The West African Examinations Council, WAEC, has released the May/June 2015 Senior School Certificate Examination, SSCE, results, with a threat to withhold those of candidates of states owing candidates’ registration fees.

The council’s head of National Office, Charles Eguridu, announced this in Lagos at a press parley which held on Monday.

WAEC had earlier disclosed that 19 states owed it about N4bn and has threatened to withhold the result of candidates from these states.

It was gathered that the number of states owing has reduced to 13 but the examination body insists it will continue to withhold the results of candidates from the remaining states untill the fees are paid.

Eguridu said the examination board withheld 118,101 candidates’ results out of the 1.5 million students that sat for the examination.

The body also said the results of candidates in public schools under the states owing WAEC, would be withheld until the state governments pay their candidates’ registration fees

Four persons were killed on Sunday and three others injured when suspected members of the Boko Haram sect laid siege to a road in a remote part of Damboa local government, Borno State.

A member of the youth vigilante group, Civilian JTF, who spoke to journalists in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, said that the insurgents ambushed motorists on the road, killed four of them, injured three others and abducted two men who have been taken to an unknown location.

Information from the Biu General Hospital indicate that the three injured persons had sustained gunshot wounds and had been taken there in critical condition.

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The Bayelsa State government on Sunday condoled with the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur  Buratai, a Major General, and the families of the five security officers killed on Friday by unknown gunmen in Nembe.

It will be recalled that Bayelsa Police Command on Saturday confirmed that an attack on Nember Jetty by armed gunmen suspected to be pirates left four soldiers and Policemen dead.

The Joint Task Force, JTF, base in Nembe, Bayelsa State, came under attack on Friday night, a few hours after the state governor, Seriake Dickson, read riot act warning criminals to flee the state or face unpleasant consequences.

The slain operatives were until their death attached to the JTF in the Niger Delta, Operation Pulo shield.

A statement issued by the Bayelsa State governor’s spokesman, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, expressed regret over the incident.

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The statement assured that, the Dickson – led administration will partner with the security agencies to arrest the perpetrators of the dastardly act, stressing that no stone will be left unturned to bring the killers to justice.

The statement condemned the attack on the nation’s security agencies, describing the act as mindless and most barbaric.

It said that a letter personally signed by governor Dickson had already been dispatched to the Chief of Army Staff to express the heartfelt condolences of the government and people of the state.

The governor also assured the families of the slain officers that their loved ones and benefactors did not die in vain, noting that they died as gallant officers while in active service to their fatherland and prayed for the repose of their souls.

He, however, urged the people not despair as it will continue to do everything within its powers to stem the new wave of insecurity in the state.

He said the new wake of insecurity is not removed from the coming governorship election in the state, adding that some desperate politicians were bent on putting fear in the people.

“All these acts of insecurity and brigandage are intended to put fear in the minds of the people, ahead of the December 2015 governorship election and we call on Bayelsans to remain steadfast and be law abiding as well as go about their businesses,” Dickson stated.

“As a government, we worked so hard and committed a lot of our state’s resources to achieve the peace, we have been enjoying and it is sad to observe that, because of their political ambitions, some persons want to perpetuate violence, brigandage and insecurity across the state” the governor said further.

He called on Bayelsa people to collectively condemn and reject the emerging trend of violence and insecurity in parts of the state, stressing that if not checked the people would be made to pay dearly for it.

By Jefferson Ibiwale, Benin

Two prominent members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, have said that impunity, lack of internal democracy and greed made the party lose at the general polls in 2015.

A member of the Board of Trustees of the PDP, Ebenezer Babatope, particularly attributed the party’s defeat in the election to its inability to curb impunity in its fold.

He also said that the lack of internal democracy in the party destroyed its chances of retaining power at the center in the keenly contested polls.

The second republic politician stated this while delivering a lecture entitled “Nigeria’s Sixteen Years of Democratic Experiment – Which Way Forward?” organized by a group called the New Dawn.

Babtope said for the party to regain power in 2019, it would have to look to the north to provide a suitable candidate to fly its flag.

Babatope said the jettisoning of the political virtues established by the late Nigerian President, Umaru Musa Yar’adua may have sounded the death knell for the PDP.

He however said all hopes were not lost for the party.

He urged the PDP to imbibe internal democracy and allow the younger generation to take over the mantle of leadership of the party.

Babatope reasoned that President Muhammadu Buhari may not run in 2019 due to his age and therefore urged members of the PRP to be ready to fight for a return to power.

“And no matter what it is, however, the political situation in 2019 may continue to be tense and over charged. The fact remains however that we PDP leaders made mistakes in the preparations of our party for the elections. For example, it was wrong for our party’s Board of Trustees not to have met when we were engulfed with the party campaigns for the elections. Our party played into the waiting hands of the opposition with this kind of situation,” Babatope opined.

He said the party must be willing to learn from its mistakes in order to move ahead politically.

He added that the PDP could equally bounce back if the All Progressive Congress, APC, made similar mistakes in judgment.

“If the APC decides to subvert democratic process of nominating candidates for the election, it will equally sentence the party and the party’s operations to irredeemable frustration and despair. In other words, 2019 will decide many things for Nigeria’s future as a democratic nation,” Babatope said.

At the event, another PDP national leader and Chairman of DAAR Communications, Raymond Dokpesi, explained that the New Dawn group in Edo state was formed to rebuild the PDP.

He added that the group was determined to reconstruct this party and bring it back to power in Edo State in 2016 and at the Federal level
in 2019.

He also attributed the loss of the PDP in the 2015 polls to impunity and greed.

“We lost our way and I want to on behalf of the PDP, tender unreserved apology to each and every one of you; the youths, the women, the leaders, for the grievous mistakes we all made. I plead for your forgiveness. We provided bad leadership, we were self centered, only thinking of our interest, not the interest of all of us, it will never happen again,” Dokpesi said.

He affirmed the party’s determination to wrest power from the APC in 2019. He also added that the battle to retake the government house in Edo State was already on course.

“PDP is ready to fight to get back in Government House in Benin City. At the national level, I want to tell you that there is nothing that the APC government is claiming today that wasn’t done by the Jonathan administration, they are only posturing,” Dokpesi said.

Earlier in his welcome address, leader of the New Dawn, Roland Owie, a senator, urged the 8th National Assembly to commence the amendment of the Nigerian Constitution to eventually grant autonomy to the local governments.

He said that it was depressing that the state assemblies had turned down the proposal due to selfish interests.

“In the next line of amendment, any state house of assembly in Nigeria that votes against autonomy of the local government, the Nigeria Labour Congress, Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON,
market women and men will take possession of their assemblies. They wouldn’t sit until they support the autonomy of local governments because enough is enough,” he threatened

Four soldiers and a policeman are believed to have been killed in an attack by devil sea pirates Friday on a joint military formation in Nembe, Bayelsa State, just hours after governor Seriake Dickson read out the riot act to criminals ahead the December 5 governorship elections in the state.

The governor had threatened to deal decisively with anyone who takes actions aimed at disrupting the election, saying that the security forces had been fortified to deal with the criminals.

In the same vein, after a security council meeting in Yenagoa, the state capital, on Friday the Bayelsa State Police commissioner, Paul Okafor, announced plans to register speed boats with capacity above 200 Horse Power.

The state police command on Saturday confirmed that an attack on Nember waterways by armed gunmen suspected to be pirates left four soldiers and Policemen dead.

Spokesman to the Bayelsa Police Command, Asinim Butswat, who confirmed the sad incident said that Joint Task Force base at Nembe came under attack on Friday night.

“On the 7 August, 2015, at about 11:30pm, four speedboats loaded with unknown gunmen, suspected to be sea pirates attacked the Joint Task Force (JTF) Base, at Nembe Water front, in Nembe LGA,.

“They killed four soldiers  and one policeman. The gunmen carted away two HP guns and other arms from the Base.

“A combined team of the JTF,Marine Police and the Navy are combing the creeks to recover the arms and arrest the culprits,” Butswat said.

The attack was also confirmed by the media coordinator of the Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta, Isa Ado, a Lieutenant Colonel, but he could not be definite about the casualty figures. He could also not confirm reports that the sea pirates made away with arms and ammunition.

As the December date of the governorship polls draw near in Bayelsa State, crime rate has spikes in the last few weeks.

The traditional ruler of Tombia community was abducted in July and has not been released since then while a kidnap attempt of chairman of Southern Ijaw local government area two weeks ago left two policemen dead.

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, on Friday said it has arrested five suspects involved in the sale and circulation of various brands of expired products.

The disclosure was made by Kingsley Ejiofor, head of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate in Lagos while addressing pressmen.

Ejiofor said the suspects, who were arrested after the agency received intelligence reports from citizens, were actively involved in the sale and circulation of expired products across the country.

He said that although investigations were still at an early stage, the agency had been able to establish enough evidence against the suspects to warrant their arraignment in court.

He said that one Charles Onyekachi, was arrested for an allegedly counterfeiting Derica Tomato paste, which he sold in parts of Kano.

The paste was said to have been imported from China via Cotonou, Benin Republic from where it was transported to Kano.

“The quantity and value of the counterfeit released into the market is four times that of his own brand. The counterfeit product is worth N8m.

A criminal charge has been filed against him at the Federal High Court, Lagos,” Ejiofor said.

Two other suspects, Tochukwu Ozala and Obiora Ochuba were arrested for the illegal production, distribution and sale of counterfeit Maxiquine Syrup.

“On February 12, the same Ozala was arrested for counterfeiting of a popular brand of Codeine containing Cough Syrup.

The first case is still being investigated when he committed this,” he said.

The agency also said it had arrested one Onyekachi Okafor in Aba, who allegedly distributed counterfeit Renew Cold Water Starch.

The last suspect, Victor Okeke Ebuka, was arrested for allegedly selling expired food condiments which included Maggi Aroma seasoning, Superior Soy Sauce and Amoy Soy Sauce.

By Musdapha Ilo , Maiduguri

Eight members of the Boko Haram sect in Mussa, Askira/Uba local government area of Borno state, have denounced their membership of the sect.

The chairman of the youth vigilante group in the town, Apagu Istifanus, who told journalists of the decision of the militants, said the eight claimed that they were tired of killing innocent souls.

“We arrested eight Boko Haram in Mussa around 4.00pm on Thursday and when we were interrogating them, they said they were tired, they don’t want to wage Jihad again and we handed them over to the military in Mubi, Adamawa state,” he said.

He also said that six out of the militants were from Gwoza town‎, the headquarters of Gwoza local government area.

Meanwhile, residents of Miringa town in Biu local government area of Borno State have decried the invasion of the town by the military authorities for the last six days.

They lamented that they have been made to go hungry as they could not source for food due to the lock down of the town.

A resident of the town, Abubakar Aliyu, told journalists on phone that they had been locked up in their homes since August 1.

“We were locked up since last Saturday without food, water and other essential needs of life. It was only on Wednesday they gave us time to go out from 8:00am to 12:00pm and today Friday they allowed us to go for Friday prayers. The military authorities should allow us go out and look for food and water. They should also allow us to go to our farms, as we are in August and if care is not taken our farms will be taken over by weed,” he lamented.

A security source who does not want his name in print said that they locked up the town because they were conducting house to house searches and that there is an also an ongoing operation in the bushes in the area.

“The military does not want any innocent resident to be caught in the crossfire,” he explained.

Details of bank accounts of the Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, in Yobe State in the last general election, Abu Zarma, were today admitted as exhibits by the Yobe State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abuja, along with proof of lodgements of N15m into the two accounts just days to the April 11Presidential poll.

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its governorship candidate, Adamu Waziri, are challenging the election of the All Progressives Party, APC, candidate, Ibrahim Gaidam, alleging that the winner in the poll had bribed the chief electoral official with N15 million.

The PDP buttressed its case Thursday by providing details of the alleged bribery payment, which were accepted as exhibits by the court.

Sued by the PDP and Waziri in the case are Gaidam, his party, the APC, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Zarma and an Assistant Superintendent of Police,  Zakari Deba, the Aide-de-Camp to the governor.

Governor Gaidam’s security aide is alleged to have paid N8m into Zarma’s Diamond Bank account and N7m into his Zenith Bank account on the same day, April 8.

The exhibits were provided the tribunal by officials of Diamond Bank and Zenith Bank who were subpoenaed as witnesses.

All the exhibits tendered and admitted by the tribunal, including account opening forms, account statements, photocopies of tellers used for the lodgements of the funds and bore Zarma’s name.

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• Eight Boko Haram Fighters Renounce Membership Of Sect

Counsels to the respondents did not oppose the tendering of the exhibits during Thursday’s proceedings but said they would reserve their objection to some of them till the stage of filing their final written addresses.

The head of operations of the Damaturu Branch of Zenith Bank, Umar Alkali, said Deba deposited N7m into Zarma’s account with the bank on April 8.

Led by the petitioner’s lawyer, Abiodun Owonikoko, Alkali said further that the account now had a balance of N1,345,503.38.

Also giving evidence, a staff of the Damaturu Branch of Diamond Bank, Bamaji Kukawa, said that Deba paid N8m into Zarma’s account with the bank on April 8.

“Before the April 8, 2015 entry the bank account had N28,143.60k,” Kukawa told the court.

According to the witness, on April 13, the sum of N8m was withdrawn from the account in favour of Saleh & Hanif Company.

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Similarly, the troops successfully repelled an attack on Dumbuluwa village in Fika local government area of Yobe State, killing eight of the Boko Haram fighters.

The suspected supplier of fuel to the insurgents, Mai Mustapha, and a man believed to be the coordinator of purchase and supply of food to them, simply named Madu by the military, were arrested in Jehu near Jakana in Borno State.

A statement released on Thursday by Sani Kukasheka Usman, a Colonel, acting Director Army Public Relations, said that the insurgents attacked Dumbuluwa with the aim of taking it over but were engaged by Nigerian troops who repelled them.

He confirmed that while eight of the insurgents were killed, two members of the youth vigilante group in the area were injured.

Usman also stated that soldiers “discovered pile of street lamps poles cut into pieces by Boko Haram terrorists which they use in making Improvised Explosives Devices, while searching for terrorists in Dikwa in Borno State.

He said that in the same vein, during a cordon and search operation in Jakana village the soldiers from the 7 Division Garrison recovered 15 cows, 174 goats and a donkey from rustlers and that the animals had been handed over to their “identified legitimate owners.”

“The rustlers were apprehended and are currently undergoing investigation,” Colonel Usman added.

After initial disagreements between Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, SPDC, and its host community, the oil firm has commenced the recovery of spilled crude from its Adibawa oil fields.

The traditional ruler of Edagberi community in Rivers State, Sunny Jacob Ubele, said on Thursday that the oil recovery exercise commenced on Tuesday after the resolution of a faceoff between the officials of company and the chairman of Ahoada West Local Government in Rivers.

Ubele denied allegations that the community tried to frustrate the exercise, maintaining that the people fully cooperated with officials of the oil firm.

Rather, he said, it was officials of Shell who attempted to manipulate the Joint Investigation Visit, JIV, procedure.

“It is very untrue that we denied them access, if we did how did they managed to stop the spill,” he stated.

“They had fixed a JIV on our meeting day and we told them to fix it for the next day.

“When we go there with them we found out they went to the site unilaterally and tampered with the evidences that would assist in arriving at conclusions, so we told them that we were excluded from that exercise,” he explained.

He said further: “We pointed out to them what they did and we declined to sign the JIV reports because we were not part of it. Therefore, the JIV was inconclusive.

“There is no truth in the allegations, today the council of chief met and restated that they should commence recovery of crude from the site.”

In the meantime Shell has explained that the oil leakage was caused by thieves who targeted the well head.

The company expressed regret at the delay in conducting investigation about the leak at Adibawa- well-8 in the Eastern Niger Delta, where a suspected attempt to steal the wellhead led to a spill.

But in a statement signed by one of its spokesmen, Joseph Obari, the oil firm insisted that members of the host community were thwarting efforts to contain the leakage and remediate the polluted environment.

“Following a reported spill at Adibawa- well-8 in the Eastern Niger Delta reported July 12, the statutory Joint Investigation Visit remains delayed.

“The Caretaker Committee Chairman of Ahoada West Local Government, Ikechukwu Obuzor, is leading mediation after the leadership of the Edagberi Betterland community prevented the representatives of industry regulatory agencies, the Rivers State Ministry of Environment and SPDC from accessing the spill site,” the company alleged in the statement.

Shell said further that even after a seeming agreement last week by the leadership of Edagberi Betterland community for oil recovery to commence, “a group of youths demanding payment of money and employment refused SPDC Oil Spill Response team access to the site.”

It stated that the leak was stopped on July 15, but attempts to conduct the statutory Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) on July 16 and 17 to determine the cause and extent of the leak were unsuccessful.