₦airaland Forum

Floods kill 24 as rains pound north Nigeria city

ABUJA — Twenty-four people died overnight when unusually heavy rains flooded a neighbourhood in Nigeria's largest northern city of Kano, a local government chief said on Thursday.
Dozens of others were injured, 300 displaced and about 100 houses destroyed in the densely populated Fagge neighbourhood of Kano when rains pounded and inundated the city while residents were asleep.
"For now we have confirmed the deaths of 24 people from the floods that occurred Tuesday night through Wednesday following torrential rain in the city," Fagge local government administrator, Abdulmalik Ismail Rogo told AFP.
Rogo said local elders had told him the "area has never witnessed such torrential rains in the past 30 years."
"Some of the victims were buried alive when their (house) roofs collapsed on them, while others were washed away by the floods and deposited along a major sewer in the area," he said.
Fagge is a low-income neighbourhood of Kano, one of the country's largest cities with a population of around 12 million people.
The country's emergency services unit said its team was assessing the flood, but had so far recorded six deaths -- most of them children aged between two and 14 years. It said 276 people were affected.
A Red Cross emergency coordinator said his volunteers had also registered six deaths and 150 people were wounded.
Nigeria experienced severe flooding last year that affected around half a million people in two-thirds of its 36 states and killed scores of others, according to the emergency agency. The agency, NEMA, has also predicted unprecedented heavy rainfall and severe flooding this rainy season that has just begun.
West Africa has seen increasing floodings in recent years due mainly to climate change, with 2.2 million people affected in 2010 alone and more than 500 killed, according to the African Centre of Meteorological Application for Development (ACMAD).
ACMAD, which is organising a West African regional meeting on floods in the Nigerian capital Abuja this week, said following widespread flooding in the region, countries have turned attention on early warning and preparing vulnerable communities.
Andrea Diop, an expert with the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS) told the meeting on Wednesday that meteorological and hydrological hazards were increasing "in frequency and occurrence , leading to widespread human, material and environmental losses."
With at least 118 deaths, Nigeria last year recorded the highest floods-linked death toll followed by Ghana (52) and Benin (43).
The head of Nigeria's emergency agency, Muhammad Sani-Sidi, has meanwhile called on people living in flood-prone areas to temporarily relocate to higher grounds.
Several other urban areas, including the country's commercial hub of Lagos, have experienced flooding in recent days.


http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gg9R_nvIjruCKG2JIwTgpyLB_Btg?docId=CNG.6acdfe55efe574972a0415bd59f32cca.591

Nigerian 'Islamists' fire at card players, kill two: source

KANO, Nigeria — Suspected members of a radical Islamist sect which bombed Nigerian police headquarters on Sunday opened fire on a crowd of card players killing two in a northern city, a senior military officer said.
Two motorcycle-riding gunmen suspected of being members of Boko Haram pumped shots into a crowd of people playing cards outside a house in the city of Maiduguri and disappeared into alleyways, said the officer who did not want to be named.
"The group of men were playing cards under a tree outside a house when two men on a motorcycle believed to be Boko Haram members opened fire on them, killing two people and seriously injuring five others," the officer told AFP.
"The attack is a typical Boko Haram (shoot-and-run) style," the military officer said.
Boko Haram claimed Nigeria's first suicide bombing last week which killed several people at the police headquarters in the capital Abuja.
The sect has staged attacks targeting government institutions, politicians, churches and beer drinking spots in what has become a low-level insurgency since last year. Dozens of people have been killed.
Card playing among young men is a common pastime in the scorching hot Maiduguri and many other northern cities where friends hang out under trees in the afternoon and play.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gp0VPx5k1rdz5RfvCC2RVjQhaIzA?docId=CNG.183747070ebaeb0aaf1c700ebe1075ce.b91

Nigeria's violence political, not religious, says Muslim leader

(CNN) -- With some 70 million followers, Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar is the spiritual leader of Nigeria's Muslim population.
As heir to the 200-year-old throne of West Africa's 19th-century Caliphate Empire, Abubakar is one of the most influential traditional rulers in the region.
Four years after he was appointed Sultan of Sokoto, he reigns at a time of deepening religious division in Nigeria, a nation almost evenly divided between Muslims and Christians.
Africa's most populous nation, with 150 million people, has been struggling with a rise in Islamic fundamentalism and continued violence between the Muslim north and Christian south of the country.
Thousands of people have been killed in religious-related violence since Nigeria gained independence in 1960.

But Abubakar, who had a long career in the army before becoming sultan, says the fighting that's rocked Nigeria goes beyond religion.
"There could be some few cases of religious crisis in some places but most of the crises we have in this country are not religious -- they are politically motivated," he says.
While Abubakar acknowledges that there is a small minority of extremists, he says that they don't represent the majority of peaceful Muslims.
"We're in the majority but the very few people who don't believe in this maybe are into taking up arms against innocent lives, taking innocent lives," he says. "They are few and that's our concern and we are looking into how we can put a check to those atrocities that these people commit in the name of religion."
In July 2009, a radical Islamic sect known as Boko Haram attacked government buildings across the north of Nigeria. After a week of intense fighting an estimated 700 people were killed and the uprising was eventually put down.
But attacks and killings continue as Boko Haram pursues its aim of enforcing Sharia law more ruthlessly across the North. The group is also thought to be behind a series of recent bombings in the wake of the re-election of Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian from the south.
Abubakar says he is very concerned about politicians using religion for their own motives.
"It's the politicians who are the ones who arm them," he says. "The politicians arm these people, they give them money but as I said, they are in the minority -- the majority of us are peace-loving, are really out for a stable Nigeria."
With a career spanning three decades in the Nigerian army, Abubakar has a long experience in the fight against extremism. His military identity saw him serving in some of the world's hotspots, including Sierra Leona, Pakistan and the Gulf States.
"That was a very good appointment that really opened my eyes very well to the politics and challenges of the world in terms of religious extremism, religious problems and other social views," he says.

Abubakar says the military life prepared him for his current position of sultan.
"All that happened through my life as a soldier really helped me now in what I'm doing now," he says.
"You find out you don't have to use force to get people to do what you're supposed to do -- even wars are fought to keep peace, so if you know you can get peace without fighting war then why do you have to fight war?" he says.
The Sokoto Caliphate was founded some 200 years ago by Usman Dan Fodio -- an Islamic scholar who led a jihad to spread Islam across West Africa.
In the 19th century, the empire stretched across what is modern-day northern Nigeria, Cameroon, Burkina Faso and Niger.
Since then there have been 20 sultans -- each one a descendent of the first sultan -- with Abubakar being the latest spiritual leader of Nigeria's Muslim population
He says traditional religious rulers are still relevant in modern-day Nigeria, which has the sixth largest Muslim population in the world, according to the Pew Forum.
"The influence of traditional leaders is still there because we are the ones who live with the people, we are the ones who sleep with them, we're with the grassroots, we know their problems and therefore the traditional institutions are very much respected and is also a major stakeholder in the affairs of our country," says Abubakar.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/06/14/sultan.sokoto.nigeria/

Wonders shall never end.INEC have explanation to make, 35% registered voted compared to the results declared. Same INEC said the results were credible? Nigeria will hail thee!

General elections: Only 35% registered Nigerians voted –INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission on Thursday noted that Nigerians’ participation in the electoral process was low, saying that only 35 per cent of the 70 million registered voters took part in the last general elections.

The Chairman of INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, stated this at a workshop on voter apathy organised in Abuja by the commission.

Before Jega made the disclosure through the chairman, INEC Board of Electoral Institute, Prof. Lai Olurode, United States President Barack Obama, advised President Goodluck Jonathan to use the opportunity of his victory at the April poll to develop Nigeria.

Jega, at the workshop in which the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Foundation gave a report of its research on the April general elections, said the poor turn out of voters in the general elections was at variance with the belief that they showed much enthusiasm during the polls.

He described the workshop as part of efforts “to extend the frontiers of citizenship and widen the scope of participation in elections and governance processes.”

The INEC chairman noted that the low participation in the polls was an indication of political apathy in the country and citizens’ disinterestedness in the electoral process.

Jega said, “That there exists voter apathy in Nigeria is no longer contentious. Voter turnout in the just concluded general elections had provided a scientific and empirical evidence of the existence of voter apathy and disinterestedness of sections of the electorate in elections.

“The National Assembly elections, the presidential election, the gubernatorial and state assembly elections conducted in April showed that voters’ turnout hovered around 35 per cent. This ugly scenario has implications for popular participation and governance.”

According to him, the commission is determined to increase participation in the election processes.

INEC chairman added, “We, as a commission, are determined to enlarge participation in the election processes as a well cherished means of aggregating preferences. “This is because an apathetic citizenry contributes to wastage of investments committed to procuring sensitive election materials as well as money spent on voter education activities and election personnel remuneration.”

He explained that an apathetic citizenry contributed to wastage of investments in sensitive election materials and money spent on voter registration.

The Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Foundation identified lack of transparent elections, election violence and politicians’ non-committal to their campaign promises as major reasons for voters’ apathy in the country.

In Washington, Obama told visiting Jonathan that since Nigeria had the potential of a great nation, he (Jonathan) should be diversifying its economic base.

A US-based Nigerian news agency, Empowered Newswire, said the American leader again congratulated Jonathan and restated that Nigeria was one of US’ strategic partners.

Obama, according to Empowered Newswire, also expressed his appreciation to Nigeria for its contributions to international peacekeeping missions and leadership role in West Africa.

He particularly mentioned the role played by Nigeria in the recent political crisis in Ivory Coast.

Obama told Jonathan that he looked forward to more cooperation between the US and Nigeria in the nearest future.

Earlier, Jonathan had expressed his appreciation for his invitation to the White House and also commended the American government’s support for INEC in the build-up to the April elections.

He also asked the US to further invigorate its assistance to Nigeria through the US-Nigeria Binational Commission.

Nigeria’s Ambassador to the US, Prof. Adebowale Adefuye, who was present at the meeting, said that Jonathan praised Washington for its statement recognising the positive outcome of the polls.

Jonathan, according to Adefuye, also promised that Nigeria will further the cause of Democracy in Africa and continue to play a leading role in its contribution to the United Nations peacekeeping missions.

While appreciating the US for the US-Nigeria Binational Commission, the President said, “I want to see the implementation of the Binational Commission invigorated.”


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art20110610359292

if the boko haram issue is not beyond the management of the Fed government why are there still bombing and destruction of properties in the north?

Nigerian militants threaten to attack Italy's Eni oil plants

LAGOS — Nigeria's most prominent militant group MEND on Monday threatened to attack facilities of the Italian energy firm Eni in the country, accusing it of stealing oil and of backing NATO-led air raids on Libya.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) in an emailed statement said Eni engaged in "theft" in Nigeria's southern oil-rich region and assisted a special Nigerian military unit deployed there.
"The Eni group has actively participated in the theft of oil in the Niger delta for decades, assisting the Nigerian military in its scorched earth and genocidal actions against the justice-seeking citizens of the Niger delta," it noted.
MEND claims to be fighting for an fairer share of the oil wealth for area residents.
A spokesman for the military special force in the delta, Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Antigha, said the army "is studying that press release purportedly made by MEND with a view to determining its authenticity."
MEND also highlighted "with outrage the involvement of the ENI group of Italy in the attacks on the innocent citizens of Libya by Western nations intent on plundering the mineral resources of that nation."
"In solidarity with the oppressed people of Libya we vow this day to henceforth pursue the complete destruction of all investment owned by ENI group in Nigeria and urge all around Africa to do likewise," it said.
Nine of NATO's 28 members states are taking part in air strikes in Libya, with France and Britain leading the offensive, but it was not clear why the militants picked on the Italian energy firm.
MEND questioned why Western nations ignored the bombing of communities in the Niger delta allegedly by the Nigerian military.
Nigerian soldiers recently raided some villages in the delta in search of a renegade militant leader.
The deeply impoverished Niger Delta region has been hit by scores of attacks and kidnappings in recent years by criminal gangs and militant groups.
An amnesty deal in 2009 was credited with greatly reducing unrest in the region, but many warned that underlying problems such as poverty and unemployment remained and would eventually lead to new attacks.
Although many of its commanders have laid down arms, MEND has said it is not part of the amnesty. It claimed responsibility for last year's independence day bombings which killed 12 people in the Nigerian capital Abuja.
The group said it "has no respect for Jonathan", referring to Goodluck Jonathan, the first Nigerian president from that region, or other African leaders "who gladly serve as stooges to Western governments."
Oil accounts for more than 90 percent of Nigeria's foreign exchange earnings and some 80 percent of government revenue.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h6NnzSnsVOHrAPqXOFor9XTgorIg?docId=CNG.4c6d9a705302133fcb33283701223ce3.31

Police foil attempt to bomb Force Headquarters

Aftermath of the decision of the Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Abubakar Ringim, to accede to the request of the Nasarawa State Governor, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura to deploy his (IG) Chief Security Officer as his (Al-Makura) Aide De Camp (ADC), the plot by another Police officer, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, who felt the position of ADC belonged to him, to vent his anger by bombing the 7th floor office of the IG and possibly killing him (Ringim), was at the weekend uncovered.

The planned bombing of the IGP’s floor with explosives by DSP Musa Agbu who currently works at the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad, in Lagos, if the plot had not been uncovered, would have been the second approach of vengeance of the officer aimed at the IG for scuttling his ambition to become the Governor’s ADC.

The first approach according to Saturday Vanguard sources, was for a Moslem Marabout (Juju man), to plant deadly charms in the car of the Inspector General which would cause it to be involved in a fatal accident and lead to the death of Hafiz Ringim or if he survives, become paralyzed and useless.

Another plan of the officer was that the Juju man would go to Lafia, Nasarawa State, get access to the Governor’s car, plant another deadly charm which will result in another fatal accident but the Governor will escape with injuries while his ADC, ASP Jaimilu who took ‘his’ job, dies in the crash.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/06/police-foil-attempt-to-bomb-force-headquarters-2/

Nigerian 'baby factory' raided, 32 teenage girls freed

LAGOS — Nigerian police have raided a home allegedly being used to force teenage girls to have babies that were then offered for sale for trafficking or other purposes, authorities said on Wednesday.
"We stormed the premises of the Cross Foundation in Aba three days ago following a report that pregnant girls aged between 15 and 17 are being made to make babies for the proprietor," said Bala Hassan, police commissioner for Abia state in the country's southeast.
"We rescued 32 pregnant girls and arrested the proprietor who is undergoing interrogation over allegations that he normally sells the babies to people who may use them for rituals or other purposes."
Some of the girls told police they had been offered to sell their babies for between 25,000 and 30,000 naira (192 dollars) depending on the sex of the baby.
The babies would then be sold to buyers for anything from 300,000 naira to one million naira (1,920 and 6,400 dollars) each, according to a state agency fighting human trafficking in Nigeria, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).
The girls were expected to be transferred to the regional NAPTIP offices in Enugu on Wednesday, the regional head Ijeoma Okoronkwo told AFP.
Hassan said the owner of the "illegal baby factory" is likely to face child abuse and human trafficking charges. Buying or selling of babies is illegal in Nigeria and can carry a 14-year jail term.
"We have so many cases going on in court right now," said Okoronkwo.
In 2008, police raids revealed an alleged network of such clinics, dubbed baby "farms" or "factories" in the local press.
Cases of child abuse and people trafficking are common in West Africa. Some children are bought from their families to for use as labour in plantations, mines, factories or as domestic help.
Others are sold into prostitution while a few are either killed or tortured in black magic rituals. NAPTIP says it has also seen a trend of illegal adoption.
"There is a problem of illict adoption and people not knowing the right way to adopt children," said Okoronkwo.
Human trafficking is ranked the third most common crime after economic fraud and drug trafficking in the country, according to UNESCO.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5joyO03Khbbuw9SmkX-ce_PdamESQ?docId=CNG.3fe18ab5af9d3cb2bd07a5efa1d18035.651

IBB: April polls were rigged

Former military president Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida has said that it was unfair for some Nigerians to blame the presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) General Muhammadu Buhari for the post presidential election violence because they were angry reactions to election rigging.

Speaking exclusively to Daily Trust in Minna on Saturday, Babangida said: “I will exonerate my friend and colleague. I don’t think, like some people will want us to believe, I don’t believe people who blame Buhari are being fair, they are not fair. This is an instant reaction to events, cumulative events that make people agitators, and make a lot of people angry. We should now be looking at what make people angry, what are these things that brought about all this? And the only answer you will find is that because there was election rigging.”

He said it is imperative to ask question to determine why the recent election violence suddenly erupted, noting, however, that it was not the first time violence erupted after elections in the country.

“First of all we should have been told that this is not the first time we have election violence in this country after election results were announced. You knew about the case of Omoboriowo in the South West in 1983. So it shouldn’t be like people look at it as something that is planned. No, it is a reaction,” IBB said.

He expressed confidence that the presidential panel set up to investigate the violence will do a good job and called ion Nigerians to support the committee.

“We should allow them to work, all those 22 members, if you know Nigeria well, you will know that each one of them has integrity. I have confidence in them because of who they are and what they represent in the Nigerian society,” he said.

The former president expressed sadness that politicians still rig elections saying agitations will continue unless politicians allow votes to count in a transparent system.

“Why should I rig election, why? The simple (ballot) paper, take it, drop it and go and believe and trust that somebody will count it and say yes this is what it is. But you don’t find that. You stuff it, you steal it and everything. Why, in the name of God?” he lamented.

Babangida also dismissed as ‘partisan’, some media reports and commentaries which sought to make the world to believe that the North did not like Jonathan, stressing that the agitations that came from the North before the elections were meant to put in place a solid system for those coming to fall back on rather than a temporary arrangement.

He said: “Most of what I see in the newspapers, columnists, were not addressing the issues. They were partisan. We wanted the presidency; you try to make the world believe the North did not like Jonathan. The answer is that it is not true, after all Nigeria will outlive all of us.

“We want a solid system so that those who are going to come will have something to fall back on, not temporary arrangements, People tend to forget that there was a cry for separation, for confederation. This part of the country, the North, stood firm that this country should remain a federal republic and this is as far back as 1966-67. So we tend to look at a lot of things very myopically. And I hope one day we will see some little bit of sense and adjudge things the way we should,” he added.

The former president pledged to support President Jonathan whenever his advice is solicited on the basis of his experience. “First of all, he (Jonathan) has my support and he has my sympathy, because he is sitting on top of a very complex and complicated country. I was on that seat for eight years, I know what it is. This is why in my public commentary since I left office 18 years ago, I have never come out openly to criticise a president or a head of state,” Babangida said.

http://www.dailytrust.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=20302:ibb-april-polls-were-rigged&catid=2:lead-stories&Itemid=8

Ex Kwara female judge found dead in hotel

the police in Niger State say they are after a man identified as Mohammed Kabir Jamir from Kwara State who disappeared after his wife, said to be a former judge in Kwara State Hadizat Kabiru Jamir, was found dead in a hotel room in Tafa local government of Niger State, after checking into the hotel with him.
A source told our correspondent that the man had earlier in the morning met them at the hotel reception to tell them not to disturb his wife, saying she was sleeping off the fatigue of a trip they had a day before.

The hotel staff complied with the man’s advice until noon when housekeepers decided to clean the room. They started to suspect foul play when after knocking at the door for several minutes no response came from the occupant, a situation that led to breaking into the room.

When they got in they found the woman lying dead in bed. Findings showed that the Hadizat who is a judge in Kwara State had earlier left the man following allegations that he was into dubious practices. He was said to have gone to the parents of Hadizat to beg them to release her to him promising to be of good conduct. It is said that she died a night after she followed Mohammed.

When the Niger State police spokesman, Mr Richard Oguche, was contacted he said the police were able to track down the possible killer when they found a telephone number on a small piece of paper in the room where the crime was committed.

He said when they called the number on the piece of paper the person who picked the call was the father of the deceased. Oguche explained that it was the man who intimated that the deceased and her husband had left his place a few days earlier. The police spokesman said the man had since gone underground, saying men of his command were on his trail.

http://www.dailytrust.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=20121%3Aex-kwara-female-judge-found-dead-in-hotel&catid=1%3Anews&Itemid=2

so nothing can be done to stop these miscreants?

Boko Haram militants sack police station, kill 5 persons

A group of Boko Haram militants on Friday sacked the Damboa Divisional Police Station in Maiduguri, killing three police officers and two civilians.

Mohammed Abubakar, the Commissioner of Police in the state, who confirmed the incident, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the group, about 70 in number, also raided police barracks and a commercial bank in Maiduguri metropolis.

``Today is a black Friday to us, because we have just received information about an attack by some 70 suspected Boko Haram militants in Damboa area.

``The hoodlums attacked a police divisional station, police barracks and a commercial bank,’’ he said.

Mr Abubakar said the militants used explosives and other assorted weapons to carry out the attacks in the early hours of the day.

He said a team of policemen had been deployed to visit the area and access the situation, and vow to hunt down the attackers.

The police commissioner linked the dastardly act to last Thursday’s botched attack on a Church by the same group at Kwanar Yobe area of Maiduguri metropolis.

``They were frustrated by the gallant efforts of the police, which prevented them from attacking the Church in Maiduguri. So, they decided to launch another attack in a remote area.

``We will get them sooner or later. We have launched a joint manhunt for them. The search team includes police and military officers,’’ he added.

Mr Abubakar said the command had earlier seized an AK47 rifle, some motorbikes, GSM handsets and other items after intercepting some of the suspects while trying to attack the Church.

He reiterated the determination of the command to confront the activities of the Boko Haram suspects and restore peace to the state.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/Metro/Politics/5705862-146/boko_haram_militants_sack_police_station.csp

Nigerian youth employed to guard oil pipelines

Nigeria's government has employed 12,000 young people to protect oil and gas pipelines in the Niger Delta.

Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke said the youth would patrol some 5,000km (3,000 miles) of pipeline to stop it from being vandalised.

She said it was part of the government amnesty programme offered to the region's militias who were fighting for a greater share of oil revenues.

Locals and criminal gangs often try to pierce the pipes to siphon off oil.

Ms Alison-Madueke's announcement comes after at least two people died this week in Sapele, Delta state, in an explosion at a pipeline damaged by villagers trying to steal the oil.

Few residents of the Niger Delta, home to Nigeria's oil industry, have benefited from the area's oil wealth.

Nigeria is Africa's largest oil producers, but attacks by militants on oil installations led to a sharp fall in output during the last decade.

The thousands of fighters who laid down their weapons in a government amnesty in 2009 were promised training and jobs.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13581459

Kobojunkie:
This is now confusing. So are these group of militants the same set that were invited to Abuja last year by the same president to declare that MEND no longer exists or is this another group of "ex militants"?

it is indeed confusing. These ex militants have too many factions.

Shooting, pandemonium mark local vote in Nigerian oil city

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria — Heavy police shooting and destruction of property by political rivals marked a local government poll Saturday in Nigeria's oil city of Port Harcourt, police and residents said.
The shooting took place in densely populated central Rumuomasi district of the city as voters awaited results of local government council elections that took place in most of Rivers State, of which Port Harcourt is capital.
The state police boss, Suleiman Abba, confirmed the shooting to an AFP reporter.
"I am aware there was shooting in Rumuomasi. I learnt a vehicle was set ablaze. But I can tell you the shooting was by the police SOS team sent to quell the confusion. Another police reinforcement has just been dispatched there," he said.
It was yet unknown if anyone was killed, injured or arrested as a result of the fracas.
The elections, organised by the official electoral agency, took place in 21 of the 23 local government councils across the oil-rich southern state.
Arguments between supporters of two rival candidates, of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and main opposition ACN, led to chaos and the police shooting at a centre where results of voting were expected.
AN AFP reporter saw a vehicle belonging to a PDP politician torched, causing pandemonium and a near stampede.
Several makeshift shops and stalls were also destroyed in the melee, he said.
The confusion attracted the police to the scene forcing them to shoot in the air to scare the crowd.
The police later restored calm to the area.
A local government council is the third tier of administration in Nigeria after the federal and state levels.
The 774 local government councils in the country -- believed to be closest to the grassroots -- get their monthly monetary allocation from the federal governmen

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i04T9lMhqaea5NwIVMbYlb_xHNyg?docId=CNG.f668c1fb8957b79be4affa075893f4ac.d91

Multiple Blasts in Northern Nigerian City of Maiduguri Injure Five People

Multiple blasts in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri wounded five people in an attack that appeared to target security officials, said Lieutenant Mohammed Abdullahi, a military spokesman.

Three policemen and two soldiers were wounded after the explosions that went off at the Bolori police station, as well as the Lagos Street and Pompomari areas of the city, Abdullahi said by phone today.

Emergency workers are mobilizing help for victims, Yushau Shuaib, a spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency said today by phone from Abuja, the capital.

In a separate incident, gunmen in the city suspected to be Islamic militants fought with troops yesterday, leaving “several people” wounded, Abdullahi said. He declined to give further details.

Authorities in Nigeria’s north have blamed a radical Islamic sect, Boko Haram, which draws inspiration from Afghanistan’s Taliban movement, for a spate of bomb attacks and killings targeting government officials and the security forces since last year.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-19/multiple-blasts-in-northern-nigerian-city-of-maiduguri-injure-five-people.html

are these people not getting tired?

Nigerian 'Islamists' attack police station

Kano - A gang of suspected Islamists raided a police station in north-eastern Nigeria and were locked in an hour-long gun battle with police overnight, a regional police chief said on Thursday.

"A large number of gunmen, believed to be members of Boko Haram attacked a police station in [Maidugiuri]," police commissioner for Borno state, Mohamed Jinjiri Abubakar said.

"A gun battle lasted about one hour between the gunmen and the police attached to the station," the police chief told AFP by phone from Maiduguri.

Details of casualties were not immediately available.

In a separate attack, a police officer was ambushed and killed on Wednesday while on his way home. Two civilians caught in crossfire, also died, he said.

"A policeman was shot and killed by gunmen still believed to be members of Boko Haram while riding home and two other civilians around were killed, including a woman who was frying akara [bean fritters] by the roadside," said Abubakar.

Police have blamed the Islamist sect for series of bomb attacks and also shootings especially in Borno's capital Maiduguri in recent months.

Most of the attacks have targeted military and police personnel, community and religious leaders as well as politicians.

Boko Haram, a local dialect translating to 'western education is sin', launched a short-lived uprising in parts of the north in 2OO9 in a doomed bid to establish an Islamic state.

It was crushed in a brutal military crackdown that saw hundreds of people killed - many of them sect members - and its headquarters and mosque destroyed in Maiduguri, where most of the violence has occurred.

The sect has since staged a low-level insurgency and has been blamed for raids on churches and a prison.

http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Nigerian-Islamists-attack-police-station-20110519

Seun:
For once, a mainstream newspaper is willing to suggest that maybe the government is lying. Kudos!

John Togo allegedly buried in forest

LEADER of the Niger Delta Liberation Force, ‘General’ John Togo, suspected to have died of gunshot wounds he sustained in an encounter with the Joint Task Force, JTF, on the Niger Delta, was reportedly buried in the forest by his boys at the outskirt of a riverine community in Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta State.

A source, who maintained that the militant leader was dead contrary to the claim of the NDLF spokesman, ‘Captain’ Mark Anthony, that he was alive and hearty, said, “only the boys who took him to the secret place for burial can identify the location.”

He said most of John Togo’s boys, who also sustained gunshot wounds ran to Efanna, Ezebiri and Ogodobiri communities for treatment but they usually disappear once they hear that the JTF had come to any of the communities.

According to the source “I was told that some of the boys have been arrested by soldiers, so they should interrogate them to know where they buried John Togo. Anybody telling you he is alive is not telling you the truth. I challenge them to bring him out to speak to the world if he is still alive.”

He commended the soldiers, saying, “it was not easy but they were able to cut off the boys with the way they cordoned Ogodobiri, Ezebiri and Efanna. With more hard work, they will get at the truth because I believe some of the boys know where John Togo was buried.”

Following recent reports in the media, JTF said, “the claim of “surrender” by John Togo, the allegation by Ekpein Appah that John Togo is a guest of the Bayelsa state government and the purported death and secret burial of John Togo, are all intricate web of lies engineered by John Togo and his managers to deceive the public, attract sympathy and escape justice”.

”The JTF as a professional military outfit cannot fall victim of this elaborate deception plan, consequently, the JTF warns media and public to be mindful of the new tricks by Togo”, he stated.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/05/john-togo-allegedly-buried-in-forest/

Delta chief killed, 16 houses burnt

THE Elema of Obi-Anyinma community in Ika South local Government Area of Delta State, Vincent Chinyere Aminomwan, was shot dead while over 16 houses were burnt following a bloody fight in the community over sharing of royalty from an oil prospecting company.

Meanwhile, the entire community has been deserted.

Also, the recurring communal crisis between Umuebu and Amai communities in Ukwuani Local Government Area, which originated since 1914 assumed an alarming dimension with several persons killed and property destroyed.

Member representing Ika South constituency, Mr. Martin Okonta and his counterpart representing Ukwuani constituency in the State House of Assembly, Mr. Alphonsus Ojo, had brought separate motions under matter of urgent public importance on the floor of the House, seeking the State Government’s intervention. And the two motions were unanimously carried.

Speaking to Vanguard, Okonta who was a former Speaker of the House, said “what actually happened is that one company Pan Oceanic Oil Services was trying to clear the site give award of contract for grading of the road and were expanding the site to enable them prospect for oil.

As a result of that there was power tussle between Chief Vincent Chinyere Aminomwan who is the Elema of Obi-anyinma, the traditional custodian of the Obi-anyinma and some other interest groups and some chiefs within the locality; Obi-anyinma is a subsidiary of Abavo community. So the Obi of Abavo invited them to resolve the matter.

“During the amicable resolution”, he went on, “it was agreed that the youth leadership should cast their votes in the palace to determine who becomes the youth leader and the Secretary and that was done in the palace. It was when the Elema of Ob was going home that he was shot down.

About 16 houses have been burnt and they are still burning as I speak to you. Although a detachment of mobile unit has been sent there but I don’t think it has helped matters. The town has been deserted and is now a ghost to set up a panel of Inquiry to investigate the immediate and remote causes of the crisis”.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/05/delta-chief-killed-16-houses-burnt/

So he still has the guts to move around and make useless statements against the govt? CAN president and other Nigerians should order for his Arrest,

Asari-Dokubo rejects fg amnesty programme

PORT HARCOURT— ABOUT 1,000 Ijaw youths, yesterday, embarked on a peaceful march to the Rivers State Government House and major streets in Port Harcourt, to commemorate this year’s Isaac Adaka Boro day.

The protest was organised under the aegis of Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, NDPVF. Leader of the group, Alhaji Asari Dokubo, reversed himself on the Federal Government’s amnesty programme, when he called on the government to accommodate his boys in the project.

Asari said he had rejected the amnesty under the late President Umaru Yar’Adua administration but that it was not enough reason for the government not to accommodate his boys.

Asari who spoke against the appointment of Justice Ibrahim Auta as Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, said rather than ratify the appointment, President Jonathan should order an investigation into his role in the judicial murder of the late Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others.

He said, “we have not been part of the amnesty under the late President Yar‘Adua because the programme contradicts our belief as genuine fighters, who were not out to fight only for our own interest.

“Rather, we were fighting for the interest of the land and people of the Niger Delta, a land where our people suffer in the ocean of wealth.

“We do not need to kidnap or commit crimes against our people to gain government’s reckoning. We are stakeholders and cannot afford to lose out and our followers are young men, who also must benefit from the packages.

“Also, we reject the recent unpatriotic confirmation of the appointment of Auta, by the Senate, because this is a tacit endorsement of the judicial murder of Saro-Wiwa and eight others.

“Consequently, we call on the Presidency to reject the Senate confirmation and instead, order an investigation into the role of Justice Auta in the judicial murder of Saro-Wiwa and eight of his Ogoni compatriots,” he added.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/05/asari-dokubo-rejects-fg-amnesty-programme/

Release Jos crisis panel report now

The crisis in Jos, the Plateau State capital, has become intractable. Indeed, the crisis became a test case for the survival of the Nigerian nation during the tempestuous months when late President Umaru Yar'Adua was lying critically ill at the King Fahd Hospital and Research Centre, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. There was vacuum in leadership resulting from Yar'Adua's inability to constitutionally transfer power to then Vice President Goodluck Jonathan. Within this period, another crisis had erupted in Jos in January 2010, leading to the deployment of troops by Jonathan to quell the riots; an action that was frowned at by some people who felt the vice president had no constitutional power to deploy Nigerian troops, even though that was the natural cause of action to take given the level of violence and destruction witnessed in the crisis.

On February 1, 2010, Jonathan inaugurated a committee mandated to critically examine the issues surrounding recurrent violence in the state, and work out modalities to ensure that the crisis was resolved once and for all.

The committee, initially made up of 15 members, had Solomon Lar, former governor of Plateau State, as chairman, with another elder statesman, Yahaya Kwande, as co-chairman.

The initial 15 members were representatives of the indigenous Birom and Hausa-Fulani settlers. Later, it was expanded to include representatives of other settler ethnic groups from the southern part of the country.

It should be noted that the Lar committee was not the first panel set up to look into the crisis in Jos. For instance, after the 2008 clashes, two commissions of enquiry were set up respectively by the Federal Government and the Plateau State Government. The federal panel was headed by Emmanuel Abisoye, a retired major-general while the Plateau panel was chaired by Bola Ajibola, a jurist of international repute. Both panels were dogged by controversy as there were accusations and counter-accusations of bias and partisanship against both panels. This inevitably encumbered their work.

Therefore, when Jonathan inaugurated the Lar panel, Nigerians were relieved that at last, the solution to the problem was in sight. The optimism expressed by Nigerians was anchored on the calibre of people appointed to the committee.

The committee was given two weeks within which to submit its report but it turned in the report on August 23, 2010; that is, after eight months.

Sadly, since the committee submitted its report, the Federal Government is yet to release the report, let alone implement its recommendations even when there have been several clashes in Jos since the report was submitted.

Given the quality of people that made up that panel, if the report had been made public and its recommendations implemented, we are convinced that peace would have returned to Jos.

Of what use is a panel of inquiry when its report would not see the light of day? There have been insinuations in certain quarters that some prominent Nigerians were indicted by the panel and that the Federal Government might not want to ruffle feathers by releasing the report.

We also note that some people who were arrested in the past for their involvement in the Jos crisis were taken to Abuja and nothing more was heard about them despite the persistent call by the Plateau State Government that such persons should be brought to book. Cases such as this would not engender public confidence in the government's ability to protect Nigerians wherever they are in the country.

It is important for the Federal Government to act on the report now, considering that a state government in Nigeria is constitutionally constrained in matters of security even though in theory, a state governor is the chief security officer of his state.

For the Federal Government to prove that it is sincere in its desire to end the religious and sectarian crisis in Jos, it should, without further delay, release the report of the Lar panel on the crisis. That is the only way the country can progress towards ending the crisis in the city.

http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/editorial/18574-release-jos-crisis-panel-report-now

Nigerian 'Islamists' kill governor's driver, chief
(AFP) – 15 hours ago

KANO, Nigeria — Suspected members of an Islamist sect blamed for a series of attacks in northern Nigeria have shot and killed a driver for a state governor as well as a local chief, police said Friday.
The driver, Mai Kadai, had just left home Friday morning and was on his way to the Borno state governor's office when two gunmen on motorcycles shot him dead, said police commissioner Mohammed Jinjiri Abubakar.
"From all indications, they knew who he was and were on his trail," Abubakar told AFP of the attack in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.
Referring to the Islamist sect, he said: "Apparently, this attack was carried out by members of Boko Haram. The mode of operation resembles Boko Haram's."
The attack followed another late Thursday that saw two motorcycle-riding gunmen open fire on local chief Abba Mukhtar outside his home in Maiduguri, killing him and seriously wounding a friend, police spokesman Lawal Abdullahi said.
The attackers in that incident were also suspected to be sect members, he said.
Boko Haram launched a short-lived uprising in parts of the north in 2OO9 in a doomed bid to establish an Islamic state.
It was crushed in a brutal military crackdown that saw hundreds of people killed and the sect's headquarters and mosque destroyed in Maiduguri, where most of the violence has occurred.
In recent months, the sect has been blamed for a series of attacks on military and police personnel, community and religious leaders and politicians, including the high-profile killing of a leading governorship candidate.
It has also been blamed for raids on police stations, churches and a prison.
Police have said they believe some of the recent attacks were politically related, with Nigeria having held presidential, parliamentary and governorship elections in April.
Borno State governor-elect Kashim Shettima this week offered to grant amnesty to sect members if they renounce violence, an offer someone claiming to be a sect spokesman has rejected. Shettima assumes office on May 29.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jWe2dkaKJLGHE5YJA0_mCp-2mQsw?docId=CNG.9e1c62c2ce16e882a63d9be458862daf.9c1

@All, if you are not enlightened with what the Nigerian Constitution allows why not keep shut and allow those who are more competent to deal with the issues? Femi Falana who is also against the Panel now a supporter of Buhari? The truth must be told and DUMMY JONATHAN should know that what he is doing outside what the constitution allows.

By Femi Falana
When the Federal Government recently announced its plan to institute a commission of inquiry to investigate the post election violence, which occurred in some states in the northern part of the Country, I challenged the legal competence of the proposed panel.

In the circumstance, I urged President Goodluck Jonathan to ensure the diligent prosecution of all the suspects who had been arrested by the Police and other security agencies for their alleged involvement in the civil disturbances.

My position was anchored on the case of CHIEF GANI FAWEHINMI V. GENERAL IBRAHIM BABAGINDA (RTD) (2003) 12 WRN 1 where the Supreme Court set aside the summons issued and served on General Babaginda and two ex security Chiefs by the Oputa Panel of inquiry on the ground that the tribunal of Inquiry Act could not operate outside the Federal Capital Territory. The apex court held ex abundant cautela that:

“ It worthy of note that the 1999 constitution has made no provision for tribunals of inquiry as was very clear in item 39 of the exclusive legislative list and item 25 of the concurrent list in the 1963 Constitution…. the power to make a law under the Constitution for the establishment of a tribunal of inquiry is now a residual power which only the states can exercise”.

Having realized that witnesses cannot be summoned to give evidence before the panel, the Federal Government has directed commissioners of police and other security personnel to comply with the summons issued by the panel.
Since the President lacks the vires to set up a panel of inquiry to investigate civil disturbances which occur outside the Federal Capital Territory, the Sheikh Ahmed Lemu Panel should be dissolved forthwith as it is incompetent to probe the post election violence which occurred in Bauchi, Borno, Kaduna, Niger, Taraba etc.

However the Panel may be given a fresh mandate to assist the Federal Government to determine the quantum of compensation payable to those who lost their assets and the bereaved families of those whom were brutally murdered. The President may also wish to direct the Attorney General of the Federation to liaise with the respective state attorneys –general with a view to ensuring that all suspects are prosecuted without any further delay.
FEMI FALANA

http://saharareporters.com/press-release/post-election-panel-illegal-and-diversionary-falana

LATEST UPDATES ON THE BATTLE

Gunfire in the creek as JTF razes John Togo’s militant den

By Emma Amaize
WARRI- GUNSHOTS thundered for hours in the creek of Delta State, thursday, as the Joint Task Force, JTF, on the Niger-Delta, shelled a militant camp, belonging to wanted ex-militant leader, John Togo, with military helicopters and gunboats.

The number of casualties could not be ascertained but it was learnt that many of the militants were injured in the gunfire.

The whereabouts of John Togo, who is the leader of the Niger-Delta Liberation Force, NDLF, was not known as at the time of this report, but Vanguard learnt that his camp inside the forest in Ayakoromor was completely razed by the task force, which attacked from the sky, ground and marine.

An Ayakoromor villager who called Vanguard at about 3.00 pm said, “As I speak to you now, soldiers are bombarding John Togo’s militant camp in the bush, we heard that they have completely razed down the camp and the boys are on the run”.

“The JTF came prepared with different types of military arsenal and they went all out to attack the camp”, he stated.

Efforts to get comments from the JTF spokesman, Lt. Col. Timothy Antigha at about 4.00 pm on the raid on John Togo’s camp were not successful as his phone rang out.

John Togo fled to a new den, which he called Israel Barracks, off the Atlantic Ocean, when the JTF closed in on him, last year, after his fighters ambushed and killed some of the soldiers who invaded his camp with a view to overrunning it.

Before he relocated to Israel Barracks, he destroyed the camp with dynamites, but JTF said he was only trying to blindfold the public, as it met some things intact when its men stormed the camp. The militant den was taken by the task force since last year.

However, John Togo has several militant camps and the task force is only discovering them by the day. At the moment, it is occupying not less than two militant camps run by John Togo in Burutu local government area, and with the destruction of another camp, yesterday, the task force is definitely closing in on him.

Efforts to reach the spokesman of the NDLF, Mark Anthony, on the attack by the JTF proved abortive, but he had told Vanguard on Wednesday that the militant group was not fighting the task force because it had ceased hostilities, and was waiting for the response of the Federal Government to respond to their grievances following appeal to them by eminent Nigerians, including the national president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor and the Special Adviser to the President on Niger-Delta Affairs, Hon. Kingsley Kuku

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/05/gunfire-in-the-creek-as-jtf-razes-john-togos-militant-den/

JTF deploys more troops in Ayakoromor

WARRI – MORE troops were deployed in the riverine community of Ayakoromor, Burutu local government of Delta State, Thrusday, by the Joint Task Force, JTF, on the Niger-Delta, following Wednesday’s unfinished gun battle with a militant group in the area.

The deployment of more soldiers fuelled fears in the community and environs that soldiers might launch a full attack on defector militants in the next few days. An independent source told Vanguard yesterday that some persons were wounded in the battle.

Already, residents, particularly women and children started fleeing the community in droves, yesterday morning, when they saw the way soldiers besieging the town, which was a theatre of a gory war, last year, between the task force and ex-militant leader, John Togo, whose militant group, Niger-Delta Liberation Force, NDLF, killed some soldiers, allegedly in self-defense when their camp were invaded.

Vanguard gathered on good authority that tension mounted at the community yesterday, as a villager who spoke on phone said, “The women and children have been asked to leave the community for safety but the men were not allowed to leave”.

An apparent retaliatory attack by soldiers, in 2010, over the killing of their colleagues, witnessed the razing of many houses and several killings, which were utterly denied by the task force, but, the Federal Government directed that the burnt houses be re-built, while the state government also intervened by providing some relief materials to the people and also undertaking to build houses for the people.

Spokesman of JTF, Lt.Col Timothy Antigha , who confirmed the skirmish, said, “At about 13.53 hours today (Wednesday), again in Ayakoromo community in Burutu local government area of Delta state, there was a skirmish between troops of the JTF who were on routine patrol and renegade militants, suspected to be associates of the wanted John Togo”.

“Further details will be provided later. You will recall that the just two days ago, the JTF in a press release warned that discredited politicians who lost election in Delta state were colluding with some discredited elements to threaten security in the state and region”, he stated.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/05/jtf-deploys-more-troops-in-ayakoromor/

I think this IGP should resign cos he is a big Dummy,