₦airaland Forum

Dear God , you are the only one that can save fellow country man, cos the corrupt and go slow government dont give a damn.

[size=15pt]Somali Militants Seize Nigerian Ship[/size]
08.10.2008

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Somali militants have highjacked a Nigerian merchant ship, holding its captain, Graham Egbegi, and its crew hostage.
The militants are demanding a ransom of $1 million (about N117 million) for their release.
Trigo Egbegi, the captain's elder brother, disclosed this in a text message to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Lagos.
Egbegi, a journalist and Secretary of the Nigeria Boxing Board of Control (NBB of C), said that the captain was allowed to contact his family after five days in captivity.
He said the ship, Yenagoa Ocean, belonging to ESL Integrated Services, had berthed in Mogadishu to seek medical attention for some crew members who were sick.
Egbegi said the ship was on its way from Dubai through the Pacific when it was highjacked.
He said the captain had earlier obtained a clearance to head for Mogadishu for the treatment, adding after the ship's berthing, the militants stormed the ship and seized it.
He said although the captain and his crew were well, the militants, who had reportedly contacted the ship's owners, had been threatening to kill them unless the ransom was paid.

source:http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=119257

my brother juju is now the new business in town, just manage to beat 419 to second place, closely followed by corruption. All of them are triplet from the same parents.

l wish ,

check out the importance of number 8 in this write up:

[size=15pt]the olympic begins today[/size]
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- By now, most everyone paying attention to the Beijing Olympic Games knows the significance of the lucky Chinese number eight -- but people investing in China know that what's hopefully auspicious for athletes isn't necessarily so for markets.
Despite the Chinese Communist Party's longstanding campaign to stamp out common superstitions, the government itself embraced one when it scheduled the opening ceremony. The Games will ceremoniously begin Friday, the eighth day of the eighth month of 2008, at the carefully chosen moment of 8:08 p.m. local time.
The number eight, as it is pronounced in Chinese, is a homonym for the Chinese word meaning "to prosper," making it a popular choice for addresses, customized license plates and telephone numbers.
The World is Watching: Beijing 2008The power of eight
People investing in China know that what's hopefully auspicious for athletes isn't necessarily so for markets.
Economic pinch
Athletes and teams are feeling the pinch of the global economic slowdown.

More Olympics stories:
• Chinese company turns the tables
• So where's all the fake Olympic stuff?
• Hosting a greener Olympics
• Economy: Inflation steals the spotlight
• Energy: In China, coal still dominates
• Slideshow: Thirst for water, energy
• Energy use for Games stable
• Big brands' global plays
• See the full special report

"The facts speak for themselves, that the government realizes that this [number superstition] is an important aspect of Chinese society," said David Riedel, president of Riedel Research Group.
"I think it's important to capture that the superstition is based on numbers, with certain numbers being seen as good numbers and certain being seen as bad numbers, prevalent in Chinese society," said Riedel.
The number four, for instance, is a homonym for the Chinese word for "death," which makes it the least appealing of its numerical counterparts.
When it comes to markets, some Chinese investors do take their cues from cultural superstitions, but the trend isn't big enough to have much significance either way.
"Hong Kong and Chinese investors probably do take into consideration eights and fours, as good and bad numbers, but the Chinese capital markets are too influenced by international capital to have any such localized impact," Riedel said.
Good for wedding planners
This year, so many couples have planned to tie the knot on this year's lucky triple-eight Olympic kick-off day that civil authorities are overwhelmed.
"We must ensure that all couples can have their demand satisfied on Aug. 8 and do our bit for the Olympics," Vice Minister of Civil Affairs Jiang Li was quoted by Chinese official news agency Xinhua as telling a special ministry meeting earlier this week.
The ministry held the meeting Tuesday to order local civil affairs authorities to increase staff, use volunteers, work longer hours and open more offices to cope with the surge in marriage registrations.
In Beijing, up to 16,400 couples have applied for marriage registration. The figure is about 5,000 for Shanghai, 3,300 for Guangzhou, 2,300 in both Wuhan and Hangzhou, and 1,000 for Nanning, according to Xinhua, citing statistics from the local civil affairs authorities.
To put those numbers in perspective, the Chinese news agency said, there were 170,000 marriages in Beijing in all of 2006, which set a 25-year record.
But what's good for wedding planners, hotels, restaurants and florists isn't necessarily good for the stock market.
If one considers performance of the Shanghai Composite in the month of August over the past eighth years, the benchmark index has had just as many negative months as positive ones.
Last August, the index returned a stellar 16.7%. But so far in 2008, the index is down nearly 50%, placing it among the worst performers among emerging markets.
Moreover, this August could be an especially uncertain one for Chinese markets.
Away from the pre-Games spotlight this week, China's State Council announced it was imposing new foreign exchange rules aimed at curbing speculative inflows and reining in inflation. Economists and investors will be closely watching this month to gauge how these rules will affect both markets and businesses. See full story.
And any superstitious investors who still believe that August might live up to its prosperous Chinese numerical name should also remember that the month was heralded by a total solar eclipse on Aug. 1.
In ancient times, such eclipses were considered omens of the worst luck possible, because it was believed that they were caused by a dragon swallowing the sun -- not exactly a metaphor for investors' hopes for their China portfolios.
Moming Zhou is a MarketWatch reporter, based in San Francisco.
Lisa Twaronite reports for MarketWatch from San Francisco.

source:http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/china-kicks-off-games-lucky/story.aspx?guid=%7BDDA020AC%2DCAC2%2D4097%2D871E%2D03F2DA2AD212%7D

which vision ha ha ha !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[size=15pt]Who is after Ribadu?[/size]

It seems there are some people or forces determine to bring down Ribadu at all cost. What is Ribadu crime , who is after Ribadu? Apart from demotion, what else are they going to throw at him?

Would the same thing not happen to Madam Waziri after Yaradua is gone ?

"the death that kills your neigbour is a proverb unto you"

O'boy, juju na big business now !!!!!!

[size=15pt]Juju Scam: Yar’Adua Orders Probe of NDDC Boss[/size]
By Kinsley Nwezeh, 08.07.2008

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President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has ordered an investigation into allegations that the Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Ambassador Sam Edem, spent N1billion to secure the services of a sorcerer to employ spiritual means to enable him secure contracts from the Akwa Ibom State Government.
The President also directed the Inspector General of Police, Mike Okiro, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to get to the root of the matter.
Edem was also alleged to have burnt N270 million at a Port Harcourt cemetery, which he later bathed with in order to realise his wishes from the state government functionaries.
According to a statement made by the sorcerer, Dr. Perekambowei Ogah, also known as Matthew Sonoma, at the Zone 5 Police Headquarters in Benin, Edo State and published in the latest edition of Newswatch magazine, Edem paid into his executive savings account at the Ughelli, Delta State branch of one of the new generation banks, N15 million to make some sacrifice in order to retain his position as NNDC chairman when the board was dissolved.
Ogah also claimed to have received three different requests from Edem notably to work on the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Dr. Godswill Akpabio, in order to secure contracts from him; to kill the Managing Director of NDDC, Mr. Timi Alaibe, who also works in the same office with him to enable him have his way in decision making processes and to work on Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan to always provide him support if there is any plan to remove him.
For the above tasks, Ogah charged N570,000,000 for which Edem paid in instalments of N220,000,000, N50,000.000 and N40,000.000 respectively amounting to N310,000.000 with a balance of N260.000.000.
According to the sorcerer, at the expiration of the date for Alaibe’s demise, which never happened, Edem demanded a refund while Ogah stood his ground that the payment was not completed prompting Edem to report the matter to the police as a case of fraud.
“That after the expiration of the period within which the said Timi Alaibe was to die, the petitioner came to ask me why the charm did not work and I told him that his (Alaibe’s) spirit is too strong. On that note he grew annoyed and asked me to refund the money he paid for Timi’s work,” he said.
The NDDC chairman in his statement at the same Zone 5 Police headquarters, Benin, said he was under a spell when he made the payments.
According to him, “The amount of money the fraudster collected from me through the hypnotic spell is about N800million. The extortion spread over months and were always with death threats to my person and family members, friends and staff”.

source:http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=119018

[size=15pt]Illegal migration: 59,000 Nigerians in transit countries for Europe —Maduekwe [/size]
Written by Chinyere Amalu
Friday, 08 August 2008
Not less than 59,000 Nigerians across European and northern African countries are without valid travelling documents, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, has disclosed.
The minister, who was speaking at a two-day national workshop on the campaign against irregular migration yesterday in Abuja, said that the number represented those who were waiting in transit for an opportunity to migrate to Western Europe.
According to him, the workshop was as a result of the information reaching the government from the country’s foreign missions on the large number of Nigerians in foreign prisons and who may have died as a result of this.

His words, “ Not less than 59,000 Nigerians are currently in Northern African countries without valid travel documents. This number represented those who were in transit waiting for the opportunity to migrate to the west.

“Figures available to the ministry showed that 8,000 of the illegal immigrants were in Morocco, 16,000 in Algeria, 20,000 in Libya and about 15,000 in Mauritania. The decision to host the workshop also was informed by the growing number of Nigerians presently serving various prison terms in countries abroad”.

He also noted that there are increased rate of repatriation of Nigerian migrants from different destinations abroad especially from the EU countries.

“Information provided by our missions abroad indicated that, apart from those held for simple immigration offences, majority of those in prison are being held for drug related offences."

“Reports had it that over 10,000 migrants have died between 1999 to 2002 while trying to cross over from North Africa to Europe. The circumstances of their departure such as using unofficial routes and without proper documentation have made them vulnerable to criminal gangs.

“These gangs recruit them into all manner of illicit business, with long jail sentences as consequences when they get caught”, he stressed.

Chief Maduekwe who also warned Nigerians who engaged in criminal activities in foreign lands not expect the government to be begging for their release, adding that it was no longer a plausible excuse for Nigerians to depart the shores of the country for lack of security and epileptic power supply to go outside the country to become “parasites.”

“1, 469 Nigerians were in UK prisons; six in Afghanistan; 15 in Libya; 20 in Indonesian prison facing death sentences, while one in South Arabian prison was executed some days ago.

“It was better to stay back and contribute to the development of the country, just as citizens of western countries did in bringing development to their countries than dying in a foreign land.

In his address, the Minister of Interior, Maj. Gen. Godwin Abe (Rtd.), who was represented by the Comptroller General of Immigrations, Mr. Chukwurah Udeh, said irregular migration had tarnished the image of Nigeria.


source:http://www.vanguardngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13882&Itemid=45

[size=15pt]Yar’Adua’s govt lacks direction — Ohanaeze [/size]
Written by Tony Edike
Friday, 08 August 2008
ENUGU — THE pan-Igbo socio-cultural organiza- zation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, declared yesterday that Nigeria has not witnessed a clear sense of direction since the beginning of the Yar’Adua administration, saying a certain feeling of drift is beginning to take hold of a nation that was very optimistic on May 29, 2007 .” The umbrella organization for Ndigbo also said that the south east zone is still yet to receive its fair share of federal attention, resources and appointments, insisting that there was urgent need for these matters to be redressed to create a balance in the federal system.

In a communiqué read at the end of the Ime Obi meeting of the body by the Chairman of the Strategy Committee, Professor Ben Obumselu, Ohanaeze said it was totally in agreement with governors of the South East States who visited President Yar’Adua a few days ago to draw the attention of the federal government to the numerous problems confronting the people of the zone.

“The Ohanaeze rose from its Ime Obi meeting today where it deliberated the affairs of the nation and having done so it noted that there has been no very clear sense of direction since the beginning of the new administration in Nigeria,” Obumselu said stressing that the administration has not given Ndigbo their rightful position in the country.

Drawing attention to the decision made in 2005 by the Political Conference called by former President Olusegun Obasanjo regarding the need to create additional state in the South East (the sixth state for the zone) in order to create a balance in the federation, Ohanaeze stressed the need for the federal government to expedite action on the matter to ensure that the state was created without further delay.

The communiqué further reads: “Ohanaeze also calls attention to the need for revising the electoral law so that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which is the regulatory institution becomes truly independent not just in name but in fact, and that is what will enable the electoral commission sanitize the electoral system and make decisions taken during elections to reflect truly the wishes of the electorate.

source:http://www.vanguardngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13896&Itemid=45

the death that kills your neighbour , is a proverb unto you

what has the military done for Nigeria: Obj, Buhari,Babangida, Abacha, Abdulsalami; all of them are millionaires from corruption.

If this is the best that the military can give us, then we are better of, with Baba go slow that we know.

May the soul of people whose blood was used to write the history of Odi rest in peace

[size=15pt]Odi marks a turning point in the struggle for Niger Delta [/size]

In life generally , there comes a point , when something happen that change the course of history. Its like a trigger leading to a profound and unpredictable domino effect. Some called it, the last straw that breaks the camel back. In the struggle for Niger Delta that point was Odi.

When the Nigerian army came to the small sleepy village of Odi, they shell it to ashes. Only one building was left standing, which was used as the army command centre. The elderly , children , women were all massacre. Others who seek refuge in the forest died of injuries or exposure to elements. It was like a war zone, with dead and decaying bodies everywhere. It was a war crime.

ODI MARKS A TURNING POINT;
After Odi the people find their voice and strenght
they realise that to live you must be prepared to die

Before Odi , the militant were using cutlass, after Odi they acquired sophisticated weapons.
Ever since Niger Delta has changed and would never be the same again.

The words of Ken Saro-Wiwa shall echo through the ages, "you can kill the messanger, but you can't kill the message"

One day , the people of Niger delta would be able to control their destiny.

Oga WilyWily

Mr Obafemi Awo was not and will never be a National Hero, He is the symbol of Yoruba Tribalism and possessed the qualities that made him a War Criminal

Why do you call Awo a war criminal?

But in reality, what can we do about it ?

nothing

the ruthless injustice and  blood of  innocent shed in this country will stifle it progress.

dont believe everything from sahara report

If there were to be another turning point, do you know the extent to which people will be massacred?

l can assure you it would be different from Odi.

After Odi the people find their voice and strenght, no power in Nigeria can take that away.

Just like Ken Saro-Wiwa( may his soul rest in peace) said before he was killed, "you can kill the messanger, but you cant kill the message"

You guys have to be careful what you write so that you don't incur the wrath of the gods.

the first human being is Oduduwa (may u live forever) , who descended from heaven and landed at Ile Ife. this is the beginning of life and the cradle of all civilisation. the Yoruba language is the language of the gods spoken in heaven. the Yoruba people are the perfect beings, they carried in their gene, the mystery and the code to the riddle of life. Ile-Ife is the only place in the entire world were the mystery about the origin of human race can be solved. (iku baba yeye)

you must really have a low opinion of your army ,

l beg your pardon, l have absolutely no openion of them

, a 10,000 strong amphibious brigade trained in Night ops and with support from helicopter gunships, it would not be an extremely difficult task to destroy every single Major millitant camp in the Delta.

do you understand what happen in Odi; the Nigerian army shell the town to ashes, only one building was left standing because they needed a place as their command base. the elderly , women, children were all massacre. it was like a war zone dead bodies everywhere.

ODI MARKS A TURNING POINT;
Before Odi , the militant were using cutlass, after Odi they acquired sophisticated weapons. Ever since Niger Delta has changed and would never be the same again.

So far, all they've had working for them is the element of surprise and tactical ambushes. Were a strongman like Abacha to be in charge, and a full scale amphibious assault ordered, you'd see the carnage that'd ensue.

Even if all the Nigerians soldiers turn themself into Abacha there is nothing they could do about it, if the situation can be solved militarily , Obasanjo would have done it. Odi is a food for thought.

the reason why Abacha looks strong when he killed Ken Saro-Wiwa was because the militant have not acquire weapon. Now things have changed, the militant are well armed as the army, its a fight on equal footing. Abacha was only killing defenceless civilians, any mad man can do it, Obasanjo did it in Odi too.

What do you expect from an army that sells weapons to armed robbers and militants. The militant are more dedicated and committed than the corrupt Nigerian army.

naijaking1
where did you get this formular from?

[size=15pt]Nigerians Flee Bakassi, As Handover Date Approaches[/size]

As the August 14 hand over date of the Bakassi Peninsular to Cameroonian government approaches, many Nigerians are relocating to Calabar and Ikang area of Cross River State.
"If there were Nigerians still in the Peninsular, as at Friday August 1, they cannot be more than five," a boat operator in Ikang, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Calabar.
The boat operator, Mr Ime Ekpo, said at the Ikang Jetty, in New Bakassi Local Government Area of Cross River State, the last set of Nigerians relocated from the disputed area during the week.
This is as Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) yesterday added its voice to the protest against planned handover of the Pennisula to Cameroon without plebiscite.
Also, Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, Honourable Mohamed Ali Ndume, has warned the Presidency to handle the issue of the handing over of Bakassi Peninsula to the Republic of Cameroon with caution, insisting that the Green Tree Treaty must be ratified by the National Assembly.
Ekpo said "the pastor in our Church, who was among those who refused to leave the area, eventually came out early this week, leading all those who remained behind with him," he said.
He declined to ferry a NAN correspondent who insisted on going to Abana, former headquarters of Bakassi Council area, on the ground that he could not convey the journalist alone.
"There are no more people living in Abana, they have all come back to Ikang and Akpabuyo and even to Calabar, and no more business there. We do not usually have passengers going there anymore and I cannot carry you alone to the place,"he explained.
A statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Osita Okechukwu, noted that "we predicate our submission on the fact that the Green Tree Agreement was a self-serving agreement, borne out of the desire of ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo to gain international recognition in his bid for life presidency."
CNPP also said, "we are constrained to agree that President Umaru Yar'Adua as a beneficiary of the failure of third term, cannot consign this agreement to the dust bin of history and allow the people of Bakassi and other parts of Nigeria ceded, to benefit from the exit of Obasanjo and consequently the fall of third Term.
It said it views the argument of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Michael Aondoakaa, that Nigeria must obey the International Court of Justice (ICJ), as "paradoxical.
"Paradoxical in the sense that the same government is in league with those who support President Omar Bashir to disobey the order of the International Criminal Court, indicting Omar Bashir, on the Darfur crisis, despite the culpability of Bashir in the Darfur inferno that had consumed many Nigerian troops," CNPP stated.
Ndume who spoke against the background of the Presidency insisting that there is no going back on the August 14 handing over date, said even as the House passed a motion to the effect that the Treaty should be sent to the House for ratification a court of competent jurisdiction has equally ruled that the hand over should be suspended for now.

source:http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=118724

thank God, we are seeing the benefit of Aziza moving his command post to Port-Harcourt

[size=15pt]Militants attack JTF Logistics Base [/size]
By Sola Adebayo and Ibanga Isine
Published: Monday, 4 Aug 2008
More deaths have been recorded in the restive Niger Delta as militants on Saturday night attacked the Logistics Base of the Joint Task Force in Bomadi, Delta State and a drinking spot in Onne, Rivers State.

Skip to next paragraph

Photo file
Warship, insets, Gen. Andrew Owoeye-Azazi & Vice-Admiral Ganiyu Adekeye

Apart from killing five people in the two incidents, the militants abducted two French nationals and seized two JTF gunboats as well as sophisticated weapons.

Investigation by our correspondents on Sunday showed that the militants stormed the JTF base from a neighboring coastal community.

The base was established by the pioneer Commander of JTF, Brig.-Gen. Elias Zamani, in 2003 to coordinate the operations of the security outfit in Bomadi, Patani, Burutu and neighboring riverine communities in Bayelsa State.

Our correspondents learnt that JTF operatives made futile attempts to ward-off the militants whose mission was to seize arms and ammunition to fortify their armories.

A source told our correspondents that many residents of Bomadi were forced into the bush during the more than one hour gun duel between the operatives and the militants.

According to the source, the bandits abandoned the boats because of lack of competent hands to pilot them to their camps
source:http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200808043102081

Nna, Ibo people with money!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chris Agbambu,
Abuja - 02.08.2008

INSPECTOR General of Police, Mike Okiro has decried the rising wave of arrangee kidnap in the country, especially among youths who wanted to extort money from their parents.

Speaking when he paraded the daughter of a former deputy governor of Imo State and her gang who planned her kidnap in order to extort money from her father, the IGP noted that such acts had continued to give the police unnecessary stress in a bid to wipe out crime from the country.

Kenekachi Udeagu, the daughter of Ebere Udeagu, the IGP said connived with Emeka Junior Emeka and Ogechi Ekechukwu alongside others at large to extort N5 million from her father, under the pretext that she was kidnapped.

source: http://www.tribune.com.ng/02082008/news/news4.html

The reason behind the plan, one of the suspects said, was the desire of the lady to acquire enough fund with which she hoped to have a nice time back in school when the school resumed. Emeka and the lady are both students of Imo State University, while Ogechi is a student of Federal University of Technology, Owerri.

According to Emeka who relayed the incident to media men at the conference room of the IGP, the bubble burst on the issue when they had a disagreement over how the money was to be shared.

He disclosed that his friends who assisted him in collecting the money from the parents of the lady became greedy and took away N4.6 million from the ransom paid, leaving him, his friend and the lady who were the masterminds of the deal with N400,000.

He disclosed that he could not obtain the money from the parents of the lady by himself as he was a known face in the home of the lady.

Kenekachi, he said, got angry over the conduct of the young men who collected the money from her parents, and decided to speak on the issue.

The suspects, the IGP said, were rounded up after the lady’s confession, while the other ones who collected the money were yet to be found.

The IGP also paraded one Blessing Nnamdi, a student of Abia State Polythecnic who allegedly threatened a staff of Bank PHB, Owerri Branch into paying him a ransom of N100,000.

The suspect confessed to threatening the victim with death because he needed the money to complete his final year project.

the stupid Nigerians that have been representing us all this while , what have they done ?

I maybe yoruba, but give me any state in Nigeria, no matter how poor it is and i would transform it into Taiwan or Singapore in just 16 years, i promise.

keep on dreaming

very insulting for some stupid lebanese ( correct me) to come and dupe us! shame on all Nigerians 419 people.

[size=15pt]Motorists in Kebbi to undergo psychiatric test [/size]
Written by xxxxxxxxxx
Tuesday, 29 July 2008
THE FRSC in Kebbi will compel erring motorists to undergo psychiatric test following an increase in abduction of road marshals.
The Sector Commander, Mr Wida Mshelia, said in Birnin Kebbi that marshals had been abducted, manhandled and injured.

“The psychiatric test is to ascertain erring motorists’ mental level to save marshals and innocent road users from attack.’’
Mshelia explained that three marshals had been abducted, manhandled and injured by motorists in the past two months, stressing that erring drivers would be charged to court.

He said: “It is pathetic that simple waving down of motorists by marshals for routine checks have resulted in manhandling of marshals for unjust reasons.

“I think such motorists need mental examination.”

He said the lack of patrol vehicles was a major hindrance to the commission in carrying out its duties.
He appealed to the Kebbi Government to provide the commission with patrol vehicles to enhance its job.

source:http://www.vanguardngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13178&Itemid=47