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PDP tasks Buratai to probe military’s role in Bayelsa electoral violence

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BY: Ikenna Oluka

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa State has appealed to the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, to investigate the role of the military in the violence that occurred in the state during the last general elections.

The party alleged that some army officials directly participated in the elections and called on the military to redeem its image by probing incidents linked to them.

Speaking Wednesday at the party’s secretariat in Yenagoa, the Chairman of PDP, Moses Cleopas, said that the activities of the army deployed in Brass, Nembe and Southern Ijaw, LGAs should be queried by the military.

He wondered why the army had kept sealed lips on the killing of two PDP members in Southern Ijaw LGA without provocation by soldiers.

Cleopas lamented that PDP members were prime targets during the elections, describing the situation as “totally unacceptable”. He further took a swipe at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the state, wondering why the commission declared 3  constituencies in Brass, Ogbia and Southern Ijaw already won by PDP candidates as inconclusive.

Cleopas, however, described victory of some candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as temporary and vowed that his party would retrieve them in the tribunals.

He said PDP won all the seats in areas where proper elections were conducted while the APC allegedly manipulated the process in cahoots with the military and INEC to win few seats in the state.

The party boss said that in Nembe all PDP members were chased away from Bassambiri, where APC candidates were declared winners.

He said: “The PDP won everywhere in Bayelsa and in places where the APC has been declared winners, we will reclaim our mandate.”

In Ekeremor constituency 1, Cleopas said a chieftain of the APC invaded the area with soldiers and forced INEC field officials to alter results under duress.

He said: The APC chieftain came with military men and doctored results and forced INEC to change results to the advantage of his party. This will not stand.

“Nembe 2 and 3, Bassambiri was taken over by hoodlums. They chased away all PDP members from the community. Policeman who went there to maintain the peace were driven out by the APC in that area. They wrote results. There was no proper elections there.

“In the areas declared inconclusive, in Ogbia constituency 2, we were winning before military men came and carted away materials in Otuokpoti Same in Brass constituency 2 and Southern Ijaw 4, it was pure abracadabra,” he alleged.

“We are going back for the inconclusive polls, but a situation where armed military men were used to harass our people cannot be tolerated,” Cleopas added.

The Bayelsa PDP Chairman said he had a personal experience where military men whisked away INEC officials who were just rounding off elections and named a senior military officer as the culprit.

“It is on this note that we call on the Chief of Army Staff to investigate the activities of his officers and men in Bayelsa because it has become recurrent that army men now chase PDP members away from election points in favour of the APC,” he said.

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The Peruvian Government Has Officially Classified Transgender, Nonbinary And Intersex People As “Mentally ill”

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According to the country’s ministry of health, the controversial decision was made to ensure the country’s public health services could “guarantee full coverage of medical attention for mental health” for the trans community.

It also categorises “dual-role transvestitism,” “fetishistic transvestism,” and “other gender identity disorders” under the same bracket of mental illness.

The new law will change language in the Essential Health Insurance Plan (PEAS) to reflect the view of trans and intersex people as a mental health disorder.

Trans groups across Peru have loudly condemned the decision as a step backwards for the country’s already complex relationship with LGBTQ+ rights.

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Math Teacher Accused Of Having Sex With 2 Students And Getting Pregnant For One Tearfully Reveals The Baby Was Taken Away From Her

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The UK teacher who had a baby with an underage student while on trial for having sex with another teenage boy broke down in court after revealing her newborn baby girl had been “taken away” from her.

Manchester math teacher Rebecca Joynes, 30, sobbed to jurors over how her baby was taken “24 hours after being born” this past January — and now she only sees her for nine hours a week, Joynes told jurors on Monday, May 13, according to the Manchester Evening News.

“At the moment I have contact with her three times a week for three hours and that’s it,” she said through tears.

Joynes was arrested and released on bail on orders not to have unsupervised contact with anyone under 18 after allegedly grooming her pupil, known as Boy A in court, by buying him a $430 Gucci belt before bringing him to her apartment for unprotected sex.

She was suspended from school and eventually fired, but soon after, she began having a relationship with a 15-year-old boy, known in court as Boy B, whom she had a baby with in January.

Joynes, who has denied having sex with either boy when they were underage, told the court that when she learned of the allegations against her she had gone to the second boy in a “panic” and he deleted all of her phone’s content.

The former teacher denied having a sexual relationship with the second boy until after he turned 16 and she was already suspended from teaching.

According to her narration,

She said he had added her on Snapchat twice, which she only accepted the second time because she thought he “wanted to tell her something.”

Joynes said a friendship developed and he quickly became her “best friend” even though the boy would make flirtatious and sexualized comments toward her when he was drunk.

She told jurors that it wasn’t until after his 16th birthday that he messaged her saying “I’ve left school now” with a winky face.

After she received notice that she had been dismissed from her job, he went to her apartment, where following an emotional conversation, they had sex.

The two then entered a relationship that Joynes described as “quite toxic” telling the court how the teenager was “very controlling.”

After discovering she was pregnant, Joynes hid love notes for the boy to find around her apartment.

The notes eventually led to a piece of baby clothing that had the words “I love my daddy to the moon and back” written on it.

The court was told that she gave birth to their baby girl in January, but following an emergency court hearing, the newborn was taken away from Joynes.

Joynes has denied two counts of sexual activity with Boy A; two counts of sexual activity with Boy B; and two counts of sexual activity with Boy B while being a person in a position of trust.

Her trial is ongoing.

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First Man To Receive Pig Kidney Transplant Has Died

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The first Man to receive a genetically modified pig kidney transplant has died two months after the operation.

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), which carried out the procedure in March, announced Sunday, May 12, that Richard “Rick” Slayman, 62, has died.

They said there was no indication his death was a result of the transplant.

Transplants of other organs from genetically modified pigs have failed in the past, but the operation on Mr Slayman, who was suffering with end-stage kidney disease, was hailed as a historic milestone.

In addition to kidney disease, Mr Slayman also suffered from Type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

In 2018, he had a human kidney transplant, but it began to fail after five years.

Following his pig kidney transplant on March 16, his doctors confirmed he no longer needed dialysis after the new organ was said to be functioning well.

“Mr Slayman will forever be seen as a beacon of hope to countless transplant patients worldwide and we are deeply grateful for his trust and willingness to advance the field of xenotransplantation,” MGH said in a statement.

Xenotransplantation is the transplanting of living cells, tissues or organs from one species to another.

MGH said it was “deeply saddened” at his sudden death and offered condolences to his family.

Mr Slayman’s relatives said his story was an inspiration.

“Rick said that one of the reasons he underwent this procedure was to provide hope for the thousands of people who need a transplant to survive,” they said.

“Rick accomplished that goal and his hope and optimism will endure forever.

“To us, Rick was a kind-hearted man with a quick-witted sense of humour who was fiercely dedicated to his family, friends, and co-workers,” they added.

While Mr Slayman received the first pig kidney to be transplanted into a human, it is not the first pig organ to be used in a transplant procedure.

Two other patients have received pig heart transplants, but those procedures were unsuccessful as the recipients died a few weeks later.

In one case, there were signs the patient’s immune system had rejected the organ, which is a common risk in transplants.

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