Jonathan plans to arrest Obasanjo, Atiku, others, says Baraje PDP - The Nation Newspapers

  Jonathan plans to arrest Obasanjo, Atiku, others, says Baraje PDP

Baraje

Posted by: Gbade Ogunwale

The Abubakar Baraje led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said that the party has uncovered plots by President Goodluck Jonathan to arrest former President Olusegun Obasanjo and his erstwhile deputy, Atiku Abubakar.
Similarly, the party also said members of the league of G7 governors and leaders of the Baraje faction have also been marked for arrest ad detention.
Governors in the G7 are: Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers); Musa Kwankwaso (Kano); Murtala Nyako (Adamawa); Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto); Babangida Aliyu (Niger); Sule Lamido (Jigawa); and Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara).
In a statement yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Chukwuemeka Eze, the faction said intelligence report in its possession revealed that the Presidency was already putting finishing touches to the plan.
According the party, the Presidency’s plot is code named “Operation Total Crackdown on G7 and their allies in the New PDP”.
“When we got details of the plot to arrest and commit the leadership of New PDP to prison without charge we thought it was a joke.
“The reality, however, dawned on us after we read the interview of our friend and brother, Alhaji Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, in the PREMIUM TIMES of 26th September, 2013, confirming that President Goodluck Jonathan is under pressure to arrest former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar without any further delay.
“The sin of these two distinguished Nigerian statesmen, according to those plotting their “demystification”, is their alleged support for the New PDP, including the G7 Governors. That this evil plot is being conceived by the Presidency confirms that the Abacha days are truly here again with us”, the statement added.
The party said in view of the development, the leadership of the Baraje group had, in an emergency meeting of its National Working Committee, brainstormed on how best to respond to the plot.
“Our conclusion at the end of the meeting was that we would not be intimidated for any reason, even if it means death, as we are fighting a just cause of reclaiming, recovering and establishing our party based on the vision of its founding fathers as the party is currently usurped by some members who do not know how it was formed.
“Baraje, knowing how dirty some of the hawks in the Presidency can fight when pushed to the wall, directed NWC members to write their wills immediately after the meeting as we have entered the stage of no retreat and no surrender – fully determined to reclaim what rightly belongs to us”, the party said.
Baraje urged the G7 Governors not to be intimidated or frightened by any tactics or strategy employed by “state forces” to coerce them to forgo any of the issues they have been asked to present before President Jonathan in the October 7 meeting.
The party regretted that instead of employing diplomacy to attend to the issues that brought about the present conflict, the Presidency had chosen to apply force.
Baraje said that rather than being disturbed by the plot, his members are ready for any tactics that may be adopted by the Presidency in the alleged crackdown.
“In this regard, we wish to urge both the Presidency and those detailed to attack us not to waste time or wait till October 7 to start arresting us, as there are thousands of Nigerians ready to step into our shoes and fight this cause to its conclusion.
“We are convinced that at the appropriate time; Asari Dokubo will join us when he is convinced as a social crusader, the injustice we have been subjected to in PDP all these years so we are not threatened by his outbursts”, Baraje added.
The party quoted a one time President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, to buttress its determination to face the alleged threat squarely.
Roosevelt had stated in that memorable speech: “Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country.”

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Kogi deputy governor in auto crash - The Nations Newspapers

» News Update » Kogi deputy governor in auto crash

Posted by: Agency Reporter in News Update 

The Kogi State Deputy Governor, Mr. Yomi Awoniyi, on Sunday escaped unhurt in an accident which involved his convoy on the Abuja-Lokoja highway.
A statement issued by his Press Secretary, Mr. Michael Abu, said an escort van in the convoy ran into two stationary vehicles which were involved in an earlier accident.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the affected vehicles, a Mercedes Benz jeep with Lagos registration number, YAB 966 AQ and a Honda Accord with Lagos registration number LND 742 BE had earlier collided before the van ran into them near Kwali.
The statement which said the driver of the Honda Accord lost control while trying to overtake the Mercedes Benz, added that Awoniyi, who was on his way to Lokoja after an official engagement in Abuja, escaped unhurt.
Abu disclosed that those in the escort van sustained minor injuries along with four policemen and were receiving treatment at the Kwali General Hospital.

Seven beheaded on Maiduguri/Damaturu road - The Nation Newspapers

Home » News » Seven beheaded on Maiduguri/Damaturu road

Posted by: Duku Joel

Seven people were killed in Makintamari village in Kaga Local Government in Borno state along the Damaturu/Maiduguri road.
Eyewitnesses said the travellers were beheaded with their heads placed on their lifeless bodies on the main road.
At the Makintafamari village, in a separate incident, gunmen also cut the throats of four persons on Saturday. They were returning to Maiduguri in the evening.
Borno Police chief Lawal Tanko confirmed the attacks .
Makintamari is a few kilometers from Benishek where over 100 travelers were murdered a week ago by suspected Boko Haram sect members.
Yobe State Governor Ibrahim Gaidam said: “We call on Mr. President and all the security chiefs, to intensify security operations through aerial surveillance, to contain the situation before it consumes the region and country.
“On our way from Maiduguri to Damaturu this afternoon (Sunday), we saw a trailer and bus that were burnt, with the occupants slaughtered and their corpses littering the highway.
“Government should rise up to its responsibilities to save the lives and properties of its citizens,” he pleaded15.
The governor said that anyone travelling on the Damaturu to Maiduguri highway, was taking a huge risk.
He urged the newly established Seven Division of the Nigerian Army, to intensify surveillance of all flash points in the two states, to flush out the insurgents.

Jim Iyke falls strangely in TB Joshua’s church - The Nation Newspapers

Home » Entertainment » Jim Iyke falls strangely in TB Joshua’s church

Posted by: Victor Akande in Entertainment 3 hours ago

It was not clear what the mission of Nollywood actor, James Ikechukwu Esemougha, popularly called Jim Iyke was at the popular Synagogue Church, located in Ikotun, a suburb of Lagos, but a two-minute video on the church’s website shows the actor struggling with several officers of Pastor TB Joshua, the head of the church, as they fought to keep him still.
A facebook post and video subtitling on the incident revealed that the actor, who is famous for the ‘bad boy’ movie roles, was on Sunday being delivered of perceived negative spirit that has prevented him from getting married.
The energetic prayer session soon got the thespian sprawling on the floor, after falling several times, and shouting incoherent words. “What do you guys want from me,” asked the actor, apparently recovering from frenzy. “Take it easy, the man of God will like to see you after the service,” replied one of the church ministers, as the led the actor away from the middle of the congregation, looking bevildered.
Effort to reach the actor on his encounter is still ongoing.

FG to engage foreign countries to check oil theft - The Tribune Newspapers

FG to engage foreign countries to check oil theft

• Written by  Leon Usigbe -Abuja
• Monday, 30 September 2013 

WORRIED about the easy access of stolen crude oil from Nigeria to world markets, the Federal Government has decided to engage the recipient countries to convince them to put measures in place to check the trend.
The Supervising Minister of Foreign Affairs, Professor Viola Onwuliri, on Sunday, told newsmen at the sidelines of the ongoing 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York that government would utilise every available forum with foreign countries to press for the need to deny crude oil thieves access to their markets.
Noting that the ready market for the stolen crude oil had fuelled the illegal activity in the country, she said  government would not fold its arms and allow saboteurs to damage the economy.
Onwuliri remarked that Nigeria was determined to pursue a policy of encouraging foreign governments to stop the purchase of illegal crude just as it had pressed for the control of small arms and nuclear disarmament.

Manufacturers spend N42bn on generators - The Sun Newspapers

Our Reporter September 30, 2013

By ADEWALE SANYAOLU
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) last week lamented the poor state of the country’s power sector, stressing that its members spent over N42 billion to generate private electricity between January 2012 to August 2013.

The figure, according to the President MAN, Mr. Kola Jamodu, came up from the electricity power audit conducted on members of MAN in 2012, where it discovered that it spends more than N2 billion monthly to fuel generators.
Jamodu spoke at the 2013 Worldstage National Electricity Conference held in Lagos in Lagos last week.
Represented by the Chairman, Standing Committee on Infrastructure of the association, Mr. Reginald Odiah, Jamodu said that power supply from Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), has remained inadequate for smooth operation of companies in the country.
The MAN boss explained that electricity power audit conducted on 2,500 members nationwide revealed that average peak power demand stands at 4,850mw, peak power supply from PHCN at 1,018mw and in-house installed power generating capacity of members at 5,150mw.
He disclosed that members of the association owned and installed in-house over 5,480 units of diesel/gas powered turbines and generating plants, while members spend over N2 billion as average cost of running and maintaining these in-house power plants per month.
“This amount is apart from the average monthly PHCN bills paid by members, which again run into hundreds of millions of naira per month,” he said.

The implication of this, Jamodu disclosed, reflects in high cost of production and inability to compete with manufacturers from other parts of the world.           .
“This has resulted to low production capacity and inability to compete effectively with our foreign counterparts and to contribute optimally to Gross National Product (GNP), which currently stands at about four per cent; poor return on investment; closure of factories and migration to greener fields by manufacturers as well as uncertainty on investment in Nigeria.

“It is sad to note that 40 per cent of our production cost goes into the provision of electricity as against five per cent to 10 per cent in other developed economies. As a result of this and other infrastructural deficiencies, cost of manufacturing in Nigeria is about two times that of Ghana, four times that of South Africa and approximately nine times that of China,” he said.

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PHCN: Jonathan gives share certificates, licences to core investors today - The Sun Newspapers

Our Reporter September 30, 2013 

From ISAAC ANUMIHE, Abuja

At last, Nigeria has found light at the end of the tunnel after years of groping  in darkness  following President Goodluck Jonathan today hand over the share certificates and licences to the 15 new owners of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) successor companies who have made 100 per cent payment of the respective bid amounts.
The presentation, which is scheduled to hold in Abuja is part of the build-up to the activities to mark the 53rd Independence anniversary of Nigeria.
The Director General of the BPE, Mr. Benjamin Dikki noted that “this handover  is a culmination of 14 years of painstaking effort by the National Council on Privatization (NCP), Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and other key stakeholders to reform and liberalise Nigeria’s electricity industry, which began in 1999”.
Recall that the Electric Power Sector Reform Implementation Committee (EPIC) was set up in 2000 with the key mandate to proffer an appropriate legal and regulatory framework for the sector.
This gave birth to the National Electric Power Policy which was approved by the Federal Executive Council in September 2001 followed by the passage of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act of 2005.  The passage of the Act gave the NCP/BPE the legal impetus to set up the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) also in 2005.
The NCP/BPE went further to vertically unbundle the integrated monopoly into three segments of Generation, Transmission and Distribution Companies. As part of the reform initiative, NEPA was transformed into Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).
To further give teeth to the reform, in August 2010, President Jonathan launched the Presidential Roadmap on Power Reform with two key advisory organs, namely, the Presidential Action Committee on Power and the Presidential Taskforce on Power.
The Bureau published advertisements for expressions of interest by prospective investors in the eleven distribution companies and six generation companies between December 13 and 20, 2010, in both local and international media.
So far, out of the 14 successor companies scheduled for handover, a total of   $2, 525,824,534 was realized as proceeds. Out of the amount, $1,256,000,000.00 came from the Distribution Companies (DISCOs) while the Generation Companies (GENCOs) raked in $1, 269,824,534.
The Federal Government has equally set aside about N384 billion to settle labour liabilities.

Man to die for killing wife -The Punch Newspapers

September 28, 2013 by Our Reader 

An Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan on Wednesday sentenced a  65-year-old man, Ganiyu Akindele, to death by hanging  for killing his wife.

Justice A. A. Gbolagunte, in his judgment, held that the evidence before the court was overwhelming to prove the defendant guilty.

The prosecuting counsel, Mr. Kayode Babalola, had told the court that the defendant,  on August 29, 2006,  inflicted several machete injuries on his late wife, Funke, on  their  farm located at Laguma village  near  Oyo town.

Babalola said the defendant inflicted machete injuries on his wife’s head and legs even as he severed the upper limb of her arm.

The prosecutor noted that there had been quarrels between the couple, with the convict often threatening to kill the mother of three.

Akindele was arraigned on a one-count charge of murder.

Babalola said that the offence contravened Section 319 of the Criminal Code, Cap 38 Vol. II Laws of Oyo State of Nigeria, 2000.

Akindele, who had initially pleaded “not guilty,’’ later pleaded guilty to the charge.

In his submission, the defence counsel, Mr.  O.L Omoloye, said he left judgement to the discretion of the court.

Gbolagunte consequently convicted Akindele and sentenced him to death by hanging.

Nigerian arraigned in US for aiding al-Qaeda

September 29, 2013 by Agency Reporter 

A Nigerian terror suspect accused of trying to help al-Qaeda in Yemen appear before a United States federal courtroom on Friday.
Lawal Babafemi was accused of training with members of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and using his English skills to help publish the terrorist magazine “Inspire.”
Judge John Gleason ordered Babafemi, also known as “Ayatollah Mustafa,” held without bail. No plea was entered, reports NBCnewyork.com.
Prosecutors said Babafemi is married with children in Nigeria and helped al-Qaeda attempt to recruit people who speak English to engage in acts of terror against Americans.
The FBI said Anwar al-Awlaki, the American cleric who became the al-Qeada commander in the Arabian Peninsula and was killed in a US drone strike, personally directed $9,000 be paid to Babafemi to assist in his recruitment efforts.
Sitting silently at a defense table, Babafemi wore a blue and white striped polo shirt as he listened to the hearing without the help of a translator.
His attorney did not object to his being held without bail, but told the judge Babafemi suffers from high blood pressure and asked that he receive medication when he gets to the Metropolitan Detention Center.
Investigators said Babafemi was active with al-Qaeda operatives from 2010 to 2011 until he was arrested for crimes in Nigeria. He was then turned over to FBI agents to be prosecuted for his alleged terrorist activity.
“The defendant threw his efforts behind al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s media, recruitment, and weapons training campaigns in an effort to strengthen the terrorist group’s grip on the region and extend its reach throughout the world,” US Attorney Loretta Lynch said in a statement.
His transfer to the United States comes amid increasing concerns about the growing footprint of al-Qaeda affiliated organizations in Africa.
Al-Qaeda in Yemen has tried to use an underwear bomb on an airliner heading to Detroit and has hidden explosives in printers to try to bomb cargo planes.
Al Shabaab — a Somali-based group linked to al-Qaeda — is believed to be behind the recent mall attack in Kenya.

Jonathan should ensure I’m not killed — Amaechi - The Punch Newspapers

September 29, 2013 by OLALEKAN ADETAYO, CHUKWUDI AKASIKE and ALLWELL OKPI 

Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi

The Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, on Saturday raised the alarm over his safety and pleaded with President Goodluck Jonathan, to ensure that he is not killed.

Amaechi said this in an interview with Sahara TV, which was monitored by one of our correspondents.

The governor, who narrated his ordeal in hands of the police and aviation authorities since he fell out with the President, said he felt unsafe.

“I don’t have an aide de camp. I don’t have a chief security officer. They’ve withdrawn so many policemen. They’ve withdrawn all policemen from the commissioners. I feel unsafe. I just know that they want to kill me. Beg Mr. President to ensure that I’m not killed because I’m sure they are planning towards that.”

Amaechi also accused his political opponents, including the Minister of State for Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike, and the President’s wife, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, of using the police to intimidate him and the people of the state.

He said, “It is not just Wike that is controlling (the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Joseph) Mbu. It is not just Mrs. Patience Jonathan that is controlling Mbu. There are some people on the street controlling him.

“They are doing two things under the watch of Mr. President and the Inspector-General of Police. They are trying to intimidate the Rivers society so that they can rig elections. And they are trying to intimidate me and expose me to danger.”

Amaechi also accused the National Airspace Management Authority of monitoring his movement and deliberately delaying his flights.

He described the level of impunity under Jonathan as worse than what Nigeria experienced under late General Sani Abacha.

Amaechi said the Nigeria Governor’s Forum crisis would be resolved at the end of the 2015 election, adding that there would have been peace in Nigeria had the President not interfered in the forum’s election.

He told his interviewer that President Jonathan confirmed his involvement in the NGF election at the last meeting the rebel governors had with him.

“While Akpabio was denying it, I reminded him that the President confirmed to me that he participated. Jonathan said he canvassed support for Governor Shema and that he called governors and showed them a video recording of my speech on the oil well that was taken from Soku to Balyesa, and he therefore told them that if I won, he would never work with me,” he said.

He said the possibility of peace between him and the first family was left in the hands of the President and God.

“If the President wants peace, I will be available. And it should not be the type of peace that we had in 2011, that was because of the election,” he said.

In a swift response, the Presidency described Amaechi as a drowning man, whose intention was to pitch the President and Nigerians.

Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak, told SUNDAY PUNCH that Amaechi, by his utterances, did not have respect for the office of the President and by extension, the sovereignty of Nigeria.

Gulak said, “Amaechi is a drowning man whose plan is just to pitch the President against the people of Rivers State but people of the state know better and they have turned against him (the governor).

“On his claim that the President is after his life, Amaechi himself knows that President Jonathan is a peace-loving man who cannot hurt a fly. On the contrary, maybe he is the one planning that against the President. He should stop pitching people against the President. Nigerians know the President that he is a gentleman.”

Jonathan meets security chiefs, says ‘I’m depressed’ - The Punch Newspapers

September 30, 2013 by Friday Olokor,Olalekan Adetayo and Eniola Akinkuotu 

President Goodluck Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday  had   an emergency meeting with service chiefs over the killing of  50 students of the  College of Agriculture  in Yobe State.

Jonathan  disclosed this while fielding questions during the Presidential Media Chat broadcast live on television stations. He had  earlier at the 53rd Independence Anniversary Interdenominational Church Service   at the National Christian Centre, Abuja, admitted that  activities of the sect  were depressing him and his administration.

He said after meeting with the service chiefs, he  directed them  to meet and come up with ideas  on how to step up the efforts aimed at curbing   the  attacks  and killings by the insurgents which he described as “ embarrassing.”

The President  said, “Like I said earlier today (Sunday),  sometimes one needs a lot of courage to move on. My seat as the President can be very hot and can also be very cold.

“I held a meeting with service chiefs on the killings of students in Yobe State before coming for this media chat. We discussed and resolved that we must do more.

“You will agree with me that  incidence of attacks came down after I declared state of emergency in some states but it is coming up again. I have asked the service chiefs to meet again now and see what we can do to stop these embarrassing attacks.”

When asked to respond to allegations that operatives of the State Security Service killed innocent people alleged to be members of   Boko Haram   at the Apo Legislative Quarters in Abuja, the President said there was enough reason to believe that those shot were  suspected  terrorists.

Jonathan, who added that  some of those arrested had made confessional statements, said that  security agencies had even foiled several plots by insurgents  to bomb  Abuja this month.

He said, “I have been briefed about it and people have made confessional statements. That is why I say sometimes, some of these people who call for probe don’t mean well for this country. And I always say that when there are confrontations between certain operatives and criminals in a place where people live, maybe one or two people  who  may  be innocent   probably might  be affected during the exchange of fire. But definitely,  there were Boko Haram elements  among them .

Again, if you monitor global trend, there was this feeling about Al-Qeada network having links with Al-Shabab and Boko Haram because these criminal gangs have networks. And the feeling was that in September, they would bomb many cities across the world to commemorate 9/11. It  happened in many parts of the world. What happened in Nairobi, Kenya,  is being linked to that and people attempted to also bomb Abuja in September.

 “Some were arrested and some were killed but people confessed. There were obviously Boko Haram elements among them.”

At  the  Independence anniversary  church service tagged  “Living with certainty in uncertain times,” the President said     he lacked words and courage to explain to the bereaved families, and indeed Nigerians, what happened to the College of Agriculture students on Sunday.

While describing Boko Haram activities and other challenges facing his administration as creations of the devil meant to slow him down,  Jonathan  vowed that the insurgents  would not succeed.

He pledged that although forces of evil would continue to attempt to drag the nation back, he would leave the country better than he met it.

He said, “Today, you will agree with me that if you were in my shoes, you will lack words to say. We had this programme in mind when we went to bed last night that by this time, we would all gather here to thank God for what he has done for this great country.

“But then, only a few minutes after midnight, reports came in that about 21 students were murdered in Yobe State by a group that described themselves as Boko Haram.

“If you are wearing my shoes, what courage will you have to stand here before Nigerians? What message will you send to Nigerians and the parents of these people, our future leaders, students of a college of agriculture?

“Will you say that the killing of these students is political? The students belonged to which political group? People who killed them don’t even know them. Will you say it is ethnic cleansing? They belonged to which ethnic group in Nigeria?

“Will you say it was based on religious belief or what? These killed students, are they Christians, Muslims or what? This is the situation almost on a daily basis. It’s quite depressing!

“But having listened to the message of the CAN President (Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor), you will agree with me that all of us have hope. By God’s grace, we will get to where we want to get to as a nation.

“The journey of a nation is just like the journey of an individual. We will encounter obstacles. Sometimes, it gets darker when you are getting nearer. The challenges we are seeing now are very transient and  we will surely get over them.

“No Boko Haram or any group can suffer this country. We may suffer pains just like Jesus Christ said at critical moment that though the spirit is willing, the body is weak.

“I believe these challenges are the creations of the devil to slow down our development as a nation but we have reached the turning point where we must all move to join the developed society.”

Another policeman caught on video demanding N10,000 bribe - The Punch Newspapers

September 30, 2013 by Temitayo Famutimi 

The policeman

For the third time in the past two months, another policeman has been caught on video demanding a bribe of N10,000 from a motorist.

The footage, secretly filmed by a passenger at the back seat of a vehicle in Onitsha, Anambra State, has so far received thousands of hits on YouTube. The three-minute 18-second video which first appeared on the YouTube channel of one Tola Tim, has since become an Internet sensation.

In the video, a policeman apprehended the driver of a vehicle that was coming from Akure, Ondo State to Umuahia, Abia State. The policeman sat in the front seat with the driver, and after checking the vehicle particulars, declared that he had discovered some discrepancies between the documents and the chassis number.

In the video, the policeman explained that the number ‘0’ was the last number on the chassis number inscribed on the vehicle, while number ‘3’was the last number on the documents presented to him for perusal.

The driver was seen arguing with the policeman that he had asked him to veer off the road in order to enable him (policeman) do proper checking of the vehicle. Once the alleged discrepancies were discovered, the policeman insisted that he would collect N10,000 before he would release him.

The driver’s appeal that there was an unintended mix-up somewhere and that the vehicle was not a stolen one fell on deaf ears.  A nursing mother who sat at the back also appealed to the policeman.

The man in uniform bellows, “Settle us. Just give us N10,000 make I waka comot. Or is it too much? If I knew you stole the vehicle, I won’t collect money from you.”

But the driver, on noticing the adamance of the policeman, said he won’t give in to his demands.

“It is three much! I want you to take me to your station. I’m not afraid of anything. I can go back to Akure. At worst, I will miss my appointment in Umuahia. Why will I part with N10,000 on the vehicle I didn’t steal? No sir! I can’t do that.

“I will rather go back to Akure, get the registration officer and other supporting documents, come back with another vehicle and clear myself. And that is to tell you that I have not done something wrong,” the driver said.

The unidentified driver also calmed the nerves of the apprehensive nursing mother who clutched a baby girl to herself. “My sister, don’t worry! At worst, you will sleep in a hotel with your baby when I go back to Akure,” the driver added.

The policeman replied, “Eh eh. It is three much. Wetin make am too much?” After ruminating over the issue for some seconds, the policeman, who was armed with a gun, ordered, “Driver, come down.” And the video went dead.

Meanwhile, outrage has trailed the incident on various social media platforms. Those who have watched the video online describe the encounter as a pointer to the depth of rot and decay in the Nigeria Police Force.

They urged the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, to conduct an orderly room trial to ascertain the policeman’s culpability in the alleged crime and place appropriate sanctions on him if found guilty.

An anonymous reader on lindaikeji.blogspot.com says apart from condemning the act of corruption and sacking the culprit, more needs to be done to cater for the welfare of the rank and file of the police.

The reader said, “If you have a police officer as your relative, you will understand better. The income they get can’t even feed them alone not to talk of their families. The country doesn’t cater adequately for their needs. Many police barracks look like refuse dumps and they are expected to live there with their children.”

But a YouTube user, Paul Saint, argued that there is no excuse for being corrupt, attributing the behaviour to greed.

Saint stated, “This has nothing to do with the service welfare of the police. Corruption in Nigeria has nothing to do with low or high salary pay. If you are corrupt, no matter what you earn, you will still find ways to illegally enrich yourself. Most cases of corruption recorded in this country are perpetrated by persons who are otherwise fairlycomfortable with bribes.

“Corruption is as a result of greed only. Not poverty or low pay. We must condemn corruption at all times and not make excuses for it. But even if they are not well paid, there is no excuse for corruption. The most corrupt persons in Nigeria started off with collecting less than N10,000 and because we excuse them or celebrate them, they step up their demands to millions and billions. Well paid or not, do not demand or collect bribe.”

It will be recalled that three cops have so far been dismissed by the police authorities after being filmed demanding bribes from motorists.

A police sergeant, Chris Omeleze, who was caught on video camera extorting N25,000 from a motorist in Lagos in August was the first casuality of the social media whistle-blowing.

Two traffic policewomen, corporals Elizabeth Itolor and Jennifer Azingbe, who were also videotaped receiving N100 bribe from a commercial bus driver at the Oshodi/Apapa Expressway were dismissed earlier this month.

Obama Tasks FG On Corruption, Boko Haram .-,The Guardian Newspapers

Sunday, 29 September 2013 00:00 From Laolu Akande (New York) and Chuks Nwanne (Lagos) News - National

•  Says Sect One Of World’s Most Vicious 
•  I will Ensure Free, Fair Elections In 2015, Says Jonathan
PRESIDENT Barack Obama had a very frank discussion with Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan last Monday in New York, according to sources in the US who disclosed that the Nigerian leader was told to put his acts together and help realise the Nigerian potential.
    Few days after the historic 40-minute meeting with Obama, President Jonathan has submitted himself for a media chat Sunday at 7pm.
   According to a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, the programme, which will be transmitted live on NTA Network, FRCN and other public and private TV and radio stations across the country, will see Jonathan answer questions from a panel of journalists on current national issues and events, as well as policies and actions of his administration over the past months.
   Unlike the previous editions of the Presidential Media Chat (PMC), where the president had only the panelists and callers on phone– when the lines are through– to contend with, Jonathan will on Sunday entertain questions from millions of Nigerians on Twitter, who have been given a go ahead by Dr. Abati to send in their queries via Twitter to @mediachatng1.
  During the almost one-hour meeting, insiders say the discussion went from being very frank to very cordial, but ending very fruitful to both countries whose relationship had developed a strain after President Obama went to Africa without stopping in Nigeria.
    The Monday meeting at the Waldorf Astoria was scheduled to start at 1.45pm and end 2.25pm, but went on till 2.35pm, which made the Nigerian President briefly late to New York Stock Exchange meeting with Hedge Fund investors.
   Although details of the meeting, which was also attended by the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, the US National Security Adviser, Ms. Susan Rice, Ms. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the new US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, among others were sketchy over the weekend, it was learnt that the US team secured guarantees from President Jonathan on a number of issues especially the 2015 elections, Boko Haram, corruption among others.
    For instance, with the background of the build-up to 2015 already overheating the Nigerian polity, the US President and his team at the presidential meeting held at Waldorf Astoria made Jonathan to commit to ensuring a credible, free and fair election in 2015, promising that the federal government would ensure it happens.
  But the Nigerian team, besides the President, also included the Foreign Affairs Minister of State Viola Onwuliri, Ambassador Ade Adefuye, Presidential Principal Private Secretary, Ambassador Hassan Tukur among others.
  In a veiled reference to Obama’s Africa travel plan living out Nigeria, President Jonathan was also said to have made it clear to the Americans that the US cannot fix the word without fixing Africa, and Africa cannot be fixed without Nigeria- a line for which the Nigerian Ambassador to the US, Prof Adefuye had become popular in US official circles.
   A White House statement quoted Obama, at the open part of the meeting before going behind closed door, as saying “President Jonathan has committed to building on the democratic process that we’ve seen in Nigeria in the past.  The last election that brought President Jonathan to power was a hallmark on the continent and in Nigeria in terms of free and fair elections.  And I know that he is committed to making sure that the elections in 2015 move in that same fashion.”
   Sources said Jonathan made it very clear that one of his legacy would be free and fair elections.
   While the US President promised that the American government would now upgrade its assistance in fighting Boko Haram, especially in the backdrop of the Nairobi Mall terror attack, Jonathan was also tasked on the need to pay attention to the prevailing circumstances that encourage recruitment of terrorists in parts of northern Nigeria.
   Sources disclosed that during the meeting President Obama said the US was close to formally adopting a policy that will determine that Boko Haram is a national security threat to the US as well.
   In effect, the US-Nigeria Bi-National Commission, BNC would now adopt Regional Security as a major component and through the auspices of that commission the US will offer for support and engage the Nigerian government more in the fight against terrorism in the country.
   A White House statement after the meeting quoted Obama as saying that Boko Haram is one of the most vicious terrorist groups today in the world.
   Said he:  “In the northern regions of Nigeria we’ve seen the emergence of one of the most vicious terrorist organisations in the world, the Boko Haram.
  The US President added that this “presents an extraordinary security challenge for the people of Nigeria, and we want to be cooperative in that process of building capacity inside Nigeria to deal with that terrorist threat, but doing so in a way that is consistent with human rights.”
   Obama added that “ because we strongly believe that the best way to undermine the agenda of those who would do violence is to make sure that governments are responsive to the needs of people and following rule of law.”
Although he was said to have been very frank to President Jonathan on a number of issues at the meeting, US sources said President Obama also paid tribute to Nigeria’s rising significance in Africa and the growing influence of President Jonathan personally and urged the Nigerian leader live up to those possibilities and heal the country.
   In fact in the press release put out by the White House after the meeting, it was noted that President Obama referred to President Jonathan’s visit to the New York Exchange as evidence of his rising profile in the estimation of global investors.
   According to Obama in that White House statement “Nigeria is one of the most powerful and fastest-growing countries in the world.  I think that’s testified by the fact that President Jonathan is going to have the opportunity to ring the bell at the New York Stock Exchange.  I think it signifies how important Nigeria is becoming in the global economy.”
   Sources from official circles, both in the US and Nigeria, noted that the Obama-Jonathan effectively restored the strained relationship following the Obama Africa trip. For instance it was noted that Nigeria was the only nation with whom Obama had a bilateral meeting in Africa during his UN trip last week. And out of the three meetings with foreign heads of states all together, Nigeria’s meeting was the first.
   A diplomatic source noted that this was the proof of Nigeria’s significance in Africa and global issues.

How I escaped death in Kenya mall attack –Soyinka - The Sun Newspapers

Our Reporter September 28, 2013 

•Nobel laureate, JP Clark, others condemn incident
By HENRY AKUBUIRO
But for a stroke of luck, Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, would have been among the dead in the terror attack that took place at the Nairobi Westgate mall in Kenya last weekend.
Speaking at a press conference at the Freedom Park, Victoria Island, Lagos, on Friday in honour of the late Ghanaian poet, Professor Kofi Awoonor who died in the attack, Soyinka led a group of eminent Nigerian writers to condemn the Nairobi massacre. Soyinka, who said he, like Awoonor, was invited to the Storymoja/ Hay Literature Festival, said he couldn’t attend because of other pressing engagements he had elsewhere.
“My absence was particularly regrettable, because I had planned to make up for my failure to turn up for the immediate prior edition. Participant or absentee however, this is one edition we shall not soon forget,” said Soyinka.
The iconic writer said, considering his close relationship with Awoonor, he might have been at the same place with him and could have been shot as well. He said: “Kofi and I could have been splitting a bottle at that same watering hole in between events and at the end of each day.”
Condemning the use of religion to commit atrocities, Soyinka, who spoke on the theme, “Humanity and Against,” said: “Those who organised and carried out the outrage on innocent lives in Nairobi are carriers of the most lethal virus of corruption imaginable – corruption of the soul, corruption of the spirit, corruption of that animating humanistic essence that separates us from predatory beasts. I am no theologian of any religion, but I aver that these assailants delude themselves with vistas of paradise after life, that their delusion is born of the perverted reading of salvation and redemption.”
As the literary community mourned the deceased writer, Soyinka felt constrained to denounce his killers, who he described as “the virulent sub-species of humanity who bathe their hands in innocent blood.” He noted further: “Only cowards turn deadly weapons against the unarmed, only the depraved glorify in, or justify the act. True warriors do not wage wars against the innocent. Profanity is the name given to the defilement of the sanctity of human life. We call on those who claim to exercise the authority of a fatwa to pronounce that very doom, with all its moral weight, upon those who engage in this serial violation of the right to life, life as a god-given possession that only the blasphemous dare contradict, and the godless wantonly curtail. This scalp that they have added to their collection was roof to a unique brain that a million of their kind can never replace.”
Lending his voice to the condemnation of the murder of Awoonor, renowned playwright, Professor JP Clark, said the late Ghanaian writer came across as a non-conformist during his encounter with him at a pan Africa literary conference in Kampala, Ugunda, in 1962
Saddened by his death, Clark said: “I was in a state of shock to hear that Kofi Awoonor could go like that by random bullets in a country far off. It really shows the absurdity of life.” He advised all to do the best they can while alive.

African Oscars: Day America stood still for Nollywood - The Sun Newspapers

Our Reporter September 29, 2013 

By TOSIN AJIRIRE, just back from the United States
Nollywood shone like a million stars in far away United States of America penultimate Saturday as the Nollywood & African Film Critics’ Awards (NAFCA) popularly known as Africa Oscars held at the prestigious Warner Theatre in Washington DC.
Signs that all would be well with the 3-day event became vivid the previous day as movie stars and celebrities from different parts of Africa stormed the 5-Star Holiday Inn, Georgetown, Washington DC, which was also the venue of the African Film Summit and movie premieres.
The summit featured significant topics about the African cinema and was followed by an interactive panel of notable industry leaders. After the intellectual brainstorming, however, it was time for movie premiere as artistes and stakeholders trooped into the halls to catch their fun watching new films such as One Night in Vegas, Ninah’s Dowry, Nurses from Hell, American Mama and Gem of the Rainforest.
But then, at exactly 4pm on Saturday, the legendary Warner Theatre came alive with Hollywood and Nollywood stars strutting the red carpet, granting interviews and signing autographs. It was indeed a roll call of who is who. Gorgeously dressed and dazzling on the red carpet were Hollywood stars like Rollas Benz Antoine, Ebbe Bassey, KD Aubert, Jimmy Jean Louise, Sarodj Bertin, and Syr Law among others. And from Nollywood and Ghollywood came Lillian Bach, Vitalis Ndubuisi, John Dumelo, Majid Mitchel, Jennifer Oguzie, Abiola Ige, Benedict Johnson, John Uche and Montel Swaray (Liberia) among several others.
The awards proper commenced after a stage play that paraded some of the best in African drama. And to spice the night, there were musical performances by top artistes like Jerri Jhetto (USA), Koby Maxwell (Ghana), Katumbella (Angola), Kanja (Kenya), Tari (USA), Zonette Johnson (Liberia), Rebecca (UK), and Cesar Loboko (DR Congo).
In the General Category, Ninah’s Dowry ran away with the Best Film and Best Editing awards while Weekend Getaway’s cast of Ramsey Noauah and Genevieve Nnaji took the Best Actor in a Leading Role and Best Actress in a Supporting Role awards respectively.
One Night in Vegas won Best Film in Diaspora and Best Cinematography awards with the films’ actor, Jimmy Jean Louis snatching the award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in the Diaspora Category.
However, the major highlight of the 3-day event took place on Sunday when celebrities embarked a scenic tour of Washington DC. Movie stars virtually turned the luxury cruise ship tagged “The Spirit of Washington” into a dancing hall as they partied all day with plenty to eat and drink. Like Victor Olatoye, President of NAFCA earlier promised, the celebrity cruise was in deed an afternoon full of fun and excitement as it held on board of one of the most luxurious cruise ships in the District of Colombia.
Organized by Nollywood Film Critics USA, the official review organization for Nollywood and African movies, NAFCA popularly known as African Oscars, is one of the most prominent award ceremonies in America dedicated to Nollywood and African films in general.

Sacrilege: Robbers invade Anambra churches, cart away valuables - The Sun Newspapers

Our Reporter September 29, 2013 

■Archbishop declares prayer warfare
■Return your loot or face the consequences, cleric warns hoodlums
From ALOYSIUS ATTAH, Onitsha
This is not the best of times for churches and clergymen in Anambra State. Call it signs of the end tme and one is not far from the truth. Hitherto, sacred places often dreaded even by the insane are now targets of daredevil robbers. There is a slogan right now in the state which says “one Sunday, one church robbery”.
In the last two weeks in Anambra State, armed robbers  have invaded about three churches at odd hours leaving sorrow and tears in their trail.  The Catholic Archbishop of Onitsha, Most Rev. Valerian Okeke,  worried over the unusual development, has initiated a prayer programme in the archdiocese for the repentance of  criminals who are harassing and attacking churches in Onitsha and beyond.  The Archbishop has enjoined the faithful to say the prayers with dedication and commitment so that robbery attacks in the parishes will end.
First to host the unwanted visitors was St. John of the Cross Catholic Church, Egbo, Uruagu, Nnewi. The robbers had stormed the parish rectory about 1 am on Sunday night and held the priest and other residents  hostage for over one hour.   At the end of the invasion, they made away with an unspecified amount of cash and a bus belonging to the parish choir.
According to sources, the robbers numbering about 10 gained access to the main building by cutting the burglary proof bars on one of the windows in the parlour. They had earlier tied the hands of the security men  before they went to the place where drivers and seminarians were sleeping, meted the same treatment to them and went further to collect the car keys and proceeded to the area where the parish priest and other priests were staying.
When they entered they saw a priest and ordered him to show them the parish priest’s flat and he complied immediately. Finding it difficult to enter through the door, they gained access through the ceiling. The robbers immediately pointed their guns at the parish priest, barking orders at him to bring all the money in the house including the Sunday offering.The priest surrendered everything to them.
Sunday Sun learnt that while the robbers were carrying on with their evil operations, two of the drivers succeeded in untying themselves and escaped. They were said to have informed one of the parishioners around who quickly phoned the police at the Nnewi Central Police Station but the police never responded till the robbers finished and left the scene.
The Parish Priest , Very Rev. Fr. Peter Ezeani, while narrating his ordeal, confirmed that seven of the armed robbers entered his room armed with AK47 and pump action rifles.  He said they collected all the valuables in the house including cash.
While the Nnewi incident was still fresh, another robbery incident was reported at Holy Trinity Parish, Ogidi, Idemili North Local Government Area.
The robbers were said to have stormed the church compound at 3:00 am ransacking all the rooms for about one and half hours.
Though some of the priests residing in the parish were away on  ministerial engagements when the bandits struck, the robbers reportedly had ample time to cart away laptops,  ipads  and an undisclosed amount of money.
The same night, the marauders swooped on the clergymen at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Nnokwa in Idemili South Local Government.  Their style of operation was almost similar to the siege  at Ogidi thereby fueling suspicion that it was the same gang that operated in the two parishes.
‘Return your loot or face the consequences’
Apparently irked by the unusual boldness of the robbers who struck  sacred places, one of the resident priests at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Ogidi, Very Rev. Fr. Basil Gbuzue has called on the gang of robbers who stormed the church premises to return the stolen items or be ready to face the wrath of God.
Fr. Gbuzue who is the Spiritual Director, Mountain of Solution Catholic Adoration Ministry, Nkpor, Anambra State said the robbers were lucky that he was not around the night they broke into the rectory.
“Those hungry criminals were lucky that I was not around. Had it been that they met me, they won’t have any option than to surrender and confess their past escapades. I would have loved to be there when the criminals arrived so that they will experience the efficacy of prayers and the word of God.  You cannot steal my property and get away with it just like that since the consequences of perpetuating such evil will last for eternity,” he said.
The cleric, popularly known as Man pass Man also disclosed his readiness to pardon the hoodlums provided they return their loot.  He commended the Archbishop for initiating the prayer programme and called on other parishes that have experienced the same trauma to take heart, remain steadfast and be vigilant.
Fr. Gbuzue also said Governor Peter Obi should in collaboration with the security agencies initiate more  strategies to checkmate the activities of criminals attacking  churches.
Commenting on the ugly development, a Knight of the Catholic Church, Sir Fidel Onuekwusi described the situation as the manifestations of the country’s eroded value system. He noted that even insane people respected sacred places but today people commit all sorts of sacrilegious acts in the society without minding the repercussions.  He reminded evildoers that nemesis and retribution are coming  and they should also be mindful of the biblical injunction saying “Touch not my anointed and do my prophets no harm.”

The Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Emeka Chukwuemeka in a chat with Sunday Sun confirmed that the command was aware of the latest tactics robbers were deploying in the state  but assured that security of lives and property remained the  priority of the police.  He said the command had recorded several breakthroughs in crime prevention and detection and would never relent.

Fresh Boko Haram attacks in Borno claim 27 - ..the .sun Newspapers

Our Reporter September 29, 2013 

From TIMOTHY OLANREWAJU, MAIDUGURI
Boko Haram insurgents have killed no fewer than 27 people in renewed attacks on villagers around the border town of Gamboru/Ngala in Borno State. A security source hinted that the attackers invaded Fulatari ward on Wednesday night and launched similar attack at Kanumburi ward at Gamboru town, Ngala Local Government, killing at least 27 people in the separate attacks.
The insurgents first attacked Fulatari ward on Wednesday about 11pm while another attack took place on Thursday about 10pm,” the source said, adding that the insurgents fired on residents and members of the youth vigilance  group while carrying out surveillance on the area. The source also disclosed that six people were killed while four others sustained injuries in Fulatari while 21 people including the Village Head of Gamboru “A” Lawan Ali Shettima died in the Kanumburi ward attack. Two others sustaining bullet injuries, the source who did not want his name in press claimed.
Chairman of Caretaker Committee of Gamboru/Ngala Local Government, Alhaji Modu Gana Bukar Sheriff who paid a sympathy visit to the victims and their families, expressed shock over the killing. He described the killing by the insurgents as crime against humanity, urging Nigerians to condemn it in its entirety.
The local government boss donated N500 and 200 bags of rice to the youth volunteers (Civilian JTF ) who also lost their colleagues in the attack. He assured them of support of the local government and the Borno State Government in returning peace to the area. He urged them not to be deterred by the incident or relent in their efforts to protect lives and property of the people. He said the injured persons were already receiving treatment in the hospital in the area.
The chairman said he had summoned security meeting with military authorities, divisional police officer (DPO) and traditional rulers in the local government area as part of measures to forestall occurrence of such attack again in the area.
Leader of the volunteers, Jibrilla Adamu thanked the council boss for his concern even as he assured that the killing of some of their colleagues would not dissuade them from their counter-insurgency campaigns, adding that they were determined to make the people of Borno enjoy peace as it were in the past.
Gamboru is located at the Nigeria-Cameroon border, about 135 kilometres to Maiduguri, Borno State capital and former stronghold of the armed sect.

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Demolition Of ‘Kidnappers’ Den’ Stirs Hornet Nest In Delta - The Guardian Newspspers

Sunday, 29 September 2013 00:00 From Chido Okafor, Warri Sunday Magazine - Newsfeature

THERE appears to be no ending in sight to the lingering dispute over the demolition of a residential house at Ovara-Umusu, Orogun owned by the late Daniel Awharitoma and a hotel, Uncle P Guest House at Abraka, Delta State belonging to one Pius Ogbeni. The buildings were pulled down by agents of the Delta State government for allegedly serving as haven to kidnappers, who hid their victims there.
  While ‘Uncle P’ Guest House was demolished for allegedly harbouring and serving as a den for kidnapping kingpin, Kelvin Oniarah also known as Ibruvbe, who has been terrorising Delta, Edo, Rivers and Anambra States and was arrested by operatives of the State Security Service (SSS) last Wednesday, the residential house owned by the late Awhritoma was alleged to have been used by a kidnapping suspect, Anthony Agidi, a tenant in the house, to keep his victims.
  It was learnt that some undisclosed properties have also been marked for demolition in Ughelli, Warri, Sapele and Asaba for the same offence.
    The controversy surrounding the demolitions stemmed from complaints by owners of the properties that they were neither kidnappers nor aware that their properties were being used to keep hostages by kidnappers since a hotel is a public place open to all and sundry.
  At the height of the kidnapping saga in the state in 2012, the state government, desperate to curtail the kidnapping scourge following the notoriety trailing the state as one of the least secure places in Nigeria and its inclusion in a United States security list from where its citizens are forbidden to go, had taken many measures in its fight against the evil act. One of these was the swift passage of a law prohibiting kidnapping and hostage taking.
 The Delta State Anti-kidnapping and Anti-terrorism law passed by the Delta State House of Assembly was believed to have triggered the demolitions of the houses and other illegal acts undertaken in the name of fighting terrorism, as the relevant security agencies, desperate to redeem their battered images resorted to all manners of jungle justice.
  The law prescribed death penalty for anyone involved in kidnapping and terrorism. It also empowered the governor to determine the means and place of execution within the state. Also, that any premises wherein a person is held against his/her will as hostage shall be forfeited to the government without the payment of compensation, except the circumstances of the case suggest otherwise.
  The law also gave the governor or his representative power to sign an order authorising the sealing up of the premises that he reasonably suspects to be used to harbour persons held against their will, kidnapped persons or hostages held with or without the demand for ransom; and that the sealing of the premises shall remain in force pending the final determination of the application for forfeiture or revocation order by the governor.
  But in the demolition of Uncle P Guest House and the family house of late Daniel Awharitoma, lawyers and human rights groups are querying whether government and its agents duly adhered to the provision of the Anti-kidnapping and Terrorism Law.
  For instance, notable Ughelli-based lawyer, Chief Peter Wanogho, has instituted a case at the Warri High Court on behalf of the Awharitoma family whose house was destroyed in questionable circumstances after it was alleged to have been used to habour a kidnap victim.
  The suit is challenging the Delta State government, Commissioner of Police, Speaker of the Delta House of Assembly, the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney of the Federation, all of whom are the defendants in the case, to answer the following constitutional questions:
Whether or not the Delta State government in the execution of the powers purportedly conferred on it by the Delta State Anti-kidnapping and Terrorism Law enacted by the Delta State House of Assembly, can validly authorise policemen under the command of the Delta State Commissioner of Police and the Inspector General of Police to whom the Attorney General of the Federation is their chief law officer, to demolish any premises “where a person is held hostage against his/her will” without the premises being first forfeited to the state government without “an order authorising the sealing up of the premises” reasonably suspected “to be used to harbour persons held against his/her will, kidnapped persons or hostages held with or without the demand for ransom and without a final determination of the application for forfeiture or revocation order by the governor” of Delta State, brought before  a court of competent jurisdiction by Ochuko Daniel Awharitoma”.
  And whether or not section 3 (4) of the Delta State Anti Terrorism Law, 2012, which made a blanket provision that “Any premises wherein a person is held against his/her will as a hostage shall be forfeited to the government without the payment of compensation, except the circumstances of the case otherwise suggests”, in respect of a premises owned by a person who is not a party to the kidnapping or aware that his premises was being used to hold persons as hostages and without the actual owner of the premises being given any hearing before the purported order of forfeiture of the premises, does not violate the provisions of section 36 (1), (2) (a) & (4) and section 44 (1) (a) & (b) of the constitution of the federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and therefore amounts to a flagrant breach or violation of the fundamental rights of the innocent owners of the premises to “be forfeited to the government without the payment of compensation?”
  According to Wanogho, the demolition of the plaintiffs’ buildings on June 10, 2013 without their being first forfeited to government and sealed off; and without a valid order of forfeiture of the said premises and payment of compensation to the plaintiffs, who are not in any way connected to the alleged act of kidnapping or the premises being used to hold hostages is contrary to the provisions of section 3 (4), (5) & (6) and 16 (2) of the Delta State Anti Kidnapping and Anti Terrorism law, 2012 and sections 36 (1), (2) (a) & (4) and 44 (1) (a) & (b) of the constitution of the federal Republic of Nigeria of 1999 as amended. The act is also unlawful and amounts to a flagrant breach and violation of the plaintiffs’ fundamental rights.
  The Awharitoma family is therefore demanding eleven million, six hundred and sixty-nine thousand, four hundred and thirty seven naira as damages and another fifty million naira as exemplary damages for the wrongful, illegal, and unconstitutional flagrant breach and violent violation of the plaintiffs’ fundamental rights. They also sought an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants or their agents from further carrying out any act detrimental to the plaintiffs’ rights over the premises.
  The Delta State Police Command has, however, absolved itself of blame in the alleged illegal demolitions. The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Lucky Uyabeme, told The Guardian that the order approving the demolition of the said houses was a security decision reached during the state security meetings attended by all the heads of the security agencies and government officials. He added that a combined team of the Police, Army, Navy and other relevant government agencies and not just the police carried out the demolition exercise.
  The eldest son of the late owner of the house, Akpbor Daniel Awharitoma, said the demolition was shocking and illegal, adding there was no time the children and the two widows of the late owner were aware that the apartment let out to the late Mrs. Comfort Agidi, was being used by her son, Anthony Agidi, a kidnap suspect, to keep a hostage. 
  Describing the demolition as jungle justice, Human Rights lawyer and national coordinator of the Forum for Justice and Human Rights Defence, (FJHD), Oghenejabor Ikimi, apparently miffed by the non-adherence to the provisions of the Anti-kidnapping law by the state government in the demolition of both houses said: “We members of the Forum For Justice and Human Rights Defence, do hereby call upon the Delta State government to observe the strict provisions of Section 4 sub sections 4 & 5 of the Delta State Anti-kidnapping and Anti-terrorism Law, which empowers the governor or his representative to sign an order authorising the sealing up of any premises that he reasonably finds to be used to harbour persons held against their will, kidnapped persons or hostages held with or without demand for ransom, pending the final determination of the application for forfeiture or revocation order by a competent court.
  “We note with dismay that some residential houses including a hotel were recently demolished on the orders of the state government without recourse to the provisions of the above Law. We submit without fear or favour that the above action of government amounts to jungle justice and a cure worse than the disease. As such, we call on the Delta State government to respect the rule of law in its fight against all forms of criminality in the state.
  In the same vein, Wanogho has urged anyone whose house or houses have been destroyed or demolished to test the law because constitutionally, such houses cannot be destroyed without committing a criminal offence and without government taking possession of them.
  He said that the idea of destroying any building inhabited by kidnappers or used, as a base for kidnap victims is not proper, stressing that the law is meant to serve the interest of the people and not to oppress them.
  Said he: “in the situation where a kidnapper is a tenant in a compound where the landlord is not resident, and is therefore innocent because he/she is unaware that such heinous activity is going on in his/her house…. Is the landlord then the offender? Is the landlord involved in kidnapping? Why should the house be destroyed because a tenant happens to be a kidnapper?
  “Is there any machinery with which a landlord can detect the criminality of his tenant? If there is such in Nigeria, then Boko Haram won’t operate because it would have been used to discover members of the sect in Maiduguri and they would be easily fished out. And if government does not have such machinery, how can it then be possible for an individual landlord, the owner of a building to know that his/her tenant is involved in kidnapping?
  “Criminality is not written on the forehead because it is a thing of the mind and the criminal law punishes an offender. And who is an offender? Those who aid in the commission of the crime, those who counsel the commission of the crime and those that aid after the commission of the crime are regarded as offenders.
  “In this case, however, they punished a man who never participated in any way in the commission of the crime. His only offence is that he built a house and let it out to a person, who happens to be involved in a crime. Even if the kidnapped victim is taken to a house so hired, does that make the landlord an offender? And if the house is demolished, has the weight of the criminality been visited on the actual criminal? Or should the brunt of the criminality now be borne by an innocent landlord who let out his house?
  “If government could provide the machinery for landlords, whereby all potential tenants are brought to a screening machine to test their criminality to know who is capable of committing what crime, then that law would be justifiable. But the law, I dare say is barbaric. Criminal responsibility is personal and not transferable. You cannot punish a man for a crime he has not committed. The demolition of houses of persons who are not criminal just because their houses are inhabited by criminals is a bad law; a bad piece of legislation that should be condemned. Nobody is taking sides with criminals, but let the innocent citizens not get punished for an offence they did not commit.
  “Take for example the demolition of the hotel in Abraka. The criminals allegedly involved in the kidnapping have not been caught, yet the house of the hotel owner has been demolished. What crime has the hotel owner committed? Is a hotel not a public resource centre where anybody can lodge? Any law that punishes an innocent man in the 21st century is not only anachronistic but is barbaric and why should we be Barbarians in Nigeria?”

On The New Driver’s Licence - .the Guardian Newspapers

Sunday, 29 September 2013 00:00 Editor Opinion - Editorial

TRUE to all predictions, the enhanced Driver’s Licence and Vehicle Number scheme was turning out an exploitative and insensitive venture capable of visiting increased misery on Nigerians. Many issuing centres in the cities, against the initial September 30 deadline set for the expiration of old number plates and driver’s licence, had witnessed huge human traffic, subjecting Nigerians to needless panic and excruciating agony over the purchase of the so-called new driver’s licence and number plates. But thankfully the Joint Tax Board graciously extended the revalidation exercise to June 30, 2014, in a public announcement it carried recently.
  However, by its earlier refusal to review the scheme, and by its inability to anticipate the panic and traffic, the government seemed to have re-affirmed its insensitivity to the plight of Nigerians. In this regard, officers implicated in the initial shoddy execution of the scheme should be made to face sanction.  
  Since the FRSC re-commenced the issuance of the new driver’s licence and new number plate a few months ago, following the halt put to it by the National Assembly, Nigerians have been subjected to harrowing and humiliating experiences in order to beat the deadline for the expiration of the old driver/vehicular identification. Apart from the huge human traffic, the process is cumbersome and time-consuming, as reports from Lagos, Ibadan, Abuja and other city centres have shown. In many instances, it demands frequent unwarranted ambling from the FRSC’s office to the bank and then to the Vehicle Inspection office for the final lap of the process. Even after the completion of the paper work, one is confronted with shortage of capturing machines and even total system failure — a situation responsible for frequent postponement of applicants’ digital image-capturing. The effect of this is that applicants for new number plates would be made to deal with their vehicles without identification for weeks and even months.
  Sadly, this is not what the FRSC, the Joint Tax Board and other stakeholders had bargained for when the FRSC designed the ‘One drive, One Record’ harmonised licence scheme, which FRSC Corps-Marshal Osita Chidoka, stated, “can be shared with other security agencies for crime prevention and the promotion of national security”. If that is the case, then what happened? How did vehicle number plates become scarce as the deadline approached?
  Despite the fact Nigerians have often been criticised as intolerable, their compliance with the FRSC’s directive through an uncanny display of patience and subservience, amidst sloppy management of a municipal facility, is commendable. However, it would be a mistake to take this for granted as the government is wont to do.
  As the rush in the centres has demonstrated, it is doubtful if the government considered the ripple effect of its negligence and inconsiderate administration of the driver/vehicular identification process. With scores of dissatisfied customers milling around the centres, manned by discourteous and ill-mannered officials, who themselves have become challenged by the tedium and tackiness of the exercise, it would take only a short while before tensions begin to mount, especially with the non-availability of driver’s licences and number plates. As tensions rise and tempers flare, simple altercations, which ordinarily would be resolved, frankly, would become, in this mob setting, a recipe for violence. And Nigeria, charged as it is from the palpitation of socio-political discontents, cannot afford to be fanned aflame by a commotion over driver’s licence and number plates.
  It is probable, therefore, that a groundswell of public complaints and an acknowledgement of its incapacitation might have impelled the FRSC and other stakeholders in the scheme to reconsider an extension of the September 30 deadline.
  Although various excuses, such as the characteristic Nigerian rush syndrome, have been adduced for some of the major challenges encountered in the scheme, it is an indication of managerial insight to anticipate panic and rush in innovations such as this.
  As it is, there is a latent bureaucratic malady, which reinforces the suspicion that the government does not possess the administrative capacity to manage a project as lofty and ambitious as this biometric database. In its typical rehash of errors whenever a new public-oriented programme comes up, new numbers plates have suddenly become scarce and image-capturing machines have stopped working or have not yet been supplied, just when Nigerians need them most. Is it not a cause for worry that a government desirous of this unified mode of driver/vehicle licensing to treat this highly regarded scheme with levity? A government that cannot set a deadline or one that dilly-dallies with crucial projects of national importance gives room for all manner of hirelings, including its agents and fraudsters, to thrive.
  Given the lack of preparedness on the part of the authorities concerned, and the tardiness surrounding the whole exercise, Nigerians deserve a respite.  However grand the idea of an enhanced Driver’s Licence and Vehicle Number scheme seems, the execution of the project is confused and badly implemented. Its long-term nationalistic intentions and developmental motive seem to be blighted by this shoddy execution.
  It is either the government is ready for the enhanced Driver’s Licence and Vehicle Number scheme, or it is not. If it is, all things must be in place to make this exercise as hitch-free as possible, as the Public Amendment of the JTB has stated.