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Monday

TREASON, GRAFT: NYAKO ON THE RUN – EFCC

TREASON, GRAFT: NYAKO ON THE RUN – EFCC
AFTER fruitless attempts to pin down and arrest impeached Adamawa State Governor, Murtala Nyako, the Federal Government appears to be under pressure to declare him wanted.
The government wants the former Chief of Defence Staff arrested and prosecuted over alleged looting of Adamawa State treasury and treason against Nigeria.
There were clear indications last night that security agents, who have been combing Yola and Abuja for Nyako, were frustrated over their inability to trace his whereabouts fueling impression that the axed governor is on the run.
According to a competent source in Yola, Nyako’s security aides are said to have ferried him out of Yola to an undisclosed location the same day he was sacked from office.
Although, many believe that the former governor was still in Yola, other sources claim he had travelled to Saudi Arabia while some say he is in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.
Nyako not on the run—Aide
Nyako’s spokesman, Sajoh Ahmed said yesterday that his boss was not on the run. “Governor is not on the run. He left Yola on the same day of the impeachment. I don’t know where he is at the moment. I am now in my own house. It is wrong to say he is on the run,” he said.
The plot to arrest Nyako was hatched a few hours after Adamawa lawmakers voted for his removal from office, having mobilised the required two-third majority to sack him.
Saturday Vanguard’s investigation showed that the federal authorities were considering the option of declaring Nyako wanted as a last resort to compel him to come out and face the gamut of charges prepared against him by both the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC
The two-pronged legal onslaught against Nyako also known as Baba Mai Mangoro, which is to be unleashed by the AGF and EFCC, almost simultaneously, is expected to take off as soon as he is arrested by security agents, who have been combing Yola and Abuja for him.
The AGF, it was learnt, has been given marching orders by the Presidency to prepare charges that may send Nyako to prison for the rest of his life, if convicted.
The EFCC, on the other hand, has been busy assembling vital documents and witnesses that will enable it to nail Nyako once he is arraigned in court.
One of the top officials of the Nyako administration that might be used as a witness against him, is the man, who served for many years as the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, who has since been arrested and detained by the EFCC over the looting of the state’s funds.
A senior EFCC official     told Saturday Vanguard yesterday that it was in preparation for trying Nyako that the former SSG was being detained and questioned by its operatives.
“Yes, we are keeping the SSG and he is helping us in relation to the huge sum of money that was stolen under Nyako’s leadership. We are not likely to release the man until the trial begins. We are still looking for Nyako and we know that he has gone underground but we may be forced to declare him wanted, if he proves difficult,” the source said.
The commission is also said to have arrested some other officials, who served under Nyako and transferred them to Abuja in preparation for the legal battle to retrieve the state funds.
The North-East Regional Manager of a third generation bank, who reportedly granted a loan of N43 billion to the Nyako government without approval by the Security and Exchange Commission, SEC, and other relevant agencies, is said to have been detained by the anti-graft agency.
The EFCC is grilling the bank official on why he allowed the state governor and his officials to draw from a loan that was not approved by the relevant agencies of government, accusing him of aiding and abetting fraud.
Source: Vanguard
AFTER fruitless attempts to pin down and arrest impeached Adamawa State Governor, Murtala Nyako, the Federal Government appears to be under pressure to declare him wanted.
The government wants the former Chief of Defence Staff arrested and prosecuted over alleged looting of Adamawa State treasury and treason against Nigeria.
There were clear indications last night that security agents, who have been combing Yola and Abuja for Nyako, were frustrated over their inability to trace his whereabouts fueling impression that the axed governor is on the run.

SHERIFF SPEARHEADS PLOT TO OUST BORNO, YOBE GOVERNORS

SHERIFF SPEARHEADS PLOT TO OUST BORNO, YOBE GOVERNORS
. We will join Sheriff in PDP – Assembly leader
Presidency’s men have hatched a plot to oust Borno and Yobe state governors through Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, who is defecting from the All Progressives Congress to the People’s Democratic Party, sources aware of the move told Daily Trust.
Sheriff, a former Borno State governor, is also said to have been given enormous powers, enough to enable him decide the course of political events in the two states, including who picks up what position in the primaries for the next elections, the sources said.
The former governor’s new powerful status was demonstrated last week whenthe Maiduguri airport, which use has been denied to Governor Kashim Shettima and pilgrims heading to Saudi Arabia, was opened for his private plane to land and take off.
A founding member of the opposition APC, Sheriff said last week the party is dead and that he will defect to the ruling PDP after the Ramadan fast and work towards  President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid.
Sheriff’s brief from Abuja is to “capture” both Borno and Yobe states, one of the sources said, adding that he had been empowered with the resources he needs in order to accomplish the job in the coming weeks.
Part of the mandate, Daily Trust gathered, is to work with the Borno State House of Assembly to accuse Governor Shettima of “financial recklessness” and subsequently use that to impeach him. Sources said there are plans to also implicate the governor over some security issues in order to force him out of power.
At least 17 of the 28 members of the State Assembly have so far expressed their willingness to follow Sheriff to the PDP, Daily Trust learnt.
Majority Leader of the Borno State Assembly, Mr Idrissa Jidda, told Daily Trust yesterday that many lawmakers have agreed to defect from APC to PDP though he declined to say why they are defecting.
“Many members are willing to go, in fact I am one of those that are going to join the PDP very soon,” he said.
Another state lawmaker from southern Borno, who does not want his name mentioned, distanced himself from the defection move, saying the Assembly “is intact and absolutely loyal to the APC and the administration of Governor Kashim Shettima.”
‘Carrot-and-stick’
In Yobe, it was gathered that Sheriff will use “carrot-and-stick style” in order to get at Governor Ibrahim Gaidam.
A source said while Borno Governor Shettima is expected “to be impeached outright,” Gaidam and members of the State House of Assembly “would be cajoled to join the PDP.”
“But if Gaidam resists the move, the Assembly members would be used to impeach him too,” the source added.
A spokesman for Sheriff, Alhaji Umar Duhu, could not be reached for comments yesterday as he was said to have travelled to Saudi Arabia for Lesser Hajj.
But another associate of Sheriff, Mr. Inuwa Bwala, when contacted, said though he was not authorised to speak for the former governor, he was not aware of any plan for Sheriff to spearhead Shettima’s impeachment.
He added that it was only natural, though, for Sheriff to work for the success of a party he belongs to.
“It is only natural for one to work for the success of a party he joins. But I don’t know about any impeachment move. Why don’t you ask the Presidency whether it has given him the mandate to impeach the governor? I think it is in the best position to answer that,” Bwala said.
Daily Trust could not get comments from the Presidency and the PDP national headquarters yesterday. President Jonathan’s political adviser Rufai Ahmed Alkali said he was out of Abuja and therefore could not make comments until he returned. The President’s spokesman Reuben Abati and senior special assistant on public affairs Doyin Okupe did not return calls. PDP spokesman Olisa Metuh could not be reached by telephone last night.
‘Evil plots will fail’
In his response, APC’s National Secretary Mai Mala Buni said any plan that is not democratic will fail.
“No evil machination of the PDP will triumph in Borno, Yobe and any other APC states. The people in Borno and Yobe states know the people that threw them into their present predicament and they know the efforts their current leaders are making to salvage them,” he said.
“They should stop escalating the precarious security situation by heating the polity; they must allow people to make their choices. The revolt going on in Nasarawa State should be an eye opener for the PDP.”
When contacted on the alleged plot against Governor Shettima, his spokesman Isa Gusau said, “I consider the whole issue as speculative for now but if it is true, then it will be ungodly and shameful if a Borno man can have the slightest thought, not to talk of working or leading a plot to destabilise Borno State at a time thousands of poor, innocent citizens in the state are continually being killed, sacked from their communities and forced to become refugees in their own land…
“It is simply unimaginable and it shows extreme immoral greed and lust for power that out of this human scope, the person that is being said to be in the vanguard of this destabilisation, if it is true that he is behind it, was the very person whose administration bequeathed this dehumanisation of Borno State to Kashim Shettima.”
He added: “Governor Shettima is not a desperate man; he is in power to help in addressing the problems in Borno as he is already doing. I also think it is an insult for anyone to think Borno lawmakers can just cheaply fall to the person because there is excellent executive-legislature relationship in Borno.”
In his response, Gaidam’s spokesman Abdullahi Bego said, “Governor Gaidam is surely concerned that some recent political events in the country could have implications on the capacity of our nation’s democracy to flower. But across our state, no one is worried that anyone would seek or attempt the desperate and anti-democratic tendencies seen elsewhere.
“In Yobe today, all 24 state assembly members are APC as are all three senators from the state. With the movement to the APC of the only PDP House of Representatives member in the state, all six Yobe House of Reps members are also APC. The 17 local government councils are also formed by the APC. Across these local government areas, almost everyone who participates in politics or could vote in an election is also with the party. In addition to the solid-state profile of the APC in Yobe State, there is also a unity of purpose across government and among politicians.”
Source: Daily Trust
Presidency’s men have hatched a plot to oust Borno and Yobe state governors through Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, who is defecting from the All Progressives Congress to the People’s Democratic Party, sources aware of the move told Newsmen.

AREGBESOLA MAY ASSAULT ME DURING DEBATE –OMISORE

AREGBESOLA MAY ASSAULT ME DURING DEBATE –OMISORE
The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore, has said engaging Governor Rauf Aregbesola in a public debate may be risky because the governor may attack him.
Omisore said this in an interview with our correspondent in Osogbo.
Aregbesola had earlier challenged Omisore to a public debate to tell the people their manifestos.
Although Omisore said he was ready for the challenge he added that he must be assured that Aregbesola would not assault him with state boys and thugs allegedly being raised by the All Progressives Congress’ candidate.
Omisore said, “How can I be afraid of engaging him in a debate? But when argument is being drawn between two unequal parties, the weaker of the two may result to physical assault and harassment. We don’t want this to happen.
“Aregbesola has not hidden the fact that he has personal hatred for me and people tell me all sorts of lies he fabricates to disparage me. You don’t expect more than that from a barely literate politician like him.
“You remember that Aregbesola presented O’level to INEC. So we need an assurance that Ogbeni will not resort to assault if he is confronted with hard facts with evidence.
“Once we are assured that decorum will be allowed and that our safety is guaranteed, I am ready for the debate.
“Ogbeni Aregbesola has state boys, a group he is rearing and going to participate in a debate with violent people with array of thugs will be too much of a risk to take for us.”
Omisore, who also accused the APC government of massive corruption, said that contracts were awarded without following the provisions of the Procurement Act.
According to him, sidestepping the due process in contract award is a serious offence, which any leader who professes to be transparent must avoid.
He said, “Transparency and accountability are very important in governance. You are put in office based on the trust of the people. But as soon as the APC government came on board, Aregbesola scrapped due process. Now, there is no way you can track down government expenses.
The PDP candidate further alleged that the administration awarded contracts to godfathers, relations and party leaders, especially persons from outside the state without executing the projects.
“Let us go to the so-called opon imo. This is an N8.4 billion scam handled by his own biological son. Now, they are withdrawing them from the pupils. The device is valueless and it is just for profit-making and nothing else.
“In opon imo, we have 17 subjects and 87 per cent errors precisely. I went through it and I analyzed it. For instance, in opon imo, there is no single graph in mathematics, no single illustrative table and no single diagram. You can’t teach mathematics without graphs, without histograms, without tables and without diagrams,” he added.
But the Director of Publicity of Aregbesola Camapign Organisation, Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, when contacted, said Omisore had shown that he was afraid of engaging Aregbesola in a debate.
Oyatomi said the PDP candidate was aware he would have no answer to some questions which would be directed at him and decided to give “lame excuses to cover up.”
He said, “Omisore is afraid of his own shadow and that is why he is giving such excuses. But I think we have gone beyond that.
“It is obvious that Omisore is afraid because he knows very well that he cannot match Aregbesola intellectually and even in oratory.
“How many people has Aregbesola assaulted? Let him tell the whole world if he knows of such. The man is a liar and he will stop at nothing to hide his deficiencies, he knows he cannot match Aregbesola.
To those who have had contact with Aregbesola, they know that he can discuss any subject at any time you meet him. He is always ready, he is not timid unlike those who are running away when nobody is pursuing.
“They know the evil they have done and they can’t come to the public because they will be asked questions.”
Reacting to the alleged lack of transparency in Aregbesola administration, the APC spokesperson said that it was sad the former deputy governor, who was impeached and removed, was the one accusing Aregbesola of corruption.
He added that Aregbesola was very transparent adding that even heads of Federal Government agencies had lauded the governor publicly for his honesty and excellent management skills.
Oyatomi said Aregbesola had taken governance in the state beyond the reach of opportunists, saying that was why they were engaging in campaigns of calumny to discredit him.
“Ask him what he did when he served in the Senate. He was in the Senate for eight years and we challenged him to mention just one thing he did in Ile Ife for the eight years he spent at the Senate.
“Aregbesola is transparent and those of them in the PDP know that they cannot fault him on this.”
Source: Punch
The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore, has said engaging Governor Rauf Aregbesola in a public debate may be risky because the governor may attack him.
Omisore said this in an interview with our correspondent in Osogbo.

Police Enhances Security Vigilance In Lagos Against Insurgents Attack

POLICE BEEF UP SECURITY IN LAGOS
The police have beefed up security in Lagos, following recent claim by Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau that he ordered a bombing – Apapa, an industrial hub of the former capital city.
Lagos State Police Commissioner Umar Manko told leaders of the Victoria Island community at a meeting at the weekend that the value of investment in the area cannot be take for granted hence the need for the community to be alert at all time.
“We have been on top of security situation in Lagos. Victoria Island had recorded low crime rate in recent time.
After the explosion in Apapa area of Lagos that Boko Haram claimed responsibility, the need for more enlightenment on security became necessary. I don’t want us to take the issue of Boko Haram’s claim for granted. The police and other security agents cannot do it alone.
“We must be at alert. We have all the headquarters of banks and other big companies in this area. We need to secure our residents and offices; watch the people around your homes; report to security people any strange object, vehicles and persons.
“This meeting is not to create panic but awareness of the time we area in. Terrorism is a global problem. Many countries have been facing the problem before it came to Nigeria, we must stand against it. If you see any strange bag, vehicles, can, cable connected material, don’t go close. Monitor the entering into the home and offices, control access to your building, car parks. Introduce screening devices, although, they are expensive, but not to the security of our lives and property. We should also take special note of our domestic workers. Hotels, eateries and cenemal centres must employ all security measures. No body is too big to be screen into your building,’’ Manko said.
The Chairman of Iru/Victoria Island Local Community Development Area, Mr Abayomi Daramola, urged all landlords with private guards to register them with effect from today as part of security measures in the area.
Daramola said 60 per cent of Victoria Island houses had been turned to commercial centres, warning that any private guard who is not registered would be arrested by the council’s task force.
He said the council was working with the Ministry of Physical Planning to ensure that all vacant plots of land were taking care of by their owners to avoid them being used as hideout for criminals.
Source: The Nation
The police have beefed up security in Lagos, following recent claim by Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau that he ordered a bombing – Apapa, an industrial hub of the former capital city.
Lagos State Police Commissioner Umar Manko told leaders of the Victoria Island community at a meeting at the weekend that the value of investment in the area cannot be take for granted hence the need for the community to be alert at all time.

Boko Haram Dares FG, Erects Tollgates

BOKO HARAM DARES FG, ERECTS TOLLGATES
With most parts of northern and central Borno State under their control, gunmen of the Boko Haram have been mounting tollgates on major international highways within the state where they collect fees from passengers and drivers who are lucky to be spared, eyewitnesses and government officials said.
Apart from collecting tolls from travellers, the gunmen would also screen every passenger, and any person who speaks Kanuri or found to be a resident of Maiduguri would be shot dead, witnesses added.
In the last three weeks the gunmen had laid siege on the roads to Maff, Dikwa, Ngala and Gamboru, where they would ambush travellers and dispossess them of their goods. Most of their targets were vehicles conveying rice and sugar supplied by government to be delivered to villagers for their use during the ongoing Ramadan fasting.
The route from Maiduguri to Gamboru, a border town near Cameroon, is about 185km and it is usually busied by heavy trailer trucks ferrying various commercial commodities to and from Nigeria.
But that commercial engagement that has provided jobs to hundreds of young men and older ones has now been slowed down due to the incessant attack by the Boko Haram gunmen.
Modu Air, a truck driver, told newsmen in Maiduguri, “Only a few of us are now plying the road. Many of our colleagues have changed routes because of the attacks that occur on the roads every day. I have witnessed instances where some passengers were shot dead either because they speak Kanuri and live in Maiduguri or because you come from one village where their members were killed or arrested by the vigilante.”
Confirming the attacks on the highways, Hon. Idrissa Jidda, a member of the Borno State House of Assembly representing Gamboru-Ngala, said “the insurgents have absolute control of the road since the past one month. No day passes without a case of attack along the Maiduguri-Dikwa-Gamboru road and, in most cases, innocent people are being killed”.
Jidda, who is also the majority leader of the Borno State House of Assembly, told newsmen that “the insurgents stop vehicles at various points and forcefully collect money from passengers”.
“In most cases, they would carefully select some passengers and promptly execute them; they also kidnap girls at will and sometimes forcefully snatch vehicles that are loaded with assorted food items. The attacks are now rampant in Gamboru and Ngala to the extent that most of our people have fled to safer places like Maiduguri while many others have crossed over to Cameroon. We really need the intervention of the federal government,” he said.
 
…Attacks power station, plunges Maiduguri into darkness
For three weeks running, Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, and its neighbourhoods have been plunged into total darkness following the reported damaging of major electricity installments around Damboa town by Boko Haram terrorists, security sources said.
For about 21 days now, the entire city of Maiduguri has not enjoyed electricity coming from the national grid.
Many residents of Maiduguri who were unaware of the development thought the power outage may have been caused by some ongoing upgrade of the 33KVA lines which the minister of state for power, Hon. Muhammed Wakil, said would be carried out to boost supply to the state.
But recent findings revealed that the suspected situation was not so but was as a result of an attack on major installations of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria.
A military person who spoke to LEADERSHIIP in Maiduguri confirmed that the Boko Haram insurgents had detonated bombs that affected the high-tension installations around Damboa and has since left the about two million residents of Maiduguri in total blackout.
Many residents now have to depend on power plants while major business outfits and even government offices depend solely on generators throughout the days.
The power outage has since caused residents some serious economic hardship as most businesses that depend on electricity now hike the prices of their products.
Many households that used to depend on the few hours of electricity supply from the national grid to produce their iced blocks needed for the Ramadan fasting period now have to buy from hawkers at expensive prices.
“We now buy iced sachet water for N25 but before it used to be sold for N10 each or, in some cases, two sachets of iced block for N15,” said Bashir Mustapha, a resident of Maiduguri.
An official of the Yola Electricity Distribution Company, who spoke off the record because he was not allowed to speak on such matter, confirmed the development to LEADERSHIP even as he said it may take some time before power would be restored due to the recent takeover of Damboa area by the Boko Haram insurgents.
Boko Haram has, in the past three years, vandalized public infrastructure like telecommunication masts that had hitherto cut off various parts of Borno State from the rest of the word. The group had also used bombs and fire to destroy schools, hospitals, police offices, barracks and even cratering of roads. Their most recent attack on public infrastructure was the bombing of an ultra-modern drilling rig procured by Borno State at the cost of over N300 million at the site where it was mobilized to drill water for rural dwellers of the northern part of Borno State.
 
Damboa: Over 3,000 fleeing villagers camp in Biu
About 3,000 villagers displaced from Damboa town of Borno State where Boko Haram terrorists had on Friday hoisted its flags are now being camped in Biu town, officials have said.
A local government official from Damboa, Sheriff Muhammed, who is one of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) being camped in Damboa, said they had to flee far from Damboa because the insurgents still chased them to some of the nearby villages where they had run to take refuge to kill them.
Speaking on phone from Biu, some 100km away from Damboa, Muhammed said: “We are presently being camped at the premises of Government Girls’ Secondary School, Biu.
“As at today (Sunday) many of our people who ran to Fori and Koiri villages, near Damboa, have been traced there and slaughtered by the Boko Haram gunmen.”
Borno State deputy governor Zannah Mustapha, who had been visiting most of the attacked villages in the southern part of the state, had yesterday relocated to Biu where he was organising the reception of the IDPs.
 
Herdsmen attack Benue village, force residents to flee, kill 1, injure 3
Fulani herdsmen have attacked Owukpa community in Benue State, killing one person and injuring three in an early evening attack. Some residents of the community have taken refuge at the neighbouring Enugu State.
An online medium, DailyPost, has reported that the three people who were injured were presently in critical condition. A report says a man’s hands were completely chopped off by the herdsmen.
The problem was said to have started when the Owukpa people got tired of the herdsmen’s continuous stay on the land and told them to kindly relocate.
Apparently angered by their refusal to go, some youths mobilized themselves and confronted them to leave the community immediately. In the process of the argument, one of youths snatched one of their motorbikes and fled.
In a quick reprisal, the herdsmen invaded Atamaka and its neighbouring villages and destroyed some houses as well as farm produce.
Confirming the incident, a councillor representing Ehaje Ward II in Ogbadibo LGA of the state, Fred Apochi, said everything was calm until Sunday evening when the herdsmen returned to Ankpa to attack the villagers.
“I’m the councillor representing Ehaje Ward II and, as the chief security officer, I can confirm to you that everything is under control. The Benue State police commissioner would be in Ugbugbu with his men tomorrow (today),” he said.
Eyewitnesses however said that the entire Owukpa community is in disarray as people have deserted their homes to either Enugu State or Okpokwu LGA. They decried the total absence of policemen, thereby leaving them in the hands of gun-wielding Fulani herdsmen.
Source: Leadership
With most parts of northern and central Borno State under their control, gunmen of the Boko Haram have been mounting tollgates on major international highways within the state where they collect fees from passengers and drivers who are lucky to be spared, eyewitnesses and government officials said.
Apart from collecting tolls from travellers, the gunmen would also screen every passenger, and any person who speaks Kanuri or found to be a resident of Maiduguri would be shot dead, witnesses added.

Police Enhances Security Vigilance In Lagos Against Insurgents Attack

POLICE BEEF UP SECURITY IN LAGOS
The police have beefed up security in Lagos, following recent claim by Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau that he ordered a bombing – Apapa, an industrial hub of the former capital city.
Lagos State Police Commissioner Umar Manko told leaders of the Victoria Island community at a meeting at the weekend that the value of investment in the area cannot be take for granted hence the need for the community to be alert at all time.
“We have been on top of security situation in Lagos. Victoria Island had recorded low crime rate in recent time.
After the explosion in Apapa area of Lagos that Boko Haram claimed responsibility, the need for more enlightenment on security became necessary. I don’t want us to take the issue of Boko Haram’s claim for granted. The police and other security agents cannot do it alone.
“We must be at alert. We have all the headquarters of banks and other big companies in this area. We need to secure our residents and offices; watch the people around your homes; report to security people any strange object, vehicles and persons.
“This meeting is not to create panic but awareness of the time we area in. Terrorism is a global problem. Many countries have been facing the problem before it came to Nigeria, we must stand against it. If you see any strange bag, vehicles, can, cable connected material, don’t go close. Monitor the entering into the home and offices, control access to your building, car parks. Introduce screening devices, although, they are expensive, but not to the security of our lives and property. We should also take special note of our domestic workers. Hotels, eateries and cenemal centres must employ all security measures. No body is too big to be screen into your building,’’ Manko said.
The Chairman of Iru/Victoria Island Local Community Development Area, Mr Abayomi Daramola, urged all landlords with private guards to register them with effect from today as part of security measures in the area.
Daramola said 60 per cent of Victoria Island houses had been turned to commercial centres, warning that any private guard who is not registered would be arrested by the council’s task force.
He said the council was working with the Ministry of Physical Planning to ensure that all vacant plots of land were taking care of by their owners to avoid them being used as hideout for criminals.
Source: The Nation
The police have beefed up security in Lagos, following recent claim by Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau that he ordered a bombing – Apapa, an industrial hub of the former capital city.
Lagos State Police Commissioner Umar Manko told leaders of the Victoria Island community at a meeting at the weekend that the value of investment in the area cannot be take for granted hence the need for the community to be alert at all time.

Presidency Threatens APC Leaders With Arrest Over Nyako's Impeachment

ADAMAWA BRIBERY ALLEGATION: PRESIDENCY THREATENS APC LEADERS WITH ARREST
THE State Security Service (SSS) is set to arrest top All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders, for allegedly offering N240 million bribe to Adamawa lawmakers to stop ex-Governor Murtala Nyako’s impeachment.
The APC leaders, it was learnt, also threatened the lawmakers with death if they refuse to collect the money and stop the impeachment process.
But the APC, on Sunday, dared the presidency to probe the alleged bribery saga, asking that the presidency should also be opened to inquiry into who provided the funds for the alleged bribery of Nasarawa State lawmakers to impeach Governor Tanko Al-Makura.
Nigerian Tribune learnt from a presidency source that security agents were in possession of recordings of attempts by some APC governors to induce Adamawa lawmakers, in order to stop the impeachment.
The governors, one from the North and another from the South, were said to have approached two members of the House of Assembly with the money, to convince them to withdraw support and make it impossible for the impeachment of Nyako to scale through.
The source added that the APC leaders were only able to buy over one lawmaker, adding that when the inducement failed, they resorted to threat to the lives of the lawmakers.
It was learnt that the presidency was convinced that crimes had been perpetrated by the opposition leaders and was contemplating taking action if the APC leaders continued to falsely accuse President Goodluck Jonathan.
According to the source, “it was the assurance that they got from the lawmaker that more members would be bought over that originated the reports that Nyako might resign.
“What they don’t know is that all these are recorded. If they continue with their unfounded allegations against the president, the security agencies would be directed to arrest them and confront them with overwhelming evidence.”
Reacting to the allegation from the presidency that it offered bribe to Adamawa lawmakers to stop Nyako’s impeachment, APC said it was the presidency that provided the money for the impeachment as well as the ongoing process in Nasarawa to sack Al-Makura.
Its spokesperson, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, told the Nigerian Tribune that the allegation from the presidency was meant to shift the attention of Nigerians from the alleged $20 billion missing oil money and the over 300,000 barrels of crude oil being stolen daily.
“The allegation is not true. They should go ahead with whatever probe they want to conduct, at least, they are in government and control the security agencies. They are blatant liars. They think everybody is like them. Nigerians know that it is their government that is swimming in corruption.
“They should first explain to Nigerians what happens to the $20 billion missing oil money and the 300,000 barrels of crude oil that are daily stolen before they would make wild allegations.
“All they are trying to do is shift attention of Nigerians from their corrupt acts. We know all the money for impeachment in Adamawa and Nasarawa states came from the presidency and they know their governors providing it,” Mohammed said.
Nyako’s impeachment, demonstration of people’s power —PDP
The ruling party has rejected the attempt by APC to blame the impeachment of Nyako on the ruling party and President Jonathan.
The party argued that what happened in the state was a demonstration of the power of the people under a democracy.
PDP, in a statement issued by its national publicity secretary, Olisa Metuh, in Abuja, on Sunday, said in linking the party and the president to Nyako’s ouster, the APC was only being escapist, adding that such attitude could only come from pretenders to democracy.
According to PDP, “the impeachment of the former governor of Adamawa State was an act of democracy. It is a constitutional right, exclusively granted to the people of Adamawa. 
“This, they exercised through the votes of the overwhelming majority of the elected members of the state House of Assembly, who also accorded the rule of law and due process rightful place in removing Nyako.”
The PDP said “if a sitting governor, who has spent over seven years in office, could be removed by more than two-third of the members of his state assembly, reasons should be located to fundamental factors within, rather than the trite excuses of external influence.”
Source: Tribune
THE State Security Service (SSS) is set to arrest top All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders, for allegedly offering N240 million bribe to Adamawa lawmakers to stop ex-Governor Murtala Nyako’s impeachment.

HOW REBELS SHOT DOWN MALAYSIAN JET’

‘HOW REBELS SHOT DOWN MALAYSIAN JET’
Indications emerged yesterday how Pro-Russia rebels in Eastern Ukraine might have shot down the Malaysian airline MH17 last Thursday, killing 298 people on board.
The plane was travelling to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam, Holland before it was shot in Eastern Ukraine airspace.
A motorist captures military truck carrying BUK M1 in border town.
He filmed a military truck on main road for two kilometres in ‘border area’ of Russia at 8.45pm on Saturday
Ukrainian sources have seized the footage and branded it ‘film of the BUK, the one that shot the Boeing’
A BUK launcher was pictured rumbling into pro-Russian rebel-held Torez just two hours before crash
Ukraine’s security agency, the SBU, has released recordings of intercepted phone calls, claiming they prove Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down by a group of Russian-backed Cossack militants
Neither recording – which allegedly includes a Russian military intelligence officer – could be independently verified
Laughing rebels filmed the plane as it crashed, gleefully bragging ‘that was a blast – look at the smoke!’
Is this the BUK missile system back home in Russia after shooting down flight MH17?
A driver followed the military truck on a main road for two kilometres in a ‘border area’ of Russia before uploading the footage, filmed with a dashboard camera, on the internet.
The cargo had no escort and Ukrainian sources have seized on it, captioning the footage: ‘A Russian blogger filmed the BUK M1 in Russia, the one that shot the Boeing.’
‘For two kilometres, a blogger from Russia has been driving behind covered BUK 1M which, according to his words, had been driving from the Ukrainian border. His opinion is that it is exactly that BUK that made the shot,’ said one version spreading on the web.
The driver is heard saying: ‘No kidding.’
While the footage is visibly in Russia rather than Ukraine, the exact location is not given.
A second truck is also evident in some frames.
It was filmed at around 8.45pm on Saturday.
Reports from Ukraine suggested the BUK had been smuggled in the dead of night into Russia soon after the plane was blasted out of the sky last Thursday.
It came after images were released of a launcher rumbling through Torez, held by pro-Russian separatists, just two hours before the Malaysia Airlines flight was shot down.
In a tense phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, British Prime Minister David Cameron, said Russia would have to ‘present compelling and credible evidence’ that the Kremlin-backed separatists were not to blame for 298 people – including 10 Britons – being killed, despite the images and footage.
He told Mr Putin that blocking international investigators and rescue teams from accessing the site was ‘indefensible’, a Downing Street spokesman said.
Mr Cameron is furious that Mr Putin has kept him waiting despite the British death toll. A Downing Street source said Mr Cameron was expressing his anger that ‘ten of my citizens have just been killed with a plane that was brought down by a missile that was shot by Russian separatists’.
A Downing Street source admitted there was ‘a sense of frustration that we have not been able to speak to him sooner’. Following the call, Mr Cameron wrote on Twitter: ‘I’ve just spoken to President Putin. I made clear he must ensure access to the crash site so the victims can have proper funerals.’
Pro-Russian rebels yesterday said they had recovered the black boxes from MH17 and taken them to Donetsk where they will be handed over to international investigators.
Rebel leader Aleksander Borodai told a news conference in Donetsk: ‘Some items, presumably the black boxes, were found, and they have been delivered to Donetsk and they are under our control. There are no specialists among us who could pinpoint the look of the black boxes, but we brought to Donetsk some technical items which could be the black boxes of the airliner.’
However, Ukrainian security officials claimed yesterday that Russia has reinforced rebels with three multiple rocket launchers and four heavy tanks, while massing troops on the border.
Pro-Kiev authorities released details of what they claimed to be a recording of a phone calls from Friday afternoon between a senior rebel commander and a number of his men at the crash site discussing MH17’s black boxes.
Source: The Nation
Indications emerged yesterday how Pro-Russia rebels in Eastern Ukraine might have shot down the Malaysian airline MH17 last Thursday, killing 298 people on board.
The plane was travelling to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam, Holland before it was shot in Eastern Ukraine airspace.

Sunday

IT’S ABSURD ASKING SOUTHERNERS TO LEAVE THE NORTH – AKA IKENGA

IT’S ABSURD ASKING SOUTHERNERS TO LEAVE THE NORTH – AKA IKENGA
Igbo think-tank organisation, Aka Ikenga, on Thursday, described as a ‘preposterous order’ the call by a northern group directing all southerners, especially the Igbos to leave then northern Nigeria within two weeks.
The group’s President, Goddy Uwazurike, in a chat with Daily Independent, said Nigeria belongs to all and no ethnic group has  a greater claim to the country  than others.
It will be recalled that the Arewa Youth Development Foundation, on Tuesday, called on southerners in the north to relocate to their respective states to make room for northerner who would be returning home.
This ultimatum was contained in a statement jointly signed by the group’s National President, Aliyu Usman, and secretary, Alfred Solomon, when the group visited the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sunusi II, in his palace.
But Uwazurike, who described the group as hardliners out to cause trouble and confusion in the country, saying the call is strange for a northern group to ask the southerners who are major owners of the nation’s wealth to leave.
He however noted that the AYDF “is a tiny neglectable, nonsense group bent on causing problem for everybody. They now hide their head when the problem erupts. They are people one can refer to as the hardliners whose sole aim is to make Nigeria look like Afghanistan or Iraq.
“Why should the Igbos leave? What right do they have to ask the southerners to leave? Do they have any greater claim to this country than any of us?  All the major resources sustaining this country is coming from the South and you are asking the Southerners or Igbos to leave. It is a preposterous order” he said.
Source: Daily Independent
Igbo think-tank organisation, Aka Ikenga, on Thursday, described as a ‘preposterous order’ the call by a northern group directing all southerners, especially the Igbos to leave then northern Nigeria within two weeks.
The group’s President, Goddy Uwazurike, in a chat with Daily Independent, said Nigeria belongs to all and no ethnic group has a greater claim to the country than others.

IMPEACHMENT: NASARAWA ASSEMBLY MEMBERS FACE RECALL

IMPEACHMENT: NASARAWA ASSEMBLY MEMBERS FACE RECALL
Constituents of some members of the Nasarawa state House of Assembly, have begun collation of signatures of willing petitioners, for submission to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), towards recalling their representatives in the legislature who signed for the impeachment of Governor Umaru Tanko Al-makura.
Those who face immediate recall threats are the state Assembly members representing Doma Central, Doma South, Wamba, Akwanga West, Akwanga North, Keana and Kokona East.
Their constituents said in separate statements issued yesterday, that they have begun the process of recalling their members over on-going moves to sack Al-makura.
The people, in separate statements aired on the state radio, Nasarawa Broadcasting Service (NBS), said they had commenced collation of signatures from various members of their constituencies to be forwarded to INEC for verification, towards recalling their representatives.
In Wamba local government area of the state, for instance, the youths have vowed that their representative at the Assembly, Mr Abdulkarim Usman, must go.
The threat was contained in a statement signed by Malam Usman Jade, Chairman, Wamba Youths Association, and issued yesterday in Lafia.
According to the statement, the people of Wamba were dissatisfied with the conduct of the lawmaker in the plot to impeach Al-makura.
It added that the people were also dissatisfied with Usman’s performance in the legislature.
The statement said the people have concluded plans to follow legal process to recall the legislator.
It urged the people to get ready to sign a petition, which would be forwarded to INEC for action.
Meanwhile, two youths are said to have been killed in Lafia, the Nasarawa state capital, yesterday, following protests that erupted for a second day across the state against moves by the state Assembly to impeach Governor Al-makura.
A third person, also a youth, was said to have lost his life in an accident which occurred in Nasarawa town, wherein a protest march was also held for the second day.
Our reporters learnt that some angry youths from the Lafia city centre, yesterday stormed the Tudun Gwandara area, in the vicinity of the Old Alhamis Market, attacking youths in the area, leading to the death of the two youths.
Police authorities who confirmed that there was tension as a result of the outpouring of Lafia youths onto the streets of the capital city to protest against the impeachment moves against the governor, however said no life was lost.
Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, Ismai’la Numan told one of our reporters that 27 youths have been arrested and are currently undergoing investigations over the violence that followed the demonstrations. “We have restored peace in the city and everywhere is calm”, Numan said.
Our correspondent in Lafia reported that early yesterday, hundreds of women staged a peaceful demonstration and walked down the streets to the palace of the Emir, Dr. Isa Mustapha Agwai I, seeking his intervention to stop the impeachment proceedings.
Similarly, the protests, which started on Wednesday, continued across several other towns in the state yesterday in support of Governor Al-makura, and against moves by the state House of Assembly to impeach him.
Among the women groups that took part in the protest is the Ta’al Network for Youth Organization for Change, which barricaded the popular Jos road in protest against the impeachment notice served on the governor, even as another group of women in Garaku in Kokona area of the state reportedly went haywire.
Al-makura, an opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) governor, is facing a 16-count charge of alleged gross misconduct and financial impropriety, said to have violated the Constitution signed by 20 of the 24 members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) controlled Nasarawa state House of Assembly.
Other women groups that took to the streets yesterday include, the Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria (FOMWAN), women wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Nasarawa state, Mothers of Nasarawa State and Women for Change, Nasarawa state, led by the Coordinator, Hajiya Hajara Danyaro, who condemned move by the lawmakers to sack Al-makura.
According to Hajara, the Nasarawa state women voted massively for the lawmakers under the PDP, and voted Al-makura under APC, stating that the action of the lawmakers was uncalled for.
She accused the PDP of masterminding the impeachment process, as according to her, it was no coincidence that after the President Goodluck Jonathan visited the state on Monday, the impeachment notice was moved against the governor.
The women, who took their protest from Lafia City Hall to the Government House, stated that the allegation of gross misconduct could be found in the Presidential Villa in Aso Rock, Abuja, and not Nasarawa, urging the presidency to stay clear of the affairs of the young state, unless it was bent on causing an uprising in the state.
In his reaction to the protests, the emir of Lafia has made another appeal for calm, and assured that he would broker a peace meeting between members of the Nasarawa Assembly and Governor Al-Maura, as a way of resolving the current political impasse. The emir had on Wednesday appealed for calm, urging citizens to exercise restraint in their demonstrations.
In a related development a former member in the state Assembly, Mary Nwogulu, has condemned the action of her colleagues, describing it as “embarrassing”.
According to her, Governor Al-makura has done a lot for the people of the state and wondered why the lawmakers could plot an ill-timed evil against him.
Source: People’s Daily
Constituents of some members of the Nasarawa state House of Assembly, have begun collation of signatures of willing petitioners, for submission to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), towards recalling their representatives in the legislature who signed for the impeachment of Governor Umaru Tanko Al-makura.

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