ACTING CHAIRMAN OF EFCC, IBRAHIM LAMODE

Nigeria: 15 Arrested for illegal oil bunkering

Fifteen suspects arrested by men of the Nigerian Army and Navy for conspiracy and illegal dealing in petroleum products are in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Six of the suspects were handed over to the EFCC by the Commanding Officer, NNS Pathfinder, Nigerian Navy in Port Harcourt, Rivers State and they are: Elu’u Lawrence, Daniel Luke, Emmanuel Etim Akpan, Endurance Eleyi, Gift Sunday Udo and Raphael Godspower.

They were arrested along Cawthorne Channel, Rivers State on board the Tug Boat “MV CHIJIOKE” by men of the Nigerian Navy.

One of the suspects: Raphael Godspower was alleged to have bunkered 30,000 litres of petroleum product without any documentation at the time of arrest.
The other nine suspects were handed over to the EFCC by men of the Nigerian Army in Benin-City, Edo State.

They are: Sunday Emmanuel; Mike Joseph , Titus Okoebor , John Osagie , Iluobe Uzama , Destiny Ailaumah, Peter Adogun, Monday Ojemokhai and Nelson Airhuboyi . They were arrested at Upper Sakponba Road by Ekpe River, Rivers State.

Five tankers filled with products suspected to be petroleum products were confiscated from the suspects.
Investigations showed that the tug boat which some of the suspects used for the operation was rented out to them by Winsco Services Limited. Both the Director of the company, Mr. Kingsley Chinedu Ozigbo and the Manager, Mr. Ozigbo Uzoamaka have been invited by the EFCC for questioning.

The matter is still being investigated by the EFCC.

GOVERNOR BABATUNDE FASHOLA

Lagos Begins Replacement Of Old Number Plates Thursday.

The Lagos State Motor Vehicle Administration Agency, MVAA, will begin the replacement of the old vehicle number plates with the new national vehicle number plates in the state from Thursday.
Its Permanent Secretary, Akin Hanson, said owners of registered vehicles could replace the old number plates and also renew their vehicle licences at the MVAA’s 46 licensing offices across the state from Monday upon completion of necessary renewal forms and payment of prescribed fees.
“Vehicle owners applying for number plates’ replacement should visit any of the 46 licencing offices of the MVAA for a one-stop registration and completion of the replacement/issuance process.
“Alternatively, applicants can visit the website of Courteville Group (MVAA partners) at http://www.courtevillegroup.com/ for online completion of Form MVA01 before proceeding to the nearest licencing office with relevant documents to complete the issuance procedure,” he said.
According to him, the required documents included expired/existing vehicle licences, certificate of proof of ownership, sworn affidavit and police report, owner or representative’s passport photograph as well as valid means of identification such as international passport, driver’s licence or national identity card.
He added that applications and enquiries regarding confirmed fake registration numbers should be forwarded to the MVAA headquarters for consideration.
The inception of the replacement of old vehicle number plates is coming nine weeks after the state’s Commissioner for Transportation, Kayode Opeifa flagged off the issuance of the new National Vehicle Number Plates on 16 November, 2011 with the issuance of the new plates to only owners of unregistered new or used imported vehicles.
Hanson said that the huge backlog of registration applications arising from the non-availability of number plates nationwide between September and October last year, which necessitated the phasing of the issuance of new vehicle number plates had been cleared, hence the commencement of the old number plates replacement phase.
He stated that special desks had been created at the licencing offices to enhance seamless simultaneous processing of applications by both the owners of new unregistered vehicles as well as registered vehicles with old number plates.

LAGOS POLICE BOSS

Driver Kills Teenager Inside School Bus While Trying To Rape Her.

The police in Lagos State, have arrested a private school bus driver for allegedly killing a 16-year old girl for refusing to allow him have sex with her inside a school bus.
The driver, identified as Godwin Etute, allegedly murdered the teenager called Tolu Gbadamosi, dumped her by the road side and drove off.
The 26-year old suspect was arrested by the police at Ikotun Division on a tip-off by someone who saw him when he dumped the victim and drove off.
The incident happened at Egbe in Alimosho area of Lagos State where both worked in a popular private school (name withheld).
Etute was employed as the school bus driver, while the late Gbadamosi also worked as auxiliary teacher who also assisted the driver to take school children with the bus to and from school.
Sources said her problem started when Etute attempted to woo her to have sex with him several times but she refused and told him that he had not tried sex with any man.
She insisted that she can only do that when she gets married.
She reported her encounter with Etute to her mom and few of her friends.
It was gathered that on the day of the incident, Etute drove the school bus to pick children to the school with Gbadamosi in the morning.
While only two of them were in the bus as they set out to pick the pupils, he alleged parked the bus by the roadside and attempted to forcefully have sex with the victim inside the school bus.
“When she refused, he grabbed her and tore her underwear, but the girl resisted him. And Etute started beating her,” an eyewitness said.
In anger, Etute allegedly brought out a screw driver and stabbed Tolu. She collapsed and died inside the school bus.
The police were later contacted and they arrested Etute.
The incident has thrown the management of the school and the family of the deceased into mourning.
The owner of the school was said to have gone to the police station in respect of the matter.
While at the Ikotun Station, a police source confirmed the incident and added that the matter will be transferred to State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, Panti Yaba, Lagos after their preliminary investigation at Ikotun.

NURTW FACTIONAL CHAIRMAN

Lagos Island Boils Again As NURTW Factions Clash.

Lagos Island area of Lagos State, boiled this morning as factions of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, clashed again.
Shops and vehicles were said to have been destroyed this morning while one person was reportedly killed last night when the crisis turned bloody.
Policemen have been deployed to the area to maintain peace.
supporters of Rafiu Olohunwa and MC Oluomo clashed on the Island as the crisis is said to have spread to Adeniji Adele, Campos Square and Idumota.
Pandemonium broke out in the area as people scampered to safety and hurriedly closed their shops.
A police source revealed that over 25 vehicles were destroyed during the fracas. This morning, there was an uneasy calm in Idumota, Adeniji Adele and Campos Square as most of the shops were shut.
Clashes last night and this morning were a fallout of last Friday’s clash in which a supporter of Olohunwa was said to have been killed by Oluomo’s faction of the NURTW.
Olohunwa’s faction allegedly retaliated last night by killing a supporter of Oluomo while hell was let loose thereafter as dangerous weapons were used freely.
Scores of hoodlums have been arrested over the clashes.
Lagos State Police Command has deployed Policemen to maintain peace at Lagos Island area where factions of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, clashed again.
Shops and vehicles were said to have been destroyed while one person was reportedly killed when the crisis turned bloody.
To this end the Police Command directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police in-charge of Operations, Tunde Shobulo to take over the ongoing operations in the area so as to restore peace.
Commissioner of Police, Yakubu Alkali who made this known appealed to lagosians to go about their normal daily activities as the situation is under control.
His plea is contained in a statement signed by the New Police Public Relations Officer, Joseph Jaiyeola.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Government has vowed to shut down motor parks in the state where clashes among factions of the Union are rampant.
The government said it can no longer tolerate clashes and disturbances in some motor parks as a result of the tussle by the Union factions as to which faction should control certain parks.
Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Aderemi Ibirogba said the current wave of disturbances at some motor parks in the state, especially on Lagos lsland, occasioned by the struggle for control by the different union leaders, is to say the least, very worrisome.
Ibirogba said government is not happy that union leaders have been engaging in acts that threaten public peace through their seeming adoption of violence as the means of achieving supremacy among the contenders for union positions.
He called on the different union leaders to stop, forthwith, such acts of breach to public peace and allow peace to reign in all the motor parks.
A clash between factions of the union led to a bloody fight last Friday, resulting in the death of one person. Some victims were injured and six persons arrested in connection with the violence.
It was gathered that trouble started after the NURTW National President, Alhaji Najeem Yasin, during a closed-door meeting at the union’s Abule Egba office, stated that the Lagos State NURTW election would hold at a date to be announced later, since the five contestants to the number one seat in the state could not present a consensus candidate.
The former chairman, Alhaji Rafiu Olohunwa’s supporters were said to have been caught off guard as their expectation was that the NURTW National President would handpick and endorse their man at the meeting.
Yasin’s announcement led to clashes at Iyana-Ipaja and later on Lagos Island, where Alhaji Ola-Shehu was alleged to have been shot dead by supporters of a chairmanship candidate.

FORMER SPEAKER HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE, DIMEJI BANKOLE.

N38B LOAN SCAM: Court Frees Bankole, Nafada

An Abuja High Court presided over by Justice Suleiman Belgore on Tuesday absolved the embattled former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole and his erstwhile Deputy, Bayero Nafada, of any crime by obtaining N38 billion loan from UBA for the payment of an enhanced package and running cost for members of the House of Representatives.
Bankole’s lawyers led by Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, a senior advocate of Nigeria, in an application brought before the court on behalf of the former Speaker and his Deputy for the quashing of the charges slammed against them by the Economic and Financoial Crimes Commission, EFCC, had argued that an account number issued by a bank cannot be said to be a property to be owned or entrusted as alleged in the charge for which Bankole and Nafada are being tried.
He stated that an account number cannot be subject to ownership.
In quashing the charge, Justice Belgore noted that the record increment in members’ allowance by obtaining the N38 billion loan was immoral, wrong and condemnable, especially given the abject poverty to which a great majority of Nigerians have been forced to exist under, but went on to hold that Bankole and Nafada had committed no crime.
The court further held that the the House of Representatives has power to use its funds in ways it deemed fit whether as running costs or enhancement of welfare package and that such discretion exercised by the House over its funds does not amount to a crime.
Justice Belgore also maintained that constitutionally, the Speaker had nothing to do with the accounts of the House of Representatives and rapped the Clerk of the House whose function it is to manage the Accounts of the House for allowing the Speaker to usurp the powers of his office.
He further noted that it is the Clerk, not Bankole and Nafada, who should be charged with securing and disbursing the loans.

AL-MUSTAPHA

Kudirat Abiola: Al-Mustapha To Die By Hanging.

Justice Mojisola Dada of a Lagos High Court this evening sentenced former Chief Security Officer, CSO, to the late General Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha and Lateef Sofolahan to death by hanging for their roles in the murder of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, wife of the late Chief MKO Abiola.
Shofolahan was the personal aide to the late Kudirat.
The court held that from the evidence before it, it was established that Al-Mustapha gave arms and ammunition to Sergeant Barnabas Jabila a.k.a. Sergeant Rogers, from Abuja to Lagos and provided logistics from Abuja to Lagos to meet Shofolahan to murder Kudirat Abiola.
In the judgement which lasted about eight hours, Justice Dada said the evidence provided by the prosecution were manifestly reliable and that the defendants murdered Kudirat Abiola.
She said the prosecution has proven its case beyond any reasonable doubt.
Responding to the verdict, the lead counsel to Al-Mustapha and Shofolahan, Mr. Olalekan Ojo said his clients will appeal the judgement.
Al-Mustapha’s supporters who besieged the court were confused and speechless after the eight-hour judgement was delivered.
The convicts were whisked away by security agents after the judgement was delivered.
Al-Mustapha, the former chief security officer to the late military head of state, General Sani Abacha, and Sofolahan were tried on a two-count charge of conspiracy and murder.
The men were alleged to have been involved in the 4 June, 1996, murder of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, wife of the late businessman and politician, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola.
The trial suffered several adjournments as a results of numerous applications that needed to be resolved before trial.
During the trial, state’s key witnesses, Sergeant Barnabas Jabila (aka Rogers), and another soldier, Mohammed Abdul (aka Katako), recanted on their roles in the alleged murder and how the crime was committed.
They had earlier told the court that Sofolahan, acting as Kudirat’s aide, gave them information on her itinerary, which aided them in accomplishing their task of eliminating her. Kudirat was on her way to the American embassy on the day she was killed at the Toll Gate end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. The Lagos government under the Tinubu administration had built a cenotaph near the scene of the murder.
Jabila, a member of the special security outfit established to protect Abacha and his family, had also confirmed he fired the shot that killed Kudirat, while Abdul, who served as personal driver to Mohammed, narrated how they (himself and Jabila) went out the day after meeting Sofolahan, trailed a white Mercedes Benz car from Ikeja to the old Lagos toll gate and how Jabila shot at the car and directed him to drive back to Dodan Barracks where they were staying.
In his evidence-in-chief, Jabila narrated how he was, some days before Kudirat’s assassination, summoned by Al-Mustapha to his office in Aso Rock, handed some bags containing guns, and briefed on “ a special assignment”.
He also told the court that Sofolahan provided them with information about Kudirat’s movement and even led them to her residence after which his team planned strategies for the operation.Jabila also said Sofolahan’s information aided them in trailing Kudirat until he shot her on 4 June, 1996 in the car driven by Abdul.
Abdul, who acted as the prosecution’s third prosecution witness, corroborated Jabila’s testimony.He said he once worked with Mohammed’s late senior brother, Ibrahim, but had his service transferred to Mohammed after the latter’s death.
The revelations were stunning but with time and after the matter had passed through several judges, Jabila and Abdul recanted during cross-examination, denying all their earlier evidence.
They later blamed their strange decision to somersault on their allegation that the state reneged on its promise to compensate them materially after the trial.
They alleged that the state failed to fulfil its promises, under the witness protection programme, to reward them and their families for acting as prosecution witnesses.
The case also suffered some hiccups after the fourth prosecution witness, Yusuf, who allegedly obtained statements from Al-Mustapha during investigation, also, midway into his testimony, refused to cooperate with the prosecution.
He allegedly refused to attend court, a development that forced the court to close the prosecution’s case in July after several adjournments.
Opening his defence, Al-Mustapha who witnessed for himself, denied all the allegations against him. He particularly denied sending anybody to kill Kudirat. Apart from this, he denied any knowledge of sending any emissary or sponsored anybody to kill the victim and also monitor the activities of NADECO members.
But he was confronted with his statement, from which he read to the court a portion, where he admitted sending Rabo Lawal to monitor a NADECO rally in Lagos. On Kudirat, the prosecution confronted him with a statement by Mohammed Abacha, contained in the Supreme Court’s judgment in an interlocutory appeal by Mohammed, and upon which he was freed.
In the statement, part of which was read to the court by the lead prosecution lawyer, Lawal Pedro, SAN, Mohammed admitted witnessing where Al-Mustapha gave Jabila a bag containing guns.
This was vehemently opposed by Al-Mustapha’s counsel, Mr. Olalekan Ojo.Also, Al-Mustapha, who earlier testified not to have tortured anyone in his life, later admitted, during cross-examination, that he tortured Turner Ogboru.
He also admitted that, as trained military personnel, he could take lives in public interest. The defence also called a retired army personnel, Kyari Gadzama, who worked as an aide to Al-Mustapha, who testified in his favour.
He admitted knowledge of Kudirat’s assassination, but said he heard of it from media reports. He also denied accompanying his ex-principal always to every of his engagements and meetings.
In his own testimony on 17 August, 2011, which almost turned the court into a theatre, Sofolahan, the third defence and last witness, also testified for himself. In his own testimony, he denied involvement in the offences for which he was accused.
To the chagrin of those present in court, he denied ever working for any member of Abiola family or was a personal assistant to Kudirat.
Al-Mustapha, Sofolahan Deserve To Die —Lawyers, Activists
Nigerians, especially human rights activists and lawyers have reacted to the death sentence passed on Major Hamza Al-Mustapha and Lateef Sofolahan for their roles in the killing of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola and others during the regime of the late General Sani Abacha.
Commenting on the death sentence, Barrister Supo Osewa said Justice Mojisola Dada is a judge well grounded in criminal matters and the decision must have been based on the evidence before her. In other words, the prosecution must have proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
Another Lagos lawyer, Abubakar Samsideen differed. He said the convict should not have been convicted based on the fact that in a capital offence, all doubting issues must be resolved in the favour of the accused.
Also commenting, another lawyer, Chuks Nwachukwu said no matter how sound the judgment may be, a party who is not satisfied with it has a right of appeal.
Therefore, that is not the end of the case.
Human rights activist, Bamidele Aturu said he was happy with the judgment but noted that the case had dragged for too long.
Hafsat Abiola-Costello, daughter of Kudirat said she was so happy with the judgement, saying on her Facebook wall that, “God doesn’t sleep. Justice for mum at last. I am so happy.”
Hafsat added that Al-Mustapha’s death sentence ruling was “Long Overdue”.
Hafsat’s reaction came less than two hours after the Lagos High Court sitting in Igbosere sentenced to death Al-Mustapha, and Shofolahan.
She described the sentence as a judgement for Nigerians and said it was long overdue, during an interview with a Lagos-based television outfit while reacting to the judgement.
Hafsat Abiola says the judgement has further confirmed the judiciary in the country as the last hope of the Nigerian masses.
She said there had been “no doubt” about Al-Mustapha’s involvement in her mother’s killing, adding that it brings some closure to the family still grieving the loss.
Mrs. Costello says that life without the late Kudirat Abiola has been difficult, but adds that the family finds solace in the fact that she died in the struggle for the emancipation of the people.
Publicity Secretary, Lagos Action Congress of Nigeria, Joe Igbokwe said “after almost 12 years of waiting for justice to be done, it finally came with a resounding notice that no matter how long it takes, evil people will always get reward for their evil machinations.
“Who did not know the details of Al-Mustapha’s many atrocities in the days of Abacha? Who did not know how he plotted and eliminated many of Abacha’s perceived enemies then without knowing that judgement day is coming?
spokesperson, Save Nigeria Group, Yinka Odumakin said he was happy that aftet several years, the long arm of justice had caught up with the accused.
“This is a big lesson for those in charge of state apparatus. No matter how long, justice will be done. The judgement is for the memory of those killed. I commend the judiciary,” he said.
Founder, Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL, Debo Adeniran, congratulated the judiciary for allowing justice to be done in the matter, saying that no matter how long a case might be, justice would surely prevail.
Secretary, Joint Action Congress, JAC, Comrade Abiodun Aremu said it was unfortunate “we have a case whose judgment had been prolonged and it is sad that we have not come to the end of it.
National President, Campaign for Democracy, Joe Okei-Odumakin, said the sentence was a vindication of the judicial process.
According to her, with the sentence, the spirit of the late Kudirat Abiola, the wife of the acclaimed winner of June 12, 1993 election, MKO Abiola, would now be able to rest in peace.
“The sentence is a vindication of the judicial process. The mill of justice may grind slowly but it surely rolls eventually. With this judgment, I think the spirit of Kudirat Abiola may now rest in peace. The judgment has once again proved that the judiciary is the last hope of the common man,” she stated.
Al-Mustapha, the former Chief Security Officer to the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, as well Lateef Sofolahan, the protocol officer for the deceased masterminded her murder.
Barnabas Jabila, popularly known as Sergeant Rogers, was the government witness in the case.
Jabila was the head of the Strike Force during Abacha’s reign and he told the court that Al-Mustapha and Shofolahan were part of the group that plotted the death of Kudirat on June 4, 1996.
Kudirat’s husband, the late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, won the June 12, 1993 election, which was annulled by the regime of former military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, with the support of Abacha.
It was during the struggle to actualise the mandate that Kudirat was shot dead near 7UP junction in Lagos.
This was during Abacha’s reign. Abiola also died in controversial circumstances in detention on 7 July, 1998.
Al-Mustapha: Shehu Sani Seeks Parole
Prominent Northern Nigeria-based rights activist and also a victim of the late General Sani Abacha’s despotic regime, Comrade Shehu Sani has pleaded that the former Head of State’s Chief Security Officer, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha be granted parole.
Al-Mustapha, along with Lateef Sofolahan were sentenced to death yesterday.
Shehu Sani pleaded that Al-Mustapha’s death sentence be commuted to a life imprisonment, warning that sentiments should not be attached to Al-Mustapha’s trial and consequent death sentence.
He said: “As a human rights activist, we are opposed to death sentence. Though the government he had served murdered many people, killed people using the instrumentality of the courts, we as rights activists are not in support of his being hanged. But he should be able to appeal his case. Whatever the outcome of the appeal, the death sentence could be commuted to a life jail term.”
Sani appealed to Nigerians not to politicise or sensationalise the issue, noting that it has become clear that certain elements in the north were trying to introduce sectional sentiment into the matter.
He warned: “Al-Mustapha should be seen as a suspect and now a convict and not as a champion of any northern interest.
“All comments and appeal about him should be done from the points of objectivity, compassion, law or human rights.
Ethnicising the issue is not in the best interest of his case.”
He argued that although he also suffered imprisonment under the government that Al-Mustapha served, he would like the death sentence commuted to life imprisonment as death sentence has become obsolete in democracies around the world.
“We must be careful of playing into the hands of extremists who will argue that death sentence is legally justified.
“Mustapha’s role in the Abacha government was despicable. But we are in a democratic government. He should be pardoned in magnanimity as human beings,” Sani submitted.
Sani also advised that it will be in the interest of humanity to reconsider the issue of death sentence, stressing, “it may be misused in certain sections of the country where religious backwardness is a common thing.”

NURTW LOGO

NURTW: Fresh Fracas At Idumota

Fresh crisis erupted today at Adeniji Adele Motor park on Lagos Island between factions of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW.

According to a police source, two persons were reported killed during the violent clash.

Details of the cause of the clash and identities of the victims were sketchy at press time.

The election of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, in Lagos State turned bloody last week Thursday when a popular businessman, Alhaji Ola-Shehu Ekeniojuoti, was shot dead on Lagos Island by gunmen suspected to be supporters of one of the NURTW chairmanship candidates.

The gunmen also injured two members of the union during a mayhem that broke out between members of factions of the union at Iyana-Ipaja and spread to Lagos Island where Alhaji Ola-Shehu was killed.

The two injured persons were admitted in a hospital on Lagos Island.

The trouble started after the NURTW National President, Nasiru Yasiu, during a closed-door meeting at the union’s Abule Egba office, stated that the Lagos State NURTW election would hold at a date to be announced later, since the five contestants to the number one seat in the state could not present a consensus candidate.

The former chairman, Rafiu Akanni Olohunwa’s supporters were said to have been caught off guard as their expectation was that the NURTW National President would hand pick and endorse their man, at the said meeting.

Yasiu’s announcement led to clashes at Iyana-Ipaja and later Obalende on Lagos Island, where Ola-Shehu was alleged to have been shot dead by supporters of a chairmanship candidate.

The deceased was said to be the brother of a staunch supporter of NURTW strongman in Oshodi, Musiliu Akinsanya a.k.a. MC Oluomo.

The deceased’s brother, Abu Ekeniojuoti a.k.a. Abu Stainless, was the former chairman of NURTW on Lagos Island.

Some of the chairmanship contestants include the former state chairman of NURTW, Alhaji Olohunwa; the former state treasurer, Akinsanya; Tajudeen Agbede and Alhaji Sope.

The contestants have been persuaded to step down for one another to make way for a consensus candidate to no avail.

ACTING INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE, MOHAMMED ABUBAKAR

Wife of new police boss dies, buried in Kano

The remains of Maryam, 48, wife of Inspector General of Police, IGP, Mohammed Dahiru Abubakar, was interred at Taurani Cemetery, Kano northwest Nigeria at noon today.

Maryam died at 5 a.m. this morning immediately after returning from hospital, said a family source.

Faced with the mounting insecurity laced with Boko Haram insurgence, IGP MD Abubakar’s mood at the cemetery and his family home this morning depicted that of a man in deep sorrow.

Clad in white brocade and cream-colour Hausa cap, MD Abubakar who flew into Kano this morning to pay last respect to his departed heart-throb, held back tears as he joined sympathizers to pray for the repose of Maryam’s death at his family house located on Gwandu Albasa, near the old Bank of the North building.

“I must tell you that Oga was devastated upon hearing the death of Madam. He wept silently; but you know that he is a man that is so strong that he can adjust to any condition,” one of IGP’s aides who insisted that the sudden departure of his wife will not affect his performance as Police boss.

Early sympathizers at the IGP’s white house include police chiefs within the state and Abuja , politicians and Benin Republic ’s Honourary Consul to Nigeria , Alhaji Muktari Ali Daura.

Meanwhile, the dawn to dusk curfew in Kano , northwest Nigeria has been reviewed by an hour. Before the latest review today, the curfew was 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. but now 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

The state commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Idris who confirmed the new curfew time tduring the burial of IGP’s wife said the measure was taken to further tighten security in the state.

“We have to review the curfew as a way of tightening security. You are aware that all these things happen around 7 p.m. being the rush hour, so we have to bring it one hour backward to enable us tackle the issue effectively.”

CP Idris also insisted that only two civilians lost their lives during the attack on Naibawa Police station Sunday evening, adding that at about 5:30 a.m. today, “there was an attempted attack at Mandawari Police station.

They came in a Jetta Volkswagen car, shooting sporadically, but our men over-powered them and chased them away. No life was lost and nobody wounded.”

Tinubu Condoles Police boss, Enahoro Family »

The National leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has described the sudden death of the wife of the acting Inspector General of Police, M.D. Abubakar as “a rude shock and a very sad development” and prayed that Allah will grant her soul repose.

“The news of the sudden death of your wife came to me as a rude shock. I am indeed greatly saddened by this development as a father and husband myself, and I can only pray that the Almighty Allah would grant her soul repose… may you find the courage and the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss of your wife’’.

While expressing his profound sympathy and that of his family to the Abubakar family, he urged the acting IGP to take heart, stay focused and consider this development as an inspiration that will spur him onto greater heights in the service of Nigeria and of humanity at large.

In a similar vein, Asiwaju Tinubu has described the death of Mrs. Helen Imayuse Enahoro (nee Ediae) as a “painful and a sad loss” and the ”end of an era”.

While expressing his heartfelt sympathy to the entire Enahoro family, Asiwaju Tinubu commended her for her honesty and dedication.

“We would never forget her commitment, honesty and dedication as she joined the struggle for a better Nigeria and stood by her husband Chief Anthony Enahoro in some of the darkest moments in the history of our country Nigeria”.

Asiwaju Tinubu assured that though we will miss her, the legacy left behind by her and her husband will endure.

“I urge all democracy loving Nigerians to rally in support of democratic ideals and principles and work tirelessly for a leadership that is responsive and responsible and a country where all people and regions are treated fairly”.

NIGERIA POLICE LOGO

Guard Murders Recharge Card Seller Over N24,000 Debt

The police at Dolphin Estate Division, Ikoyi, Lagos State, have arrested a security guard who also sells recharge cards for allegedly stabbing his customer to death.

The victim, simply called Benjamin, had gone to demand for the balance of the money the guard was owing him for the recharge cards the deceased sold to him when the incident happened.

The incident occurred at about 9 am at 273B, Corporation Drive, Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos.

Eyewitnesses at the scene of the incident said the guard identified as Onuabuchi John, allegedly stabbed the victim in five places on the head and face when the victim who has been supplying him recharge cards came to demand for the balance of N24,000 Onuabuchi was owing him.

The guard, it was learnt, engaged the victim in an argument which soon degenerated to a fight during which he went inside his security post, brought out a kitchen knife and stabbed the victim several times.

The victim slumped and died on the spot.

The guard, it was further gathered, after killing the victim, dragged the corpse underneath the staircase of the office complex.

He covered the corpse with a rug and subsequently stabbed himself to look as if it was a robbery incident.

Nemesis, however, caught up with him when his employer’s shop assistant saw him as he made to escape from the compound the victim’s bag.

She was said to have raised an alarm which attracted neighbours who pursued and caught up with him.

The police at Dolphin Police Station and the DPO SP J. S. Musa were invited. He led his team to the scene of the incident and arrested the suspect.

Items recovered from the suspect, according to a police source, include a kitchen knife and the bag of the victim, containing recharge cards worth thousands of naira and unspecified amount of money.

During preliminary interrogation, the suspect allegedly confessed to the police of stabbing the victim to death for disturbing him about the N24,000 he was owing him.

“I am from Ebonyi State, a private security guard. The victim Benjamin has been supplying me recharge cards for some months now. I have been faithful in paying him his money without any misunderstanding.

“On the day of the incident, the victim came to demand for the balance of his money and I told him to come back, but instead he started shouting in the compound and a fight broke out.

“In the process, I didn’t know what came over me and I picked a knife and stabbed him till he died.

“I regret my action and I promise not to listen to the voice of the devil in my life if I am set free in this case,” he pleaded.

Suspected Okada Robbers Shot

The police in Lagos State, have arrested two suspected commercial motorcycle (okada) robbers who invaded a shop at Aguda area of Surulere at the weekend.

One of the suspects, who rode the motorcycle, escaped when the police swooped on them.

A gun was recovered from the suspects who were arrested.

The incident took place on Friday when the three men allegedly stormed the shop located at Lateef Erelu Street, Aguda to rob in broad daylight.

Residents in the area were said to have alerted officers of the Rapid Response Squad, RRS, who promptly stormed the area and shot two of the robbers after little resistance and brought them to the RRS Headquarters at Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.

A police source said the police acted on a tip-off, saying that one of the suspects escaped when he saw the RRS team.

The police source said the team of RRS was patrolling the area when a call came to them that a robbery operation was going on at Lateef Erelu Street and that the team swung into action and got to the scene on time to arrest the suspects.

The names of the suspected robbers were given as Tiamiyu Fatai Opeyemi, 33, from Abeokuta, Ogun State and Lateef Ajibade.

The suspects were bleeding profusely in the Toyota Hilux van of the police.

One of the suspected robbers, Opeyemi said he had been involved in armed robbery for four years and had dispossessed people of their wares.

As at the time of filing this report, it is doubtful if Opeyemi will survive as he had lost much blood through severe bleeding from the gun shot injuries he and the other suspect sustained during the gun duel with the police.

BOKO HARAM LOGO

Ruined by Boko Haram

If the threat by the Islamist fundamentalist sect, Boko Haram, to Southerners living in the North to leave or risk being killed sent fear among the Igbo in that part of the country, last week’s multiple bombings in Kano that claimed no fewer than 200 lives in Nigeria’s second largest city, triggered off mass return of the South Easterners to their home land.
They needed no further prompting after their apex socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, asked all Igbo living in the state to return home. And the exodus, since it began, has been accompanied by tales of woe.

In Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State, some of the returnees, who spoke with Sunday Sun, narrated their experience in Kano and their resolve not to go back if nothing concrete was done to arrest the insecurity in the land.

My family and I are now refugees –Adikwe
Mr John Adikwe, 57, a trader, who had lived in Kano for over 30 years, stated how the activities of the Boko Haram sect not only turned him and members of his family to refugees in their own country, but also sent him over 30 years back in life.

Adikwe, who was visibly shaken as he spoke to one of our correspondents, said when he left his village in Ebony State as a bachelor sometime in 1976 for Kano to engage in business, he never envisaged a day all he laboured for in his life would be lost in one fell swoop and he be forced to come back home to start life afresh. “I left my village in 1976 at the age of 21 for Kano to serve as an apprentice trader after which I set up my own business and later got married there. All my five children were born in Kano. But all of a sudden, these Boko Haram people have forced us home, abandoning my business and some of my children’s academic work disrupted,” Adikwe lamented.

He stated that the decision to return to the South East with members of his family stemmed from what happened in Kano recently, which he said was reminiscent of war. He reasoned that no right-thinking man would stay back to be killed more so when the dreaded sect was continuing in its threat to eliminate Southern Christians in the North if they refused to leave and that the government had not done anything concrete to contain the insurgents.

For Adikwe, his sons could go back to Kano if they wished when the security situation in the city normalizes, but not for him as he is planning to start a new life in Aba. “From what I saw in Kano and at my age, I don’t think I will go back there. But my sons, if they so wished, can go back when the security situation improves since it will be difficult for them to adapt to life here,” he said.

I’m back to square one –Onuoha
Chinedum Onuoha, another returnee, was in Aba dealing in textiles when in 1991, owing to lull in business, he decided to relocate to Kano where he felt things would be better for him. As expected, his fortunes improved and he had to relocate his family to the commercial capital city of northern Nigeria. But they are now back to square one as they have all returned to Aba, no thinks to the deadly explosions and the sect’s continued threat to Christians in the North.

I had to leave after 25 years –Madu
The story was the same with Agu Madu, who went to Kano to set up a business about 25 years ago. He was among those who fled the city last week owing to the activities of Boko Haram. If Madu is willing to return if the security situation in the city improves, Onuoha is not dreaming of that. “How can I go back to that city? I think I better stay here (Aba) and start my life all over.

“This is not the first time the Igbo in Kano were being targeted. Whenever anything happens in the North, they vent their anger on the Igbo. So I’m tired of living there,” he said. The chairman of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in Kano, Hon Tobias Michael Idika, told Sunday Sun in a telephone interview that they took the decision for the Igbo to quit Kano after the mayhem. His kinsmen, he said, suffered heavy casualties.

According to Idika, bodies of about 35 dead Igbo, who were victims of the coordinated bomb attack, were still in various mortuaries in Kano while 25 others who suffered severe injuries were also in hospitals. The Igbo leader appealed to the five South East states governors to send buses to Kano to evacuate their citizens, most of who do not have money to transport themselves back home. He said the fare had risen astronomically following the exodus as a passenger without any luggage would pay as much as N6,000 while those with property pay from N10,000.
Idika equally condemned the comments of the Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, during his recent visit to Kano where he advised the Igbo not to leave the troubled city.

He said it was unfortunate that Okorocha made the statement at the airport without making any attempt to see his kinsmen that he claimed he was coming to see. Idika advised Imo indigenes still in Kano not to be deceived by the governor and that they should leave the city like their other kinsmen as their lives were no longer safe in the state.
Of the over three million Igbo living in Kano, the Ohanaeze chairman disclosed that majority of them had returned to Igbo land, leaving behind only those that cannot afford the exorbitant bus fare. Idika added that as soon as they conclude arrangements, they would bring back the bodies of their slain kinsmen for burial at home.

My daughter can’t study at BUK anymore –Mrs Oparandu
Mrs Victoria Oparandu, a mother of six, had lived in the Sabon Gari area of Kano State for 21 years and wished she would stay in the ancient of Kano to raise her children before returning to her country home in the South East. But such expectation was cut short by the recent deadly explosions in the state carried out by the Boko Haram sect.

According to Mrs Oparandu, who hails from Ahiazu Mbaise in Imo State, the city had been peaceful and they co-habited with their Muslim counterparts without any molestation. Now her husband, Nelson, who deals in chemicals, has been forced to relocate home while their first daughter, Dorathy, who is a student at the Bayero University, Kano, can no longer continue her programme because of the crisis.

“Since we are back from Kano, we will try to secure admission for her at the Imo State University to read Accountancy. The situation in Kano is no longer conducive. Every day people sleep with their two eyes open and we live in fear. The house we live in Kano belongs to us and we do not pay rent. But non-indigenes in the state, especially areas dominated by non-natives, are prone to attacks. We have received assurances of our safety but the modus operandi of Boko Haram is more confusing,” she said.

But a driver with a luxury bus company, The Young Shall Grow Motors, thinks differently, saying that the situation in Kano was blown out of proportion. The driver, who pleaded anonymity, said although women and children were fleeing Kano en masse, the place remained calm except for few incidents. According to him, some of the passengers left their property behind due to the high cost of transport fares. The transport fare, which was N5000 per passenger before the crisis, is now N7000. He disclosed that there were no passengers traveling from Owerri to Kano, Kaduna and Sokoto states, stressing that his vehicle had not been able to move for days because of the crisis.

Northerners residing in Aba are equally leaving in droves for fear of reprisal attack, raising concern within the Muslim community and the Chief Imam of the city’s Central Mosque, Alhaji Idris Bashir, calling for restraint.
Speaking with Sunday Sun, Bashir said he was worried that in the last two weeks more than three quarters of members of the Hausa community in Aba had left to their various states in the North. He expressed worry that the exodus had continued despite the assurances from the government and security agencies about their safety.

“As I speak to you, over 75 per cent of our people residing here in Aba have left for the North. This is despite the assurances given to them by government and even security agencies about their safety. “We as leaders of Muslim community here have also been talking to them about the need to stay because most of us have lived all our lives in Aba and cannot say for sure these are our homes in the North,” Bashir said.

Although he explained that the northerners started leaving the city due to the last nationwide strike over the removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government, Sunday Sun investigation showed that the Hausa in Aba began their exodus after the Boko Haram killing of Christians and the subsequent order by members of the sect that Southern Christians should leave the North or risked being killed. The Chief Imam, while calling for restraint on the part of the Islamic insurgents, reminded them that Allah did not enjoin anybody to kill.

Call it fear of Boko Haram or the unknown. But the Igbo Elders Forum met yesterday at the residence of the late Igbo leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, and asked its kinsmen resident in the northern part of Nigeria to return home.

The call was occasioned by the activities of the Islamist fundamentalist sect, Boko Haram, which has unleashed terror on some states in the North killing over 500 in the last few months.
The latest onslaught of the dreaded sect was on Kano State last weekend in which multiple bombings claimed no fewer than 200 lives. Since the deadly attacks, non-indigenes have been fleeing in droves from the state.

Addressing newsmen at the end of the meeting, Movement for Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) leader, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, and former President of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Justice Eze Ozobu, said the decision was in the best interest of the Igbo.

The meeting, which preceded an all-Igbo political leaders meeting convened by the South-East Governors Forum, however, said that the men can remain in the North to protect their investment. “We are calling for the immediate return of Igbo wives and children so that their safety can be assured. The Igbo nation is once again facing an impending refugee crisis and our people are being forced to flee their base and places of work, field and business in order to avoid being killed.

“The current situation in the North and the rampant killing of our Igbo brothers and sisters bring to mind the sequence of events and pogroms that led to the civil war. We are thus calling for emergency desk in the affected areas to get data regarding the number of persons that have lost their lives.“We are taking the decision bearing in mind that our people in the North are being slaughtered like cows without any clear directive as to what they should do.

“We cannot fold our arms and watch our people killed and buried in mass graves in the North. The men can stay back and protect their investments. “We have set up centres where people who have nowhere to go to can stay and we request churches and other non-governmental organizations to assist in providing settlement centres.

“We have set up a team to meet with the President as soon as possible to assess the security situation as it affects Igbos. We are using this opportunity to alert the international community of this refugee crisis and the fact that our people are returning home in droves without any government assistance,” the elders said.

South East political leaders rose from their meeting with the governors of the zone yesterday with a three-point communiqué condemning the spate of killings of Igbos in the northern parts of the country. However, Sunday Sun gathered that the meeting wasn’t exactly smooth, as the house couldn’t agree on the issues raised on the violence that has led to the displacement of Igbos living in some northern states.

Our source that was at the meeting lamented the cowardly stand of some of those who attended the meeting. “It was obvious that some people came to the meeting just to protect the federal government because of their political appointments. They came to protect Jonathan not their kinsmen. Our people are suddenly stranded and are now refugees in their own country.

You would have thought that a meeting of leaders and elders in the region would be talking about how to evacuate their endangered kinsmen from the North and a warning to the federal government. But no, they were all talking politics. It’s a shame and that was why the communiqué was short and watery.”

In a three-point communique read to newsmen by Governor Peter Obi of Anambra, the leaders said though they were angry with the development, they commended federal government’s efforts in containing the situation.
Obi announced the setting up of an advisory committee that’ll monitor developments as it unfolds and advise on future actions. “We assure our people living in the North and other parts of the country that we are in constant touch with the various state governments to ensure the security of their lives and property.”

Throwing more light on the closed door meeting, Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria,CAN, South East, Bishop Emmanuel Chukwuma, said the meeting was timely and he was happy that leaders in the region were finally speaking up.“We are very angry and the country must not take us for a ride. This is the time we must protect our image and we are letting the country know that we belong to this nation. We don’t want Nigeria to break up but we need to feel a sense of belonging.”

“Our people must be free to exercise their rights wherever they are. We want security to be tightened so we can feel safe anywhere we are. The carnage must stop.“That’s what we are saying, we are angry and we have set up a committee to monitor the situation and let the President know that we are angry. We have given him every support and we should not be marginalized or treated like people who don’t belong to this nation.”

Those at the Nike Lake meeting were the five governors of the zone, Mr. Peter Obi, Anambra, Chief Rochas Okorocha, Imo, Sullivan Chime Enugu, Martin Elechi Ebonyi and T. A Orji of Abia State. Others include former Vice President Dr. Alex Ekwueme, National Chairman of APGA Chief Victor Umeh, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim, former governor of Anambra State Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife.

Others were Senator Ben Obi, Deputy Speaker in the House of Representative, Emeka Ihedioha, Senators Uche Chukwumerije, Chris Ngige, Paulinus Igwenweagu from Ebonyi, Christy Anyanwu, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Chairman CAN South East Bishop Emmanuel Chukwuma, PDP National Vice Chairman South East Chief Olisah Metu, Professor Chinedu Nebo, Senator Ike Nwachukwu, Chief Bob Ogbuagu, Amb Ralph Uwechue, Barth Nnaji, Ebito Ukiwe, professor Joe Irukwu, Prof. Ben Obumselu, Emeka Anyoku, and Minister of Labour Emeka Nwogu, Chief Bob Ogbuagu, Speakers of the five States of the zone led by Enugu Speaker Rt. Hon Eugene Odo, Dr. Anagha Ezeikpe, HRH Dr. Agom Eze, Igwe Alfred Achebe among others.

FORMER INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE, HAFIZ RINGIM

The fall of Ringim

Following the serious worries expressed by Nigerians over the perceived inability of Hafiz Ringim as Inspector General of Police (IGP) to stem the tide of insecurity in the country, President Goodluck Jonathan has finally relieved the former IGP of his duties. He was, last Wednesday, sent on terminal leave preparatory to his retirement in March, 2012.

Mohammed Abubakar, an Assistant Inspector General, was appointed to take over as the new Inspector General of police. Ringim’s tenure as Inspector General did not have much to commend it. His immediate predecessor, Ogbonnaya Onovo, was removed from office over the insurgent activities of Boko Haram, a militant Islamic sect.

On his appointment as Onovo’s replacement, the expectation was that Ringim would depart radically from the situation he met and nurture a police force that would have the capacity to secure the country from the menace of insurgent groups, particularly Boko Haram. Regrettably, under Ringim, Boko Haram did not only graduate to a terrorist organization, it developed wings, leaving death and destruction in its wake almost on daily basis. It was under Ringim that the militant sect had the audacity to break into the headquarters of the Nigeria Police Force and bombed it. The incident was a big national embarrassment.

The expectation thereafter was that the incident would galvanise the IGP into action and make him go all out to wage war against terror. But that was not to be. The terror gang continued to reign supreme in the land. Before Ringim was finally sacked, Boko Haram had thrown Nigeria into deep mourning over its harvest of deaths.
The carnage that took place in Kano penultimate week was the height of it all. All this were indications that the Inspector General was not equal to the task.

But what was particularly revolting in all this was the escape from detention of a certain Kabiru Sokoto, the suspected mastermind of the Christmas Day bombing of St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, Madalla, Niger State. The circumstances surrounding Sokoto’s escape threw Ringim and the top echelon of the police open to suspicion. Until his removal, the former IGP could not satisfactorily explain the escape of the Boko Haram kingpin.

The sack of Ringim is significant. It draws attention to the fact that protection of life and property remains the primary reason for the existence of government. The government of President Jonathan has been buffeted and harangued to no end over its apparent failure to provide effective security. This failure on the part of government is easily traceable to the failure of the police under Ringim. Having failed to do the job for which he was appointed, it makes sense to relieve him of it so that somebody who has the competence and capacity can come in and save the situation.

This is what Jonathan has done by sacking Ringim and replacing him with Abubakar.
The challenge then is for the new man in the saddle to lift the Nigeria Police out of inertia and save the country from the onslaught of terrorists. Already, a roadmap has been provided for him with the retirement of six Deputy Inspectors General. With this development, Abubakar will have to work with a new crop of officers at the top. Our expectation here is that he will institute a hierarchy that will be worth its name. To succeed, Abubakar must adopt a new approach and a new thinking. He must understand that the country already has a crisis in its hands. His responsibility is to subdue the insurgents, wherever they may be. Nigerians expect a breath of fresh air from the police led by Abubakar.

Significantly, Abubakar already has part of his job already cut out for him with the establishment of a special committee to oversee the reorganization of the Nigeria police. The committee being chaired by the Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Parry Osayande, will provide Abubakar the necessary raw materials with which he will build a new, focused and result-oriented police.

However, in these days of growing suspicion over the infiltration of Boko Haram in government, the police and the Armed Forces, according to President Jonathan, Abubakar must be seen to be above board. He must be as transparent as possible. He also has a responsibility to sniff out questionable elements within the force. To win the war against insurgents, the police led by Abubakar must ensure that there are no enemies within.

We urge Abubakar to learn from the mistakes of Ringim and strive hard to make a positive difference. The world is really watching him.

ACTING INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE, MOHAMMED ABUBAKAR

I’ll fight Boko Haram with seriousness.

Acting Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, has vowed to fight crime with all seriousness, be it Boko Haram or armed robbery.

Speaking after taking over the mantle of leadership from his predecessor, Hafiz Ringim, the Acting IGP assured all Nigerians that his administration would be different from all other administrations.

According to him, “we shall go to every nook and cranny of this country to fish out these criminals that have been troubling this country; they will not sleep as we will continue to pursue them.”

Abubakar said competence and merit would determine the posting of officers, as favouritism would not work in his administration.

He noted that he was not a new comer to it and could not run away from the fact that he knew some of them.

The new IGP declared that he knew that the police had a very challenging and uphill task and assured that they will confront the challenges.

He added that the police needed dedicated and committed staff that were fair and firm in the discharge of their responsibilities, because they would be asked questions in any area within or out of office.

He added that as a team player, he did not believe he could do the job without his officers and men.

The new IGP revealed that the police would undergo serious restructuring, as they were going to work together with the committee set up by the president, so that Nigerians could have the police force they deserved; a police that would respect the rule of law and be committed and fair in the discharge of their responsibilities.

He added that they would put their training centres and colleges on very tasking challenges so as to able to train officers and men.

According to him, they cannot take policemen to institutions that are bad, lacking and which cannot produce good police officers.

In his handing over remark, the outgoing IGP, Hafiz Ringim, said he had done his best within the period the president deemed it fit, as he gave the challenge the best shot.

Ringim declared that he needed to go on his pre-retirement leave over which he had written to the president, while he received the approval on Wednesday, signed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Pius Anyim.

He added that he had briefed his successor on the enormous responsibilities ahead of him and urged all officers and men to give him the utmost support they gave him.

Meanwhile, Nigeria Police has arrested 200 people, mostly Chadian “mercenaries,” after last week’s attacks in Kano, as a fresh blast struck the same area.

There were indications the Chadians had been paid to participate in the recent attacks attributed to Boko Haram, the source added.

A United Nations (UN) report on regional security released on Wednesday said there was evidence suggesting the Nigerian group had Chadian members who had received training from Al-Qaeda's North Africa affiliate.

But a Nigerian specialist with the International Crisis Group (ICG) said it was unlikely the sect had such a high number of foreigners in its ranks.

The police source, who reported the Boko Haram arrests, also said suspected members of the sect had reached out to the police for potential dialogue, with an emir as mediator.

In another development, a popular bus terminus in Kano, from which many people travel to other parts of the country, witnessed a bomb explosion on Thursday afternoon, leading to the closure of activities in Sabon Gari where the park is located.

The small bomb that exploded was packed inside a school bag and dropped between two luxury buses set to be loaded.

The source revealed that the passengers were carrying their luggage into the buses when the explosion occurred shattering the side windows of two luxury buses.

The policemen, who arrived at the scene of the incident, advised the passengers to vacate the motor park to enable them to investigate the incident.

Subsequently all the luxury buses moved to their old park, which is about one kilometre away from the new park.

Bomb disposal unit operatives cordoned off the area, but it was not certain whether any other explosive device was discovered or not.

However two people were whisked away by the police to an undisclosed place.

All efforts made to get the comments of the state Commissioner of Police, Idris Ibrahim and the Police Public Relations Officer, Magaji Majiya, over the incident failed.

BOKO HARAM LOGO

Sooner or later, as the rhetoric over Boko Haram’s bigoted objectives shifted back and forth, the violent sect was bound to overreach itself.
It crossed that threshold of public forbearance last Friday when it took on Kano in a bloody showdown that reverberated far beyond the borders of Nigeria.
About 200 lives were lost, not to talk of large scale destruction of property and the intolerable strain it put on the delicate bond of unity that keeps the country together.
While the sect’s violent methods and locales of attack have attracted attention and worry, the most notable thing about it is how its style and objectives have caused disagreement and even friction in and out of government on how to tackle the sect’s menace.
Boko Haram, a Salafist Muslim sect that became jihadist in 2009, was founded around 2002.
It promotes separatism based on ethnic and sectarian intolerance, and is the leading proponent of terror in Nigeria today.
It has survived three governments since it launched its fiery activities, and, whether directly or indirectly, is believed to be responsible for the death of nearly a thousand people, most of them Nigerians.
Originally based in the Northeast, it is gradually extending its areas of operation to the Northwest, and also threatening the peace and stability of the country.
Until last week, the north and the Federal Government were both ambivalent towards the group, uncertain whether to use strong-arm tactics against it or to dialogue.
While Kano was thoroughly shaken and disgusted by the scale of Boko Haram’s irrational and indiscriminate killings last week, the Nigerian Army appears to be completely exasperated with the general pussyfooting over what methods to adopt in tackling the problem.
Two days ago, at a seminar on national security in Abuja, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, publicly suggested that negotiation with the sect be ruled out.
It is not known how the government would react to the public suggestion from a group that should ordinarily take orders from the government, or at worst give private counsel.
However, the army seems to accurately reflect the mood of majority of Nigerians who patriotically feel that Boko Haram’s operations were leading Nigeria into a secessionist war.
Though military operation in urbanised terrain is a difficult proposition, the army is right to seek unified approach to fighting, not negotiating with, the menace.
It should, however, go a step further by training and retraining its men in psychological operations in order to limit collateral damage from urban warfare and also to win the populace to its side.
On its own, the government should see the counsel coming from the army as a timely and welcome one.
The President recently said the sect had infiltrated the government and security agencies.
It must now intelligently lead the battle to rid the government and security agencies of infiltrators.
If it does not, it should not hope to win the war that has brought the country perilously close to disintegration.

Bomb blast at luxury bus park: 2 injured

At least two persons were injured in Kano after a locally made Improvised Explosive Device (IED) went off at a luxury bus park, situated at New Road in Sabon-Gari, Kano.

The explosion, which caused a minor mishap around the Lagos Line area of the park, sparked off in-between two East-bound luxury vehicles, namely Gobison Motors and God Loves Ezenwata Motors.

The impact of the explosion shattered the glass of one of the luxury buses that was in the park.

The spark went off as passengers, mostly southerners fleeing the state on account of the Boko Haram tragedy, went in the morning to buy their tickets and get their items loaded ahead of their journey.

The two persons, whose names could not be identified as at press time, were rushed to a nearby private clinic for medical attention, said witnesses.

But a police source, who begged anonymity, said only one person was injured in the blast.

The explosion immediately threw the Sabon-Gari Quarters, a predominantly non-native community, into confusion, resulting in a brief stampede that saw traders and market people hurriedly closing their shops and speedily dashing to their respective homes.

A team of soldiers as well as operatives of the Bomb Disposal Unit of the Nigeria Police were immediately invited to the scene of the incident.

They, in turn, cordoned off the whole area and asked all the passengers and luxury vehicles to vacate the park while they searched for possible more explosives.

The explosive was hidden in a bag by its owners, adding that the bag was among the items meant to be loaded in the bus. At least, one person was arrested by the officers at the scene while there were indications that the officers might have defused other explosives within the park. A laptop was also retrieved from the scene of the incident and taken away by the police.

There has been no official comment so far. Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Magaji Majiya declined comment on the matter when the Daily Sun contacted him, saying he had not been briefed on the matter.

UNITED NATIONS TROOPS

ALTHOUGH offering once again the help and assistance of the United Nations in the fight against Boko Haram,

UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, has asked the Federal Government to mobilise the needed forces to quell the Boko Haram terror attacks, just as he lamented that the situation in Sudan and South Sudan continues to be testy.

Speaking on Wednesday afternoon at his first press conference in the year, as he begins his second term of five years in office, the UN Secretary-General affirmed his condemnation of the Boko Haram menace as a terrorist act that the global community has to come together and fight.

In response to a question on why some of the UN statements refrain from describing the Boko Haram attacks in Nigeria as a terrorist act, Ban said “I have, on many occasions, strongly condemned these terrorist attacks by Boko Haram, including that time of the attack against the UN House last year.”

But at the press conference held in New York, the UN scribe added that “the Nigerian government should also mobilise full possible forces to address these Boko Haram terrorist attacks.”

Promising that the UN on its part “will coordinate with the concerned parties, international organisations and regional organisations,” to address the problem, he disclosed that he had already made a specific proposal on Wednesday while meeting the UN General Assembly.

That proposal which will strengthen UN capacity in the area of counter-terrorism, according to him, includes the need to have “a single coordinated counter-terrorism mechanism combining the currently existing functions.”

Disclosing that this proposal had received support from several member states already he also added that “we have established a counter-terrorism centre in Saudi Arabia.”

In the light of that, the Secretary-General said, “I am going to visit Saudi Arabia to convene the first advisory meeting sometime early this year. So, our commitment and determined will to fight against terrorism will be further strengthened and will continue.”

Restating that Africa will continue to be one of his major priorities in his second term, he lamented that the crisis in Darfur and Sudan were still continuing.

He said: “As you may remember, from day one, I said Darfur and Sudan will be one of my top priorities. And we have been working very hard. Unfortunately, the crisis is still continuing.”

On the two Sudanese nations, he said "we have not been able to see perfect peace and stability." To this end in his second term, Ban said he would continue to be fully engaged on the matter, declaring that at the African Union summit in Addis Ababa, later this month, he would be "really heavily engaging" on the matter with African leaders whose support he observed was very much needed now.

According to him, the independence of South Sudan and the successful referendum conducted in January last year have not completely resolved the tense relationship between South and North Sudan, a relationship which he described as “not being smooth.”

The Secretary-General noted that both Sudan and South Sudan “have not been engaging in implementing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, including the status of Abyei, and sharing the national wealth, particularly oil.”

Ban said both countries should have resolved these differences “much earlier, before the independence of South Sudan, but now that there are two independent states, they have to address these issues.”

The UN Secretary-General said former President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, who has been leading the AU High-Level Implementation Panel, "is playing a very important role with my special envoys and special representatives and peacekeeping operations. But at this time, we need the full support of member states,” implying that such support from other African countries and leaders would help move the situation between the two Sudanese nations forward.

Besides, he said, “South Sudan is a huge country without much infrastructure. This country is known as 20 times bigger than France. Just a simple, very challenging example is that there are only 60 kilometres of paved road in such a huge country. There are not many roads for peacekeepers to move, except by being transported by air assets, so we really need air assets.

LAGOS POLICE BOSS

CP detains security guard who said policemen robbed him.

The police in Lagos have arrested a security guard, Olumide Aderibigbe, who recently accused two policemen of robbing him, and his uncle, Vincent Olatunde. They are being detained at the command’s headquarters, Ikeja.

It was learnt that the police had on Wednesday invited the men to make statements on the allegation that the two policemen in mufti on a motorcycle accosted Aderibigbe at Idi-Iroko area of Ikorodu Road last week Thursday and allegedly assaulted and robbed him.

But on getting to the command, Aderibigbe and Olatunde were arrested immediately and have been in detention since then.

It was learnt that the policemen are also being held and the case is being handled by the X Squad, a section charged with investigating police misdemeanour.

Although the police claimed that the matter was still being investigated, a source at the police command headquarters, who craved anonymity, said Aderibigbe and Olatunde would be charged to court for telling lies.

“The policemen said Olatunde and Aderibigbe had no right to give the identity cards of the policemen to the press. The men would be charged to court on Friday for telling lies,” the source said.

The spokesperson for the state command, Mr. Jaiyeoba Joseph, a superintendent, said when the policemen were interrogated, they denied robbing Aderibigbe but admitted that he was assaulted.

He said, “The two men were summoned but they said they did not rob Aderibigbe. Rather, it was just a misunderstanding.

“The policemen claimed they were in pursuit of armed robbers when they saw Aderibigbe and confronted him. They said they did not rob him but the confrontation was violent.”

When asked why the policemen were released after being taken to the Anthony Police Division, Joseph said they were released because the case was recorded as an assault, not robbery.

“The Divisional Police Officer, Anthony, (Mr. Ademola Raji), said when the case was booked at the counter, it was recorded as an assault because the policemen admitted that they assaulted Aderibigbe but denied robbing him,” Joseph said.

When asked if it was within the jurisdiction of the policemen to operate within that particular area, Joseph said it was inconsequential to the case.

“They were not within their jurisdiction but they got wind of a robbery and decided to do their job. Even after being taken to the Anthony Police Division, policemen there had to call the division from where those policemen came to confirm if indeed they were policemen because they had lost their identity cards,” he said.

Joseph said the arrest was ordered by the Commissioner of Police, Lagos Command, Yakubu Alkali.

“The CP ordered that a full scale investigation should be launched. He said both the victims and the policemen should be held until investigations were finalised,” he said.

Metro had on Tuesday reported that Aderibigbe, a security guard at Tunde Debasco Company, had alleged that the two policemen robbed and assaulted him.

Aderibigbe also alleged that the men only identified themselves as policemen after a crowd attempted to intervene.

At the scene of the incident, the identity card of one of the policemen was found, while the driving licence of the other was also seen after the crowd had dispersed.

NIGERIA POLICE LOGO

Lagos police gets new spokesman

The Lagos state police command has appointed Jaiyeoba Joseph as the new police public relations officer

He replaces Samuel Jinadu, who has since been redeployed to the state criminal investigations department SCID panti, in Lagos

Joseph, a superintendent of police was born October 4, 1971 and attended Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile Ife, where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology

He enlisted into the Nigeria Police Force as a cadet assistant superintendent of police in 2000 and has since served in various police formations in Lagos, Ogun, Edo and Delta

A statement signed by Patricia Idahosa Amadin, deputy police public relations officer for Lagos command further stated that SP Joseph was posted to Lagos in 2008, where he served as district crime officer for Alade police station, district transport officer for Isolo, Oke Odo and Festac police stations

He also attended cadet ASP course, community policing course in Houston, Texas, USA and is happily married with children


Lagos Bizwoman Docked

Policemen at the Special Fraud Unit, Milverton Street, Ikoyi, Lagos, have arraigned a woman, Victoria Ekpa a.k.a. Asewo Ugochukwu before the Igbosere Magistrates’ Court, Lagos on a three-count charge of felony, to wit, forgery and altering documents to obtain Italian visa.

The police disclosed in the charge sheet that the accused was arrested following a complaint lodged by the Italian embassy that the accused on 18 January, 2012 forged a letter of introduction belonging to North Ocean Logistic and Solutions in order for it to be acted upon by the Italian embassy to obtain visa.

During interrogation, she allegedly confessed to the crime and begged for forgiveness.

She was charged to court for forgery and altering documents with a fake identity bearing Asewo Ugochukwu to obtain Italian visa.

The offences, according to the prosecutor, Inspector Osubure are punishable under sections 409, 363 and 378 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2011.

The accused pleaded not guilty to the charges and the presiding magistrate, Mrs. O.I. Oguntade, admitted her on bail in the sum of N50,000 with two sureties who must show evidence of three years tax payment to the Lagos State government.

The magistrate ordered the accused to be remanded at the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prisons when she could not fulfil the conditions attached to her bail and adjourned the matter till 22 February, 2012.


Fake Soldier Arrested For Smuggling

The Lagos State Police Command Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, has arrested a 37-year suspected smuggler in army uniform.

The suspect, Joseph Chinukwe, was arrested in Ajangbadi along Lagos-Badagry Expressway, Lagos State, Southwest Nigeria.

Chinukwe, who is undergoing interrogation, said: “I reside at 3, Epetedo Street, off Capitol bus stop, Ajangbadi. I’m not a robber, I left my car at the filling station. My car had a fault, so I had to park it at the filling station because I always buy fuel at the station.

“When I got to the spot, I didn’t see the car where I parked it and I decided to ask the attendant. Iwas later arrested after much interrogation, I had to confess that I am a civilian.

“I only use military uniform to smuggle goods like rice from Benin Republic and some times, I carry passengers from there.”

A worker at the filling station in Ajangbadi reported to the police that robbers allegedly carted away millions of naira and killed a guard.

The robbers came in a Peugeot 504 saloon car and the car was found parked at the same spot few days after the incident.

Suspicious of the car, the filling station attendant decided to inform the police at Ajangbadi Divisional Police Headquarters.

During investigation, policemen discovered a bag containing eight army uniforms in the car.

The officers then laid ambush for the owner to come for the bag. It turned out to be Chinukwe. When he did, he was arrested.

NURTW LOGO

NURTW Factions Clash In Lagos, 1 Killed, Others Injured, 6 Arrested

The election of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, in Lagos State turned bloody when a popular businessman, Ola-Shehu Ekeniojuoti, was shot dead in Obalende by gunmen suspected to be supporters of one of the NURTW chairmanship candidates.

The gunmen also injured two members of the union during a mayhem that broke out between members of factions of the union at Iyana-Ipaja and spread to Lagos Island where Ola-Shehu was killed.

The two injured persons have been admitted in a hospital on Lagos Island.

Trouble started after the NURTW National President, Nasiru Yasiu, during a closed-door meeting at the union’s Abule Egba office, stated that the Lagos State NURTW election would hold at a date to be announced later, since the five contestants to the number one seat in the state could not present a consensus candidate.

The former chairman, Rafiu Akanni Olohunwa’s supporters were said to have been caught off guard as their expectation was that the NURTW National President would hand pick and endorse their man, at the said meeting.

Yasiu’s announcement led to clashes at Iyana-Ipaja and later Obalende on Lagos Island, where Ola-Shehu was alleged to have been shot dead by supporters of a chairmanship candidate.

The deceased was said to be the brother of a staunch supporter of NURTW strongman in Oshodi, Musiliu Akinsanya a.k.a. MC Oluomo.

The deceased’s brother, Abu Ekeniojuoti a.k.a. Abu Stainless, was the former chairman of NURTW on Lagos Island.

The late Alhaji Ola-Shehu will be buried today according to Islamic rites.

Some of the chairmanship contestants include the former state chairman of NURTW, Olohunwa; the former state treasurer, Akinsanya; Tajudeen Agbede and Sope.

The contestants have been persuaded to step down for one another to make way for a consensus candidate to no avail.

Meanwhile, men of the State Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, have arrested six suspects in connection with the mayhem.

Investigations revealed that a high-ranking member of the union was among five suspects arrested by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of operations, Tunde Sobulo, yesterday evening.

Sobulo personally found two pump action rifles in the vehicle of one of the suspects, according to our source.

The suspect who was in possession of the guns is gunning for the seat of deputy chairman in the forthcoming Lagos State NURTW election.

He was at the meeting presided over by the National President of the union at Iyana Ipaja.

He and the other suspects are currently being quizzed at the SARS office in Ikeja.

Meanwhile, Keke NAPEP operators and NURTW officials reportedly clashed this morning at Orile-Iganmu area of Lagos.

As at press time, an eyewitness said the clash had become bloody and the atmosphere was tense in the area.

Responding to the bloody clashes, the former state chairman of NURTW, Olohunwa, denied the allegation that his supporters were the masterminds.

Speaking through his second personal assistant, Mumuni, Olohunwa claimed that many of his supporters were injured by supporters of his opponents who were hauling stones and missiles at him.

Mumuni said this After the meeting, Olohunwa came outside the secretariat. Supporters of the other contestants were shouting ‘ole, ole’ (meaning thief, thief) and they were throwing stones and missiles at him at the Abule Egba Secretariat.

“In order to protect him, Olohunwa’s supporters formed a human shield around him to enable him get out of the troubled area in one piece.”

Olohunwa’s PA said the police are in a better position to know who fired the shot that killed Ola- Shehu because they were on the ground and they prevented people from moving near the NURTW state secretariat.

THE SACKED GOVERNORS

Supreme Court sacks 5 Nigerian governors.

A seven- man panel of the Supreme Court in a unanimous decision today sacked Governors Liyel Imoke, Murtala Nyako, Ibrahim Idris, Wamako and Temipre Silva of Cross River, Adamawa, Kogi, Sokoto and Bayelsa states from office.

The court in Abuja held that the tenures of the governors started to count from the time they took their oath of office after emerging winners in their respective state governorship elections in 2007.

The court said it is not from the period they took their second oaths of office after emerging winners of the re-run elections when there initial elections were nullified.

A Federal High Court had earlier held that their tenures of office started to run from their later oaths of office and oath of allegiance which they took upon their emergence as winners of their respective re run elections.

The apex court held that the trial court as well as the Court of Appeal erred in law when the considered the actions taken by the respective governors before their elections were nullified by the various Election Petition Tribunals as valid on one hand while discounting the time they spent doing those valid actions from their constitutionally prescribed tenure of office.

180. (1) subject to the provisions of this Constitution, a person shall hold the office of Governor of a State until -
(a) When his successor in office takes the oath of that office; or
(b) he dies whilst holding such office; or
(c) the date when his resignation from office takes effect; or
(d) he otherwise ceases to hold office in accordance with the provisions of this constitution.

In reaching their decision, the Supreme Court relied on section 180 (2) of the Constitution wherein the tenure of office of Governors were prescribed and held that that section did not envisage any form of elongation of occupants of the office of the Governor of the state as well as that of the President.

The section reads:
180 (2) Subject to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, the Governor shall vacate his office at the expiration of period of four years commencing from the date when -
(a) in the case of a person first elected as Governor under this Constitution, he took the Oath of Allegiance and oath of office; and
(b) the person last elected to that office took the Oath of Allegiance and oath of office or would, but for his death, have taken such oaths.

The court held that the provisions of that section of the Constitution will stand violated if the tenure of office of the Governors is calculated from their second taking of Oath of Office and the Oath of Allegiance and stated that their tenure started counting from their first Oath of office which they all took after they were declared winners of the April 2007 elections and that they are entitled to four year terms from that date.

The court also rapped the Peoples Democratic party for attempting to abort the hearing of the matter at the court through their preliminary objections filed against all the consolidated appeals. The party had argued that the subject matter of the appeals have become academic and should be dismissed.

While dismissing the PDP’s preliminary objections, the apex court maintained that the matter is of grave constitutional importance whose subject matter is still alive and cannot be truncated on the grounds of mere technicalities.

In countering the decisions of the Federal High Court and that of the Court of Appeal, the apex court asserted that the provision of the law did not envisage an indefinite occupation of office by a Governor and did not also envisage re run elections, left alone one to be won by the same person.

It went on to hold that since acions of these governors, like contracts awarded by them, Commissioners and Special Assistants appointed by them as well as Budgets and Bills signed into law by them remained valid and subsisting when their election were annulled, that it followed that upon emerging winners of their respective re run elections, and having to take another Oaths of Office and Allegiance which is a standard procedure before they can function as Governors, that their tenure begins to count from that first oaths they took in 2007 and not the second ones they took in 2008 after their victories in the re-run elections.