Head of fund raising committee for #SaveOJB, singer Nomoreloss, says the hype and misinformation is affecting efforts to raise the complete money OJB needs for his treatment. See more tweets after the cut...
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Government officials withdraw support for OJB due to misinformation on funds raised
Head of fund raising committee for #SaveOJB, singer Nomoreloss, says the hype and misinformation is affecting efforts to raise the complete money OJB needs for his treatment. See more tweets after the cut...
Amaechi blocked from meeting Jonathan at presidential dinner for security reasons - Presidency
The Presidency on Thursday defended the prevention of Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State from exchanging pleasantries with President Goodluck Jonathan by a security operative during dinner at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Wednesday.
It said the incident was purely a security issue that should not be politicized, especially by opposition political parties.
The governor, who was sitting two tables away from the President, had risen to greet him but the security operative attached to the President stopped him halfway.
In order not to create a scene at the event that had nearly all his colleagues and two heads of government (Joyce Banda of Malawi and Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia) in attendance, Amaechi quietly returned to his seat and waited for about five minutes before leaving the venue.
He invited him but refused to let him come near him. Choi! Continue reading
But as the Action Congress of Nigeria and Congress for Progressive Change berated Jonathan over the incident, the Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Dr. Ahmed Gulak, said it was tantamount to a breach of protocol and security if Amaechi was allowed access to his boss who was already seated before the governor arrived.
Gulak said, “The President has a good relationship with all state governors and he meets with them regularly. The case in point is a pure security issue and it should be treated as a security issue that should not be politicised.
“The question the ACN and others who may want to politicise this issue need to ask is whether the President arrived at the venue of the dinner and was already seated before the governor arrived.
“Usual practice across the world is that once the President arrives a place, nobody whether a governor or not, is allowed entrance. That is the protocol. Even(Barack) Obama of the United States cannot be on his seat and a governor will be allowed to come in.
“If that was the situation in this case that the President was already on his seat, it would have been a breach of protocol and security for any security person to allow the governor access to the President. Such a security person would have been sanctioned if he had done that.”
Wondering why the ACN was interested in the matter, the presidential aide advised the opposition political parties to “concentrate on issues concerning them and stop politicising everything.”
The ACN had in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, condemned the action of the operative and called on Jonathan to order an immediate probe into it.
It said, “We are making this call because we do not believe that, in spite of the reported frosty relations between the two, President Jonathan – as the father of the nation – will lend the weight of his high office to such a demeaning action as exhibited by the presidential security personnel.
“To believe that anyone occupying the esteemed office of the President of one of Africa’s most important nations will be a party to a situation in which any security aide will wilfully fence a state chief executive from paying his respect to the President at such an open gathering will be to think the worst of the occupier of that office. That is why we have chosen not to believe that this indeed occurred, and why we are calling on Mr. President to tell Nigerians that ‘it ain’t so’ “We shudder to think of what efforts are being made – including the use of national institutions – to undermine Gov. Amaechi if the treatment reportedly meted out to him at the dinner has the approval of the powers that be. We are even more worried at what will happen to a governor from the opposition who falls out of favour with the President, if a governor from the same party as the President can be so publicly humiliated.”
ACN said it was particularly incumbent on the President to clarify the report because Amaechi, the authentic Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, extended an olive branch to him by attending the dinner, despite the fact that he (President) was publicly supporting the losing faction of the NGF, in what was being seen as a “democratic faux pas.”
The party said the President must learn to separate politics from governance by rising above petty partisanship as he steered the affairs of state.
On its part, the Congress for Progressive Change said it was clear to many discerning minds that “the government of President Jonathan is being run like a mafia organisation where you have the head at the Villa.”
“This is the kind of price we pay when we sacrifice competence on the altar of exigency,” the CPC said through its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Rotimi Fashakin.
The party added, “We have always said it that the way President Jonathan is running this country; he will run it aground.
“No Nigerian can be proud of what is happening in a situation where nations of the world are improving their democratic credentials; we are going towards further isolation.
“A situation where a chief executive is being blocked by security apparatus of the President, you ask yourself what hope mortals like us have under the Jonathan government.”
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
We will vote out Jonathan in 2015. Northern group replies Dokubo
From NAFISAT BELLO, Kaduna
National President of African Youth for Conflict Resolution (AYCR), Dr. Suleiman Shuaibu Shinkafi, has said that President Goodluck Jonathan would be voted out of the Aso Rock in 2015. Shinkafi who spoke in reaction to Mujahid Dokubo-Asari’s statement, described the Niger Delta activist as a daydreamer living in a dreamland for him to have declared that if President Jonathan did not return in 2015, there would be war.
He told newsmen in Kaduna yesterday that the North would not allow President Jonathan any other four years, because of the number of people that had been killed in his first tenure. “So, if he is going to spend another four years, you can imagine the number of innocent lives that will be lost. “We, therefore, call on him to step down honourably but if he refuses, we will remove him by force. The northern youths have taken a stand and it is that we are not going to vote for President Jonathan come 2015.
Therefore in his own interest, he should not even make any attempt to vie for the presidency come 2015, because he is going to meet a strong opposition,” Shinkafi stressed. He reiterated that northerners were no longer going to tolerate the inciting comments from Dokubo-Asari, saying it was totally unacceptable. “He is a joker, we have contacted most of our youths in northern Nigeria to tell them that the lies this government is giving us is unacceptable.” Shinkafi equally expressed dismay at the lukewarm attitude of the various security agents towards Dokubo-Asari’s comment.
He said, “this is a man who should be charged for treason but he is at a VIP suite at Transcorp Hilton Hotel because he is from the president’s homeland and he is playing the tune set for him by his paymaster. In another development, Shinkafi said northern youths were giving President Jonathan two weeks to evacuate the military from the streets in the North. “We are law abiding citizens and we don’t need the soldiers on our streets. It is part of the president’s plans for 2015; we are aware of it and they should leave our streets within two weeks and if he refuses he should be held responsible for whatever happens.”
EFCC arrest former Bayelsa governor Sylva
Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), yesterday arrested former Governor of Bayelsa State, Mr. Timipre Sylva, after he had failed to honour the commission's invitation to appear before it on Tuesday.
Rather than appear before the EFCC, he got his lawyers to inform the commission that he was unable to appear because he was sick, and hospitalised in Lagos. The lawyer had promised to appear with his client on Tuesday, but he failed to do so.
Sylva was arrested at his No. 3, Niger Street, Maitama, Abuja home, according to a statement by the commission's spokesman, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren.
EFCC, in another statement also yesterday, said it would today begin the trial of Chairman, Ontario Oil and Gas, Mr. Walter Wagbatsoma, and four other suspects implicated in a N1.9 billion subsidy scam before Justice Lateefa Okunnu of the Lagos High Court, Ikeja.
There was a tinge of drama to Sylva’s arrest as the former governor’s private security guards refused EFCC operatives access into his house, which led to a hide-and-seek game between the two parties.
The EFCC in its statement gave a graphic detail of how the former governor was arrested, saying:"On arrival at his resident at about 10am, the commission’s operatives were told that the ex-governor was not in town but they insisted on conducting a search on the house having obtained a warrant from the court.
"Ironically, the ex-governor who was said to be out of town was later found hiding in a dingy corner in the upper chamber of his expansive mansion.
“He was immediately whisked away and is currently being interrogated at the Abuja headquarters of the anti- graft agency.”
The statement added that during the search, vital documents were obtained from Sylva’s home.
According to the commission, Sylva is being grilled in connection with fresh evidence linking him with a bouquet of fraudulent transactions that border on money laundering. Part of the new evidence includes a number of eye-popping real estate acquisitions in Abuja.
EFCC warned that it would no longer tolerate the antics of suspects who treat its invitation with levity.
The commission has also announced the plan to commence the trial of Wagbatsoma and four other suspects implicated in a N1.9 billion subsidy scam.
The four others, according to a statement made available to THISDAY are: Adaoha Ugo-Ngadi; Fakuade Babafemi Ebenezer; Ezekiel Olaleye Ejidele and Ontario Oil and Gas Nigeria Limited.
At the last hearing of the case, counsel to EFCC, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), had informed the court that the prosecution was ready to proceed with the trial. He presented the first prosecution witness, Damon Yelma, who addressed the court that the defendants were arraigned based on a petition to the commission by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Deziani Alison- Madueke.
According to him, EFCC investigations uncovered a discrepancy in the quantity of products supplied by Ontario Oil and Gas, and the quantity for which the company was paid. The witness said in the third quarter of 2010, the company discharged 12,000,000 litres of fuel to Integrated Oil depot and claimed to have discharged 19,000,000 litres while claiming the subsidy payment for the litres not delivered.
He also said that, in the fourth quarter of 2010, the same company imported and discharged petroleum products to Obat Oil and Gas depot. The quantity at that time as shown on the depot shore tank was 10,446,544 litres, but Ontario Oil and Gas claimed that the products supplied was 19,523,892 litres, and went ahead to claim subsidy for the same number of litres.
Counsel to the first, second and fifth defendants, Mr. Wole Olanipekun, SAN asked the witness if during the entire investigations there was any evidence that the tank farms used to discharge the products belongs to any of the defendants and he said “no”.
The defence counsel then presented other documents from the proof of evidence to the witness for clarification and he obliged.
Olanipekun thereafter, asked for an adjournment, saying the defence team just received additional documents attached to the proof of evidence, which it will need time to study.
Nigeria May be consumed by revolution. Shettima warns
President Goodluck Jonathan
Obviously at his wits end and frustrated with the seemingly endless orgy of violence unleashed on his state, Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State yesterday warned that the nation could be consumed by a revolution, as Nigerian youths in the not-too-distant future will chase politicians out of power.
Painting a grim picture of things to come, the governor of Borno, which has been at the epicentre of the Boko Haram insurgency, said the crisis was a mere appetizer of things to come.
Shettima made the statement yesterday while receiving a 32-member Senate Joint Committee on the Massacre in Baga, which paid him a courtesy visit before proceeding on their fact-finding mission.
The governor’s warning came just as the Nigerian Army officially confirmed that 47 persons were killed in Bama on Tuesday during the multiple attacks on the town.
The casualties comprised 21 insurgents, six policemen, 14 prison officials, two soldiers and four residents made up of three children and a woman, who were burnt to death by the insurgents.
Reacting to the attack on Bama, President Goodluck Jonathan and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) strongly condemned the siege on the town by the terrorists, with the party stating that the barbaric attack was another reason for all stakeholders to work together to end the daily carnage in some parts of the north.
Also, Muslims under the auspices of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) have urged the insurgents to accept the amnesty that might be offered by the federal government and stop further bloodshed and the wanton destruction of property.
Shettima said: “Underneath the mayhem of Boko Haram, beneath the madness lies the underlying cause which is extreme poverty and destitution which have permeated all spectrums of our society.
“Only and until we address some of these issues, believe me, the future is very bleak for all of us as the current crisis is just an appetizer of things to come. Very soon the youths of this country will be chasing us away.”
The governor lampooned fellow politicians for being selfish and inconsiderate, stressing that “the most important thing in Nigeria is all about the last election and the next election, that is the only thing that is agitating our minds.
“How we can perpetuate ourselves in power. How much we can steal, how many mansions we can buy in Florida, Dubai and London, this is what agitates the minds of the elite of this country, including you and I.”
Shettima said he was confident that the senate would act as an independent and impartial arbiter, and that the committee’s report would finally erase the controversy surrounding the incident in Baga.
Earlier, the chairman of the committee, Senator George Thompson Sekibo, had told the governor that they were in the state to carry out an on-the-spot assessment of the situation in Baga, and make the necessary recommendations to forestall a recurrence.
He said they had even commenced their assignment, revealing that they had invited some people whose inputs would be required for their report.
In a related development, the Nigerian Army has confirmed that a total of 47 people were killed during the massacre at Bama.
Speaking to the press yesterday, the Director of Army Public Relations (DAPR), Brig-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru said the casualties comprised 21 insurgents, six policemen, 14 prisons officers, two soldiers, and four civilians including three children and a woman, who were burnt to death by the insurgents.
The army spokesman however assured that normalcy had returned in Bama, and vowed that the Joint Task Force (JTF) would “defeat the terrorists and other criminal agents in Borno State.”
He said that the army had taken full control of Bama-Banki, with ground and air patrol, as well as improved intelligence and round-the-clock surveillance to make the place safe for the people to live in.
He noted that several persons, who were being interrogated, had been arrested in connection with the attacks, and those culpable would be made to face the law.
Attahiru disclosed that the original aim of the Boko Haram insurgents, “who were dressed in military fatigues and attacked the 202 Battalion Barracks in Bama with rocket propelled grenades (RPGs), general purpose machine guns, bombs, an 18 seater bus, six Toyota Hilux vehicles fitted with anti-aircraft guns, was to overrun the barracks and create mayhem.
“The attack was however repelled and the barracks was not in any way breached,” he said.
He expressed regrets that the Bama police station, police barracks, local government secretariat, Independent National Electoral (INEC) office, a local magistrates’ court and primary school were burnt by the insurgents, who also set free about 105 prisoners from Bama prison.
He further disclosed that four vehicles, 14 weapons, 12 improvised explosive devices, assorted ammunition, several RPG tubes and bombs, were recovered from the insurgents.
Wading into the Bama incident yesterday, the president condemned the attack, which claimed scores of lives.
The president said he believed that the continuation of such callous and wanton attacks on innocent Nigerians, government facilities and security formations flies in the face of ongoing efforts to establish a workable framework for dialogue and the peaceful resolution of security challenges in northern Nigeria.
He warned that the federal government’s consideration of dialogue as an option for the elimination of some current threats to security should not be seen as a weakening of its resolve and determination to use all the forces at its disposal to crush all brazen affronts to the powers and sovereignty of the Nigerian nation.
Jonathan, in a statement by his spokesperson, Dr. Reuben Abati, extended sincere condolences to the families and colleagues of the soldiers, policemen, prison officials and innocent civilians who lost their lives in the dastardly attack.
He urged the armed forces and police not to be disheartened or daunted by the loss of their colleagues, but to remain focused and undeterred in discharging their responsibilities for the security of lives and property in all parts of Nigeria, with the assurance that the federal government will continue to give the armed forces and police the fullest possible support to enhance their ability to meet the continuing challenges of terrorism and insurgency.
In a statement, the ACN also strongly condemned the multiple attacks on Bama by suspected Boko Haram insurgents, which left 47 people dead, saying the barbaric incident was another reason for all stakeholders to work tirelessly to end the daily carnage in some parts of the north.
The party which had been very critical of the recent confrontation between the military and the sect in Baga, described as barbaric and callous the killing of defenceless citizens in Bama, especially women and children, saying the perpetrators of the senseless killings have lost their sense of decency and humanity.
In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said while every human life is sacrosanct, it was particularly saddened by the mindless killing of security personnel in the course of carrying out their duties of ensuring the protection of lives and properties.
ACN wondered what the insurgents wanted to achieve by attacking women and children in police barracks and targeting health centres, courts and the local council secretariat, all areas most likely to be populated by innocent civilians.
“Nothing in the world can justify the kind of killings we have witnessed in recent times, and it is high time those who are behind these orgy of violence stopped and retraced their steps,” ACN said, adding that the Bama killings, coming about three weeks after the Baga massacre, portrays Nigeria as a country where human life has little or no value.
The party urged the federal government to work closely with other key stakeholders to find a lasting solution to the Boko Haram crisis, saying the time for flip-flopping and foot-dragging was over.
In addition, Muslims under the auspices of NSCIA have urged the insurgents to accept the amnesty that might be offered by the federal government and stop further bloodshed and the wanton destruction of property.
Addressing the press yesterday at the national headquarters of the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) in Kaduna, the new Secretary General, Ishaq Oloyede, also called on the federal government to call to order those making inflammatory statement on the forth-coming 2015 elections.
“The council calls on the insurgents to accept the amnesty that may be offered by the federal government and stop further spilling of blood and wanton destruction of property,” the Muslim body said.
The Islamic organisation, which is the umbrella group for all Nigerian Muslims, also called for a probe of the Baga killings.
“The council strongly condemns the Baga and Bama massacre as heinous crimes against humanity, and calls upon the government to immediately set up a judicial commission of inquiry to ensure that justice is done.
The council frowns at the continuous failure of the state and federal governments to implement the white paper of their commissions/panels of inquiry on various ethno-religious crises and conflicts in the country.
“The council calls on the federal government to act immediately to restore normalcy and ensure enduring peace and security by re-settling and protecting Muslims that have been unjustly displaced in crisis-ridden areas including Tafawa Balewa in Bauchi State, scores of villages in Wase Local Government in Plateau State as well as in Southern Kaduna where Muslims had been massively massacred sequel to the 2011 general elections,” it stated.
The communiqué further reminded the government that the Hijab is a religious obligation for Muslim ladies, and asked that government agencies and private organisations should stop the harassment and persecution of Muslim ladies for wearing it.
Also commenting on the attack on Bama prison, an official of the Nigeria Prison Service (NPS) said yesterday that the inmates who escaped from the prison on Tuesday are not members of the sect.
A top official confided in THISDAY that none of the 105 freed inmates was a member of Boko Haram, but those who had been imprisoned for other crimes.
He said suspected members of Boko Haram members are usually imprisoned outside the hot spots of the insurgency, adding that the incessant attacks on prisons were aimed at embarrassing the government and instilling fear in members of the public.
His assurance came just as the Minister of Interior, Aba Moro, condemned the incessant attacks on prisons and killing of their officials all over the country, particularly the gruesome murder of 14 officials of Bama prison including a chief superintendent.
Moro stated this yesterday in Abuja after an emergency meeting with the Controller General of NPS, Mr. Zakari O. Ibrahim and other top prisons’ officials, to review the Bama attack and appraise the security situation in prisons nationwide.
He also expressed anger over the release of 105 inmates from the Bama prison, adding that the dastardly act was committed only a few months after the killing of some prison officials in a similar manner by suspected members of the sect.
He commiserated with Ibrahim, staff and the families of the murdered NPS officers over the loss of their colleagues and loved ones.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Special Duties and Chairman Presidential
Amnesty Committtee on Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North, Alhaji Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, yesterday said the committee was yet to commence talks with the members of the Boko Haram sect.
Speaking during an interview with the Hausa service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) monitored in Sokoto, Turaki said the committee was currently carrying out consultations before engaging in any dialogue with the sect.
According to him, what the committee members did initially was to study reports and recommendations of previous committees set up on violence in the north and even the Niger Delta.
Turaki said the aim was to study the reports, as they would assist them in discharging the onerous task ahead.
He explained that the committee was currently discussing with security agencies in order to understand the main issues at hand before opening talks with the sect.
The minister expressed optimism that going through the process would enable them get information that would chart a way forward.
Turaki disclosed that as soon as the committee rounds up its deliberations with security agencies, it would meet members of the sect to listen to their grievances and chart a way out of the crisis.
20 policemen,scores of others killed in Nassarawa, Benue
Governor Gabriel Suswam
Muhammad Bello 
in Abuja

Nasarawa State Governor, Alhaji Tanko Al-Makura, and his Benue State counterpart, Mr. Gabriel Suswam, were at the State House yesterday to seek the federal government’s assistance in tackling the security crises in their states.
There have been tensions in the two states following attacks by members of a militant group and Fulani herdsmen during which over 20 policemen were killed in Nasarawa State and scores of others in Benue State.
The two governors briefed Vice-President Namadi Sambo on security situations in their respective states and urged the federal government to urgently step in.
Al-Makura told reporters after his meeting with the vice-president, the policemen were waylaid and killed on Tuesday by cultists known as the Ombatse militia group at Alakio village, about 10 km from Lafia, the state capital.
He said the policemen were part of a contingent drafted to the state to dislodge the group that has been trying to destabilise the government of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in the state.
According to him, the essence of the briefing is to seek the assistance of the federal government in curtailing the activities of the group, which the state government had a year ago dislodged before they re-surfaced about a fortnight ago.
Al-Makura said: “Just yesterday(Tuesday), we had a very bitter security problem that caused the death of some security officers in the state.
“This is a situation that is so grave and I feel it is very important that I come to brief the vice-president about the security situation and to seek assistance so that we can handle the matter once and for all.
“Already, the group from Eggon extraction called Ombatse has been proscribed since the beginning of this year because of the activities of the members. They go from one place to another, harbouring arms, attacking any area that has any conflict with any of their members. The group is banned and its members are those causing this problem in the state and we feel it is necessary to bring this to the notice of the federal government.
“Before now, there were one or two arrests. But as a result of yesterday's (Tuesday) event, I am yet to be briefed on the number of arrests that have been made. Already, I learnt that security operatives are making arrangements to see how they can contain the situation. It is on that point that I will know how many arrests have been made.”
He said the state government thought it had subdued the group about a year ago only for it to resurface and resume hostilities by attacking and forcibly initiating people from their tribal group into their rank.
He said: “Two weeks ago, we discovered a certain militia group holding arms and carrying out cultist activities in the state. Since January, this thing has not abated and in the past two weeks, it took a total different dimension.
“We decided to hold a security meeting to find a way of solving the problem. The solution was to go to the shrine and pick on the cult leader so that the problem will be solved once and for all.
“As security operatives were approaching the shrine, unknown to them that ambush had been laid for them, these people attacked them and this resulted in the death of more than 20 policemen.”
He pledged that his administration would assist “victims of the attacks, those who are security operatives and those who are not. We will see how we can assist their families.”
Al-Makura’s counterpart in Benue who also briefed State House reporters after his meeting with Sambo said the state needed the help of the federal government to tackle the insecurity in the area.
Suswam told the reporters that scores of people, including of women and children, were killed and property worth millions of naira destroyed in a clash between Fulani herdsmen and farmers in Agatu Local Government Area of the state.
Although he did not put a number to the casualties of the crisis, the governor said 10 of the attackers, along with heavy weapons and many rounds of ammunition, were nabbed by the combined task force of the police the army and the State Security Service (SSS) operatives.
He lamented the incident, adding that proactive measures must be taken to check the upsurge of violence sweeping through the country.
He explained that during his meeting with Sambo, they agreed on the need for a national conference to resolve the matter.
“I came to brief the vice-president on the security situation in Benue. You must have heard that there are serious altercation between the Fulani and the local farmers. This time it happened in Agatu Local Government, which is one of the local government areas that the Senate president represents, they almost overrun the local government, and there were a lot of killings a lot of property destroyed.
“I felt that I should come to brief the vice-president who is holding forte for the president and I also discussed other sundry issues that relate to the general security situation in the country.”
1 killed,4 injured as 2 buildings collapse
LAGOS — IT was a harvest of collapse buildings in Lagos in the last two days where three buildings have collapsed at different locations in the state leaving at least two dead and several others injured.
While rescue operations were still on to save the lives of victims trapped under the collapsed building in Isheri area of Ojodu Berger, two other buildings located in Ikorodu and Bariga areas of Lagos, caved in yesterday.
COLLAPSED BUILDINGS— A building under construction collapsed at 6, Adenaike Alagbe Street,Ejina, in Ikorodu, Lagos, yesterday, injuring two children. Photo: NAN
One of them located on 9, Shogbemu Street, Bariga reportedly left one person dead while two persons were rescued.
The second, a three-storey building is located on 6, Adenaike Street, Ejina area of Ikorodu.
It reportedly collapsed at noon where two yet-to-be identified children were said to have been rescued from the building and rushed to the hospital.
The three-storey building said to be under construction, had several shops on the first floor.
But it was found to have been marked for possible demolition before it caved in, yesterday.
Vanguard gathered that the injured children were discharged from the hospital two hours later.
Lagos State spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Ibrahim Farinloye, confirmed both incidents toVanguard, saying rescue work was on-going.
One rescued from Tuesday’s collapsed building
Meantime, one person was yesterday afternoon rescued and taken to the hospital 24 hours after the three-storey building under construction at 24, Bashiru Street, Ojodu-Berger of Lagos, collapsed killing a worker.
Vanguard observed the rescue of the yet-to be identified workers by NEMA, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, and Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC.
NEMA, LASEMA and FRSC were busy in their operations when suddenly a hand was seen waving from under the debris.
On noticing the hand, the rescue team immediately rushed to the spot where the trapped worker was pulled out of the debris and taken to hospital.
Construction not approved —Ayinde
However, Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr. Toyin Ayinde, said the construction was not approved by government.
According to him, the area belonged to the Federal Government and claimed that the approval number written on the building was Federal Government’s permit.
He said the state would soon investigate what led to the collapse, noting: “We have already captured the permit of Federal Government on the land. When we are able to get the owners of the building, we will be able to confirm if the building permit was genuine. We also learnt that the building has been on for some time. Until we are able to sight the building plans before we will know whether it was a two-floor building that was approved or four storey-building. What the law states now is that after due process and if the result of the investigation indicates that the owner compromises, the property will be forfeited, and if we are able to get the professionals in charge, we will prosecute them.”
Lawmaker blames Physical Planning ministry
A member of the Lagos State House of Assembly and Deputy Leader, Lola Akande, has blamed the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development for the collapse of the building.
Akande, who visited the site, expressed shock over the incident, lamenting that the building had been marked for demolition, but was left undemolished until it collapsed, killing two people and injuring others.
Police rescues 2 from being set ablaze by commercial motorcyclist
Abuja (NAN) – Policemen from Karu Abattoir outpost in Abuja on Tuesday rescued two men, accused of stealing motorcycles, from being set ablaze by an angry mob at the Old Karu Road.
A source at the police outpost, who pleaded for anonymity, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the policemen got a distress call that motorcycle thieves had been caught.
“On our arrival at the place, we saw people putting together disused tyres and petrol to burn the alleged thieves.
“We had to fire several shots into the air to disperse the mob, after which we brought them to the office.
“Before our arrival, the mob had vented their anger on the two young men, with their blood splattered all over them.
“They would have been killed but for our intervention,” he said.
The source told NAN that, when asked, the men said they had gone to eat at Old Karu Road and a commercial motorcyclist saw them and started calling them thieves.
“At that point, some other commercial motorcyclists stopped to join in beating them up,” he added.
NAN reports that the two young men were taken away in a Hilux van with number plate NPF 6683 C to the Divisional Police Station at Karu Site for further questioning.
The police source told NAN that extensive investigation would be carried out to ascertain if the two men were involved in motorcycle theft.
He however refused to reveal the names of the men
Speaking to NAN later, the father of one of the victims, who identified himself simply as Mr Brown of Agwan Albarka in Mararaba, Nasarawa State, said his son was not a thief.
“I gave him some work to do. When I came back from the office this evening and asked his elder brother of his whereabouts, I was told that he and one other worker had gone to eat food.
“I can vouch for him, my son is not a thief. He doesn’t even know how to ride a motorcycle,’’ he said.
Brown said he would go to any length to prove that his son was not a thief. (NAN)
South-south cant impose president on Nigerians.:Clark
Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark,
Says Orubebe can’t be Delta governor in 2015
By Omon-Julius Onabu
Elder statesman, Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, has warned those threatening to make Nigeria ungovernable if President Goodluck Jonathan is not re-elected in 2015 to desist from such undemocratic comments.
He stressed that neither Ijaw nor the South-south geo-political zone can make Jonathan president again in 2015.
Clark said what was clear was that nobody would deny Jonathan the right to seek his party’s nomination for re-election.
He stressed that the decision to return Jonathan to office was purely that of all Nigerians from all sections and ethnic groups and not that of the Ijaws.
The Ijaw leader noted that Jonathan had maintained that it was too early to be campaigning towards the 2015 general election because he did not wish to be distracted from delivering on the electoral promises he made to Nigerians in 2011.
Addressing at a press conference in Warri, Delta State yesterday, Clark noted that the president had also instructed all federal government functionaries and elected persons on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) not to engage in premature electioneering, but lamented that certain individuals within the party and those who are holding influential political positions have apparently failed to heed the President’s advice.
He accused the president’s kinsman and Minister of Niger Delta, Mr. Godsday Orubebe, of flouting the directive and heating up the polity in Delta State, following his reported declaration of his governorship ambition during a recent function at Ovu in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State; an action that has drawn the ire of certain individuals, who tend to believe Orubebe had the backing of Mr. President and Clark.
He advised the people of Delta State to resist all corrupt and over-ambitious persons who are trying to benefit from the ethnic sentiments they were attempting to whip up, stressing that Orubebe was not qualified by any stretch of imagination to represent Ijaw even if the governorship was zoned to the Ijaw ethnic nationality.
He said the injury was still fresh on not only Delta State but Nigeria in general regarding the fact that a former democratic governor of the state “is serving a jail term abroad for corruption.”
“For the purpose of argument, if the Ijaws area asked by Delta State PDP for the Ijaws to produce a governorship candidate, it will not be Mr. Godsday Orubebe, and he is fully aware of that,” the ex-information minister pointed out.
He, therefore, called on the PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, to immediately wade into the governorship ambition of Orubebe and other party members’ apparent decision to jump the gun concerning the 2015 general election.
“Several litigations have resulted from one man’s desire for the number one political office in the state and because some individuals were bent on benefiting from the orchestrated wrangling in the party.
“It is my humble expectation that the PDP National Chairman will call Mr. Godsday Orubebe, to order and advise him to withdraw theses court cases so as to allow peace to reign in the party and in Delta State,” Clark said.
Clark also lampooned the Speaker of the state House of Assembly over his reported governorship ambition and accused him of abandoning a multi-billion naira electricity-generation contract allegedly awarded to him by the state government.
“Another person I learnt wants to be the governor of Delta State is Mr. Victor Ochei, the Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly. What kind of country is this? This young man, a contractor who got a mega contract of N27 billion contract for an Independent Power Project (IPP) at Oghara or Oghareki; he has collected N18 billion from the Delta State Government, but nothing has happened.”
He then wondered why the EFCC, which promised it was investigating the matter following petitions sent to it and the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) about two years ago was yet to come out with its finding as the situation of the project has remained even as at May 3.
Clark further said: “Therefore, I wish to advice the Godsday Orubebe and Victor Ochei, to give peace a chance and not to use their respective position to intimidate and cause confusion among the people. When the PDP gives the go-ahead for aspirants to indicate their interests, the people of Delta State will then decide who will be their governor and where he will come from.
“Meanwhile, the Governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan is keeping to his own side of the (state PDP) reconciliation and we also have a duty to support him.”
He warned Nigerians to stop subjecting the name and office of Mr. President to any form of ridicule on account of perceived inadequacies of certain individuals in his government or from his ethnic group.
“Finally, I strongly appeal to those detractors who have resorted to abuse or insult of Mr. President, the Ijaws and me for no justifiable reason to desist from it. Dr. Goodluck Jonathan is the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and not an Ijaw President. He was elected by the entire people of Nigeria. He should not be held responsible for the actions of another man.”
Meanwhile, the state chairman of the PDP, Chief Peter Nwaoboshi, who was at the press conference with other leaders of the PDP, said the leadership of the party fully endorsed the position of Clark on the need to eschew heating up the system unnecessarily.
Among PDP leaders at the occasion were Chief Godwin Ogbetuo, Prof. Omamurhomu Solomon Okobiah, former state chairman, Chief Pius Sinebe and Mr. Enuenwosu Anthony.
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