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TRAGEDY HITS THE MUSIC INDUSTRY : Breaking News! Popular Beautiful Female Nigerian Singer, Zara is Dead! TOO BAD!!! ... PakurumoEntertainment

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 zara
The Beautiful  singer who has been battling Multiple Sclerosis for a while now is dead. Zara left Nigeria for the US last year where she has been receiving treatment for her ailment, but sadly she lost the battle this morning. She was in her 20’s. Her last tweet, March 27, 2014 was ‘I love and hate my life’
zara 33 

RUMOURS OF A GUN FIGHT AROUND THE VILLA : How the gun battle began — SSS; It’s not true – security sources, residents ... PremiumTimes

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The Department of State Services has issued a statement, claiming that the sustained gun battle around its headquarters and the vicinity of the presidential villa this morning began after a detainee disarmed an operative and tried to effect a jailbreak.
“At 0715 hours, the Service suspect handler went to the detention facility within the Headquarters to feed the suspects,” the SSS spokesperson, Marilyn Ogar, said in the statement. “One of the suspects attempted to disarm him by hitting him at the back of his head with his handcuff. His attempt to escape drew the attention of other guards at the facility who fired some shots to warn and deter others.
“The gun shots attracted the attention of the military with whom we have an understanding of mutual assistance in the event of any threat. The Army immediately deployed a team to reinforce our perimeter guards to forestall any external collaborators. The situation has since been brought under control.”
But knowledgeable security sources are telling PREMIUM TIMES that the SSS narrative begs further questions because they are “untrue and misleading”.
The sources frame their doubts around the presumed impenetrability of the DSS facility and headquarters; the unusually huge military intervention force; the quality of ordinance deployed; and the prolonged period of gun exchange.
“The truth is that a jailbreak is impossible in the SSS headquarters,” one of our sources said.”It has two fences and is highly fortified. And there is no way a man on handcuff could launch an attack vicious enough to disarm an operative.
“Also our people need to tell the world whether it was only one gun taken from the disarmed operative that the detainees used in engaging soldiers and SSS operatives in sustained gun battle for about three hours.
“If it is about subduing one man who attempted a jailbreak, why did we need truckloads of fully armed soldiers and deployment of Armoured Personnel Carriers, RPGs and other sophisticated weapons?
“Also, why did the exchange of fire lasted for so long? Why did we have to deploy helicopter gunships to hover around the villa and Yellow House (SSS headquarters).
“Nigerians should demand the truth. I can tell you that a more serious incident happened than our people are willing to admit and there is a serious attempt at cover-up.”
Some residents of the area also believe what happened could not have been just an attempted jailbreak.
“Whatever this is, it appears more serious than an attempted jailbreak claimed by the SSS,” former Minister Nasir El-Rufai, who live a few metres away from the SSS headquarters said. “May God Protect the innocent and destroy the murderers, kidnappers and planners of genocide, Amen.”
Another former minister, whose home neighboured the SSS headquarters, Femi Fani-Kayode said,”I live 50 metres away from the SSS headquarters and the Villa and what I witnessed with my eyes and heard this morning was a full scale battle.”
The entire vicinity of the presidential palace and the SSS headquarters has been cordoned off, making it impossible for journalists to do area assessment with a view to determining what actually happened.

DISPELLING THE RUMOURS : Abuja Attack: President Jonathan is safe and well — Presidency ... PremiumTimes

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The prolonged gun battle around the headquarters of the Department of State Services and the presidential villa did not endanger President Goodluck Jonathan in any way, a presidential spokesperson has said.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati, said in a statement posted on his twitter handle [@abati1990] that Mr. Jonathan was unharmed in the shootout between the army and insurgents at the SSS headquarters.
The presidential villa, which has one of its gates overlooking the SSS headquarters, is a stone throw away from the scene of the attack.
“What happened at the SSS HQs has nothing to do with the Villa. President Jonathan is safe and well. Thank you for your concern & support,” Mr. Abati said.
He added, “What happened at the SSS HQ this morning was an attempted jailbreak which has been effectively foiled. There is no cause for alarm.”
The SSS issued a statement shortly after the attack claiming that the gun battle began after a detainee disarmed an operative and tried to effect a jailbreak.
But knowledgeable security sources are telling PREMIUM TIMES that the SSS narrative begs further questions because they are “untrue and misleading”.
The sources frame their doubts around the presumed impenetrability of the DSS facility and headquarters; the unusually huge military intervention force; the quality of ordinance deployed; and the prolonged period of gun exchange.
“The truth is that a jailbreak is impossible in the SSS headquarters,” one of our sources said.”It has two fences and is highly fortified. And there is no way a man on handcuff could launch an attack vicious enough to disarm an operative.
“Also our people need to tell the world whether it was only one gun taken from the disarmed operative that the detainees used in engaging soldiers and SSS operatives in sustained gun battle for about three hours.
“If it is about subduing one man who attempted a jailbreak, why did we need truckloads of fully armed soldiers and deployment of Armoured Personnel Carriers, RPGs and other sophisticated weapons?
“Also, why did the exchange of fire lasted for so long? Why did we have to deploy helicopter gunships to hover around the villa and Yellow House (SSS headquarters).
“Nigerians should demand the truth. I can tell you that a more serious incident happened than our people are willing to admit and there is a serious attempt at cover-up.”

STRANGE TIMES, STRANGER STATEMENTS ... CASTING SPELLS FOR 2015 : Jonathan Will Never Condone Any Act Of Corruption No Matter Who’s Involved – Presidency ... InformationNigeria

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GEJ Official
The Presidency on Saturday declared that President Goodluck Jonathan will never condone the cover up of corruption cases involving any official of government.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, who made the declaration in a statement issued in Abuja, denounced a report in one of the national dailies which he claimed gave the impression that Jonathan tolerates such cover ups over the ongoing investigation into the chartering of private jet by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) by the House of Representatives.
According to the statement, “Jonathan had never and will never condone any act of corruption no matter from which quarters such may come from.
“This clarification has become necessary as a result of a mischievous publication by a National Daily which suggested falsely that my response to the planned probe by the House of Representatives on the hiring of a private jet by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation implied that the President was encouraging corruption.
“The true fact of the matter is that it is the House of Representatives that claimed to be in possession of certain documents relating to the leasing of Private Jets for which they decided to institute a probe”.

COUNTING THE COST OF A BH ATTACK OR JAIL BREAK ATTEMPT : 21 dead in Nigeria’s jailbreak attempt ... TribuneNews

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Nigeria’s secret police said on Sunday that 21 detainees died during an attempted escape from custody at its headquarters, with unconfirmed reports that Boko Haram militants were involved.
A security breach at the facility in Abuja, particularly by the feared Islamists, would be an embarrassment for the government and raise fresh questions about its ability to tackle the extremists.
But there was no official confirmation of the involvement of the group, which has been waging an increasingly violent insurgency in Nigeria’s northeast this year.
Marilyn Ogar, spokeswoman for the Department of State Services (DSS) — Nigeria’s domestic intelligence agency — said only that detainees had died during the attempt.
Nigeria's SSS men
Nigeria’s SSS men
“It has been established that 18 casualties were recorded, while two service personnel sustained serious injuries,” she said in an emailed statement.
“Three other detainees who sustained gunshot injuries during the incident have also died. Meanwhile, (an) investigation is still ongoing to ascertain the immediate and remote causes.”

- Fears of outside help -

Ogar had said earlier that the incident happened at 7:15 am (0615 GMT) when one of its officers went to give the detainees food.
“One of the suspects attempted to disarm him by hitting him at the back of his head with his handcuff,” she said.
“His attempt to escape drew the attention of other guards at the facility who fired some shots to warn and deter others.”
No details were provided on the number of inmates involved nor the reason for their detention. There was no explanation either about how exactly the 21 died.
But Ogar indicated they acted in case the detainees had outside help, as roads leading to the compound were cordoned off “to prevent possible assistance from external collaborators”.
The DSS headquarters are near the presidential villa and nearby residents reported hearing gunfire on Sunday morning.
President Goodluck Jonathan’s spokesman, Reuben Abati, had downplayed the incident, writing on Twitter that the head of state’s residence was not affected and there was “no cause for alarm”.
“What happened at the SSS HQs has nothing to do with the (Presidential) Villa. President Jonathan is safe & well. Thank you for your concern & support,” he added.
The attempted break-out, especially if Boko Haram suspects were involved, will do little to instil confidence in the government’s security operations.
The government has previously been criticised for relying too heavily on conventional military means to tackling an enemy fighting a guerrilla war.
Many users of social media initially believed the presidency was under attack, given its proximity to the intelligence agency.
Nigeria’s military was brought in to secure the area surrounding the headquarters, which is known locally as Yellow House, and conduct searches.
“Normalcy has returned to the area as the roads have been opened for free movement of persons and vehicles,” said Ogar.
- Boko Haram link? -
A security source told AFP the officer involved was shot with his own rifle after the inmates seized the weapon.
A number of Nigerian newspaper websites and users of social media claimed that the detainees were Boko Haram suspects but did not quote sources.
The DSS had on March 3 paraded seven suspected Boko Haram members arrested on suspicion of killing a prominent Muslim cleric who had criticised the group before the media at their headquarters.
The seven were held over the murder of Adam Albani in the northern city of Zaria on February 1.
But it was not known whether the men, including the alleged mastermind of the attack and one of the gunmen, were still at the facility.
The Boko Haram insurgency has been raging since 2009 but has turned increasingly violent in the first three months of this year.
During that period, more than 1,000 people have been killed and some 250,000 displaced in the three northeastern states worst affected by the violence, according to agencies tracking the conflict.

NO CAUSE FOR ALARM? : Attempted Jail Break: How Inmates Disarmed, Shot SSS Operatives ... LeadershipNews

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There was panic around the presidential villa and the headquarters of the Department of State Services in the nation’s capital yesterday as gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect invaded the area in an attempt to free some of their members in the custody of the State Security Service.
It was alleged that one of the suspects had attacked an operative of the Service, disarming him by hitting him at the back of his head with his handcuff. Another operative was injured severely by the sect members.
At the end of the attack, 21 sect members lay dead: 18 died on the spot while three others died from severe gun injuries received during the attack. Also, two SSS men were seriously injured and are receiving treatment at an undisclosed location.
An eyewitness who spoke to LEADERSHIP on the condition of anonymity when our reporter visited the area explained that what happened looked like a military coup and “all the neighbourhoods were thrown into confusion due to the heavy gunshots”.  He said the SSS was practically overpowered as some of the sect members were seen running outside the area.
“It was the military men that were seen around, chasing and arresting some of the fleeing sect members and I cannot say how many people were killed, but there were definitely causalities,” he said.
An SSS source told SaharaReporters that the militants succeeded in freeing several inmates and were almost taking over the complex before reinforcement came from the Nigerian military. He said the detainees had held the detention facility under a siege for several hours, with security agents negotiating with them to end the tense stand-off. He added that the operatives, aided by soldiers, went on the offensive after the detainees who had obtained weapons had run out of ammunition. He said most of the dead detainees were shot as they fled the complex. According to the source, four fleeing suspects were shot dead at a park near the facility.
The source said he could not state if any suspect succeeded in escaping. He would also not comment on the number of casualties on the side of the security operatives.
Reacting to the attack, the deputy director, public relations department of the State Services, Ms Marilyn Ogar, described the attack as “attempted jail break”, in a statement sent to LEADERSHIP. She explained that “the Service suspect handler went to the detention facility within the headquarters to feed the suspects. One of the suspects attempted to disarm him by hitting him at the back of his head with his handcuff. His attempt to escape drew the attention of other guards at the facility who fired some shots to warn and deter others”.
She also confirmed that “it has been established that 18 casualties were recorded, while two Service personnel sustained serious injuries”.
“Three other detainees who sustained gunshot injuries during the incident have also died, while investigation is ongoing to ascertain the immediate and remote causes of the attempted jail break,” Ogar said, explaining that “the gunshots attracted the attention of the military with whom the Service has an understanding of mutual assistance in the event of any threat”.
“The Army immediately deployed a team to reinforce our perimeter guards to forestall any external collaborators. The situation has since been brought under control.”
Later in the day, the roads leading to the SSS office, which had been cordoned off to prevent possible further attack, were opened and normalcy returned to the area. The roads have been opened for free movement of persons and vehicles.

Security beefed up in Abuja
Security was beefed up yesterday at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, venue of the ongoing 7th meeting of African finance ministers and other strategic locations in the FCT.
The development followed an attempted jail break at the headquarters of the Department of State Services (DSS) in Abuja.
A correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria covering the African ministers’ meeting observed that additional security personnel had been deployed to the hotel.
The additional armed men, seen within the vicinity of the hotel, include soldiers, police and officers of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
The armed men were supported by sniffer dogs as they took positions within and outside the hotel.
Security was also beefed up in and around military and other security offices in Abuja yesterday following the attempted jail break.
On the Shehu Shagari Road, where the Force Headquarters is located, the area had been barricaded with armoured personnel carrier; same for the Ministry of Defence, Area 10, Garki.

National Hospital waiting to receive corpses
Meanwhile, LEADERSHIP confirmed from undisclosed sources at the National Hospital, Abuja, that the hospital had received a call from the SSS headquarters that they were bringing some corpses down to the hospital’s morgue.
At press time, the corpses had not arrived.
LEADERSHIP gathered that the corpses could have been diverted at the last minute in order not to raise dust.

Embrace soft approach to counter-insurgency, NSA pleads
The Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) has urged all stakeholders to embrace the soft approach to insurgency as it  embarked on “Exercise Quick Think”, a crisis management exercise in order to continue providing strategic level training to stakeholders.
The exercise, which was coordinated by Gen. TT Waya, Director PC4, was to engage the participants from intelligence and security agencies in situation evaluation, execution of situation evaluation and crisis management.
It was also set to test participants’ abilities in intelligence collation, evaluation and dissemination as well as in intelligence sharing and joint operations planning.
According to a statement issued by the ONSA and signed by the special assistant (media), Karounwi Adekunle,  the exercise which took place last week (March 25-27, 2014) had participants from all security agencies including para-military outfits.
The NSA urges all patriotic Nigerians to rally round the programme that is aimed at restoring peace to the polity.
“It is apparent that the ‘Soft Approach’ ,a product of painstaking research and wide consultations, should enjoy the confidence of committed Nigerians,” he stated.

No cause for alarm  – Presidency
Presidential spokesman Reuben Abati yesterday said there was no cause for alarm after the attempted jail break by the Boko Haram sect at the SSS headquarters in Abuja.
“What happened at the SSS HQ this morning was an attempted jail break which has been effectively foiled. There is no cause for alarm,” Abati tweeted in a message he posted on his blog.
Noting that the president and his family were safe, the presidential spokesman further twitted: “What happened has nothing to do with the villa. President Jonathan is safe & well. Thank you for your concern and support.”

JISOS!!! WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH MEN TODAY? : Police corporal bites 19-month-old baby to death in Benin ... SunNews

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POLICE-ig
A Police Corporal identified as  Corporal Abiola (surname withheld) has allegedly killed his 19-month-old baby after battering his wife in Benin City.
The incident occurred at Omorogieva Compound on Sam Enobakhare Cresent, Off St. Saviour Road in the Edo State capital.
He was said to have picked the baby boy identified as Ayomide from his bed and bit him severally before strangulating him.
Corporal Abiola was alleged to have pounced on the defenceless baby after his wife, whom he had beaten black and blue, miraculously escaped his aggression.
The policeman who hails from Ijebu-Ode in Ogun State, was said to have impregnated another woman from Oghara town in Delta State.
The 26-year-old mother of the late child, Abigail,while narrating her ordeal, said on Tuesday, March 25, she and her baby were at home with her husband without any dispute, until about 6p.m when her husband’s countenance suddenly changed. She said when she tried to know the reason, he started to beat her.
Speaking in Pidgin English, she said: “He kicked me for belle, pressed my neck, slapped me, I run come out, he come carry my pikin, bite am for neck, belle and face. He come lock me out.”
Recalling in pains how her husband abandoned her at the hospital after having the baby through a Caesarian section, Mrs Abiola alleged that it took the intervention of some policemen at the hospital before her husband paid  for her discharge after spending more than a month in hospital.
Abiola’s mother-in-law, Mrs. Jani Omoruyi, said on hearing about the incident, she visited her daughter and discovered that she was battered by her husband who locked her out until after several knocks on his door.
The woman alleged that on entering the house, she saw her grandson writhing in pains on the bed with visible marks on his body, adding, “Abiola say he give the baby medicine because he no well.”
She said the child was swiftly taken to a private clinic where a doctor said the baby was brought in dead, adding that the child has since been buried.
When contacted, the Chief Medical Director of the hospital Dr. Jolly Nosakhare Iguma, stated that a mother and her daughter brought in a dead baby to his hospital few days ago.
“On close examination, the baby was pale, whole body yellowish and with tooth-bite injuries on his face,“ adding “since the baby is not old enough to fight with any person, I wondered who bit the baby.‪”‬
The Edo State Commissioner of Police,  Mr. Foluso Adebanjo, said he was yet to be briefed on the incident.

TRAGEDY : Six Feared Dead After Drinking Local Beverage At Wedding Reception In Kano ...NAN

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kano-state
No fewer than six persons, between ages 20 and 22 years, died after allegedly consuming a local beverage, Zakami, at a wedding reception at Unguwa Uku, Kano State, a witness has said.
The police also confirmed the incident on Monday but could not confirm the casualty.
A witness, who was at the wedding, said the incident happened at about 10.30 p.m. on Sunday.
According to the witness, the deceased, all males, drank the substance at the party.
The deceased persons collapsed after consuming the intoxicating beverage and died on the way to the hospital.
The Kano State Police Public Relations Officer, Magaji Majiya, confirmed the incident.
He said the police had since commenced investigation into the matter with a view to finding out the cause of the tragedy.
“On receiving the report, we invited the groom; he is currently assisting us in our investigation.
“I cannot confirm the number of deaths until we finish our investigation”, he said.
(NAN)

STILL UNDER SEIGE : SSS accuses CBN Governor, Sanusi, of financing terrorism ... PremiumTimes

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A new twist has been added to the ongoing travails of the suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Lamido Sanusi, as the Department of State Security Service, SSS, has accused him of financing terrorism.
The SSS stated this at the Federal High Court, Lagos, while defending its decision to seize Mr. Sanusi’s international passport.
Mr. Sanusi’s passport was seized on February 20, as he arrived the Lagos international airport, hours after he was suspended as Central Bank Governor by President Goodluck Jonathan.
The new charge, which Mr. Sanusi’s lawyers described as false and baseless, tallies with a similar surreptitious but baseless allegation thrown at the bank chief by a presidential aide.
Reno Omokri, the Special Assistant to the President on New Media, had, on February 26, used a pseudonym, Wendell Simlin, to circulate an article that tried to link the recent spike in Boko Haram attack to the suspension of the CBN governor.
The embattled CBN chief was controversially suspended by the president based on allegations of ‘financial recklessness’ by the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, FRCN.
Several investigative reports by PREMIUM TIMES had shown that Mr. Sanusi indeed approved some interventionist spendings from CBN funds, but he did so with adequate approval from the board of his bank and President Goodluck Jonathan.
Mr. Sanusi, in separate suits, challenged his suspension, and asked for an enforcement of his fundamental rights as enshrined in the Nigerian constitution.
During the hearing of the rights’ suit, which continued on Monday, the respondents – the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF; the Police; and the SSS – made different claims.
Sanusi sponsors terrorism
The fresh terrorism-related allegation against Mr. Sanusi came from the SSS.
The agency said it was investigating Mr. Sanusi for allegedly financing terrorism.
The SSS counsel, Moses Idakwo, said Mr. Sanusi’s interaction with SSS officials did not last for up to an hour and did not constitute a violation of his rights.
He said the provisions of Section 6 of the National Security Agencies’ Act empowered the Service to impound the international passport of suspects pending the conclusion of investigations.
It is not clear how this fresh allegation by the SSS is related to the dubious claims by Mr. Omokri.
PREMIUM TIMES and a few citizen journalists had exposed how Mr. Omokri, using a non-existent alias, Wendell Simlin, created a document linking Mr. Sanusi with financing the terrorist Boko Haram group.
The document was later shown to have been created by Mr. Omokri, with several Nigerians calling for his sack. The presidency has kept mum since the scandal was exposed.
On Monday, however, Mr. Sanusi’s counsel, Kola Awodehin, accused the SSS of falsehood in its new claim against the bank chief, saying the agency had no shred of evidence.
Dismiss Sanusi’s suit
The counsel to the AGF, Fabian Ajogwu, had objected to the suit, urging the court to strike it out for want of jurisdiction.
Mr. Ajogwu argued that the provisions of Section 254 (c) 1 (d) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) ousted the court’s jurisdiction to entertain the suit.
He noted that the case before the court borders on the applicant’s employment, saying that labour -related cases are within the exclusive jurisdiction of the National Industrial Court, NIC.
“Section 254 (c) 1 (d) of the Constitution vests exclusive jurisdiction on the National Industrial Court, with respect to civil causes or matters touching on employment, labour or industrial relations.
“We respectfully urge the court to hold that it has no jurisdiction to entertain the reliefs sought by the applicant,” he said.
The counsel urged the court to strike out the suit.
Mr. Ajogwu also argued that the applicant should not, by the suit, seek to restrain the respondents from performing their constitutional duties.
He argued that Mr. Sanusi was being investigated based on the FRCN’s claims. He said the suspended bank chief was being investigated in accordance with the provisions of the law, which the respondents had a statutory duty to perform.
Citing the dictum of retired Justice Niki Tobi of the Supreme Court in the case of Adeniran vs Alao, Mr. Ajogwu submitted that a perpetual injunction would be everlasting and could not be granted by
a court of law.
“The applicant’s suit is basically an action to shield him from the machinery of administration of justice, which has been kick-started by the respondents,” Mr. Ajogwu submitted.
Nobody reported Sanusi to us
While the AGF said Mr. Sanusi was being investigated based on the FRCN investigations, the police said it was not investigating the CBN boss.
The counsel to the police, David Abuo, said nobody ever reported Mr. Sanusi to the police.
He, however aligned with Mr. Ajogwu, saying the case should be struck out as it seeks to bar government agencies from performing their duties.
Sanusi reacts
Responding to the respondents’ preliminary objection, Mr. Awodehin submitted that the court was vested with the jurisdiction to entertain the suit.
He argued that the suit had nothing to do with the terms of employment of the applicant or industrial relations, since it was not a case of the applicant against the Central Bank of Nigeria.
He argued that the applicant never sought an order of perpetual injunction, adding that the reliefs he sought were qualified.
“It cannot be suggested that the applicant is restraining the respondents from performing their duties, but they must be restrained from doing so without due process of the law.
“The seizure of the applicant’s international passport by the third respondent is a derogation of his freedom of movement,” he said.
Mr. Awodehin also argued that the different submissions by the three respondents showed that laws were being violated in Mr. Sanusi’s treatment.
“The first to third respondents give conflicting reasons as to the complaint made against the applicant.
“This conflict goes to show that they acted without due process of the law,” he said.
The counsel also argued that the SSS’ claim of financing terrorism was bogus.
“The allegation against the applicant as to funding of terrorism is an afterthought by the respondents which is not backed by facts, as there is no reasonable suspicion that the applicant committed any crime,” he said.
He urged the court to dismiss the preliminary objection and uphold the case of the applicant.
The court had on February 21 granted an interim order, restraining the respondents from arresting, detaining, or harassing the applicant pending the determination of the substantive suit.
The interim order was sequel to an affidavit of urgency filed by the applicant on the same date. On Monday, the court adjourned ruling on the preliminary objection to April 4.
-Premium Times

A NEEDLESS LOSS : ‘MS didn’t kill her, ignorance did’, Yemisi Ilo blames Zara’s family for her death... Yemisi Ilo

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Yemisi Ilo


By Yemisi Ilo Yemisi Ilo Yemisi Ilo says she has also been battling Multiple Sclerosis for nearly 10 years and that Zara’s situation shouldn’t have deteriorated to the point of death. Photo: Facebook/Yemisi Ilo I also have MS and I am currently in Singapore – where by His grace I will finally halt the progression and hopefully and prayerfully reverse some if not all disability. I spoke to Zara on Tuesday. She said she was being given ‘Agbo’ to drink by her family and that it was killing her. Those were her exact words. I told her to NOT drink it. With an already compromised immune system – Agbo is bullshit. It is poison. MS is not malaria. I gave Zara clear details of exactly what she needed to do to try to get well. It isn’t easy AT ALL – I should know but unfortunately for her, she was surrounded by very ignorant people at the end who felt that they knew best. I first heard of Zara when I read about her on Linda Ikeji‘s blog a year ago. I got in touch with her immediately and started a Skype friendship. I was in London and she was in the States (US). We spoke regularly. When I went back to Lagos, we would WhatsApp and I would call her. When she came to Nigeria in October last year, I went to see her and she was surprised that she could move better than me! I organized the Battabox interview (which we did at my parents house). She said she didn’t want to live with her mum in the States – yet she had no one to look after her there apart from her mum. She needed someone. She even wanted to come and stay with me, but I am married with small children and my own MS issues were already enough for one house. READ: Zara’s family says no one has paid them condolence visit I am so pissed off, so angry, so fucking sad, teary and frustrated. If I had been in Nigeria, I would have gone to pick her up on Tuesday when I spoke to her. She was so desperate to leave Ogba. She said she had a return ticket to America and would try to leave ASAP. I gave her my neurologist’s number so she could get some steroids to help her get over the horrible relapse she was having. Also to get her to explain the condition to Zara’s family so they would realize that this was not an ‘Agbo’ matter. I have had MS for nearly 10 years. My walking has deteriorated and I am currently alternating between a walker and a wheelchair. Zara was worried that she wouldn’t get married and have kids – I told her that I had 4 kids and was happily married and continued to work and that there was hope. I have always been vocal about MS and even appeared on a ‘Moments with Mo’ episode talking about it. There are many Nigerians with MS – I know a few but they want to keep quiet. Their families are embarrassed. Why? I don’t know? It can happen to anyone at any time. Granted, I am extremely fortunate to have the strength of character and a loving and supportive and enlightened family to deal with this HORRIBLE condition that has led to this opportunity for me to undergo Hemapioetic Stem Cell Transplant (HSCT) – Google it. It has taken donations from over 100 people to do this. It costs over $150k (N24,727,501). I told Zara that since she was a US citizen, she could get on a trial at the University of Chicago under Dr. Burt for free. I just want people to know that MS didn’t kill Zara – ignorance did. As well as our fatalistic attitude in Nigeria where everyone prays and no one takes action. Thanks Bless Yemisi. *Ilo is a creative consultant with many years experience in book and magazine publishing, film production as well as project and artist management....

FOR THE RECORDS ... A MUST READ : REVOLTING: The Source And Solution to The Menace Called Boko Haram (BH) – By Abidemi Babaolowo Oderinlo

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what does jerry gana know
WARNING: THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS DAMAGING TRUTH ABOUT THE PRESIDENCY, CAN, BH AND THE RELATIONSHIP THAT EXIST BETWEEN THEM.
If there is anything I have learnt in my short stint on earth as a Nigerian, it is how to solve problems because there are just too many and solving them means survival. If there is one unique way of doing it that I have discovered, it is identifying the source and cutting the supply off.
The spate at which BH has been unleashing its menace on innocent harmless Nigerians got me so frustrated and concerned as well, the freedom with which they carry out their raving attacks that last for hours without being checked is gradually pushing me out of the realm of sanity, and I can imagine things getting worst if something is not done. I began to ask questions, searching through the pages of Nigerian history to see if the past has faced a similar, and if it has, maybe it can help solve the problems of the present and prevent this cancerous phenomenon from stemming into the future.
History gave me a lead when I came across the word “Mai-Tatsine” (The one who damns); here is a link to the truth about the sect CLICK HERE ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maitatsine. I dug deeper, hoping to find the root of the matter, hoping the source will still be in control and in a position to stop the menace, but what I found was heavier and revealing, the truth has been in the open all along. Don’t be surprised, the source of BH that I found is one that you’ll least expect, it’s the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), perhaps it is nemesis of CAN’s role that is catching up with the church.
albani zariaTHE ORIGIN
Mai Tatsine is perhaps the older version of BH led by Muhammad Marwa, a movement that began its reign of terror in Kano and other parts of Northern Nigeria in the late 50’s. Like BH, the ideology of “western education is a sin and technological advances are a pollution of the sanity and culture of the Nigeria state”. Stuffs like radio, wristwatches, television etc were regarded as “haram” in those years probably because they were the definition of technology or perhaps western influence in the 50’s. Over 8000 lives were lost in battles between the sect and the Nigerian state between 1960 and 1984.
 Video: Maitatsine, Tijjaniyya & Christianity late Shiekh Albani With Prof. Dauda Ojobi (1)
[Sheikh Albani Zaria was recently killed by Boko Haram after being hounded by Nigerian security agents]
THE SOURCE
I know a lot of people will find it hard to believe this, but I have listened to it myself although the lecture was delivered in Hausa language and if the records are correct, Professor Dauda Ojobi, is a former secretary of Northern Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), a retired Professor in Benue State University faculty of Law, the 3rd Reverend Father from northern Nigeria, after Paul Gindiri, and GG Ganaka. He is the first Nigerian overseer of Baptist Church in Kaduna, and One time commissioner of Justice in Bauchi State.
“Marwa Maitatsine, was a Christian until his death. Back in 1954, there were series of meetings by the highest body of Christian association in the northern Nigeria, in Jos, which I happened to be the secretary, taking the minutes of that meeting (then, I was an undergraduate student of Christian Theology). Part of the resolve of that meeting was, to sponsor some people among ‘us’ to go to Arab countries as new Muslim converts, and learn Arabic and Islam. Their mission is to come back to Nigeria as Muslims clerics, use their Islamic knowledge to preach violence, distort original Islamic teachings and if possible cause a riot in the North that will make northern Nigeria a history. Five people were nominated for the job, and sent to Sudan to start their mission. Three of them refused to come back and execute their plan, but spent the rest of their lives in Sudan as true Muslims. The remaining two; Muhammad Marwa and Birema came back, Marwa was sent to Kano, and Birema was sent to Niamey Niger Republic.”
late-shekau
French media caught propagating fake images of late Abubakar Shekau
Prof. Ojobi also made this submission in the “Anya Goru Panel” set up by Shehu Shagari, to investigate the crisis then, but when Shagari saw the report, he ordered that the white paper should not be issued because it may result to more crises. Prof. Dauda is still alive, Shagari is still alive and the leadership of CAN is very aware of this fact and had never denied it. My assumption at first was that the extermination programme of CAN went out of control because their mules became too powerful and broke the leach, I probably might be wrong because even in recent history, a relationship still exists between CAN and the new breed of Mai Tatsine called Boko Haram in the flesh, blood and bone of Prof. Jerry Gana, a chieftain of CAN.
This new chaotic Order was initiated by Muhammad Yussuf, and before his extra-judicial killing by the police, he was bailed from custody every time he was arrested for extremist activities that posed a threat to national security by Prof. Jerry Gana, and this happened severally. I have the feeling Yussuf was killed because he started saying things he wasn’t supposed to say so they had to shut him up. Rumour had it that the last call on the phone recovered from him was to his affiliate and CAN Chieftain Jerry Gana, more like a quick call to the boss for a rescue operation when the cops came calling.
Yussuf’s killing sparkled the venom we have now in BH, a bitter sect, hell bent on avenging their leader and DE-westernizing Northern Nigeria (at least for now). Perhaps I am no longer surprised that certain groups are accusing GEJ of being the one fending BH, he’s still patronizing Jerry Gana the supposed prime suspect according to this my discovery, probably I am not the only one aware of it, and I believe a lot more people should be made aware of it so we can know where to face and who to ask for the way on the road that leads to finding BH, and eliminating it from the root.
A more recent activity still points in the direction of the President GEJ. A letter supposedly sent to Premium Times and other media houses by wendellsimlin@yahoo.com was traced to his special adviser Reno Omokri on 26th Feb. 2014. The phony document was created by Reno on behalf of GEJ with the sole aim of implicating the suspended CBN governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi for complicity in the recent activities of the insurgent but was burlesqued by his own digital signature on the document. According to Premium Times
“The document’s digital signature shared a 100 percent resemblance with that of others PREMIUM TIMES had received from Mr. Omokri in the past.

The document was created by Mr. Omokri or someone else who used his Hewlett Packard computer at 10:01 on Wednesday. Sixteen minutes after it was created, the document was printed and revised once before it was sent out at 11:54 using the Wendell Simlin’s email address.
The email was sent out using the Nigerian government’s official internet service provider, Galaxy Backbone, from Abuja, Feyi Fawehimi who first investigated the mail told PREMIUM TIMES.”
Why are we still looking for the source? With this action alone, it is a clear that the President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration would rather reap politically from the violence than end it, no wonder he responded rudely to the complaint of Borno governor about the lackluster approach of the military in Borno State with this sloppy statement at the media chat.
Reno Omokri
Reno Omokri
“If we pullout the military from Borno state, let us see if he (governor of Borno state) will be able to stay in the government house,”
Reno Omokri should be arrested immediately; it is evident that he knows something about BH because if in his attempt to implicate SLS, he decided to share details about BH coordinated activities, he definitely knows something or someone in BH and should be charge for complicity, treason and for the mass murders that occurred in the last few days, at least those were covered in the document he created from his laptop. The senate should not continue to sit and sleep but act in the best interest of Nigerians.   Damn! Immunity, a warrant of arrest for GEJ for the mass murder of Nigerians should follow suit, maybe by cutting off the source, the supply of BH will run dry. If he can’t be held for corruption, maybe he should be held for murder.
The hand writings are on the wall and they are in capital letters, I hope they point us in the direction of how to end the menace of BH. Now we know the truth, I hope we will allow it to set us free.
The aim of this outcry is to stop #JosMassacre #YobeMassacre #BornoMassacre #AdamawaMassacre and to demand from them #WhereIsOurMoney.
Here’s Document   http://newsrescue.com/jonathan-media-man-reno-omokri-caught-distributing-sanusi-boko-propaganda-fake-name/#axzz2xW7kSJPs
I  am Abidemi Babaolowo Oderinlo
iThink, iWrite and iActOnIt
Blog: www.babaolowo.blogspot.com
Twitter: @enyola

AS EXPECTED, THEY WILL TURN ANGST AGAINST THE CHURCHES IN THEIR MIDST : Irate Youths Burn Churches In Katsina ... LeadershipNews

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ibrahim_shehu_shema_0
Irate youths on Monday went on rampage and attacked two churches, St Theresa Catholic Church and Celestial Church of Christ, in Funtua town of Katsina State.
It was gathered that the youth burnt the Reverend Father’s apartment at St Theresa Catholic Church along Katsina road in Funtua Municipal.
The rampaging youths also brought out some property of Celestial Church of Christ at Tudun Malamai and set them ablaze.
Confirming the incidence to our correspondent, the spokesman of Katsina State command of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Aliyu Jamilu said the youth went on rampage over alleged defamation of Prophet Muhammad.
He said “A corp member serving with a secondary school, in setting exams questions, made some reference to Muhammad and Amina. These youths felt he was trying to defame Prophet Muhammad and so went on rampage.”
The Civil Defence Spokesman also confirmed that part of a secondary school, Ideal Secondary School, where the Corps Member teaches, was also set on fire.
Our correspondent reports that tension was high in Funtua town following which security personnel including military personnel were deployed to restore order.

JISOS ... APC Settles On Buhari And Tinubu As Presidential And VP Candidates ... ThisDayLive

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The leadership of the opposition All Progressives Congress may have decided on Major-General Muhammadu Buhari and Senator Bola Tinubu as party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates, This Day reports citing ‘reliable party sources’.
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This information comes a week after Sunday Independent gathered that the APC settled on Buhari as its presidential candidate as, allegedly, he could guarantee vast support for the party from the North-West and North-East.
The former head of state obtained an APC membership card in February 2014. However, the first indications that Buhari might contest the party’s presidential primary emerged in August 2013.
According to This Day’s sources, the party’s decision was informed by the massive votes that the pairing of Buhari and Tinubu could gain during the election as Buhari is very popular at the grassroots level in most parts of the North-West and North-East, while Tinubu comes from the South-West.
The APC estimated that Buhari will be banking on some 44,848,911 registered voters who accounted for 61 per cent of total registered voters of 73,528,040 in the 2011 election.
This is in contrast to the 27,735,678 registered voters in the North-Central, South-South and the South-East zone combined, who accounted for 39 per cent of total registered voters in the 2011 election.
APC’s strategists also suppose that with Tinubu as Buhari’s running mate the duo will be able to secure the bulk of the 2,941,214 votes cast for President Goodluck Jonathan in the South-West and Edo State in 2011.
“With Buhari and Tinubu as presidential and vice-presidential candidates respectively, our goal is to secure the core north and South-west, which are the most populous sections of the country and can guarantee us at least 50 per cent of the total votes in the country during the presidential election,” an APC source told This Day.
A compromise : Muslim-Muslim ticket and ‘new PDP’ chairmanship
On the impact of the Muslim-Muslim ticket on the electorate, especially with the insurgency in the North-East, the source said the party had decided to forge ahead with the ticket because it is certain that it has a winning formula, “ irrespective of the accusations by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that APC is a Muslim party“.
“Like most South-Westerners, Tinubu is quite liberal and we hope this would persuade Christian voters that they have nothing to fear. So Buhari and Tinubu have reached a quiet agreement to contest on a joint platform, with the latter already setting up structures nationwide,” the source added.
The source said that by fielding Buhari and Tinubu, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar – who joined APC recently – has effectively been left out in the cold.
Another party source, when asked how Rotimi Amaechi who has been against a Muslim-Muslim ticket reacted to the pairing of Buhari and Tinubu, said that the issue had been discussed and the party had decided to handover the party leadership to the members of the so-called ‘new PDP’.
To recall, seven PDP governors – Amaechi among them – had announced their decision to join the APCon November 26.
“Our plan is to ensure Amaechi secures the senatorial ticket on our platform and wins the election to go to the Senate. “But before this happens, we shall immediately make Sam Jaja, who is his kinsman, the chairman of APC. Then when Amaechi becomes a senator, our goal is to see him emerge as the senate president, following which Jaja will be asked to step down as the party’s chairman to ensure ethnic balancing,” the source said.

NIGERIA WE HAIL THEE : Nigerian senate appoints prominent thief, Sen. Bagudu, to head probe of NIS recruitment scandal ... TheScoop

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Senator Abubakar Bagudu
Nigeria’s president Goodluck Jonathan has so far chosen not to move against Abba Moro, the minister of interior, despite the overwhelming outcry by Nigerians over this month’s failed Nigeria Immigration Service recruitment exercise.
It is believed that one of the reasons Pres. Jonathan is shy to move against Moro is because the interior minister has a strong backer in the person of senate president David Mark whose 2011 senatorial campaign was run by Moro.
David Mark’s senate meanwhile ordered an investigation into the failed recruitment exercise that resulted in the death of 16 applicants and the man who will head that investigation is the chairman of the senate committee on interior whose profile does not give much hope of a favourable outcome.
Senator Atiku Abubakar Bagudu is the chairman of the senate committee on interior. But how Bagudu himself managed to become a senator in Nigeria is troubling as the man has one of the shadiest records in the upper chamber dating back to the Abacha days when Bagudu was a prominent front for the looting done by the Abacha family.
Read this excerpt from Sen. Bagudu’s Wikipedia page:
Bagudu became a close friend of Ibrahim and Mohammed Abacha, sons of military ruler Sani Abacha. He and Ibrahim Abacha were involved in a scheme to buy vaccines and resell them to the government at a steep mark-up, earning $66.6 million profit. Later, he helped divert much larger sums of money that had been earmarked for security spending into foreign accounts.
After Abacha died in 1998, the interim military government that followed started an investigation into misuse of state funds. Mohammed Abacha and Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, his business manager, returned $750 million. There was no criminal prosecution. Bagudu moved to the USA in 2000, and in 2003 was detained there for six months on charges of financial misdeeds during the Abacha era. He was released in November 2003 on condition that he repaid about $300 million to the Federal Government of Nigeria. The administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo apparently made a deal to recover part of the money in return for dropping prosecution and leaving the remainder with the family.[5] Bagudu was Chairman of Phil Nugent Nigeria Ltd. from 2004 until December 2005.
The 53 year old senator was elected to the national assembly in a 2010 by-election after Adamu Aliero, the former senator representing Kebbi Central was made a minister by Pres. Goodluck Jonathan.
At the time, not much was made of Bagudu’s entry into the senate apart from the reservations of a few activists.
Bagudu was Abacha’s bagman in the days when the dictator pillaged the nation’s treasury. He was Abacha’s conduit through whom passed most of the $4-5 billion Abacha was reputed to have stolen.
Considering how much money Bagudu made from that administration, he had lots of cash to spend and win the senatorial election. He won overwhelmingly, polling 285,578 votes out of the 310,800 total votes cast. The Democratic Peoples Party, DPP, candidate, Alhaji Sambo Aliyu, who scored 8,377, emerged a very distant second, while 16 other candidates got inconsequential votes. The ANPP boycotted that election.
Let’s share some more details of Bagudu’s role in the Abacha government.
According to a report by a newsmagazine, The News:
He had set up Morgan Procurement Corporation and Mecosta Securities which, as Africa Confidential put it, “were involved in the illegal transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars from the Nigerian state to the Abacha family.” According to other reports, Mohammed Abacha and Bagudu siphoned $66m from the $111m purchase of vaccines from the French firm Pasteur Merieux. The loot was kept in foreign financial institutions through the assistance of David Jones, a director of Borough High Street, South London-based Smith & Tyers, where Mohammed is a principal shareholder. For his complicity in this and other illegalities, Bagudu and Mohammed faced court charges on many fronts.
Problem started for Bagudu when the federal government asked for the assistance of the Isle of Jersey government in recovering money fraudulently transferred into the banks in that territory. Thereafter, the Isle of Jersey began its own probe which resulted in the arrest of Bagudu on 22 May 2003 in Houston, Texas, where he had been living for three years. According to reports, Bagudu’s arrest was based on an extradition warrant requested by Britain from the Isle of Jersey. It accused Bagudu of “fraudulent transfer of money from Nigeria to the Deutsche Bank, making false declarations to open the bank accounts, and using federal government fund to purchase notes that federal government had defaulted on, then selling them back to it for twice the purchase price.”
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo visited Jersey in June 2004, to thank the island’s authorities for their efforts at investigating laundering of hundreds of millions of dollars by the Abachas and Bagudu through that country’s financial institutions and the return of some $150m (£73.25m) to Nigeria.
According to The Lawyer, an on-line medium, “the Bagudu matter has been the most high profile in a series of criminal investigations by the island’s attorney-general into the misuse of the services of local financial institutions for the purpose of laundering the proceeds of corruption.” At the request of the Nigerian authorities, Bagudu coughed out $150m.
Nigeria also had its own charges against Bagudu and Abacha’s son, Mohammed: assisting in concealing stolen property, the sum of £10 million each on 6th, 9th January, 1998; £9 million on 12 January 1998; $25 million on 27 January of the same year and others which were “punishable under Section 97(1) of the Penal Code”.
To facilitate the repatriation of the stolen funds, the Federal Government had an agreement with Switzerland, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. In all, according to reports, Switzerland returned about $615 million.
Very unrepentant, Bagudu hired big lawyers––Gordon Pollock, Lawrence Cohen, SJ Berwin and other Queen’s Counsel––to defend himself and the Abachas. According to a report, “more than $12m is estimated to have already been spent, of which $8m has gone to lawyers in Britain.” They fought feverishly so that the former home secretary, Jack Straw, could soft-pedal in assisting Swiss and Nigerian criminal investigations with banking evidence held in London.
When all his strategems failed, Bagudu, detained in the US for this financial crime, agreed to transfer about $300 million (N40.566 billion) to the federal government. It was paid into Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Limited Bank on the Isle of Jersey. After paying $500,000 bond, he was released from a six-month detention at an American prison by Magistrate Calvin Botley “on the condition that he would transfer the said sum and return to Nigeria to face charges of assisting Mohammed to transfer looted funds abroad”. Bagudu’s counsel in the US was Bob Sussman. The movement of Bagudu, the newly elected senator, was restricted and monitored through an electronic ankle bracelet!
However, Bagudu defended himself when he was questioned at a Swiss court in September 1999. He said that the late Ibrahim Abacha was his childhood friend whom he knew before Mohammed Sani Abacha. He claimed that he became close to the latter after Ibrahim’s death, in a plane crash. Ibrahim and Mohammed, according to Bagudu, had an international sugar company and, “therefore as early as 1985, we had business links without being business partners”.
Bagudu told the court that in February 1994, he and Ibrahim established Morgan Procurement Corporation. “I agreed to work with Mr. Ibrahim Sani Abacha in 1994 because the latter had a huge fortune and I had a lot of ideas about how to invest or manage the fortune. At that time, my fortune was much smaller than now,” he added. But he argued that there was no direct link between the rise to power of General Sani Abacha in November 1993 and the fact that he accepted in February 1994 to become the business partner of his eldest son, Mr. Ibrahim Sani Abacha. “It was only coincidental. However, it is probable that the fact that my new trading partner is the son of the head of state contributed to a large extent to the expansion of our business,” Bagudu admitted.
One of those who have opposed Sen. Bagudu’s rise is former president Olusegun Obasanjo. In 2010, Obasanjo notably protested against Sen. Bagudu making a speech during the launching of a book on late Abubakar Garba Koko at the Shehu Yaradua Centre in Abuja. This event occurred after Bagudu had won the senatorial election but by then he had not been sworn in.
When Bagudu was called on to speak at the event, Obasanjo, who was the Chairman of the book launch ceremony, vehemently objected. 
With such a character placed in charge of the NIS recruitment investigation, does anyone have any hope that a thorough job will be done? Does Bagudu have any moral right to stand among decent members of the society to perform such a function?

WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH MEN TODAY? : Tragedy in Megida in Ayobo Lagos as tricycle driver sold all 4 kids of a banker to ritualists ... Eko onibaje

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Tragedy in Megida in Ayobo Lagos as tricycle driver sold all 4 kids of a banker to ritualists
I have a neighbour who has 3 daughters, leaves for work by 5am while the wife leaves by 5:30am. The eldest who is nine takes care of her siblings while both parents are away to work. Both parents return from work around 7pm daily.
They are still lucky their children has not suffered any form abuse or probably not known yet. But this banker is not that fortunate. All four kids are dead, courtesy of the tricycle driver who has been driving them to school for more than a year. This particular day instead of driving them to school he took them to ritualists who according to him killed them immediately. If not for their teachers he would have been long gone. According to their devastated mother he got a call from their school around 10am in the morning that none of them have been seen around school that day. So their mum hurriedly left for school from her office went straight to the school to confirm the tragedy. Immediately they left for Ayobo police station in front Salvation Army primary School Ayobo to report to the police, she is smart enough to know where the murderer lives. He was already packing by the time the woman arrived with police but not early enough to stop the death of her four children. What a tragedy?

THE ENEMY GETS MORE DARING : Suicide bombers hit two army vehicles ... DailyTrust

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Some soldiers are feared killed today when suicide bombers in two separate vehicles rammed into two military patrol vehicles at a major checkpoint in the outskirt of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
The two suicide missions were carried out at heavy checkpoint in Molai, the last village that leads to Maiduguri along the Damboa-Biu road.
It was gathered that the first suicide bomber hit a patrol vehicle parked by the checkpoint, a development which caused loud sound and flames.
Witnesses said the incident happened around 1pm.
In the ensuing confusion,  the second suicide bomber reportedly hit another patrol vehicle, also at the checkpoint.
It is not yet clear how many people were killed at the scene.
A journalists who lives close to the location said he heard sounds of thunderous blasts.
"The place has been cordon off and some corpses have been taken away,"he said.
 However, the Defence Headquarters in Abuja said four suspected suicide bombers were killed in separate explosions while trying to attack an NNPC facility in Maiduguri, Borno State.
"Four terrorists believed to be suicide bombers, apparently heading for an NNPC facility along Maiduguri-Damboa road have died in their IED laden vehicles," a statement by Director Defence Information, Major General Chris Olukolade, said.
"The explosions took place at Mule in the outskirt of Maiduguri. Three of the four explosive laden vehicles were demobilized by shots fired at them by soldiers at the check point shortly before the explosions that rocked the area," Olukolade added.
He also said, "Five soldiers were wounded while the civilian casualties are yet to be determined.  More details follow later."

COULD THIS BE TRUE? : INSIDE STORY OF DSS SHOOT-OUT IN ABUJA ... SunNews

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INSIDE STORY OF DSS SHOOT-OUT IN ABUJA
More facts emerged yesterday on what actually transpired at the headquarters of the Department of State Security (DSS) in Abuja on Sunday.
A military source who gave a blow by blow account of the incident recalled how the gun duel between Boko Haram detainees and the operatives left over eight personnel dead before soldiers from the Guards Brigade rushed to the scene to stop the terrorists from killing more security officers.
According to the source, the Boko Haram suspects had after hitting the officer that had gone into the cell with their food, disarmed him and killed him on the spot.
After killing the security officer, they locked his body inside the cell and started shooting and killing the other personnel at sight and dispossessing them of their weapons with which they used to attack and kill other personnel on duty.
It was when other security personnel on duty noticed what was happening that they too began to return fire by which time the terrorists group who had killed some DSS men, headed towards the gate to escape.
The initial gunshot, according to military sources, automatically attracted the attention of soldiers from the Guards Brigade who immediately deployed troops to the scene.
It was gathered that a detachment of soldiers who were stationed at the Eagle Square and ready to be deployed in the North-East, were the first to be moved to the DSS headquarters to confront the terrorists.
The Commanding Officer in charge of 7 Guards Battalion, Lt-Colonel Okoro, who also deployed his troops to the scene, however, called for reinforcement from the Army Headquarters Garrison, when he saw the situation on ground.
The Army Headquarters Garrison, immediately deployed another detachment of soldiers to the scene. To adequately battle the terrorists and ensure they do not escape, the soldiers ordered that all the gates in the premises be locked as they stormed inside and made sure none of the detainees escaped.
The exchange of gunfire between the soldiers and the terrorists, according to the military source, lasted for over two hours.
The sources debunked the allegation that the terrorists stormed the DSS headquarters to attack. Rather, the source said “the terrorists used the weapons they allegedly seized from the DSS officials they killed to carry out their attack.
“So it is wrong for anybody to say that the terrorists stormed the facility to free their detained colleagues like they did at the Giwa Barracks in Maiduguri”.
Military and top security sources who spoke to Daily Sun decried the situation where a large number of such high profile terror suspects would be kept in such a vulnerable location.
They said that even during the military regime, high profile suspects were usually kept at various detention facilities outside Abuja, not to talk of keeping them close to the seat of power because they know that anything can happen.
The Sunday attack, according to sources, may result to the relocation of the DSS headquarters from its present location at the Three Arms Zone to else where in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Source: Sun

AND WHAT DO WE SAY TO THIS? : EXCLUSIVE: Jonathan fumes over North-West governors’ reluctance to sponsor Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem ... PremiumTimes

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President Jonathan pushes for state sponsorship of Muslim, Christian pilgrimages in spite of contrary recommendation by a presidential committee he empanelled.
President Goodluck Jonathan has accused governors of some North-West states of Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi, Kano, Jigawa and Kaduna of marginalising Christians in their states by failing to sponsor them for the annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem, PREMIUM TIMES can report today.
The president said this in Abuja last Wednesday when he met with a delegation of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, NSCIA, led by its President, the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar, and the Secretary General, Ishaq Oloyede.
After responding to the complaints of alleged maginalisation of Nigerian Muslims made by the delegation, the President shocked everyone at the meeting when he announced that he had his own grouse with some Muslim leaders from the Northwest.
“I still don’t understand why governors from especially the North-West do not want to sponsor Christians to Jerusalem,” Mr. Jonathan was quoted as saying. “If you sponsor Muslims to Mecca, you have to sponsor Christians to Jerusalem. If you don’t do that it is marginalization and it is unfair to Christians.”
The President then told his guests that when he was governor of the South-south state of Bayelsa, he consistently sponsored Muslims, who were minority in the state, to Mecca.
Mr. Jonathan then requested the Sultan and other members of the delegation to help pressure the governors to refrain from any form of religious discrimination.
The President had in March 2013 raised the same concern when he hosted the Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor-led Federal Government delegation to the 2012 Christian Pilgrimage to Jerusalem at the Presidential Villa.
Responding to complaints by Mr. Oritsejafor that some states from the North did not sponsor any pilgrim for 2012, Mr. Jonathan had said, “If some states are sponsoring pilgrims of one religion and leaving out the other, that is against the law. Nigeria is a secular state and so nobody should be discriminated against based on religious belief.”
At the meeting with the Sultan and his delegation, President Jonathan reiterated that position, saying the governors discriminating against Christians in their states should have a change of heart and do the right thing, our sources said.
The president spoke about pilgrimages and state sponsorship at a time many Nigerians are pushing for governments to withdraw from spending public funds on pilgrimages to Mecca and Jerusalem.
The Presidential Committee on the Restructuring and Rationalisation of Federal Government Parastatals, Commission and Agencies, which Mr. Jonathan himself empanelled, had recommended the scrapping of both the National Hajj Commission and the Nigeria Christian Pilgrims Commission.
The Stephen Oronsaye-led committee had argued that it was wrong and unnecessary for government to continue to waste scarce public funds on personal religious obligations of citizens.
The Kano State Government recently said it saved more than N1 billion following its decision to stop sponsoring pilgrims to Mecca and Jerusalem.
Speaking in Kano at the 30th Memorial Anniversary of Mallam Aminu Kano, Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso said the funds so saved was ploughed into education, transportation and health projects.
“There is nowhere Islam allows for the removing of public funds to sponsor individuals on pilgrimages,” Mr. Kwankwaso said at the event.
A source at the NSCIA-Jonathan meeting said, “We were shocked when the president veered off the issue at stake and then began to talk about sponsorship of pilgrims to Jerusalem.
“It is either he has forgotten the recommendations of a committee he set up himself or he is not interested in implementing the report of the committee.”
The delegation had visited the president to complain about alleged lopsidedness in the composition of the 492-member National Conference, saying there were far more Christians at the confab than Muslims.
According to a presidency source familiar with the deliberations at the meeting, the Sultan, who spoke on behalf of the delegation, told Mr. President that as the leader of Nigerian Muslims, he was under tremendous pressure from Muslim leaders and organisations across the country about the alleged lopsided in the composition of the conference.
He informed the president that his members were becoming impatient and restless and that Mr. Jonathan needed to act fast to defuse tension.
The Sultan, who was said to have spoken “eloquently and without mincing words”, also asked the President to do everything necessary to make the Conference succeed.
In his response, President Jonathan said he was not aware of the implication of the composition of the conference and promised to make amends, insiders say.
He also urged the Sultan and his delegation to pass extensive messages to Muslims across the country that he would not deliberately do anything that is unfair to any group or religion in the country.

WHERE MEN ONLY SCRATCHED THE SURFACE, WOMEN HAVE EXCELLED : Female delegate blames women for corruption in Nigeria ,,, PremiumTimes

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Conference 11
“Let us tell ourselves the truth, women are the source of the whole problem we have in this country.”
A delegate at the National Conference, Jummai Bello, shocked her colleagues when she lambasted the womenfolk for fuelling corruption in Nigeria.
Ms. Bello, a delegate of the Trade Union Congress, TUC, while contributing to the debate on President Goodluck Jonathan’s inaugural speech, contended that if the women had performed their domestic roles well the nation would not be confronted with the corruption scourge.
She said Nigerian women had failed to give their children proper training and that they encouraged their husbands to engage in corrupt practices.
Ms. Bello said some women indulge their children even when they notice that they were buying what they could not afford.
According to her, rather than rebuking their husband for living above their means or buying cars that their salaries could not afford, some women compare their husbands with their neighbours thereby pushing them to engage in corruption.
“Let us tell ourselves the truth, women are the source of the whole problem we have in this country,” She said. We don’t train and bring up our children well. We should try as much as possible to make sure that we look after our children properly.
She recounted the way she was brought up, saying in those days as a child if she brought what did not belong to her home, the parents would rebuke and beat her up.
She regretted that the situation was no longer the same and that parents now indulge their children when if they brought strange things home.
Ms. Bello, who received applause as she spoke, lamented that women now steal money in their offices.
She said, “I never believe that women can steal money from the office, but they are doing it now. We should change our attitude.”

THE TRUTH IS GRADUALLY UNRAVELLING ... SO SOME INMATES EVEN ESCAPED AND HAD TO BE REARRESTED? : Attempted jailbreak: SSS to punish errant operatives ... PunchNews

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Deputy Director, Public Relations, Department of State Services,   Ms. Marylyn Ogar
The leadership of the State Security Service has commenced an investigation into an attempted jailbreak at the agency’s detention facility in Abuja on Sunday.
Our correspondents learnt on Monday that the investigation was aimed at punishing errant SSS operatives, whose carelessness was said to have been responsible for the incident.
This is as the SSS said on Monday that 16 detainees, who escaped during the jail break attempt, were rearrested.
It was learnt that the leadership of  the SSS had been embittered by professional lapses of the operatives.
Security sources told one of our correspondents in Abuja that the secret agency had commenced probe of the incident since Sunday.
One of the sources said the bosses at the SSS were alarmed that the detainees’ handler went to the detention facility without adherence to standard procedure for feeding inmates.
The source said, “What happened was abnormal. The incident was queried by the leadership. A decision has been taken to x-ray the entire incident in order to get the details.
“The standard operational procedure is for three people to go to the detention centre to feed the inmates.
“Usually, the person carrying the food does not carry arms but in this case, he was hanging a Cador rifle.
“That is why the matter has to be properly investigated to find out where the lapses occurred.
“The others were with him. If not for those that were with him, the detainees would have killed many people.
“Going to the detention centre with the gun was in violation of the rule and if it is investigated those culpable might be punished.”
It was gathered that laxity on the part of the operatives contributed to the attempted jailbreak.
Investigations showed that the terror suspects took advantage of the absence of most personnel on Sunday to make the jailbreak attempt.
Sources told one of our correspondents that lack of security cameras in the detention facility also made it possible for the suspects to plan their escape without giving the authorities room for suspicion.
“The terror suspects knew that most personnel don’t come to work on Sunday and beside that, the few operatives on duty would be in a relaxed mood since their bosses won’t be around, so they took advantage of the situation and made their move, but we successfully foiled it,” a source stated.
The Deputy Director, Public Relations, SSS, Marilyn Ogar, said that 16 suspects that escaped from the facility were re-arrested.
She added that 21  suspects who resisted arrest were shot.
“We were able to re-arrest 16 suspects that scaled the fence and escaped out of the facility and 18 others who resisted arrest were shot. Eight suspects however refused to participate in the jail-break,” Ogar told a private-owned Channels television on Monday.
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