₦airaland Forum

APC should not worrry, Nigeria is not going to postpone your appointment with disgrace.

Will all this pictures stop PDP from winning Lagos by a solid 60% of votes or more?

By Soni Daniel
From a person who seems to have an insight into the operations of Boko Haram came chilling accounts of girls taken captive by the terror group.
“Girls tell how they were raped every day, week after week. One girl was raped every day, sometimes several times a day by groups of men. Some did not survive the ordeal,” Stephen Davis, an Australian negotiator, who visited Nigeria to mediate the release of the Chibok girls captured by the Islamist group, recounted in an article contributed to Sunday Vanguard, titled, ‘When I met Asari and agreed a peace deal.’
The negotiator spoke on a day it emerged that Boko Haram and government representatives held talks on swapping the group’s members in prison with the kidnapped schoolgirls. At the talks, government reportedly rejected Boko Haram’s demand to exchange 30 of its commanders in prison with 30 of the Chibok girls.
Davis was responding to a newspaper interview by a former Niger-Delta militant leader, Alhaji Asari-Dokubo, in which he claimed the almost 300 girls, reportedly captured in Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State by Boko Haram, may not have been seized after all.

By this weekend, the girls, some of whom apparently escaped from their captors, have spent over 160 days in captivity.
The schoolgirls were seized on April 14.
“The escaped girls tell harrowing stories of rape and abuse. They are traumatised and require medical treatment and counselling. These girls are testament to the horrifying truth about the kidnapping,” the negotiator stated.
Davis made a strong case for action against Boko Haram sponsors to end insurgency in the North-east.
He also recounted his encounter with Dokubo at the peak of the Niger-Delta militancy during the Obasanjo administration, leading to a truce between the militants and security forces.
Chibok: FG, Boko Haram in swap deal
Meanwhile, a report, yesterday, said government officials and the International Committee of the Red Cross had talks with Boko Haram about swapping prisoners of the Islamist terror group for the Chibok school girls kidnapped in April.
CNN, quoting a source involved in the negotiations, said officials met four times in mid-August with two senior members of Boko Haram in Abuja.
The swap would involve the release of 30 Boko Haram commanders in the custody of government, according to the source, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue.
Boko Haram reportedly submitted a list with the names of 30 members who were either convicted or awaiting trial on terror offenses.
“The two Boko Haram negotiators assured the ICRC and government negotiators that the girls were never raped, were never used as sex slaves and were never sexually assaulted,” said the source.
But this claim is disputed by Davis.
The terror group was said to have expressed a willingness for a swap with the ICRC at an undisclosed location, according to the source. But there was disagreement on some terms, including the number of girls involved in the swap.
Boko Haram, it was learnt, insisted on an even swap — 30 girls for 30 commanders — but the government refused.
“They were only ready to release one to one, which the government was not going to accept,” the source said.
Another hurdle in the talks was Boko Haram’s insistence on meeting the imprisoned 30 members involved in the swap, but they only had contact with six at a prison outside Abuja, the source said.

The six prisoners included Kabiru Sokoto, a senior Boko Haram commander convicted in December 2013 of terror charges related to the deadly Christmas Day bombing of a church in Madallah in 2011.
“ICRC couldn’t find where the remaining 24 were being detained,” the source said.
The Boko Haram negotiators said they would get back to government after consulting with their superiors.
ICRC sources declined to comment.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/09/160-days-chibok-abduction-girls-tell-raped-every-day-negotiator-stephen-davis/#sthash.wvzR3ThV.dpuf[s][/s]

By Stephen Davis

I read with interest Asari Dokubo’s comments published on September 14 in the Daily Post.
Asari is quite correct in saying that he knows me well and has met members of my family. In 2004, the Niger Delta was aflame with conflict. Asari, Ateke Tom and Tompolo were waging a fierce war against the Nigerian federal and state governments. Many people had been killed.
Nigerian military were having trouble contending with Asari’s guerrilla warfare. Small, highly mobile and heavily armed militant forces in fast boats struck across the Niger Delta targeting oil installations and military posts. Nigeria’s oil output at one point dropped to as low as 600,000 barrels per day and on average was halved to one million barrels per day.
Australian negotiator, Dr. Stephen Davis, and Boko Haram commanders in 2013 after BH reportedly agreed to dialogue

This was a devastating blow to Nigeria’s economy and the operations of the major international oil companies. Apart from the economic impact, communities were suffering from the conflict with many innocent people killed in military efforts to purge the communities of militants.
My wife and I were living in Port Harcourt and, in 2004, I explored the idea of a peace deal with an Ijaw friend, Von Kemedi. As an Ijaw, he knew Asari who was also Ijaw. Von was able to make contact with Asari who agreed to meet with me.

Von and I subsequently travelled through the swamps in a speed boat to Opurata village to see the damage to villages before transferring to a canoe that we paddled to another village from where we were met by Asari’s men in another fast boat. With a blindfold on we were taken to another island where we waited until another boat escorted us to Asari’s camp. A vigorous discussion took place that night surrounded by Asari’s well-armed fighters. By the end of the night, the foundation of a peace deal has been set down.

I subsequently took the peace proposal to President Olusegun Obasanjo and found him ready and willing to support peace and disarmament. The deal also encompassed demobilisation and a programme to reintegrate the militants back into the communities. This required a skills training programme which President Obasanjo supported. A final essential element was weapons surrender and destruction. The protocol used was that set down by the UN and was agreed by both sides.

At the Villa

I stayed in close contact with Asari by satellite phone each evening around 5pm. We worked out the details of the peace process. The first step was a ceasefire. The ceasefire was set in place on September 8, 2004, but in the following days was broken three times and each time it was the Nigerian military that broke the ceasefire. Even when under fire during a ceasefire breach Asari, honoured his word and withdrew, firing only for self-protection.

To complete the peace deal, President Obasanjo directed me to oversee the extraction of Asari and his key commanders in September 2004. I travelled to the Niger Delta with a handful of SSS men headed by Fubara Duke, an Ijaw man known to Asari and trusted by President Obasanjo.
At 1am on September 29, 2004 Asari, and his commanders met us at Abonnema Landing in the Niger Delta and we proceeded to Port Harcourt airport where we boarded a plane at dawn to take us to Abuja and direct to President Obasanjo in the Cabinet Room. That day was punctuated with amazing revelations as Asari recounted events that led him and his men to defy the government and launch a guerrilla style campaign.
Asari always kept his word to me. He gave me an undertaking on the ceasefire and kept it even in the face of breaches by the military. When it came to time for weapons surrender, he asked me how many weapons I wanted him to surrender. I said, ‘ Asari you have 3,000 men, so I want 3,000 weapons.’

Asari gave a commitment to hand over 3,000 guns, 100 general purpose machine guns and some rocket launchers which were subsequently destroyed in a series of public destructions to UN standards overseen by the Army at Bori Military Camp in Port Harcourt in mid-November 2004.
President Obasanjo kept his word and on October 1, 2004 the peace accord was announced and Asari and his commanders returned to the Niger Delta.
Asari is correct is saying I never paid him anything. I never paid anyone and no one paid me either by way of funds or favours. President Obasanjo did not offer to pay me for the Niger Delta peace accord and I did not seek payment. The peace deal was built on trust. I went to Asari’s camp unarmed and without any security.

Asari and his key commanders travelled with me and the small SSS contingent totally unarmed. We trusted each other with our lives and that built trust. There can be no peace without trust. Without trust, there is merely a ceasefire which will eventually be broken and the fighting resume.
Asari said in his interview with the Daily Post that President Obasanjo broke his word. I am not so sure of that. What I think Asari may be referring to is the demobilisation and skills training that did not materialise after the peace accord. Funds were to be set aside to train the ex-militants for employment and to reintegrate them back into their communities. This phase of the work was to be undertaken by the state governors.

By March 2005, a full six months had passed without any sign of training and reintegration. It was no surprise then to find 200 Niger Delta ex-militants had been recruited by foreign mercenaries to participate in a coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea. The ex-militants were intercepted as they departed Warri in a ship bound for Guinea. They had each been promised $5,000 and an AK47.
Had the promised skills training and reintegration been implemented, these young men probably would not have agreed to join the coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea. So Asari is right but it was more likely that the governors were not sincere and not former President Obasanjo. It was the governors that had armed, promoted and used the gangs for political purposes in much the same way that former Governor Modu Sheriff was alleged to have done in Borno State..

It was this failure to honour the agreement to demobilise by providing skills training and reintegration that fuelled discontent and provided the conditions that formed MEND which added bombing and kidnapping to its mode of operation.
Contrary to Asari’s understanding, former President Obasanjo did not bring me to Nigeria on my recent trip to seek the release of the Chibok girls or for any other purpose. Nor did President Jonathan or anyone else. I came to Nigeria in April this year to seek the release of the Chibok girls at my own expense and of my own volition because I could see no progress on the release of the kidnapped girls.
Girls horrifying rape

While Asari may not believe any girls were kidnapped, let me assure you that hearing the stories of some girls who have escaped from Boko Haram camps is a sobering experience. There are many girls who have been kidnapped apart from the girls from the Chibok school.
The kidnapping of girls by Boko Haram has been going on for at least a year. Initially Boko Haram kidnapped girls because the fighters could not go back home to their wives. They used the kidnapped girls. Girls tell how they were raped every day, week after week.
One girl was raped every day, sometimes several times a day by groups of men. Some did not survive the ordeal. The escaped girls tell harrowing stories of rape and abuse. They are traumatised and require medical treatment and counselling. These girls are testament to the horrifying truth about the kidnappings.

But the Chibok kidnappings were only the start of my recent journey to Nigeria. It soon became apparent the (alleged) sponsors did not want any interference in their plan. The “political Boko Haram” which (allegedly) started out as Sheriff’s ECOMOG (so named after the military peace keeping forces operating in Liberia at that time because an SDP – Social Democratic Party- candidate was protected from an angry mob in Bama by a group of youths supporting the SDP) that targeted his political opponents in the 2003 and 2007 elections have since mutated into the Boko Haram we see today that terrorises through beheadings, butchering innocent villagers, bombing innocent people at shopping malls and in churches, raping and kidnapping.

It is true that Sheriff fell-out with Yusuf and the allegation stands that when the military captured Yusuf in late July 2009 and handed him over to the police in Borno State, he was allegedly executed on Sheriff’s instruction. Thus the root of the perception that Sheriff cannot be a sponsor but a hated enemy of Boko Haram. But the core of the old Yusufiya is no longer part of Boko Haram.
Boko Haram is a mutation of political Boko Haram and Shekau’s Ansaru. The Yusufiya grew out of the Izala movement and had great respect for Izala. Boko Haram now beheads Izala followers. The “slaughterers” work with the political assassins and suicide bombers.
The sponsors of Boko Haram do not care how many innocent Nigerians are slaughtered, how many women are raped, how many girls and boys are kidnapped, how many villages are plundered. I have met too many victims to say, “It is not my problem”.
We are each diminished if we allow such crimes against our fellow citizens to persist. The Nigerian military is diminished if it uses Boko Haram tactics to address the problem. Evil will flourish and triumph if good men and women do nothing.

Many Nigerian politicians have said little and done nothing to curb the slaughter of Nigerians that is being supported by the sponsors. While fathers die to protect their daughters and wives are raped and butchered the sponsors of Boko Haram are accorded privileges and protection.
They fly in private jets and are accorded military protection. Are the sponsors of Boko Haram so far above the law? Have the citizens of Nigeria lost the right to bring these men to justice? Who will stand up for the poor and oppressed who are being slaughtered and raped in their hundreds? By the grace of God we trust that good men and women will stand up and justice will prevail.

*Davis, an Austrialian, is a negotiator

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/09/when-i-met-asari-and-agreed-a-peace-deal-stephen-davis/#sthash.tBTej3JR.dpuf

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arresa: The topic is still about Nuclear power plant in Lagos and your idiotic comment equating Nuclear power plant with common building in Lagos, not your Boko Haram.

We can talk about BH later and your president and his crooked friend's affiliation and Boko Hrama support including the clown he went to play and hang out with in Niger Republic and all the smuggling, money laundering and gun ruining schemes...

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arresa: And the same common building contractor is going to build the Nuclear Power Plant right?

You shallow and ignorant people really shouldn't be allowed to get on the internet for real, you insult the internet and the internet community with your disgraceful utterances...

Your lying SOB moniker should be quoting one of your dumbass boko haram brothers. Look for another boko haram mass murderer, like yourself to quote.

Sweet dreams, in the same place where buildings are falling down daily ,. Nuclear radiation will not be a Lagos state problem only, just show us a plan where the radiation in case of an accident, kills people in Lagos only and never crosses the Lagos state lines., then you can build all the Nuclear plants you want.

You people should not be mad, the guys found Ghana have not said anything less, than we spew here against ourselves. They learnt well from us. Just don't take it personal. Nobody can like or love you, more than you love or like yourself.

Ngwakwe: Unfortunately, the time of promulgating decrees to rule over free people are over.

The Judiciary is now fully in charge of Court proceedings (and not his acclimatised Military Tribunals) where every alleged criminal is given a fair hearing and prosecutors must prove every case beyond reasonable doubt (not dependent on media gossips and rumour peddling) to get a guilty verdict.

Welcome to democracy where Rights are Freedom are meant to be sacred.

Even when his so called tribunal found people not guilty, the head of state calls the tribunal chairman and commands him to pronounce a guilty verdict.

His minions are deceiving themselves, thinking we will have any semblance of his 1983 junta in power in Nigeria again.

Idrismusty97: Nice move! If true it would be easy to kill them all. No more humans shield! As soon as the exchange is carry on, Sambisa forest should be completely levelled!

The only problem is that they won't released all the girls, This could be risky;

The six prisoners included Kabiru Sokoto, a senior Boko Haram commander convicted in December 2013 of terror charges related to the deadly Christmas Day bombing of a church in the town of Madallah in 2011.


It will be a cold day in hell before your boko haram brothers get released.

sarutobie: I laugh at the unsuspecting nairalanders taking that moniker " aressa" serious..They must be new on the forum..as long as it is against the current government (not minding if it right or wrong) that 'see no good" being will applaud it...but that is none of my business.

You will be surprised, how well the lying SOB is known here. That's why nobody takes his rubbish serious.

Aigbofa: Did you see the video at all?

That's not the question, can you authenticate, your so called video?

The boko haram supporters never stop amazing us. The same crowd crying for months about the army needing more arms, are asking us to applaud the actions of US and UK. The Nigerian army will buy the arms needed to kill all of you, boko haram foot soldiers. Even, if they have to carry $10B in cash to close the deal.

Aigbofa: You can reel out all the evil things America have done in the past, that is fine. To suggest everything is bad about America is like saying everything is good about Nigeria.
I am yet to see a video of American soldiers cutting the necks of their fellow Americans. This is not a race issue.

Can you authenticate the video you saw and the actions therein, to be men of the Nigerian army?

iwonbaoko: Nigeria does not need to aspire to be like anyone
A ji se bi Oyo laa ri,
Oyo O ji se bi baba eni kankan

We should seek to improve ourselves I agree but no nation is perfect or without their own flaws and so your words smack of inferiority complex and Kolo mentality

These so called democracies are guilty of much worse inhumanities than Nigeria could accumulate in 100 years if you do not know this then your education has not begun

Beautiful.

Slowly, the retardds in this country are getting a behind the scene picture.

Mynd44: In other words, it is the fault of the opposition that [b]Nigeria laundered money [/b]contrary to our own laws and that of South Africa and also trying to buy weapons through the back door....

Has anyone asked why in the world Nigeria intended to buy and transport weapons using a civilian aircraft?

Or why the SAs don't seem to be aware of this deal?

Or why the military is not buying its own weapons?

Or why the Military HQ seems to be quiet about this?

Rubbish again.

Pastor Ayo remains the worse thing to happen to Islamist in Nigeria. Even their Sultan knows , who his boss is.

Sorry, Nigeria's weak, failed system contained ebola, that's the news. Don't try to add anything else.

Election fraud alleged in UK •People found their votes had been cast before arriving at polling booths




Voters in Scotland turned up at polling stations to find that people had already voted using their names, according to Daily Mail of UK.

Glasgow City Council confirmed that there had been 10 instances where people had gone to vote and found their names had already been crossed off the list.

Spokesman Colin Edgar said: “We’ve had a number of suggestions across the course of the day that people have turned up at the polling station to vote and they appear to have voted already.

“This is impersonation, if it turns out to be what it is.”

On Thursday night, police officers were present at the count to remove the ballot papers and keep them as evidence.

The papers were from 10 different boxes across Glasgow, and not concentrated in one area.

Stewart Hosie, Scotland National Party (SNP) Treasury spokesman at Westminster, said it was “very sad that people feel the need to engage in any kind of impersonation.”

He said: “I think that’s a daft thing to do. The ballot papers have been identified, they will be taken away and fingerprinted, the police will do their job and I’m sure whoever has done it will be caught and sentenced.

“That’s the correct procedure. It won’t change the result but of course it shouldn’t have happened, it is a silly, silly, thing for anyone to try to do.”

The investigation came as thousands of independence supporters waving Saltires gathered at George Square in the city centre.

Nationalists lit a flare in the public space, which had been renamed ‘Independence Square’ and has become a focus point in recent days.

The gathering was mostly friendly and police said in the early hours there had been no arrests.

Scots with Saltires painted on their faces did the conga and sang songs including Flower of Scotland.

A Police Scotland spokesman said: “Police Scotland takes the safety and security of the Independence Referendum extremely seriously and is working with partner agencies including local authorities to ensure the integrity of the ballot.

“Any crime committed will be investigated appropriately.’

Mr Edgar added that the ‘first vote went in the box’ but the second attempt to vote was stopped when the individual was identified as having been already ticked off the list.

He said: “The second voter was given what is known as a ‘tendered ballot’ which is like a ballot paper but it doesn’t get counted, so you can express a preference but it doesn’t get counted.”

He said there was no indication as to which answer the allegedly fraudulent votes were cast towards but that would not be revealed as ‘the ballots are secret’.

He added: “No crime has been committed until an investigation has been completed and somebody has been prosecuted and found guilty.”

Meanwhile, world markets rallied on Friday as Scotland’s decision to stay in the United Kingdom lifted Europe and got investors over the latest in a recent run of tricky global political hurdles.

Scotland voted to remain in the UK by 55 per cent to 45 per cent, a clear outcome likely to bring relief to a number of countries in Europe, particularly Spain, which is facing similar secessionist pressures in Catalonia.

Sterling initially surged to a two-week high against the dollar and a two-year peak against the euro before losing some steam, while London’s FTSE share index and Spanish stocks and bonds jumped.

Global shares were already heading towards their fifth weekly gain in the last six. They have been boosted by further assurances this week that interest rates are likely to remain at record lows in many major economies for some time.

News that Chinese internet giant Alibaba priced its IPO at $68 a share on Thursday, the top end of the expected range to raise $21.8 billion in one of the world’s largest-ever stock offerings, also supported the market.

“I am happy today, risk is back on, everybody is happy today,” said Geir Lode, head of global equities for fund manager Hermes in London. “We have Scotland, Alibaba is huge - what could be better?”

The vote not only keeps Britain intact but also reduces the likelihood of its leaving the European Union, potentially a much greater risk for markets and something Scottish independence might well have precipitated, analysts said.

The pound’s bounce against the dollar was not as large as some had predicted though and it had retreated to $1.6386 as US. trading began.

But it remained strong against some of the other major currencies, hitting a two-year high of 78.10 pence per euro and a six-year high of 180.70 yen.

In a related development, British Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday pledged that Scotland will have more power over its affairs, and England, Wales and Northern Ireland must “have a bigger say’’ over theirs as well.

Over

“We have heard the voice of Scotland and now the millions of voices of England must not go ignored,’’ Cameron said.

The Prime Minister called for moment that everyone “comes together to build that better, brighter future for our entire United Kingdom.’’

Before his speech, Cameron also spoke with Alex Salmond, Scottish First Minister and leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP).

Cameron said he was delighted that the SNP would join talks on further devolution.

The Deputy British Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said he was “absolutely delighted’’ that the Scottish people had taken this momentous decision to safeguard ``our family of nations.’’

“A vote against independence was not a vote against change, and we must deliver on time and in full the package of new powers to Scotland.

“The independence referendum has led to demand for constitutional reform across the UK.

“People want power in their own hands, not hoarded in Westminster.

“In a dangerous and uncertain world I have no doubt we are stronger, safer, and more prosperous together than we ever could be apart,’’ the deputy prime minister noted.

Ed Miliband, leader of the opposition Labour Party, said the UK was stronger today than it was yesterday, adding that he was delighted and proud that the people of Scotland had made this historic decision to stay.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/news/top-stories/item/16446-election-fraud-alleged-in-uk-people-found-their-votes-had-been-cast-before-arriving-at-polling-booths

Le Cap – Against a global background of rising Islamist militancy a new mosque where gay people are welcome, Christians too, and women are treated equally to men opened peacefully in Cape Town on Friday despite threats of violence.
Launched by Muslim academic Taj Hargey, the South African-born director of the Muslim Educational Centre of Oxford, the first Friday prayers at the ‘Open Mosque’ drew more media crews than worshippers or protesters.

Police were on hand in case of trouble outside the newly-painted green mosque, a former panel beating workshop sandwiched between two similar motor vehicle repair operations on a backstreet in the Wynberg suburb.
While a handful of protesters told AFP they were waiting for reinforcements and would “stop this thing, no matter what”, the Friday prayers went ahead largely unhindered apart from the occasional protester’s cry of “You will go to hell”.
Hargey has described his mosque as a “religious revolution” following on from the political revolution led by late former president Nelson Mandela when democracy replaced apartheid rule in South Africa in 1994.
As revolutions go, this was a quiet one.
In his sermon Hargey condemned the increasing hatred in the world between Muslims and Christians.
He blamed this on “warped theology” from countries such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan which he said gave rise to “fanatical” groups like the Islamic State organisation, the Taliban in Afghanistan and Boko Haram in Nigeria.
He said “contaminated Saudi money” was used to promote “toxic and intolerant manifestations of Islam”.
Hargey told reporters outside the mosque earlier that he had been subjected to physical and psychological threats since he announced his plans.
“There’s been threats about castrating me, beheading me, hanging me upside down. But South Africa has the most liberal constitution in the world — they cannot stop us opening today.”
Asked about his qualifications as a religious leader he said: “I have a PhD in Islamic studies from Oxford University, unlike my opponents who went to some donkey college in Pakistan or Saudi Arabia.”
Hargey is not new to Islamic controversy — in Britain he has launched a campaign to ban the burka.
South Africa has around 737,000 Muslims, or 1.5 percent of the population, according
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/09/gay-friendly-mosque-opens-quietly-south-africa/#sthash.egtZLPpf.dpuf

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/09/gay-friendly-mosque-opens-quietly-south-africa/#sthash.egtZLPpf.dpuf

JiggamanGh: I understand strikes happens but Nigerian government should be held responsible. That's why I believe all these entities should be given to private companies within the country. I hate when government owns things in any grown.

I just wanted the point made clearly, that Nigeria did not decide to cause Ghana harm. The last 3 days have been very difficult for us too. The Oil and gas Union mafias are too powerful in this country. Open your mouth and use the word privatization and we will be in darkness, with no petrol for another 30 days. NUPENG operates in a the different world. God will save us from them.

JiggamanGh: I fully understand what you are saying. There's a reason why Ghana is considered as the beacon of hope for africa. We shouldn't return their wrong with wrong. We should always do what is right for Ghana and Ghanains first but we should also be fair to our brothers.

No matter how much we fight and argue Nigeria remains our biggest ally and friend in west Africa and I believe if we put the pettiness away both countries can do something great.

We did no wrong, there was a strike, even in Nigeria, no petrol and power plants were starting to shut down. The strike was called off this evening. There was no attempt by Nigeria to cause Ghana any problem. The Unions just went crazy as they always do.

BlackTechnology: This guy is trying so hard to be a Ghanaian

Ignore him

It took you a while, but you are spot on. Definitely not from Ghana.

mrham03: i understand what u are saying but we are giving them a taste of their own medicine. If they value their gas then we value our people.

Which medicine, did you see the strike in Nigeria, that was called off today?

Nobi by force, if you like use it as toilet paper, that's your own problem.