Nigeria Content Online

Aba, the economic
nerve centre of Abia State, is almost a ghost of itself with schools
and banks closed, as the siege on the city and its adjoining local
governments by kidnappers, continue. There is growing uncertainty over
the early release of the 15 school children abducted on Monday on their
way to school.

The Abia state
Commissioner of Police, Jonathan Johnson, however, said the closure of
banks was a panic measure that did not reflect the real security
situation in the city, adding that there were enough security personnel
posted to each of the banks in the city.

Throughout the
metropolis, as well as the Ogbor hill and Umungasi areas of Aba, there
is a near absence of school buses that usually run through the streets
to pick school children, and the few that were seen were without
pupils, as their parents were afraid of sending them to school.
Virtually every private school in the city has voluntarily closed.

There were also no
march past rehearsals in the schools that were open as was the case in
most of the schools last week, in preparation for our nations golden
jubilee celebration.

One of the
proprietors of the schools visited, who closed her school yesterday,
said it was sad that the government has shown no commensurate interest
in the safety of the kids the same way they did when the four
journalists were kidnapped. She expressed wonder that the government
could not buy tracking equipment for the police since they know that
kidnapping in Aba has become endemic and sophisticated, rather than
engaging in an amnesty that will not work, as the kidnappers are mere
criminals who might not embrace the programme.

“This amnesty thing
will not work. These are armed robbers who are into kidnapping because
it is an easier way of picking their millions without sweat,” she said.

Fighting talk

Meanwhile, the
heavy presence of soldiers was noticed in Aba on Thursday, especially
along the Port Harcourt Express Road, an indication that the government
might possibly go on the offensive against the hoodlums.

In a broadcast to
the state, the governor, Theodore Orji, assured the parents of the
kidnapped children that his administration, in conjunction with the
federal government, was doing everything in their power to ensure that
the young victims are released quickly and safely to rejoin their
parents, teachers and friends.

He emphasised that
his government is determined to stop this trend of kidnapping in Abia
State. “Despite attempts to build a theory of intentions around the
incidents of kidnapping in Abia State, our view now is that these
kidnappers are not reacting to any realistic issues that are of utmost
importance to their societies or to the state,” he said.

“These kidnappers
are mere gold diggers, whose resolution and trade ambition is to make
easy money and to secure the betterment of themselves alone, and so the
government will not allow a few disgruntled elements in criminal garb
to hold the entire state hostage. Government has been challenged, and
we have decided to take the utmost measure available to implement the
might and weight of government’s forces.”

Meanwhile, the police have raided the camps of some suspected
kidnappers in Ukwa West area of the state. However, the kidnappers had
escaped before the arrival of the police.

The Mayor of the
City of Cleveland, Frank G. Jackson, has declared October 1, 2010, as
the Nigerian-American Day in the city. The Mayor made the proclamation
to mark the celebration of the golden jubilee anniversary of Nigeria’s
independence.

In a statement
announcing the declaration, Mr. Jackson remarked that the proclamation
is also a recognition of the contributions of Nigerians ( about 10, 000
Nigerian-Americans) living in the Greater Cleveland, most of whom are
professionals in the field of medicine, science, engineering, academia,
and business men and women.

“On behalf of the
citizens of the City of Cleveland, I am honoured to offer the
proclamation designating October 1, 2010, as Nigerian-American Day in
the City of Cleveland,” he declared.

In another
development, the Congress woman, representing 11th District Ohio,
Marcia Fudge, will be the keynote speaker at the event scheduled by the
Nigerian community in Greater Cleveland to celebrate the anniversary.

Part of this year’s independence celebration includes the extension
of scholarship awards to Nigerians and Americans in Greater Cleveland,
display of Nigeria’s cultural heritage and artefacts such as Nigerian
dances and masquerades, which will include the Eyo festival masquerade,
Ekwe dance, and Abang dance groups.

Following an
alleged intelligence report that there are planned attacks in Abuja by
the popular militant group, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger
Delta (MEND), during the 50th anniversary celebrations, the Nigerian
government allegedly prompted the South African Police to invade the
Johannesburg home of Henry Okah, the leader of MEND, in the early hours
of yesterday.

Sources who spoke
in confidence with NEXT revealed that over 30 South African police
officers smashed down Mr Okah’s doors and gained entry into his home at
about 3am South African time, with sophisticated weapons in full
display as well as about six sniffing dogs, at the instance of the
federal government of Nigeria.

“We have been told
that the Nigerian government informed the South African police that it
is imperative that Mr Okah’s home is searched yesterday because they
would find arms and explosives. The federal government has been sending
spurious petitions to the South African government about Mr Okah,
alleging all kinds of things.

“They said he is
exporting arms and explosives from South Africa into Nigeria. But when
the South African police invaded his home, they found nothing. Even
with their sniffing dogs, they did not find anything,” a source said to
NEXT yesterday in Abuja.

Reports have it
that the search at Mr Okah’s home, which lasted for about 10 hours,
from 3am till about 1pm, yielded neither explosives nor arms.

Ima Niboro, the
spokesman for the federal government neither responded to the phone
calls nor the text messages sent to him to make enquiries about the
role of the presidency in the role.

Federal government’s gripe

Although the Umaru
Yar’Adua led government released Mr Okah from a 13-month long detention
and granted him amnesty in 2009, unconfirmed reports state that Mr
Okah’s name has been placed on the INTERPOL red alert in Nigeria, in
connection with arms and drug trafficking.

Emmanuel Ojukwu,
the spokesman of the Nigerian Police, has denied any knowledge of the
raid. Mr Ojukwu, who told NEXT in Abuja that he is also the spokesman
for the INTERPOL in Nigeria, said that he was unaware that Mr Okah’s
name had been placed on red alert by the INTERPOL.

“I have no
information. I am not aware of that. I speak for the Nigerian police
and the INTERPOL and I am not aware of either the invasion or any red
alert,” Mr Ojukwu said in a telephone interview.

Mr Okah, in
response, said that he was unshaken but that he was upset that his
children were frightened by the police officers who tore down their
bedroom doors and barged into their rooms with rifles.

“I am not surprised by the federal government’s actions. What I am
surprised at is that the South African government would allow
themselves to be used by Nigerians. I am, however, not moved by
whatever means the government is trying to use to intimidate me. I am
constantly fighting against the oppression of my people in the Niger
Delta,” Mr Okah said in a statement obtained by NEXT.

The Goodluck/Sambo Campaign
Organisation has berated former vice president Atiku Abubakar for
allegedly continuing with his campaign of calumny against Goodluck
Jonathan, despite the president’s clarification on the controversial
zoning arrangement adopted by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The organisation stated this in
reaction to a statement credited to Mr Abubakar that the president
could not be “trusted with the PDP mandate in 2011” because of his
interpretation of the party’s position on zoning.

A settled matter

Mr Jonathan had
last Monday declared that the ruling party never zoned the presidency
to any part of the country. He spoke at the PDP headquarters after
submitting his nomination forms to the leadership of the party.

“The Goodluck/Sambo
Campaign Organisation has noted that in spite of President Goodluck
Jonathan’s clear articulation of the issue of zoning and the decision
of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the matter, former Vice
President Abubakar has continued his campaign of calumny aimed at
impugning the character and integrity of the president,” a statement by
the director of media and publicity, Sully Abu said.

It said that Mr
Abubakar’s comment on the president’s personality was rather curious
given his own antecedents and the fact that he was only recently
admitted into the PDP after long running battles with his local Adamawa
State chapter of the party.

The organization
said the PDP zoning issue has been resolved by the party, just as it
enjoined all its loyal members to respect that position and stop using
it as a diversion from tackling the real issues that affect the
Nigerian people.

The organisation’s
spokesperson said that the decision was a product of a meeting held in
Abuja yesterday by the zonal coordinators of the Jonathan/Sambo for
President Campaign.

Those at the
meeting presided over by Dalhatu Tafida, the organization’s director
general were: state governors: Liyel Imoke of Cross River; Isa Yuguda
of Bauchi; Gbenga Danile of Ogun; and Gabriel Suswam of Benue.

A former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chibudom Nwuche, was also in attendance.

One of the
daughters of the Emir of Lafia has been found less than 48 hours after
she was abducted from the grounds of her father’s palace. Hadiza
Mustapha Isa Agwai was found in the early hours of Thursday,
disorientated but unharmed.

According to a
source, the 22-year-old was abducted on Tuesday after being coerced by
a group of men masquerading as commercial motorcyclists. The details of
the kidnapping are still unclear but it is believed that Miss Agwai was
just returning from work when she was taken.

The Secretary to
the Lafia Emirate, Hudu Aliyu Mailafiya, revealed in a telephone
interview with NEXT that the Emir’s daughter was found at exactly 5am
on Thursday in a confused and bewildered state. He added that although
that she was not speaking lucidly, she managed to reveal that her
assailants took her to a bush somewhere near Nasarawa Eggon, about 30
minutes away from Lafia.

Her account also revealed that her abductors had other people in their custody, one of whom was killed in her presence.

Miss Agwai was
unavailable for further comment, as investigations showed that she had
been immediately taken to the State Security Service head office in
Lafia for a debrief. Mr Mailafiya explained that she was taken in for
questioning to enable the security agents get some more leads on her
captors.

When NEXT visited the office of the SSS in Lafia, we were denied access to the Emir’s daughter who was still in their custody.

Mr Mailafiya however assured that as soon as she was released from
questioning, he would make sure that a press briefing is arranged so
that Miss Agwai can give full details of the abduction.