A community leader in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, Malam Saina Buba has called on the state and the federal government to as a matter of urgency come to the rescue of people affected by the Boko Haram insurgency, particularly those living in local governments like Gwoza, Damboa, Bama, konduga and Abadam in northern Borno. Saina said many people lost everything they had to Boko Haram and that feeding had become a problem. He disclosed that some of them are beginning to throw away their children to the welfare house. “I am calling on the government of Borno State particularly to intervene on the hunger crises we are facing in the state. “It could be recalled that, within the last one week or two, we lost over 250 people to insurgency and as we speak there are lots of people who could not return to their homes due to this crises. The state Governor, Kashim Shettima should talk to NEMA for immediate response to these communities”, Saina said. He observed that in Kano State, when the Boko Haram crisis hit the state, people like Aliko Dangote and the CBN governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi came out to speak to government for support and also extended a hand of fellowship to the needy in their state. “But in Borno, we have people that can speak out yet none of them is saying anything or doing something to alleviate the sufferings of our people. “We have people like Senator Abba Aji, Alhaji Mohammed Indimi, Ibrahim Bunu and a host of others who have money and they are sons of Borno State. It is expected that they should have come out to do something to rescue the situation but none of them is coming forward”, he lamented. He said it was hard to imagine that somebody who called himself a son of Borno could afford to stay in Abuja under this circumstance without coming home for two or three months. Saina also said that he recently took some children to the motherless home, after they were abandoned by their parents in front of the gate of University of Maiduguri.

Brazilian striker Maicon Pereira, currently playing on loan at Ukrainian league side Mariupol, has died in a car crash early hours of today in Ukraine. In a statement on his club’s website, Shakhtar said that the 25-year old Brazilian, was a wonderful person. He was a talented footballer, open and friendly guy, the club added. It is a terrible bereavement for each of us.

Maicon was on loan to Ukrainian league club Illichivets Mariupol until the end of the season.