A Nigerian newspaper and Online version of the Vanguard, a daily publication in Nigeria covering Niger delta, general national news, politics, business, energy, sports, entertainment, fashion,lifestyle human interest stories, etc
Unknown gunmen on Sunday night shot dead Mr Ben Onyechere, the former Media Adviser to former governor of Abia, Chief Theodore Orji.
Onyechere was kidnapped at about 8 p.m. in Ikenegbu axis of Owerri where he had gone with his driver to do some shopping.
A source who spoke on condition of anonymity said "the gunmen numbering five trailed Onyechere to a popular super market in Ikenegbu and forced his driver out of his car before they sped off with Onyechere.
"The following day the lifeless body of Oncheyere was found a few streets away from Maris Junction, Ikenegbu Owerri, after he was shot several times. It is sad''.
The source added that the deceased's driver, who put up initial resistance was shot twice on the legs before Onyechere was kidnapped.
The detail of the assassination are still sketchy.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in Imo command, DSP Andrew Enwerem, said that he was informed of the incident, but could not confirm the identity of the victim.
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has predicted sunny and hazy weather conditions over the central States of the country on Tuesday.
NiMet made the prediction in the Weather Outlook issued by its Central Forecast Office in Abuja on Monday.
It said that the region would have day and night temperature of 31 to 37 degrees Celsius and 14 to 21 degrees Celsius respectively.
The agency predicted that the southern states would experience partly cloudy conditions over the inland cities within the next 24 hours and cloudy morning over the entire coast.
It also predicted prospects of localised thunderstorms over Port Harcourt, Yenegoa, Lagos, Akure and Ijebu-Ode later in the day with day and night temperatures of 32 to 36 and 22 to 25 degrees Celsius respectively.
According to NiMet, northern states will experience sunny and hazy conditions with day and night temperatures of 32 to 36 and 14 to 21 degrees Celsius respectively.
"The northern part of the country will be under sunny and hazy conditions while the coastal regions should expect isolated thunderstorms in the next 24 hours," the agency predicted.
Ikeja Electric (IE) on Monday decried the increasing number of violent attacks on its staff while performing their lawful duties.
Mr Felix Ofulue, the Head, Corporate Communications Unit of the company, expressed the company's concern in a statement made available to newsmen in Lagos.
He said that the company was shocked at the level of violence, citing a recent incident at Akowonjo, Lagos, where an aggrieved woman allegedly stabbed a staff of IE.
"It is quite disheartening that a customer will resort to such levels of violence under any circumstance, to express her grievance without even considering the enormity of the action, which could have easily resulted in murder if the staff had died.
"This is appalling and totally unacceptable," Ofolue said.
He said that field staff were often attacked by aggrieved customers on matters which were completely beyond their control as workers of a distribution company.
"The company has created several channels for aggrieved customers to present their complaints, but rather, some chose to vent their anger on the workers, which is criminal.
"Some of the issues they are complaining about are beyond our control.
"For instance, there is poor power supply, which is as a result of certain known challenges that cut across the value chain and we are the last arm of the chain.
"These challenges are beyond our control, so there is no point directing your anger at any of our staff because they are also customers of a network where they reside," he said.
Ofolue said that the aggression by the customers was misdirected since the company could only distribute the allocation it gets from the national grid.
He warned that any customer who attacks any IE staff would be made to face wrath of law.
"We are appealing to customers to exercise patience and restraint.
"We are also appealing to community leaders to sensitize their people," he said.
More than 20 people were feared dead after Boko Haram gunmen opened fire on a convoy of motorists travelling under military escort in northeast Nigeria, witnesses told AFP on Monday.
The exact toll from the ambush on the main road between Maiduguri to Damboa on Saturday was unclear, with numbers varying from two to as high as 15 and 24.
But according to travellers who survived the attack and local rescuers, at least 15 trucks laden with food were seized when the Islamists struck at the Korowaso forest on Saturday.
“The attackers appeared from the bushes as the convoy slowed down at a part of the road riddled with potholes and opened fire on the vehicles,” said one of the drivers, Idrissa Kyari.
“They killed 15 people and injured nine while many passengers fled into the bush after subduing the military escorts. They also took away 15 trucks carrying food into the bush.”
Two students from of University of Maiduguri were killed in the attack with three others injured, said a teacher at the university on condition of anonymity.
Masida Umar, a civilian vigilante assisting the military against Boko Haram, said: “We evacuated 24 dead bodies and several injured to hospital.
“Many people fled into the bush and have not been seen despite deployment of a search team.”
Umar said there were fears Boko Haram may have captured those who fled.
The militia member said the rebels were believed to have launched the attack from Sambisa forest, which connects with Korowaso.
– Supply lines cut – Last month Nigeria’s military claimed to have dislodged Boko Haram from their last stronghold in the former game reserve after a months-long offensive.
But residents in the area have said fighters were still hiding in areas on the edge of the forest.
Military and police authorities declined to comment on the incident when contacted by AFP.
The 90-kilometre (55-mile) Maiduguri-Damboa road was nominally reopened last February, allowing motorists to ply the highway but only under military protection.
It had been closed in 2013 following a spate of deadly attacks on motorists, as Boko Haram seized swathes of territory in Borno and two neighbouring states.
In the last two years a coordinated fightback against Boko Haram involving Nigerian troops and soldiers from Cameroon, Chad and Niger has successfully clawed back lost territory.
That has put pressure on Boko Haram, substantially cutting its food, fuel and weapons supplies.
As a result Boko Haram has carried out raids on farming communities as well as highway ambushes in its search for food and fuel.
Last Thursday, at least three Nigerian soldiers were killed when Boko Haram fighters on camels raided a military post near the home of the country’s army chief in Borno state.
The state government of Osun has requested for Expression of Interest for competent aggregators to activate market-driven agricultural value chain in the state. Recall that Governor Rauf Aregbesola had, two weeks ago, travelled to Germany to seek partnership in the agricultural value chain.
The Osun Agricultural Value Chain Activation initiative is an initiative of the state government to partner with competent aggregators to spur private sector-led and market-driven agricultural value chain development. It is designed to use the aggregator and out-grower model, in a way that is innovative, sustainable and scalable.
Sharing boundaries with five (5) other south western states, Osun is strategically located to be the center of trade and commerce for agriculture and other commodities.
More so, the state enjoys favourable climate, fast-growing economy, 70% agrarian population, and a vision to be the Mid-Regional Hub for agriculture and agro-allied products.
The vision is to facilitate the activation of a minimum of 10 market-driven value chains that will empower 50,000 sustainable smallholder farmers/MSME, increase income and create jobs for 300,000 people using the aggregator and out-grower model.
A statement signed by the Project and Economic Team (PET)
in the Governor's office, states that selected aggregators will identify and establish sustainable and competitive markets in any of the Plantain, Rice, Cassava, Yam, Maize, Tomatoes, Soybeans, Cocoa, Rice, Oil Palm, Poultry, Aquaculture, Small Ruminant, Goats, Piggery, and forestry value chains.
The aggregators will secure sustainable market linkage and organise Osun Small businesses to produce in commercial quantities. The initiative will connect competent aggregators to qualifying small businesses leveraging on the abundance of MSME funds at the National and Sub-Nation levels to support small businesses. The initiative will also partner relevant financial and development institutions.
Katsina – The North-West zone of All Progressive Congress (APC) has condemned the issues being raised over President Muhammadu Buhari's health and vacation, saying it was unwarranted and unpatriotic.Abba Kyari, President Buhari and Adesina
In a communique after its meeting in Katsina on Monday and signed by its National Vice Chairman, North-West, Alhaji Inuwa Abdulkadir, the party said the issues smacked of desperation of the opposition in the country.
It said that the zone had declared total support to Buhari's administration, in its bid to move the nation forward.
"The meeting emphasized the need for members of the National Assembly from the North-West to fully support the president in his effort to provide responsive leadership to Nigeria.
"The meeting called on north-west zonal leadership of the party to engage members of the national assembly, ministers, and heads of government agencies to ensure that policies and programmes fall in line with the party's manifesto."
"The meeting emphasized the need for elected and appointed public officeholders to undertake periodic consultation with constituents to enlighten them on government policies and programmes, and at the same time, receive feedback for effective service delivery.
"The meeting reiterated its support to seven governors in the North-West region in their effort toward economic integration of the region within the context of the north-west economic cooperation and integration framework," the communiqué said.
The party also appreciated the seven states in the zone for their initiative at identifying high development priority areas like education, healthcare, agriculture, water resources, energy, solid minerals and industrialization.
It called on party members to rise in the defence of the hard-won but overwhelming mandate of the majority of Nigerians by eschewing all forms of internal conflict and division.
"We should appreciate the need to rally round our leaders and for the leaders to carry all members along in flying the flag of APC," the communiqué said.
Chadian Foreign minister Moussa Faki Mahamat has been elected the African Union Commission chairman.
He will replace South African Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
Mr. Mahamat beat four others in the contest at a session of the 28th African Union Summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
"The Chairman was elected in the fourth round," said former Burundian President Pierre Buyoya.
Mr Mahamat won after a final round battle with Kenyan Foreign minister Amina Mohamed.
Moussa Mahamat
Kenya immediately pledged to support the new AU Commission boss.
"We pledge to work with him to defend the pan-African agenda of integration for Africa, as well as democracy, sovereignty and prosperity for all of its people," a statement from the Kenya Presidency said.
Mahamat was until his election the Foreign Minister of Chad, a position he has held since April 2008.
He served as Prime Minister between June 2003 and February 2004 and stepped down amidst a civil service strike.
Other portfolios he has held include Minister of Public Works and Transport in 2002.
The new AU Commission Chairman attended university in Congo-Brazzaville where he studied public law. He went on exile after Hissen Habre took power in 1982 and returned from exile when Idris Deby Itno took power in 1991.
He was born in the country's eastern town of Biltine and belongs to the same ethnic group as President Deby – the Zaghawa. He served as campaign manager for Idris Deby during the 2001 presidential elections.
He is fluent in three international languages, English, French and Arabic and is married and has five children.
He becomes the fifth Chairperson of the Commission and the second Central African candidate. The first Central African was Gabon's Jean Ping who served as AUC Chairperson between 2008 and 2012.
The African Union Commission (AUC) serves as the executive/administrative branch or secretariat of the AU (cast in the mould of the European Commission). It is headed by the Chairperson with the help of a number of Commissioners dealing with different areas of policy.
The Commission has its headquarters in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. It is a different entity from the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, (based in Banjul, The Gambia), which is a separate body that reports to the African Union.
"I kidnapped my Oga's son because he refused to settle me,'' a 20-year-old suspect, Emmanuel Blessing, told newsmen in Lagos on Monday.
The suspect made the confession on the sidelines of a briefing by the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Mr Fatai Owoseni, on criminal activities in the state.
The suspect admitted being the mastermind of the alleged abduction of his boss's son.
Emmanuel, who claimed to be a trader at the Mandilas market, Lagos Island, was arrested along with one other, while on their way to collect a N5 million ransom demanded for the release of their victim.
The suspect claimed that he singlehandedly abducted the 10-year-old boy at Alafia area of Orile-Iganmu, on his way to school, as a way of paying his master back for refusing to settle him, after working for him for four years.
"I started staying with my Oga since 2013. He took me from my parents to stay with him so that I can learn how to sell clothes. In the agreement he had with my parents before he took me, he promised to settle me after four years.
"He started to count my apprenticeship from 2014. In 2016, when he was supposed to settle me, instead he opened another shop and asked me to be paying him N20, 000 monthly.
"I could not cope because of the recession in the country, so I asked him to settle me as agreed but he refused. Rather, he sent me back to the village.
"I came back early January and I stayed in a hotel. It was then that the idea of how to kidnap his son came to me. Last week Monday, around 7.30 a.m., I stayed along the route where his son normally passed to school at the Alafia area of orile.
"The boy emerged around 7.45 a.m. He came to me when I called him and I took him away," the suspect confessed.
The suspect further explained that he kept the young boy in his hotel room for four days, until he was arrested around Apapa Road.
"Throughout the four days, the boy stayed with me in my hotel room at Oyingbo. I called my Oga on phone the next day to pay N5 million into my account, if he hoped to see his son again. I sent him my account number.
"I was on my way to collect my ATM card from the bank along Apapa Road when I was arrested. I never knew that the police was on my trail," he added.
The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, while briefing newsmen on the arrest, said that the suspect, along with one other, kidnapped the 10-year old boy.
He said after kidnapping their victim, the suspects demanded for N5 million as ransom for the release of the boy.
…..as court orders IGP to protect all the witnesses By Ikechukwu Nnochiri ABUJA – The Federal Government, Monday, narrated before an Abuja High Court sitting at Maitama, how eight armed gunmen attempted to assassinate one of the key witnesses billed to testify against Justice Adeniyi Ademola who is facing corruption charges.
It told the court that the gunmen, around 2am on Monday, stormed Abuja residence of the witness, Dr. Sani Teidi, who was to testify how the embattled Judge, while presiding over his trial, allegedly demanded N25million bribe to grant him bail.
According to the prosecution counsel, Mr. Shegu Jegede, it took quick intervention of the Police to rescue the witness who he said hid in his bedroom upstairs while his family were held hostage by the assassins.
Jegede told the court that Ademola’s trial “has progressed to a very dangerous dimension”, adding that the witness is currently under police protection while the matter is being investigated.
MEINBUTUS Federated Community in Warri South council area of Delta State is worried over an alleged security report indicating threat to the lives of some persons in the community over perceived betrayal and disagreement.
A statement by Lot Loyibo, Chairman and Charles Mokena, Public Relations Officer of the community, listed those affected by the said death threat to include Korikori Ayafulagha, Innocent Lokri, Solomon Picflour, Anthony Lokri NewYear Ayakura and Kpobulo Ogositoru.
The statement added: "It is saddening that the affected persons have been in hideout for over three years for fear of being killed by some aggrieved persons who tagged them betrayers.. "We plead with those offended one way or the other to forgive one another"
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers has expelled Mr Benibo Anabraba, the Minority Leader in the state House of Assembly, over alleged anti-party activities.
This is contained in a copy of the expulsion letter signed by Chief Davies Ikanya, the APC Chairman in the state, and made available to journalists in Port Harcourt on Monday.
Anabraba is the APC legislator representing Akuku-Toru Constituency 2 in the assembly.
The letter stated that the State Working Committee (SWC) of the party expelled Anabraba for allegedly failing to attend meetings to clear the allegations against him after three invitations.
It alleged that Anabraba's refusal to attend the proceedings on the three occasions he was invited confirmed his disrespect to constituted authority.
"The party considers your wilful and deliberate refusal to make yourself available to answer to the allegations against you as sufficient confirmation that the said allegations against you are true.
"Therefore, the party pursuant to relevant provisions of the constitution of the APC (Oct. 2014 as amended), particularly Article 21 (A) ii, iii, hereby expels you from the party," the letter said.
Efforts by NAN to reach Anabraba for his reaction failed as he was not in his office at the assembly and would not pick calls put through to his GSM line.
Vanguardngr.local-report.com, like vanguardnigeria.org is another dangerous clone trying to pass off as vanguardngr.com, the website of Vanguard Newspapers,Kirikiri Lagos.
These criminals continue to steal our identity for nefarious purposes. They post untrue and false stories that readers erroneously believe are from Vanguard newspapers or the online platform : vanguardngr.com.
Vanguard newspapers disown these mutants who are out to rape the conscience of the undiscerning publics. Readers should beware of the fake websites. -Editor
Five anti-voodoo cult members died from asphyxiation (the state or process of being deprived of oxygen, which can result in unconsciousness or death; suffocation) in Benin.
Several more were hospitalised after a religious cult told followers to seal themselves into prayer rooms and burn incense and charcoal, residents and a survivor said.
The group, whose name in French translates as the "Very Holy Church of Jesus Christ of Baname'', has thousands of adherents across the country and has stirred tensions by vehemently opposing the local voodoo culture.
Its young woman leader, Vicentia Chanvoukini, known by her followers as "Lady Perfect'', has proclaimed herself a god.
"With the help of old cloths, we sealed off all of the exits to the prayer room before using incandescent charcoal and incense to prepare for the descent of the Holy Spirit,'' said survivor Yves Aboua at the Porto Novo hospital where he was admitted with respiratory problems on Sunday.
Church members were told to stay in their prayer rooms until Sunday so as "not to be held accountable'' when the world ended, he said.
Several other people remain in hospital in critical condition, according to residents and hospital workers.
In a shady courtyard in the town of Adjarra, five kilometers northeast of the capital, a woman fanned a survivor sitting on a straw mat to resuscitate him while awaiting medical attention.
The body of his brother, who died during the prayer ritual, lay beside him.
Local mayor Michel Honga confirmed that the victims were members of prayer groups but declined further comment.
Police officials declined comment and Reuters was unable to contact anyone representing the Baname church.
About 40 per cent of the West African country's population follow Voodoo, and Benin has a national holiday to celebrate it.
Many Christians and Muslims incorporate some of its beliefs into their faith.
The Baname church, named after Chanvoukini's hometown, has drawn criticism because it rejects Voodoo entirely.
There have been several violent clashes between Baname followers, who often wear red scarves to identify themselves, and members of other faiths since 2009.
Gov. Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun says the State Government has recruited 2,968 women as food vendors for the Federal Government Home Grown School Feeding Programme.
Amosun disclosed this on Monday in Abeokuta at the formal launching of the programme designed to provide one free, hot and nutritious meal per day for pupils in classes one to three in the nation's primary schools.
The programme is one of the five social intervention programmes of the federal government to assist and empower vulnerable Nigerians.
The governor was represented at the ceremony by his deputy, Mrs Yetunde Onanuga.
He commended the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration for partnering state governments in feeding Nigerian pupils.
The governor noted that the initiative would ensure increased access, enrolment, attendance, retention and completion in our schools.
"There is a serious need to ensure the well-being of the pupils in the primary schools.
"Qualitative education and the well-being of the pupils are two sides of the same coin that any responsive government must take seriously.
"We will always say that education of the youths guarantees the future of any society; but we must also remember that only healthy body can make whatever knowledge received meaningful and of positive impact in the future.
"In fact, you cannot teach a hungry child," he said.
Besides, Amosun explained that the programme would enhance the state's employment generation and poverty alleviation policy.
"There is no doubt, this is an intervention designed to eradicate poverty in our households as the women will make additional income from taking on catering businesses in their communities.
"This can be done on weekends and when schools are not in session," he said.
The Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, who commended the federal and state governments for the programme, also called for its sustenance.
The Programme Manager, Ogun Home Grown School Feeding Programme, Mrs Tinuola Shopeju, said that the programme would take off on Jan. 31 in 874 of the 1,554 public primary schools in the state.
Abuja – The Nigeria Police have challenged the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, Abuja to hear a suit filed by Rivers governor, Mr Nyesom Wike.
Wike is seeking to stop the police from investigating allegations, petitions of crimes and various acts of criminality during the December 2016 River's re-run election.
The Inspector-General of Police Ibrahim Idris and a Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr Damian Okoro, who are first and third defendants in the suit, told the court that it lacked jurisdiction to entertain the matter.
Counsel to the IGP and deputy commissioner, Mr Deji Morakinyo told the court that the defendants had filed a notice of preliminary objection to Wike's motion on interlocutory injunction.
Morakinyo told the court that the issue of jurisdiction was of importance and should first be decided before the substantive case can be heard.
The counsel added that the defendants would oppose any application that sought to prevent the police from carrying out its constitutional duties.
Counsel to Wike, Mr Mike Ozekhome (SAN) while arguing the motion, told the court that the action of the police to constitute a panel to investigate the crisis that trailed the re-run election was illegal.
He said it was in the interest of justice for the court to ask that the investigation be suspended pending the outcome of the suit, saying that the investigation was the matter in contention.
Trial judge, Justice Gabriel Kolawole said the proceeding for Monday was for the defendants to show cause why they should not be restrained from investigating the allegations following the re-run election.
Kolawale, however, noted that he saw no irreparable damage that the plaintiff would suffer if the police went ahead with its investigation.
According to him, even if the investigation is conducted, the court has the power to set aside the report of the investigation, for being conducted while the matter is still pending in court.
He said it was left for the defendants to decide whether or not to go ahead with the investigation knowing that it could be over ruled by the court.
Kolawale adjourned the matter till Feb. 10 for continuation.
The North-West zone of All Progressive Congress (APC) has condemned the issues being raised over President Muhammadu Buhari's health and vacation, saying it was unwarranted and unpatriotic.
In a communique after its meeting in Katsina on Monday and signed by its National Vice Chairman, North-West, Alhaji Inuwa Abdulkadir, the party said the issues smacked of desperation of the opposition in the country.
It said that the zone had declared total support to Buhari's administration, in its bid to move the nation forward.
"The meeting emphasized the need for members of the National Assembly from the North-West to fully support the president in his effort to provide responsive leadership to Nigeria.
"The meeting called on north-west zonal leadership of the party to engage members of the national assembly, ministers, and heads of government agencies to ensure that policies and programmes fall in line with the party's manifesto."
"The meeting emphasized the need for elected and appointed public officeholders to undertake periodic consultation with constituents to enlighten them on government policies and programmes, and at the same time, receive feedback for effective service delivery.
"The meeting reiterated its support to seven governors in the North-West region in their effort toward economic integration of the region within the context of the north-west economic cooperation and integration framework," the communiqué said.
The party also appreciated the seven states in the zone for their initiative at identifying high development priority areas like education, healthcare, agriculture, water resources, energy, solid minerals and industrialization.
It called on party members to rise in the defence of the hard-won but overwhelming mandate of the majority of Nigerians by eschewing all forms of internal conflict and division.
"We should appreciate the need to rally round our leaders and for the leaders to carry all members along in flying the flag of APC," the communiqué said.
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte wants his Premier League leaders to inflict the “hard hit” of defeat upon Liverpool when the sides meet at Anfield on Tuesday.
Conte’s men are currently 10 points in front of Liverpool, who have won just once in eight games in all competitions this month.
While accepting that there will be 15 league games for both clubs after Tuesday’s match, Conte believes a Chelsea win would deal a huge blow to the title hopes of a Liverpool side who won 2-1 at Stamford Bridge in September — one of just the Blues’ three league defeats so far this term.
“It could be a hard hit mentally for them (if Liverpool lose to Chelsea),” said Conte on Monday.
“It’s important to win this type of game, increase your confidence, take three points from a rival,” added Conte, who took charge after coaching his native Italy at last year’s European Championship.
“I hope to change the result if you compare the first game and the first part of the season.”
Antonio Conte
Chelsea’s loss to Liverpool was compounded with a defeat by London rivals Arsenal — the Blues’ visitors at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Arsenal are currently Chelsea’s closest title challengers, with Arsene Wenger’s men presently eight points off top spot in second place.
“It’s a very important week, but also I know after two of these games we have 14 games to finish the championship,” said Conte.
“The results are important, but the championship doesn’t finish after these two games.”
Having let Chelsea play with a back four at the start of his time with the west London club, defeat by Arsenal led Conte to revert to his favoured 3-4-3 formation.
Chelsea then embarked upon a 13-match winning streak in the Premier League which only ended at Tottenham Hotspur, another London side, on January 4.
“Honestly, I think we are a different team, not Liverpool. I think that we grew a lot,” Conte said.
“After the game (against Liverpool) I said ‘today we faced a great team, a really great team, but today we are not a team. Only through work we can improve to become a team’. I think it happened.
“We grew a lot and for this reason now we are top of the table.
“It’s incredible this, because it’s not easy to have two defeats against Liverpool and Arsenal and to find the strength to start and to arrive top of the table and to have 13 wins in a row.”
The President, Omega Fire Ministries Worldwide, Mr Johnson Suleman, has said that his invitation by the Department of State Services (DSS) is in order.
Suleman said this while briefing newsmen in Abuja on Monday.
"I presume the right thing was done. They have been in touch with me to come and that is why I am in Abuja, so that I can see them," he said.
He said that his recent statement was based on information from a reliable source that herdsmen were coming to attack him. He said that he stood by his statement on self defence.
Suleiman
"I was talking in my personal capacity on information from a reliable source that certain people in the capacity of Herdsmen were coming to attack me and I told the people around me that if it happens they should defend themselves.
Suleman had told his supporters at a religious crusade in Ekiti recently to defend themselves if they were attacked by herdsmen.
However, as at the time of filing this report, Suleiman had yet to report to the DSS office.
There was heavy presence of policemen and the DSS personnel with Amoured Personnel Carrier ( APC) around the services' headquarters.
Founder and General Overseer, Mountain of Liberation and Miracle Ministries (MLMM) aka Liberation City, Dr. Chris Okafor, has lamented the brutal and inhuman killings of Christians in the north, especially in Kaduna.
During a recent service in the church premises, Pastor Chris who seems to be very angry and heart-broken with the deplorable state of the country and the unsatisfactory manner in which the present leadership have been handling the state of affairs, passionately lashed out at the government and perpetrators of the incessant brutal killings in the north.
According to Pastor Chris Okafor, the Nigerian polity is gradually becoming heated up and ungovernable, because the leaders at the helms of affair are mere stooges and loud sounding empty barrels.
Pastor Chris Okafor
"People are being killed in a country where there is government, and nobody seems to be saying anything, and anybody who says anything they come against that person, we are all ready to die for it. When they come with their cow to graze in your farmland, they destroy your farmland, and when you talk they kill you, because to them their cow is more important to them than your own life, why? Because you are seen as an infidel, you are seen as an unbeliever.
Over 800 people have been killed in Kaduna and no arrest has been made, not even El Rufai, the Herod, that can even make a statement totally condemning the act, the short Herod could not even make a statement! A man cried to me about 2-weeks ago, that he doesn't have a place to stay, I asked him why and he said where they were living in Kaduna was burnt, his 7-children and pregnant wife were killed; he said he ran for his dear life, as it is right now he is a widower, no wife no children.
Nobody owns this country, we all own the country and no people can try to claim superiority over other ones, we all own the country. We are keeping quiet does not mean we are powerless, we can do something, we can fight, enough is enough! We all own this country, if the country does not belong to all of us again then let the country be divided and let those ones go to one side and we also go to the other side", Pastor Chris retorted.
Pastor Chris's statement comes on the heels of a continuous killing of innocent Christians in the north and the inhuman destruction of properties worth millions of naira, displacing and rendering thousands of Christians homeless, childless, widows and widowers. In his opinion, Christians are quiet not because they are powerless but because they don't subscribe to violence. Attachments area
Twenty six ships laden with petroleum products, food items and other goods are expected to arrive Apapa and Tin-Can Island ports in Lagos from Jan. 30 to Feb. 18.
The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) stated this in its publication – `Shipping Position', – a copy of which was made available on Monday in Lagos.
Five of the expected ships would berth with petrol.
NPA said that the remaining 21 ships contained buck wheat, general cargoes, base oil, frozen fish, bulk salt, crude Palm olein and containers.
The document noted that six ships had arrived the ports, waiting to berth with bulk fertiliser, diesel and petrol.
About 13 other ships are at the ports discharging empty containers, bulk wheat, frozen fish, pet coke, containers, bulk corn,soya beans and petrol.
A Nigerian newspaper and Online version of the Vanguard, a daily publication in Nigeria covering Niger delta, general national news, politics, business, energy, sports, entertainment, fashion,lifestyle human interest stories, etc
Ekiti State Governor and Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors' Forum, Mr Ayodele Fayose has warned the Department of State Services (DSS) over the planned detention and trial of Apostle Johnson Suleiman of The Omega Fire Ministries Worldwide and the General Overseer of Living Faith Church Worldwide International (Winners’ Chapel International), Bishop David Oyedepo, describing it as indirect invitation to religious crisis in the country.Apostle Johnson Suleiman and Bishop David Oyedepo
Governor Fayose alleged that; “There is plan to charge Apostle Suleiman and Bishop Oyedepo for incitement and attempt to cause public disorder on Friday, and make sure that they are not granted so to get them remanded in Kuje Prison perpetually.”
He said this plan was to humiliate these men of God as well as silence them and create fear in other people that may want to speak against the heinous crime against humanity being committed daily while perpetrators are being shielded by the federal government.
In a statement issued on Sunday by is Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose said the DSS should tell Nigerians how many of the Fulani herdsmen that killed thousands of Nigerians across the country have been arrested before going after Nigerians who merely expressed their frustration over the to failure of the federal government to protect them.
The governor said; “Even though the DSS has allowed commonsense to prevail by properly inviting Apostle Suleiman as against the gestapo manner with which the service attempted to abduct him last week Wednesday, it is still questionable that the DSS is more interested in a man who threatened to defend himself against any attack by Fulani herdsmen rather than those herdsmen that murdered thousands of Nigerians.
The governor said; “it is sad and worrisome that after muzzling opposition politicians, judiciary and the press, the APC led federal government has taking its desperation to suppress dissenting voices in the country to the House of God.”
Governor Fayose maintained that; "If the DSS had acted swiftly like it is doing on Apostle Suleiman so-called inciting comments when people were being killed by herdsmen across the country, so many lives would have been saved."
He advised the government and the DSS not to go ahead with these plans as it will heat up the polity and threaten the peaceful coexistence of Nigerians, calling on well meaning Nigerians to prevail on the federal government to desist from acts capable of throwing the country into further crisis.
Governor Fayose, who reiterated his call for the release of the head of Nigeria’s Islamic Movement (IMN), Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, who has been in detention since late 2015 despite that the court ruled that he should be released, affirmed that “he will continue to stand for Nigeria and its people, not for any religion and it is my position that rights of all Nigerians must be respected and protected."
The governor urged the APC led federal government to pay attention to the economy it destroyed, with the aim to revamping it and saving Nigerians from the hunger ravaging the land.
“Nigeria is already being ravaged by war of hunger, economic recession, job loss and lack of leadership direction. It will be disastrous for the country to be plunged into religious crisis.
“Apart from during the civil war, Nigerians have not been badly divided as a nation as we are under the President Muhammadu Buhari administration. Killings under this government in 18 months are more than what was witnessed in the last 20 years,” the governor said.
Gambian new President, Adama Barrow has removed the word “Islamic” from Gambia’s official name.
Formerly called The Islamic Republic of The Gambia, the new President, while fielding questions during a first Presidential press conference said country no longer bears the the name The Islamic Republic of The Gambia but has become The Republic of The Gambia.
US | politics | migration | Muslim | justice | Trump | Twitter Washington, United States | AFP | Sunday 1/29/2017 – 15:40 UTC+1 | 186 words
President Donald Trump tweeted his defense Sunday of his order temporarily banning immigration to the United States for refugees and some Muslim travelers — a controversial policy which has sparked international furor and two days of US protests.
“Our country needs strong borders and extreme vetting, NOW. Look what is happening all over Europe and, indeed, the world – a horrible mess!” Trump wrote.
US airports and other sites across the United States, including the White House, were expected to see a second wave of protests Sunday against Trump’s temporary immigration ban, which a federal judge partially blocked by ordering authorities not to deport detained refugees and other travelers.
The ruling also coincided with a wave of anger and concern abroad, including among US allies.
A second Trump tweet took aim at a favorite whipping boy, the New York Times, which has ramped up its political coverage and toughened its tone as his presidency got underway just over a week ago.
“Somebody with aptitude and conviction should buy the FAKE NEWS and failing @nytimes and either run it correctly or let it fold with dignity!”
Brothers Jordan and Andre Ayew scored for Ghana as they reached the Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals Sunday with a 2-1 win over the Democratic Republic of Congo in Oyem.
Jordan opened the scoring after 63 minutes of a tight, bruising quarter-final in northern Gabon and Andre put Ghana ahead again from a 78th-minute penalty.
They are sons of Ghana football legend Abedi ‘Pele’ Ayew, ranked among the greatest African footballers of all time.
Between the Ayew goals, Paul-Jose Mpoku levelled for DR Congo with a swerving shot on 68 minutes.
Ghana, seeking a first Cup of Nations title since 1982, will play Cameroon next Thursday in Franceville for a final place.
Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez rescued a late draw for FC Barcelona at Real Betis on Sunday, with the champions not being allowed a goal which crossed the line.
Betis dominated and hit the woodwork through Dani Ceballos and Ruben Castro before Alex Alegria put them ahead.
But Barca were furious not to be level when Aissa Mandi hooked the ball away from about a foot behind the line, with La Liga not having goalline technology.
However, Suarez converted Lionel Messi's pass to level in the last minute.
FC Barcelona remain one point behind Real Madrid, who have two games in hand including Sunday's home game with Real Sociedad.
La Liga is the only one of Europe's top five leagues not to have goalline technology.
The Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1 have all brought it in in the past few years.
Suarez
The Spanish league has continually said it will not bring in the system because it is too expensive.
But the calls for it will increase after FC Barcelona were denied a legitimate goal that could have a big impact in the title race.
Soon after Real Betis took the lead, Aleix Vidal's cross was sent towards goal by a Betis defender and Mandi slid the ball off the crossbar and away.
But replays clearly showed it was well over the line.
In spite of the fact FC Barcelona had a legitimate goal ruled out, the champions were fortunate — on the balance of play — to have even drawn.
Betis had 17 shots to FC Barcelona's 10 and Ceballos hit the crossbar from outside the box before Castro smashed the post from close range — both at 0-0.
They had a glorious chance to seal the game at 1-0 when top scorer Castro was played in one-on-one as Barca took risks.
But he fired the ball straight at goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Real Betis have now risen one place to 13th on the La Liga table.
Families split, a father unable to reach his son’s wedding and officials warning of a “gift to extremists” — President Donald Trump’s visa ban on seven Muslim countries has triggered shock and confusion.
“There is mass hysteria among the Iranian-American community — that’s no exaggeration,” said Saam Borhani, an attorney in Los Angeles.US President Donald Trump
He said clients were bombarding him with questions since Trump passed an executive order on Friday, suspending refugee arrivals and imposing tough controls on travellers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
With more than one million Iranians living in the United States, the restrictions have already caused chaos for students, businessmen and families.
Borhani, himself an Iranian-American, said he had heard from married couples stuck in separate countries and a father blocked from attending his son’s wedding in California.
US State Department figures show Iran accounted for around a quarter of the 31,804 visas granted to citizens from the seven countries last year.
Among thousands facing difficulties, an Iraqi family was barred in Cairo from taking their connecting flight to New York on Saturday.
“I had sold my house, my car, my furniture. I resigned from work and so did my wife. I took my children out of school,” Fuad Sharef, 51, told AFP.
“Donald Trump destroyed my life. My family’s life. I used to think America was a state of institutions but it’s as though it’s a dictatorship,” he said.
An Iranian woman blocked from boarding at Tehran airport on Sunday said she had waited 14 years for her green card.
“Even during the hostage crisis at the US embassy (in 1980), the US government didn’t issue such an order. They say the US is the cradle of liberty. I don’t see freedom in that country,” she said, asking not to be named.
– ‘Gift to extremists’ –
The Iraqi parliament’s foreign affairs committee called for a reciprocal travel ban on Americans, though not the thousands of American military personnel in the country as part of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State group (IS).
A Facebook message from the US embassy in Iraq generated plenty of vitriol.
“Daeshi decision,” Baghdad resident Nibal Athed wrote, using the Arabic acronym for IS.
He demanded to know why the list excluded Afghanistan, Pakistan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which he described as the “biggest sponsors of terrorism”.
Tehran responded with a ban on Americans entering the country.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that Trump’s move “will be recorded in history as a great gift to extremists and their supporters.”
Meanwhile, Yemen’s Huthi rebels, who control the capital Sanaa, released a statement, saying: “All attempts to classify Yemen and its citizens as a probable source for terrorism and extremism is illegal and illegitimate.”
Yemenis made up the largest contingent — 12,998 — of immigrants to the US last year from the seven countries, many fleeing the US-backed bombing campaign by Saudi Arabia.
– ‘Trump’s wall reaches Iran’ –
The situation has been complicated by US judges who have questioned the legality of the executive order.
“Uncertainty is the key word. Things are changing quickly and we’re trying to keep people updated,” said Borhani, the lawyer in LA.
Getting a visa was already tough for Iranians, who had to travel to Turkey or the United Arab Emirates for the nearest US embassy.
BBC Persian reported that 9,000 Iranian asylum seekers were now blocked in Turkey.
After rising hopes under former president Barack Obama that relations between Iran and the US were improving, Trump has thrown everything back up in the air, Borhani said.
“I don’t know what the future is going to hold, whether people here will be cut off permanently from their families in Iran. It’s very stressful.”
Meanwhile, Iran’s leading daily Hamshahri was headlined: “The United States has cut its relations with the Iranian people.”
Top reformist paper Shahrvand led with: “Trump’s wall has reached Iran”.
Surveying his sprawling car dealership on the fringes of Benin’s commercial hub Cotonou, Kassem Hijazi alternates between chainsmoking Marlboro cigarettes and puffing on a hookah.
He and his colleagues don’t have much else to do. There hasn’t been a single customer since December, when neighbouring Nigeria banned car imports by land as part of a wave of protectionist policies that are strangling Benin’s economy.
“We spend our days smoking, it’s our life now,” Hijazi sighs, sitting in a gazebo beside his stock of thousands of cars steadily accumulating the dry winter dust.
This afternoon, Hijazi — who, like the vast majority of car dealers in Benin, is Lebanese — called in his Beninese accountant to help close up shop.
Debts are accumulating and the stress is becoming too much. “I lost in one year what I have earned in 16,” Ali Assi, another car dealer, told AFP.
Of the 2,500 Lebanese dealers in Cotonou, 1,600 have packed up and left in the last six months, shutting down businesses that employed dozens of drivers, cleaners and security staff.
“Unemployed people used to come here to find work,” said Vincent Gouton, who represents a group of car dealership managers in Cotonou.
The Benin car market began its free fall last year when neighbouring Nigeria entered its first recession since 1994.
Nigeria, an economic behemoth of 190 million people, gobbles up “99 percent of car exports” in Benin, according to Gouton.
Benin, a tiny country with scarce natural resources, relies on its port business to survive.
From the port city of Cotonou, imported cars, fabrics, and food from all over the world get distributed across west Africa.
But since the Nigerian economy crashed following the collapse in global oil prices, Benin has been suffering knock-on effects.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s protectionist policies — his government has banned a slew of items including cars imported by land — has only aggravated the situation.
– ‘Encourage smuggling’ –
“This decision will encourage smuggling, it’s back to square one,” Gouton said.
Several agreements were signed in the past between Benin and Nigeria to facilitate legal trade.
But Nigeria accuses Beninese customs of failing to monitor the exported goods and collect taxes.
Buhari hopes that closing land borders will revitalise Nigerian industries and attract business to the port at Lagos, Nigeria’s economic capital and largest city.
Today over 20 products — the list has never been officially published — are banned from being imported overland.
“For the past 18 months, we have seen a lot of policies that are not market friendly”, said Nigerian economist Nonso Obikili.
“The self-sufficiency policy has led the government to create all sorts of hostile environments around import”, Obikili said.
“The government wants to ban palm oil (imports) but our plantations are not ready to meet local demand, and it takes two years to get oil from trees. It’s a mess,” Obikili told AFP.
“And this will encourage illegal trade.”
– ‘Killing business’ –
It isn’t just Benin which is hurting.
Nigerian car dealer Olabanji Akinola said he had to fire half of his employees last week as a result of the ban.
Business used to be brisk at Akinola’s car dealership, located on the outskirts of Lagos.
Yet now he can’t pay any wages. “In Cotonou, they tax 35 percent of the value of an imported car. In Lagos, it’s 70 percent”, Akinola said. “It’s killing the business.”
“The price of cars will go up, and the smuggling will increase. There are 200 roads through the bush to come to Nigeria, the borders are porous,” Akinola said.
“This morning, customers begged me on my knees to lower my prices, but I cannot,” Akinola said.
Ultimately, it may only be the Nigerian government who benefits from the import ban.
In 2016, customs seized 307 contraband vehicles, worth nearly 5 billion naira (about 15 million euros). The figure is expected to rise in 2017.
Nigeria and Republic of Chad have called on the African Union (AU) and international donors to assist in raising 50 billion dollars for recharging of drying Lake Chad.
Nigeria's Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama said the two countries made the call at the Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) alongside of the ongoing 28th AU Summit.
He said there was also an agreement by the two countries to have a formal international donor conference on recharging the lake, as well as having a direct engagement with possible sponsors.
The minister explained that the APRM consisting 33 countries was a self-monitoring policy through peer review mechanism to ensure social, economic and political development among member states.
Onyeama said the peer review mechanism was a process where the member states submit themselves to review each other, where Nigeria had peer reviewed Republic of Chad.
He said that the two issues that came up on the Chad review were the impact of Boko Haram and shrinking of the Lake which affected about 30 million people around the lake basin.
"We recognised the role that Chad has been playing in the framework of the International Joint Task Force and we pointed out the impact of the Boko Haram on the task force.
"On the question of Chad, we pointed out that the Lake had shrunk to about 10 per cent and has had catastrophic effect on the people living in that area.
"And the challenge is how to address such situation, I pointed out that what Nigeria is looking at in that context is the possibility of recharging the lake from a river from Central Africa, the Rangin River," he said.
He said that Nigeria had already paid about five million dollars towards a study on recharging the lake.
Onyeama added that it was going to cost about 15 million dollars or more to do a comprehensive feasibility study on recharging of Lake Chad.
"The cost of recharging is in the neighbourhood of 15 billion to 20 billion dollars. I pointed out that we are looking at the possibility of organising international donor conference to look for fund to addressing this issue.
"The environmental impact and the negative aspect. The President of Chad, Idriss Deby, followed up with us also elaborated on the issue, calling on the world to assist us in addressing the Lake Chad issue.
"Because there is ecological issue, there is environmental issue, social and of course we have seen that we can also have illegal migration of the youth and also war within the area.''
He said that after the discussion, it was agreed that to have a formal international donor conference "and that is why we were really engage directly with possible sponsors".
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), said its Investor Protection Initiative had received a boost as one investor had recovered N1.5million shares that were illegally sold.
This is conveyed in a statement by Mr Naif Abdulsalam, the Head of Corporate Communication of SEC, in Abuja on Sunday.
Abdulsalam said the investor, Rev. Fr. Samuel Ikechukwu, received a cheque leaf of the said sum last weekend.
"Ikechukwu, who is resident in Italy, bought the Guaranty Trust Bank shares eight years ago through Cashville Investment and Securities.
"Ikechukwu was surprised to learn that the shares had been sold by the company without his knowledge.
"He became suspicious when he was not receiving any dividend warrant nor bonuses and upon further investigation, realised that the shares had been sold without his knowledge'', Abdulsalam stated.
According to him, Ikechukwu lodged a complaint with SEC in January 2015.
He said after thorough investigation by the commission, the money was recovered and Ikechukwu was called by the SEC Police Unit on Jan. 4 to pick up his cheque.
Abdulsalam said although the complainant was happy with SEC's effort, he wants the company to be further penalised to serve as deterrent to others.
Donald Trump hurtled through his first week in power, punching out at critics, dishing up “alternative facts,” polarizing public opinion and making good on an electoral promise to shake up Washington.
One week into the Trump era and there is a serious case of political whiplash in America’s capital.
Just a week ago, an outsider who never before held elected office rode into town. Seven days later, norms and doctrine that have guided the United States for decades are being re-examined.
Trump’s down-to-the-studs gut job began with a feisty inaugural address: a call to arms that tested old distinctions between left and right.
“Today, we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another or from one party to another,” he said.
“We are transferring power from Washington, DC, and giving it back to you, the people.”
The establishment “elites” in big cities, in politics and the media were no longer the technocrats in charge of the world’s only superpower, they were the enemy.
The new president also put the rest of the world on notice.
For the last 75 years, America had been what Barack Obama described as the “indispensable nation” — the glue that bound the global order.
The era of Trump would be the era of “America first,” he said, of naked self-interest and zero-sum diplomacy. Old alliances would be reassessed, new alliances would be explored.
Before his inauguration, many asked if the presidency would change Donald Trump, or whether Donald Trump would change the presidency.
Barely 20 minutes into his four-year term, anyone who was listening had their answer.
U.S President Trump and Vice President Pence
– Rolling thunder –
Before arriving to the Oval Office, Trump’s strategists had decided to use the first few weeks to unleash a daily wave of executive orders.
The aim was to unbalance opponents, define Trump as a man of action and slake his supporters’ thirst for change.
For much of middle America, globalization, automation and the Great Recession had been apocalyptic.
Politics had passed them over and worse, they felt steamrollered by “coastal elites” in America’s “culture wars” over abortion, gay rights, immigration, global warming and religion.
Trump had won the election by promising to be their champion, and he was going to — as Ronald Reagan said — “dance with the one that brung ya.”
For the most part, the CEO-in-chief put forward actions that could have come from any Republican in the country: defunding abortion, preening the military and approving oil pipelines.
But it was coated with a thick veneer of nationalist and populist rhetoric, and accompanying policies championed by top aide Steve Bannon.
Trump ripped up a trans-Pacific trade deal designed to counterbalance China’s regional economic power, imposed a ban on refugees from Syria and migrants from seven other Muslim countries.
He ordered planning to begin to build a wall on America’s southern border and picked a very public fight with Mexico’s president Enrique Pena Nieto, who canceled a trip to Washington.
The United States, a nation founded by migrants, was now willing to shut its doors.
Not since Obama’s election or perhaps the Iraq War has America’s image around the world changed so dramatically and so quickly.
But Trump supporters saw an outsider sticking up for them and sticking it to the elites.
“Get used to it,” said Trump aide Kellyanne Conway, boasting that Trump had delivered a “shock to the system.”
“And he’s just getting started,” she said.
– Rocky start –
But it was not all positive for Trump. The White House is far from purring. Key positions have yet to be filled and the decision making process is haphazard.
Trump aides were forced to publicly row back suggestions of a 20 percent border tax on Mexican goods and defend a chaotic rollout of the refugee and migrant ban.
Throughout the week, Trump engaged in intemperate outbursts about the size of his inaugural crowd, alleged election fraud and perceived media persecution.
Privately, in call after call, he complained to top aides about press coverage. The impression was of a man focused on his image more than running the country.
Trump also seemed like a a man for whom becoming US president was not adulation enough.
Spokesman Sean Spicer — between tirades and missteps — offered a window onto the soul of the White House.
“There’s this constant theme to undercut the enormous support he has,” Spicer said.
“It’s unbelievably frustrating when you’re continually told it’s not big enough; it’s not good enough. You can’t win.”
According to a Quinnipiac poll, Trump’s approval rating at the end of his first week stood at 36 percent.
But critics saw a more sinister motive for the outbursts, particularly Trump's unsubstantiated claim that three million people voted illegally in the election.
Brian Klaas, an expert on global democracy at the London School of Economics, sees Trump “casting aspersions (without evidence) on electoral integrity is a key way to restrict voting rights and erode confidence in elections.”
“Attacking the media and blurring the lines of truth with state narratives not grounded in fact is important to sowing public doubt,” he said.
Mindy Finn, who ran as a independent vice presidential candidate, summed up Trump’s strategy as “sow chaos, deepen division and consolidate power.”
For his harshest critics, the question is now whether Donald Trump breaks the presidency, or whether the presidency breaks Donald Trump
Nigeria on Sunday signed the African Union Convention on Cross Border Corporation as part of the side line events at the ongoing 28th African Union Summit in Addis Ababa.
The Niamey Convention, which was adopted in 2014, is to promote Cross Border Corporation at local, sub-regional and regional levels with the aim of ensuring peaceful resolution of border disputes.
It is also to ensure effective and effective border management.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Godfery Oyeama, who signed on behalf of the Federal Government, said the action was a demonstration of the country's commitment to ensure peace on the continent.
"We do so by signing this agreement to join the list of countries that have appended their signatures to the convention.
"Hopefully we believe that as we appended our signature, the convention would soon come into force within shortest period as possible and all these in the interest of member states.
Geoffrey-Onyeama
"On the part of the Nigeria Government, I will like to assure that we will do everything possible on our side to abide by the rule of this convention," he said.
He noted with satisfaction that the convention would help member states to settle boundary disputes.
He expressed belief that this would be done with manner of fraternity and without any recourse to force, adding that this will recall enforcing the spirit of brotherhood that will promote on this continent.
"This occasion also marks another mile stone in our efforts to reinforce, strengthen and support the African Union to move towards peace.
"As we say once we stand united Africa can achieve anything and when we are divided this is every chance that we will fall and will fail so we will continue as a country to work for the progress of peace and stability on the African continent," he said.
Nigeria is the 11th country to sign the convention, which has been ratified by two countries so far.
In another development, the Minister of State, Hajia Khadija Bukar Ibrahim, has expressed optimism that Nigeria's election as the Chairperson of AU Peace and Security Commission would be successful.
The event is scheduled to hold on Jan. 30.
She said the country had done its homework effectively in that regard.
The minister expressed satisfaction with the deliberations so far going on at the summit.
Gov. Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara has charged Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the state to embark on prompt collection of taxes to boost its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
The governor gave the directives on Sunday at a breakfast meeting with heads of the MDAs in Ilorin.
He said the move became necessary in view of the fact that fund from the Federation Allocation was dwindling and could no longer sustain payment of salaries and other infrastructural development.
"We must begin to see the areas of tax collection and tax deployment to carry out development as very key to what we have to do as a people. I am happy to see that the MDAs are already standing up to their responsibilities.
Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State
"In the past when revenues seemed to be adequate from the Federation Allocation, very little attention was given to tax collection.
"But today, it is obvious that if we want good things to happen and want government to stand to its responsibilities, then we must play our role in ensuring that taxation, fees, commissions and fines are adequately collected by MDAs," he added.
Earlier, the guest lecturer, Professor Abiola Sanni of the University of Lagos (Unilag) had charged MDAs to brace up to their responsibility of tax collection, adding that taxation remained the only sustainable means of running government in the country today.
In his remarks, Dr Murtala Awodun,the Executive Chairman, Kwara Internal Revenue Service, KWIRS, commended the State Government for making "significant progress" in its revenue drive particularly from the informal sector.
He also commended the state government for the introduction of Treasury Single Account (TSA).
Awodun, therefore, called for more support from all stakeholders to enable the service succeed.
This is coming hours after Tehran vowed to respond in kind to the U.S. ban on visitors from Iran and six other Muslim dominated countries.
He however said that Iran would take reciprocal measures to protect its citizens while also taking into account that it is the U.S. policies that are hostile not Americans.
While respecting Americans & differentiating between them &hostile U.S. policies, Iran will take reciprocal measures to protect citizens.5/7
He added that the ban showed that U.S. claim of friendship with Iran was baseless.
"International community needs dialogue & cooperation to address the roots of violence & extremism in a comprehensive & inclusive manner.
"Collective discrimination aids terrorist recruitment by deepening fault-lines exploited by extremist demagogues to swell their ranks.
"This ban will be recorded in history as a great gift to extremists and their supporters," he said in a series of tweets'
Recall that U.S. President, Donald Trump on Saturday, barred refugees and visitors from Syria and six other nations from entering the United States for the next four months.
While signing the executive order, Trump said the move would help protect America from terrorist attacks while it adopts more stringent ways of screening refugees, immigrants and visitors.
The countries under this ban are: Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Sudan: travellers from these countries were thrown into confusion on Friday after Trump gave the order.
"I'm establishing new vetting measures to keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the United States of America. Don't want them here," Trump said earlier on Friday at the Pentagon.
"We only want to admit those into our country who will support our country and love deeply our people," he said.
He also said instead of banning, dialogue should have been the option to weed out extremists.
International community needs dialogue & cooperation to address the roots of violence & extremism in a comprehensive & inclusive manner. 3/7
THE Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Lagos State said it is satisfied with the emergence of governor Ekiti State governor, Peter Ayodele Fayose, as the chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum but counseled him to rule with experience.
In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Mr Taofik Gani, the party said the onerous task to rescue the party is one that any genuine members of the party, who are truly interested in the return of PDP to Presidency should support with all that is possible.
The party called on Governor Fayose to take advantage of his new role to facilitate genuine long lasting mobilisation, reconciliation and structural dynamism in the party "to meet up with the modern challenges of nation building and to particularly override the assumed superiority of the APC in the nations politics."
Fayose
It called on Fayose to "infuse the party state chairmen into an extended forum where party issues can be shared first-hand, especially with states where the PDP is not in government. The state chapter prayed for the success of the governor and entire forum."
The statement reads: “We are pleased with the emergence of Dr. Ayodele Fayose as the new chairman of PDP governors’ forum. We are convinced that this emergence will radically reposition the party. We particularly rely on his doggedness, long term experience as Oldest serving governor in the nation and his love for popular say and way.
He should immediately begin the reconciliation of members- elders and youths alike. He should not be demoralised nor distracted by hate speeches against him, many of which will be sponsored by his detractors within and outside the PDP.
"We expect that he will use his new leadership and role to get closer to our leaders and elders who have at different times and levels served the party and nation meritoriously. He should shun any side talk or blackmail to ignore these elders and leaders. Indeed he needs their experience to add up for his best success."
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli leader, has come under fire over his tweet in support of President Donald Trump's plan for a wall along the Mexican border.
The Israeli prime minister can barely have expected it would be retweeted 40,000 times and cause a backlash at home and abroad.
Already under arguably the greatest pressure he has faced in his 11 years as prime minister, with police questioning him in two criminal probes into abuse of office, aligning himself with Trump may further undermine his standing.
The tweet was sent from his personal account shortly before the Jewish sabbath officially ended on Saturday.
"President Trump is right. I built a wall along Israel's southern border. It stopped all illegal immigration. Great Success. Great idea," Netanyahu wrote.
He appended pictures of the Israeli and U.S. flags alongside each other.
Netanyahu was referring to a steel fence Israel has built along its border with Egypt, mainly to keep out migrants fleeing conflicts in Africa, including Somalis, Sudanese and Eritreans.
Israel has also built a steel-and-concrete barrier along its border with the occupied West Bank, which it says is to prevent militants crossing into Israel.
Palestinians see the barrier, which has drawn international condemnation, as a land grab.
On the one hand, Trump's election as president was seen as a godsend for Netanyahu, the first time in four terms as prime minister that he would have a Republican in the White House.
As well as the Republicans being more ideologically aligned with Netanyahu's right-wing coalition, Trump has already shown a willingness to turn a blind eye to Israel's settlement building in the West Bank, which Barack Obama's administration frequently criticized, casting a pall over U.S.-Israeli ties.
On the other hand, Trump is an unpredictable actor who in just nine days in office has sewn division across the United States and shocked capitals around the world with a series of executive actions that are overturning decades of U.S. policy.
The adverse reaction to Netanyahu's tweet, which was retweeted by Trump and drew far more attention than Netanyahu's tweets usually do as a result, appeared to be an early sign of the danger Netanyahu faces with aligning himself with Trump.
The Mexican government was outraged that he would involve himself in what it regards as a bilateral issue.
France international Dimitri Payet’s long drawn out transfer saga ended on Sunday as Premier League side West Ham agreed to sell him to Ligue 1 outfit Marseille for a reported £25million (29.3m euros, $31.3m).
The 29-year-old — who starred for the Hammers last season scoring 12 goals — had effectively gone on strike at the beginning of the month.
Dmitri Payet
He said he would not play for the club again and his and his wife’s priority was a return to France and his former club.
However, having turned down two earlier bids — rumoured to be £19m and £20m — West Ham changed their tune with the higher offer and also having signed Scotland international Robert Snodgrass from Hull.
A man who hails from Kano state, Usman Bukar, 41, has slapped a taxi driver to coma in Delta state for spreading "Buhari is dead rumour".
The man was slapped into deep unconsciousness at the Temple Clinic Junction Asaba.
Eye witness account said that Bukar pounced on the driver who was seen visibly happy and spreading the rumour at a newspaper stand, popularly known as "free readers association" after he had read from a blog that Buhari is dead.
He was reported to have said: "The body of the President should be thrown into River-Niger for fish and other wild animals to do justice on him. He is very wicked."
At this statement, Bukar who also was part of the free readers' association got annoyed and gave him a dirty slap that sent him to pulp.
The driver was rushed to a nearby private hospital where he was being revived.
However, the account said that the relatives of the taxi driver were then called. When they came, they wanted to fight the Kano man, a situation that might have resulted to bloodshed but for the timely intervention of the police.
The spokesman of Delta state police command Andrew Aniamaka confirmed that the victim is receiving treatment adding that the alleged attacker had been arrested and detained for interrogation. Meanwhile, the date of President
The Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Keffi, Nasarawa State, has called for an independent professional investigation to unravel the truth behind allegation of stolen kidney at the hospital.
The Medical Director of the centre, Dr Giyan Joshua-Ndom, made the appeal in an interview with on Sunday in Keffi.
Joshua-Ndom said the proposed inquiry would ascertain the truth behind an allegation by a patient that his kidney was removed at the centre by a consultant.
"It is better for an independent professional qualified arbiter to look in to the matter of alleged kidney removal so that the patient can properly be educated since, as it is now, he has lost confidence in the centre,'' he said.
There is ongoing report on the social media and some radio stations that one Mohammed Barau alleging that one of his kidneys was removed during an operation in FMC, Keffi.
"One of the ridiculous allegations by a former patient is that one of his kidneys was removed by a doctor in my centre during his abdomen operation.
"I therefore do not speak in defence of any one, but as the accounting officer of the centre.
"Having investigated the issue thoroughly, I am in a position to give you adequate information that guided us aright that the said patient came here in 2010, critically ill and the doctors battled to save his life.
"They removed pussy tumour on the left side of his abdomen that was suspected to be cancer but tests failed to confirm that. He was nursed and discharged about a month.
"He returned six years later for treatment of another ailment, at which time his left kidney was discovered to be missing as adequate analysis and information at this stage was the needful as one of the kidney drivers of patient satisfaction which he did not get.
"Without proper education, he jumped in to the conclusion that his kidney has been stolen. Histopathology report would have helped identify what was removed but the report showed that it was rotten beyond reasonable analysis," he said.
According to him, "the patient also claimed that an unknown number called offering him N10 million to drop the matter, this beats logic and common sense.
"In contentious cases like this, it would be better for an independent professionally qualified arbiter to look in to the matter so that the patient can properly be educated since, as it is now he has lost confidence in us".
Joshua-Ndom urged journalists and members of the public to always confirm information, especially about the centre with the management, before reporting in the interest of peace and national development.
The medical director restated the commitment of the management of the centre to continue to key in to policies and programmes that have direct bearing on patients and the lives of the staff.
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) on Sunday in Sokoto said that non payment of transport claims by the Federal Government to marketers is one of the reasons for the incessant fuel scarcity in some parts of the country.
Alhaji Sule Magaji, the Sokoto State Chapter Chairman of the Association, made this known in an interview.
He said that the high cost of diesel used by fuel tankers is an additional reason responsible for the scarcity of fuel.
"Most of the marketers, including those in Sokoto state were being owed between N10million to N100million, for a period of six months to one year.
"We are however happy with the recent approval by President Muhammadu Buhari for the payment of over N150billion of such outstanding claims,' 'Magaji said.
He also called for speedy release of the approved funds, while urging that the process should be transparent.
"The high cost of diesel is also another cog in the wheel of our business, hence, making it difficult to transport the commodity from Lagos to Sokoto, as well as other parts of the north.
"For instance,before now, the transport cost of a 33,000 litre-tanker from Lagos to Sokoto was between N420,000 to N 460,000.
" Unfortunately, it has now gone up to between N 550,000 to N 600,000 and it is taking its heavy toll on us,'' Magaji said.
He further lamented that the constant importation of petroleum products was also inhibiting the efforts to turn-around the local refineries to make them fully functional.
Magaji called on the federal government to sustain its efforts in revamping the nation's refineries, to stop the heavy dependence on importation of petroleum products.
" If this is urgently done, they will function effectively and all the depots across the country will become functional.
" This will make the petroleum products readily available across the country,as well as reduce the high demand for dollars," Magaji, added
The Sokoto state government recently threatened to withdraw the Certificate of Occupancy of any marketer who hoarded petroleum products or sell above the government approved pump prices.
The state government also constituted an inter-agency task force on the sale and distribution of petroleum products. The Government said the task force would commence the sale of one million litres of petrol directly to the motorists per week.
All these measures were taken by the state government in the wake of the persistent scarcity of petrol in the last three weeks.
A litre of the commodity was being sold for between N 180 to N 200.
The recent measures have started yielding dividends with the commodity becoming readily available at the pump price of N 145 in most of the major and independent marketers' filling stations.
The chairman of the task force, Alhaji Ibrahim Magaji on Saturday vowed to fully enforce all the laws guiding the sale and distribution of petroleum products across the state.
