Nigeria Content Online

A lawyer standing
for more than 60 militants arrested last month said on Wednesday that
the gang leader and two of his followers were removed from prison by
the secret service last week.

Nigeria’s armed
forces on November 20 arrested ‘Obese’, whose real name is Tamunotonye
Kuna, and more than 60 of his followers who were believed to be behind
the kidnapping of 19 oil and construction workers in the Niger Delta.

Ken Atsuete, legal
council to the arrested militants, said a judge ordered that the
militants be remanded in Port Harcourt Federal Prison on November 29
but last week, officers from Nigeria’s State Security Service (SSS)
took Obese and two of his senior followers to another location. “From
November 29 until December 16, nothing whatsoever happened to these
boys, only for the SSS officers to come to the Port Harcourt Prison on
December 16 to take Obese and his second and third in command away to
an unknown and undisclosed location,” Mr. Atsuete said.

“The whereabouts of
Obese and his second and third in command is unknown while the
remaining 62 have been remanded in the Port Harcourt prison.” The SSS
were not available for comment.

Obese, a former
commander in Nigeria’s main militant group, the Movement for the
Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), was one of those who signed up
for an amnesty brokered last year by late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

Militant groups in
the Niger Delta have said kidnapping and attacks on oil pipelines are
part of a fight for a fairer share of the oil wealth generated in their
backyard.

But the line
between militancy and crime is blurred as gang leaders have grown rich
on the spoils of kidnapping for ransom and the theft of industrial
quantities of oil.

Reuters

The Jigawa State Commissioner for Information, Youth,
Sport and Culture, Aminu Muhammed, yesterday resigned his appointment
to contest for the state House of Assembly.

The resignation letter, dated 20/12/2010 and
addressed to the state governor, Sule Lamido was submitted to the
governor yesterday (Tuesday) for his approval.

In the letter, the former commissioner said he
relinquished his position in order to “heed the call and yearning of my
people to uphold their desire for me to contest the state Assembly
under our great party, People’s Democratic Party (PDP).”

Mr Muhammed said his resignation was in accordance
with the Nigerian constitution, and wrote that “in consonance with the
party’s constitution, that stipulates resignation of office by any
political office appointee, I hereby resign my appointment as the
Honourable Commissioner of Information, Youth, Sport and Culture effect
from Friday 24th December 2010. My decision is accompanied with lots of
nostalgia to leave the service at this crucial period when the
government needs me most. But I’m however compelled to answer this
clarion call of my people”.

The former commissioner expressed gratitude to Mr Lamido for giving him the opportunity to serve in his cabinet.

“I also pledge my absolute loyalty and support to you, your cause and the government for as long as I live,” he said.

The former state official, who wanted to represent Gumel Local
Government has already appeared before the PDP screening committee
which commenced its work yesterday.</

The Atiku Abubakar
Campaign Orgnaisation (ACO) has challenged the leadership of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to constitute a panel to screen its
presidential aspirants. Mr Abubakar and Sarah Jubril are the two
opponents of President Goodluck Jonathan for the presidential ticket of
the party.

The Director
General of ACO, Ben Obi also expressed worry over the status of the
Electoral Act 2010 after the dumping of the controversial clause which
sought to make the senators and representatives members of the National
Executive Committee (NEC) of their parties.

Mr Obi, who
addressed a press conference in Abuja yesterday,said it is shameful
that ,22 days to the PDP presidential primary election, the party has
not yet constituted a panel to screen its presidential aspirants .

“We urge the party
to constitute this committee quickly so that party members and the
generality of Nigerians will know the candidate that will represent
them” he said. “We also plead with the party to extend an invitation to
the various presidential campaign organisations on the issues raised
above and consider their suggestions.”

The campaign head
commended the stakeholders that worked against the clause in electoral
act , he advised Nigerians to be vigilant to ensure that the deleted
materials do not re-surface in the final version of the act.

He however
recognised the humble stance of the lawmakers as they yielded to the
wise counsel of Nigerians, he further urged them to finalise and
publish the 2010 Electoral act so that it can be in effect for the
forthcoming elections.

He alleged that the
opponents of Mr Abubakar are still wallowing in the habit of smear
campaign, fear-mongering, slander, character assassination and mischief.

“We are not perturbed in the least by sponsored petitions and
oracular predictions,we are also not bothered that the NTA and a few
other electronic media organs have been turned to personal property of
incumbent power authorities and that seditious materials daily drench
the airwaves, with the NBC turning a blind eye.”

Adeniyi Olajide,
the Action Congress of Nigeria’s candidate in the by-election conducted
on Wednesday into Moba Constituency 1 in Moba Local Government Area of
Ekiti State has been declared the winner of the election.

Mr Olajide
contested against the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Gboye
Afilaka in an election which to an extent suffered apathy by voters.

The election
suffered a low turn out of voters, contrary to the expectations of
politicians in the area, and also considering the level of high
political status that had joined the party’s political train for the
coveted seat of the state house of assembly.

The seat became
vacant following the death of the former Deputy Speaker of the State
House of Assembly, Saliu Adeoti of Action Congress of Nigeria on Oct.
27.

The vacant
Legislative seat which was contested by the majorly ACN, PDP and the
Labour Party (LP), the leading three parties in the state commenced at
about 8.30 in the morning was held in five wards of the constituency
comprising 49 polling units.

The security
operatives however ensured a heavy presence by a team jointly
co-coordinated by the state Commissioner of Police, Olayinka Balogun
and the state Director of the State Security Service (SSS), though some
reports of ballot snatching were also reported.

The state chairman
of People’s Democratic Party, Bola Olu-Ojo said in an interview that
the election was rigged and should not be honoured by the INEC,

“you can see for
yourself and I am sure that some of you still have it on the tape. If
INEC should go ahead with this, then we have started seeing what will
happen in 2011.

Monitoring the
election, a member of PDP and the Minister of State, Caleb Olubolade
and the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Isiyaku Maigoro,
confirmed few hitches but claimed that there were efforts to rectify
them.

Although there was
a case of alleged snatching of a ballot box at Osan-Ekiti by some
alleged political thugs, the election was generally peaceful.

Ajayi Emmanuel, one
of the Presiding Officers, who spoke to News Agency of Nigeria, said
that the election at his unit was peaceful and commended the security
personnel for their efforts in checkmating political thugs.

Mr Maigoro also
expressed satisfaction with the conduct, stating that apart from
Osan-Ekiti where a ballot box was snatched, the election is generally
peaceful as at noon.

“Since it is still
on and we are still monitoring the exercise, I cannot conclude on the
conduct now until the completion of the exercise,” he said.

Mr Olubolade
however told the media that “our people should see the need to abide by
the presidential directive for a free and fair election. It is only a
free and fair election that can give Nigeria credibility in the comity
of nations.

“It is unfortunate
that some state government officials are using government vehicles to
perpetrate this dastardly act,” he said.

The minister
disclosed that the Commissioner of Police and the Director of SSS had
already visited the unit and started investigations.

However, the former
Governor of Ekiti State, Segun Oni and the People’s Democratic Party in
a press statement issued after the election faulted the by-election,
calling it a disgrace to INEC and Nigeria as a country.

“”From what has
happened today, this country is indeed in trouble. People who go about
sermonising on one-man, one-vote were the ones who invaded Moba with
thugs, snatched ballot boxes and unleashed terror on the people.

This shameful!

“If Jega is serious
about free and fair election in 2011, he ought to have used this
election in just 49 polling units to show Nigerians that. He should
have even supervised it directly so that he can learn from it but he
has allowed the whole thing to be messed up,” Mr Oni said.

Meanwhile, Mr Maigoro, has vowed to prosecute any of his workers who by any means breaks the law during the by-election.

The Federal
Government entered into deal with Julius Berger over the Halliburton
bribery scandal because the Nigerian law dealing with corporate
criminality is weak, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the
Federation, Mohammd Bello Adoke has said.

He also spoke of the need to ensure the early resolution of the matter in the greater national interest.

Mr Adoke, who
presented the ministerial score card of the Ministry in Abuja
yesterday, said the ministry and the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) recovered money and assets worth N191billion form
Cecilia Ibru and her associated companies in the year under review.

He said he found
it necessary to use the occasion to highlight the approach adopted by
the ministry in addressing the prosecution of certain high profile
economic crimes committed by some individuals and corporate entities
(local and foreign ) against the Nigerian state.

“I refer
particularly to the ongoing prosecution of some bank executives and
multinational corporations for economic crimes and corrupt practices,”
he said.

He also said the
ministry has commenced the prosecution of individuals and multinational
companies indicted in the Halliburton bribery scandals.

“As a result of
government’s resolve to prosecute those indicted, Julius Berger,
Siemens, Saipem, Technip, and Halliburton Inc. were charged to court.
To avert prosecution, these companies approached us with various
settlement options for consideration,” he said.

Easy way out

He said in
resolving these cases, the ministry took cognizance of the weakness of
Nigeria’s penal provisions dealing with corporate criminal liability
before adopting international best practices, by emphasising on
‘restitution’ that would ensure direct benefit to the Nigerian
Government as the ‘victim State’. Accordingly, a total sum of $170.8
million has been paid as penal fines to the Federal Government.

The minister said
he directed the commencement of the review of the country’s penal
provisions to properly address the reality of corporate criminality by
providing appropriate sanctions that would ensure deterrence in the
country.

Nigeria will be
richer with $255 million by the time all the monies the companies
agreed to pay are collected, he said, explaining that only $35 million
was realised from Halliburton alone and that three, out of the four
companies involved in the scandal have so far paid $95 million.

He said about $130
million of these monies are held in banks at Monaco and Geneva, adding
that government is doing everything to recover the money from the
indicted companies.

Mr Adoke threatened
that government will ensure that all those involved in the civil
disturbances in Jos and the Boko Haram crises in some states in the
North-East geopolitical zone will be prosecuted.

He said the ministry has obtained the files on the alleged extra
judicial killings involving some police officers during the Boko Haram
crises and has commenced consultation with Borno State Ministry of
Justice in order to ensure early prosecution.

The four persons
apprehended by the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos Police Command
over the theft of 20 Direct Data Capturing (DDC) machines belonging to
the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) appeared at the
Ikeja magistrate court yesterday .

On Tuesday, the
trial of the suspects came to a halt as they were transferred from the
Magistrate court 13 at the International Airport to the Ikeja due to
the inclusion of a minor among the culprits.

Femisola Azeez, the
Senior Magistrate scheduled to hear the case at the airport disclosed
that minor will be tried at a juvenile court, adding that the suspects
are to be transferred to the appropriate quarters.

The suspects which
include Suleiman Isa, 17, Lawal Lateef, Bamidele Joshua, and one
female, Sumonu Modupe, were arrested in the early hours of Friday
December 10, 2010 by detectives from the MMIA force after discovering
that the machines were moved out of the airport through the Shasha end
of the airport.

Meanwhile, Rasaq
Oyelade and Nwoche John, counsels to the suspects argued that they were
surprised at the refusal of the judge to hear the case, as they
stressed that the presence of a minor in the case should have waranted
a separation of the suspects rather than referring them to a juvenile
court.

It was gathered that the case of the adult suspects will be held at
the Ikeja Magistrate Court 9, while that of the minor, however, is yet
disclosed.

All the 624 PDP
delegates from the North-Central zone have endorsed the President
Jonathan/Sambo presidential ticket ahead of party’s Jan.13 primaries.

The delegates made
the endorsement on Tuesday in Lafia at a consultative meeting with the
president and other stakeholders from the zone.

The News Agency of
Nigeria (NAN) reports that motion for the endorsement was moved by
former Minister of Information, Jerry Gana and seconded by former
Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Adamu. A voice vote to that
effect was called by the Senate President, David Mark.

“Given the fact
that the President is effectively responding to the yearnings and
aspiration of Nigerians, I, Prof. Jerry Gana do hereby move that the
North-Central delegates to the National convention of our great party,
the PDP, hereby unanimously agree and adopt President Goodluck Jonathan
as our choice of presidential candidate of the PDP for the 2011
election,” Mr Gana said. Mr Jonathan, who thanked the governors and
people of the zone for the support so far shown to his administration,
said he will not disappoint Nigerians if given the mandate.

He challenged the
delegates to vote for him in the interest of the zone in the
forthcoming PDP presidential primaries in order to help realise the
dream of the zone and the country.

He promised to
tackle kidnapping in the South-East and all other security challenges
if given the mandate in 2011, stressing that “no economic development
can be achieved without security.”

Asking for more

Earlier, while
presenting the delegates to Presdent Jonathan, the North-Central Zonal
Coordinator of the Jonathan /Sambo campaign organisation, the Benue
State Governor, Gabriel Suswam assured him that no delegate from the
zone will vote any other presidential aspirant during the primaries.

He, however,
appealed to the President to make the exploration of the various
mineral resources in the area, especially coal, his focus when
re-elected in 2011 as the resource had remained untapped for years.

Mr Suswan also
appealed for the dualisation of the Abuja – Lafia- Enugu Federal
Highway to ease transportation and enhance the agricultural potential
of the zone.

Aliyu Doma of
Nasarawa State commended the President for the landmark achievements
recorded, particularly, in the areas of power generation, economic
transformation, and infrastructural development.

He also praised the president’s commitment to equity, justice and promotion of unity and peaceful coexistence in the country.

Balarabe Musa, the National Chairman of
Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), has decried the Independent National
Electoral Commission’s guidelines on primaries, saying most of the
political parties will find it extremely difficult to comply with them.
He said on Wednesday in Abuja that only the People’s Democratic Party
would have all the requirements to hold the primaries for elective
public offices across the country. Mr Musa said PRP would require at
least N42 million to hold its primaries in just one state, stating that
“INEC guidelines are impossible to comply with by most of the 62
political parties because of the amount of money required. “Only PDP
will be able to nominate candidates who can pass through the INEC
screening for all the elections.” He said the electoral system should
be blamed for the lopsidedness which favours the ruling PDP. He however
said it was the responsibility of political parties to call the
attention of the National Assembly to the anomaly before it passes the
Electoral Act for the president’s assent.

</

For stealing a plastic worth N5,500, a 33-year-old man was on Monday sentenced to three months imprisonment with hard labour.

Owusu Hassan, who
the police said has no visible means of livelihood, was docked at an
Ikeja Magistrate’s Court charged with a breach of peace and theft.

The Prosecutor,
Augustine Orji, told the court that the convict conducted himself in a
manner that was likely to cause a breach and stole a plastic drum kept
in his premises.

Mr Orji said that the drum belonged to one Anthony Orazulume of 17, Oyewole Street, Agege, Lagos.

He said that the
convict committed the offence on December 12, adding that it was
punishable under Sections 249 (d) and 390 (9) of the Criminal Code,
Laws of Lagos State.

Mr Hassan pleaded
guilty to the charges and was subsequently sentenced by C. J. Mommodu
who said the punishment would serve as deterrent to others.

© News Agency of Nigeria

Passengers, who
have started besieging the various motor parks in Lagos with intention
of traveling `home’ for the Yuletide have lamented the hike in fares by
inter-state transport services.

Some travellers,
who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday, expressed the
fear that the increase in transport fares might hinder many families
from travelling for the holidays.

A civil servant, Jonas Iwuoma, said that the high fares had affected his earlier plan to travel with his family to the village.

“When I got to the
motor park to find out the cost of travelling from Lagos to Owerri by
luxury bus, I discovered that the fares had been increased from N2,500
to N7,500, therefore I cannot afford it.

“I had earlier
thought of going to the village long before Christmas when fares would
have been affordable, but as a civil servant, it wouldn’t have been
fair on my employers and colleagues,” Mr Iwuoma said.

A businessman,
Francis Nwoye, said that the hike in fares was so high that he was
forced to leave behind most of the goods he had intended taking home
for his aged parents and relatives.

“Can you imagine
the rate at which people are moving luggage and goods home that the
cost of transporting goods may surpass passenger fares; that is why I
decided to drop some of my luggage at home,” Nwoye said. Israel
Umuerrie, Zonal Manager, Delta Line Transport Services Ltd, told NAN
that since last week Wednesday, there had been an upsurge of over 100
per cent in the volume of passengers being recorded daily.

Mr Umuerrie said
that before the Christmas season, the service conveys about 120-150
travellers daily from Yaba to Asaba, but since last week, about 300
passengers are conveyed daily.”

The official confirmed the hike in fares but attributed it to the traffic congestion along the Ore –Benin road.

He said that before the festive season, the company charged N2,500 but now, it charges about N3,000 from Lagos to Delta State.

Mr Umuerrie
disclosed that five additional buses have been added to the three on
the route because of the upsurge in passenger traffic.

Officials of three
other luxury bus transport services and three Hiace bus services who
did not want their names published, also corroborated what Mr Umuerrie
said.

According to them, the increase in fares at this period is normal.

“This is the season we make appreciable money in the year,” they said.