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“We were on duty around Bayelsa
court,” said a police constable, who was one of those wounded at the
Independence Day bomb blast in Abuja.

Agbo Ochife said after the first
bomb exploded, he and other security agents were controlling the crowd
without knowing that the car they stood beside has ticking bombs.

Mr. Ochife, who has been a
policemen for only two years, however, sees the incident as part of the
normal duties of policing, and vows that he will get back to his beat
as soon as he recovers.

But Ochife’s leaders in the
Nigeria Police Force, along with those in the other intelligence and
security agencies, were caught flat footed on that day. The result of
their lack of robustness left some 16 people dead. Tellingly,
government has not released the exact number of the dead and wounded, a
week after the bomb explosions.

Reports pieced together from
different sources who all spoke on conditions of anonymity due to the
sensitivity of the issues involved, revealed that while some western
intelligence agencies shared the results of their monitoring and
observation with our country agencies, they either did not take the
briefings seriously or reacted the wrong way. It was learnt that Henry
Okah, suspected to be the mastermind of the bombings, had been having a
running battle with President Goodluck Jonathan’s government.

Shortly after he assumed office as
acting president, Mr. Jonathan reportedly directed that payment, which
commenced under late president Umar Yar’Adua, to Mr. Okah must stop. In
a discussion subsequently with an aide to the president, Mr. Okah
allegedly threatened to make the country ungovernable if the payment
does not resume.

SA intelligence agencies

It is also believed that Mr.
Okah’s phone calls were being monitored by security agents.
Interestingly, security sources confirmed that it was not the
government of Nigeria that asked South Africa to arrest Okah.

“He (president) never made the
request to South Africa, but I do not believe that no one else in his
services did not make the request as well,” said a security source.

But South African intelligence
agencies are said to have picked the intelligence about Mr. Okah’s
subterranean moves and dutifully informed the Nigerian government,
which most likely explained the president’s statement that the outrage
was caused by a ‘foreign group.’

There is no doubt that security
monitoring has become lax, as some agencies have been compromised in
discharging their duties, putting the country at great risk. An example
is the EFCC that has lost its bite in keeping corrupt elements at
check, resulting in large volume of cash moving around for nefarious
purposes.

At the same time, the president is
said not to fully trust the security chiefs. The exit of the former
national security adviser, Aliyu Gusau, unsettled the apple cart, and
sources said that was why he did not make Kayode Are, Mr. Gusau’s
deputy, the NSA. His appointment of Andrew Owoeye Azazi, a former chief
of army staff, as the NSA last Monday, is believed to be a way of
dealing with this distrust.

“The president needs to clean out
SSS and the National Security Adviser office and set up direct routes
for reporting and information,” said another security source.

Maybe by the time Ochife is well to resume at his beat, the bungling
security chiefs would have been replaced by dynamic and efficient ones.

Mr. Okah’s South
African lawyer, Piet Dupleiss, in a telephone conversation with NEXT,
said that his client could receive calls whilst in custody, but that he
could not make calls from within the cell.

“Mr. Okah does not
have access to his personal phone,” he said. “However, with permission
he can receive calls on the official prison phone.”

During a call to
Mrs Okah in South Africa on Friday, she asked to get clearance from her
husband and call back. She did, and fielded questions.

Later, a man claiming to be Mr Okah called and spoke with us. Excerpts:

Phone-calls from detention

This is a civilised
country where phone calls are not a special privilege. I can make calls
anytime I want to. I am aware of efforts by the federal government to
debunk my phone conversation with Al-Jazeera as a hoax, trying to make
it seem like the call to Al-Jazeera was not real. To dispel this, I am
going to talk to the BBC and CNN.

Claim that the federal officials asked him to implicate the north

Yes, let me confirm
to you that government officials, who I will not name now, called me
and made the appeal. I also have a text message which reads:

“Please, reach out to MEND and ask them to retract the statement and the government will blame the Northern elements.”

Status of the text after his phone was seized by prosecutors

I have saved the
message on another phone. Shortly after I got the text message, Dopkesi
(IBB’s campaign manager) was arrested. I will not release the message
now because if I do, the next thing they will say is that someone/IBB
has paid him to do this. As they continue to sour my name the more, I
will release the message. I am also in no hurry to release this message
yet, because we are fighting the system, not Jonathan. So I don’t want
it to be seen as if I am giving an undue advantage to anybody. I will
release everything I have and leave the public to judge.

The officials that sent the text

I cannot tell that
now. I understand the sensitivity of the whole drama and I will
definitely play my cards right when the time comes I will reveal them.

Being described as
a terrorist I am a sympathiser and not a terrorist. Let me tell you now
that those thugs assembled in Abuja have no control in creeks. Only
Boyloaf and Farah Jack are the real MEND members amongst those paraded
on Tuesday. Let them know that there are still weapons and people in
the creeks still willing to fight. For every 1,000 weapons in the
creeks, there are 1001 people willing to fight.

His charge by the South African government

They searched my
house and found nothing. Yet government said I sent warning emails and
everybody knows that emails can easily be tracked.

Ayiba Okwudili, 28,
a mother of four, is being interrogated by the National Drug Law
Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) over the importation of 1kg of wrapped
substances suspected to be heroin.

The suspect, who
was nabbed by operatives of the anti-narcotics agency attached to the
Skyway Aviation Handling Company Limited (SAHCOL) warehouse at the
Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, is said to have
concealed the substances in a refrigerator imported from Dubai.

Family affair

Hamza Umar, airport
commander for the agency, on Thursday, stated that the suspect, who
deals in frozen foods at Alaba, Lagos, told narcotic agents that the
consignment was sent to her by her husband who lives in Dubai.
According to Mr Umar, investigations showed that the suspect allegedly
functions as an intermediary between her husband and his associates in
Nigeria. “This is another suspected case of family involvement in
drugs,” he said. “The suspect was nabbed while attempting to clear the
goods sent to her by the husband. The consignment was addressed to one
Chinonso who was found to be a five-year-old son to the suspect while
the telephone number was also traced to the suspect.”

In a statement from
the agency, Mrs Okwudili said that her greatest regret is the welfare
of her children, and admitted that her husband is in the attitude of
sending his family things from Dubai after leaving the country. “My
husband told me that he has sent a fridge to me,” she said. “He has
been sending things to me. I feel bad that the drug was found inside
the refrigerator. My greatest worry is my children; I do not know how
they will cope. I married in 2001 and have four children, the eldest is
seven years. My husband moved to Dubai in search of greener pastures
four years after our marriage but visits at least twice in a year.”

Mitchell Ofoyeju, the spokesperson for the agency, said that the
suspect will have to face the law. “The suspect hails from Anambra
State and will soon appear in court,” he said.

The Central Bank
has come down hard on directors of rescued banks who have insider
related loans, in a renewed crackdown on those that have contributed to
the terrible state of some of the banks.

As part of efforts
to recover the loans, the Central Bank has placed some of the affected
directors on suspension with an ultimatum to repay the loans or face
prosecution.

Specifically, the
regulator on September 27 suspended four non-executive directors of
Finbank for 90 days for failure to pay their debts. They are Ernest
Orji, proprietor of Southern Sun Hotel, Ikoyi; Ezelue Efobi;
Iheanyichukwu Anyadiegwu; and Agnes Ebubedike.

The suspended
directors together owe the bank N20 billion, out of about N25 billion
of insider related loans. Mrs. Ebubedike is also standing trial
alongside Okey Nwosu, the former chief executive officer of the bank;
Danjuma Ocholi; and Dayo Famoroti, both of whom are former directors of
the bank.

The Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had in 2009 taken them to court on a
90-count charge, bordering on money laundering and granting of reckless
loans, amongst other offences.

Outstanding indebtedness

The CBN gave each
of the directors an ultimatum to repay their outstanding indebtedness
to the bank within that period, failing which, they shall be prosecuted
and blacklisted from holding any position in any bank or financial
institution, under the purview of the CBN.

It had earlier
issued letters of query to the recalcitrant directors, who failed to
heed the warning. This latest action by the bank became inevitable,
since the affected directors did not pay back their loan.

It was gathered
that the CBN may have moved against the affected officials in order to
recover the funds from them before their final exit from the bank. The
Central Bank recently released tenure guidelines, which stipulate that
non executive directors would only serve for two years after which
their terms may be renewed for another two years, but will be subject
to the approval of the apex bank.

A source at Finbank
said the CBN onslaught is also a moral issue as directors who are
indebted to the banks have no justifications to decide on actions
against other debtors.

“It is not proper
that directors who are indebted would now sit at meetings where
decisions are taken against other debtors. This is a corporate
governance issue. It is part of the sanitisation process,” the source
said.

Only Finbank

Mohammed Abdullahi,
the Central Bank spokesperson, said the action was taken against the
directors of Finbank, and not to directors of other rescued banks. He
added that the move against the directors was in fulfillment of the
code of conduct of bank directors, which stipulates that directors
should not have non performing insider related loans.

Sola Oni, the Nigerian Stock Exchange spokesperson, said he was not aware of the development.

Finbank officials refused to comment on this development. They did not respond to enquiries on the issue for nearly a week.

But Susanne Iroche,
its chief executive, told shareholders at a forum in Lagos recently
that the bank is operating with negative capital, as 88 percent of its
loans are currently non performing.

“We have taken
deposits and shareholders fund up to N88 billion, which is yielding
nothing for us but that is costing us money. We can’t continue to
operate like that. We have to resolve this as quickly as possible,” she
said.

Only N2.7 billion
has been recovered from insider related loans, putting the total amount
of non performing loans at N156 billion, while the bank expects to
recover between N10 to N15 billion before year end.

My first daughter
turned ten about three days ago and she requested that I buy her story
books, cookies, chocolate and a Bible. I really am trying to drive off
the path of the famous bombs: the letter bomb that killed Dele Giwa,
the bomb by MEND in Warri, the bombs around Eagle Square on
Independence day and the bombs arranged in the hearts of supposed
statesmen that are dropping from their unpatriotic and selfish mouths,
waiting to detonate.

As a young boy,
after experiencing the efficacy of the ‘scare tactics’ used by our
parents and observing the dangerous drift of society that is very much
in a hurry to adopt the ‘sex education’ tradition of western countries,
I once angrily asked God not to give me female children. But it pleased
Him to bless me with two beautiful angels and I thank Him everyday for
that.

I am no saint, but I am trying to be perfect.

My mother died when
I was writing my WAEC and somehow, the responsibility of caring for my
siblings landed on my shoulders and I promised myself that if God will
help me to protect my three younger sisters from the claws of our
decaying society, I also will stay away from other people’s sisters and
He did. They say a man who fears nothing, loves nothing. They also say
the dirty spoon that you cannot eat with, do not give it to others. In
other words, do unto others what you wish them to do to you. Then, it
was my sisters that I feared for. After they are grown, my weak flesh
was planning to indulge like every other man in our sinful nature. But
God quickly brought my wife and my fear is now for my lovely daughters,
so eternity will remain in view.

Indeed, I and my
wife are doing all that God has taught us to make sure that at least we
keep our own corner clean. We try to make sure we are not part of the
problem but rather, we strive to be part of the solution. Our struggle
is not to allow decaying society to steal God’s gifts from our hands;
with what we hear on radio, see on television and the internet. My wife
concocted eleven ‘girl-child rules’ for our two girls and some for the
boys. We have started praying for God to prepare and bring their
husbands early enough because the bible says, “blessed is the wife of
your youth”.

It works. Yes, it
does. My wife was taught early in church to pray to God to prepare her
husband, wherever he may be – spiritually, physically, financially and
materially – to come for her early (because the bible says, “he who
finds a wife…”) according to His wise counsel and good plans for her
and God answered. I really do not intend to preach, but it is my
daughter’s tenth birthday and I have always asked her and her siblings
to read my weekly stories.

Charity, they say,
begins at home. The first congregation of any serious preacher should
be members of his household. At least, let me try and stop the log from
finding a place in my eyes before I remove those in other people’s
eyes. On Friday the 15th also, my first son will be twelve and I also
expect him to read this story. And I am very prepared to give him more
answers concerning those bombs that went off on “Nigeria at 50” day.

I love my children
and I fear for them. I struggle to hold them, yet society battles to
tear them away. I try to train them up in the way they should grow, so
that they will not depart from it; yet society has its own agenda. I
inject in their blood the need to honour us their parents so that their
days may be long in the land that God Almighty has given us; but some
are trying to blot out that God-given land.

It was some young
men, the sons of people, that were instigated to drop off those heinous
explosives that claimed the lives of innocent Nigerians and if my son
does not fear God and listen to me and his mother, he could be used
like a pun in the chess board of some evil men and mischievous and
unprogressive elements in our society. If he does not exude peace and
humble himself like Goodluck Jonathan, he cannot be elevated by God.

I rest my case, for now.

The wife of the former military
administrator of Ogun and Rivers States, Sam Ewang, has been kidnapped.

Comfort Ewang was kidnapped on her
way into her private school, Beulah International School, at Ekom Iman, Uyo-the
Akwa Ibom state capital, yesterday morning.

Confirming the kidnap to NEXT,
Mr Ewang stated that kidnappers are “demanding that I step down for Akpabio
(the governor of Akwa ibom state) and pay them a ransom of N300,000,” adding
that he has been under immense pressure since the incident occurred.

Mr Ewang, is a gubernatorial
aspirant on the platform of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in Akwa Ibom where
the incumbent Governor, Godswill Akpabio is seeking a second term in office on
the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

The former military
administrator officially declared his intention for the gubernatorial race last
week at Beulah International School where he had to relocate to after officials
of the Ibom hall; a state government owned auditorium denied him the use of the
hall.

Mr Ewang is the second aspirant
for the Akwa Ibom’s governor office to suffer the kidnap of a relative
following the abduction of the aged mother of Ini Udonwa in May 2010 after he
declared his intention as well.

The transition
chairman of Ukwa west local government, Henry Nwokengbede is one of 39
suspected kidnappers arraigned yesterday before an Umuahia senior
magistrate court presided over by Adiele Ogbonna, for kidnapping and
related offences.

Security officials
said the arraignment of the suspects was part of their intensified
efforts to free Abia from the clutches of kidnappers. The suspects,
including 14 females, were arrested on September 30 when soldiers
launched an offensive against kidnapping gangs around the Ukwa west
area of the state in search of the 15 children abducted on their way to
school.

The suspects were
charged under Section 3 (C) of the Prohibition of Terrorism Law of Abia
state, “for being aware or reasonably having been aware that some
persons, names unknown are being kidnapped or held hostage in your
various communities, fail to disclose the place to the police within
reasonable time.” However, no plea was taken when the charges were read
and the matter was adjourned to October 12, while Mr Nwokengbede was
directed to appear on October 26.

The Inspector
General of Police, Hafiz Ringim, said the end had finally come for
criminals who have been holding Abia hostage. He said the minister of
police affairs will visit Abia to handle the political aspect of the
ongoing efforts to clear Abia of all criminals.

“I have the
mandate; I have the order to flush out all the criminals in the
shortest time,” he told Abia State governor, Theodore Orji during a
courtesy visit, adding that the increase in number of police and army
personnel in the state was a sign that there was no longer a hiding
place for hoodlums.

He said the
kidnappers and other criminal elements have to choose either to come
out of the forests and surrender or “we will meet them in the forest
and they will face annihilation.

“We shall not go
out of this place (Abia) until we achieve the success we are determined
to achieve,” Mr Ringim said, adding, “we are law abiding and we will on
no account violate fundamental human rights of any body.”

Mr Orji said he supported Mr Ringim’s position that there should be no mercy for the criminals who only want quick money.

On 1st October in
the midst of celebrations for Nigeria’s 50th anniversary of
independence from Britain, three bomb blasts rang out in central Abuja
a mere one block from Eagle Square where President Jonathan was
scheduled to address the nation. At least 12 people are confirmed dead
and more than 30 injured in the central area of the national capital.
Nigeria’s security services have arrested several people in connection
with the bombing.

MEND has issued
public statements claiming responsibility. If indeed MEND did
perpetrate the crime then this is a drastic shift from MEND’s claims to
be championing the cause of the poor, disadvantaged and downtrodden
people of the Niger Delta. The demands it has consistently proclaimed
for resource control, better policing, and community development in the
Niger Delta do not appear to be linked to the Abuja bombings.

Since the general
amnesty was proclaimed one year ago which has seen 20,000 former
militia surrender and enter retraining programmes, MEND has allowed the
amnesty programme to proceed without engaging in further violence
despite not subscribing to the amnesty. The bombings have an obvious
inconsistency with MEND’s ceasefire and political agenda which it has
consistently pronounced.

If indeed MEND is
responsible then there are good reasons to suspect that these crimes
indicate a developing rift in MEND. MEND has indicated that the
bombings were carried out in retaliation for the arrest of Henry Okah
in South Africa. However, the timing of these claims seems odd. MEND
gave notice of these bombings days before Okah was arrested. The
bombings in defence of Okah seem to be a belated justification. What
then was MEND’s motive in setting of the bombs that killed so many
innocent people?

MEND also claims
that the South African security forces acted at the request of the
Nigerian authorities. The Nigerian Federal Government categorically
denies that it made any request to have Okah’s residence searched or
Okah arrested. Okah appeared before the courts in South Africa on
Monday 4th October and in the material presented to the courts and made
available from the South African Government there is no indication of
any link to the Nigerian Government.

These bombing
cannot be construed as a Niger Delta related incident. They are a
direct threat on the nation and require President Jonathan to act
clearly and decisively to protect Nigeria’s citizens.

Former MEND
commanders from the Niger Delta who availed themselves of the amnesty
have vehemently denounced the bombings. This is a responsible and
credible action but is unlikely to deter opportunists and copy-cat
incidents. Threats to explode devices at Government House at Akwa in
Anambra State and at NNPC headquarters in Abuja are likely to be
followed by similar such security alerts.

There were security
failures in locating the bombs. Despite at least 30 hours warning of
the blasts the State Security Services failed to locate the devices. In
a woeful defence of their failure the SSS spokesperson blamed the rain
for the security service’s inability to locate and remove the devices.
Clearly President Jonathan needs to address this catastrophic failure
in the security services. The appointment on Monday 4th October of
former general Owoye Azazi as National Security Adviser is a decisive
step in the right direction. Further reform of the security sector
should follow.

It is unlikely that
these bombings were the work of MEND but if so then MEND has betrayed
its cause, and any sympathy the public and particularly the people of
the Niger Delta may have had with it have been blown away with the
blasts.

The people of Abuja
will have to live with much tighter security that will inevitably cause
inconvenience through traffic jams as car boots are searched, delays in
security searches at offices and hotels, and far more rigorous and
intrusive airport clearances. This is the price of vigilance and it is
a great shame that Nigerians have lost some of their freedoms through
these acts of sabotage and death.

Passengers and
users of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, on
Thursday, expressed diverse concerns over the recently introduced
stringent security measures adopted by the Federal Airports Authority
of Nigeria (FAAN).

While some agreed
with the necessity of the newly introduced security measures aimed at
checking any form of terrorism following the October 1, 2010 twin-bomb
blasts in Abuja, other travellers believe that the development has
“unbearably” added to the regular traffic jam experienced on roads
leading to the airports. At peak periods, the Lagos airport narrow
roads are often characterised by high vehicular congestion as workers
and travellers move to or leave the airport. “I never thought that the
situation in Abuja would warrant this depressing screening being
carried out by these officers,” said James Ani, an airport staff. “They
may be right but it is highly unbearable considering the time we spend
on this traffic.”

The screening is
jointly carried out by operatives of the Nigerian Air Force, Police
Anti-Bomb Squad, Immigration, National Civil Defence Corps, and
Aviation Security, on all the routes leading to the airports. According
to Mr Ani, this has added to the plights suffered by commuters on the
roads. He called on the airports authority to deploy more men to the
roads in order to fast track the process of the checks.

Go to the airports early

On the other hand,
Samuel Oluwalana, a passenger at the airport commended the initiative
and called on other airports users to comply with the security
operatives. “It is laudable despite what some people will say when you
look at the traffic that this must have caused,” he said. “It is better
to be late and be alive than to lose your live to a bomber or a
terrorist while in haste to get to the airport.”

NEXT, on Thursday,
reported the new security measures at the airport with the officers
stationed on roads at about two kilometres away from the international
terminal, where they enforce thorough screening of both commercial and
private motorists using the roads. Richard Aisuebeogun, the Managing
Director of FAAN, in a statement on Thursday, urged on the public to
assist the agency in its fight for a safe and secured airport, adding
that with respect to the prolonged traffic, travellers and airports
users should endeavour to get to the airport “two to three hours” ahead
before their stipulated departure time to avoid missing their flights.

“We also want to advise members of the local communities and all
stakeholders to report any strange or unusual activities within the
airport environment to security agencies nationwide,” he said. “We
appeal to all airport road users to cooperate with the officials
involved in the screening exercises, to ensure smooth facilitation, and
undue delays.”

The director
general of Goodluck/Sambo Campaign Organisation, Dalhatu Tafida, said
yesterday, in Abuja, that President Goodluck Jonathan will accept
defeat if those challenging him win the primaries of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP).

He stated this while reacting to the call by some northern elders for Mr. Jonathan to resign or be impeached.

Mr. Tafida, who
briefed a group of journalists barely 24 hours after he spoke with
others, said the presidential election is not a matter of life and
death, stressing that if any of those aspirants opposing the president
emerge victorious, he will accept the result.

At present, there
are four other presidential aspirants on the platform of the ruling
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) besides Mr. Jonathan. They are former
military president, Ibrahim Babangida; former vice president, Atiku
Abubakar; and former national security adviser, Aliyu Gusau. Others are
the Kwara State governor, Bukola Saraki; and Sarah Jubril.

“If the opposition
succeeds, we will follow them. I am been fair to others; if they win,
we shall follow them. Let us not overheat the political temperature,”
Mr. Tafida said.

Preaching the
gospel of peace, the former Nigerian envoy to the United Kingdom denied
plans by the president to influence laid down procedures.

“Why do we want to
manipulate things? God has already decided who will be president. Let’s
give peace a chance. We have passed a stage where power changes hand in
a room where an individual presides. Power must be through open,
transparent elections. We must give equal opportunities to all. A
presidential election is not a game of life and death,” Mr. Tafida
said.

He enjoined all
members of the PDP in the race to remember that “there is politics
after presidential elections, let us be careful.”

Word for the Northern leaders

Warning against
politicizing the October 1st twin bombing in Abuja, the director
general said the incident was a national tragedy, a catastrophe, and a
national embarrassment, and insisted that no matter the grievances, 50
years in the life of any nation comes but once.

He said it was time
to review the state of development in the country with those with whom
it was nearly at par at independence, including Malaysia, South Korea,
Thailand, and South Africa.

According to Mr.
Tafida, over 12 innocent Nigerians died as a result of the bombings,
adding that instead of the Northern Political Leaders Forum (NPLF), led
by former finance minister, Adamu Ciroma, to be sober, they are trying
to make political gains from the incident.

“While the security
agencies are busy trying to unearth the details of the natural tragedy,
the provocative comments of some of our yesterdays men, laced with
ethnic chauvinism, suggest that they do not mind if Nigeria explodes if
they don’t acquire power at all cost in the 2011 primaries and general
elections,” he said.

Also on Thursday,
the Nigerian Alliance for Credible Leadership (NACL) asked the NPLF to
concentrate on how to unite the country, rather than making
inflammatory statements over the bombing incident.

Call to arm

NACL national
coordinator, Lawal Daku, said at a press conference in Abuja that the
said statements credited to Mr. Ciroma and the deputy director general
of the Ibrahim Babangida 2011 Campaign Organisation, Kanti Bello,
asking Mr. Jonathan to resign or be impeached were uncalled for.

“If people like
Ciroma who had ample opportunity of affecting positively the lives of
Nigerians when they were in power, put the interest of the masses
before their own, we will not be where we are today. We remain in total
darkness the likes of Ciroma put us into.

“It is in this
light that we are baffled at the inflammatory comments of supposedly
statesmen like Alhaji Adamu Ciroma and Senator Kanti Bello. We are
making this clarion call to them not to start fanning the embers of
war,” Mr. Daku said.