NEMA Donates Relief Materials To Victims Freed By Boko Haram In Yobe

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) yesterday donated relief materials to the victims and families of women and children, who were unconditionally freed by Boko Haram in Yobe State over a week ago.

You may recall that Yobe State Government last week assisted the victims with cash and relief materials worth over N20 million in Damaturu, at a ceremony, which marked their reunion with their families.
The Zonal Coordinator of NEMA in the Northeast, Mohammed Kanar, said their “intervention is to complement the efforts earlier made by the Yobe State government”.

FG approves $403m loans for Lagos, Rivers, Ogun, Osun

Vice-President Namadi Sambo

The Federal Executive Council on Wednesday approved the request of Lagos, Rivers, Ogun and Osun states to obtain foreign loans totalling about $403m, among other approvals.

It also approved a $1.2bn multi-donor credit for the establishment of the proposed Development Bank of Nigeria.

Other foreign loans totalling $295m were approved for developmental projects across the country.

The different foreign facilities were approved at a meeting of the council presided over by Vice President Namadi Sambo.

President Goodluck Jonathan was absent at the meeting because he travelled to Sokoto where he attended the 90th birthday of former President Shehu Shagari.

The Minister of Aviation, Mr. Osita Chidoka; Minister of State for Finance, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda; Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe; and Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, briefed State House correspondents at the end of the meeting.

Yuguda said the fact that most of the loans guaranteed by the Federal Government were for states being governed by the All Progressives Congress further confirmed Jonathan’s position that he was the President of all Nigerians.

He said the President had made a distinction between governance and politics, and would not trivialise his office for any reason.

According to the minister, the council approved the request for a $100m credit from the French Development Agency in support of the Lagos Integrated Urban Development Project (Eko-UP).

“The facility is meant to improve living conditions of the most vulnerable urban population of metropolitan Lagos, improve the management and treatment of solid waste, strengthen the capacity of Lagos State and implement urban development projects in Lagos State,” he explained.

Yuguda gave the repayment period of the loan as 20 years, including seven years moratorium as well as commitment fee of 0.25 per cent of the total per annum and an appraisal fee of 0.25 per cent.

The project has three major components: slum upgrading in Ifelodun and Bariga Local Council Development Areas by the Lagos State Urban Renewal Authority; construction of solid waste management facilities by the Lagos State Waste Management Authority; and provision of capacity building and technical assistance for LASURA, LAWMA, the Project Management Unit and the two LCDAs.

For Rivers State, Yuguda said the council gave approval for the $200m African Development Bank’s credit facility for the proposed Port Harcourt water supply and sanitation project as well as an African Development Fund credit of $5m to support the Urban Water Sector Reform Project.

Yuguda said the credit facility would be secured from ADB with a repayment period of 15 years and five years moratorium, adding that the interest was enhanced variable spread loan, with lending spread of 0.60 per cent per annum, translating to 1.56 per cent.

For the ADF, he said the principal would be repaid over a period of 22 years, with eight years grace period and interest rate of one per cent per annum.

According to the minister, the council also approved a $33.174m credit from the French Development Agency in support of the Ogun State Water Supply Project.

He said the facility would be secured from the FDA on blend terms, with an interest rate of six months Libor plus margin; repayment period of 20 years, including seven years moratorium; commitment fee of 0.25 per cent per annum and an appraisal fee of 0.25 per cent.

Yuguda explained that the credit would be on-lend to Ogun State on the same terms and conditions offered by the FDA to the Federal Government.

For Osun State, he said the council approved an Islamic Development Bank’s loan of $65m for financing water supply and sanitation projects in the state, adding that the loan would be repaid over 15 years, gestation period of four years and mark-up Libor + 155bps or to 1.5 per cent per annum.

On the $1.280bn for the establishment of the proposed Development Bank of Nigeria, the minister said the loan would come from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, World Bank, Africa Development Bank as well as the Germany and French Development Agencies in the sums of $500m, $450m, $200m and $130m, respectively.

He said the proposed bank would give credit facilities to micro, small and medium enterprises in the country.

Islamic State: Fears grow for abducted Syrian Christians

 

 It is not clear where the IS militants have taken the abducted Assyrians

Islamic State

There are fears that more members of an Assyrian Christian community in north-eastern Syria were abducted by Islamic State militants than at first thought.

Initial reports had put the number of missing at 90, but one activist said as many as 285 people had been seized on Monday in Hassakeh province.
Efforts to try to negotiate their release are reported to be under way.
Some 1,000 local Assyrian families are believed to have fled their homes in the wake of the abductions.
Kurdish and Christian militia are battling IS in the area, amid reports of churches and homes having been set ablaze.
Thousands of Christians in Syria have been forced from their homes by the threat from IS militants.
In areas under their control, Christians have been ordered to convert to Islam, pay jizya (a religious levy), or face death. IS militants in Libya also recently beheaded 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians.
Kurdish offensive The Assyrians were seized by the militants as they swept into 12 villages along the southern bank of the Khabur river near the town of Tal Tamr before dawn on Monday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based activist group, said at least 90 people had been abducted, most of them women, children and the elderly.
However, the Syriac National Council of Syria put the figure as high as 150, while Afram Yakoub of the Assyrian Federation of Sweden said sources on the ground had told him that up to 285 people were missing, including 156 from the village of Tal Shamran and 90 from Tal al-Jazira.

"These were peaceful villages that had nothing to do with the battles," Nasir Haj Mahmoud, a Kurdish official in the YPG militia in north-eastern Syria, told the Reuters news agency.
There are conflicting reports as to where the families have been taken.
Kino Gabriel, a spokesman for the Syriac Military Council - a Christian militia fighting alongside the Kurdish Popular Protection Units (YPG) - told the BBC that it believed the captives had been taken to Abdul Aziz mountain.
Osama Edward of the Sweden-based Assyrian Human Rights Network told the AFP news agency that the captives had been taken to the IS stronghold of Shaddadi, as did Syria's state news agency, Sana.
Another report said they were in Raqqa, 145km (90 miles) to the west, the de facto capital of the "caliphate" declared by IS last June.

Syria's Christians

• Thought to have constituted about 30% of the population as recently as the 1920s
• Long part of Syria's elite - founder of ruling Baath party was a Christian
• Before the war made up some 10% of Syria's 22 million people
• Up to 40,000 of those were Assyrians. They speak Syriac, a form of Aramaic, the language of Christ
• Hundreds of thousands have been displaced by the fighting
• Some have taken up arms to defend themselves against Islamists

Syria's beleaguered Christians

The BBC's Jonny Dymond in Beirut says the motive for the seizure of so many Assyrians is not yet clear. Our correspondent says it may be that the captives are to be used as part of a swap with the Kurdish forces.
Hundreds of Assyrians who were living in villages on the north bank of the Khabur river and elsewhere are reported to have fled following the attack to the largely Kurdish-controlled provincial capital of Hassakeh, to the south-east, and Qamishli, another city to the north-east.

Kurdish and Christian fighters are battling IS militants in the area where the Assyrians were abducted

 

IS has forced Christians living in its territory to either convert to Islam, pay a religious levy or face death

Mr Edward said two historic churches had been burned down in captured villages - one in Tal Hurmiz and the other in Qaber Shamiya. The Syrian Observatory also reported that a church in Tal Shamran had also been damaged.
Mr Gabriel said IS had moved a big force into the area and were trying to take control of Tal Tamr.
The Syriac Military Council had about 400 fighters in the area and at least four had been killed in clashes with the jihadists, he added. The YPG has deployed between 1,000 and 1,500 fighters.
The YPG is also continuing a major offensive launched on Sunday against IS some 100km (60 miles) to the east, near the border with Iraq - an area of vital importance to the jihadists.

Ebola crisis: Sierra Leone's Augustine Baker dies

Augustine Baker's role in tackling the Ebola virus has been widely admired

Continue reading the main story

Ebola outbreak

• Why Ebola is dangerous
• Year of Ebola
• Mapping the outbreak
• The basics

A Sierra Leonean who worked with children orphaned by Ebola has died of the disease himself.

Augustine Baker had been admitted to an Ebola treatment centre after becoming ill last week.
He had worked for an orphanage run by a UK charity on the outskirts of Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown.
Thirty-three children and seven staff at the St George Foundation orphanage have been in quarantine since Mr Baker was diagnosed with the deadly virus.
Ebola has killed more than 9,500 people in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea

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The BBC's Tulip Mazumdar reported from St George Foundation orphanage last month

But in recent weeks, the crisis has eased and the governments of the three countries have pledged to achieve zero Ebola infections within the next two months.

Umaru Fofana, BBC Africa, Freetown Augustine Baker was an unsung hero.
At the height of the Ebola crisis he would go into high-risk communities to help children who had been orphaned by the disease.
With his backpack on and his notebook and pen handy, Mr Baker would collect data and go and find the children to take them to the orphanage.
His colleagues, who are locked in quarantine at the orphanage, were grieving as news of his death broke.
Jestina Conteh was sobbing as she spoke to me on the phone. He said Mr Baker was "a dedicated colleague who never said 'No' in search of Ebola orphans".

When Mr Baker was diagnosed with Ebola, orphanage co-founder Philip Dean said he had "worked tirelessly to help children orphaned by the disease".
"He knew that he was at risk but did the job because it needed to be done," Mr Dean added.
The orphanage was set up in 2004 and, until the Ebola outbreak, was mainly concerned with rescuing street children.
In the last year it has helped care for some 200 children orphaned by Ebola.

Ebola deaths

Figures up to 22 February 2015

9,604

Deaths - probable, confirmed and suspected

(Includes one in the US and six in Mali)

• 4,037 Liberia
  
• 3,461 Sierra Leone
  
• 2,091 Guinea
  
• 8 Nigeria
  

Source: WHO

Messi casino trip played down

     Barcelona boss Luis Enrique has refused to condemn Gerard Pique and Lionel Messi’s trip to a casino just hours before the squad flew to England for their Champions League clash with Manchester City.

Pique and Messi – part of the Barcelona side that suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to Malaga at the weekend – were pictured outside the Casino de Barcelona late on Sunday alongside Chelsea’s Cesc Fabregas.

But Enrique had no interest in speaking about ”gossip” at his pre-Manchester City press conference, claiming his squad were fully focused on the challenge ahead of them at the Etihad.

“No gossip. Not interested,” the coach said. “It forms part of his private life. I concentrate on football. I’m not concerned about things outside of it.”

When Pique was asked by Spanish journalists if he had anything to say about his night out with Messi, the former Manchester United defender replied, “No. It is my private life. I just had a nice night.”

Speaking on Revista de la Liga journalist Graham Hunter said he thinks Luis Enrique’s position at Barcelona is now in jeopardy

Barcelona won 11 consecutive games before suffering defeat at the weekend and Enrique – whose relationship with Messi is reported to have been strained at times this term – was once again asked about morale in the camp.

But Pique quashed any talks of problems or in-fighting.

“No, there is no problem between us and the manager,” he said. “We get on fine, the relationship is good. We don’t have to worry about it. It is just one defeat, it is behind us now.

“We have shown how we can play here in the past.”

Police arrest six Kaduna sect’s members, recover arms

The Kaduna State Police Command on Wednesday raided a suspected terrorist hideout at Farakwai Village along the Kaduna-Zaria road, arresting no fewer than six suspected members of the Kalakato sect.
Farakwai Village is about 40km away from the Kaduna metropolis.
Six of the members are now cooling off their feet behind bars at the command’s headquarters.
The Command’s Public Relations Officer, Abdullahi Zubairu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said the six were alleged to be involved in human trafficking, robbery and possession of sophisticated weapons.
He said the case was reported to the command this month, explaining that following a tip-off, operatives of the command stormed the hideout, where six suspects were arrested.
Zubairu said they(suspects) would be charged to court for humam trafficking, robbery and possession of fire arms.
He said, “The case was reported to the police on February 20 and we immediately swung into action, raided the place  and  arrested six but two others escaped.
“We are charging them for human trafficking, robbery, and been in possession of rifles.”
A source said when security operatives combed  the hideout, “we discovered a woman and two other boys, who had been in the custody of the sect for years.”
He said they also discovered that the boy had been chained for several years.
He said the leader of the Kalakato sect was currently at large, adding that while the men of the command ransacked the large compound, weapons, including  AK 47 rifles, several rounds of ammunition, machetes and other dangerous weapons  were found.
The leader of the Farakwai community, Malam Muhammadu Farakwai  who led some journalists to the compound, said the sect members were so discreet and had not been relating with other members of the larger Farakwai community.

Keshi eager to dump Nigeria

Stephen Keshi

Out-of-contract Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, has confirmed his willingness to relinquish the Nigeria job in favour of Burkina Faso coaching position.

Keshi, who has yet to agree with the Nigeria Football Federation on a new deal, told a Burkina Faso medium, Sidwaya.bf, that he was willing to help the national team, Stallions, qualify for the World Cup and the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.

The former Nigeria captain tops a three-man shortlist which includes ex-Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac and ex-Gabon and Niger coach Gernot Rohr. Whoever is eventually selected the Burkina Faso Football Federation will replace Paul Put, who was fired at the end of a disappointing 2015 AFCON campaign in Equatorial Guinea.

When asked why he wanted the Burkina Faso job, he replied, “(The team) is a high potential individual team, technical and combative. The team’s (Stallions) path to the final at the 2013 AFCON attests to (these qualities). They regularly participate in  continental football.

“Burkina Faso is deemed a serious country in terms of project management. The country has a positive image in African football landscape. They are also willing to sit down for a short project, medium and long term.

“I will also help (Burkina Faso) in qualifying for the Olympics. Then I can reveal to the entire continent the potential of Burkinabe football.

“My ambitions remain the same from one national team to another. I don’t want to have the job just to have the job but to bring a real plus.

“If I am chosen, by the grace of God, I first want to qualify Burkina Faso for the 2017 AFCON finals and why not for the next World Cup as I did with Togo.

“And then I want to do what it takes to go as far as possible in those competitions. Everything is possible.”

He added: “There is no success without vision, without hard work and without confidence. If all those things are in place, I insist that the Stallions can compete with the best in Africa.

“If I get the job, my objective is to transmit this desire of giving it all for their country, this winning culture, to follow the local players and instil a healthy competition between them like I did in Nigeria with youngsters like Sunday Mba and other local players who went on to be African champions in 2013.

“As head coach of Nigeria, I played the 2013 AFCON final against these Stallions and I was very pleased with them.”

However, Keshi made it clear Burkina Faso are not the only team he is considering.

NFF cuts Keshi’s pay to N4m

Stephen Keshi

The PUNCH has confirmed that Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi will not receive as much pay as he got during his first tenure as the Super Eagles coach.

Our correspondent learnt on authority on Tuesday that the new contract being offered him by the Nigeria Football Federation has his salary as N4m per month as against the N5m he was paid by the previous administration.

An official of the federation who asked not to be quoted because he was not authorised to speak on the issue said the current economic situation in the country was put into consideration in arriving at the salary for the former Eagles captain.

He said, “What has been done is just a simple adjustment of the pay to fit into the reality of our time. The football system is not different in any way from the general economy of the country.

“We are all aware that the world oil market has tumbled down and this is not peculiar to Nigeria. And so as other countries adjust we too will have to cut budget to reality. Would it make any sense to say N10m and not be able to even pay N1m at the end of the month? We are being realistic and we believe that he understands.”

The other argument put forward by some other members is that the coach will not be as busy as he was during the last tenure with one major tournament already gone during the negotiation as Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations which held in Equatorial Guinea with Keshi in charge.

It was gathered that Keshi’s manager had pressed for N7m which the NFF officials said they could not afford.

Apart from the cut in salary, the coach has also been offered a two-year deal which will terminate in 2017. And as The PUNCH exclusively reported last week, Keshi’s new contract also demands that he gets to at least the semi final stage of the 2017 Africa Nations Cup before any further extension can be discussed.

The NFF president was widely quoted on Tuesday by some online portals as saying that the federation expects to receive the response to the offer from Keshi this week. The coach is also in the running for Burkina Faso job against others.

Keshi’s first term with the NFF ended with the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Since then the issue of contract negotiation has been dragging. The NFF board had asked him to go but had to return him to the Eagles’ bench after pressures from the Presidency to retain him.

Mayhem in Lagos •Four killed, 27 vehicles destroyed in gang war

Scene of the violence

Pandemonium broke out in the Mosafejo, Oshodi-Isale area of Lagos State, after rival groups said to be members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, clashed on Tuesday evening and early Wednesday.

Four people were reportedly killed, while several others were injured in the fracas which was stopped after the intervention of security agencies.

PUNCH Metro gathered that no fewer than 15 commercial buses were set on fire, while 12 others were vandalised.

Makeshift stalls in the Mosafejo Motor Park were also torched, leaving traders in the park mourning their losses.

When PUNCH Metro visited the scene of the incident on Wednesday, the atmosphere was still tense as men of the Nigeria Police Force and some soldiers were observed patrolling the area.

The motor park, usually filled with vehicles, was deserted as the police armoured tanks and patrol vans took over the space.

Broken bottles, shards of glass from shattered windscreens and pebbles, said to have been deployed by some of the hoodlums during the fight, littered the road.

Bloodstains dotted the Oshodi Roundabout, where a man was said to have been shot dead and his corpse taken away by the police.

A vehicle was still burning as of 1pm when our correspondent passed the area.

Around the same time, a police van manned by police officers was observed by our correspondent taking some teenagers away.

A source told PUNCH Metro that the fight involved three groups ─ Big London boys, Railway boys and Under-bridge boys.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the fight started after the police ordered that there should be a stop in hemp smoking in the motor park.

The move was said to have been supported by the Big London boys, which brought them in conflict with the Railway and Under-bridge gangs who saw them as an ally of the police.

She said, “That was the beginning of the fight. The Railway boys and the Under-bridge boys usually conspire to wage war against the Big London boys which also had Olu Omo as a leading member.

“Yesterday (Tuesday), the allied gangs struck again and killed four people. One particularly was popular here and we call him Afari. A man was shot in the eye, another in the hand and leg. Several others are in critical conditions in hospitals.”

Another witness, who did not identify herself, said one Idris was cut with machete in the buttocks, leg and hand.

“No one knows if he will survive the attack because his condition is critical,” she said.

When PUNCH Metro crossed over to the area where the Under-bridge and Railway groups had their camp, he met some of the men who alleged that the fight was sponsored by the Big London gang.

“It was around 11pm on Tuesday that they came here. They were many in the Big London group. They had the police backing them and they want to drive us away from here. They descended on our vehicles and set many of them ablaze which you can see for yourself.

“They shot and injured three of our people, who have been rushed to hospital. We don’t know why they are after us and this fight could have been bloodier, but we decided to be calm,” a man in the group, who did not identify himself, said.

[/media-credit] Scene of the violence

Another member of the group, who equally declined identification, showed our correspondent an injury he sustained in his hand.

He said, “They shot at so many of us. This was where I was shot. Those guys were many. They shot at about 100 of us and burnt many buses.”

Some of the traders, whose stalls were burnt, appealed for government’s intervention.

Mrs. Taiwo Olajide, a mother of three and dealer in soft drinks, said she lost all her goods to the violence.

She said, “The hoodlums set fire on all the stalls in this park. They have ruined our business. This is where I feed my children and keep body and soul together.”

Another trader, Mrs. Josephine Eze, said all her provisions were burnt.

Our correspondent also observed a cross-section of traders who were seated in front of their shops, which were not affected by the fracas.

They lamented that they had not been able to operate their business since the area was cordoned off by the police.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Kenneth Nwosu, while confirming the incident, said one person was killed, adding that the police recovered some weapons from the hoodlums.

He said, “There was an attempt to breach the peace at Oshodi. The hoodlums, who were rival members of the NURTW, engaged in a fight of supremacy over control of parks.

“In the process, about eight vehicles were burnt and 10 vandalised. One person was killed. Five cutlasses and four expended cartridges were recovered. Normalcy has been restored as adequate security has been made to avert any further breach of the peace.”

Nwosu added that the police arrested nine suspects in connection with the crime.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Lagos State Council of the NURTW, Alhaji Tajudeen Agbede, has said the union will unravel the cause of incessant violent clashes in Oshodi.

Scene of the violence

He spoke on Wednesday while inaugurating a five-man committee to find out immediate and remote causes of the fracas in the area.

Agbede said the leadership of the union in the state would not fold its arms and watch some persons destroy the peace being enjoyed in the state.

He said, “We have been witnessing peace in Lagos State council of our union since my administration came in.

We have restored peace in all our parks, so we shall find out the cause of the present problems in Oshodi, with a view to finding a lasting solution to them.”

Motorcyclist rapes two-year-old, assaults pregnant aunt

Rape illustration
| credits: Chukky Nwakky

The police have arrested a 30-year-old motorcycle rider, Garuba Abdulraman, for allegedly defiling a two-year-old, Pat, (pseudonym) in the Somolu area of Lagos State.

PUNCH Metro learnt that Abdulraman, an indigene of Niger State, also kicked the minor’s pregnant aunty, Alimat Muazu, when the later quizzed him on the child’s whereabouts.

The incident happened on Saturday on Ofor Street.

A relative of the victim, who did not identify himself, said the family did a medical test on her and it was discovered that her hymen had been broken.

He added that the hospital subsequently placed her on medication.

He said, “It happened on Saturday, February 21, 2015 around 11.30am.

“Pat’s mother lives in Gbagada, while her sister, Muazu, stays at Somolu. She decided to visit Muazu that day.

“It was during the visit that the girl suddenly went missing and everybody started looking for her.

“But somebody said he sighted Abdulraman, a motorcyclist, taking her away. So, some women trailed the child to an uncompleted building where he lives. When they got there, they met him and he didn’t tell them where the child was.”

PUNCH Metro learnt that there was an exchange of words between the women and the suspect, and in the ensuing scuffle, the suspect kicked Muazu in the stomach.

He was also said to have threatened to use cutlass to hack them if they moved closer.

Our correspondent was told that Abdulraman dared the family to report to the police after which policemen from the Somolu Division were alerted.

A police source told our correspondent that a case of assault was reported at the station.

He said, “When we got there, we found the girl in one of the rooms, in a big bowl of water.

“She could barely move and when she tried, she fell down. She began to cry. We didn’t suspect anything until we saw that her pants and clothes had been washed and hung on the line to dry. The suspect was also not putting on any clothes.”

The police were said to have taken the victim to the hospital where it was confirmed that there was penetration.

Abdulraman was arraigned before an Ebute Meta Chief Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday on four counts of rape and assault.

The suspect, who spoke through an interpreter to the court, confirmed that he assaulted Muazu and threatened to use cutlass on them.

He, however, denied raping the victim.

He said, “I don’t know these people from anywhere. I had gone to their compound when someone said he needed to buy plywoods.

“Pat came near my okada and started playing with it, and those people said I should help them carry her, which I did.

“After they finished buying the plywoods, they said they could still not carry her, because they had a lot of load to carry. They asked me to help them.

“It was while carrying her that she soiled her clothes and I decided to wash it for her. I never had sex with her.”

He added that he was forced to threaten the women with cutlass after they stoned him.

The police prosecutor, Richard Odige, told the court that the offence was punishable under sections 267, 137, 170 and 56 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State Nigeria, 2011.

His defence counsel, F.S. Osordi, applied for bail, for the defendant, asking the court to overlook Abdulraman’s guilty plea to charges of assault and threat to injure with cutlass.

“I am not really sure he understood what he was saying because he told me a different thing before this court sat. We apply that the court should order that count three be read to him again,” he added.

The Chief Magistrate, O. I. Adelaja, however, admitted the defendant to bail in the sum of N300,000 with two sureties in like sum.

She said, “The sureties must show proofs of employment, tax payment, and their addresses must be verified.”

The matter was adjourned till April 8, 2015.

Produce the real Shekau, Governor challenges APC

Fayose stated this in response to a statement made by the party that the Federal Government was planning to produce a fake Shekau to deceive Nigerians into thinking that the war against terror had been won.

Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose

Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau

The Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose has challenged the All Progressives Congress (APC), to produce the real Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau.

Fayose stated this in response to a statement made by the party that the Federal Government was planning to produce a fake Shekau to deceive Nigerians into thinking that the war against terror had been won.

The Ekiti State governor also accused the opposition party of showing hatred towards Nigeria and its people.

Fayose made the comments via a statement released by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka.

It reads:

“It is obvious that APC does not want the insurgency to end.”

“Up till today, the APC has not made any statement, commending our gallant soldiers that are laying down their lives to save Nigerians from the Boko Haram insurgents.

‪”Instead of commending the soldiers and encouraging them, what the APC people are doing is to blackmail the military and one wonders why a party will want to take over power by supporting killing of innocent Nigerians.”

‪Speaking further, the governor said; “With the onslaught on the Boko Haram by our gallant soldiers, the APC appears to have lost the game of using the insurgency to campaign against President Goodluck Jonathan.

‪”Instead of them to face this reality, they have come up with this criminal assertion that a fake leader of Boko Haram, Ibrahim Shekau, was being presented before Nigerians by the government, in order to claim winning the war on terrorism.

‪”They are also claiming the fake Shekau might become a tool to blackmail members of the opposition, by coaching the phantom terror chief to say he was working for its presidential candidate, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, in order to link him to terrorism.

“With this statement coming from the APC, it is clear that the party knows what we don’t know about Boko Haram.”

“It also indicates that the APC people do not want the Boko Haram insurgency to end so that they can continue to make political gains from it.”

“Therefore, APC should simply produce the original Shekau that they know because you can only recognise fake when you know the original.”

President Goodluck Jonathan assured Nigerians, during a recent interview, that Shekau would be arrested before the March 28 elections.

100 Boko Haram fighters killed by Chadian troops

Soldiers from Chad killed 207 Boko Haram fighters in clashes near a Nigerian town close to the border with Cameroon, Chad’s army announced in a statement. One Chadian soldier was killed and another nine were wounded in Gambaru, the scene of regular attacks by the group in recent months. There was no immediate independent verification of the Chadian army’s announcement, reports a news agency.
Chad’s military also claimed to have seized large quantities of small arms and ammunition and two pick-up trucks on Tuesday.
Niger, Cameroon and Chad have launched a regional military campaign to help Nigeria defeat the Boko Haram insurgency, which aims to carve an Islamic emirate out of northeastern Nigeria.
Chad deployed troops last month in support of Cameroonian efforts to stop repeated cross-border raids by the fighters, whose operations increasingly threaten Nigeria’s neighbours.
The African Union last month authorised the creation of the regional force, which will also include Benin, and is pushing for a United Nations Security Council mandate for the operation.

Kidnappers demanding $300,000 from America's Missionary

Kidnappers, who took an American missionary on Monday in Kogi State, are demanding a ransom of nearly $300,000, authorities have said.

The Rev. Phyllis Sortor, 70, was abducted while she was at the Hope Academy, where she works as a financial administrator in Emiworo, Kogi State, officials from her Seattle church said on Tuesday.
Friend of Sortor were later contacted by the hoodlums, who are demanding N60m (or nearly $300,000), for her safe return, said Kogi Police Commissioner Adeyemi Ogunjemilusi.

INEC must probe Ekiti ‘rigging’ tape – Soyinka Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka

Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, says the audio file which purportedly captured some Peoples Democratic Party leaders giving orders to a general to rig the June 21, 2014 governorship elections in Ekiti State must be investigated by the Independent National Electoral Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.

Soyinka said this in a statement while reacting to a front page advert in the PUNCH sponsored by Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, in which the governor discredited the authenticity of the tape based on a report by the US that the Ekiti governorship poll was transparent.

The playwright said the issue was too weighty to be dismissed without being investigated.

He said since Fayose had referenced the US report, the Federal Government could also call on the US to assist in investigating the tape.

Soyinka said no one would lose anything by investigating the tape since it was the job of law enforcement agencies to investigate matters of state.

He said, “For those who have nothing to hide, disrobing lies and forgeries and reinforcing truth is regarded as part and parcel of the obligations we owe democracy. The audio could well be one of such forgeries. We are daily inundated with allegations, evasions, distortions, image plundering and image laundering, all under the permissive canopy of electoral proceeding.

“Once in a while, however, we encounter exposure of an exceptional dimension that appears to strike at the very root of democracy, questions the validity of an entire electoral system and even erodes confidence in the integrity of the state. Such an event need not be regarded as a repudiation of the formal mechanics put in place by an electioneering agency such as INEC, but nonetheless extends the scope of its responsibilities, including its projection of looming hazards of future electoral exercises.

“This is why, in the absence of a Constitutional Court or its equivalent, one is left with no other course than to call on INEC to also take formal charge of the recorded incident of this alleged conspiracy to pervert the course of democracy. For those ‘who have nothing to hide,’ it is a call that deserves unstinting support. They should not hesitate to assist in calling on the same US expertise to assist us in exposing a forgery.

“We are speaking here of a development that implicates not only products, beneficiaries or would-be constitutional guardians of the electoral process – that is, an elected governor, a governorship aspirant, but also state agencies – the military, two serving ministers – that is, members of the Executive arm of government, one of them in charge of the nation’s defence portfolio – and others.

“In addition to the logical role of the police, the nation’s electoral commission should undertake an independent investigation and make its findings known to the nation. Is this perhaps something INEC can undertake while the nation waits out its suspended electoral sentence? It only requires repudiation – or validation – of the findings of an already advanced forensic enquiry.”

Obasanjo’s membership card had expired, says PDP

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo

Two weeks after former President Olusegun Obasanjo tore his Peoples Democratic Party membership card, the party claimed on Tuesday that the card being held by the former President had expired.

It said that the card hitherto owned by Obasanjo was signed by the party’s former Acting National Chairman, Alhaji Kawu Baraje.

Baraje has since left the party and he is now a chieftain of the main opposition party, the All Progressives Congress.

While declaring his leaving the party, Obasanjo had asked the Chairman of the PDP in his ward at Abeokuta, Mr. Usman Oladunjoye, to tear his membership card.

Commenting on Obasanjo’s action, the National Secretary of the party, Dr. Wale Oladipo, said the card had been changed.

Oladipo spoke during a courtesy call on him by some students, who claimed to be working for the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan.

He said the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, and himself signed the current cards being used by the party members.

He said, “Baba (Obasanjo) is over 80 years and my mother is around Obasanjo’s age and when you reach that age, you do things that only you can explain.

“Secondly, you will see that Baba did not tear our card. He asked somebody ostensibly to do the tearing and I am assuring you that the card that was torn was not the current PDP card.

“The current PDP card is signed by Mu’azu and Oladipo. So, the card he tore was a Baraje card which we were going to destroy anyway. So, I think Baba started it.”

He added that Obasanjo might have left the party in order for it to have more followers.

Oladipo said, “Lastly, Baba is a very intelligent man. When Baba was helping us, he knows that a lot of people could have complained that they could have voted for the PDP but Baba is there.

“You know when a big tree thrives in a big forest, smaller trees cannot grow. If that big tree leaves, 10 to 20 smaller trees will grow.

“In politics, one big tree has a vote while 20 small trees have 20 votes. If you do the arithmetic, I am a scientist, I know that head or tail, it is a win-win situation for the PDP.”

The party also vowed to shock the APC in the South-West, where it said it would spring surprises.

The Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, Uche Secondus, stated this while speaking with journalists in Abuja on Tuesday.

He said with the support which he said was coming for the party, there was no way the party would not win the presidential election.

Secondus said this was where the confidence was coming from for the party and the President.

He said, “Look at our pedigree. A party that was formed less than one year ago can’t win elections with media vibes.

“Elections are won at polling units and we have the pedigree and statistics that have shown from 1999 till date that we have been consistent.”

Buhari’s UK visit becomes an item

Much has been made of Muhammadu Buhari, the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate’s visit to the United Kingdom but more images from his trip reveals that he is not bed-ridden has some people have claimed.
Here are more pictures of his visit to UK posted on Twitter by his daughter Zahra

Muhammadu Buhari at an interactive session with Nigerians in London

L-R: Zahra Buhari, Mrs Osibajo and Mrs Aisha Buhari at the interactive session in London

Kayode Fayemi (L) with Muhammadu Buhari, (2nd R) at Fayose’s phantom ‘hospital’

Monaco shocks Arsenal at the Emirates

 

Berbatov celebrates scoring Monaco’s second

Arsenal are in danger of an embarrassing exit from the Champions League after Monaco romped to a stunning 3-1 win in the last 16 first leg at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.
Arsene Wenger’s team were left shell-shocked as Geoffrey Kondogbia put the French club ahead with a deflected first half strike before former Tottenham forward Dimitar Berbatov marked his return to north London with the second goal after the interval.
Berbatov’s cool finish was a hammer blow to the Arsenal fans who had jeered him for his past allegiance to their bitter rivals and there was worse to come.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had just given Arsenal renewed hope with a 90th minute goal when Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco galloped clear to score Monaco’s third and leave the Premier League team needing a herculean effort in the second leg on March 17 to avoid last 16 elimination for a fifth successive season.
It was an especially chastening evening for Wenger, who made his managerial reputation during a seven-year spell at Monaco and was renewing acquaintances with his old club in a competitive match for the first time.
After losing to Bayern Munich, Barcelona and AC Milan at this stage, a Monaco side only fourth in Ligue 1 seemed to represent a good opportunity for Arsenal to advance to the last eight at last.
But Monaco had conceded just one goal in their six group matches and Leonardo Jardim’s side produced a counter-attacking masterclass to leave Arsenal impotent in attack and incompetent in defence.
After a frenetic opening, Arsenal found themselves entangled in Monaco’s defensive web.
Alexis Sanchez has emerged as Arsenal’s creative fulcrum in his debut season and the Chile winger almost found the key to unlocking the obdurate Monaco rearguard when he exchanged passes with Mesut Ozil before flicking his shot just over.
But, emboldened by the ease with which they had kept Arsenal at bay, Jardim’s team began to push forward with more confidence and Joao Moutinho found space for an acrobatic volley that sailed over.
– Perilous situation –
It was a warning that Arsenal failed to heed and the visitors went ahead in the 38th minute.
Danny Welbeck lost possession inside his own half and Moutinho quickly moved the ball onto Kondogbia, who had been left unmarked 30 yards from goal.
The French midfielder advanced unchecked before lashing a fierce drive that took a big deflection off Per Mertesacker and flashed past wrong-footed Arsenal goalkeeper David Ospina.
Arsenal still had time to remedy their perilous situation and Olivier Giroud should have equalised early in the second half when he met Sanchez’s cross, only to scuff his shot wide from close-range.
Giroud was presented with an even better opportunity moments later but ended up pounding the turf in frustration after ballooning a header well over from Santi Cazorla’s inswinging free-kick.
And Giroud’s angry reaction was emulated by the entire Emirates Stadium in the 53rd minute when Berbatov doubled Monaco’s lead in stunning fashion.
With Wenger’s side pouring forward in an undisciplined and panicked search for an equaliser, Anthony Martial made them pay, sweeping away down the right before squaring a pass to the unmarked Berbatov, who had time and space to drive a powerful finish past Ospina.
Arsenal needed an immediate response but Giroud’s nightmare continued as he blazed over from close-range after a Sanchez shot was well saved by Danijel Subasic.
Wenger had seen enough and hauled off Giroud, with Theo Walcott on in his place.
Walcott fared no better than Giroud as he failed to beat Subasic from close-range before stumbling and getting in the way of Welbeck’s attempt to convert the rebound.
Oxlade-Chamberlain got one back in the 90th minute when the substitute curled a fine finish beyond Subasic from the edge of the area.
But it was a false dawn as Ferreira-Carrasco was granted the freedom of the right flank to advance and drive a dagger into Arsenal hearts.

Leverkusen beat ten-man Atletico

Bayer Leverkusen have one foot in the Champions League’s quarter-finals following their shock 1-0 home win over last season’s finalists Atletico Madrid, who finished with ten men on Wednesday.
Hakan Calhanoglu’s superb second-half goal in the last 16, first-leg clash means Bayer take a slender advantage to Atletico’s Vicente Calderon Stadium for the return leg on March 17.
Reigning Spanish league champions Atletico played the last quarter of an hour with ten men after defensive midfielder Tiago was sent off for a second booking.
Bayer, the 2002 Champions League finalists, edge closer to breaking their last 16 jinx having failed to pass this stage of the competition in their last three previous attempts.
Roger Schmidt’s Leverkusen ended their three-match winless streak in the Bundesliga in style by stunning the 2014 finalists.
Having been humiliated 4-0 at home by Paris Saint Germain last season at the same stage in the competition, Leverkusen produced a spirited performance.
Their potent pressing game nullified the threat of Atletico striker Mario Mandzukic and attacking midfielder Antoine Griezmann, who have scored 37 goals between them this season.
The hosts controlled the early stages as Mandzukic found himself in the unusual position of clearing a 12th-minute shot off the line from Leverkusen centre-back Emir Spahic.
The Bosnia captain then rattled the top-left corner of the goal post with a long-range strike on 26 minutes with Atletico goalkeeper Miguel Angel Moya beaten.
Madrid’s best chance of the first-half came when Juanfran’s shot was blocked and Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno out-jumped the waiting Griezmann to deny the Frenchman an easy header right in front of goal on 39 minutes.
Atletico coach Diego Simeone was forced into two changes before the break as both right winger Saul Niguez and right-back Guilherme Siqueira came off injured.
Leno kept Atletico out with a superb diving reflex save to deny Tiago just before the half-time whistle.
Leverkusen took the lead when Karim Bellarabi cut across the face of the goal, then his back-heeled pass found Calhanoglu, who blasted his shot past Moya from a tight angle on 57 minutes.
Simeone brought on Spain’s ex-Liverpool and Chelsea striker Fernando Torres for the final 25 minutes in a bid to get Atletico a crucial away goal.
Having already been booked early in the first-half, Tiago’s dismissal for his second yellow gave Leverkusen the numerical advantage, but Atletico kept up the pressure as Leno endured a busy final 20 minutes.

FG begins rehabilitation of Wharf, Apapa Road

Godwin Eke, Federal Controller of Works

The Federal Controller of Works in Lagos, Godwin Eke, said on Wednesday that remedial work was being carried out on Wharf Road in Apapa to reduce the rate of accident.
Eke told NAN in Lagos that the road was being rehabilitated as part of ongoing emergency repair of roads in Apapa.
“We received reports that trucks have been falling there. We now decided to do something remedial, something temporary to reduce the rate of accident there.
“That is part of our plan for the permanent works on Apapa-Tin Can Road.
“It is included in our quantities; there is no contravention; it is part of the emergency repairs that we are carrying out.
“We are using what we call ripraps that is those big stones, those depressed sections, we put the ripraps there, then we put stone base to level it.
“We have done Creek Road, we have done part of that Wharf Road, we have done Liverpool round about, we have done up to Tin Can, we have done Coconut Bridge, we have done even from Beach land to Tin Can.
“We have also done from Cele to Ilasa, also towards Sango Otta, we have repaired Ile Epo and environs.”

Special promotion for soldiers fighting Boko Haram – Minimah

 

Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Kenneth Minimah

The Nigerian Army on Wednesday announced a special promotion for all soldiers involved in liberating Baga in Borno from Boko Haram insurgents.
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Kenneth Minimah, announced the promotion while addressing the soldiers during an official visit to Baga in Kukawa Local Government Area.
Minimah said the promotion was to reward the soldiers for their gallant effort in flushing out the insurgents.
He added that soldiers who died in the battle with the insurgents would also be promoted posthumously.
“The entire country is singing praises of Nigerian soldiers for the bravery exhibited in the fight against the insurgents.
“I urge you to keep the tempo by striving hard to record more successes,” Minimah said.
He expressed optimism that insurgency would end in the next couple of weeks. “Never again will Nigerians suffer this kind of large scale destruction in the name of insurgency,” Minimah said.
He said his visit was aimed at boosting the soldiers’ morale and building more confidence in them.
“The war is almost ended, we will liberate Dikwa, Bama, Gwoza, Marte and other places in a few days time,” Minimah said.
He advised Nigerians to support the military in its quest to end the insurgency.
“Nigerians should maintain confidence with Nigerian armed forces. They should support our military because there is no other.
“War is war. War does not often come out in favour of any one. In fact, it is the end that justifies the means.
“The war, as it stands, has turned out for the good of Nigerian Armed Forces, and God willing, in a matter of time, it will be over.
“So, I encourage Nigerians to support their military,” Minimah emphasised.
He said that the six weeks offered by the Federal Government for the military to clear the insurgents was achievable, going by the recent developments.
“It is achievable; we are still within the time frame. But six weeks should not be taken that everything must be attained because this is war,” he added.
Minimah assured that the military would strive harder to ensure the return of peace to all the affected areas in a short while.