ABPLACE

Monday, 3 December 2012

Days of Boko Haram over soon – DG SSS

ABUJA—DIRECTOR General of the Department of State Security, Ekpenyong Ita, yesterday, assured that the service and other security agencies are working with other stakeholders including the media towards ensuring that the activities of the Boko Haram sect are brought under total control for peace to reign in the country.
Ita who gave the assurance at the opening of a one week training programe for media practitioners in Abuja, disclosed that activities of the sect have turned to a full scale business venture for its leaders. According to him, recent discovery of the main objective of the terrorist group runs contrary to the earlier claims by the group that they are actually fighting a religious war.
Criminal activities
The group he said actually started as an extremist religious group under the late Mohammed Yusuf, but later transformed into a business venture, as the sect members are now make good living out of their criminal activities.
Assuring Nigerian public of the capability and readiness of the security agencies in the country to restore peace, Mr. Ita noted that activities of the group have not in anyway overwhelmed them. He declared: “we are not overwhelmed, we can never be overwhelmed and we will never be overwhelmed. We are up to the task”.

He said that despite continued bombing of innocent persons across the northern region of the country he assured that the group will soon be put out of business, describing the group as enemies of the common man which should be jointly fought by all and sundry.
Armed robbery
Giving an insight into activities of the group, he disclosed that the service has confirmed from some high ranking members of the group that they mainly engage in armed robbery and share the loot with the leaders taking the lion share. Explaining how the loot are shared, he said that “what is brought in is divided into five portions with the leader given a portion and the rest four divided among those who took part in the robbery, while a portion will be given to alleged widows, the less privileged and as well, the elderly.
“However, the four groups aside the leaders are forced to pay “zakat” which in turn are remitted into the account of the leaders who use such proceeds to purchase exotic cars and flaunt their wealth which run contrary to the tenet of Islam which they allegedly profess.”

Eko 2012: Ondo swimmer wins gold, battles for life

The atmosphere was similar to what fans experience at international champion-ships.
Ambiance was superb and the crowd enjoyed it and showed this with ceaseless cheering the moment the swimmers took the plunge.

The swimming poolarena was full last night at the ongoing Sports Festival in Lagos. Fans even gate-crashed for seats.
Lagos had a fan club that produced soothing music for their swimmigers and Ondo’s Ibukun Adamolekun benefited from it and thesupport of fans whose cheers appeared to be inspiring all in the pool.
In the beginning of the final of 200 m Butterfly for women, Ibukun took a comfortable lead at the first and second laps.
She appeared to be coasting to the gold even on the third lap. But Emutimu Duke of Delta gave her the chase of her life and alsmost caught up with her in the final lap. Emutimu surprised all and she was cheered on.
But Ibukun would rather die than lose the gold that once appeared an easy one before the hot chase. She gave her all and still won it but it was not as easy as she impressed in the beginning.
She was exhaused and while celebrating her hard earned gold she saw herself gasping for breath and was falling back into the pool before she was quickly rescued. She signaled danger and called for help.
She collapsed and the medical team battled to revive the fanited swimmer. The arena turned quiet and people prayed that tragedy be averted. After about five minutes, Ibukun was revived and the fans cheered the gold winner as she was taken to the medical room for further attention.
“It was an interesting event’’, veteran swimming coach Steve Onyeacholam said. ‘’If I went fast early I would have probably beaten her but I was cautious not to brun out early but by the time I realised the gap was wide.
It was late for me to catch up’’, regretted Delta’s Emutimi. More than one hour after the event, officials were yet to release times of the swimmers, a low point for them.
‘’You are causing me tension’’, replied an official in charge of recording the times when asked to supply times recorded by swimmers in the events.

NUPENGASSAN begins strike over Shell’s labour policy

LEADERS of National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association, PENGASSAN, yesterday, announced that beginning today, members of both unions would commence a nationwide strike should the management of Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, fail to reinstate sacked members as directed by the Minister of Labour and Productivity.
PENGASSAN disclosed this in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Zaid Kolawole.

Dana crash: We will fully compensate victims’ families – USIDAMEN

ABUJA—Minister of State for Defence, Erelu Olusola Obada has said the European Union, EU, can come to the aid of the Nigerian military in the areas of intelligence gathering, counter-terrorism training and modern technology used in diffusing improvised explosive devices, IEDS.
She spoke while receiving the EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, Mr. Gilles De Kerchove, in her office.
The minister said these were vital areas in which the EU counter-terrorism office can support Nigeria for her to checkmate insecurity and terrorism challenges facing the nation.
She commended the counter-terrorism chief for showing interest in how Nigeria can scale through the present terrorism huddles.
Obada said: “This is about the third time you are visiting Nigeria to find out how the EU can be of assistance to solving this problem.”
Earlier, Mr. De Kerchove said he was in the country to discuss latest developments and efforts at fighting insecurity and terrorism because of the importance of Nigeria in the efforts to achieve world peace.
He said counter-terrorism component of the EU was created in 1994 after the Madrid bombings in Europe, adding that EU was ready to support Nigeria in counter-terrorism training.
He said: “We would like to know how we can support the Nigerian Army in particular and the Joint Task Forces be cause we know they are involved and doing a lot to checkmate the insecurity and terrorism challenges.
“We are also aware that you are participating in the ECOWAS force that is being put in place to reclaim the territory of Mali that has fallen into the hands of rebels in that country.
“We would like to know the areas where you feel we can support your country.”

Defence Minister woos EU on counter-terrorism

Newswatch: Founding directors ask court to dismiss Jimoh Ibrahim’s suit

MR Ray Ekpu, Dan Agbese, Yakubu Mohammed and Soji Akinrinade, founding directors of Newswatch Magazine, yesterday, asked Federal High Court sitting in Lagos to dismiss a suit by chairman of the company, Mr Jimoh Ibrahim, contending that the suit was an attempt to waste the time of the court.
Ibrahim, had sued the founding directors over the Share Purchase Agreement of Newswatch magazine.
Ekpu and others were removed from the board of the company in October on the grounds of their alleged failure to comply with obligations incumbent upon them under the Share Purchase Agreement.
The founding directors of the magazine, argued at the resumed hearing in the matter, through their counsel, that there was no where in the Share Purchase Agreement that states that parties can or cannot declare trade dispute outside the agreement.
According to them, Ibrahim’s suit disclosed no cause of action, as what he (Ibrahim) did was to create an imaginary dispute and rush to court, further contending that the agreement provides that parties have the right to terminate same (agreement).
But Ibrahim prayed the court to dismiss the preliminary objection, contending that since Ekpu and other directors of Newswatch had resigned and sold the company, they no longer have the power and mandate to continue to act as directors or remain on the board of the company.
He argued that the founding directors lacked the power to declare trade dispute as contained in their letter to Ibrahim, because they are no longer owners of the company, contending that the fact that Ekpu and others continue to act as directors after they resigned was enough cause of action to maintain the suit.
The plaintiffs are contending in the suit that the said Share Purchase Agreement requires Ekpu and others to have “appropriate shares” to be on the board of the company, adding that Section 7.0 of the Share Purchase Agreement also provides that “parties agree that the founding members of the company retiring could take up appointments as consulting editors, up to a period of two years, or membership of the board, where appropriate.”
Share acquisition
The share acquisition by Ray Ekpu and others, according to the company, grossly fell short of both the requirement of Companies and Allied Matters Act, CAMA and the provisions of the SPA, hence the decision of the company that they were not eligible to continue occupying the offices of directors on the board.
Trial judge, Justice Okon Abang, adjourned till December 7, 2012, for parties to re-adopt their oral and written addresses, before adjourning for ruling, noting that in view of the fact that judgment or ruling must be delivered within 90 days after parties had adopted their written addresses and because there are many pending cases before him for judgment and ruling, parties needed to come back to re-adopt their addresses so that ruling can be delivered within the 90 days period.

24 killed in Bauchi, Borno, Kano

Bauchi—No fewer than 24 people were killed in Bauchi, Borno and Kano States within Sunday and yesterday following different forms of crises that rocked the areas.
About 10 people were killed in Bauchi when villagers and security personnel tried to prevent suspected armed robbers from dispossessing innocent individuals of their property, while three persons were killed in an early morning bomb blasts that rocked Kano State yesterday.
Eleven others were killed in Borno when members of the Joint Task Force, JTF, clashed with suspected terrorists in Maiduguri, the state capital.
In Bauchi, several people including two security men, some robbery suspects and villagers lost their lives during an exchange of gunfire with four suspected armed robbers in Azare, headquarters of Katagum Local Government Area of the state.
Five arrested
This was even as a renowned armed robbers’ hunter, Alhaji Ali Kwara, arrested five other robbery suspects and recovered three AK 47 rifles from them in Azare.
In Kano State, police authorities said three persons sustained injury when a time bomb planted by unknown persons went off at the Plaza/Kwari Market Junction during the early morning rush hour.
The source said: “What appeared like a low calibre time bomb went off at the city centre during the morning rush hour, leaving a police officer, a Hisbah guard and a local traffic officer, among others, seriously injured.”
11 in Maiduguri
In Maiduguri, violence was said to have broken out resulting in the death 11 people at 9am yesterday, when two people suspected to be terrorists were shot dead while three others were arrested by men of JTF at the main entrance of the Musa Usman Civil Service Secretariat amid multiple explosions at the Gwange Ward.
Mr. Inuwa Usman, a resident of the area said nobody died during the Gwange explosions, but that an ANPP Councilor, Abatcha Gajigana was shot dead in his residence in the area, just as two classroom teachers were killed in their classrooms.
The school proprietor, Kofi Amag said he would close the institution following the attack.
In Bauchi
In Bauchi, the actual number of casualties was not clear. But residents put the number between 10 and 12 including two security men, six civilians and four suspected armed robbers, even as several others were injured.
A community leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “10 people were killed and a funeral prayer of three civilians was held at the Azare Central Mosque after the Magrib Prayer.
“But the dead bodies of the two security personnel and four armed robbers killed by security men were not brought to the mosque.”
Commissioner speaks
In his account of the incident Bauchi State Police Commissioner, Mohammed Ladan explained that the four armed men that attacked the Seeds Market were killed by security personnel.
Ladan said the incident started when some gunmen, suspected to be armed robbers, attacked the market in Azare at 12:30pm, and robbed some people of their belongings.
He said the attackers were about to escape when some good Samaritans alerted security agencies, prompting a hot chase by a combined team of security men and some indigenes of Azare.
He said: “Both the Police, Army and Azare community pursued them. There was serious exchange of fire and in the process all the four armed robbers were killed.
“Some security personnel sustained injuries, but I do not have the details of the casualties on the part of the security personnel. We will get the actual details after investigation.”

Change SURE-P to commission, NASS tells Jonathan

ABUJA — THE National Assembly, yesterday, called on President Goodluck Jonathan to immediately change the present status of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme, SURE-P, to a Commission.
According to the Joint Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Petroleum (Downstream), it has become imperative to effect the change of the programme to a commission against the backdrop that the SURE-P’s assignment was just intervention on existing projects, adding that people engaged by the agency may be sent back to the streets when it concludes its job.
Speaking when Chairman of SURE-P, Dr Christopher Kolade, appeared before the committee to defend the agency’s budget, Chairman of the Joint Committee, Senator Magnus Abe, PDP, Rivers South-East however, queried the Chairman of SURE-P for spending N27 billion, N4 billion and N2.2 billion on Youth Empowerment Programme, Mass Transit Scheme and Secretariat services in its 2012 appropriation with little job done.
The National Assembly also picked holes with the N75 million spent on local tours and travels in four months to inspect its ongoing projects across the country by the SURE-P.
According to Abe, a situation where such amount was spent on tours was not unacceptable to Nigerians and the National Assembly, adding that the agency deviated from its original mandate.
Kolade, who appeared before the National Assembly Joint Committee for the second time to defend SURE-P’s 2013 budget, however requested for time to bring evidence of spending before Friday, just as his explanations could, however, not convince the lawmakers on the rationalization for the expenditure in 2012 budget.
Reacting to an answer that about 10,000 jobs were created by a member of the SURE-P committee, Senator Abe said, “I don’t think this your explanation will go anywhere, you collected N27 billion and you say you are going to create 50,000 jobs. I think you need to have a document that actually explains how the lives of those 50,000 will be transformed and how you are going to attain from point A to B.”

Subsidy Scam: FG recovers N29bn from suspects

Abuja —The Federal Government says it has recovered N29 billion out of the N232 billion oil subsidy scam.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala dropped the hint in Abuja, yesterday.
Okonjo-Iweala spoke at the ongoing Nigerian Economic Conference.
She said the amount was recovered from some marketers who allegedly defrauded the Federal Government in the oil subsidy payment scheme.
The minister maintained that the recovery exercise was part of government determination to fight corrupt practices in the oil and gas sector.
“Now of the N232bn that has been put forward as fraudulent claims, we are right now able to hold N29 billion of that.
“So instead of paying them, we are recovering what they owe us.
So, my single hope is that out of this, we have recovered virtually that amount of about N29 billion and we are looking forward to recovering the balance of the total.
“Some of these people are being chased and prosecuted and the EFCC and ICPC are still investigating this.”
The minister said that about 50 marketers were being investigated over the subsidy scam.
She attributed the slow pace of payment of the subsidy claims to the ongoing verification and thorough scrutiny of such claims by relevant agencies.
Okonjo-Iweala reiterated that only genuine claims of oil marketers would be entertained.
“We have never stopped paying because all these issues about queues and so on, of course sometimes the marketers have said unless you pay us, we are not going to bring in oil.
“But we have not yielded to any of that kind of stress or even blackmail, we have continued to do our work and we will continue to pay those who are clean,” she said.

Man stabbed to death over Chelsea/ Man City match

Two suspects identified as Kayode Ogunwa and Oluwa Femi, are currently cooling their heels at the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, Panti, Yaba, Lagos, following the stabbing to death of a hotel attendant, identified as Mr. Otumala Ukama Benson, a 32-year-old, a native of Benue State, over a misunderstanding during penultimate Sunday English Premiership League, EPL, clash between Chelsea and Manchester City football clubs.
The incident happened at one of the popular hotels (name withheld), along Isheri- LASU- Igando Road, near Diamond Estate. The two suspects were promptly arrested and detained in a cell at the Area ‘M’ Police Command, Idimu, and are now facing murder charge in connection with the incident.
According to a police source, the suspects reside at Diamond Estate, opposite the hotel and drove there to watch the match.

On the fateful day, the hotel, it was gathered, was filled to capacity and some customers who wanted to buy drinks could not get chairs to sit.
Customers seeking to buy drinks
This prompted the late Ben to ask those watching the match without buying drinks to get up and allow those willing to buy drinks to be seated. The suspects who did not buy drinks refused to vacate their chairs and this resulted in an argument between them and the late Ben. The argument later degenerated into a brawl during which one of the suspects ran to the car and brought a knife with which he stabbed Ben in the neck.
The hotel attendant, investigations revealed, bled to death from his wound before he could be rushed to the Igando General Hospital. His body was later deposited at the Ikeja General Hospital mortuary for autopsy. The “Area M” Command, later transferred the case to SCID, Panti, Yaba, for further investigation.

Pope to open twitter account

VATICAN CITY (AFP) – Pope Benedict XVI will join Twitter from December 12, with regular tweets in eight languages from the account @pontifex just in time for Christmas, the Vatican said on Monday.
“The first tweets will be answers to questions sent to the pope on matters of faith. The public can start sending them starting now,” the Vatican said.
The account already has 2,435 followers, with numbers rising quickly immediately after the announcement. An introductory message read: “Welcome to the official Twitter page of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.”
The tweets will be in Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish and more languages could be added in future.
“The pope’s presence on Twitter is a concrete expression of his conviction that the Church must be present in the digital arena,” the Vatican said in a statement.
It added that Benedict wanted “to ensure that the good news of Jesus Christ and the teaching of his Church is permeating the forum of exchange and dialogue that is being created by social media”.
Several leading Vatican prelates are already regular tweeters including Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture, as the tradition-bound institution tries to reach a younger global audience.

Mother of five jailed for stealing jewelry

Lagos – An Oshodi Magistrates’ Court in Lagos on Monday sentenced a 27-year-old woman to two years’ imprisonment for stealing jewellery worth N800,000,
The Magistrate, Mrs M.R, Osho-Adebiyi, convicted Mosurat Ismalia on two counts of conspiracy and stealing and did not give her an option of fine
Osho-Adebiyi said that Ismalia, mother of five, was not truthful in her evidence.
“The accused is found guilty of the offences, going by the facts before the court,’’ she held.
The woman was arraigned on March 20 on a two-count charge, but she pleaded not guilty.
The court granted her bail in the sum of N500, 000 with two sureties in like sum.
The prosecutor, Cpl. Kehinde Olatunde, had submitted she conspired with others at large to steal the jewellery from the shop of one Mrs Shadia Lawal at the Oshodi Market.
The prosecutor said that Ismalia pretended to be buying the ornaments but hid them in her handbag on March 22. (NAN)

Fight against racism constant – UEFA’s Platini

PARIS(AFP) – Football faces a constant battle to eliminate racism on and off the pitch, UEFA president Michel Platini has said, after a string of recent high-profile incidents tarnished the sport’s image.
The former France captain wrote in the latest edition of the European ruling body’s newsletter that encouraging strides had been made to tackle bigotry and discrimination over the years.
But he added: “Appalling incidents continue to blight European stadiums from time to time, showing that the battle is far from won against a scourge that it is virtually impossible to wipe out completely.”
In the English Premier League, for example, there have been a number of allegations of racism both among players and from fans, prompting renewed debate about the extent of the problem.
Former England captain John Terry received a four-match ban and a £220,000 ($355,000, 270,000 euros) fine in September after being found guilty of racially abusing QPR’s Anton Ferdinand in a game with Chelsea the previous year.
The English game’s governing body, the Football Association, is also investigating claims that some West Ham United supporters made anti-Semitic taunts during a match against Tottenham Hotspur, which has a large fan base in the Jewish community.
Similar taunts also greeted Spurs fans in their Europa League game at Italian club Lazio last month.
Serbia and England, meanwhile, face UEFA charges over an under-21 European championship qualifying match that ended in a brawl and claims that fans of the Balkan side directed monkey chants at black players.
Platini accepted that football had a hard job in succeeding to eradicate what he called “this evil among certain individuals” that governments and religions had so far not succeeded in eliminating.
But he said that because of the game’s popularity around the world, everyone involved in football should assume the responsibility to set an example.

What is wrong with pastors owing private jets?

RECENT criticisms in the polity, generated by the increasing number of our religious leaders acquiring aircraft, should be expected.
This is so because such men of God are seen as being above the board and should not be cut out for worldly things, as they are supposed to be men who would deny themselves the vanities of this world and rather prefer to win souls for Christ.
They are expected, against all odds, to stand firm in faith even in the face of daunting earthly trials, persecutions and tribulations.
But the recurring decimal of failure to live this disciplined life is fast growing by the day as a reasonable number of such high-flying Nigerian pastors now go the way of the world.
Basically, the church is founded on the principles of virtue and sacrifice for the sake of Christ – a foundation laid on the threshold of propagating Christ’s teachings – to win souls by helping to bring those who have gone astray into the fold and to lead the faithful to salvation, being the ultimate desire of every devout Christian.
It is regrettable that many of our pastors and churches today have strayed away from this original obligation and purpose of pursuing righteousness, at the altar of chasing earthly material things as they never practiced what they preached.
Trending now is the argument by the pastors that ownership of private jets is not a luxury as some claimed, but a necessity and an essential tool for their pastoral and public duties because evangelism, according to them, will be made easier and more efficient.
Recently, the American-based Warren Buffet and one of the world’s largest private jet manufacturers had punctured this line of argument when he said: “Everyone who says he needs a private jet to make important appointments is a liar. They need it for their ego. Name me one of them busier than I am who owns more US corporations than I do”.
Buffet, who was once the richest man in the world, does not even own a jet as he often flies in commercial aircraft!
Forbes magazine claimed that the nation may have spent about $6.5 billion in the purchase of private jets by government officials and pastors, a trend that had grown exponentially from about 20 jets in year 2000 to the current level of more than 160.
Top on Forbes’ list are pastors, especially, those of the Pentecostal churches, which have allegedly spent over $250 million on their new found hobby.

Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, President of the Christian Association of Nigerian is, perhaps, the latest but he’s really not the only one who now flies around the world in the comfort of his luxurious aircraft.
Pastors David Oyedepo of the Living Faith Church (Winners’ Chapel) is also said to own three private aircraft, namely the Gulfstream G550 said to cost over $40 million, Gulfstream V Gulfstream G450 and a Lear Jet, which cost about $15 million and $14 million, respectively.
Pastor Enoch Adeboye, General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG is said to own a Gulfstream Jet 5 brand worth $30 million. Pastors Joseph Agbodi of the Victorious Army Ministries, Sam Adeyemi of the Daystar Ministries and Temitope Joshua are said to own private jets, among others.
With the array of jet-owning pastors, the general feeling among the people is that the expensive lifestyles of these pastors are in contrast with the teachings of Christianity, especially, amid the glaring poverty and hardship in the land.

Breaking news: Two feared dead as explosion rocks Kano

KANO – Two person were feared dead when an explosion rocked Plaza junction, by Kanti Kori in Kano during the morning rush hour on Monday.

Reports say that a security personnel and a passerby were killed in the blast. JTF officials have however, cordoned off the area while investigation into the attack has commenced.

Spokesman of the JTF in the city, Captain Ikediche Iweha confirmed the incident to Vanguard on the telephone, adding that he will volunteer details as soon as they are available.

In his words “our men are already at the scene, and I hope to feed you with details as soon as we have them”

Facebook Powerball hoaxer is software engineer, report says

The man who persuaded more than 2 million people to share his photo of a fake winning Powerball ticket is reportedly the co-owner of an Arizona-based medical software company.

You have probably barely slept for wondering what kind of sniveling snail would put their picture up on Facebook with a fake winning Powerball ticket.
Or you have probably barely slept for wondering what kind of saintly sort would ask people to share on Facebook his picture with a winning Powerball ticket and offer $1 million to a random sharer.
Either way, the excitement generated by Nolan Daniels has been heated and profound -- especially as more than 2 million people have now shared in the experience.
Now, it seems, we know which Nolan Daniels he is.
The Savannah Morning News, which first brought his tale to prominence, has now announced that this Nolan Daniels is Nolan Ryan Daniels, software engineer.
It says that this Nolan Ryan Daniels is the co-owner of N2 Technologies, based in Mesa, Ariz. This is a company that offers various software services to those in the medical industry.
His LinkedIn profile offers that he is a "Seasoned Computer Programmer and SQL Expert."
The Savannah Morning News says that it has spoken with his brother, Derek, who confirmed his identity and declared: "I think he craves the love from people."
Well, he certainly has enjoyed quite some love -- especially from people who would love it if he would give them quite some money.
Derek Daniels also teased: "He did this to make himself feel better."

Google Finance has quoted a closing price for Facebook of 28 on Nov. 30, 2012. Facebook, Inc. is written up as a United States-based company, which operates as a social networking Website. Facebook develops technologies which facilitate the sharing of information through the social graph, which is the digital mapping of people’s real-world social connections. November was a good month for Facebook and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. In an article today, Dec. 2, 2012, Seth Fiegerman has reported for Mashable, November was a good month for Facebook and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
On the first day of trading in November Facebook‘s stock shot up from $21.08 a share to $28 a share at the end of the day Friday, which is its highest price since July. Zuckerberg, who owns about 504 million shares of Facebook stock, has therefore gained about $3.48 billion. Zuckerberg’s shares were worth $19.1 billion when Facebook first went public at $38 a share in May.
November has been one of the best months yet for the stock. This can be attributed to a strong earnings report in late October, which showed that Facebook has been making progress in monetizing mobile. Also, the second and largest lockup period for stocks held by employees finally expired in the middle of November, which was something investors had been concerned about for months and which appears to have held down the stock price. As of Friday, Zuckerberg’s net worth was $14.1 billion and will probably grow more as Facebook continues to meet with success.

JTF discovers bomb factory, recover ammunitions, finds a decomposed corpse in Damaturu

The Joint Task Force (JTF) in Yobe, says it has discovered explosive assembling house in Damaturu, one week after recovering over 5 000 rounds of ammunition buried in Damaturu.
Lt. Eli Lazarus, the JTF spokesman told newsmen in Damaturu on Sunday that the taskforce made the discovery during a search operation at Buhari Housing Estate, on Maiduguri – Gashua Road Bypass.
He explained that two riffles, ammunitions, magazines, medical equipment and tear gas canisters were recovered during the search.
“Other items recovered include, military, police and immigration uniforms, while a decomposed corpse was found in the house,” Lazarus said.
The spokesman advised members of the public to be vigilant and report suspicious persons in their areas to the taskforce.
He assured that the taskforce would cooperate with the people in the state to provide adequate security for them.

Nigerian woman, Bunmi Awoniyi named Superior Court judge in US

California Governor Jerry Brown on Thursday named four new Superior Court judges for the Central Valley. Among the judicial appointments announced was the appointment of 48-year-old Nigerian woman, Bunmi O. Awoniyi in Elk Grove, California.
According to Centralvalleybusinesstimes, of the four, three replace judges who have retired and the fourth fills a long-standing vacancy.
Ms. Awoniyi has served as a principal attorney with a family law practice since 1994. She was an adjunct professor at the University of Northern California, Lorenzo Patiño School of Law from 1997 to 1998, an associate attorney at the Law Office of Steven L. Wessels from 1993 to 1994 and an associate attorney at the Law Office of Brady and Kent from 1992 to 1993.
Ms. Awoniyi was a law clerk at the Law Office of D. Kapp Nees in 1991 and a crown prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service in London from 1989 to 1990.
Awoniyi earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the Inns of Court School of Law, a Masters of Law degree from the University of Leicester School of Law and a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Essex.
She is a certified family law specialist. She fills the vacancy created by the conversion of a court commissioner position on December 3, 2011. Awoniyi is a Democrat.
Each of the new judges will be paid $176,789 (over N28 million) per year.
Michael Jurkovich was named to a judgeship in the Madera County Superior Court.
Brian McNamara was appointed to a judgeship in the Kern County Superior Court.
And Bunmi Awoniyi and Steven Gevercer were named to judgeships in the Sacramento County Superior Court.

Sunday, 2 December 2012

Taraba Governor Danbaba Suntai Brain-Damaged, Can't Recognize Visitors

caption: Danbaba Suntai

Governor Danbaba Suntai of Taraba State, who was seriously injured when his plane crashed on October 25 in Yola, capital of Adamawa State, has suffered extensive brain damage and failed to recognize members of a presidential delegation that visited him at a hospital in Hanover, Germany, an authoritative source has told SaharaReporters.

A source close to a senior member of the delegation described the trip to see Mr. Suntai as highly secretive. SaharaReporters learnt that members of the delegation had officially traveled to Vatican City in Rome to witness the consecration of Archbishop John Onaiyekan as a Cardinal of the Catholic Church. After the ceremony in Italy, the delegation then made a quick detour to Germany to see the injured Mr. Suntai.

A trip put together by Gladys Modupeola Quist-Adebiyi, a staff of the Protocol Department at the Presidency was led by Senate President, David Mark, the delegation included Governor Ibrahim Yakowa of Kaduna State, President Goodluck Jonathan’s chief of staff, Mike Oghiadomhe, also on the delegation was John Kennedy Opara, the secretary of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC) and the Chaplain of the Presidential Villa Chapel, Venerable Obioma Onwuzurumba.

Our source said members of the delegation were shocked to see Mr. Suntai in a vegetative state. “His condition was so bad that they could not publicly disclose his condition after they returned to Nigeria,” said the source.

A 27-year-old man, Monday Apokwo, has been arraigned for allegedly, kidnapping a 23-year-old lady. Apokwo, who is facing charges of abduction before an Upper Area Court in Karu, Abuja, contrary to Section 272 of the Penal Code was also alleged to have impregnated the lady in question,
Grace Akpan.
Prosecutor Silas Nanpam told the court that the complainant, Akpan Udoh, of Aso Gbagalape village, Nyanya, Abuja, reported the case at the Nyanya Police Station on July 30, 2012.
Apokwo was said to have taken the complainant’s daughter, to his house without the consent of the father, leaving her presently, with a three months old pregnancy.
However, he pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Udo, in his testimony, told the court that the accused started a love relationship with his daughter through frequent visits to the area where he lives with his family.
He said that the accused had a friend he usually visits in the area, adding: “I warned Apokwo to leave my daughter several times. I told him to leave her alone as she is only a student but he refused.
“When I noticed my daughter’s disappearance from home and found out she was with him. I reported to the police,’’ he testified.
When questioned by the police, the prosecutor said Apkowo said he would marry the girl.
He further told the court that he loved the girl and that he had gone to pay her dowry twice but the father refused to accept it.
Udoh, on the other hand, vowed never to accept the Akokwo’s proposal to marry his daughter, saying: “Apokwo is rude, irresponsible and disrespectful’’.
Grace told the court that she stays at the accused’s house because her father drove her away when he noticed she was pregnant.
She said that her father told her never to come back home until she was delivered of the baby and had given the baby to the accused.
The Judge, Alhaji Umar Kagarko, advised Apokwo to leave the girl alone since the father disapproves of it.
Kagarko also advised Udoh to forgive his daughter as the damage had already been done and her actions were based on ignorance.
He adjourned the case to December 20, 2012 for cross examination.

PDP frets over Jonathan’s feud with Obasanjo

There are indications that the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party is not comfortable with the cold war between President Goodluck Jonathan and former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
A member of the National Working Committee of the party, who spoke with journalists in Abuja on Sunday, said the party was worried about the increasing animosity between the two senior members of the party.
Obasanjo, until April 2012 when he resigned, was the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the party.
He recently inferred that Jonathan might be a weak leader because of the way he had been handling the security challenges and corruption in the country.
Jonathan however used the occasion of his Media Chat to respond to Obasanjo’s tirade, saying the invasion of Odi during Obasanjo’s Presidency did not solve the problem of militancy in the Niger Delta.
But a member of the National Working Committee of the party, who spoke with reporters in Abuja on condition of anonymity, said it would be wrong for the President to take on Obasanjo.
He said the former President might have his faults, but that Jonathan must tread softly because of the personality of the two time-President, who was also a former Head of State.
He said Jonathan might have been wrongly advised to take on Obasanjo, who he described as the President’s benefactor.
The PDP NWC member said, “We are concerned about this feud between the President and former President Obasanjo.
“The President must watch it. It is dangerous for him to take on this man, who is very close to the northern oligarchy.
“Jonathan should rather speak with him as a father because of his second term ambition. This is not the time to start fighting people like Obasanjo.
“The President is not popular in majority of the states in the North and South-West.”
The NWC member said Jonathan must remember that it was Obasanjo who appealed to the members of the party, especially from the northern part of the country, when Jonathan picked the party’s presidential ticket at the Eagles Square.
However, both the National Secretary of the PDP, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, and the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Chief Olisa Metuh, said there was no rift between Jonathan and Obasanjo.
Oyinlola said, “The issue of Odi killings will not cause hostility between the two leaders of our party,” while Metuh said both leaders were “working together towards deepening democracy in Nigeria”.

VIP ex-convicts still on national honours list • Presidential directive on George, Ibru, others ignored

The names of a former National Deputy Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Bode George, and other ex-convicts, are still on the national honours list, The PUNCH has learnt.
Other prominent convicts whose names are on the list are a former Inspector-General of Police, Tafa Balogun; ex-Managing Director of Oceanic Bank, Cecilia Ibru; her former counterpart in the defunct Intercontinental Bank, Erastus Akingbola; and other ex-managing directors of banks convicted after they were conferred with the national honours.
President Goodluck Jonathan during the 2012 national honours awards in Abuja in September had said that he had directed the national honours award committee to withdraw the awards from awardees who had been convicted or undergoing criminal trial.
Investigation by The PUNCH showed that the committee had not been able to meet to carry out Jonathan’s order.
It was also gathered that 21 recipients of the 2010 and 2011 National Honours awardees had yet to receive their medals more than one year after they were conferred with the awards.
Eighty per cent of the awardees came from the public sector as either public officers or political appointees.
Already, the Special Duties Office in the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation had concluded arrangement to use its 21 members of staff, preferably those from recipients’ home states to take the medals personally to them.
A senior government official told our correspondent on Sunday in Abuja that the members of the national honours award committee had not been able to meet due to “some logistic factors.”
The committee which is chaired by a former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Alfa Belgore, it was learnt, had also been unable to meet because some of its members were on other national assignments.

AFTER nearly 30 years of desperately searching for solutions to the Human-Immunodeficiency Virus, HIV, the vermin that leads to the deadly Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, AIDS, the world may soon heave a sigh of relief, as real hope has been kindled of a possible vaccine that could, on a single dose, offer lifelong immunity to HIV/AIDS.
A Texas-based institute has applied for a patent to begin the production of the vaccine genetically engineered to provide immunity for life to potential HIV/AIDS sufferers. The vaccine – its name is still shielded from the public – is also said to have the potency to provide relief for other infections.
It reportedly functions by preventing the replication of viruses when they enter the human body.
Since the potency of the HIV/AIDS virus is rooted on its ability to reproduce rapidly and spread within the body, thus eventually overwhelming the body’s natural resistance to infections, the full release of this vaccine into the open market could become the first real advancement in the war to eliminate the killer virus and save millions of lives.
The news is particularly welcome to Africans living in the sub-Saharan zones, where the scourge has taken the bulk of human casualties, robbing them of valuable manpower and resulting in millions of orphaned children. In time it will render anti-retroviral drugs useless since the AVRs only slow down the rate of infection and spread.
Even when this drug becomes widely available, the war on HIV/AIDS will only be halfway won. This drug, however, has no benefits for those who have already developed the terminal stage of the disease (full-blown AIDS). The concerted efforts that have been going on, both on orthodox and traditional medical research should continue unabated.
Since this drug is, as yet, a preventive vaccine, it will take a long time of cautious observation before people will wholeheartedly accept it as vaccine against AIDS.
Health authorities and advocacy groups should continue to prevail on Nigerians to adopt risk free sex practices. They should also ensure the vaccine is affordable. Availability of a vaccine should not be an invitation to the recklessness that promotes HIV/AIDS.
Nigerians should continue to observe safe sex measures that limited spread of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria in the past five years. We make these points because about 90 per cent of new infections in Nigeria and Africa are acquired through sexual activities.
Even when this vaccine becomes widely available to users, Nigerians should not see it as a substitute to healthy sexual practices.
The greatest weapons against HIV/AIDS are not condoms or vaccines. Desisting from unsafe sex practices and, use of sterilised metal objects bear more preventive prospects than vaccines.

Expected HIV vaccine

SSS arrests PHCN contractor over alleged attempt to defraud INEC

CALABAR — Operatives of State Security Service in Cross River State, weekend, arrested a licensed contractor with Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, in Calabar over alleged attempt to defraud Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC of N200,000 as permission fee to facilitate the installation of a newly acquired transformer by the commission.
Meanwhile, Resident Electoral Commissioner in charge of Cross River State, Mr Mike Igini, has accused officials of PHCN of frustrating efforts of the Federal Government in ensuring regular power supply, alleging that PHCN officials over the years had been practicing corruption as their religion.
The licensed contractor by the Ministry of Power, a representative of Effanga Electrical Nigeria Limited, Chief E. E Akpanika, had, weekend, after collecting N200, 000 said to be fee for permission to install the transformer acquired by INEC after being in darkness for about two years was arrested by officers of SSS on the orders of the REC.
The state office of INEC in Calabar had for two years, been in blackout due to bad transformer and efforts made by the commission for PHCN officials to replace the transformer did not yield any fruit, instead according to Igini, PHCN had through its actions sabotaged efforts to have new transformer.
Igini, said even when INEC decided to purchase a new 200/33KVA transformer, PHCN allegedly gave the commission a quotation of N4 million and some of the contractors sent gave a bill of N2.2m for the installation.
The PHCN staff, who latter installed the transformer, which the commission purchased at N900,000 including expenses from Lagos, was allegedly harassed and haunted by some highly placed officials of PHCN.
Speaking to journalist shortly after the licensed electrical contractor was rounded up and taken away by men of SSS, Igini, said after personally procuring the transformer following outrageous quotations from registered PHCN contractors, installing the equipment became a major hurdle.

Soldiers kill 4 robbery suspects in Bauchi

BAUCHI— Tension heightened, yesterday, in Azare Local Government Area of Bauchi State, barely two days after a prominent traditional ruler was killed in council, as suspected armed robbers, who had terrorized residents invaded a business area close to the residence of one Ali Kwara, carting away unspecified amount of money.
Vanguard gathered that the money was recovered from the robbers by the residents of the town, who chased them by cordoning-off all possible exit routes.
It was learnt that one of the youths, who chased and held tight to one of the suspects was shot on the leg by the gang, before the military men, who were said to be 17 in number foiled the robbery operation.
The shot youth was said to have been admitted at a hospital in the town.
The four suspects, who engaged the security in a shootout, were killed as security was reinforced in the area.
When contacted over the development, the Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Hassan Auyo, said he only heard of the incident when pressmen called him for confirmation.
Efforts by Vanguard to reach the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Muhammad Ladan, failed as his phone rang out.

Falana threatens to sue FG over NNPC appointments

Lagos lawyer and activist, Mr. Femi Falana, has faulted the appointment of Messrs Steve Oronsanye and Ben Otti into the Board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, which increases the statutory numbers of the board members from seven to nine.
He urged the government to review the board appointment or face legal action.
Falana said the Federal Government should demonstrate sincerity in the fight against corruption in the oil sector.
He said it would be out of place for the government to ask the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Mr. Emeka Wogu to head the white paper committee on the Nuhu Ribadu-led Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force, PRSTF, since according to him, the minister was indicted in the alleged illegal payment of N2.7 billion to a company for fuel that was never supplied.
On Oronsaye and Otti, Falana said the appointment of the duo was “illegal, null and void as it violates Sections 2 & 3 of the NNPC Act, which provide that NNPC shall have six members and an alternate Chairman.
“Specifically, the Board shall consist of the Petroleum Minister, who shall be the Chairman; Managing Director of the NNPC; Director-General, Federal Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, and three persons appointed by the President and an alternate chairman.
“Instead of seven members, NNPC has nine members with the appointment of Messrs Oronsaye and Otti.”
He added that since the NNPC Act has not been amended to validate the increase in the membership of the board, Oronsaye and Otti should be removed.
He, however, vowed to pursue legal means to oust them if they were retained in the NNPC Board in contravention of the law the Federal Government

Jaji bombings: Military ignored warnings – Investigation

Following the setting up of a board of inquiry by the military authorities to unearth the circumstances that led to the bombing of the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, fresh facts have revealed that negligence on the part of the military created security lapses that made it easier for the bombers to access the area penultimate Sunday.
According to documents sighted by Blueprint, successive leadership at the Jaji cantonment have made request for physical measures, such as observation posts (watch towers) which were to be sited at strategic points in order to enable effective monitoring of all the open areas within the college’s expansive land mass.
Our correspondent also gathered that a request was made for concrete barriers to cover all the major access points in the cantonment to prevent forceful gate crashing or ramming through the gate as has been experienced in some locations.
A letter from the cantonment in February had drawn the attention of the Defence Headquarters on the need to look into the porous nature of the cantonment, and went further to recommend the construction of watch towers to be used as observation posts.
Another letter from the Defence Headquarters said that the relevant authorities have been directed to liaise with the cantonment to work out the cost of the watch tower construction.
A retired military officer who spoke to Blueprint on condition of anonymity said, “I know Jaji very well. I served there twice. I have been there for young officers’ course, for my junior division and senior division courses. Jaji is one of the most porous military institutions in the world.

The General Overseer of Living Faith Church, a.k.a. Winners Chapel, Bishop David Oyedepo, has been handed a 14-day ultimatum to pay the sum of N2 billion damages for a three-year-old girl, Imienfan Omokaro, who drowned at the Kingdom Heritage Model School that is owned by the Church.
This was contained in a letter dated November 28, 2012 and written by counsel to the deceased father, Mr. Omokaro, a copy of which was made available to newsmen in Benin City.
The letter explained that until her untimely death on November 1, 2012, Imienfan was a KG 1 pupil of the school.
She was said to have drowned in a drum of water in the school’s toilet during which teachers of the school did not immediately communicate to her parents.
The letter further pointed out that the school and the church authorities reportedly convoked a marathon prayer for the teenager for hours after the incident before taking her to the hospital where she was confirmed dead.