Biafra threat: Imo beefs up security

Following alleged  threat by a faction of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), known as Biafra Zionist Federation(BZF), to storm other South-East States to hoist its flag  in their Government Houses, the Imo State Government has beefed up security around the  Government House, Owerri.
In a statement signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the governor on media, Sam Onwuemeodo, the government urged the people of the state not to panic as their lives and properties would be protected. The government, it said, has also moved to nip the threat in the bud.

NIS recruitment: Applicants Drag FG, Abba Moro to court

The controversy over the deadly recruitment test conducted by the Nigeria Immigration Service has metarmorphosed into a legal action brought against the Federal Government by the applicants who participated in the exercise.
Specifically, four persons acting  for themselves and onbehalf of all those applicants to recruitment exercise which claimed 18 lives yesterday dragged the Federal Government, Minister of Interior and four others before a Federal High court seeking an order declaring that the conduct or the execution of the Recruitment Exercise illegal, unwarranted, in violation of the Applicants’ fundamental rights to life.
The suit was brought under Sections 33,34,  and 44 of the 1999 Constitition (amended) and the equivalent articles of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Right Act.
Also joined as respondents  in the suit are the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice,  Ministry of Interior, Nigerian Immigration Service and its  Comptroller General, David Shikfu Parradang.
The applicants, Charles Ugwuonye, Friday Danlami, Chinedu Onwuka and Samson Ojo through their counsel, Emeka Ugwuonye  had among other things want the court to declare the recruitment exercise illegal and restrain the NIS from spending the money realized from the recruitment exercise.

Automatic Employment: Desperate Job Seekers Besiege National Hospital Abuja Feigning Injuries From NIS Recruitment

 
Following yesterday’s announcement by the Federal Government that families of applicants, who died in last Saturday’s Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, recruitment exercise nationwide, have been offered three slots each, while those that sustained injuries would be automatically absorbed into the service, countless jobseekers have turned the National Hospital, Abuja, into a Mecca of sorts in their desperate attempt to be counted among the injured.
It was learnt that early Thursday, those, who hospital sources described as “wounded racket”, visited the center displaying various degrees of injuries they sustained during the stampede at the National Stadium, Abuja at the weekend, demanding to be put on the hospital’s list of wounded applicants.
However, they were not among the estimated 40 injured applicants rushed to the National Hospital for treatment on the wake of the stampede that left no fewer than 19 applicants dead nationwide.

Jonathan admits treating terrorism with kid gloves

President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday admitted that his administration had hitherto been treating terrorists in the country with kid glove.

Terrorists, especially members of the Islamic sect, Boko Haram, have hold sway in the North-East zone in the past three years, killing thousands of citizens in attacks on villages, military and polie facilities, worship houses and drinking joints.

The President said his government had now decided to be more forceful in its approach because of its desire to stamp out terror groups from the country.

He spoke in Windhoek, Namibia, during a bilateral talk with President Hifikepunye Pohamba.

“Initially, we handle it (terrorism) with kid glove, but now we have decided to be a little more forceful because we must thrash out these terror groups. We must not allow it to continue to slow down economic growth in that part of the country,” Jonathan said.

Jonathan told his Namibian counterpart that a terror attack on any part of the world is an attack on everyone, saying terrorism has become a global phenomenon though the intensity might vary from one country to the other.

Robbers invade church, steal phones, N2m

No fewer than 15 armed robbers invaded the Christ Apostolic Church in Alagbado, Lagos State, stealing about 40 phones and money estimated at N2m.

The robbers, who operated for about 20 minutes, were said to have also attempted raping some of the church members before they left the church premises.

It was learnt that the men came around 2am penultimate Friday while the over 450 congregation was engrossed in a prayer session.

A member of the church, who craved anonymity, said some of the members had observed a strange man making phone calls while the vigil was on.

He said, “The vigil actually started around 12 midnight. Some of us observed a man who came in around 1.30am. He was seated in the women’s section. About four persons tried persuading him to change seat, including the pastor, but he refused. So they left him.

“I observed him going out several times to make phone calls. At about 2am, I overheard him saying, ‘start coming, they are praying’. Few minutes later, I heard a gunshot.”

Moro, NIS boss fought over immigration recruitment – Investigation

Facts have emerged that a cold war between the Minister of Interior, Mr. Abba Moro and the Comptroller General of the Nigerian  Immigration Service, Mr. David Parradang, played a major role in the  NIS  recruitment  that resulted in the death of 20 job applicants on Saturday.

It was learnt on Wednesday in Abuja that both Moro and Parradang had been on each other’s throat over who should conduct the exercise.

Investigations revealed that while the minister insisted that it was the responsibility of the Ministry of Interior to handle the recruitment as the presiding ministry, the comptroller general  was of the view that the service should be allowed to handle the recruitment.

A source, who spoke to one of our correspondents on ‘the drama’ that preceded the immigration jobs tragedy, said the Immigration boss had argued that  those to be given jobs would work with the NIS as such the service could  not be left out.

PDP owes me, says Atiku

A former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has said his former political party, the Peoples Democratic Party, owes him a debt of gratitude.

Abubakar, however, said he  did not owe the ruling party anything.

It will be recalled that the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, had recently said that Abubakar owed the party a debt of gratitude for providing him a political platform that helped him to emerge as the former Vice President.

But the former Vice President said in a statement in Abuja on Sunday, that contrary to the claim by the leadership of the PDP, it was indeed his former party that owed him a debt of thanks.

The former Vice President, who resigned his membership of the PDP in February to join the All Progressives Congress, noted that the insinuation being peddled by Metuh that he was ungrateful to the PDP was a distortion of history.

Confab: Bakare says he won’t receive allowance

Serving Overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has said that he will not partake of the N12m to be paid to each delegate to the three-month National Conference to be inaugurated by President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday (today).

Bakare, representing Ogun State at the conference, said he made the decision not to collect the money to be paid to delegates by the Federal Government in order to dispel any speculation that his motivation for accepting to take part in the conference was material.

Each of the 492 delegates to the National Conference would be paid N4m per month for the three month duration and this has been the subject of controversy with some Nigerians condemning the amount to be spent.

Announcing to his church members that he had accepted to be a delegate to the conference, Bakare told the congregation that he would be giving them weekly report as the conference progressed.

He said, “A friend of mine called me this (Sunday) morning that he heard on the radio that ‘Pastor Bakare had accepted to go, that his own fee is N12m’. Pastor Bakare will not take a kobo in the National Conference.

UN condemns FG over poor power supply

The United Nations has criticised the Federal Government for failing to provide improved power supply to millions of Nigerians.

It also condemned the government’s inability to offer effective electricity metering system.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, Ms. Magdalena Carmona, and the Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination, Ms. Raquel Rolnik, signed a petition in which they criticised the government.

A statement from the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project on Sunday said the two rapporteurs blamed the government of President Goodluck Jonathan “over the impact of the Multi-Year Tariff Order II and its potential detrimental impact on the realisation of human rights of people living in extreme poverty in Nigeria.”

A check on UN website confirmed the petition.

Sanusi to Jonathan: Allegations against me baseless

The suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Lamido Sanusi, has described the allegations of financial recklessness levelled against him by the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria as a malicious and calculated attempt to mislead President Goodluck Jonathan into believing that the management of the bank is guilty of misconduct and recklessness.

In what can be described as his first official response to the allegations, Sanusi, in a letter to Jonathan, said that contrary to the claims by the Presidency that he was asked to respond to issues raised in the FRCN report, he only saw the “Briefing Note” of the council for the first time when it was attached to his suspension letter.

In the letter, sent to the President on March 10, a copy of which was made available to journalists on Sunday, the suspended governor said at no time were the allegations in the report sent to the CBN either by the President or the FRCN for comments or explanations.

He said, “On Wednesday March 10, 2014, I submitted a memorandum to His Excellency, Mr. President, with supporting documentation, effectively addressing all the allegations contained in the FRCN Briefing Note, the letter of suspension and the Akingbola petition.

Tension in Kaduna as death toll hits 114

Tension rose in  Kaduna town and environs on Sunday, following the killing  of no fewer than 100 people in  three  villages in Kaduna State on Friday night.

There was a  heavy security presence at all churches in the state capital and environs where  the Christian faithful had converged to worship.

Our correspondent observed the movement of combat-ready policemen and other security agents in trucks at the Sabo Tasha and Refinery areas of the city to maintain law and order as people spread rumours that all was not well in those parts of the state capital.

The victims of the massacre were said to have been buried in mass graves on Sunday.

The umbrella body of the Southern Kaduna people in the state, the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union,  on Sunday put the  death toll from the attacks at  114.

It said over 40 attacks had been recorded so far in the Southern Kaduna communities since 2011. The group also accused Fulani herdsmen as being behind the attacks.