posed by jihadists terrorists on the continent.

On his plans to curb terrorism in Africa and more specifically curb herdsmen and farmers crisis in Nigeria, Macron said, “Well it is just that you have all these several issues correlated and your question is related to this event. “First of all I think the main plan is an African plan and France is not the one to solve or fix African situations.

So what we want to do is that we will intervene and make our presence in Africa and Sahel to fight against terrorism especially in Mali and in the region.

“And we will stay as long as it is requested by our friends especially Mali we discussed yesterday (Monday) about this issue. “But what is important to me is how the different African governments organized themselves to fight against terrorism and get rid of these people and especially jihadism. That’s is why I do accompany and do promote the G5/Sahel Initiatives and I think as far as we are organized, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon is very important Because of Boko Haram insurgency in the areas “I think first we have to increase the pressure.

Yesterday at G5/Sahel we worked very hard on the different operations to come and I think we have to increase the operations and the pressure against this jihadists. “We can fix the situation in the coming month and obviously France will remain present in France for as long as they want it.

But when I look at the past months, we have increased our resource and delivered concrete results in North and West Mali with for me positive outcomes.

“Now,

Why SARS will not be disbanded – ACP Jimoh Moshood

The Police Public Relations Officer, Force Headquarters, ACP Jimoh Moshood, has said the killing of seven officers in Abuja has shown the need for the Special Anti-robbery Squad (SARS).

The officers were killed in Galadimawa area of the Federal Capital Territory on Monday night.

Speaking with reporters in Abuja on Tuesday, Moshood said efforts were in place to arrest those who killed the officers in the line of duty.

He added that the force would not leave any stone unturned in bringing the perpetrators to book.

“The killing of the policemen goes a long way to prove that the call for the disbandment of the SARS is not justified,” he said.