WE KILLED SUSPECTED ISLAMIST AND ARRESTED 15 OTHERS CLAIMED NIGERIAN ARMY

GOVERNOR OF ADAMAWA STATE NARROWLY ESCAPED DEATH

The Governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako narrowly escaped death as gunshots boomed while he and the Speaker of the state’s House of Assembly, Hon Umar Fintiri were on a condolence visit to Shuwa.
Street Journal gathered that the shooting started just as the Governor rounded off his condolence remarks and prayers were being offered for the repose of the souls of the victims of Wednesday’s attack on the town. There was confusion and the prayers had to be suspended.
It was later found out the gunshots came from soldiers who kept shouting “the boys are coming” as they kept firing. The discovery annoyed the Governor who blamed the soldiers for causing unnecessary tension.
Shuwa was one of the towns that came under attack from the Boko Haram terrorist sect who swooped on Adamawa State on Wednesday.
It will be recalled that Governor Shettima of Borno State narrowly escaped being hit as terrorists shot at his convoy on his way back from a condolence visit to areas that were attacked.

APC WASHED THEIR HANDS OFF THE KIDNAPPED OF PDP CHIEF

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State says it has learnt with shock of the allegation by the factional Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the State, Mr. Felix Obuah, that the Rivers State Government and the APC leadership have a hand in the allege kidnapping of three PDP chieftains and killing of one other person.
The abducted men include the Port Harcourt Local Government PDP Chairman, Ikechi Chinda; a former member of the House of Representatives representing Port Harcourt Federal Constituency I, Hon Chinyere Igwe; and Alwell Ihunda.
In a press statement to NF-Reports on the night of 27 Feb. 2014, by the Senior Special Aide on Media and Public Affairs to the Interim State Chairman, APC Rivers State, Chief Eze Chukwumeka Emeka said: “We consider this allegation not only very unfortunate but also unbecoming of a fellow who claims to be a party leader”.
“Those who know the antecedents of Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and the Rivers State Government under his watch can testify to his abhorrence for violence, including the unholy acts of kidnapping and militancy – not to talk of murder! It is a well-known fact that the Amaechi administration did everything humanly possible to eradicate the menace of militancy and kidnapping from Rivers State and that it succeeded in doing so until the likes of Mr. Obuah came on board promoting both militancy and kidnapping as part of their satanic strategy to make the state ungovernable due to their political differences with Amaechi This fact is well known to every keen follower of events in Rivers State.
“It is, therefore, diversionary for Mr. Obuah, who played a key role in bringing back insecurity to Rivers State, to turn around to accuse the Amaechi administration in this regard. We urge Mr. Obuh to apologise to Gov. Amaechi and Rivers APC leadership within 48 hours or we may feel compelled to explore legal options available to us in this regard. He should also assist the police to unravel the circumstances behind the alleged kidnapping and murder since he obviously knows much about these criminal acts.
“Though this act maybe a ploy to protest the removal of CP Mbu from Rivers State by the PDP faithful seeing that CP Mbu was one of their prized members and introduction of the type of Government they intend to run in Rivers State if they take over the reins of governance in Rivers State come 2015 but now that we have come to terms to their level of frustration we will ensure that such a group will never taste power anymore in Rivers State.
“Finally, let us state unequivocally that neither Rivers APC nor Gov. Amaechi and his administration know anything about the alleged kidnapping and murder. We will never be involved in any act that will bring sorrow to even our greatest political enemy or enemies, not to talk of aiding kidnapping of anybody for whatever reason! We urge the Police to investigate Mr. Obuah and find out from him why and how these people were kidnapped as both the Rivers State Government and APC leadership have nothing to do with this”.

RURAL AREA DEVELOPMENT FUNDS WAS GOTTEN FROM ABACHA'S $500M LOOT - OKONJO IWEALA

Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy and , Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said yesterday that the $ 500 million recovered Abacha loot was used to develop the nation’s rural areas.
The minister was reacting to an article by Mr. Sonala Olumhense who claimed that $2.5 billion was recovered from the funds looted by the then maximum ruler, Gen. Sani Abacha but that the money disappeared under the minister’s watch.
According to the minister, $ 500 million, not $2.5 billion was recovered and had been spent development projects in rural areas as agreed with the Swiss government.
A statement by Mr. Paul Nwabikwu, Special Adviser to the minister said that the claims by Mr. Olumhense were unverified and largely false.
“The problem I have with Mr Sonala Olumhense’s articles on the Coordinating Minister and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala is the general absence of verified facts and the basing of opinions on gross inaccuracies.
“For instance, Mr Olumhense writes that $2.5 billion of Abacha money was recovered during Dr Okonjo Iweala’s time as Finance Minister under President Obasanjo and that the money disappeared implying some involvement in the disappearance by the Minister. This is absolutely false. First, the amount recovered was $500 million, not $2.5 billion.
“The recovered amount was channeled into rural projects and programmes as per the agreement with the Swiss government which repatriated the funds. A combined team of Nigerian and Swiss NGOs with the World Bank later verified the use of this money on the ground in the projects cited and they certified the money had been accurately utilized.
“The World Bank had written about this in a 2007 2008 Handbook on stolen Asset Recovery where the case was cited as a best practice example of how to deploy returned proceeds of looted assets. Readers of Mr Olumhense would benefit more if his passionate writings on Dr Okono Iweala are supported by a bit more research as opposed to sweeping, unverified statements”, the statement read in part.
On the NNPC oil accounts issue, Mr. Nwabuikwu said that the minister has been at the forefront of the anti corruption crusade and had called for an independent forensic audit to establish the facts of any unaccounted for money and ensure that all every Naira owed the treasury was returned to the Federation Account.
“This is the best way to proceed given the conflicting claims by Mr Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and the NNPC. After all the speeches and comments like that of Mr Olumhense, the fundamental problem of determining the facts as a basis for action must still be tackled. Is there room for more action on corruption? Of course the answer can only be yes. But action is needed to achieve change. Talk is cheap, action is crucial.
“The clean up of the fraud in the subsidy payments regime to oil marketers for which she paid a heavy personal price in the form of the abduction of her mother by paid kidnappers in November 2012 is one clear example”.
“Another example is the clean up of the pension fraud with the establishment now of a new institution under the Federal Ministry of Finance – the Pension Transition Administration Department to ensure that pensioners under the old defined benefits scheme are not defrauded anymore”, he said.

US SENATORS SPLIT OVER UGANDA AID'S FREEZE

An influential US lawmaker on Tuesday proposed withholding aid to Uganda after the African nation’s president signed a controversial new measure imposing life prison sentences for homosexuals.
“I am deeply concerned by the decision of President (Yoweri) Museveni of Uganda to sign into law the anti-homosexuality bill,” Senator Patrick Leahy, the most senior member of the chamber and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement.
“Much of US assistance to Uganda is for the people of Uganda, including those in the Ugandan LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community whose human rights are being so tragically violated,” he added.
“But we need to closely review all US assistance to Uganda, including through the World Bank and other multilateral organisations.”
Washington is among Uganda’s largest international donors.
The State Department said that in current fiscal year some $485 million in bilateral assistance had been provided to Uganda with most of the funds going towards health programs, as well as education, food security and military training.
The State Department has signalled it is looking at a range of options to respond to the law, while White House spokesman Jay Carney said “we are undertaking a review of our relationship with Uganda in light of this decision.”
Mr Leahy chairs the appropriations subcommittee on State Department and foreign operations, and he has several options at his disposal, including inserting language in a 2015 aid bill that puts conditions on US assistance to Uganda.
Argued against
Some lawmakers argued against cutting off aid.
“Africa is a continent in peril. The problems in Uganda with AIDS, and, you know, kids starving — do we deny economic aid to the developing world in Africa, which could be an ally, over an issue like this?” asked Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.
“I’m not so sure that’s the right answer.”
Fellow Senate Republican James Inhofe, who has travelled to Africa dozens of times and has strong connections to Uganda, said he was “offended” by the anti-gay law but suggested blocking aid would be counterproductive.
“We can all express ourselves on how we oppose” the new law, he told news wire AFP. “But if we start making that the predicate for what our policy is going to be on all issues, I think that’s probably the wrong way to do it.”
Washington has praised Uganda for successfully tackling HIV/AIDS. The Kampala government has prioritised abstinence and faith in addition to condom use, and the UN recorded a plunge in Uganda’s HIV prevalence, from 18.5 per cent in 1992 to five per cent in 2000.

SUSPECTED BOKO HARAM OPEN FIRE ON SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS SLEEPING IN THEIR DORMITORY

Suspected Boko Haram Islamists on Tuesday opened fire on secondary school students as they slept in a dormitory in Nigeria’s troubled northeastern Yobe state, the military said.
Casualty figures from the attack in the town of Buni Yadi, roughly 60 kilometres (40 miles) from the state capital Damaturu, were not immediately available but scores of students have been killed in similar attacks in the state in the last year.
The military spokesman in Yobe, Lazarus Eli, said the raid occurred at 2:00 am (0100 GMT) at the town’s Federal Government College, a school for students aged 11 to 18.
The gunmen “opened fire on student hostels”, Eli said.
“Details are still sketchy due to lack of telephone access and it is still not clear how many students were affected in the attack”, he added.
The name Boko Haram means “Western education is forbidden” and the Islamist rebels have carried out waves of attacks at schools across the north during their four-and-a-half year insurgency.
At least 40 students were killed in September at an agriculture training college in the Yobe town of Gujba in September after Boko Haram gunmen stormed a series of dorms in the middle of the night and sprayed gunfire on sleeping students.
Yobe is one of three northeastern states which was placed under emergency rule in May last year when the military launced a massive operation to crush the Boko Haram uprising.
More than 1,000 people have been killed in the region since the emergency measures were imposed, despite the enhanced military presence.
Boko Haram, declared a terrorist organisation by Nigeria and the United States, has said it is fighting to create an Islamic state in Nigeria’s mainly Muslim north.
AFP

WILL WHATSAPP EVER BE THE SAME AFTER FACEBOOK BOUGHT IT OVER?

WHATSAPP has been down for at least two hours days after it was bought by Facebook, it has been claimed three days ago
Twitter users first posted their frustration, many blaming Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, after opening the messaging service and seeing it fail to connect to servers.
Earlier that week the app available for Apple iPhones, Blackberrys and Android devices was bought by Facebook for $19 billion (£11.4bn).
WhatsApp took to Twitter around 8.15pm on Thursday to confirm that the service is experiencing problems and they are working to fix the issues.

The WhatsApp Status account tweeted: “Sorry we currently experiencing server issues. we hope to
be back up and recovered shortly.”

GEJ TO REPLACE BORNO GOVERNOR (SHETTIMA) WITH MILITARY ADMINISTRATOR.

Governor Kashim Shettima is to be suspended from office early this week and replaced by a Military Administrator as part of plans by the Federal Government to launch a decisive military offensive against Boko Haram insurgents, Sunday Trust learnt from authoritative sources in Abuja at the weekend.
Members of the Borno State House of Assembly are also to proceed on suspension to enable the Military Administrator to exercise full executive and legislative powers. President Goodluck Jonathan is expected to announce the sudden move on Wednesday when he swears in 11 new ministers, including Lt General Aliyu Mohamed Gusau, who is expected to take over as Defence Minister.
Sources told Sunday Trust that the Presidency has already identified a retired Army General that it intends to appoint as the Military Administrator of Borno State. According to the sources, the Presidency believes that placing a soldier in charge of the state government will send a signal to the recalcitrant insurgents and also give impetus to the highly stepped up military effort that it is planning in the wake of deadly attacks on several Borno communities by the insurgents in recent weeks.
It was not immediately clear if the presidency’s planned move is meant to punish Governor Kashim Shettima, who had a sharp exchange with it last week over handling of the war against Boko Haram. Emerging from a private meeting with the president, Shettima told reporters that the insurgents were often better armed and better motivated than the army in the ongoing war. Jonathan’s senior special assistant for public affairs, Doyin Okupe, replied the next day, saying Shettima’s claim was not true, that the governor is too inexperienced to know about weapons and that the military is winning the war against Boko Haram. Shettima, however, visited the State House again last Thursday and had another private meeting with Jonathan, where observers thought they had resolved their differences. Sources said Jonathan invited Shettima to the meeting after last Wednesday’s renewed Boko Haram attack on Bama town.
Sunday Trust learnt that the move to suspend democratic structures in Borno State was recently revived following a similar attempt last May, when Jonathan first declared a state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states. His proposal to suspend governors and state legislators in the affected states was vehemently opposed by the National Assembly, lawyers and civil society groups. They pointed out that a Supreme Court ruling in the case of Atiku versus Obasanjo made it clear that a governor, deputy governor, vice president or a president can only lose his position in one of four ways. These are death, permanent incapacitation, resignation and impeachment. A parallel move by Jonathan to seize the financial allocations of the three states and commandeer it to fund military operations was also thwarted by the House of Representatives, which deleted it from the gazette emergency notice issued by the president.
Contacted for his comments yesterday, Shettima’s spokesman Isa Umar Gusau said he was “surprised to hear that the federal government may be contemplating such an illegal, unjustified, unconstitutional and highly controversial move that will heat up the polity and endanger this country’s democracy.” He said his boss is a very calm, extremely patient person, who is not given to muckraking or unguarded utterances. He said “what the governor said was a product of long observation, a welter of information from persons at the receiving end of the attacks and also careful reflection. The view is shared by all elders and community leaders in the state. It was not meant to embarrass anyone but to alert Nigerians to the danger we all face and to seek the support of all citizens towards overcoming it.”
Gusau also said, “If the reason for the alleged move is in order to win greater support for the military in this battle, I doubt if anyone else can do what Governor Shettima has done and is still doing by way of assisting the security operations and also by bringing quick relief to victims of insurgent attacks, including the widows and families of security agents.” He said the Borno State Government under Shettima has provided vehicles, allowances, fuel and other equipment worth hundreds of millions over the years to the military and other agencies fighting Boko Haram.
In addition, he said, Shettima paid over N200m to families of soldiers killed in operations as well as provided hundreds of millions of naira as relief to families of civilians killed by insurgents. The governor, he said, promptly visits communities attacked by insurgents and arranges immediate relief and resettlement. This is necessary in order to build up public confidence in security operations and maintain popular backing for the military operations, he said.
Contacted for comments yesterday, President Jonathan’s spokesman Reuben Abati told Sunday Trust reporter that he was not aware of any such moves by government.
“I’m not aware of such a plan,” Dr Abati said. “We’ve just returned from Owerri, Imo State, where the president received politicians who have joined the PDP. Why not call the military authorities to confirm that to you. As you know, the constitution is very clear on how a governor could be replaced. I cannot confirm anything to you on this issue.”
Meanwhile, constitutional lawyers spoken to yesterday described the planned move by the Presidency as illegal and unconstitutional.
A constitutional lawyer and executive director of the Human Rights Monitor, Barrister Festus Okoye, said removing a state governor and dissolving the state assembly will amount to ‘constitutional aberration’ capable of affecting the 2015 polls and giving the fight against insurgency ‘an unwarranted political colouration.’
He said the state of emergency that was declared in accordance with Section 305(1) of the constitution and published in Federal Government’s Gazette, after its approval by the National Assembly, did not provide for dissolution of any of the states’ democratic structures.
“The details of the proclamation do not include the removal of the governor and the dissolution of the House of Assembly and other elected democratic structures. It is a constitutional aberration to declare and (or) assume that a state of emergency must of necessity extinguish democratic structures or lead to their dissolution or suspension. The governor and the state assemblies are elected and the conditions for their removal or suspension are also constitutionally spelt out,” he said.
“The governors of the affected states have displayed uncommon courage in the face of the massive onslaught by the insurgents. The security agencies have been doing their own bit. The missing link in the fight against insurgency is in the area of intelligence gathering, analysis and implementation. There is also an imagination deficit in the approach to the challenge of insurgency.
“Any approach to tackling insurgency that does not creatively factor the local population into the solution will not achieve the desired result. The Nigerian people must bond together and tackle the challenge of insurgency.
“The dissolution of democratic structures in any of the states will put an undeserved strain on the 2015 elections and give the fight against insurgency an unwarranted political coloration. The dissolution will be unconstitutional and will polarize the National Assembly. I do not see the National Assembly approving the amendment to the details and when such is defeated in the National Assembly it may demoralize the armed forces. As we move towards the 2015 elections, we must avoid constitutional impunity that will put an undeserved strain on our fragile constitutional democracy,” he said.
Also, human rights activist Femi Falana, SAN, said Governor Shettima cannot be held responsible for the seeming successes being recorded by the dreaded Boko Haram troops in the North East.
Falana, who stated this in a telephone interview with Sunday Trust yesterday, said that no Military Administrator can fight the Boko Haram when army commanders have failed to conquer the insurgent group.
The senior lawyer said it was because of the illegality of the arrangement that President Jonathan could not appoint Military Administrators when he declared state of emergency in three states in the North-East zone last year.
“It was because of the illegality of the proposition that the president could not appoint Military Administrators (MILADS) for those three states when he declared a state of emergency last year. Since the constitution has not been amended to empower the president and the NASS to remove an elected governor, there are no bases to remove the Borno State governor. If anybody has to take responsibility for the worsening security situation and for the crisis in Borno State and the North-East, so far, it is the president who is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and not the governor, who is a glorified chief security officer of the state.
“In fairness to Jonathan he has repeatedly assured Nigerians that the situation is under control and that the FG is winning the war against terror. The unarmed governor of Borno State cannot be held vicariously liable for the seeming success being recorded by the Boko Haram fighters, who appear more armed than Nigerian soldiers and have resorted to guerilla warfare, which is very alien to the Nigerian armed forces.
“Instead of resorting to any diversionary tactic, FG should go back to the drawing table by motivating the soldiers and equipping them with modern weapons as well as improvement of the intelligence gathering,” Falana said.
Sunday Trust

FORMER CBN GOVERNOR(SANUSI) MAY BE PROSECUTED - PRESIDENCY

The suspended Sof the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mallam Lamido Sanusi, may face prosecution over the allegation of financial recklessness levelled against him by the Federal Government.
SUNDAY PUNCH’s investigation revealed that relevant government agencies, especially the anti-graft agencies, would be asked to study the report of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria which indicted the embattled governor with a view to prosecuting him.
“When government’s spokesmen said on Thursday that investigation into the matter was still ongoing, what do you think they were talking about? It is clear that there are agencies of government saddled with the responsibility of investigating cases like this. They will definitely carry out their statutory responsibilities,” a competent government source told SUNDAY PUNCH.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, told Punch correspondent that the FRCN in its report to President Goodluck Jonathan indeed recommended prosecution.
He however said he could not confirm whether the President had given any directive to anti-graft agencies.
The presidential spokesman said what was clear was that Sanusi had a lot of questions to answer on the matter.
Abati said, “I don’t have any information on whether the President has sent the report that indicted Sanusi to anti-graft agencies but if you see the FRCN report, it recommends prosecution as its last recommendation.
“I cannot tell you whether the President has taken steps on the strength of that recommendation or not because as we have said, investigation is still ongoing.
“I am sure Sanusi himself knows that he has a lot of questions to answer but I cannot tell you categorically that a particular step has been taken.”
The presidential spokesman added that the CBN 2013 financial statement could also be faulty since it was based on the 2012 statement that had already been condemned by the report.
“One thing most people are overlooking is that if the financial statement of 2012 was strongly condemned by the FRCN, the question you should ask is that on what basis did the CBN conduct its financial processes for 2013?
“If you say a particular financial statement is wrong, for you to start another year, you have to bring forward the balance of the previous year.
“So, what figure did CBN bring forward to 2013? There are still a lot of issues requiring further investigation before a water-tight case can be established,” he explained.
Paragraph 5.4 of the FRCN’s report dated June 7, 2013 signed by the council’s Executive Secretary, Jim Obazee, and addressed to the President read, “Your Excellency is invited to note that the explanation provided by the leadership of the CBN is unsatisfactory. Accordingly, Your Excellency may wish to decide that those found culpable should be prosecuted accordingly.”
The report found Sanusi and the bank’s deputy governors culpable and advised the President to exercise the powers conferred on him by Section 11(2)(f) of the CBN Act 2007 or invoke Section 11(2)(c) of the said Act “and cause the governor and the deputy governors to cease from holding office in the CBN.”
Punch

A TAXI DRIVER IN NEW YORK, A CHIEF OVER 5 TOWNS IN GHANA

WHO IS THIS YOUNG MAN?

The image of the man circled is one you know so well.  At that time he walked among ordinary men, but now he is walking with Kings. Never underrate the man beside you, you never know where he will be tomorrow. I hope this man remember all this men that took this picture with him. if i may ask who is this man ?
Yes I know you know him, i know he is very wealthy, but if i may ask, at this time who did this man really think he is? where did he think he will reach in life? Now that God have brought him to the point he is now. What will he have to say to his creator? Who is this young man?

SANUSI'S PASSPORT SEIZED BY SSS

Following the controversial suspension of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi earlier yesterday, officials of the State Security Services, SSS, have withheld his passport as he arrived via Lagos international airport, Nigeria on his way back from Niger Republic.
According to former minister Nasir El-rufai who accompanied the suspended CBN governor, “With SLS leaving Execujet terminal. SSS officers have with-held his passport and initially sought to restrain him from going into Lagos….”
The SSS initially stopped Sanusi but later let him leave with his family.
Sanusi, driven in a black Toyota SUV accompanied by several official cars, is now driving through Lagos streets.
Sanusi reiterated that he will challenge his dismissal in court, adding that Nigerians should not relent in pursuing the fight to recover the $20 billion missing from the NNPC.

PRESIDENT JONATHAN GAVE REASON FOR SUSPENDING SANUSI

JOOMNAIJA

Joomlanaija is my new blog that will be launched next week.  It is based on how someone can create a professional, customized website using joomla. We will be teaching our readers comprehensive on how to be offline creating their site using the best CMS software ever know for building website. For details on my blog it will be nice if you join my facebook group for updates on when the blog will be coming up. You can make money for yourself by just reading my blogs.
Don't miss out on this, you can also visit my company site Tip-Topweb
We want to create a job for you.