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Dallas Shooting Suspect Is Micah Johnson

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Dallas Shooting Suspect Is Micah Johnson
Johnson served in the US Army Reserve from 2009 to 2015
Johnson served in the US Army Reserve from 2009 to 2015

Mike Rawlings, Mayor of the city of Dallas, says authorities believe that Micah Johnson, the man accused of killing five police officers in a gun attack during a protest rally in Dallas, acted alone and that the city is now safe.

Bomb-making material, rifles and a combat journal were found at the home of Johnson, who was himself killed.

Johnson was a member of the US army but had been sent home from Afghanistan after being accused of sexually harassing a fellow soldier and was later “discharged honourably”.

Three other suspects were arrested after the shootings but no details have been released about them.

The Dallas protest was against the killing of black men by police, and similar rallies drew thousands across many US cities on Friday.

The demonstrations followed the police killings of Philando Castile in Minnesota and Alton Sterling in Louisiana.

A number of gun attacks on police officers and civilians have occurred in other parts of the US in the aftermath of the deaths in Minnesota and Louisiana.

In the Georgian state capital, Atlanta, on Friday evening, thousands marched in protest at the recent police shootings but although roads were blocked off the demonstration remained peaceful.

Protests against police killings were also held in other cities including Houston, New Orleans and San Francisco. In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, protesters chanted “no justice, no peace, no racist police”.

There have been some arrests at the rallies, but again they were peaceful.

Leaders of the Black Lives Matter organisation have condemned the Dallas killings but say planned marches, including a “Weekend of Rage” in Philadelphia, will go ahead.

 

UN Warns Of Looming Humanitarian Crisis In Borno State

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UN Warns Of Looming Humanitarian Crisis In Borno State
Toby Lanzer
Toby Lanzer

The United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has warned that a “deeper and broader suffering, unlike anything seen to date” is looming in Nigeria’s north-east if authorities do not act.

This is contained in a Statement released by Toby Lanzer, the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General & Regional Humanitarian Coordinator, in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

Lanzer commended the security authorities for their efforts so far which has resulted in improved access to various communities in the state by road, enabling aid agencies to reach the people more easily.

He also said he was held spell-bound by the energy and resilience of the people, expressing optimism that , “if the situation were entirely stable and state and private sector investments in the economy were taking place, Borno and Yobe would be thriving.”

He however added that despite the remarkable improvement in security and access over the past months, Boko Haram continues to sow instability and threaten the lives and livelihoods of millions of people in the Northeast, 90 percent of whom used to rely on farming, fishing and livestock.

“As of today, 4.4 million people are severely food insecure across Nigeria’s north-east; and, listening to girls, boys, members of the youth and elders in Dikwa and Monguno this week highlighted the untold suffering they have endured over the past three years,” Lanzer stated.

He pledged the commitment of the UN to help in averting the looming humanitarian crisis in the region, saying the body is willing to inject $200 million in order to make life better for the people; but added that the Nigerian authorities have to lead the way and show greater commitment to this effect.

He said: “The United Nations and its partners have the experience needed to work with the authorities in support of people struck by the violence. We can provide food, clothing and water. We can help get children back into a class room,

“And, together with the authorities, we can address the underlying issues that punctuate this crisis. We stand ready to act and scale up our response. With an injection of US$ 200 million from the international donor community, we can feed 431,000 people to keep them alive; resolve the severe acute malnutrition of 50,000 children so that they see their next birthday; and, help ensure that girls and women are protected.”

“But time is running out for the poorest and most rural of people in the country’s north-east. A failure to act now will result in deeper and broader suffering, unlike anything seen to date in Nigeria’s north-east and a steeper bill for all concerned to alleviate suffering and stabilize the situation,” Lanzer concluded.

 

Court Refuses To Sack Andy Ubah, Stella Oduah, Others

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Court Refuses To Sack Andy Ubah, Stella Oduah, Others
Senator Stella Oduah
Senator Stella Oduah

The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed the suit seeking to remove lawmak­ers representing Anambra State at both the state and National Assemblies, including former Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah and Andy Ubah, from office.

 

Justice Adeniyi Ademola, in his ruling on Friday dismissed the suit brought by Annie Okonkwo, a one-time senator, and Chris Ubah, younger brother to Andy Ubah, and 42 others for lacking in merit.

 

The court ruled that the claim of the plaintiffs that they are the rightfully nominated candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state could not stand in the face of law since they emerged from an illegal process.

 

The court said that the power to nominate candidates and submit names to INEC is vested in the National Executive Council, NEC, of any political party.

 

Justice Ademola said in the instant case, the plaintiffs, having emerged from a primary elec­tion conducted by the State Executive Commit­tee of the party submitted themselves to an act of illegality and as such cannot seek legal backing to such nomination.

 

He made reference to the Supreme Court judgment of January 29 and the ruling of the Court on February 24, 2016, where it was effectively stated that the state organ of the party has no power un­der the party’s constitution and Electoral Act to nominate candidate for the purpose of a general election.

 

He said the Supreme Court has made clarification through its judgment and “that judgment is binding and must be obeyed by persons and statutory bodies.”

 

“It is settled in law that a state Exco of a po­litical party lacked power to nominate candidate for election. It’s only election organised by Na­tional Executive Committee (NEC) that is valid­ly empowered by law to submit to INEC names of candidate for the purpose of election and no other organ of the party.”

 

Before the 2015 general election, the PDP in Anambra State was rocked by internal crisis which resulted in the party dividing into two factions; one led by one Ejike Oguebego and the other by Ken Emeakayi, with both factions holding parallel primary elections and having different candidates for the State and National assembly elections.

 

But long after the elections, on January 29, 2016, the Supreme Court affirmed the chairmanship of Oguebego as the authentic State Chairman of the party in the State, declaring the list of candidates submitted by the  Emekayi faction – which was supported by the Party’s NEC and recognized by INEC during the general election – illegal.

 

Oguebego and his faction therefore wanted the court to order INEC to cede the certificates of return issued the Emeakayi-faction to them as the authentic faction of the PDP in Anambra State, but the court dismissed their plea on the grounds that a state party exco has no power to present candidates for election.

We Will Not Hide Anything From Nigerians – Buhari

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We Will Not Hide Anything From Nigerians – Buhari
President Buhari with some Northern Christian Leaders
President Buhari with some Northern Christian Leaders

President Muhammadu Buhari says his administration will not hide anything from Nigerians in its resolute commitment to restoring the economic fortunes of the country and delivering prosperity to her citizens.

The President said this while receiving the Northern Christian Leaders Eagles Eyes Forum at the State House in Abuja on Friday.

According presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, the President appealed to the religious leaders not to lose hope in the unity, stability and progress of the country, adding that the Federal Government would continue to prioritise the safety of lives and property.

He pledged that his government would also equip Nigerian farmers with the right tools, technology and techniques to boost agriculture.

“You must tell your followers the truth about the country. We have nothing to hide because we have no other country but Nigeria,” the President was quoted as saying.

“Tell them to give us a chance to stabilise the country. Your concern for the security, unemployment, anti-corruption campaign and the frequent altercations between herdsmen and farmers are genuine concerns.

“I know the Ministry of Agriculture and the Governors Forum are doing a lot to resolve the lingering crisis between herdsmen and farmers, we must give them a chance,” he added.

The President also thanked the Christian leaders for their support to the anti-corruption campaign and other policies geared towards reviving the economy.

He described as saddening that some people stole what belonged to all Nigerians and stashed them in their personal accounts, but added that that people like these are already regretting it and “they will regret more.”

Pastor Aminchi Habu, leader of the delegation, called on Nigerians to support the President’s anti-corruption war and his vision to restore the lost glory of Nigeria.

He expressed optimism that the Buhari administration will bring about a “new Nigeria where the fear of bribery, corruption and extortion is the beginning of wisdom” and where tribalism, religion and ethnicity is no longer a barrier that separates us but a bond that unites us for a greater tomorrow.”

 

Ese Oruru: Absence Of Defence Counsel Stalls Trial

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Ese Oruru: Absence Of Defence Counsel Stalls Trial
Ese Oruru
Ese Oruru

A Federal High Court in Yenagoa has deferred the trial of Yanusa Dahiru, the alleged abductor of 14-year-old-girl, Ese Oruru till September 13.

Justice Aliya Nganjiwa, gave the long adjournment on Friday due to the absence of the new lead Defence Counsel in the court.

Yanusa is standing trial on a five-count charge of criminal abduction, illicit sex, sexual exploitation and unlawful carnal knowledge of a minor.

At the resumed hearing on Friday, Abdul Mohamed, who appeared for the Defence Counsel explained to the court that the new lead Defence Counsel was absent due to illness and appealed for an adjournment of the case

“My lord, our senior partner from Kano, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), who will lead the team is ill and he has asked the court to take cognizance of his health,” he said.

Following Mohamed’s submission, Justice Nganjiwa adjourned the case till September 13, for definite trial, stressing that the adjournment would be the last for the defence counsel.

“Meanwhile, Yunusa, the accused will remain in prison custody,” Nganjiwa added.

The Prosecution Counsel, James Amate, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, expressed frustration at the many adjournments the case has witnessed so far.

“We are not happy over the series of adjournment,” Amate complained.

“Of course, catering for the principal witness, who is in Police protective custody is biting on us.”

Nasarawa Workers Declare Indefinite Strike

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Nasarawa Workers Declare Indefinite Strike
Nasarawa State Governor, Tanko Al-Makura
Nasarawa State Governor, Tanko Al-Makura

The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC and the Trade Union Congress, TUC, in Nasarawa State has declared an indefinite strike over the state government’s decision to cut workers’ salaries by 50 percent.

Abdullahi Adeka and Danladi Namo, State Chairmen of the NLC and TUC respectively made this known while addressing journalists at the Labour House in Lafia, Nasarawa State capital, saying that government’s reluctance to reverse its decision has left them no choice but to declare an indefinite industrial action.

According to Adeka, “We staged a peaceful protest to the government house on Monday 4 July, where we made it clear that if the government did not reverse its decision to cut our salaries, we would embark on strike,

“We told the Deputy Governor, Mr. Silas Agara who came and received our petition on behalf of the Governor that at the close of work on Monday, government must reverse the workers’ unfriendly decision or face strike.

“Since the government remains adamant, the unions would use its only weapon which is strike to press home its demands until the government returns and maintains the status-quo,”

The TUC Chairman, Namo, explained that government in its usual characteristics has resorted to intimidating workers especially Permanent Secretaries and Directors.

He urged all categories of workers in the payroll of the government of the state to continue to remain at home until they receive further directive form the union, promising workers across the state that there would be light at the end of the tunnel.

Governor Tanko Al-Makura had insisted that there was no going back on the decision.

Cable Editor Wins Nomination For Kurt Schork Award

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Cable Editor Wins Nomination For Kurt Schork Award
Fisayo Soyombo
Fisayo Soyombo

Fisayo Soyombo, an editor with one of Nigeria’s leading online Newspaper, TheCable, has been short-listed for the Kurt Schork Memorial Fund Awards in International Journalism.

Soyombo, with support from www.icirnigeria.org, had also done an investigative, five-series report titled “Forgotten Soldiers” which revealed the condition of some Nigerian soldiers who were wounded in the battle against Boko Haram insurgents in the Northeast, but have seemingly been neglected by the Army Authorities.

The Kurt Schork awards, was initiated in 2002 in honour of American freelance journalist Schork, who was killed in 2000 while on assignment for Reuters in Sierra Leone.

Soyombo was short-listed in the Local reporter category, for his three stories of 2015: an undercover investigation into corruption at Apapa ports, a feature on the practice of female genital mutilation in some parts of Nigeria, and a three-part investigation into Liberia’s post-Ebola recovery.

The Local Reporter award recognises the often over-looked work of journalists in developing nations or countries in transition, who write about events in their homeland.

Also short-listed in the category are two other Nigerians — Olatunji Ololade of The Nation and Motunrayo Joel of Sunday Punch — as well as Aylaa Abo Shahba (Egypt), Chitrangada Choudhury (India), Ray Mwareya (Zimbabwe), Umer Ali (Pakistan) and Brian Ligomeka (Malawi).

Philip Obaji, another Nigerian, is on the short list for the Freelance category, which honours the works of journalists who travel to the world’s conflict zones, usually at great personal risk, to witness and report the impact and consequences of events.

According to a statement by the organisers, this year’s awards attracted 93 entrants — 37 Freelance and 56 Local Reporter — from 36 countries.

The winner in each category will be announced in September.

The 2016 presentation ceremony, hosted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation in the Thomson Reuters Auditorium, Canary Wharf, London, will hold on Thursday October 27.

The judges for this year’s awards include Anna Husarska, freelance journalist and author; Sam Dubberley, co-founder of Eyewitness Media Hub; Samia Nakhoul Reuters middle East editor; and Richard Sambrook, professor of journalism at Cardiff University.

Soyombo was first short-listed for the award in 2014, for ‘Blood on the Plateau’ — a five-part investigative series on the ethnocentric killings in Plateau state, published in December 2013.

The award was eventually won by Indian journalist, Neha Dixit, for “her courageous and innovative series of undercover reports on rape published by the New York Times, Outlook India, and Yahoo News”.

Soyombo, a 2013 recipient of the Deutsche Welle/Orange Magazine Global Fellowship for Young Journalists, contributes opinions to UAE-headquartered Al Jazeera and Germany-based TAZ and his works have been translated into French, German and Arabic.

Suicide Attacks Kill Six In Damboa, Borno State

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Suicide Attacks Kill Six In Damboa, Borno State
File
File

Six people were killed and one injured in the early hours of Friday following two suicide bomb attacks at the Damboa central mosque in Borno state.

Sani Usman, Acting Director, Army Public Relations confirmed this in a statement, saying that one of the bombers successfully detonated his device while the other, who could not gain entry into the mosque succeeded only in killing himself.

“At the early hours of today, precisely at about 5.15am, two Boko Haram terrorists suicide bombers attacked Damboa,” Usman Stated.

“The first suicide bomber targeted Damboa Central Mosque but due to stringent security measures, he could not gain entry. Obviously frustrated, he exploded and died near the Central mosque,

“However, the second bomber veered off and gained entry into another smaller mosque and detonated the bomb killing himself and 6 other worshipers and injuring one other person.”

The Army spokesman said the wounded has been evacuated to a hospital while efforts are on to clear the rubbles, adding that troops and other security agencies have been mobilized to the area.

Usman also revealed that insurgents attacked Gaskeri village on Thursday, killing three civilian vigilantes and looting food items.

Oil Workers’ Unions Divided Over Planned Strike

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Oil Workers’ Unions Divided Over Planned Strike
NUPENG President, Igwe Achese
NUPENG President, Igwe Achese

There appears to be a division between the two unions representing oil workers in Nigeria as to whether to embark on a nationwide strike or not.

Tokunbo Korodo, The South West Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, said a meeting with representatives of the federal government, which was scheduled to take place on Thursday has been shifted till Monday, July 11.

He noted that NUPENG remains open to the option of dialogue to ensure Nigerians are not made to suffer unnecessarily as a result of the strike.

However, Emmanuel Ojugbana, National Public Relations Officer, Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, insisted that all was set for the planned strike.

He added that the gradual method of shutting down activities and operations in the oil and gas sector is being adopted by its members.

He also said the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, and the Petroleum Equalisation Fund, PEF, will also be affected during the strike.

Olabode Johnson, National president of PENGASSAN, also said in a television interview that the strike was stalled only to allow their Muslim counterparts, who had been fasting during the Ramadan period, to participate in the Eid-el-Fitri celebration.

He added that the strike will go on even as the associations continue to dialogue with the government.

USA: Sniper Kills 5 Police Officers, Injures Seven

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USA: Sniper Kills 5 Police Officers, Injures Seven

 

Dallas shootings

Five police officers have been killed in Dallas, USA and seven others wounded by gunmen during protests against the shooting of black men by police. Two civilians were also wounded in the attack.

Three people, including one woman, have so far been arrested in connection to the attacks, and one man who was in a stand-off with police was later killed.

Gunfire broke out at around 8:45 pm local time on Thursday as demonstrators marched through the city, protesting the killing of two Black-Americans by policemen earlier in the week.

The Dallas attack marks the deadliest day for US law enforcement officers since the September 11 attacks in 2001.

President Barack Obama, who is on a visit to Poland, said it was a “vicious, calculated and despicable attack on law enforcement”, adding that “anyone involved in these senseless murders will be held fully accountable”.

Dallas Police Chief, David Brown said the suspects were all believed to have been working together, including two snipers who fired from “elevated positions”, shooting some officers in the back.

“We believe that these suspects were positioning themselves in a way to triangulate on these officers from two different perches… and planned to injure and kill as many law enforcement officers as they could,” Chief Brown said.

Officers later surrounded a car park near El Centro College, as an armed man fired off rounds with a rifle.

Chief Brown said the suspect had told negotiators that “the end is coming” and that he was going to attack more officers and had “bombs all over the place”.

US media reported that the suspect later killed himself but the police chief clarified that he was later killed by a bomb robot which was detonated by the police.

Police are continuing to sweep the downtown area and no explosives have been found so far.

One of the officers killed was Brent Thompson, a 43-year old transport police officer and the first Dallas officer to be killed in the line of duty.

Statistics has it that 53 US officers have died in the line of duty in 2016, 21 of them as a result of gunfire, excluding those killed in Dallas.

Police had earlier issued a photo of one man at the rally with a rifle slung over his shoulder, saying he was a suspect.

The man, named as Mark Hughes, turned himself in to police and was later released.

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