Nigeria Content Online

About 83 vehicles
were destroyed on Wednesday as members of the two factions of the Oyo
State chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW)
engaged one another in hot battle in the wee hours of the day.

The vehicles, which included exotic cars and commercial vehicles, were either burnt or vandalised by the rampaging hoodlums.

An eyewitness told
NEXT that the fracas started around 1am when sporadic shooting started
within the neighbourhood of the Academy-Olomi state secretariat of the
union. Buildings within the area also fell victims of the shooting, as
some of them were riddled with bullets, while the damaged vehicles were
either shot at or matcheted.

Like a fresh war
scene, the adjoining streets in the area were littered with hundreds of
disused cartridges and carcasses of the damaged vehicles.

The duel, which
reportedly lasted for about three hours, saw the assailants enter the
union’s secretariat where furniture and other valuable equipment were
destroyed. The assailants shot their ways into the building after
destroying a black Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) belonging to Lateef
Akinsola (aka Tokyo), recently reinstated chairman of the union, who
was suspected to be the target of the attack.

Mr. Akinsola was said to have narrowly escaped being killed as he left the building before the attackers gained entrance.

Scores injured
during the fight have been hospitalised at an undisclosed hospital in
Ibadan, where they are believed to be safe from arrest or possible
further attack.

Lekan Aleshinloye,
a factional secretary of the union, told journalists in Ibadan that
members loyal to Tokyo had the premonition of the attack, adding that
the information informed the decision of some of them to keep vigil at
the office.

He said the men
stationed at the office premises confronted the assailants as soon as
sporadic shootings started. He added that the men retreated when they
saw that the assailants were led by policemen identified as men from
the state’s Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

He claimed that
besides the 15 vehicles that conveyed them to the scene, the assailants
convoy was backed with a police Armoured Personnel Carrier.

Blameless police

The state police
command, however, denied any culpability in the matter. Baba Adisa
Bolanta, state commissioner of police, said his men were only drafted
to the scene to restore peace when information on breakdown of law and
order in the area were reported to the police. He said the police had
arrested two suspects in connection with the incident.

Abiodun Ige, the
area commander in charge of Iyaganku, led a combined team of armed
policemen and men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps to
the troubled area at about 11am to assess the extent of damages.

Mr. Ige came in company of all the divisional police officers in charge of the police divisions in the area command.

Both Tokyo and
Lateef Salako (aka Elewe-Omo), the two proverbial elephants in the
fight, could not be reached on phone yesterday as their mobile phones
were said to have been switched off.

A statement by the
state police command, signed by its spokesperson, Okuwobi Olabisi, said
it has recovered three dead bodies. It said the bodies were brought to
the police headquarters by Eleweomo at about 12 noon yesterday.

“The command wants to use this medium to assure good members of the
public of their safety in view of the crisis rocking the state NURTW.
Troublemakers, no matter how highly placed in the society and their
foot soldiers, are by this medium warned to desist forthwith as the
command has deployed both human and material logistics needed to tackle
their activities headlong,” she said.

Goodluck Jonathan yesterday decorated
the newly appointed service chiefs. The service chiefs were promoted
one step higher in their ranks.

President Jonathan implored them to
ensure that the menace of kidnapping is wiped out of the country,
through cooperation with the Nigerian Police Force.

The decoration ceremony took place
shortly before the commencement of the weekly Federal Executive Council
(FEC) meeting at the Council Chambers of the presidential villa. Family
and friends of the newly decorated military chiefs were on ground to
witness the occasion, which took off shortly after 10am.

The newly appointed Director General of
the State Security Service (SSS), Ita Ekpenyong, and the DG of the
Nigerian Intelligence Agency, E. O. Oladeji, were also recognised.

The promotion of the Acting Inspector
General of police, Hafiz Ringim, to the post of substantive IG is
pending the confirmation of the National Council of States, which is
made up of governors.

Speaking during the ceremony, Mr
Jonathan urged the chiefs to devise measures to reposition the defence
intelligence system both at home and abroad. “We are all gathered to
witness the decoration of the nation’s chief of defence staff, and
chiefs for the army, navy and air force, who in the exercise of my
powers as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, I appointed last
week,” the president said. “The chief of defence staff, Oluseyi
Petirin, former Air Marshal, is now Air Chief Marshal; the Chief of
Defence Staff, Azubuike Ihejirika, was Major-General, is now
Lieutenant-General; the Chief of Naval Staff, Ola Ibrahim, was a Rear
Admiral, is now Vice-Admiral and the Chief of Air Staff, Mohammed Dikko
Umar, was Air Vice Marshal, is now Air Marshal.”

Political challenges

Mr Jonathan stated that in spite of
several political challenges we have faced as a nation, the armed
forces have, in the last one decade, remained resolute in defence of
democracy in our country.

“The armed forces’ complete submission
to civil authority in compliance with the provisions of the
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, has helped to sustain
our collective efforts to develop a true democratic culture in the
country,” he said.

“For this act of unflinching loyalty, I
commend our officers and men. I thank the immediate past chief of
defence staff, Air Marshal Paul Dike; the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen.
Ibrahim Danbazau; the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice-Admiral Ishaya
Ibrahim; and the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Petirin who is now the
CDS, for the sterling leadership they provided to the armed forces in
the last two years of their service.

“I urge you to see your appointment as
another opportunity for higher service to your fatherland. You must,
therefore, remain committed, dedicated and loyal to the constitution of
the Federal Republic.”

He said the men were coming to service
at a very critical moment in our history, with our country facing
internal security challenges, such as kidnapping, militia terrorizing
parts of the country and others. “You must work effectively with the
police to ensure that we put this ugly part of Nigeria’s history behind
us as soon as possible.

“Government will do everything to
support you to make sure that these rampant cases of kidnapping and
militia harassing, maiming, destroying and killing people in parts of
this country, is a thing of the past,” he said.

He urged Nigerians to cooperate with and support the new officers to
succeed, adding that their “success will bring security to this country
that all Nigerians are looking up to”.

The Federal government yesterday denied that only
fifty per cent of electricity workers have being paid the monetisation
benefits which was agreed upon for the suspension of a nationwide
strike by the workers weeks ago.

The Minister of State for Power, Nuhu Wyas told NEXT
Wednesday that while the payment has not been completed as claimed by a
senior official of the union over the weekend, more than 80% were paid
as at Tuesday.

“Out of over 44,000 eligible workers, over 36,000
have been verified and paid,” he said in a text message yesterday.
“Outstanding is over 8,000 only,” he added.

The National Union of the Electricity Workers called
off its strike on August 26, 2010 after agreeing with the federal
government that the disputed benefit totalling about N67 billion would
be cleared within two weeks.

As the date elapsed last Sunday, the Secretary of the
electricity workers union’ Joe Ajaeroh said only 50% of the targeted
beneficiaries could be met hinting at the possibility of renewed
industrial action in the sector.

The union acknowledged there was a disparity between
the amount claimed to have been paid by the government, and those
actually paid. It however hoped to harmonise the differences between
Monday and Tuesday, allowing for the two public holidays declared last
week.

But the Minister said the delay in completing the
payment exercise was due to a complex verification of lawful
beneficiaries resulting from poor records. “These outstanding are due
to poor records, lack of proper identification of next of kin for
deceased workers, unavailability of those who have left the service” he
said. The issues are currently being addressed by external auditors, Mr
Wya stated.

The union could not confirm its position to NEXT as at yesterday but
seems to be in agreement with the claim made by the federal government.
The organising secretary of union’s Abuja Zonal office, Temple Iworima
said the payment is going on, and so far, 33,000 workers were paid
while the few leftovers are to be resolved.

Bello Garba Bello,
the first son of the late senior official of the state security service
killed on Monday in Kano, has allegedly confessed that he was the one
who actually stabbed his father, Garba Bello, his mother, Habiba and
his three siblings to death in a murder case that has shocked residents
of the city.

Twenty-two-year-old
Mr Bello (Baba) made this confession yesterday at the headquarters of
the Kano State Police Command, Bompai Kano.

The state Police
Commissioner, Mohammed J. Gana, showed journalists a handwritten
confessional statement allegedly written by the suspect, in which he
confessed to killing his family and said that after he killed them, he
tried to commit suicide but couldn’t after realising the enormity of
what he did.

Mr Bello, who is a
200 level Physics student of the Kano State University of Technology,
Wudil (KSUT), had also all egedly confessed, in a hand written
statement submitted to the state command of the State Security Service
(SSS), that he single-handedly carried out the killings. He also
claimed that his anger was that his father was going to die because of
his terminal illness and that he could not bear the responsibilities of
catering for his mother and siblings that would follow subsequently.

He said in the
statement that he stabbed his parents and three of his siblings to
death at about 2am on Monday this week. “My father cannot provide for
my basic needs, so I killed them all with knives,” the statement to the
police reads. “It was painful to me and the entire family. It was an
unbearable, irreparable loss. My father has been bedridden and I know
he is not going to survive. I did the job alone.

“The intention was
to wipe out the entire family and after that, I called my neighbours,
Isiaku and Buhari immediately after the incident.”

Speculations not at rest

Security officials
say his confession puts to rest speculations about the motive behind
the killing of 54-year-old Bello and four members of his family.

The incident also
saw 40-year-old Habiba strangulated and three of their children,
16-year-old Hafsat; 14-year-old Khalifa and five-year-old Murjatu
murdered in cold blood.

One Umar Danjani,
who claimed to be a relation of the deceased SSS official, has,
however, disagreed with the police and the said confessional statement
of Mr Bello.

Mr Danjani said
that Farouk, the other surviving son of the late Bello, told the family
that he saw another man who was wearing a white singlet, called Aminu,
kill his family members. He also said some neighbours heard the sound
of a whistle and sound of many persons.

“This means that the younger Bello did not carry out the killings alone,” he said.

A yet to be disclosed group has launched an SMS platform for Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign.

This platform may get wider coverage than the road campaign, as every network subscriber is said to be targeted by the texts.

In an SMS branded
“J.Goodluck”, which was sent to NEXT and a few others who confirmed
they too had received the text, Mr Jonathan solicits support from
Nigerians to join him in transforming our nation.

In the text, which
was obviously sent in bulk, Mr Jonathan said: “we are on the road to
rebuild our Nation. Stand with me, Stand for transformation”.

The SMS platform
may be the starting point of the president’s campaign which, NEXT
learnt, has its slogan as “Time for Transformation,” though it has not
yet been unveiled.

All-inclusive participation

Former Vice
President, Atiku Abubakar, has also launched a new campaign website as
a way of ensuring an all-inclusive participation in his campaign to
become Nigeria’s next president.

The website aims at
giving all Nigerians, including those living abroad, the opportunity to
make input in his campaign. “I want to run an inclusive campaign. I
want to hear from all Nigerians and respond to their questions and
concerns,” Mr Abubakar said yesterday, in a statement released by his
campaign office in Abuja.

The website, which was launched Monday, September 13, 2010, has already attracted over 2000 hits in less than 24 hours, he said.

He also launched his presence on the social media (Twitter and
Facebook) as a way of attracting younger Nigerians to support his
candidacy.

The Edo State command of the Nigeria Police on
Tuesday attributed the recent spate of kidnappings and other violent
crimes in the state to the delay in reporting criminal cases to enable
the police authorities embark on prompt action.

Residents of the ancient city were just recovering
from the shock of the brutal assassination of 86-year-old female
politician, Grace Osakwe, when the news of the abduction of Olabisi
Ihenyen, the Chief Medical Director of the Federal Psychiatric
Hospital, Uselu, Benin, and her husband, Lionel, broke.

To compound the apparent embarrassment of the
security agencies and their failure to check the spate of kidnappings,
Lucy Omagbon, a former commissioner of Lands, Survey and Housing in the
state, was also reported kidnapped last Sunday.

Delay by relatives

Reacting to the security situation in the state, the
command’s acting public relations officer, Ejiroro Ahwara, decried the
delay in reporting such cases to the command by relatives of victims.

He stated that rather than prompt reporting of
abduction cases to the police, relatives of the victims usually engage
in negotiation with the kidnappers.

“The police are compelled to work under critical
situations when the families of the victims are already negotiating
with the kidnappers,” he said.

Mr Awhara appealed to members of the public to always
be on the alert and also to report criminal activities and any
suspicious movements to the police on time. He also revealed that the
abductors of Mrs Omagbon had contacted her relatives.

Mrs Ihenyen and her husband regained their freedom
from their captors on Monday night, although this could not be
confirmed as at press time. It was also not clear how much their family
paid out in ransom. We, however, gathered that the family had offered
the sum of N5 million to the kidnappers, which was allegedly refused.

Medical workers in the state, especially in Benin, had embarked on
strikes to protest the kidnap of medical personnel and to pressurise
the government to crack down on kidnap gangs in the state.

A senator in the
third republic, Remi Okunriboye, has described as “pathetic” the
current situation where politicians incur huge debt in their bid to
acutalise their political ambition.

Mr. Okunriboye, who spoke in Owo, said the huge amount committed to campaigns will continue to rob the nation of credible polls.

“What do you expect
from politicians who borrow from banks and people? They will never
serve the interest of the masses,” he said.

“Their main target,
when they get to position, is to first recoup the money they spend
during campaign. This is highly detrimental to the advancement of the
nation call Nigeria. They invest heavily to make Nigerians pay for it
later.”

The politician, who
is a senatorial candidate of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, also
charged anti-corruption agencies to probe the spending of aspirants
during electioneering campaign. He said it was time Nigerians rise up
against extravagant spending by politicians during elections.

Fulfil promises

He also urged
politicians across the country to always fulfill their electioneering
promises whenever they get to positions, saying the only way
politicians could assist the electorate was to give them dividends of
democracy.

“It is highly disturbing that the moment politicians get to the corridor of power they forget the electorates,” he said.

“This is not good for our democracy; we must allow our people to get to the mainstream.”

Mr. Okunriboye also
criticised the total number of political parties registered in the
country, saying, “the more you have various political parties, the more
you create problems for the country.”

He, however,
charged political leaders in the country to look inward to tackle the
problems of the masses through massive creation of jobs.

About 120 prisoners who were recently freed when
members suspected to be of the Boko Haram sect attacked the Bauchi
Prison, have willingly returned to the prison.

The Minister of Interior, Emmanuel Ihenacho,
disclosed this in Abuja while explaining what the federal government
was doing to forestall the threat of further attacks from the religious
sect that has held the northern part of the country by the jugular
since last year.

Although details of the returnee prisoners could not
be ascertained as to whether they were awaiting trial prisoners (ATPs)
or those serving various sentences, a prison source who asked not to be
named said that they are prisoners serving light sentences.

Mr Ihenacho said the suspected Boko Haram members
actually launched the attack with the sole aim of freeing over 100 of
their members detained in the prison in relation to last year’s
disturbances that accounted for the death of about 1000 persons and
destruction of several property.

Safe and secure

The minister disagreed with those who have accused
the federal government of being helpless, saying it was committed to
the security of lives and property at the prison.

He added that there were a total of 759 inmates under
the prison’s guard, out of which 721 were freed during the jail break,
leaving a balance of just 28 inmates.

Mr Ihenacho did not explain what will happen to the
120 prisoners that returned on their volition, whether they will be
considered for future government pardon or not, but he did add that the
nationwide prison security system and related security agencies will
mount a concerted search to track down the fleeing inmates.

He promised that the government will reinforce the
monitoring of security situations in the contingent states of the
sect’s spread, especially those of the north-east geopolitical region,
to forestall a possible spill-over.

Clarifying on the casualty figure from the jailbreak, the minister
said only two un-identified persons were confirmed dead, along with a
mobile policeman, while three other prison officials who sustained
severe injuries are currently receiving treatments.

The federal
government has charged the Honourary International Investor Council
(HIIC) to support Nigeria in building investor confidence in the
country. The call came against the backdrop of the treatment given to
companies doing business in Nigeria by some countries.

Vice President
Namadi Sambo said at yesterday’s meeting of the Council at the Banquet
Hall of the State House, Abuja that it is sad that European Union
countries do not guarantee companies that are doing business in
Nigeria. He cited the United Kingdom which gives guarantees to
companies in Ghana and other countries but not to those in Nigeria, as
an example.

He therefore urged
the members of the body “to support and partner with government to
build investor confidence on the country.” Mr. Sambo stressed that
there are still huge opportunities for investment in all sectors in
Nigeria, adding that the Central Bank of Nigeria has made available
N500 billion at one digit interest rate.

The Vice President
noted government’s commitment in ensuring an enabling environment for
businesses to thrive in Nigeria, saying “government has made deliberate
policies to ensure that these objectives are met”.

In this light, he
said government has put in place a new gas pricing policy to further
bolster investor interest in the oil and gas sector and that to ensure
adequate security, machinery had been put in place to reform the
Nigeria police.

“To meet the huge
financial requirements for infrastructural development, government is
looking at various ways to organise and stratify funding for projects
in its quest to achieve the laudable goals contained in the Vision
20:2020 programme,” he said.

He said such ways
include concessionary funds from the World Bank, the Islamic
Development Bank (IDB), the African Development Bank (ADB) and the Yen
Credit facility, among several others. Others include Public Private
Partnerships and bilateral funding.

The VP stated that
government needs “the cooperation and support of the private sector to
meet the developmental challenges of the country”.

According to him,
areas needing urgent intervention include, “power, such as the hydro
power projects in Zungeru and Mambilla, and development of Coal power
plants; transportation; housing and urban development, construction of
multipurpose dams, agriculture, port expansion, road and railways
construction, water ways and access to financing for the private
sector”.

Positive changes

The Chairperson of
the Investor Council, Lynda Chalker, said the Council has a good
opportunity to take a number of key issues forward. She further said
that the Council had noticed a very significant change in Nigeria which
is for the better, adding that they have seen a big leap forward. Mrs
Chalker used the occasion to assure Mr Sambo of their commitment to
improving investor confidence in Nigeria.

The meeting saw
presentations from the Minister of Agriculture, Ahmed Abdullahi on
driving investments into agriculture; the Chairman, Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega on the Challenges
and Prospects of Electoral Reform Process in Nigeria and; the
government of Borno State, on driving investment to Nigerian States.

Council members present include Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Sam Jonah,
Emmanuel Ijewere, Umaru Mutalab, Neil Harvey, Guillaume Roux, Ronnie
Ntuli, Simon Harford and Pietro Franco Tali. Others at the occasion are
the Minister of National Planning, Shamsudeen Usman; Special Assistant
to the President on MDGs, Amina Al-Zubair, and the Executive Secretary,
Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) Mustapha Bello among
others.

The Anambra State
government has assured that the strike action embarked upon by the
state chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which
led to the closure of the state university’s campuses at Uli and
Igbariam, will soon be resolved.

The university
staff joined their counterparts in the four south-east states in a
strike to protest the non-implementation by the south east governors of
the new salary scheme for state universities.

But addressing the
press yesterday in Awka, the senior special assistant to the governor
on communication, John Ubabukoh, said that the governor, Peter Obi, was
worried over the continued closure of the Anambra State University and
was working hard to resolve the crisis. Mr Ubabukoh said several
meetings had been held towards this and there were indications that the
problem would soon be resolved.

The head of service
in the state, Ngozi Melifonwu, has also assured that the government is
working round the clock to resolve the problem. She said the government
indicated its seriousness in solving the problem by setting up a panel,
which she headed, to look into the matter. “We just rose from the
follow-up to our inaugural meeting,” she said. “I must tell you that
all the parties that attended the meeting share the same concern and
want the crisis to be settled so that our children will go back to
school.”

Lasting solution

Mrs Melifionwu said
the panel had listened to the problems in the school from relevant
stakeholders, including the government’s delegation. She said that the
panel will now go into other details necessary for a lasting solution.

“It was good to
observe that the meeting took place without antagonism. If we continue
in the same spirit, the crisis will surely be over soon,” she said.
Other members of the panel are the Pro-Chancellor of the University,
Elochukwu Amucheazi; Israel Okoye; A.F Uzoka; Chukwuemeka Ike, a
traditional ruler; the acting Vice Chancellor of the Anambra State
University, C.C. Anene and representatives of the Ministry of
Education, among others.

The south-east
governors had insisted that the resources available to states were not
equal and thus every state could not be expected to implement the new
salary scheme. But the chairman of the South East Governors’ Forum,
Peter Obi, recently said each state in the south-east zone was free to
handle the matter as it deemed fit.

The ASUU within the region also directed its affiliates in the states to parley with their governments over the matter.