Home Blog Page 3376

Our Husbands Are Not Boko Haram Members – Women Protesters

Editorial
-
0
Our Husbands Are Not Boko Haram Members – Women Protesters

File Photo

Musdapha Ilo, Maiduguri

A protest has been staged to demand the release of some persons allegedly arrested by the Joint Task Force, JTF, as suspected members of the deadly group, Boko Haram.

The protesters, comprising women and children numbering about 100, stormed the premises of the Borno Radio Television, BRTV, to demand the immediate release of their husbands, fathers and children from detention, whose arrests they described as unlawful.

Alternatively, they requested for a statement from the military informing them of the death of their loved ones so that they can mourn them in peace.

The protesters said that life without their loved ones was bleak and difficult, alleging that some their husbands, sons and fathers had been kept in detention in various barracks for different periods ranging from eight months to over one year without trial.

They also alleged that the army had barred them from even setting eyes on their detained husbands, fathers and sons, leaving them to wonder how their loved ones were faring if they were still alive.

One of the women, Ya’hadiza Bulama Musa, who spoke to journalists said: “Our children are not Boko Haram, they were arrested innocently and wrongly by the JTF who labelled them Boko Haram. I am a mother and should know my children better. If they are Boko Haram I will not be here wasting my time. But I know my children they are educated just like their fathers and I”.

She said two of her graduate sons were arrested sometime in June and she was yet to set eyes on them.

Musa continued: “I have written several letters to the then JTF and even the present 7 Division in September and October but they never listened to me or responded to me. The last time I was there the commander chased me away that they don’t want to see anyone again. I became afraid and could not go back there again. If they are dead let them tell me so that I can mourn them in peace.”

Her story was similar to that of Halima Isa who said her 30-year-old son, a furniture maker at Jiddari Polo area of Maiduguri was arrested by security personnel who invaded his home, leaving his pregnant wife helpless.

“We are not Boko Haram; we are Fulanis from Adamawa, and God knows we don’t know any Boko Haram. Please government should help us to see our children again,” she said.

Bashir Zarami, a 14-year-old boy has been separated from his father, the only parent he knows and is struggling to fend for himself by managing his father’s provision shop and can no longer go to school.

He breaks down in tears as he narrates how his father was arrested.

READ ALSO:

“My father is a provision seller there at Bayan Quarters area. I was with him on the day soldiers came to our shop some eight months ago and began to beat us, asking us to lay down with our faces to the ground…They dragged my father out and took him away. Since then I was left alone, I don’t know my mother, my father brought me up alone,” he said in tears.

He pleaded with the state governor, Kashim Shettima, to assist him see his father again.

The army had said it would free all arrested persons found clean after carrying out its investigations and charge to court those who had a case to answer.

However, it has been months since that assurance was given but no visible action has been taken.

 

 

National Intelligence Agency Gets New DG

Editorial
-
0
National Intelligence Agency Gets New DG

Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan has approved the appointment of Ayo Oke, former diplomat at the commonwealth secretariat in London, as the new director-general of the National Intelligence Agency, NIA.

Oke, who hails from Oyo State, takes over from Ezekiel Olaniyi Oladeji whose tenure has elapsed.

Until his appointment, Oke was the director, regions, at the NIA Headquarters.

Similarly, Jonathan approved the appointments of E.O. Okafor from Anambra state as deputy director-general, operations, and Arap A. Yadam from Plateau state as deputy director-general, administration, of the NIA.

All the three appointments are with immediate effect.

The NIA is responsible for foreign intelligence and counter intelligence operations.

Its counterparts are the State Security Service, SSS, which is responsible for domestic intelligence, and the Defence Intelligence Agency, DIA, which is responsible for military intelligence.

Senate Approves Extension Of Emergency Rule

Editorial
-
0
Senate Approves Extension Of Emergency Rule

The Senate has approved President Goodluck Jonathan’s request for a six-month extension of the emergency rule in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States.

In a motion on the extension of state of emergency in the three North-east states, the Senate noted that although commendable progress had been recorded in the affected states, more time was required to restore full and lasting peace.

The Senate approved the extension in compliance with section 305 (6c) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as Amended) which states, thus; “a proclamation issued by the President, under this section shall cease to have effect; after a period of six months has elapsed since it has been in force, provided that the National Assembly may, before the expiration of six months as aforesaid extend the period for the proclamation of the state of emergency to remain in force from time to time, for a further period of six months by a resolution passed in like manner”.

The Senate, therefore, approved the Presidential request to extend the state of emergency in those states on the same terms and conditions as earlier approved and gazetted.

The Senate majority leader, Victor Ndoma Egba, (PDP Cross River) in proposing the motion, moved for an additional prayer to invite the service chiefs and the minister of foreign affairs to appear before the upper House in plenary to confirm the impact of the state of emergency on these three states.

Meanwhile, a group of senators from the North-eastern part of the country have urged the federal government to review its strategy of military engagement in the operation against  insurgency in the region.

The senators – Bello Tukur (PDP-Adamawa), Ahmed Zanna (PDP-Borno) and Ma’aji Lawan (APC-Borno) – who made their views known at a joint news briefing in Abuja, urged the military to relax the restrictions of movement on people living within the affected areas.

The Senator Tukur specifically called for the dismantling of check points to enable residents resume their normal activities while the military conducts its operations, adding that there was need to boost the number of personnel involved in the operations.

“Well it (extension) has been approved by the Senate but so far one would say there are still some challenges and the challenges are well known…The number of personnel that are involved in the operation are not enough. Probably the services need to look at that,” he said.

In his contribution, Senator Zanna who expressed support of the extension, urged that military operations be extended to the remote areas of the affected states and that they should be provided with adequate arms and equipment to effectively dislodge the insurgents and restore normalcy in the affected areas.

‘Considering the situation in Borno, we don’t have any option than to approve the extension. But the operations will only succeed only if there is will and this is why they have not been able to accomplish what they were posted there to do,” he noted.

Also speaking, senator Lawan said the extension of emergency rule would help to return the three states to the path of peace and normalcy.

“This further extension will ensure that normalcy is restored completely to the three states in the shortest possible time such that Mr President will not need to extend it any further,” he said.

Ghanaian Journalist Wins African Story Challenge Competition

Editorial
-
0
Ghanaian Journalist Wins African Story Challenge Competition

A reporter with Citi FM, Ghana Boakye-Yiadom , has won the African Story Challenge by telling the story of how SMS text message technology is transforming the lives of rural farmers in his country.

The award carries a fully-sponsored international reporting trip and laptop prizes for the first and second runners-up.

Diana Neille’s story on land inequalities in South Africa for eNews Channel Africa (eNCA) came second, while Alex Chamwada of Citizen TV in Kenya was voted second runner-up for a series of reports on how a region of southern Somalia has overcome the odds of civil strife to feed people within and beyond Somalia’s borders.

The chairperson of the judging panel and group publisher of IC publishers, Omar Ben Yedder, had this to say of Yiadom’s award-winning story: “Boakye-Yiadom’s story was very well told. You can tell he has done the leg work. There’s lots of first hand evidence, he has spoken to people on the ground and went around the country to find out the impact of technologies on farmers.”

The story explored the impact that the simple but effective SMS technology is having on farms and families in Ghana, with a goal to improving the health and prosperity of Africans.

“We were impressed by the high calibre of journalists that we have attracted in this pan-African contest,” says African Story Challenge Editor, Joseph Warungu. “We need more of this kind of journalism that makes a real difference in the lives of ordinary people by taking on issues that are often overshadowed by politics and entertainment news.”

Yiadom emerged winner from among 20 finalists and 315 entries from across the African continent.

The entries were screened by a technical review panel that evaluated which ideas had the best potential to become top-quality stories on Agriculture and Food Security, the first of five themed categories covered by the contest.

The African Story Challenge is a project of the African Media Initiative, AMI, the continent’s largest association of media owners and operators, in partnership with the International Center for Journalists.

AMI gives reporting grants to encourage journalists to experiment with new content ideas and ways to engage audiences through mobile technology, social media and other digital tools.

Warungu, who is AMI’s content development director, developed the project while an ICFJ Knight International Journalism Fellow attached to AMI.

Soldiers Beat, Injure two Television journalists In Mozambique

Editorial
-
0
Soldiers Beat, Injure two Television journalists In Mozambique

Caption: Alexandre Rosa laid on TIMs van after being severely beaten by the ARMY

Soldiers of the Mozambican Armed Forces, FADM, on Thursday beat two journalists until one of them fainted in Matola, a city 12 kilometres from Maputo, the capital.

The two Independent Television of Mozambique, TIM, journalists, Alexandre Rosa, (chief editor) and Claudio Timana (camera man) were reporting an alleged case of abuse by the military in the city when they were arrested and beaten by soldiers.

Rosa reportedly fainted from the battering received and having been abandoned by FADM was then rushed to Sommershield Clinic of in Maputo.

However, as at the time of filing this report, Timana remains detained at FADM barracks in Matola.

The TV crew was covering allegations of military threats and abuses to local villagers because of a land dispute in the neighborhood of Malhampsene, Matola.

READ ALSO:

Harassed villagers are said to have contacted TIM reporters to report abuses by the soldiers.

However, when they arrived the scene, the two journalists were arrested and then beaten by the military.

TIM has already submitted a complaint at the local police station against the military.

New Pension Scheme Administration Commences In November

Editorial
-
0
New Pension Scheme Administration Commences In November

The head of the civil service of the federation, HCSF, Bukar Aji, has announced that the Pension Transition Arrangement Department, PTAD, established to centrally manage the old pension scheme is to commence operation with effect from Sunday, November 10.

Aji, according to a statement signed by Tope Ajakaiye, the director of communication in the office of the head of service, has also directed all the pension directors to report directly to the PTAD director-general, Nellie Mayshack.

“Directors of the Civil Service Pension Office, Police Pension Office, Customs, Immigration and Prisons Pension Office, CIPPO, and the Pension Board of Trustees of Federal Government Parastatals have been directed to report directly to the Director-General of PTAD from the take-off date,” it said.

As a result, the head of service also directed the pension offices to prepare detailed hand-over notes of their activities, including assets and liabilities to the director-general.

President Goodluck Jonathan recently approved the establishment of a PTAD in line with the provisions of the Pension Reform Act, 2004, appointing Mayshack to take over the management of three of the offices presently running the old pension scheme, the statement said.

Accordingly, the director-general is expected to spearhead the smooth transition of the three offices into a single pension administration and management under the supervision of the National Pension Commission, PENCOM.

The PTAD is to directly report to the office of the co-ordinating minister for the economy and minister of finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, for co-ordination and control.

UBEC Staff In Trouble Over Visa Scam

Editorial
-
0
UBEC Staff In Trouble Over Visa Scam

Two staff of the Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC, Beatrice Molokwu and Jasper Erekosima, are facing prosecution at a High Court in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, over alleged visa scam.

The Independent Corrupt Practices And Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, which is the prosecutor, arraigned the suspects before Justice Mudashiru Oniyangi, alleging that sometime in June, they presented fake UBEC documents to the Belgian Embassy for the purpose of procuring a visa.

ICPC lawyer, Michael Adesola, said the accused persons also got a false statement of account number of GT Bank, with the intent to deceive the embassy to get visa for one Udoka Cyril.

He noted that the offence contravened section 97 of the Penal Code and punishable under Section 364 of the law with at least 14 years jail term.

The accused persons, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Adesola then asked for leave to amend the charges and grant his application for “substituted charge” so that the accused persons could be re-arraigned on new charges.

Counsel to the accused persons, Oyikachi Ikpeazu, did not object to the application for amendment of charges.

The judge granted the request and adjourned the case to January 15, 2014, ordering Adesola to serve the accused persons with a copy of the amended charge before the next adjourned date, to enable them to prepare for their defence.

Appeal Court Orders Oyinlola’s Reinstatement

Editorial
-
0
Appeal Court Orders Oyinlola’s Reinstatement

The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Wednesday ordered the reinstatement of Olagunsoye Oyinlola as the National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Delivering the judgment, Justice J.T. Toh said the decision of the Federal High Court to sack Oyinlola from office was inappropriate.

“I and my brother justices have gone through the appeal and the objections filed by the respondent, but we discovered that the trial court erred in its judgment,” the judge said and ordered that the lower court’s decision given by Justice Abdu Kafarati be set aside.

Toh said: “The trial court acted in error by granting the declarative reliefs sought by the Ogun State chapter of the PDP which challenged the election of the appellant. It is hereby ordered that the appellant, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, assume his original position as the National Secretary of the PPD forthwith.”

The high court had held that Oyinlola’s participation in the election was in violation of two separate orders of a Lagos Federal High Court.

Oyinlola had approached the appellate court and urged it to set aside the court’s decision on the ground that it infringed his right to fair hearing.

The appellate court invoked Section 15 of the Court of Appeal Act and held that the lower court, indeed, infringed on the appellant’s fundamental human rights to fair hearing.

Iran’s Culture Minister Wants Ban On Social-Networking Lifted

Editorial
-
0
Iran’s Culture Minister Wants Ban On Social-Networking Lifted

Iran’s Culture and Islamic Guidance minister, Ali Jannati, has urged the government to legalize access to social-networking websites including Twitter and Facebook.

The country currently blocks access to websites it considers politically sensitive and to social-networking sites, which activists used in 2009 to organize street protests after a disputed presidential vote.

The existing ban has spurred some Iranians to use virtual private networks to circumvent the controls through computers located abroad.

About two million Iranians have Facebook accounts, half of them in the capital, Tehran, Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Hassan Aboutorabi-Fard said in January.

Several Iranian officials including, foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif and foreign ministry spokeswoman, Marzieh Afkham, have Facebook or Twitter accounts or both.

“Not only Facebook, but other social networks should be accessible and the illegal qualification should be removed,” said Jannati, a former ambassador to Kuwait and the son of the influential Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati.

President Hassan Rouhani, who was elected in June and has a Twitter account with more than 122,000 followers, has pledged to allow more social and press freedom and reduce state “policing” of Iranians’ private lives.

Since Rouhani’s term began in August, journalists have taken advantage of new freedoms he has backed.

Articles appearing in local media in recent weeks have debated subjects once taboo, ranging from the impact of sanctions to the usefulness of the decades-old revolutionary slogan, “Death to America.”

Newspapers have also published a string of stories about opinion makers from the U.S. long dubbed the “Great Satan” in Iran’s official discourse.

However, the president’s conservative rivals say young people can be corrupted by Western-style TV shows, which Iranians also access illegally through satellite channels, or Western websites such as Facebook.

Facebook is a “calamity” in the life of married couples and may result in their divorce, Iran’s Khabaronline news website said in an October 21 editorial.

It said time spent on social networks, where one can interact with people outside the family, can weaken relations and lead to alienation.

Nyiam Explains Reason For Resignation

Editorial
-
0
Nyiam Explains Reason For Resignation

Tony Nyiam, a retired colonel and former member of the presidential advisory committee on national dialogue, has said his resignation was in the interest of a successful National conference.

Nyiam in a letter to President Goodluck Jonathan, dated November 3, 2013, had said he was compelled to opt out of the committee in order not to cause distraction or be used to destabilise the “noble cause” of the conference.

Tracing the issues that led to his resignation back to an encounter with the governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, in Benin City, Nyiam accused the governor of “insensitiveness to the ethno-nationalities yearning for self-determination.”

He said in his letter: “What became troubling was the governor’s talking down on the people that gathered, among whom were former governors, senators, retired armed forces generals and judges.”

Nyiam, in a meeting between the Femi Okurounmu-led committee and stakeholders in Edo state, had expressed great resentment for Oshiomhole’s comments that the proposed national conference would end up in the archives like the previous ones held and was therefore of no use.

“I will be surprised if anything changes. Sincerely, I have no business to deceive or mislead anyone. I believe that the outcome of this conference will not be different from that of other conferences we have had in the past,” Oshiomhole said.

The debate led to a heated argument between supporters of both sides and the abrupt end of the meeting.

Defending his position, Nyiam said it was imperative for him to set the record straight so that “evil propagandists bent on derailing the dialogue train would stop fabricating based on ill motives.”

The governor in turn, perceived Nyiam’s reaction as having no regard for constituted authorities, adding that “he might still be hallucinating, thinking he is an Army officer who must be obeyed.”

While thanking the President for giving him the opportunity to serve Nigeria, Nyiam said one of the useful lessons of the Benin incident was that some Nigerian leaders needed to know that they could not continue to use their privileged positions to confuse citizens and present their personal agenda as patriotism.

He however apologised to those who might feel offended by his over-reaction on the matter and promised to continue to assist the committee to achieve its aim.

“I will be leaving the committee, believing that equity, fairness and justice will continue to be guiding principles of its deliberations. Like all Nigerians, I look forward to the report and will continue to believe that a better and greater Nigeria is possible,” he said.

READ ALSO:

Meanwhile, President Jonathan has approved the appointment of Solomon Asemota as Nyiam’s replacement on the Presidential Advisory Committee on National Dialogue.

This is according to a statement signed by Sam Nwaobasi, the special assistant on Media to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Pius Anyim.

The statement said that Asemota would assume duties with the committee on Wednesday.

1...3,3753,3763,377...3,439Page 3,376 of 3,439