President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Paul Boroh, a retired Major General, as the coordinator of the Niger Delta Amnesty programme.
Buhari’s decision was confirmed by the presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, in a brief statement on Monday.
Adesina, who said Boroh’s appointment was with immediate effect, added that the new helmsman of the program would take over the responsibilities of the former special adviser to erstwhile President Jonathan on Niger-Delta, Kingsley Kuku.
Kuku during the last administration also served as the coordinator of the Amnesty Programme.
Adesina noted that the appointment of a new coordinator for the programme is expected to lead to the speedy resolution of recent hitches in its implementation such as the non-payment of outstanding allowances to ex-militants.
Prominent leaders in the Niger Delta region had in recent weeks expressed fears that the new government headed by a northerner would restrict the growth of the region especially as the region did not give him considerable votes at the last polls.
But Buhari, at a recent parley at the Institute of Peace in the US, had restated his determination to spread developmental projects across the country irrespective of who voted or not for him.
Scores of Boko Haram sect members on Monday night, for a fourth time in recent months, invaded the home town of the chief of army staff, Tukur Baratai, a Major General.
The militants,however, were repelled by soldiers, who have been patrolling the streets of Baratai since the last onslaught on the village about a week ago, according to military sources.
The militants who attacked the community and adjoining villages recently left massive destruction in their wake.
The community was first attacked in February, last year, when many houses were razed and villagers killed by the rampaging sect members.
Acting Director Army Public Relations, Sani Kukasheka Usman, a Colonel said the insurgents in their latest desperate attempt to capture the town struck at about 9.30 pm in order to catch the soldiers unawares.
“The terrorists returned again at about 3.00am but were equally pushed back. However, they were repelled by the gallant soldiers. The situation and town is cool and calm,” Usman said in a brief press statement.
The first time the militants struck, Buratai was serving as commander of the Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta.
It is widely believed that his series of antagonistic verbal attacks on the sect and his vow to rout them is responsible for the last two attacks on the community.
Over 1,800 migrants have been rescued from the mediterranean and 13 bodies recovered as the exodus from north Africa by boat endures, Italy’s coast guard said Tuesday.
According to reports monitored on AFP, vessels taking part in European Union, EU, border security operation Triton rescued the migrants from their rickety boats in five separate operations on Monday, following their arrival in Sicily on Saturday of 1,300 migrants, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa and Syria.
The 13 bodies were recovered by an Irish military ship after it came to the aid of one of the boats, which was carrying 522 people.
The cause of death was not yet known, the coast guard said, but migrants attempting the perilous crossing to Europe often suffer from dehydration and sun exposure.
Italy and Greece have been hard pressed to handle a massive increase in migrants fleeing conflicts and poverty in Africa and the Middle East.
More than 1,900 migrants have died this year making the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean to Europe, out of around 150,000 people who have made the crossing, the International Organization for Migration said earlier this month.
A court in Tripoli has sentenced a former Libyan leader, Moammar Gadhafi’s son, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi to death in absentia.
Al-Islam is to die by firing squad for his role in the 2011 revolution that led to his father’s ouster.
The late maximum leader’s son is presently being detained by a militia group in the northwestern city of Zintan.
He has been held there since his capture in November 2011.
The Zintan militia holding him doesn’t recognize the government and court in Tripoli and has since cut off cooperation with the legal proceedings.
Gadhafi is is charged with violently attempting to suppress the 2011 uprising, including the killing of protesters, a crime punishable by death.
Gadhafi, who was once considered the heir apparent to his father, who ruled Libya for over 30 years, was believed globally to be more moderate in comparison to his father.
A NATO strike in May 2011 killed his younger brother ,Saif al-Arab Gadhafi.
About 16 suspected hoodlums have been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command .
The arrest was made known in a statement by head of the Rapid Respond Squad, RRS, Olatunji Disu, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, ACP, who led the raid.
According to the statement, the suspects were arrested at various black spots across parts of Ijora.
“The raid on the Ijora hideouts is in continuation of the onslaught against criminals in all parts of the state. It is part of efforts by the state government to create a secure environment for prospective investors and to secure the lives and property of the residents,’’ Disu said.
It would be recalled that 93 suspected hoodlums were also arrested at Oshodi on July 22.
The state governor, Akinwumi Ambode, had after his inauguration promised to curb the high rate of crime in the center of excellence.
A combined team of the Nigerian Air Force and the Nigerian Army has recaptured Dikwa community in Borno State on Monday after a stiff battle between the troops and Boko Haram insurgents.
A statement by the military said an air force alpha jet and surveillance aircraft destroyed three ambush points heavily fortified by the insurgents with vehicle-mounted anti-aircraft guns.
It added that this paved the way for the military to move in and recapture the town from the insurgents.
It was gathered that cordon and search operations by the army are now going on in the town.
Director, Public Relations of the Nigerian Air Force, Dele Alonge, an Air Commodore, also confirmed the development, saying that the town was no longer under the control of militants.
Meanwhile the Chief of Air Staff, CAS, Sadique Baba Abubakar, an Air Vice Marshal has concluded a tour of operational units in the North east.
The tour was to ascertain the state of equipment and morale of troops, especially those involved in the counter-insurgency operations against Boko Haram sect.
Abubakar said that the aim of his visit was to obtain first-hand information about the operational readiness of the men and equipment with a view to enabling the air force restrategize for efficiency and effectiveness.
Units visited by the CAS include the 64 Air Defence Group, Makurdi; 75 Strike Group, Yola; 97 Special Operational Group, Port-Harcourt and 99 Air Combat Training Group, Kainji.
Governor Adam Oshiomole of Edo State on Monday alleged that a minister in the Goodluck Jonathan administration stole as much as $6 nillion, according to a United States official.
The governor, who was part of President Muhammadu Buhari’s delegation on his recent US state visit, said the information came from a senior American State Department official, although he did not name the corrupt minister.
Oshiomole made the startling disclosure while speaking to State House correspondents shortly after he met with President Buhari at the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja.
“…from the lips of American officials, senior officials of the State Department said one minister, under PDP, cornered as much as $6 billion. The man said even by Washington standards, that is earth-shattering,” the Edo governor stated.
He took a swipe at the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan under the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, saying that the country has moved “from a president that does not seem to know his powers to one that understands that he is a president of the country”.
Oshiomole observed that the PDP “presided over the liquidation of our nation” adding that it also “destroyed all our institutions, converted the Armed Forces commanders to use them as if they were political thugs, converted NTA to a party megaphone, destroyed the SSS, went after opposition as if we were rabbits to be pursued in to our holes, compromised even student unions and destroyed everything that you can think of and elevated religion to a state affair.”
The governor said that the PDP ran such a bad government that if not that Nigerians were patient, anyone carrying a PDP card would now feel unsafe in the country.
Drawing a comparison between the Jonathan and Buhari administrations, particularly their perception in the international community, governor Oshiomole recalled comments made by a US Assistant Secretary of State, Jonnie Carson.
According to him, Carson had lamented to a group of Nigerian governors during the last administration that with the coming of Jonathan the world thought that there was light at the tunnel but that “you would wake up the following day under President Jonathan to find out that even the tunnel had been removed.”
Oshiomole continued: “Now, last week, this same Carson chaired the president’s address at the Institute of Peace and he said ‘we now have a man of enormous integrity; one that has shown so much faith in the democratic process; one that refused to be frustrated even in the face of massively rigged elections. He submitted to the judicial process and even when that was compromised he never gave up”
He said that the American government has confidence in the new administration in Nigeria and that that would be of tremendous benefit to Nigeria and its economy
.”America has done its check and we are convinced that this president is the one that Nigeria needs at this time to regain its leadership of the African continent. America now has a partner worthy of relations because they believe that every dollar that America provides to support Nigeria whether in the area of security, in the area of education, or encouraging American investors to invest in Nigeria, there is an enabling environment because what had been destroying the country is corruption,” he stated.
President Muhammadu Buhari has restated his decision not to intervene directly in the crisis currently rocking the National Assembly over leadership positions.
He said he was relying on the lawmakers to search their consciences in resolving the impasse that has stalled legislative activities for several weeks.
Buhari, who was responding to questions on ‘Good Morning Nigeria,’ a TV interactive program also advised the feuding lawmakers to abide by party guidelines in whatever decisions they take since they rose to power on the wings of party support.
Buhari also said his recent visit to the United States was a huge success going by the recognition the nation currently enjoys globally.
He said he was gladdened by the resolve of the US government to assist and support Nigeria in the areas of economy and security.
He also said that European countries had equally pledged to assist Nigeria by installing security mechanisms in the Gulf of Guinea to help curtail the rampant theft of the country’s crude oil.
The President said with the support expected from global communities, he would strive to put in place credible technocrats and politicians to steer the ship of the state towards prosperity and peace.
“From what I have seen so far, we need really patriotic Nigerians – Nigerians that can work very hard, knowledgeable, experienced, committed Nigerians – to be in charge of ministries. A lot of the institutions of Nigeria – important institutions – were compromised. Everybody was for himself and God for all of us; it is most unfortunate,” Buhari said.
He noted that the nation had numerous educated and experienced persons but added that sadly only those who desired to profit at the detriment of the state had had access to power in recent years.
“We have to look for technocrats, we have to look for politicians and certainly we have to look for decent people in this class to give them the responsibility of being in charge of ministries and important parastatals and agencies,” Buhari noted
He also indicated the willingness of the government to overhaul the petroleum and gas industry and bring to justice all those who had contributed to its comatose state.
He said shipping documents were presently being sourced and compiled for submission to countries where Nigeria’s crude oil proceeds had been taken illegally so that legal action could be undertaken to recover the looted funds.
“The search continues; up to the third of this month, our crude was still being illegally lifted by people who are in government. We are trying to get these documents. We are getting the cooperation of the international community. We are going to make sure that those who perpetrated this theft against Nigeria are faced with facts very soon and are taken to our courts,” he added.
He however asked Nigerians to give him the needed support to put the nation back on the path of recovery.
A Syrian journalist working for a pro-government media outlet was killed early on Monday as he was reporting clashes in east Damascus, state media and a monitoring group have said.
In a news alert, Syrian state television reported the death of National Defence Forces journalist, Thaer al-Ajlani, as he was covering the clashes in the Jobar area.
Jobar is still mostly controlled by rebel groups including Al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate Al-Nusra Front.
Pro-government militia, including the National Defence Forces, NDF, and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, have surrounded the area in an attempt to recapture it.
State news agency, SANA, also reported Ajlani’s death, saying that he was covering government clashes with extremist Sunni terrorist organisations for radio station, Sham FM.
Ajlani was also a correspondent for the Al-Watan newspaper, which is pro government.
His last public post appeared early Monday on both Facebook and Twitter: “The Syrian army is firing barrages of rockets now towards the positions of Faylaq al-Rahman,east of Damascus.”
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group, Ajlani “was regularly embedded with the regime, NDF and Hezbollah in their battles.”
It said heavy fighting had erupted in Jobar on Monday morning, and that regime aircraft had conducted at least 20 strikes on the area.
Rebel groups seized control of Jobar in summer 2013, and regime loyalists began their counteroffensive in September last year.
The Nigerian army on Sunday said it had killed a large number of insurgents in a recent combat operation along the Dikwa-Maiduguri Road in Borno State and other locations.
The actual number of those killed was not mentioned.
The army said the latest success was in compliance with the directive of Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Yusuf Buratai, a Major General, to the Nigerian troops to increase the tempo of their offensive against the Boko Haram sect.
The latest military onslaught codenamed, “Operation Zaman Lafiya Dole,” is aimed at taking the battle to the camps of the insurgents.
It was gathered that through a combined operation involving ground troops and men of the Air Force, the military dealt devastating blows on the terrorists.
The troops also recovered some items from the terrorists including vehicles heavily laden with Improvised Explosives Devices, IEDs, motorcycles, trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns, general purpose machine guns, ammunition and rifles.
The spokesperson of the Nigerian Army, Sani Usman Kukasheka, could, however, not give the exact figures of the militants or military personnel killed in the latest confrontation.
Kukasheka said that in one of the operations, the military attacked the logistics base of the militants where IEDs were planted.
He said due to recent concerted efforts, roads and towns hitherto laced with mines and held by the terrorists such as Biu-Buni Yadi-Damaturu and Biu-Sabon Gari-Damboa roads have been liberated and cleared of the deadly mines.
