₦airaland Forum

Obama is very cautious in making statements that may fuel the current crises.

Nigeria holds Ukraine arms plane

A Ukrainian aircraft reported to be carrying crates of weapons has been detained in Nigeria.

It had made an emergency landing in the northern Nigerian city of Kano while on a flight to Equatorial Guinea.

Nigerian security officials say 18 crates with mines and ammunition were on board, but there are no details of exactly who the cargo was destined for.

The three crew members, reported to be Ukrainian, are being questioned, but few details other have been released.

BBC reporter Mustafa Mohamed, in Kano, says the aircraft was placed under guard, and security forces are continuing their investigations.

It is believed the plane made the emergency landing because of a technical fault.

Attack on palace

Earlier this year, the authorities in Equatorial Guinea arrested a number of people in connection with an attack on the presidential palace in the capital, Malabo.

A the time of the incident, in February, state radio in Equatorial Guinea said that those detained had been operating with other members of a rebel group based in Nigeria's Niger Delta region.

It said some of those who attacked the palace had been killed or wounded.

Rebels of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend) denied involvement.

The Equatorial Guinea President, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, later dismissed several government ministers.

The president has been in power in the oil-rich former Spanish colony since seizing power in a coup in 1979.

His government has long been accused of human rights abuses and of suppressing political opposition.

Last year, a former British army officer, Simon Mann, was sentenced to 34 years in jail for plotting to overthrow him in 2004.

[size=16pt]Hostages' bodies 'found in Yemen'
At least three foreign hostages seized in Yemen have been found dead, officials say.

They are thought to be from a group of nine foreigners, three of them children, who were kidnapped last week in a mountainous northern area.

The group comprised seven Germans, a British national and a South Korean.

There are conflicting reports from Yemen on exactly how many bodies have been found. One unconfirmed report says all nine hostages have been killed.

Another report - also unconfirmed - quoted officials saying two children had been found alive.

No-one has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, which Yemen blamed on a local Shia rebel group.

More than 200 foreign nationals have been kidnapped in Yemen in the last 15 years, often for ransom. But most have been released unharmed.

Militant groups

Shepherds found the bodies of three hostages on Monday morning in the mountainous northern Saada province near the town of el-Nashour, according to local officials.

"The fate of the other six abducted people is still unknown," a statement said.

However, a security official in the capital Sanaa said the other six had also been found dead.

To add to the confusion, another local official said seven bodies had been found but that two children had been found alive, AFP news agency reported. [/size]

The killing spree continue but in the name of what

[size=16pt]Armed militants in Nigeria's Niger Delta on Monday claimed more attacks against facilities run by US oil giant Chevron and warned FIFA against letting the country host the under-17 World Cup tournament.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) in an email statement also threatened to extend its operations beyond Delta State to others in the oil-rich southern region.

MEND said they had started a massive fire that destroyed the Abiteye flow station and blew up two other Chevron facilities there early on Monday.

"Hurricane Piper Alpha hit the Abiteye flowstation operated by Chevron today,  which resulted in a massive fire outbreak that is consuming the entire facility," it said in the statement.

MEND vowed to move "into the neighbouring states of Bayelsa and Rivers before passing through the remaining states of Ondo, Edo, and Akwa Ibom then finally head off-shore."

The group also took "this opportunity to advise FIFA to have a re-think about Nigeria hosting the under-17 World Cup tournament at this time, as the safety of international players and visitors cannot be guaranteed due to the current unrest."

The tournament is due to run from October 24 to November 15, and Nigeria has scheduled some matches to be played in the restive region.

Before the latest attacks, Nigerian authorities assured FIFA of security during the competition.

The MEND statement also urged people from the Niger Delta region living in northern Nigeria to return home within the next eight weeks.

MEND said it was issuing the warning "because a major event will occur in that part of the country and reprisal attacks directed at them cannot be ruled out."

It gave the same advice to northern Nigerians living in the Niger Delta.

While the north of Nigeria is predominantly Muslim, the south is mainly Christian.

The spokesman of the special military unit in the area, Colonel Rabe Abubakar, downplayed the MEND attack saying only that there was "a serious exchange" of fire between the militants and troops, but that only Chevron could speak on its facility.

"There was a serious exchange of fire between our troops and them at the flowstation. We were able to chase them away. They fled and there was no casualty on our side. We are waiting for the company has to speak about their facility," he said.

Chevron did not confirm or deny the latest attack, but said investigations were under way.

Chevron is "not speculating on any comment while investigations are being undertaken," a company spokesman, Scott Walker, said in a statement to AFP.

Monday's operations were the latest in a series of MEND attacks on Niger Delta facilities run by the US oil giant designed to demonstrate that a recent government crackdown in the region has had no effect on its ability to operate.

One attack in May cost Chevron 100,000 barrels a day in lost production.

MEND, which says it is fighting for a fairer distribution of oil wealth to local people, said it would keep up its operations until oil production in the country had been brought to a halt.

"We hope that by the time the oil and gas exports come to zero, Nigeria will maintain those positions from the export of groundnut oil," it said.

Since 2006, MEND has been sabotaging oil industry infrastructure and abducting oil workers, to the extent that it has seriously disrupted Nigeria's oil production.

MEND announced last June 7 the launch of what it called an "oil war" after several weeks of clashes with troops who promised to rid the militants of the region.

Overall, the unrest has caused oil production -- Nigeria's main export -- to fall by nearly a third, from 2.6 million barrels a day in 2006 to 1.8 million currently.

Nigeria derives more than 95 percent of its foreign exchange earnings from crude production in the Niger Delta region, according to official figures.
[/size]


That means the Nigeria Military (JTF) will not rest too. 

biola44:
tyra is no match 4 beyonce!

you think so?

Now that they are killing themselves someone should tell us who should be more responsible?

texazzpete:
http://www.234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Home/5423979-146/Pipeline_explodes_in_Lagos__.csp

234next is reporting that a pipeline exploded in a lagos suburb late last night. As usual, the cause is said to be sabotage by vandals.


An unknown number of people have been reported dead in Ilado, a Lagos suburb, following an oil pipeline explosion.

According to an environmental protection activist, Philip Jakpor, the incident occurred at about 10 pm on Saturday following the activities of suspected vandals.

Members of the community, which is only accessible by boat, are said to be fleeing their residences because of an instruction to armed military officers to "shoot at sight" any unauthorised person within the vicinity.


Seriously, do these people never learn?

[size=15pt]What would they learn when the authorities have not given the masses something to live up to. The Authorities have made petrol a scare commodity as such its now a lucrative business to be stealing petrol. [/size]

According to a blogger all outside communication have been jammed by the Authorities as part of the clamp down on the opposition. Hundreds of opposition leaders are been arrested or detained.

There are two equally appalling explanations for what happened in Iran’s presidential elections on Friday: Either the election was stolen, or it wasn’t. Either scenario leads to the same conclusion: This is a truly sad day for Iran.

All hope and eyes are the on guardian council to give their approval or disapprove the election in 10days time.

Meanwhile the clampdown continues

[size=16pt]Why are the Muslim world mute over this cancerous plague known as the "Talibans"? In recent days these so-called Taliban have unleashed terror on the innocent people of Pakistan.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has condemned the killing of an anti-Taliban cleric in a suicide bombing.

In a late-night broadcast to the nation, Mr Zardari singled out the killing of cleric Sarfraz Naeemi at a school in Lahore by the Taliban.

He said the Taliban were brutal people who were working against the sovereignty of Pakistan.

Mr Zardari also announced bonuses for the armed forces and pay rises for government officials.

In the attack on the Islamic religious school and in a simultaneous suicide bombing at a mosque in the north-west garrison town of Nowshera at least six people were killed and about 100 injured.

A leading Sunni Muslim scholar opposed to the Taliban, Mr Naeemi was known for his outspoken views against suicide bombings and militancy.

He was one of the few scholars who had openly supported the ongoing military operation in Swat and had labelled the activities of the Taliban "un-Islamic".

Mr Zardari said: "We are fighting a war for our sovereignty. We will continue this war until the end, and we will win it at any cost."

The president paid tribute to the bravery of soldiers fighting what he called "this war on terrorism". [/size]

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been re-elected as president of Iran with a resounding victory, the electoral commission says.

With more than 80% of results in, the commission said he won 63% support in an election marked by high turnout.

Reformist Mir Hossein Mousavi also claimed victory, calling the result a "dangerous charade", as supporters vowed to appeal for a re-run.

Police have sealed off Mr Mousavi's campaign HQ, preventing his supporters from holding a news conference.

One opposition newspaper has been closed down and BBC websites also appear to have been blocked by the Iranian authorities.

Mr Mousavi was hoping to prevent Mr Ahmadinejad winning more than 50% of the vote, in order to force a run-off election.

However, the Iranian election commission said Mr Mousavi's share of the vote was around 34%.

Earlier, the state news agency Irna declared Mr Ahmadinejad the "definite winner", and his campaign manager was quoted as saying "any doubts cast on this victory will be treated as a joke by the public". BBC

The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) failed to remit about $3.8 billion in revenues to the Federation Account in the years 1999-2008, the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee investigating the activities and operations of the corporation and its subsidiaries said yesterday.
The committee said NNPC short-changed the country of $1.87 billion that should have accrued to the Federation Account between 2004 and 2007, adding that another $825.7million revenue may also have been diverted by the corporation.

Rep Ugo Aguma (PDP, Rivers State), the committee’s chairman, said the corporation had given some unregistered foreign companies licenses to lift 40 per cent of its crude oil for which they do not pay tax to the country. This is contrary to the law, he said.

Aguma also said, “In 1999 and 2000, one of the subsidiaries of NNPC called NAP Oil was allocated crude oil belonging to the Federation worth $66.7m and $307m respectively (N6.3 and N31bn), but NNPC did not recognise this sale in its audited account which indicated that the nation lost the money.”

“In 2004 NNPC sold to Duck Oil crude oil valued at $493m (N65 bn).From what I observed from your audited account of the same year, you concealed this revenue that would have accrued to the Federation Account.”

He added that “in 2005, NNPC sold 162 mb/d of part of unutilised domestic crude allocation to Nigerian refineries. But it sold the crude that year at $54.1/barrel instead of $55.1/barrel”, he added. “We would want the NNPC to account for these loses within the next one week”.

NNPC’s Group Managing Director Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo however dismissed the allegations, saying the corporation was transparent in its deals. He said: “We have listened to the weighty allegations but all the issues you raised have been examined by an internally reputed institute, Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NIETI) and we were given a clean bill of health”. - Dailytrust

Opinion


[size=14pt]I just hope this latest investigation will not go the way of the Power Probe. Its very Obvious that corruption is endemic in NNPC from the onset. Besides no one can give an accurate account of daily crude oil sales in Nigeria. [/size]

Enquirer:
The federal government should fix the specter utter neglect in the Niger delta. This is the only way to end militancy in the region.

[size=14pt]The Plane has a very good safety records. I learnt it was struck by a lightening, may their souls rest in peace.[/size]

May be Temi no get money browse again. Pls don't quote me

Several documents incriminating a serving state governor, many prominent politicians and traditional rulers from the Niger Delta region were captured by the military Joint Task Force [JTF] when it raided the Gbaramutu camp of the leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) Government Ekpomupolo, alias Tompollo last week, Daily Trust learnt yesterday.

Authoritative Presidency sources said the documents recovered from the raid indicated that the governor and many prominent politicians and traditional rulers are co-sponsors of the militancy in the Niger Delta region, along with some foreigners.

Our sources said some of the documents recovered include the names of the militants’ local sponsors and the minutes of meetings held with them. Some recovered documents were also said to contain the account details of bunkering money paid to prominent chiefs and politicians.

Other documents recovered from Tompollo’s camp, sources said, include:

* Names and address of foreign contacts and documents of arms purchase and names of Nigerian middle men;

* Dates and details of attacks on oil facilities and who was responsible and the insiders within the oil companies;

* Names of countries and details of how stolen crude oil is disposed and how some of the proceeds were shared as well as the local beneficiaries;

* Details of meetings held between militants and politicians and minutes of what transpired;

* Several bank accounts in which ‘protection money’ was paid to the militants by top government officials in Niger Delta; and

* Details of attempts to acquire gun-ships, bombs and rocket-launchers from an East European country.

JTF had overrun the camp, known as Camp 5, and declared Tompollo wanted, though he is yet to arrested.

daily trust

Hey Pinky,
happy Nu month.

A new scam has now made it possible for multiple people to use a single GSM line with same contacts, Daily Trust learnt.

An investigation by Daily Trust revealed that 419ers now hijack personal GSM phone numbers through their systems and use it whenever and wherever they like without the knowledge of the original owner.

One of the victims of such scam who narrated his ordeal to Daily Trust said the hackers managed to hijack his number and even called some of his contacts. “I couldn’t believe it how it happens that way”.

The victim who pleaded anonymity narrated to Daily Trust that one day, he was trying to re-charge his phone but that access was denied. He said he kept trying but was unsuccessful until the following day when he went to the office and his colleague told him that a lady called him requesting the detail of the original owner of the line.

She told him that the owner lost the line and she wants to trace him and give him the line. He said “my colleague went ahead and gave her my details not knowing that she wanted to use that to dupe the people on my contact list”. He told Daily Trust that he was surprised to hear that his SIM got missing while he was in possession of the same SIM. “I quickly dialled the number with another handset, a lady picked the phone and asked who do I want to speak with and what do i want? I told her I am the owner of the phone, she terminated the call. When we disturbed her with several calls, she switched off the phone and after a while my SIM picked up I continued to use it.

He told Daily Trust that “whenever she is on the SIM with her, I could not use my line until she switches off”.

Another victim said the hackers use the same style to dupe her using her Account Officer’s Number on the SIM. She said but for the fact that her account officer is very smart, the hackers would have collected huge money from her accounts using transfers.

Probe Master General

@macteeiav2,

   The golf you took the picture up there is 1996/97 golf 3 model with 2airbag. Are you looking into mannual or Auto. if you getting that. Round your budget to about 680,000naira down to Lagos.

Hi Larryshow4, kindly send your phone numbers to my mail box.I'm interested in buying that Golf 3 too. I want a manual type of Golf 3 with clean features like A/C, power windows, Airbags but  the car would be delivered to the Northern part. Bro you need to review your price. I know say u dey try. georgecso@yahoo.com

sleek_p:
Wetin concern you with gay?

kshow1:
From all the pictures posted by my fellow nairalanders, it denotes that DEMOCRACY has not been born in our beloved country NIGERIA because all these faces does not look like faces of a true DEMOCRAT

All the same we can make it happen ( give birth to democracy) because the future is ours. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

California's Supreme Court has upheld a ban on same-sex marriage - the latest twist in a long-running saga.

The judges rejected a challenge from gay-rights activists to overturn the result of a 2008 referendum which restricted marriage to heterosexuals.

Prior to the vote, same-sex marriages were legal for six months, during which 18,000 couples were married.

The judges said their ruling was not retroactive - meaning those couples will remain legally married.
Gay-rights activists stood outside the San Francisco court shouting "shame on you" after the decision was made public.

Some promised to continue their campaign.

"It's not about whether we get to stay married. Our fight is far from over," said 62-year-old Jeannie Rizzo, who was one of the lead plaintiffs.

"I have about 20 years left on this earth, and I'm going to continue to fight for equality every day," she told the Associated Press.

But the court's decision was hailed as a "victory for democracy" by Brad Dacus of the Pacific Justice Institute, a conservative group that supported Proposition 8.

"[The ruling is] a victory for the civil rights of clergy, county clerks and Californians across the political spectrum who did not want to be forced by the government to approve of same-sex marriage," he said.

[size=16pt]
I can't just imagine the pleasure one can derive from same sex marriage. Its simply Unproductive, Ungodly, Unnatural, bestiality etc[/size]

IB.Migthy:
from my point of veiw i think for
ACTION PACKED
1.black hawk down
2.wind talkers
3.chronicles of riddick
4.Bleep

VIOLENT
1.THE SEED OF CHUCKY{i hate that film]
2.SAW 1 TO 5
3.RESIDENT EVIL

;d ;d