Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Basketball: Lithuania defeats Nigeria 72 – 53

Lithuania left, Nigeria right
LONDON (AFP) – Lithuania, which has played for a bronze medal in the past five Olympic men’s basketball tournaments, defeated Nigeria 72-53 on Tuesday for the team’s first triumph at London.
Lithuania’s victory left each team at 1-1 in Group A round-robin play after Nigeria opened with a 60-56 victory over Tunisia and Lithuania lost 102-79 to Argentina.
Lithuania — which took bronze in 1992, 1996 and 2000 and settled for fourth in 2004 and 2008 — will next meet France on Thursday while the Nigerians must face the US collection of NBA stars.
Both Nigeria and Lithuania made it to the Olympics through a last-chance qualifying tournament three weeks ago at Venezuela.








Explosive device found in university lecture hall in Kano

Mohammed Abubakar, Inspector General of the Nigerian Police Force
KANO (AFP) – An explosive device was found on Tuesday in lecture hall at a university in northern city just before students arrived for an examination, an official said.
The device planted in the lecture theatre at the Federal College of Education (FCE) in Kano was discovered by a campus security guard and dismantled before causing any damage.
In April, attackers suspected of belonging to the radical Boko Haram Islamist group killed roughly 20 people at the nearby Bayero University, Kano.
They set off bombs at a Sunday morning campus church service, then opened fire as worshippers tried to flee.
“This morning, something suspected to be an improvised explosive device has been successfully detected and detonated by the anti-bomb squad of the Nigeria police in the college,” said FCE spokesman Auwalu Mudi Yakasai in a statement.
He added that the exams would continue uninterrupted.
It was not immediately clear who planted the device, but Boko Haram, responsible for scores of attacks across northern and central Nigeria in recent months, has hit Kano repeatedly in the past.
The name Boko Haram, a combination of Hausa and Arabic, means “Western education is forbidden.”
Kano, Nigeria’s second most populous city, was the site of the group’s deadliest attack yet on January 20 when at least 185 people were killed in coordinated gun and bomb attacks.
The group has claimed the deaths of more than 1,000 people since mid-2009, and three of its presumed top leaders have been designated as global terrorists by the United States.






Insecurity: Mixed reactions trail Obasanjo, IBB warnings

Olusegun Obasanjo ask for peace
Mixed reactions ranging from commendation to criticism, yesterday, trailed Sunday’s joint declaration of former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida on the state of insecurity in the country.
While regional groups, including the Arewa Consultative Forum and Afenifere welcomed the intervention of the two elderstatesmen, the intervention received  thumbs down from Ohanaeze which flayed the duo for failing to take heed during their separate stewardships of the country.
The Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, in its reaction dismissed the intervention as nothing new even as it affirmed that its national leader, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, himself a former Head of State, would not team up with the former rulers in their campaign.
The CPC spokesman, Engr. Rotimi Fashekin told our source yesterday that Buhari had already categorized the Boko Haram insurgency as a variant of three forms with the political variant, allegedly embedded within the Goodluck Jonathan administration.
Former President Obasanjo and former military President Ibrahim Babangida had in an unprecedented joint statement on Sunday appealed for peace in the country and suggested a strategic engagement with community stakeholders towards resolving the crisis.
Dialogue is the answer — ACF
Welcoming the joint plea of the former rulers, the ACF spokesman, Anthony Sani said: “What we have said is that there is no where in the world where force has ever worked on terrorism. We gave examples of Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan and we have given example of Somalia and we came back home and said Yar`Adua used force in 2009.
“It was against that experience that we said let us try talking to them and we have been very consistent on that. We don’t want to give it a northern or religious colouration.
We support their idea — Afenifere
Afenifere leader, Chief Reuben Fasoronti while welcoming the intervention said: “It is a bit late as we had expected it before now. We were all waiting for that because they had to speak. I had once said the leaders who were supposed to speak have not done so because the Boko Haram is a menace and we cannot just look on and watch. I am sure that people will respect their views and halt these dastardly things.”
They are hypocritical —  Ohanaeze
Ohanaeze Ndigbo on its part described the effort of the two former leaders as largely hypocritical, saying that the dialogue they are canvassing was never allowed during their respective tenures.
Engr. Ralph Ndigwe, National Publicity Secretary of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation told our source: “There is nothing special about Obasanjo and Babangida calling for national dialogue or constructive engagement.
“When Obasanjo was in government for eight years, people were clamouring for national conference. Odi people reacted, they went and finished the whole village, ransacked every where and killed everybody because they killed one soldier. Today, he is out of government and talking about dialogue. Babangida did the same thing.
“Babangida and Obasanjo are senior members of the Council of States let them go to the Council of State and ask the council to call for dialogue; they don’t have to continue to deceive us through all these paper talks”.
The CPC also demurred, saying that there was nothing new in the joint statement from the two former leaders.
It said: “These people have not said anything new, except we want to be economical with the truth. Quite a number of people have said it in the past ”
Insisting that the situation demands a political solution, he said the CPC national leader would not join the refrain of the two men, saying that Buhari was a marked man by his critics who would twist anything he says to suit their political tunes.
“The unfortunate thing is that there are many people who are waiting to hear what Gen. Buhari says and use it for cheap political points and that is why the man has often refrained  from making statements because he knows that we are not dealing with sincere people but we are dealing with very dishonest people, the party said.”
“Buhari is not like one of the normal Nigerian people that are ready to lie through their teeth. Buhari has never believed that getting political power is a do-or-die affair. He behaves in true service to the Nigerian people.”
Affirming that Buhari would not join the chorus of the two former leaders, he said:
“You don’t need to expect a statement from him because he has said
Boko Haram is in three parts, Boko Haram is in three variants and one of the variants is the political variant which the Jonathan government represents.
He also said there is the original Boko Haram formed by Yusuf and that original Boko Haram is disgruntled and is seeking its pound of flesh from the Nigerian state for killing its leader extra-judicially and then you have the criminal Boko Haram that is involved in all sorts of criminal activities.”







Retired General Babangida also appeals for peace.

Cop killed in attempt to rescue kidnapped Govt House staff

Mohammed Abubakar, Inspector general of Police
ASABA—A staff of Due Process Office, Government House, Asaba, Delta State, was, weekend, kidnapped with his son in the state.
Police authorities gave his name as Mr. Duke Okeze. He was rescued, yesterday, though one of the policemen involved in the rescue mission was killed in the process, while the son of Mr. Okeze, kidnapped along with him received bullet wounds.
Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Charles Muka, in a statement, said: “Mr. Okeze of Due Process Office, Government House, Asaba, was kidnapped by unknown gunmen along with his son. But they were rescued at 6.30a.m., Monday, by a combined team of SARS, STORM in Issele-Uku division at Atuma Iga.
“Three suspects, including a lady, were arrested and his Toyota Corolla car was recovered. In the process of rescue, his son, Emma, sustained minor bullet wounds  from the kidnappers’ guns while a police Corporal was killed. Efforts are on to arrest other fleeing gang members.”
He added that “Three armed robbers, including one dressed in National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, uniform were arrested in Asaba, with a rifle, three battle axes, three cartridges, a laptop and a camera.”





Monday, July 30, 2012

Man to die for killing baby

A graveyard
OWERRI—An Owerri High Court presided over by Justice Nonyerem Okoronkwo, has sentenced Uchenna Uhuegbu, from Odunmara, Orodo, Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State, to death for the murder of an 18-month-old baby girl.
Uhuegbu was charged for killing the baby girl, Chimuanya Iwuagwu, also from Odummara, Orodo, on May 17, 2009, in very bizarre circumstances.
Chronicling how the innocent suckling was murdered, Justice Okoronkwo recalled that the deceased Chimuanya was heading to throw away refuse with an elder relation and was accosted by the accused on their way.
The Judge agreed with the prosecution that “because the accused was very familiar with the family of the infant girl, her relation had no problem leaving the two and proceeded to throw away the refuse.”
Apart from believing the prosecution’s account, the Judge equally ruled that since the little girl’s relation did not find the duo on her return, it was for the accused to account for the baby that was left in his care.
Justice Okoronkwo co quoted the confessional statement Uhuegbu made to the police, especially how a mystery voice advised him to kill the little girl if his life was to be better.






I’m ready to plead guilty – Bakare

Pastor Tunde Bakare
CONVENER of Save Nigeria Group, SNG, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has said he was ready to plead guilty on his stance on the manner Nigeria was being governed in the present administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.
Briefing newsmen in Lagos, Bakare said he will not water down his position on state of the nation, as suggested by Lagos State Director of State Security Services, SSS, during their last encounter. He insisted that he was never arrested by the SSS.
He said he had nothing against President Jonathan, as his position on current events in the country was informed by bad governance, misappropriation and embezzlement of state funds.
He said: “Let me make it clear that SSS operatives did not arrest or interrogate me for eight hours. The State Director of SSS and his men treated me with respect and dignity.  “If I am being asked to tone down my message because of my perceived partisanship, those asking me to do so have only succeeded in precipitating a tone up.
“The State Director himself had earlier visited me here at the Latter Rain Assembly in November 2011, making the same request that I tone down my message where politics is concerned, especially with regard to the person of President Jonathan.”
On the recent arraignment of some petroleum importers over subsidy funds, Bakare said: “Concerning all the window-dressing, the shenanigans and the charade going on in respect of the subsidy thieves, it is my opinion that the efforts of this government cannot deliver justice, neither are they meant to.
“If you think my present stand is against Jonathan’s person, then you goof. It is against bad governance, misappropriation of state funds, embezzlement of public funds and spending money like water without appropriation.
“I am against whoever does any of such things. Let it be known to you that neither I nor SNG marched for Jonathan. We marched for constitutionality; for the constitution to be followed regardless of who that action favours or doesn’t favour”, he stated.

VP Sambo’s Kaduna house attacked

Nigeria`s Vice president Namadi Sambo
KADUNA – Police in a Kaduna say three gunmen have killed a man outside an uninhabited house belonging to Vice President Namadi Sambo.
Kaduna state police spokesman Abubakar Balteh said they killed a shoe-shiner and injured two policemen who were guarding Vice President Namadi Sambo’s house Monday. He said the house was under renovation.
Balteh said rioters had burned down the house during post-election violence that swept across northern Nigeria after April 2011 presidential polls.


Sokoto Bomb Attacks: Police confirm Policeman, 3 others dead

A wrecked car.
Police authorities in Abuja Monday confirmed that four persons including two suicide bombers, one police officer and a lady hair dresser lost their lives in two separate bomb attacks targeted at the office of Assistant Inspector General, AIG of Police, Zone 10, Sokoto, and a Police Station located at Angwar Rago area of the state.
Seven persons mostly civilians and police officers were rushed to the hospitals for injuries sustained as a result of shock and broken shrapnel.
Force Spokesman, CSP Frank Mba who gave the confirmation, explained that the first suicide bomber tried to make his way through the main gate to the office of the AIG, Muktari Ibrahim to achieve his sinister aim but was prevented by tough security measures put in place by the force.
Mba stated that the suspected suicide bomber however, decided to go through a second gate that was securely locked, even as some policemen were keeping guard there.
“The suicide bomber rammed the explosive laden car on the gate dying in the process and injuring one of the policemen on guard. Before the officer could get to the hospital, he gave up the ghost. Six persons who were standing nearly sustained minor injuries owing to shock.
“In the second attack, the suicide bomber targeted the Police station at Angwar Rago but met it heavily protected by Police personnel. He then made a detour apparently to find another way to the station.
“On the road however, the bombs in the Volkswagen Golf salon car he was driving exploded killing the bomber and a lady hairdresser who was opposite the exploded vehicle”, the Police spokesman explained
Mba disclosed that security has been beefed up in the Sokoto metropolis and that AIG Muktari has deployed police re-enforcements including Police Bomb disposal experts and anti-terrorists squad to the nooks and crannies of the state to ensure law and order.

Eight killed as gunmen open fire on worshippers

Mohammed Abubakar
KANO (AFP) – A gun battle near a mosque in the northern city of Kano and two other shootings left at least eight people dead on Sunday in the latest violence to hit the area, authorities said.
It was not clear who was behind the attacks in the city of Kano, the largest in the mainly Muslim north, but they resembled similar incidents in the past blamed on Islamist militant group Boko Haram.
The deadliest occurred on Sunday night when gunmen opened fire in an area around a mosque while Muslims were observing Ramadan prayers and where a police team was already deployed to protect worshippers, a senior police official said.
Police and the attackers exchanged fire and one of the assailants was killed when his own explosive device went off.
Three other gunmen were shot dead by police, according to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The rest fled, abandoning their car and three motorcycles they came with,” the official said, adding that it was not clear whether police or the mosque was the target of the initial attack.
Earlier in the day, gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on the car of a Nigerian air force officer, killing the driver and an aide, while two other people were killed in a nearby neighbourhood, authorities said.
“A car of one of our officers came under attack this morning,” Air Commodore Sani Ahmed said.
“The officer’s driver and his orderly were travelling out of town, but as they reached an area called Yan-Lemo, two gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on the car, killing the two personnel.”
The officer was not in the car at the time, he said.
In a similar incident earlier in the day, two gunmen on a motorcycle shot dead two people outside their house in a nearby neighourhood, said police spokesman Rilwanu Dutse.
A police source said the victims were from the mainly Christian Igbo ethnic group.
Boko Haram has carried out scores of bombings and shootings in their insurgency in the north of Africa’s most populous nation that has left hundreds dead.

Air Force personnel, 2 others killed in Kano

Mohammed Abubakar, Inspector general of the Nigerian Police Force
KANO — Unknown gunmen on motorbike, yesterday, killed two Air Force personnel and two traders in separate incidents in Kano metropolis.
The Air Force personnel travelling on an official vehicle were ambushed and killed close to the entrance gate of Sa’adatu Rimi College of Education along the Kano-Zaria highway by 10.30 a.m
Our source gathered that the Airmen were heading to the ancient city from Kaduna when suddenly they came under fire. The two occupants of the vehicle, identified as driver and orderly, lay dead at the end of attack.
Our source gathered that the incident triggered pandemonium in the school and the nearby fruit market as people fled to avoid being caught in the incident.
A competent security sources close to JTF in the city told our source that the remains of the deceased airmen were deposited at Air Force Hospital located within the premises of 303 Flying Training School, Kano.
In another incident, two civilians were also shot dead by yet to be identified gunmen on motorbike at Hotoro behind NNPC depot shortly after a raid by Joint Military Taskforce on the area‘s black spot.
Security sources told our source that the civilians were killed in front of their shop while carrying out their legitimate duties, Sunday afternoon.
JTF spokesman in Kano, Lt Ikediche Iweha while confirming the incident in a telephone chat revealed that “gunmen on a motorbike waylaid and opened fire on Air Force personnel vehicle. The two occupants, an orderly and a driver, were affected.”





Friday, July 27, 2012

Suspect rapes 94-year-old woman

 Riah Phiyega South African National police commissioner
Johannesburg – A man who benefited from President Jacob Zuma’s special remissions programme appeared in court on Thursday for allegedly raping a 94-year-old grandmother.
Spokesman of South African Police Service (SAPS), Col. Vincent Mdunge, told newsmen in Johannesburg that the suspect is “a habitual criminal’’.
He said that the suspect appeared at the New Hanover Magistrate Court on Thursday.
“The woman was raped in her KwaSwayimane home in Emabheleni Ward, at 1.00 a.m. on Saturday.
“Police have been looking for him for another case,” Mdunge said.
Mdunge confirmed that the suspect had been one of the 3,150 granted presidential parole, and that police had been searching for him for his part in an armed robbery case before the rape.
KwaZulu-Natal Correctional Services Commissioner, Mnikelwa Nxele, confirmed that the suspect had been released at the start of the presidential remission in June.
Nxele said that the alleged rape was regrettable and sad.(NAN)

Police discover human parts in Festac

Mohammed Abubakar, Inspector General of the Nigerian Police Force.
The police yesterday July 26, 2012 made a shocking and bizarre discovery of human parts in a residence at Festac Town in Lagos State when it raided a building believed to be occupied by ritualists.
Police Sources said they were alerted by neighbors who were suspicious of activities going-on in the building located at House No. 6, B Close, Third Avenue Festac which prompted them to storm the building around 12 noon, and searched the entire place leading to the discovery of some fresh human parts inside a bathtub and a room used as a shrine.
The police said that several human parts such as fresh human head, hand, limbs, decomposing head and female breasts were also discovered.
Meanwhile two brothers Omotola and Toye Ajayi, who were occupants of the building, were arrested and taken away by the police. Also a manhunt has been lunched for another occupant said to be at large.
When our source spoke with Omotayo, he said the dismembered body found inside the bathtub was that of his younger brother who he said has been declared missing for some days but denied having any knowledge of who may have killed and dumped him inside the bathtub.
“I stay in that building but I don’t bath inside the bathroom because the bathtub is bad. The body found in the bathtub could be that of my brother. He was missing and I have not seen him for quite a long time”, he said





Thursday, July 26, 2012

Empower police to deal with Boko Haram – Buhari

Buhari, wants the Nigerian Police empowered
Presidential Candidate for the Congress for Progressive Change in the 2011 elections, Maj-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has asked the Federal Government to empower the police to deal with the Boko Haram insurgency.
Buhari spoke on the sidelines of the presentation of a book titled, ‘How I governed Anambra State: Stewardship & Accountability’ in Abuja, on Thursday.
The book was written by a former governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju.
Also at this event, an All Nigeria Peoples Party stalwart, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezife, said Nigeria and Nigerians had become unpopular because “we have killed our conscience.”
Buhari said, “The bombings have subsided. It’s up to the law enforcement agents. This is probably the problem of the police. You know, they (Police and SSS) have to secure the country. Constitutionally it’s their job
“Boko Haram as I said, I would rather that the police should be empowered.

Gunmen kill four, set police station ablaze in Borno

Mohammed Abubakar, Inspector General, Nigerian Police Force
MAIDUGURI — FOUR people were killed while several others were injured when gunmen, suspected to be members of the Jamatul ahlis Sunnah lid Daawa wal Jihad aka Boko Haram, attacked a police station in Gubio, the headquarters of  Gubio Local Government Area of Borno State.
A resident, Mallam Usman Gubio, said the attackers also burnt down a police station and the local government secretariat.
According to him, “many people ran away from their houses and took refuge in safer places. We have never experienced such in this local government, but I do not know if any civilian was killed. However, I saw about four corpses of police officers being conveyed in a vehicle. Security is now beefed up around the local government and we also learnt that the police have made some arrests.”
Gubio said when they heard gun shots, they all rushed into their houses and locked the doors but later they had to leave their houses when some of their relatives asked them to leave the area, as it was no longer safe.
Confirming the incident, the state Police Commissioner Bala Hassan said “two policemen and one civilian were killed in the attack in Gubio local government.”
The Commissioner of Police did not give further clarification as his phone went off after he confirmed the killings.
When newsmen contacted spokesman of the Joint Task Force, JTF, Operation Restore Order in Borno, Lt. Col. Sagir Musa, he said the situation in Gubio was purely a police affair.





Thursday, July 19, 2012

‘Brigadier-General Raji Fashola’ Mows Down Makoko


A baby boy rendered homeless by Fashola.

The Lagos State Government under Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, (a lawyer), in its anti-people and highly elitist policies commenced the latest of its onslaught against the urban poor by demolishing Makoko, a waterfront settlement in Yaba Local Government Area of Lagos, recently.
Trouble started for the fishing community of about 100,000 people with the arrival of a quit notice from the state government giving them 72 hours to move out of the community in which most of the inhabitants have lived all their lives.
The notice dated July 12, 2012 and signed by Mr. Akin Tijani, Head of Operations, Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI), the state government said the shanties violated the designs of its megacity project and that the residents have continued to occupy and develop shanties and unwholesome structures on the waterfront without authority, thereby constituting environmental nuisance, security risks, impediments to economic and gainful utilisation of the waterfront such as navigation, entertainment, recreation among others.
Continuing, it said: “Therefore, notice is hereby given to you to vacate and remove all illegal developments along the Makoko/Iwaya Waterfront within 72 hours of receipt of this notice.”
Barely two days later, KAI officials with a combination of soldiers and mobile police moved into the settlement and mowed down over 400 houses. The demolition exercises continues as at press time, July 19 with the consequent wide-scale displacement.
A visit to Makoko will draw tears from the most hardened person’s eyes as many children are stranded and shelterless with many putting up in boats.
Below are some of the comments from affected residents:
Chief Mesu James Abraham, the Baale (chief) of Sogunro-Pedro
 Where do they want us to go, with our wives and children? We have lived here all our lives. They said we are not indigenes of this place and that constitute a nuisance, but election time they come here to take our votes. They allayed our fears of demolition at the last election and promised us infrastructure, but now they are visiting us with evacuation
Abraham said a delegation of the community elders have gone to plead with the Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development to limit the demolition to 100-metre distance from a power line which the state government said the locals encroached on, as destroying the entire community will lead to a major displacement and untold suffering.
Right now I have nowhere to go. I am putting up with a family inside the community. If government can relocate us, we wouldn’t mind, said Biereji Ayefoji, a 60-year old widow and trader who was seen hawking her wares on the water to keep body and soul together with nowhere to go after her house came down under the hammer of the KAI brigade’s demolition a few days earlier.  
Chief Wasiu Yonlonfun, the Baale (chief) of Oko-Agbon;
They gave us only 72 hours; where do they expect us to go? We are Nigerians; we are from Badagry. Is it that we have wronged them to have warranted all this suffering? We are begging them for forgiveness,’ he said, tearfully. We are fishermen and our lives revolve around the water. If they relocate us, what else can we do? We are the main suppliers of fish to the entire people of Yaba Local Government. By this they not only render us homeless, they are driving us into hunger and starvation.’
However, Nnimmo Bassey, executive director of the environmental justice group, Environmental Rights Action, criticised the action of the Lagos State Government as inhuman, undemocratic and unthinkable and unacceptable in a democracy.
He said not only is the 72 hours’ notice and commencement of demolition of the Makoko waterfront a violation of the rights of the people to shelter as guaranteed by the Nigerian Constitution, plans to use the site for the Megacity project indicated that the exercise is a “calculated attempt to seize the space for the convenience of the mega rich at the expense of the urban poor”
“It is sad and in bitter taste, that in a democracy the Lagos government would become a nemesis of the poor rather than alleviate their suffering. We totally oppose the forced eviction and demolition of the structures without an alternative accommodation provided or plans to replace the loss of livelihoods that will follow. This is an unacceptable tradition,” said ERA/FoEN Executive Director, Nnimmo Bassey.
“This exercise is a reminder of the Maroko forced eviction exercise in 1990 under the Raji Rasaki administration which uprooted thousands of people who had lived all their lives and earned their living in the community. Many lost their lives in that illegal action which is about playing out again in Makoko.  Then it was Maroko under the military, now it is Makoko in a democracy. We are opposed to this unnecessarily urban displacement and a further worsening of the delicate economic state of citizens.”
It is noteworthy that residents of Makoko are made up of mostly Egun people of Badagry, Ilajes of Ondo State and a large number of Republic of Benin and Togolese settlers.
Bassey called on the state government to seek better ways of enriching Lagosians under the Mega City Project in which guise unnecessary pains are being inflicted on the poor and powerless. Bassey called on the state government to seek better ways of enriching Lagosians under the Mega City Project in which guise unnecessary pains are being inflicted on the poor and powerless.
Mr. Godwin Ojo, ERA’s Director of Programmes and Administration also criticised the action: ‘We reiterate our opposition to actions that will create internal refugees in the country. If a government cannot carry out its fundamental role of providing economic haven and advancement of its citizens, and in this case, the urban poor, it should not necessarily worsen their states. The on-going demolition should be promptly halted and a dialogue with the people initiated to fashion an amicable solution to the waterfront challenge. Nothing else is acceptable’, he insisted.  
 Victoria Ibezim-Ohaeri, executive director of Spaces for Chnage, another ngo described the action as unthinkable. She said it was unbelievable that the state government would drive out women and children out of their homes at the height of the rainy season for whatever reason.

Chief Mesu James Abraham, the Baale of Sogunro-Pedro

Displaced inhabitants of Makoko, by the civilian dictator called Fashola.