Friday 25 July 2014

IBB flays attack on Buhari, says this bloodletting must stop

By Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor

Former Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, has condemned the attempt to kill his predecessor, General Muhammadu Buhari, describing the attack as portraying Nigeria as a terrorist nation.

IBB in a statement he personally signed and made available to Vanguard last night also sympathised with the families of those killed by the twin blasts that rocked Kaduna State on Wednesday, saying they have thrown up new dimensions in the political life of Nigeria.

But the former leader made a strong case for the bloodletting to be halted without further delay.

IBB said: To state the least, this bloodletting must stop. This bloodletting has to stop.

People look at the burnt out shell of a car following an explosion on July 23, 2014 in Kaduna, north of Nigeria. A second blast today in the city has killed at least 17 people, the national rescue agency said, after an earlier suicide attack in the city killed at least 25. An around-the-clock curfew was announced for the city after the bombings. AFP PHOTO

“I have sat back in my quiet retirement home in Minna to ponder over what could be the motivation for these several attacks, but I am yet to find any explanation why Nigerians would be killing fellow Nigerians.

“For those of us who fought the civil war, our painful sense of nostalgia still remains deep, as much as our patriotic attitude towards this great Country, Nigeria. These wanton killings and needless bloodletting have continued to retard our growth and democratic journey, forcing the system to improvise all manners of mechanisms to arrest this descent to anarchy.

“It is callous and inhuman for anyone to goad this country on the path of perfidy, a path that is laid with landmines and bombs. This is totally unacceptable.
“Even as I sympathise with my colleague former President, General Mohammadu Buhari for escaping the bomber’s scalpel, I also wish to condole with the families of those who lost their lives in this attack.
“It is frightening and calls for condemnation by all well meaning people of Nigeria. We all must rise above partisanship in our condemnation of this state of insecurity, as we all must be united in our clear-cut resolve to finding solutions to this hydra-headed situation we find ourselves.

“We must see this state of insecurity as a Nigeria problem and not one that is pigeon-holed in any particular region, religion or tribe. Nigerians, by virtue of their nationality, should be free to live anywhere in the country without molestation, harassment and intimidation.

“Let me also condole with Mr. President on this unfortunate incident and the recurring decimal of insecurity and crime against humanity that is fast polluting public morality.

“We all must join hands with Mr. President at this critical time of our national history and democratic journey to proffer solutions to this anti-development scenario that is fast enveloping us.

“The President and our Governors need our prayers at various stages of their leadership to arrest this ugly trend. Nigeria of our dream is one that provides opportunity for all irrespective of our cultural and political differences; a nation that comprises several nation-states with abundant resources and opportunities for our flourishing population.

“We must therefore be resolute in our collective reasoning and determination to trudge on despite these obvious setbacks in order to safely paddle the ship of state to a safe harbor.

“May our prayers in this Holy month of Ramadan be answered. May the Almighty Allah continue to give our leaders at the various tiers of government the uncommon courage, wisdom, determination and resilience to handle the challenges that confront us as a people encircled by common destiny. Amen,” the former president prayed

Fears as man falls ill with Ebola-like symptoms in Lagos

LAGOS (AFP) – A Liberian man has been hospitalised in Lagos with Ebola-like symptoms, but it is not yet clear if he is infected with the killer virus, Nigerian officials said Thursday.

The 40-year-old Monrovia resident arrived in Nigeria’s mega-city on Sunday and was admitted to hospital on Tuesday suffering from severe vomiting and diarrhoea, said Yewande Adesina, the special advisor on health for the Lagos state government.

The patient was “detained for possible Ebola infection while blood samples were sent to the Virology Reference Laboratory in Lagos as well as to the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Dakar,” she said.
Extra precaution was taken at the hospital because the patient was suffering from “symptoms associated with Ebola,” she added.

“Results are still pending. Presently the patient’s condition is stable and he is in recovery,” Adesina told journalists. “The diarrhoea and vomiting have stopped. He is still under isolation.”
A third laboratory outside Nigeria must also test the samples before a final determination on Ebola can be reached, Adesina said.

The patient travelled from Monrovia to Lagos via Togo’s capital Lome.
The WHO has recorded more than 900 cases of Ebola in the epidemic that has raged across West Africa in recent months, but this is the first suspected case to emerge in Nigeria.

Liberia has recorded 172 cases of the disease, including 105 deaths.
The epidemic is the worst-ever since the virus first emerged in 1976 in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Lagos government has begun rolling out an emergency response in a bid to contain any potential spread of the virus across the congested city of more than 20 million people, with poor sanitation and health infrastructure.

Ebola is a form of haemorrhagic fever which is deadly in up to 90 percent of cases.

It can fell victims within days, causing severe fever and muscle pain, vomiting and diarrhoea — and in some cases, organ failure and unstoppable bleeding.
Ebola is believed to be carried by animals hunted for meat, notably bats.

It spreads among humans via bodily fluids including sweat, meaning you can get sick from simply touching an infected person. With no vaccine, patients believed to have caught the virus must be isolated to prevent further contagion

CSO said Kaduna blast was intended to cause civil unrest

The Civil Rights Congress of Nigeria on Friday condemned the Wednesday’s bomb blasts in Kaduna, saying it was intended to trigger civil unrest in the country.

In a statement in Kaduna, the group described the blasts as “assassination attempts” on Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.

In the statement signed by its President, Mr Shehu Sani, the group said that the incidents had “once again demonstrated the annihilating danger faced by the Nigerian state.”

Shehu said,”The attacks, if successful, could have triggered a serious civil unrest, which the architect intended to achieve.

“The ongoing insurgency and the overall security situation in the country should be a matter of concern to all.

“With the attack on these two prominent Nigerians, it is clear now that we are in a situation where everyone is vulnerable.

“The series of campaigns and violence are the most imminent and concrete threat to Nigeria’s unity, freedom and democracy.”

It urged Nigerians to unite in confronting the menace, saying that there was need for national solidarity in tackling the problem.

According to it, violence will continue as long as there is no exigent national cohesion to combat it.

The group stated that political bickering and blame game between the Federal Government and the opposition, and warmongering between the North and the South were sustaining the violence.

It said, “It is utterly wrong for the ruling party to ascribe the ongoing insurgency to the opposition without any iota of proof.

“And, it is also utterly false for anyone to concoct conspiracy theory that links President Jonathan or the Federal Government to attacks that clearly and evidently had the hallmark of the insurgents.

“We have a crisis at hand and a historic challenge to address it. These are special moments in the history of our nation, which appeal to our conscience and concern and needs our convergence.

“In the crisis we find ourselves, what will matter most to posterity is not the individual opinion we hold about it but the collective position we took about it.”

It added that, “when a nation’s faith is tested by crisis, that nation must be strong if it has to survive.
“Each bomb explosion should generate a wave of patriotism to extinguish its motive.

232 teeths removed from Indian boy's mouth.

(CNN) - A teenager in India, who had more than 200 "teeth" growing in his mouth due to a benign dental tumor, has had them removed.

Ashik Gavai, a 17-year-old student from Buldhana, underwent the six-hour operation, which involved four doctors at Mumbai's J.J. Hospital on July 21.

The teen had 232 denticles -- abnormal teeth-like growth -- lodged in his mouth due to a complex composite odontoma, a benign dental tumor.

More to follow.

232 teeths removed from Indian boy's mouth.

(CNN) - A teenager in India, who had more than 200 "teeth" growing in his mouth due to a benign dental tumor, has had them removed.

Ashik Gavai, a 17-year-old student from Buldhana, underwent the six-hour operation, which involved four doctors at Mumbai's J.J. Hospital on July 21.

The teen had 232 denticles -- abnormal teeth-like growth -- lodged in his mouth due to a complex composite odontoma, a benign dental tumor.

More to follow.

Thursday 24 July 2014

Kaduna bomb blast kill at least 110 and counting

KADUNA Nigeria (Reuters) - At least 110 people were killed on Wednesday in two suicide bombings in the north Nigerian city of Kaduna, one aimed at opposition leader and ex-president Muhammadu Buhari and another at a moderate Muslim cleric about to lead a crowd in prayer.

The attacks bore the hallmarks of Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which considers all those who do not share its views to be enemies. But it may also have been linked to politics before the 2015 elections.

In the deadliest attack, a bomber in a car full of explosives hurtled towards Buhari's convoy at the crowded Kawo market, his son told Reuters on the scene and police said later. A Red Cross official said at least 50 people were killed there.

Buhari was the main opposition party contender against President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2011 election and remains a key figure in the opposition alliance. He was riding in an armor-plated sport utility vehicle and was not wounded.

A crowd gathered at the scene of the explosion until the military dispersed them by firing shots in the air. Smoke rose from another vehicle destroyed in the blast.

"When I came out of my car I saw many dead bodies littered around," Buhari said in a statement, calling the attack "mass murder" and "clearly an assassination attempt".

Earlier, a suicide bomber on foot, targeting a moderate cleric, killed at least 32 of his congregation on a busy commercial road.

Thousands were gathered for prayers with Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi in Murtala Muhammed square. When his convoy pulled up, the bomber lunged at him before being stopped by his private security, witnesses and police commissioner Shehu Umar Ambursa said.

Kaduna's governor, Mukhtar Yero, declared a 24-hour curfew in the city until further notice and condemned the bombs as "the height of cowardice". "The enemies of peace have visited us

Air Algeria carrying 116 people is missing

Authorities have lost contact with an Air Algerie flight en route from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso to Algiers with 116 passengers on board, Algeria's APS state news agency and a Spanish airline company said on Thursday.

APS said authorities lost contact with flight AH 5017 an hour after it took off from Burkina Faso.

Spanish private airline company Swiftair confirmed it had no contact with its MD-83 aircraft operated by Air Algerie, which it said was carrying 110 passengers and six crew. An Algieran official had earlier said it was an Airbus A320.

The company said in a notice posted on its website that the aircraft took off from Burkina Faso at 0117 local time and was supposed to land in Algiers at 0510 local time but never reached its destination .

APS gave no details on the the number of passengers aboard flight AH 5017.

Spanish private airline company Swiftair on Thursday said it had lost contact with one of its airplane operated by Air Algerie with 110 passengers and six crew members on board.

The company said in a notice posted on its website that the aircraft took off from Burkina Faso at 0117 local time and was supposed to land in Algiers at 0510 local time but never reached its destination.

This shocking news comes a day after a TransAsia Airways turboprop plane crashed on its second attempt at landing during a thunderstorm on an island off Taiwan on Wednesday, killing 47 people and setting buildings on fire, officials said.

The plane, a 70-seat ATR 72, crashed near the runway on the island of Penghu, west of the mainland, with 54 passengers and four crew on board, they said. No one was killed or hurt in the buildings.

Algeria Airline missing with 116 onboard

APS said authorities lost contact with flight AH 5017 an hour after it took off from Burkina Faso.

Spanish private airline company Swiftair confirmed it had no contact with its MD-83 aircraft operated by Air Algerie, which it said was carrying 110 passengers and six crew. An Algieran official had earlier said it was an Airbus A320.

The company said in a notice posted on its website that the aircraft took off from Burkina Faso at 0117 local time and was supposed to land in Algiers at 0510 local time but never reached its destination .

APS gave no details on the the number of passengers aboard flight AH 5017.

Spanish private airline company Swiftair on Thursday said it had lost contact with one of its airplane operated by Air Algerie with 110 passengers and six crew members on board.

This shocking news comes a day after a TransAsia Airways turboprop plane crashed on its second attempt at landing during a thunderstorm on an island off Taiwan on Wednesday, killing 47 people and setting buildings on fire, officials said.

The plane, a 70-seat ATR 72, crashed near the runway on the island of Penghu, west of the mainland, with 54 passengers and four crew on board, they said. No one was killed or hurt in the buildings.

Air Algeria carrying 116 people gone missing

Tuesday 22 July 2014

Ezekwesili harassed by Security operatives at airport

Operatives of the Department of State Security on Monday morning seized the international passport of the Coordinator of the BringBackOurGirls group and former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.

Ezekwesili was on her way to London to attend a function when her passport was confiscated by the security operatives and she was prevented from boarding the flight.

Her passport was, however, released to her about 30 minutes later and the BBOG campaigner was allowed to board the plane.

A BBOG spokesperson, Rotimi Olawale, confirmed to our correspondent that Ezekwesili’s travelling document was seized by security operatives and later released to her.

He said, “Oby’s passport was seized by security operatives at the Nnamdi International Airport, Abuja, for about 30 minutes and she was prevented from boarding her plane. But she has now been released and she is on her way to London for her engagement.”

Ezekwesili later tweeted to her followers that she did not allow the security personnel to trample on her rights.

She tweeted, “@obyezeks: No one can seize my democratic rights. I refused to let the SSS get away with trampling on my constitutional rights.”

The former minister had been at logger-heads with the Federal Government over her campaigns for the release of the 219 Chibok schoolgirls abducted by the Boko Haram Islamic sect on April 14, 2014.

The daily sit-outs by the BBOG members at the Unity Fountain, Maitama, Abuja, has been a sore point for the Federal Government which accused the movement of being sponsored by the opposition party.

But the Department of State Security has denied arresting Ezekwesili.

Media reports had it that the leading member of the BringBackOurGirls campaign was arrested, quizzed and released.

But the Director-General of the DSS, Mr. Ita Ekpeyong, told State House correspondents on Monday that there was no truth on the report.

Ekpeyong said the former minister was currently in London and there was no way she could have been arrested.

“Did she tell you she was arrested? Did you see her? She is currently in London and that shows you that she was not arrested. We did not arrest her,” he declared.

Dr. Rilwanu Lukman, Ex-petroleum minister dies at 75

A former Minister of Petroleum, Dr. Rilwanu Lukman, is dead. He died in Austria on Monday at the age of 75.

Senior officials of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation confirmed Lukman’s death to one of our correspondents in Abuja.

An official of the ministry, who pleaded not to be named because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, said the former minister succumbed to death after a prolonged battle with prostrate cancer.

Industry stakeholders who spoke with one of our correspondents during separate interviews, described Lukman as one of the best petroleum ministers in the country.

Lukman was born in Zaria, Kaduna State, on August 26, 1938 and he held several ministerial positions before he became the Secretary General of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, from January 1, 1995 to December 31, 2000.

A trained mining engineer, Lukman was on December 18, 2008, appointed Minister of Petroleum Resources during the administration of the late president, Umaru Yar’Adua, a position he held till March 2010.

Meanwhile, Nigerians including President Goodluck Jonathan, Senate President, David Mark, a former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and some governors have described his death as a great loss to the country.

Jonathan in a statement by his spokesman, Reuben Abati, commiserated with the former minister’s family, the government and people of his home state, Kaduna, as well as his friends, associates and all those he mentored over the years in the domestic and global oil industry.

The statement read, “As Alhaji Lukman’s soul returns to its Maker, President Jonathan joins all who knew him in giving thanks to God Almighty for bestowing him on the nation and for the great intelligence, integrity, competence, and humility with which he distinguished himself in all his national and international assignments.”

Mark, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Paul Mumeh, noted that Lukman was one of the few Africans who left their positive foot prints on the global stage.

He maintained that Nigeria had lost a bright, fertile mind, with the death of the elderstatesman.

“As a public servant, he was extra- ordinary. As OPEC Secretary General, Lukman demonstrated competence, excellence and high sense of wisdom before the international community and indeed raised the reputation of Nigeria as a strategic and important global player especially in the oil and gas sector.”.

“Nigeria has lost one of her brightest and fertile minds. He was a man of honour and integrity. We shall miss his deep sense of wisdom and knowledge,” Mark stated.

Atiku in a statement by his media office in Abuja on Monday described the deceased as the nation’s best oil minister.

He recalled that Lukman’s contribution to the management of the nation’s oil and gas sector provided the impetus for his elevation as Secretary General of OPEC.

The Turaki Adamawa described his death as a monumental loss and prayed that Allah would grant his family and the nation the fortitude to bear the loss.

Also, the Northern States Governors’ Forum has expressed shock over Lukman’s death.

The Chairman of the NGF, who is also the Niger State Governor, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, said Lukman was Nigeria’s gift to the world, adding that his intellectual inputs to the petroleum sector and science as a whole were indelible.

This was contained in a press statement issued by Aliyu’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Israel Ebije on Monday.

The governors stated, “Humanity has lost a thoroughbred professional, fine gentleman, world-class petroleum engineer and astute manager of human and material resources who has left indelible footprints on the sands of time.”

Don't describe Northerners as leeches — Aliyu -

By Wole Mosadomi

Minna — Chairman, Northern States Governors’ Forum, NSGF, and governor of Niger State, Dr Babangida Aliyu, has described as insulting and sad, insinuations by certain members of the National Conference that the north was leecherous.

In a statement signed by Aliyu’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Israel Ebije, the governor said he was saddened that some members of the National Conference described the north as leeches while debating the issue of resource control.

Aliyu spoke Tuesday night while breaking his fast with a group advocating religious harmony, led by Solomon Dalung, in his residence in Minna, saying no section of the country could be separated from one another as they were all inter-dependent.

He said: “Only a few days ago, I hosted some members of the National Conference and I was saddened to hear that some members of the conference are calling the Northern states leeches on account of the ongoing debate on resource control.

“For someone to call a section of the country leech is a matter that can cause trouble and that does not need religion or level of education to make it go out of control. Oil is not something that anyone owns and it is sad if some people want to change that law now.”

He also noted that religion was not really the problem of Nigeria but politically and economically influenced negative comments, attitude and actions.

Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Mr Dalung had said they were in Minna to solicit the support of the NSGF through the chairman to key into their vision for peace to reign in the region.

He said: “We are not in the wrong place. The Chief Servant is the chairman of NSGF and we are sure that he will help us to convey our message of peace to his colleagues. We have visited the Sultan and now you. We have spoken with the spiritual leader and now we are speaking with the political leader of the north.”

He, however, shared Aliyu’s opinion on the problems confronting the country, adding that politicisation of religion had made peace elude the country.

Man acquitted of murder case - Appeal Court

BY GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE

BENIN—THE Court of Ap-peal sitting in Benin, Edo State, has set aside the judgment of an Edo State High Court, Benin, which sentenced one Mr. Clifford Owubu to death by hanging over the murder of one Kate Okoduwa in Uromi, Esan North- East Local Government Area of the state in 2007.

In a unanimous decision, the appellate court, in the lead judgment read by Justice Hamma Barka, also discharged and acquitted the convict.

It will be recalled that Mr. Owobu was arrested and tried for the murder of Kate Okoduwa, who was found dead on Omotuemen Street Uromi, after attending a burial ceremony with the deceased on the day she met her death. He was convicted on the ground that he was the last person seen with her.

Dissatisfied with the judgment of the lower court, the appellant went to the appellate court through his counsel, Mr. Olayiwola Afolabi, who formulated two issues for determination.

The issues were: “Having regard to the evidence on record that the deceased stayed behind when the appellant left the burial ceremony with his cousin and his own girl friend and in the absence of any evidence that the appellant was seen again with the deceased before her death, whether the conviction of the appellant can be sustained on the principle that the deceased was last seen with the appellant.

“Whether the trial court was right when it ignored the defence of the appellant and held that the appellant’s story is a web of lies.”

The appellate court in its judgment held that it did not find cogent evidence that the appellant and no one else committed the murder, leading undisputedly to his guilt.

This is an embarrassement to Nigerians. Chibok girls parents – APC

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has described as a compound embarrassment the fact that it took 17-year-old girl-child education campaigner, Pakistani Malala Yousafzai, to visit and convince President Goodluck Jonathan to agree to a meeting with representatives of the parents of the kidnapped school girls.

”President Jonathan, who has already embarrassed himself and the entire people of Nigeria by his inexplicable failure to visit Chibok since the girls were abducted over 90 days ago, has compounded the embarrassment and insulted Nigerians by waiting for Malala to goad him to meet with the girls’ parents, not in Chibok but in Abuja,” the party said in a statement in Lagos, Thursday, by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

It said after the meeting failed, because the parents were not properly informed and invited, a shameless presidency turned around to blame the opposition and the patriotic and selfless Nigerians who have been campaigning daily, under the #Bringbackourgirls group.

”Fortunately, and to the eternal discomfiture of the presidency, the Chibok community has said the decision not to meet with President Jonathan in Abuja was theirs and theirs alone, and that they took that decision because their sole reason for coming to Abuja was to meet with Malala, and not the President who did not invite them anyway.
Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai (L) watches on July 14, 2014 Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan look at a book at the State House in Abuja. Malala on July 14 urged Jonathan to meet with parents of the schoolgirls kidnapped three months ago by Boko Haram. Malala, who survived a Taliban assassination attempt in 2012 and has become a champion for access to schooling, was in Abuja on her 17th birthday to mark the somber anniversary of Boko Haram's April 14 abduction of 276 girls from a secondary school in the northeast Nigerian city of Chibok.

Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai (L) watches on July 14, 2014 Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan look at a book at the State House in Abuja. Malala on July 14 urged Jonathan to meet with parents of the schoolgirls kidnapped three months ago by Boko Haram. Malala, who survived a Taliban assassination attempt in 2012 and has become a champion for access to schooling, was in Abuja on her 17th birthday to mark the somber anniversary of Boko Haram’s April 14 abduction of 276 girls from a secondary school in the northeast Nigerian city of Chibok.

”With this explanation, one would have expected a presidency that has regard for the truth to immediately retract its earlier panic statement, which it issued to save face after what was nothing but a PR gimmick blew up in their face, and apologize to the opposition and the #Bringbackourgirls group that were unjustly pilloried by them.

”Instead, the presidency has persisted in its distortion of the truth, for which they have now become infamous, even as a new date has been agreed for the meeting. This is unfortunate, condemnable and irresponsible,” APC said. ”If indeed, as the presidency claimed earlier, that the opposition was behind the earlier refusal by the parents and escaped girls not to see the President, what has then happened to make them change their minds? Has the opposition now asked them to meet with the President?”

The party alerted Nigerians that the reason President Jonathan, whose wife bullied and harangued the girls’ parents on the grounds that they were lying and that no girl was missing, agreed to meet with the parents is so that he could use the meeting as a photo-op, after Malala pushed for it and the President’s US-based image laundering firm acceded to it.

”Mr. President, your frantic effort to meet with the Chibok parents now is too little too late, and no amount of photo-op will change that. If your handlers had been sincere, Mr. President, they would have told you that the best venue of the meeting is Chibok, not Abuja where your people tried, but failed, to waylay the parents who came for a meeting with Malala.

”Mr. President, you have ceaselessly compared yourself to the great leaders of our time, including US President Barack Obama. But do you think Obama would have refused to visit the parents of these abducted school girls if the abduction had occurred in the US? Do you think Obama, as Commander-in-Chief, would have refused to visit his troops in the front line of the anti-terror fight as you have done?
Malala and Five Escaped Chibok Girls

”Do you think, Mr. President, that a band of rogue elements like Boko Haram would have restricted Obama’s movement within his own country as they have done to you? No true and caring President will ever fail to visit the sites of disasters and offer solace to his compatriots,” it said.

APC reminded President Jonathan that neither in Nigeria’s culture nor in any other culture are those hit by tragedy invited to be offered solace, adding that the practice is to visit those to be offered solace ‘in situ’.

The party reiterated its earlier call on the President to shake off his lethargy and bring the abducted school girls home safely, instead of playing politics with the lives of over 200 human beings.

Jonathan cannot win in any northern state says Kwankwaso

Abuja—Apparently preparing the ground for formal declaration of his presidential ambition, Kano State Governor, Rabio Musa Kwankwaso, yesterday, launched series of verbal attacks on President Goodluck Jonathan, accusing him of failing to provide security for lives and property in Nigeria.

Kwankwaso, therefore, concluded that it would be difficult for Jonathan to win election in any of the 19 northern states if a free and fair election was conducted in 2015.
In five posts he dropped on his Twitter page, Kwankwaso chided Jonathan and his administration for making Nigerians flee the country and take refuge in nearby countries.

In the first post, the governor said: “I have not taken the time to go to the South to study what is happening, but I had time to study the North. In the 19 states, I don’t see any state where under free and fair election; people will go and vote for the status quo. The status quo is not good for anybody because they have failed to provide the basic services to justify why the people voted for this government.

He also accused the administration of allowing insurgents to thrive to a point that they are trying to create their own territory within Nigeria without any response from the government.

Monday 21 July 2014

Nyako: APC chiefs on FG’s security watch list

SECURITY agencies have put some national leaders of the opposition All Progressives Congress on the watch list, a top government official said on Sunday.

The official, who asked not to be named, confided in selected journalists in Abuja that the APC leaders could be picked up by security agents in case any untoward incident occurred following the threats allegedly issued by the politicians over the impeachment of Adamawa State ex-governor, Murtala Nyako.

The source said the Federal Government would not hesitate to order the arrest of the unnamed opposition leaders “if they do not desist from the campaign of calumny they are currently embarking against President Goodluck Jonathan over Nyako’s ouster.”

Nyako was removed from office by the state legislators over allegations of gross misconduct.

The National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, had at a press conference on Wednesday last week accused Jonathan of being behind Nyako’s removal.

Also, a national leader of the party, Bola Tinubu, had on Friday reiterated Odigie-Oyegun’s claim, adding that Nyako attracted Jonathan’s wrath for defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party and for writing a memo to governors in the northern states.

Nyako had, in the memo referred to by Tinubu, accused the President of carrying out genocide against the North in the government’s ongoing war against terror.

But the government source, who spoke to journalists on Sunday, said the security report available to the government showed “clearly” the underhand dealings of the APC leaders shortly before the governor was removed.

He claimed that intelligence reports revealed that two APC governors, one from the North and the other from the South, approached some members of the Adamawa State House Assembly with financial inducements to the tune of N250m each for them to scuttle the move to remove the governor.

He explained that out of the 25 state lawmakers, five were with Nyako while two travelled at the time the impeachment process scaled through.

The government official added that the APC governors (names withheld) succeeded in buying one lawmaker over, and that attempts were made to buy one or two more so that the number of lawmakers required for the governor to be removed would not be achieved.

The government official also said that when it became clear to the APC chiefs that they would not be able to buy the lawmakers over, they resorted to threats.

The source said, “It was the assurance that they got from the lawmaker that more members would be bought over that gave birth to the reports then that Nyako might resign.

“When it was clear to them that the money might not do the magic, they resorted to threats.

“They threatened some of the lawmakers that they would be killed if they did not collect the money and stop the impeachment process.

“What they don’t know is that all these are recorded. If they continue with these their unfounded allegations against the President, the security agencies would be directed to arrest them and confront them with overwhelming evidence.”

The source insisted that the President had no hand in Nyako’s removal, saying it was a pure legislative matter.

Under Nigeria’s constitution, state governors enjoy immunity from prosecution. This means that the governors who offered the bribe could be spared while security agents go after other party leaders who do not enjoy immunity.

The APC, in reaction on Sunday, dared the Presidency to carry out the threat.

National Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said it was shameful that the Presidency had been reduced to using anonymous sources to make baseless allegations.

According to him, Nigerians are tired of being deceived by an administration “which has won laurels in corruption.”

Mohammed said, “Tell them to publish whatever evidence they have and tell them to go ahead and arrest them, why are they insulting the intelligence of Nigerians? This outburst is simply telling you how stupid they are.

“Multiply N250m by 20, how much is that? N250m in four places is N1bn; in 20 places is N5bn. Do they think everybody is as stupid as they are? Do they think that one governor could pull out five billion, either in Naira or Dollars, and the system will not detect it?

“Is this feasible? Why are they hiding and making unsubstantiated allegations? Why can’t they expose the governors and arrest them? What they are trying to do is to cover up their own corruption.

“Nigerians still want to know what happened to the missing $20bn oil money, Nigerians want to know how come 300,000 barrels of our crude oil go missing every day; Nigerians want to know what happened to the subsidy fraud scam, let them publish the details of the Malabu oil scandal.”

The APC spokesperson wondered why the Presidency had been unable to invite the leaders of the opposition party or the party’s governors, whom, it alleged, were involved in bribing legislators for questioning if indeed they had any evidence against them.

“We told them how much they offered our legislators in Edo State; we exposed how much they offered those in Nasarawa. They should stop annoying Nigerians.” Mohammed said.

Stop deceiving Nigerians, Atiku tells PDP

Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has warned the Peoples Democratic Party-led Federal Government against the dangerous tactics of polarising the country along fault lines as a means of diverting the attention of Nigerians from its inept and apathetic posture to corruption and insecurity.

Reacting to a report in a weekly paper which alleges that a former Russian spy had linked the All Progressives Congress to terrorists and extremists, the former Vice President said in a statement in Abuja on Sunday that these sponsored allegations by the PDP administration would not help the country.

He said no responsible government should seek to create division, suspicion and animosity among its citizens by linking the opposition leaders with terrorist activities or accusing them of harbouring extremists.

According to Atiku, the PDP has officially and publicly, through its National Publicity Secretary, labelled APC the “Islamic Brotherhood Party of Nigeria” and the “Janjaweed Party.”

These nomenclatures, he said, were borrowed from abroad and did not, in any way or form, existed in Nigeria.

He said the latest publication about a so-called former Russian spy was a continuation of the PDP campaign of calumny against the opposition party and its leaders in order to divert attention from the epic failures of the ruling party to deliver the goods.

The former Vice President noted with concern the tactics of the PDP administration to drive a wedge between the people by using a religious divide-and-rule strategy to get a re-election in 2015.

Atiku restated that the greatest challenges facing Nigeria were insecurity, joblessness, hopelessness, hunger, unemployment, disease and fear of the future and poverty.

“The APC is a party for all Nigerians, irrespective of their religious, ethnic or regional identities. Let no one get confused.

“The APC is the party to stop the looting of the treasury. We will thoroughly investigate and uncover the alleged missing $50bn stolen from the sale of crude oil.

“We are going to stop the government-backed theft of crude oil, which swings between the daily averages of 100,000 to 300,000 barrels a day. The APC is the party to create jobs and end joblessness.”

He explained that these problems affect all ordinary Nigerians, regardless of their religion or ethnicity or section of the country they come from.

The former Vice President maintained that the PDP tactics of divide and rule was a reflection of desperation because the citizens were openly clamouring for change.

Dismissing allegations of harbouring extremists by the opposition as utter rubbish and sheer fabrication, the former vice president said the PDP administration should attend to serious national problems crying for attention.

Lawmakers insist on Al-Makura’s exit, reject emirs’ intervention

Members of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly have said there is no going back on the effort to remove the state governor, Alhaji Tanko Al-Makura.

The state legislators said they would not enter into any negotiation over the impeachment notice already served on the governor. They also said they would embark on a protest in Lafia, the state capital, on Monday (today) against interference by traditional rulers in the state.

Traditional rulers in Lafia, including the Emir of Lafia, Alhaji Mustapa Agwai, had on Thursday promised to initiate a peace move between the governor and the lawmakers.

But the Chairman of the House Committee on Information and Security, Mr. Baba Ibaku, representing Udege/Loko Constituency, in a telephone interview with The PUNCH on Sunday, said that the impeachment procedure was still on course.

“We have started this. We cannot go back, no matter the involvement of the chairman of traditional rulers,” Ibaku said.

He denied insinuations that the state legislators had fled from the state capital.

“We are on recess, so we can choose to stay anywhere we feel like. Even if we are not on recess, there is no law that says we must stay in Lafia and the fact is that there is the need for us to go to the chamber. We will go to the chamber and come back,” he said.

The lawmaker confirmed to The PUNCH that members of the House would stage a protest on Monday against any interference by the traditional rulers across the state.

Ibaku said any intervention by the traditional rulers would prevent the lawmakers from carrying out their constitutional duty.

He said what happened in Adamawa State would happen in Nasarawa if Al-Makura failed to respond to the impeachment notice served on him within the time frame given.

Also reacting to the allegation against the lawmakers that they had received N200m each as bribe to compromise their stand, another member of the Nasarawa House, Mohammed Okpede (Doma South) said, “Up to this moment that I am talking to you, I have not seen the Emir of Lafia, Isah Mustapha Agwai, and none of our members have seen the emir.” He said the allegation was false.

Okpede said, “We are counting the days. We started about five days ago and when the time reaches, we will respond appropriately.

“ We have the number of days stipulated in the constitution and as soon as the time reaches, we will just go back to the chamber and direct the chief judge of the state to set up a committee of inquiry for the governor to appear.

“We are on recess. Everybody has the liberty to go to anywhere he feels like.”

Commenting on the proposed visit of the leaders of the All Progressives Congress—Maj.- Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), Bola Tinubu, and ex-Vice- President Atiku Abubakar to Lafia on Monday (today), Okpede said, “That is their problem. They are troublemakers and if peradventure they come, we are not going to join issue with them.”

He said the APC leaders would not hinder the lawmakers from performing their constitutional duty.

Also, Babawi Chetubo (Karu/Gitata constituency), said that he was not aware of any threat to burn down the lawmakers’ houses.

The state chairman of APC, Philip Shekwo, declined to comment, saying the traditional rulers in the state had issued a communiqué on the problem after their meeting

Asked what would be the next step by the party if the lawmakers disregarded the appeal by the traditional rulers, the APC chairman said the party would know what to do when matters reached that stage.

An APC lawmaker, Bala Adam, said that members of the party in the House were optimistic that the issue would be amicably resolved.

Meanwhile, a group, Peoples Democratic Party National Alliance Forum, has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to as a matter of urgency freeze Nasarawa State government’s account to avoid looting.

The Chairman of the forum, Jacob Chume, who stated this in a statement in Lafia on Sunday, also alleged that the governor had hired protesters from the APC states.

Meanwhile, the APC leaders, who had earlier been scheduled to lead a protest march against the plan to impeach Al-Makura might have shelved the plan.

Media reports had on Sunday indicated that APC leaders, including the party’s national chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, would stage an anti-impeachment protest in Nasarawa on Monday (today).

But one of our correspondents learnt in Abuja, on Sunday, that the protest had been shelved due to the intervention of members of the Nasarawa State Council of Traditional Rulers, who have joined in the search for a political solution to the crisis in the state.

A top member of APC’s National Working Committee, who pleaded anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media, said this in an interview with our correspondent.

The source confirmed that there was indeed a plan for the party’s leaders to lead a protest march in Lafia on Monday (today) but that such plan had been shelved.

He said, “I don’t think our leaders are going to Lafia for the march tomorrow. This is because the traditional rulers have intervened in the matter and they are trying to find a political solution to the crisis. We are interested in a de-escalation and peaceful resolution to the crisis.”

Customs: Couple dupe victims N20m in fake auction sales

The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a couple, Mr. Danladi Wushishi, and Mrs. Ojuolape Wushishi, for allegedly duping unsuspecting victims to the tune of N20m in fake auction sales in Lagos.

PUNCH Metro learnt that while Ojuolape was arrested on Wednesday, June 18, at Odeogbolu Street, Ijegun, Danladi, was apprehended at Allen Avenue on Friday, June 25.

Our correspondent gathered that the couple were arrested after a petition to the Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko, from one of the victims, Mrs. Chinyere Uzorchukwu, who was allegedly duped by the couple to the tune of N5m.

The Special Anti-Robbery Squad operatives had subsequently gone on the trail of the couple and arrested them.

The Wushishis had allegedly collected money from their victims under the false pretext that they had a container load of goods meant for customs auction sales at one of the customs terminals in Lagos.

It was further learnt that prior to the incident, the couple normally took their victims to a fake customs’ warehouse in Ikorodu, Lagos, and showed them containers which were sealed. However, after payments had been made, the victims would wait endlessly expecting their goods, which never came.

Apart from Uzorchukwu, the police said the couple had also duped one Nkechi Anokwuru of about N3.5m and one Mr. Livinus of about N19m in the fake auction deals.

Danladi, 46, who hails from Niger State, confessed that he collected the money from the victims without having any goods anywhere.

He said, “I am a businessman and I am also a freight forwarder at the Tin Can Island, Lagos. I have been doing this business for about eight years. The cargo in question has an allocation paper that read clothes, but when I got there, I saw that it only contained books.

“Then, I called one Alhaji Issa, a clearing agent in Abuja, and he said the clothes could be in another container. But he added that I would pay N3.5m to get it. I then lied to my wife that I needed someone dealing in Okrika clothes as I had clothes to sell. That was how we met Chinyere. We first collected N1.35m from her, and then N800,000, and then N700,000.

“I also collected N14m from Livinus in same transaction. But I never received any container since I started collecting money from this people. My wife is not aware that I was duping them.”

Ojuolape, 48, said her husband dragged her into the fraud mess as she never knew that the container they had in Ikorodu was empty.

She said, “I was a trader at Ikotun. I usually bought goods (clothes) from Dubai and London. I have been doing this business for about seven years. I usually do it with my husband.

“About two months ago, my husband told me that there is an auction paper for second-hand Okrika clothes. So, I spoke with some people, who began to pay. But when we got to Ikorodu, we discovered that no container had Okrika clothes.

Ojuolape, mother of four, added that when she discovered that there were no clothes, she warned her

Terrorism: Jonathan’s $1bn loan request dubious, says APC

The All Progressives Congress has described the request by President Goodluck Jonathan for a loan of $1bn as dubious.

The party added that had Jonathan accounted for the $20bn oil fund which was allegedly stolen, he would not be urging the National Assembly to approve a loan to fight insurgency.

The party said in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Sunday, that as long as corruption persisted, even if the money was approved, it would not be put to good use. The APC said that was why despite the N968.127bn that had been budgeted for security, Jonathan was still asking for more.

The party subsequently urged the National Assembly not to approve the loan as it would not be used in rescuing the over 200 schoolgirls that were abducted in Chibok area of Borno State over three months ago.

The party said it was surprised that the PDP-led Federal Government had spent billions of naira bribing lawmakers to oust APC governors and still had the nerve to ask for a loan.

The statement read in part, “The only reason the schoolgirls have remained in captivity is the sheer cluelessness and incompetence on the part of the Jonathan administration, which waited for over 19 days before even admitting that the girls were kidnapped in the first instance.

“Therefore, putting more money in the hands of an incompetent and massively corrupt administration can only encourage more incompetence and corruption. That is why we are asking the National Assembly to put national interest above all other considerations by taking a dispassionate, non-partisan look at the President’s request.

“The National Assembly must summon security and military chiefs to explain how the huge funds allocated to the security sector in the past has been spent before more funds can be pumped into the sector. “They must be asked what happened to the military equipment said to have been procured in recent years.

“They must also inquire from the administration why it should be borrowing $1bn when it has yet to account for the missing $20bn oil money, plug the daily stealing of 300,000 barrels per day and unravel the massive frauds that have hallmarked the tenure of this administration. If after all the scrutiny, the National Assembly still feels it must approve the loan, so be it.”

The party also reminded Nigerians that the Nigerian Civil War, which lasted three years, was prosecuted by the government without resorting to any external borrowing, due to competent and transparent management of the nation’s economy.