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Al Qaeda Claims Responsibility For Death Of Two French Journalists

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Al Qaeda Claims Responsibility For Death Of Two French Journalists

The Mauritanian news website Sahara Media says it has received a claim of responsibility from al Qaeda’s regional wing for the killing on Saturday in Kidal, northern Mali, of two French journalists who work for Radio France International.

Sahara Medias is often sent statements by Islamist militants in Mali.

A Sahara Media reporter said a spokesman for Abdelkrim al-Targui, a senior regional commander for al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, AQIM, had called by satellite phone to read a communique in Arabic.

The caller had started by speaking in Tamashek, the language spoken by Tuaregs in northern Mali.

The communiqué said the killing was only a small part of the price French President Francois Hollande and his people would have to pay for this year’s military intervention, which drove out Islamist militants who had seized half the country.

It now aims to hand control to a gradually deploying UN mission designed to reach 12,600 members.

In March, AQIM announced it had killed another French hostage, Philippe Verdon, in response to France’s intervention in Mali. His body was found by French troops in July.

Last week, four other French hostages kidnapped by Islamist elements in neighbouring Niger were released.

On Tuesday, France announced it had bolstered its military presence by 150 troops in Kidal – a northern stronghold of Tuareg separatist rebels where instability has grown in recent months.

Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said after the killings that Paris would not delay a planned reduction of its troop presence from 3,200 to 1,000 scheduled for February.

ICPC Uncovers Massive Land Fraud By Civil Defense Officials

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ICPC Uncovers Massive Land Fraud By Civil Defense Officials

The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission, ICPC, says it has seized a total of 61 houses and 45 plots of land at different locations in the federal capital territory, FCT from  a top official of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC.

Scores of other officials of the Corp are being investigated for involvement in the sale of land and property to unsuspecting members of the public in a non existing housing estate.

Chairman of the commission, Ekpo Nta, on Thursday told the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee probing alleged illegal land allocations and racketeering in the FCT, that the seizure as well as others were made in the course of an on going investigations into land scam in the city.

Nta said several bank accounts used for the illegal land deal had been traced and frozen.

Giving a breakdown of the properties seized, the ICPC boss said the houses were made up of 40 numbers of three bedroom flats, 20 numbers of two bedroom flats and a duplex.

He said official letters had been written to the appropriate government land authorities on the status of the seized properties and publication made in national dailies to alert the public of the illegal deals so that they do not fall victims.

Nta told the committee that his agency embarked on the investigation following a formal complaint from the Commandant General of the NSCDC, Ade Abolurin, on May 15, 2013 that some of the officials of the Corps were involved in selling lands illegally to unsuspecting members of the public in the name of the agency under a non-existent housing scheme.

“Impressed by the action of the Commandant General of the Corps who reported  his own officials for alleged wrong doings while other heads of agencies or organisations were covering up their staff, I commenced an immediate investigation,” the ICPC boss said.

He continued: “In the course of the investigation, we established that six different Companies were used in the scam,we’ve frozen the banks’ accounts of certain officers and the Companies used and seized several property including 61 houses, 45 plots of land and a duplex traced to some of the officers; interestingly, the 61 houses made up of 40 units of three bedroom flats, 20 units of two bedroom flats and a duplex were seized from a single officer.”

Nta told the lawmakers that the ICPC will commence investigation on Danime Nigeria ltd, one of the companies used by the NSCDC officials to carry out the illegal deals, based on the new information now at its disposal.

The ICPC cleared Abolurin of any involvement in the crime, saying he was not a party to the illegal deals while also noting that he reported to the anti graft agency as soon as he got wind of it.

On whether there would be compensation for the 186 victims of the scam since the properties of the perpetrators had been seized, the ICPC boss said that decision rests with the court.

The committee chaired by Bimbo Daramola commended the ICPC boss for his submission and promised to work with the commission to get to the root of the matter.

This is coming just as the committee lashed out at the former FCT Commandant of the Corps, Rabe Saidu, now Assistant Commandant General, ACG, for claiming ignorance on all the illegal transactions that took place under his command for over two and a half years.

Saidu had claimed that he was away to Mecca when the scam blew open and that he was never queried by the leadership of the Corps but his second in Command, Isikilu Akinsanyan, countered him, saying that the ACG was actually queried on the illegal deal.

Our Husbands Are Not Boko Haram Members – Women Protesters

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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.

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“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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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