Dozens kidnapped in northwest Nigeria after bandits invite them to talks

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By Reuters and Posted by TOE Armed bandits in northwest Nigeria abducted dozens of villagers whom they invited to a meeting ‌about potential peace negotiations, authorities and residents said on ‌Monday, highlighting the region’s worsening security. Police said 39 people were seized on Sunday ​when they went to a meeting in the forest near Magamin Diddi village in the Maradun municipality of northwest Zamfara State. Some local residents and officials said the number could be as ‌high as 50. According to ⁠a Zamfara State Police Command statement, the victims were meeting relatives of a bandit leader in ⁠an attempt to broker peace and ease restrictions on movement imposed on the community. Zamfara is at the centre of a long-running security ​crisis in ​which armed groups, locally referred ​to as bandits, carry ‌out mass kidnappings, killings and village raids. The violence has disrupted farming and displaced thousands. Security forces have deployed personnel and...
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Chicago firefighter dies weeks after being injured in fire at home near O’Hare

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Firefighters salute the ambulance delivering Lt. Kevin Ward’s body to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office on Tuesday.

Firefighters salute the ambulance delivering Lt. Kevin Ward’s body to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office on Tuesday.

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

A Chicago firefighter has died more than two weeks after he and two others were injured while battling a fire in a home near O’Hare International Airport.

Lt. Kevin Ward, 59, died at Loyola Medical Center, where he was taken from the fire in the 8300 block of West Balmoral Avenue on Aug. 11, according to the Chicago Fire Department. Two other firefighters suffered less serious injuries, according to Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford.

“He was surrounded by family as he made his transition,” the department said in a tweet.

Under a massive America flag draped over the street by two fire trucks, dozens of firefighters and police officers lined up along the street outside the Cook County medical examiner’s office on the Near West Side for the procession carrying Ward’s body from Loyola.

Interim Supt. Fred Waller and Deputy Chief Larry Snelling, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s pick for the next superintendent, stood solemnly in line on the corner of Harrison and Leavitt streets. Ward’s body arrived at the medical examiner’s shortly after 12:40 p.m. in an ambulance followed by Truck 9, which he worked on on the city’s Far Northwest Side.

Ward joined the department in 1996.

In a statement, Mayor Johnson expressed his sympathies.

“On behalf of the City of Chicago, I offer my sincerest condolences on the passing of Chicago Fire Department Lieutenant Kevin Ward. I pray for the peace of his family, friends and loved ones during this most difficult time. Let us keep Truck #9 and all our dedicated first responders in our hearts as we honor Lt. Ward’s life and memory.”



from Chicago Sun-Times - All https://ift.tt/U6gZDHw

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