₦airaland Forum

Barely 72 hours after four of their counterparts from the Peoples Democratic Party were booed and pelted with stones and other missiles at the Port Harcourt Airport, eight Governors in the All Progressives Congress camp on Thursday paid a solidarity visit to Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State following the political crisis that has plagued the state for some time now.

The governors advised Gov Amaechi to personally visit President Goodluck Jonathan and brief him of the poor security situation in the state.

The governors are: Kayode Fayemi, Ekiti; Babatunde Fashola, Lagos; Ibukunle Amosu, Ogun; Rauf Aregbesola, Osun; and Abiola Ajumobi, Oyo State. Deputy governors of Imo, Nassarawa and Zamfara states, represented their governors.

They met with Amaechi in a closed-door, while their spokesman, Fayemi, told newsmen that their mission was to stress the importance of their concern for the security of Rivers.Eight-governors

Fayemi said that the issue of security in the country was “far more of a major concern’’ to Nigerians. According to him, we have met with our brother and chairman of our forum in an extensive discussion and he has briefed us on the situation on ground here.

“We do feel strongly, having listened to him that it is quite important for him to actually go and brief Mr President, who is our leader and the chief security officer of the country on the very challenging security situation here in Rivers.

“We believe that our chairman and brother will give serious consideration to that particular concern we have expressed to him.

“It is important, as the chief security officer of Rivers, to take the opportunity to go and brief Mr President on the security situation in the state.

“In our discussion with our brother, we talked on the importance for the hierarchy of our police authority, the Inspector General of Police, to help in restoring the confidence of the people of Rivers in police.

“For us, we believe that this is a matter that requires the moral authority of Mr President as well; it is about saving the democracy; it is about ensuring that peace reigns in Rivers.”

He added: “the tension in Rivers is avoidable and we want all parties to sheathe their sword and to help restore the peace and security of the state.’’

The Zamfara Deputy Governor, Alhaji Mukhtar Anka, believed that Amaechi briefing Jonathan would help find a lasting solution to the crises. (NAN)

By Adekunle Aliyu with agency report
The Yobe state government on Sunday ordered the closure of all secondary schools after a massacre that saw suspected Islamist extremists kill 42 people in a gun and bomb attack on a boarding school.

Yobe state governor Ibrahim Gaidam has “directed that all secondary schools in the state be closed down from Monday 8th July 2013 until a new academic session begins in September,” a government statement said.

Also the Senate President David Mark on Sunday stressed the need to put in place measures to protect children against terrorists.

He made the call via a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Paul Mumeh, in Abuja.

Mark, who condemned that the gruesome murder of students and a teacher of a secondary school in Mamudo, near Potiskum, called on the terrorists to give peace a chance.

The senate president described the killings, which were purportedly carried out by members of the Boko Haram sect, as “barbaric and wicked’’.

“Even in war situations, children and women are protected. Killing children is akin to cutting down the future of a people.

“This is inhuman, barbaric and unacceptable to any right-thinking member of the society.

“For no reason, the lives of these promising children were needlessly cut down by the heartless people. This cannot be a way of life; enough of this bloodshed,’’ he said.

Mark quoted some verses from the Holy Bible to buttress his argument that children deserved protection under any circumstances whatsoever.

“Mathew 18: 10 states `take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for in heaven their angels always behold the face of my father which is in heaven.

“Mark 9:42 states `whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him hat a millstone were hanged about his neck and he were cast into the sea.’’

Mark, however, appealed to the security agencies to step up their surveillance and monitoring activities to halt the trend and bring the perpetrators to justice.

The senate president gave the assurance that the National Assembly would continue to give priority attention to budgetary allocations to the security agencies to enable them to carry out their duties without hitches.

He commiserated with the government and people of Yobe, especially the bereaved families, over the incident.

Mark urged the perpetrators of the violence to use the numerous windows of dialogue and peace, which the government had opened, to express their grievances.

BY DAYO ADESULU & IKENNA ASOMBA
Following the indefinite strike embarked by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), last Monday, the union, Sunday, disclosed that it will not suspend the industrial action, unless the Federal Government accedes to the agreement it reached with it in 2009. This is even as the union debunked reports on some social and online media that it has suspended its one-week old strike.

Speaking with Vanguard, ASUU Chairman, University of Lagos (UNILAG), Chapter, Dr. Karo Ogbinaka said: “The strike is still ongoing. We have not suspended or called-off the strike. Perhaps, before we do that, a National Executive Council (NEC) meeting must be held, then, the resolutions of the meeting will be made known to all chapters of the union,” adding, “The indefinite and total strike will continue, except government meets our demands.”
Meanwhile, FG through its Ministry of Education led by Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufain will Monday, meet with stakeholders in the industry, which included Vice Chancellors of Federal universities and their Governing Councils, together with interested Vice Chancellors of State and Private universities.
However, at the time of filing this report, full details of agenda for the meeting was not made known. It would recalled that the union had last Monday, called out its members on an indefinite industrial action over what it termed government’s failure to honour the Academic Earned Allowance (AEA) which formed a component of the 2009 agreement the government signed with the union.

BY KINGSLEY OMONOBI

ABUJA—FOLLOWING attempts by fleeing members of the Boko Haram terrorist sect to regroup in a bid to fight back, the Defence headquarters, yesterday, said that communication equipment used by the group for shooting and posting online video messages of their leaders have been recovered.

The disclosure was made just as Special Forces of the JTF commenced night and day patrols to dislodge remnants of terrorists still hibernating in the camps and hideouts of the hilltops and forests where the terrorists had made their den.
The equipment recovered including laptops, mobile communication equipment (GSM phones) and others used for shooting and posting online videos, as well as locally made rockets and rocket launchers were among several items seized by the JTF from the arrested terrorists. They were displayed for a nine man Defence Headquarters Assessment Team that visited Borno and Yobe states, weekend.

A statement by Brigadier General Chris Olukolade, Director of Defence Information said: “As a follow up to scheduled assessment visits to troops in the North East of the country, a nine member Defence Headquarters Operational Assessment Team has returned from Yobe and Borno States to brief the Chief of Defence Staff with updates on the situation in the operational area of the Special Forces operating in the North East.

“The force which has been tasked in support of the implementation of the State of Emergency is conducting operations to stop terrorism and to restore normalcy to the security situation in north eastern part of the country. The team visited troop’s location in various parts of Borno and Yobe States. Interacting with the troops inside Sambisa forest, the team leader and Director of Operations in the Defence Headquarters, Air Vice Marshal Olatunji Faloyin, conveyed the greetings and commendation of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), whom he said was very proud of the troops”.
He expressed the CDS satisfaction with the high level of successes so far recorded in the operation and thanked them for a job well-done, urging them not to rest on their oars until the entire region was fully sanitized and cleared of all terrorists activities. The team also assured the troops of regular logistic supplies while the mission lasts.

Earlier, the team was briefed by commanders, on conduct of the operation to rid the forest of the insurgents who had made the location their sanctuary. They were told that some notorious leaders of the terrorists have been captured while some materials recovered in the camp have also provided useful intelligence for subsequent operations.

The team was told that some casualty in men and equipment were recorded on the part of troops during the operation. Commanders also disclosed that the troops were currently engaged in night and day patrols of the area to dominate the forest and apprehend any terrorist who may be lurking around.

Meanwhile, the nine man assessment team has confirmed that the military was still in control of the situation in the two states adding that the troops were combing the forests and the terrorist camps to fish out the remnants.

On fears that Boko Haram members were regrouping, AVM Olatunji Faloyin while delivering their report, assured the CDS that the possibility of the terrorists regrouping was not possible, because all the camps have been taken over by the military. He dismissed such rumour as coming from the segment of people who were not aware of what the military had done so far in the two states.

Unknown gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram members who hid their guns inside a coffin, on Friday, launched an attack against a group of vigilantes in Maiduguri , the Borno State capital, , killing 13 of the youths before being shot by security forces.
This came as the soldiers shot dead another eight suspected Boko Haram gunmen in the town on Thursday, leaving their bodies in a ditch .

Sources said Friday’s attack targeted members of a new youth vigilante group in Maiduguri which provides information to security operatives on the activities and movement of the insurgents.

The gunmen were said to have hidden their Kalashnikov assault rifles inside a coffin as they drove through the various military checkpoints without being searched.

They were said to have opened fire on members of the vigilantes who were driving in a van, killing 13 of them instantly.

“They continued shooting until they ran out of ammunition, then some courageous youth rounded them up and handed them over to the soldiers, who shot them dead as they attempted to escape,” an eyewitness told The Associated Press, saying he counted eight dead suspected Boko Haram gunmen after the shooting.

Chuks Okocha in Abuja
History has a way of repeating itself as there are strong indications that what played out at the height of the illness of the late President Umaru Musa Yar`Adua when he was brought back from Saudi Arabia under the cover of darkness and kept at the State House, Abuja even in his dying state may soon repeat itself in Taraba State.

This is because plans are said to be underway to fly ailing Governor Danbaba Suntai into the country in the cover of darkness in a bid by his loyalists to retain the governorship.

A source hinted that the governor would soon be flown into the country and only trusted aides would be allowed to see him. The source said that the plan to bring him home was being conceived following the decision of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to set up a committee headed by Senator Hope Uzodimma to look into the prolonged absence of Suntai and recommend ways of addressing the problem

It is feared the committee may come up with a report that the governor is not fit and the Acting Governor Garba Umar be made substantive governor.

According to the source, ``The governor will be kept in a way that the public will be told the man is still recovering. You remember the dark room Yar`Adua was kept, that is what they are planning. I am making this disclosure because this game is not in the best interest of Danbaba Suntai himself``.

The past two weeks had witnessed an upsurge in pressure to force the state executive council and the state House of Assembly to apply Section 189 of the constitution to determine the medical status of the governor.

Following the setting up of the panel by PDP, loyalists of the governor had obtained a court order to stop the panel from sitting.
The situation is said to have attracted the attention of President Goodluck Jonathan, who is said to be considering convening a meeting of PDP leaders to find a solution to the leadership vacuum in the state.

The loyalists of the governor had reacted to the growing pressure through the planned smuggling of the governor into the country as a way of stopping the presidency and the state lawmakers from invoking Section 189 of the constitution, which prescribe that a medical panel be raised to examine whether the governor is incapacitated or not.

"They want to stop such possibility. They want to stop the presidency from intervening. But I am sad. And I cannot bear to see Danbaba in the position of late Yar`Adua. I appeal to all friends of Danbaba to reach his wife to stop this game", the source who described himself as a friend of the family said.

It was learnt that Sunati’s situation was so bad that he was said to be unable to recognise Umar when the latter recently visited him at the John Hopkins Hospital, US where he is being treated for the brain injury he sustained during an air crash in October last year.
Loyalists of the governor had released a picture of the governor and his wife receiving the acting governor who was on his way to lesser hajj.

The picture showed the governor shaking hands with the acting governor. But sources said Suntai could not even recognise the acting governor.
Meanwhile, there is intense pressure on Acting Governor Umar to stop living a lie and open up on the true situation of health of ailing Suntai.

A group in the state called Taraba Justice Forum at the weekend challenged the acting governor to produce an official medial report on the state of health of Suntai, asking "eight months after, where is Danbaba Suntai?" The group in a statement dared Umar to produce medical reports to support claims that the governor was in good health when reports from the hospital indicated that the governor is already brain-damaged.

A photograph of the governor shaking hands with Umar, who visited him in the hospital in the United States on his way to perform lesser hajj in Saudi Arabia, posted on facebook, has continued to rankle some in the state because it was said to be stage-managed.
``This is eight months after. We are asking where is Danbaba? Where are official medical reports to prove his state of health? What is the state assembly doing? What is the state executive council doing? We want answers,’’ the group said in a statement signed by its General-Secretary, Barrister Abulus John.

The statement also accused Umar of collaborating with Suntai’s wife, Hauwa Dababa, to deceive the public on the state of health of the ailing governor.

The group alleged that Umar was playing along with some other loyalists of the governor to hide the true state of health of Suntai from the public, urging him to open up and set the records straight.
The group, which had issued a statement earlier calling for activation of Section 189 of the constitution on the medical status, questioned why the acting governor was hiding under the guise of loyalty to the governor to deceive the public.
It said, "the public deserve to know especially as public fund is being spent on the governor.

"Why is Umar playing along with those trying to stop the state from moving forward? Why is he joining them in lying to the public? It is time for him to ask for the medical records and let the public know the truth so that we can progress."

The acting Governor of Taraba State, Alhaji Garba Umar, has assured the people of the state that the governor of the state, Danbaba Danfulani Suntai, would soon be discharged from the hospital.

Suntai is currently on admission at John Hopkins Hospital in the United States of America.
The acting governor, who disclosed this yesterday in a broadcast to the people of the state to commemorate this year’s Democracy Day, revealed that the medical condition of the governor had remained progressively stable.

“We are pleased to note that the medical condition of our leader, Governor Danbaba Danfulani Suntai, has remained progressively stable and he is expected to be discharged soon from John Hopkins Hospital in the USA, where he has been receiving further treatment after his initial round at a German Hospital,” he disclosed.

Expressing gratitude to God for the miracle of rescuing Suntai and his personal aides from the air mishap that occurred on October 25, 2012 and their miraculous healing, Umar said he and the good people of the state were truly indebted to all who stood by and prayed for the state during its moment of trial.

The acting governor noted that as a committed and loyal lieutenant of Suntai, he had carried on the good works began by him since inception on May 29, 2007, stressing that he did not embark on any major project outside the development rolling plan articulated by the ailing governor.

He added that some of the projects had been executed steadfastly to a logical conclusion while others were at advanced stage.

Enumerating some of the projects, the acting governor noted that the 72-kilometre Jalingo-Sunkani-Garba Chede Road, which was a federal road had reached 99 per cent completion, while he had completed the process for the award of the 237-kilometer Bali-Serti-Gembu Road, which was another federal road being executed by the state government in line with the vision of Suntai.

Umar equally added that the construction of four kilometers of roads in each of the 16 local government areas of the state was progressing steadily, saying the projects had been certified completed in eight local government areas in the last assessment conducted by the technical committee for the projects, while the remaining eight local government areas were also at advanced stages of completion.
Umar, however, said since assuming office as acting governor, he, in conjunction with other state government functionaries had succeeded in stabilising the accounts and finances of the state by settling all monies owed to banks as well as honouring the state government obligations to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), CSDP, among others just as the state had successfully commenced the Subsidy Re-Investment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) with various components for 8,600 youths.

And in an effort to ensure maximum productivity, the acting governor disclosed that he had approved the re-instatement of the monthly over head costs (running costs) of MDAs effective from May, 2013 just as the government was concluding negotiations for the payment of new minimum wage to local government workers in the state and also had constituted committees for the payment.

Assuring the people of the state of the security of their lives and property, Umar insisted that despite the unexpected breach of the peace in Ibi and Wukari local government areas, which had long been brought under control, the security situation in the state had continued to be in top form.

He said the judicial commission of inquiry set up by the state government had begun the probe of the circumstances surrounding the eruption of the violence in the areas.

BY ABDULSALAM MUHAMMAD
KANO — SPECIAL forces drafted from the Nigerian Military, Tuesday night, raided a residential building-cum-warehouse packed with sophisticated military hardware at Bompai, a highbrow area located within the precinct of police and immigration headquarters in the troubled northern commercial city.

Vanguard learnt that the warehouse belonged to an alien from the Middle East and located in Gaya Road, Bompai GRA and within a striking distance to the Police state headquarters and the headquarters of the Nigerian Immigration Service.

Security sources close to the military told Vanguard, on condition of anonymity, in Kano that the highly coordinated military operation was carried out following a tip-off by a suspect under investigation.

The elite troops were said to have stormed the residence, picked up the occupants and in the ensuing search on the suspected bungalow, large cache of arms and ammunition were discovered in the sitting room and some wardrobe in the house.

The military source revealed that, “large quantities of the military hardware were buried in the house, while some were neatly concealed. It took a trained officer in counter-terrorism to discover the hidden mass weapon of war.”

Recovered

The security source further revealed that items recovered from the 72-hour operation includes: 40 air-to-surface missiles, 50 cluster bombs, 200 rocket-propel launcher, eight AK-47 rifles, 200 military hand grenades, uncountable number of live ammunition and certain military hard wares deployed to destroy Armoured Personnel Carriers, APC.”

The dependable source said that the weapons of war were evacuated to the headquarters of the 3rd Motorised Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Kano, alongside two other arrested nationals of the same Middle East extraction, in connection with the shocking discovery.

The source stated that preliminary investigation revealed that “three countries have been indicted and the military high command is working to ascertain the culpability.”

Eyewitness account

However, a civilian eyewitness, who lives in the neighbourhood, said he counted over “300 AK-47 riffles and I saw soldiers packing ammunition using shovels into some large containers from the house.”

The account gave the name of the suspect as one Ta’al, who appeared to be in his late 50s, stressing that “Ta’al had been staying in the house for the past five years alone without his family, and lived a secluded life as he hardly associate himself with people in the neighbourhood.

“The suspect hardly received visitors and drives a white Toyota Hilux, and doesn’t keep late night.”

However, the military authorities are keeping sealed lips over the development as effort to get their side of the story proved abortive.

When contacted, JTF spokesman in Kano, Capt Ikediche Iweha, neither denied nor confirmed the discovery, but pleaded understanding, saying that “we are going to issue a statement.”