We didn’t announce Obiano alleged disqualification – Ngige Campaign Organisation

The Chris Ngige Campaign Organsation has dismissed reports that it sent bulk SMS messages announcing the pupported disqualification of the candidate of All Progressive Grand. Alliance, APGA, chief Willie obiano.

It also insited that Obiano registerd twice, describing it as breach of the electoral act.

A statment by the interim spokesperson of the All. Progressive Congress,APC, Okelo madukaife described the allegations as baseless.

The statement reads:  ”The Chris Ngige Campaign Organsation (NGIGE 2014) is aware of a news report  suggesting that our Organisation may have issued bulk short messages (SMS) announcing the disqualification of Chief Willie Obiano of APGA from the Anambra State gubernatorial election holding today.

“We wish to distance ourselves from that accusation and note that nothing
can be further from the truth.

We know if for a fact that the APGA candidate is registered twice, has his name appearing twice on the voter register and is therefore in breach of the electoral law regarding double-registration.

Anambra governorship election results’ll not be acceptable unless – APC

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has warned that it will not accept the results of Saturday’s governorship election in Anambra state if voting does not take place in all local governments, especially in the party’s strongholds of Idemili North and South as well as Akwa South.

In a statement issued in Lagos on Saturday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party also condemned INEC for its apparently-contrived logistic nightmare that has left thousands of voters unable to exercise their franchise, and demanded the immediate removal of the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Anambra, Prof. Chukwuemeka Onukogu.

APC said it was totally astonished to learn that INEC has confirmed that materials meant for Idemili North Local  Government, which has 180,000 voters, have been hijacked, without saying who hijacked the ballot papers and why, and without explaining why the materials meant for APGA and PDP strongholds were not hijacked.

Anambra poll: Soldiers arrest 25 men for violating no-movement order

Anambra – Soldiers on Saturday arrested 25 young men on the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway for violating the no-movement order following the Anambra Governorship Election currently ongoing.

The soldiers stationed at the Abba Junction in Njikoka Local Government Area arrested and detained the men, who are of voting age, around 7.30 a.m.

Lt. A.O. Quadri, who led the team at the checkpoint, told NAN that the men were arrested for violating the movement restriction order.

“You can see that they are all of voting age and claimed they are coming from Enugu with different stories.

“Some of them claimed they are coming from church while the other boys said they are going to onitsha to vote.

“We kept them here because they have not really committed a crime but their two story versions are not only suspicious but do not justify their moviing from Enugu to Onitsha on election day,” Quadri said.

He said their directive was to detain anyone in violation of the order and release them after the election.

Attempts to speak with the detainees who sat on the ground under the watch of the soldiers was not allowed.

The major political parties have been accusing one another of plots to import mercenaries to vote with purchased voters’ cards.

The no-movement order imposed on the state started at midnight and will end at 10 p.m. on Saturday.

Aluu4: Never before seen pics of Chiadika, Iloyd, Tekena & Ugonna

Aluu4 victims: From left to right: Lloyd, Tekena, Ugonna and Chiadika as young boys. Writer and artist Okechukwu Ofili tells you what you didn't know about these 4 friends who lost their lives in the most gruesome manner on October 5th 2012. Read his article after the cut...

Pastor commits suicide after telling congregation that God was not hearing him

Rev. Teddy Parker, a Macon, Georgia pastor killed himself a few days after telling his congregation at his church that God was not hearing him and no longer felt a connection to God.

"I try to pray but I don’t feel like God is hearing me,” Parker said to his congregation “I try to serve but I don’t feel like God is using me. And there are times in your life when God purposely withdraws from you, he doesn’t withdraw for the sake of leaving you but he withdraws so you can grow and mature.”

Rev. Parker, a father of two, shot himself in the head with his own gun following Sunday service at Bible Mount Zion Baptist Church while his family and congregation were still at his church waiting for him for the next service..

"When he didn’t show up they went looking for him,” a church member, Russell Rowland, told the Post. “I’m very surprised because he didn’t preach that. He preached totally against it. It’s something that the congregation don’t really understand.”.

Forbes magazine's 50 Richest Africans 2013 list. Dangote now worth $20b

Forbes magazine's 50 Richest Africans 2013 list. Dangote now worth $20b

Forbes Magazine just released their list of the 50 Richest Africans 2013 and Nigerian industrialist Aliko Dangote is placed at No.1 with a net worth of $20 billion. Africa’s richest are getting richer. In 2003, Forbes counted only two billionaires in Africa – Nicky Oppenheimer and Johann Rupert, both of South Africa, now there are about 30 of them. See the rest after the cut...

Preacher's wife, Megan Good, steps out in see-through outfit

I'm not judging o...but shouldn't a preacher's wife tone it down a little...just a little? Actress Megan Good photographed in a see-through outfit at the GQ Men of the Year party in Los Angeles last weekend.

how many of you agree with what Akon said?

Akon who is a known polygamist said in a recent interview that monogamy is not only 'stupid'; it’s 'impossible.' Read what he said below and tell us if you agree with him..

"The average guy in the world has a main girl and they got a side chick. And then they got a jumpoff. At the end of the day as a male we are natural breeders by nature. We can’t even escape it if we wanted to. 

Let’s say you put 1,000 guys on one corner and one bad chick walk passed. You gon’ see 1,000 heads go, ‘Damn.’ They don’t even know why they doing it. They’re natural breeders. It’s in their genes, they can’t help it. Men are put on this earth to breed and the reason why God put multiple women on this earth is for that. 

People are having relationships, boyfriend and girlfriend, and treating it like it’s actually marriage. You’re just dating.  

The whole purpose of dating is so you can date this one, and date this one, and date this one until you find out, ‘Okay, this is the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. Okay now, I commit to what’s called marriage.’  

You find that one woman that supplies everything that you desire in a woman, of course that will be a motivation to stick with that one woman, but I don’t know no one woman that can satisfy every man’s one need. It’s impossible. Just like there’s no man that can satisfy a woman’s every need. Women just aren’t built to breed like that or… mate with more than one partner. Women aren’t built that way, men are.”

26-yr-old in court for raping, strangulating 10-yr-old cousin

An Osogbo Chief Magistrate’s Court has remanded a 26-year-old man, Rufai Idowu, who allegedly raped and killed his 10-year-old cousin, at Ilesha Prison custody.

Police Prosecutor, Inspector Abiodun Fagboyinbo, told the court that the accused allegedly committed the offence on November 4, at about 5p.m. at Oosa Compound, Ile Ogbo, in Ayedire Local Government Area of the state.

He added that the accused allegedly forcefully and unlawfully raped the minor when the victim, who was on a visit, came to his room.

Fagboyinbo said the accused, after raping the victim, later strangulated her with the Hijab she wore because she was calling for help.

According to him, the offence is contrary to Section 316 and punishable under Section 319 of the Criminal Code Cap 34 Vol.11 Laws of Osun, 2003.

The plea of the accused was, however, not taken because of the nature of the offence.

The presiding magistrate, Mr. Adebayo Lasisi, ordered that the accused be remanded in Ilesha Prison custody.

He subsequently adjourned the matter till January 7, 2014 for mention.

2014 Budget: Senate disagrees with Jonathan over oil benchmark

THERE is a brewing showdown between President Goodluck Jonathan and the Senate, as the latter has rejected the president’s oil benchmark of $74 per barrel and instead, raised it up to $76.50 per barrel.

The upper legislative chamber also directed that details of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme, SURE-P, projects expected for execution in the 2014 budget be attached as addendum to the annual budget estimates for approval by the National Assembly.

But unlike the above, it approved the oil product daily oil production of 2.388mbpd, 2.5007mbpd and 2.5497mbpd for 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively as proposed by the president.

File photo: Members of the Red Chamber and President Jonathan

These formed parts of the recommendations of the Senator Ahmed Makarfi’s led Senate Joint Committee on Finance and Appropriations on the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF and Fiscal Strategy Paper, FSP, which was passed yesterday, preparatory to next Tuesday’s 2014 budget presentation by President Goodluck  Jonathan before the joint session of the National Assembly.

As seen in the MTEF and FSP, the 2014 Budget is predicated on crude oil production of 2.3883mbpd with a benchmark price of $74pb and a projection of aggregate expenditure of N4.77 trillion of which the capital expenditure is N1.45 trillion.

New borrowing of N572 billion projected for 2014 would increase the total of local and foreign debt to N8.25 trillion from N7.11 trillion in 2013. The status of bad loans absorbed by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON, was not stated, and the details of the number of projects completed that have rate of returns were not also available. The contingent liability of AMCON could be in trillions of naira.

The Senate also approved that a total of N666.9 billion from the Excess Crude Account, ECA, be distributed to the tiers of government as proposed by the executive just as it okayed augmentation from the Excess Crude Account, should the projected crude production fall below the budget, provided there are funds in the account.

The Green Chamber gave the president the nod to peg Corporate Tax and VAT rate of 30 percent and 5 percent respectively, just as it approved average exchange rate of N160 per dollar for the next three years.

It urged the government to strengthen and consolidate its fiscal strategy to narrow the gap between projected and actual revenue for the period of 2014 to 2016 curtailing oil theft and diversifying the economy to increase tax bases so as to increase tax revenue.

It noted that oil theft came into prominence in 2012 with a daily loss of about 150,000 barrel per day, regretting that by July 2013, the loss had risen to about 400,000 barrels per day, saying government needed to take some drastic steps to halt the development.

“Furthermore, government needs to work seriously on some of the key macro-economic indicators such as the growth of GDP and its impact on unemployment, inflation rates, interest rates, the status of the Sinking Fund and Debt Sustainability Analysis of 2013 and 2014, the alarming rate of uncompleted projects, debt profile and their status  and the future of AMCON equally  of concern.

“If these issues are not effectively looked into or controlled, the economic and infrastructural development aspirations of the nation would remain a mirage.

“As can be observed, the key indices contained in the current MTEF/FSP do not show significant improvement in terms of their contributions to economic growth and development.

“Moreover, the continuous building up of the nation’s external reserve above the internationally recognized standard of three months national import, at the expense of the provision of critical infrastructure whose multiplier effect on GDP would boost national development, should not continue unchecked,” the Senate observed.

SURE-P projection for 2014 is the N180 billion annual allocation plus the N94.34 billion unspent in 2013, bringing the total allocation for SURE-P in 2014 to N274.34 billion.

In his remark after the passage of the 2014-2016 MTEF and FSP, Senate President, David Mark, however, cautioned his colleagues that discarding the report subjectively would imply rejection of the document which he noted was instrumental to the Senate’s input in the consideration of the much expected 2014 Appropriation Bill.

The Senate President admonished them to avoid regional and party sentiments as the document in question affects the economy of the nation.

He said: “We need a document that will help us make our input when we consider the budget. That is what this paper is all about. And it has given us all the highlights that we need when we are making our own input into the budget. So if you say ‘reject this paper’, then, you are saying ‘reject looking at this input when you are looking at the budget’.

“So, there is no question of rejecting the paper. It is a report from our own committee and it is saying that we should look at these issues when considering the budget.

“If you are saying that when we are looking at the budget, we should not look at the shortfall in oil production, it is saying, ‘look at the shortfall in oil production, remedy it when you are making your input’.

“It is not a matter of assumption. It has looked at all the figures.”

Rigging Anambra election’ll not be possible – Jonathan

ONITSHA – President Goodluck Jonathan Wednesday presided over what was termed as mother-of-all rally organized by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Onitsha, Anambra State with a promise that nobody can rig the November 16 Anambra Governorship election.

He warned that any party or candidate, no matter how popular or highly placed found to have indulged in any form of rigging or electoral manipulation/malpractice would be dealt with accordingly.

President Goodluck Jonathan speaking while been flanked by Alhaji Bamanga Turkur, PDP National Chairman (left) and Comrade Tony Nwoye, PDP Governorship Candidate in Anambra (right) with other PDP top stalwarts during the rally.

Jonathan who spoke Wednesday at the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity, Onitsha during the rally, declared: “Nobody will allow election rigging in Anambra State as the Federal Government, Security agencies and INEC have been positioned to carry out their duties without fear of favour”.

Jonathan who affirmed his support for PDP candidate in the election, Comrade Tony Nwoye, stated that the election would now afford Anambra State the opportunity to regain her rightful position in the political main stream after the November 16 governorship election.

He also affirmed that as a youngman, the PDP candidate Comrade Tony Nwoye had shown some leadership attributes as a leader and called on the electorate to shun party affiliations and vote for a PDP candidate.

The President eulogized the enterprising attributes of Anambra people, even as he disclosed that although the state was one of the smallest in the counrty’s land mass, it was blessed with rich and enterprising people.

He observed that this Saturday’s governorship election in the state would be historic as it shares the same date when the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe was born and urged the electorate to shun election irregularity.

Earlier in his speech, the national chairman of PDP, Alhaji Bamangar Tukur rhetorically asked why Anambra People should take the back seat in the country’s political scheme and urged the electorate to vote in Nwoye as he was poised to transform the state.

Also speaking, the governor of Akwa-Ibom state, Chief Godswill Akpabio remarked that Anambra State should rise and take her destiny in her hands by voting in a youthful candidate in the name of Tony Nwoye.

He said that he was able to transform his state, Akwa-Ibom because of the enormous support given to his administration by the youths and called on the state electorate to be ready to vote PDP into power to become the 24th member of PDP-controlled state.

The state chairman of PDP, Chief Ken Emeakayi thanked PDP supported for all their support to the President and assured that PDP would take over the state come march 17, 2014.

Prince Arthur Eze, a PDP financier and Hon. Anayo Nnebe, former Speaker of Anambra State House of Assembly, said Jonathan would not be foolish enough to abandon his biological child-PDP and go for his adopted child, another party.

IYAYI: ASUU suspends NEC meeting indefinitely

*As Oshiomhole, NLC, Wogu, others mourn

BY FUNMI KOMOLAFE, VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG, ABDULSALAM MUHAMMED &, SIMON EBEGBULEM

LEADERS of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, yesterday, suspended indefinitely the union’s National Executive Council, NEC, meeting planned to hold in Kano over the tragic auto-crash that claimed the life of ASUU former President, Professor Festus Iyayi, on Tuesday morning.

Thousands of students who had kept vigil, waiting for the outcome of ASUU NEC meeting, therefore went home disappointed following the announcement of the suspension of the meeting.

The accident which involved the convoy of Governor Idris Wada of Kogi State on Lokoja-Abuja Road also left two other officials of ASUU – Dr. Ngozi Ilo, National Welfare Officer, University of Benin, UNIBEN; branch chairman, Dr. Anthony Emina, and their driver, critically injured.

President of ASUU, Dr. Nasir Fagge, who announced the suspension of the NEC meeting in Kano, explained that the union had to suspend the meeting following the sudden and tragic death of Professor Festus Iyayi.

The NEC meeting was widely expected to make a decisive statement on the five-month old ASUU strike that has crippled academic activities in the public university system.

At a briefing, Fagge told reporters in Kano that “we are compelled to postpone this meeting in the light of the sudden death of one of our strongest pillars who died yesterday (Tuesday).

Crisis rocks CAN as pastors move against Oritsejafor

CRISIS is brewing in the leadership of Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, as members from the Niger Delta, under the aegis of Global Peace Relief Initiative, led by Prophet Jones Erue, yesterday, faulted President of the association, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, over what they described as the unacceptable comments made against them, following their attempts to reconcile the G-7 governors with the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

In a statement by Prophet Erue, the Niger Delta pastors described Oritsejafor’s comment to the effect that CAN was apolitical, as laughable, accusing the CAN President of getting involved in politics of calumny and name dropping.

They said that they might not be as rich as the CAN President or own a private jet,  but were men of integrity.

The statement said: “We are disappointed that a leader could sit and watch his two children fight while the rest of us suffer only to come and blackmail those who take their time to seek solutions to the crisis.” They warned that no amount of blackmail or intimidation would deter them from the noble mission of rescuing the country from imminent collapse.

“It is surprising that Pst Ayo Oritsejafor, the CAN president will handle issues of immense gravity and national importance hastily, with levity and without discretion. The first and easiest thing to know about a man is his name; it is a pity that the CAN president does not know the name of the group of clerics he is addressing nor their affiliates.

“Expecting him to have minimal knowledge on what they stand for, will be tantamount to exerting too much pressure on his aging gray matter. We are begging his aides and personal assistants to do their job well and stop exposing this great man of God to disrepute.

“These eminent clerics and their affiliate, Global Peace and Relief Initiative have taken on a laudable project of consulting across all interest group and stakeholders concerning the Nigerian project. Nigeria is the only country we can call our own and as fathers we cannot fold our hands and watch intolerance and impunity destroy our nation.

“To place the records straight, we have not made promises to any persons and we have not used the name of CAN, we have an affiliate whose mission and vision best defines our activity. We are noble men and do not rail accusation on authorities.

“It is a pity that the handlers of the CAN president have allowed miscreants, to drag him into a show of shame, misinformed the press and over laboured the corporate affairs commission with a futile search.

“If we may ask, whose registration were they authenticating? A group they barely know its name?  This is a faith based Non Governmental Organisation, NGO, with memberships spread across the nation. Our main business is advocacy, conflict prevention/ resolution and facilitation of peace projects whether individual, group, organisation or government. We create a good soil for developmental projects and people oriented policies to thrive

“For the CAN president to say CAN is apolitical is laughable, as the same president is involved in politics of calumny and name dropping. “The CAN’s statement as reported by the media does not represent the facts on ground but a mere imagination. Calling names at this critical period of the nation’s political development does not represent the responsibility expected of a great leader of Pastor Ayo Oritsejeafor’s capacity”

“We want to place it on record that the Bishops and Clerics in this body may not own private jets but are men of unquestionable character, dependable leaders, and stewards of peace and holders of reputable degrees. The leader of this group Prophet Jones Ode Erue is a highly respected both in political and religious circles. Many people have benefited from the peace initiatives by this great icon since 2002 till date.

“When men lack purpose and relevance, rather than encourage others with vision and purpose they become detractors of good and well meaning Nigerians. “ We are disappointed that a leader could sit and fold his hands and watch his two children fight while the rest of us suffer only to come and blackmail those who take their time to seek solutions to the crisis.

The forum wishes to state emphatically that no amount of cheap blackmail or intimidation can deter it from this noble mission to rescue the country from the imminent collapse which can be averted. “We are duty bound to restore peace and unity to our dear country, Nigeria.

” We will continue with the ongoing consultation with all stake holders in the task of putting Nigeria back to the road, to national unity and development”  stated.

I remain National Secretary of PDP, says Oyinlola

Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola on Wednesday said he remained the National Secretary of the PDP.

Dismissing reports of his suspension from the party, Oyinlola told a news conference in Abuja that the PDP might collapse “if the crisis rocking it was not properly addressed.

“I want to pray and believe that reason will prevail and will bring the crisis to an end. If not, that may mean the end of PDP as a ruling party’’, he said.

Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola

He emphasised that he remained the National Secretary of the PDP, adding that he would institute legal action against the party if anything was done in the name of its secretary without his signature.

“I remain the national secretary and I must be allowed to perform my duty because anything done in the name of secretary without my signature is absolutely illegal.

“It will face the legal test at the court and we don’t need to put our party into such ridicule and problems’’, he said.

He, however, said that he had taken a number of steps to ensure that peace reigned in the party.

Oyinlola stressed the need for the party leadership to abide by its Constitution, adding that ruling with impunity was not the way to run a party.

“We all know that factionalisation of a ruling party will have a collateral damage on the unity of the country, more so when we have been in power in the last 14 years.

“To have a new beginning now means stepping backward in terms of development.

“And that is why we were making efforts to make sure that we reconcile. Somebody who wants a united family cannot say go to blazes’’, Oyinlola said.

Oyinlola argued that he, Abubakar Baraje, Sam Jaja and Ibrahim Kazaure, who were recently suspended from the party could not be said to be the pillar of `New PDP.’

This, he maintained, could not be correct when seven serving Governors were in the splinter group and were not accused of anti-party activities.

“I want to believe that they only added these other people, the target was Oyinlola, to circumvent the judgment of the Court of Appeal.

“They just added others so that it will not be too naked’’, he said.

Oyinlola questioned the legitimacy of the Umaru Dikko-led Disciplinary Committee of the party recently set up by Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, the party`s National Chairman.

According to him, the committee has not been approved by the party`s National Executive Committee (NEC) as stipulated in its constitution and hence cannot be authentic.

He further stated that the procedure for disciplining erring party members was clearly spelt out in its constitution and should be adhered to.

“Specifically, Section 57 (4) states that where an allegation is made against a member of the party, the disciplinary committee shall inform the member in writing of the allegations made against him or her.

“Nobody has till date informed me of any wrong doing against my party’’, Oyinlola said.

He added that Section 57 (7) of the PDP Constitution stated that only the NEC could entertain questions of discipline as may relate or concern a member of the NEC

Anambra: APC slams INEC over 22-hour no-movement order

The All Progressives Congress, APC, has slammed Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, over its 22-hour, no-movement order in Anambra State.

INEC placed the ‘’no movement’’ from 12 midnight tomorrow to 10 pm on Saturday to ensure free and fair governorship election in the state on Saturday.

However, in a statement signed by the Interim National Publicity Secretary of APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed in Lagos yesterday, the party wondered why such an extended curfew should be imposed because of an isolated election.

Mohammed said: ‘’Even during general elections, people are allowed to move around freely from 4 pm on election day. Election is not war, but a celebration of democracy. Declaring a 22-hour curfew for an election in only one state raises serious questions: What is INEC hiding? Is the curfew meant to give riggers enough time to write and collate their cooked-up results?

‘’Are elections and free movement of people incompatible? Why does INEC need a 22-hour curfew to conduct a ‘peaceful and successful’ election in one state? Where in the world is a 22-hour curfew imposed during an election?

‘’In any case, Anambra does not have the kind of terrain or riverine communities that will justify waiting for hours for election results to be taken from polling units to the collation centre, hence there is no reason to turn Anambra into a ghost state just to hold a governorship election.

INEC official displays an empty ballot box

‘’We therefore call on INEC to reconsider this overstretched curfew if it has no underlying motive for declaring it in the first instance. After all, information at our disposal has it that some decent INEC officials have rejected being part of the Anambra election because they do not want to be tainted by the shenanigans of some of their unscrupulous colleagues who are colluding with do-or-die politicians for ‘thirty pieces of silver’.’’

APC further said that ‘’the creation of 1,973 extra polling units by INEC, apart from the original 4,608 units, the election should even be faster as it will take voters less time to complete the accreditation and voting process.

Meanwhile, the party has warned security agents against harassing and intimidating voters on Saturday, as they did during the infamous Delta Central Senatorial District bye-election last month.

Meantime, sensitive and non sensitive materials needed for the Anambra State gubernatorial elections, have arrived the state capital, Awka.

As at the time of filing this report, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC was taking delivery of the materials at the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Awka.

Efforts to speak to the INEC officials proved abortive.

….Monarchs endorse Obiano

AWKA—Three days to the gubernatorial election in Anambra State, the state Council of Traditional Rulers, adopted the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, Chief Willie Obiano as their candidate for the election.

According to Obiano’s media aide, Mr. James Eze, the adoption took place at the Secretariat of the Council in Awka, the state capital. The Eze Nri, Obidigbo Onyeso assisted by the zonal Chairmen of the council in the three Senatorial zones of the state, including Igwe of Okpuno, Simon Okafor, Igwe Rowland Odegbo and Igwe Cosmas Okechukwu, Oluoha XVI gave their blessings to Obiano on behalf of their colleagues, asking God to give him the wisdom to lead Anambra State into a prosperous future.

Eze Nri who is the supreme custodian of the ancestral heritage of the Igbo race said the royal fathers had come to a conclusion that Obiano was the best choice for Anambra after a carefully objective assessment of all the candidates in the race.

Earlier in his introductory remarks, the National Chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Umeh, had explained that Chief Obiano’s credentials and experience as a seasoned manager of men and resources were some of the reasons APGA adopted him as its candidate.

8 students injured, as school railing collapses in Lagos

Eight students of Ajangbadi High School in Iba Local Council Development Area, LCDA, Lagos went into coma after the railing of the two-storey building in the school collapsed.

The incident which caused pandemonium in the school premises occurred at about 10:00 a.m. as the students were leaning on the rail on the second floor of the building.

Vanguard gathered that the rail had shown signs of rust but was not replaced.

Miss Rofiat Ademola, a Senior Secondary School, SSS1 student, said the rail finally gave way on Monday and injured eight of the SSS 3, students.

According to Ademola: “We were in the classroom at about 10:00 a.m. Suddenly, we heard a loud noise.

“We rushed out to see what was happening and saw that some SSS3 students had fallen from the second floor of the building.”

Another student, Mr. Samuel Olasunkanmi, said the rail started showing signs of rust since last school term.

“Despite the bad state of the rail, the students still used to lean on it before it collapsed on Monday.”

Confirming the incident, the Chairman of the council, Mrs. Ramota Oseni-Adeyeri who spoke to Vanguard, said  only eight students were affected when the rail gave way.

Oseni-Adeyeri said: “The students were rushed to the Iba LCDA Primary Health Centre, PHC, where the medical officers gave them appropriate treatment.

“Of the eight students, only one is still in critical condition at the moment and she was transferred to the Igando General Hospital, Igando, for treatment.”

Land scam: How two NSCDC officers swindled Nigerians

Barely one week after the Commandant-General of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Dr. Ade Abolurin, denied complicity in the sale of lands at the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, an official of NSCDC, yesterday, testified that a couple, Edike Daniels and his wife used the name of the corps to sell plots around FCT to unsuspecting members of the public.

The couple who run a private company called Dynamy Nigeria Limited were both directors in the company.
The NSDC official, Mrs. Nnenna James with the rank of DSC who testified before the committee investigating land racketeering in Abuja, said she had personally written payment receipts to over 50 individuals who paid for their plots of land in the NSCDC commandant’s office.

She said the then FCT commandant, Rabe Sa’idu re-posted her from the Operation department to the Housing, to facilitate the transactions.

However, when ACG Rabe Sa’idu was asked by the committee chairman, Rep Bimbo Daramola (APC, Ekiti) whether Mrs. James was re-posted from her previous department to the Housing, he admitted approving her relocation, as requested by Edike Daniels, whose company was selling the lands.

Similarly, the solicitor of Dynamy Nigeria Limited, Mr. Benard Ben confessed to the committee that the company has Edike Daniels and his wife as the sole directors even as they were also staff of the NSCDC.

The solicitor pointed out that ACG Rabe Sa’idu gave “tacit approval” to three companies to start selling lands on behalf of the corps.

He further stated that Dynamy liaised with one of the companies in selling the lands to the public.
Mr. Ben listed the Christian Fellowship of NSCDC, the Faith Winners Properties Limited and Bescolak, TNT as the three companies that were directed to take up the Corps name in selling lands. But when asked to produce the copy of the approval by the NSCDC, the solicitor insisted that it was issued through a “tacit approval,” a claim that was out rightly rejected by the committee.

He maintained that the land, located at Goze, on Airport Road, upon which the FCDA demolished roofing-level buildings of the victims, was duly registered with AEGIS, after Dynamy purchased the property from one Alhaji Sharif’s Clifton company.

Acording to him, after the demolition, the Solicitor, the FCT department of Compensation and Resettlement had written the company of their readiness to pay compensation, since the land was acquired by the Federal Government for a centenary edifice.

This was even as some victims had earlier given their accounts of how they bought the lands within the FCT commandant office.

Consequently, this made the committee to summon one Mrs James, as she was blamed to have led and facilitated the transactions. While giving her own testimony, the senior officer acknowledged her involvement in the transaction process, after her transfer to the Housing department by the FCT commandant.

She however said all that she acted was a directive from her own senior officer in rank, Edike Daniels, who has the ownership of the Dynamy company that sell the lands.

Chairman of the committee, Bimbo Daramola after the submission by the trio of Dynamy Solicitor, the ACG Rabe Sa’idu and DPC Mrs James, asked the Commandant General of NSCDC, Ade Bolurin, who was also present at the hearing, about the involvement of NSCDC staff in selling lands of a company within the Corps’ premises.

The CG described the whole act as “a pathetic situation, sad and not pleasant” to have occurred within NSCDC office, and involving some of his staff, adding that ever since the time of hearing about the story, the Corps took appropriate measures of trashing out those involved.

He reiterated that after setting up a committee of investigation, the matter was transferred to the ICPC, to further distanced the Corps’ from involvement in the matter.

The committee while asking for the appearance of the Dynamy directors, was told that Edike Daniels has left the country earlier this year. As such, chairman of the committee summoned the wife to appear before the committee, who is also a director of the company, even as she is a staff of the NSCDC.

24-yr-old man butchers mum, buries parts in shallow grave

The riverside town of Oloibiri  in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State was thrown into mourning, Sunday, when a 24-year-old man, identified as Godsgift, suspected to be mentally unstable, butchered his mother and buried her remains in a shallow grave.

The deceased mother of four, aged 67, was identified as Mrs Rose Jonny.

It was gathered that the woman was killed in her sleep with a machete by her son who dragged her butchered body through the window and buried her in a shallow grave at the back of her house.

The tragic incident, according to a community source, occurred at about 9.30 p.m.

Though the claim that the man is mentally unstable could not be verified, he  was said to have told the mother that she would not see the next day.

According to a source: “At about 9.30pm, he was reported to have crept into the mother’s room and butchered her in her sleep.

“He took her bloodied body out of the room through the window and dragged her to the back of the house where he dug a shallow grave, dumped her body and covered it with sand.”

It was learnt that neighbours became suspicious the next day due to the unusual silence from the deceased’s house.

According to sources, the suspicion was further fuelled when it was discovered that her door was locked from inside and several knocks on the door were not answered.

Another son of the deceased was reportedly summoned by neighbours and they forced the door open, only to see the entire room splashed with blood.

The neighbours and other children of the deceased were said to have traced the blood stains to a shallow grave at the back of the house where the body of the woman was found.

Contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Alex Akhigbe, confirmed the incident, saying the suspect has been arrested and the case transferred from the Ogbia Police Station to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for investigation.

Associated Aviation crash: DNA results out

• LASUTH begins releasing corpses

Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) has received the results of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) test done in the United Kingdom (UK) on sample tissues taken from corpses of victims who died in the Associated Aviation crash.

Following this, LASUTH has started releasing the corpses of the victims to members of their families, Sunday Sun gathered from a source, who doesn’t want to be mentioned. The source revealed that two corpses were collected last Friday.

When contacted on phone, the Consultant Forensic Pathologist and Chief Examiner of LASUTH, Prof John Obafunwa, said the hospital was ready to release all corpses to families that had completed the documentation process for collection of corpses.

However, he said that the “hospital has no power to determine when families will come to collect the corpses of their dead relations.”

The release of victim’s corpses was delayed so that DNA test could be done to properly identify the victims, whose bodies were burnt beyond recognition in the crash of the ill-fated aircraft, which was conveying the corpse of the late former governor of Ondo State, Chief Olusegun Agagu to Akure for burial.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State Commissioner for Special Duties, Dr. Wale Ahmed, said that the hospital has made the process for release of corpses easy, stressing that there was no reason to prevent families from collecting the corpses of their loved ones within one week, once they follow the specified guidelines.

A family member of one of the victims who was sighted filling the necessary forms expressed the hope that her relation’s corpse would be released to the family promptly.

The woman who spoke on condition of anonymity disclosed that the processes were not hectic probably owing to the fact that not too many people died in the plane crash.

However, it was gathered that one of the survivors of the plane crash died few days ago at LASUTH and had since been taken by the family for burial.

Five Boko Haram, two soldiers killed in shootout

Five members of the Boko Haram and two soldiers were killed in an operation conducted by the Joint Security Task Force in Hotoro Dan Marke and Brigade general areas of Kano State yesterday.

A statement signed by the spokesman of the Joint SecurityTask Force (JTF), Captain Ikediche Iweha, said the operation began at exactly 3.00 am. Some of the items recovered from the insurgents in their two locations included two AK 47 rifles, 458 rounds of 7.62 special and six AK 47 rifle magazines.

Iweha explained that the operation was as a result of series of cordon and search operations being carried out by the JTF and the men of the DSS in Kano. The statement further disclosed that terrorists were in the process of finalizing plans to carry out simultaneous suicide attacks in Abuja and Kano respectively.

It reads, “The proactive reactions of the JTF have denied the terrorists freedom of action in Kano and from using the state as a spring board to launch attacks on other parts of the country”.

The JTF lamented the ease with which the insurgents secure accommodation in  Panshekara, Ja’en, Mariri, Farawa, Hotoro, Sherada, Brigade and other outskirt areas of Kano state, despite repeated appeals to property owners to desist from renting their property to persons of questionable identity.

“The JTF in Kano would not allow the state to be used as haven for terrorists. These appeals having fallen on deaf ears, the JTF would not only continue to destroy any such property which is found to accommodate terrorists but will also arrest the owners of such properties, treating them as accomplices even if they do not reside in the said property.”

“The JTF therefore calls on all residents of Kano not to relent in the fight against terrorist elements who are seeking refuge in the state by reporting any suspicious persons regardless of gender for immediate action to prevent the loss of lives and properties” said the statement.

JTF urged the members of the public to go about their lawful businesses without any fear and to contact the task force through its telephone numbers in the event of any distress, adding that JTF has increased its patrols to cope with the pressure of the Ember period and fleeing terrorists.