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Bayelsa Commissioner’s 6 Year Old Son Kidnapped

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Bayelsa Commissioner’s 6 Year Old Son Kidnapped

The six-year-old son of a former commissioner in Bayelsa State, Godknows Powell, was on Wednesday allegedly kidnapped by gunmen.

The boy was allegedly kidnapped on Etegwe road, Yenagoa, in the early hours of the New Year, while returning from church service with his mother.

A family source confirmed the incident saying that the abduction took place at about 12: 45 a.m and that the family had been thrown into despair with hopes and prayers for the boy’s safe return.

The source added that the kidnappers were yet to establish contact with the family.

When contacted, the Bayelsa police public relations officer, Alex Akhigbe, a deputy superintendent of police, confirmed the incident, but said he had not received its full details.

“I got information about the incident this afternoon (Wednesday) and I quickly called the Police Divisional Officer in Ekeki area who confirmed the kidnapping. Right now, I am yet to get full details of the incident, but the police have commenced investigation into the matter,” Akhigbe said.

Powell was once chairman of Yenagoa local government area before he was appointed commissioner for local government and community development during the administration of former Governor Timipre Silva.

Islamists Claim Responsibility For Mogadishu Hotel Bombing

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Islamists Claim Responsibility For Mogadishu Hotel Bombing

Islamist militants in Somalia on Thursday said they carried out the triple bombing on a Mogadishu hotel that killed at least 11 people on Wednesday.

Al Shabaab spokesman, Ali Rage, made the disclosure in a statement in Mogadishu.

Al Shabaab militants, who are battling African peacekeepers for control of territory in southern and central Somalia, said its bombers targetted intelligence officials who were meeting at the Jazira Hotel.

“The apostates are the eyes and the ears of the invaders and these attacks serve as punishment for their role in guiding and assisting the invading forces in their crusade,’’ Rage said.

Jazira Hotel is frequented by government officials in a heavily fortified district and is thought to be one of the most secure places in the coastal capital.

The assault on the hotel, therefore, underscored worries in neighbouring countries and beyond that Somalia could slip back into anarchy if recent military gains were not consolidated.

An attack on a Kenyan shopping mall in September in which dozens of people were killed highlighted the militants’ ability to strike beyond Somalia’s borders.

NAFDAC DG Gets Second Term

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NAFDAC DG Gets Second Term

President Goodluck Jonathan has approved the re-appointment of Paul Orhii as the director-general of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, with effect from January 13, 2014.

According to a statement signed by the secretary to the government of the federation, Anyim Pius Anyim, on Tuesday, Jonathan also approved the re-appointment of Francis Idachaba, as the Chairman, Governing Board of the Nigerian Merit Award, with effect from December 29.

In addition, the president approved the appointment of three new members and renewed the appointment of four members of the board.

The new members are Tola Olufunla (Ondo State), Andrew Nok (Kaduna State) and Laz Ekueme (Anambra), while those whose appointments were renewed are Etim Etim (Akwa Ibom), John Enaohwo (Delta), Ben Onaji (Benue) and Garba Goja (Jigawa).

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Police Pledges Increased Commitment To National Security

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Police Pledges Increased Commitment To National Security

The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Mohammed Abubakar, has called on all zonal Assistant Inspector General of Police, AIGs and Police commissioners to ensure adequate safety and security in their areas of jurisdiction, with special attention on all places of worship.

Abubakar who spoke during the 2013 Security Assessment Meeting of the Police Management Team on Tuesday said the force is ready to provide adequate security for the country in the year 2014.

He listed areas of focus for the Police in the new year to include preservation of public safety, fight against terrorism, rape, violence against women and children, challenges of communal clashes, capacity building and general welfare of Police personnel.

The police chief thanked Nigerians for their support in efforts to keep the country safe and united, adding that the the Force and other security agencies have continued to pay the supreme price to ensure that they live up to their mandate of providing effective security for our nation.

He also called on the public, particularly the youth, to desist from any act capable of disrupting the peace of the society in the New Year and beyond, even as he advised parents and guardians to continue to provide appropriate mentoring to their children and wards.

Nasarawa Assembly Overules Governor Al Makura, Passes LG Law

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Nasarawa Assembly Overules Governor Al Makura, Passes LG Law

By Godwin Ojoshimite

The Nasarawa State House of Assembly on, Monday passed the bill amending the 2009 Local Government Act into law by two-third majority overruling a veto by governor Umaru Tanko Almakura who withheld accent for over two months.

In an emergency plenary session which was incidentally convened at the instance of Governor Almakura to enable him present the 2014 Appropriation Bill, the members invoked constitutional powers to pass the bill into law satisfied with the reasons given by the governor in a letter wriiten to the Assembly on why he withheld accent to the bill.

In the first paragraph of the letter, Al- Makura referred to the huge amount of money needed to conduct a single election which he says is close to a billion naira and would amount to waste of scarce resources conducting local government elections every other year.

The letter also drew the attention of members to the fact that ensuing litigations which are characteristic of our democracy is bound to consume substantial time and attention of the elected officials, thus defeating the purpose for which the exercise is intended.

However, in debating the matter, the legislators described the observations as frivolous and of no consequence.

In his submission, Mohammed Baba Ibaku, chairman on Information and security, said there was no basis for the reconsideration of the bill since the House was careful in arriving at the decision having considered every implication.

On his part, Francis Orogu, representing Keana constituency, cast doubt on the veracity of the need for N1 billion to conduct local polls saying, “Nasarawa is a small state with only 13 local governments. how can local government election gulp that kind of amount?”

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Tanko Tunga, one of the five All Peoples Congress, APC, members in the 24-member PDP controlled assembly, sounded a word of caution to both the legislature and the executive arms of government to live up to the expectations of the electorates rather than engaging in what he termed “cold war politics”.

It would be recalled that the executive and the legislative arm of government in the state have been engaged in a cold war over the tenure of local government officials.

While the executive arm is strongly in support of the two year tenure already stipulated for the local government officials, the legislative arm wants elections conducted every year.

Oil Rich Edo State Owes About N12 Billion

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Oil Rich Edo State Owes About N12 Billion

From Jefferson Ibiwale, Benin

Edo State, in Nigeria’s oil rich Niger Delta region owes about N12 billion, an official of the state government has stated.

Special Adviser to the governor on Media, Kassim Afegbua, disclosed this while reacting to accusations by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, over the state’s indebtedness.

Afegbua said that the state owed between N11 billion and N12 billion adding that “there is no government all over the world that is self sustaining and without having recourse to certain borrowings to meet up its statutory obligations.”

“What is bad in borrowing is taking the money without using it. Since this government came on stream five years ago, we were servicing the debt inherited from the previous PDP government in the state,” said.

According to him, the state government took a bond specifically for the ongoing Benin water storm project and that Monthly “there is certain amount taken from the internally-generated revenue to service that debt.”

Afegbua was reactiong to accusations by the PDP chairman in Edo State, Dan Orbih, that the state government had given the people a true picture of it’s indebtedness.

Orbih had told newsmen in Benin that Oshiomhole had repeatedly denied that the state was indebted, but has gone ahead to set aside N20 billion in the 2014 budget for debt servicing.

He urged the governor to declare the debt profile of the state.

Orbih also described the claim by the government tjat it sacked 836 teachers as an”tissues of lies”, alleging that over 3,000 teachers were sacked without plans for fresh recruitment and that Oshiomhole was playing politics with the figure.

He also accused the state government of failing to fulfil the promises made to the stowaway boy, Ricky Daniel Ikhena, who was promised scholarship.

“Government did not fulfil the promise made to the family. People who wanted to help them stopped because they assumed they were being looked after by government. We also gathered that the mother is now sick,” he said.

However, Afegbua said the government never denied that the state was in debt and added that the stowaway boy, like several others on scholarship, was in the boarding house, adding that the boy was not abandoned.

He also insisted that only 836 teachers were sacked, adding that the decision was taken after the outcome of the evaluation carried out in respect of teachers recruitment, population, competence and qualification.

Army Kills 56 Terrorists In Weekend Bombardment

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Army Kills 56 Terrorists In Weekend Bombardment

The Defence Headquarters said on Monday that 56 terrorists were killed in a major offensive at Alafa forest in Borno State at the weekend.

A statement signed by the director of defence information, Chris Olukolade, a major-general, said security forces launched ground and air operations on the terrorists’ locations in the forest at Alafa about 21 km from Bama in Borno.

He said troops of the multi-national Joint Task Force foiled an attempt by terrorists who were massing up on an island on Lake Chad with the intentions of carrying out attacks on some nearby communities.

However, in the gunfire battle that ensued, the army said heavy casualty was inflicted on the insurgents as indicated by the high level of their loss of men and materials and that the air and land bombardments were continuing in different locations where terrorists had been reportedly sighted.

“Over 56 terrorists died in the ensuing intensive fight over the weekend. The DHQ is acting on intelligence reports which indicated renewed efforts by the terrorists to establish a new camp in the forests locations,” he said.

According to the statement, two soldiers were wounded in the operation.

The army spokesman said intelligence reports had confirmed that some of the wounded terrorists were seen in a canoe paddling towards Tumbun Telkandam in Chad Republic.

Al-Makura Presents N114.5B Budget For 2014

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Al-Makura Presents N114.5B Budget For 2014

By Godwin Ojoshimite

Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa State on Monday presented the 2014 fiscal appropriation bill of N114.5 billion to the state’s House of Assembly for consideration.

Presenting the budget at the floor of the state assembly Al-Makura said that N59.6billion, representing 52.03 per cent of the budget, was earmarked for recurrent expenditure, while 54.9billion, representing 47.9 per cent was set aside for capital expenditure.

The budget showed an increase of N4.3 bn as against 2013 budget of N110 billion.

Al-Makura who tagged the appropriation bill “budget of reality” said that the budget is guided by the market forces and Federal Government fiscal strategy assumptions.

He said that the budget had been carefully planned to ensure proper implementation, completion of all ongoing projects as well as enhance Internal Revenue Generation (IGR) of the state.

He added that government was determined to salvage the people from poverty, backwardness, deprivation, disease and hopelessness and to make education free from primary to secondary schools for the benefit of its people”.

He explained that the budget presented is also to complete the ongoing projects and commence new ones for the development of the state.

Also speaking during the presentation, Musa Ahmed ,Speaker of the house congratulated the governor for presenting the budget and urged him to ensure strict implementation.

APC Wins All In Yobe LG Election

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APC Wins All In Yobe LG Election

The All Progressives Congress, APC, has won all 17 chairmanship seats contested for in the Yobe local government elections.

Yobe is one of the three states under emergency rule following the incessant attacks by members of the notorious Boko Haram sect, and there had been fears that the elections may not successfully hold.

Announcing the results on Sunday in Damaturu, chairman of the state Independent Electoral Commission, Mohammed Jauro, said the elction was peaceful and that the APC secured 999,700 of the 1.2 milion votes cast during Saturday’s elections.

He said the party also won the entire councillorship seats contested for.

The chairman said the electoral body did not receive any complaints from any quarters on the conduct of the elections.

“The successful conduct of the polls is a proof that peace has returned to the state,” Jauro said.

The spokesman of the Military Joint Task Force in the state, Eli Lazarus, a captain, told the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN that it had not received any report of security breach during the polls.

Ten political parties participated in the elections, with the main opposition party in the state, the PDP, boycotting the polls.

The party had cited the security situation as its reason for not taking part in the election.

Gov Oshiomhole Escapes Death In Road Accident

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Gov Oshiomhole Escapes Death In Road Accident

From Jefferson Ibiwale, Benin

The Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, narrowly escaped death Saturday morning when his convoy had a headlong collision with a Peujeot J5 bus stocked with tomatoes and plantain.

The accident occurred at Ewu Village, along the Benin-Auchi road in Edo State at about 9:45am when the governor was returning from Iyamho Village where he had gone to spend the Christmas holiday.

Special adviser to the governor on media and public affairs, Kassim Afegbua, said the bus seemed to have lost control and rammed into the governor’s flag car from the opposite direction, before swerving into a road side ditch.

“Three vehicles in the Governor’s convoy were in front of the Governor’s Flag Car and had passed the Peugeot J5 Bus before it [J5 Bus] had direct impact with the Governor’s Car which had the Governor, his Aide-De-Camp [ADC] and his Driver as occupants,” the statement said.

The governor’s car was said to have been badly affected by the impact of the collision but no injuries were sustained by both sides.

According to Afegbua, “The Peugeot J5 Bus was following a truck that was descending the Ewu Slope when it suddenly veered off into the Governor’s lane from the opposite direction and directly impacted on the Governor’s vehicle, apparently because of brake failure. The good story is that nobody sustained injuries in both vehicles.”

He added that the incident has been reported to the Divisional Police Station at Ewu for further investigation and assured all the people of Edo State that there was no cause for alarm.
No independent account of the incident could be obtained before press time.

Buy it would be recalled that the governor escaped death two years ago when his convoy was involved in another fatal motor accident which claimed the lives of three journalists.

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