Kano State Police Command on Monday arrested a Muslim convert, Garba Abubakar in connection with series of terrorists’ attacks in the city.

Abubakar reportedly hailed from Akwa Ibom State.

In a statement, the command disclosed that the suspect who was born as Augustine Efiong has been transferred to Abuja for further interrogation.

The statement added that he was arrested in a failed attempt to murder a civilian, whose name the police refused to disclose at Danlasan village in Warawa local government area of the state.

According to the statement, the suspect, during interrogation confessed to have relocated from Maiduguri in Borno State to Kano in April this year and while in Maiduguri, he lived in Bulunkutu, Abuja quarters.

“I have participated in series of attacks; killing of policemen and military personnel in the state, including the recent attack and killings in Bayero University Kano,” the suspect said.

Suspected gunmen had in April attacked the old campus of BUK, killing about 30 Christian worshippers, including two professors and the university Bursar.

http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/news-update/47315-police-arrest-muslim-convert-over-terrorist-activities.html

Here is the link to the story:http://cnsnews.com/news/article/senate-approves-bill-legalizes-sodomy-and-bestiality-us-military

A homosexual Church of England priest has announced plans to "marry" his Nigerian male model boyfriend, who is 40 years his junior.

The pair are due to marry on Oct 9 at the register office in Devizes before holding a service at St John the Baptist Church Photo: SWNSBy Richard Savill
7:34PM BST 20 Aug 2010
The Rev Colin Coward, 64, a priest at St John the Baptist church in Devizes, Wilts, is to enter into a civil partnership with his boyfriend Bobby Egbele, 25.

The union has caused a stir among Christians because the couple plan a carefully-worded "blessing" service in church after the ceremony.

Mr Coward has also declined to confirm that he will remain celibate following the union, which is a requirement the Church of England asks of its ordained homosexual clergy.

Mr Coward, who lives with his boyfriend in Marston, near Devizes, said he hoped his union would set a “visible example” to other homosexuals within the church.

He said: “My goal is for everyone within the church to feel comfortable with the situation because at the moment the majorityof gay Christians marry secretly.
“It is a taboo subject but the church is now under huge pressure to change its stance and that pressure will only increase in the future.

“Clearly the blessing is going to be quite a sensitive issue. I know that many people will see it and view it with horror.

“But we are both deeply committed Christians so it would be unthinkable for me not to do it in church and not to do it with the congregation and with all of our friends.

“I hope my wedding will inspire others and set a visible example to the church that we are not afraid.”

Mr Coward discovered he was homosexual when a teenager and he was ordained as a priest in 1978 after giving up his job as an architect.

He openly declared his homosexuality in 1991 before setting up the international gay and lesbian campaign group Changing Attitudes in 1995.

Mr Coward met his boyfriend in 2007 at a Christian conference in Togo, West Africa, and the pair were engaged last year.

Mr Egbele, a fashion designer, whose full name is Bobby Ikekhuame Egbele, grew up in Nigeria and runs an online clothing shop Bobafrique, where he models the clothes.

The pair are due to have a civil partnership ceremony on Oct 9 at the register office in Devizes before holding a service at St John the Baptist Church.

However, the service will be a communion Eucharist rather then a blessing, which is forbidden for homosexual couples.

Mr Coward said: ''Churches are not supposed to bless civil partnerships. It can bless almost anything else; animals, bombs, battleships, armies going to war but gay couples? No.

“So our church blessing has to be carefully-worded in so far as it does not use the word blessing in the context of the two of us in relationship.''

The Bishop of Ramsbury, Rt Rev Stephen David Conway, could ask Mr Coward to remain celibate, a request he plans to refuse.

Under Church of England laws sex is only permitted for married couples and same-sex civil partnerships are not officially regarded as marriage.

Mr Coward said: ''I have big doubts whether he will ask me that because it's a very intrusive question. It's a ridiculous situation and a real mess.

“What we're allowed to do, as a gay couple, is what this all about and certainly those in ordained ministry are not supposed to be sexually active.

“But in practice, some bishops absolutely will give their approval knowing that a couple is in a civil partnership and that they are sharing the same bed, and will encourage them to do that.''

Mr Coward said Mr Egbele was on a two year visitor visa until July next year. The couple have applied to the UK Border Agency for permission to have a civil partnership. That gives Mr Egbele rights of residency. In four years time, Mr Coward said Mr Egbele would be entitled to apply for British Citizenship.

A spokesman for the Diocese of Salisbury confirmed it has permitted allowed the service but described it as ''separate'' from the civil ceremony.

He said: ''A Eucharistic service celebrating friendship is what has been sanctioned in this case. This is entirely separate from any civil partnership ceremony.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/7956186/Homosexual-priest-to-marry-Nigerian-male-model.html

The recent disclosure on the floor of the House of Representatives that the nine new federal universities have no enabling law establishing them is scandalous.

It is scandalous because the Federal Government through its regulatory organ, the National Universities Commission (NUC), is supposed to regulate the establishment and proper functioning of all universities in the country to conform to standards. That it is this tier of government which is charged with such an important responsibility that is guilty of not following due process in the establishment of its universities is unbelievable. With this glaring failure on its part what moral right does the Federal Government now have to tell others what to do?

What is even more surprising is that already, the government has reportedly provided the sum of 1 billion Naira as take –off grant for each of the new universities which were to have commenced academic activities last month. This obvious act of impunity leads to another crucial question: From where was this money got when in the eye of the law the universities are not yet legal entities and the National Assembly has not made any appropriation for them?

It is clear that the idea of setting up the nine new universities was not properly thought through. Rather, the decision was taken to achieve some immediate political gains than to aid national growth and development. There is no doubt about it that this country needs more universities in addition to the consolidation of existing ones in light of the fact that annually only about a quarter of young Nigerians who are qualified and are desirous of pursuing university education have places in the universities we now have. Yet, as desirable as more universities are for us, what needs to be done ought to be properly done.

While it occurred to this administration to set up nine new universities at one fell swoop , efforts should have been simultaneously made to fulfill due process. What is desirable should also be legal and the impression should not be created that the end justifies the means. We are running a democracy and not some form of autocracy so scrupulous care must be taken to conform to existing laws and regulations backing the establishment of any entity. The era of arbitrariness, ad hocism, anticipatory approvals and all such features of undemocratic governance should be gone with the military and have no place in the current system. Conforming to due process may be slow and sometimes very frustrating but in the end it is superior to doing things in a haphazard manner as the conceivers and executors of the idea of the new universities may have since found out.

What is obvious now is that the easy path was proclaiming the nine universities into existence and decreeing that they should take off simultaneously at a particular date. What is now staring everybody in the face is the difficult one namely, ensuring that what are necessary for the universities to function well and fulfil the objectives for setting them up. For sure, it is not difficult to get the students and the non-academic staff but what about the lecturers? From where are qualified, competent and dedicated lecturers to be procured for all of the nine universities seeing that they are not items that can be picked up from the stores shelf?

Apart from immediately sending a bill to the National Assembly to formalise the existence of the new institutions, the Federal Government should begin to think seriously about how to fund them so that they do not become replicas of the existing universities which have a shortage of nearly everything that universities need. Education is the bedrock of national development. It is therefore unfortunate that many of our leaders at various tiers of government still do not take seriously the need to ensure that they provide the facilities and mobilise the citizenry and get them to acquire skills and competencies to enable them to contribute their quota to national progress.

Playing politics with education is, certainly, a luxury that we can ill-afford at this level of our development.

http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=145477:legality-of-new-federal-universities&catid=17:editorial&Itemid=9

NOBEL Laureate Wole Soyinka has warned of an impending danger likely to grace the country if appropriate measures are not taken to curtail them.
Citing the institution of a national dialogue where citizens would be allowed to genuinely chart a way forward for the country.

He said this while speaking at a lecture organised to mark the 50th anniversary of the Nigerian Institute of Management, with the theme "Governance in the 21st Century" in Abuja.

Receiving a thunderous applause from the audience, the lecture dwelt mainly on the great potentials Nigeria possesses, its proper link with distinction of power and authority. It went further to discuss the removal of religion from governance and the removal of the country from degenerating into a "stateless" nation through the intervention of conscious people.

“Nigeria must do away with the construction of religion in its narrow, bigoted and intolerant form. This is the reason why we have a cancerous disease and aspirin is being prescribed and then elevating nepotism, religiosity and ethnicity in governance. ”

Soyinka gave dialogue preference over violence, which he said was already knocking on the door, and is likely to turn into the revolt witnessed in the northern parts of Africa and the Arab world.

Soyinka went down memory lane, talking about the Maitatsine uprising and the current Boko Haram insurgence. Both organizations trying to sanitize Islam, with Boko Haram having links to Al-Qaida.
“We have to remind those who were too young during these unfortunate uprisings of these historical upheavals for our own comparative analyses,”

“People have become impatient with the slow pace of restoration in Nigeria. A national dialogue would bring back the desired order. Let the first few days or weeks of the dialogue be rancorous. Let us pause and address the psychology of self-abasement. The Nigerian people must dialogue now. Or do you really expect elected legislators to act against their existence?

“Which is why I am saying that religion must be taken out of governance. We must reject for instance, the recent proposition to adopt the 10 Commandments as the guiding constitution in Zambia. Why must we theocraticise instead of rescuing our youth from murderous indoctrination. Religion for me remains another sprawling ground for perception. What should be taken from it are the morals and values,” he said

Speaking further, he said the theme of the conference came timely due to the fact that governance had taken a new course worldwide and it was left for Nigeria to chart a new course for itself now and proactively too.

“If we fail to act now, some forces will take control of the affairs of the nation for selfish reasons as Nigeria as a nation has a lot in terms of natural resources to be coveted.”

He maintained his conviction that the theme came timely because of the uprising being faced in all aspects of the nation's life and said ''if nothing is done soon, violent change might take place.''

According to Soyinka, the presidential system of government has failed Nigeria as the people in leadership “are more alien to the needs of the people now than in pre-colonial time, the status quo creates opportunity for public offers to rule without knowing or feeling the needs of the led.”

http://www.channelstv.com/global/news_details.php?nid=29426&cat=Local

Boko Haram scare: Independence parade cancelled - Sect commander captured

Written by Hamza Idris (Maduguri), Abdulkadir Badsha Mukhtar & Misbahu Bashir Thursday, 29 September 2011 05:05

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The yearly Independence Day parade may not hold in Abuja this year because of security concerns, particularly the fear of the Boko Haram sect which has been blamed for string of deadly bombings in the past months, Daily Trust learnt yesterday.

A march past by military, police, para-military and school children is usually held at the Eagle Square in Abuja on October 1 every year, with the President and top government functionaries attending. Last year’s event was spoilt by two bomb blasts carried out by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND).


Sources told Daily Trust yesterday that this year the event is not likely to hold because of the fear of possible attacks by the Boko Haram sect, which claimed responsibility for the deadly Police Headquarters and UN House bombings in Abuja as well as many other attacks in Maiduguri.

Daily Trust’s sources in the military, the police and other agencies said the usual drills ahead of the Independence Day celebrations are not taking place this year, indicating that the event may not hold this Saturday as expected.

A Presidency official also confirmed to Daily Trust that the parade will not hold because of security concerns.

In a public notice published yesterday, Interior Minister Abba Moro listed the programmes that the Federal Government approved for the 51st Independence Anniversary celebrations, but the Eagle Square parade was not mentioned.

The programmes scheduled to hold were public lecture on Tuesday, visit to orphanages by First lady Patience Jonathan yesterday, Juma’at Prayer tomorrow and National Day Broadcast by the President as well as Ceremonial Change of Guards Parade at the Presidential Villa on Saturday.

Spokesman for the Interior ministry Theodore Jackson did not answer calls made to him yesterday to seek explanation on why the parade was not listed. His deputy Muhammad Abdullahi Ahmed said he was not in a position to comment on this matter.

Asked what the police was doing regarding the march past, spokesman for the Force Mr. Olusola Amore said the Army was in charge of organising the Independence Day parade and so enquiries should be directed to them. He said he could not ascertain whether or not the police and other agencies were invited to partake in this year’s exercise.

A military source said discussions were still going on as to how to go about holding the Independence celebrations but did not say specifically if the Eagle Square event would hold or not.

For his part, spokesman for the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Mr. Okeh Emmanuel said the corps was yet to receive any instructions regarding the parade.

Meanwhile, security forces have arrested a top commander of the Boko Haram sect who is accused of orchestrating attacks in Maiduguri, Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno State told the Associated Press news agency yesterday.

Shettima did not name the arrested commander. But a top security officer who pleaded for anonymity because he was not authorized to speak identified the man as Saleh Ladan, arrested on September 22, and found to be responsible for coordinating some of the activities of the sect, including planting of bombs.

“Ladan is a middle cadre officer of the sect. Investigations have shown that he is someone to reckon with in the group,” the source said.

Shettima also told the Associated Press that five other sect members were arrested and were being detained. “I believe the worst is over,” he added.

The Joint Task Force (JTF) tagged Operation Restore Order confirmed to Daily Trust yesterday that they arrested some suspected members of sect but declined to give details.

When contacted to give more details on the identity of the commander the governor said was arrested, JTF chief Colonel Victor Ebhaleme said, “There is no need for us to tell you the details of who and who we have arrested. What is the essence of telling you the identities of those we caught when we are still looking for others? You, the media should have a way of reporting our achievements, not interrogating us which we believe is of no essence.”

Governor Shettima’s spokesman Usman Chiroma said he did not have the details of the statements made by the governor.

http://dailytrust.com.ng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=28823:boko-haram-scare-independence-parade-cancelled-sect-commander-captured&catid=2:lead-stories&Itemid=8


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MAIDUGURI – Hours after a splinter group of the Jamaatu Ahlil Sunna Lidawati wal Jihad (J.A.S.L.J), aka Boko Haram was quoted on a BBC  radio broadcast, claiming responsibility for the Saturday’s  killing of their ex-leader’s brother in-law, Babakura Alhaji Fugu, another faction  of the sect has denied responsibility.

The group described the death of  Fugu, as painful and unfortunate, saying, they were not the ones responsible for his death as reported on the Hausa Service of the BBC.

In a  telephone chat with Vanguard’s reporter in Maiduguri, one of the group’s  top members, Abu Kaka,  shortly after the BBC report,  said the claim in the media concerning his group was  false .

According to him, “We are not happy with the way we were being misquoted and misrepresented in the media … Today, we received with shock the unfortunate killing of the family member of our leader Sheik Muhammed Yusuf, but to our dismay we later on heard it on the BBC that we said we were responsible for it. This is unacceptable because the BBC cannot receive a text message (sent to their head office) without our name on it and ascribe it to us.”
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/breaking-news-boko-haram-denies-killing-obasanjos-host