“We are happy our daddy is back hale, hearty”

President Mohammadu Buhari yesterday returned to Abuja, saying he was completely healed, stronger, more energetic and now fit to resume presidential duties. Recall that the president penultimate week proceeded on a 10 day leave and later jetted out to London, United Kingdom where he had gone to treat a persistent ear infection. He was due to come back to the country on Thursday but failed to do so.

The Vice President as the Acting President then told Journalists that the president would be returning to the country on Sunday (Yesterday) as he needed to rest after the medicals. The president whose aircraft touched down at exactly 5:35 pm at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on Sunday said he was now fit. In a sure-footed manner, the president spoke to the State House Correspondents after inspecting a guard of honour by the Nigeria Armed Forces. 

“You have seen me. You saw me when I was going. You can do the assessment yourself. “I am okay. You can see me inspecting the guard of honour. You can see I am taller than you. Do you want to wrestle with me, you can do so”, he said. 

Also, his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina said he would resume duty today. “Mr President is fit and will resume work on Monday”, he said. 

On his part, the Chairman of Governors Forum and Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari expressed gratitude to God for bringing the president home safely. “We thank God for bringing him (Buhari) back to his country. 

It is a good thing he went on break and returned to his people hale and hearty.” “Our daddy is back. He has gone to take a rest we are happy that he is back”, he said.

 Meanwhile, among government officials who were on hand to welcome the President were members of the cabinet including the Minister of the Environment Amina Mohammed, Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; Minister of the Niger Delta affairs, Usani Usani. Others included Minister of Water Resources, Minister of State for Education, Minister of State for Budget and National Planning; Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbe; Minister of Budget and National planning, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami; Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Minister of Health, Minister of Interior, Gen. Dambazzua; Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari; Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Magu.

 Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello and Chief of Army Staff, Bruntia were also on hand.
SOURCE: Vanguardngr

Brussels Terrorist Attack: Many Dead as Airport and Metro hit by explossions

Two explosions have hit Brussels' Zaventem airport, killing up to 13 people and injuring dozens, hospital sources told local media.

Shortly after the airport blasts on Tuesday morning, an explosion also struck the Maelbeek metro station in the centre of the Belgian capital, killing 15 people, Belgian media reported. The station is close to European Union institutions.

The Belgian federal prosecutor told state media the explosion at the airport was a suicide attack.

Footage from the airport - the country's largest - showed people running from the terminal building as plumes of smoke rose to the sky.

The powerful blasts caused parts of the ceiling to fall down and windows were shattered.

All metro lines were shut down after the attacks. Witnesses at the Maelbeek station said people with blood on their faces were seen at the scene. 

Ian McCafferty, a witness at the station, said the blast happened during busy rush hour traffic.

"People started running when they saw smoke coming," he said. "The point of these attacks is to make you live in fear, but I refuse to."

The interior ministry raised the country's terror alert to the highest level after the blasts and Brussels' crisis centre told people: "Stay where you are".

The interior minister said 600 additional police had been deployed.
Reuters news agency said shots were fired before the explosions at the airport. 

Local media reported the blasts happened near the American Airlines counter as hundreds of people were checking in.

"When I heard the first explosion, lots of people started screaming and running," Tom, an intern working at the airport, told Al Jazeera. "When I heard the second explosion, which was about 30 seconds after the first one, everything got chaotic. I could see panic on everyone’s face, blood on their bodies."

Police were clearing the area of stranded passengers, some in shock.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel called for unity in a news conference.

"We are facing a difficult, challenging time and we should face up to this challenge by being united," he said.

“What we feared has happened, we were hit by blind attacks." 

The country had been on high alert since the arrest in Brussels last week of Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect in last November's Paris attacks that left 130 people dead. 

Belgium's Interior Minister Jan Jambon said on Monday the country was aware of the risk of a possible revenge attack following the capture of the 26-year-old.

"We know that stopping one cell can ... push others into action. We are aware of it in this case," he told public radio.

SOURCE: Aljazeera.com