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June 30, 2005
Balogun faints in court
• Manhandled by armed policemen, EFCC officials • Leg broken, receives other injuries, sheds tears • Judge condemns action
By Rotimi Fadeyi
Snr Correspondent, Abuja
Former Inspector General of Police (IG), Tafa Balogun, fainted in court on Wednesday after security operatives and policemen attached to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) brutalised him.
He was rushed to hospital. Before then, he had been pushed, kicked, dragged on the ground and hurled into a vehicle from where he fell off.
He broke a leg and received other injuries. He shed tears, his relations also wept and one of his brothers had to step out of the courtroom as he could not control his emotion when the incident was narrated.
The attack started after Justice Salisu Garuba ruled that Balogun would only be released on bail on condition that he produces two sureties with national honours and landed property in Asokoro or Maitama in Abuja.
He is facing 92 charges of alleged gratification, theft and abuse of office.
As he stepped out of the court discussing with his lawyers on how to meet the conditions, one of the EFCC operatives attempted to drag him into the car.
His counsel, Tunji Abayomi and his relations protested but they were ignored.
The officials pushed him into the vehicle and armed policemen immediately surrounded it and cocked their guns to ward off those who tried to get close.
Some of the policemen jumped into the vehicle with Balogun who was sitting near the door. As it moved in a hurry to take him out of the court premises, they forgot to lock the door and he fell off as the car approached the gate of the court premises.
He landed on the ground but found his left leg trapped under the rear left tyre of the vehicle. Sprawling on the ground and groaning in pain, Balogun shouted: “Ha, ha, ha, do you want to kill me? Do you want to kill your former boss?”
Still on the ground, his brown flowing gown which was neat and clean a few minutes ago, became dirty and ruffled.
The policemen came out of the vehicle and forced his leg out from under the tyre. His cries that he had been injured were ignored by the security agents as they hurled him from the ground back into the vehicle and sped off.
Abayomi and other lawyers who witnessed the incident were speechless. Their attempts to save the situation were futile.
When the incident was reported to Garba as the security agents were about to drive off, he sent word through the court registrar that they should all return to the courtroom. The directive was ignored.
Garba insisted that Balogun be brought back to the court and ordered prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, to produce him.
Outside the court, while waiting for Balogun to be brought back, there was a hot exchange of words between his relatives and Jacobs and it almost led to a scuffle as other lawyers joined to condemn the action.
They continued to shout in Yoruba: Se e fe paa ni, Se e fe paa ni? (do you want to kill him? Do you want to kill him?).
Jacobs had to move to a safe distance to prevent a possible attack on him by the relatives and other lawyers in the defence team.
After about 30 minutes, the same vehicle that took him out of the court premises brought him back; accompanied by more EFCC officials in another vehicle.
Balogun had to be given some support before he could come out of the vehicle. His left leg had been broken, his clothes ruffled and dirty, his neatly starched cap had disappeared and the left side of his trousers was rolled up. He was barefooted and limped.
Tears had welled in his eyes when he got back to the courtroom. He shook his head and looked dejected.
Garba was already on his seat.
Jacobs apologised for the treatment meted out to Balogun. He said ruling on the bail conditions was misconstrued by the operatives and that Abayomi should have informed him when Balogun was about to be taken away instead of trying to pull him from the vehicle.
He admitted that it was wrong for the security agents to take Balogun away without waiting till the end of the court session to know whether he would meet the conditions.
When it was the turn of Abayomi to address the court, he gave a graphic detail of how Balogun was maltreated.
“My client was injured, mercilessly injured in the premises of the court, which showed total disregard for the court”, he recounted.
He asked the judge to vary the conditions and urged him to release Balogun on self-recognisance and promised that he would appear in court anytime he is needed.
Abayomi explained that Balogun would need medical attention as he had been injured.
At this point, tears welling up Balogun’s eyes and in an emotion laden voice, told the judge: “My lord, I think I should be given an opportunity to talk because I am the victim of the matter, this is like a fact finding session, that is why I request that you give me the opportunity to be heard because you want to know the truth.
“The bottom line is that I have always come before my lord. You can now see the manifestation of personal vendetta in this affair; it is not prosecution but persecution, which started long ago.
“I am not safe in the hands of these people (EFCC) and I want to say that from the beginning there had been threats to my life. Before the experience of today, there were threats from the prosecution that I will be in prison custody even before the trial can commence, so the case of conviction before trial is before your lordship.
“I have a broken leg because of the forcible manner in which they took me away, contrary to your order. I must have also sustained a lot of internal bleeding, internal injury because I was thrown off from the vehicle. I don’t deserve this type of maltreatment if the situation was normal.
“I have served this country as Inspector General of Police creditably well. I have respected the court and have been attending court. Despite all these, you can see what they want to do to my life. I seek your merciful cover under your lordship”.
A few minutes after Balogun sat down, he called Abayomi and whispered in his ears. Abayomi turned to Balogun’s brother to get a bottle of water and contact a doctor.
But before this could be done, Balogun lost balance and slumped as he was about to lean on the shoulder of a security operative sitting close to him.
His relations and lawyers gathered and tried to lift him up, but the situation got worse as Balogun fainted and was taken to a private hospital in a Prado Jeep marked KOGI AA 611 DAV.
When peace returned to the courtroom, Garba condemned the action of the EFCC operatives and Jacobs for disobeying his order.
He granted the request of Abayomi and released Balogun on self-reconisance and adjourned hearing to July 13.
Posted by Publisher at 05:43 PM | Comments (0)
Ogbeh, Ali trade words on PDP finances
Former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman, Audu Ogbeh, has criticised his successor, Ahmadu Ali and Board of Trustees (BOT) Chairman, Tony Anenih, for pronouncing him guilty of alleged fraud without giving him the opportunity to respond.
By Paul Mumeh
Snr Correspondent, Abuja
He said in a protest letter to the National Executive Committee (NEC), sent through Ali, that the Anenih committee on the Anambra conflict condemned him and seven members of his National Working Committee (NWC) without hearing him out.
“Whether I was personally accused or not”, he stressed, “I do hold vicarious responsibility for the operations of the party and cannot therefore pretend not to be affected by these grave conclusions”.
The panel’s report found the NWC culpable and recommended its dissolution.
Ogbeh argued: “The failure to give me a chance to appear suggests an increasingly worrisome development in our party, a blatant disregard for legal norms, and a steady widening of the highway to judicial anarchy. Recent pronouncements by some of you, members of this body, suggest no less and this is at a time when we seek world respect; we, the ruling party.
“I wish to ask some of you, members of this body, how you would react if, some day after leaving office, you are accused, tried and condemned in your absence. It may be sweet now because I and my NWC are at this end of the barrel, but this is evil and evil always crashes under its own weight”.
Ogbeh denied embezzling N2.9 billion, saying all he spent and did was approved as shown in the audited account by external auditors of Akintola Williams and Company.
He frowned at Ali’s explanation of why the party did not take him and his leadership to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
“The sole purpose of the Anenih inquiry was to establish guilt and prepare grounds for the final takeover of the party”.
But Ali told Ogbeh on Wednesday that “I have nothing against you”.
He explained in his reaction to the letter that Ogbeh was not invited to the panel “because there was nowhere he was directly accused of financial impropriety”.
Ali issued a statement that was signed on his behalf by his Media Assistant, Theophilus Abbah.
He stated that the people invited by the panel were those who had explanations to offer on the mismanagement of party funds and described as unfair, Ogbeh’s position that the changes in the leadership of the PDP were an attempt to hijack the November convention and take over the party.
Posted by Publisher at 05:42 PM | Comments (0)
FG to float N140b bonds on debt servicing
The government has resorted to the capital market to service domestic debts as it plans to float some N140 billion bond stocks, a practice it had abandoned for 17 years.
By Chesa Chesa
State House Correspondent, Abuja
The proposal was approved on Wednesday by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) after it deliberated on seeking relief from its domestic creditors to whom it owes N1.3 trillion, in line with the upbeat tempo in the quest for debt relief from foreign creditors.
Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, told journalists in Abuja after the meeting that the idea of domestic debt waiver was, however, dropped because of the negative impact it would have on the economy.
The meeting was chaired by President Olusegun Obasanjo.
According to her, the suggestion had been to ask the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to whom much of the debt is owed, to grant the government the relief while further loans are monitored to avert another build-up.
The government is currently servicing domestic debts with N185 billion, higher than the N183 billion used to service foreign debts of about $38 billion.
Okonjo-Iweala said floating the bonds in seven monthly installments would mop up excess liquidity in the economy and ensure that macroeconomic stability tallies with falling interest rates.
Her words: “The government has been absent from the bond market for 17 years and then came back with a bond issue last year and we are following this up so that we have a regular programme.
“But a different thing is that this time we are focusing mostly on restructuring of domestic bonds. You know that many of them, almost 80 per cent, has short tenure and we want to reduce it from three to six months treasury to about three years’ bonds”.
She said floating the bonds would ease the burden as well as lower the cost of domestic debt servicing since it would come with longer maturity.
“Even as we are focusing on trying to tackle the issue of our external debt, we must not forget that we also have internal debt that needs to be restructured. This is what we are doing and we are expecting to float between N70 and N140 billion, depending on the appetite of the market for these bonds.
“We will use most of the proceeds to restructure the existing bonds and lengthen their maturity. We want to do this in seven monthly installments, just to make sure we don’t overstretch the market at about N20 billion each. I think this will also be very helpful towards managing the liquidity issue in the economy.
“It is an important part of the instruments we are deploying to make sure we have macro-economic stability that will lower our domestic debt profile because interest rates are falling now and it is also good.
“It is also good that we restructure and lower the domestic debt and lower the amount of money used in servicing the debt. So there are a lot of benefits to this restructuring programme”.
Okonjo-Iweala argued that the measure would also steer government away from financing programmes through Ways and Means.
“Last year, our access rate to Ways and Means was so limited that the Central Bank lost N7 billion in surpluses that it would have had. We have continued the same practice this year. But when we introduced the fiscal discipline into the programme, the Central Bank of course agreed with us that this a good thing even though they are losing money.
“Last year, we had access to 10 per cent of Ways and Means and this year we are talking about five per cent. You know the law allows 12 per cent. So I think we are doing extremely well.
“By the end of the year, unlike in the previous years when we had access to Ways and Means, we had to roll it over into debt. Last year, we did not do any of that and this year we have no intention”.
Her counterpart in the Federal Capital Territory, Nasir el-Rufai, announced the FEC’s approval of a N14.2 billion contract to increase water supply to Abuja to 30,000 cubic litres per hour.
It was awarded to Biwater Nigeria Limited and would be completed in 24 months.
Posted by Publisher at 05:41 PM | Comments (0)
U.S. bans 200 Nigerian officials
Up to 200 serving and former Nigerian officials and members of their immediate families have been banned from the United States in an action which delivers on the promise of the administration to help Abuja fight graft.
By Chinedu Offor
Correspondent
Washington D.C.
Their visa have been revoked.
The number could rise to an additional 50 officials whose cases are under investigation, according to sources.
Also affected are private citizens seen to be supporting ethnic militias and Islamic fundamentalists.
All may lose their investments in the U.S if they are unable to justify how they made their money.
A U.S. official said the ban is a "practical demonstration of the administration’s resolve to assist Nigeria in its war on corruption".
Sources in the administration and the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS) confirmed that those affected include seven serving governors, two former Heads of State, lawmakers, former ministers (especially in the Shehu Shagari administration), top officials of government agencies and businessmen.
The agencies include former National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL), former Nigeria Airways Limited (NAL) and maritime establishments.
Two of the governors are from the North, two (South South), two (South East) and one (South West).
One of them allegedly bought a custom made jet, purporting it to be for a proposed airline to be operated by the state.
Another was barred because he allegedly owns a million dollar real estate firm, registered under the name of a lady said to be his mistress.
The administration relied on internal investigation, records from banks, Transparency International (TI) and information from European Union (EU) countries to make the decision.
It was learnt the list will be handed over to the Nigerian authorities.
Posted by Publisher at 05:40 PM | Comments (0)
Auto crashes, robberies claim 46 lives in Kebbi, Edo, Delta
Death came through accidents and dare devil robberies between Monday and Wednesday, took 46 lives and left at least 30 persons injured in three states spanning the North and the South.
By AyoAjoge (Birnin-Kebbi)
and Tunke-Aye Bisina
(Asaba)
All of them occurred on highways.
An armed robbery attack on Tuesday and an auto crash on Wednesday claimed the lives of 11 passengers on the Asaba-Benin road that traverses Edo and Delta. No fewer than five persons were injured.
On Monday, an early hour multiple accident on Yauri-Kontagora road in Kebbi State, caused by an armed robbery operation, left 35 persons dead with 25 others seriously injured and under intensive care at the General Hospital, Yauri.
The accident on the Asaba-Benin road involved a Toyota Hiace commuter bus and a truck, claimed five lives and left another five persons in critical condition.
Another set of robbers had on Tuesday attacked travellers around Edo-Ogwashi, a few kilometers from the scene of the accident, killed six persons and left several others with bullet wounds. They stole from their victims.
But spokesperson of the state police command, Okuwobi Olabisi, put the death toll in that incident at three.
Eyewitnesses claimed that the criminals operated for several hours without resistance from policemen, resulting in traffic tail back for over two hours.
Olabisi said they used sophisticated arms but stressed that the police have spread their dragnet to arrest them.
She announced the killing of three robbery suspects by the police after a gun duel on Jakpa road, Effurun on Monday.
The Toyota bus was marked Delta XB 695-AGB. It was on its way from Agbor to Onitsha when it ran into a truck (marked Lagos XB 511-AGL) at the Okpanem end of the Asaba-Benin highway, five kilometers from Asaba.
Five of the passengers, including the driver, died immediately; five others received varying degrees of injury and were rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba where they are lying in critical condition.
The corpses have been deposited at the St. Joseph’s Clinic Mortuary, Asaba.
Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) officials on Tuesday tried to tow the vehicles and searched the belongings of the passengers to identify them.
One of them said the identity card of a 400 level student of Delta State University (DELSU) was recovered from the scene.
He added that while they were rescuing the survivors, another towing van (marked Anambra XO 359 NSH) crashed into the scene and wounded two persons who were taken to hospital.
FRSC Delta State Sector Commander, Sunday Maku, confirmed that five persons died on the spot and that another five received injury.
He said the accident was caused by over speeding by the driver of the Toyota bus “because he ran into another vehicle”.
Also, Kebbi State Governor, Muhammadu Adamu Aliero, visited the scene of the accident on the Yauri-Kontagora road where he was told by the driver of one of the vehicles, Abubakar Ibrahim, that they were travelling to Akure, Ondo State from Illela, the border town in Sokoto State lying between Nigeria and Niger Republic.
The vehicle, a Mercedes Benz truck marked XF 924 KMC, carried over 40 passengers along with their goods.
He said they met a road block erected by armed robbers about 3 a.m. and in an attempt to avoid it, the truck veered into a ditch, killing 16 passengers instantly.
After the accident, according to Ibrahim, another truck, a DAF model (marked XK 383 AAA), whose driver did not notice the accident, rammed into the Mercedes Benz and somersaulted. Seven persons died instantly.
The conductor of the DAF truck, Mustapha Salisu, told Aliero that the armed robbers, after noticing the havoc they wreaked, fled the scene only to emerge some kilometers away with another road block from where they again robbed, maimed and killed.
Aliero promised that the government will foot the hospital bills of those injured.
Posted by Publisher at 05:38 PM | Comments (0)
Resource control: Accept 25%, YCE, Benin monarch tell Arewa
Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE) and Benin monarch, Omo N’Oba Erediauwa on Wednesday urged the Arewa Consultative Forum (YCF), and northern delegates to the National Conference to end the stalemate threatening the conference by accepting the 25 per cent derivation formula which the South-South has insisted on.
By Uwakwe Abugu (Benin)
and Sola Shittu (Ibadan)
Sedretary General of the YCE, Kunle Oladeji urged the ACF to accept the 25 per cent derivation being demanded by the South-South zone in the interest of the continued existence of the country.
The YCE scribe who is also a delegate to the conference said the North should be more humane in considering the plight of the people of the Niger Delta region.
The Omo N’oba, however, explained that in reality, the 25 per cent mark accepted by the South- South delegates is a remarkable sacrifice considering that what the people had demanded originally was about 75 per cent.
The monarch, who made the remarks in his palace during his quarterly interactive session with newsmen in Benin City, also expressed dismay at the menace of cultism in higher institutions of learning in Edo State.
And in the political tension building up in the state over which of the three senatorial districts would produce the next governor of state come 2007, the traditional ruler threw his weight behind the Bini people’s aspiration to retain power.
Asked to add his fatherly advice on the way out of the crisis threatening the national conference, he said, “I want to appeal to those of them opposing the 25% derivation to have a change of heart.
“Let us leave it at that 25 per cent and let all the palaver go; the south south came down to 25 per cent from a higher demand.
“So, I am pleading with our people over there who are opposing the 25 per cent to see reason and accept it”, he stated.
On cultism in the higher institutions in the state, Oba Erediauwa said, “It is an embarrassing situation to all of us.
Nobody knows what is causing it. We pray that God removes it”, adding that government has been what it can to contain the scourge.
Speaking on the opposition against the aspiration of Edo South people to produce a governor come 2007 since incumbent governor, Lucky Igbinedion is from the south district of the state, the royal father said nobody should expect him to sit back in his palace and support any move to stop his people from voting or being voted for.
He was reacting to a question as to whether he would support the position canvassed last Tuesday by a prince of his palace, Edun Akenzua that the Edo South wants to retain power.
Posted by Publisher at 05:36 PM | Comments (0)
‘Obasanjo has lost control of conference’
Deputy National Chairman (South) of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Maxi Okwu, said the National Conference has gone into stormy waters, adding that President Olusegun Obasanjo who set it up has lost control of it.
By Chuks Ehirim
Senior Correspondent, Abuja
Okwu who spoke to Daily Independent in Abuja, said “the conference has gone into stormy waters because it is like a horse that has bolted from the barn and the owner has lost control”.
“When some of us noticed the caliber of persons coming to the conference and the issues on the Nigerian political tables, we knew that Obasanjo might want the conference to go right or left.”
On the agitation of the South-South political zone for resource control, Okwu said his party is in full support of it adding: “APGA as a political party supports the agitations of the South-South. It is only fair, if we are running a true federation”.
He condemned those against the demand of the South-South for at least 25 per cent derivation saying: “All those kicking against their wish do not mean well for this country. Look at the statistics put forward by the South-South and South-East, showing how revenue had been allocated from 1960 to date”.
He argued that it was military politics that brought the derivation percentage down to 13 per cent.
Posted by Publisher at 05:33 PM | Comments (0)
Resource control will strengthen Nigeria – Ayitogo
Nasarawa State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Yusuf Ayitogo, has stressed that rather than break up the country, the vexed issue of resource control would strengthen it.
By Tor Acka
Special Correspondent, Lafia
Ayitogo said this while speaking with newsmen in Lafia on Wednesday. He, however, appealed to all who have the Nigerian project at heart to reconsider their stand and embrace dialogue, rather than confrontation in resolving the issue.
He observed that the Federal Government has done so much for the people of the South-South pointing out that one of such efforts was the setting up of several agencies to ensure rapid development of the area as well as release of monthly allocations in large sums to back it up.
Ayitogo, therefore, advised leaders of the South-South zone to be transparent in all their dealings, as this was the desire of the people whom they were accountable to.
He said the state PDP would soon be launching the building of the state secretariat, which will facilitate and enhance its activities in Nassarawa.
The party chairman was also optimistic that the party would win the chairmanship and councillorship election in Lafia Municipal Council slated for Saturday.
Posted by Publisher at 05:30 PM | Comments (0)
South-East leaders to meet over conference crisis, 2007
Political leaders of different political persuasions from the South-East geo-political zone, would be meeting in Enugu on Sunday, to take a definite position on the crisis rocking the National Conference as well as take a definite stand on the 2007 presidential election.
By Chuks Ehirim
Senior Correspondent, Abuja
The meeting which is being convened by the Second Republic Speaker of the House of Representatives, Edwin Ume Ezeoke, Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chekwas Okorie and the deputy national secretary of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Francis Egu, is also said to be enjoying the support of the governors of Abia, Anambra and Imo states.
A source close to the conveners of the meeting scheduled to hold at ZODIAC Hotel, Enugu, said the major issues to be discussed are the crisis at the national conference and the 2007 presidency.
The source said the Igbo political leaders would decide on the position to be canvassed by South-East delegates to the conference on such issues as power rotation and tenure of office.
Majority of the delegates from the zone have insisted that the issue of power rotation must not only be inserted in the constitution, it must equally be on geo-political zones instead of North-South basis, as agreed by the elders committee of conference, headed by Professor Joe Irukwu.
Irukwu was said to have been under severe pressure from his kinsmen to work towards reversing the committee’s decision on the issue when the conference reconvenes on July 11.
The source said the main reason for convening the Enugu meeting is because Ndigbo have lost out at the conference adding: “We want to review the development at the conference, access the performance of our delegates and advise on what must be done when the conference reconvenes”.
Posted by Publisher at 05:25 PM | Comments (0)
Conference stalemate may fulfil US prediction, says Okunronmu
A representative of Afenifere, the Yoruba socio-political group, at the national conference in Abuja, Femi Okunronmu, has warned that except extreme care is taken, the face-off between the North and the South-South at the conference might fulfill the American intelligence report that the country might break up by 2020.
By Sola Shittu
Reporter, Ibadan
Okunronmu who represented Ogun Central in the Senate during the last dispensation was not happy at the Northerners’ insistence that the South-South people should accept the 17 per cent recommendation or nothing else.
To him, the action of the Northern delegates smirks of arrogance, which is not good for the continued existence of the country.
He warned that the implication of rejecting the 25 per cent demand of the oil producing region may be too grave for the country and called for matured handling of the Issue.
Okunronmu who spoke with newsmen in Ibadan, Oyo State said: “The North is arrogant and selfish over resource control. I must warn here that the stability of Nigeria hinges on what we do on the issue.’’
He insisted that the issue of resource control is not a new one adding that the Niger-Delta people are merely asking for a return to the ‘covenant’ that the country had before independence
“Anyone that is realistic, nationalistic and progressive-minded will accept that resource control is not only in the interest of the South-South but also in the interest of the entire country. If you go back to the first republic when we had three regions, there was rapid progress. That progress was possible because each region has substantial control over resources found in its territory, and merely paid a portion of it to the centre.
There were incentives for each region to try to mobilise a resource that was why the South-West put everything into cocoa production. Farm centres were developed, cocoa research institute was set up – all these were to boost cocoa production and agriculture.
Posted by Publisher at 05:22 PM | Comments (0)
Igbo Reps meet over Apo killings
•Judicial Commission adjourns sitting •Police may try another top shot for negligence • Ohaneze seeks justice
By Chris Agbambu, Uchenna Awom (Abuja) and Sunny Igboanugo (Lagos)
The South-East caucus in the House of Representatives met last night at the Apo Legislative residence of the Deputy Majority Leader of the House, Gilbert Nnaji, to take a common stand on the controversy surrounding the killing of six Igbo traders in Abuja. A press conference may be addressed today in Abuja.
Similarly the Judicial Commission of Inquiry set up by the Federal Government to unravel the motive and the actual identity of the policemen behind the killings, which took place at the Apo mechanic village in Abuja held their inaugural sitting on Tuesday, but adjourned shortly to 9am Friday.
Daily Independent learnt that members of the South East caucus were summoned to Abuja following pressures from home for them to ‘take more than a passive interest on the matter’.
However, Chairman of the panel of inquiry, Justice Olasumbo Goodluck, called for memoranda from members of the Public. She said any member of the public who has any information should forward it to the secretary of the commission.
No testimony was taken as only counsels to Ohaneze, the Apo traders, families of the victims and the police announced their appearance.
Public interest on the matter has remained on the up swing as the court room at the large Customary Court of Appeal at Utako District was filled to the brim as early as 8am by spectators especially traders from Apo and executives of Abuja Chapter of Ohaneze Ndigbo led by its President, Vidal Wachuku.
People gathered in groups discussing outside the courtroom on the reported disappearance of the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Garki, Abuja Abdulsalam Othman, from police detention and the confession of the detained officers of committing the crime and that the traders were not robbers afterall.
But facts emerged indicating that CSP Lawan Ado detained for the escape of the DPO) of Garki Police Station may be tried and dismissed from the force for negligence.
Ado reportedly obtained the statement of the fleeing DPO, and thereafter allowed him to go and pray both of them being course mates, but never knew Othman will betray him by escaping.
The now detained Ado, who had long been in Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), was recently transferred out of the Force Headquarters, Abuja to Kogi State, but was yet to resume in his new posting when the Apo incident happened.
Following the escape of the DPO, security has now been tightened around the Deputy Commissioner Operations (FCT) Danjuma Ibrahim and the other eight officers and men.
Posted by Publisher at 05:20 PM | Comments (0)
S/West delegates differ on president, govs’ tenure
Delegates to the crises-ridden conference from the South-West have been enmeshed in a fresh crisis over the tenure for the president and governors.
By Bayo Oladeji
Senior Correspondent, Abuja
The bone of contention was a fresh directive coming from the governors asking them to mount pressure on the conference to revisit the four-year two-term tenure adopted after the South-South and South-East and some delegates from the South-West had walked out in protest.
At a meeting held in Ibadan, Oyo State, the delegates were asked to ensure that the six- year single term is adopted instead but their counterparts from Lagos and Afenifere are not in the league as they were said to have resolved to team up with delegates from the North who favoured the four- year term.
“ We have all agreed to ask the conference to reverse itself over all the decisions made while most delegates from the South-South had left the hall or face our own walk-out. It is not any directive from the governors or President Olusegun Obasanjo”, Olu Alabi said.
Speaking further, he argued that it was unfair to allow such a decision to be binding and if that was the stand, then “most of us from the South-South would not endorse the report. The conference should reconsider its stand before we reconvene or face the consequence”.
But another delegate from Lagos said no delegate from the state would do President Obasanjo’s bidding adding: “He wants that six- year single term for his interest and with what he has done to us in Lagos, he should forget it”.
Checks also revealed in Abuja that those who want the North to corner the presidency for the same number of years like the South-West are the forces behind the speculation going on that the idea originated from the Presidency.
Zik Obi of Anambra State who shares this view declares “ I am not an Obasanjo man, I am against any extension of his tenure by a day but I support the six- year single term and what we are going to do is to ensure that we state it clearly that the incumbent would not be allowed. Those who think they had passed the decision are joking”.
Posted by Publisher at 05:19 PM | Comments (0)
Delta loses suit over N7.8b deduction
Delta State on Wednesday lost its suit against the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) over the commission’s plan to deduct about N7, 869,329,406.01 from its monthly revenue allocation.
Rotimi Fadeyi
Senior Correspondent, Abuja
The money was said to be an accumulated overpayment on its monthly allocation from the federation account on the 13 per cent derivation for the period of June 1999 to February 2003.
Justice Stephen Jonah Adah of the Federal High Court, Abuja held in his rulling that the state failed to provide sufficient evidence that it was not overpaid.
However, Delta may file an appeal before the Court of Appeal to challenge the judgement.
Adah said his judgement was based on a document presented in court by the office of the Accountant General of the Federation showing details of how some states, including Delta, were overpaid.
It also showed how other states were underpaid during the period in question. Apart from Delta, other states that were overpaid included Abia, Ondo, and Rivers.
Those underpaid are Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Edo, and Imo.
Before Adah dismissed the case of Delta, he explained that the document was not a new formula for revenue sharing but aimed at correcting errors made by RMAFC in the overpayments and underpayments made to some states.
In the suit, Delta State argued that there was no proof that the state was overpaid its monthly revenue allocation during the period as being alleged by RMAFC.
Specifically, Delta State asked for an interlocutory order restraining the defendants from deducting any sum or further deducting any sum from its monthly allocation.
The suit filed by Dr. Alex Izinyon (SAN) on behalf of Delta State Government was supported by 13-paragraph statement of claim where the state averred that sometimes in June 2004, during the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting, a document entitled: “Exposure of underpayments and overpayments arising from the sharing of 13 per cent derivation fund from June 1999 to February 2003,” was circulated by the Revenue Commission to the oil producing states that at the meeting.
Posted by Publisher at 05:18 PM | Comments (0)
Keyamo exposes plans to extradite ‘coup plotters’ to E/Guinea
A Lagos-based lawyer, Festus Keyamo, has raised alarm over plans by the government of Equatorial Guinea to execute four alleged coup plotters, including a Nigerian.
By Rotimi Durojaiye
Correspondent, Lagos
The alleged execution without due process is to be carried out with the active connivance of the Nigerian government, Keyamo alleged in an open letter to the United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Anan.
He accused the Federal Government of planning to hand over the alleged coup plotters contrary to the Extradition Act 1966, now Cap 25 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
According to Keyamo, the Nigerian government on April 20 arrested some persons in Lagos, upon the suspicion that they were planning to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea.
He listed them as Col. Ela Biban Florencio (rtd), Lt. Edu Nchama Antimo (rtd) and Mr. Felipe Ntutumu Esono Nzang.
The only Nigerian allegedly arrested in connection with the plot was Anthony Amechi Akaeke.
Keyamo explained that early in the year, Akaeke was allegedly contacted by someone, on behalf of the Equatorial Guineans to provide them with a crew boat to enable them carry workers from Boma in Kinshasa, Congo Democratic Republic, to work in the oil rig in Malabo and Batar in Equatorial Guinea.
“Upon provision of the boat, the Nigerian was allegedly conscripted into a coup plot, and he was allegedly asked to help them procure rocket launchers and grenades from the Nigerian military to use in overthrowing the government of Equatorial Guinea.
“The plot allegedly leaked when arrangements were on in one of the Lagos barracks to procure these materials. They were all arrested by the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) and later transferred to the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) from where they were later transferred to the State Security Service (SSS) in Abuja,” the lawyer said.
He explained that after more than two months of harrowing detention and being held incommunicado, “we have been briefed that the Nigerian government has entered an agreement with the government of Equatorial Guinea to quietly hand-over these persons this week to be slaughtered in Equatorial Guinea”.
Posted by Publisher at 05:17 PM | Comments (0)
Tax board orders employers to deduct staff allowances
The impoverished Nigerian workers are in for another round of hardship, as their purchasing power will soon be further eroded.
By Sanya Adejokun
Senior Correspondent, Abuja
The Joint Tax Board (JTB) has told employers to commence immediate deduction of taxes from allowances of their staff for onward remittance to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
In a statement after the June 22, meeting of the JTB in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, the board said contrary to widespread view, employees’ salaries and allowances are subject to tax in accordance with the provisions of the Personal Income Tax Act (PITA).
“All emoluments including all allowances of an employee should be taxed in accordance with the law,” its Executive Secretary, Mr. Adeleke Afolabi, said in the statement. He added that the clarification became necessary in view of various representations made to the JTB by individuals and employees on the issue.
Afolabi drew public attention to Section 3 of the Act, which says “any salary, wage, fee, allowance, or other gain or profit from employment, including gratuities, compensation, business, premiums, benefits or other perquisites allowed, given, or granted by any person to an employer”, is subject to tax.
According to him, what the law provides for are exemptions covered in Section 3 of what is taxed and what is not as contained in PITA.
These are medical and dental expenses incurred by an employee; rent paid, subject to the allowance limits; rent subsidy, which is subject to a limit of N100,000; transport allowance up to a limit of N15,000 per annum; meal subsidy up to a limit of N5,000 per annum; utility allowance subject to a limit of N10,000 per annum; entertainment allowance, subject to a limit of N6,000 per annum; and leave grant, subject to 10 per cent of annual basic salary.
He expressed worry that organisations’ managers and employers have either neglected to apply or defaulted in applying the law strictly, thus fuelling the impression that allowances are not taxable in Nigeria.
Posted by Publisher at 05:16 PM | Comments (0)
Obasanjo inaugurates millennium goals committee
President Olusegun Obasanjo on Wednesday inaugurated the Assessment and Monitoring Committee on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
By Chesa Chesa
State House Correspondent, Abuja
The committee will act as a platform for the quarterly monitoring and assessment of Federal Government’s efforts to achieve the eight-point MDGs by 2015.
The president detailed the new Senior Special Assistant on MDGs, Mrs. Amina Ibrahim, to coordinate the committee, which has three governors as members. They are Chimaroke Nnamani (Enugu), Bukola Saraki (Kwara), and Adamu Aliero (Kebbi). Ministers of Power and Steel, Education, Information, Water Resources, and Health, among other civil society groups and foreign NGOs are also included in the committee.
Although the chairman of the committee was not made known, Ibrahim will chair the steering committee, anchor the secretariat of the committee and make quarterly reports on the MDGs, according to Obasanjo who noted that the action indicated government’s unwavering commitment and faithfulness to the spirit and letter of the Millennium Declaration.
The declaration challenges every government to “spare no effort to free fellow men and women from the abject and dehumanising conditions of extreme poverty to which more than one billion of them are currently subjected”.
The president urged developing partners to consider seriously the issue of debt relief, as it would enable developing countries save enough money to achieve the MDGs.
He said the Federal Government has consistently demonstrated a strong resolve to frontally attack the scourge of poverty in the country through poverty reduction initiatives like the Universal Basic Education (UBE), National Economic Empowerment Development Strategies (NEEDS), National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP), Water for Life, Water for All, and the Presidential Initiative on Cassava.
The millennium goals are to eradicate poverty and hunger, achieve universal primary education, promote equality and empower women, reduce child mortality and improve maternal health. Others are to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability, and develop a global partnership for development, all by 2015.
Posted by Publisher at 05:15 PM | Comments (0)
Daniel advises new permanent secretaries to give good leadership
Ogun State Governor Gbenga Daniel has sworn-in ten new permanent secretaries with an admonition to them to give the state civil service good leadership. Specifically, he asked them to impact positively on the middle cadre of the civil service as the latter’s output would determine their efficiency and ratings.
By Segun Adeleye
Reporter, Abeokuta
The governor, who also inaugurated an 18-member Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board on Wednesday charged that effective leadership as well as provision of adequate oversight function should be observed to avoid the lapses that portrayed government in bad light in the last Hajj operations.
He advised the permanent secretaries, among them journalist, Mr. Demola Badejo, to buy into government’s new vision particularly at the threshold of the second half of the administration.
“You now have a greater responsibility for superintending the resources of the state to deliver optimal services to our people. In doing this I enjoin you to carry out your duties with diligence and to further imbibe the vision of this administration. You should be conscious of the fact that the extent of your effectiveness and efficiency would be determined by the quality of the contributions of your subordinates,” he said.
According to him, the previous Moslems welfare board portrayed themselves in ways that left much to be desired, assuring that subsequent exercises will apply more stringent processes of certification.
“This is to ensure that only people who will conduct themselves with decorum and not send wrong signals about our state to the national and international communities are included on the state’s contingent,” the governor stressed.
Posted by Publisher at 05:14 PM | Comments (0)
Alake: Ruling house queries aspirant over sale of family land
The last has not been heard of the controversies trailing the selection of a new Alake of Abeokuta. One of such squabbles is a query issued to one of the aspirants to the coveted stool by the family head of the Laarun ruling house, billed to produce the next and 10th Alake. Chief Anthony Labiran has asked Prince Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo to explain his role in the alleged sale of a family land.
By Segun Adeleye,
reporter, Abeokuta
Adedotun, a retired colonel and former principal staff officer to the late Chief of General Staff (CGS), General Tunde Idiagbon, has denied the accusation of disposing of the land.
But in a letter dated June 20, the family head insisted that Adedotun was privy to the sale through family surveyor, Mr. Salami Ajisafe-Moore, adding that family members were not impressed by the explanation earlier given.
“It is baseless and unfounded rumour that Prince Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo sold any of the family plots at Alapa village, opposite Idi-Ori junction on Lagos-Abeokuta expressway,” Ajisafe-Moore had stated in respect of the 22.624 hectares of land in dispute.
In the same vein, the lawyer, Mr. Olukunmi Lalude whom Adedotun said had been given a portion of the land for winning the land case for the family has vehemently denied taking possession of any such land.
“ I need not emphasized the fact that this land matter has been causing the Gbadebo family serious embarrassment. Consequently, as a member and arrow-head of the committee in charge of the land, please forward your response on the attached letter to me within 24 hours of the receipt hereof, kindly treat as urgent” the family head stated in the letter to Adedotun.
Posted by Publisher at 05:13 PM | Comments (0)
Oyo pledges to abide by FG pension scheme
The Oyo state government has again reiterated its readiness to look into demands by its pensioners with regards to the 142 percent increase on pension as approved by the federal government.
By Sola Shittu
Reporter, Ibadan
Deputy Governor Adebayo Alao Akala and the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr. Dele Adigun, gave the assurance Wednesday at a meeting with leaders of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) when the pensioners held a demonstration at the governor’s office.
A statement by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Strategy, Prince Ade Adekanmbi, explained that though the government inherited a total of N1.7 billion as unpaid pensions and gratuities for ex-workers in the state, it had so far paid N1.8 billion to the ex-workers since it came to power in 2003.
According to him, the state government is committing N82.7 million every month to the payment of pensions while the sum of N100 million is set aside for gratuities every month for its workers.
“As of today, government has approved the payment of pension for civil servants that retired up to December 2004 and they are already included in the monthly pensions payroll with their arrears paid up.
“It must be stated categorically that the issue of 142% increase for the pensioners is a federal government directive which has not being backed up with necessary fund. However, Governor Rashidi Ladoja, after series of meetings agreed to pay the 142% on conditions that are being worked out by the Ministry of Finance.
“It must be noted that the issue of 30% ,150% and 142% pension increase has been on since the period of the military and therefore the present government cannot be held responsible for the nonpayment of the pension arrears,’’ the statement added.
Hundreds of members of NUP in Oyo had trooped to the secretariat early in the morning and prevented workers from resuming for work by preventing them from entering into the state secretariat.
The NUP members led by state chairman, Alhaji Lateef Adegoke, also barricaded the six entrances to the state secretariat until they were able to meet with the deputy governor and SSG who assured them that their demands would be met. After the meeting the pensioners were told to come for
another meeting with the governor next week Tuesday
with a firm assurance that their demands would be met
that day.
Posted by Publisher at 05:11 PM | Comments (0)
Confab will help Nigeria solve its problems, says don
A university teacher, Professor Jide Owoeye, says the on-going National Political Reforms Conference (NPRC) will help the nation to solve most of its myriads of problems.
By Sola Shittu
Reporter, Ibadan
Owoeye who made the suggestion on a television programme in Ibadan, expressed the hope that Nigeria will soon find solutions to most of its domestic problems since it is already talking about them, adding that in the past nobody was allowed to talk about them.
He counseled that the outcome of the talk shop should be implemented, as this would help Nigerians build confidence in their nation.
“This is the second time we are having a constitutional conference. Remember the very first constitutional conference was
the one in Aburi. Until tomorrow the decisions that conference was never implemented and until that is implemented we will continue to have conferences upon conferences” he said.
He also commended the federal government for many initiatives it is taking aimed at moving the nation forward.
“Nigeria is going through a lot of reforms now, political reforms, economic reforms in several ways and some of these reforms are achievable and they are being achieved. The only area is that of the structure. It is interesting to know that this is the only government that has been able to put forward reforms without repression”.
On the ability of President Olusegun Obasanjo to achieve the desired goals of the various reforms, Owoeye said the president’s experience as a former Nigerian leader will come to play in taking such decisions.
“Don’t forget that this president that we have is very diplomatic, he has been there before so he knows what he is doing and he is not an outsider.
He knows what he should do. He is feeling the problems like everybody is feeling them. So definitely I have all the confidence that the future of Nigeria vis-à-vis the reaction of government to this problems will be appropriate. I have all confidence in that because the position is, look Nigeria will not disintegrate,” he added.
Posted by Publisher at 05:08 PM | Comments (0)
Stop canvassing for third term for Obasanjo, says Abimbola
Special Adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo on Traditional and Cultural Matters, Professor Wande Abimbola, has declared that Obasanjo has not appointed any person to be his advocate for six years rule neither is he nursing the ambition of staying beyond 2007.
By Sola Shittu
Reporter, Ibadan
Speaking in an interview with Daily Independent in Ibadan, Abimbola admitted that though some people are trying to persuade Obasanjo to spend six years in office but he has told them that he was not interested.
“He has denied this himself. He said he was not interested in it. I don’t think that it is something that he is interested in any way. Some people are trying to persuade him to do that but he has come out to say he is not interested. I don’t think he has asked anybody to be his advocate for more years in office” he said.
Governor Rashidi Ladoja of Oyo state had on Monday said the six-year rule was one of the knotty issues that are yet to be resolved at the National Political Reform Conference in Abuja. And as at the time the meeting was being held in Ibadan, rumours became strong that the South West delegates were at cross road on the matter which some of them said were not popular among the Yoruba people.
However, Abimbola said Obasanjo is doing a lot to resolve the impasse at the confab and that the controversial matter leading to the walk out of the South-South delegates will soon be resolved.
“I am sure we will iron it out as time goes on. You know after the confab is finished some of their decisions will have to be acted upon. There are still a lot of time for debate and dialogue on all these issues” he said.
According to Abimbola, the president is not interested in
any thing that will divide the country but would
rather dwell on things that would right some wrongs and
injustices done to some parts of the country.
“The President is doing a lot to make sure
that in our own time, our country does not experience
another civil war or attempt by any part to break
away. We all ought to work for it to make sure that
the country remains together. There are so many things
that we all know that are not quite alright because of
so many forces pulling so many communities apart” he
said.
He said Nigeria is a plural society in many ways
therefore people must be tolerant of one another
adding that by their acts of intolerance some
Nigerians are already setting in motion things that
can lead to conflict.
“There ought to be dialogue and
there ought to be tolerance. Nigeria is plural society
as far as language is concerned, in ethnicity, belief
and others. We have to be tolerant of each others
belief”.
Posted by Publisher at 05:06 PM | Comments (0)
Ekiti AD denies plot to kill Fayose
Alliance for Democracy (AD) in Ekiti state has described as false the allegation sent to the Presidency by Governor Ayo Fayose that the party is planning to eliminate him and some of his followers.
By Gbenga Sodeinde
Special Correspondent, Ado-ekiti
A statement by its Public Relations Officer, Mr. Remi Osabusua, in Ado-Ekiti on Wednesday said all Nigerians know that Fayose’s government is violent and is the one to be accused of threatening the lives of members of the opposition.
“It is the government of Ayo Fayose and his co-travelers that is compiling the list of AD leaders from the 16 local government areas for elimination” the statement added.
The party stated further that it is on record that the four years of the AD administration in Ekiti state witnessed relative peace and understanding among the different social and political strata of the state including the leadership of the PDP.
“For the records since the inception of the Ayo Fayose administration, we have witnessed many assassination attempts and cold-blooded murders as well as Obas being locked up by the police in cells, courtesy of Fayose. We have also witnessed violence during elections when the sanctity of human lives has no meaning to Fayose.
“The governor is reputed to foment so much disorderliness in Ekiti state to the extent that peaceful gatherings of opposition parties are willfully disrupted and properties worth millions of Naira destroyed,” the statement added.
The party cited the May 28 peaceful meeting of the AD in Ado-Ekiti as example of how Fayose attacks opposition parties. The party also alleged that the exalted position of the deputy governor is meaningless to Fayose, adding that any one holding contrary opinion to him is considered as enemy and excommunicated.
“Any public office holder who does not worship him (Fayose) imperially will be in soup. This is a governor who has no respect for traditional institutions. He has no decorum or respect for our traditional rulers and has publicly affirmed that any of them who disrespects him shall regret the day he was crowned,” the statement said.
The AD stated that it is already working on new strategies towards gaining back the state government “to actualize those things that made our forbears fight for freedom of our land. The party however said contrary to Fayose’s thoughts, AD has no plan to embark on any criminality.
“We hereby admonish Fayose and his hitmen, not to dare to carry out its elimination exercise because we are already aware that plans are on to kill prominent politicians in Ekiti state and thereby hold the opposition parties responsible. We are calling on his backers such as retired Navy Captain Olabode George who had been blinded by the material gains they receive from the mis-governance in Ekiti state to stop the governor,” the AD maintained.
Posted by Publisher at 05:05 PM | Comments (0)
Anya-Igbo Forum backs 50% derivation
Anya-Igbo Forum, a socio-political and cultural group of Ndigbo, has advocated a 50 per cent derivation for the oil producing states of the country.
It made the call in a statement signed by Bill Uchegbue, its President and Okey Okakpu, Secretary on Wednesday, also called for the total control of the mineral resources found in each region.
The group argued that the core interest of the North, which has now positioned the conference for disintegration does not portend good for the restructuring and economic development of the nation.
It absolved the conference Chairman, Justice Niki Tobi, and the conference members from the South-East of any mistake in the handling of the voting on resource control, which has pushed the conference into the precipice and urged all the delegates to push for positions that would favour all segments of the country.
“We observe that the North does not want to work and develop their area. Instead, they want to deny the South-South what rightly belongs to them in the name of one Nigeria. Anya-Igbo Forum as a group supports 50 per cent derivation to the South-South and total control of their mineral resources. We believe that every zone has mineral resources and other potentials to harness Therefore, we call on the delegates of South-East, South-South, and South-West to push for positions that will develop our nation,” it stressed.
Posted by Publisher at 05:04 PM | Comments (0)
30 NAPEP tricycles grounded in Ebonyi
Out of the 35 tricycles, popularly called Keke NAPEP, distributed to beneficiaries in Ebonyi State a year ago, only five have are now functional.
The rest are grounded and have been put off the roads due to scarcity of spare parts to effect their repairs, Douglas Ogbonna, Ebonyi Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), has said.
He said in an interview in Abakaliki that the tricycles started developing faults just two months after they were acquired and distributed to the beneficiaries.
Ogbonna said there was no accredited agent to sell the spare parts in the state adding that since the tricycles were off the roads, many of the beneficiaries could not meet up with the repayment schedule.
The tricycles were given out as loan at a cost of N180, 000 repayable within one year.
Ogbonna, however, said owners of the Keke NAPEP and beneficiaries had met with government to find solution to scarcity of spare parts.
Posted by Publisher at 05:02 PM | Comments (0)
Ebonyi indigenes contribute N24m to Tsunami fund
People of Ebonyi State have contributed N24.07 million to the relief fund for the Tsunami disaster victims and those of the fire incident that engulfed the Kpirikpiri market in Abakaliki.
By Felix Uka
Special Correspondent, Abakaliki
Governor Sam Egwu, on behalf of his family, donated N500, 000. He announced his own donation while receiving reports from the committee on Tsunami disaster and the disaster in Ebonyi set up by the state government.
Presenting the report, the committee chairman, Professor Ezo Nweke Ozo said they had collected N23.57 million to which the governor added his own N500, 000
Ozo, who is the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), explained that the 52-member committee drawn from the 34 local government areas of the state and some agencies went into the communities and collected even the smallest donations from the people.
He said a non-governmental organisation (NGO) and community based poverty reduction agencies pledged to build 32 shops for victims of the Kpirikpiri market disaster.
Ozo said the state does not have as many wealthy men as other states of the country saying the donations were given from their hearts.
Receiving the report, Governor Egwu thanked the committee on the job saying he did not expect them to generate so much.
He said they could continue as a standing committee so that they could collect the pledges, as they had only got a cash of N13 million adding that he would send part of the donations and commit the balance to the building of shops to replace the burnt ones at the Kpirikpiri market.
Posted by Publisher at 05:00 PM | Comments (0)
Communities enjoy N5m projects in Imo
Autonomous communities in Isiala Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State have been benefiting from the N5 million projects which the council chairman, Simeon Iwunze instituted for each community last year.
By Ben Duru
Correspondent, Owerri
Iwunze instituted the projects in the autonomous communities from his experience as transition chairman when he found out the need to allow the rural people execute projects that are useful to them.
He said the success of the programme has ensured that apart from the ones undertaken by the local government, the communities also have projects they are supervising and which they hold dear to the people.
He told newsmen in Umuelenmai that during his transition days, he discovered that not every project aggregates the need of a particular community saying it was better to allow the people initiate and complete such projects that meet the immediate needs of the communities.
To this end, he said he constituted a committee and asked the autonomous communities to come up with projects that are of immediate importance and that would uplift the living conditions of the people.
Iwunze said while some chose to have markets, others preferred boreholes, roads and agriculture adding that based on their choices, his administration has chosen to release N5 million to each of the autonomous communities to carry out the projects.
He said his administration has so far renovated no fewer than 64 primary schools in the council area and that a lot has also been done in the provision of amenities for the schools as well as improving the welfare of the teachers.
He noted that on assumption of office, he inherited a lot of abandoned projects some of which he has completed while he is doing everything possible to ensure that the backlog of emoluments and funds owed contractors are fully paid. 30He maintained that some of the emoluments due to previous political office holders are gradually being settled adding that such incidents where former officials are owed is not uncommon taking into cognisance the fact that he as the incumbent chairman can not pay himself all his entitlements are the expiration of his tenure.
He described the working relationship between the executive and the legislative arm of the council as very cordial, a situation he attributed to the council’s courageous approach to the people’s needs.
“It is because of the dividends of democracy to the rural people that the office of the Special Adviser on Local Government and Chieftaincy Bureau singled him out as one of the three best chairmen in the state”, a source said.
Iwunze, however, pleaded for increased allocation to the councils in order to further propel development opportunities adding that if he receives mores allocation, he would increase projects funds for the autonomous communities to about N10 million.
Posted by Publisher at 04:59 PM | Comments (0)
Imo beefs up security at secretariat complex
Imo State Government has beefed up security at the ultra modern Secretariat Complex located at New Owerri following the vandalisation of the standby generators purchased for the edifice.
By Ben Duru
Correspondent, Owerri
Sources say three of the vandalised generators have been repaired but the incident is given the authorities serious concern on how to safeguard other government property moved to the place last month.
It was gathered that the vandalisation which took place shortly after the public servants had moved from their old offices scattered at Okigwe and Orlu Roads has given rise to speculations that it was perpetrated by some of the workers hired by the contractors handling the construction of the building.
Sources insisted that it was for this reason that government established a high-powered committee to look into the vandalisation of the generators to determine who did it and ensure that the perpetrators are brought to book.
Checks also reveal that the generators were purchased by the government shortly after the building was commissioned and installed to enable workers have electricity to service water and other needs.
The cannibalisation was exposed when instructions were given to the staff saddled with the duty of overseeing the generators went there only to find major components missing and others lying on the ground beside the sets.
The situation was said to have caused commotion as the workers reported back to the authorities who also inspected and found the same to be true. The incident was reported to the higher authorities who now instituted a committee to look into the matter
Furthermore, the authorities also intensified efforts to get to the root of the matter by observing the workers posted to the place by the contractors handling the building projects with a view to finding out what went wrong.
“We are very worried because these generators have been here before we came in to take possession of the building. Nothing happened to them. They were not cannibalised and were in perfect order,” the source said.
Posted by Publisher at 04:58 PM | Comments (0)
Ararume sets up youth empowerment committee
Representative of Okigwe zone of Imo State in the Senate, Ifeanyi Araraume has established a committee that would look into his Youth Empowerment Foundation aimed at ensuring that youths of the area have their pride of place in the present democratic dispensation.
By Ben Duru
Correspondent, Owerri
Ararume said there was the need to see that the young men and women of the senatorial zone in particular and Imo State in general are encouraged to be themselves rather than be used as thugs in any political dispensation.
Speaking at Okigwe during an interactive session with the people, he insisted that gone were the days when the youths, most of whom are graduates. were used and dumped saying the time has come for their potentials to be fully harnessed.
He maintained that the present democratic dispensation under President Olusegun Obasanjo has been doing a lot to alleviate the sufferings of the young men and women across the country and that it is only fair that individuals should join him in such efforts.
He described the youths not only as leaders of tomorrow but those who are expected to gain from the present democratic experiment hence the need to ensure that they are not deceived but given every opportunity to learn and succeed.
He added that the Youth Empowerment Scheme would ensure that those who benefit are supported in such a way that they would be useful not only to themselves but to the entire nation.
Araraume, who is the leader of the senators from the South-South expressed the view that programme would succeed in meeting the aspirations of the youths and put them in a better place to appreciate the position of the country now.
He insisted that it is no more fashionable to see the youths as vehicles of electoral success stressing that they ought to be part and parcel of the government so that the future of the country can be guaranteed.
To this end, he urged the youths to support the present democratic government of President Obasanjo and Governor Ahike Udenwa because “these men have done and are still doing a lot to ensure that you all succeed and have a good future.”
On the abandoned Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) Okigwe, he insisted that the project was still on the front burner of the administration and that he has met with the Federal Minister of Information and Culture, Chukwuemeka Chikelu who gave assurances that work would soon commence.
Posted by Publisher at 04:56 PM | Comments (0)
NITEL blames poor services in Onitsha on road construction
Management of the Nigeria Telecommunications Limited ((NITEL), has blamed the poor communication services being experienced by its consumers in Onitsha, Anambra State on the road construction exercise currently going on in the state.
By Okey Maduforo,
Correspondent, Awka
But Fred Chukwuelobe, Senior Special Assistant to Governor Chris Ngige on Media and Publicity, described the development as unfortunate and regrettable, saying it is normal to witness burst pipes and destroyed NEPA and NITEL cables during such exercise.
Chukwuelobe, however, said the construction company involved would see to the repairs of the cable, adding that it is not the intension of the state government to deny Anambra peoples of effective communication services.
He noted that the inability of the state government to continue water supply in Onitsha was also occasioned by the burst pipes during road construction and promised that it would be repaired in no distant time.
Speaking through a statement signed by the territorial manager of NITEL in the State, U.J Nwafor said “ the optic fibre, underground cable network destroyed so far by construction firms along the Nkpor Junction in Onitsha has resulted in the disruption of NITEL services to Awka, the state capital and some parts of Onitsha.
Nwafor described the damage as a deliberate act as NITEL staff were on site and showed them the route yet the damage was done. He appealed to their costumers to bear with NITEL as teams of engineers are working round the clock to restore service.
Posted by Publisher at 04:55 PM | Comments (0)
Ex-Biafran policemen lament non-payment of entitlements
About 1,520 former Biafran policemen are sad and worried that five years after President Olusegun Obasanjo granted them general amnesty, their gratuities and pensions, estimated at N500million, have not been paid.
By Anene Ugoani
Special Correspondent, Enugu
National President of the Association of Retired War – Affected Police Officers (ARWAPO), Charles Machie, told newsmen in Enugu on Tuesday at the end of an emergency meeting of the union that he and his colleagues were suffering untold hardship as a result of the non-payment of their entitlements.
He said his investigations showed that the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Sunday Ehindero, and the Minister of Police Affairs, Broderick Bozimo, were obstructing the payment of gratuities and pensions to members of the ARWAPO.
The discovery that Ehindero and Bozimo were standing in their way, he said, made him to write “a strongly worded petition, dated August 12, 2004” to President Obasanjo informing him of how the duo had refused to carry out his directives on the payment of their gratuities and pensions.
Machie, who was the IGP in the defunct Republic of Biafra, said President Obasanjo reacted swiftly by giving marching orders to Ehindero and Bozimo to implement the general amnesty he granted to members of the Nigeria Police who served in Biafra by paying their entitlements.
He noted that Bozimo, issued a statement on receiving the President’s directives saying that former Biafran policemen would soon be paid their entitlements.
He said in spite of his findings that the N500 million needed to pay the former Biafran policemen was included in the 2002 and 2005 budgets, not even a kobo had been paid to the affected officers.
He also recounted how he forwarded a second petition to President Obasanjo on June 23, 2005 on the stubbornness of Ehindero and Bozimo. “In that petition, I requested President Obasanjo to call both men to order over the non-implementation of the general amnesty he granted us five years ago.”
Machie condemned members of the Enugu State Houses of Assembly and National Assembly from the South-East and South-South zones for lack luster attitude towards helping the former Biafran policemen to get their benefits.
In the 11 – point communiqué they issued when they rose from the emergency meeting at the Police Officers’ Mess, they commended President Obasanjo for converting their dismissal at the end of the 30 – month civil war to retirement.
Posted by Publisher at 04:53 PM | Comments (0)
WAEC seeks Police assistance over leakages
The Head of National Office (WAEC) Dr. Samuel Adeyegbe has solicited the assistance of the Police in unraveling those behind the leakage of the 2005 May/June Senior School Certificate Examination.
Adeyegbe made the call when he paid a visit to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ade A. Ajakaiye in his office and appealed that Police should speed up their investigation.
He said that WAEC had made some arrests and those arrested have been handed over to Police and are being detained at the Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba, Lagos.
The WAEC boss disclosed that an internal panel has been constituted and that as soon as it completes its investigation, the report would be handed over to police to help in their investigation.
He expressed the determination of WAEC to get to the root of the leakage, with a view to guard against future occurrence.
Responding, the Police boss in Lagos said his men had always been helping the Council in the discharge of its duties especially in ensuring the custody of question papers.
Posted by Publisher at 04:51 PM | Comments (0)
Nigeria sends three battalions to Darfur
Nigeria is to send another three battalions to the crisis torn Darfur region of Sudan, as part of efforts at bringing peace to that country.
The federal government late last year sent three companies made up of about 170 officers and soldiers to Darfur. Major General Fidelis Okonkwo is the force commander of the multinational forces in Darfur.
The first batch of the three battalion will depart Nigeria from the Kaduna International Airport Friday, to be followed by the other two battalions next week.
The crisis in Darfur came to a head last year with thousands of refugees dying of hunger, which attracted the attention of the world.
African Union (AU) under the leadership of President Olusegun Obasanjo decided to stop the carnage by sending troops under the AU to Darfur.
Defence spokesman, Brigadier General Ganiu Adewale told Daily Independent that the movement to Darfur is Nigeria’s contribution towards peace in the African continent.
Posted by Publisher at 04:49 PM | Comments (0)
Don’t treat nursing as a vocation, FG, states told
President of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Linus Abdullahi Sabulu has called on the Federal and State governments to stop treating the nursing profession as a vocation.
By Dele Moses
Special Correspondent, Ilorin
Sabulu made the call during the official opening ceremony of the Kwara State Nurses summit held at the NANNM headquarters in Ilorin.
He lamented that all attempts by NANNM and the council to make nursing university based as done in all the Health Professions usually met the brickwall. He regretted that admissions into schools of nursing had been politicised in the country.
Sabulu who said very little had been done to improve nursing education in the country urged the government to invest in the profession so that the nation can obtain the best from it.
He called for the support of the renaissance in nursing education which the nurses through the various agencies of government and the association are about to introduce.
He assured of the association’s support to the laudable programme of the Federal Government in the health sector such as the Health Sector Reform Programme, National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and Policy on Injection Safety and Health Care Investors Management, among others.
He commended the Kwara State Government for its efforts to improve health care delivery system in the state at affordable rates.
Earlier in his welcome address, the state chairman of NANNM, Joel Afolayan said the summit was meant to compliment the efforts of the state government in re-engineering the health sector in the state, among other purposes.
Posted by Publisher at 04:47 PM | Comments (0)
Insurers pay N26 billion claims in 2004
Insurance operators’ claims payment profile grew by 13.5 per cent from N22.9 billion in 2003 to N26 billion in 2004, a result insurers say indicates the growing willingness of the sector to pay claims when they fall due.
By Bethel Obioma
Insurance Correspondent, Lagos
Chairman of the Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA), Oye Hassan-Odukale said the insurance industry only witnessed marginal growth occasioned by the lull in the economy and increase in operational costs.
Hassan-Odukale who spoke at the 34th Annual General Meeting of NIA on Wednesday, said the industry could only muster a 19.0 per cent increase in its projected gross premium income from N55.9 billion in 2003 to N68.4 billion in 2004.
“The compliance by insurance companies with the recapitalisation requirements of the Insurance Act 2003 exerted a lot of pressure on executives of insurance companies to justify the injection of funds into their various companies and brought about changes in the ownership of some companies,” he said.
The industry has continued to grow its claims reserve in compliance with the statutory maintenance of outstanding claims reserve for all operators.
The reserve which stands at about N5 billion is a regulatory machinery aimed at ensuring that insurers are always able to settle outstanding claims when they fall due.
Experts say the statistical trend from 1998-2001 shows a steady increase in the reserve, a situation they explained is indicative of an improvement in insurers’ premium income.
In 1998, outstanding claims reserve which stood at N952.7 million grew to N1.76 billion in 1999, N2.26 billion in 2002 and N3.58 billion in 2001.
Section 20 of the Insurance Act 2003 requires mandatory provision for outstanding claims that shall be credited with an amount equal to the estimated amount of all outstanding claims.
The Act also requires, “a further amount representing 10 per cent of the estimated figure for outstanding claims in respect of claims incurred but not reported at the end of the year under review.”
Also, Ogala Osoloka, a veteran insurer said underwriters have done a lot to rid the insurance industry of the negative image in connection with alleged non-payment of claims.
Posted by Publisher at 04:46 PM | Comments (0)
Buhari Vs Obj: CNPP warns against intimidation of Chief Justice
As the nation awaits the judgment of the Supreme Court in the case instituted by defeated presidential candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in the 2003 presidential election, Major General Muhammadu Buhari, against the declaration of President Olusegun Obasanjo as winner of the election, the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has complained that the recent harassment of Chief Justice of the Federation, Mohammed Uwais, is aimed at ensuring that Buhari doesn’t get favourable judgment.
By Chuks Ehirim
Senior Correspondent, Abuja
Speaking with journalists in Abuja Wednesday, CNPP Publicity Secretary, Osita Okechukwu, alleged that Uwais is being intimidated by the Federal Government so the judgment that is to be delivered Friday, July 1 does not favour Buhari.
“The fear in government quarters is that if the judgment goes in favour of the opposition, it will send Obasanjo packing. They don’t want this and have been using intimidation and harassment of the Chief Justice to ensure that it doesn’t happen,” said Okechukwu.
He added that government plans to tell the world that the Supreme Court justices are corrupt if the case doesn’t end in Obasanjo’s favour.
“If the judgment is in favour of Buhari, Obasanjo would say that the Chief Justice and other Supreme Court justices are corrupt people,” he said.
He lamented that the harassment of Uwais is a threat to democracy in the country.
“Democracy is highly being threatened and we are saying that the institutions of democracy such as judiciary and INEC, etc should not be destroyed. They should be protected,” he said.
Okechukwu also wondered why no organ of the government has deemed it fit to investigate the direct assault on Uwais.
“Our fear is that this is happening because of the expected judgment that will come on July,” he said.
Posted by Publisher at 04:45 PM | Comments (0)
Customs agents fault port reforms
Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANALCA) has expressed dismay over federal government’s actions aim at reforming the country’s seaports.
By Okey Maduforo
Correspondent, Awka
President of the association, Chief Earnest Elochukwu, who spoke with reporters in Awka on Wednesday, said the main thrust of the reform is to ensure that operations in the area gets quicker, easier and better, but regretted that it has been an abysmal failure.
Elochukwu noted that the customs reform had removed the long room and replaced it with Consume Processing Centre (CPC), but said that it merely worsened the state of affairs.
“Again there has been moves towards computerization but the paradoxical thing is that even the verge of this extensive computerization, a lot of manual actions still go on along side the computerization and manual actions actually end up causing a whole lot of waste of time. Above all there are duplication of actions by agents and one can really say that there is not much progress in the reform,” he said.
Speaking on the high cost of custom licence, he sued for government’s action that will seek to regulate the practice by ensuring that certain standards are religiously kept, adding that the emphasis on money or increase and renewal has only made it that only the rich could afford to procure it.
“The belief that the amount of fees or the enormity of it would control the number of those in business is not the deferent government has to set up a standard that must be followed in operation and this could be achieved through government executive action that will now seek to regulate the practice by ensuring that certain standards are kept and also the passage of the bill on the operations”, he said.
Posted by Publisher at 04:43 PM | Comments (0)
Strike stalls trial of suspected mastermind of 1984 Maitatsine riot
The strike action embarked upon by Judiciary workers across the country has stalled determinations of several cases of public interest in Adamawa state, including the ruling in the case of culpable homicide preferred against the suspected mastermind of the 1984 Maitatsine riot, Malam Musa Maikaniki.
By Sule Lazarus
Senior Correspondent, Yola.
Another case of public interest that suffered set back is that of the 17 Igbo leaders detained by the police over Eze Ndigbo tussle and were granted bail by an Adamawa Magistrate court last week.
Followers of the case against the Maitatsine Kingpin that started last year, twenty years after the riots, were disappointed upon hearing that the judgment would not take place owing to the strike action.
The case has generated a lot of interest since it started last year at the state High Court presided over by the state Chief Judge, Justice Bemari Bansi because of the enormity of human and material destruction caused by the Maitatsine religious Mayhem 21 years ago.
Maikaniki fled the country at the peak of the blood - letting riot and had remained in exile until 2003 when he was arrested and brought to Nigeria to face trial.
He was detained at the Force Headquarters in Abuja before he was brought to Yola where the offence was committed.
The police in Yola detained him for a while before he was charged to court and has been remanded in prison custody since then.
During the last appearance, the counsel to the accused and the Director of Public Prosecution of the state made their final submission before the Court fixed this week for judgment.
Our correspondent who was at the Court premises, Wednesday noticed that the entire state High Court premises was a ghost of itself except for the few vehicles parked outside the gate.
Posted by Publisher at 04:42 PM | Comments (0)
Four killed, 50 houses burnt in border clash
About 50 houses have been burnt, four persons killed in renewed clash between the Iyala community of Cross River and the people of Izzi council area of Ebonyi state, despite the peace accord signed by governors of both states a fortnight ago.
By Felix Uka, Abakaliki
The Iyala people were said to have by 5.00 am early morning of Wednesday attacked seven villages in Igbeagu community killed four of their sons with one of the victim’s head and private part cut-off, leaving many wounded.
A contingent of mobile policemen has been drafted to the area.
Fear has griped residents of the state capital as the attacked Igbeagu community is barely 15 kilometers to the seat of government.
When Daily Independent arrived the warring area by 3.05 pm, policemen had taken over the area.
Narrating the incident, Chairman of the Izzi Local Government, Comrade Joe Nwaonuma, said his people had fled the area and were taking refuge in various places including the state capital.
He said the only primary school in the area, Okwereike Primary School, was destroyed by the rampaging hoodlums.
“Two days ago, we saw people carry coffins, and they succeeded in deceiving us and the police because we learnt that it was arms and ammunition that they brought in and now attacked us with them,” he said.
The council boss who was met in the Igbeagu community narrated that late night of Tuesday some people wearing mobile police uniform entered the area but later turned out to be camouflage by those who attacked the community.
“By 5.00 am they struck in the seven villages, Ngujiolo, Ogbodo Onwuakpu, Ndioshioku, Okumenyi, Ndiogoja, Ekeri and Okwerike”, he stated.
“We heard that they are planning to bomb the Izzi local government headquarters. Anyway, I have gone to the police commissioner and he has drafted 40 Mopol to this place”, he added.
Ebonyi State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Chijoke Nwokoma, explained that a unit of the mobile police force had been drafted to the area.
He said the command has kept surveillance in the area and that the clash will be contained as the police would if necessary beef up its presence in the area.
The lingering clashes started in February and was sparked off by moves allegedly made by the Iyala people to dislodge the Izzi people of Ebonyi state who had been living in the area for over 100 years.
A peace negotiating committee was subsequently set up by both governors Sam Egwu and Donald Duke of Ebonyi and Cross River State respectively.
Posted by Publisher at 04:40 PM | Comments (0)
Tafa Balogun slumps; thoroughly beaten by police; Rushed to hospital
EMBATTLED former Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr. Tafa Balogun, yesterday had a bitter taste of routine public complaints of police brutality as his erstwhile subordinates descended on him at the Abuja High Court premises publicly beating him black and blue.
MALACHY UZENDU, Abuja
Following the beating, Balogun later slumped and had to be driven away to an unknown destination.
After the police action on him, the former IGP, battling in court to free himself of charges of stealing N13 billion belonging to the Force, had cried out that "they (referring to unidentified persons) want to kill me; I have been under heavy threats.’’
He also complained of a broken leg and internal injuries when a police vehicle used to bring him to court ran over the left leg.
The day started on a very sour note for Balogun soon about 11.05am when the court ruled that he had a case to answer in the charges levelled against him.
The court also restated its earlier bail conditions on him, then adjourned.
As the former IGP came out of the court room, a plain cloth policeman donning a green suit approached and ordered him into a waiting Peugeot 504 station wagon with registration number AG 265 YAB, often used by operatives of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), surrounded by heavily armed anti-riot policemen.
As Daily Champion observed, the security operatives then moved to force Balogun into the vehicle even as his lawyer, Dr. Tunji Abayomi protested to no avail.
Subsequently, the cops descended on Balogun and gave him the beating of his life, ignoring Abayomi’s vehement protests.
Forcing him into the vehicle thereafter the security men sped off.
But on reaching the entrance gate of the Abuja High Court, the rear door of the car swung open and Balogun fell off with his left leg subsequently run over by the car’s tyres.
At this point, Balogun yelled out "Ha, ha, ha, ha, you want to kill me?"
But the policemen ignored him, jumped out of the car and dragged him back into the vehicle, then sped off again.
However, strindent appeals by Dr. Abayomi made Justice Garba to order that he be brought from wherever they had taken him to fell on deaf ears.
At exactly 11.47 a.m., the police vehicle returned to the court premises with Balogun, without his shoes and cap. He was observed to have a swollen face and leg.
Lead prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, however, apologised to the court for the action taken by the police against their former IGP, but blamed it on the attitude of Dr. Abayomi whom he accused of displaying "militant attitude" in the defence.
Said he: "I admit our own portion that we should have been tidier in the way we handled him. We should have waited till the end of the court session, but it was when the accused’s counsel tried to whisk him (Balogun) from the securitymen that what happened, happened.
"They even threatened to deal with me, but I know my life is in the hands of God. I admit we should have waited till the end of the court session before they can whisk him away and I apologise.
"I am very sorry about the way the whole thing happened. I am not a prosecutor. I am also interested in his life.
"There are no hidden agenda in the whole thing and I am not privy to threat to his life.
"I accept that the accused person can go for medical treatment. It was the approach of the defence that caused all these. He was too militant. The accused is like a father and an uncle to me."
But Balogun, who pleaded to be heard, told the court that he was ignorant of what he did to deserve such threats and the treatment.
Said Balogun: "I have always been in court in this case. The treatment and brutality meted out to me is persecution and not prosecution. There have been threats and threats on my life.
"I have a broken leg because of the forceful manner they whisked me away. I have also sustained internal injuries because of the way I was thrown away from the car. I do not deserve this treatment if things are normal and if this is a normal trial.
"I have served diligently as IGP. I seek your massive protection, my lord, because I have been under heavy threats."
Dr. Abayomi, who painted a graphic picture of what happened, told the court that the entire episode was "traumatic."
"As I saw him fall out of the car at the gate of the court, I was aghast and shocked. In their hurry to take him away, the security operatives forgot to close the door of the car.
"I noticed that my client was kicked at, pushed about, ruffled and then forced into the car. My client (Balogun) was injured right here in my lord’s court, not outside, which shows there is total disregard for the court.
"Before, he was chained, hand-cuffed, but I give guarantee that at any time, my lord, he would be in this court, he will not be safe in their custody.
"For his security and safety, I urge my lordship to vary the order earlier made so that this court will not be embarrassed in future," he pleaded.
Before Justice Garba could decide on the submissions made, Mr. Balogun’s hands and legs began to visibly quiver and he slumped.
Counsel and other persons who were in the courtroom, quickly came to his aid and laid him on the ground after which they carried him into Dr. Abayomi’s Prado Jeep with number AA 611 DAV and rushed him to an unknown destination.
As the vehicle left the court premises without police bothering to go after him, Justice Garba changed his earlier order and granted him bail on self-recognition even as he condemned action of the police.
Further hearing on the matter has been adjourned to July 13 for commencement of the trial.
Posted by Publisher at 04:35 PM | Comments (0)
Abuja killings: Manhunt for DPO begins; Panel assures protection
MANHUNT for the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) for Garki, Abuja, Mr. Abdulsalami Othman, who escaped from custody at Force Headquarters, has been extended to Jigawa, his home state.
MALACHY UZENDU, Abuja
Othman early on Tuesday escaped from a Federal Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) cell at the Louis Edet Police Headquarters, following his arrest and detention about 24 hours earlier for alleged involvement in the killing of six traders.
Othman, who was arrested alongside nine others, was said to have tricked his guards and fled.
However, the judicial panel of inquiry into the killings, ordered by President Olusegun Obasanjo, held its inaugural sitting yesterday and urged witnesses willing to testify to fear nothing and come forward with evidence as they will be fully protected.
Commissioner of Police in-charge of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr. Emmanuel Adebayo, who confirmed the manhunt for Othman, explained that even though he escaped from the custody of the FCID, "we have record of his home village, town and state and we shall explore all these information with a view to apprehending him."
The commissioner’s statement contradicted the position of Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Mr. Emma Ighodalo, who maintained two days after the incident that "we are not aware that anybody escaped from detention."
The escape from FCID detention of Mr. Othman is the second time in a year that a DPO had escaped from such custody.
Last year, the DPO for Nsukka Central Police Station in Enugu State, had escaped from FCID cells when he was arrested to explain the role he played in the beheading of two primary school pupils at Nkpologwu in Uzo-Uwani local government area.
The DPO who was fingered by the family of the deceased children, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) and other human rights bodies over the killing of the children, escaped from the FCID cells and the police did nothing about it up till today.
Othman was alleged to have masterminded and supervised the killing of the traders at Gimbia Street, Area II, Garki Abuja.
Othman, who had denied being present when any of the six traders was killed, was, however, implicated by the evidence of a Mobile policeman at the Prince and Princess Estate at Durumi III as well as Mr. Chukwudi Chukwuma, a commercial photographer who takes photographs for the police, who confirmed that Mr. Othman knew everything about the killings.
Meanwhile, chairman of the judicial panel, Justice Olasumbo Goodluck, who yesterday in Abuja addressed counsel to the victims, members of apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze, the police and members of the public at the panel’s inaugural sitting, said no witness should fear anybody.
She urged persons with information to feel free to come forward with such.
In order to assist the panel unravel truth behind the killings, she assured people who have information to disclose to feel free to come to the panel, advising that such evidence should be written.
She explained that only two days of the one month session will be open to the public.
Although she did not say whether the media would be given free access to the panel proceedings, she noted, however, that the panel will start on a clean slate to collate information.
Adjourning hearing to next Thursday, the chairman noted that it was only public co-operation that could help the panel unravel the truth behind the killings.
"I call on people to feel free to come before the panel to give evidence. I want to assure you that we are starting on a clean slate and we shall ensure that justice is done.
"This panel will be incapacitated if people who witnessed what happened refuses or fails to come to testify.
"We assure you of adequate protection as it is only with your evidence that we can unravel what happened to the deceased persons," she stressed.
President Olusegun Obasanjo last week constituted the seven-member judicial panel, following public outcry that the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Mike Okiro panel, put together by acting Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Sunday Ehindero, was not likely to establish the truth.
The president not only stopped the Okiro panel from sitting, but condemned the killings in strong terms through Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Akinlolu Olujinmi (SAN) who inaugurated the Goodluck panel.
The police had said the six youths who they claimed were killed on Gimbiya street, in Area II Abuja last May 7, were armed robbers, but the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Apo traders and relations of the deceased cried foul and insisted that they were not, accusing the police of murder.
Posted by Publisher at 04:31 PM | Comments (0)
Another air mishap averted; IRS aborts flight mid-air
NINETY-ONE persons on board an IRS Airlines Faulkner-100 aircraft on a routine flight from Lagos to Kano cheated death when the plane was forced to make a return following a mid-air mechanical fault it developed.
FELIX NWANERI
The aircraft which had 85 passengers and six crew members on board, was said to have developed hydraulic failure about 75 nautical miles after take-off from the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. It was going to Kano via Abuja.
The incident occurred a few weeks after both Chanchangi and EAS Airlines’ aircraft overshot the runways of the Lagos and Jos airports respectively, spilling fear down the spines of over 150 passengers in both planes.
The two incidents which were blamed on flooding on the runways, attracted suspension of both airlines’ pilots due to what the Minister of Aviation, Mallam Isa Yuguda, described as negligence of duty.
According to the spokesman of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Mr. Sam Adurogboye, who confirmed the IRS Airlines near mishap, the pilot a