Bloody day in Oyo
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Bisi Oladele and Oseheye Okwuofu, Ibadan 25/02/2011 01:54:00
image Scene of horror: The burnt vehicles at the secretariat after the violence, yesterday PHOTO: FEMI ILESANMI

A bloody day it was in Oyo State yesterday. Seven persons were killed in two incidents.

An attempt by officials of the state government to demolish the secretariat of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) at Olomi, Ibadan, led to a two-hour shooting duel between the police and NURTW men. When the smoke cleared, two people lay dead.

The NURTW faction led by Alhaji Lateef Akinsola (a.k.a Tokyo) is locked in a running battle with the government, which is backing the late Lateef Salako (alias Eleweomo) faction.

Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala proscribed the NURTW and vowed to demolish its secretariat, an action that the Tokyo group resisted yesterday.

Also yesterday, five supporters of Alao-Akala died in a road accident at Moniya in Akinyele Local Government Area. They were on their way from Oyo where the governor, who is the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, launched his campaign.

The bus in which the victims were travelling, shidded off the road and somersaulted twice. The five people died on the spot.

The Unit Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) at Moniya, Mr Adebayo Francis said 15 others were injured.

The commercial bus is registered XU479 KSF

Officials of the Ministry of the Environment allegedly led a team, consisting of over 200 riot policemen, to the one-storey NURTW building as early as 8:20 am.

Sources said the team came with five Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), a lorry and trailer conveying a bulldozer.

They were said to have fired teargas canisters and live bullets when the Tokyo men resisted their forcible entry.

The deceased were identified as Nurudeen Azeez and Ismaila Agbojo.

One person was injured. He was taken to an undisclosed private hospital in the city.

After the government team left, the NURTW members protested the assault on their premises.

They made bonfires on roads leading to the area.

The Lagos-Ibadan Expressway was blocked. There was a massive traffic jam.

Motorists detoured; shop owners hurriedly closed down and ran for safety.

The lorry and trailer brought by the demolition team were burnt down by the protesters who also vandalised the bulldozer.

Spokesman of the Tokyo faction Yunus Olatunde urged the Federal Government intervene in the crisis.

He said the governor should respect last October’s court order, which restrained the government from demolishing the building, pending the determination of the case.

Commissioner of Police Adisa Bolanta said the command assisted the government with some policemen.

He said police vehicles were sent to the premises for security purpose.

Bolanta said the command sent a new batch of policemen to quell the violence following a distress call from the government team.

Residents were still in fear yesterday. But the Chairman of the Caretaker Committee of Oluyole Local Government Area Alhaji Kehinde Olaosebikan, assured them of the safety of their lives and property.

Olaosebikan, in a statement, condemned the clash between the NURTW men and the police.

The chairman praised the police for standing up to the union members.

He said "the government will continue to protect the lives and property of the citizens".

The Rashidi Ladoja Campaign Organisation condemned "the unnecessary shedding of blood and promotion of violence in Olomi."

The Accord Party governorship candidate, according to a statement, said Alao-Akala has no legal right to interfere in the internal affairs of the NURTW.
http://thenationonlineng.net/web3/news/29107.html
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LP, ACN clash records casualties
Published on 14 February 2011 with 0 comments
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NO fewer than four causalities, including a 92 year old woman were recorded in Idanre local government area of Ondo state when the supporters of the ruling Labour Party and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) clashed in the area.

Those wounded in clash include, 92 year old woman, Alice Akinbaninawo, Magret Akindoju, Feyisayo Akinde and Cladus Akinde.

The Secretariat of the ACN located at Broad Street, Idanre was also vandalized in the fracas that was said to have happened around 4 pm on Saturday.

According to the Chairman of the ACN in the local government, Victor Alalabiaye, who claimed to be out of town when the incident occurred, said members of the ACN were holding their general meeting when the venue of the meeting was invaded by thugs suspected to be members of the LP.

Alalabiaye said many of his party members were beaten leaving many others injured during the attack.

He recalled that similar attack was carried out on the party secretariat at Alade-Atosin few weeks ago said, there was never a time the party had crisis with the LP and wondered why the attack was carried out on the party.

Reacting to the allegations, the Chief of Staff (COS), Dr. Kola Ademujimi, who is the leader of the LP in Idanre, said there was no iota of truth in the claims that LP members attacked ACN members.

According to him, report that reached him was that some members of the ACN attacked and wounded two members of the LP on their way to their meeting and went to the meeting pretending that nothing had happened.

He however said, there was no basis for attack between members of the LP and those of the ACN as both parties were populated by progressive elements that wanted the best for the people of their areas.

Ademujimi said the people of the state were aware that the LP was a party that preached peace and since it was the party in government it must strive for the well being of the entire people of the state without recourse to party affiliation.

ACN primaries, a sham, by Durosinmi-Etti, chieftain
Alhaji Dapo Durosinmi-Etti, lawyer and astute politician, has a name that rings a bell in Lagos politics.
In his days in the defunct United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP), he ran a campaign that was considered unique, going by its organisation, depth and well thought-out messages.
Durosinmi-Etti, currently is an Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) leader and convener “Continuity 2011”, a group mobilising a second term for Governor Babatunde Fashola.He however laments what he calls the unhealthy politics within the ACN.
He also speaks on the schemings against Governor Fashola, his senatorial ambition, INEC’s silence and more. REMI ADEFULU presents the excerpts
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
•Durosinmi-Etti
Photo: Sun News Publishing

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Senatorial ambition
Let me just say that a lot of people have been wondering about what is going on after the primaries in the ACN which we all belong to. Initially, I didn’t set out to contest for the primaries on the platform of ACN because I have always had my reservations about the transparency of the process and it came to pass. What eventually emerged after the endorsement of the governor is beyond belief.

Apart from the fact that due process was not followed, what transpired was a brazen violation of democracy. People voted and yet the votes were not counted. They exploited the people. Those who left last, left very late the following morning. The votes were not counted, only for names to emerge in newspapers as winners, and in this is a party that prides itself as democratic.

It is a shame that we have that kind of sham process, and I am not a defender of that kind of party. That is why I am taking the battle back to them. Those who emerged are not the choice of the people, and it will be a tragedy of our time to field such people. The analogy I am drawing is this – if you are not allowed to go into the university through JAMB, which I take as the primaries, you can go in through direct entry. If you are not going to the platform to represent the people from any party, then I can go somewhere else to reach out to the electorate, because the electorate know those who are deserving of their votes. That is why I am taking up the platform of a party, yet to be determined, but you can be sure that I will be one of the contestants when the time comes for the election of the Lagos Central Senatorial District.

Implication for Fashola
I have always maintained that as far as we are concerned, we want a platform for Fashola to come back. Thank goodness that came to pass, but what we gained through the front door, somebody wants to take away through the backdoor, and that is not going to happen because the scheming is quite clear to any discerning mind, that they are trying to weave a snare around Fashola, so that when he comes back, he wouldn’t be able to perform as he did in the last few years. Obviously, if you don’t have a co-operative legislature, it will be very difficult to govern. It might even lead to his impeachment given the way we do things in this country. All these have to stop because if we allow the party to pick candidates for him, he will be a puppet. The plan is clear, their designs are quite obvious to everybody and that the electorate is alert to this irresponsible behaviour. A time must come when the people must learn to say no.

Govenor’s disposition
I am not bothered about what the governor thinks. We are out to support the governor not because he is the governor, but because of the work he is doing. I want to say that I am not bothered by whatever attitude he is putting up because we are not in consultation.But I am sure that nobody will know that people are fighting for him and not be happy. Democracy is about the voice of the people. If we want him, and we make it so obvious to him, it is okay. He has taken a platform, we cannot tell him to disembark. But we are scared that they are building a snare around him.

We will take another platform to give him the support. Some legislators are already decamping from ACN due to this obvious injustice. If they believe it is the old shenanigans they are going to deploy, it is not going to work this time around, because nothing works without the people. I am only afraid there won’t be anarchy at the end of the day, because Lagos State is the cynosure of good governance.

Lagos Central threat
I wouldn’t know whether indigenes of Lagos have decided not to support Fashola running on ACN ticket because the elections are not here yet. We hear voices of dissent, yes, very loud. That is what is giving us the courage to say we want to represent those voices. You may say I am from the Island by my roots, but I represent a senatorial district now. I know that it is a matter of time, give us a few more days, things will start unfolding and you will know the people’s voice is coming.

Solution
There is no problem except self-induced headache. The primaries was a sham and everybody knows that. Let them retrace their steps before it is too late. We have not even heard INEC pronouncement on the primaries. Whether it is going to stand their test, we don’t know, and we can’t subject ourselves to the whims and caprices of a few individuals. They placed an advert in the papers that no one is above the law. That is an ACN propaganda. We thank goodness that we have enough educated people who are now interested in what is going on. That is why the changes are coming. Things are changing. If you think you can just bribe people, you will be shocked this time around.

INEC’s position
Well, we expect by now that INEC would have come out with a position. By not coming out, they are compounding the problem because we have time table for everything. I am sure and I am aware that several petitions have been written on the matter. Even there was an admission in the newspaper, where the chairman of ACN, Chief Bisi Akande, confirmed that the party imposed candidates. If that is the case, it is a tragedy that I am in ACN at all. Why then did they pretend they conducted primaries? I am stunned. If it is true, coming from somebody of Chief Akande’s caliber. It is a terrible shame because it shows the level of exposure and knowledge that he has.

Senate agenda
My agenda for the Senate is to represent my people maturely, with informed representation, proper liaison with the people reflecting the wishes of my constituents. Representation means some people put you there. This is where we are having problems in ACN. Our representatives believe you have to be loyal to a person whom they perceive put them there. People are there to represent the people.

Media aide to Chief Olusegun Oni, former governor of Ekiti State, Mr Wale Ojo-Lanre, has described as despicable the statement made by former Lagos State governor, Senator Bola Tinubu, calling President Goodluck Jonathan a drun-ken fisherman.

Ojo-Lanre, in a statement issued, on Wednesday, said: “By Tinubu’s statement, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and its leaders have demonstrated that they are indeed rascals.”

He said there were no other words with which people who emerged as governors through fraudulent means could be described other than rascals.

He said: “with the uncouth reactions of Tinubu, the sole proprietor of the ACN, it has been justified that they are born propagandists and men of low integrity.

“Yoruba people cherish their names. We cherish honest, upright and hardworking people, who are always conscious of their father’s name and won’t for any reason seek to achieve anything through dubious means. But can this be said of the so-called ACN leaders, Definitely no!”

While urging President Jonathan not to be deterred by the outbursts of the ACN, Ojo-Lanre said, “President Jonathan has said the obvious, it is left for Tinubu and his hawks in the ACN to retrace their steps and begin to seek penitence.”

http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/news/17703-tinubu-has-proved-jonathan-right-onis-aide

Kase Lawal’s Brother Arrested In Congolese Gold-Smuggling Ring

The name of Houston-based Nigerian businessman, Kase Lawal, has popped up in the bloody gold-smuggling activities after the police arrested a ring of smugglers two weeks ago in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The Congo has been plagued by a gruesome war in which two weeks ago.

Mr. Lawal’s brother, Mukaila Lawal  (a.k.a. Mickey), was listed as a passenger in a jet that was seized after Congolese authorities found $7 million in cash and more than $20 million worth of gold that was heading out of the eastern Congo. “Mickey” Lawal runs Mr. Kase Lawal’s Nigerian operations.

Mr. Lawal was arrested after a car chase by Congolese authorities who suspected foul play and went after the group with police cruisers.

The latest revelations in the case link Kase Lawal to the group of smugglers that had a private jet that flew them to the Congo. Mr. Kase Lawal’s multi-billion dollar company, CAMAC International, leased the jet, a Gulfstream IV, from a Dallas company and sent it to the Congo for the smuggling operation.

Mr. Kase Lawal was once considered a fugitive from the law after a high court in Lagos issued an arrest warrant against him in 1999. The warrant was issued in a time that marked a boom in his businesses, especially in South Africa where he secured the assistance of ANC officials and made huge profits from an oil deal that involved Nigeria and South Africa.

In 1999, the Nigerian police fraud unit led by Nuhu Ribadu who later became the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) investigated Mr. Kase Lawal for being linked to the Osahon Group that was involved in stealing an oil well. Shortly after the investigations began, Mr. Lawal escaped from Nigeria.

However, when the late Nigerian ruler Umaru Yar'adua came to power, Mr. Lawal maneuvered himself into prominence by becoming close to Mrs. Turai Yar'adua, the then “First Lady.” Mr. Lawal leveraged his influence with the late president's kitchen cabinet to get oil-lifting contracts. As soon as Yar'adua passed away last May, Mr. Lawal became a member of his successor, Goodluck Jonathan's, Presidential Advisory Committee.

2008-A look at the Nigerian complaint against Lawal
| McClatchy Newspapers

By Greg Gordon and Will Connors

LAGOS, Nigeria — A six-count criminal complaint filed in Nigeria eight years ago charges Kase Lawal with joining in a plot to forge papers in the name of a local company, win offshore-drilling approvals and illegally pump and sell more than 10 million barrels of crude oil.

Lawal, the chairman and executive officer of Houston-based CAMAC International Corp., is named in all six counts of an amended complaint filed in 2001 in the High Court of Lagos, along with five other individuals and three companies. The alleged crimes occurred while Lawal was trying to build CAMAC into a player in the global oil industry.

The complaint accuses all the defendants of forging letters from 1990 to 2000 under the letterhead of Cavendish Petroleum Resources Ltd., a Nigerian company that CAMAC affiliates were helping to develop a leased offshore oil field.

In 1999 and 2000, it says, they forged papers seeking government approval for an oil field development plan, summarizing its monthly production figures and nominating tankers that would carry the oil.

Between December 1999 and October 2000, the complaint charges, the defendants illegally pumped and sold 10.7 million barrels of crude oil, cheating the government out of $1.9 million in royalties.

Along with Lawal, the complaint names Cavendish exploration manager Billi Follahan; four other individuals; CAMAC subsidiaries Allied Energy Resources Ltd. and CAMAC International Nigeria Ltd.; and Ireland-based Tuskar Resources Ltd.

In interviews with McClatchy, Lawal denied wrongdoing and gave a different version of events.

He said that when seismic tests from 1991-93 showed that the Cavendish's oil field's production would be ``very, very marginal,'' Conoco Co., another partner, dropped out of the deal.

Lawal said that the field would produce ``at best, about 2,000 barrels per day'' and a maximum of about 400,000 barrels of oil. Lawal said he agreed to go forward at Cavendish's request, but brought in Dublin-based Tuskar ``to spread the risk.''

Even before production started, Lawal said, Cavendish began to demand bigger monthly payments from CAMAC and Tuskar and, when they refused, ``a blackmail started.''

Lawal said he suspects the police were ``unduly influenced'' by Cavendish's patriarch, Mai Deribe, who since has died. A lawyer for Deribe's children declined to comment.

Tuskar's statements to its shareholders in 1998 and 1999 were more optimistic. In 1998, the company said the shallow-water oil field was ``exceeding expectations,'' with two wells testing at a combined flow rate of 9,500 barrels per day and that experts estimated it contained about 15 million barrels of ``proved and probable reserves.'' In 2000, Tuskar said it was producing about 4,000 barrels per day and that two more wells could yield 6,900 barrels per day.

Later that year, however, Cavendish refused to apply for an export permit, Tuskar collapsed and charges were filed.

Lawal said CAMAC and Tuskar each lost about $17 million on the venture.

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/kase-lawal%E2%80%99s-brother-arrested-congolese-gold-smuggling-ring