Tuesday 30 April 2013

Senate proposes six-year single term for President, govs

Senate proposes six-year single term for President, govs

President of the Senate, David Mark
IN an arrangement that may put a stop to the 2015 ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan, the Senate Committee on the Review of the Constitution has recommended non-renewable single six year tenure for the office of President, Vice-President, governors and their deputies.
The Senate panel’s recommendation also disqualifies Jonathan and  incumbent  governors from benefitting from the new arrangement if the recommendation becomes law.
The PUNCH learnt on Monday that members of the committee, who held a three-day working retreat which ended in Lagos on Sunday, arrived at the decision after a heated debate.
A National Assembly member who was privy to the recommendation confided in one of our correspondents that, “We thought hard before arriving at this decision. We considered the current heating up of the polity by those interested in running for office in 2015.
“We also looked at what normally happens each time we are about to enter into an election year.
“If the recommendation scales through, none of the current office holders from the President down will benefit from it.
“It is couched in such a way that if someone is elected as Vice-President for instance and he becomes President for the reason of the removal from office of the President, either through ill health, impeachment or death, he can only serve out the term of the President even if it is just one month.
“He or she, as the case may be, will be ineligible to present himself for election as President in subsequent elections; the same applies to the office of the governor and deputy governor.”
The source revealed further that the committee also recommended autonomy for local government administrations and if the recommendation scales through the legislative process, local government councils will collect their monthly allocations from the federation account.
 “There is a caveat. Only local government councils with elected council chairmen and properly constituted councils will receive such payments,” the source added.
There is however fear that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party and the Presidency will oppose these recommendations.
Jonathan had in the past expressed his preference for a seven-year single tenure for elective officers.
This he justified during his first media chat on assumption of office.
 He had said, “The issue is that in Africa, elections create social unrest and we need to manage this. In a situation where you elect a governor and that governor has not sat down, another election is around the corner.
“Every four years you conduct elections, you create so much tension in the political environment. As we are talking, some people are busy holding meetings for the 2015 elections.
“It creates series of confusion in the political environment. I am not saying that single tenure, alone, will bring one hundred per cent stability.
“There is no political system that is one hundred per cent stable, you must have some tension. That was why I came up with that.”
The President had also on November 17, 2011 empanelled the Justice Alfa Belgore-led committee, officially designated as Committee to Review Outstanding Issues from Recent Constitutional Conferences.
The committee was mandated to identify gaps in the current constitution and propose amendments as adopted by previous constitutional conferences.
The committee was, however, limited in scope as it was only required to making suggestions on issues adopted by consensus by the previous constitutional conferences.
The Belgore panel did not delve into the issue of tenure as earlier proposed by the President.
Public opinion weighed heavily against the item following fears that the President was interested in tenure elongation.
When asked to confirm the Senate committee recommendation, the Clerk of the Senate Committee on Constitution Review, Mr. Innocent Mebiri, did not deny the development but said details would be made available to the Senate at plenary.
 “Don’t bother yourself, when it gets to the Senate at plenary, you will know whether it is true or not,” he told one of our correspondents.
The report of the People’s Public Sessions conducted on the constitution by the House of Representatives indicated that Nigerians massively supported autonomy for local government councils.
More than 90 per cent of voters in the 360 federal constituencies where the sessions were held supported abolition of State/Local Government Joint Account in order to grant financial independence to the councils.
But, they opposed a single term of five, six or seven years for the President, state governors and other political office holders.
Rather, they voted in support of retaining the present two terms of four years each.
The public sessions were held on November 10, 2012.
The results of the sessions will be incorporated into bills on constitution amendment to be passed by the House.

Monday 29 April 2013

Boston Bombings: George W. Bush Puts a “Another Conspi…” on It

Boston Bombings: George W. Bush Puts a “Another Conspi…” on It

bush-another-conspiracy



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From the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh.

George W. Bush has suggested that the Boston bombing could have been a wider organized plot, suggesting that the attacks were a conspiracy during an interview with ABC News.
Asked by ABC’s Dianne Sawyer if the Boston bombing reminded him of 9/11, Bush responded, “At first I was deeply concerned that there might have been an organized plot,” before adding that he thought the attack may have been “another consp” (Bush appeared to be saying the word ‘conspiracy before he stopped himself, before continuing, “Another highly organized attack on the country and it still may be.”
While Bush almost described the bombings as a conspiracy, his wife glared at him.
Bush has made numerous statements in the past that have raised the eyebrows of those who are skeptical of the official narrative behind terrorist attacks, including a speech before the UN shortly after 9/11 during which he remarked, “Let us never tolerate outrageous conspiracy theories concerning the attacks of September the 11th.”
The YouTube community responded to Bush’s statement by noting how his wife Laura reacted.
“Look at Laura’s eyes at the exact moment he utters “another consp”. She gets extremely wide eyed for a slightest moment. Pretty revealing,” wrote one.
“Notice how at about 0:40, when the word “consp..” came out of his mouth, his wife’s eyes got bigger for a second. She definitely reacted to what he had said, as she looked directly at him, cuing him to cut it short and choose anther word,” added another. -Infowars
Indeed “protecting the homeland” is difficult and involves doing many things.

8 killed in cargo plane crash at US air base in E Afghanistan

8 killed in cargo plane crash at US air base in E Afghanistan

The wreckage of a cargo plane that crash-landed in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province on July 28, 2010.
Eight people have been killed in a civilian cargo plane crash in the US-run Bagram Air Base in eastern Afghanistan near the capital city, Kabul, Press TV reports.


The aircraft crashed on Monday at about 3 p.m., Afghan officials say.

Taliban have claimed that they have brought down the plane.

The cargo plane crashed from a low altitude immediately after it took off from the base, a US military official said.

Afghan intelligence officials have launched an investigation into the incident. They have also arrested two men who placed explosives in their fuel trucks to detonate them inside the US air base.

Earlier on Saturday, four US airmen were killed when their MC-12 spy plane crashed in Afghanistan’s southern province of Zabul.

The Pentagon said the crash of the MC-12 is under investigation.

According to the website icasualties.org, 3,288 foreign soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since the US-led war began in October 2001.

The increasing number of military casualties in Afghanistan has caused widespread anger in the US and other NATO member states, undermining public support for the Afghan war.

The US-led war in Afghanistan removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity continues to rise across Afghanistan, despite the presence of about over 100,000 US-led troops.

Three Jordanians killed, 13 injured in student brawl

Three Jordanians killed, 13 injured in student brawl


Three Jordanian have been shot dead and 13 others injured during a brawl which broke out between students at Al Hussein University.

Syrian crisis imposed from abroad: Velayati

Syrian crisis imposed from abroad: Velayati


A senior advisor to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution tells PressTV that the crisis Syrians are facing has been imposed on them from outside the country.


“The problem that the people of Syria are facing is not an internal problem, this is an external problem,” Velayati told Press TV on Saturday on the sidelines of an international conference in Tehran.

“We know that because of the intervention of other countries specifically Western countries [and] with the cooperation of the Zionist regime [of Israel] and also some reactionary governments in the region, they are fighting against the people of Syria,” he added, stressing that the problem needs to be solved by the people of Syria.

Velayati added that the supporters of the Syrian government and the opposition should sit together and talk to find a “peaceful solution” to the unrest.

Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei’s advisor went on to say that sending armed militants, who are mostly non-Syrians, to the Arab country, was in fact “fighting against the people of Syria.”

He concluded that the people of Syria will emerge victorious out of the current crisis. “We do believe that finally the people of Syria will win in ... this fight which has been imposed on the people of Syria.”

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of Syrian troops and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that large numbers of the militants are foreign nationals.

Lewandowski unlikely to join Manchester United this summer-Agent

Robert Lewandowski's agent has revealed the Borussia Dortmund striker is unlikely to join Manchester United this summer.

The 24-year-old, who has scored 33 goals in 39 appearances this season, has a year remaining on his contract with the German club and has been strongly linked with a move to Old Trafford at the end of the campaign. Lewandowski's representative, Maik Barthel, insists the Poland international is keen to play in the Premier League but has played down a switch to England this summer.

"I can tell you only one thing - Robert is interested in the future coming to the Premier League," Barthel told the Guardian. "The Premier League is very interesting for Robert. How long is the future, I cannot say to you. I think this summer is not the future."

Goal.com revealed last Tuesday that Bayern Munich has edged ahead of United in the race to sign Lewandowski, as Juventus is lining up a deal for Mario Gomez, which will create space in the Bundesliga champions' squad for the Pole.

When asked whether Lewandowski will join Bayern Munich, Barthel replied: "I don't know."

On Sunday, Dortmund general manager Hans-Joachim Watzke conceded the club will discuss "decent offers" for Lewandowski but claimed the decision does not mean the forward will leave Jurgen Klopp's side.

Tense in California as hunts hots up about a man who killed girl, 8

Tense in California as hunts hots up about a man who killed girl, 8

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — After door-to-door sweeps proved fruitless, law officers urged residents of a small town in Northern California to lock their doors and keep a close eye on streets and yards for a man who stabbed an 8-year-old girl to death in her house.
The attacker, only described as wearing a black shirt and blue pants, was the subject of a broad search Sunday by the sheriff's departments of Calaveras and surrounding counties, the California Highway Patrol and the state Department of Justice.
Leila Fowler was stabbed to death on Saturday at the home in Valley Springs, Coroner Kevin Raggio said. Sheriff's officials say investigators have collected fingerprints and what they believe is DNA from the home. Calaveras County Sheriff's Capt. Jim Macedo told the Modesto Bee (http://bit.ly/14CJ5s2 ) authorities hope to have lab results on the evidence in a week.
"This is way too close to home," Julia Poland, who took her 13-year-old daughter to an afternoon news conference on the search, told the Bee. "This kind of thing does not happen here."
Leila was found by her brother — reported by local media to be 12 years old — after he encountered a male intruder in the home. When the intruder ran away, the boy found his sister stabbed. She was pronounced dead at a local hospital, officials said.
Authorities spent Saturday night and into Sunday conducting a door-to-door sweep of homes scattered across hilly terrain, checking storage sheds and horse stables, and even searching attics.
"It is a difficult area to search, it's rural, remote," sheriff's Capt. Jim Macedo said.
Mass notifications alerted residents about the attack and the search for the suspect, officials said.
"I was working on my tractor and a CHP copter kept flying over my house," Roger Ballew, 35, told The Associated Press on Sunday.
A SWAT team showed up at his house Saturday night and told him to stay inside.
"It was nerve-racking, I didn't sleep well," Ballew said.
Investigators on Sunday were interviewing several people, but no suspects had been named by late afternoon. Detectives were checking out tips that had come in to the sheriff's office, including possible leads from outside the county, officials said.
"It's just terrible," resident Paul Gschweng told Sacramento television station KCRA. "What can I say about it, it's just a tragedy."
The station reported that a neighbor told police that a man was running from the girl's home after the attack.
Investigators were asking area residents to call authorities if they had any information, knew of anyone who had unexplained injuries or may have left the area unexpectedly after the girl was killed.
Valley Springs is a community of about 2,500 people in an unincorporated area of Calaveras County, known as "Gold Country," in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, about 60 miles southeast of Sacramento.
The county became world-famous in 1865 with Mark Twain's short story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," according to the Calaveras County Chamber of Commerce website.

Nigeria: Battling Malaria Without Drugs or Knowledge

Nigeria: Battling Malaria Without Drugs or Knowledge

The statistics are shocking. Over 300,000 Nigerians die from malaria each year – more than in any other country. An estimated 250,000 are children younger than five.
When the disease strikes, most Nigerians visit patent medicine vendors (PMVs) like Bisi (not her real name) for relief.
“You will take chloroquine; four today, four tomorrow and two afterwards”, says Bisi to a customer, prescribing treatment for a bout of malaria.
Bisi operates a small pharmacy in a poor area of Abuja, Nigeria’s capital. Many of her patrons buy medicine for their children’s malaria, which causes twenty per cent of all deaths of children under five in the country.
According to her neighbours, and by her own account, Bisi is a “trained nurse”. She administers drugs to the residents of Lugbe, a slum of about 50, 000 people among a metropolitan population thought to number well over three million.
“You will take the chloroquine with Panadol”, a popular brand of analgesic in Nigeria), Bisi tells her client.
The only test Bisi conducts is to ask, “How are you feeling, are you feeling cold, headache?” As soon as she gets an answer in the affirmative, she administers chloroquine and piriton, an anti-allergy drug.
Chloroquine was once the most effective treatment for malaria. As early as 2005, however, Nigerian health officials advised against using the drug, because the malaria parasite had become resistant to it.
But Bisi is oblivious to that problem. She administers chloroquine in the confidence that her client will be cured of her ailment.
The baby killer
The death of a child is a sensitive issue to discuss, especially with immediate relatives of the deceased. As reporting for this article unfolded over three weeks, two child deaths from malaria were encountered in one neighborhood. Although traumatised parents refused to speak about it, a relative agreed to talk.
“My uncle’s daughter was poorly treated for malaria,” the source, who wants to remain anonymous, told PREMIUM TIMES. “She was complaining, they gave her medicine, and then she died. It was the only girl. It is too sad.” The child was about four years old.
“My neighbour’s child”-  a boy between five and six – “went to the pharmacy,” the source continued. “But they gave him adult dosage.”  He, too, died.
The 2010 Malaria Indicator Survey showed that only 11 per cent of Nigerian children treated for malaria were given ACTs. Most took chloroquine.
Ineffective but popular
Dr. Oladimeji Oladepo, a medical school professor at the University of Ibaden, is working with PMV associations in a program aimed at providing more effective treatments. The Institute of Development Studies has been a partner in the research.
Oladepo’s unit in the Department of Health Promotion and Education, found that people buy chloroquine, “because it is almost 15-fold cheaper than the ACT” – the ‘artemisinin combined therapy’ drug cocktail that is effective against most malaria cases.
“In fact, 70 per cent of people who have fevers, symptomatic of malaria, will visit the patent medicine vendor first, and they would want to buy chloroquine, the cheapest drug, to treat their malaria,” he said.
A walk into a pharmacy – perhaps better to call it a shop where drugs are sold – reflects chloroquine’s continuing dominance.
In the Agboju area of Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial center and largest city, medicine vendors stock chloroquine because it remains the drug that is most in demand, especially among the older generation.
“We sell it because people still buy it, especially the old school people,” one of the vendors said.
Emmanuel Otolorin, the Country Director of JHPIEGO, a non-profit affiliate of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, spoke with PREMIUM TIMES on the efficacy of chloroquine.
“The malaria parasite became so clever that it started looking for survival,” Otolorin said. The spread of chloroquine resistance, first in Latin America and Asia and then across Africa, prompted the development of ACTs. A looming challenge is that resistance to these latest drugs has already been found in four south-east Asian countries.
Know your enemy – and how to fight it
In addition to treatment with ACTs, the World Health Organisation(WHO)  recommends a four-point strategy to combat malaria, Otolorin said. The first is education.
“Everyone should know how malaria is transmitted” – by mosquitoes – and “how it breeds in stagnant water,” Otolorin said. Armed with that information, communities can reduce the places the insects can breed.
A second element of the strategy is sleeping under an insecticide-treated bed net. When a mosquito touches it,” Otolorin said, ” it dies”. But even when bed nets are available, they aren’t always used.
Nneka Okechukwu knows that sleeping under a net can help protect her. The problem is that the net’s small holes, designed to restrict penetration by mosquitoes, also reduce air flow. “The weather is hot,” she says, “and there is never light to use the air conditioner or fans at night, so it uncomfortable to use these nets.”
Nigeria has an erratic supply of electricity, insufficient to power even the homes of the minority of Nigerians who can afford it. South Africa, by comparison, a country of 50 million people, has 10 times the electrical production capacity of Nigeria, with a population of 180 million.
“You either die of heat or of malaria,” Okechukwu says. “Because malaria is not immediate, I usually consider the heat, so I sleep without the net.”
Nnenna Ibeh, a journalist, tolerates the nets because she knows they work. “I would sleep under the mosquito nets and when I wake up, I would see dead insects surrounding the nets” she said. “This way I feel safe.”
Early detection and treatment with effective medicines is the third step in malaria control. A rapid diagnostic test (RTD) to confirm or rule out a malaria infection – is an important step. Limiting treatment to people who have an acute infection is a precaution against the spread of ACT-resistant malaria.
The fourth recommended approach is giving malaria-prevention drugs to all pregnant women at least twice in their pregnancies – after the first trimester and at 16 weeks – a practice called intermittent preventive therapy. WHO’s 2012 World Malaria Report, released in December, says 10,000 thousand women and 200,000 babies die annually from malaria in expectant mothers.
“Pregnancy lowers their immunity; it lowers their ability to fight malaria parasites,” Otolorin explains. “The baby will get less oxygen and food during pregnancy; as a result, the baby becomes malnourished inside the womb.”
Malaria in pregnant women should be treated at any gestational stage, he says, because it is so deadly.
A flawed policy
Despite the human and economic costs of malaria, most Nigerians remain uninformed about both prevention and treatment. Oladepo says there is a need to translate the government’s policy on malaria into the three major Nigerian languages, so that people can understand it.
An attempt to speak about government policy to the national coordinator of the Nigerian Malaria Control Programme (NMCP), a division of the Public Health department of the Federal Ministry of Health, is stalled by bureaucracy. “Madam is busy; come back later,” a reporter is told.
“Madam cannot talk to you just like that. You will have to fill a form; then she will respond to you later,” the coordinator’s secretary said, in response to a request for an appointment.
However, a staff of the NMCP, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because his superiors had not authorised him to speak, acknowledged that there has been no major reduction in malaria deaths. But he insisted that the health ministry is fully involved in campaigns at the grass root level.
“Definitely information gets to the rural areas,: he said. “There is a cascade effect from the top to the bottom. ..The national programme coordinates everything about malaria. We also have state offices that coordinate down to the local government level.
“Right now as we speak, insecticidal nets are being distributed in the states. This evolves down to the lowest wards in the state,” the source said.
“There are some gains that have been made. It may not have been exactly drastic as everybody would have been expecting. But we are on the right path,” he continued.
Asked about the continued popularity of chloroquine, the NMCP source defended health officials. . “It is not something we have full control of,” he said. “There are no government hospitals where you see chloroquine”.
But a policy that focuses mainly on hospitals seems flawed, in a country where most people buy medicines from venders in the private market. The PMVs serve rural people and those who have little money – and about 60 per cent of Nigerian live below the poverty line.
Venders like Bisi are offered little support to provide effective drugs and no official instruction to help her help her customers. On a recent day, she was sternly warning a pregnant women not to take malaria drugs”.
“You cannot take malaria medicine for now,” she said, offering, instead a mild painkiller and a nutritional supplement.
“Take it all this morning”, she advised.
This article was produced by Premium Times for AllAfrica, in partnership with the Institute of Development Studies.

Fmr IGP’s House Razed In Jigawa

Fmr IGP’s House Razed In Jigawa

Five people have been killed after suspected Boko Haram members went on the rampage in Ringim Town Jigawa state, Nigeria’s north –western region attacking the police station and a commercial bank.
The Jigawa state police command says the Sect members killed three policemen at the divisional police command, three civilian guards at a nearby commercial bank.
The attack also shattered the windows of the residence of a former Inspector General of police, Mr. Hafiz Ringim which is close to the police station.

Nine Nigerian Oil Workers Abducted In Bayelsa

Nine Nigerian Oil Workers Abducted In Bayelsa

Niger Delta militants
By SaharaReporters, New York
Nine employees of Octopus Clan Nigerian Limited and the Deck Oil Services have been kidnapped by unidentified gunmen along the Ilebiri Creek in the Southern Ijaw Area of Bayelsa State.
Sources in the security services said in Yenagoa on Sunday that the workers were abducted at about 2pm on Thursday by the yet to be identified gunmen, who are also suspected to be behind the killing of 12 policemen in Azuzuama on April 6.
SaharaReporters gathered that the gunmen seized the oil workers to negotiate a reprieve from the JTF which launched a series of raids to smoke out the kidnappers from their known camps.
It would be recalled that following the massacre of the policemen, the kidnappers released one of the policemen that had been on the ill-fated boat attacked after allegedly collecting a ransom of N1 million.  It is common practice for the security services to negotiate with the kidnappers, who are often known to them.
The kidnapped workers, all of them Nigerians, were on their way to work to repair leaks within Agip’s pipeline network in the Southern Ijaw Area of Bayelsa.
It will also be recalled that recently, a couple of oil companies suspended activities in some areas of their operation.  Agip suspended operations in its onshore oil fields in Bayelsa, while Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) announced suspended operations and on March 23 declared ‘force majeure’ on its oil output from the facility.
`Force Majeure' is a legal notice that absolves an oil firm of liability for failure to meet supply obligations to crude buyers due to circumstances beyond the firm’s control
NAOC attributed the frequent spills to oil theft by vandals and said that it had decided to shut down operations to prevent further damage to the environment.

An indigene of the Ikebiri community, Kelvin Okuneibie  said that   fishermen along the waters confirmed that the gunmen swooped on the oil workers from the Azuzuama axis of the area.
Five of the kidnapped workers are employees of  Port Harcourt-based Octopus Clan Nigeria Limited while the remaining four work for Deck Oil Services.
The Police spokesman in Bayelsa Alex Akhigbe said that the Police was yet to get a report of the incident from the oil services firms.

Wife accuses husband of denying her sex for 3 years

Wife accuses husband of denying her sex for 3 years


The woman no longer wants to stay married to her husband.
An Abuja Area Court on Monday adjourned for continuation of hearing the case of a couple in which the wife, Ramatu Abubakar, sued her husband for allegedly denying her sex for three years.
The Judge, Haruna Masanawa, adjourned the case to May 13, to enable the couple bring witnesses who would give their testimonies in court.
The couple, residing at Queen Amina Street in Kubwa, Abuja, had been married for five years and were blessed with a three-year-old daughter.
The plaintiff, in her statement of claim, alleged that her husband had also been threatening her life, maltreating her, assaulting her physically, and keeping late nights, being a drunkard.
She, therefore, prayed the court to dissolve the marriage forthwith.
However, the respondent, Abubakar Okpanachi, in his submission, denied his wife’s allegations.
Mr. Abubakar claimed that the bone of contention between him and his wife was that his wife was adulterous, which made him ‘’steer clear’’ of her.
Mr. Abubakar said that even the paternity of their daughter was ‘’suspect.’’
He said he would have to carry out a paternity test on the child to confirm if she was his biological child.
“My Lord, I have my doubt about the paternity of our three-year-old daughter.
“I want to carry out a DNA test to ascertain her paternity.
“My house-help once caught my wife in the act on our matrimonial bed,’’ Mr. Abubakar alleged.
The judge, after hearing both parties, ordered that summons be issued and served on the witnesses to appear before him on the adjourned date.

Prosecute Obasanjo Now, CACOL Urges Federal Government

Prosecute Obasanjo Now, CACOL Urges Federal Government

Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and Ghanaian President elect, John Dramani Mahama-Photo: Reuters
By SaharaReporters, New York
The Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) has called on the Federal Government to expedite action at prosecuting former President Olusegun Obasanjo for the financial malpractices he perpetuated during his eight year regime, and make sure he is adequately punished.
This call followed the statement credited to the former president challenging the federal government to prosecute him for all wrongs done during his administration rather than prosecuting his aides. Obasanjo allegedly made this statement at the 50th birthday anniversary of the former Minister of Education, Mrs. Obiageli Ezekwesili.
“Now that he has volunteered to face trial, the FG should not hesitate to grant the old man’s request,” the Coalition's Executive Chairman, Debo Adeniran, said in reaction to the news.   “It is clear fact that the old soldier presided over scandals of international dimension. It has been revealed that 60 per cent of the Halliburton bribe money was collected during Obasanjo’s regime; the Wilbross Scandal is there, the Siemens Scandal, and even the Pentascope, which was said to have been registered on a Sunday and incurred more debt that the NITEL it came to rescue.”
CACOL said Obasanjo was right in his assertion and should be held liable for every financial malpractices perpetrated in his regime.
“CACOL has in many petitions and reminders provided the anti-graft agencies, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), with all evidences required to investigate the allegations and prosecute the cases against former President Olusegun Obasanjo for corrupt practices committed during his eight years in power,” the statement said.  “Our Coalition provided them with enough leads that they ought to have worked with since six years ago, it is baffling that the former president has not been docked [yet].”
The Coalition recalled, for purposes of a prospective probe:
•    The Ndudi Elumelu Power Probe Report, where the former president allegedly expended $16bn on Rural Electrification Scheme Project with nothing positive to show for it;
•    The pogrom he committed in Odi, Zaki-Biam and the killings of the O’odua Peoples’ Congress members in the South West;
•    His do-or-die politics, which led to thousands of lives wasted;
•    The land grabbing allegations against Obasanjo;
•    Obasanjo’s use of his office to garner illegal donations for his presidential library.
CACOL further asserted that the former president should face trial for the illegal excess crude account opened by his administration.
“It is worthy of note that the so-called Excess Crude Account created by Obasanjo is illegal,” the statement continued, stressing that Obasanjo must tell the whole world why he created the account in the first place and what he used the money for in the face of many sectors of the country.
“The ex-President must also tell Nigerians where monies recovered from Abacha and other looters went to,” CACOL said.  “Plunderers of our collective patrimony and national heritage must be brought to book.

Baga crisis: Some displaced persons still in the bush – NEMA

Baga crisis: Some displaced persons still in the bush – NEMA

The Nigeria emergency agency said it is providing relief materials to victims.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) says some of the displaced persons during the recent Baga crisis in Borno State are still hiding in the bush.
This is contained in a statement signed by Abdul kadir Ibrahim, the NEMA Information Officer in the North East Zone, in Yola on Monday.
According to the statement, following the return of normalcy and on arrival into Baga Town, the agency discovered that most of the displaced persons are still scattered in the bush.
“Other people are taking refuge in the homes of their relations in the neighbouring communities,” it said.
He said that humanitarian workers led by the agency had commenced distribution of relief items to displaced persons affected by the crisis.
“This is in line with the President Goodluck Jonathan directive to the agency that immediate relief materials should be given to the people.
“The Director General of NEMA, Muhammad Sani Sidi, had dispatched a team of officers with the relief and medical items to affected persons in the area,’’ Mr. Ibrahim said.
“The major task before NEMA is to ensure that people in the bush are relocated to temporary camps,’’ the statement quoted NEMA Director, Search and Rescue, Charles Otebagde, as saying.
It also revealed that an immediate rapid assessment was being conducted in collaboration with Red Cross and other voluntary organisations.
According to the statement, relief items are being distributed while those with minor injuries are being treated at a temporary camp clinic opened in the area.
The statement said that the communities affected in Baga are Bayan Bulabulin, Anguwa Gajagaja, Aliya, Musarin Baga, Kasuwan Baga, Layin Yannono. It appealed to the people to remain calm as no meaningful development could be achieved without peace.
The items distributed by the officials together with other humanitarian workers include medicals, sanitary, food, household materials and tents.
Meanwhile, the Shehu of Borno, Abubakar Ibn Garbai, has appealed to humanitarian organisations, corporate organisations and public spirited individuals to provide more relief materials to Baga victims.
Mr. Ibn Garbai made this known on Monday in Baga during a sympathy visit to the people of Baga, Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno.
He said that the victims were in dire need of urgent support due to the magnitude of the disaster.
Mr. Ibn Garbai, who presented a cash donation of an undisclosed amount to the victims, commended the state government for its assistance to the victims.
Senator Maina Ma’aji, the Senator representing Borno North in the Senate also made similar calls.
He urged the Federal Government to deploy doctors and medical supplies to the various camps in the town.
About 200 people were reported killed during a clash between insurgents and Nigerian security officials in Baga two weeks ago.
Mr. Ma’aji said 220 victims had been buried, while the Nigerian military claims the casualty is not as much as reported.

Jonathan insensitive to Baga killings – El-Rufai

Jonathan insensitive to Baga killings – El-Rufai


Former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai
A former Federal Capital Territory Minister, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai,  on Sunday accused  the Federal Government of being insensitive to the plight of the  people  of Baga, Borno State.
He said it was saddening that the government was busy disputing the  number of  people  killed in a clash between members of Boko Haram and a military task force instead of  alleviating their suffering.
Government had said only 25 people died and not  185  reported by the media as the casualty figure in the mayhem penultimate Saturday.
Fielding questions from journalists  after at the 50th birthday reception in honour of a former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, el-Rufai said God would hold those in government accountable for their actions.
He said,  “It is unfortunate that we place so little values on human lives that we will be arguing whether six Nigerians have died or 185 or 200.  When three people were killed in Boston, Obama left the White House to go and commiserate with the people of Boston. Perhaps more than 200 have been killed here  and our own President is still sitting in Abuja. It then shows the kind of government that we have. It is pathetic, it is disappointing and God will make  them to account.”
When asked to proffer solution to the Boko Haram insurgency, el-Rufai replied, “ They(government) know what to do; they should do it. They should stop pretending that some Nigerians are not citizens; that they are not part of this country; that they should be killed without consequence.”
The  former minister also  said he was optimistic that  the All Progressive Congress would  displace the Peoples Democratic Party in 2015.
 “We are going to organise and entrench  the APC all  over the country and by God’s grace, in 2015, the ruling party will be the opposition party,” he added.
But just as el-Rufai berated the government, one of our correspondents gathered that the government  was  working out the nature of  support to be given to the people of Baga.
It was learnt that the assistance formed part of the discussion   between President Goodluck Jonathan and Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima  at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Friday.
The governor who  briefed the President on the  update  of the incident, did not speak with journalists at the end of the parley.
A source however  said on Sunday that after listening to Shettima, Jonathan promised to mitigate the suffering of members of the community, most of whom no longer have houses.
“The President has promised Federal Government’s assistance. Although no one knows the form the promised assistance will take for now; but we are upbeat that the help will come,” he said.
Meanwhile, a Defence Headquarters fact-finding team  to the troubled Baga  has said it found no mass graves in the community.
This was contained in an electronic mail  on Sunday by  Director of Defence Information, Brig.-Gen. Chris Olukolade. In the mail,  Olukolade said the report by  team which was led  by the DHQ  Chief of Training and Logistics,  Maj.-Gen Lawrence Ngugbane,  contradicted reports attributed to Senator Maina Lawan, that “288 people died in the Baga incident with 4,000 homes destroyed.”
The Senator reportedly said that he visited three graveyards and counted 228 in which civilians were buried.
Olukolade stated also that the Chairman of Kukawa Local Government Area, told the team that he didn’t know the casualty figure  as he was out of town when the incident occurred.
 He said, “The DHQ fact-finding team  has returned to present its report to the Chief of Defence Staff on the outcome of its  three-day visit to Baga following the reports on last week encounter between the Multi National Joint Task Force and Boko Haram Terrorists in the town.
“The team  interacted with the commander, officers and troops of the MNJTF as well as some community leaders, the police, aid workers and residents of the town with a view of getting their perspectives on the incident.
“The team also went round the town interviewing those who participated or witnessed the encounter at the various scenes connected with the incident as it tries to verify various claims reported in the media concerning the professional conduct of the soldiers.
“In its particular concern to ascertain the claims of massive loss of lives, the team was taken to cemeteries in the town as it tried to locate the reported large number of civilian casualties were buried.  It however found no mass graves after nearly two days of search.”

16-year-old pupil rescued, kidnapper killed

16-year-old pupil rescued, kidnapper killed


Afolabi Adeniji
Lagos State Police Command has rescued Olufolabi Adeniji, the 16-year-old pupil of American International School, who was kidnapped on April 16, 2013.
According to police authorities, the victim was found in a bush in Ilaro area of Ogun State on Friday.
PUNCH Metro had reported on April 18 that the victim was being driven to school by his parents’ driver, John Adebayo, when he was kidnapped.
It was also reported that the parent’s vehicle was later found at the Palms Shopping Mall, Lekki, while the driver and the boy’s whereabouts were unknown.
But police investigations had revealed that Adebayo masterminded the kidnap.
It was learnt that the kidnappers contacted the victim’s parents and demanded N60m as ransom.
The police were said to have traced the suspects to Ilaro where they combed for two days.
It was learnt that the family were able to convince the kidnappers to accept N5m and in the process of collecting the ransom, they were arrested.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, said the operation was carried out by policemen attached to Ikoyi Division.
She said, “The driver was the one that opened the door of the vehicle and allowed the other kidnappers to enter the vehicle. The kidnappers pointed a gun at the victim’s head and took him to a bush in Ilaro.
“After the matter was reported at Ikoyi Division, the Divisional Police Officer, Aisha Haruna, began investigations to the matter and convinced the parents of the victim not to pay ransom.
“Policemen in plain clothes got to Ilaro and after two days, they found the location of the kidnappers.
“Around 4am on Friday, policemen spotted the suspects in the bush. On seeing the policemen, one of the suspects stabbed a policeman twice in the head.
“The suspect was shot and killed immediately while the three other suspects were arrested.
“The suspects revealed the location of the boy and he was rescued in good health.”
Our correspondent learnt that the slain suspect was the sibling of the driver.
Braide seized the opportunity to warn members of the public never to pay ransom in the event that any of their loved was kidnapped.
“It is because families of victims hurriedly pay ransom that is why kidnappers are having a field day. People should have faith in the police to do our jobs and kidnapping will become a thing of the past,” she said.

Leave Former Ministers Alone, Probe Me Instead, Obasanjo Challenges Jonathan

Leave Former Ministers Alone, Probe Me Instead, Obasanjo Challenges Jonathan

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has criticised the establishment of an agency to protect oil pipelines and described it as corruption in governance.

The former president also said he is ready for a probe of his eight-year administration instead of the present administration descending on his cabinet ministers.
Mr Obasanjo, who made the criticism at the 50th birthday thanksgiving of former minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili in Abuja, said he is ready to account for his stewardship.
He said if the present government finds anything wrong with his administration, he would bear the responsibility.
The former President was reacting to the recent moves to probe Mrs Ezekwesili by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and challenge thrown to the former World Bank VP by the presidency to account for her tenure as Minister of Education.
He said, “I have always said this, whatever you want to blame in my government, blame me, don’t blame any of those people who assisted me. If there is any credit to dispense we share it.
“But for anything you want to say is wrong, I was the one in charge and I was in charge.”

Government White Paper Indicts Prominent Politicians For Creating Boko Haram

Government White Paper Indicts Prominent Politicians For Creating Boko Haram


The Federal Government has released a white paper on the report.
A federal government White Paper on Boko Haram- the government’s first official report on the sect since it began a deadly uprising in 2009- has indicted “prominent” Borno state politicians as the group’s founders, with a directive they be brought to justice-a decision left unimplemented nearly two years after.
The report, published in government’s official gazette since 2011, says Boko Haram evolved from private militias run by key politicians from the northeast state, who sought to outflank opponents ahead of 2003 elections.
For several months or maybe years ahead of the polls, the groups, under titles as ECOMOG, Yan Kalare in Gombe, and Sara Suka in Bauchi, amassed huge cache of weapons made available by the political leaders in a broad effort that stretched to adjoining Yobe, Gombe and Bauchi states, the report states.
After the elections, the youth, still armed, but discarded by their sponsors-a well-known electioneering habit for most Nigerian politicians- became easy preys for a radical brand of Islam preached at the time by Mohammed Yusuf, the sect’s leader.
The findings fairly agreed with popular version of how the deadly sect, responsible for thousands of deaths, rose to a notorious prominence.
As government’s official position, delivered between August and September 2011, the investigative panel headed by Usman Galtimari, a former ambassador, proposed that security agencies be mandated to “beam their search light on some politicians who sponsored, funded and used the militia groups that later metamorphosed into Boko Haram and bring them to justice.”
The recommendation was approved by the government as stated in the White Paper exclusively obtained by PREMIUM TIMES. The White Paper committee was chaired by the Interior minister, Abba Moro.
“Government accepts this recommendation, and directs the National Security Adviser to coordinate the investigation of the kingpins and sponsors to unravel the individuals and groups that are involved,” the report says.
But nearly two years on, amid escalating violence waged by the sect, no political leader from the state has faced sanctions as recommended.
Prominent politicians
Despite its vague reference to “prominent politicians” as the sponsors and originators in the state as of 2003, security officials say the recommended “searchlight” stated in the White Paper, would have been on the state’s former governor, Ali Modu Sherriff, as well as state and federal lawmakers, if the government had chosen to act.
The arrest and prosecution of Mr. Sheriff, now a Senator, alleged by Borno residents and officials as the founder and sponsor of ECOMOG for his 2003 gubernatorial election, has also been a major demand of the Boko Haram in earlier statements when the group still seemed willing for an amnesty.
What would seem a partial effort at executing the decision is the court charge against Mohammed Ali Ndume, a House of Representative member in 2003 and now a senator. Mr. Ndume is accused of having operational links with members of the sect, allegedly established through telephone contacts.
Mr. Ndume, himself a member of the government committee that investigated the insurgency, has denied the charge, in a running legal battle that has already spanned more than a year.
Similar decisions adopted in the report, including a commitment to authorize military investigation into alleged atrocities committed by government troops in Borno state, have also yet to be implemented, security sources informed about the progress, say.
While the government adopted nearly all of 109 recommendations outlined in the report, it flatly rejected proposals to compensate victims of Boko Haram attacks, offering instead to “assist” them.
It also turned down a suggestion to have the sect’s detainees transferred from Abuja cells to Borno state as a prelude to possible talks in 2011. The government said while it agreed to possible dialogue with the group, its approach would be from “a position of strength” whereby security forces will continue to take charge, trying to root out elements of the sect.
How Boko Haram grew
But despite the government’s eventual decision and an apparent dismal implementation of the recommendations, the report chronicled how a little-known group, which appeared harmless at start, metamorphosed into a world class, modern day terror organization years after.
The report says if the sect’s leader, Mohammed Yusuf’s rapid momentum at first, could have been reversed early enough, Nigerian courts did not help by discharging Mr. Yusuf repeatedly on initial state charges of disrupting the peace.
Mr. Yusuf was charged more than once in Abuja, and was repeatedly he was acquitted. On each occasion, the report states, he returned to a hero’s welcome in Borno state, projecting an air of invincibility and drawing even more members who relished his legal exploits, to his fold.
“The discharge of Mohammed Yusuf on two occasions by an Abuja court made a hero out of him, as the reception accorded him upon his return to Maiduguri, attracted a mammoth crowd that temporarily undermined state authority, and served as an avenue for him to attract additional membership into the sect,” the report says.
Again, the report says, while Yusuf continued with his fundamentalist sermons that electrified his followers, the government only attempted a forcible crackdown; without seeking to comprehend, and contradict the group’s belligerent ideology.
The report briefly accused the late President Umaru Yar’Adua for failing to institute proper investigation into the extrajudicial killing of Mr. Yusuf by the police, a fatal twist, which the report acknowledges, became the turning point for increased attacks that have failed to abate since 2009.

Saturday 27 April 2013

Boko Haram got N500mn to free French hostages- report

Boko Haram got N500mn to free French hostages- report

Shekau, the Boko Haram leader, initially demanded N1 billion.
Boko Haram were paid N500 million ($3.15 million) to free seven French hostages kidnapped in February, a confidential document from the Nigerian government available to Reuters states.
The insurgent group kidnapped the French hostages in Cameroon on February 19 near Wasa National Park in Northern Cameroon, which borders North-Eastern Nigeria.
The hostages, a family of seven including four children, are believed to have been brought into Borno State after the kidnap. They were released two months after the kidnap on April 19.
The document, according to Reuters, did not state who paid the ransom although French and Cameroonian authorities denied that any ransom was paid.
The Negotiations
Apart from the money the insurgents were paid, the document states, Cameroonian authorities also released some Boko Haram suspects in detention as part of the deal.
The sect had threatened, in a video released on YouTube in March, to kill the hostages unless Nigeria and Cameroon release some of its members in custody.
The report also states that Abubakar Shekau, the sect’s leader had asked for N1 billion to free the hostages but finally accepted half of the money, after agreeing to the release of his members in Cameroonian jails as part of the deal.
French President, Francois Hollande, denied that any ransom was paid when the hostages were released, same as Cameroonian authorities. No one has, however, said what got the insurgents to release the hostages.
Boko Haram is blamed for killings of several hundreds of people in Northern Nigeria and has claimed responsibility for several attacks.
Efforts to get the federal government to react to the report were unsuccessful. The Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, and his spokesperson, Joseph Mutah, could not be reached as their telephone numbers were not reachable on Friday evening.
The spokespersons to the Nigerian President, Reuben Abati and Doyin Okupe, did not pick or return calls to their phone as at press time.
According to Reuters, the report suggests that the ransom was paid because officials did not want to endanger the lives of the hostages in a rescue attempt; after a rescue attempt last year March to save a Briton and an Italian hostage kidnapped by another Nigerian sect, Ansaru, led to the death of the hostages.
A rich Boko Haram
Apart from waging a war against the Nigerian Government, Christians and Muslims opposed to his terrorist acts, Boko Haram has also delved into kidnapping for ransom, largely to finance its operations.
Apart from kidnapping for ransom, the group also robs banks in Northern Nigeria to finance its operations.
PREMIUM TIMES had also exclusively reported how a security report sent to the Nigerian Presidency last year showed that Boko Haram got N40 million from an Algerian terrorist sect as part of a long term international terrorism collaboration.

Boko Haram suspect that attacked secondary school killed, JTF says

Boko Haram suspect that attacked secondary school killed, JTF says

The JTF said it killed Mohammed Chad in a special operation.

The Joint Task Force (JTF) in the troubled city of Maiduguri said the man responsible for the shooting of three students and four teachers in a public school last month has been killed in a special operation on Friday.
The spokesman of the JTF, Sagir Musa, disclosed this in a text statement sent to reporters. He said that the shooter, Mohammed Chad, a mastermind of several Boko Haram operations was killed at about 3 a.m. on Friday during a coded operation.
“A special operation was conducted at Ruwan – Zafi area of Maiduguri metropolis by troops of the JTF Operation RESTORE ORDER and the Operatives of Department State Security at about 3:00 am on Friday 26 April, 2013,” Lt Col Musa said.
“The operation led to the death (during an exchange of fire) of a notorious Boko Haram terrorist aka Mohammed Chad, an indigene of Marte, Borno State, who has been in the wanted list of the JTF.”
Mr. Musa, a Lieutenant Colonel said intelligence indicated that the deceased was involved in the planning and execution of many terror attacks in and outside Borno State.
“For instance, he masterminded the attack on Sanda Kyarami Secondary School located at Ruwan Zafi, where they killed a teacher and injured 3 female students on 18 March 2013.
“He is believed to be the successor to Ba,ana Assalafi, a key Boko Haram Commander that lost his life during a shoot out with security agencies in Sokoto on 13 March 2013,” the statement said.

228 people killed, over 4000 houses burnt in Baga, Senator says after visit

228 people killed, over 4000 houses burnt in Baga, Senator says after visit

 The Nigerian Senator fears possible epidemics due to inadequate humanitarian aid.
Ola’ Audu

A Borno State Senator, Maina Lawan, on Saturday revealed that the actual death toll in the clash between soldiers and Boko Haram is 228, while over 4000 houses were also burnt down.
Baga is the birth place of Senator Lawan who represents Baga and other towns in Borno North in the Nigerian Senate.
The villagers had told the state governor and journalists, two days after the incident, that they buried 185 people after the clash, a figure disputed by the Nigerian Army.
Mr. Lawan, a former Governor of Borno State, expressed fears of an epidemic if the Federal Government does not immediately deploy more rescue and humanitarian aide workers to assist the displaced people.
The National Emergency Management Agency and the Nigerian Red Cross are already in Baga helping the surviving victims.
The All Nigeria Peoples Party Senator told journalists in an interview that though a special committee of the federal government would be investigating the Baga massacre, and he hopes for a factual finding from them, he decided to speak out so as to salvage the plight of the surviving victims.
“I do not intend to join issues with Nigerian military spokesman over the authenticity of his figures, but the fact is that I visited Baga and visited the three graveyards where the victims were buried. I had interacted with the aid agencies which did some of the burials, I had interacted extensively with the victims and their families.
At one of the three graveyards called Makabartar Waya, 130 graves of victims were counted; in another graveyard called Makabartar Arewa, 60 graves were counted; then in Budumari graveyard another 30 graves of victims were counted. And inside the town, the aid agencies said they buried eight corpses which could not be evacuated to the graveyards,” he said.
The Nigerian military, after making contradicting statements about the crisis, claimed that the casualty was exaggerated. The Joint Task Force, whose officers are accused of starting the fire that killed most of the victims, claimed only six civilians were killed.
Mr. Lawan, however, said the fire has caused a major humanitarian crisis.
“We have a serious humanitarian crises at hand in Baga and the people are at the risk of epidemics because over 4000 households have been displaced in the upheaval of fire disaster that trailed the military operation in Baga. The world should understand that a house does not necessarily mean mansion. A small peasant farmer’s house could be covering a space of 50 square meter and there he lives with his wife and two children – but that still is his house.
“As a matter of fact, anybody who walks the kilometres of houses burnt will shed tears no matter how harden his heart is,” he said.
The Senator also lamented the poor and inadequate assistance being given to the victims which he said were grossly inadequate compared to the massive nature of the displacement.
“I spent two says in Baga and all the while women and children were seen sitting under scorching sun because the two tents erected at the aid camps could not accommodate a quarter of the displaced populace. We plead to both humanitarian and spirited individuals and Nigerians to come to the aid of these people because the situation is very, very bad,” Mr. Lawan said.

FAAN explained why they stopped Governor Amaechi’s plane

FAAN explained why they stopped Governor Amaechi’s plane

Rivers State Plane
Nigerian Aviation Authorities on Friday temporarily prevented the private plane of the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, from leaving the Akure Airport.
Mr. Amaechi has been having a running battle with the presidency over his stance on major national issues, making observers believe the stoppage of his plane was influenced by the presidency to slight him. He has in the past regularly used the airport without any hitches.
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, however, said it stopped Mr. Amaechi’s plane because the governor failed to declare the flight manifest.
The spokesperson of FAAN, Yakubu Datti, told PREMIUM TIMES that it was a laid down rule for any plane taking off from the airport to provide its manifest.
“The governor went to Akure and when he was ready to leave, he refused to declare his manifest and those at the control tower did not permit him and his team to take off,” Mr. Datti said
The spokesperson said there was no politics behind the agency’s actions saying “these are rules that have been stated down long time ago; even the president, before he takes off declares his manifest.”
He said Mr. Amaechi, the chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum, was eventually allowed to take off immediately he declared the flight manifest.

Friday 26 April 2013

US hints chemical arms use in Syria under pressure by Israel, Congress

US hints chemical arms use in Syria under pressure by Israel, Congress

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel visits troops at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia, April 25, 2013.
US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel visits troops at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia, April 25, 2013.US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel during a recent visit to Israel (file photo)
US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel visits troops at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia, April 25, 2013.
Fri Apr 26, 2013 10:51AM
Under Israeli pressure the US military has changed course from an earlier resistance to accepting reports of chemical weapons use in Syria, alleging in a letter to Congress that Damascus “may have used” chemical agents in the country.


The move came following Thursday remarks by US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel during an official visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that American intelligence community made an assessment “with varying degrees of confidence… within the past 24 hours” that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons on a small scale, Pentagon’s ‘press service’ reported Thursday.

The claim by Hagel came following a reported inquiry by unidentified member of the US Congress, specifically asking the Obama administration whether chemical weapons have been used in Syria by the government or its supporters.

Moreover, the move came following earlier claims by the Israeli regime, Britain and France that chemical weapons have likely been used in Syria while giving no specifics on how and by whom.


This is while some pro-Israeli Republican lawmakers, who are also arms industry advocates, have been pushing the Obama administration to send arms to anti-Damascus militant gangs and even launch a military invasion of the key Middle Eastern nation in an outright attempt to overthrow the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

Meanwhile, US press reports on Thursday and Friday say the very vague acknowledgment by Washington of the possible use of chemical agents in Syria paves the way for hawkish members of Congress to put additional pressure on President Barack Obama to act on his earlier threat that chemical weapon use in that country would constitute a “game changer,” suggesting a major US intervention against Damascus.

Citing a phrase in the White House letter to Congress that “no option is off the table” should additional evidence confirm ‘mounting suspicions’ of chemical arms use in Syria, major US daily The Washington Post raised concerns that another US military action in Syria “would open up a new front in the Islamic world.”

The paper, however, also boasted that the an American military invasion against Syria “could also serve notice to Iran that Obama means what he says when he draws red lines.”

The suggestion comes in face insistence by top Iranian officials that any US or Israeli action against the Islamic Republic will set off immediate reaction by Iranian forces, extending far beyond the immediate region.

The daily further reports that among the military options the Obama administration considering against Syria is “using ship-fired missiles to destroy runways used by Syrian military aircraft,” claiming that the move has the backing “human rights groups.”

Earlier US media reports have pointed to an ongoing Pentagon plan to deploy a secret force of up to 200 Special Forces to a border area in Jordan near Syria to prepare for a later deployment of a 20,000-strong military force for a full military invasion of the country.

Hagel’s claims about the chemical arms use in Syria came at the conclusion of his tour of the Middle East region to sign major weapon deals with the Israeli regime, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE and also discuss anti-Damascus measures with the mostly Arab allied countries.

Foreigners Inciting violence in Iraq is ‘playing with fire’: Iran official

Foreigners Inciting violence in Iraq is ‘playing with fire’: Iran official

The photo shows a burning Iraqi army military vehicle in Ramadi, Iraq, 70 miles west of Baghdad, April 23, 2013.

The photo shows a burning Iraqi army military vehicle in Ramadi, Iraq, 70 miles west of Baghdad, April 23, 2013.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has warned foreign sides against inciting violence in Iraq, describing the measure as “playing with fire.”


Amir-Abdollahian said on Friday that Iraq is the land of vigilant and resistant people and leaders.

“Having failed in Syria, foreign sides are now seeking to create sedition in Iraq, whereas this is playing with fire,” Amir-Abdollahian added, urging the outsiders to act wisely.

Clashes between Iraqi security forces and anti-government gunmen over the past few days have left over a 140 people dead across the country.

On Thursday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki condemned the recent wave of violence, and said some regional countries are trying to drag the country into a sectarian war.

"There will be no winner in the sectarian strife, everyone will be a loser and let those who ignite it be prepared because it will burn their fingers too; whether they are insiders or outsiders," Maliki said.

Pointing to the ongoing unrest in Syria, Amir-Abdollahian said that those who have failed in the Arab country should avoid relying on the US and Israel and instead rely on their own nations or else they would be tagged as the “main agents of crisis and insecurity in the region.”

He said that the Syrian people are fighting terrorism in the country, adding that the support of certain parties for the massacre of people as well as the sending of arms and militants into the Arab country has revealed the true nature of the Syrian developments.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of Syrian army and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

The Syrian government says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that large numbers of the militants fighting in Syria are foreign nationals.

California, Don’t let Shell Roast the Planet!

California, Don’t let Shell Roast the Planet!

By Ivonne Yanez & Nnimmo Bassey
Californians are renowned for being environmental savvy, so we at Oilwatch International were dismayed to learn that the State of California may let climate criminals like Shell and Chevron off the hook by including a false solution to climate change called REDD in its global warming law.

REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) is a carbon offset scheme whereby polluters use forests and land as supposed sponges for their pollution instead of reducing CO2 emissions at source.

REDD allows polluters to keep polluting and global warming to get worse. California’s climate change law, AB32, currently includes domestic REDD offsets, and may soon be broadened to also include international REDD offsets from countries like Mexico, Brazil and Nigeria.

We denounce the trading of pollution for forests as the worst kind of protection racket. California has already made a mockery of its efforts to tackle global warming by using carbon trading and offsets. We ask that California not add injury to insult by including REDD as well.

While forest dependent communities suffer from carbon offset projects that exploit their forests as mere carbon sinks, polluters like Shell are expanding their operations through a scam that is nothing more than trading hot air.

Both Californians and the world are harmed by REDD-type projects. For example, Shell recently purchased 500,000 carbon offsets credits from a forestry project on over 200,000 acres in Michigan that not only will grant Shell’s refinery in Martinez, California permission to pollute, but will push the planet further down the road to catastrophic global warming.

Making forest carbon offsets official policy reproduces the toxic injustice and environmental racism that plagues low-income communities in the global North, while exposing vulnerable communities in the global South to human rights violations, land grabs, and destruction of our biocultural heritage.

We speak from Nigeria, where Shell is a climate criminal and infamous for the genocide against the Ogoni People. We speak from Ecuador where Chevron is a climate criminal and trashed the Amazon. We speak from Turtle Island, where our lands and our peoples have been devastated by dirty energy—from coal to fracking to flaring to tarsands. We speak from planet Earth, where fossil fuel civilization has brought the biosphere to the brink of collapse.

Shell’s hot air purchases in the USA and abroad portend great danger to Indigenous Peoples and forest dependent communities across the world. Trading pollution for forests threatens Indigenous Peoples’ rights, resources, territories and very survival.

Carbon trading and REDD in California encourage dirty industries to lock in polluting systems rather than powering down as climate science demands.

Even the United Nations itself admits that REDD could result in the “lock-up of forests,” “loss of land” and “new risks for the poor.”

We affirm the declaration of the NO REDD in Africa Network that REDD does not halt deforestation, but is a new form of colonialism, economic subjugation and a driver of land grabs so big that they may constitute a continent grab.

We stand with the Global Alliance of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities on Climate Change against REDD and for Life who denounce REDD as potentially the biggest land grab of all time with devastating consequences for Indigenous Peoples in whose lands and territories the majority of intact forests are found.

We stand with La Via Campesina, the world’s largest peasant farmer movement that rejects REDD and denounces that it may undermine food sovereignty, cause hunger and result in a counter-agrarian reform.

We stand with our sisters of the World March of Women who oppose REDD because they know it could constitute a new form of violence against women.

We affirm the founding principles of Climate Justice Now!, which demand that the root causes of global warming be tackled now and false solutions not tolerated.

We affirm the Cochabamba Accord of the Peoples’ Summit on Climate Change which rejects REDD and demands CO2 reductions at source.

We know California will not be fooled by REDD. Common sense requires that we end fossil fuel addiction, not let corporations such as Chevron and Shell continue to profit while setting the planet ablaze.

We don’t buy the REDD hype, and neither should California. Please, California, for people and planet, reject REDD. The world will thank you.

Customs intercept air gun, pellets at Lagos airport

Customs intercept air gun, pellets at Lagos airport


Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos
Operatives of the Nigeria Customs Service at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Command in Lagos on Thursday have intercepted an air soft gun otherwise known as Zinc Alloy Shell G15 pistol and five sachets of pellets from a passenger at the premier airport.
The items were found on the passenger, identified as Mr. Ukeje Joseph, with passport number A04206153, during the inward clearance of Kenya Airways flight KQ532 from Johannesburg in South Africa.
The event occurred during routine examination by the Customs and other relevant agencies at the Lagos Airport on passengers’ luggage.
The passenger claimed that the pistol was not a real gun. Joseph said he bought the air gun for his son.
The Public Relations Officer NCS, at the airport, Mrs. Thelma Williams, told reporters on Thursday that the passenger and the air soft gun with five sachets of pellets had been handed over to the Airport Police Command for further investigations.
She said, “During the inward clearance of Kenya Airways flight KQ532 from Johannesburg , in South Africa, on the April 24, 2013, about 1050 hours, one Mr Ukeja Goodluck Joseph with Nigerian passport number A04206153, upon normal routine examination with other relevant agencies, his luggage was found to contain one air soft gun zinc alloy shell G15 pistol which he claimed to have bought for his son claiming that it is not a real gun.
“The passenger and the air soft gun with five sachets of pellets have been handed over to the airport police command for further investigations.”
On July, 13, 2012, the command intercepted an Abuja bound cache of three high-calibre air rifles that entered the country through the courier shed of the airport.
Concealed as golf bags and wrapped in a carton, the rifles were contained in a courier package billed for delivering to an unnamed arms smuggler based in the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja.
The Customs Area Controller, MMIA, Mr. Epowei Edike, while parading the suspects, said it took the eagle eyes of officers of the command to intercept the prohibited ammunition which were imported in sharp contravention of existing Nigerian laws.

BOSTON BOMBING UPDATE; BOMBERS TARGETS TIMES SQUARE AND NEW YORK CITY-INVESTIGATOR

BOSTON BOMBING UPDATE; BOMBERS TARGETS TIMES SQUARE AND NEW YORK CITY-INVESTIGATOR


New York City was the next target for the Boston Marathon bombing suspects. It was a spontaneous idea, wounded suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, told investigators from his hospital bed.
He and his older brother Tamerlan, who died at age 26 while allegedly fleeing police last week, still had half a dozen bombs left. But a botched carjacking spoiled the impromptu road trip to Times Square, Tsarnaev said.
"We don't know that we would have been able to stop the terrorists had they arrived here from Boston," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. "We're just thankful that we didn't have to find out that answer."
Before forcing their way into the vehicle the night of April 18, the brothers shot dead a campus police officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, police said.
The Mercedes SUV ran low on fuel, and when they pulled in to a service station, the vehicle's owner escaped. Shortly thereafter, police were on their trail, and authorities say the men were throwing the bombs out the vehicle's window at them.
A previous trip
There is no evidence that New York City is a target of a terror attack stemming from the Boston bombings, New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said. Still, he said authorities are investigating two visits that the surviving suspect made to New York City last year.
In one of those trips, in April 2012, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is photographed in Times Square. Another person pictured in that photo has been in federal custody for seven days, on alleged visa violations.
The man, whom a federal law enforcement source said Dzhokhar Tsarnaev shared a cell phone with, was originally detained April 19 with another person when federal agents swarmed a residence thinking the younger suspect might be inside, a federal law enforcement source said.
Neither of the two detained men -- both foreign exchange students from Kazakhstan at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was also enrolled -- has been linked to the Boston Marathon attack. Yet investigators hope they can better piece together the suspects' movements before and after the marathon.

Photos: Boston bombing suspects Photos: Boston bombing suspects

TRANSCRIPT, PHOTOS & DOCUMENTS: Atrocities Of Former President Obasanjo- Confessions Of Aso-Rock Insiders

TRANSCRIPT, PHOTOS & DOCUMENTS: Atrocities Of Former President Obasanjo- Confessions Of Aso-Rock Insiders

Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo -Photo: Reuters
By SaharaReporters, New York
On Saturday 20th April, 2013, two gentlemen, Prince Segun Seriki and Mr. Richard Odusanya appeared on SaharaTV to reveal some of the antecedents of high profile killings, including those of former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige and Chief Harry Marshal. They also revealed several instances of  bribery and the corrupt wasteful use of Nigerian resources which they witnessed and even partook in while serving in various capacities as personal aides at the Presidency . The two men said they fought against the former President and his  associates during his bid for a third term which ended in failure and subsequently the imposition of a weak and sickly leader, Umaru Yar'adua on Nigerians as vengeance for their opposition to his bid to remain as president after the end of two terms in office.
Former President Obasanjo, the longest serving president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was in power first as a military leader between 1976 -1979 and later as a civilian president from 1999 to 2007.
Below is a transcript of the exclusive interview with the two former presidential aides:
SRTV: How did you come to know characters like Chief Olusegun Obasanjo? Although we hate to use ‘Chief’ for characters like him but that is the way he is called.
Odusanya: Let me begin with a scriptural note that goes like this; once I was blind but now I can see. Sometime during the early months of 1999, February precisely, an associate of mine, who is also a
friend and a brother, Femi Falana… not the human rights lawyer… although he was also an activist as he was president of students union in U.I (University of Ibadan). I met him shortly before the Jos convention and I remember vividly, he then introduced Otunba Fasawe and I, and directed that I had to work with him. Of course, that was the Genesis. Then, as a man who respects institutions, I worked all through for government, behind the scene, with Otunba Fasawe.
SRTV: So, you worked with Otunba Fasawe in what can be described as within an extra-terrestrial capacity which is also that you were not appointed directly into government, and in this process, you told me and I want you to repeat to our viewers that you were housed at the defense house in Abuja. How did that become possible because that is an official residence of Government officials whereas you were not an official?



Odusanya: Well, I need to explain this. The defense house happens to be the official residence of the Defense Minister but at some point, particularly during the government of General Abacha, there was no
Defense Minister. Then, the defense house became the Head of State’s special guest house; well-fortified… at least it’s an annex of the villa. The subsequent government also continued like that. General
Obasanjo came in then was the defense minister Lt. Col T.Y. Danjuma. He didn’t want to stay in the defense house because he had reasonable accommodation so he rejected it and stayed in his private house. So, it continued to be guest house and the president has the prerogative to determine the usage of the guest house for a very important assignment. Otunba Fasawe, as we all know happens to be a key actor.
SRTV: Let me quickly ask you, how long were you housed there before Otunba Fasawe fell out with Olusegun Obasanjo?
Odusanya: I’ll explain that too. It was slightly over four years but before then, for known reasons, some that will be revealed today, I was not ready to continue, so I moved out.
SRTV: How many of you were residents at the defense house as special guests of President Obasanjo?
Odusanya: Yes, we have Chief Tony Osunrinde, Otunba Fasawe, myself, John Dara who happens to be SA to the Minister of Defense.. I think those are the key residents
SRTV: How big was the defense house?
Odusanya: Oh, very…. big… palatial
SRTV: So, let’s go directly into the things that happened within that period which you were privy. By 2001, something happened on December 23rd, and that was the assassination of the Attorney General and
Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige in his house at Ibadan. Before we came on this show you actually said you were sent by President Olusegun Obasanjo to meet him few weeks before he was assassinated. What was the mission then?


Odusanya: Thank you. I was not just sent to him, I was on an errand, a regular one and in fact that was not the first one. Before he became the Attorney General, he was once the Minister of Power and still. Various times at his residence, at Minister quarters, I used to go there on errand and often, I used to go with gift… of money.
SRTV [cuts-in]: to Chief Bola Ige
Odusanya [nods]: yes, to Chief Ige. When he became the Attorney General, his residence was moved to Asokoro. And I remember vividly my last encounter with Chief Ige, though I cannot remember precisely what time gap between then and his assassination, but I remember vividly that I took N50million cash to him.
SRTV: Where was the money from?
Odusanya: Well, we have a source.
SRTV: What was that source, can you describe briefly… was it a slush fund?
Odusanya: Well, I won’t call it slush fund, but there is a dedicated account under the control of Otunba Fasawe. Three of us namely; Bodunde Adeyanju (Special Assistant to President Obasanjo on Domestic
Affairs), Pariya Umar (Special Assistant to the Vice President on Domestic Affairs) and myself were the key actors that ran this account. The bank had its branch at where you call Tofa’s House in Abuja.
SRTV: What’s the name of the bank?
Odusanya: Trans International bank. It’s one of the banks that have gone under now, but that’s the source of the money anyway.
SRTV: Do you recall how many times you took gifts of this type to Chief Ige before he was killed?
Odusanya: Hmnn… I can’t really tell how many times, but I recall the last one was N50million. We drove bullion van in company of one of the bank officials.
SRTV: Do you remember his name?
Odusanya: Yes, he’s a reverend gentleman now. Reverend Segun Egunjob. So we took it to Chief Bola Ige’s house.
SRTV: Before you took the money to Chief Ige, did you know the intention of the gift?
Odusanya: I have to confess I don’t know. But I must confess it has become a burden because other occasions there are similar incidents, where I took money to people but thereafter, something happened.
SRTV: Briefly tell us other occasions you took money to other people and shortly after, something happened
Odusanya: Thank you. Let me quickly give you the case of Harry Marshal. I was on this similar errand, and I put a call through to Chief Harry Marshal. He now gave me the address of an hotel where he would be waiting for me and the hotel room number. I took the money there.


SRTV: Do you remember the hotel?
Odusanya: Yes. Agura hotel, somewhere around Area 10. Not too long from that time and he was assassinated.
SRTV: I’ll take you back to something you said before we came on the show. You said when Obasanjo came in, he was disbanding everything Abacha did, but he did not disband Abacha’s killer squad, that is the strike force. Where was the strike force based?
Odusanya: The killer squad has some key actors that reside permanently at the headquarters of the SSS and of course they were star witnesses on Kudirat Abiola’s trial. I remember Sergeant Rogers and I remember Katako. Up till now, what happens to them, where they are and their confessions, if you put it side by side, you will wonder what kind of system we are running and why are these things shrouded in secrecy? Those are the things I thought together as a man who had been in that system and there was a serious burden on me.
SRTV: Let’s quickly ask Mr. Seriki, you said you were also within and also witnessed some things at the background that made you partner with Mr. Odusanya in this initiative. Did you know at some point that some of these things were happening?
Seriki: Thank you Omoyele. I had always been a political practitioner. I am a politician and my interest in politics is in running a free and fair society. I could have been conversant wth their system, but I had
encouraged Richard because as a nation, we have to face the reality of the requirements of development as a nation. As a nation, we have to appreciate that we have to have respect for human values. As a nation we have to understand that we will be run by rules. The highest that leadership can bequeath on a society is respect for the rule of law devoid of arbitrariness and self-aggrandizement that constituted and
characterized the reign of General Obasanjo. I was at Ife when Chief Bola Ige was Governor. He was one of the gladiators that informed some of us to be involved in politics. The issue of Chief Bola Ige could be
put in this clear perspective. This is a sitting Attorney General of the country who came from a party that was not at the center [Alliance for Democracy]. There was a President who lost in his area of primordial upbringing. In criminology, you want to define intention. The intention for killing Chief Bola Ige can be put at the doorstep of President Obasanjo because he shows overnight to get what he doesn’t have. And when he [Odusanya] was now corroborating with me that there was effort to bribe Chief Bola Ige, one now realizes that the intention was real. And before all these bribery saga, a lot of things were already in public domain that we just need to piece together and let our country have a date with destiny.
SRTV: One of the things people will ask us now on the show is ‘why now’? Why did you wait since about 15 years and you are coming out now to say these; are you being sponsored by some political interests to whittle down the influence of Obasanjo by telling this story or are you genuinely driven by desire to expose of the impunity that characterized his regime?
Seriki: I will still crave your indulgence to put this in the perspective of the issue of assassination. Fundamentally, we as a people are intimidated into assuming that you need to be sponsored before you can do what is right, and it is one of the policies of the criminals that are in authority to intimidate and subdue genuineness. Between us and God, there are genuine desires to see to the killing that was arbitrary. We are in America now, the respect to life is one issue that is making this country great. When issues that are as bad as the Attorney General of the Federation happens like this and we assume it is a non-issue, it becomes ridiculous in terms of what kind of nation we want to become.
SRTV: I want to go to Mr. Odusanya. Was there any time in the course of your work with the powerful unofficial underground group that you encountered some people just discussing that, this Bola Ige, we will do something about him?
Odusanya: Let me say that it may not be direct inference, but there were telephone conversations…. Particularly the night Bola Ige was assassinated, that are suggestive. For instance, Otunba Fasawe
confided in me and said by 3 a.m. that day, President Obasanjo called him and said ‘Ige is down! Don’t go to Ibadan’. When you say such thing, and at my level I begin to look at it and my conscience begin
to prick me. A very short story… Omisore, he got the ticket party from President while he was undergoing trial. It didn’t stop there, he won the election and they called it ‘landmark’ in the same senatorial
constituency of Chief Ige. Why this short story? I was in this particular building directly opposite office of the President, it’s called the Glass House and I was with the children of President Obasanjo. They were wondering aloud that what sort of country is this where a man in the prison would become a senator. I was looking at them thinking do this young men know that their father was involved in this charade? Ahmadu Alli and Ojo Madueke could not have issued that ticket on their own. They had the backing of the President and I make bold to say that.

SRTV: [to Seriki]: You wanted to chip in.
Seriki: The issue is this, inasmuch as fairness is fair, there is enough fact to give former President Obasanjo to air his much flaunted credential of probity and anti-corruption. The scenario is intimidating. If a sitting President is blackmailed into breaking the rules of the land, which requires every political aspiration to fill a form, go to the court and swear an affidavit, which I know they wouldn’t have done in the prison, one now wonders a-priori that ‘why maintain a killer squad’ that you were condemning Abacha to have done? What purpose is there for you?
Two, what would have given Omisore the rapport that would enable him to have the senate seat from Prison? Having said all these, by the time you now juxtapose the effort and bribing the old man (Chief Bola Ige). I think this is an opportunity for the National Assembly to invoke their constitutional investigative powers to want to know what happened. That is my own concern now. I
have been in the Federal House for, I think, going to thirty years. So, it has not been the failing to win election, but it has been that election doesn’t hold in Nigeria; it has not been that one does not
want to work with Nigeria government; it has been arbitrary government, Government of aggrandizement and of ego. Those are the issues that I taught that the Senate and the House of Reps will take up. But hat is not to say that the IG who was copied and the Attorney General whose predecessor was murdered should not take interest in the matter.
SRTV: Quickly, there are many issues including the sales of major State assets such as Ajaokuta Steel Company and bribery scandals such as the Halliburton scandal in which Bodunde Adeyanju was alleged to have received $6million bribe money that eventually went to the president (Obasanjo). Mr. Seriki, why is your organization Leadership Rescue Initiative (LRI) taking on this volatile and powerful issue?


Seriki: The issue is as simple as this. We are in 2013 now and we are being structured to be looking at 2015, but we don’t normally have elections. You see, the way Obasanjo did, if this President were to be as arbitrary and irrational as he was, then we are laying a foundation of a Banana Republic. And if we look at certain issues in the past, which is the essence of history, I will repeat again that rather than unorthodox cutting of corners, it would afford (former) President Obasanjo opportunity to clear his name on issues of probity and corruption. Take for instance as we speak, an account that he was involved in closely benefiting from is in deficit of about N7billion.
SRTV [cuts in]: Let’s talk about the account, is that the buffer account where you get all the money from to bribe, buy cars…
Seriki: Yes
Odusanya [nods]: at Trans International Bank. The 607 Peugeot, I bought the car. I raised a draft from TIB, bought the car from ASD Motors at Area III, and of course on the day of the chieftaincy title of Mrs. Lamide Adegbenro, I took the car there and the cash gift.


SRTV: How much was the cash gift?
Odusanya: Half a million naira.
SRTV: How much was the car bought for?
Odusanya: About six or seven million naira…
Seriki: My own interest is that it amounts to abuse of office if a custodian of the economy as the President of the Federal Republic, creates a phony account in conjunction with some proxies and executes personal interests and whatever, and the account a-priori is in deficit of about N7billion... the bank is under waters now. Then, it leaves to be imagined what he could have been doing as Head of State and Minister of Petroleum.
SRTV: One of the things you said was that when Otunba Fasawe was ‘arrested’ and being questioned, he said this is not my account, this is Obasanjo’s.
Seriki [cuts in]: No, we should ask that in his arbitrariness, he should try Fasawe, (but) upon discovering certain things in the account to the event that he was the owner of that account, they discontinued the trial.
SRTV: Was he ever tried, because you (Odusanya) said you saw Fasawe in EFCC detention? Tell us what happened
Odusanya: Well, he was just there, detained for three months, and of course the EFCC investigators discovered they could not continue… the President himself was implicated and that of course is a no-go-area.
SRTV: Did Fasawe ever tell you while in detention whether he would spill the beans?
Seriki: See, there’s an issue. There’s no bean to spill. This present government has done something that we are not taking full advantage of it as responsible people. When we say we do not have responsive leadership, we should also acknowledge we have no responsive followership because there is a freedom of information bill. As we speak, all these facts are in public domain. It is our love for irrational operations that made us to continue ‘business as usual’. And that’s why I was saying that aside of talking to the National Assembly, it would have been a direct indictment of the police because institutionally, the police have been trying a lot of these issues. Institutionally, EFCC has been trying a lot of these issues. So, the president is at liberty to call to order those executive organizations. More so, the headship has changed because you’ll remember before Ehindero left, he paraded some people and said these are the killers of Ige, but he knew they were not the killers. If at the highest of the police of the country, you are doing this, it shows desperation at the highest quarters to hoodwink us as a nation. So, for instance the issue of corruption, Obasanjo should be glad to want to earn his credibility, here you have a personal assistant on domestic affairs who has admitted to the police that he accepted $6million, then what is the police doing about it? No, no, no, no, no, the personal assistant domestic to the president admitted to the police that he collected $6million bribe on behalf of the President. Do you think Obasanjo is a docile president that his personal assistant collected such money on his behalf and he won’t know? Or, at what point is that man important to Halliburton, being a personal assistant domestic?
SRTV: Let’s bring you in there Mr. Odusanya, you actually were with Bodunde the day he was released by the police. Tell our viewers what he said to you in the car.
Odusanya: Actually he said to me that, although he admitted to collecting $6million bribe, but that he did not implicate Baba.
Seriki [cuts in]: That is it. I think when you look at that one, you now move to one of the richest Nigerians in government today, Andy Uba, he was personal assistant domestic. What was his declaration at his point of appointment? I think he came from America for that appointment. Was he a successful person in America? So, he came with this man who is the architect of Anti-corruption, but as today, if you see what he declared as the governor of Anambra State, which was short-lived, you will be shocked.
SRTV [to Odusanya]: Did you know Andy Uba very well when you were working at government house then?
Odusanya: We know each other very closely. We all started this government together. As a matter of fact let me start by saying, ab initio I did not start by being at the background. At the dying days of the then government, I was responsible for so many things. Virtually all the documents of the president elect (Obasanjo) were handed over to me. I played very active role in the inaugural committee headed by Professor Tunde Adeniran. I was a resource person. Ferdinand ***Dagu*** too was there, Dr. Bolade Osinowo was there. In fact at some point I played more critical roles than some of them.
SRTV: So, do you know the difference between what Andy Uba declared while he was taking up appointment as personal assistant to president on domestic and what he declared when he was to become governor?
Odusanya: These are documents that are available in government institutions that should be provided. What was he before the domestic thing? He was just somebody there in America. So, what did he declare when he was to be Governor? Of course it was in trillions. They should bring the documents out.
Seriki: These are issues that will enable Obasanjo tell people he is an architect of anti-corruption. That is why I said it is not the issue of who sent you or who did not send you. If somebody killed your father and at some point facts begin to come out, and one still has decency to ask ‘were you sent by somebody to let us know who killed my father’ that one must be a bastard.
SRTV: Here in your petition, you also mentioned the Ajaokuta Steel Company which was sold at a give-away price.
Odusanya: On the day President Obama was elected for the first time, Gbenga Obasanjo put a call through to me and said to me, quoting a Reverend gentleman (Rev. Martin Luther King), he said from today I know that I will be judged by the content of my character, making reference to his father. He said to me that he was just trying to hold his peace, but that the issue of Ajaokuta is still there but that he merely benefitted from the consultancy. And that, it should be known that it is Andy and his father (Obasanjo) that engaged in the fraud.
SRTV: You also mentioned in your petition that the Police Equipment Fund which was created by Obasanjo’s in-law, Kenny Martins was also one of the illegalities of corruption by proxy of Olusegun Obasanjo. I want you to actually tell people what Obasanjo was worth when he came out of jail, you told me you saw him and that he only had one car.
Seriki [cuts in]: You see, we cannot run a country without referring to the constitution. The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is simplistic to the extent of the maintenance of the Nigerian police. So, if we are to continue this madness, at a point, somebody will raise ‘Nigeria Army Equipment Fund’, what kind of a nation is that?
SRTV [to Odusanya]: Well, let’s go back to what Obasanjo was worth when he left prison, you said you saw him and that the family was almost selling off everything of the family…
Odusanya: Not that they were almost selling. In fact, they had sold everything except one car, a Peugeot 505 and the reason that could not be sold was that it was a natural gift to past Head of State from the Secretary to the Government and it had a government number. That is the reason that could not be sold.
SRTV: So, where did he get the cars to run his campaigns from?
Odusanya: Well, it started even from Lt. General Danjuma, who graciously through John Dara obliged them fund to run their initial program
Seriki [cuts in]: The issue….
SRTV [cut in]: No, no, no. I want us to break it down at that level because if not, people will not understand where we are coming from. I want him (Odusanya) to finish it. Where did John Dara get the cars from?
Odusanya: He bought it from Oluwalogbon motors.
Seriki [cuts in]: Let’s give it to him that he was considered a responsible and viable candidate and a lot of people rallied around him…
SRTV: That does not erase the fact that these were proceeds of corruption.
Seriki: That is the point. I would have honored Obasanjo if he were to continue to live in his former house, the way Madiba is doing. But when you have an appetite beyond what your take-home can provide, you are outright corrupt. Today he has mansions, competing with Babangida. Today, he has people who pretend to be lending him aircraft, he has aircraft by proxy. You see, these are why he would be able to say ‘Andy Uba is my son o, he helps me’. But he was your poor son that you corruptly enriched.
SRTV: So, you have more to add regarding what you know about the Obasanjo regime? We also have the ID Card scam.

Seriki: Yes, it is very interesting but we need to just take some summary. There was an ID Card project. There had been many ID Card projects before this and they were all phony because after this one, his (Obasanjo’s) son did his own.
SRTV: What’s his name?
Seriki: Seun. So, all these things will give him opportunity to keep date with honor if they are not to sweep things under the carpet. When there was an issue of the $7million bribe
SRTV: Who was given $7million bribe?
Seriki: Obasanjo’s friend. But the issue for determination is that he was grandstanding and playing to the gallery with the international community by arresting all the people that were not involved in the fraud. You see, when a person is an expert in deceit and that person is in charge of the destiny of a nation, the nation is ruined. He knows the source of the fraud and he did nothing to correct it and as we speak now there is no ID Card in Nigeria.
SRTV: So, what do you suggest should be done?
Seriki: Thank you. What we seek is that the leadership of the National Assembly to keep a date with destiny by becoming the champion of the course of the people of Nigeria, by invoking their constitutional right of legislative investigation into, take for instance just Bola Ige’s death for the nation to be relieved just as the people of Boston were relieved, and that shows they have a responsive government. And that is not to exclude President Jonathan who has more to gain from Nigeria than the people of Nigeria have to gain from him. Coming from his background, he should devoid from the pretense that somebody put him there and he should put things right.
SRTV: You mentioned the National Assembly. Do you think somebody like David Mark who was also imposed on the people; do you think he would want to turn against him?
Seriki: Let me tell you something. Pessimism is the architect of failure, we are optimistic that a new dawn will happen to Nigeria. And, Nigeria is lucky that now, there is freedom of information bill.
We need to do more. It is in their interest to want to work against us, and the way we are taking this project, we are not desirous of taking credit for it. As we speak right now, these information are in the hands of a lot of credible people, who by mere terminating the lives of somebody or harassing some people will not kill the truth behind this project. If Martin Luther King were to think when to free America, as young as we were, we were still witnesses to when they said blacks are not electable. So, I won’t want to talk about the shortcomings, but I know truth is stronger than deceit and God is stronger than devil.
We put it in their domain, that, you aspire for eminence, this is the requirement for eminence.
SRTV: This has been very revealing discussion about corrupt developments in the recent history of Nigeria. You said you fought against third term. Do you have credible information that Obasanjo was behind it?
Seriki: Oh, verifiable information as to how he corrupted our National Assembly as to a lot of approvals he subjected himself to out of greed.
SRTV: When you left the slush fund, because you said you left because your conscience would not let you continue with it, do you know the group that took over the kind of errand you were running?
Odusanya: Erm… you see, Andy took over. Let me just say it. Andy [Uba] took over. He took over the function of Fasawe.
Seriki: And he did it very well
Odusanya: Yes, he did very well.
Seriki: He was more organized and more vicious against Nigeria.
SRTV: I will end here by saying, great conscience, are you not afraid for your lives?
Odusanya: Let me state that, and I want it to be on record. I have the backing of my lovely wife and my children to do this. I am not going back to Nigeria to ask for any security or protection anywhere. I am a strong believer in the supremacy of God and I am saying this that for everything there is a price, and I am willing, even if it is the supreme price. Am not afraid of anybody and am saying that I am not going back to Nigeria to ask for security from anybody whether Government, individual or corporate agencies.
Seriki: You see, I smile when people market fear. Fear in itself is the enemy of eminence. For me, I am not bothered. At this age, I’ve bore children but the bothering is that the future of these children are being ruined by rascals. So, if you are to keep alive and become a Methuselah, what becomes of your children? And that is the reason we find ourselves in this position. Everybody pretends to say it is dangerous and they will look for ways to partake in the loot. We can’t continue like this. When I was in the Federal House, I was one of the youngest, but because of the way Nigeria is being runned, for those of
us who cannot capture power, the career has been kind of ruined because what is required to contest and win election is not made so. So, fundamentally, I have a conviction that life in itself becomes worthless if one is just to be genuflecting and be a vegetable.
SRTV: Well, on that note, I just want to thank you gentlemen for coming on SaharaTV
Seriki [cuts in]: And I will add, it will be more honorable that rather than seek how to circumvent truth, because that is why we went to the National Assembly as we know they always go for injunction that police should not touch or investigate them, but with the separation of power, the National Assembly has a fundamental responsibility to Nigerians.